Lies and Weddings(33)
A waitress appeared at their table moments later. “Beautiful day, isn’t it? What can I get for you two?”
“What’s your favorite cocktail here? Something fun and beachy?” Freddy asked.
“The ube colada, definitely.”
“What’s an ube?”
“It’s a purple yam, grown right here on the island. It’s sweet like vanilla. Trust me, you’ll love it.”
“Let’s go for it! Two ube coladas, please. Also, do you have any chips and guac?”
“I can definitely make that happen.”
As soon as the waitress left, Eden looked at Freddy with a smile. “Your mood’s totally changed. You seemed a bit distressed a little earlier.”
“I have a hard time seeing anyone in pain. It was so amazing to see you spring into action like that, despite all that blood and the flesh-eating bacteria. How do you do it?”
“Training, mostly. I go right into problem-solving mode.”
“When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?”
“Probably when I was around seven or eight—it was just something that came to me naturally. I was always taking in injured birds, abandoned baby field mice. At first I thought I wanted to be a vet. Of course, my father’s a doctor, so seeing him go about his work every day had its effect, but I also have this distinct memory of being with my mother when she was in and out of hospitals, and the extremely kind people who treated her. That also had a huge effect on me.”
“How’s your mother now?”
“She passed away when I was five.”
“You were five years old and you remember being at the hospital with your mom?”
“Believe it or not, yes. I have flashes of it, of the rooms.”
“Wow. I can barely remember what happened last week.”
“Well, it’s often much easier to remember things from long ago.”
Freddy stared at the kids playing in the pool for a moment. A teenage boy was shouting “Marco!” while wandering around the shallow end with his eyes tightly shut, as a few younger kids encircled him, squealing “Polo! Polo!” He looked back at Eden, his voice getting a little choked up. “My mom died when I was twelve. Ovarian cancer. They hid it from me and my sister and never allowed us to visit her in the hospital. One day she just left…and never came home.”
“I’m sorry,” Eden said, placing her hand over his and giving it a comforting squeeze. She wondered what was worse, not getting a chance to say goodbye to your mother, or having the distinct memory of seeing your mother in a hospital bed, surrounded by loud machines and writhing in pain.
The waitress returned with two tall tumblers decorated with large pineapple wedges and filled with a creamy frosty drink accented by a deep-purple syrup. Seeing the cocktails made Freddy snap out of his funk.
“Bé salamati!” Freddy toasted. He took his first sip and looked at Eden in amazement. “Wow, she was right. This stuff is better than crack!”
Eden took a sip, immediately breaking into a smile. “The ube has a sort of nutty sweetness,” Eden assessed. “Rufus is going to love it.”
“Ha! We’ll be lucky if we see Rufus for the rest of the weekend!”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t pick up on all that chemistry back in the room?”
“Not really. I was more focused on treating Solène’s injury.”
“I think she’s recovering pretty well! I bet you a thousand bucks there’s some adult-only content happening in that room right now. The sick patient needs a hunky surfer to make her pain go away.”
Eden laughed lightly, although she found it oddly unsettling to think of Rufus in that way. Besides, she’d known within five seconds of meeting Solène that she just wasn’t going to be right for Rufus. She might have had all the pedigree and the poise in the world, but she would never make Rufus happy in the long run. He might enjoy the diversion for the moment, but he’d soon lose interest. Oddly enough, she felt that Freddy and Solène together made a lot more sense. She looked across the table at Freddy thoughtfully. “What about you? Don’t tell me you’ve thrown in the towel with Solène so quickly?”
Freddy sighed. “You know, for the past five years I’ve nursed this fantasy about Solène de Courcy, ever since the day I first saw her sitting across from me at a banquette at Alcazar. I thought once I perfected my six-pack she’d show some interest in me. I spent the past three years being tortured by my sadistic trainer six times a week and eating boiled chicken with steamed broccoli florets—I fucking hate broccoli florets—just to get rid of my man boobs. I was totally focused on what Solène would think of the new me.”
“And have you learned what Solène thinks…?” Eden asked.
Freddy grinned for a moment, and then his expression changed as he peered deep into Eden’s eyes. “You know, until this week, I would never have imagined that the new me might not give a rat’s ass what Solène thinks anymore.”
“Really?”
“Yup. I think seeing her again has really put things in perspective for me. I don’t actually want someone who only likes me depending on the way I look. And Solène doesn’t even see me, she sees right through me. She only sees Rufus.”