Love Me One More Time by Laura Burton
Chapter 7
Carter went all out with plans to spoil me and my mom. We had the most luxurious hot stone massage; absolutely what the doctor ordered.
Then a private lunch on the rooftop, and a run to explore the island together. After an hour in the sun, my skin has already turned several shades of brown. My mom, meanwhile, has red patches of prickly heat all over her arms and neck.
“Did you put on any sunblock?” I ask, frowning at her red nose. She laughs. “I’m fine.”
“Mom, you look like a radish.”
My mom shoots me a look, then yelps and disappears from my peripheral vision with a thump.
“Whoa!” I slow to a stop. My mom has a foot caught under a tree root.
“Are you okay?”
We look around at the deep male voice to see a tall African American man jogging up to us. Flecks of silver in his short beard are the only clues to his age. Without those gray hairs, I would’ve put him in his thirties.
He has the physique of an athlete; broad shoulders, slender legs, and muscles bulging in all sorts of places underneath his tank top.
My mom’s red face has gone at least two shades more crimson as she beams up at him, her eyes dancing.
“Sorry,” she says, a little breathless. I almost snort. Sorry?
The tall, dark stranger crouches, and with one swift motion, successfully releases my mom’s foot. Then he helps her up, and grabs her by the arms when she wobbles and falls onto his chest. “Do you mind if I take a look at your foot? I’m a doctor.”
When she doesn’t object, he helps her hop to a nearby tree stump and I watch, open-mouthed, as my mom flirts shamelessly with this stranger, who looks a little too much like my birth dad.
“Did you hear that, Zoe? This gentleman is a doctor.” My mom winks at me, her cheeks glowing.
“Please, call me Redford.”
Considering how flushed my mom’s cheeks are, they make the perfect pair. Red and Redford.
“I’m Debbie. This is my daughter Zoe,” my mom says, gesturing briefly in my general direction but keeping her dazzled eyes on Redford. Helooks at me and nods. Then he turns back to my mom’s foot. He takes off her tennis shoe gingerly, and I get visions of Cinderella.
Does that make me the ugly step-sister in this scenario? Part of me wonders if I should carry on running and leave the two to whatever the heck is happening right now.
After rotating my mom’s foot several times and gently prodding the now puffy area that used to be my mom’s ankle, Redford lowers it to the ground. “It’s just a sprain. But it needs bandaging. Luckily, I have a first aid kit.”
My mom’s shoulders are almost up to her ears. She holds on to the edge of the tree stump like she’s about to go down a drop on a rollercoaster. “Oh, great.” Her eyes follow Redford’s every move, then widen with horror when he pulls off her sock. “Sorry. I’ve been meaning to get a pedicure.”
I want to throw my face in my palm. Redford and my mom share an awkward laugh. “It’s fine. You have very nice, natural feet. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”
My mom giggles. Giggles. Now I want to vomit.
Just then a blurry shape in the distance draws closer. It’s Carter, in nothing but a pair of basketball shorts. The sun’s rays dance across his sweaty chest and oh my goodness.
One word: abs.
No. Two words: glistening abs.
His pectorals rise and fall as he jogs toward me in slow-motion, like he’s on Baywatch. Everything around me fades to white.
I take in all of Carter’s body and instinctively lick my lips before my brain reminds me that I’m being a creep. He looks hot. Smoking, actually. I swear the sweat is steaming from him.
“Oh dear, what happened here?” he asks, and suddenly I can see my mom and Redford again. He’s almost finished bandaging her foot and my mom looks no less red than before. Her mass of curls has turned to frizz and sweat is clinging to her temples and upper lip. “Oh, it’s nothing,” she gushes. “I just got my foot caught on a root and Redford here is helping me.”
Carter crosses his arms and smiles broadly. “I’m glad you two have met at last,” he says.
I frown at him.
“At last?”
I turn to my mom for answers but she looks just as confused as I am. Carter chuckles deeply. “Redford is my step-uncle––on my mom’s side. And well, I thought you two would hit it off, seeing as you have so much in common.”
“We do?” My mom and Redford ask at the same time. They glance at each other and break into a laugh. “I’m not a doctor,” my mom adds, turning bashful again.
“Sure,” Carter says. “But Redford volunteers at the homeless shelter and organizes fundraisers.”
“You do?” My mom asks in a hallowed whisper, her fingers resting on her heaving collarbone.
Mayday. Mayday. Mayday.
This love boat is setting sail, and I’m absolutely not here for it.
Redford helps my mom to her feet. “You also work at a homeless shelter, I’m guessing?”
“She practically runs the place,” I answer for her. “And speaking of running… She runs marathons for charity as well.” And does absolutely anything for anyone. On a daily basis. If I had to list all of the selfless acts my mom has done in the last year alone, it would take me all day.
“You know, we’re doing a family talent show, and we’ll need someone to help organize tickets… Maybe you two could handle that,” Carter suggests.
“Wait. You weren’t joking about the talent show?” I look at Carter like he’s just turned into an alien.
Carter chuckles again. “Don’t you remember, ZoBo? The annual talent show is my grandma’s favorite event.”
“I don’t mind helping out, that won’t be a problem,” Redford says, lifting his bag onto his shoulder. “But I think Debbie should rest her––”
“I’m fine!” My mom blurts, then she does a little jig on the spot to prove the point. “That bandage really did the trick.” She slips her foot back into her tennis shoe with a slight grunt, then her expression turns sunny again.
“I’d love to help.”
And without another word to me, my mom and Redford walk off toward the resort, leaving me with Carter, who looks like he’s trying not to laugh.
“She just left me!” I say, raising my hand in the air. Then I turn to Carter, highly aware of his body heat so close to me. He joins me on a slow stroll back to the resort. “Do you want to finish your run with me?”
I’ve thought about running away since the moment we arrived, now Carter wants me to run with him. Oddly, the question lands like a feathery kiss on my cheek. I grin at him. “Last one to the coast is a lemon.”