by Jane Graves
Finally they reached a clearing. A charming little inn painted bright yellow came into view, its porch decorated with hanging baskets full of tropical flowers. Next door to it was a small café, where a few people sat at outdoor tables sipping drinks. Beyond that, Sarah saw a sea of colorful awnings over booths that lined a crisscross of dirt paths. People milled about, chatting and browsing, moving at the speed of Jamaica.
The driver stopped the shuttle. Sarah, Liz and the few other people on board got off and headed for the booths. Tropical trees towered fifty feet above the ground, providing shade for most of the area, with occasional bright rays of afternoon sun slanting through their branches.
Okay, this was nice. Suddenly Sarah was very glad she'd come. An hour or so of relaxation would do her a world of good.
She and Liz went from booth to booth, where they saw jewelry with semiprecious stones, colorful textiles, and hand painted plates. Sarah bought a beaded necklace, and Liz found a small wooden jewelry box and a straw bag. Through it all, Liz didn't even mention Nick, which was a blessing. For a little while, Sarah even forgot she was getting married tomorrow.
Wait a minute. Should that really be a good thing?
They'd just circled around to the last row of booths when a gust of wind blew a tiny dust devil along the path, carrying stray leaves in a tight, busy circle. Just then Sarah felt something on her arm. A raindrop? She glanced to the west and saw dark, churning clouds over the treetops. "Uh oh. Look at those clouds. They came up fast."
"It's probably just a quick afternoon thunderstorm," Liz said. "In ten minutes it'll be sunny again."
"Maybe we'd better head back."
"Come on, Sarah. Rain is fun. It's Mother Nature putting on a show. And it's free."
Sarah didn't agree. Rain depressed her. As far as she was concerned, Mother Nature could keep her shows to herself.
Just then Sarah heard Liz's text tone. Liz checked her phone, typed a message, and then stuffed it back into her pocket.
"Who was that?" Sarah asked.
"Just spam," Liz said.
"Why did you reply to spam?"
"To tell them to stop spamming me."
"Like a spammer will care?"
"Maybe there's a conscience in there somewhere."
"Come on, Liz. Let's catch the next shuttle back to the resort. Look. It'll be coming soon."
"No! Not yet. I'm hungry."
"We had lunch only a few hours ago."
"Which doesn't change the fact that I'm hungry. We can go to the café near that little inn back there."
"We can eat when we get back to the resort."
"Come on, Sarah! You know what I'm like when I need food!"
"Like a bear coming out of hibernation?"
"Exactly. If I had claws, I'd be dangerous."
"Nope," Sarah said walking away. "I'm heading back. And hurry. The shuttle driver will wait only a few minutes."
Liz caught up and walked beside her. Then suddenly she stopped short. "Oh, my God."
Sarah turned back. "What?"
"On the shuttle," she said, pointing. "Isn't that Brandy?"
Sarah whipped around. The bus was still pretty far away, and she couldn't make out anything through the windows. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. I saw her getting on. She could barely get through the door with those boobs. Do you really want her to talk to us all the way back to the resort?"
"Good Lord, no!"
"We'll catch the next shuttle."
Sarah didn't want to stay, but getting stuck with Brandy for half an hour was an even worse prospect. They turned around and headed for the café, the sky growing darker still. A few minutes later, they went inside and were greeted by a woman who told them to sit anywhere they liked.
"You get us a table," Liz said. "I need to go to the little girls' room."
As Liz walked away, Sarah slid into a booth by the window. The waitress dropped menus on their table. Sarah picked one up and looked it over, only to hear a whine of wind, then a wild gust or two. She looked out the window to see the trees swaying in the wind.
Then the rain began.
It was as if a chasm had opened in the heavens and rainwater stored for the past five years came down like Niagara Falls. It pummeled the roof with a deafening clatter, sluicing down the windows in vertical rivers, the wind whipping the trees so hard it bent smaller ones practically to the ground. Every nerve in Sarah's body tensed. How long was this going to go on?
Then she told herself Liz was probably right. The tropical storms that blew through Caribbean islands often seemed intense, but they seldom lasted more than a ten or fifteen minutes. This was likely one of those.
She rolled her shoulders, then let them droop. Okay. Rain or no rain, she decided she was going to unwind. Loosen up. Soon the soft reggae music and the gentle buzz of conversation at surrounding tables lulled her into a sense of relaxation she hadn't expected to feel. Then she thought about what Randall had done and stiffened all over again.
But why? Why was she fighting this? Everything was going to be fine. Chicago was going to be a wonderful place to live. Randall was getting everything he ever wanted, and so was she—a smart, handsome, successful husband, an incredible home, and a life where she would want for nothing.
And her parents wouldn't, either.
Sarah glanced at her menu again, then looked in the direction of the ladies' room. It had been a long time. Where was Liz?
Just as she thought about getting up to check on her, she happened to look out the window and saw the strangest sight. Through the rain, she saw Liz running toward the shuttle.
Sarah felt a rush of apprehension. She grabbed her purse and started to slide out of the booth, only to feel a hand on her shoulder. She spun around, looked up…
And realized she'd been had.
16
As Nick slid into the booth across from Sarah, it all came together, and she wondered how she could possibly have fallen for Liz's manipulation. Leave it to her cousin to get in the middle of things and royally screw them up.
"I can't believe this," Sarah said. "You and Liz are partners in crime?"
"She's devious. I like that in a person."
"You're the only one who does."
"I'm surprised you told her about Park City."
"I didn't intend to," Sarah said. "But she and Kelsey caught on that something was up between you and me."
"How'd they do that?"
"Because you kept acting as if there was!"
Nick shrugged. "Okay. I can see that."
"You can see it, but you don't care about it?"
"Not one little bit. So tell me, Sarah. How do you really feel about buying a house you never asked for in a city you've never lived in?"
"I told you before. The house is beautiful. I'm thrilled about it. Who wouldn't be?"
"You. You wouldn't be. I saw your face when you were looking at those slides. That wasn't surprise at your sudden good fortune. It was shock that Randall would do something so insensitive as to buy you a house and move you halfway across the country without even consulting you."
"I was just surprised, that's all."
"Oh, come on! He dropped all that on you like a freakin' nuclear bomb! He wanted to make sure you didn't get angry about it, so he did it in front of everybody. He's showing you who he is. That's the guy you're marrying!"
"I love Randall! I wouldn't be marrying him if I didn't! Just because we're having this little disagreement about Chicago—"
"Little disagreement? Are you kidding me?"
"I admit I was shocked. But the more I've thought about it the more I'm on board. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a shuttle to catch."
As she slid out of the booth, Nick said, "Actually, what you're on board with is Randall paying off your parents' mortgage."
Sarah's mouth fell open, and she sat back down. "How did you know about that?"
“Randall told me. And he was patting himself on the back for it the whole ti
me. He said you gotta give to get."
She didn't know whether to believe Nick or not. Surely Randall hadn't said that. Surely…
But she knew in her heart Nick wasn't lying. She could actually hear those words coming out of Randall's mouth. Helping her parents was nothing more than a negotiating tactic to him, and the thought of that was more than she could bear.
"I don't want to talk about this."
She grabbed her purse and shopping bag, leaped out of the booth and headed for the door. If she hurried, she could catch the shuttle before it left and kill Liz on the way down the mountain. But Nick was right behind her.
"That's it, isn't it? You're letting him drag you to Chicago and stick you in that overblown mausoleum of a house because he's helping your parents."
"That's not the only reason. But it is a nice thing to do."
"Yeah, if his motives are pure. But they're not. They never are. And he's never going to change."
Sarah yanked open the café door, running down the steps toward the shuttle. Rain pummeled her, drenching her in seconds. Her foot hit a slick spot, and she almost fell. She righted herself and kept walking, every step kicking up a splash of muddy water. She desperately needed to get away from Nick's prying words and his knowing gaze, but he was right behind her, refusing to give up. Damn it, why wouldn't he give up?
She spun around to face him. "Do not get on that bus with me!"
"We're not though talking."
"Milady!" the driver shouted out the window of the shuttle bus. "Are you comin'? We affa get back across de bridge!"
She wheeled back around, and when she did, her foot hit another slick spot and slipped out from under her. Nick grabbed for her and missed. She went down, landing on her ass in the mud. She immediately tried to rise, but once again her feet went out from under her. The driver called out again. "We affa go now!"
"Go ahead!" Nick called out. "We're staying!"
"No, we're not!" Sarah shouted, but a hard gust of wind captured her words and blew them right back at her. She rose halfway to her feet, but when she tried to wave at the driver at the same time, she lost her balance and went down a third time.
"Go!" Nick shouted.
Sarah heard the shuttle door smack shut and the roar of the engine as the bus took off. Through the driving rain, she saw Liz looking at them through one of the windows, and she was smiling.
This time Sarah really was going to kill her.
All at once a bolt of lightning zinged down, followed by a crack of thunder. Nick snatched up Sarah's purse and her shopping bag and draped them over one arm. He lifted her to her feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to steady her. She shook herself loose and started walking back to the café, treading as lightly as she could to keep from ending up on her ass in the mud all over again.
She climbed the steps to the patio, because she sure couldn't go inside the café drenched and muddy. She yanked out a wooden chair at one of the tables and sat, intending to wait for the next shuttle. Nick sat down next to her.
"I can't believe you told that driver to leave," she said hotly.
"Oh, you can believe it. You just wish I hadn't."
Sarah looked down at herself, holding her arms out. "Will you look at me? I'm a mess!"
"Hey, women pay good money at the resort for mud baths. You just got one for free."
"That's not funny."
"It will be eventually. Give it a few years."
"Newsflash, Nick. This will never be funny!" She motioned for a waitress. When the woman came over, Sarah asked her when the next shuttle was coming. When the woman told her maybe not until morning, Sarah felt a rush of panic. Morning? She was getting married in the morning!
As it turned out, the rain itself wasn’t the problem. It was the bridge, which washed out during heavy rainstorms. If the rain lasted much longer, it could be morning before the water receded and the bridge was passable again.
Sarah grabbed her purse, swept a chunk of mud from it, and fished out her phone. Miraculously, she got a cell. She called Liz, and when she answered, Sarah heard the engine of the shuttle in the background, along with the chatter of other people around her.
"Sarah!" Liz said, sounding annoyingly chipper. "So good to hear from you. What's up?"
"Stop the innocent act. You know what's up!"
"I'm sorry, cousin dear. I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
"Like I don't know by now that you and Nick engineered this whole thing?"
"Oh. That."
"Yes, that. You're the most underhanded, conniving, pain in the ass person I've ever known!"
"I'm choosing to take that as a compliment."
"Brandy isn't on that bus, is she?"
"No, but it was a scary thought, wasn’t it?"
Sarah couldn't believe she'd been so gullible. "Do you know what a mess you've caused?"
"It was a mess, all right. I saw you slip in the mud. Eeew."
"Thanks a lot for asking the driver to hold the bus."
"Sorry. That wasn't part of the plan."
"The waitress here told us the bridge floods."
"No kidding. We barely made it back across. The water was rushing, like, an inch beneath the bridge. I sure wouldn't cross it now if I were you."
"But that means I'll be here until morning!"
"Morning?" Liz said brightly. "That's great!"
"No! That's not great! What's Randall going to think if I'm not back at the resort tonight?"
"Don't worry. I'll cover for you."
"How?"
"Here's the story. We went to the craft market up on the mountain, but then I started to feel sick. Food poisoning. I ate some bad shrimp. But you wanted to shop a little longer, so you told me you'd come back later by yourself. Then the rain came, and you got stuck there. The bridge is washed out, so you'll have to stay the night. Call Randall right now and tell him that story. I'll back you up on this end."
"Fine. But how do I explain Nick being here with me?"
"Randall has no way of knowing he's there."
"What if he can't find Nick at the resort?"
"You think he'll actually go looking for the brother he hates?"
This plan sucked, but Sarah didn't have a better one. She hated to lie to Randall, but the truth would cause the kind of disaster that would torpedo their relationship forever.
"I'm never going to forgive you for this," she told Liz.
"Just add it to the list of everything else you said you'd never forgive me for."
Sarah squeezed her eyes closed. This was a disaster. A great big ugly disaster that got worse with every breath she took.
"I'll call Randall right now," Sarah said. "Just make sure you back me up."
"Will do. Give Nick a high five for me, will you?"
That sealed it. Death was too good for Liz.
She hung up and called Randall, told him the story they'd come up with, and he seemed to buy it. "But remember," he said. "We're getting married at eleven in the morning. My mother will go nuts if you're not back here with a few hours to spare."
His mother. Mother, mother, mother, MOTHER! God, was that never going to end?
"That shouldn't be any problem," Sarah told him. "They tell me the water will eventually recede once it stops raining, and I'm sure the shuttles will start running again first thing tomorrow. There's an inn here. I'll get a room for the night."
"Call me when you get up."
"I will."
She stuffed her phone back into her purse and glared at Nick. "I don't like lying."
"At this point, you'd like the truth even less."
"We should have been on that bus."
"That was never going to happen."
"Keeping me here isn't going to change anything."
"Wrong. It's going to change everything." He folded his arms on the table and fixed his gaze on hers. "Sarah? Why do you work for a nonprofit when you could make so much more in the corporate world?"
She dre
w back. "Where did that question come from?"
"Just answer."
"Well, because—"
She stopped short, realizing he had a point. When she graduated from college, she had a few nice offers from big companies, but in the end she'd chosen to go with a charity organization even though the pay was significantly less. It had actually been an easy decision, even if it was at odds with what she always thought she wanted.
"I don't know," she said.
"I know. Because that's what makes you happy. So why are you letting Randall's money blind you now?"
"There's more to Randall than just his money."
"Like what? Tell me, Sarah. Why do you love him?"
There it was again. That question Nick insisted on asking. She started to tell him it was none of his business, only to realize she needed an answer. Not so much for him, but for herself. Why did she love Randall?
She began haltingly, searching for words. "I don't know. I guess…I guess I like his drive. His ambition. He's the kind of man who's always in control. It's as if nothing can touch him."
"Because of his money."
"That sounds awful."
"Is it true?"
Maybe. In a way. But that was the last thing she wanted to tell Nick, because he wouldn't understand. She thought back to the year she'd spent with Randall, searching for the first time she thought, Maybe he's the one.
Then she remembered.
"Last spring we took a short vacation to Napa Valley," she said. "We got to the airport, and our flight was cancelled. It would have blown the whole weekend. But Randall just picked up the phone, called another airline, and booked us on a flight leaving in an hour. It cost him an additional eight hundred bucks to get us there, and he didn't even care."
"Would it have been such a big deal to have your vacation messed up?"
"No. It wasn't that. It was just…" She exhaled. "It was just that feeling of being with somebody who could make one phone call, and suddenly everything was all right again."
"So we're back to money."
Nick was making her crazy. Damn this rain for trapping them there, for making her face the things she just didn't want to. If not for this trip up the mountain, if not for Nick showing up in the first place, she would have been perfectly happy marrying Randall.
