Revan said, “I’m fine, and if I don’t feel great, I’ll call for help. See you all later.”
“Like a sister! That man is insufferable. I don’t know why I try to be nice and offer my help,” Naomi fumed while she and Stella walked to their hotel. “Why do I worry so much about him?”
“Oh, Nam, cut him some slack for now. But maybe it’s time for you to let him know what he really means to you. He’s known both of us for most of our lives, and it’s possible he just needs a little push to see what’s right in front of his eyes.”
“He needs a push, all right. But you heard him! He’ll never see me as more than a sister,” Naomi said and rolled her shoulders. “Ugh, I’ll show him.”
After a moment, Naomi said, “And what are you going to do about David?”
“What do you mean? You heard us earlier. I’m going to London in September, and he’s coming back to the States in November.”
“I heard it loud and clear. But aren’t you worried you’ll end up where you were last year?”
Stella thought about Naomi’s question. Would they eventually end up back on the same slippery slope where they crashed before?
CHAPTER 35
Stella—July 2018
A
s soon as they entered the restaurant at six o’clock, Stella spotted David and Revan at a table in a small alcove. Palm trees swayed outside the windows, and as she had admired in so many other restaurants, several bistro sets and yard furniture were spread throughout the outdoor area.
Stella went to David, who got to his feet and opened his arms. “I missed you.”
“No more than I missed you, love.”
Naomi said, “Rev, I want you to meet Julia. And Alexander, her…”
“Her boyfriend,” Alexander shook Revan’s hand and laughed. “You’ve caused quite the ruckus, and I’m glad to finally meet you in person.”
“I don’t mind a little adventure here or there, but usually I go in better prepared,” Revan said. He pulled out a chair for Naomi, “Sit with me, Nugget.”
Naomi ran a hand over the side of his face and chin, “Look at you, you shaved. And without needing a tourniquet. Wow.”
Revan snagged her hand and held it. Then he said, “Listen, guys, I know you want to hear about the past few days, and I don’t mind giving you a brief summary, but can we leave the topic alone then? I’d really like to talk about something else tonight.” He looked from Stella to Naomi. “Starting with what you two lovely ladies are doing in France. You still haven’t told me.”
“Okay, Shutterbug, start talking!” Naomi said and pretended set a stopwatch. “You’ve got five minutes. Ready, set…”
“What will it take to get you to stop calling me that name,” Revan grumbled.
“Clock’s ticking, Shutt…” Naomi started, but a quick kiss silenced her. Julia and Alexander snickered, Stella and David laughed.
“Stop kissing me. Talk about an annoying habit.” Naomi wiped her mouth with a napkin, then said, “Maybe I’ll call you Caveman instead. Kind of fits.”
Revan looked at everyone else with a lopsided grin and winked at Naomi. “I can see this will take time. No problem.”
He beckoned a waitress over, they ordered beverages and appetizers, and asked to be given a little time before ordering their entrées.
Just after the waitress left, a couple approached their table. “Sorry to interrupt, but we didn’t want to walk by without saying hi.”
“Andrew! Sarah! What are you doing here?” Stella called out.
“This restaurant was recommended to us. How are you all doing? We heard the news about your friend. Have you seen him?” Andrew asked.
Stella pointed to Revan and said, “He’s sitting right there! Revan, these are Sarah and Andrew. We met them and Julia on our tour.”
Revan asked, “Why don’t you join us? Then you guys can catch up. Pull up the table over there.”
“Are you sure we’re not interrupting?” Sarah said. “Hi, Julia! How are you?”
“Doing great, thanks,” Julia said with a smile. She reached for Alexander’s hand. “This is Alexander.”
“Her boyfriend,” he explained proudly. When Julia nudged him, he said, “What? I’ve waited over twenty years to be able to say it.”
“I know, sorry.” Julia kissed him.
When Sarah saw David, she said, “You look a little bit familiar…”
“David Danvers. It’s nice to meet you.” He stood and shook Sarah’s hand.
“Oh no, that’s impossible. Andrew, say something!” Sarah gushed and elbowed Andrew.
“Hi, David. You must be tired of this fan reaction.” Andrew held out his hand.
David shook it and said, “Yeah, it happens occasionally. But it’s part of the deal.”
With introductions out of the way, Andrew and Sarah sat down, and once the drinks and appetizers arrived, Revan said, “You joined us just in time to hear the abbreviated version of ‘Revan in the Underworld.’”
He drank some water, then continued, “You already know I was invited to take photos in the catacombs...”
“Rev, did we tell you we met the man who saw you Monday morning?” Naomi interrupted.
“Interesting coincidence. You’ll have to tell me more about him later. Well, I’m sure you all heard how we ran into Macho-Man. We spent the first two days being shuffled around a bit. Our lovely host quickly became erratic, and I told Claudine and Marianne that I’d watch him for habits and routines. I wanted to get a reading of the guy. It was clear he didn’t feel threatened by the women, but he didn’t like me being there.
“When Marianne started to get sick, the asshole didn’t believe her. My first goal then became to get them out of there. I figured I wouldn’t have an actual fighting chance until it was just me and Macho-Man.”
“Were you and the women able to communicate with each other?” Andrew asked.
“Not a lot. We never knew if he could hear us.” Revan reached for his wine and took a healthy sip.
“You must’ve been frantically praying for the SWAT team to show up,” Alexander said.
“Yeah, I wondered why nobody came, especially after he let the women
