Love’s a beach: Florida beau finally wins approval from the woman’s best friends
My friend Deanne Bauer had sworn off men and moved to Florida following a nasty divorce. Her resolve was broken when she crossed paths with a sexy lifeguard on the beach. When I wrote about their encounter, readers begged for a follow-up.
Well, buckle your seatbelts. Two years later, here it is.
Deanne didn’t wind up with the lifeguard — but she did wind up on a dating site. And that’s where she met Hector Tejeda.
The opposite of a lifeguard, Hector didn’t know how to swim. He also didn’t know Deanne came with a couple of very protective sidekicks. Middle-aged women travel in packs.
“He’s probably a snake,” I told my pal, Lydia Kachigian.
“It’s taking off way too fast,” Lydia agreed.
So, Lydia and I flew to Florida to check out Deanne’s new beau. Upon first glance, he looked innocuous: Salt-and-pepper grey hair. Big brown eyes. But aren’t most serial killers the guy next door?
Deanne was our friend and we knew she was fabulous. But who was this Hector fellow? We wanted his backstory and we wanted it now.
“Hey, I’m not chopped liver,” Hector told me, after Lyd and I peppered him with questions. It took us a while to digest it, but he just may be filet mignon.
How could you not like a guy who immigrated to the United States from Guatemala as a baby in his teen-aged mother’s arms?
Hector grew up poor but eventually found his way to Harvard Business School. He later worked as a general manager for Merck pharmaceutical company, a job that took him all over the world.
But that’s not the best part of the Hector story. Not even close.
“He was kidnapped late one night by rebel insurgents when he worked in Ecuador,” Deanne said, matter-of-factly. “They intended to kidnap his neighbor. But both of them lived in yellow houses and it was dark, so they made a mistake.”
Usually rebel insurgents kill the person they kidnap — even when they kidnap the wrong person. But Hector was so likeable, they let him go.
Eighteen years later, Hector is still likable, which is one of the reasons Deanne decided to marry him. She didn’t ask me and Lydia for our blessing. But we would have given it if she had.
The lovebirds tied the knot at sunset on the bay behind the Ringling Mansion in Sarasota. Deanne’s daughters, Kearsten and Jackie, walked her down the aisle. Hector’s sons, Michael and Eric, served as his best men.
I have never had more fun at a wedding reception. Three weeks later, my husband, Mark, is still humming the tune from the conga line.
“They seem so happy,” Lydia said, recently.
“Too happy?” I asked my friend.
We agreed that maybe we should worry about that — but we’ve decided not to.
For now.
This story was originally published November 23, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
