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"But---"
Dad tipped his head down to peer at her with an expression I'd never seen before. He seemed to be...almost scolding her with that look. "We both know why you've force-fed Mara all this nonsense about being a proper lady. You were humiliated once, and that's all it took. You stopped being the adventurous woman I'd married and turned into a prude." He winked and smirked. "At least in front of other people. You still love sex, don't you, Sher?"
My mom's mouth dropped open so far her chin might've touched her chest.
Okay, maybe not quite that far, but still really far. I watched for insects so I could warn her if any of them tried to fly into her mouth.
Dad moved onto Mom's chaise and clasped her hand in both of his. "Relax, honey. It's time we told her the truth. I let you instill your fears into our daughter, and today I realized how wrong that was. I should've made you stop. I should've helped you get over your fears before you ever started in on Mara. I love you, Sheryl, but things have to change."
Mom shut her eyes, exhaled a long breath, and leaned against Dad. "Maybe you're right. But what will Mara think of me?"
"She'll understand."
"I will," I said. "You can tell me whatever it is. I can handle it. Believe it or not, being here with all these nudists has helped me realize how silly all my fears were. If I can get over it, so can you, Mom."
She opened her eyes, fixing her uncertain gaze on me. "But I've done things you would never have done."
"You'd be surprised what I might do."
Nico strolled up to my chaise. "Hey Mara, let's go for a walk."
"I'm having a conversation with my parents. You're being rude, and I don't want to go anywhere with you." I faced my parents, blatantly ignoring him. "Take yourself for a walk, Nico."
Out the corner of my eye, I could see him watching me.
"Go," I said, waving a hand to dismiss him.
Nico headed for the nature trail.
Mom cleared her throat and said, "About the skinny dipping..."
Chapter Twenty
Ollie
I was keeping an eye on the miniten game---okay, mostly I watched Mara---when I saw Nico Marshall traipsing down the nature trail. Had that guy ever been in the woods before? I kind of doubted it. He seemed like the urban type, not the vacay-in-the-wilderness type. Maybe I ought to go check on him, to make sure he knew to stay on the trails and not wander off into who-knew-where. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to Mara's ex, but it was my job to look after the guests.
With Eve and Val "recuperating" from their big trip south of the equator, I was the only one who could stop Nico from getting himself into trouble. Not that I cared if he got bitten by velvety tree ants or quilled by a porcupine. In my opinion, he totally deserved that. But we had these annoying things called laws that required us to keep our guests safe. Letting Nico wander into a bear's den might be fun, but it would get us shut down for sure.
So, I tramped toward the nature trail.
I passed Mara and her parents, but they were too involved in their conversation to notice, and I didn't want to interrupt just to let Mara know I was stalking her douchebag ex.
By the time I got into the woods, Nico had disappeared down the trail.
Where had the moron gone? He clearly knew nothing about the woods. If I were an arrogant ass who'd never left the city before, where would I go?
Nope. I had nothing.
When I got to the fork in the trail, where one branch led to the hot spring and the other toward the lake, I hesitated. Two signs announced where each trail went, but I had no idea which one Nico might've chosen. Was he a hot spring guy? Or did he prefer a lake? Maybe he didn't like water, in which case he could take one of the offshoot trails after he picked left or right at this junction. Which did not help me find him.
Damn. What would I tell Mara if her ex disappeared in the woods? Or got mauled by a wild animal?
"Help!"
The cry echoed in the distance. It sounded like a man's voice.
Oh great. What had Nico done now?
