It’s a weird question, but at the same time I don’t mind having a memory of my mother that isn’t seeped in tragedy. “Tide,” I say with a smile. “But I could never figure out what she added to it. All these months I could never get the same scent. I haven’t smelled it until now.”
“I smell bleach,” Lourdes replies. She turns back around and continues down the hall. I search for the hint of bleach but don’t find it. “Come on,” Lourdes calls. “The concierge doesn’t want guests in housekeeping.” She glances back again. “Have you seen the pool? It’s spectacular.”
“Not yet. My brother’s going there now. I guess I’ll meet up with him.”
“You should.” Lourdes stops at the elevator and presses the button. “And I’m sure I’ll see you around. What room are you? I’ll send some extra chocolates.”
“Thirteen oh three.”
Lourdes’s smile drops from her lips. She tries to recover, but I can’t unsee it. She presses the button again, trying to hurry the elevator. “Does Elias know where you’re staying?” she asks casually.
“Uh . . . no, I don’t think so. He hasn’t been to my room, if that’s what you’re asking. Wait, why?” I ask, feeling uneasy. “Is my room haunted or something?”
Lourdes laughs, clapping me on the shoulder just as the doors open. “Not at all,” she says. “Not at all.”
A shadow falls over my magazine as I’m lounging next to the pool in a deck chair. I squint at the gathering clouds and then find Daniel’s blond head bobbing in the water. Up until this sudden change in weather, it has been beautiful. Perfect.
There are a few other guests, but they all seem to be wrapped up in their own conversations. A young couple has laid their towels in the grass, resting on their folded arms as they whisper to each other. An old man reads the paper at the table with an umbrella top. None of them even glance in my direction, which is just as well. I’m probably still blushing from my run-in with Elias.
“Audrey,” Daniel calls, pulling himself up on the blue-tiled sidewall. “Come in before it rains. I want to show you my dive.”
“I can watch you dive from here. You don’t need a fan club, Daniel. Sometimes you can just do awesome things for your own enjoyment.”
My brother’s expression falters, and he drops back into the water with a splash. I hurt his feelings, even though I didn’t mean to. Daniel is all heart; he loves me to pieces. But with that love comes his constant need for validation.
On the other side of the pool Daniel climbs up the ladder and then positions himself on the edge. There are three girls on the deck chairs behind him, and they angle to get a better look. Daniel doesn’t notice, though—he’s hyperfocused on his impending dive. Hoping to get it just right. I sigh and drop the magazine on the chair before going to stand across the pool from him.
“You’d better nail it,” I call. The corner of his mouth lifts, and then he brings his arms forward and leaps into the pool. As I expected, he hits a perfect vertical entry and loops back up to break through the rippling surface. He shakes the water off of his face and finds me.
“How was it?” he asks.
My chest aches because I don’t react the way Mom would. She would clap and hoot and pump his ego. I only smile. “It was great,” I say. “It was really great, Daniel.”
He beams and then swims over to the side to do it again. I take up residence where I can watch him, dangling my feet in the water. Some of the guests leave, shooting skyward glances at the thick clouds. On Daniel’s third try I tell him we should head in before he gets struck by lightning. He’s posing for his next dive when I notice Lourdes, from housekeeping, walking over.
She’s no longer in uniform. Instead she wears black shorts and a pale pink blouse, her eyes brightened by thick mascara. She holds up her hand in a wave when I notice her, and I go over to my lounge chair, wondering if she’s here to see me.
“Hi,” she says, seeming nervous to approach me. “Elias said you’d be here. Do you mind if I hang out for a bit?”
“Not at all,” I respond, motioning to the chair next to me. “Although it looks like it might rain.”
“It never rains.” Lourdes sits, and we both turn toward the pool when Daniel splashes in. He pops out of the water, and notices us. He nods his chin to Lourdes, and she smiles in return.
“Is that your brother?” she asks me as Daniel starts swimming toward the shallow end. I can see Lourdes checking him out, and I want to tell her not to bother. Knowing Daniel, I’m sure he’s already plotting how to meet up with Catherine again, especially since their encounter sounded bizarre. He’s predictable like that.
“That’s Daniel,” I tell Lourdes. “We’re here with my dad.”
“Oh?” She looks genuinely surprised, which is odd. Did she think we’d just come here on our own? Is that what the other guests do? “I hadn’t realized,” Lourdes says. A shadow of doubt crosses her features.