Page 6 of Return to the Island

5

Tack

“Where is she?” I barked, pacing the length of my office on the third floor of my resort, swiping my hand through my hair one more time. I was on my second bourbon. It had been a month since Branson confirmed it was her and came up with his plan. I still didn’t understand why I couldn’t just go to her home and sweep her away with me.

“She’s coming with someone. A friend.” I understood the euphemism for friend. I’d been using it for a year with Abby. The thought of Juliet with another man made me sick. The instant Branson told me, I wanted to pummel something. No, someone. She couldn’t have moved on.

“And you think he’s just a friend?” I asked for the hundredth time, but hating that word each time I used it in reference to him—whoever he was.

“I’m positive,” Branson raised an eyebrow. “She said he’s her business partner, and he’s listed on the tax forms they filed to create their non-profit. They seemed cozy when I met them, but a bit odd for a couple. Reuniting with her this way is the better solution. You can feel out the situation and decide how you wish to proceed.”

“How I wish to proceed?” I snapped again. “I want her in my bed, that’s how I wish to proceed. I want her with me, where she belongs. I don’t know where she’s been, or what she’s been through.” I paused and then added, “I need her.”

It’s the most I’d admitted in a long time, as my emotions ran high. The anticipation of seeing her again reminded me of the island. Each time she left me when we first met on the island, the loss felt greater. When we reached a common ground, and spent more time together than separate, I’d obtained a level of comfort I’d never had before. I’d found love and didn’t recognize its overwhelming capacity until she was gone. Even after the fact, Colton had insisted she was a figment of my imagination. At first, I believed him. She didn’t seem real. She didn’t seem possible. But as time passed, I knew better. She was real to me. Very real.

I’ll find you were her parting words. Where have you been? I thought, calling out to her.

As she seemed to disappear, I’d thrown myself into my new business the moment I returned to the mainland. I’d missed the second hurricane and had no idea if she’d fared the same. Then I didn’t care. She’d left me behind, I argued. She must not have meant all the things she said.

I love you. You have tamed me. I am a part of you and you are a part of me.

A memory flashed of her lying next to me in a tree house. Her voice as she read her part of The Little Prince. She was the fox after all, sly and cunning, as she had escaped me. A true vixen.

I sighed, staring out the window of the executive suite. Resorts were no taller than three or four stories on the island. This one had the best view of the ocean, and I intentionally had my office stationed here. Turquoise-colored water calmed my racing heart. This was my second home. It was as close as I could get to the original island.

Bring her back to me, I thought, calling out across that sea, whispering to the isolated island somewhere out along the horizon.

Bring my Mouse home.