Free Sweetheart Deal by Linda Joffe Hull

most tragic event that has ever taken place here at the Hacienda de la Fortuna.”
    He waited for the inevitable chatter to die down.
    â€œNaturally, there has been a lot of concern and speculation among our guests and staff as to the nature of what happened.” The room fell dead silent as Enrique pulled a tissue from his pocket, blew his nose, and took a moment to collect himself.
    â€œA valued member of the Hacienda de la Fortuna family, who some of you had the pleasure of getting to know, was found last night in the Estanque Reflectante.” He waited for the gasps to die down before continuing. “The police conducted a thorough examination and have determined that, unfortunately, Alejandro had far too much to drink.”
    â€œWord is his blood alcohol level was up there,” one of Philip’s police officer friends whispered from me beside me.
    â€œI’m afraid he passed out, fell in the upper pool, and floated down under the bridge into the adjoining pool,” Enrique said, bowing his head as he relayed the story. “It is the most awful of tragedies.”

eight
    So the local police had determined that Alejandro had died via accidental drowning, and Philip’s assorted law enforcement pals all seemed to concur:
    I’m glad I’m on vacation because I hate dealing with drownings—those telltale glistening eyes always creep me out.
    It’s the wrinkled skin that gets me.
    Lucky he wasn’t there longer than an hour or so. Have you seen how the skin on the hands and feet start to come loose like gloves and socks?
    While I wasn’t exactly relaxed about the whole thing, I felt somewhat relieved when Geo handed out a new call sheet.
    â€œWe were up all night strategizing and revising the schedule in light of everything that’s happened.”
    â€œNo swimming?” Trent asked.
    â€œThat wouldn’t be in the best of taste, seeing as they’re holding a poolside wake today,” Eloise said with sniff. “Now would it?”
    Frank looked out the floor-to -ceiling windows and up at the gathering clouds. “Lighting’s not great, anyway.”
    I forced myself not to react to Frank’s insensitive comment as I read through the call sheet. Not only had the timeshare signing and the swim shoot been canceled, but the revamped plan had us venturing off the hotel property entirely and heading into the nearby resort town for a newly created segment called “Bargaining, South-of - the-Border Style.”
    â€œThis makes sense,” I said, nodding as I read.
    Geo smiled sympathetically in Enrique’s direction. “And it makes sense for all of us to get off the property to give the hotel staff some time to mourn without all the extra commotion.”

    The shopping excursion, as it turned out, was for not just our family and the crew, but for all the wedding guests. We would pile into buses for an afternoon in town, followed by happy hour at a local cantina.
    Before we left, however, tradition (and the call sheet) called for the time-honored tradition of showering the new couple with prosperity, fertility, and good fortune by dousing them in birdseed 21 before they left for a water’s edge bridal suite at Casa Armonia, the Hacienda de la Fortuna’s sister resort ten miles down the coast.
    The production assistants corralled everyone and had them stand together under the front portico of the hotel just in time for the getawaycar, a white limo, to pull up.
    Geo directed me to the limo door to deliver an impromptu tip about asking for complimentary car service when booking a bridal suite not only in Mexico, but anywhere in the world.
    Anastasia and Philip appeared in the doorway just as I finished.
    The crowd, eager to give the bride and groom a proper on-camera send-off , did a great job of providing the local birds with plenty to snack on for the next day or two.
    As Philip paused for man hugs with his groomsmen,