Glen calls Erika,
saying that he's got the run of the villa of love all day, since
Felix and Joni are out seeing the sights. Erika says she won't be
coming over and she doesn't want to see him. She acts all cold to
Glen and gives her reason as, “You wouldn't understand. The Glen
Hunters of this world see things differently from ordinary people.”
Erika hangs up the phone and broods. How dare Glen say they were
nothing to Felix and then try to carry on like they were before!
It's so rude of him! That's why Erika won't ever let a man play an
important role in her life. She doesn't want to marry anyone
anyway....except Glen. Crap.
That afternoon,
Walter Ephron is yelling about something, so Erika has to leave her
office and find out what it is. Amid a slew of slurs about mentally
handicapped people, Walter says that Frankie should be fired. Also,
he started yelling about this to Lalla...Frankie's mother. Erika
leads him into her office, then tells him to get out and find another
hotel. Walter, upping the ante, says he'll just leave the island, so
there! Erika tells him there are planes leaving all the time, so it
should be simple for him.
You see,
apparently, Walter was playing croquet with his wife when he tripped
over a hoop, stumbled around for a bit, and fell into a rosebush.
Frankie came over to help Walter out of the bush, but Walter shook
him off and swore at him before stalking into the hotel. I know
Walter's supposed to be a jerk, but seriously? That's a huge
reaction for something like that.
Anyway, while
Erika's in the lobby learning about what really happened, Glen walks
in and wants to talk with her. Because Trixie, the clerk at the
reception desk, is there, Erika agrees to let him into her office for
a quick chat. Glen wants to know why Erika's being a bitch, and she
basically tells him, “You know what you did.” She also mentions
that their relationship isn't important, and Glen counters that it is
special. Erika says they got too deep and she needs to end it now
because she doesn't have time for this and neither does Glen. Glen
replies that he was completely wrong about her, but he supposes it's
good that she called this off now before he “made an all-time
idiot” of himself. Marriage? What?
Then Lalla bursts
in to say that Frankie's disappeared. He didn't go home and she
can't find him in the hotel. Glen gets the details and volunteers to
look for Frankie and deal with Walter. Erika says Walter's already
been dealt with, and Glen consoles Lalla that they'll find Frankie.
Glen goes out to the gardens to look while Erika coordinates a search
team for inside the hotel. Lalla goes home to double check Frankie's
not there, and she calls Frankie's friends, but they haven't seen him
either.
You get it, he ran
away. Erika asks Glen if they should call the police, but Glen says
the men in uniform would probably just freak Frankie out. Erika
remembers the motorcycle incident and wonders how Glen knew to leave
the cops out of it. I'm guessing that was just a shot in the dark
from Glen, but you never know.
This unsure drama
lasts for awhile until Catrina and Douglas come into the lobby and
tell Erika she's got to have a drink with them since it's their last
night there. Erika explains about Frankie and they reveal they saw
Frankie start a motorboat at the jetty and leave. According to Glen,
if you know how to operate a lawn mower, you know how to operate a
motorboat. Well, he took a boat, but where would he have gone?
So, there's this
island that he loves. He went there on a school trip once and Lalla
takes him there every year on his birthday. That's probably where he
went. Lalla points the island out on a map. Glen poo-poos the idea
of involving the police again. They know where Frankie went, but the
police would take more convincing and there's no time! Also, it's
started pouring outside.
Glen can apparently
hot-wire a motorboat and Douglas has sailed the Scottish loch in all
kinds of weather. Catrina tells her hubby to be careful and they
share a look for a moment. They all head outside and the two men get
in a boat and shove off to go looking for Frankie. Erika would
rather be with them looking, but she doesn't go. She also realizes
that she still loves Glen and she really doesn't want him to
die. That would just ruin her day. So, she offers free drinks all
around when they come back.
We've gotten
half-way through the book now. The “I don't love you anymore”
phase didn't last long for Erika, but maybe Glen won't just fold and
take her back. I dunno. It is handy that the day Erika started
giving Glen the cold shoulder is the same day something momentous
happened that caused her to remember her love for him. I realize
it's fiction, but it's also very convenient timing.
For the next
chapter, I predict that Frankie will have found a cave on the island
he hadn't explored before and he takes shelter from the rain in it.
While wandering around inside, he finds a treasure trove left there
by pirates. Too bad these pirates are still active, and it's not a
treasure trove from long ago. Events conspire to make Douglas duel
the captain for the boy. Douglas wins, but is badly injured enough
for Catrina to remember her love for him. That's how that works,
right? Also, Glen manages to capture, or lead to the capture of, the
pirates. Because of the capture, Glen is inspired to finish writing
a Broadway show that has nothing to do with pirates, and he finishes
ahead of schedule. Then he and Erika can have time to canoodle and
discuss their true feeling for each other. ...Okay, that might take
more than one chapter.
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