Page 34 of Home Body
“What happened to them?” someone asked. “Do you know?”
“Oh yeah. I call home regularly. My brother fills me in. After I left the church, most of my family and friends left, too. But hers stayed. There was quite a hubbub for about half an hour, then they crossed my name off the marriage license and my fiancée and my friend got married.”
“No!” “Bastards!” “He weren’t never no friend o’ yers!”
“It turns out they’d been having an affair for months,” Bart added.
“Hey, that’s just like her,” the elderly woman noted, pointing at Kenyon.
“I’d say you two are perfect for each other,” the gruff guy insisted. “You two should get hitched.”
That got hoots and hollers of approval from the crowd.
“Oh, my,” Kenyon faltered in reply. “We, um, just met yesterday.”
“It’s love at first sight!” someone yelped.
A cheer rang up and the young couple, embarrassed and entertained in tandem, chuckled along with their fans.
“Well, whatever this is,” Kenyon announced. “I’m afraid it’s over. I have a plane to catch in less than two hours. This has been such fun. Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement. It does me a world of good.”
“Oh no. You can’t leave already,” Bleary-eyes moaned. “You just got here. At least for us.”
“Thanks, but I must go. And thank you, Bart, for sharing your story, too. It’s good to know I’m not alone in the ‘been bamboozled department.’”
“No problem,” he said, grinning. “Thanks everybody. The same goes for me. It’s been a pleasure.”
Folks said their goodbyes as Bart pulled some bills out of his pocket to pay their tab.
The bartender put up a palm. “Oh no. I refuse. You’ve just provided the best entertainment I’ve had all summer. Take care, lovebirds.” He shot them a cockeyed grin.
Bart threw down a ten despite the rebuff. He knew how hard bartenders worked.
“Thanks, man,” the bartender said, tapping two fingers to his forehead as if tipping an imaginary hat.
As they walked across the sand on their way back to the hotel, they volleyed questions back and forth in a hurry to get to knowone another. After all, islanders now considered them to be a couple.
She learned that Bart was a certified electrician and had been employed in his family’s construction business since his teens. She told him about her new degree in communication and the need to write a compelling story within a week to try to secure a job withTheDetroit News. She asked if he thought he’d stay in Los Cabos long-term, and he said he had no plans to return home. But he changed course and said that would depend. He didn’t specify.
They figured out that the distance between her home in Michigan and his in Ohio was only about an hour’s drive. That realization flabbergasted them.
“Sylvania is next to Toledo, right on the other side of the border,” he told her. “Not far from Detroit.”
“Wow. That’s close. Well, if you ever do decide to go home, give me a call. Maybe we could have lunch or something.”
“I think I’ll be coming soon.”
“Oh yeah? How soon?”
“I don’t know. Maybe next week.” He tunked her arm with his.
“Huh. Next week you’ll meet another girl here and forget all about me.” Her wistfulness belied her need to protect herself.
He put a hand on her arm to stop her. “No Kenyon. I could never forget you. You’re so fun and smart and so incredibly beautiful!”
“What? Me? Go on.” She sloughed him off and started walking again, gesturing as she went. “I don’t fit anybody’s definition of ‘pretty,’ let alone ‘beautiful.’ Well, except my parents’. But they don’t count. I’m not skinny like all those models and movie stars and even Jessa.”
“No you’re not.” He took her hand and turned her toward him so they faced one another. “You’re much more beautifulthan that. When a man holds you in his arms, he’ll know he has a real woman.”
