Page 39 of Forever and Other Lies

His eyes stayed on Jayna as she joined the women on the dance floor for the bouquet toss. Why was she participating? She was as dead set against relationships as he was. Wasn’t she worried that there might be actual magic in a flying bouquet of peonies?

The balcony door opened, and Leighton hurried in, looking extremely upset. She swatted at her eyes. Had she been crying? Even with tear-streaked cheeks, she was beautiful. She wore the same dress as Jayna, but it looked completely different on her. She wasn’t as curvy. When he first saw Jayna, his jaw had dropped. Leighton, on the other hand, looked classy, as always. And as untouchable as ever. After their talk on the roof, he realized he no longer wanted to touch her.

The door swung open, and Tommy stormed in, his mouth set in a hard line. He must have been on the patio with Leighton and caused her tears. Derek shook his head, letting out a heavy breath. Leighton didn’t deserve Tommy’s anger. It should be all directed his way. More guilt surged.

Tommy should just haul off and punch him, like back in their teens. Then they could put this all behind them, and Tommy could finally forgive him. This silent animosity was worse than a bloody nose or a fat lip. The guilt was eating Derek alive. Why hadn’t he just kept his hands to himself?

“Keep apologizing,” Ian had said. That’s what he’d told Leighton the other day on the roof. Well, to hell with that! If Tommy wanted to hold on to his anger, so be it! Next month, he and Ben were leaving for the TL Village in Sierra Leone to help install wells for Jovanny’s charity. That day couldn’t come soon enough. He needed to distance himself from his twin and this small town.

A cheer erupted as Piper threw her bouquet, and it landed in Jayna’s hands. Hopefully, it was pure fiction that the woman who caught the bouquet was the next to marry, because he felt sorry for the poor schmuck who’d end up as Jayna’s groom.

Jayna met his gaze from across the dance floor. She mouthed something to him. Pretty sure she’d called him an asshole. The day he left for West Africa couldn’t come soon enough. He was desperate to escape, not only from his twin, but from Jayna as well. The woman was everywhere.

He let his mind drift, picturing the unmatched landscape of Sierra Leone.

Chapter 18

The landscape of Sierra Leone was unmatched. Beautiful, and brutal. Such a contradiction. It was a place Derek connected with. He was both handsome and dark. He’d overheard enough people remark that his good looks were wasted on a man so cold and closed off. A handsome exterior that hid an ugly soul. Harsh, but true. It had to be true; otherwise, his twin would have forgiven him, and the universe wouldn’t be so hell-bent on teaching him lesson after lesson.

Derek shot an annoyed glance at Tommy. Like what the hell? This trip was supposed to be a reprieve from all the crap at home. Sierra Leone was his escape, a place where his ugly soul became beautiful. But escape was impossible when his conscience, in the form of his twin, had tagged along.

His eyes moved back to Tommy, who had claimed the front seat with a smug grin just begging to be wiped off his face. Sufta, the hired driver for the TL Village, had met them at the pier. Tommy had hopped into the front seat, forcing Derek to climb into the back with Ben. His scowl deepened as Sufta navigated the narrow, heavily congested roadways. The back seat proved to be a much bumpier ride. Normally, he would have been chatting Sufta’s ear off, sitting shotgun while taking in the mountain-backed capital city of Freetown.

The sun beat down relentlessly, and the infamous red dirt blew in. Derek was exhausted, grumpy, and now covered in a layer of dust that clogged his sweaty pores. Sufta expertly drove through the vehicular chaos of Freetown’s main street but still managed to hit every single pothole. The road was barely wide enough for two lanes of traffic, yet somehow it fit four lanes as it curved through the crumbling colonial architecture.

Tommy sat directly in front of him. Derek couldn’t resist giving the back of the seat a hard kick, letting his inner shit-disturbing ten-year-old out for a moment. They crested a hill, and he sucked in his breath, knowing what was coming. It never failed to shock him.

“That’s Kroo Bay.” Ben leaned between the front seats, acting like a tour guide. “It was once a fishing village and is now home to over sixteen thousand residents who were displaced during the civil war.”

The shanty town was built on top of garbage next to a polluted river that flowed into the ocean. During the rainy season, the river swelled and overflowed, flooding the homes that were no larger than garden sheds. This was where true poverty lived.

Everyone deserved a safe place to call home and to have access to clean water. Yet in West Africa, that wasn’t the case. Many remote villages were barely surviving, their residents forced to use contaminated streams as their only water source. This was where Jovanny’s water well installation charity was making a difference. Yet, the harsh reality remained; the demand here far surpassed the limited resources available. Progress was happening far too slowly.

Relief filled Derek as Sufta drove past Kroo Bay, which was quickly replaced by guilt. Soon he’d be home, living a life of luxury while the people here continued to suffer.

Sufta pulled in front of TL Village, and Derek jumped out of the jeep before it came to a complete stop. The pristine white stucco building was a sight for sore eyes after the 20-plus hour travel day. He couldn’t wait to lay his head on a pillow after showering off the grime from the dusty ride.

Rushing up the steps, he pushed open the large wooden door and stepped into the welcoming lobby. It never failed to astound him just what a wonderful place Jovanny Grotto, fellow actor Nash Logan, and billionaire cameraman Sam Marek had created here. They had renovated a run-down hotel, turning it into small apartments for families who had been casualties of the decade-long civil war. The lobby, painted a soft moss green, was filled with framed photographs of the families who now called this inspired place home.

It had become a home away from home for Derek as well. Here, he could be someone different, anyone he wanted to be. Here, he wasn’t the hell-raising adult or remembered as the trouble-making teen, but rather a man who was respected and did good. He was even admired here, not that he came for admiration. When Jovanny first started the well-drilling charity, he signed up out of curiosity. He had the skills and knowledge needed to get the operation off the ground. Now, he felt a strong pull to keep returning to pitch in. While they could only help one village at a time, it meant one more community that no longer had to suffer.

Despite having little to be thankful for, the people of Sierra Leone always found reasons to be grateful. It was humbling to be part of it. Working in the impoverished country made him feel good about himself in a way he never felt at home.

A middle-aged blonde woman entered the lobby, and he rushed towards her. “Heidi!” He scooped her up and twirled her around. “Miss me?”

“Put me down. And no, I didn’t,” the Swedish doctor demanded, but the grin tugging at the corners of her lips negated the firm words. “You are annoying. Always up to no good, flashing that hard-to-resist smile, using it to get yourself out of trouble. But I have your number, Derek Brennan.”

“So why don’t you ever call me?”

A blush reddened her cheeks. “You are still an incorrigible flirt.”

“And she’s spoken for,” Wils, Heidi’s partner, said as he walked down the stairs.

“That’s never stopped him before,” Tommy muttered as he and Ben carried in the luggage.

Derek turned, frowning. This was not going to be the escape it normally was for him. Why did Tommy have to tag along to the one place that had become Derek’s calling in life?

Chapter 19

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