As Blue as the Sky Read online

  “Well, I think I’m competing,” she said, “but it will depend on how I’m healing. Was that the right answer?”

  “Hey, I’m just your doctor, not your manager,” he said, turning toward Cassie. “She’s got a pretty bad injury which could cause her permanent damage if she injures it again too soon. I’ve informed her of that, and it is hers to decide what to do. We’re kind of waiting for a few days for a re-evaluation, and I’m trying to keep her laying low until then.”

  Cassie looked at her brother, then at Jess, then turned back to Kyle. “That must be challenging for you,” she said as she covered Kyle’s hand with hers.

  Kyle cleared his throat again as a shadow crossed his face. “I’m fine, Cass. Right now, I’m just trying to help keep her busy. Any suggestions?”

  Cassie’s look of concern for her friend took a moment to fade, and Jess wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t intended to make things difficult for Kyle, and was grateful that he’d accepted her father’s request to give her something to do. If it weren’t for him, she’d be going stir crazy.

  Alex stood, his hand again on his wife’s shoulder as he called for dessert. “Do you like to fish, Jess?” he asked as he poured margaritas for the three who were drinking them.

  “I do, but I’m not sure how much I could do with one hand.” She laughed as she held up her hand with the brace on it, barely able to wiggle her fingers.

  “Of course, but it’s nice to be out on the water, even if you’re just watching someone else fish.”

  Cassie smiled brightly, adding, “These fishermen are obsessed. Every day is a fishing day. But honestly, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. You could head down to Gonzaga Bay and fish there. I think the yellowtail are running, and you could stay at our house down there.”

  “How long does it take to get there? I really can’t be gone too long with the race next weekend,” Jess said, stealing a quick look at Kyle. His expression was blank, and he fiddled with the flan that had been placed in front of him. The custard with caramelized sugar on top looked delicious, and it distracted Jess long enough to pick up her spoon and miss the look Kyle shared with Cassie.

  Cassie set her dessert aside after finishing half of it, her gaze steady on her brother. “You could just head down. The road is through now, and it takes a little over an hour to get there. It’s a lovely drive, and a beautiful bay. Worth the trip, and it would kill a day, at least. You could spend the night if you wanted to.”

  Cassie felt the flan stick in her throat and she coughed, dropping her fork and raising her hand to her mouth. “Oh, I think just a day trip would be great. I don’t want to trouble Kyle any more than that, and I have to get back on the quad.”

  She turned to Kyle, her eyebrows raised, wondering what he was thinking. He looked at Cassie and she distinctly saw him roll his eyes and Cassie grin as he said, “I guess a day trip couldn’t hurt. Let’s get you back to the house and see what’s happening with the quad. We could leave tomorrow and see what happens. A day of fishing would be right up my alley, and you can just sit there and look pretty.”

  “That she would,” Alex added, laughing as Jess blushed. “You two would have a great time, and if you have time to kill, there’s no better place.”

  Chapter 13

  What the heck am I doing wasting time with this woman, Kyle thought as he drove to Jess’s house. He’d agreed to Cassie’s suggestion to take her fishing, and although he always loved to fish in Gonzaga Bay, he wasn’t sure they had enough in common to make it worthwhile and not a torturous exercise in awkward silences.

  When he first saw her, he’d thought she was driven, competitive and reckless ... and his opinion hadn’t changed. After what he’d gone through with Maggy, he could see the signs and had no interest in even being friends with someone like that. Still, there was something about this girl Jess, something that intrigued him. It was as if she was overtaken by the need to win this race — all races, seemingly — and he wasn’t sure why. Away from the quad and the race team, she seemed very uncomfortable, not sure what to do with herself. He imagined that all of her thoughts led back to the race, and her mission.

  He shook the thoughts out of his head as he turned down the dirt road that would take him to her campo, and they were replaced with a fleeting memory crossing his mind of Maggy at the end, in the coma that she would never awaken from. It had been over five years ago, but it seemed as recent as yesterday when he allowed himself to think about it — which he rarely did. It had been too much. He had been too young. And so had she.

  As he pulled up to the garage and stopped the car, he pushed the thoughts away. The crew was still working on the bike, the fenders looking a little more like they were fenders rather than accordions. The familiarity of the scene washed through him and he shuddered, a cold chill in his spine. It was just such a scene that was his last of normalcy, and the beginning of the end of him.

  “What’s the matter, son? You look...not quite right,” Mr. McNally said, his eyes narrowing as he looked Kyle over.

  “I’m fine, sir. No worries. I’m here to pick up Jess. Taking her fishing. Well, taking her to watch me fish, that is. And only if you still need her out of here,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and smiling as wide as he could make himself.

  “Huh. Well, I hope you’re all right, and yes, another day would be perfect if you could manage it. How’s the wrist?”

  “Not sure yet. I haven’t seen her, but I can check it out in a minute.” Kyle turned toward the door, giving a shout for Jess as he knocked on the screen door.

  “Come on in,” she said from inside, and he let himself in, his eyes adjusting to the cool and dimmer light of the brick house. These houses were his favorite, and they were a welcome relief on the eyes after staring at the desert sand and blue ocean.

  As his eyes became used to the lower light, he spotted Jess in front of the mirror toward the back of the house, her silhouette framed by the crystal blue water beyond her out the glass doors. Her olive skin and dark curls struck him as beautiful, as if he was seeing her for the first time.

  He felt himself smile as she tugged at her hair, trying to get it into a braid. “Don’t do that. I like it down,” he heard himself say, almost jumping as if it had been said by someone else.

  She started and turned to him, her hands dropping to her sides. Her white sundress made it easy to see that she was blushing, and she quickly looked away, setting down the hair tie and grabbing a visor instead. “Well, I guess I could since I don’t need to wear a helmet today. Or do I?” she asked, her bright smile turned back toward him.

  “No, no helmet today unless you anticipate getting smacked in the head with a fish.”

  Her laugh filtered through the room, and he was aware that it was the first time he’d heard it. “Well, if I were fishing, that might actually happen. I’m not exactly an expert, but happy to learn. Since there’s nothing for me to do here, that is.”

  “Ah, back to that. Well, sorry to torture you. Feel free to stay if you like.” He wondered again why he was torturing her and sacrificing his time. If she really wanted to be working on the bike, it really wasn’t his problem.

  Her smile faded as soon as the words left his lips. She walked to him quickly, reaching out her hand and touching his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve been so kind to keep me occupied and out of my own way. Really, I didn’t mean that.”

  As their eyes met, he was drawn by the deepness of the brown in hers, and for a moment thought he saw a twinkle of sincerity. Maybe she really could think about something besides racing. Either way, it was just a way to pass the time, and he smiled and said, “No problem. It’s not my deal, anyway. But if we’re going to do this, we should get going.”

  “Do I need to pack any food or anything? I can make some sandwiches or something.”

  “Oh, you cook? That’s interesting.”

  Her laugh again filled the room. “No one on Earth would say that I cook...not we
ll, anyway. I could probably boil an egg if I looked it up on the internet. Cade’s a great cook, and we have help at home. I’m really too busy, and not very good at it. But I could probably manage a sandwich that you might find edible. Maybe.”

  What a big surprise, he thought, looking at this woman who had spent her life doing things other than learning about domestic life. “Alfonsina’s restaurant and hotel are right on the bay. We can eat there. If I catch anything decent, they’ll cook it for us, too. Complete with the works — tortillas, beans, rice, guacamole.” He was rewarded with a smile of relief, and he returned it. “Sounds safer that way,” he said as he grabbed her bag and headed for the car.

  “Bye, Dad,” she said as she waved toward the garage.

  “You’re not worried that we’ll muck it up? Can’t believe it,” Cade shouted as she continued past.

  “I know it’s in good hands,” Jess said as she moved past the car door that Kyle held open for her, settling in for the next adventure.

  The ride down the east coast of the Baja peninsula had been beautiful, the road peaceful and quite empty. She hadn’t been down this way in years, and when she had been earlier, she’d noticed only the race track. Today, she was enjoying paying attention to the sights and scenes along the way.

  “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a little building in the middle of nowhere with little men made of tubing outside in tiny cars, like cartoon characters.

  “You mean Cow Patty’s?” he said, looking in the direction she was pointing. “That’s a little bar that serves two things...hot dogs and beer.”

  “Here in Mexico? No tacos? No fish?”

  “Nope,” he said, smiling. “You’re here long enough, and a hot dog can be a pretty welcome sight.”

  “Somehow, if I were to be away from the U.S. for any length of time, I’m not at all sure that a hot dog would be what I would crave,” she said, turning her attention back to the water. “Pizza, maybe.”

  “Ah, yes, pizza. Have to drive all the way into town for that. Used to be you’d have to go all the way back up north for it. And I just noticed there’s a Chinese restaurant in town, too.”

  “Oh, what is the world coming to?” she said as she leaned forward to look down the cliff toward the water as the road steadily rose before them and they climbed high into the mountains, the drop-off getting very steep.

  “Is that the town where they have the hot springs?”

  “Puertecitos, yes,” he said. “They’re great at high tide. Ever been?”

  Her eyes clouded for a moment, and she quietly said, “No, I only race, not looking at the scenery much. Guess I’m missing some things.”

  He hadn’t heard her say anything like that before — certainly nothing that didn’t involve racing — so he left it alone.

  They fell quiet as they peaked the crest of the small mountain range right on the coast, and he pulled over as the view of the islands met them on the other side. The five islands surrounding Gonzaga Bay, Las Encantadas, were beautiful, jutting out sharply from the water and rising high, not far off the coast. At this time of the morning, with the sun rising to the east and warming the water, the sparkles looked like millions of little sparks of steel bouncing off the blue Sea of Cortez.

  “The sparkles on the water are — amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that before.” The sight was captivating, and as she leaned over to see them, she realized that she had crossed over into his seat, her hand on his arm, mesmerized by the sight. “It really looks like thousands of little souls playing on the water, doesn’t it?” She backed into her own seat as he turned away from the water, his eyes intent on hers. She met his gaze, not looking away.

  “What did you say?” He wasn’t smiling, but she repeated her comment.

  “I said that the sparkles on the water look like millions of little souls dancing. Doesn’t it look that way to you?” She smiled as he cocked his head sideways, still staring at her, the corners of his mouth turning up into a grin.

  “You may know very little about me, but you do know that I don’t like to be laughed at,” she said, her own smile spreading on her face. Somehow, it didn’t feel like he was laughing at her this time. “Do you know what I mean?”

  He turned back toward the water and took a deep breath. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ve often thought the same thing, but I’ve never said it out loud.” He cleared his throat, his hand reaching for the key in the ignition.

  He gripped the steering wheel, paying attention to the road as he always did. Ever since that day — the day of the accident. He’d never been able to speed again, not on the highway and not on dirt. It just wasn’t in him.

  And here beside him was somebody who was just the opposite. Completely the opposite. Reckless, with her love of speed. Craving it, risking everything for it. He’d vowed never to have that in his life again.

  But here was this same person, the racer, seeing the ocean the way he did, loving Baja and instinctively feeling its warmth and serenity. Seeing the sparkles on the water and thinking about them in the bigger, global context. How could that be? She’d admitted she never looked at anything down here, only had eyes for the race track. Was it just something instinctive in her? Was there more to her than met the eye?

  He felt his fingers tighten on the wheel as he ran it all over in his mind, uncomfortable that he was having any thoughts of the sort. He’d been alone and focused only on college and med school since the accident, and that was how he liked it. Nothing and no one could make him risk that amount of pain again. He’d been crushed, hiding behind textbooks, labs and his internship, trying not to feel anything for so long now, he was unwilling to go there.

  He breathed deeply, glancing out at the islands and willing the thoughts away. She was just a girl he’d been tasked to look after. No threat to his comfort, nothing he had to worry about. So what if she liked Baja? Lots of people did. Soon, she’d be back on the quad — and likely falling off again, hurting herself, maybe seriously. And he knew for a fact that that was something he refused to be around for. Nobody was worth that agony again. Nobody.

  He loosened his grip and took another deep breath. Besides, she couldn’t cook and he really liked to eat. So no concern about a future there. He could forget about it and go back to his comfortable, controlled life.

  “What?” she said as he chuckled out loud, amused by the thought of her trying to cook anything at all.

  “Nothing, and I promise, I’m not laughing at you,” he lied.

  “Well, what then?” She tilted her head, her eyebrows raised as she asked the question again very sincerely.

  “Really, nothing. Just thinking about food.”

  “Hm. Not sure I believe you, but I’ll let it go this time,” she said with a smile. He really did like the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, but he forced his eyes back on the road.

  Chapter 14

  Jess couldn’t help but ask about the islands as they passed them on the way to Gonzaga Bay. The five islands ran in a string just off the coast to the east. “Those are called Las Encantadas,” Kyle said as he looked past the first, small one.

  “Las Encantadas? Does that mean enchanted? My Spanish isn’t very good,” she said, feeling her face flush again. She’d never cared that she didn’t speak Spanish although she’d spent much of her time racing the three annual races on this rugged peninsula. “You know, it’s funny how we complain in the U.S. about people not speaking English when they’ve come from other countries. How many of the Americans here speak Spanish?”

  “Precious few,” Kyle said, a frown clouding his face. “You’d be surprised. My thought was always if you were going to spend time being hosted by a foreign country and enjoy its benefits, culture and have them share their bounty with you, the least you could do is learn the language. I did it as soon as I could.”

  “Okay, I’ll practice. What’s the first island’s name?” she said, tugging on the sleeve of his black t-shirt.

  “Could be a tricky
one. El Huerfanito,” he said, raising his eyebrows and looking at her from the corner of his eye. It was the smallest of the five, just a single rock jutting out of the water, not too far off shore, the most separated of all five from the others. “Why is it white?” Jessica asked, staring past Kyle to the unusual sight.

  “Um, birds,” he said, looking at the sole little island.

  “There’s so much bird poop that it looks white?” she said, her eyes widening. “Not sure I want to hike there.”

  “No, me neither. Plenty of other options,” he said, as he pointed further out onto the water. “So, first Spanish lesson. What do you think it means? El Huerfanito.”

  “Hmm. All alone, small...sounds like orphan.” Kyle turned to her, his eyes widening equal to his grin.

  “You got it. Good one.”

  Jessica clapped for a moment, then stopped her hands in mid-air. The brace was still on, and she wondered why she was playing this silly game of guess the Spanish words when she should be racing.

  As if reading her mind, Kyle stole a glance at her and said, “It’s only a little while, Jessica. It’s worth the time, the time to heal properly so you don’t have to keep doing this over and over again. Taking time out when you clearly don’t want to.”

  “Oh, I want to,” she said, embarrassed that she might have hurt his feelings. “I was just thinking of the guys, and getting back in the saddle, so to speak. What’s the next one called?”

  Kyle ran down the rest of the enchanted islands, explaining that the next one, Isla Miramar, was nicknamed El Muerto, or Dead man.

  She looked at him quizzically. “Why the nickname?”

  “Turn your head a bit and look,” he said, nodding to the island in question.

  “Oh, it looks like someone lying on his back with his arms over his chest. Dead,” she said, a shiver running up her spine as she saw the likeness in the hills of the island.

  The road passed quickly underneath them as he pointed out the rest of the islands. “Isla Lobos is named Wolves’ Island, but very few people know it’s not named after land wolves, but lobos marinos, sea lions. It’s covered with them. And they can be loud, too.”