It makes more of a crunching noise and barely moves an inch. “We’re gonna have to carry it.”
Fourth Aunt doesn’t look happy, but as we’ve got no choice, I take the front of the cooler and lift, and she does the same with the back. Together, we heave the cooler up and stagger slowly down the pebble path. It’s a long journey, but with every painful step, the resort is getting farther from view.
Until Fourth Aunt suddenly stops, her eyes going wide.
“What’s going—” My words die in my mouth when I turn around, because there’s a buggy headed toward us, and incidentally, it’s occupied by Nathan and an elderly couple I quickly recognize as Tom Cruise Sutopo’s parents, that is, the parents of the groom, a.k.a. the billionaires who are footing the staggering bill for this wedding.
Nathan’s entire face lights up when he notices me, which does funny things to my stomach. My poor stomach—it can’t decide whether to knot out of sheer terror due to body in cooler, etc., or flutter with pleasure because Nathan, etc. It compromises by giving a nauseated gurgle.
Nathan hops out of his buggy and says to Mr. and Mrs. Sutopo, “Here’s someone I’d love you to meet.”
I swallow, my mouth dry.
The old couple smile politely, obviously as confused as I am because I’m a nobody. But when they see Fourth Aunt, they actually gasp out loud and grab each other’s hands.
“This is—”
“MIMI CHAN!” Mr. Sutopo positively squeals.
Mrs. Sutopo shakes her head in wonder, mouth agape. “Is it really her?”
Fourth Aunt takes this in stride. She lowers her end of the cooler gracefully before sashaying to them. Nathan helps the older couple down from the buggy. They still can’t take their eyes off Fourth Aunt, even as they clamber down.
“We’re such big fans,” Mrs. Sutopo says. Her English is flawless, her accent slightly British. Belatedly, I recall Googling her and reading that she met her husband while they were both studying at Oxford. “We’ve followed your career ever since you were a little girl.”
“Oh, that’s so sweet to hear! I love meeting my fans.” Fourth Aunt gives them a big hug, and they practically melt into her, their faces beaming hard.
“You know, our son Tom booked your family’s services for today because he knows we’re your number one fans,” Mr. Sutopo says.
Fourth Aunt’s grin is as wide as a Cheshire cat’s. We’ll definitely be hearing more about this later, when Ma’s around to listen to Fourth Aunt boast about how she’s brought in good business for us. And I will have to nod and tell them that it’s true. Ma’s not going to like that.
“But where are you two off to?” Mrs. Sutopo says. “You’re going the wrong way. The hotel’s that way.”
“Oh, we just need to . . .” My brain short-circuits. We just need to what? I almost tell them that we’ve brought the wrong cooler, but quickly realize that I would be admitting a mistake to our clients. Big Aunt would have my head for it. No, I can’t tell them that. “We didn’t want to take up too much room inside the walk-in fridge, so we’re just taking this cooler back real quick.”
“Back? You mean back to the mainland?” Mr. Sutopo says.
“That’s a whole lot of hassle just to stow a cooler!” his wife says. “Nathan, dear, there must be a place for them to store it here. You can’t possibly have these lovely ladies traipsing all across your island and across the water on such a big day.”
“Of course,” Nathan says. “I’m as surprised as you are.” He turns to me and says, “You can store it in the walk-in fridge. It’s plenty big enough.”
“I really don’t want to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble, really.”
“Nathan, dear, why don’t you help the lovely girl take the cooler back to the fridge? We’ll be alright here with Mimi. You take the buggy. We’ll walk,” Mrs. Sutopo says. She turns to Fourth Aunt and winds her arm through hers before saying, “Come, we must take so many pictures together. Oh my goodness, you are even prettier in real life!”
I watch in dismay as the Sutopos and Fourth Aunt walk away. “Um, I don’t think it’s a good idea to let them walk to the hotel. It’s pretty far, and it’s uphill—”
“I agree,” Nathan says, easily. “We’ll leave the buggy here for them, and I’ll help move this cooler back to the kitchen.”