“Shall we go inside?” Michael asked as Mena approached him.
Mena nodded and followed him to the entrance of the restaurant. Stepping inside, Mena glanced around. Square tables and metal chairs with bright orange cushions were placed in each corner of the room. A single hibiscus flower in a tiny vase rested in the middle, surrounded by full place settings at each seat. Mena smiled.
“Reminds you of the original Kaleidoscope, doesn’t it?” Michael said.
“Yeah, it does. Feels very familiar,” Mena admitted, remembering the hole in the wall that was the first location of her Mother’s iconic Jacksonville restaurant. Mena had ripped and run throughout the place, delighting the customers and driving her mom bonkers.
“Hello! Oh my, you said you’d be back by here, but that’s what they all say. Usually people end up eating at that fancy restaurant near the top of the hike and never make it back down to try any of Mama Lisa’s food,” a frail, skinny woman said, dabbing a towel across her forehead. “And you brought a lovely friend with you! Please sit anywhere and I’m going to whip up something that the two of you will love.”
“Thanks Mama Lisa, we appreciate it,” Michael said. He chose the table closest to the door and pulled out the chair, allowing Mena to sit down.
“Percy, get out here and get our customers some water and two Felipe beers,” Mama Lisa called out.
Mena looked around, confused as to where Percy could be hiding. There didn’t seem to be any other rooms in the restaurant. The front door swung open and a boy, probably only around twelve or thirteen, bounded inside, balancing two cups filled with ice and water in one hand and two bottles of beer in the other. After Percy had placed the drinks on the table, he gave them a big toothy grin, then ran into the kitchen as Mama Lisa barked more orders at him.
Mena took a sip of the refreshing water. “How was the conference?”
“Great, actually. I met a few potential investors who are interested in supporting my research,” Michael said. He took a swig of the Felipe beer, his eyes scrutinizing her.
Mena figured he was thrown by her approach, but making Michael the enemy was pointless.
“You were always a very talented doctor,” Mena said. “I’m glad that you’re able to continue your work and help people after everything that happened.”
“Rebuilding my reputation was hard, but it was my own fault. My lies destroyed both of us, our marriage. I get it now. It doesn’t really matter if I was truly divorced from Courtney and Emma and Alexis in the eyes of the law. My biggest regret is not telling you about them. Not warning you so that Courtney couldn’t have destroyed our marriage. If you’d known, things could be different now.”
“You think our marriage would have survived?” Mena swirled her finger around the rim of the glass of water as the decadent smell of food permeated the air.
“Maybe it’s just wishful thinking because I love you more today than the day we were married. I don’t know how you turned your feelings off for me because I’m having a hell of a time trying to get over you, Mena,” Michael said.
Mena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I guess we’ll never know.”
“At least this time, you have a chance to make a different decision,” Michael said.
“What do you mean?”
Percy approached the table slowly. Michael waved at him to come forward. Mena’s stomach grumbled from the delicious smell. Goat kabobs with rice and peas, goat fritters and a side salad.
“Thanks man,” Michael said, then gave the kid a fist bump that caused his wide smile to get even wider, if that was even possible. Michael popped a piece of the succulent goat meat into his mouth, then turned his attention back to Mena.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but I love you. It’s killing me to watch you tie yourself up in knots worrying about Julian,” Michael said. “Did he even stop to think about how going after Priscilla Dumay could affect you or your relationship?”
“It’s complicated. I can’t expect you to understand. I’m not going to explain Julian to you,” Mena snapped. Reaching for her fork, she plunged it into a goat fritter and stuffed it into her mouth. She understood exactly why Julian had taken the risk. Priscilla could have the one thing that could ruin Julian’s life—evidence of the mistake he’d made in Central Sulawesi. Julian had no clue he was walking into Dumay’s trap.
Michael raised his hands. “You’re right. All I know is that I would give anything to have you back, but it doesn’t feel right to try with everything going on with Julian. I want it to be a fair fight. Not me kicking a man when he’s down and in prison.”
“A fair fight has nothing to do with Julian. Fair is allowing me to make my own decisions about who I want to be with. Michael, I’ve already told you that it’s not you,” Mena said.
Michael sucked in a breath, and Mena was almost sorry for hurting him. Almost.
“How can you make a clear decision when you haven’t even allowed yourself to think about the alternative I’m offering? If you spent just one weekend with me, without the chaos of Julian’s legal troubles, you might find that we have way more in common than you and the ex-Navy SEAL,” Michael said.
“And if I did and came to the same conclusion, then what?” Mena demanded. “Would you give me a divorce then?”
Michael hesitated, taking another long swig of his Felipe beer. “Yeah, I would.”
“You’re lying,” Mena said.
“I want one last chance to show you why we belong together. Spend the weekend with me at the resort. After two days together, just the two of us, if you still wanted to be with Julian … I wouldn’t stand in your way,” Michael said.
