He turned to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Because she knew my mother wouldn’t understand my being in love with a foreigner.” The way he said it, so sad and forlorn, told her more than she probably wanted to know.
She sighed and in that release of breath, she let out everything that she’d kept bottled up inside her. All the pain of the past six years, of feeling unloved, neglected, unworthy. The sadness of knowing that what they had wasn’t real. The heaviness of wondering whether she’d done something, anything, to cause his silence.
“And if you’d gotten the letter...would you have contacted me? Or would you have left things alone and been a good French boy who listened to his mother? Would you have kept running?”
“I would have written you. Emailed you. I would have begged for your forgiveness for not being there and for being so foolish. And then I would have done anything and everything to make it work.”
She closed her eyes at his words.
“But in the end, we both would have known it couldn’t have.”
“Could you have left your parents?”
She shook her head. “The accident was rough. Dad was in a coma for weeks. Mom broke both her legs and hip. I couldn’t have left them. I haven’t. Until now.”
“Family is the most important thing in our lives. Without them, we are lost.”
Lauren reached her hand up and gently touched his cheek. She stroked his unshaven jawline and memorized every subtle change from what she’d remembered.
“Our hearts would have been broken, no matter what. We both would have chosen our families over our love.”
Marc nodded while he stepped towards her. He took the shoes from her hand and threw them back on the beach, and then pulled her close.
“But what we have...it’s more than just a memory of a love.”
She loved being in his arms. It was everything she’d remembered it to be. But...even though this is what she’d wanted, what she’d hoped would happen, why did it feel wrong? Like it wasn’t meant to be?
There was a sadness in her heart that surprised her.
“I’m not sure if it is.” She hated the words as she spoke them, but she knew, in her heart, it was the truth.
“If there is one thing that I’ve learned about myself, it is that my heart is never wrong. Ever. I loved you. I loved everything about you, or what I thought I knew about you. And I held that close. It’s what got me through these past six years. The memory of what we had. The memory of our love. And it was enough. More than enough. But, that’s all it was—”
“Don’t say it.” Marc shook his head but wouldn’t look her in the eyes.
She ran her fingers over his jawline and then touched his lips.
“It was just a memory.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. A gentle touch of her lips against his.
A goodbye.
“It wasn’t just a memory. What we had was real,” Marc argued.
She stepped out of his arms. “It was real. Then. But for the past six years...it’s just been a memory. We’re not the same people we were then. We’ve grown up, changed...but we’re still very much apart.”
“We don’t have to be though.” Marc stuck his hands in his pockets. “You’ve given up on us, on the idea of us. I can hear it in your voice.”
Lauren didn’t say anything. What could she say?
“This weekend wasn’t meant for us to say goodbye. It was to give us a second chance. Sure, there are obstacles...but I knew the moment Lexi showed me your picture that we’d been given a second chance.”
“Don’t you think that’s a sign, though? That we share best friends and yet, in all those years, we’ve never crossed each other’s path? Marc, I deal with your company on a regular basis and we never put two and two together. Doesn’t that say something?”
For two heartbeats, there was silence. Lauren could have sworn that time stopped between them as she waited for him to answer.
“It means we weren’t ready.”
She heard the hope in his voice, the belief, and tears pricked her eyes. She turned from him and stared out over the water. She tilted her head back and stared up into the cloudless sky before she closed her eyes.
“Every year, on the weekend of when I last saw you, I hide myself away so that I can remember you. Every other day of the year, I’ve forced myself to move on, to forget you, but once a year, I remember what we had. I remember what it was like to feel loved, to be in your arms, to believe in a future together despite all the odds. I try to recreate our meals. I write you letters...I fall in love with you all over again.”
His arms encircled around her and she leaned back into his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in deep, letting this moment envelope her.
“Don’t forget about me, please,” Marc whispered in her ear.
“I had planned on letting you go, this weekend.” Her voice broke against her own whispered words and Marc’s arms tightened around her.
“I’m not letting you,” he said. “Ever again.”
“But what if I want you to?” It was hard to say the words, to admit them. Her heart broke a little and the tears flowed down her cheeks. But she couldn’t take them back.
Marc laid a kiss on the top of her head and then rested his cheek there.
They stood there, for what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes. Lauren revealed in each second and knew she would always remember this moment. She would hold it close to her heart and think of how it felt to have his arms around her once more, when she laid in bed at night, alone.
“You are my soul mate, Lauren Summer,” Marc whispered. “That will never change. There will never be another in my heart. But if you want to walk away, if you need to say goodbye to me, to us...” his voice faltered, “then I will not stop you.”
She turned in his arms then, not believing what he’d just said. She’d thought...she thought he would have fought harder for her. For them. But he wasn’t. And she wanted him to. Needed him to...except, wasn’t that what she’d said earlier?
“I will always be here. Always. But I will not force you to do anything you are not ready to do. Yet. I’ve lost six years without you in my life, but I will gladly lose another six if it means you will keep thinking of me, knowing that I haven’t walked away.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, then on her closed eyes, and then on her lips, where he stayed, his lips moving over hers in a silent plea.
“Just promise me you will never forget about me.” He breathed the words into her mouth as he laid one final kiss on her lips and then stepped away.
She was so confused. What just happened?
She wiped at the tears that lingered on her cheeks and shook her head, not sure what to say or what to do. So she did the only thing she knew...she ran.
#
Marc watched Lauren run from him. As difficult as it was for him to stand still, he did it.
He knew this is what she needed to do.
They’d have to work on this habit, though; it wasn’t going to go well if she continually ran from him when she was confused.
He moved upwards, away from the water, and sat down in the sand. He wasn’t sure how long he would have to wait for her to come back, so he might as well do what he wanted for a bit.
And right now, sitting on the beach, soaking in the sun, was exactly what he wanted.
“Is Eden still the paradise you pictured it to be?” Someone stepped over him and blocked out the sun.
Marc turned. His hand shielded his eyes and he glared up at Sean.
“Mind if I join you?” Sean asked as he sat down beside him. “Saw Lauren running. All okay?”
Marc shrugged. “She’s got to work things out, but she’ll be back. Hopefully.”
“I don’t know, man. That’s twice she’s run from you in a matter of days. Hours, actually. I’d be a bit worried, if I were in your shoes.”
Marc leaned back on his elbows and smiled. “She’ll come back.�
�� He knew she would. He wasn’t too worried. He didn’t know why...but there was a sense of...peace about all of this.
“My brothers and I are going to get a game of beach volleyball going. You want in?” Sean pushed himself up to his feet.
There was nothing Marc liked better than a good game of volleyball on the beach, but not today.
“I told her I’d be here, waiting. Don’t want to break my promise.”
Sean reached his hand down and Marc grabbed hold of it and shook it. “You’re a good man. We’re all rooting for you,” Sean said.
“Even Tyler?”
“Well,” Sean grinned, “Tyler’s rooting for Lauren. Can’t blame the guy either.”
Marc laughed as Sean left. No, he couldn’t blame the guy at all.
#
Lauren could barely see where she was going from the steady stream of tears in her eyes. She was a fool. Again.
Why was the first thing she thought to do was to run? Why? She wasn’t a runner—in life or in character—so why did she take off from Marc instead of facing things like a grown woman would do?
Soul mates. The word bloomed in her heart while at the same time planted a seed of fear.
Up ahead she could see some activity. There were tables, chairs, umbrellas, hammocks, a game of volleyball and little cabanas all over the place.
She slowed and wiped her face. She hoped she didn’t look like the ugly crying fool she was.
She couldn’t believe she ran. Again. He was bound to think her emotionally unstable and he’d be right.
She needed to get a hold of herself and stop reacting when what she should do is live. Live in the moment. Trust her heart, herself. This wasn’t like her and if Melanie were here, she’d probably get a stern talking-to and the chocolate back in her room would be hijacked.
She made her way past all the groups that stood there and tried to hide her smile as she saw the obvious triplets in the crowds. For the umpteenth time, she wished her sisters were here with her. She needed to remember to get the info for this triplet group from Tyler before she left.
Ahead of her was a small cabana-like building where there were. Back at home, she’d never have a drink until at least mid-afternoon, but here, she honestly couldn’t care less. Maybe it would help her calm down, soothe her soul.
Maybe.
She couldn’t stop her smile as she read over the list on the chalkboard. Jamaican Me Crazy? She needed to get that for Marc. Then she spotted it—Eden’s Miracle Cure. That’s exactly what she needed—a miracle. And it came with chocolate!
Lauren stood next to a woman who looked at the list as well.
“A chocolate drink?” Lauren said beneath her breath.
“I know.” The woman laughed. “I just ordered it. I mean, how can it be bad?”
Lauren liked how this woman thought. “I know, right?”
She watched as the woman beside her raised her hand to the bartender and asked him to make a second before she turned to Lauren.
“I’m Carissa.”
“Lauren.”
The two women shook hands, and then grinned gleefully when the bartender set their drinks down in front of them. Tapping glasses in unspoken cheers, they each took a sip.
Lauren sighed. The tension left her body as the smooth, sweet chocolate slid down her throat with a trail of delicious heat in its wake.
“Oh my...” she managed to say while at the same time Carissa muttered, “Thank God.”
“That bad?” Lauren set her drink down on the counter.
Carissa shrugged. “I’m here on a platonic vacation with my best friend. Problem is he wants to delete the platonic part and turn this week into forever.”
“Wow.” At least she wasn’t the only one here not finding Eden to be the promised land of paradise right now.
“Yeah.”
“And I gather you’re not interested in him romantically?”
Carissa took another sip of her drink. “Truthfully, I...well...I mean...”
“Ah. So you are.” She took back her earlier thought.
Carissa nodded. “I think I am. But he’s never glanced my way once back home in the six years we’ve been friends. I’m afraid it’s the romantic atmosphere of this island that’s got him all hot and bothered. What if I give in, then we go home and he realizes I’m not the woman of his dreams after all?”
“Do you really think that’s what will happen?”
“No,” Carissa admitted, “I don’t.”
The thought of love, romance, and going home forced Lauren to reach for her glass and take a gulp of her drink.
“Looks like I’m not the only one freaking out,” Carissa said softly.
Lauren gave her a rueful grin. “You’re not. Do you believe in soul mates?”
Without giving Carissa a chance to respond, Lauren took another gulp of her drink, and then set it down.
“I do. Or did. Or do.”
“Which is it?” Carissa asked.
“I do.” Lauren shrugged. She could be honest here. What did it matter? “I’m here because the guy who I believe is my soul mate wants to reconnect.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No, well...maybe?” Lauren shook her head. “I don’t know. Honestly, I’m so confused at this point. I mean, I’ve been in love with this guy for six years, but what if I’ve only been pining after a memory? Is that even possible? He seems to be too good to be real.”
“Is it possible that it is real?”
Lauren quirked her lips and glanced behind her.
“That’s what scares me,” she admitted. “I came here to say goodbye but I find myself falling head over heels again, just like before.” She finished the last of her drink and pushed the glass forward.
“If my sisters were here, you know what they’d tell me?”
Carissa shook her head but Lauren could tell she was interested.
“They’d tell me to take a chance. To trust in love.”
“Sounds like good advice.”
Lauren turned around and rested her elbows on the back of the bar while she looked up into the clear blue sky. She wished they were here, to help her, to give her confidence.
“Tell you what. Pretend I’m one of your sisters. But instead of telling you to trust in love, I’m going to tell you to trust your heart.”
Lauren turned her head and smiled at Carissa. She liked her.
“Then I’m going to do the same. Trust your own heart and see what happens.” Lauren pushed herself away from the bar. “Hopefully we’ll run into each other again,” she said before she walked back to where she’d left Marc.
Trust her heart. Nothing scared her more while excited her at the same time.
What was her heart telling her?
She thought back to how comfortable she felt in his presence, how all she could think about was Marc’s arms around her, how light her heart felt when she’d made the decision late last night to give their love a second chance.
There were so many obstacles, so many reasons this couldn’t work, why it wouldn’t...but was she willing to go through another year, two, or even another six, wondering what if? What if she’d given it a try? What if it had worked?
She made her way back down the beach and couldn’t believe that Marc was still there, where she’d left him.
He must have noticed her approach because by the time she was even remotely close to him, he was waiting for her.
“Are you done running, love?”
“How long would you have waited for me?” Her heart pounded in her chest and she wasn’t sure whether she could wait for his answer.
“However long you needed.” He reached for her hands and pulled her close until there was barely any space left between them.
“I shouldn’t have run, again.”
He only smiled at her, but his eyes were a brilliant green and the message in them told her everything she needed to know.
“You live on the other side of the ocean.” The
re were so many obstacles between them.
“I do.” He nodded.
“And I don’t travel much with my job, so it’s not like I could just take off to come and see you.”
“I understand. Paul also likes to keep me chained to my desk, running his company for him.”
“Long-distance relationships don’t always work...” Her voice drifted off as she realized how futile her arguments really were.
“Did you say that to Lexi when she gave you the same arguments between her and Paul?” Marc had a teasing glint in his gaze.
She shook her head. “You know I didn’t.”
“Then give us a chance. That’s all I ask. Just a chance.” His grip tightened against hers.
“And if it doesn’t work?” That was her biggest fear.
He pulled her close. “It will. I haven’t waited six years for it not to work.”
She gazed into his eyes and knew, in that moment, that she could not only trust her heart, but she could trust him with it.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay?” He sounded surprised.
“I’m willing if you are.”
A huge grin spread across his face at her words and he pulled her in tight and held her close.
“I have a surprise for you,” he whispered into her ear.
“I like surprises,” she said.
“I know.” He let go of her and started to walk, pulling her along with him.
“Where are we going?” She almost had to run, which was difficult to do in the sand.
“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”
“Can you give me a hint at least?”
Marc stopped suddenly and she ran into him. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded.
He turned and waved his arm at one of the brothers who sat in a golf cart up on the path. The brother waved back and Marc turned to her.
“Let’s go.” He had a huge smile on his face.
She followed along, unsure of what the plan was, but once they reached the cart, Trevor hopped out so there was room for both her and Marc in the front.
“Everything is set up,” Trevor said.
“Thanks. Any special requests?”
Trevor shook his head. “Any will do.”
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