“Pretend?” She feigned insult. “I’ll have you know that Vitahl is my instructor and when you finally learn to love seaweed, you’ll be sorry you said that.”
I would never in my entire life love seaweed. She put down the knife and wiped her hands.
“Oh all right,” she relented.
A quick shower, a dusting of mineral makeup and lip gloss, and fifteen minutes later, I was standing in front of my immense new closet with my hands on my hips.
“What on earth am I going to wear?” I shied away from the closet and collapsed on the bed, tightening the towel around my chest. “I have to look pretty, not old.”
“I am not old!” She cried from within the clothes. “What about this?”
A pink sundress flew at me.
“No.”
“This?”
A long blue skirt.
“No way!”
“Fine.” There was a pause. “This?”
A pair of bright green shorts sailed through the air, landing on the floor, just short of the bed. That was followed by a yellow shirt.
“Eeew!”
“For heaven’s sake, Morgandy.” Mom exited the closet and sat next to me on the bed. She pointed to the closet. “You go in there and choose.”
“If I go in there, I might never come back,” I said somberly and she pushed me off the bed.
After exhausting nearly every option, I came across a pretty white peasant shirt and a pair of black Capri pants. Slipping on some black leather sandals, I faced the mirror. I looked decent.
Mom pulled my long hair up at the sides and clipped it with a silver clasp.
“You look lovely,” she said and gave me a squeeze. “Let’s go and find him.”
Thayde was standing in the living room across the coffee table from Tammer, who was sprawled on the couch, limbs askew, resembling a sea anemone. When I looked quizzically at Mom, she whispered “He’s been hunting. He’s a bit tired.”
Thayde, on the other hand, didn’t look the least bit tired. He was completely dressed in black from head to toe. A long sleeved parson’s shirt hid the scars on his arms. His blue eyes were piercing. He looked up as we entered the room and his smile made my knees wobble.
“Thayde, are you sure you’re up to this?” Mom fussed.
“Elan, he’ll be fine.” Tammer’s muffled voice called from between the pillows. “He immersed and he’s feeling much better.”
“Immersed?”
Thayde walked toward me and took my hand. “The bathtubs have a healing gel. That made me feel a lot stronger.”
He nodded to Mom. “Thank you for helping me. I was just saying to Tammer that I couldn’t have recovered as well if I had been at home.”
It was sad to hear and it was wrong. Everyone should feel safe and comforted in their own home.
“I’m glad we could help,” she said and made her way to Tammer. “Please be home by midnight, Morgandy,” she huffed as she dug him out of the couch.
“I will,” I led Thayde out the front door away from Mom and Tammer the slug.
Parked in front of the walkway was a shiny black Ferrari. I gasped.
“Is this yours?” I asked as he opened the passenger door for me.
“Yes,” he seemed apologetic. When he slid into the driver’s seat he continued. “It’s not brand new.”
“It’s beautiful,” I pulled on my seatbelt and caressed the leather seat with my hand.
“Do you like sushi?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I’ve never tried it.”
“Would you like to?”
No.
“Yes,” I said.
Starting the engine, he cocked his head. “Liar!”
What do you say when you’re caught? I started to stammer.
“Honestly, I’ve always been afraid to try it. I’ve always heard of worms growing in your stomach and all that.”
He smiled.
“Worms, huh? Let me take you to a proper sushi restaurant where you won’t get worms.” Shifting into first, he shook his head. “Worms,” he chuckled.
We drove with the top down. The warm wind flew through my newly long hair and made me shiver. Thayde noticed and asked if I’d rather have the top up. I said no. This was perfect. He was perfect. What could be better than driving in a beautiful car with the love of your life and feeling pretty and in control for once? Not much.
We drove to a new restaurant on the beach called The Dolphin named after the dolphin fish, not the actual dolphin. I still had to get used to Florida and its strange names. For instance, Vero Beach was called Zero Beach by the locals. They figured that nothing exciting ever happened in Vero. How wrong they were.
Settling into a velvet covered chair, Thayde took his seat next to me and reached for my hand.