“Are we going to the beach now?” he asked, looking eagerly at the ocean.
“No, but we’re going to get you a snack.” She reached for the backpack, unzipped it, and grabbed a pack of peanut butter crackers. She tore open the wrapper and handed them to Jordan. Then she shoved her purse into the backpack and put it on her shoulders. “Let’s go.”
Jordan looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “But, the car.”
“The traffic’s moving too slow. We need to walk.” Her plan was to let Jordan walk as far as he could, then carry him the rest of the way. To Jordan’s credit he made it about thirty minutes before he started whining, and they’d kept a pretty good pace.
“My feet hurt.”
She picked him up and balanced him on her hip, hoping that a lifetime spent exercising would give her the stamina she needed to carry Jordan out of harm’s way. Forty minutes later, her arm was throbbing, and she was covered in sweat. The shoulder of the road wasn’t much of a shoulder at all. It was so rocky that she’d nearly turned her ankle a couple of times. And it was difficult to stay out of the way of the endless line of cars that were moving at a snail’s pace. Thankfully, they were nearing Pupukea Road. She wanted to get as far from the coastline as she could. Her phone was buzzing, and she figured it was either her mama or Roland, checking to see if she and Jordan were okay. But she didn’t have time to talk. Tears burned her eyes. Her strength was giving out. She put Jordan down and flexed her throbbing arm. The irony of her situation hit her full force as she looked at the hundreds of people around her, all fleeing for their lives. She was surrounded by people, and yet, she was totally alone.
She wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “Do you think you can walk a few minutes? Mommy’s tired.”
Jordan nodded.
“Good.” She took his hand and pulled him along as fast as his little legs could go. They only got about ten minutes up the road, however, before Jordan started crying. She felt his pain, but they couldn’t stop. “We have to keep going.”
A man stepped up next to them, and her blood ran cold. Briggs!
Instinctively, she drew Jordan close, her eyes narrowing as she glared at the balding man, who was built like a linebacker. “What do you want?”
“I want to help you.”
She let out a harsh laugh, not liking the way his cold eyes moved over her. She suspected fear of Roland was the only thing preventing him from making a pass at her. “You can help me, by leaving me alone.”
He squared his jaw. “I don’t think I can do that.”
Fear rose thick in her throat. “You have no right to be here!”
“Roland has a right to know what’s happening to his wife and child.”
She straightened to her full height and looked Briggs in the eye. “For your information, Roland abdicated any right to me, the minute he took up with every harlot east of the Mississippi. And in case it escaped your pea-sized brain, there’s a tsunami on its way.” She gritted her teeth. “So, get out of my way.”
She tried to barrel past him, but he blocked her way.
“You and the kid are coming with me! I promised Roland I would keep you safe.”
A hysterical laugh escaped her throat. “Keep me safe? You? And just how in the heck do you expect to do that? Every minute I stand here, arguing with you, puts me and my son in greater danger.” Jordan clutched her hand, tears bubbling in his eyes as he looked up at her.
“M—Mommy?”
Anger flared over her. “See what you did? You’re scaring him!”
Brigg’s face went flush. “I have a car parked nearby.” He grabbed Everly’s arm in a vice grip. She jerked, trying to escape. The motion caused Jordan to fall. When he started to cry, Everly had to push back her own angry tears. She helped Jordan to his feet. His knees and hands were scraped and bleeding.
“Let’s go,” Briggs barked, a ruthless expression on his face.
The last thing Everly wanted to do was get in the car with this thug. If she started screaming, would anyone come to her aid? It wasn’t as if they had time to stop and help her. Not knowing what else to do, she uttered another silent prayer for help. And then she saw him striding towards them.
CHAPTER 5
“Is there a problem here?” Christian said.
Everly’s knees went weak with relief. She’d never been so happy to see someone in her life. And she certainly hadn’t expected her deliverance to come from the very man who’d consumed her thoughts all afternoon.
Surprise flittered over Brigg’s features, and then his eyes went hard. “There’s no problem. I was just taking this lady and her son to safety.”
Christian turned to her. “Is that true?”
She thrust out her chin defiantly. “No, it’s not true. The weasel was trying to force me to go with him.”
The muscle in Christian’s jaw twitched. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He straightened to his full height, several inches taller than Briggs. “I don’t know what your game is, but you need to leave this woman alone.”
“This has nothing to do with you, man,” Briggs said.
Briggs had looked so threatening to Everly before. But compared to Christian, he was an overgrown frat boy, who’d gone soft around the edges. She was so grateful to have Christian in her corner, she could almost forget he’d been such a jerk earlier.
A perplexed look came over Briggs. “Hey you’re Christian Ross.” His eyes rounded to saucers, as he held up his hands. “Hey, I don’t want no trouble.”
“There won’t be any trouble. All you have to do is turn around and walk away.” Christian clenched his fists. “Your decision.”
Briggs thrust out his chest. “Just because you’re a hotshot celebrity doesn’t give you the right to interfere in my business. You don’t know who you’re dealing with,” he muttered, but Everly detected a slight stammer in his voice.
A hard amusement glittered in Christian’s eyes. “Maybe you should enlighten me.”
“You sure you wanna do this, Everly?” Briggs taunted.
“I told you to butt out of my business, but you wouldn’t listen! You have no right to force me to go with you. And, you need to stop stalking me!” Anxiety was building to frenzy. She placed a hand on Christian’s arm. “We need to get to safety.”
He nodded. “Let’s go.”
Briggs shook his head. “Not gonna happen. I can’t let her leave.”
Christian chuckled. “You don’t have much of a choice.”
Briggs attempted to shove Christian backwards, but it was like trying to move a brick wall. Shock registered on Brigg’s features, and he drew back a fist to strike. In a flash, Christian twisted him around, pinning his arm behind his back. Briggs doubled over and yelped in pain. Christian pushed him hard, sending Briggs sprawling, face-first in the dirt.
Briggs got up and backed away, a venomous expression on his beet-red face. “You’ve gone too far this time, Everly. I don’t know how you got connected with this pretty boy, here, but Roland’s not gonna like it. You know what, Ross? Your movies suck, almost as much as you do.” He hurried off before Christian could react.
For some crazy reason, the scene struck Everly as funny. Here they were, on the side of a rural stretch of road, a steady stream of cars crawling by, while Roland’s tough guy skulked off like a yellow-belly coward, hurling insults about a movie. All the while, a tsunami was bearing down on them. Everly had the feeling she’d left reality the moment she stepped foot on Hawaiian soil. She stifled her laugh, keeping a deadpan expression. “Well, I wouldn’t say your movies suck … exactly.” Everly shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean, for action movies, they’re not half bad.”
Christian’s eyes widened and he burst out laughing. “You’re good.”
She wasn’t prepared for the dart of warmth that shot through her as their eyes met, sharing the moment.
Christian cocked his head. “By the way, who’s Roland?”
She merely shook her head, as she plummeted bac
k to reality.
“Mommy?”
Everly looked at Jordan, whose face was as white as his tennis shoes. In all the commotion, it hadn’t occurred to her, he’d feel threatened by the violence. “We’re going to the mountain. Can you walk?”
He shook his head no.
Weary and resigned, she bent down to pick him up.
“Here, let me.” Christian leaned down so he was eye level with Jordan. “Hey, bud. Would you like to come to my house and play in the swimming pool with Sadie?”
Jordan nodded.
“Okay, let’s go.” Christian picked him up, placing him on his shoulders. Everly was surprised Jordan didn’t protest.
Christian motioned with his head. “We need to get moving. According to the warning center, the first wave’s expected to hit in less than an hour.”
A sense of horror filled Everly. She didn’t know how far up they needed to go, only that they needed to get as high above the ocean as they could. Her plan had been to simply follow the crowd to safety. When Christian started walking in another direction, she arched an eyebrow. “Where’re we going?”
“To see Sadie, remember?”
Jordan giggled. “Silly mommy forgot already.”
Christian smiled. “See, he knows what’s going on. Smart boy.”
Jordan beamed.
When Everly remained skeptical, he searched her eyes. “Do you trust me?”
Could she trust him? Even as the question entered her mind, warmth flowed through her. It was no coincidence that he showed up when he did. She knew as surely as she was standing here that he was the answer to her earlier prayer. “Yes.”
He nodded. “Good.”
They walked a few steps in silence before she spoke. “Thank you, for saving me from that creep.”
“I figured it was the least I could do … considering what happened earlier on the beach. I’m sorry I overreacted.”
She shrugged. “It’s okay.”
“Truce?” He flashed a crooked grin that sent a parade of butterflies fluttering through her stomach, despite her best effort to be unaffected by his dashing, good looks.
“Truce.”
A few minutes later, a thought occurred to her. “How did you happen to be on the side of the road, right where we were?”
He hesitated long enough for her to wonder if he was going to answer, but finally he spoke. “There’s one main evacuation route from Sunset Beach to the mountains. I was hoping you would take it.”
It took a second for her to process what he was saying. “Wait a minute? You came looking for me?”
He winced. “Yeah, I hope that doesn’t sound too forward … or weird. Like I said, I felt bad about the way things ended between us. And I figured you might need a hand with Jordan here.” He squeezed Jordan’s calf.
He’d come looking for her … them. The notion was immensely pleasing.
“Of course, I didn’t expect to find that lolo trying to attack you.”
“Lolo?”
“Idiot. Sorry, that’s my pidgin, or local talk, coming out.”
“No need to apologize. I find it charming.”
He chuckled. “Fo’ real?”
She laughed. “Fo’ real. See, it’s not so hard to understand. This Southern Girl wasn’t born yesterday.”
He gave her a quirky look. “K’den, ono wahine, let’s go to my hana to talk story or get grinds, wiki wiki.”
“What?”
“You didn’t understand?”
She made a face. “That was a cheap shot. Care to interpret?”
“I said, “Okay, great woman, let’s go to my house to talk and get food … pronto.”
She laughed. “Wow. I didn’t get a word of that. And I’ve never been called great woman before.”
He gave her an appraising look. “I just call it like I see it.”
Warmth seeped into her cheeks. Incredible looks and charm. A lethal combination. She needed to keep her feet planted firmly on the ground. This was certainly not the time to throw caution to the wind and get swept off her feet by a savvy movie star who lived five thousand miles away. She needed to be practical about this. And the tsunami threat. She paused, the scope of their situation hitting her full force. “What do you think will happen if the tsunami’s as big as the ones that hit Thailand or Japan?”
“Let’s pray that doesn’t happen. If it makes you feel any better, there’ve only been around eighty tsunamis that have hit the Hawaiian Islands over the past hundreds of years, and the majority of them have been small.”
“So what you’re saying is Hawaii’s due for a big one.”
He chuckled dryly. “I guess that’s one way to look at it. You could also argue the stats are in our favor. If you’re looking at the glass half full, that is.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to come across as a Debbie Downer. I’ve had such rotten luck lately, that my first reaction is to fear the worst.”
“I hear ya.”
The sincerity in his voice struck a chord with her. From what she read, he’d had more than his share of heartache. Something they had in common.
She tried to think of something to say to lighten the mood, but nothing came. “I guess only time will tell, right?”
He nodded.
It had been a long, torturous day. Everly’s calves were burning from the climb, and she was feeling a little short of breath. She was grateful when Christian stopped in front of a tall, wooden gate and said, “Well, here we are.” He punched in a code, and the doors swung open. They stepped through and walked about a quarter of a mile down a paved driveway.
Everly looked ahead and saw a large, bungalow-style house with dark wood siding and a wrap-around porch. It sat in the center of some of the most exquisite grounds she’d ever seen. Her gaze moved over the manicured green grass and clusters of bushes bursting with colorful flowers. Just behind the house, she caught a ribbon of blue from the ocean, glistening in the distance. “This is your place?” She should’ve expected as much. After all, he was a famous actor. But this place was beyond anything she could’ve imagined—the epitome of paradise.
“Yes,” Christian said a touch of pride in his voice. “You can’t see it from here, but the pool’s in the back.
Her heart dropped when she heard the sound of rushing water. Without thinking, she clutched Christian’s arm, a wild look in her eyes. “That’s not the tsunami coming in … is it?”
Christian chuckled. “Thankfully, no. There’s a waterfall in the back.”
She wrinkled her nose. “A waterfall? Behind your house?”
“It frames the back of the pool.”
“Oh.” An estate with a waterfall overlooking the ocean. It was hard to fathom what it must be like to live in such a perfect place. Then she realized she was still holding his arm. As casually as she could, she let go.
When they got closer to the house, Sadie came out the front door and bounded down the steps, a middle-aged Hawaiian woman following behind.
Christian removed Jordan from his shoulders, placing him on the ground.
Sadie’s dark eyes shined with excitement as she clapped her hands. “Jordan,” she squealed.
“Hi, Sadie,” Jordan said in a grownup tone.
“Would you like to play dolls with me?” Sadie asked shyly.
Jordan’s eyes went round as he grimaced.
“Maybe you could play with the Legos instead,” Christian inserted.
Sadie shrugged. “Okay, come, and I’ll show you the playroom.”
The woman stepped up to them and spoke to Christian. “I’m glad you’re back. I was getting worried.”
“It’s a madhouse out there. The traffic’s so backed up that people are walking up the hill.”
She shook her head. “I was afraid of that.”
“I’m glad Jarin and the boys were able to come here right away. Are they getting settled in?”
“Yep, they’re on the back deck … watching the ocean and eatin’ all da grinds in da hana.”<
br />
Christian turned to Everly. “All the food in the house,” he explained.
She nodded. She understood most of what the woman said through context.
“Everly this is Mele. Mele … Everly,” Christian said.
When Everly held out her hand, to shake, Mele leaned in and air-kissed her on both cheeks instead. “Aloha.”
“Aloha,” Everly murmured, a little taken back by the warmth of the greeting.
A sly grin curved Mele’s lips. “Now I see why Christian rushed out to find you.” She winked at Christian. “She’s just as beautiful as you said.”
Everly was surprised … in a good way. She looked at Christian who coughed like his throat was trying to swallow his tongue.
Mele laughed, eyes sparkling with mischief as she shoved Christian’s arm. “See, he’s so taken with you that he can’t speak.”
The situation was so awkward that Everly wasn’t sure how to respond. Christian looked like he wanted to crawl under the grass, and Mele was enjoying every second of it. Judging from the way Mele teased Christian, she wondered if they were related. “Are you Sadie’s mom?” She searched her memory. What was his sister’s name? “Kat?”
Mele scrunched her nose. “Nah, nah, I’m no relation to this ugly kane.”
Christian rolled his eyes. “Technically, Mele looks after the house and cooks the meals, but you’d think from the way she barks orders that she’s my mother.”
“You wish, brah. First of all, I’m way too young to have a son as old as you. But if you were my son, I would’ve whipped you into shape already.” She tried to ruffle his hair, but he dodged her reach.
“See what I mean,” he said, flicking his wrist. “Aye, aye aye … bossy.”
But the look of affection in his eyes was touching. It was obvious that he and Mele were super close.
Mele waved an arm. “Come inside. We’ll go out back and watch the wave come in.”
“Any news on how large the wave’s expected to be?” Christian said.
“Nah. I don’t think they know anything.” Worry clouded her features. “Hopefully, it’s just a false alarm, like all of the others have been.”
Love on the Rebound (Hawaii Billionaire Romance) Page 4