Love,
Zoey
She left the letter on the desk, knowing they’d all realize she’d left because of Nathan. She wished she could keep from dragging them into this yet again, but there was no way around it.
No, she corrected herself, she wasn’t dragging them into anything. She was getting out before she created anything to be dragged into.
Now all she had to do was wake up Mason Quinn, Jake’s boat captain, and ask him for a humongous favor. If he said no… She couldn’t even think of what she’d do then.
Maybe there was a cave she could go hide in for the next several days. Maybe she could find a rowboat and row to Tortola.
No, Mason was her best bet. She’d have to beg him. He was a nice guy, and she had to bank on that little bit she knew about him.
The sky grew lighter as she walked toward the cottages on the other side of the cay. The clouds had cleared, raindrops sparkled on the leaves of the trees and shrubs bordering the path, and it promised to be a beautiful day.
She wished she wasn’t leaving. That she could go snorkeling with Will and get a massage with Rebecca and Ella. That she could hang out on the beach, go kayaking, enjoy the gourmet concoctions Jake’s cook came up with.
That she could stay with Nathan…be with him during the days and sleep with him at night…
That absolutely couldn’t happen. That would be far too dangerous.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t hear the footsteps until they were practically on top of her. She jerked her head up just in time to see Will appear, running around a bend in the path. He reeled to a halt, glanced down at her suitcase, then looked at her face.
It took him all of two seconds to figure it out.
He took a deep breath. “Nate?”
She nodded, then spoke through the giant lump in her throat, once again blinking back the water that seemed to want to pool in her eyes. “Yeah.”
He closed his eyes. “Damn. I’m sorry, Zo.”
“It’s…it’s okay. I just need to leave. I can’t be near him now, Will. It’s too… I just… I need to go home.”
“Okay,” he said. His lips twisted. “You look like you need a hug, Zo. And I’d give you one, but I just ran around this island ten times, and I’m sweaty.”
“I don’t care,” she whispered, shaking her head and swallowing hard.
Will stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. She gripped him tightly and buried her face in his shoulder, needing his comfort right now. He’d probably just run five miles, but the guy was in such good shape he wasn’t even breathing hard, and if he was sweating, she couldn’t tell.
“All right,” he said soothingly, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “So…what are you going to do?”
“I was going to ask Mason to take me to Tortola. I…I know it’s a lot to ask, but if he’s willing to take me, I can get a flight from there.”
He pulled back, looking into her face, his dark eyes searching. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes. I am. One hundred percent sure. I have to.”
“Okay.” She breathed a sigh of relief. Will always took her words at face value, and she loved that about him. He took her bag from her. “Mason’s already up. I saw him working on the powerboat. Come on. I’ll take you to him.”
* * * *
Mason agreed to give her a ride, saying he already planned to take Tyler, Rebecca’s pilot, to Tortola this morning. Leaving Zoey and Will on the pier, he went off to find Tyler, but he returned alone a few minutes later.
“Where’s Tyler?” Will asked him.
Mason shrugged. “He said his plans changed and he didn’t need to go after all.”
Zoey chewed on her lip. “Are you still okay with taking me?”
“Sure, no problem.”
He jumped aboard, then reached out a hand to her. She looked at the word written in large blue letters on the side of the boat.
Freedom.
Was that where she was going? To freedom? Why, then, did it suddenly seem as if she were tied to her life by ropes thicker than those that held the Freedom to the dock?
She turned to Will to say good-bye, but he shook his head. “Don’t even think about it. I’m coming with you.”
She knew that tone of voice. There was no point in arguing with him. Nodding her acceptance, she took Mason’s hand and stepped aboard. Will followed behind her with her bag. They sat in the cockpit, and Will released the ropes while Mason went up to the captain’s chair and navigated the boat out of the bay.
Sugar Cay grew smaller as they drew away from it, and then it finally disappeared over the horizon. She didn’t know if she’d be back next year. She wouldn’t be able to come if Nathan was going to be here.
The trip between the two islands seemed to take forever, and by the time they reached Tortola, the sun had burned away the gray of dawn, the sky was jewel blue, and the Caribbean was a deep sapphire.
Will helped her find a taxi to the airport, and when she’d bought her ticket back to DC for a flight later that afternoon, they finally said their good-byes.
“Thanks for being there for me this morning,” she said, trying to force her lips into a smile.
“I’ve got your back,” he told her. “We all do.”
“You’re the best friends in the world.”
He seemed to hesitate, but then he said, “I’m not sure if this will help at all, but I want you to know something.”
“What’s that?”
“Nate never stopped loving you, Zo.”
She brushed it off with a laugh that sounded far too strained. “Yeah, he did. What about Oksana? All the others?”
Will’s look was dead serious, his lips flat. “Those were just his pathetic attempts to forget you. They didn’t work.”
She blinked hard. “Well,” she said shakily, “he needs to forget. Just like I do.”
Will nodded slowly. “Okay. Just remember…he feels it as much as you do.”
How could he? He hadn’t been willing to change his plans to go to Stanford. He’d expected her to decide to just go along with him, like he expected her to drop her life in DC now, as if her life, her dreams and goals, were worth nothing.
“Right,” she said shakily. She gave Will a game smile. “You’d better go. Mason said he needed to get back by noon.”
“All right, as long as you’re good here.”
“I’m good. I’ll just read at the gate while I’m waiting.”
He bent down and kissed her cheek. “Take care, okay? Call me if you need anything.”
“I will,” she promised, and she meant that, at least. She actually did believe Will and the others had her back.
* * * *
Nate opened his eyes and stretched lazily. He’d been drifting in and out of sleep for the past hour or so, because this bed was damn comfortable, and it smelled like Zoey, and he felt like he could sleep all day all cozy and wrapped up in her scent.
She wasn’t in bed, and although he would have liked to wish her good morning—in the carnal sense—this was normal behavior for her. She’d always gotten up earlier than him. She was probably downstairs drinking coffee with Will, the other early riser.
He rolled his head and looked at the clock on the nightstand, then widened his eyes. It was later than he expected—almost ten o’clock. Everyone was probably up by now. He really needed to get out of bed.
After another languid stretch, he got up and pulled on his jeans and T-shirt from yesterday. He slipped out—the hallway was empty, which was good, because he wasn’t sure if Zoey wanted anyone to know about last night just yet.
He went two doors down to his own bedroom, where he took a quick shower and changed his clothes. Then he went downstairs in search of Zoey.
The house seemed unnaturally quiet. The living room was empty, and so was the dining room. Nate wandered around for a while, finally knocking on the closed door to Jake’s office, not really expecting anyone to answer. But a voice came from i
nside—Jake’s voice. “Come in.”
Nate opened the door, then stepped back in surprise. Jake, Ella, and Rebecca stood inside the office, and they all turned to him, grave looks on their faces. “Oh, hey,” he said lightly. “I was just looking for Zoey. Do you guys know where she is?”
Silence. And then Jake held out his hand to Rebecca, who handed him a folded piece of paper. He came to Nate and held the paper out. “I’m sorry, man.”
Nate unfolded the sheet of paper and read. With each word, he felt heavier. He read it again. And again, combing his fingers through his damp hair.
Shit. He should have expected this. He knew her so well, so why hadn’t he predicted it?
It felt as if his heart were being cleaved in two. He’d wanted to be with her again, but until this moment, he hadn’t realized how important she was to him.
When he looked back up at his friends, his chest hurt so bad he could hardly breathe.
He just stared at them through stinging eyes. He had no idea what to say. But his thoughts must have been written all over his face, because Ella and Rebecca both came to him. They wrapped their arms around him and squeezed him tight.
She’d left him.
Even though she’d told him to go, walking away from Zoey three years ago had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. But this time, she’d left him. She’d ended it.
He’d failed. He hadn’t won her back; he’d driven her away.
Chapter Five
June
Zoey thanked the cab driver and paid him. Straightening, she turned toward the turquoise-blue house. It was pretty—an interesting architectural mix of Victorian and modern, and hemmed in on both sides by other pretty houses, each of them with a distinctive look and painted in distinctive colors. The street was at such a steep slope that one of her feet was noticeably lower than the other. Her suitcase handle tugged at her hand, gravity tempting it to go rolling down the street.
She wrapped her jacket around her—the woman sitting beside her on the airplane had informed her that it was always foggy and cool in San Francisco this time of year, and it was definitely chilly. And foggy. Nate had mentioned once that he had a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay from his house, but she couldn’t see much farther than a few houses down the block.
She went into the building, using the key Ella had miraculously procured for her. She hadn’t questioned how—with her charm and looks, not to mention money, Ella always found a way to get what she wanted.
She’d just been playing with the idea of getting a key and waiting for Nathan to come home from work and surprising him that way, but when she’d told Ella and Rebecca her idea, they’d said Zoey just had to do it.
Zoey had made this decision all the way back in March. From the time she’d left Sugar Cay, she’d been working hard sawing away at those thick ropes that bound her to her life in DC.
What she wanted was here. In San Francisco. She could have her life as a teacher. San Francisco was a big city with the same kinds of inner-city schools and the same kinds of kids she’d loved teaching in DC. She barely saw her family anyway, except on holidays, and she could still fly across the country for that. And there was always FaceTime.
Here, she could have Nathan. She could have a fulfilling job and the man of her dreams.
She’d always known this. But letting go of her fierce independence, her strict adherence to how she thought her life should go—that was the hard part. She’d done it, though. And when she’d finally cut away the last of those binding ropes, she called the San Francisco Unified School District and applied for a job.
She walked up the steps and opened Nate’s door. Thanks to Ella’s magical rich-girl powers, she even had the security code. She’d almost melted into a puddle on her kitchen floor in Crappy Apartment when Ella had called her to tell her what it was.
0527. The security code for Nathan’s house was May 27th. Zoey’s birthday.
She punched it in, her heart beating way too fast, and then turned to look at the interior of the house. Everything was sleek and expensive-looking. Shiny wood floors, stainless-steel and granite, modern furniture, and lots of windows overlooking a lush but tiny backyard garden.
She was curious, but she stopped herself from snooping around too much. She was already invading Nathan’s privacy, but she didn’t want to go overboard. She just wanted to surprise him.
So she found a place on the sofa facing an enormous built-in TV screen. She reached into the front pocket of her suitcase and pulled out her book, along with her acceptance letter from an elementary school in the Mission District, which she laid on the table.
Then she opened her book as if she wasn’t the most nervous she’d ever been in her life, and began to read the paranormal romance she’d started on the airplane.
Two hours later, her nerves started to get the better of her, and she texted Ella. It was after eleven on the East Coast, but Ella had a habit of staying up late, so Zoey didn’t worry about waking her.
He’s not home yet. Maybe something’s wrong. What if something’s wrong?
Ella’s response came immediately. He’s an investment banker, duh! He’s probably working late. Those guys always work insane hours. You know that.
What if he’s on a date? Zoey typed. Because of all the possible scenarios, that one would be the absolute worst. To think she’d come out all this way to discover that he’d found someone else…
She closed her eyes. He’d talked about them being together beyond their time in Sugar Cay. The way he’d touched her, so reverent, so gentle. How could anyone who wasn’t in love with a woman touch her that way?
But she’d walked away from him. He didn’t owe her anything. He could be dating a different girl every night, for all she knew. And if he was, she couldn’t really blame him.
He’s not on a date! Zoey could almost hear the annoyance in Ella’s text.
It is Friday night, Zoey reminded her friend.
HE’S NOT ON A DATE!
Sheesh. You don’t have to text-yell.
Sorry, hon. But he’s not on a date. Trust me, okay?
Okay, Zoey typed. She started reading again, in fits and starts.
Two hours later, she was really worried. It was almost eleven o’clock, two a.m. on the East Coast, and Ella would probably be asleep by now.
Zoey stared at the door, willing him to walk through it. A while ago, she’d come to the conclusion that she really hadn’t planned this out well. There was nowhere else for her to go, no place to stay, and she didn’t know anyone in this city.
She’d been dying to see him. She’d assumed he’d be thrilled to see her here. She’d assumed he’d welcome her with open arms. But that was impossible if he was out somewhere. Visions assailed her of him walking in with some Oksana-type hanging off him. Maybe they’d already be kissing, pawing each other, both of them giddy from a night of clubbing in San Francisco. And then they’d see her sitting here…
Zoey closed her eyes. He wasn’t necessarily out with a girl. He could be out with his guy friends. He could have gone to his parents’ or something. Ella could have been right—he could be at work. Nathan worked crazy hours. Sometimes until midnight. His job was insanely demanding.
If she kept thinking he was at the office and that he’d come home exhausted from an ultra-long day at work… He’d see her sitting here. She could picture the surprise on his face, then how it would brighten, and how he would smile and hug her when she showed him the job offer… She’d picture all that. Because picturing the Oksana-girl scenario was just too depressing.
She waited. And she waited. Until, finally, she fell into a fitful doze on his couch.
* * * *
At seven o’clock the next morning, Nate gave up on sleep. He got up, took a shower, then got into his rental car and headed to the address Jake had given him. He snuck in the locked main door behind an older lady carrying a bunch of grocery bags, offering to carry some of them for her. She scowled at him.
“Don’t you think I can handle my own grocery bags, boy?”
Nate looked at her, bewildered. “Sure, yeah, of course.”
“Well, then, why’d you ask?”
“Just trying to…uh…be helpful.”
She raised her spare red-tinged eyebrows. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”
He laughed. “No. Not really.”
She grudgingly gave him three of the bags, and he followed her up the stairs to apartment 3B. She went in through a crack in the door, then took the bags from him. “You don’t expect a tip or anything, do you?”
Nate grinned. “Nope.”
“Good!” And she shut the door in his face.
Nate took a deep breath, then turned toward the stairway. He ascended two more flights. The landing was tiny and led to three doors: 5A, 5B, and 5C. He turned to 5C and stared at the door for a long minute. So this was “Crappy Apartment.” He took a deep breath and knocked.
He held the breath he’d just drawn in, and waited. And waited.
There was no answer. Shit. He knocked again. Again, there was no answer.
Zoey wasn’t home.
He took a step back, not sure what to do. He stood there for about ten minutes…just to make sure she hadn’t stepped out. But he knew she hadn’t. He had no idea where she was, but she sure as hell wasn’t home, and he had no idea when she’d be back.
He got back into his car and texted Jake.
She’s not home.
Jake took a moment to respond. Nate sat there, leaning his head back against the cloth headrest. After several minutes, he turned to look at the folder on the passenger seat. The folder containing his approval to transfer offices from the West Coast Headquarters in San Francisco to the smaller office in DC. It was a demotion, but it was worth it.
He was ready to do it. More than ready. After Zoey had left him in Sugar Cay, he’d gone home and done a lot of soul-searching. He understood her desire to stay in DC. He’d realized that it was his own selfishness that had kept them apart for so long. His unwillingness to consider her life here, her career as important and worthy.
The Reunion Page 5
