“How do I get this off?”
“It never comes off,” she teased. “Your toes will be pink for the next year.”
“Pink toes would definitely scare my mother,” he said.
Sophie put the top back on the bottle, then handed it to him. “For touch-ups,” she teased. “And you’ll have to get some polish remover and some-” She stopped, a distant sound catching her attention. “The plane is coming.”
Trey swung his feet off her lap and stood, then held out his hand and helped her up. Sophie pointed across the lagoon. “They’ll come in from that way,” she said.
“How do you know?”
“The wind. They’ll land into the wind.”
They stood on the step and waited. Just as Sophie had predicted, ten minutes later, they saw the plane circle twice before lining up for a landing. Sophie smiled as she recognized Gabriel Aubert’s plane from Tiare Air. Both Gabriel and Franc were excellent pilots and Sophie wasn’t surprised that her father had called on them both to lead the search. Besides, Gabe and Sophie had also dated for a time three or four years ago and Sophie suspected he still harbored a small crush.
Gabriel made a perfect landing with the amphibious plane, maneuvering so it glided slowly up toward the beach. He cut the engine and the propeller stopped. A moment later, the plane came to a halt about twenty feet from the shore. Sophie strolled down to the lagoon, Trey walking a few feet behind her.
Gabriel hopped out of the plane and waded through the water, a wide smile on his handsome face. “Sophie Madigan, you have caused a lot of worry,” he scolded, his French accent thick. “Your father was frantic when you didn’t return last night.”
Sophie threw her arms around Gabe’s neck and gave him a hug. “Thank you for coming for us. We had a problem with the plane and I had to put it down.”
“She put it down without the engine,” Trey said.
Gabe glanced back and forth between the two of them. “Really? This is true?”
“It was nothing,” Sophie said.
“It was something,” Trey contradicted. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Alors, let’s get you home,” Gabe said, draping his arm over Sophie’s shoulders. “You can tell me all about it on the way. Your papa is anxious to see you, Sophie.” He looked over at Trey. “And so is yours, Mr. Shelton.”
“My father?”
Gabe nodded. “He’s waiting at the Madigan hangar at Faaa. He came in on a Learjet. Nice plane. I’ve always wanted to fly one of those.” He glanced around. “Do you have your belongings?”
Trey held up his bag and Sophie nodded. “We’re ready to go.” It was obvious from Gabe’s attitude toward her that he didn’t suspect anything had gone on between Trey and her. And it was obvious from Trey’s expression that he didn’t like Gabe touching her. But Sophie wasn’t ready to explain to anyone what had happened on Suaneva.
They waded out into the water. Gabe grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into the plane. Sophie crawled into the copilot’s seat, then turned to watch Trey and Gabe spin the plane around. When they were finished, Trey took the spot behind the pilot’s seat while Gabe strapped himself in. Sophie sent Trey a smile, but he didn’t return it.
She turned back to the controls, wondering what was going through Trey’s mind. Though she and Gabe had dated, they’d realized early on they were much better off as friends. And now, they were more like siblings, sharing their interest in flying and their frustrations with working for their fathers. Trey really had no cause to be jealous.
Maybe he was just sad to leave the island, she mused. Sophie sat silently as Gabe started the engine and when they were ready to take off, Sophie fastened her seat belt and glanced back at Trey. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, staring at her with an enigmatic smile.
Gabe pushed the throttle forward and the plane began to skim over the lagoon. Her father had been right. Though landing was always tricky on Suaneva, taking off required a very steep bank at the end of the lagoon to avoid the tops of the coconut palms. When they were in the air, Gabe grabbed the radio and flipped to the channel that her father used for Madigan Air.
“Madigan Air, this is Tiare Air 2269. I have both passengers on board and we’re on our way to Faaa. Estimated flying time, ninety minutes. Over.”
Sophie heard her father’s voice crackling over the distance between them. “Let me talk to my daughter. Over.”
Gabe handed her the radio and she pushed the transmit button. “Hello, Papa. I’m so sorry to have worried you.”
“You don’t know how frantic I was,” he said. She could hear it in his voice, the same emotion that she heard whenever he talked about her mother. “I didn’t know what to think. What went wrong? Over.”
“I think there was moisture in the fuel line. The engine cut out and I couldn’t get it started again. I’m pretty sure the belt on the alternator broke. That’s why the radio didn’t work. Over.”
“You made a dead-stick landing?”
“Yes, Papa. Just like you taught me.”
“Good girl, Sophie.”
She could hear how upset he was, so Sophie decided to cut the conversation short. “Papa, I’ll see you when we land. Tell Trey’s-I mean, Mr. Shelton’s father that he’s fine. I love you, Papa.”
“Love you, too, Sophie.”
She handed the radio back to Gabe, then brushed a tear from her cheek. Drawing a ragged breath, she fixed her gaze out on the horizon. Sophie had to believe everything would be fine when they got back.
But as Gabe chatted about his plans to buy a new plane for his father’s business, Sophie realized that she really wasn’t interested. She longed to hear Trey’s voice, even if he was reciting the alphabet or reading the phone book.
In fact, she was starting to seriously regret they’d ever left the island at all.
9
T REY KNEW IT WAS GOING to be bad as they taxied up to the Madigan Air hangar. He could see a group of photographers hurrying toward the plane, their cameras flashing. Cursing softly, he wondered if Sophie was prepared to handle this.
He’d been wading through the celebrity cesspool his entire adult life. The press had finally begun to back off now that he was keeping a lower profile, but a story like this was too juicy to resist. Plane crash, castaway on a tropical island and a beautiful woman. All elements the tabloids could exploit.
“Look at that,” Gabe said. “Les Nouvelles has sent out reporters. Sophie, you must be famous.”
“No,” Trey muttered. “I think they’re looking for me.”
Sophie glanced back at him, their gazes meeting for the first time since the flight began. Trey sent her a weak smile. “When you get out of the plane, go right to your father,” he said. “Lock yourself in the hangar until the press leaves. Do you understand?”
She nodded, then turned back to stare at the growing mob outside. Sophie had spent the past hour chatting with her handsome pilot while Trey had pretended to work, scribbling illegible notes on his legal pad as he tried to figure out the true nature of the relationship between Sophie and Gabe.
It had become so easy to think of Sophie as his own. But after just a few minutes off the island, Trey was forced to admit there were other people who cared about her, too. Her father. And obviously this Gabe character.
Trey had known men like him, Frenchmen, who were well schooled in the art of charm. Even with his faded T-shirt and battered cap, Trey could see through the act. This guy was smooth. And from what Trey could tell, he’d set his sights on Sophie.
“Look,” Gabe said, “there is your father.” He took Sophie’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Trey bristled at the gesture and he bit back a curse. For the first time in his life, he was jealous and he didn’t like the way that felt.
“See, this is the Lear I was talking about,” Gabe said, pointing to Trey’s father’s plane. “Nice, n’est-ce pas?”
“Very nice,” Sophie murmured.
The plane drew
to a stop and Gabe shut off the engine, then crawled out the pilot’s side, leaving Trey and Sophie alone for the first time. “Don’t say anything to the reporters,” Trey warned. “Just do as I said and everything will be all right. I’ll come back later, after everything has cooled down.”
Sophie nodded, giving him a weak smile. Then the passenger-side door opened and Gabe reached in to help Sophie out. “What is lost is now found,” Gabe said as he grabbed her waist and lifted her from the plane.
Trey found his bag and prepared himself for the crush of photographers and reporters. If he was able to draw their attention away from Sophie by answering a few questions, then maybe she could get away. He waited until she’d reached her father, then, taking a deep breath, Trey stepped out of the plane to the flash of cameras.
“Trey, tell us about your time as a castaway!”
“Are you all right, Trey? Do you have any injuries?”
“They say your pilot was a woman. Was the crash her fault?”
“There was no crash,” Trey said with a warm smile. “We had to make an emergency landing, that’s all.” He kept his eye on Sophie, watching as she threw herself into her father’s embrace. “There was a minor mechanical problem with the plane and the pilot did an amazing job putting us down on the lagoon at Suaneva.”
“My son will answer all your questions later!” Trey stopped at the sound of his father’s voice, then turned to watch Peter Shelton the Second emerge from the Learjet. He slowly strolled down the steps as the cameras turned their attention toward him.
“Mr. Shelton, were you worried about your son?”
“Did you think he was dead?”
“Tell us how you felt when you got the call.”
“I said we’d answer questions later,” Trey’s father said. “I’ve arranged for a press conference at the Sofitel in a couple of hours. You can get all the photos you want and ask all your questions then. Right now, I’d like to talk to my son.”
His father crossed the tarmac to where Trey stood, then pulled him into a fierce hug. Trey couldn’t recall the last time his father had showed the least bit of affection toward him. “A press conference?” Trey muttered.
“Good to see you, Trey,” he said. “I was worried.”
“How did you get here so fast?” Trey asked.
“I got the call late last night while I was in Tokyo. It didn’t take me long. Your mother is on her way. She’s flying in from New York and should be here early this evening. I chartered a plane for her.”
“That wasn’t necessary. I’m fine.”
“Well, good.” He clapped Trey on the shoulder and to his surprise, Trey saw tears glistening in his father’s eyes.
“I’m glad you came,” Trey said. “And it will be nice to see Mom. We haven’t spent a Christmas together in years.”
His father smiled. “We’ll have a big celebration.”
Trey thought back to the simple celebration he and Sophie had enjoyed the night before. His father’s parties were always overblown affairs. “Maybe we could just have a drink and talk?”
A taxi screeched to a halt near the hangar and Trey turned to watch as an oddly familiar woman crawled out of the back. She pulled off her sunglasses and surveyed the crowd, immediately catching the interest of the photographers. “It’s Tania!” one of the reporters shouted.
“Oh my God! Oh, Trey, thank God you’re alive.”
Trey cringed. Tania Richardson. What the hell was she doing here? Though he’d broken off the relationship six months ago, since that time, Tania had managed to perpetuate the rumor that she and Trey were about to announce their engagement. Obviously this was some silly publicity stunt.
Tania came from a famous acting family in Britain and was rather used to over-the-top dramatics. But this was too much. She rushed over to him, making sure to stop a few times for photographs. Tania was wearing clothes more suitable for a nightclub-a skimpy little dress that left nothing to the imagination.
When she reached him, Tania threw herself into his arms and the flashes began popping continuously. Trey tried to extract himself from her embrace, but she wouldn’t let go. “Stop,” he gasped, unwrapping her arms from around his neck.
“I’m so glad you’re alive, darling.”
Trey glanced over to see Sophie watching them both, her eyes wide, her expression marked with confusion. “How did you get here, Tania?”
She stepped back and gave him a plastic smile. “Well, darling, when I heard you were going to be here for the holidays, I thought it would be nice if we’d spend some time together. With your schedule and mine, we’ve been apart for too long. Imagine my horror when I heard you were missing. So of course, I called the press. News like this is important.”
“No doubt you were anxious to try out a new role-that of the grieving fiancée,” Trey said. “It would have been a good part, Tania, but unfortunately, I survived. And I suppose now would be a good time to tell the press we’re not really engaged.”
In fact, now would be the perfect time, Trey thought. He glanced around at the small crowd gathered around him. He’d lost track of Sophie and he stepped away from Tania, searching for her. A moment later, he saw her, standing at the door of the hangar.
“Sophie!”
The reporters and photographers immediately turned their attention to her. He tried to walk toward her but no matter which way he moved, they stepped into his path. Trey gave one of the reporters a shove and the guy stumbled back, falling against a photographer. “Sorry,” Trey muttered. “Just let me get by.”
“Son, come on.” Peter Shelton grabbed Trey’s arm and pulled him back. “I have a car waiting to take us to the hotel.”
Trey glanced back and forth between his father and Sophie. His gaze met hers and held and for a moment; he felt as though they were back on the island, all alone. He could read the confusion in her eyes and he wanted to explain. But not here and not with everyone watching.
Sophie gave him a little wave goodbye, then turned and walked inside the hangar. The moment she was gone, Trey felt an incredible loneliness set in. He knew things might be bad when they got back. But he’d never imagined this.
“Come on, darling,” Tania said. “Let’s get out of here. You need to change out of those awful clothes and have something decent to eat.” She turned to Trey’s father and gave him a blinding smile. “You don’t mind if I ride with you, do you?” She looped her arm through Trey’s and pulled him toward the waiting town car.
“By the way, who was the girl?” Tania murmured through clenched teeth as they wove back through the photographers.
“She was the pilot,” Trey said. “Her name is Sophie.” Tania had a jealous streak a mile long. It had been one of the things that had quickly put an end to their short relationship.
“I think you should sue,” she added in a clipped tone. “The girl is obviously incompetent. You could have been killed.”
Trey crawled in the backseat of the car, Tania getting in after him. His father brought up the rear, scowling as if he wasn’t pleased they had an extra passenger, either. But Trey couldn’t think about the politics of what was going on. All he could think about was getting back to Sophie.
They pulled away from the hangar and the reporters and photographers quickly gave chase, some in cars, some on motorcycles. Trey sank back into the soft leather seats, not listening to the incessant chatter coming from Tania. Sophie was always so careful with her words. She never wasted any and everything she said was endlessly interesting. Tania talked because she loved the sound of her own voice.
He’d get back to the hotel, get changed and then find a way to leave without the reporters following. He knew Sophie and her father lived on an outlying island, but maybe, without their plane, they’d be forced to stay in Tahiti for the day.
Or perhaps Gabe would take them home. If that was the case, then Trey would simply hire Gabe to fly him to Sophie. That part of his plan would be easy to accomplish. After Tania’s little stunt,
convincing Sophie that they belonged together might be a bit more difficult.
Trey pushed up from his seat and crawled over Tania, squeezing in next to his father. “I have something I want to talk to you about,” he said. “An idea I have for a resort.”
“We can talk about business later,” his father said.
“No, I need to talk about this now,” Trey insisted. “My future depends on it. I don’t have time to waste.”
S OPHIE SAT DOWN AT the battered desk inside the hangar of Madigan Air. She’d been back for two hours and it hadn’t taken long for her life to return to exactly what it had been a few days ago.
Her father, Franc and Gabe had insisted she accompany them into town for a celebratory breakfast at their favorite patisserie. Sophie had begged off, wanting nothing more than to get home and back to her normal routine. But the three men had been up all night and wanted something to eat, so she’d stayed behind to make arrangements for a mechanic to fly to Suaneva the following morning.
The thought of going back to Suaneva without Trey was difficult to imagine. But the reception they got on arrival was enough to convince her they’d never be going back there together. Her thoughts wound back to the scene she’d witnessed.
One of the reporters had come over to ask her a few questions about the “incident,” as he had called it. She carefully explained what had happened and he seemed satisfied with her answers. But then, Sophie had risked a question of her own, asking about the woman who had greeted Trey so enthusiastically.
The reporter had looked at her as if she’d just asked him what that big bright ball of fire was in the sky. He’d quickly informed Sophie that Tania Richardson was both a famous British starlet and Trey Shelton’s fiancée.
Sophie had never heard of her, but then, she’d been stuck on an island in the middle of the South Pacific her whole life. And Tahiti wasn’t exactly a hotbed of celebrity activity, either.
As Sophie searched the desk for the phone book, anger bubbled up inside her. She cursed loudly first in French, and then in English for good measure. How could she have been so stupid as to trust him? The whole time they’d been on the island, he’d been playing her for a fool. When he’d said he was unattached, he’d lied. And everything after that was a lie, too.
Who Needs Mistletoe? Page 15
