Paradise Wild (Wild At Heart Book 2)

by Christine Hartmann

  Good riddance.

  She sobbed for hours and finally fell asleep.

  ***

  A quacking awoke her the next morning. Her eyes resisted opening, glued shut with the residue of tears, sleep, and too much alcohol. She wrested them open with her fingers and peered, blinking rapidly, around the brightly lit room.

  Where am I?

  The disaster of the previous evening rushed back at her, crushing her to the mattress. Only the annoying duck sounds from her alarm roused her to action. She found the phone, turned it off, rolled to the floor, and flung her arm over her forehead.

  Why did I drink so much?

  She rubbed her temples, willing the throbbing in her head to subside. Later, the rainfall shower that cascaded over her head slowly washed away her headache. Underneath lay smoldering anger. Ellie climbed out and stomped around the stone tile floor, manically rubbing her hair dry with an oversized towel.

  You want him, bitch? You can have him. And just so you know, I’m quitting your job. I don’t need your money.

  At twenty to seven, Ellie pulled in front of the house, face firmly set, eyes narrowed and resolute. But it took the next twenty minutes for her to wrestle the conflict that churned within her to the ground.

  Just act cool. Get everything arranged. Get back to San Francisco as fast as you can. Then you can surprise her and quit. You don’t have to do anything this morning.

  At the door, Ellie’s gaze shifted from the floor to Vivyenne’s immaculate short white skirt and cream top and back again. Vivyenne hardly glanced at her.

  “Let’s get started. There is a lot you have to fix.”

  This woman’s made of ice. She’s acting like last night never even happened. Fine. Two can play that game.

  Vivyenne led the way through the house, pointing out defects, design flaws, and do-overs. Ellie took notes on her iPad, eyes boring hatred into Vivyenne’s back.

  When they entered the master bedroom, Ellie couldn’t stop herself from scrutinizing the bed for signs of the previous night’s passion. But the crisp sheet and cover looked like they’d just returned from a military barracks. They stretched tightly over the mattress and Ellie was sure a penny would have bounced if she’d thrown one.

  Bet she has sex like a robot. Ellie made a face behind Vivyenne’s back.

  The room itself looked unlived in. The suitcases had disappeared, the towels in the bathroom hung just as Ellie had left them, and there were no toiletries on the sink.

  This woman’s a freak. How can she not leave a sign of herself anywhere? Ellie pulled a towel to the floor as she exited the room behind Vivyenne.

  She expected Vivyenne to be less meticulous about the garden than the house, but she was wrong.

  “That bush ruins the sweep of the view.” Vivyenne pointed at a magenta bougainvillea plant near the house that Ellie had particularly admired. “It will go.”

  She marched to the fountain. “And these loose lava stones. Why aren’t they in place?” Her foot nudged a stone as carefully as Ellie would nudge a scorpion.

  An involuntary band tightened around Ellie’s chest. For the first time, she looked at Vivyenne’s face, defiant and ready to fight. “The guy who was doing that was Brandon. He passed away. I think the others just haven’t had the heart to touch this yet.”

  Vivyenne’s expression registered only consternation. “This needs to be finished. It’s been long enough.” She shrugged, her straight shoulders moving toward her ears like the inept flap of a bird’s wings. “Now this…”

  Ellie closed her eyes with a sinking feeling as Vivyenne strode toward the line of shrubs and trees that separated her house from Denver’s.

  “This set of trees is hardly high enough to serve as a real privacy wall.”

  Ellie gazed at the ten-foot tall palms.

  What kind of privacy are you after? I thought you’d want them to build a gate to his house.

  Vivyenne’s long fingers fondled a frond. “Find out whose land they’re on, mine or the neighbor’s.”

  The neighbors? That’s what you call him?

  “If they’re on my property, they’ll need to be cut out. Something else will have to be planted. Something taller.”

  “Right.” Ellie traipsed after her onto the lanai, where Vivyenne turned and stared over Ellie’s head as she talked.

  “You can move back in here tonight. I’ve seen what I needed to see. And something at work has come up. I will fly back this afternoon.”

  Ellie stared. “What about Den…Viv?”

  “Who? Oh, the cat.” Vivyenne wiped her hands on the sides of her skirt. “He will stay.”

  Not with me, he won’t. Not in the house where you had sex with Denver.

  Ellie dropped her iPad onto the deck chair. “Vivyenne…”

  “You won’t have to take me the airport.” Vivyenne swung around to the door, her back bob sweeping around her head, looking for a split second as though it might slice her neck with its sharp corners. “Denver’s offered to take me.” She paused before stepping across the threshold and spoke to the empty hallway before her. “I think you know Denver. The man from last night.”

  Ellie stood riveted, jaw sagging toward the floor.

  ***

  Celine’s concerned expression stared at Ellie from the laptop that lay propped on her knees.

  “He took her to the airport?”

  “I guess. I wasn’t here. By the time I got back from the hotel, the alarm was set and the house was empty. Except for Viv. Poor guy. I don’t think she fed him or anything.” Ellie’s fingers played absentmindedly with Viv’s paws. “They probably went back to San Francisco together. The whole work thing he was telling me about all the time was probably a lie.”

  Celine’s eyes blazed. “If I ever see Denver, girl, he’s going to hear some language that will make his eyelashes curl.”

  A brief smile flickered then died in Ellie’s eyes, wet with a sheen of tears. She rubbed her cheeks with the back of her hand.

  “What should I do? Should I quit? I was going to this morning.” She blew her nose. “Now I don’t know. If they’re both gone, I might as well stay here and take her money. It’s not like I have any other place to go.”

  “Sure you do. You can come back here. For Thanksgiving at least. Get your mind off this.”

  Ellie shook her head.

  “You think you’ll feel better feeling sorry for yourself?” Celine tapped the camera to get Ellie to look at her. “K-Rao’s coming. Try to get on the same flight as him. He’ll keep you entertained.”

  “I’m so depressed. I’ll spoil your Thanksgiving.” Ellie lifted Viv and rubbed her face in his stomach. He batted at her head with soft paws.

  “I’ll have booze and friends waiting for you. Hold on.” Celine propped her phone against something and typed for a minute. “There’re some first class seats left on K-Rao’s flight.”

  “First class?”

  Celine nodded. “Spend some of that bitch’s money. And when you get here, we’ll call her up. Give her some West Side Chicago attitude. You deserve a raise.”

  Chapter 18

  Thumping music from the living room reverberated through Celine’s small apartment, making the glassware jiggle. Ellie stood in a crowd of people near the second bedroom. She was telling a story, hands waving wildly, the wine in her half-empty glass sloshing like a mini tsunami. With a particularly violent swing of her arm, the glass itself soared toward the wall. A young man in an untucked flannel shirt and dirty jeans intercepted the flying object before impact.

  “Nice throw.” He laughed, wiping the white wine from his shirt. “You want a refill?”

  “What?” Ellie focused on him with effort. “Sure. Get yourself another glass.”

  He grinned and began pushing his way through the crowd. Ellie grabbed the tail of his shirt and tugged.

  “Get me one too.” She looked quizzically at her empty hands. “I must’ve put mine down somewhere.”

  K-Rao stepped
forward.

  “I think you’ve had enough, yeah?” He grasped Ellie’s elbow and steered her skillfully through the dense crowd of twenty-somethings in the hall. “Excuse us, folks. I’m taking this lovely lady for a walk.”

  At the long living room sofa, he whispered in the ear of a tall youth with long, untidy hair and a torn sweatshirt. The man hopped up and K-Rao settled Ellie in the seat he’d vacated. Ellie stared after him.

  “That guy was my professor.” She squinted. “Used to work at HubSpot.”

  K-Rao settled on the sofa’s arm. “Wouldn’t be surprised. Celine throws a hell of a Thanksgiving party.” While Ellie stared at her professor’s retreating back, K-Rao pointed at Ellie’s head and gave Celine, who was watching him from the kitchen, a thumbs up.

  Ellie leaned conspiratorially against K-Rao’s shoulder. “You miss Maui?” She had to shout to be heard above the music and surrounding conversation.

  “Nope. Maui’s not going anywhere. I’m happy to be here.”

  “I miss it.” Ellie burped and put her hand to her mouth, giggling. “I miss Viv.”

  “You miss the big-ass house.” K-Rao punched her lightly in the shoulder. Ellie fell in slow motion, colliding eventually with the woman on her other side.

  K-Rao pulled Ellie upright.

  “I miss Denver.” Ellie slumped toward him again. He propped her against the backrest. “I blocked his number.” She groped for her phone and pulled from her back pocket. “See?”

  K-Rao looked thoughtfully at the blank screen. “It sucks, Ellie. The guy was a bastard.”

  “Yeah.” Ellie’s head bobbed back and forth, knocking repeatedly against the headrest. “Did you know his company was a hot mess? I should have seen it coming. He was a total loser.”

  “That’s right.” K-Rao patted her arm and looked through the living room window at the glittering lights of the neighboring high-rises.

  “So why do I miss Maui? I met only jerks. Like Noa.” She stopped nodding and followed K-Rao’s glance out the window. “Anything new about him?”

  “Nope. He disappeared. I think you can forget about him, yeah?”

  “Not so easy. Jerks stick in your mind.”

  “Yeah.” K-Rao grinned. “What are you planning after you finish your courses? You job hunting yet?”

  “Vivyenne. She was another class-A jerk.” Ellie poked a finger at her phone. “Treats Devora like shit. And Devora’s actually really nice, once you get to know her.”

  K-Rao scratched his head. “How about your parents? Are they coming to visit?”

  Ellie yelled into the phone. “Fuck Vivyenne and her tight-ass surgical white fetish.”

  He laughed and tried to catch her gaze. “Hey, Ellie. I’m trying to switch the subject.”

  Ellie smiled to herself. “It’s Thanksgiving. You’re supposed to be grateful. I’m texting Devora.”

  “You’re in your own little world right now, aren’t you?” K-Rao squeezed her shoulders. “Wave if you need me.” He elbowed his way through the throng in the direction of the kitchen.

  Ellie turned on her phone.

  Ellie: Happy turkey day.

  She was putting her phone back in her pants when it jingled. She looked at it with surprise.

  Devora: Right. U too.

  Ellie: Ur around on T-day? I’m at a party in San Fran.

  Devora: Severe FOMO. At my parents’.

  Ellie: Aww.

  Devora: Not aww. Oww.

  Ellie: Come over.

  Devora: We’re in L.A.

  Ellie pursed her lips in thought.

  “What the fuck.”

  Ellie: I want a raise.

  Devora: Go for it.

  Ellie: And first class ticket back.

  Devora: Right. Anything else?

  Ellie patted her head with both hands.

  “Come on, Ellie. Think. What else?”

  She scrunched her eyes tightly shut for a second.

  Ellie: Got ideas?

  Devora: U should have asked for more money from the beginning. I was authorized to give u more.

  Ellie: WTF.

  Devora: Can tell u more. I’ll call u in 5.

  Ellie looked up from her phone in bewilderment, as though aware for the first time of the buzz around her. She pretended holding the phone to one ear and plugged the other with her finger.

  Can’t hear anything but this music.

  The mass of young people around her swayed in time to the pulsating beat. Conversations, in-person and virtual, augmented the noise.

  Nobody goes home for Thanksgiving anymore?

  She stumbled over outstretched legs and people sitting on the floor. The area by the front door was less crowded than elsewhere, but when she reached it she realized why. It served as an echo chamber, all sound reverberating against the close walls. Ellie lurched into the condo’s hall. The door closed behind her, cutting the volume by half. She stepped across the narrow strip of carpet to the communal garbage and recycling area. After the metal door clanged shut, the only reminder of the party across the hall was a faint thump.

  She slid down the wall to face a large pile of flattened Amazon boxes. The phone rang.

  “Hey.” Devora’s voice sounded quiet and less confident than Ellie remembered.

  “Hey.” Ellie listed to one side. “Don’t think we’ve actually talked since I moved to Hawaii.”

  “Right. Texting’s better. But that phone’s Vivyenne’s. Sometimes I think she monitors my messages.”

  “Wouldn’t surprise me.” Ellie kicked the boxes with her foot and they tumbled forward. “Shit.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Hold on.” Ellie set the phone on the floor and re-assembled the pile. She scooted farther away so she wouldn’t be tempted again. “Sorry. I’m in the garbage closet. It’s quiet.”

  “I’d take a garbage closet. I’m at my parents’. It’s a nightmare.”

  Ellie registered the slight slurring in Devora’s speech. “You sound drunk.”

  “So do you.”

  Ellie laughed. “That’s because I am drunk.”

  “Right. Well, here no one officially ever gets beyond tipsy. My grandfather’s so tipsy that he’s passed out in front of the TV.”

  “You should really come over. I’ve never had a Thanksgiving like this. The room’s full of people our age who apparently don’t need to be home.”

  “What about you? Why aren’t you back in Delaware?”

  Ellie closed her eyes and a vision of her family around the mahogany dining room table washed briefly in front of her eyes. “Wish I were. It’s fun at Thanksgiving.”

  “Right. But that’s not why you texted.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Ellie’s spine straightened against the wall. “You wanted to tell me about the raise.”

  “Right. Ask for double.”

  “Double what?”

  “Double what you’re making right now.”

  A noticeable amount of wine stopped circulating through Ellie’s system. Her head suddenly cleared. “Double?”

  “That’s right. Doctor Lovejoy’s in a good mood. It’s rare, so take advantage of it. She just got engaged to some old flame.”

  She felt as though an Olympic boxer had landed a direct punch to her gut. Her mouth hung open. She dropped the phone, which skidded across the concrete.

  “Ellie?” Devora’s voice sounded tinny and distant.

  She held the phone next to her ashen face. “Shit.”

  “You okay?”

  Ellie rocked back and forth against the wall. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  “What’s up? I thought I was doing you a favor.”

  “You are.” Ellie rose, leaning against the wall for support. “Ask that bitch for triple what I make now. And a first class ticket back. And a better car. And…” Ellie wiped her mouth. “I get to have final say over the garden.”

  “You’re giving me life here, Ellie. Hold on.”

  Ellie lay down on the cold concrete. It cooled he
r throbbing head. She stared at the piles of cardboard, the recycling boxes, the garbage chute.

  Denver’s marrying Vivyenne. The thought made her gag and she sat up, coughing.

  “Hey.” Devora’s voice sounded excited. “You’re never going to believe this.”

  Ellie massaged her temples. “What? She fired me?”

  “No. You’ll rake in sixty-six thousand dollars from now until the end of January. Basically all she said was, ‘Okay. I’m sure Denver would want her to have it.’ Whatever that means.”

  Ellie’s voice was flat, defeated. “That means she’s feeling guilty.”

  “Guilty? You don’t know the woman. Guilt is not something she wastes time on.”

  “No.” Ellie shook her head. “Probably not. She just hits and runs.”

  Ellie heard a muffled conversation from Devora’s end of the line.

  “Hey, I’ve got to go. I was hiding in my brother’s bedroom, but they found me. You have a great Thanksgiving. Have some fun for me, okay?”

  Ellie wiped a tear from her cheek. “Sure.”

  She lay back on the floor and pulled a piece of cardboard over her head.

  An hour later, Celine shoved the garbage area door open and screamed. Ellie flung the box from her as though she’d been shocked and sat bolt upright.

  “Girl.” Celine held her chest. “You scared the life out of me. What are you doing in here with a box over your head like a homeless person?” She eyed Ellie’s face. “You get lost?”

  Ellie sat up and hung her head. Tears dripped onto the gray floor, staining it with dark circles. Celine dropped the bag of empty bottles into a bin and squatted beside her friend. “What happened?”