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I chuckle at the vision in my head. “Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate you coming to find me, and I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch for so long. It’s just… well, Mom—”
“Don’t be too hard on her. She’s a good woman, despite her ways, and she brought you up right. I just hope you and Darcy have as happy a life as we have. Goodnight, son. We both love you.”
I wish him a good night and sit back in my chair to finish my drink.
Chapter Six
Darcy
It’s a quarter past eight, and I’m already fifteen minutes late to meet Cindy and Emily at the pool bar when I see Lennon through the glass wall separating the bar from the outside patio. He seems to be drinking alone, lost in thought, and I’m wondering where the hell his friends are? Did they all go to the bathroom at once? Then I spot some guys playing pool and assume he’s just sitting this game out. I wave, but he doesn’t see me, and I don’t want to keep the girls waiting any longer, so I turn and head across the patio to meet them before they send out a search party for me.
As I walk through the palm garden, it suddenly dawns on me that he never mentioned the fact that a strange girl—well, strange to him—knocked on his door this morning when I saw him outside his room earlier. Now I think about it, it does feel like he’s been avoiding me ever since. He seemed distant when we met, but I just put that down to all the running around, and being social that we’ve been doing the last couple of days. I’m sure he’s as frazzled as I am.
But now I’m worrying, again. Did I take it too far? I mean, it was just a joke, right? I felt sure he’d see through it right away, he’d call me out on it and we’d have a good laugh about it. But, now I’m wondering if it’s all backfired on me. He wasn’t supposed to take it seriously. I wasn’t trying to put doubts in his head that he’d done anything wrong at his bachelor party. Is that what I’ve done?
I’m still thinking about it when I meet Cindy and Emily for a drink, and Cindy senses something’s up the second I sit down next to her. I smile, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t keep anything from her. Having someone so perceptive, and who knows me so well, is kind of cool, if not a little unnerving. I never expected to have that kind of connection with anyone, and now I have at least two people I can count on. Well, for now, anyway. When Lennon works out what I did, who knows how he’s going to react?
“Sooo?” Cindy presses. “Here’s a Sea Breeze to help you relax. Now, are you going to tell me what’s up, or do I have to pry it out of you?” I glance at Emily, who looks nervously away, and winces. Only now do I wish I hadn’t gotten her involved in this.
I take a long sip of my drink, and sigh. “Oh, I’m just stressing that maybe what I had Emily do to Lennon was really mean,” I say. “I thought he’d laugh it off, but he hasn’t. In fact, he hasn’t mentioned it. He’s gone all weird and strange. I’m worried about him, and I’m worried how he’s going to react when he finds out it was just a joke. Like, maybe he’ll think I was testing him, or something.”
“But, you didn’t do anything, really,” Cindy says with a frown. “I mean, surely the guy can take a joke, right?” I shrug, wishing I believed that.
I look up as Rick pats me on the back, and I’m relieved in one way. For a moment, I thought it might have been Lennon. Having to explain why I was having lunch with Emily would’ve been a little awkward, but I know it’s a conversation I’m going to have to have eventually, though.
“Hey, Rick. I thought you were picking up the guys and all hanging with Lennon?” I ask.
“Nope. Flight got delayed. They’re not in till after midnight, so they’ll catch a cab,” he explains. He sits down next to me, narrowing his eyes. “So, what’s going on here with you girls?” he asks suspiciously.
“What?” I scream. “But I just saw him at the hotel bar with some guys playing pool. He was sat on his own, but I assumed—”
“They’re just guys. They’re not the guys,” he interrupts. “They’re still in the air somewhere over the Pacific.”
