by Alexa Davis
“Yeah, I’m on my way now; see you in a bit.”
I hung up the phone and searched about for some paper to leave Eliza a note. I didn’t want to just leave her without letting her know where I was. How awful would that be after the night we just had? But it seemed like I didn’t actually need to because my quietness had failed and she woke up anyway.
“Morning,” she said sleepily behind me. I spun around to watch her rubbing the sleep from her eyes, making her look even more adorable than normal. In that oversized t-shirt and her hair all over the place like that, it made my heart ache for her. “How are you today? Do you want some coffee?”
“Actually, I don’t have time,” I told her regretfully. “I’m going out fishing again today, and I need to get going.” I felt an intense yearning for her, deep in my chest, but I forced myself to resist. I made my eyes break the contact so that I could think. “But you could always come back later, if you’re up for it?”
“Oh.” Her cheeks grew pink and her eyes shone with happiness at the mere suggestion of spending time with me. “Yeah, that would be great, thank you. I’ll come back after work.”
“And don’t you bring any food. I will feed you tonight!” I shot her a smile and winked. “So, I’m just going to throw some stuff on and get going, but I’ll see you soon, okay?”
I raced back into my room and threw on some clothes in a hurry, the whole time thinking only about Eliza. I knew I had to go back home, that was inevitable, but it would be the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. Much more difficult than losing Veronica. Even harder than going through all that treatment.
As I moved back into the front room, I noticed Eliza sitting on the couch with Veil on her lap. She was doing it to irritate me, I could tell by the smirk on her face, but I wasn’t going to react. Mostly because she was far too sweet to yell at. Veil would just have to get out of his old habits when we got back home.
I moved in toward her and went to kiss her on the cheek, but she moved around and our lips connected instead, sending my heart racing wildly. “Well… I have to go. But I’ll see you later, okay?”
As I walked from the cabin, I left my heart behind me. I didn’t want to go, but I had to. Eliza would be going to work soon enough anyway, and to be honest, I didn’t want another day stuck in the cabin by myself.
This was business. This was why I came to Florence. And I wanted to see Justin again anyway.
***
“He’s good, huh?” Justin smirked at me as we got back out on shore. “Told you. I would never steer you wrong.”
“I know, I should have trusted you right away.” I patted him on the back and chuckled. “Although, it is a little smaller than I was expecting. However, as you know, things have happened, my priorities have shifted, and actually, I think maybe I should be picking up companies that need it. You think it’s a good idea, right?”
“Well, like I said, I will put you in touch with my financial advisor, but I think if anyone can make you money, and if anyone deserves it, it’s Landon.”
That just confirmed it for me. I already felt like I was doing the right thing, but to have that cemented by someone who knew what he was talking about felt great. Justin had made a solid name for himself, he’d gotten far all by himself, and now I could see even more that he was an amazing friend to me.
“Thank you for steering me right; I do appreciate it. Florence is awesome, too,” I gestured around. “I can’t believe I haven’t spent more time here.”
“I like it,” he replied with a smirk. “But that’s for more reasons than just the view.”
“Your lady friend, huh?” I plastered a smile on my face, but there was an intense jealousy coursing through my veins. Somehow, despite all the odds being stacked against him, Justin was making the whole long distance thing work. Of course, the distance wasn’t quite as huge, but still… I wanted that! “How are you dealing with that? It must be hard being so far apart.”
“Oh, we make it work. She’s the right one, so it isn’t hard!”
I wanted to question him. I wanted to find out how he worked out that this woman was the right one, but I didn’t get the chance because Landon came back out, holding mugs of coffee for us. I decided to use that moment to finally confirm the good news for him.
“So, Landon, I’m going to meet with a financial advisor soon, but I certainly want to put some money into this business. I want to give you the investment, and I’ll do my best to get it all done for you by March, okay?”
His whole face lit up, and I could almost see the new and endless ideas shooting through his brain. “Oh, wow, that’s incredible! Thank you so much. I feel like I should be taking you guys out for some real drinks to celebrate.”
“As tempting as that is, I have plans tonight,” Justin interjected, which I nodded along with. Yes, I wanted to celebrate the first step forward I’d taken in my new life, but at the same time, I would much rather spend my time with Eliza than anyone else.
“Yeah, maybe we’ll do something soon. I have to get a move on, too.”
We drank the rest of our mugs, discussing some of our plans for the future, with Justin actually making some awesome suggestions, before saying out goodbyes. I’d had a great day. I enjoyed being out on the water and actually felt like I was getting better at it, but I couldn’t wait to get back to the cabin. I needed to pop to the store, pick up some food, then I could hopefully have some dinner prepared for the moment Eliza joined me.
As I drove, I went past the salon, and I felt the magnetic pull trying to drag me inside. It would have been so easy to stop in just to see her, but at the same time, it might have made things difficult for her. I didn’t have any real excuse for visiting. I’d already had my hair cut, so it would be obvious what I was doing. If she wasn’t quite ready to tell Laynee that we’d hooked up again, it might have made things awkward.
I would have to just resist for now. I was going to have to wait.
Just as I was about to make my way into the store, my phone blasted. I assumed it would either be Landon or Justin, I hoped it would be Eliza (unless she was going to cancel!), but it wasn’t any of those. It was Bill, probably calling to report on the new security company.
“Hey, Bill, how’s it going?” I glanced down at my fingers, examining my nails, treating the news about the casino as more of a side business than my real focus. It just didn’t feel quite like reality anymore.
“Not good, I’m afraid.” It was only the fact that he sounded so shaken up that got my attention. “We’ve been robbed; it’s been… Well, it’s been one hell of a day, to be honest.”
“What?” I exclaimed a little angrily. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”
“Well, I tried to call you, but your phone was switched off.” Of course, I was out on the boat. I wouldn’t have had any reception. “Then I’ve been with the police all afternoon.”
I paced the parking lot, tugging my fingers through my hair. All of a sudden, my two lives were crashing together in the worst way possible. The dream-like quality everything in Vegas had taken on was now much sharper. It was all real once more. “Well, what was taken? What did the police say?”
“Money – they took lots of money. Tens of thousands, and they smashed up a couple of the machines. They… They think it was the old security company out for revenge.”
“Oh, fucking hell,” I muttered angrily. “Well, I need to be there. I need to sort things out.” Everything else spun from my mind; all I zoned in on was the casino and the problems there. “I should have been there all along. I should have known this was going to happen.”
“It isn’t your fault…” Bill tried, but it was too late. The blame already lay thickly on my shoulders. I’d been away for too long. I’d been treating this as far too much of a vacation; I should have known that was going to backfire.
“Just hold off for now, I’ll be back soon.” I jumped back into my car, already forgetting all the night’s plans. “Just… I don’t know
, are you going to close the place for tonight or try and keep it running?”
“We’re open for now; we cleared up the damage and stepped up security,” he told me, confident that he’d done all the right things. He was an amazing manager, that was why I relied on him so heavily. “But, yeah, it’ll be good to see you so I can go through everything properly.”
“I just have to get my things, and I’ll see you soon.”
Shit, fucking hell, this is a nightmare. My casinos were doing well, but I couldn’t afford for this sort of fuck up. I didn’t need to be on the shitty end of a revenge plot; it was just a shame that I hadn’t considered this as a possibility. I needed to get back now; I had to return to real life. I couldn’t let this go on for another second longer.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Eliza – Thursday
“I don’t want to leave you agaaainnn…”
“Oh, my God, are you singing?” Laynee exclaimed in shock as she joined me at work. “Something amazing must have happened last night. I don’t think I’ve ever come into work to hear you singing!”
I blushed furiously, partly at being caught wailing with my terrible, out-of-tune voice, but mostly because the memory of Milo was still imprinted into my body. I could still feel his hands everywhere, even more powerfully than before, and it made me feel sexy all over. No one had ever had such a lasting impact on me, and it was incredible.
“Well, yeah, maybe you were right about the whole Valentine’s Day thing,” I felt compelled to admit.
“All of it?” she gasped happily. “The dinner, the underwear?”
“Yes, yes, everything. It was amazing.” I drifted off into dream world, remembering his words to me as well as the feel of him all over me. “Better than I expected.”
“So, what happened?” She nudged me playfully, a massive smile spread across her lips. “Did you sleep together again? Was it amazing?”
“Even better than last time.” I sat down in one of the chairs where I could see myself in the mirror, and Laynee imitated me. “But it wasn’t just that. He actually opened up to me. He told me about himself.”
“He did? That’s something else. What did he tell you?” She leaned on her hands and stared intently at me. I didn’t want to share Milo’s secrets, but I knew I could trust Laynee. Plus, she’d been on this whole journey with me – she deserved to know it all.
“He told me that he’d had this whole thing with this woman that went horribly wrong. She was married, and I think that broke his heart. And then after all that, he found out that he had a life-threatening illness, too. He’s been through all kinds of horrible treatment.”
“Whoa, I just thought that he was gruff. I didn’t realize that he’d been through so much.”
I smiled secretly to myself, thinking about him. Milo had been through a lot, but he wasn’t fragile or damaged about it. He just seemed to get through things in his own steely way. It was impressive really, something to be admired. Especially for someone like me who just blustered through everything in the only way I knew how.
“Yeah, he’s great.” I turned to see Laynee looking at me weirdly. “What? What’s going on?”
“Well, I don’t like to ask you this,” she started cautiously. “But I feel like I need to know. Are you…?” My heart pounded as I waited to see where she was going with this. “Are you falling in love with him? I know it’s complicated and everything, but are you? I’ve just never seen you like this about anyone.”
“I…” I had no way of answering that. Deep down, I knew exactly what I was feeling, however dangerous that was. But it couldn’t be made real. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think too much about it because he’s leaving.”
“I am sorry for interrupting…” A voice behind us both made us jump out of our skins. “I don’t think the bell is working on your door anymore, and I’m here for my appointment.”
We both jumped up, remembering exactly where we were. “Oh, I am sorry, Mrs. Edwards! Please take a seat.” I glanced at Laynee, and it was obvious from her stunned expression that she’d forgotten Mrs. Edwards was coming in, too.
“I will just…” I raced behind the counter and grabbed the appointment book to see that she was booked in for a trim and a blow dry. Okay, that was easy enough. I could do that with my eyes closed.
“You know, I couldn’t help overhearing you before…” Mrs. Edwards started as I grabbed hold of the scissors. A cold shame stripped through my body as I realized now there was another person who knew all my business. I just hoped that she hadn’t been around for long enough to hear about Milo’s secrets. “And I have to say that you shouldn’t let distance get in the way of real love.”
“Well, I’m not quite… I don’t think it can be counted as, you know, true love,” I stammered, embarrassment working my mouth before my brain could get involved. “I haven’t known him long,”
“Oh, of course, but it doesn’t take long to know when it’s true love, does it? I knew with Richard within a couple of hours.” Her eyes began to shine with happiness at just the mere mention of her husband.
It made me take a step back mentally. That was what I wanted in my life – that was what I needed. Is Milo the one? If I took away all the obstacles standing in our path, would I have considered him as someone I loved? “I met him when I was here on holiday and it only took me a moment to know,” she continued. “It was his deep, dark, crinkly eyes.”
“Wow, that sounds like an incredible story,” Laynee interjected, looking a little misty eyed herself. “Please, tell us all about it.”
“Well, I was young at the time, and I was here with my parents, but it was an instantaneous thing.” From the way that she started talking, it seemed like it had been a long time since she got to share her story of love, which made me sad. This made her happy; she should have been able to discuss it whenever she wanted!
“He was a little older than me, so we got disapproval from everyone, but we didn’t care. We were in love – that was all we cared about. So when I went home to New York, we wrote all the time, never giving up on one another, and as soon as I could afford to, I moved here to be with him.”
“Weren’t you scared?” I gasped in shock. “Didn’t you fear that it wouldn’t work out? Weren’t you afraid of giving up everything for a man you didn’t totally know?”
“Not at all.” She waved her hand dismissively at me. “I just knew. Yes, I gave up the chance to be an actress, and I left my family and friends behind, but I never regretted it for a second. Not even when times were hard and we’d spend more time screaming at one another than anything else.
“My life could have been totally different, I could have lived a whole other lifestyle, but what would the point have been without him? He was the only one who made me feel special, loved, home, actually.”
I resonated with that sentiment, far more than I wanted to admit aloud.
“My life wouldn’t have been so colorful and filled with laughter without him. Now he’s been gone for a few years, and I miss him every single day, but I’m still glad that he was in my life. I couldn’t have done any of this without him.”
I turned back to see Laynee giving me a look, one loaded with meaning. I ignored it with my nose in the air and got back to work without giving anyone the satisfaction of knowing they’d gotten to me. I didn’t want anyone to know I was mulling this over and over, churning it all up in my mind. Would I be as willing to throw everything away for a man? Would I regret it forever, or would I regret it if I didn’t?
I wasn’t sure, but I knew for a fact that I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else for the rest of the day…
***
I whizzed my car along the road, back to the cabin, filled with excitement to see Milo once more. I hadn’t made any real progress with my thoughts about the future, but I hoped getting to spend more time with him would make me see more. Sure, he had his reservations, as did I, but maybe we could end up like Mrs. Edwards and her husband.
/> It was nice to think about, anyway.
But as I pushed through the front door, the image before me wasn’t Milo cooking me a meal as promised. Instead, he was yelling frantically into his phone and throwing things into his suitcase. My heart stopped dead in my chest. What the hell is happening? Is he… leaving?
Veil raced over to my side, and I patted him like I always did, but with much less enthusiasm. I was far too distracted, trying to work out why my dream was falling apart in front of my eyes. It didn’t make any sense.
“Fuck!” Milo eventually yelled, throwing his phone onto the couch. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He was pulling at his hair, stamping his feet as he paced, his whole body trembling with anger. I didn’t even want to speak to him; I felt too weirded out by his temper. I’d never seen this side of him before. It didn’t make any sense.
I glanced behind me, wondering if I could just slip back out without him knowing, but then he turned to face me, and his eyes widened in shock.
“Wha… What’s going on?” I stammered, folding my arms across my chest. “Is everything all right?”
“I have to go,” he snapped evasively, grabbing his bag. “Now.”
“But why?” I persisted. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He obviously had something going on, but it felt rude that he was about to just vanish without even letting me know. It sullied everything we’d been through.
“Because.” He tossed his arms up in the air, exasperated. “Because my life isn’t here. Because I’ve been wasting time hiding away in the middle of nowhere while everything else falls apart.”
Is that how he sees our time together? As a waste of time? I’d been idiotically pining after him and the whole time he was already moving back to Nevada. Nausea swirled around in my stomach, causing me to actually clutch at my tummy in disgust.
“I… Well, I…” I didn’t know what to say to that. How do I defend what we have without making myself sound like a total crazy person? I’d been doing my best not to come across as insane, and it had happened anyway. “What happened?” I ended up finishing with lamely.
