Tropical Lion's Legacy

by Zoe Chant

  Scarlet officiated, serene and solemn, with her red hair piled on top of her head, and Graham thought she looked soft and thoughtful, if a little sad, when Neal swept Mary into a passionate kiss at the end of the ceremony.

  Alice squeezed Graham’s hand, and when he looked at her, her eyes were dancing in anticipation and glee.

  They all retired back to the event hall as night began to fall, for a reception where Chef seemed to feel he had something to prove. There was a groaning table of food, and a five-tier cake decorated with animal footprints and real fresh flowers, topped with a plastic deer and a timber wolf stained reddish.

  “Our supplier didn’t have any red-maned wolves available,” Darla said apologetically. “I had to improvise.”

  After the food had been enjoyed and the cake had been cut, Conall and Tex did a hauntingly beautiful guitar duet, and Lydia and Saina gave a salsa-bellydance fusion performance. Saina sang a song that set a glittering feeling of optimism and peace over the crowd.

  Then Tony raised his voice and tapped his glass. “Your attention, please!”

  Everyone found their drinks, prepared for a toast.

  “Tonight is a night to celebrate,” Tony said sincerely. “We are gathered here today in a place that been a happy ending for so many of us... and a happy beginning.”

  Amber smiled at him foolishly and Graham was appalled to realize he was doing the same to Alice, drawing his mouth back into a more customary scowl with effort.

  Alice, her hand in his as naturally as if it belonged there, did not miss this and poked him in the side to make him smile at her again.

  Tony continued. “We’re here this evening in honor of our good friends Neal”—Neal’s former Marine buddies all cheered raucously— “and Mary.” Alice gave a cheer for her as if it was some manner of competition and she was single-handedly prepared to take on the entire platoon.

  “I want to wish them a lifetime of happiness and love, and a full cup of laughter and joy.” Tony raised a glass. “To Neal and Mary! Congratulations!”

  Everyone raised their toasts and cheered, with scattered applause and laughter. Neal kissed Mary soundly. Out of the corner of his eye, Graham saw Scarlet rise to start the music for dancing, and gesture Travis and Bastian to start moving the chairs away from edge of the dance floor.

  But neither of them moved, grinning back at her, and Tony went on. “We also have one more announcement to share, if you will all give me another moment of your time.”

  Scarlet turned back curiously, then looked to where Chef sat with Magnolia, perhaps expecting a formal wedding announcement from them. But Chef and Magnolia smiled knowingly back at her, which is when the resort owner seemed to realize that everyone was looking at her.

  She returned her gaze to Tony suspiciously.

  But it was Neal who stood then, grinning briefly at Tony. “I propose a second toast, to Scarlet, who has sacrificed so much for so many of us. She reminds us frequently that she is ‘not running a charity’, but time and again, she has put aside her own best interests to give us opportunity, protection, and shelter, at her own expense and considerable trouble.”

  At his words, many of the staff murmured agreement.

  Scarlet frowned. “This isn’t necessary...”

  Neal waved her protest aside. “Words of appreciation fall short of the thanks we owe, so we have something a little more tangible to offer today. Jenny?”

  Jenny was holding a folder as she stood and wove through the tables to where Scarlet was still standing.

  “Scarlet,” she said simply, “we know that the resort is in trouble, and that it wouldn’t be if you hadn’t gone out of your way to help us all. You took my sister and I in when you didn’t have to.”

  “And me,” Wrench growled from beside Lydia.

  “And me,” Neal agreed. “All of us from Beehag’s zoo.”

  “It’s my fault my mother is suing you,” Darla added.

  “Our fault,” Breck corrected, an arm around her.

  “You saved our retirement home,” Liam said simply. The elders sitting with him gave murmurs of agreement, except Mr. Danby, who pounded on the table until Darla gently redirected him to folding and re-folding his napkin.

  Scarlet gave Graham a brief, betrayed glare, looking conflicted. “I did what I could,” she said quietly. “You don’t have to—”

  Jenny beamed at her. “We did have to,” she said simply, almost bubbling over with happiness. She handed Scarlet the folder. “Shifting Sands will be yours.”

  Scarlet looked at her in confusion and slowly opened the folder as Jenny went on. “We gathered the funds from a variety of sources, and we have raised the entire asking price of the island. And even if he wants to, Beehag’s lawyer can’t refuse the sale to Grant Lyons.”

  Scarlet’s alarmed glance at Graham made him realize he was grinning again, and this time he didn’t even try to turn it into a scowl. At his side, Alice laughed in delight.

  He knew what was in the folder and had gone over Jenny’s careful accounting of every penny: Conall’s business had finally sold, and he pledged a massive chunk to the purchase of the island. Magnolia had liquidated a large part of the royal fund she had access to again. Laura and Jenny finally received settlement of their life insurance from Fred’s estate. Bastian had sold several of the more valuable pieces from his hoard. The survivors of Beehag’s zoo had all wanted to contribute whatever they could, and their modest donations had added up slowly. Some of them had timeshare style contracts or profit shares laid out, but most of the donors had simply given the funds outright.

  And Alice herself had promised forty-nine-and-a-half million (less her tax burden), thanks to the mysterious man with the business card. She had already confirmed the stunning sum in her bank account and Jenny had recommended a good accountant to help her handle the paperwork for the windfall and get her family’s finances back in order.

  Together, they had pooled enough to buy the island, buffer against Darla’s mother’s lawsuit, and keep operating for at least a few years.

  Scarlet’s face drained of color.

  “All you have to do is sign the offer and express mail it to Beehag’s lawyer,” Jenny said coaxingly. “Graham—I mean Grant—has already signed his part of the contract, granting you full ownership. Shifting Sands will be yours, free and clear. The whole island.”

  Scarlet sank slowly backwards into her chair and she put the open folder carefully on the table before her. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she put her face in her hands and wept.

  There was an awkward moment of silence, and Gizelle asked in a stage whisper, “Did you break Scarlet?”

  Scarlet looked up at that, her face full of aching happiness behind the tears. “You didn’t have to do this,” she said again, choked.

  “We didn’t have to,” Graham said, to everyone’s surprise. “But we wanted to. You’ve done a fair bit for us that you never had to.” He raised his glass of wine with the hand not holding Alice’s. “To Scarlet.”

  The room raised glasses. “To Scarlet.”

  She closed her eyes a moment, more tears leaking down her cheeks, then opened them and reached for her own glass. “To Shifting Sands,” she replied, and that received a chorus of echoes as everyone toasted the resort they called home.

  Chapter 39

  Graham’s bare chest had been distracting, and his accent had been devastating, but Alice was utterly unprepared for the beauty that was Graham in a suit.

  It was hard to watch the wedding, even harder to watch Tony’s speech, and the emotional reveal to Scarlet that they had colluded to save the resort. Alice wanted to gaze at Graham only, to see the smiles that he kept trying to bury, to see the joy in his eyes, and his satisfaction at Scarlet’s surprise and tearful delight.

  “You know you could have kept the resort in your name,” Alice told him, trying not to stare at the way his suit spread over his muscular shoulders as he stood to help move tables and chairs back from the dance flo
or. “It would be like being a landed lord again.”

  “I don’t want to be a lord, and I don’t want to own a resort,” Graham said with a shudder. “I just want to grow tomatoes and strawberries and let Scarlet deal with the rest of the nonsense.”

  Then he looked at Alice, his deep blue eyes intense. “And you,” he added. “I want to be with you.”

  Alice’s breath caught in her chest.

  She couldn’t deny the connection they had any longer, but they hadn’t talked about what came next. “Let’s go for a walk,” she suggested, as the music struck up. This wasn’t a conversation to try to have during the wedding chicken dance. Mary was too busy with Neal to even notice her skipping out on the reception.

  Graham nodded, and he offered Alice one of his starched arms.

  She took it, barely keeping herself from rubbing herself against it inappropriately, and they walked out along the side of the dance floor. Scarlet was circulating among the guests and staff, thanking each of them sincerely for their part, and she caught them at the door.

  “My lord,” she said to Graham, and Alice didn’t think that she said it in the slightest bit ironically, certainly not in the mocking fashion that Breck said it. For a moment, Alice thought Scarlet was going to bow or curtsy, but she only tipped her head respectfully. “There aren’t words for what you’ve done for me.”

  Graham cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Scarlet, you’ve done more for my family... for this family... more for me... than I could ever repay. But it’s not about debt or duty. This is your island. It’s always been your island.”

  Scarlet looked between Graham and Alice, her face grave and grateful. “Thank you,” she said simply, and she shook both of their hands in turn. Alice wondered afterwards if she imagined the tingling sensation that tickled up her arm.

  She wasn’t a shifter, Alice reminded herself, and she briefly wondered why someone who wasn’t a shifter would invest themselves so deeply in a place made for them.

  Graham and Alice escaped out the side door, leaving Scarlet to continue her rounds.

  They made their way out onto the sprawling lawn, still littered with chairs and flower chains. The dais from the wedding was pale in the moonlight.

  Without conferring, they walked towards it and stood looking through the archway at the sparkling ocean beyond.

  “Alice,” Graham growled, just as Alice cleared her throat and said, “Graham...”

  “You first,” he insisted.

  Alice sighed, not even sure how to say what was bubbling up in her chest. She closed her eyes, and let the sound of the ocean on the rocks wash over her. “Graham, I love you.”

  Once it was said, it seemed the simplest, most obvious thing in the world. “I love you,” she repeated. “I am a part of you, and you are a part of me I can’t imagine being without.”

  Graham let his breath out as if he’d been holding it. “Alice...” he said achingly.

  “I’m not done yet,” Alice said quickly as she opened her eyes. “Graham, I want to be with you forever. It doesn’t matter where, or what else happens.”

  Graham in a suit was breathtaking, but Graham in a suit sinking to his knees at her feet to gaze up at her in the moonlight was the most romantic thing that Alice had ever seen.

  “I love you,” he said, and Alice smiled to remember that they were the first words he had said to her. “I pledge myself to you,” he went on. “Marry me, or don’t, I am yours for all time, in all ways, all places.”

  She wasn’t afraid of the words this time; happiness filled her so completely that there was no room for fear or doubt. “I am yours,” she replied simply, and then Graham was flowing to his feet and pulling her into his amazing arms and kissing her with his amazing mouth.

  It was several moments before coherent thought was possible. “Graham,” she said, pulling away at last. “Graham.”

  “I will come to Lakefield with you,” he said.

  “I don’t want to ask you to,” Alice said. “I want to come here.”

  “Your job,” Graham said reluctantly. “Your wrestling team.”

  Alice stroked his jaw, enchantingly clean-shaven for the occasion. “Do you remember when I told you that it’s easy to be confused about the difference between loving what you do and loving to be good at what you do? That’s the truth, and it’s my truth, as well as yours. There are things I love about being a gym teacher, and being good at it is right up at the top of that list. But there’s a lot I hate, like the administration, and the pay, and watching good students wash out, the parents...” She could have gone on for a while.

  “But I’m a millionaire now,” she said with a grin. “Or I was for a few minutes anyway. I don’t have to teach middle school again if I don’t want to. I’m not going to say there won’t be parts I’ll miss, but there are a lot of parts I won’t miss, too... and this is an amazing tropical paradise. I’m sure I can find work to do here. Work that I’ll love, even. Scarlet won’t kick me out, and... you belong here just as much as she does. This is my home, now.”

  She wondered how to explain how much the resort was under her skin... she felt like it was the place her feet belonged, like she could do good here, like there was something about the island that called to something inside of her.

  Something good inside of her.

  Graham was smiling, that rare, beautiful, slow smile that he shared only with her.

  “This is our home,” he agreed, and he kissed her again until she was panting and clinging to him desperately.

  “I can think of something I love to do,” he growled in her ear as she started to work loosening the tie.

  Alice chuckled. “Do you love it, or do you love that you’re good at it?” she teased.

  “Let’s find out,” he suggested.

  “Your bed... or a strawberry bed?”

  Graham didn’t answer, but took her by the hand, and then they were laughing and running over the lawn in the direction of The Den... and the gardens beyond.

  Epilogue

  Graham rarely attended the formal dances that Scarlet hosted most weeks; she didn’t ask him to, and he didn’t offer.

  But Alice was adamant. “If I have to stomp around in those goddamn shoes for three awful hours, I’m doing it on your toes.” It was the last dance before she and Mary and Amber and their mates returned stateside, just a day and a half before their charter flew out, and Graham thought that Alice felt guilty for skipping out on most of Mary’s reception.

  Alice planned to put in her notice at the school and pack up her things to come back to the resort, but the timeline for her return was still loose. Graham dreaded the weeks without her and would have agreed to worse than a dance to keep her close as long as he could.

  It was no surprise to Graham that Alice was significantly lighter on her feet than she had advertised, and the feel of her in his arms more than made up for the snickers of the rest of the staff and the torture of having to wear a nice suit.

  And Alice liked the suit.

  Graham was beginning to suspect she’d only agreed to go to the dance to get him back into it.

  “You’ll excuse me, my lord,” Breck said, appearing next to them as they walked off the floor at the end of a song. The waiter held out a hand to Alice. “Chef stole Darla for a turn around the floor, so I’m here to impart some of my wisdom to your lovely lady and show her how a dance floor ought to be used.”

  “I’ll dance with you,” Alice said, arching an eyebrow at him. “But if you add any wandering fingers to your words of wisdom, you’ll lose them.”

  “I’m hurt,” Breck said, pressing his chest. “You injure me by believing I would be anything but a perfect gentleman. My fingers have never gone anywhere they weren’t invited.”

  “Oh, I’ve heard all about you,” Alice said, letting him lead her out onto the dancefloor with one smile over her shoulder for Graham. “And I know that Darla will be happier with all your fingers intact, so let’s keep them that way, shall we?
”

  Breck’s laughing protests that he was sorely misunderstood—and a faithfully married man at that—faded into the music as he led Alice out through the dancers to a clear spot on the floor.

  Graham ducked his head, hoping to avoid eye contact with any forward women who might think this meant he was available for a dance, and stalked over to where Tex was pouring drinks at the bar. Tex handed him a beer without being asked and Wrench, who was also clearly trying to dodge an arranged dance while Lydia glided around with one of the guests, clinked bottles with him.

  Everything felt... practically perfect.

  His mate was safe. His friends were safe.

  The resort was solvent, and they were going to own it outright, forever. They never had to worry about having it sold out from under them again, or losing the lease.

  There were no secrets on his shoulders save one, and that was not his burden. His demons were laid to rest at last, and he finally felt wholehearted. He couldn’t imagine loving anyone more than he loved Alice, or trusting anyone more completely.

  “Who’s that dancing with Scarlet?” Travis asked curiously.

  “Haven’t seen him before,” Tex said. Tex had a bartender’s memory for faces and stories.

  Graham glanced towards the far entrance. There was a large suitcase and a fancy garment bag sitting by the door. “New guest,” he guessed with a shrug. Sometimes dragons or other shifters who could fly chose to come in under their own power rather than taking a boat or charter plane.

  “Good dancer,” Wrench observed briefly.

  Graham didn’t have the best view, between the dancers around them and the distance, but Scarlet and the stranger were talking intensely. He couldn’t gauge her mood from here, but it was clear that the new guest had all of her attention.

  That generally wasn’t a comfortable position to be in, but the stranger didn’t seem to be the slightest bit intimidated, which was unexpected. He was actually smiling at her.

  He looked... triumphant.

  “Is he going to kiss her?” Jenny asked avidly, as the two came close together in a flashy dance pattern—much closer than Scarlet’s partner’s usually got—and paused longer than the music dictated.