“I do miss those boiled bananas,” Gabe agreed, settling back in his seat.
They flew first-class so there was plenty of legroom for the long flight, which was nice, but there was no getting around the fact that the flight always felt as if it took years from her life. Carys, her future stepdaughter, was accustomed to the long flight, having made this trip with Lindy several times, and was entertaining herself with a plethora of electronic gadgets.
Lindy had long since lost interest in the magazines she’d brought and was anxiously awaiting their landing. It’s funny, before Lilah’s momentary lapse of sanity, she’d go months without seeing her twin because she’d been living in Los Angeles doing the actress thing and couldn’t always afford hopping a plane to return home.
But now, it seemed that spending time with her family was the most important priority.
Maybe because sometimes at night, she relived that moment when Lilah sank beneath the waves and in her nightmares, Lilah’s fine silk blond hair slipped through her fingers and she drowned. Her chest tightened as the breath seemed caught in her lungs and Gabe’s reassuring touch brought her back to the here and now. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seem on edge,” he remarked, concerned.
“I am a little,” she admitted. “I just feel as if something big is in the air and it makes me nervous. I mean, that’s how it’d felt right before...”
None of them liked to talk about Lilah’s suicide attempt. The words always seemed like poison in their mouths. But the fact was plain and stark. Lilah had tried to drown herself. If it hadn’t been for Lindy...
“Hey,” Gabe said softly, snagging her chin gently. “Everything is going to be fine. Lilah is fine. The last time you talked she was doing great. There’s no need to borrow trouble where there isn’t any, right?”
She allowed a reluctant smile. “You’re right. She’s fine. I’m just...I don’t know...feeling weird. I’ll be fine as soon as we get to Larimar.”
Gabe smiled and settled back again to close his eyes for a bit. God, she loved that man. How she ever got so lucky was beyond her but she wasn’t about to second-guess fate’s benevolence. She followed Gabe’s lead and closed her eyes. With any luck, she’d catch some z’s and before she knew it, they’d be in St. Thomas.
* * *
LILAH SQUEALED WITH OPEN JOY as soon as she caught sight of Lindy and her gang disembarking from the ferry in Cruz Bay. She didn’t waste time and simply ran to her twin sister and hugged her tightly.
Gabe wore a grin as he waited a safe distance while the sisters squealed and danced and hopped up and down in each other’s arms, because he’d been witness to this scene many times since becoming a part of the Bell household.
Not to be left out however, Carys ran and wiggled her way between Lindy and Lilah, her high-pitched squeals only adding to the decibel level.
Lilah pressed a kiss to Carys’s forehead when they were finished hugging. “Have you grown again?” she exclaimed, knowing Carys loved it when Lilah fussed over her. “I’m fairly certain you are a few inches taller since I saw you last.”
“It’s possible, she’s always insisting on new clothes,” Lindy teased. “A trip to the mall is always an expensive one.”
“Hey, I am growing,” Carys insisted, looking to Lilah. “You just said I looked taller, right?”
“Absolutely,” Lilah agreed wholeheartedly, giving Carys’s chin a gentle shake to emphasis the point. Carys rewarded her with a blinding smile, which Lilah returned. She loved this kid. “How was the flight?” she asked as they started walking to the Jeep.
“Long but uneventful. Last trip, the turbulence over Florida freaked me out. I thought we were going to land in the Everglades and get eaten by crocodiles,” Lindy answered with a shudder. “Glad to be home, though. What’s new? I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks. Anything up?”
Lilah heard the faint fear in her sister’s tone even though she tried to mask it with a lighthearted smile and it hurt that she’d caused that worry. If she hadn’t tried to kill herself, Lindy wouldn’t have thought twice about a few absent phone calls. She gave Lindy a knowing smile. “Everything is fine. More than fine, actually,” she said, immediately thinking of Justin. “I’ve just been busy that’s all.”
Gabe nudged Lindy. “See? I told you. No need for worry.” To Lilah he said, “I thought your sister was about to drop out of her play she was so anxious to return to Larimar. Somehow I convinced her not to, but the plane ride was not only long, I think she bit her nails clean off.”
At that Lindy hid her fingernails behind her back with a sheepish smile. “It’s a twin thing, I guess. I was on edge for some reason. Are you sure there’s nothing going on?”
Lilah weighed the possibility of sharing her feelings about Justin but as she glanced at the trio, she realized it was a private conversation if she were going to have it at all. She trusted Lindy but she worried that Lindy would side with Lora and start warning her off from dating. And frankly, Lilah didn’t want to hear it parroted at her from all angles. “Will you stop worrying?” she said, allowing a hint of exasperation to leak into her tone. “I’m fine. What’s wrong with you? What happened to my devil-may-care twin sister?”
“That’s my fault,” Gabe said. “I made her all civilized and responsible when I asked her to be my wife.”
“And my mom,” Carys chimed in. “She even makes me eat vegetables.”
Lindy laughed. “It’s true. I’ve turned into a suburban housewife and the ceremony hasn’t even taken place yet.”
Lilah grinned, then whispered to Carys, “Lindy never ate her vegetables unless they were slathered in cheese. Grams said with as much cheese as she ate, she’d never be able to go to the bathroom again.”
Carys giggled and Lindy glared at Lilah for sharing secrets but it was all in fun and it felt so good to joke around like they used to in the old days.
But Lilah had forgotten to mention one crucial detail, one that was immediately noticed the minute they walked into the lobby of Larimar.
“Where’s Celly?”
Carys’s question seemed to echo off the travertine tile floor and Lilah turned to Lora who was manning the front desk.
Lora’s mouth pinched with irritation and perhaps guilt as she sent Lilah a dark look for not preparing them before they arrived. “She quit,” Lora said brusquely but forced a smile for everyone. “But we’re all still here. Welcome home!”
But it didn’t feel like home and Lilah knew by the crestfallen expression on Carys’s face and the shocked expression on Lindy’s face that this issue was not over no matter how Lora hoped it would be.
No...now that Lindy was home...Lora was going to get a fresh earful.
And Lilah couldn’t say that Lora didn’t deserve it.
* * *
HEATH HUGGED LINDY AND CARYS and shook Gabe’s hand, but even as it was a happy moment, the undercurrent of tension was palpable between the sisters. He withheld a sigh. He supposed some things would never change.
“How about I man the desk while you girls catch up?” He tossed keys to Gabe. “Bungalow number two is ready for you.”
Gabe, sensing the undercurrent as well, took the hint. “C’mon, Carys, let’s get settled in and maybe rinse off some of the travel dirt.”
“That’s what the beach is for, Dad,” Carys said, but followed her dad just the same.
Gabe had just cleared the lobby when Lindy started peppering Lora with questions.
&nbs
p; “What do you mean Celly quit? How could this happen? She loved it here. We were her family.”
Lora ground her teeth and actually snapped. “Well, apparently she was just an employee because she didn’t have a problem walking out on us when we needed her most.”
“That’s not true, Lora,” Lilah chimed in, scowling hard. “You can’t tell a half-truth. You have been treating her like an outsider since the day you returned and then you went and rearranged her space when she had a system that was working quite well.”
“A system,” Lora scoffed. “It was chaos. Who knows how many clients we’ve lost due to that mess.”
“No clients were lost. She had a system that worked and you came along and pushed your nose where it didn’t belong and instead of apologizing like you should, you’ve stubbornly refused.”
“Lora—” Lindy started but Lora cut her off.
“I am not going to stand here and let you two gang up on me for making a hard decision. And for the record, I didn’t start this, she did. I am her boss—”
“That’s the problem right there,” Lindy’s voice rose over Lora’s. “She was more than an employee.”
“Says who?”
“Says us!” both Lindy and Lilah said with exasperation.
Lora stared and tears actually welled in her eyes but before they could make amends, she turned on her heel and walked stiffly away. “Fine,” she called over her shoulder. “You obviously love her more than your actual sister. Please, by all means, do what you feel is right. I sure as hell don’t have a clue, it would appear.”
Heath muttered an expletive. “Did you have to tag team her?”
“We didn’t mean to,” Lilah said.
“But she’s plainly not listening to reason,” Lindy added. “How hard is it to go see an old woman and say ‘I’m sorry’?”
“Out of the entire English language, you know those two words are the hardest for your sister to say,” Heath said. “Cut her some slack. She’s under a lot of pressure.”
“We all are, Heath,” Lilah reminded him. “Which is why we shouldn’t be cutting off our nose to spite our face. We need Celly. Pops is a wreck without her. She provided some semblance of routine for him and now, it’s all out of whack and he’s deteriorating quickly.”
“How bad?” Lindy asked, her expression worried. “Worse than the last time I was here?”
“Much worse,” Lilah answered sadly. “I think we’re losing him much more quickly than we anticipated.”
“What does the doctor say?” Lindy asked.
“The doctor said structure is important, keeping a routine, which is why it was so devastating when Celly left. We didn’t realize all the things she would do for Pops because we were off doing our own thing but Celly really kept things moving smoothly.”
Heath didn’t want to side with the sisters but there was a certain level of truth to Lilah’s statement that he couldn’t deny. “We need to get Celly back without making Lora out to be the bad guy.” When both sisters simply stared at him, he threw his hands up and said, “Look, there’s gotta be a way. They’re both being stubborn. End of story. I went out to her place and tried to talk to her but she’s being as rigid as Lora so there are two sides to this story.”
Lilah sighed. “Well, he’s right about that. I went out there, too. She’s being a pill even though she wants to come back. I can tell.”
“Maybe a visit from Carys will change her mind. She dotes on the kid,” Lindy offered.
“True,” Lilah said, nodding. “That might be the ticket, actually. How about tomorrow?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Heath breathed an audible sound of relief. “I’ll be happy to work on Lora if you guys can work on Celly. This feud has to stop. We have enough on our plates. We don’t need to add this to the mix.”
Lindy stretched, relief in her expression. “Okay, now that’s settled, I think I’m going to go change and hit the beach with the new fam if that’s okay with you guys. We have that business meeting tonight after dinner, right?” Heath nodded and Lindy sighed. “Then I definitely want some beach time before that happens. Something tells me it’s not going to be pretty.”
Heath couldn’t agree more. Larimar’s fate seemed to be resting precariously on too many what-if ledges.
To Lilah, he said, “I’ll take the desk if you want to hit the beach with Lindy.”
“Thanks, Heath,” Lilah said, smiling. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”
Heath watched as Lilah and Lindy walked in opposite directions to their respective rooms and he wondered if Larimar was going to survive everyone’s good intentions.
Hell, even he was guilty of grand plans and crappy follow-through.
His gaze wandered to the gift shop that he’d hoped would be Larimar’s salvation with his fused glass creations and was swamped by regret and guilt.
The fused glass wasn’t selling badly, but it wasn’t moving as readily as he’d hoped. After much discussion, they’d all agreed it was time to return some tourist-friendly merchandise to the shelves to give the patrons more options.
Talk about hopes and dreams crashing and burning.
Yeah, tonight’s meeting was likely to be as pleasant as a sugarcane-flogging on wet skin.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Something had to be done.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JUSTIN TOOK A SEAT at the bar at Rush Tide and smiled at the bartender, a woman he recognized as the waitress Lilah had been talking to that first night. A gold necklace with the name Donna was strung around her neck, which matched her gold hoop earrings.
“Hey there, handsome,” Donna said with an appreciative grin. “What can I do you for?”
“Whatever you recommend.”
“Sex on the beach is always popular.”
Justin laughed. “I bet,” he said, glancing around at the packed open-air establishment. There was no shortage of laughter, bikini tops and board shorts but he didn’t see a woman who held a candle to Lilah. A small part of him wished another woman would turn his head. It would simplify this baffling and, at times, frightening change of behavior he was experiencing. But it wasn’t happening. No one had that certain “it factor” that Lilah had, and therefore every other woman seemed bland and unappealing.
Which meant he was sticking to his plan.
“So, Donna...tell me about Lilah Bell,” he said, dazzling Donna with another signature grin. He’d often been accused of using that charm for less-than-honorable purposes and he couldn’t deny the charge, but right now he just wanted to find out more about the elusive island girl so he could find a way past that wall she’d put between them.
Donna slid a fruity drink toward him and smiled knowingly. “I called it when I saw you two.”
His brow climbed. “Oh? And what did you see?”
“A good match.”
He chuckled ruefully and took a sip, glad to play the jilted lover if it got him information. “Well, someone ought to tell Lilah that... She’s been a bit difficult to get to know beyond the superficial. How well do you know the Bells?”
“It’s a small island. Everyone knows everyone and their business. Usually that’s a pain in the ass but sometimes it’s a cool thing. I’ve known the Bells for about five years now. They’re very good people. So you’ve taken a shine to Lilah?”
“Yeah, you could say that. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met and that’s saying something because hon
estly, I’d become a bit of a cynic when it came to people.”
“So worldly,” Donna said, rolling her eyes. “Let me tell you something. When you’re a bartender you meet all kinds of people and I’m always surprised by the types of people who find their way to my bar.”
“That’s a good way to be,” Justin said. “I like it better than the jaded me I was before I got here.”
“Well, it’s the island air. Does good things to a person.”
“So...what can you tell me about Lilah?”
She cracked a laugh. “Sorry, bud. If you can’t get the information on your own, you’re out of luck. If Lilah wants you to know more about her, she’ll share. If not, that’s your bad luck.”
“Awww c’mon, help a guy out,” he pleaded. “I really like her but I’m out of my element here. I just want to show her that I’m not the guy she thinks I am.”
“Which is?”
“Just some guy looking for a good time. That I really like her for more than just her looks.”
“Then your actions will tell the story, not your lips.”
“She won’t let me show her. I can hardly get any time with her.” He sensed Donna was wavering and pushed his advantage. “Listen, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever said to another person and I have to trust that you’re not going to screw me over, but here’s the thing—I think I’m falling for her. I mean, seriously, head over heels, falling for her. Does that sound like someone just trying to have a good time?”
Donna sighed. “I’m a sucker for a romantic. But I can’t give you what you can’t find yourself. However, I will say this...Lilah is an amazing artist. I mean, talented enough to be in one of those fancy galleries. And that’s all I’m going to say. The rest is on you.”
Justin grinned. “Donna, you just gave me the keys to the castle.”
“Uh-huh... We’ll see...”
Justin took another swallow of his drink, tossed enough cash to pay his bill and leave a hefty tip, and then left to gather supplies.
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