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“You can’t promise that if you don’t know what it is.”
“How bad could it be? Does it involve murder?”
“No.”
“Then, you’re good.”
She chuckled, looking so beautiful with the ocean breeze blowing around her blonde waves. “I barely know you. I can’t open up about everything going on with me after knowing you for less than a day.”
“I bet it would only take a minute for me to know everything I needed to about you, Kendall.”
“What do you mean?”
“The important points in anyone’s life can be summed up in under a minute. Most of the mundane stuff that happens in between is insignificant.” I took out my phone and handed it to her. “Wanna test it? Go to the stopwatch feature and time me. I’ll tell you all about me in thirty seconds.”
She opened the timer. “Okay. Go,” she said, pressing start.
“Carter Clynes. Also known as Triple C, which stands for Captain Carter Clynes, sometimes shortened to Trip. Almost thirty years old. Grew up in Michigan. Class clown. Catholic family. Parents still together. Two sisters. One girlfriend. Broke her heart before I went away to college. University of Michigan. Played the field. Dropped out. Went to flight school. Fly all the time now. Get lonely sometimes. Own a condo in Boca. One niece, one nephew. Upfront person. Love pizza and every kind of music. Horny as hell. Sitting on the beach in Rio.”
That was pretty much it. It’s funny how a life could be dumbed down to just a handful of details. Of course, there was one thing I chose to leave out. Not that I wouldn’t tell her, but it was neither the right time nor place to elaborate on Lucy, so I chose to omit the one not-so-minor detail that had basically shaped who I am.
“Wow. That was exactly thirty seconds.”
“Now you know almost everything you need to know.”
She squinted. “Almost?”
Ignoring her question, I grabbed the phone for the timer. “Your turn.”
“Hang on. I have to think.”
“No. That defeats the purpose. You’re not supposed to think about it. Just say the first things that come to mind. Those are the most significant
details.”
She took in a deep breath, and I started the timer.
“Okay. Kendall Sparks. Dallas, Texas. Twenty-four. Only child of rich parents who blew through most of their money. Grew up on a ranch. High school cheerleader. Father is dead now. Mother is an alcoholic. I skipped college. Worked on and off for the family business. Charmed life on the outside but not so much on the inside. Unsure of where I fit in this world. Scared for the future. Sitting on the beach in Rio.”
When she looked down away from me, I placed my hand on her chin, bringing her eyes toward mine. “That last part is nice, though, isn’t it? Our one commonality.”
Closing her eyes briefly, she said, “I have to say…it is.”
“Thank you for sharing this time with me, Perky.”
I stood up, and she followed me as we walked back in the direction of Maria Rosa’s.
“What are we going to do tomorrow?” she asked.
“That’s the beauty of a vacation, right? We don’t have to decide.”
“I suppose.”
Just before heading back up the hill, we stopped at a shopping plaza. I noticed a lingerie shop. An idea popped into my head. I was hesitant to leave her alone, but I didn’t want her to see what I was up to, either.
“Stay right here. I’ll be right back.”
When I returned with a small plastic bag, she was smiling from ear to ear.
