Hurricanes in Paradise (42 page)

“I should have done that a long time ago, huh?”

She nodded again.

He laughed harder. He pulled her arm softly and took her large bag from her. She opened her eyes and released it to him. And for the entire walk to the conference room, she didn’t say a word. Winnie Harris had been rendered speechless.

* * *

Laine paced the length of the ballroom.

“He’ll call,” Riley assured her.

“I told him not to come. I told him it was a hurricane, for pete’s sake. No one should fly in a hurricane. He’s a pilot. He knows better.”

“He’s flying himself?”

“Yeah, he got his license a few years back. He loves it. But this is stupid. And he doesn’t have experience for this kind of weather.” Laine looked at Riley. She knew her eyes had to be pleading, because her heart sure was. “He will show up, won’t he?”

Riley patted her. Laine could read the concern on her face. Professional pilots didn’t even have the experience for this kind of weather. It was foolish.

“Yes, he will show up. Now come on; get something to eat. Neither you nor Winnie have eaten since this morning.” Riley nodded to the table where Winnie sat with Albert.

They could all hear the storm outside. In the last three hours since they had all the guests accounted for, the winds outside had grown fiercer. The last report had coconuts flying from the trees like missiles and the ocean a mass of white spray. The lights in the ballroom flickered. “Have you seen how she’s been looking at him?” Laine asked as they walked to their table.

“Yes, I’m not sure what’s happened, but I think ol’ Albert has broken Miss Winnie-belle.”

“Miss Winnie what?”

Riley laughed. “Southerners add
belle
to anything and everything.”

“You are weird people.”

Riley nudged her. “Well, you only wear black. Let’s not talk about weird.”

Laine raised her finger. “Ah . . . last night I did not have on all black.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t remember last night.”

Laine shook her head. “Of course you can’t. The one night I actually wear something that isn’t black or some shade thereof and you can’t remember.” She sat at the table, and before she could speak again, the lights went out. The eerie blackness in front of them made the sounds outside seem even louder. If Laine were to describe it, she’d say the noise reminded her of a wolf howling for its prey. The noises of the darkness were soon drowned out by the guests’ dialogue, which had escalated in pitch and anxiety. It descended rapidly, though, when the generators kicked on and floodlights illuminated what had only moments earlier been encased in black. Apparently hurricanes had a predisposition for black too.

* * *

Riley watched as Christian passed out bottled water. The staff was minimal and so were the guests. He caught her watching him and smiled. She smiled in return and surveyed the rest of the room. Cots were lined up on one side of the room and some guests had already settled in to try to sleep. Tables were lined up on the other side, where some guests planned to eat their way through the storm or entertain themselves until it was over. Some played cards. Others carried on conversations. All attempted to forget what was going on beyond the windowless walls around them. The fact that the ballroom was belowground made all that was going on outside easier to ignore. But some of it still couldn’t be avoided. The main thing they had to be concerned about down here was flooding. And Gerard and his team were making sure that there was no sign of that. So for now everyone was okay. And that was Riley’s main concern.

Christian walked over to where she stood. “You should sit down and get something to eat.”

She hadn’t thought about food for hours. She had for others, but not for herself. Hard to believe it had been only a day. She felt as if she had lived a thousand lives in the past twenty-four hours. Her stomach growled. “Not a bad idea.”

He walked with her to a long table. The buffet dinner that had been provided earlier had been put away. Coolers full of boxed meals now lined the table. She opened the lid of one and picked up a white box labeled
Turkey
. “Turkey it will be.” Christian handed her a bottle of water, and they sat down.

She unhooked the top of the white box that was fastened like a carton of Chinese food. “Ever been through a hurricane?”

“Can’t say we get many of those in Greece.”

She pulled out a turkey and Swiss sub sandwich, some baked potato chips, and a brownie, then leaned back in her chair. She immediately realized how exhausted she was. He reached his hand across the table and touched her face. “You’re exhausted, Riley.”

She rubbed her eyes. “Yeah, I am.”

“You eat; then you can grab some sleep and I’ll keep watch over everything.”

She sat back up and unwrapped her sandwich. “I’m fine. Honestly, I’ll be fine.” She took a bite.

“You’ll eat, and then you’ll sleep. Honestly, woman, you’re hardheaded.”

She laughed. “Okay, I’ll sleep.” Her smile dropped. She knew it was time. He deserved to hear the truth. She put her sandwich down. “I want to tell you something first.”

“You can tell me anything.”

“I want to tell you my story.”

He smiled softly at her. And that same smile stayed on his face as she relayed every detail of her painful past. She could see at times her own sorrow reflected on his face. But that smile—that genuine, comforting smile—never left it. When she finished, he stood up and walked over to her. He bent down, lifted her chin with his fingers, then kissed her softly, gently.

He leaned back. “Thank you, Riley. Now you will never have to tell me again.”

She couldn’t hide her emotion. “It’s a horrible story, Christian.”

His hand never left her chin. “It is horrible, Riley. And sad. And I’m sorry it is yours. But it’s only part of your story. Don’t ever let yourself think it is the sum of your story. There is much left for you to write. And the Riley that is living now is beautiful.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for sharing it.”

She finished her sandwich while he talked and told her more about his life and his family. They laughed together while Hurricane Kate acted far more unladylike outside than its Southern name would suggest. Before Riley laid her head down, she looked up and checked on her friends. They were both asleep. She was surprised Laine had finally laid her head down. Her panic over Mitchell had her fit to be tied. But it had been a long day and night for her, too. Albert slept in a cot next to Winnie’s, and she hoped that Winnie’s unladylike noises wouldn’t frighten him away. Riley closed her eyes and said a prayer for Mitchell. Then she thanked God for Christian . . . and that she wasn’t more than he could handle. And she also thanked God that her story wasn’t over.

23

Saturday morning . . .

Riley’s cell phone vibrated her to life. When her eyes darted open, she saw Christian sitting in a chair by her side, wide-awake, sipping a cup of coffee. He apparently had never gone to sleep and must have worked all night. She was surprised her phone could receive calls now. She was even more surprised that anyone had slept through the storm. But most were still sleeping. She picked her phone up. It was Max. She sat up, shook off her sleepiness, and answered the phone.

“Looks like we’ve got service,” she said.

Max’s voice came through. “The hurricane doesn’t seem to be as bad as they expected. Given its speed, it had to go through here pretty quickly. But it’s still churning out there. We’re probably in for another couple hours of strong winds and then a day of heavy gusts. Everyone all right over there?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s okay here.”

His voice wasn’t right. And she knew it. “What’s wrong, Max?”

“Riley, I’ve got some terrible news. Are you with all the guests?”

Riley looked around at the guests. A few were up; some grabbed coffee and breakfast, while others sat and talked quietly. “Yeah, I’m in the ballroom. Please tell me Gabby’s okay.” The panic rose in her throat and her pulse quickened.

His voice returned reassuringly. “Oh yes, Riley. I’m so sorry. Your family is fine. This isn’t about your family. Can you go out in the hall?”

She pushed herself off the cot. “Sure. Yeah, I’ll go out in the hall.”

Christian obviously noted the panic in her voice. He got out of his seat quickly. “You okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” she mouthed. “Something’s happened.”

“Tamyra?” he questioned.

She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, then walked from the ballroom. “Is it Tamyra? Did she take a turn for the worse in the middle of the night?”

“I haven’t heard anything about her. I assume that whatever word you got last night is the same. It’s Mitchell Fulton, Riley.”

Riley felt the knot in her gut grow. “Oh no, Max. What? Please tell me he’s okay. Please.”

“His plane went down last night. He didn’t have a chance.”

She had to sit down. She walked down the hall and sat on a bench, bent over, and put her head in her hands.

“Are you there, Riley?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here. I can’t believe this, Max. He was coming to be with Laine. She begged him not to come. She begged him.”

“I’m so sorry. But his office called. They didn’t want her hearing this over the phone or on the news.”

Riley looked around; the hall was completely barren. “We don’t even have television in here; the power still isn’t working. And I can’t believe you were able to get through to me, in all honesty.”

“Well, I know she’s very fond of you, Riley. I felt like she needed to hear this from someone in person. They felt that way too; that’s why they called me.”

She shook her head again. Tears fell down her face freely now. Laine had finally gotten free from her shame. Finally she loved him the way he deserved, the way she deserved. And now this. “I can’t believe this.”

“I know; it’s horrible. And I know with everything that has happened there this week, this might feel like too much, but you—”

“No, you’re right.” Riley swiped the tears from her eyes. “She needs to hear it from me. She stayed because of me. Oh, Max—” she broke completely—“she stayed because of me.”

“Hey, hey . . . it’s okay, Riley. It’s okay. Listen, if you don’t think you can do it, I will come over there and tell her.”

She sniffed and tried to regain her composure. “No . . . no. I can do it. It’s just crazy. It’s all just crazy.” She shook her head and wiped her tears away again. She looked up and saw Christian making his way down the hall toward her. She stood. “No, I can do this. I need to do this.”

“Call me later and let me know how everything is over there. I know you and Christian have done a great job.”

She looked at Christian and gave him a broken smile. “It’s been wonderful to have him here to work with. I’ll call you later.” She ended the call.

“Is Tamyra okay?” he asked when he reached her. “Are you okay?”

“It’s Mitchell. Laine’s husband.” Her voice broke as she spoke. “He was flying here to be with her. He didn’t want her to be alone in the storm. His plane went down, Christian.” Her tears fell freely again. “He didn’t survive.”

“Oh, Riley.” He reached out and pulled her toward him. Her head rested at the top of his chest, nestled beneath his chin. “I can’t believe this. This is horrible.”

“I’ve got to go tell her.” She pushed away from him and raised her face to look into his. “Can you take care of the other guests? She’ll need me. I’ll have to figure out how to get her out of here and home.”

“Sure. You don’t worry about anything here, okay?”

“Thank you.”

Riley walked toward the ballroom door. Her legs felt like they had just finished a full marathon. Christian placed his hand in the small of her back as he opened the door for her. Laine sat up and stared at her when she paused in the doorway, unable to even step inside.

* * *

Laine knew in her gut when she had gone to sleep that something wasn’t right. She didn’t know how she had even fallen asleep at all. Now, as she sat looking at Riley’s face, she knew for sure. Mitchell was dead. She could feel it. She could feel the disconnect from him in some way. The divorce hadn’t made her feel this way. She had still felt connected to him in her very soul. But she felt this loss in a way she couldn’t describe. She stood and walked toward Riley, who was still standing in the doorway. The tears in Riley’s eyes glistened brighter the closer she got.