Island Love Songs: Seven Nights in ParadiseThe Wedding DanceOrchids and Bliss

by Kayla Perrin

  “Not again,” Melanie clarified. “This will be her first marriage. Since her wedding to Vern last year didn’t actually happen.”

  “Yeah, I know what that’s like,” Lawrence couldn’t help saying. When Melanie’s lips tightened, he asked, “She getting married to Roy? The football player?”

  “Yep,” Melanie answered, not looking at him. Instead, she was searching the beach. “And, ah, there they are. They told me to meet them, so, uh, I’ll see you around.”

  Lawrence’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll see me around?”

  “What do you want me to say?” Melanie asked, sounding exasperated.

  “I want to know why,” Lawrence said. “That’s what I want to hear from you. Tell me why you left me.”

  Melanie withered beneath his hard stare. But Lawrence didn’t avert his gaze, because she deserved to wither. She deserved to feel even a morsel of the pain she had caused him to feel.

  “This isn’t the time,” she said.

  “Then when is the time?” Lawrence asked. “Let’s set a date. Mark me in on your calendar and put it in that phone of yours so you won’t forget. We’re in Fiji, where you can’t hide behind your work. Maybe now I can get some answers.”

  “Lawrence, stop.”

  “Stop?” he countered. “So that’s just it? You break my heart, you humiliate me in front of my family and friends, and I don’t have a right to know why?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “No, you didn’t say anything. You just stood me up and never even gave me a courtesy call to say you were sorry, at the least.”

  Melanie’s bottom lip trembled. And once again, there was the look of fear in her eyes. But he could see now that it wasn’t the kind of fear that said she was afraid he would hurt her. Rather, it was the kind of fear that came when you were caught in an uncomfortable situation you didn’t want to be in.

  But dammit, she owed him closure. She owed him answers, and then he could forget her forever.

  “We were supposed to get married,” Lawrence went on. “We were supposed to be husband and wife. Only you didn’t show up. You made an executive decision to change the plans we had for our life together. Fine—maybe you’re not sorry about how you handled the situation, about how you hurt me. But at the very least, don’t you think you owe me an explanation as to why?”

  “I—I can’t do this. Richelle...she’s waving me over.”

  “Richelle isn’t going anywhere. We’re on island time.”

  Melanie was shaking her head. “I—I’m sorry, Lawrence. I—I am. I know I never told you, and, yes, you deserved an apology, so I’m telling you now. I’m sorry. Just know that.”

  And before he could say another word, she quickly turned, desperate to be able to escape him, and all but sprinted on the sand over to Richelle and Roy.

  Leaving Lawrence standing there like a fool.

  Much like he had stood like a fool at the altar of the church on their wedding day, waiting for his bride-to-be who would never show up.

  Chapter 3

  “Was that Lawrence?” Richelle asked, gazing beyond Melanie’s shoulder to look in the direction of the stretch of beach near the island bar.

  Now beside her friend, Melanie finally released a pent-up, frazzled breath. “Yeah.”

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

  Melanie’s heart was beating frantically, and she felt light-headed. She was in a state of shock.

  “Why is he here?” Richelle went on, a sense of wonder in her tone.

  Melanie threw her hands up in frustration, and then dropped down onto the lounge chair beside the one where Roy was sitting. “Hell if I know.”

  “Wait,” Roy said. “That was Lawrence—your former fiancé?”

  Melanie nodded.

  “I didn’t realize you guys were talking again.”

  “We’re not.”

  Roy looked confused. “But you must have told him you were going to be here.”

  “You think I invited him here?” Melanie asked, her tone incredulous. Then, realizing that her reaction was too harsh, she said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. It’s just that...I haven’t spoken to Lawrence in nine months. I have no clue why he’s here.”

  “I was just gonna say, if you want to bring him to the wedding, it’s cool with me.”

  Melanie’s eyes widened. Invite him to the wedding?

  “Roy, honey,” Richelle began, placing her hands on Roy’s shoulders. “You said you were going in the water, right?”

  Roy looked over his shoulder at Richelle, who smiled sweetly at him, then at Melanie. And he seemed to get that Richelle was shooing him off so that she and Melanie could have some privacy.

  Roy stood and dutifully took his shirt off. “Yep.”

  Richelle gave him a quick kiss, and then he headed into the turquoise-blue water. Richelle sat across from Melanie on the second lounge chair.

  “Wow,” Richelle said, and then chuckled softly. “We come all the way from New York to Fiji and Lawrence is here?”

  Melanie looked up from the sand and met Richelle’s gaze. Her friend’s eyes were dancing with excitement. “You don’t have to sound so happy about it.”

  “I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” Richelle went on. “Come on, you don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s here?”

  “It’s a disaster, that’s what it is.”

  “You didn’t tell him accidentally, did you?”

  “Accidentally?” Melanie looked at Richelle in shock. “How could I tell him accidentally if I haven’t spoken to him in nine months?”

  “I’m just wondering if he saw the news about the wedding on your Facebook page, or on Twitter.”

  “I unfriended him, but even if he had access, I never said where we were going to be. I’ve been very careful about that.”

  “Well, maybe he heard about the wedding through a mutual friend, and he decided he’d head to Fiji to get a chance to talk to you. I’m sure he still wants closure.”

  “Lawrence isn’t the kind of guy to get on a plane and come all the way here for the sole purpose of talking to me. If he’d wanted to talk to me, he would have done so in New York.”

  “If you’re certain that he didn’t find out about the wedding, then it sounds like fate is making a major play.”

  “Fate?” Melanie countered. “It’s simply a coincidence.”

  “Coincidence?” Richelle shook her head. “No, it’s more like the universe forced the two of you together. I sense a reconciliation in the making....”

  Melanie’s jaw dropped. “Don’t say that. Don’t even start on that.”

  “Why not? I always thought you and Lawrence—”

  “We’re over. He never even called me after the wedding, remember?” Melanie swallowed painfully, remembering how a part of her heart had hoped that he would reach out to her. Reach out to her and beg her to take him back, beg her to come to her senses.

  “You mean the wedding where you stood him up?” Richelle said, giving her a pointed look.

  “Obviously, he wasn’t too torn up over it,” Melanie insisted. “Because he said nothing to me. Not a call, not a text message, not an email.”

  “Because you stood him up—” Richelle stressed.

  “He didn’t reach out to me, and I didn’t reach out to him, which makes it very clear that both of us knew we were heading down the wrong path. It was better to leave things as they were than fight for something that wasn’t supposed to be.”

  Richelle rolled her eyes. “It’s more like you broke his heart, and he was too hurt to talk to you,” she said. “Everyone has to have their level of pride.”

  “Don’t take his side,” Melanie said, pouting.

  “This isn’t about sides
, Mel. You’re my friend, and I love you, but I’ve never once told you that I agreed with you if I didn’t. Remember how I reamed you out for putting Nair in LaRita’s shampoo in tenth grade? I still loved you, but I told you that you were wrong to get revenge like that. You should have just reported her for bullying you.”

  “She never bothered me again, now did she?” Melanie countered, smiling slightly with the memory of how the tables had turned on LaRita. Once half-bald, other students had started bullying her, and Melanie’s life had gotten a lot easier.

  “You got what you wanted, but you didn’t do it the right way,” Richelle said. “Just like with Lawrence. If you didn’t want to marry him, fine. But you shouldn’t have stood him up at the altar like that. It was wrong. You can’t turn around and blame him for not trying to talk to you after that.”

  Melanie swallowed uncomfortably. She knew that no matter what she said, Richelle was right. Melanie couldn’t shift any blame onto Lawrence for her actions.

  It was just that she never expected to see him again. Least of all not here, in Fiji.

  “What did he say to you?” Richelle asked.

  Melanie sighed. “That he wanted an answer. That I owed him one for how I humiliated him on our wedding day.”

  “And you said?”

  Melanie hesitated. Then she shook her head.

  “You avoided him,” Richelle surmised. “Of course.”

  “It’s a big enough shock that he’s here in Fiji, for God’s sake. I’m supposed to have a serious conversation like that on the spot?”

  “Mel.” Richelle tsked. “What are you going to do? Avoid him for the rest of the trip?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to. I know you. You’re afraid to face him. And I understand why. But please, hon, don’t run scared while you’re in Fiji. If it’s truly over between you and Lawrence, what harm will come from talking to him? And what if it’s not really over....”

  Richelle got to her feet, grinning devilishly as she did. Then she pulled off her bathing suit cover, dumped it on the lounge chair and jogged into the water to join Roy.

  Leaving Melanie to ponder Richelle’s words.

  * * *

  “Was that Melanie?” Shemar asked when Lawrence slumped onto the lounge chair beside him.

  “Yeah.” Lawrence’s tone was clipped.

  “She’s here?” Shemar asked, disbelievingly. “We come all the way to Fiji and she’s here?”

  “Tell me about it, bro. That about sums up my luck.”

  “Unbelievable.” Shemar made a face. “Guess that’s why you didn’t get our beer.”

  “Oh, sorry. I was distracted.”

  “So, what’d she have to say for herself?” Shemar asked, his tone sounding cautious.

  “That she’s here for a wedding. You remember how her friend Richelle started dating that quarterback who used to play for the Giants?”

  “Vaguely.”

  “Well, Richelle’s marrying the guy. Here. In Fiji. Of all places.”

  “Don’t sweat it,” Shemar said. “If there’s a wedding happening, sounds like Melanie will be busy. And so will we. You probably won’t run into her again.”

  Lawrence gritted his teeth as he stared out at the water. This was an island paradise, the exact type of place he would have loved to come with a special woman in his life. But he’d come with Shemar instead to golf, snorkel and scuba dive.

  And now Melanie had appeared and had already turned this trip upside down. Lawrence had six more days here—six days he was supposed to be spending purging Melanie from his system. Yet how could that happen now?

  Shemar stood and clamped a hand down on Lawrence’s shoulder. “I know that look, Lawrence. But like I said, don’t sweat it. It’s a big resort. You don’t have to see her again if you don’t want to. I’m going to get those beers. You need it.”

  Shemar was Lawrence’s best friend. He’d been his best man for the wedding that never happened. He’d been there in the aftermath of Melanie’s no-show and had consoled him with tough talk about how he was better off not having married her because clearly Melanie wasn’t the woman for him. Shemar had assured him that there were many other fish in the sea, and that there were thousands of women in New York City who would appreciate a guy like him.

  “We’re stockbrokers, man,” Shemar had told him. “We make a ton of cash. You know how many women appreciate men like us? They’ll be coming out of the woodwork for you, bro. Trust me.”

  There were problems with Shemar’s theory, of course. The first one was that Shemar himself was still single, despite the fact that he saw himself as a hot commodity. The second problem was that the women who tended to be interested in them simply because of their careers were shallow. That breed of woman was more intrigued by their healthy bank accounts than by who they really were.

  And it was easy to find the gold diggers when out with Shemar. He loved to flaunt like a high roller, buying drinks for beautiful women, waving cash at the bar, the whole nine yards. It was no surprise to Lawrence that women ended up being more interested in what Shemar’s money could buy them, than in the man himself.

  None of that fazed Shemar, though. He enjoyed dating a series of beautiful women, enjoyed wining and dining and impressing them. And ultimately, leaving them when he got bored.

  It was that kind of mind-set Shemar had tried to impart onto Lawrence, but without luck. Lawrence wasn’t like Shemar. He couldn’t move from one monogamous relationship to the next with ease. Shemar had set him up with a few girls back home after his disastrous wedding day, but Lawrence had ultimately compared all of them to Melanie.

  Which was ridiculous. What was the point in comparing any woman to Melanie? She wasn’t the ideal woman. Certainly not the ideal woman for him.

  He was still dealing with the pain of heartbreak. Lawrence’s funk was the reason Shemar had suggested they get away. Far away. They both loved the water, and Shemar had suggested Fiji for diving, snorkeling and water sports like kayaking. Lawrence had readily agreed.

  Shemar had also joked that maybe they’d find some lovely ladies at the resort whom they could spend time with. He had hoped that would be the answer to Lawrence forgetting about Melanie once and for all.

  And now, incredibly, Melanie was at the very same resort. Was fate playing some kind of cruel joke on him?

  “Here you go, my man,” Shemar said.

  Lawrence looked over his shoulder to see Shemar extending a bottle of Fiji Gold beer.

  “Thanks.” Lawrence accepted the bottle and took a pull of the light-tasting ale.

  “We’ve got just about an hour before Ratu comes to take us out on the dive,” Shemar said. “I’m gonna head to the room, get changed. You?”

  Lawrence stood. “Sounds like a plan.”

  And though he didn’t want to, as he started to walk away from the beach with Shemar, Lawrence threw a glance to his right, in the direction where Melanie had run off to.

  He saw Richelle and Roy in the water in the distance, but he didn’t see Melanie.

  She was gone.

  But whether he could physically see her or not, she was back in his thoughts.

  There was no doubt about that.

  Chapter 4

  Try as Melanie did to get a good night’s sleep, she couldn’t. Not with the exchange between her and Lawrence playing in her mind over and over again. Instead of feeling relaxed and at ease—as she initially had once on Fiji—her body was consumed with nervous tension.

  She hadn’t seen Lawrence for the remainder of the day, but as she’d gotten dinner, and enjoyed a traditional Fijian show on the beach as night fell, she had been consumed with worry that Lawrence would make an appearance at any given moment.

  He hadn’t, but she was still c
ursing fate and whatever joke it was trying to play on her by having Lawrence show up on the very island paradise where she had hoped to soothe her still-hurting heart.

  The first thought that came to her mind as she got up that next morning was that she would see Lawrence again. In fact, she was half-paralyzed with the fear that she would run into him sooner rather than later.

  “Ticktock,” Richelle chastised her. “We’ve got to get going if we’re to make it for breakfast.”

  If not for Richelle, Melanie might be tempted to hide out in the room. But she knew that was an insane idea. She hadn’t battled her fear of flying long distances, traveled through how many time zones and gotten on a seaplane, only to stay in the room—despite how incredible the view from here was.

  No, she had to leave the room sometime. For one thing, there was no room service, which meant Melanie had to go to the restaurant in order to eat if she didn’t want to starve to death. She and Richelle were going to enjoy breakfast on their own this morning since Roy, his brother, cousin and some other family members had gotten up at the crack of dawn to scuba dive. Richelle had opted to pass on the excursion, because she and Melanie had a spa appointment later that morning. Today would be a day for the two friends to relax and enjoy whatever the resort had to offer.

  Now, if only Melanie knew that Lawrence had left the island...then she could truly relax.

  “Mel—”

  “I’m ready,” Melanie quickly said, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she looked in the bathroom mirror. “My beach bag is set. Call for a golf cart.”

  Melanie and Richelle had donned bathing suits with summer dresses atop them, since they didn’t want to have to head back to their rooms to change. They’d also decided to pack small bags with towels, sunscreen and reading material. Thanks to Richelle’s work as an editor for a publishing house in New York, she had a number of novels for Melanie to choose from.