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“Where are we going? Down to the harbor?” she asked as they headed down the drive.
“You’ll see when we get there.” Short of blindfolding her again—he wasn’t sure she’d go for that twice in one night, not to mention that if any of the locals spotted him driving a blindfolded Leah, it was going to attract the kinds of questions she wanted to avoid—there wasn’t really any way of hiding their destination once he headed toward Billy’s place. There were only four houses on this tip of the island and Leah knew them all.
“Billy’s having a Fourth of July party?” Leah said as they turned into the drive.
He made a noncommittal noise, hoping she’d take it for a yes.
“And we’re stopping in?” she said, sounding confused.
Understandable when he’d told her they’d spend the day alone.
“It won’t take long.” He parked the truck.
Leah looked puzzled when he came around and opened the door for her but she didn’t protest. “Sounds like they’re having a good time.” The sounds of music and laughter were spilling from the house.
If everything was according to plan, everyone would be gathered inside, waiting for them to arrive. He and Faith had agreed that no one actually wanted to walk into a darkened room and have the life scared out of them by their nearest and dearest yelling “Surprise!” at them, but he still wanted everyone there for Leah to see as soon as she got inside.
“There’d better be fireworks,” Leah said as they walked into the house.
“Billy loves blowing things up,” Zach said. “So, I think you’re pretty safe there. Besides, if he hasn’t organized anything, we can still make our own fireworks later.”
Leah rolled her eyes at him. “You know, your rock star sex god thing needs work if that’s your best line.”
“Oh, but I don’t need a line,” he said softly, bending down to kiss her fast while they still could. “Because you can’t get enough of me, remember?”
Before she could answer, he opened the door that led into Billy’s huge living room and waved her through. “Happy birthday, Leah.”
The smile that streaked across her face as she took in the crowd of people and the huge red and white and blue HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner strung across the room, told him he’d made the right decision.
About an hour later, Zach came back into the living room, looking for Leah, wanting to check whether she was actually as pleased by the surprise as she’d seemed. The first part of the party had passed in a haze of hellos and he’d soon found out that Caterina had taken charge of the caterers and Billy had the house entertainment system cranking and there was little for him to do but enjoy himself.
But there was no sign of a green dress and long dark hair. Lou was standing near the door he came in, so he stopped to talk to her for a few moments, still searching the room.
“Looking for someone?” Lou asked, eyes crinkling as she studied his face.
Zach stiffened. He’d thought Lou was out of the loop as far as he and Leah were concerned, but it was possible that Faith or Mina had let something slip. But he didn’t know, so he was sticking to a strict “reveal nothing” policy. Faith was standing over near the doors to the deck, Caleb at her side, smiling and talking to Stella. Caleb looked like he was having a good time, but Faith looked a little tense. “I, um, need to talk to Faith about something. Recording stuff.”
“At a party?” Lou shook her head at him, looking resigned. She was used to musicians.
“It won’t take long. Look, there she is. Excuse me, while I grab her.” He dropped a kiss on Lou’s cheek and left her, trying to work out the quickest way to make it across the room to Faith. She hadn’t moved, which was good, but she hadn’t relaxed either.
She’d seemed happy when they had arrived at the party. So had something changed her mood or had she just been hiding it better then?
And if it was the former, then what exactly had happened? She and Caleb were holding hands, and there was no sign of strain on Caleb’s face, so it didn’t seem likely they’d had a fight. He watched as Faith scanned the room. At first he assumed she was looking for Leah too, but when she spotted Mina standing in the far corner with Will and Stefan, she grimaced a little. That didn’t do anything to change Zach’s impression that something was bugging her.
Maybe Leah had said something to her about the party?
Crap. If he’d screwed this up, better to know about it sooner rather than later.
He headed for Faith and after a minute or so of small talk, leaned over and said, “Can I talk to you?”
He watched her face as he spoke and saw a flicker of a wince.
There. He wasn’t imagining it. His gut tightened while he waited for her response.
Faith nodded and they moved away from the others.
“Something wrong?” he said once they were mostly alone. Or alone as they could be in a room full of people. “Did Leah say something to you about the party? Is she pissed?”
