Robyn (4 page)

“Just give her a chance, okay? Seriously, you’ll like her once you get to know her.”

Which made me wonder if maybe he
did
like her, if maybe he wanted her to be his girlfriend. If maybe she was indeed the cute babe that Caitlin had overheard him talking about.

He didn’t wait for my answer, but turned and unlocked the car, which was fine with me, because I wasn’t sure what I could say that would make any sense. What made him think Whitney and I had anything in common? Or that we could possibly get along?

The next morning I stood in front of my mirror, glaring at my reflection. My job pretty much prevented me from doing anything creative with my hair. The ponytail was so boring.

Maybe I should just lop it off.

And we weren’t allowed to add flair to our uniform — unlike some restaurants that required it. So how could I make myself stand out from all the other girls there?

Did I even want to stand out? I was just such a get-lost-in-the-crowd kinda girl. Everyone seemed to notice Whitney — even
when she wasn’t doing anything. Of course, that seemed to be her normal mode: doing nothing.

Why did it bother me so much that Sean liked her?

I heard the car horn honk.

Ugh! Sean was early.

I hurried down the stairs and grabbed my tote bag from where I’d put it by the door earlier, after making my lunch and stuffing it inside. Mom had already left for work. She was an administrative assistant for one of the CEOs at a computer firm. She never talked much about what she did. Sounded important to me, though. Company initials always did.

I locked the door, rushed down the sidewalk to where the car was idling. I opened the back door and slid inside.

“Hey,” I said, a little breathless.

Sean grunted before pulling out onto the street.

Caitlin turned around. “I got a little sunburned yesterday. How about you?”

“Yeah.” My skin had felt tight. I was definitely going to apply more lotion today.

It was a totally boring subject, but with Sean in the car, we couldn’t talk boys. He’d give us a hard time about it. No question.

We were all pretty quiet on the drive into work. Since it was Friday and we were heading into the weekend, we knew the crowds would be picking up. Tomorrow and Sunday would be out of control — so this was our last chance to catch our breath before it got crazy. We had to arrive a little earlier than most of the employees because Sean had another supervisors’ meeting. But I was okay with it, was looking forward to a chance to simply enjoy the silence of the park.

When Caitlin and I walked out of the employee locker rooms after changing into our uniforms, I spotted Sean leaning against the wall — like maybe he’d been waiting for us. He shoved himself away.

“Hey, Robyn, got a sec?”

That made my heart thunder. Why would he want to talk to me? Was it good news — I was being transferred to the Bermuda Triangle? Or bad news — I’d done something wrong? Who fired people? The supervisors or the manager?

“For what?” Caitlin asked.

“None of your business.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Head to work.”

“Sean —”

“Come on, Caitlin. I’m talking to you now as a supervisor, not your brother. Get to work.”

Caitlin looked at me. “You’ll tell me what he says, right?”

Would I? Of course I would. She was my best friend. I nodded. Although it really made me nervous that he was insisting she leave. It couldn’t be good.

“There,” she said to him, before stomping off.

“She is such a pain,” Sean grumbled.

“Maybe it’s just that you’re so irritating.”

Had I really said that? That was kinda
rude, maybe because I was so nervous. But he didn’t seem offended. Instead, he said, “Big brothers are supposed to irritate their little sisters. Makes it all even out since they irritate us from the moment they’re born.”

“I don’t really get the whole sibling rivalry thing,” I said, trying to delay whatever bad news was coming my way. Maybe if I distracted him, he’d forget what it was he wanted to tell me — alone with no witnesses.

“That’s right. I forgot. You don’t have any brothers.”

“Or sisters,” I felt obligated to point out.

“That’s right,” he said again, like he was a teacher who’d asked a question and I’d gotten it correct. “You’re an only child. You don’t act like one.”

I furrowed my brow. “What does an only child act like?”

“Spoiled, usually.”

“Says who?”

“The same people who say older brothers are irritating. Anyway, listen, I have a favor
to ask. It’s about Whitney. She’s feeling, you know, like she doesn’t belong, so will you maybe invite her to go with you for lunch?”

“You couldn’t ask that with Caitlin around?”

“If she knew I was asking, she’d give me a hard time about it and probably be unfriendly to Whitney — just because it’s a favor to me.”

I stared at him. “First of all, she wouldn’t be unfriendly. She’s not a mean person. Second, I don’t understand why it’s a favor for you, if I invite Whitney to lunch. Do you like her or something?”

“Well, yeah, I like her, and I know she doesn’t have the whole work ethic down, but if you could just, you know, be nice to her, include her —”

“You think you have to tell me to be nice?”

“Hey, you hang out with my sister. What else am I supposed to think?”

“You’re the one who needs lessons in
‘nice.’ When I get in the car and say, ‘Hey,’ as in ‘hey, good morning,’ ‘good day,’ ‘hello,’ you grunt. What’s up with that anyway?”

He held up his hands. “Don’t go all ballistic on me. I have things on my mind.”

“Like what?”

“How to make a good impression as a supervisor. It’s not easy, you know. Just like this. I ask a favor and suddenly we’re arguing. Geez, forget it. I’ll find someone else.”

He started walking away.

“Sean?”

He stopped and looked back at me.

“Yeah, I’ll invite Whitney to join us for lunch.”

“Don’t put yourself out.”

“No, seriously, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. I owe you.”

Again, I couldn’t figure out why he owed me or why he cared so much about Whitney’s happiness. Did he care about everyone assigned to his crew? Or was Whitney special?

He started to walk away again, stopped,
looked back at me. “You didn’t tell Caitlin I was on probation.”

He said it more like a statement than a question.

I shook my head. “No. How’d you know?”

“She didn’t give me a hard time about it last night.”

“She wouldn’t —”

“She would. So, thanks. And don’t forget to be nice to Whitney.”

“Obviously you haven’t noticed, but I do ‘nice’ really well.”

He grinned. “I’ve noticed.”

He strode away with a lazy walk that, contrary to the way it looked, actually covered a lot of ground quickly.

It was only when I headed to Splash that his words really struck me.

He’d noticed — noticed that I was nice. I didn’t know why that knowledge made me feel really good. Maybe because I’d started noticing lately that he was nice, too.

*  *  *  

Whitney, however, was still a challenge.

“Why do the kids even need to be in inner tubes?” she asked. “It’s just a slide.”

“Maybe they want to feel like it’s a big-kid ride,” I said as I held the tube for a toddler so she could climb in. She was the only one around at the moment because the park had just opened. Her mom was off to the side watching, which again made me wonder why I was even here.

“They’re kids. Do you really think they notice?” Whitney was sitting on the edge of the pool again. “Maybe I’ll suggest they do away with the inner tubes.”

Like someone was going to listen to her suggestions. Honestly, why would she think anyone would care about what she had to say?

“If they did away with the tubes, we’d just be standing around watching kids slide,” I said. I pushed the little girl down the slide and straightened, twisting one way, then the other, to get the kinks out of my back.

“And that’s a problem because?” Whitney asked.

Okay, so most lifeguards just stood around watching people. And really, the inner tubes did seem like way more trouble than they were worth.

“You’re thinking I’m right,” Whitney said. “Admit it.”

“Well, maybe.”

She stood up. “I know. We’ve got a lull here, no day-care kiddos have arrived yet. So let’s test my theory.”

“Test?”

“Yeah. We’ll slide down in a tube, then slide down without. We’ll see which is the most fun.”

“Uh, actually, we’re not supposed —”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. We’re not supposed to be about having any fun. We’re just supposed to work, work, work — slave labor. Besides, who’s gonna notice? Seriously?” She looked around. “The park just opened; there aren’t that many people here yet.”

She grabbed a tube from the mesh container. “Come on. I’ll hold it while you get in. No one will know.”

Well, Nick would know and a few people were in the distance, but they didn’t look like they were paying any attention. And would Nick say anything? He didn’t seem like a whistle-blower.

He was looking at us, grinning. “Go ahead, Robyn,” he called up.

The water was so shallow that I figured the tube would stop me from plunging far enough down to get wet — so there would be no evidence of my transgression.

“For the good of the park,” Whitney urged. “It’s your duty.”

What would it hurt? Truthfully, I missed playing in the park, so maybe this would satisfy those longings.

“Oh, okay,” I finally said, giving in to the peer pressure.

I was only halfway on, not properly situated, when Whitney said, “Have fun!” and pushed me — really hard!

I went flying down the slide, screaming at the suddenness of it. I hit the cold water, dipped over, and landed facedown in the pool. I came up sputtering, and my gaze settled on a pair of firm, tanned calves — - set right in front of me.

I lifted my gaze. The legs belonged to Sean. His arms were crossed over his chest as he stared down at me. Where had he come from? And how had he shown up so fast?

“What. Are. You. Doing?” he asked.

Getting. In. Trouble.

*  *  *  

“I can’t believe you were doing that,” Sean said.

He’d led me over to that little table where we’d taken a break together the day before. Not that we were sitting, enjoying the park. Oh, no, we were standing with him hovering over me. When had he gotten so tall? So broad? So scary?

“You know the rules. No goofing around.” His voice was firm. He was mad, really mad.

“Yeah, but see, Whitney had this theory that we didn’t really need the inner tubes —”

He took off his sunglasses. I could see the disgust in his blue, blue eyes. “We paired her up with you —”

“We?”

“Yeah. TPTB.”

“TPTB?” I was so lost.

“The Powers That Be. The guys in charge. They asked if anyone knew someone who was really dependable and I said you, because usually you are.”

I knew I should have been flattered, that somewhere in his anger was a compliment. But dependable? I was, but suddenly that sounded so boring. Maybe that was part of the reason that I’d gone down the slide — - because I never did anything I wasn’t supposed to do and where was it getting me? Whitney wasn’t doing anything she was supposed to do and she was still employed. Not only that, her supervisor was doing
everything possible to keep her happy. What was up with that anyway?

Sean had to want her to be his girlfriend, but wasn’t that against park rules? To date someone you were in charge of?

“You’re the reason Caitlin doesn’t get into any more trouble than she does,” Sean continued.

Okay, I
was
the one who talked her out of trying to self-pierce her eyebrow — but I didn’t think he knew about that. He did know about the time she wanted to dump bubble bath in the hot tub, and I convinced her it would be a bad idea — that we’d suffocate in bubbles.

“I mean, I thought you were incorruptible,” he said.

“I went down a slide,” I said, getting a little fed up with his attitude. “A little slide. It’s not like I broke the law.”

“You broke a park rule.” He held up a finger. “And don’t you dare say rules are meant to be broken.”

“That’s Caitlin, not me.” She was always saying that.

He shook his head. “Look, just don’t goof around anymore.” He put his sunglasses back on. “We’ve got six day-care centers scheduled for field trips today, so stay alert. And don’t forget to take Whitney with you for lunch.”

“After what just happened? Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’m serious.”

“Are you going to talk to her about this incident? It was her idea.”

“Ideas aren’t against park rules. Going down the slides is.”

Picky. Picky.
If he hadn’t shown up so fast,
she
would have been going down the slide.

So he wasn’t going to say anything to her. Unfair!

He walked away and I strode back to Splash. Whitney was actually helping a boy get into the inner tube. When she gave him a little push, she looked at me and said, “He looked seriously mad.”

“Thanks a lot for standing by me.”

“We were just having fun.”

“But we’re supposed to be working.”

“So what’s your opinion on the tubes? Do they stay or go?”

Did she not get it at all?

“They stay. Why don’t you go down there and help Nick?”

“He has less to do than you do.”

“What does it matter? You’re not doing anything anyway.”

She pouted. I’d never seen an actual pout. She jutted out her lower lip. “Fine.”

She hopped on the slide, slid down.