by Danni Roan
All he could see was the look in his best friends eyes the day the news had arrived and she’d moved in with the L’s for real.
“Why don’t you go for a walk,” Candy suggested, hoping he’d find that lovely pineapple girl and calm down a bit. “We can talk later.”
James nodded automatically picking up his empty coffee mug and placing it in the sink on his way to the door.
“We’ll see you later dear,” Candy offered watching him leave before turning troubled eyes to her husband.
“That went better than I thought it would,” Nick said.
“I’m not so sure,” Candy mused. “Perhaps we should have gone earlier like you suggested.”
“What and miss out on seeing him with that young woman?” Nick chuckled. “No, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
The hearty knock on the front door made Candy jump only to sigh in relief when Q walked in.
“Yous guys do something to upset that tall fella?” the wiry man asked. “I just seen him getting’ into a taxi for the airport with his bags.”
Candy turned to Nick her heart racing, but the love of her life only shrugged.
Chapter 13
“What do you mean he checked out?” Brittany said as she stood at the concierge’s desk. “I know for a fact he was booked in through the weekend.”
“He checked out Brit,” the man behind the counter said. “Came hightailing it up here, turned in his key and called for a taxi. He was gone before I’d handed him his receipt.” Joe picked up the page waving it at her for emphasis.
Brittany snatched the paper from Joe’s hand and growled. Had she completely misread the man? James had seemed so real, so honest.”
“Thanks Joe,” she said folding the paper and slipping it into her bag.
“Hey, you can’t keep that.” Joe called after her but she just kept walking.
Taking the master key from the office Brittany headed for the little bungalow James had been staying in. The placid waves of the blue ocean lapping at the sturdy legs that held the building aloft seemed out of rhythm with her troubled heart.
Opening the door, she looked around her at the simple, but elegant room that felt cold and frigid in its emptiness.
She sighed looking at the silly heart still stuck to the windows overlooking the sea and a silent tear slipped down her cheek.
It was foolish to think an island fling could mean anything, but somehow in only a few short days she had lost her heart.
Turning she caught the glint of the little jeweled pineapple hanging from the hook by the door, and she snatched it clutching it to her trying to absorb its inner glow and restore the warmth she’d felt a few short hours ago.
Slipping the string of the little pineapple over her neck, she searched the whole space for a note or message from James, but couldn’t find anything. He was gone, whisked out of her life on a whim with not so much as a goodbye.
Perhaps the light she’d seen in his eyes had only been the reflection of the moon on the sea and not the inner glow of love. She’d been a fool, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Peeling the sticker off of the window she folded it and slipped it into the trash before turning and stepping out the open door.
A soft breeze buffeted Brittany as she stepped onto the sand, racing around her and whistling through the open door, swirling and laughing in exploration of the once closed room.
As the breeze swirled ruffling the curtains and rippling the bed clothes, a sliver of paper quivered straining for release from where it had fallen into the floorboards like the lost feather of a long gone bird.
***
James couldn’t sleep. He sat on the plane flicking through the movies and TV shows but couldn’t settle on anything.
His mind was confused, frustrated, and disturbed even as his heart grew restless.
He had wanted to go and speak to Brittany personally but didn’t know what to say. She would think he was insane if he recounted the tale he’d been told.
Right now he needed to see Audrey. He needed to make sure she was well and that she was happy.
There had been no time to think as he searched for the fastest flight home and his mad note to Brittany would have to do.
He felt like his heart was split in two as the plane winged its way northward. Half of it with his friend, the other half with Brittany.
“Too bad Nick couldn’t give me some of that magic dust or whatever it is that lets him get around the world so quick,” James grumbled into his Coke as the air host served snacks, eying him suspiciously.
James smiled, trying to put the woman at ease, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever be normal again.
He wanted to sleep, he wanted to rage, he wanted to tell the world what he knew, and he wanted to pull Brittany into his arms along a moonlit beach and tell her she owned his heart.
Beautiful Brittany who called to him in ways he’d never before known. She seemed to get him on a level no one else ever had. Surely she would understand his need to get home and check on his friend.
***
James punched in the familiar number as the plane rolled to a stop at its gate.
“Lis’ where’s Aud?” he asked waiting for a reply.
“James? What are you doing home?” Lisa asked. “Audrey said you took the fastest flight south you could find.”
“I’ll tell you later,” James said annoyed by Lisa’s chipper tone. “Just tell me where I’ll find Aud.”
“Let me see.” He could hear Lisa clicking through her phone as he grabbed his bags and headed to the taxi line. “It’s Wednesday, so she and Holden should be in town,” Lisa finally said. “They’ve been splitting the difference through the week between his place and hers.”
“Thanks Lis’,” James said. “See you late.”
James clicked off his phone and slipped into the nearest taxi giving the driver directions to Audrey’s house. He needed to see her, needed to hold her tight and make sure she was fine. Perhaps it was only the pain in his heart that was pushing him but he had to get there.
***
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Audrey called hurrying to her front door where someone seemed determined to knock the thing down.
“James!” Audrey gasped as her friend stepped through the door and wrapped her in a hug squeezing the breath from her lungs.
“Honey, what’s going on?” Holden walking into the kitchen still buttoning his pants then freezing as he saw his wife wrapped tight in another man’s arms.
“James, you’re suffocating me,” Audrey squeaked trying to catch Holden’s eye. Something was seriously wrong if James was standing in her kitchen squeezing the life out of her.
“James,” Holden said stepping up and offering his hand to the young man holding his wife in a death grip.
James looked down at Holden’s hand automatically responding in kind.
Audrey turned breaking James hold on her and taking his hand leading him to her table.
“I’ll put some coffee on,” Holden said taking a look at the disheveled James.
“Come sit down and tell me what’s wrong,” Audrey urged taking the bag from her friends shoulder and plunking it on the floor.
James settled at the table running his hands through his hair for the millionth time. Audrey was fine. She was here safe and sound with Holden. She was happy and loved. What had he been thinking rushing straight to her door?
“James, what’s wrong?” Audrey asked quietly, shifting her baggy pajama top on her slim shoulders.
“I don’t know,” James hedged. “I just had a feeling that something was wrong.”
Holden placed a cup of coffee in front of Audrey and another in front of James. “Did something happen?” he asked turning back to retrieve his own cup.
James looked up panic in his eyes. How could he begin to explain what had happened? He was sure if he did tell Audrey about her parents, she’d simply think he’d dropped off the deep end.
“It was silly,” James
said toying with his mug. “I guess I just had a panic attack worrying about business and your new situation.”
Audrey smiled reaching for Holden’s hand. “James, I’ve never been happier.”
“I know,” James dropped his head. He was feeling weary, disoriented, and frustrated. “Sorry,” he added. “I should just get home and get a good night’s sleep.”
“James, it’s two o’clock in the morning why don’t you just stay in the spare room for the night? You already have your stuff,” she added nodding toward his bag. “I’m sure that you’ll feel better tomorrow.”
James smiled, he’d come to check on Audrey, to look at her and tell her everything and now that he realized he couldn’t she was the one looking after him.
“Things always look better in the light of day,” Holden said. “You go on and crash, and we’ll see you in the morning.”
James rose retrieving his bag then turning back to look at his oldest friend. “Thanks,” he offered lamely. “I’m sure you’re right, I’m just overly tired and worrying about nothing. Good night.”
Audrey smiled watching James move down the hall to the small room on the left. He looked tired and troubled, and she could only guess at what could possibly have happened to send him back from vacation in this state.
“He gonna be alright?” Holden asked picking up the cups and placing them in the dishwasher.
“I think so,” Audrey admitted. “Something sure has him jumpy though and that is not like James.”
Holden wrapped an arm around his wife pulling her close and kissing her on the nose as she looked up at him.
“Well I sure can’t say life with you is boring can I,” he chuckled.
“With me around, you’ll be lucky to keep up,” Audrey laughed tipping back her head for him to kiss her.
“You got a party tomorrow?” Holden asked starting back toward the bedroom.
“No, nothing tomorrow. A big birthday party on Saturday though. I’ll put James to work on it tomorrow and get his mind off of whatever it was that sent him here in such a panic.”
“You think it could be a woman?” Holden asked letting Audrey slip through the door before him.
“I don’t know.” Audrey chewed her lip as she kicked off her slippers and tugged at her baggy flannel pajama pants. “James has never had much luck with women.”
“Oh, I see.”
“No,” Audrey said elbowing him as he slipped beneath the covers with her. “James is actually really shy and a little geeky. He doesn’t always pick up on the cues that women are flirting with him.”
Holden reached out and pulled Audrey to him letting her nestle her cheek against his chest. “You think he’ll be ok?”
“I think so,” Audrey admitted. “He must have been worried about how I was doing or maybe about Lisa. Things sure have changed fast for all of us you know,” she said covering a yawn.
“I guess we did kind of turn things upside down didn’t we?” Holden asked with a laugh, the sound vibrating through his chest and tickling her ear.
“Ah huh,” Audrey said sleepily. “We’ll see how it all is tomorrow.”
Holden lay awake listening to Audrey’s steady breathing for what seemed like ages before he could get back to sleep. Something sure was eating up her long legged friend. He just hoped it wouldn’t cause any problems for Audrey and her business. Things were already up in the air with them trying to decide what came next in their life.
Chapter 14
Brittany walked along the beach as a storm rolled over the sea. Black clouds roiled far out on the horizon mirroring the turmoil in her heart.
She had truly thought there was a connection between her and the dorky dark haired party planner, but apparently she’d been wrong; again.
“Why so glum,” a short man in a red T-shirt covered in little arrows asked.
Brittany turned studying the fellow. By his accent, she could only assume he was from New Jersey, but you never knew. She also wondered if he owned anything that wasn’t either pink or red.
“I don’t know,” Brittany hedged. “You know how it is; some days just get you down.”
Q repressed a grin. “Don’t suppose it has anything to do with that egg head yous was hangin’ out with before does it?”
Brittany stared at the man. Had everyone noticed her and James? Instead of replying she simple shrugged continuing her slow walk along the sea as thunder rolled distantly to shore.
“That bad hey?” Q asked. He wasn’t about to let her off the hook about her feelings. He needed to know where this couple stood before he was going to waste any time on them.
“He just took off,” Brittany finally said, the words bursting from her like a torrent. “Not even a good-bye or a note; nothing.”
“That don’t sound good,” Q agreed. “Did you check his place after he left?”
Brittany blushed, she wasn’t supposed to search a guests quarters after they left, but that was exactly what she had done.
“There wasn’t anything there,” she said.
“Only that?” Q pointed at the little pineapple suspended from a string around her neck.
“It was too cute to leave behind,” Brittany said defensively.
“But you really liked this guy didn’t ya?”
Brittany’s shoulders slumped as the first feathery rain drops began to fall, and she turned toward a little gazebo for shelter. “Yeah, I did,” she confessed.
The rain started falling harder and she quickened her pace then gasped as the little man next to her grabbed her hand and started to run. In what seemed like the blink of an eye they were standing safe and dry under the thatched roof as the storm broke above.
Q made his way to a little bench out of the rain and patted the seat for Brittany to join him. “If yous like this guy, why don’t you do something about it?” he asked.
“”What and make a fool of myself?” Brittan asked with a shake of her head. “No, if he really liked me, he wouldn’t have run off like he did.”
“Well maybe something came up,” Q said.
Brittany only shrugged as the storm pounded the earth drumming on the little hut in a staccato tattoo.
Q looked over at the girl seeing the pain long-shanks had cause taking off like that. He knew the reason, but still couldn’t share it with her.
As the rain started to slacken he raised his voice over the din. “Sometimes when we have a shock or a bit of news that is upsetting, we all just want to run,” he said.
“Take me for an example; I never wanted my current occupation. It came as a big shock, you know, when I inherited the business. I tried runnin’ away from it, but that didn’t work.”
Brittany eyed the odd little man suspiciously. She’d met all kinds of people in her line of work, but she just couldn’t place him. He talked like a Longshoreman, but dressed like a florist.
“What kind of business exactly?” she finally asked as the rain dropped to a trickle.
“Romance,” the man chuckled a big grin lighting up his craggy face. “You know flowers and candy and cards. That kind of cr…, stuff.”
Brittany laughed. “So you’re a florist.”
Q chuckled. “Somethin’ like that. My point is sometimes you get a shock and it t’rows you for a loop.”
Brittany smiled as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. Somehow she felt better talking to this strange person. She was still disappointed about James and the way he’d run, but at least now she didn’t feel like it was her fault.
“Thanks,” she said leaning over and pecking the man on the cheek. “It was nice talking to you.” Rising from the bench she headed back to her little room in employee housing.
Maybe someday she would hear from James again, but in the meantime, she was determined not to feel let down.
***
James was miserable. He woke exactly the way he’d fallen into bed, muddled and confused. Covering his eyes with his arm, he groaned as the thoughts and misgivings from the night befor
e came crowding back.
“What am I to do?” he mumbled trying to shut out the world that had suddenly been turned upside down.
“You could get up for starters,” Audrey called through the door. “I’ve got breakfast on.”
Again James groaned. Audrey was cooking.
“Be out in sec,” he growled, throwing off the covers and grabbing his pants.
Turning to look out the apartment window as he dug for a clean shirt James gazed down at the mounds of hard packed snow lining the sidewalks and streets, his mind shifting back to white beaches and bright sunlight and the beautiful smile of a girl he was sure he had fallen in love with.
Shaking his head at the notion he hoped she’d found his note and that he would hear from her soon. How could he even begin to explain why he’d taken off so quickly?
James had never been a lady’s man. He hadn’t ever really dated, but being with Brittany was like starting all over again.
She liked him and based on the way she’d kissed him several times, not just as a friend.
The smoke alarm beeped out in the hall yanking James back to the present as he opened the door and headed out for breakfast.
“Sorry,” Audrey said with a grin. “I had the burner up too high. This next piece will be good, I promise.”
Holden leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Honey I think the only problem with your cooking is that you have too much on your mind,” he said grabbing the offending piece of burnt toast and tossing it in the trash.
“You could be right,” she said dunking another slice of bread and starting it to sizzle.
Fifteen minutes later they all sat around the table eating a more than passable breakfast. James grinned as Holden winked at him. The cowboy had taken charge of the bacon, so at least it didn’t have any singed bits.
“So what are you doing today?” James asked the two of them as he finished off his meal with a second cup of coffee.
“I’m headed back out to the ranch today,” Holden said. “Handley and I have some work to do.”
“I’ve got a booking consult then I’m headed out to see the L’s. You should come.” Audrey said a wicked gleam in her eye.