My Own Island (A Blue Shore Novel)

by Wendy Silk

  I nodded, wordlessly.

  “Alice, I know you. It only took me a second to figure that out once I realized you were planning to leave. But you were wrong. That’s not the way to solve this.”

  “I just couldn’t think of another way. It’s my fault that David has it in for you. He’s so self-centered that he’s crazy in some ways. I don’t even know why he wants me back. He didn’t enjoy me all that much when we were together.”

  “That’s why,” he said. “He knows he wasted the best thing he ever had in his life when he threw away your relationship.” He didn’t say aloud that the reason he knew this was from firsthand experience, but I knew he was thinking it.

  I snuggled in next to him. “Grant, you’re nothing like David. You were afraid that you and I couldn’t work out just because you had too many other claims on your life. I understand that; I do.” I squeezed his hand. “But now that I know what it’s like to believe in a future with you, I’ll never let that happen again.”

  Grant held me close as he answered. “Alice, I’ll take care of David. I think I know where to find him. Or if I can’t, I know who does. Somebody here at the hotel has been helping him, and I’m going to start there. This isn’t a personal problem, it’s one of industrial sabotage, and I need to start treating it like that.”

  I started to speak, but leaned back in exhaustion. He looked at me tenderly. “You can sleep, Alice. I’ll sort this out. You’ve done enough. Don’t you realize that you saved Toby’s life today? Compared to that, this will be nothing.”

  Grant leaned down to kiss her me on the forehead. He murmured to me, “You can sleep here on the couch. I’ll check on Toby and I’ll bring you back a blanket. Everything will be just fine from now on. I know it because now that I have have you, I’ll never let myself be without you again.” Just as I drifted from consciousness, I felt his lips graze my cheek.

  Chapter 22: Grant

  I was so exhausted from the day’s events that I couldn’t believe I was even still upright. In my line of work, there had been lots of long nights and endless days. But that was all business. This had been the kind of heart-wrenching panic that I hadn’t felt in years. Not since the accident had I been so afraid of losing what I held dear. That night, when Margaret had crashed our car, I had been afraid that nobody would make it out alive. I was so sure from the start that they were all gone that it had made my heart leap when I heard that Toby was going to be ok.

  Now, a decade after the crash, I walked down the main hallway of my hotel, almost stumbling with the stress of the evening. It had all come flooding back to me today. The worst day of my life had almost repeated itself.

  But it hadn’t.

  I’d been afraid that I couldn’t save them, but this time, luck had been on my side. Luck and loyal friends, who came running when I needed them.

  That reminded me, where was Ed? And what was I going to do with him? Cindy would be on her flight to France by now, with my blessing. She had to be there, just as I had to take care of my own. But how would I sort out the betrayal that Ed had dealt me when he helped David fabricate evidence? The only person who could help me understand how deeply the lies went was Ed himself.

  When I rounded the corner and I could see the reception desk, I saw that Trevor was in charge there. He nodded at me with understanding.

  “Grant, you should be asleep in bed. How are the others?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “That is, I’ll be fine in a few minutes, after I get to the bottom of what’s been happening here. First, I can’t thank you enough for your quick action on the trails today.”

  Trevor ducked his head, embarrassed. “Seriously? I was glad to help. Anybody would have. I’m just glad that Toby is safe.” He had always been a man of few words. And, I realized now, he had always been the better candidate of the two for more responsibility, if I looked at him and Ed together. I had grown into the habit of favoring Ed because I was close to Cindy, not because Ed was good at his job. I could have kicked myself for making such a rookie mistake.

  “Trevor, you’re very valuable here. Don’t let me forget to tell you tomorrow about your promotion.”

  His face lit up in a smile that I didn’t see often enough. I smiled back, not only because I was glad that he was happy, but because I was pleased with myself for making the right decision. With that point sorted out, I knew I’d have to get to the next thing on my list.

  “Trevor, have you seen David? You know, Alice’s guest? He’s got that black Mercedes--I’m sure I just saw it in the lot.’

  He nodded. “Yep, I know who you mean. I saw him outside a few minutes ago. And...sorry to have to mention this, but I saw him with Ed. Not for the first time, either.”

  “Trevor, there’s nothing that gets past you, is there?” I clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly goodbye. He’d take care of things here, I was certain of it.

  I left through the front door, but upon reflection, I thought I knew just where I’d find them. Walking around the side of the building, I knew I was right when I saw the silhouettes of two people in the pool house. The building was supposed to be closed, everybody who worked here knew that. Guests were absolutely not allowed in, and the entire facility was supposed to remain secure until we had it fully disinfected.

  I pushed the door open, not at all surprised to see that the two other people in the building were David and Ed. I waved away Ed’s excuses. They weren’t of any interest to me anymore.

  “Ed,” I said, “You need to leave the hotel right now. I can’t have you here on my property. I know I told you that you job was over, but there’s no leeway on that now. No working out two weeks or recommendations. Just go.”

  He looked at me, his face suffused with what looked like regret. “Grant, I wish it hadn’t been like this. I’m glad I was there to help you on the trails today.”

  “Yes, thank you,” I said woodenly. “But you’re still fired.”

  “No, I didn’t mean it like that.” He sounded sincere. “I just wanted to say that it was important to me that I was there. None of this turned out the way I meant it to.” He gestured with one hand to David and the room around us. “I never thought it would go this far. I just… I don’t know. It sounds stupid, but I thought I could get this rumor started, and then be the one to dash in and save everything. So I left a few phony reviews online. Nobody was supposed to ever be able to trace them back to me, so I thought it was safe. I was going to get it all fixed and then you’d think I was good at my job. That’s what he told me.” Ed jerked his head toward David, who was watching the byplay with an infuriatingly relaxed manner. “He said that it would just be one time, planting the bacteria in the system, and then I could make it look like I solved everything when we managed to improve the results. It was never supposed to involve the health department or make anybody sick for real. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  “Alright Ed, you’ve told me what I needed to know. If you’d been a harder worker, you would never have had to fake something like that. But I think I understand the events you’ve described. You’ll be repeating all this to the attorney, so you might want to write it down. For now, just pack your things and go home.”

  As Ed let himself out of the building, I turned to David. The pool house felt desolate now that nobody ever used it. Normally, it would be filled with lights and voices at this time of the evening, with the heater so cranked up that it would be a pleasure to set foot inside. Instead, it was dim and freezing in here.

  “Ok, David. Let’s finish this,” I said.

  He smiled mockingly at me. “You mean finish your hotel? Done.”

  Damn it, I wasn’t here to lose my temper. I was just here to tell him to get lost. “Tell me what you think you’ve done here. What, you’ve got me a file started with the health department? Every hotel has that. None of what you’ve started can be finished, now that I know about it.”

  David rubbed his chin as he looked at me. “You’re wrong. I’ve got your lab resu
lts all sewn up, didn’t you know that? Not only here in this room, although that was part of it. I did get Ed to contaminate your water results here, yes. That’s what the health department scooped from your filters, so it looks pretty damning. But no matter what you do to clean it up, I’ll keep making sure that your results show bacteria.”

  “You mean, you’re faking the results at the lab?” I asked him slowly. He couldn’t be so filled with hubris as to admit this to me straight out. But he was.

  “Yes. I’ve got it sewn up. I know people. Far more than you do, apparently, despite your fancy family. You’re the kind of guy that thinks you can slide by on your money and your family name. Well that’s a load of crap. I’m the guy who can bring it all down, just because I’m smarter about getting what I want.”

  “And what’s that?” I said.

  David’s confidence didn’t waver. “You know why I’m here. I want Alice back.”

  “What are you talking about? You’re the one who dumped her.”

  David nodded. “Well it looks like I changed my mind, doesn’t it? I don’t like the idea of her being with somebody else. Maybe I decided I want her back in my life, taking care of all the stuff she used to do for me.”

  I levelled a stern look at him. “David, I’ll have you know that my attorney will be contacting you about suing for Alice’s lost down payments for the wedding you two planned together. The one you cancelled at the last minute without her consent.”

  “That’s absurd.”

  “No, it’s the law,” I said. “Your agreement to marry was a verbal contract, and the expenses she incurred for the wedding will be divided equally, at the very least. Best case scenario, the small claims court rules that you’re responsible for all the debts, since you dissolved the engagement in front of witnesses.”

  David winced, then rallied and laughed scornfully. “That’s ridiculous, man. Do you even know how little money we’re talking about? It hardly even matters.”

  I was incensed. “Doesn’t even matter? It matters quite a lot to Alice! We’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars.”

  “I know that doesn’t mean anything to you. You wouldn’t even notice an amount like that. Why don’t you just give it to her and quit harassing me about it?” David sounded churlish now.

  I answered firmly. “No, that’s not the right answer. It’s your mess; you’ll clean it up. As I said, my lawyer will help you with that.”

  David tried one more time. “Oh, for God’s sake. Why doesn’t she just sell the engagement ring I gave her and use the money to pay the debts?” His expression flickered for a moment. “She didn’t try that, did she? I’d expect she would be too silly and sentimental to think of it.”

  “No, she didn’t try that. She lost it in the water at the Caribbean.” I paused. “I...I heard that’s what happened.”

  David didn’t notice my slip of the tongue. I couldn’t quite read the look on his face. Was it some kind of relief? “Oh, well. I was wondering if she had tried to pawn it, because then she’d know by now that it was fake.” He smiled broadly at me. “I never saw the reason for getting her a real diamond. She wouldn’t know the difference. She’s just not smart enough.”

  I stared at him, balling my hands into fists. “You’re saying that you gave her a fake engagement ring? Then you cheated on her, dumped her at the altar, and saddled her with a ton of debt? And now you think you can talk her into coming back to you?”

  He looked right into my eyes and nodded. “Yep. I can. You’re Mr. Sensitive, right? You never tell her what to do. You just don’t understand that she likes it that way. She always liked it when I was in charge. She’s just a little wallflower teacher, always has been. I picked her out in college because I knew she’d be easy to boss around. She’s too damn dumb for anything else, that’s for sure. What she does like is to be fucked by a real man. Somebody who can control her. When I get her back home with me, I’ll do that.” He actually winked at me.

  There was no hope for it. I did the only thing I could possibly have done at that moment, which was to swing my right hand at his jaw as hard as I could. It took him by surprise. You’d think somebody like this guy would get punched a lot, but he didn’t appear to know it was coming. After my fist connected with his face, he fell back against the wall of towel shelves, knocking a board down with a clattering sound.

  I stood there, flexing my right hand, which hurt like hell. I guess that was one reason people didn’t do that too often. I looked down at David. Regret was probably supposed to be washing over me, but I didn’t feel a bit of it. I hated that asshole, and I’d punch him out again if given the chance.

  Oh. I’d said that aloud. “You asshole. I’ll punch you out again if you give me the chance.”

  In the silence that fell after the words left my mouth, I heard the sound of a throat clearing. I turned around and saw Alice at the door. She looked pale, but she was up and about. She was staring at David as if she’d never seen him before. And me. She looked at me the same way.

  Chapter 23: Alice

  I hardly knew what to make of the scene in front of me. All I really knew was that seeing Grant actually hit David was pretty much the best thing I’d ever witnessed.

  Grant looked over at me. “Alice, how much of that did you see? Or hear?”

  I reached out to the door frame to steady myself. “All of it, I think.”

  David pulled himself to his feet. It looked like the sight of me had galvanized him into actually caring about something. He said, “Alice, I don’t know what you think you heard, but I can explain it. This guy was taunting me, telling unsavory lies about you.” He moved his jaw, testing the soreness. “And then you saw; he hit me. What kind of a freaking Neanderthal does that?”

  I stood still, enjoying the moment. “Mine, that’s what kind. He’s mine.”

  Grant had looked worried at how I’d react. Now, he lowered his shoulders in relief. He walked over to me, putting his arm around me to support me. He bent down to press his lips into my hair. “Alice, why are you up? I thought you’d sleep the whole night easily.”

  “I know, I thought so too. But I woke up thinking about the fact that you were going looking for David. I wanted to make sure I saw whatever happened between you. I’m glad I did. I needed to know that I was making the right choice.” I directed my next words to David. “I’d never go back to you in a million years. Not to save Grant’s hotel, not for any reason in the world. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I was a bit of a doormat with you. But that’s over and done with. My family always hated you, and now I can see why.”

  Grant held my elbow as we stepped through the door into the night. Before I could ask what he intended to do with David, he was already turning his key in the lock, securing the building, with David still inside. Holding up a finger to ask me to wait a moment, he took out his phone and dialed the police. After a brief talk with them, he began to help me down the path again, toward the side entrance of the hotel.

  “The cops will be here soon,” he said. “David will be right there, locked up for them. If he damages my building any further, he’ll pay for it. I heard him admit outright to what he did, and so did you. For that matter, I think I can get Ed to make a full statement as well. We’ll have this tied up completely in just a few days, I think.”

  I couldn’t think of any words, so I only turned my face up and leaned upwards to kiss him gently on the lips. He tightened his arms around me. Then he said, in a quiet but firm voice, “Alice, you’re going back to bed now. No arguments. You need to sleep for about a day and a half.”

  I said sleepily, “I wasn’t going to argue about that. You’re right. I’m about to fall asleep standing up.”

  I almost did just that as Grant shepherded me upstairs to the apartment. When I began to turn down the hall to my own bedroom, he firmly steered me to his room. Although I knew where it was, of course, I had never been inside. The tension between us had been too thick for that, ever since I’d been working he
re.

  Grant kissed me on the cheek as he tucked me in. “You’ll be here with me now. Forever, I hope.” He saw the question in my eyes and dismissed it easily. “Don’t worry about that. You know Toby already knows. He’s known I’m in love with you for a long time now.”

  Before I could answer, I fell asleep.

  When I woke, it was mid-afternoon. The sunlight streamed through the windows in shafts. It was one of those cold, clear days when the hotel would be frantically busy as everybody wanted to be out on the water or tramping through the hilly paths. From the looks of the blankets next to me, Grant had been here in the bed at some time during the night, but he was surely gone now. I felt the loss of him keenly. It was the first time we’d slept beside each other, and now he was already up. He had probably been up for hours now. He’d have so much to do on a day like this.

  I looked up at the sound of the door swinging open. “Grant, you’re here! I was sure you’d be downstairs.”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Everything is under control down there, though. It’s time to start delegating more and trusting the people I’ve hired.” He grinned. “Guess what? Toby’s down there, too. He’s still shy about it, but he says he doesn’t mind doing some of the office work. He’s always known this was his place too, but now he is ready to do more.” Grant smiled ruefully. “And maybe I’m ready to be a little less...controlling about things.”

  As he sat on the edge of the bed next to me, his eyes ran up and down me with an intensity that flattered me and filled me with anticipation. He gazed seriously at me. “Alice, it feels like we’ve been waiting too long for something that was already ours. We were together at the resort. I know that’s where I fell in love with you. Then I let things get in the way of those feelings. Back there, and here as well. I’ve been putting other things ahead of what we have together. There’s no other responsibility I have that is greater than being here for you.”