by Alice Ward
The plane landed, and when we got off, we were anything but alone. Reporters were everywhere. It seemed the world wanted to know we were okay and hear our story. But we weren’t ready to tell our story just yet.
Our families were there, waiting in a private area we were spirited away to. Even though we held tightly to each other’s hands, we were ripped apart as my father grabbed me into a rough hug and her family formed a circle around her. My father and I exchanged a few words, but our attention was taken by all the crying going on in Kendra’s family circle.
“That’s Kendra, Dad. She and I have become close. Very close.”
He gave my ribs a nudge with his elbow. “I bet you did, you rascal.”
Kendra met my eyes. “Okay, okay you guys, let me out of here. I want to introduce you to Eli.”
I couldn’t breathe as her father came to me, hand extended. “We’ve already met, but I wanted to thank you again for taking such good care of our daughter. She looks better than we expected her to after such an ordeal. You’re a gentleman who deserves our respect.”
Kendra gave me a wink, and I had a hard time hiding my grin. Her father’s words made me feel pretty good about how he was going to take our news. Kendra didn’t look nearly as sure about that as I was.
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.” We ended our handshake, and I exchanged hugs with her mother and sisters before wrapping an arm around Kendra. He didn’t bat an eye at the action, so I took another step forward, this time kissing the side of her head. Mr. Baxter’s left eye twitched and I decided that was enough PDA for the moment. “You’ve raised a wonderful woman.”
“Thanks, Reed.” He continued to look me over. “I’ve been thinking. We had several search parties looking for you two. Imagine our surprise when you showed up at that hospital in Scotland. When the news came to us that you were on an island we’d flown over a few times, I was more than a bit surprised that you were nowhere to be seen.” His eyes bored into me. “Why didn’t you stay on the shore?”
I gulped. “The conditions weren’t hospitable, sir.”
“It was better inland, Daddy,” Kendra confirmed like the trooper she was. “There was fresh water, and food. And the interior foliage provided us more protection against the harsh storms that seemed to come out of nowhere. We made the right decision to move inland.”
He grunted. “And why did it take you so damn long to decide to get that radio?”
I was stumped.
Did I admit to him that I never wanted to leave that island? Did I tell him that his daughter and I had found paradise there and didn’t want to leave? Did I dare tell the man who was looking at me with a huge pulsing on the side of his thick neck that we had planned out our entire life right there. And that that life included children?
Kendra’s hand wrapped around mine as she leaned in. “Don’t do it, Eli.” Her words were whispered, but her father heard them.
“Don’t do what?” He looked back and forth, giving each of us condemning stares. The rest of his family stood behind him. My father came to stand on the other side of me, sensing the hostility that was growing in the small room.
I looked at Kendra, who was losing the color in her face. She was afraid, and I knew I ought to be too. But her worry and fear made me react differently. I had to protect her. Even if it was from her own father.
I lifted my chin and looked him in the eye. “Mr. Baxter, Kendra and I became very close while we were on that island. And we have some news I hope you all feel is as wonderful as we do.”
I stopped as my father squeezed my shoulder. “Son, now’s not the time. You have a bunch of people wanting to welcome you home, so we should be going. You all can talk later.”
“No, Dad. This needs to be said now.” I looked at Kendra to make sure she was on board with what I was about to do.
She exhaled a long breath and gripped my hand harder, but she stood tall at my side. I was proud of her. “Tell them.”
“Okay, this is enough.” Her father reached out and took her by the hand, pulling her to him. I held tight, but he pulled so hard, I was afraid I’d hurt her if I didn’t let go.
It was Kendra who shook him off. “Dad, I love you, but you need to let me go.”
“Sir, please don’t—”
My father cut off my words. “Eli, come now. No more of this. It’s turning into a scene. The paparazzi will find us if we don’t hurry and leave. The car is just outside.” He grabbed my arm to pull me away.
“Kendra?”
She looked at me, and a single tear fell. “Eli?”
Shaking my father off me, I took three steps to close the distance between her father and me. “I am sorry about this, sir. This isn’t how I wanted things to go at all.” I took her free hand and looked at her as I steadied my voice. “Tell him what you want.”
With a nod, she looked at her father. “Daddy, let me go. I’m not leaving with you. I’m going with Eli. We’re together.”
Baxter’s jaw clenched, then his wife stepped closer and whispered something in his ear, things I couldn’t hear. Then she stepped up to his side, not letting his hand go. “Mr. Reed.”
“Please, call me Eli.”
As if I had said nothing at all, she continued, “Kendra is still in college. I’m sure things happened on that island that would’ve never happened here. We understand if you two became close. Who wouldn’t understand that? You were all each other had.” She raised her chin, reminding me so much of Kendra. “That’s over. She has a family who loves and misses her.”
“But—”
She held up a hand. “Mr. Baxter and I are not saying you two can’t date or something along those lines, but she is not going with you. Not while there’s breath in our bodies. Now, unless you two managed to get legitimately married while on that island, our daughter is going with us.”
I was floored by her parents. She was right, they were strict as hell. “How could we have done that? We came straight here. If I’d known you would react like this, I’d have stopped off in Vegas and brought her back here as my wife.”
“How do you expect us to react?” Her father spat the words at me. “Ever heard of Stockholm’s syndrome?”
My teeth gritted together. “I did not hold Kendra captive.”
“It’s the same dynamic. She became reliant on you for her survival which formed an unhealthy attachment. If you care for her, let’s see if you still feel this way after, say, a year or so apart.”
A year? My asshole.
Desperate and angry, I spouted out, “She’s pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
The entire room went quiet.
Kendra’s fingernails pierced my skin as her father’s face turned a deeper shade of purple. I thought the man was going to have a heart attack right in front of us.
“You don’t have to marry her. That’s no cause for a forced marriage,” my father said. “This is the twenty-first century, in case you aren’t aware.”
I pushed Dad behind me before Mr. Baxter decked him. “The hell he doesn’t have to marry her!” he roared.
“I’m so sorry,” was all I could say to Kendra. Things weren’t going anywhere near the way I’d hoped. I felt more threatened than when I was swimming in shark-infested water. “Let’s go.”
She nodded, and I headed us toward the door. Yanking it open, I was nearly blinded by all the cameras. Reporters started shouting questions. It was just too much. I totally lost it.
I might’ve tossed a male reporter to the side, he said I did, anyway. I did remember losing my shit and shouting for everyone to get the fuck out of our way and leave us the fuck alone. Protecting Kendra from the throng, I found my father’s limousine. Kendra was trembling badly by the time I closed the door.
“Take us home.”
The driver looked startled. “But your father—”
“Can take a damn cab. Leave now or I swear to everything holy that I’ll climb over this seat and do it myself.”
“What about th
e welcome home party?” he reminded me.
I cursed. “They can eat cake without us. Take us home.”
The next week flew past in a blur as we sequestered ourselves in my apartment, not stepping outside even once. We spent the week soaking in tubs or curled together on my soft bed, holding each other. She spoke to her mother on the phone, but ended up crying so hard afterwards it broke my heart. Her father was still pissed and they all wanted her to leave me and go home. She was more than heartbroken about her father’s disappointment in her. And how could I blame her?
I was tearing her from her family. I wondered if she’d one day hate me for it.
It began to fall apart. All in the matter of a week, things had changed so drastically that she and I hardly exchanged two words. We slept together each night, holding each other, and saying I love you before we fell asleep.
On a comfortable bed, with pillows and clean linens, we slept. Not peacefully. Not even close to as peacefully as we’d slept on our island.
I wanted to marry her. I wanted that more than anything. But I knew she would want her family to be there, celebrating with her.
The more I thought of it, the more pissed off I got. It made me sick at how he had turned his back on her. How could he claim to love her and treat her that way?
On the seventh night of being back in New York, I made a phone call to the man hurting the woman I loved. I shut the door of my home office as I pressed the buttons.
“Yes?” came his abrupt answer.
“Sir, I know you don’t like me. I know you don’t respect me. And I know you’d like to see me dead.”
A huffing sound came from him and nothing else.
“I love your daughter, and I’m the father of your grandchild so I’m asking you to listen to me. Hate me, don’t hate me, I don’t care. But you’re tearing your daughter apart, and she’s carrying my baby inside her. This isn’t good for her or our child. She can’t eat, barely sleeps, and cries constantly. She’s not herself. I’m sorry things didn’t go in the order you wanted them to. I love her. I love her more than I knew was possible. And I love our baby already. That said, sir, I would like your permission to marry your daughter. And I want you and your family to come to the wedding, smiles on.”
Time ticked by at a snail’s pace. “You have it. Be good to her.” Then he hung up.
With a lighter heart, I went to tell Kendra the news. I found her sitting on the sofa, staring out the window. Kneeling on one knee in front of her, I took her hand. She looked at me with a blank stare. “I’ve spoken to your father.”
“What?” Her eyes went wide, and she sat up straighter. “What did he say?”
“I asked him for your hand in marriage.” I paused as her eyes went to the size of saucers. Then I figured I needed to hurry up and finish. “He gave it to me.”
“You’re kidding.” It was almost a whisper.
“He really did. So, Kendra Celine Baxter, although you are my wife in my heart and we made our vow to always stay together that day on the island, would you do me the honor of becoming my legally wedded wife?”
Her eyes searched mine for way too long. “Eli, I love the man you became on that island. I am married to that man in my heart, but we’ve only been back in the real world for a week, and we’ve not made it out the door. Are you sure this is what you want?”
I was floored. Heartbroken. I was so sure she’d give me an immediate yes. “I’ve never been more certain about anything.”
“But you hate marriage.”
“Not anymore.”
“You said—”
“I said a lot of things that were stupid because I hadn’t gotten to know you yet.”
Her face softened and her eyes began to fill with tears. Those more than anything stopped my heart from beating.
“Are you sure you won’t grow tired of me?”
Where had all this doubt come from?
“I know I won’t. I swear to you I won’t.”
She looked so sad.
“Maybe Mom was right. Maybe we need a short time apart to see if we still feel the same way with a little distance between us.” She leaned forward and kissed me gently before going to our bedroom to pack her things.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Kendra
I don’t know if I’ll ever forget how Eli looked when he watched me get on the plane for North Carolina. His handsome face was drawn, his dark blue eyes had paled, his skin turned ashen. He was a shell of a man. And I had done that to him.
For an hour, I cried on that flight home. And when I got to the place I’d always called home, it didn’t feel the way I remembered. My bed was cold and empty without Eli in it, and so was my heart.
It was for the best, was what I kept telling myself. We needed to make sure we could be together for the long term, because when I married, I wanted it to last a lifetime. The day before I left him, we scheduled a press conference to get the reporters out of our hair. It worked. They got what they wanted, and that circus had slowed down.
Eli and I didn’t have to hide anymore. He could go back to work, back to his normal life, back to the women lusting after him.
Would he be able to turn them away?
Would I be enough to make him want to?
I hated the self-doubt I felt, but I couldn’t seem to make it go away. I’d never been like this. But I’d also never cared so much. Never had so much at risk.
I closed my eyes against the memory of him begging me to stay. He told me he’d give me anything.
I left anyway, my instincts screaming at me to give it a little time.
“Let’s take a month apart and see if what we’re feeling hasn’t faded during that time.”
Eli had my heart. That meant he had the ability to destroy me. I was already so in love with the man, it hurt. I knew if we made a life together, and he changed his mind the way I feared he would, I wouldn’t be able to survive it.
I just wanted us to be sure.
That was what dating was, wasn’t it? You went on dates, took your time to get to know another person. We’d had none of that and as the days slid into weeks, I thought we never would.
After a full month of not hearing a word from him, I was sure I’d been right. He was probably happy to have his old life back. Although it hurt, I knew I’d made the right decision. I didn’t want him to marry me out of guilt or some sense of obligation.
During that time, I was like a ghost masquerading as a living person, but as the days passed, I pulled myself from my funk and began taking better care of myself. Our baby deserved better. I ate healthy food, took long walks, even began a yoga class.
I was starting to heal. Although I missed Eli terribly, I was glad that I’d set him free. He was too beautiful to be caged by me or anyone. What we’d had was beautiful. Maybe too beautiful for this cruel world. Good things never lasted, I thought.
Things were still awkward with my family, and I hated that. Mom went out of her way to be too cheerful. Dad was annoyingly polite. My sisters walked around me like they were afraid my knocked-up state would rub off on them.
No, that wasn’t fair.
It was my fault everyone was walking on eggshells. Maybe they’d be better off if I left them too.
The evening air was cool and crisp as I wandered outside to take in some fresh air. The hammock strung between two old oak trees swayed in the breeze, looking inviting. I climbed into it, liking the way the blue and green striped material curled around me, hugging me in its comfort.
I ran my hand over the stripes. Blue then green, like Eli’s eyes and mine. It made me wonder what color our baby’s eyes would be. A blue-eyed girl? A green-eyed boy? I couldn’t wait to meet him or her.
Running my hands over my still flat stomach, I talked to the baby growing inside me. “Do you feel it, sweet one? Can you feel how much my heart aches? I hope not. And I hope you aren’t mad at me for giving your daddy his space and him taking it.”
A gust of wind made the hammock swing
a bit high, and I hung onto the sides until it slowed back down. Eli’s face flashed in my mind. How wonderful it would have been to have this hammock on our island.
God, I missed him.
Missed the little things.
Like the time I stubbed my toe, and he was right there, picking me up, carrying me to the pond like I’d suffered the gravest of injuries. He’d set me down and made me soak my throbbing toe in the cold water. Running his hands through my hair, he kissed the back of my neck and cooed little things in my ear that took my mind off the pain.
We did things like that for each other all the time. It had spoiled me for living life in the real world. The cold, hard, cruel world.
The wind settled, and I went back to rubbing my belly. “I miss him, little one.” There wasn’t even a tiny flutter, so I took that as an agreement. The baby missed him too.
“Your mommy is a fool,” I muttered. This time, there was a tiny flutter, and it made me smile. “So, you agree, huh? You think Mommy should call Daddy and beg him to let her come back?” Another flutter, and I rubbed the spot. “Yeah, me too.”
“Me three.”
Goosebumps jumped up on my flesh, and I nearly fell out of the hammock trying to sit up. That voice. I knew that voice.
My heart nearly burst as I found Eli standing only a few yards away, looking casual and sexy in his jeans and button up. His eyes were trained on me, the deep blue shimmering like the ocean we had to leave behind. “Hi.”
I gulped as I sat perfectly still, afraid it wasn’t real, that I’d open my eyes to find out I’d only been dreaming. “Is that really you?” The hammock rocked crazily as I tried to get up.
“Stay right there.” He came to me and dropped to a knee, taking my face in his hands.
“Eli, I—”
“Shut up. I have something I need to say to you.”
I blinked and swallowed, but kept my mouth closed.
“These have been the most agonizing few weeks of my entire life. You wanted your space, so I gave it to you. Guess what? It sucks. And if what I just heard you say to my baby is true, it’s been pretty miserable for you too.”
