"Perhaps the guests here are all on their honeymoons, but there are other resorts with restaurants and lounges, you know... not to mention some clubs in town as well.
Besides, the people who work here aren't all on honeymoons or even married. That driver who brought us to our villa was a cutie," Bethany said with a grin as Carolyn finished with her shoes and stood up. "And I think he liked you. He kept calling you pretty lady."
"Who? Adam?" Carolyn asked, and couldn't keep the shock out of her voice.
Bethany arched an eyebrow. "You have a problem because he's not white?"
Carolyn snorted. "No, I have a problem because he's a baby. Adam has to be at least twenty years younger than me," she pointed out with a laugh.
Carolyn was sure Bethany was just teasing her, so was a bit shocked when Bethany arched an eyebrow and said, "So? Men do it all the time. Rich, successful men are always dumping their wives for sweet young things."
She shrugged. "You're a rich divorcee. Why shouldn't you have a boy toy?"
"Oh, I don't know," she said dryly. "Maybe because the entire time I was with him I'd be resisting the urge to change his diapers and burp him."
Bethany laughed. "Honey, if Adam dropped his drawers in front of you I'm sure the last thing you'd be thinking about is diapers."
"Beth, he called us both pretty ladies, and so did the bartender. I suspect the male workers here do it with everyone.
It probably gets them bigger tips. And I hate to tell you this, but if your plans to cheer me up include my having a sordid little tryst with a cabana boy, you're going to be terribly disappointed on this trip."
"It doesn't have to be one of the guys who works here, necessarily. What about those band guys who are coming tonight?" Beth asked, moving out of the way as Carolyn grabbed her purse and approached the door. "They're Italian, right? Well, Italian men are supposed to be stallions."
"And bands have pretty young groupies chasing them around," Carolyn pointed out as she crossed the foyer.
"They'd hardly be interested in an old broad like me."
"All right, we'll find you an adult playmate then." Beth trailed her to the front door. "But I think you're making a mistake. Younger men have a lot more stamina than men our age. They hit their sexual peak from eighteen to twenty-five or something like that, while women don't become sex machines until their forties. In truth, it's almost like mother nature wants us to play with the young ones."
Carolyn just shook her head and opened the front door as she sang out, "Good night," Beth."
"Have fun," Bethany instructed as Carolyn pulled the door closed.
"Have fun," Carolyn muttered, starting up the walk to the wending mountain road. "Yeah, right."
Honestly, the longer she was here the more Carolyn regretted coming... and it had only been a little more than twenty-four hours. But so far she'd had an uncomfortable meal with Genie and strangers, gone to bed early, gotten up early, and sat on the beach alone with a book... mostly in the shade because everyone knew the sun wasn't good for you. She hadn't been reading the book, but had basically pretended to, keeping it propped on her chest while she watched the people around her under the cover of her sunglasses.
It had been a depressing exercise, Carolyn thought as she started along the dark lane. Watching all that billing and cooing around her as she sat alone without even Bethany for company. She'd found herself lying there wondering what was wrong with her. She was okay when it came to looks with a nice face, shoulder-length blond hair, and... well, all right, she could stand to lose a few pounds, but she was average. Why didn't she have someone to love her too? Of course, then the heckler, the voice in her head that sounded like her ex-husband, had helpfully listed all her faults. It was a never ending list and had taken up most of the day.
"Depressing," Carolyn muttered, moving automatically to the edge of the road as she heard a vehicle approaching from behind. Unfortunately, she moved too far to the side, her heels promptly sank into the grassy verge and nearly sent her splat onto her face. Managing to stay upright by doing a little dance that took her right out of one shoe, Carolyn sighed and bent to pull it out of the dirt. She then cursed under her breath when her purse promptly slid off her shoulder and dropped to the ground.
"Pretty lady, what are you doing walking? You should have called down for a ride. Come, get in, we have room."
Carolyn froze at that voice and didn't need to look to see that a vanload of resort guests were getting a lovely view of her behind. It just had to be the case. It was her kind of luck. Sighing, she pulled her shoe free, grabbed up her purse, and slung it back over her shoulder as she straightened and turned to the van to find Adam beaming at her from the driver's seat. That just figured. With Beth's words ringing in her ear the last person she wanted to see was the first one she did.
"Don't they ever let you go home, Adam?" Carolyn asked, managing a smile.
"Two drivers are sick. I am working overtime. Overtime pays well," he said with a grin. "Come, get in. We will take you down. You can sit in the front with me."
Carolyn hesitated, but then limped around the van to the passenger-side door with one shoe on and one off. She was running a little late and would get there faster with a ride. Mind you, it was going to be uncomfortable making small talk with Adam while Bethany's words rang in her head. Good lord, he really didn't look more than twenty-one or twenty-two.
Shaking that thought away, she opened the door and climbed in, smiling at Adam as she did.
"There, see? It's all good," Adam said cheerfully, sending the van moving forward again as soon as she'd settled in the seat and tugged the door closed.
"Yes, thank you." Carolyn quickly undid her shoe, slipped it back on and did it up only to frown as her heel immediately slipped out again. She stared at it blankly, slow to realize that her foot hadn't worked itself out of the shoe, but that the sandal strap had actually broken.
"Damn," she muttered.