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“Sometimes I feel that way. Other times I feel all too mortal,” I tell him. “I admire how close you seem to be to your brothers.”
His expression softens. “We pulled away from each other for a lot of years. It’s sad that it took Gramps dying to bring us back home, but now that we are, I’m sure we’ll never pull away again. I love them. They’re honestly my best friends. It’s always been there, we just allowed life to get in the way for a while.”
“That’s how I feel about Jess and Emily. We might not be related by blood, but there’s no doubt we’re sisters. I can’t imagine living in this world without them. We’ve always made plans that we’ll be together until the very end. We might just have to take a boat over a bad bar when we get super old because none of us wants to live without the others.”
“What is a bad bar?” he asks. I laugh.
“You know where they have two jetties that you take the river out to the ocean?” I say.
“Yeah, but what does that mean?”
“When the river is flowing out, and the ocean is pushing it, the end of the bar can get really nasty. They have lights at the docks letting people know when the bar is too bad to cross. A lot of boats have been flipped trying to cross when the bar isn’t crossable. So our joke is that when we’re old and sick, we’ll just take a boat ride out on a bad bar and and go live with Poisidon.”
“No boat rides for you,” Callan says with a chuckle. “But seriously, there are many people in this world who never get to experience the kind of bond you and the girls share, and I feel sorry for them. What’s the point of living if you don’t have people to love in your life?”
His words hit me hard. I’ve always felt tremendous love for the people in my life. I’ve never felt it for a man. Or have I? Is it love I feel for Callan? I’m not sure as I’ve never experienced it before. I know I’m happy when I’m with him, and know I don’t want it to end. Since I stopped fighting myself, I’ve enjoyed every moment we’re together.
“I agree. I have to bring them here. They’d love it,” I tell him.
“You can have the cabin anytime you want to come here, free of charge. These aren’t just words. I mean them. I’ll even fly you here,” he tells me.
I feel a slight pang at his words. I know he means them, but is he telling me that I can come with my besties because he won’t be around to come with me again? I don’t want to read too much into it, but I don’t like the thought of that at all, even if I do love the thought of my besties coming as well.
“Maybe we should all come so Jess can flirt some more with Zach,” I say, somewhat teasing, but somewhat serious. I need to hear what he thinks of this.
He chuckles. “We’d need more than one cabin for that. I don’t want to share you with anyone else once that door closes.”
These words fill me with warmth. As the sun gives up for the day and the stars become brighter, I snuggle deeper against him. Happiness once again washes over me. I’m surrounded by beauty and sounds, and I’m in the arms of Callan. It truly doesn’t get better than this. Maybe, just maybe, the two of us stand a chance. It’s unlikely, but it’s not hopeless.
Chapter Twenty
Sasha
Another day of adventure has come to an end. I know we have to leave soon, but again, I don’t say anything. As long as Callan wants to stay in paradise, I’m more than willing to remain at his side. We sit on the deck having a drink as we swing in the chair.
You’d think I’d be tired after so much excitement, but I’m full of energy. We aren’t getting a lot of sleep, but like I said on day one, who needs sleep when you’re in paradise? It’s much too beautiful here with far too much to do to waste time sleeping. I can catch up when we reenter the real world.
Callan gets a call, frowns, then rises. “Sorry, I have to take this,” he tells me. He moves away where I can hear his voice, but not the entire conversation.
An uneasy feeling washes over me as I ignore the gentle lapping of the water on the shore and watch Callan pace back and forth. Thirty minutes pass and he doesn’t sound happy. There’s an urgency to his tone that tells me our time in paradise is about to end.
He finally ends the call and walks back to me, a frown on his beautiful face. Sadness envelopes me. He sits down, then runs a hand through his already tousled hair. It’s grown a bit in the week we’ve been here.
“Sasha, I’m so sorry, but there’s an emergency at one of the resorts we’re building, and I have to leave tonight,” he says. My heart sinks, even though I understand. He owns a business and it’s a miracle we’ve gotten to stay here for as long as we have.
“Is it bad?” I ask.
“It’s... complicated,” he replies, tousling his hair once more. “I have to leave though. My assistant is arranging a flight for you to get back home because I’m going in the opposite direction.” Now I’m even sadder. We don’t get to fly together.
Before I can say anything a message comes up on his phone and he sighs. “I’m sorry, but she couldn’t get you a flight until morning. It’s all arranged to get you to the airport though.”
“Don’t worry about me, Callan. Just take care of your business,” I tell him, keeping the sadness out of my tone.
He pulls me in close and hugs me, before his lips land on mine and he kisses me like it’s the last time he’ll do it. I force down my panic. He’ll be back in Seaville. He has to... doesn’t he? This can’t be the end of us. He pulls back and I can see he’s already a million miles away, thinking about whatever problem he has to face. I don’t even know where he’s going.
“I promise to be back in Seaville soon,” he says. “We’ll talk about the resort and about... about everything.” I’m not sure what everything encompasses, but it gives me a renewed sense of hope again. I nod, unable to speak, too afraid my panic and sadness will come through.
Callan walks inside and starts packing his bag. I want to follow him but know it’s safer for me to sit right where I am. My heart’s heavy as I look out at the stars that have been mesmerizing from the moment we arrived but now seem a little duller. A little of the magic is already lost. I’m afraid things are about to change, and not in a good way.
