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"Joel, it's so great to see you. Where are the girls?" Maria asks, taking some of the bags from Joel's hands.
"Sarah is tryin' to talk Ellie down from leavin' her swimmin’ suit in the car. She ain't too happy with what we bought at the store, but it was all they had after she left hers at the house." Joel says, looking back to the rental car where Maria can see the two girls arguing hotly.
"Oh, poor kid. Ok why don't you go in and Tommy will show you to your rooms. I'll talk to the girls and see if I can get this figured out." Maria says, moving away quickly. She's almost out of earshot when she turns suddenly and says, "Oh, and Joel, I invited one of my friends, Rose, along, if you see her, please be nice."
"When am I not nice." Joel responds, and Maria gives him a look like 'really' before moving off to the girls.
---
"So yeah, this is gonna be your room, and Sarah and Ellie are sharing a room down on the east side of the house. Kevin's room is over there, and little Mateo' is bunking in with Maria and I except on the nights the nanny is gonna be here." Tommy says, handing Joel a mini-map of the house with directions to all the different activities in the area. "You got this wing pretty much to yourself, except for Maria's friend, who's the next door down."
"Yeah, Maria was saying somethin' about her. Rose or somethin' like that." Joel says, dropping his luggage onto the bed so he can start unpacking.
"Yeah, Rose, that's her name." Joel hears a hesitation in his brother's voice, and he turns around.
"What? Are you gonna tell me I should be nice to her too? Maria already beat ya to it," Joel complains, putting his hands on his hips and popping his knee out in frustration.
"No, nothin' like that, I was more gonna say you might wanna watch out for her. She's ah, I can I say it. Your type." Tommy smiles when he sees Joel's face get flushed.
"What do you mean my type, I don't have a type." Jole grates and turns back to his bag.
"Well, we'll just see, won't we," Tommy says with a laugh before closing his door.
---
Joel comes out to the pool with black swim trunks on and a white t-shirt on top. He's just putting his bag down with sunscreen and water bottles when Sarah and Ellie come out of their side of the house. Sarah has got on a purple one-piece with sparkled detailing down the side, and Ellie is dressed in a black one-piece with white piping and matching black board shorts. She’s also wearing a bright lime green rash guard sleeve on her right forearm. He pushes his sunglasses up and looks her up and down.
"Where'd ya get that," Joel asks, his brow furrowing.
"Ah, Maria's friend gave it to me. She said she didn't need it she has another suit." Ellie flops down on one of the beach chairs. "This place is pretty bitching, it's gotta be nice having rich and famous relatives who can fly you out to that Bahamas for Spring break." She says enviously. Ellie was a foster kid who had been placed with him and Sarah about 6 months ago, and she was still getting used to the idea that she wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon. It had been a rough go so far, but things seemed to be getting better.
'Yeah, it is nice, I'd say." He reaches into his bag and throws a bottle of 60 spf sunscreen at her. "Put that on."
Ellie moans when she looks at the bottle. "C'mon Joel, this stuff is like a damn sweater."
"I don't care, with your fair complexion, you are gonna burn at the drop of a hat, put it on." He says, his tone brooking no arguments.
Ellie groans again, and Sarah comes over and sticks her hand out. "Here, Ellie, give it to me I'll put it on for you, then you can help me with mine." Ellie huffs, but she hands the bottle over to Sarah, and they work together to get the job done. Joel can't help the smile that creeps on his lips while he watches the two of them laugh and joke like they've been sisters forever. He hasn't told Ellie yet, but he and Sarah had talked about it, and they had decided they were gonna try to make her placement with them permanent. He'd already reached out to Marlene at the foster agency and got the paperwork started for adoption.
He tugs his shirt off and starts to apply his own sunscreen when he gets to his back and is about to call Sarah over to help him when he hears a voice behind him.
"Would you like me to help you with that cowboy?" Joel turns around and nearly does a double-take. It's a woman, her skin brown and lustrous in the sun; she only comes up to about the middle of his chest, and now he understands how Ellie was able to borrow a suit from her. Though she's got a fair amount more going on in the top area than Ellie probably ever will, Joel immediately cuts his eyes back up to her face in embarrassment when he realizes he was staring a little too long. She's wearing a bright blue one-piece with cutouts in strategic places, Joel can feel the blush creeping up his chest and neck when she smiles at him, a knowing look on her face.
“What’s that?” Joel stammers.
She reaches up to push up her matching blue heart-shaped sunglasses, and Joel can see that she's got a set of long blue acrylics on her fingers. "I said, would you like some help getting your sunscreen on? Then you can help me with mine." She says, holding a hand out to him and wiggling her fingers as she slides her glasses back on.
"Oh sure, thank ya," Joel says, handing her the bottle. "Ah, you must be Rose then. Maria's friend?" Joel asks, turning his back to her.
"That would be correct," She says before sucking her teeth and hitting him gently on the shoulder with her hand. Joel turns his head to look at her his forehead creased with confusion. "Could you sit down, maybe, I don't usually climb guys on the first date, and there's no way I can reach your shoulders properly otherwise."
Joel blushes again and shuffles over to one of the beach chairs. He hears her make her way over and then her hands are moving on his back and shoulders, carefully rubbing the sunscreen in. Joel hears a snort and looks up to see Sarah and Ellie staring at him, their hands covering their mouths, holding back laughter. Joel gives them both a glare, and they turn around and run off laughing to the other side of the pool, where Maria has just come out with Tommy and a baby Mateo in his adorable onesie swimsuit.
"Those your daughters?" Rose asks.
"Ah yeah, Sarah, she's the taller one. She's mine by birth. Ellie, there is a foster, but we are hopin' to have her with us permanently soon. Ah, shit, we weren't tellin' anyone that yet, we want to talk to her first about it. Please forget I said anything." Joel's not sure why he told her that, she’s got him feeling wrong-footed somehow.
"Don't worry, cowboy, I won't say anything." She slaps the bottle onto his shoulder, and he reaches up and grabs it. "My turn." Joel stands up and moves out of the way. She doesn't bother to sit down, knowing he will have no problem reaching her back and shoulders.
"Thank ya for lending Ellie a swimsuit. She left hers at home, and the only ones they had at the store were not her style. She’s a might self-conscious.” Joel says, working the sunscreen into the soft skin of her shoulders. The back of the swimsuit cuts down her back to an almost indecent level but lets up just before it reaches too low, Joel finds himself wondering what the rest of her body looks like under the swimsuit. When he feels an uncomfortable heat start to build up at the base of his spine, he moves his eyes back up to her neck.
“It’s not a problem. I remember what it was like to be a 14-year-old girl.” Rose says, waving her hand in a shooing motion like it really wasn’t a big deal. Joel moves his hands down to her back, managing to finish without sneaking any more peeks. He places his hand gently on her shoulder and squeezes when he’s done.
“Finished.” He says, and she turns and gives him a megawatt smile. “I’m gonna go dip my feet in the pool. Wanna join me?” She asks, resting a delicate hand on his forearm.
Joel gulps his adam’s apple, bobbing up and down, and he has to clear his throat before he can answer. “Ah, sure, I’d like that.” She moves off, and Joel watches her sway her hips as she leaves.
Shit, Tommy was right. Joel knows he’s in fucking trouble.