by Krista Lakes
“Yeah. It was.” I felt like my life was on repeat. Yet another tourist was breaking my heart and making a fool of me in front of the community. Only this time it was way worse.
“And he didn't tell you he was buying the land?” Adele pressed.
“No, it didn't come up,” I said sharply and instantly felt bad. This wasn't Adele's fault. I didn't need to take this out on her. I needed to go home. I needed to think. “You know what, Adele? I'm actually not hungry. I'm just gonna go home.”
Adele nodded and wrapped her arms around me again. She smelled like cinnamon. “I understand, dear.”
No, you don't, I wanted to tell her, but I just smiled meekly and quickly broke away. I couldn't get out of the restaurant fast enough.
The door closed behind me and I gave serious thought to going back in. Waiting patiently for me in front of the restaurant was Danica. I wanted to punch the smug smile off her face. She had seen me look at the paper through the window, and I could only imagine what was going through her head.
“Leave me alone.” I glared at her and turned to walk in a different direction, but she just moved to intercept me.
“Why do you think he stayed on the island after the party?”
“I told you to leave me alone.” I clenched my jaw and worked my fingers into a ball. I really wanted to hit something, and she was looking like a good target.
“Did he tell you it was because of you?” she asked sweetly. “Because, if I were you, I'd think it was so he could sign the papers before you and your scientist friends had a chance to do anything.”
The truth struck me like a baseball bat, but I didn't want to give the evil reporter the satisfaction of seeing me break. I couldn't breathe again. The air was too thick to get past the lump in my throat and the knot in my chest. I was glad I hadn't eaten anything, because if I had, I would have been sick right there.
“I'm not going to give you a sound byte,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice level. I even impressed myself by managing to keep it steady. “Leave me alone.”
I pushed past her; every muscle in my body was wound too tight. She moved out of my way, eyes dark and full of derision.
“If you think he'd do the same thing for you, you don't know Noah Black,” she called after me. I ignored her, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. I needed to get to where I could think and cry. I needed to be alone.
The buying of the land, I almost could have forgiven. I hadn't said anything about it to him, and I could give him the benefit of the doubt. But it was the rest of what Danica had said that irritated me and rubbed like salt in a fresh wound. It had truth to it. Why else would he stay on the island? Bring his personal assistant? He needed to be on the island for the sale. I was just a convenient way to pass the time. That thought hurt more than the loss of the land. I wasn't sure if his love for me was real or just a comfortable lie.
I hurried up the walk to the house, desperately trying to keep my tears at bay. One of the boats was missing, and I hoped that meant everyone was off on an expedition. I wanted the house to myself. I just wanted to curl up in bed and pretend this was all a terrible dream. I was going to wake up and find out that Doc had gotten the property and that Noah was here for me and not his business. Things were going to be the way they were supposed to be, which wasn't like this. This had to just be a bad dream.
Chapter 20
The house was mercifully quiet as I stumbled to my room. I opened the bedroom door and felt a rush of gratitude that Brooke's bed was empty. I had the place to myself. The sob I had been holding in finally escaped as I clicked the door shut and slid down to the floor. I felt so heavy with betrayal I couldn't stand anymore. Everything hurt. How could he have done this to me? He had said he loved me! I had loved him, and truthfully, I was still in love with him.
Every beat of my heart hurt. I cried into my hands, sobs wracking my body with every strangled breath. I wished I could stop breathing and just let the heartache die out. I wanted to cry until I was empty and it didn't hurt anymore, but somehow I just kept finding more tears.
I cried until my butt went numb from sitting on the floor, but even then, I still felt miserable. There was a box of tissues on my nightstand. The bed looked like a better option than the floor. At least there I could cry myself to sleep. With far more effort than I had expected, I hauled myself away from the door and up onto my bed. I felt a little better with a cleared nose and a cushioned bottom, but not by much. Small steps, I told myself. Small steps.
“Izzy? You okay?” Brooke asked, carefully opening the door and peeking in. She must have heard me crying. She saw me and my new pile of tissues and gave me a sympathetic look. “We'll figure something out with the Grove and your research. It'll be all right.”
“I never should have fallen for him, Brooke. I should have listened to you.” I looked up at her, fresh tears welling up in my eyes. I could tell her to go away, but knowing Brooke, that would only make her nosier. It was better just to get it out now. At least then she'd go buy me ice cream.
“What?” Brooke closed the door behind her and knelt on the floor by my bed. “What'd he do?”
My chin quivered. “My Noah is the Noah Black who bought the Grove. He used me.”
Brooke's face went pale. Then red. Then pale again. Her mouth opened, and she worked it silently for a moment as she decided which emotion she wanted to feel first. She finally settled for shock as she stood up and wrapped her arms around me. We could be angry together later. That's why I loved Brooke. She was always there for me.
“Oh, Izzy,” she whispered in my ear as she hugged me close. Her hand ran down my hair to my back in a soothing, petting motion. “I'm so sorry.”
The words were still bitter in my mouth. My Noah was Noah Black... A heaviness descended on my soul. I had said it out loud and made it a reality. Until that moment I had hoped that it wasn't, that if I didn't say anything, by some sort of strange magic, it wouldn't be true. But it was. My Noah was the one who had bought the Grove. My Noah was the one who was going to destroy my research and dreams. And my Noah wasn't here because he loved me.
With Brooke's comforting arms around me and my world teetering on crumbling apart again, I started to cry. Brooke didn't say anything. She just held me close and rocked me gently, like a child. I cuddled into her, wishing I was still small enough that I could hide under my blankets and make the monsters disappear.
Chapter 21
“Izzy doesn't want to see you.” Brooke's voice drifted through the open window and interrupted my nightmares. I was in the Grove running from a giant backhoe that was ripping it up. Noah sat in the driver's seat and laughed as he chased me. I was glad to wake up and find I was safe in my bed and not running and tripping on mangrove roots.
I sat up in the dim gray of twilight with a blanket tucked neatly around me. My face was crusty with tears, and my ribs ached from sobbing. My laptop was still open on Noah's Wikipedia page but set neatly on the desk. I must have fallen asleep crying, and Brooke had tucked me in and saved my computer from falling off the bed. I stood up and tiptoed through the living room to stand at the entrance of the kitchen.
Devon and Lucas were sitting stiffly on the couch pretending to read. They were doing a lousy job at it, though. Their ears were practically falling off their heads with how much they were straining to listen. I couldn't blame them. Devon flexed his fist a couple of times. At least I knew if I wanted Noah beat up, they would happily hold him down so I could hit him.
“Please, I just want to see her. She just left this morning and won't pick up her phone. I just want to make sure she's okay.” It was Noah's voice. Just hearing it made my whole body hurt.
“Okay?” Brooke sneered. “You sold her out. She had her heart wrapped up in the Grove, and you stole it from her to make it into something she'll hate!”
“I didn't know!” he shouted back.
Brooke made an exasperated noise. “Right, sure you didn't. You need to leave.”
/> “Please,” he begged. “I just need to talk to her. Just for a minute.”
I went to the screen door and looked out at him. Brooke was standing on the edge of the porch, not letting him step foot on it. She reminded me of a rather fierce poodle I had been terrified of as a kid. Noah's eyes met mine through the screen door, and I took pity on him. His hair was a mess, as if he had repeatedly run his hands through it and it had gotten stuck, and his eyes had a lost look to them. He was right. I had just left. I hadn't given him the opportunity to explain himself. I owed him at least that much.
“It's okay, Brooke,” I said, opening the door and stepping onto the porch. My voice sounded ragged and rough. I looked right at him. “You get one minute.”
Brooke crossed her arms and shot him a glare that should have killed him where he stood. She stalked across the deck and grabbed the screen door from me. “I'll be right inside if you need me.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. Brooke put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a long look. Be strong, she said with her eyes. I nodded. I had been played a fool for the last time.
The door shut with a click. I knew Brooke, Devon, and Lucas were listening intently inside. They had my back.
“What do you want?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Izzy, I swear I didn't mean to buy it out from under you,” Noah answered quickly. He put one foot on the porch and I glared at it until he put it back on the ground.
“I realized this afternoon that I never actually said anything about it to you,” I said. I hoped my voice sounded as cold as I wanted it to. His expression brightened slightly, but I hardened my eyes. “But I did tell you how much the island needs that grove. How bad tourism would be for that reef. That I remember very clearly. Are you going to build condos over the Grove?”
“The tourism will be good for the island,” he answered. His hopeful expression was fading quickly.
“Right.” I tightened my arms. “I made my stance on that pretty clear as well. You can leave now.”
I turned to walk back into the house. This conversation was over. He didn't care about me or the Grove. The next thing I knew, though, he was on the porch, his hand around my wrist to keep me from going inside. My traitorous body responded longingly to his touch. I still wanted him, wanted his hands on me.
“Please let me go,” I whispered, frozen in place by heartache.
“Izzy, I love you. I want to make this right.” There was a note of desperation in his voice. His breath caught and looked at me with sad eyes. I pulled my arm out from his grasp.
“Then don't build the condos. You still have time to reverse the sale.” I held my breath as I waited for his response. He didn't answer. He just frowned and looked at my feet. I knew then that we were very much over. We probably should never have been together in the first place. “But, obviously, the money is more important to you. More important than I am. I get it. Your ex-fiancée would be very proud of you.”
His eyes shot up, flashing with a blue fire. I didn't care. I knew I was hitting below the belt, but I didn't care. He deserved it.
“Oh, yes, I did a little research on you.” I thought of what I had found on his Wikipedia page and what he had said on our walk. I knew this was a sore subject. I knew this haunted him. And I was very willing to use it. “After your fiancée left you for someone with more money, you started making all sorts of shady deals. It worked because you're a billionaire now.”
Noah's breathing sped up, and two spots of color grew in his cheeks. My breath hitched in my throat for a second. It wasn't like me to be mean, to say things out of pure spite. But at that moment, I didn't care. He had hurt me. Obliterated my dreams. A girl's entitled to a little bitchiness when she's heartbroken.
I laid out my last blow. “I'm sure she'd be happy to be with you now. Internet says she's single. All she cared about was money and now you've got it. You two deserve each other.”
And with that I turned on my heel and opened the door to go back inside.
“Izzy...” He said my name like a plea. I looked back at him. His blue eyes were shining with tears and hurt. He held his hands out in front of him like he was asking for forgiveness. I had none to give.
“I don't think this is going to work out, Noah.” That was the understatement of the year. “You need to leave. Please don't try and see me again.”
I stepped inside the safety of the house and closed the door. I couldn't believe I had actually said those things out loud. I had wanted to hurt him like he had hurt me. Brooke took me into a hug as soon as I cleared the kitchen.
“Izzy! Please!” Noah called out, banging on the door. At least he had enough sense not to open it. Devon and Lucas were on their feet and at the door in a heartbeat with murderous expressions on their faces.
“She asked you to leave,” Devon growled through the door. Lucas crossed his arms and glared daggers behind him. Together they looked scary as hell and completely blocked the door.
“Izzy...” Noah's voice cracked. I turned my head away from him and into Brooke's shoulder. She tightened her arms protectively around me.
“We're not going to ask you again,” Lucas stated. He sounded deeper and bigger than usual. And definitely not happy. The porch creaked as Noah took a step away from the door.
“I didn't mean to hurt her. I do love her,” he pleaded with the boys. I was glad I couldn't see his face.
Devon snorted. “You've got a funny way of showing it. The Grove was her life. And you're going to tear it down to make money you don't even need. You're a billionaire. An extra couple million isn't going to do anything for you. You don't need the Grove like she does, but you're more than willing to put your bank account ahead of her. So, I'm gonna go ahead and say that you don't really love her. That's not what love is.”
“Yeah,” chimed in Lucas.
I could have kissed Devon. And even Lucas for standing up for me. They loved me, in their own unique ways, and I loved them right back. They really were my older brothers.
I could hear Noah reply, but his words were lost to me. I didn't care what he said anyway. Devon was right. A new hotel on the island would only make him richer, and if his Wikipedia page was correct, he wasn't exactly hurting in the money department. The funds he had spent purchasing the land, and even the figures he would eventually make on the investment, was barely a drop in the bucket for him. The island was too remote to ever be more than a luxury destination. This hotel was all about prestige.
And he wanted that prestige more than he wanted me.
“You okay?” Brooke asked. I realized I was shaking.
“Yeah.” I wiped at my eyes and smiled weakly as Devon and Lucas entered the room. “Thank you, guys.”
Devon scooped me up in a big bear hug, squeezing me to within an inch of my life. “You deserve better,” he whispered as he let me go.
“Hey, you want to get a drink?” Lucas offered, raising his eyebrows. “My treat?”
I smiled at him. Lucas had to be seriously worried about me if he was willing to buy. It was sweet. “Thank you, but no. I just want to go lie down for a little bit.”
“Okay, then.” Brooke nodded and put her hand on my shoulder. She gave it a gentle squeeze. “If you need anything, you know where to find us.”
I nodded and put on my best fake smile. It was pathetic and they all knew it, but they let me go. As I opened the door to my room, I looked back to see Lucas take Brooke's hand in his. I hoped they’d have better luck than I did. At least they knew what the other person did for a living.
The room was mercifully dark. I crawled under the sheet and closed my eyes, waiting for the sweet relief of sleep to come take me.
Chapter 22
I kicked at the covers until I freed my feet from their tortuous grip. My bed was a disaster area; I had tossed and turned all night with nightmares. Dreams of the destruction of the Grove. Dreams of Noah. Dreams of what could have been. The early morning sun was starting to peek through the blinds, and I was reli
eved to see morning and be free of my subconscious mind's twisted wanderings.
Brooke mumbled something into her pillow. She was spread eagle across her bed and still fast asleep. I gave serious thought to just staying in bed all day and moping, but the longer I lay in bed, the more I needed to get up and stop thinking. And at this point in time, thinking was bad. Thinking reminded me that not only had I lost the Grove, I had lost Noah as well. Just thinking his name made my chest tighten and the tears start to well up in my eyes. I still couldn't believe he was willing to give me up that easily.
I sat on the edge of my bed and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out what to do next. The shark tooth necklace lay neatly on my nightstand. I had considered throwing it away, but I couldn't bring myself to part with it. Instead, it rested in a perfect circle on my nightstand. I swallowed down a lump in my throat the size of a cruise liner, quickly looking away and pulling harder at my hair.
I needed something that would keep me busy. Tagging sharks with Brooke? I looked over at her snoring into her pillow and knew she wouldn't be up for at least a couple more hours. Besides, she was still inputting the data from our last outing. Who else? Lucas and Devon would be busy working on their grants, and Doc would be helping them. I knew they would do something with me if I asked, but I didn't want to be a bother. I was on my own today.
With a sigh, I stood up and grabbed my brush. My hair was just too tangled to un-knot it with my fingers. I frowned at nothing in particular as I worked the brush. I wanted to go outside. Sunshine always made me feel better. With that idea planted firmly in my head, I put on my one-piece swimsuit, a pair of board shorts, and a light t-shirt. I grabbed my swim bag with snorkel gear, sunscreen, towels, and various other items and went to the kitchen.
Brooke had made me deviled eggs, bless her wonderful soul. I popped one in my mouth and tried to send her a telepathic 'thank you.' She knew the way to mend my broken heart: food. I carried the plastic container holding the rest of the eggs with me out the door so I could continue to snack on them. I didn't have a clear plan as to what I was going to do next; I just knew I needed to get out of the house.