Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Tyler and Justin started eating, but Dominic paused. “It’s yellowfin tuna, caught locally. We eat a lot of fish here—hope you like seafood.”
I did, but in Illinois, I didn’t often get it that much except for salmon at restaurants for special occasions. The tuna was sliced, the edges coated in sesame seeds and other spices. It was accompanied by fried vegetables—maybe it was tempura? There was also a fresh little salad on the side.
As if that wasn’t enough, there was a basket of homemade bread in the middle, plus ice water and wine for each of us. Everything was delicious. Rocco knew his trade, that was for certain.
It was hard to believe that last night, I’d eaten a piece of reheated chicken and some instant mashed potatoes in our apartment. It’s not that I never cooked, but these days, there wasn’t much time. I didn’t get paid for the time I spent driving to and from massage appointments, nor did I get paid for setting up and cleaning up afterwards. Yet those things took as long as the massages themselves.
Dominic caught me staring thoughtfully at the water. “Quite a bit different than Illinois, isn’t it?”
“God, yes.” Not that I hated my home state or anything like that, but the view here was incredible. “Will we see the sunset from here?”
“Yes. It won’t be over the water, like if we were in Clearwater or Sanibel Island, but you should be able to see some of the colors in the sky reflected off the surf over to the right,” Tye said.
The sun was already lower in that direction, and I was eager to see more colors.
“I always thought Aunt Evelyn picked the perfect spot,” Dominic said pensively. “If you’re on the west coast of Florida, you can see the sun setting over the water, but not rising. If you’re on the east coast of Florida, it’s the opposite. But here, you can see both—except they’re off to the side, not straight out over the water. Seems like a pretty good payoff to me.”
I nodded, but I was distracted. Some huge, dark-colored bird appeared over the water, gliding on the sea breeze. Its wingspan was so big that it looked like a baby pterodactyl to me. Then it folded its wings up and dove straight down, like a torpedo headed toward the water. It broke through the waterline beak first, disappearing underneath with barely a splash. A few seconds later, it popped to the surface, pausing just long enough for me to see the large fish in its mouth. Then its powerful wings spread, and it took off, flying parallel to the shoreline.
“What was that?” I’d never seen a bird that big, or one that moved that fast.
“Pelican,” Tye said. He’d been watching it, too.
“Really? But… they look so awkward and comical on the ground.” I’d only seen them in zoos, and I’d never considered that they could be graceful like that, soaring through the sky.
“It’s a lot different when they’re in the air,” Tye said.
Justin chuckled. “But you should see one when it perches on a telephone wire. Makes the whole thing sag.”
I tried to picture that and couldn’t quite do it. Florida was like a whole different world to me. On the flight down, I’d worried about what it would be like to stay with—and give massages to—three strange men for the week. That was still a concern, but now I was also wondering about what kind of wildlife I’d encounter. There had already been a lizard or a skink, a pelican, and mosquitos to keep at bay. Before I went to bed tonight, I needed to look online to see what else I might encounter.
Besides baseball players turned lawyers. Which reminded me of something. Tyler seemed like the most standoffish of the trio—though not at all rude and condescending like the chef. But Dominic told me I should ask him about their plans.
“I heard that you’re going to become lawyers?” The question was for anyone, but I looked across the table at Tye. However, it was Justin who answered.
“That’s the plan.”
Asking why seemed rude, so I said, “That’s a big change from baseball.”
Tyler had his eyes on his food. After a pause, Dominic spoke. “First, we have to get into law school. That’s where you come in, actually.”
“Me?” I was so surprised I choked on the sip of wine I’d just taken.
“Yeah. We came down here so we could study for the LSAT without any distractions,” Dominic explained.
Yeah, right. No distractions except a gorgeous view, a pool, a hot tub, a game room, a theater, a bowling alley… the list could go on and on.
Justin finished his wine. “Evelyn was so impressed with the work you did at that wedding that she thought you could help provide a little stress relief in between study sessions.”