Chapter 26

Thursday, May 31

Arlene Jenson and the cabana crew hit it off immediately. I wondered how many of the guys had already forgotten their sexual harassment training.

I was afraid a fight might break out over who got to serve her, but she kept ordering little items to allow each guy to have a turn. And she tipped accordingly.

Things slowed down about 4 p.m., allowing me a chance to visit with the redheaded goddess.

“Did you tell Kacie?” she asked, not having to explain what I could have told my sister. At my nod, Arlene continued.

“How’d she take it?”

“I don’t think you knowing bothered her,” I said. “But the fact that Mom probably has figured it out if you have knocked her for a loop. She was still pretty shook up this morning, but Mom chalked it up to her period starting early. She’s due in a day or two.”

“Have her call me when you get home,” Arlene said. “She and Morgan can visit me here at the cabana any time. Maybe I can convince them to come out tomorrow.”

That reminded me that I needed to call Morgan, having not done so since dropping her off Tuesday afternoon. I sent her a text saying I would call when I was done for the day. She replied within minutes, telling me to hurry the hell up.

A little after 5, I called the guys together at one of the picnic tables in the patio area.

“Go ahead and count up your tips. Twenty percent goes in the snack bar’s tip jar, just like we talked about Tuesday night. The rest is yours to take home.”

While we were doing that, Arlene sauntered up and dropped eight $20 bills on the pile. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw none of them included her phone number.

“I thought you gentleman could use a little something for your first day on the job,” she said. “Welcome to Prairie Star.”

If the guys on the cabana crew weren’t already in love with Arlene Jenson, they certainly were now.

She signaled me aside as she turned to go.

“I’ll pass the word to the other members,” she said quietly, “see if we can’t make this worth their while. See ya tomorrow, Sugar.”

Arlene’s contribution assured every member of the crew walked away with, at the very least, enough to buy dinner for themselves. By the time we added that to the total, the girls in the snack bar would have a little something extra, as well.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making sure all the cabanas were stocked. I checked to see which guys could make it for Friday, telling them the afternoon would likely be busier than today as people got an early start on the weekend. A couple preferred to work in the mornings, which would insure the whole day was covered.

I told them we’d probably need everybody open to close Saturday and Sunday as we continued to figure things out. I hoped to have a plan figured out by Monday.

I sent them to change a little after 5:30 and went to make one last circuit to make sure we weren’t leaving anything untended. I was a little surprised when no one moved to go.

“You’ve got to come with us,” Jed said. “We’re going to hit the gym for our leg day and I need my workout partner. We’re a team and we do everything together as a team.”

OK, I thought. I guess we can do that.

I still checked on the few patrons remaining at their cabanas, making sure no one needed anything else, was assured they were all preparing to leave in the next few minutes and followed the rest of the guys to the changing room.

In the interest of efficiency, the guys elected to exercise in their already-sweaty work clothes and we got through the workout in maybe 30 minutes. It was a good thing Jed was familiar with the Bowflex machines because I had no idea how to make the necessary adjustments for the different exercises.

I almost failed to notice the trio of women in the hall outside the gym room, which featured floor-to-ceiling windows along that wall, as did the aerobics studio across the way. At the time, it didn’t seem to be a big deal.

The gym, which had a number of exercise apparatuses, and the aerobics studio had been included in the design of the Activity Center along with a massage therapy room, saunas, whirlpools and various other amenities in addition to the indoor pool and snack bar. The place was pretty big, now that I thought about it. It certainly kept Mr. Alvarez busy running things.

Jed wanted to get some snaps in and grabbed his football. There was enough space between the back fence of the pool and the 10th fairway to set up. I thought it odd when the some of the guys fell into the PAT/FG formation with the rest lining up on defense. They did the same for punt formation. Jake said he felt more comfortable, like a game situation, to have all the bodies massed together. The other linemen would assume a blocking stance each time he snapped the ball, while the “defenders” reacted accordingly.

We kept that up for another half hour before Jed said he was ready to go. The guys all grabbed a shower before reclaiming their street clothes, putting their uniforms in the hamper for the Activity Center staff to deal with.

As I walked back toward the subdivision, I called Morgan.

“Took you long enough,” she quipped upon answering.

“Can you get away for a bit?” I asked.

“I’ll have to check,” she said. “What’s up?”

“I haven’t seen you since Tuesday and I miss you?”

“Good answer,” she said. “How soon?”

“I’m just leaving the golf course,” I said. “I can pick you up in a few minutes and we can walk to my place. Don’t bother dressing up. Whatever you’re wearing now will be fine.”

“What if I’m not wearing anything now?” she teased.

“Don’t get my hopes up,” I said. “Now, go ask your folks. I’ll be there in a bit.”

I covered the remaining distance and rang the Ensberrys’ doorbell to be greeted by Morgan’s dad.

“Good evening, Gary,” he said. “Morgan will be down in a sec. Where are you two off to?”

“That’s kind of up to her,” I said. “But I promise we won’t go too far or be gone too long. I just wanted to see her.”

At that moment, Morgan came bouncing down the stairs.

“My choice, huh?” she asked. “Then how about A&W? I feel like a root beer float. Be back in a little while, Daddy.”

Morgan looked like she’d raided Kacie’s wardrobe, wearing a thin tanktop, jogging shorts and sneakers. The only reason I knew she hadn’t was because the top and shorts fit her. Rather snugly, actually.

As we rounded the corner, I asked Morgan if she’d talked to Kacie today.

“Yeah, she sounded kind of down,” Morgan said. “Anything wrong?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “That’s why I wanted to see you.”

We got to our house and I invited her inside on the pretext of wanting to get a clean shirt. I detoured to the kitchen to tell Mom where we were going, saying I would grab dinner while we were out, and left Morgan in her care.

I went to my room to change and looked in on Kacie. She still looked like she was having a bad day.

“Feeling any better?” I asked from her bathroom doorway.

“Not really,” she said. “I think I understand how you felt last Saturday, though. I keep expecting Mom to burst in and start in on me.”

“Well, take it as a good sign that she hasn’t,” I said. “Was she right about you starting early?”