Cheap Trick (Dawson Family 4)
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The way back to the road wasn’t much easier than the way up to the waterfalls. Danielle kept up, though, and pushed forward every time I suggested we slow. Her childhood wasn’t spent roaming through cornfields and woods like mine was.
There’s a small line at the farm truck, and Danielle is so excited to buy some sort of sugarcane drink she read about online I don’t have the heart to tell her we’re really cutting it close on time. Assuming we don’t hit any snags on the way back to the resort, we’ll have just enough time to change and run downstairs to the lobby to meet everyone for the rehearsal.
We order a ton of fruit and a few specialty items we’re told you can only get at this location, and slowly walk through a mowed clearing as we eat.
“Thank you, Logan,” Danielle says, thanking me for the millionth time.
“You don’t have to keep thanking me, Danielle. It’s not like it’s torture being here with you, even though you are pretty terrible to be around every now and then.”
Danielle punches me in the shoulder. “Right? I’m the worst.”
We both laugh, and Danielle holds out her drink, telling me I have to try it.
“Isn’t that amazing?”
“It’s really sweet, but yeah, that’s good. I want to add some rum to it.”
“Ohhh now that would be good.”
We finish our food and walk back to the car. Danielle looks through the photos she took on the hike, and then puts her phone down, resting her head against the seat. We make it another mile or so before she dozes off, which is a good thing, because we run into a bit of a traffic jam. And by traffic jam, I mean a few cows wandered off the grassy hillside and are standing in the road. It’s not an uncommon thing to have happen back home, and while the people in the car ahead of us are sitting there not knowing what to do, I put our car in park and get out.
It takes a few minutes to shoo the cows away, and Danielle wakes up when I get back in.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she grumbles. “Were you out of the car?
“Yeah.” I pull my seatbelt back on. “There were cows in the road.”
“That’s random, and not what I expected to hear. I almost forget people have to have normal lives in order to live here.”
“Right? It’s easy to think it’s nothing but a tropical utopia all the time.”
“Exactly.” She looks at the clock. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah…We’ll make it. I think.”Chapter 18Danielle“Reassuring.” I watch another minute tick by. I don’t want to be that asshole who’s late for her own sister’s rehearsal dinner. Though I’d rather be late for this than her actual wedding.
“I’ll drop you off and then just go. I’ll meet you at the restaurant with your clothes. What do you want to wear?”
“I brought a light blue dress with a floral pattern on it to wear tonight.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Logan tells me.
“I need underwear too.” I make a face. “If you can handle that. The strings on my bikini bottoms will stick out funny.”
Logan gives a casual shrug. “Just don’t wear underwear.”
“What if it’s a little breezy on the shore?”
“Then we’ll all get a free show.”
“Hey, I don’t give anything away for free.”
Logan laughs, and I shift in my seat, feeling anxious to get back to the hotel. I nervously scroll through social media, trying to pass the time as we drive back around the island and to the hotel. Logan pulls into the parking lot with six minutes to spare.
“Just come with me,” I tell him, unbuckling my seatbelt. “I’ll change after the rehearsal.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m here, and there are worse things than being a little messy. It’s not the actual wedding.”
Logan nods and parks the car. Then we get out and rush to the lobby. Everyone is there, and my phone rings right as I step in. It’s my mother, no doubt wondering where I am.
“We’re here!” I say, bringing my hand up in a wave. My mom whirls around, looking relieved…until she sees me.
“What the hell happened to you?” she exclaims. Her hair is all done up, and her makeup has no doubt been professionally applied.
“We went hiking.” I smile. “And saw waterfalls and jumped off a cliff. Well, not really a cliff. It wasn’t that steep. But it was incredible!”
“You’re dirty.”
I look down, having forgotten about the paw prints. “Shoot. Right. There was a dog.”
“Go change.”
“Don’t we have to get started?” I ask, looking up. It’s then I realize Diana’s not here yet. “Where’s Di?”
“At the salon. There was an issue with her hair, and if that’s any indication of how tomorrow’s going to go…Your poor sister was so upset and couldn’t stop crying. She missed her nail appointment, and they’re just now finishing up with her.” My mother’s lips form a thin line, and she shakes her head. I get it, I really do. Weddings are important. You put more time and money into one single day than you do to a bunch of days added up.