by Tasha Black
She wrapped an arm around her mom and squeezed her tight.
“Thanks so much, Mama. I can’t believe you did this.”
Sarah shrugged, but her cheeks were pink with obvious pleasure.
“You guys, this is the best MCAT prep,” Addy told her friends.
“That’s awesome,” Honey said.
“Um, wow,” said Nikki.
“Open the card,” her mom urged.
Addy pulled the card closer, flipped it over.
There was a scene of a lake and an island, reminiscent of Maxwell’s with the words Happy Birthday embossed in gold lettering at the top.
Addy smiled and opened it.
I love you, Addy. Happy Birthday! Your father would have been so proud to see his grown-up daughter so hardworking, wise and open hearted. May this year be filled with success of EVERY kind!
Love,
Mama
The message brought a prickle of tears to Addy’s eyes. But when she saw what was affixed to the card her eyes blurred over.
Her father’s silver signet ring, covered in tiny nicks and scratches, on a long black nylon string.
She knew without touching it that the inside bore her mother’s message to her father: You are my heart. This ring had been her first anniversary gift to him.
After he died, her mom had worn it on a silver chain around her neck every day. Addy hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t wearing it tonight.
“That cord is water safe, in case you forget to take it off,” her mother said in a tight voice.
“Mom,” Addy said, but then her voice broke and she couldn’t say anymore, couldn’t tell her mother that it was too much, that there was no way she could possibly take this sweet reminder from her.
“You need it, baby,” her mother whispered into her hair. “I think there’s some magic in it, a lightness he left behind, to make us feel at peace.”
“Mom,” Addy sobbed quietly.
“Look at me,” her mother said.
Addy pulled back and looked at her perfect mother, the paragon of hard work and virtue, and wondered if she would ever be able to measure up - to earn all that goodness.
“We’re going to be okay, Adelaide,” Mom said with a smile. “We are okay. And the future will be better than the present.”
“Yes,” Addy agreed. She would do anything in her power to ensure it.
Just then a posse of waitresses approached with four cupcakes, one with a lit candle in it.
“Oh, Mom, you didn’t,” Addy said, pretending to be embarrassed.
Her mom threw an arm around her shoulder.
Honey cackled and Nikki smiled.
And the four women sat back and listened to the restaurant’s silly proprietary birthday song.
There was love enough in Addy’s life without a man. The proof was in the pudding.
Remington
Remington found himself walking in the woods again. Lately it was the only place he could find peace.
Last night, a dream of Addy selling herself to the highest bidder had woken him in a cold sweat. He’d thrashed in his sheets and then opened his eyes, only to realize it was reality.
Addy had said she wasn’t ready for a relationship with Remington. But she was ready to sell herself in order to save this place.
She was a woman of honor, but there was something disgraceful in it, Remington was sure.
He tromped through the pine needles, hating the birds that chirped so sweetly, hating the trees which were so peacefully unaffected by his sadness, hating the blue sky that winked at him through the breaks in the gathering rain clouds.
This whole planet was a trick. It seemed to be all warmth, lush colors and softness, but it was really colder and rockier than the seven sweeps of Aerie.
His hand moved unconsciously to touch the piece of his home that he always wore around his neck. It was cool to the touch, but somehow it didn’t soothe him like it used to.
He was just getting into a nice rhythm of stomping and hating when he heard voices up ahead.
Instinctively he stopped and listened.
“You have to stop them,” his brother Kitt was saying in an intense way.
“First of all, I’m not in charge of them,” Honey retorted. “Secondly, it’s a good idea.”
“How can this be a good idea?” Kitt was nearly shouting now. “They are breaking my brothers’ hearts.”
So it was about the auction.
“If your brothers want my friends to themselves, then they should ask,” Honey said coldly.
“You mean Indiana, right?” Kitt asked. “Because clearly Remington has made his desires known, and your friend is merely toying with him.”
Remington appreciated the consideration, but Addy wasn’t toying with him, he was sure of it. She was a straightforward person.
What was upsetting him now was the violence of the tone between the mates. If any two citizens of Aerie had flung such violent emotions at one another, it would have meant an end to the friendship, maybe even a dissolution of the shared community.
Throughout his own turmoil, the one thing Remington had clung to was the perfection of Kitt’s feelings for Honey, and hers for him. He had thought that once he clicked with Addy, all their troubles would be over.
But if those two could shout at one another in anger, there was no hope for him and his reluctant mate.
He turned and headed back toward the cabins as Kitt and Honey continued their disagreement. He didn’t want to hear any more.
And he had made a decision.
He would not choose Addy Barnes as his mate no matter what.
To click with someone who wasn’t sure of him would be a death sentence to his soul.
Somehow, he would have to hold out for a woman who wanted to love him.
Addy
Addy sat at a picnic table inside the staff commons cabin and watched the rain fall on the trees and lake.
It seemed that the very Earth was mourning Addy’s losses.
Now that her mom had gone home again, she had nothing to distract her from the long day of avoiding Remington.
Fortunately, he was making it easy for her. He hadn’t shown up for his swim lesson last night and today he’d gone out on break as soon as she arrived in the dining hall for lunch.
When the thunderstorm rained out the pool time, she’d dragged herself up here with her laptop, ostensibly to complete plans for the Floatillion.
Instead, she’d created a very different spreadsheet.
Remington was a wonderful man. She couldn’t be with him, but she couldn’t allow him to be alone or to bumble into the first enterprising woman who admired his physique.
No, Addy wasn’t going to leave his fate to chance.
She was going to hook him up, with someone really wonderful.
The idea hurt. A lot.
But it was better than licking her wounds, and better than thinking of the man she… cared about, alone in a world that was so new to him.
She’d opened the Maxwell’s website to the staff page and was entering names in one column.
Across the top she’d added categories for Patience, Sense of Humor, Common Sense, and more.
“Hey, Addy,” Nikki’s voice called to her.
“Oh,” she replied. “Hey, Nikki. I didn’t even hear you come in.”
“You’re lost in thought,” Nikki teased, pulling one of her dark curls straight and then letting it bounce back up in an unconsciously silly gesture. “Are you still working on the Floatillion stuff?”
“No,” Addy said, shaking her head. “Something a little different.”
Nikki slid in beside her.
“Whoa, what’s this?” Nikki asked, gazing at the spreadsheet.
Addy fought the urge to cover the screen.
“It’s, um, a matchmaking spreadsheet,” she said.
“Your story checks out,” Nikki nodded slowly. “Patience, Sense of Humor, wow, and not one picture. This is, like, the opposite of Matchr.”
; Ugh, Matchr. That app was half the reason Addy needed to do this. Remington would be eaten alive by the women on there.
She wondered if anyone in the Stargazer crew had thought about using some kind of alien dating app to find matches for the men of Aerie. That would be interesting.
“So who are you trying to get hooked up?” Nikki asked. “Someone annoying, huh?”
“What? No,” Addy said.
“Well, then why would the person need to be so patient and humorous and all?”
“It’s for Remington,” Addy said.
Nikki bit her lip.
“I can’t be with him,” Addy told her. “But I can’t leave him to the sharks either. I’m going to find him someone great, someone who can give him what he needs.”
“Is that really what you want?” Nikki asked.
“It is,” Addy said simply, trying not to let the question roll around in her head and raise doubts.
“Then we don’t need this,” Nikki said, indicating the laptop. “We’ll figure it out without a spreadsheet.”
“Do you have any ideas?” Addy asked.
“I know Esther works with him, and she seems to really like him,” Nikki offered.
“No,” Addy said immediately.
“Why not?” Nikki asked.
“She’s dumb as a rock,” Addy said.
“She’s nice,” Nikki said.
“Dude, I’ve seen her try to put quarters in the credit card slot on the soda machine,” Addy said. “More than once. He needs someone to help him learn about the world, not shove his change into it.”
“Okay, okay,” Nikki relented. “How about Sue from Accounting?”
“Seriously?” Nikki was incredulous.
“She’s everything you said,” Nikki retorted, counting off qualities on her fingers. “She’s patient, she’s funny, she’s got common sense, and serious financial know-how.”
“She’s at least twice his age,” Addy said.
“I would have thought her life experience would make her the perfect teacher,” Nikki countered.
“I’m going back to my spreadsheet,” Addy said firmly.
“What about Jasmine?” Nikki asked.
Oh.
Jasmine Rowe was one of the golf pros. Jasmine was down-to-earth, funny, beautiful, and you couldn’t even resent her wild popularity because she was one of those people who was truly warm and kind to everyone.
Addy’s soul was scorched with instant jealousy.
“Look, you don’t have to do this,” Nikki said, as if sensing Addy’s emotions. “I can’t understand why you think med school and love are mutually exclusive.”
Addy stood up.
“No, it’s a great idea, and I’m going to do it,” she said. “Thank you, Nikki. I’m going to find Jasmine now and see if she’d be interested in a blind date.”
Thankfully, the rain had all but stopped. Addy dashed out of the cabin and made her way down the hillside as quickly as she could.
Every step reduced the risk that she would change her mind. Every yard she traveled removed a thousand ways in which she could track him down, corner him, and beg him to take her.
She reached the lawn at last and passed the pool, the pavilion and the main house, then crossed over to the golf course.
Jasmine could be anywhere, but Addy hoped that fate was on her side and would guide her to her friend.
She had begun to fret that she wouldn’t know what to say. Heck, she didn’t even know if Jasmine had a boyfriend already.
Marco Jenkins, the head of the golf coaches, approached.
“Hey, Addy, how’s it going?” He had a wolfish look that told her he hadn’t forgotten their good times last summer.
“Good,” she said. “Is Jasmine around?”
“Yeah,” he replied, looking disappointed. “But I have no idea where. Anything I can do?”
“Maybe,” she replied. “Do you know if she’s, um, seeing anyone?”
Marco’s eyes lit up again.
“Fun,” he said, leaning in hungrily and placing a hand on her wrist. “I don’t think she is. And if things work out and you two are looking to add a third to your little—Hey, Remi!”
Addy turned to see Remington, a shocked expression on his face.
She was here trying to hook him up and he had caught her red-handed.
She felt the blood rush to her cheeks.
Remington’s eyes flashed, and he turned on his heel and stormed away.
“Where’s he going so fast?” Marco asked.
Her heart constricted and she turned away so as not to watch Remington go. She wondered briefly if he’d seen her talking with Marco - his hand on her wrist - and thought they were flirting.
“I thought you guys were, you know, a thing,” Marco said.
“No, we just swim coach together,” Addy replied. “Anyway, if you see Jasmine, let her know I want to talk to her.”
“Sure thing,” Marco said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“It’s about the Floatillion, moron,” Addy said, giving him a playful shove and leaving.
“Damn,” Marco called after her. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that - it’s better for my fantasy life.”
“Whatever,” Addy yelled back. “Just tell her I want to talk to her.”
She focused on walking slowly back to her cabin. Remington was already out of sight, but she didn’t want to risk catching up to him.
You need to take it slow, Addy, her inner voice insisted, in what was probably the understatement of the year.
Remington
Remington marched away with ice in his heart.
He’d wanted to go on a simple walk on the pretty golf course instead of pounding a path through the woods again. He knew that none of his friends played golf, so he’d have almost no chance of running into any of them, especially Addy.
And yet there she had been, shamelessly flirting with another man.
The man held her arm possessively. And she allowed it, looking up at him as if she had never thought of belonging to Remington, as if Remington had meant nothing to her at all.
The guilty expression on her face when she had turned to Remington told him everything he needed to know.
“Hey, Rem,” Esther called to him from the lawn outside the restaurant as he stormed past.
For once he was too angry to be polite. He waved once and kept walking.
The pleasant breeze coming off the lake filled him with rage. The very weather of this detestable planet was making light of his pain.
“Brother, are you alright?” Indiana jogged across the lawn toward him.
Remington’s heart constricted but he broke into a run. He could not talk to his brother. Kindness and sympathy would destroy him. He needed to escape now.
He longed fruitlessly for the peace of Aerie. The aching emptiness of the rocky cliffs would be more suitable to regaining his detachment than this soft and sunny place.
The only place he had ever felt that kind of quietude on Earth was…
And then he knew where he was going.
He turned hard away from the main house. The dark water of the lake spread out before him, with the island reflected back in it.
One moment he was running on the lawn, the next he had leapt off the bank and onto the pebbled beach.
He rushed ahead, immersing himself in the cool embrace of the water.
The sounds of the resort faded to nothing - the sunshine vanished. Everything was just as he had hoped.
Except that this place filled his senses with Addy.
He could still feel her hands in his, the swirl of her hair brushing his shoulders in the water.
Desperate to forget, he swam harder, faster, as if he could out-swim her memory, and escape the tie that bound him so tightly to his new home.
Addy
Addy took her time walking and was relieved that she didn’t see Remington when she reached the lawn.
But there was some sort of commotion at th
e bank of the lake.
She wandered over to see what was going on.
“He’s been under there too long,” Esther whined.
“He’s a swim coach,” one of the other waiters said.
“Well the tide could have pulled him under,” Esther cried.
“It’s a lake,” Marshall said gently. The guitar teacher had wandered over, several of his students trailing behind.
“Who’s in there?” Addy asked, heading right for the water, prepared to search and rescue.
“Remington,” Esther said.
What?
Of course he was. Like a little kid hiding under his bed. A very big little kid. And no one besides Addy knew he wasn’t in any danger.
“Go ahead, Addy, I’ll call 9-1-1,” Marshall said.
Shit.
“Don’t bother,” Addy said quickly. “I’ll get him.”
“Cops have nothing else to do around here,” Marshall said. His cell phone was already in his hand. “Fine,” Addy said, wading into the water. There was nothing she could do without seeming suspicious.
She swam away from the bank. It would be hard to find him because he wasn’t sending up air bubbles. But she figured he would be heading straight for the island, it was a natural goal.
She drew a mental line from where he had started and swam as fast as she could. She pushed on until her muscles burned pleasantly and then there was a disturbance in the water and he rose in front of her.
“What do you want?” he asked, flinging the words at her like arrows.
“I want you not to make a spectacle of yourself,” she yelled back. “This is the type of thing that will break your cover.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look,” she indicated the bank, where a dozen people now waved and watched.
“Oh,” he said, the anger gone from his face.
“Yes,” she said. “Oh.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “I wasn’t thinking. Well, I was thinking, but not about that.”
Addy pressed her lips together and nodded, trying not to notice how gorgeous he was with water dripping from his hair.