Spencer having the drinks delivered, as opposed to us going out and getting them, led me to believe that it would be a lazy morning with no pressing team obligations.
“Is today a chill day?” I questioned.
“Today is definitely a chill day,” he told me. “If we don’t have to leave this room, we shouldn’t leave this room.”
“Agreed. We’ll just need to order breakfast. I’m starving.”
“Just tell me what you want, and I’ll order it, Sun.”
I pulled up Coastal Cantina’s menu on my phone, though I really should’ve known it by heart with as many times as I’d eaten there during the week. While I was perusing, Spencer’s phone rang.
I tried not to listen, and I was pretty much successful because all I caught were snippets. I heard him say, “Man, is she okay?”And I hoped that the call wasn’t about his daughter. I didn’t think it was, though, because he seemed pretty calm throughout the call. I didn’t think he would have been calm if the call were about his daughter. He said a few more things, but he seemed to listen a lot.
Finally, he ended the call and looked at me. “Harmony, Mikayla’s mother, had an accident.”
“Is she okay?”
“I mean, it’s not life-threatening, but she fucked up her knee. She’s an attorney. She works in the juvenile court system. Apparently, some parent was pissed and brushed past her too hard outside the courthouse, knocked her down the stairs. The stairs are concrete, and there’s a lot of them. She busted her knee. That was her mom. They ain’t wanna call me, but Harmony’s going into emergency surgery as we speak. They’re gonna admit her to the hospital. Someone needs to be there to take care of Mikayla.”
I was shocked, particularly because my dad had recently suffered a similar fall that messed up his ankle. “Oh my gosh. That’s a lot.” I jumped up from the sofa. “Can I help you pack while you look for a flight?”
He stared at me.
“What?”
“Nothin’. I guess I’m trippin’ because you’re not trippin’. This is our last day together, and I have to cut it short.”
“To go take care of your daughter. Who would trip over that, Spence? It’s not like you’re leaving for something frivolous. This is important.” I took a deep breath because the thought of some hypothetical woman being selfish enough to give him shit about needing to be with his daughter pissed me off for him.
“My suitcase is in the closet.” He pointed to the closet.
I left the balcony and walked into the suite. He stayed on the balcony looking for a flight.
I had most of his clothes out of the dresser drawers and on the bed when he stepped into the suite. “The closest airport to them is in Charleston. There are no direct flights from here to Charleston. I had to charter something. The private jet will pick me up in about two hours.”
“Okay, let’s get you packed.”
“Let’s shower right quick first.”
I knew what that meant, so I let that fluffy robe drop right to the floor as I followed him into the bathroom. We had semi-leisurely sex, then washed each other, got out, and dressed. I combed my hair while he grabbed his toiletries. Then we packed his bag together.
When he was all packed, and his car was waiting downstairs to take him to the airstrip, I walked to the elevator with him.
“I know we had plans to chill together today,” he began, “since it was supposed to be our last full day on the island. But I don’t want this to be our last day, Sunshine. I wanna see you when we both get back to Chicago. You wanna see me?”
I nodded because I didn’t trust my voice.
“Shoot me your address in the city.”
I nodded again.
The elevator door slid open, and we stepped on and rode down in silence. When the doors slid open again, the two of us stepped out into the lobby. He held the handle of his luggage in one hand and my hand in the other. At the hotel’s entrance, he bent and kissed me thoroughly while I held onto him for dear life.
“I’ll call you,” he promised before turning away from me and heading out of the hotel.
I didn’t cry. I didn’t cry. But both my heart and my stomach did some weird stuff inside of me. I walked back to the elevator and took it to my floor. Once I was in my room, I didn’t call Bryanna like I thought I would. I didn’t cry on her shoulderor complain about how my fairytale last day in paradise was ruined by life’s unfortunate circumstances. Instead, I pulled out my own suitcases and started to pack. I would be back to reality tomorrow. There was no need to prolong the inevitable.
The next morning, I thought I would beat it out of the hotel as fast as my legs would carry me. I thought I would want to put the disappointment of yesterday and the resort where it happened behind me as quickly as possible. Instead, before checking out of my room, I took one last loop around the property. I peeked into the conference rooms and ballrooms—all three of them—the one where the meet and greet took place; the one where the wine and cheese tasting happened; and the one where Spencer and I made dinner together. I thought about the memories we’d made in each and surprised myself by smiling.
