Page 99 of The Last Resort
Matthew sat on the front step of the lodge and peered out into the night. His Jeep was the only vehicle in the parking lot. Rachel had left several hours ago, and he’d taken to watching the road, and wishing that her sister’s car would reappear.
I need Rachel to come back, so I can start apologizing. And begging for her forgiveness.
He pulled his cell out of his jacket pocket and stared at the screen. He’d held off on making this call for as long as humanly possible. But if he didn’t get in touch with Bryce, come tomorrow morning there was every chance that Vivian and Bryce would be banging on the front door of the lodge demanding to be let in. And knowing them, they’d have brought Camille along for the ride.
I already have ninety-nine problems, I don’t need any more.
His thumb hovered over the call button, then with a sigh, he hit it. It rang a couple of times. He was half-praying it went to voicemail.
“How did things go?” asked Bryce, picking up the call.Matthew caught the unmistakable tone of worry in his brother’s voice.
Terribly. Horribly. Cataclysmically. All of the above.
“I unleashed Matt the asshole.”
“Fuckkkk. How bad?”
“Oh, I went the full judgmental on her.”
In his early twenties, he’d gone through a stage of looking down his nose at other people; and it had taken a lot of therapy for him to realize he wasn’t a nice person when he behaved that way. It had cost him friends and several potential relationships. “So bad that I have no idea how we are going to come back from this, or if she’ll even want us back.”
“I thought you’d got past all that,” replied Bryce.
Matthew puffed out his cheeks, watching as the cold night air turned his breath into a cloud of condensation. “Yeah, so had I. But I let my anger get the better of me. Rachel’s sister came and picked her up a while ago.”
Before leaving the island, Bryce had begged him not to lose his cool. To give Rachel a chance to explain her side of things. And he’d ignored his brother’s sage advice.
I’m paying the price for not having listened. For being a prick.
“What are you going to do?” asked Bryce.
If anyone could understand the mess he was in, it was Bryce. The early days of Bryce and Vivian’s relationship had been rocky. It had taken some serious groveling and a lot of air miles on Bryce’s part to finally win the heart of his future wife.
Aspen was only a few minutes away. He knew where Kellie and Dan lived.
I shouldn’t be sitting out here waiting for her to come back.
Matthew got to his feet. “I’m going to take a leaf out of your book and go find my woman. I’m going to tell her how sorry I am, that if it had been me, I would have done the same thing and not mentioned that my father was in prison.”
His car keys were in his hand. “The worst thing about all this is that she was going to tell me once we got back from the island. I just didn’t give her the chance to explain her side of things.”
He’d read the full report from the Royal security team and googled the rest. Rachel had never been at fault. She and her sister were as much, victims of their father’s crimes as his clients.
“What else are you going to say?” pressed Bryce.
Matthew sighed. Bryce Royal, Royal Resorts CEO, and big hearted softie. “I’m going to tell her that I love her.”
“Always a good move. Call me when you’ve won back the girl.”
Dan was working a late shift and apparently things were quiet, so he’d decided to drop in at home for supper. While Kellie warmed up some of the leftover chicken and rice, Rachel sat at the table staring at her glass of wine, as her kind-hearted brother-in-law gave her a pep talk.
“The truth was always going to come out. It’s just a pity that your father couldn’t keep his big trap shut, and let you live your own life,” observed Dan.
There was no love lost between him and his father-in-law. After what Scott Davilla had done to Kellie, it was clear that relationship was stone dead.
“I have to wear some of the blame. I should’ve said something to Matthew earlier but love always makes me do stupid things. Like hope that my convicted felon of a father won’t call and demand I extract millions of dollars out of my boyfriend.”
Correction former boyfriend. Lover. Oh, Matthew.
