“What do you mean, he can’t help?” Debbie’s voice hitched near hysteria as she listened to Caitlyn try to calm her down.
“Jefferson’s got his lawyers looking into getting your passport returned, but apparently it’s going to take some time before we can clear this up.”
Debbie tripped on the edge of the walk leading down to the beach and hopped on one foot as she gritted her teeth through the pain of a stubbed toe. “Well, what the hell kind of no-good lawyers does your boyfriend have working for him, anyway?”
“Way to keep calm, Deb.”
“Calm?” She shot a look over her shoulder. Her own personal mountain was still following her, but he was staying far enough back from her that she could at least speak freely to her friend. “I can’t believe this. I’m living in a soap opera.”
“It’s not that bad, honey.”
Cait could only say that because she didn’t know the whole story. Debbie hadn’t told her about the disaster looming over her business. But heck. Wasn’t the rest of this mess enough to elicit a little sympathy? “Hello? Suspect. Security guard following me around like a starving pit bull looking for a snack.” The pain in her foot ebbed back a bit and she hissed out a breath. “I can’t leave the island and, oh yeah, Gabe is my jailer.”
“Yeah,” Cait murmured, “that part sucks. Janine told me he still looks hot.”
Hotter than he should, that was for sure, Debbie thought. Because even when she was furious with him, all she had to do was to think about him and that long, amazing night together and her blood pressure shot out of orbit. “That’s not the point, though, is it?”
“No, but it could be worse.”
“How?”
“Well, you could be in jail instead of Gabe’s place.”
“True…” Debbie sighed, stepped out of her sandals and walked onto the warm sand. It shifted beneath her feet, squeezed up between her toes and made walking just a bit more difficult. There wasn’t much of a crowd on the beach, but those that were there made plenty of noise. The cheers and shouts for the surfing competitors lifted into the air and hung there like limp flags.
Instinctively, Debbie headed away from the crowd. She didn’t really want to see Gabe lording it over his guests and she could hardly hear Cait when she talked.
“But staying with Gabe has its own problems,” she said when she was far enough from the crowd. “And besides, I’ve got to get home. I’ve got a business to run.” Save, she added silently. “And a supposed life to live and-”
“And it’ll all be here for you when you get back. Jeez, Deb. You’re in a place most people only dream about visiting. Sure, there’s a couple of flies in your soup at the moment.”
“Big damn flies, if you ask me,” Debbie muttered.
“But the soup is still pretty fabulous.”
Debbie lifted her face into the kiss of the wind and looked at the endless sweep of ocean stretched out in front of her. Sailboats, surfboards and body surfers littered the water, and on the horizon, dark clouds were gathered up like soldiers preparing an attack. She wanted to take a moment, let her worries slide away and see the upside like Cait wanted her to.
But the point was, there were much bigger flies in her soup than Cait knew. Debbie didn’t have a clue what to do next. Where to turn. Who to tell what to. And in that frenzied moment of wild thinking, she heard herself blurt, “I slept with him.”
“You what with who?”
“Gabe. Slept. Well…” Debbie hedged as she kicked at the sand. “Not so much slept with as rode like a pony for hours.”
A humming silence filled her ear for several seconds and Debbie almost smiled as she imagined Cait’s look of complete shock.
“This is huge. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Cait finally shrieked, her voice hitting a note that had Debbie yanking the cell phone away from her ear in self-defense.
“I just did tell you.”
“Yeah, finally.” Cait grumbled a bit, then said, “Was it great? Was he great? Ohmigod, I can’t believe you’re together again.”
“Whoa.”
“What?”
“We’re not ‘together.’”
“But you’re sleeping with him.”
“Only the one night.” Three or four times, but she didn’t need to say that. Debbie quickened her pace, riding the hot flush of something sizzling through her system. She headed straight for the edge of the water and stood in the cool, wet sand. A froth of lacy, cold ocean slid up to shore, covered her feet and buried them in the sand. And still, she felt heat building inside. Gabe was way too powerful, even in memory, to be doused by a little icy water.
There was silence for a long minute, then Cait asked, “And you’re okay with this?”
“Not like I’ve got a choice or anything, you know? Gabe’s…”
“Still pissed. Yeah, Janine told me.”
“It’s more than that,” Debbie admitted, and walked a little closer to the ocean. Now the water slapped at her ankles even as the sun poured down on her from above. “It’s like he’s determined to not feel a thing for me.”
“Do you blame him?”
Debbie pulled the phone away, stuck her tongue out at it, then slapped it to her ear again. “Thanks, pal.”
“Well, come on, Deb. Men are so easily bruised and you really crushed him back in the day.”
“At the time,” Debbie pointed out, “I seem to remember you telling me I did the right thing.”
She swung her right leg through the water, splashing it higher. The wind kicked up suddenly and tossed her hair into her eyes.
“Of course I said that,” Cait told her. “I’m your friend. That’s my job.”
“So you lied?”
“Well, yeah.”
“I can’t believe this,” Debbie said tightly. “I thought you understood. You said you did.”
Cait sighed. “I never really understood why you’d dump a guy who so clearly loved you and who you were so obviously nuts about. Shoot me. I was trying to be supportive.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Debbie said. “And why didn’t you understand? I explained it to you and Janine both.”
“I know, honey, and I know you really believed it. But-”
“But?” She turned her head and stared down the beach, where the surfers were riding lazy waves to shore.
“But love isn’t about security, Deb. It’s about risk. About taking chances and hoping for the best.”
“That’s not exactly logical.”
“Who says love has anything to do with logic?”
Love. She had loved Gabe desperately and it had almost killed her to walk away from him. But her fear had been stronger than her love and that was something she didn’t like admitting, even to herself.
“You still love him, don’t you?” Cait asked, then added quickly, “And don’t bother to lie, because I know you too well. You don’t sleep with a guy unless you care for him. And this is Gabe we’re talking about. The love of your life. Your dream man. Mr. Perfect.”
“The guy who wants nothing to do with me, you mean?”
“Well, yeah. There is that.”
“Cait, I don’t know what to do. I need to get home. I need to leave. But if I leave, I’ll never see him again, I know it.”
There it was. Fear upon fear. She had to go home, try to save her business. But once she left the island any connection with Gabe would be gone. And if she tried to maintain a connection, forge a business alliance, then she’d only look like she was trying to use him.
“The flies in my soup are doing the backstroke.”
