Page 84 of His Secret Gift

We both just stare at each other for a moment before his mouth drops. “Wait a minute.”

“What?”

He then looks over at the door. “Bryant.”

Now I’m the confused one. “What does he have to do with anything?”

He falls back onto the bed. “I saw something in his back pocket. It was the morning I caught him in my bedroom.”

“Okay?”

Standing again, he reaches out for my hand, and I accept it. After that, we both storm down the uneven stairs and find him reading a newspaper on the couch.

When he notices us, he puts the pipe in his mouth down, and I can see that it’s empty.

Such an interesting habit,I note. I’d seen him doing the same thing before.

“What’s going on?” He then folds the paper, puts it to his side, and leans over with his elbows on his knees.

Jack and I exchange a look.

“Hello?” Captain Bryant waves his arms in the air as if we couldn’t see him before.

With a sigh, Jack asks, “Wesley, did you find a note in my room? Back on board. I mean.”

The captain reaches up and massages his mustache with his thumb and pointer finger. “Hmm.”

“Well?” I insist.

“Fine. Yes. Yes, I did,” he admits while leaning back and putting his long arms up along the back of the furniture.

When I glimpse down, I notice Jack’s hands clench.

“Why?” he demands from his friend.

“Because I knew it was trouble. I—I had no idea the ‘K’ was for Kayla, though.”

With a tightened jaw, Jack then asks, “Would that have made a difference?”

Captain Bryant shrugs. “Probably not. But don’t forget. I was the one who was with you every day after Harper brokeyour heart, and I couldn’t… I just couldn’t see you go through something like that again, Jay.”

Jack puts his hands on his forehead before he starts pacing. “You had no right, Wesley.”

“Maybe not. But I was just trying to protect you.”

Now, I step in. “From what? From me?”

He’s silent for a moment before confessing, “Yes. I suppose so. Inadvertently, of course. But it was obviously written by a female. And a female employee at that.”

A small pit starts developing in my stomach, and I gripe it in an effort to stop its growth. “I’m not in trouble, am I?”

Jack then stops walking around, and he faces me. “Of course not.”

I sigh in relief. “Okay. It’s not like…”

He nods. “I know.” Apparently, I didn’t need to finish my sentence, but I was going to say that I never planned for any of this to happen. I mean, I didn’t intend on running into him that night in Fort Lauderdale, and it was his idea to go to that restaurant.

“So, what is this between you two then?” Captain Bryant asks.

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