Page 16 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

“Everything okay?” she asked.

He seemed to snap from his thoughts, then gave her a warm smile. “Just life, right? It’s a puzzle sometimes, isn’t it?”

She blew out a breath, gave one last look at the airport.Wait, she almost said.I’m going home.“That’s for sure.”

Gustavo started the car, and the big vehicle roared away from the airport, winding up that long road.

“Mind if I do a quick live?” she asked.

“Be my guest. That’s what it’s all about, right? Views, views, views.”

Was there an edge to his tone? She decided to ignore it if there was.

She took out her phone and held it up so that she could see her face in the camera. Not bad, some lines debuting around her eyes, a little fatigued, hair a bit frizzy, but she never fussed over herself much, wore too much makeup, or filtered her image.What you see is what you get.It was one of her big messages.Beauty is not about perfection, it’s about being unapologetically yourself.

She was new to this, but she was getting the hang of it. She pressed the button.

“Hey, friends, I’m finally here—on stunning Falcão Island.”

She turned the camera to Gustavo who dutifully smiled and waved.

“This is Gustavo from Extreme. He’s picked me up from the airport, and we’re headed to the site. I’m tired and a little nervous but super excited.”

Hearts and thumbs-up flooded the screen. The comments started rolling in a stream ofYou got this!andYou go, girl!andSlay, queen!

“Look at this place,” she said, turning the camera.

The screen filled with the fecund green of the trees, the riot of color from the wild hydrangeas, the swirling white, gray, black of the sky. It looked like an oil painting.

“Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Itwasgorgeous, in a kind of moody, feral way. She felt something shift inside her, the way she always did when she was in nature. It was like her body remembered that this was where she belonged. That everything else was just the theater the world had created.

She changed the camera back to capture her face.

“Wish me luck, guys. I’m as prepared as I can be. And I’m going to do my best. I hear that the competition is fierce. But you know what we do when the trail ahead is rough and unpredictable? Take one step at a time.”

Phoenix**:You can do this.

PowerBarb:There’s no one tougher than you.

JenJenxoxo:I’m cheering for you, my friend.

VioletsInBloom:Love you, Mom!

She smiled at the camera and clicked off.

Silence again.

Ahead was a swath of deep green, the rise of the low mountains, that strange sky, which seemed equally about to open into rain or wash into a sunny blue. A light, misty rain fell and the windshield wipers pumped as the road wound out of town and twisted dramatically up a rise, the airport disappearing in the rearview mirror. Another riot of hydrangeas bloomed along the roadside. Falcão Island was always temperate, she’d read. Never hot, never cold. The famous hydrangeas bloomed most audaciously in spring and summer, a fragrant watercolor, but could be seen all year.

The light suddenly faded from the sky; she looked out the window to see big thunderheads up ahead.

“Weather looks like it’s about to turn.”

He laughed a little.

“Here we say if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. It’s dramatic, changeable. Even if the skies open, in an hour you’ll have sun again. If it’s sunny, you might find yourself surprised by sudden rain.”

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