Page 11

Chapter Eleven

AVA

I t was a tired, bedraggled group of grad students who heaved their packs into the van for the quick trip to the hotel. We were glad now for the short respite from the adventure. None of the crew were seasoned travelers. There were complaints of hunger and being sticky and hot in the van on the way to the hotel. Norman was usually the premier whiner, but Pam was giving him a run for his money.

The pout on her face as she jumped down from the van was photo-worthy. “I hope there’s air conditioning in the hotel.” As she said it, she glanced over to the ivory-colored building with the penitentiary-style facade and landscaping. Her chin dropped. “Please tell me this isn’t our hotel. Are we seriously spending the next two weeks in a maximum-security prison?”

“Only one night,” I said cheerily and swept a smug grin Jack’s direction.

“As long as there’s running water and a restaurant, I don’t care what it looks like inside,” Robyn said. She was the only one of the group who still looked pulled together, as if the plane trip had only been an hour and not six long, stuffy, cramped and mostly unpleasant hours.

The research station at the river had taken care of our accommodations. There was a message at the reception desk that the van would pick us up at eight in the morning and drive us the two hours to the river raft company. From there it was a short ride down the river to the station and then another two-hour hike to the campsite. It all sounded standard and fairly uneventful to me, but as I read the message there were plenty of groans. “A two-hour hike,” Norm whined. “And that river trip—what if there are rapids?”

“Not this time of year,” I assured him. “I think you’ll enjoy it, Norm.” I had the keys in my hand. Jack had given himself the job of just watching from the sidelines, and it was getting annoying. He stood at the back of the group while I worked to alleviate worries and complaints.

Pam seemed to finally comprehend that this wasn’t going to be a five-star resort kind of vacation. She walked over to Jack. He immediately stiffened and assumed an equally stiff smile.

“I don’t understand. You didn’t mention we’d be living out in nature,” Pam said.

“Oh, didn’t I?” Jack shrugged. “I just assumed you knew. It’s not as if we’re going to find new species of fungus inside a hotel.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Pam surveyed the hotel lobby. It was plainly decorated, and the yellow plaster walls had moldy cracks. Two potted ferns and a bright green couch were the only décor in the lobby. Big overhead fans swirled around the hot, sticky air, and there was no shortage of flying insects buzzing through the air.

I cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention. “I’ve got the keys. All rooms have two double beds. The women will take one room?—”

Pam scoffed, so I repeated that statement. “Professor Sinclair, here are the other two keys. I’ll let the men figure out their own sleeping arrangements.” I walked over to him and dropped the keys on his palm with a wink. “The hotel has a bar that serves some snacks. There’s a restaurant just around the corner, and a few of the locals have food kiosks up and down the road. The van arrives at eight, so be outside the hotel by half past seven to make sure you don’t miss the ride. The rest of the afternoon and evening is yours to do as you like, but I highly recommend you stay within a few miles of the hotel and that you get plenty of rest. It might be the best night of sleep you get for the next two weeks.”

Norman groaned and mumbled something about being eaten alive by insects and crocodiles as he shuffled over to stand next to the other men. I looked at Robyn and Pam. “Should we pull straws to see who showers first?”

Pam pushed ahead. “I say it’s the first one to the door.” She spotted the sign for the room numbers and off she went.

Robyn caught up to me. “This should be a delight.”

I laughed. “Not sure why she’s racing. I’ve got the key.”

By the time I got into the shower, there was only cold water. I didn’t mind too much, considering the stifling humidity in the air. It had been a while since I’d been to a tropical climate, and I’d forgotten how relentless the humidity could be. I combed out my wet hair and pulled on a T-shirt and shorts. Robyn was writing feverishly in her journal. She told me that since this was her first expedition, she planned to keep extensive notes about the journey. Pam had her earbuds in, and she was swaying to music as she sat on the bed looking at something on her computer. I walked out to the tiny patio just outside the room. There was a parking lot and a convenience store next to the hotel, but behind the convenience store was a lush stretch of plants. Even in its towns, Costa Rica was dotted with green spaces that could rival the world’s most dense rainforests. There was also no shortage of colorful birds in the country. This afternoon, in the waning sunlight, a pair of bright orange tanagers twittered around in a puddle left by a recent cloud break.

I sat in the wicker chair and glanced at my phone. It was two hours earlier at home. My best bet for catching someone not terribly busy was Ella. Not that she wasn’t busy with her job writing for an online publication, but she made her own hours, unlike the rest of the gang.

I dialed her number, and she picked up right away. “Ava? Everything all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. We’re staying in a hotel by the airport tonight, then after that it’ll be harder to get in contact. Thought I’d let you know that we’ve arrived.”

“Good to know. And how was it with—you know who—the grumpy professor?”

“The grumpy professor? Well, I ended up as his seatmate on the plane. He wasn’t too terrible, but we’ll see how the rest of the trip goes.”

“Well, I plan to go back and forth”—I spun around so quickly the chair tipped to the side. I righted it before falling over—“between the grumpy professor and the suave, devil-may-care, useless assistant. A sort of Jekyll and Hyde transformation, if you will.” Feeling the heat in my cheeks, I stared over at Jack on the next patio. Ella had no idea what was happening, so she took off on a long story that had something to do with Rhett finding an old bone in the cellar of the house that may or may not have been a human femur. It would have been an intriguing topic if not for the embarrassing situation I’d found myself in right then. “You can decide which is worse,” he continued. “Jekyll or Hyde.”

I turned back around. Ella had finished her story.

“I’ll have to hear more about it when I get home, El. Tell everyone hello, and tell them not to worry. This trip is a cakewalk compared to most that I’ve been on.” Although I had my druthers about the team I’d been saddled with. “I’ll call you when I can.” I hung up and turned around. Jack had sat down in the chair on his patio. He was wearing shorts, a rarity for him. He stretched his long legs out. They were muscular, as if he rode bikes or ran. I realized I knew very little about his personal life because we almost never spoke unless it was to gripe at each other. “What’s your favorite hobby?” never came up. The chat about my lucky necklace was possibly the only slightly lengthy and civil conversation we’d ever had.

For a few seconds the two of us sat silently on our parallel patios, watching as the tanagers plucked around in a patch of lantana. The bright orange of the flowering bush provided a nice camouflage for the equally bright birds. Seconds later, three scarlet macaws flew overhead, dropping their shadows over the ground as they passed.

“I’d forgotten the amazing diversity in this place,” Jack said.

“It really is incredible.” It always felt weird to have a normal, nice weather-like, kind of exchange.

“Who were you talking to about the grumpy professor? I guess my reputation is far and wide.”

“Not that far and wide. It was my sister, Ella.”

“Is she the baker?”

“Nope, that’s Isla. Ella is the writer. Aria owns Whisper Cove Café, and Layla is the baby of the family. She works in Isla’s bakery.”

“Five Lovely sisters. Your mom must have had her hands full when you were teens.”

The tanagers took off in a fiery orange fluff of feathers. “My mom died before any of us reached our teens.”

Jack fell quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“How would you?” I looked over at him. “We’ve worked together for six months, and I didn’t even know you had a family, that you were a dad. No wonder Brimley worries that we can’t work together well. We can’t work together at all … apparently.”

“I doubt throwing us together in a stress-filled situation like this is going to do the trick.”

I laughed. “Stress-filled? We haven’t even left the hotel yet.”

Jack turned my direction, and I could read it on his face.

“No way. Did you get stuck with Norman?”

“The four of us had a rock, paper, scissors tournament. I still think Milo cheated.”

“How do you cheat at rock, paper, scissors?”

“Not sure. Mind melding? Not ruling out time travel.”

I laughed, leaned back and stretched out my legs. I caught Jack staring at them. I supposed I’d done the same to him. That reminded me of my earlier thoughts. “Do you ride bikes?” I asked and motioned toward his muscular legs.

“I bike and run.”

I looked over at him. “Never would have guessed.”

“That’s because there’s a whole lot you don’t know about me, Lo.” He leaned back and pulled the sunglasses off the top of his head. The sun was shrinking away for the day, but it still left behind a sharp glare.

“Guess we’ll be discovering a whole lot about each other in the next two weeks.”

He didn’t lift his head from the back of his chair. “Guess so.”