Page 33 of Daring Lance

“You had a going away party for him?” Willow finally managed to respond.

Ruby shook her head. “What a party it was, too! I don’t think I made it to bed until ten-thirty last night. I haven’t been up that late since the nineties!”

Willow twisted a large hunk of her hair between her fingers. “Lance is gone. What am I going to do?” She looked up at her five guests, realizing that she had spoken out loud.

Bernadette passed her empty glass to Lily, who immediately filled it for her and passed it back. “You’re going to Costa Rica tonight. That’s what you’re doing.”

Willow sat up, straightening her spine. “What?”

Courtney swirled her martini in her glass, right before she downed the contents. “Hurricane is coming, all flights have been canceled for the next six days. You have to leave tonight, or it won’t be for another week,” explained Courtney before daintily wiping a drop of martini from the corner of her lips with a napkin.

“Tonight? Are you serious?” Willow’s gaze darted around the group of seniors. They looked as if they were discussing the evening’s bingo game rather than Willow jumping on a plane to Latin America in a few hours, all because she had screwed up the relationship with the man she not only realized she loved, but also wanted to spend the rest of her life with…wherever that happened to be.

Arthur grinned at her. “Ticket is in your email box. Of course, I can only assume it is as Lily booked it, and she assured me that she sent it to you before we arrived here.”

Willow looked at Arthur, shocked. “You bought me a ticket to Costa Rica? Are you serious? You didn’t need to do that for me. I can’t believe it.”

“Of course I did, dear. We didn’t want you to stress over the cost. Why that ticket was more than my first car. I did love that car: 1960 Ford Jalopy. She was a bute! Last one too, not the car, dear, the ticket. Courtney, would you like me to refill your glass?”

Courtney nodded eagerly. “Why wouldn’t I? This is so exciting.” She clapped excitedly, bouncing up and down in her seat. “Willow is going to Costa Rica, and soon she and Lance will be together again. Just think, if they get married in Latin America, we are all going to have to get our passports renewed.”

Willow smiled weakly. “I, wow, I think we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves. I, in case you didn’t know, I sort of broke up with Lance before he left. He may not be that excited to see me.”

Lily, Bernadette, and Ruby all burst out simultaneously. “Of course, we know, Willow.” Bernadette pounded her cane on the floor, and Willow thought the other residents probably heard the thud all the way to the first floor. “Why do you think we bought the airplane ticket for you? Poor Lance was heartbroken at last night’s party. All it took was two of Ruby’s Pomegranate margaritas, which may have been spiked with an extra shot of tequila in each, to get the boy talking.”

Ruby plucked a hunk of mango from her martini with a toothpick and dropped it into her mouth. “That young man sure can’t hold his liquor. Sang like a bird. Blabbered on and on about how much he loved you and thought you could be happy together in Costa Rica because he couldn’t break his commitment in order to stay in Boca Raton.”

Courtney clucked her tongue. “Poor boy, it nearly broke my heart to hear him tell it.”

Willow twisted her hands together. “His commitment? I don’t understand.” She looked back and forth between the seniors. She scooted to the edge of her seat as she waited for one of them to enlighten her.

Arthur placed his martini glass down on the table. He removed his glasses, with lenses nearly as thick as a Coke bottle, and cleaned them with a handkerchief he had removed from his pocket. “As Lance explained it to me during one of the more boring Korean dramas we watched together, he was responsible for expanding their company’s operations in Costa Rica. As a result, the client put a stipulation into the contract that Lance had to oversee the multi-complex project in order for the deal to go through. This project is going to propel his family’s construction company into the big time. Apparently the client is backed by several billionaire joint venture capitalists.”

Willow’s lower lip quivered. “Why didn’t he explain this to me?” She used her thumb and her index finger to massage the sudden throbbing that had begun between her eyes, right smack in the bridge of her nose.

Bernadette twisted her lips and sighed. “Men, who can figure them out? Not me, but that didn’t stop me from trying because I asked Lance the same thing, and he said he wanted you to move to Costa Rica with him because you wanted to, not because you felt guilted into doing it. Sounded like some line from one of those damn, crazy K-dramas, and I told him as much. I tried to warn him that he needed to tell you before it was too late, but by then he was on his third margarita and had already changed his flight to this morning.”

“Another reason why I don’t have a smartphone,” chimed in Arthur. “A few drinks down the hatch, and before you know it, you’re on an app changing the course of your life. Nope, I’ll keep my flip phone, thank you very much. Too dangerous to upgrade to anything else, if you ask me.”

Bernadette pounded her cane again, this time causing Willow to jump up in the air, nearly two inches off of her seat on the couch. “As I said, men, who can understand them?” Bernadette leaned closer to Willow. “And it’s why we bought you a ticket to Costa Rica. Which,” the old woman paused and looked at the digital watch on her thin wrist with a face as big as a silver dollar and a sixty-point font size, “Leaves in four hours. You best be on your way, Willow, if you’re going to make your flight. George is going to be out front to take you to the airport in fifteen minutes. He takes Venmo, so don’t worry about not having any cash handy.”

Willow took a deep breath, as she looked at each of the seniors perched on her living room furniture. “I can’t believe it. Thank you. I, you’re right. I need to hurry. Thank you.” Tears had sprung to the corners of her eyes, and she brushed them away with the back of her hand.

Courtney made several taps into her cell phone and then patted Willow on the knee. “I dropped a pin on Lance’s hotel in Costa Rica and sent it to you via text. I also ordered a driver for you when you arrive in Costa Rica, and I texted that information to you as well.”

Ruby kicked back the last of what Willow estimated was her third martini before she set her glass down on the table, its empty state only temporary as Lily was already in the process of refilling it. “Don’t forget to Snapchat us when you arrive at Lance’s hotel. We want updates!”

Lily eagerly nodded in agreement. “A TikTok video with his reaction would even be better, you know how to use TikTok, don’t you, dear?”

Willow stared back at the old women, speechless. These seniors were more adept at social media than Willow and her friends. “Yeah, ah, yes, I do. I’ll make sure to keep you all up to date.

Bernadette shooed her away with one of her bejeweled hands. “Then get going. We’re going to finish this pitcher of martinis and then we’ll clean up before we leave. We’ll make sure to lock the door. Although it wouldn’t hurt to have some of this furniture stolen. Some of these things are older than Betty in 219.”

Willow stood up. She didn’t know Betty to take a guess at her age, but Willow was pretty sure that was a good thing, because if she tried to speak, she would break down in tears. She made her way around Courtney when Lily pulled a gift bag from beside her chair and held it up to Willow. “A few little somethings from the Lancelot collection for your trip. Their prototypes, but I think they will do fine.”

Each of the women cackled, and even Arthur smirked behind his martini glass. Willow took the bag from Lily’s outstretched hand and murmured her thanks. She let out a swift breath and then hurried to her bedroom, where she pulled her suitcase from the closet. She was actually going to Costa Rica in less than four hours. She had no idea how long she would be staying, but she was determined not to return home until she and Lance had reconciled, more importantly, until she finally admitted her feelings for him. She smiled secretly to herself. She loved Lance, and he was going to know it. She spied the gift bag next to her suitcase and smirked. If it took a little help from the Lancelot collection to convince Lance of her feelings for him, all the better!

TWELVE

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