Hurricanes in Paradise (43 page)

When she reached Riley, she collapsed into her arms. She felt the door brush past her as it secluded them in the hall, away from the others’ eyes. Wracking sobs coursed through her body. Riley held her with a death grip and never said a word. She just held on to her until Laine’s legs gave way and they both slipped to their knees onto the carpet. As much as her heart was breaking, as much as questions blasted through her head in a desperate attempt for some kind of answers, some kind of logic to this ridiculous nightmare, there was something inside of her that was incredibly stable and unwavering. She finally let all the energy drain from her body as it became limp in Riley’s embrace.

Her body was drenched in sweat, and her face was covered with the brine of her tears. She wiped her face with the edge of her sweatshirt sleeve. Finally able to lift herself, she sat back and exhaled heavily. She was certain Riley’s face mirrored her own. “Can you tell me what happened?” Her words came out broken, soft, and unaccusing.

“I don’t know a great deal. Just that the plane went down and that Mitchell is gone, Laine. He . . . he didn’t survive.”

“Do you know where it went down?”

“That’s all I know.”

Winnie came bursting through the door. Her stockinged feet pounded heavily on the floor with each deliberate step. “Laine, baby. I’m so sorry.” Winnie fell at her side and wrapped Laine in her arms.

Laine laid her head on Winnie’s full chest like a baby would to its mother.

“I’m so sorry, Laine,” Riley said. “I’m so sorry. You stayed because of me and I’m so sorry.”

Laine leaned up. “Stop it. I don’t want to hear another word. That man loved me. That man died loving me.” Her words slowed. “And I would have never known he still loved me if you hadn’t helped me deal with my own shame. You may be why I stayed. But his love for me is why he was coming here at all. And no one can ever take that away from me. You hear me? Not ever.” Laine was amazed at the strength of her own voice. This peace resonated in her soul, somewhere deep and real. She knew that the things that had happened in her life this week had changed her to the core. And this woman sitting across from her was the main catalyst for all of it.

“Life is a painful journey,” Winnie said as she reached out and pulled Riley toward her too. “But good journeys have good companions. And we are each other’s companions for this journey. However long it lasts. There are no promises for tomorrow. Just today. And today we have each other.” Winnie raised Riley’s face. “Today we have each other.”

Both women fell into Winnie’s arms. And holding them there against her sequined bosom, Winnie hummed softly and rocked them gently in her arms. What had been tested in the hurricane of Laine’s life had now been proven by the hurricane that still taunted outside. Laine felt Winnie’s lips come down on the top of her head and kiss it, then go back to their humming. Laine reached over and took Riley’s hand. And there, on Paradise Island, in the middle of the worst of life’s hurricanes, she held on to the two women who had survived their own.

24

Sunday morning . . .

The beach was strewn with muck that had only two days ago lain at the bottom of the ocean. Hurricane Kate had stirred up all kinds of destruction, even though, from a property standpoint, it had been minimal to the island and gracious to the resort. Riley picked up a broken seashell and let the sharp, jagged edges prick her fingers as she rolled it over.

There had been so much brokenness here this week, so many sharp and jagged edges, that she had hardly even taken in this majestic sight that now stood as still as glass. Funny how life could pummel you with unexpected ferocity one moment and then swaddle you in childlike innocence the next.

She looked at the grounds behind her and saw limbs that lay strewn about the resort. Some things just couldn’t be protected from storms. Some things simply needed to be broken off. She had learned that in her own life. And she had also learned that once old things were broken off, amazingly beautiful things could grow in their place.

She knew the ladies who had impacted her life this week felt as scattered and broken as the debris that surrounded her. But she also knew that they would begin the cleanup of their lives just as she and the staff would begin the cleanup of all of this tomorrow. And while hurricanes might be no respecter of persons, she had become a huge respecter of hurricanes and how much they could change someone.

* * *

Riley turned off the light in her office. The winds had been strong enough through Saturday that it still felt too dangerous to release everyone back to their rooms. The staff had spent the day rescheduling flights for all the guests, and the airport was said to be resuming commercial flights by nine o’clock this morning. She walked out into the lobby of the offices and saw Christian standing at the door.

“You headed to the hospital?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, walking through the door he held open. “We’re going to see Tamyra. The doctor said she’s been asking for us. Poor thing had to weather that storm all alone.”

“A long weekend for her, I bet.”

She nodded. “Then I’m taking Winnie and Laine to the private airport. Laine’s publishing house is sending a plane for her around eight. Winnie’s flying back with her. She doesn’t want her to be alone.” She stopped in the middle of the walkway. A gust threw her ponytail around her shoulder. She looked at Christian and ran her hand through his disheveled thick, wavy black hair. She let her thumb fall to his face, where it traveled softly across the dark circle beneath one eye. “When have you slept?”

He smiled and took her hand. “How bad is it if I say I can’t remember?”

“Bad.”

“I’m going to head home and get some rest now. A new crew has come in and they can handle everything from here.” He pulled her hand toward his mouth and kissed it gently. Then moved it away and wrapped it behind her back, pulling her toward him. “You know I’m crazy about you, don’t you?”

She felt the heat of his closeness rise inside of her. Whenever she was near him, everything inside of her felt alive. Even as tired as she was, he awakened each of her senses in ways that she had been convinced were entombed the past few years. “I think I might know that,” she said, smiling.

He leaned down, kissed her softly, and then propped his head against hers. “I’ll call you later.”

“Thank you for everything. For your understanding, for your help, for being here. You just made every part so much easier. Thank you.”

“Thank you for finally letting me.”

She laughed. “You’re very persistent.”

He leaned back. “And you’re very stubborn.”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again. “Yes, I am,” she said with a wink and walked out the door.

* * *

“I’ll see you when you get home,” Albert said, reaching down and taking Winnie’s hand.

Winnie felt the hairs on her legs grow an inch. She knew she should have taken the time to shave last night. “I’ll look forward to that.”

“You called the kids? told them what you were doing?” he asked as they walked toward the main entrance to The Cove.

“Yes, I told them I would be there as long as Laine wants me there. Trust me, when she’s ready for me to leave, she’ll have no problem telling me.” She laughed softly. Then the ache of Laine’s loss coursed through her again. “It breaks my heart, Albert.”

“I know it does, Winnie. We both know what she’s going through. That’s why you’ll be so good for her.”

Winnie shook her head. “I’m not sure about that. She had a strength last night I didn’t have.”

“Well, there will be days she won’t be so strong.”

She looked at him and saw it. For the first time, she saw the pain of his own loss in his eyes. She had been so selfish. Only thinking about Sam and what she had let go of. As if she were doing Albert some big favor, when he had gone through the same tragedy she had. She stopped in the middle of the breezeway. “Albert, look at me.”

Albert stopped pulling their bags and set them upright. Then turned to look at her. His white hair made the blue of his eyes sparkle. “What?”

She reached for his hand. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t even thought about your loss through all of this.”

He smiled. “Winnie, I’m fine. I grieved well. I grieved hard. I plowed through it with everything inside of me. When the grief was so great I couldn’t stand, I just collapsed. When the loneliness would overtake me, I would cry. When I needed to be with friends, I’d call one up. When I needed to be alone, I didn’t apologize for it.”

Winnie smiled.

“I’m okay. I still miss her. I miss everything about her. But we were still two normal married people, Winnie. So I haven’t idolized her death either. I’ve just accepted it. And now I’m ready to move on to the next phase of my life. I know she would want me to. And I’d like to move on with you.”

Winnie couldn’t help herself. She grabbed the edges of his shirt, pulled him toward her, and planted a wet one right on his lips. When she finally let him go, she looked at him slightly horrified. “I’m not a hussy, Albert. I’m Baptist,” she said, wiping at the edges of her pink lipstick and then wiping it from his face.

He laughed and shook his head, then finally pulled her hand away. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped his mouth. “You are one of a kind, Winnie. You are one of a kind. Now let’s get you to your car.”

* * *

Laine stood on the balcony and leaned against the railing. The rain had finally stopped. She closed her eyes as warm, bursting breezes washed across her face, remnants of the thief that had come in the night, still toying with her. She had found herself awash in tears every time she thought about the reality that was now hers. Mitchell was gone. She would never see his face again. Never kiss him again. Never have him hold her again. Yet every time those thoughts came to her, it was as if some hand of grace pushed through them and let her hear those final words he had shared with her over the phone. That’s when some strange peace would fill her.

This week had been none of what she had anticipated. Her life would be different in so many ways because of what had transpired over the last seven days. And it was all so bittersweet. She may be a writer, but there was no way she could even begin to write the story of all that was going on inside of her. She could only hope that one day she’d find the ability to treasure all of it. She walked back into the room and closed the sliding-glass door. Gerard had already come and gotten her bags.

She ran her hands across the sofa that had served as her bed for the majority of the week. Then she reached into the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of water, and walked toward the door. She looked down at the carpet where she had finally come to terms with herself, with her life, with her shame. And she whispered a prayer of gratitude. Then she walked out the door to the car that waited below.

* * *

They entered Tamyra’s room quietly. Her eyes were closed and her face still incredibly swollen. Winnie walked around to one side of her bed, and Laine and Riley came up on the other side. “You awake, baby girl?” Winnie whispered.

Riley watched as Tamyra opened her eyes slowly. She was certain she saw a faint smile. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Like I’ve been beaten.”

Her words broke the tension and they all laughed.

Tamyra started to laugh, then reached quickly for her ribs.

“Okay, no more laughing,” Winnie scolded.

“How do I look?” Tamyra asked.

“You
are
through with beauty pageants, aren’t you?” Laine asked.

Riley shook her head, grateful to hear that Laine was still alive in there inside her pain. “You look bruised and swollen. You went through a horrible ordeal. But the police called right before I left to tell me they found Jason. He was trying to get a flight out today. The storm kept him trapped here.”

She saw relief on Tamyra’s face. She would probably rest better tonight than she had in months.

Winnie reached for her hand. “Me and Laine are about to fly out, baby girl. But your mom is coming in on a flight this evening. So she will be here with you the rest of the time, okay?”