Page 8 of Passion

I was used to getting what I wanted by just calling the shots. Maybe this time I messed up, but I knew I could win her over. I just had to be patient, and it looked like I had a few days with her to make that happen.

7

VERA

Isat with my suitcase packed, resting on the edge of the mattress with my phone in hand. I’d called Midge at least thirty times and there had been no answer. Cell towers must have been down, and if the storm was bad enough to do that, then what else went wrong? I sighed, frustrated. It had been two days since the storm hit, two and a half since I'd landed here to escape my frustrations.

Lucas snored, and I looked in that direction. He lay on the pull-out bed, his upper half exposed. His bronzed skin looked darker against the white sheets, and his was so warm it made me jealous. No matter how much I tanned, I couldn’t get that dark. The way the sheets wrapped tightly around his lower half revealed a part of him he probably would rather I not see. Every man got morning wood, but a total stranger wasn’t exactly the type of person to reveal that part of yourself to.

I snickered at the thought and looked away. He was attractive, but he was also very wealthy-enough to probably buy this island if he could afford $2500 a night for days on end. I was jobless and maybe homeless now. I punched in my landlord’s number, holding the phone to my ear. It rang straight to voicemail like every other number I'd tried. I was desperate enough to even try Daven’s number.

I ended the call and locked my phone, then shoved it in my bag. The storm was past. The sun was out, and the beach was covered in downed branches and things the sea had churned up and spat out. I hadn’t called the front desk to find out if the airports were open, but based on what Lucas had told me while we waited for the worst winds to die down, they’d open this morning.

I wouldn’t have said it was awful being with Lucas, locked in his room while a hurricane raged, but it was awkward. We talked about surface-level things like my job and a need for a new one. He offered to help if he could, but I rejected that. I’d do things on my own or I wouldn’t do them at all. We put a puzzle together while we watched reruns ofJudge Judy, but we refrained from drinking. God knows, I didn’t need to throw myself at him like a helpless waif or a desperate housewife.

He was a kind man, nice enough to have thought of me in this messy part of my life, and I didn’t want to just leave him high and dry. He’d paid for my food, drink, and entertainment for the past two days, so I wrote him a note telling him I was leaving and left my number for him just in case he needed anything from me. Then I picked up my suitcase and slipped out.

I got a ride to the airport. Resort transportation had offered to take folks around the island. It was just a golf cart, but it saved me the two-mile walk. By the time Lucas woke and dressed, I’d be on a flight home. Hopefully. I liked him, but I knew it was too soon. He’d be replacing something that had meant a lot to me. I’d project my feelings for Daven onto Lucas, and it would make things messy when I woke up and discovered that Lucas didn’t really want the real me, either. It was better that I just left quietly without fanfare or a complicated goodbye.

The cart driver waited for me to grab my things and then drove off, leaving me at the front door to the tiny airport. I wheeled my suitcase into the lobby and got in line. There were at least a hundred people here, all trying to leave the island. I noticed mothers with small children, men in suits, and a few younger-looking people—maybe teens having a holiday before returning to school in the fall.

I glanced at the time on my phone and groaned. At this rate, I’d be home in four days, not by this afternoon like I hoped. Without contact with the mainland, I had no way of knowing what was going on, whether I even had a home to return to. Mom called me three times, but each time, I ignored it. If I picked up and talked to her, she’d only lecture me about the storm, and I had no interest in hearing her nag me about moving back home.

By the time I was next in line, my feet hurt from standing there and my phone battery was at forty percent. They only had two people working the counter, and both of them looked frazzled. There were three days left on my stay, so worst-case scenario, I’d still be able to go back to the resort, but I just wanted to go home now. There would be lingering rain showers and high winds for a few days. I needed to check on my things and start the hunt for a new job.

“Next,” the haggard woman behind the counter called. Her blue shirt had a coffee stain on it a few inches below her chin. The ascot tied around her neck was crooked, and several stray hairs flew away from her temples as if escaping her mood. I walked forward, slapping my passport and wallet on the counter.

“I need a flight to Miami.” I wished there were a chair to sit in and felt bad that neither of these women had even so much as a stool. They’d been here longer than me and would be here long after I was gone.

“Sorry, ma’am. No flights to Miami, Daytona, Orlando, or West Palm. You’ll have to go north if you want to leave.” She typed at her computer, spouting what was clearly a message she’d given this morning a dozen times or more.

“Nothing in Florida at all?”

“No, ma’am.” She turned and stared at me, fingers hovering over the keys as if ready to type in my wishes.

“What about Georgia?”

“Storm has canceled everything from Valdosta northward up the eastern seaboard. I can get you New York, Tuscaloosa, Kansas City, Chicago, Tulsa, Houston?—”

“No. I need Florida. I live in Miami. I can’t just fly to another city thousands of miles away. It’s only two hundred miles from here. There has to be something in Florida. What about Parris island?” I stared at her as she typed. South Carolina was only an eight-hour drive if I rented a car. I could do that easily today, be home before sunrise.

“No, ma’am, nothing there either. I have Columbus, CVG?—”

“No, thank you,” I snapped. I could feel my blood pressure rising. I never got riled by things like this, but then I wasn’t normally on the bad side of a horrible breakup, either. “Check again because I have to go home now.” I couldn’t return to Lucas’s room, and I if I stayed in my condo, there was a likelihood that he’d see me around the resort. I wasn’t trying to avoid him. I just knew I needed space.

“No, ma’am.” Her fingers clicked away, but I swore she wasn’t doing anything but typing hate mail and sending it to my email. “We have nothing. I can book you north or west, but not Florida. Or I can call you a car to drive you back to your resort.” She glared at me. Her puckered lips looked like a cat’s ass. I wanted to smack her.

“Listen. I just got dumped by a man who I thought would propose to me. Took this goddamn trip by myself when he was supposed to be here with me, only to get slammed by a hurricane, and now I can’t reach my roommate. I may not even have a home to return to. You get on that damn computer of yours and find me a fucking flight or I’ll?—”

“Whoa.” I heard his voice then instantly felt his hand around my waist. “I apologize, Helen. Vera has had a bad bit of luck. I’ll handle this, okay?” Lucas whisked me away, arm forcefully enveloping my waist, suitcase in hand. “What on earth?”

“Let go of me.” I wriggled free and snatched my suitcase from him. Tears burned in my eyes but I refused to release them. I had made a fool of myself and he had seen it.

“I got your note. I wish you’d have just waited for me.” He stopped so I did too, turning to face him. My cheeks burned. I said nothing. “Flights to Miami are impossible until they clean up the runways, okay? But I have a private jet coming to get me. He’s probably servicing the thing now and refueling. We take off in thirty minutes. Would you like to ride with me?”

My chest was so tight I could barely breathe. I was furious that life had dealt me so many harsh blows, one right after another, that I had totally overlooked this amazing creature standing in front of me. I didn’t deserve his kindness at all. I wanted to run away from him so he wouldn’t see how awful I was. I should never have raised my voice at that woman. I shrugged.

“We will land just outside the city at a private airstrip, then I can send a car to take you wherever you like. You won’t have to wait until tomorrow like you would have. I was prepared to leave my card on file to take care of you.” He glanced at his watch. “I have a board meeting this afternoon that I can’t miss. If you want to go with me, we need to head that way now.”

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