“You’re right,” he said. “The profile doesn’t guarantee you’ll gain trust or respect or live happily ever after with that person. Just the same, you have to start somewhere. You have to be willing to give, rather than take, if you want to build a strong foundation in a relationship.”
If only...
His directness had touched a nerve. He obviously didn’t know it, but he’d nailed the problem she’d struggled with in her marriage almost from day one. Her ex-husband had cared about only one opinion and one person’s needs—his own.
She’d become so invested in making her feelings known, she hadn’t realized how close they stood to each other. Close enough to notice his eyes were as blue as the Caribbean sky. Close enough to breathe in his spicy cologne.
“In that case, I—I don’t know if I’ll ever find the right man. Truly unselfish men are few and far between.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” he said softly, taking her hand in his. The moment their palms touched, her pulse suddenly leaped. “Not all men are like that.”
“Well, well, what do we have here?”
They pulled away as a tall, dark-haired man wearing flip-flops, jean shorts and a red tank top strode toward them.
“Richard,” Ava said, barely holding back her exasperation, “I told you to leave me alone. What are you doing here?”
Chapter Four
Thursday, September 3rd
The Perfect Solution
Richard Santorio’s coffee-colored eyes flashed with anger as he stabbed the air with his finger. “I want to know who he is! Is this why you dumped me? You’ve found yourself a long-haired surfer dude? Or, did you plan all along to accept the free trip and meet your real boyfriend here?”
“Settle down, Santorio,” Jeff said as he held up his palms in a gesture of peace. In the past, ex-boyfriends of women he’d dated had called him a variety of colorful names, but never that one. “I’m not her boyfriend or her ‘surfer dude,’ although I’ve caught a few waves in my time. I’m Jeff Thomas from Perfect Match Online Dating and Travel Agency.”
He walked toward Richard and held out his palm to shake hands. Richard ignored it and instead gave him a threatening glare. “What do you want, reimbursement for all my expenses because she rejected her match? Well, forget it. I’m not paying for something I didn’t get.”
The way Santorio spat the word get as his gazed roamed over Ava’s shapely body left no doubt in Jeff’s mind what the man had expected. And why she’d quickly backed off.
Withdrawing his hand, Jeff smiled, disregarding the fact that Richard had just insulted him. “Actually, I’m here to give you something, both of you. Perfect Match is concerned about your satisfaction, so I’ve come on the company’s behalf to give you each a voucher for another vacation. We’ve fulfilled our end of your contracts, but we realize this is an unusual circumstance and we don’t want either of you to leave the island unhappy.”
Any more than you already are...
“We’re gifting you each a voucher for a seven-day stay in the continental U.S., the Caribbean or Mexico at any of our approved properties.” Dawson hadn’t said anything about giving a consolation gift to Santorio, but Jeff made a snap decision to award him one as well so he’d go away quietly and not cause any more public embarrassment to Ava or the agency. In Jeff’s mind, the jerk actually deserved a right hook to the jaw for treating Ava so disrespectfully, but he kept his cool. “The voucher is for a vacation, nothing more. If you decide to pursue another match through our online dating system, you’ll have to pay for that travel yourself. I’ll make arrangements today for both of you to use your return trip flight tickets home tomorrow. Do you have any questions?”
Ava turned to him. “May I use my voucher right away?”
“I’m afraid not,” Jeff said. “You’ll have to go through a Perfect Match Specialist to make your travel arrangements at least a month in advance of your trip, based on availability.”
She looked crestfallen.
He didn’t know why, but her disappointment tugged at his heart. “What’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “It’s just that I have a friend who lives on the island and I’d hoped I’d be here when she had her baby. She’s overdue and expecting her daughter any day now.”
“You can extend your stay here if you’d like, but it’s at your own expense.”
She shook her head. “I can’t afford to stay here on my own. The resorts on this island are beautiful, but the price tag for an all-inclusive night’s lodging is phenomenal.”
“Why don’t you stay with your friend?”
“I know it sounds like the logical thing to do, but I can’t stay with Lisa, either. She and her husband own the Morganville Hotel downtown and it’s so popular, it’s fully booked all the time. Besides, she’s currently on bed rest and her mother is staying with her, taking care of her, so they don’t have any room for me in their private suite. I’d just be in the way, anyway.”
Jeff nodded sympathetically. “The flight back to Miami leaves tomorrow at noon. I’ll make arrangements at the bell station for the three of us to take the hotel shuttle to the Morganville airport.”
“Good enough,” Richard said, sounding almost civil. “I’ll be there.” He turned and walked away, not bothering to say goodbye or thank Jeff for the consolatory gift.
“Good riddance,” Ava whispered. She picked up her sandals, grabbed her bag and started walking toward the hotel.
“Since this is your last night at the resort, would you like to meet later for cocktails and a farewell dinner? I can give you the flight information at that time as well.” Jeff suddenly called after her. He hadn’t planned that; the words just came out.
She turned back. “Thank you for the offer, but since I’m leaving tomorrow, I need to get packed and make some phone calls. I’ll probably order room service instead.”
She left him standing alone in the garden, wondering why her decision to spend her last night on the island alone disappointed him so much.
****
Friday, September 4th
The next morning, Jeff met Ava, Richard and a small group of additional departing guests at the bell station. He’d gone down earlier to request a printout of his bill and have a quick breakfast before grabbing his duffel bag and checking out of his room. As he walked out of the elevator with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder, the hotel’s transport vehicle arrived, parking under the covered entrance.
“Good morning, everyone,” Jeff said to the group as the glass doors whisked open and they all walked toward the small shuttle bus. The driver stood at the luggage compartment, loading passenger bags.
Ava wore a long summer dress in a shiny fabric of silvery gray with clusters of white, blue and peach flowers splashed across the garment. She’d pulled her long hair into a ponytail with wispy curls framing her face. Jeff stood in line behind her as she surrendered her suitcase to the driver and boarded the vehicle. She took a seat next to an elderly lady. Jeff took the seat across the aisle from her, securing a spot by the window. Richard took the only seat left, which was next to him.
He and Richard had nothing to say to each other during the half hour ride to the airport. When the bus pulled up in the drop-off lane behind another shuttle, Richard jumped out of his seat to be the first one off. Jeff allowed Ava and the elderly woman to exit first, following right behind them as they walked around the bus to claim their bags.
As they pulled their luggage toward the crosswalk that led to the terminal, Jeff glanced over his shoulder and noticed a scooter motoring slowly into the drop-off lane. The driver didn’t seem to be looking for a place to park. Rather, it appeared to be veering straight toward them. The driver’s odd behavior made him uneasy. Vehicles were supposed to slow down in the lane and stop for people in the crosswalk. As it neared them, however, it sped up.
“Ava, watch out!”
Jeff grabbed Ava by the arm and pulled her out of harm’s way, but not before the scooter d
river reached out and snatched the handbag off her shoulder, nearly knocking her down in the process. It sped away.
“NO!” Ava let go of her suitcase and tried to chase after the thief. “He’s got my purse! That man stole my purse!”
Jeff caught up to her and grabbed her by the arms. “You’ll never catch him.” He stopped, breathing heavily, the duffle still hanging from his shoulder. “He’s gone.”
“What am I going to do, Jeff?” Tears filled her eyes. “That man stole my identification, my credit card and my money. I can’t get on the plane without it.” She tossed her hands in the air in frustration. “I’ve got to get it back!”
Jeff churned with anger as the scooter raced away from the airport grounds and disappeared into the countryside. He didn’t know what the procedure was here for reporting a crime, but he planned to find out.
“The first thing you’re going to do,” he said to her in a soft voice, “is calm down. We’ll locate a police officer in the airport and find out what the procedure is for reporting the theft.”
“I didn’t think things could get any worse for me here, but I guess I was wrong,” she said in a tearful voice. “Now, I’m stranded.”
Not if I can help it...
One of the other passengers had retrieved her suitcase in the crosswalk and rolled it over to her, offering his sympathy on her loss. With a tearful nod, she thanked him and pulled her purple suitcase close, gripping the handle with white-knuckled hands.
“Come on,” Jeff said, “let’s find someone to assist us.” He gently grabbed the handle of her suitcase in one hand, cupped her elbow with the other and escorted her to the terminal entrance.
An armed officer wearing a uniform of camouflage material exited through the glass doors with his K-9 “sniffer” dog as they approached. Jeff introduced himself and Ava to the man and explained their situation. The officer called for assistance on his radio and escorted them to the Airport Police Operations Center, a small office with an outside entrance to the terminal.
Within a few minutes, another officer arrived in an older model Jeep with the words POLICE painted on the door. The tall, lanky islander stepped out of the vehicle wearing royal blue trousers with a gold stripe and a deep yellow, short-sleeved shirt with epaulets. And blue Nike tennis shoes. “Good afternoon, I’m Sheriff Duane Hall,” he said in a deep Caribbean accent, pronouncing his title “Sher-EEF” and his name “Dee-WAYNE. He approached them with a sober look on his face and his thumbs tucked inside his heavily equipped duty belt. “I understand you’ve had your bag stolen in a drive-by in-cee-dent.”
“Yes, I did,” Ava said. “It contained cash, my ID and my American Express card.”
He rubbed his closely trimmed beard. “Did you get a good look at da thief? Can you describe him for me?”
She shook her head and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
The crime had happened so fast, Jeff had barely enough time to pull Ava out of the way much less get a good look at the assailant, but he did remember the man wore a maroon shirt, sunglasses and a black bill cap. He drove a faded green scooter.
Sheriff Hall had Ava sign the necessary forms and advised her to cancel her credit card.
“I had my phone in my purse. It’s gone, too...”
Jeff patted his phone in his pocket. “You can use mine.”
“We will send out a notice to local businesses with a description of da suspect, but I can’t make any prom-ee-says,” Sheriff Hall declared and handed Ava his card. “In da meantime, call me if you think of anything else.”
They thanked the sheriff and left the police station.
“I guess I’ll give Lisa’s mother a call and find out if I can stay with them until I get another credit card and a replacement ID,” Ava said. “I’ll sleep on the floor if I have to; I’m desperate.”
Jeff held out his phone, but he stopped just short of giving it to her. “I’ve got a better idea. I’ll call Dawson and tell him what happened. In view of the circumstances, I think I can convince him to allow you to use your voucher right now.”
Ava’s face brightened. “Thank you. I hope he agrees.” She bit her lip. “I’m afraid I haven’t been the nicest person where he is concerned and I wouldn’t blame him if he turned me down flat.”
Jeff promptly placed a call to Dawson and relayed the information.
Dawson agreed, as he had expected. “Are you going to hang around for a day or so, J.T.? You may need to ID the thief if they catch him.”
Dawson’s question caught him up short. He hadn’t thought of that. “You’re right. I need to take care of this.”
“I’ll leave it up to you,” Dawson said. “Do whatever you think is best.”
“If I stay, I won’t make it to the retreat.” Jeff stared at the ground, worried about missing his first managerial meeting and all the important information Dawson would be sharing, not to mention meeting his new peers. The other managers were due to arrive at Dawson’s house today.
“Don’t worry, I’ll save copies of everything for you.”
“Okay. I’ll call you later after I go back to the resort and get everything set up.”
He sighed, unsure what he should do. He didn’t want to miss the retreat, but he didn’t want to leave Ava to deal with the police and the case alone—not when he was the only person who could partially identify the thief.
“Okay, you can stay,” he said to Ava after he hung up.
She let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll have to call Dawson when I get my phone back and personally thank him for being so nice. He had no obligation to give me special treatment.”
Jeff plopped his duffel bag on top of Ava’s suitcase and grabbed the handle. “Let’s get a cab back to the resort and get our rooms back. In the meantime, you can call the phone company. There’s an American Express office in the lobby of the resort so you can talk to them about your stolen card.”
“I’m sorry, Jeff,” Ava said apologetically. “You’ve missed your flight.”
He stopped and gazed into her troubled eyes. “Don’t worry about it. Your situation is more urgent than getting back to the states.”
Chapter Five
Friday, September 4th
The Perfect Mess
Ava had all she could do to keep from crying all the way back to the hotel. What would she do without her purse and all of the important items she took for granted every day? She could use the phone in her room for now and get another credit card, but her driver’s license was another matter. It felt strange not having her purse and out of sheer habit, she kept touching her shoulder where the strap normally hung.
Her head ached from the stress of such a bad day and she could only guess what her face looked like. As it was, she suspected her cheeks were probably beet red, an embarrassment in itself. Her tears had turned the mascara on her eyelashes into hard, little spears and it was flaking off every time she blinked. She couldn’t wait to get back into her room and slip into a relaxing hot bath. Well, after she got another room, cancelled her credit card and called her mother.
If Jeff had noticed her state of disarray, he hadn’t let on. He paid the cab driver once they arrived at the resort and got their bags from the trunk of the vehicle. Taking charge, he turned the bags over to a bellman and went straight to the registration desk to rebook their rooms.
Ava found the American Express office located in the lobby and reported her card stolen. The representative took her information and assured her she would receive a replacement within a couple of days.
After that, she sat in a comfortable wing chair in the lobby and called Lisa on Jeff’s phone to tell her what happened as she waited for Jeff to handle the check-in paperwork. He returned a short time later and handed the bellman a tip after he informed the man of Ava’s room number.
“Here you go,” he said to her as he gave her the key card to her room. “They’ve already rented out all of the balcony rooms—like the one you had—so I insisted they give you a nicer one at the s
ame price.”
“Thank you.” Ava smiled and accepted the room key in its little paper sleeve. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“It was the least I could do.” He offered his hand, helping her up from the chair. “You’ve been through enough today.”
They strolled to the elevator and when the doors opened, they walked in and waited for the bellman to push the luggage cart inside. Ava stood in the back of the elevator and watched the floor indicator blink as the car whisked upward.
The elevator came to a gentle stop on the fourth floor “Club Level,” and the doors silently swept open, waiting obediently for the bellman to push his cart out into the hallway.
“Thank you again for all your help,” Ava said to Jeff as she followed the cart out of the elevator. “I really appreciate it.” The doors came together before he had a chance to answer, postponing further conversation until later.
At the end of the spacious hallway, the bellman held the door to Ava’s new room. She entered and stared in awe at her fabulous accommodations—a junior suite. The large room had a king-sized, four-poster bed, a cherry wood armoire, a dresser and two small armchairs with a round table nestled between them. The painted walls were a soft gold with matching drapes and gold/beige patterned carpeting. She glanced toward the glass patio doors and discovered a covered balcony area. The doors were wide open, filling the room with natural light and revealing a wide balcony furnished with a bistro table and two wrought iron armchairs.
The bellman brought in her bags and set up her suitcase on a luggage rack. After pointing out the amenities in the room, including the mini-bar, the Bahamian man smiled. “Will that be all, Miz Godfrey?”
“Yes, thank you very much.” Jeff had pre-paid him to bring up her bags.
As soon as the door closed behind him, she kicked off her shoes and fell backwards on the bed. Staring at the white ceiling, she drew in a deep breath, savoring the fragrance of exotic flowers in the lush tropical gardens below her balcony. In many ways, this island was truly a slice of heaven on earth. It was unfortunate, however, she couldn’t have spent her time here under better circumstances.
Ava (Perfect Match Book 5) Page 3