Brown-Eyed Girl (Travis Family #4)(41)

After lunch had been cleared and the caterers were washing dishes, I found Sofia and Ree-Ann standing just outside the kitchen door, drinking glasses of iced tea. They stared intently in the direction of the pool, neither of them sparing me a glance.

“What are you two looking at?” I asked.

Sofia made a shushing motion with her hand.

Following their gazes, I saw Joe emerging from the pool, shirtless and dripping. The sight of his athletic body, bronzed and taut, all those wet muscles gleaming in the sun, was spectacular. He shook his head like a dog, sending water drops flying.

“That is the hottest guy I’ve ever seen,” Ree-Ann said reverently.

“A papi chulo,” Sofia agreed.

Joe lowered to sit beside the pool as his nephew Luke came to him with an orange plastic water wing, the kind that slid over the upper arms. Joe pried open the valve on the plastic wing and blew air into it. I noticed a neat diagonal surgical scar on his side, parallel to his ribs, extending upward almost to his back. The line was nearly invisible, only a shade or two darker than the surrounding skin, but I could tell from the way the light hit it that the scar was slightly raised. After turning Luke around, Joe repeated the procedure on the other water wing.

“I wish he’d inflate my flotation devices,” Ree-Ann said wistfully.

“Can’t either of you find something productive to do?” I asked in annoyance.

“We’re taking our ten-minute break,” Sofia said.

Ree-Ann shook her head in admiration as Joe stood, his board shorts riding low on his hips. “Mmmn. Look at that rear view.”

Scowling, I muttered, “It’s not right to objectify men any more than it is for them to do it to us.”

“I’m not objectifying him,” Ree-Ann protested. “I’m just saying his ass is cute.”

Before I could respond, Sofia said, “I think our break is over, Ree-Ann.” She was struggling to hold back a laugh.

The three of us went to work in the kitchen with the catering staff as they boxed up untouched food to be taken to a women’s shelter directly afterward. Glassware, dishes, and table accessories were washed and dried, table linens were put into laundry bags, the garbage was bagged, and the kitchen was scrubbed until it was spotless.

As the last of the party guests went inside to mingle with the family in the main room, Steven and Tank supervised the breakdown of the cabana tents and the dessert station, while the rest of the crew cleaned the pool and patio. After the caterers and cleanup staff had left, I walked around to make certain we had left everything exactly as we’d found it.

“Avery…” Sofia came out to the patio, looking satisfied but tired. “I just went through the house – it’s perfect. The Travises are relaxing in the living room. Ree-Ann can drop me off at home, or I can stay here with you.”

“Go with Ree-Ann. I’ll ask Ella if there’s anything else they’d like me to do.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Sofia smiled. “I probably won’t be home when you get back. I’m going to the gym.”

“Tonight?” I asked incredulously.

“There’s a new combo class with spinning and core training.”

I gave her an arch glance. “What’s his name?”

Sofia smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know yet. He always takes bike twenty-two. Last spin class, he challenged me to a race.”

“Who won?”

“He did. But only because I was distracted by his glutes.”

I laughed. “Have a good workout.”

After Sophia left, I continued to walk around the pool. Sunset wouldn’t occur for another couple of hours, but the low-slung light was already braised with the last red fire of day. I was hot and sticky, and my feet were sore from walking back and forth across the patio. Sighing, I slipped off my sandals and flexed my toes and arches.

As I glanced into the water, I noticed a small, brightly colored object at the bottom of the pool. It looked like a child’s toy. The cleanup crew had left by then; I was the only one outside. I walked to the shed where pool supplies were kept and found a long-handled net hung on a wall rack. It was the kind of net used for skimming debris. After fumbling to extend the telescoping handle to its fullest length, I crouched at the edge of the pool and sank the net as deep as I could. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long enough.

One of the patio doors opened and closed. Somehow I knew it was Joe, even before I heard him ask casually, “Need a hand?”

I felt a thrill of worry, shrinking inwardly as I wondered if he would want to talk.

“I’m trying to get something out of the pool,” I replied. “It looks like a kid’s toy.” Standing, I offered the pool net to Joe. “Do you want to give it a try?”

“That won’t reach. It’s about fourteen feet deep. We used to have a diving board at that end.” Joe stripped off his shirt and dropped it to the sun-warmed tile.

“You don’t have to —” I began, but he had already dived cleanly into the water, heading straight to the bottom with powerful, efficient strokes.

He emerged with a red-and-yellow toy car. “It’s Luke’s,” he said, setting it on the side. “I’ll take it in to him.”

“Thank you.”