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Stop feeling guilty. You did nothing wrong.
Harper smiled. For someone who had just met her, Cooper knew her pretty well.
And good morning, gorgeous. Text me when you wake up. x
It was nearly midday and his messages had landed over four hours ago. She hadn’t meant to ignore him for so long, but she’d needed space.
Harper pushed her breakfast plate away and sighed. She was acting as if she had a choice between the two men. She didn’t.
Daniel was gone. It had been over twenty-four hours and not a single message. Not even a simple sorry. It was as if everything they’d shared together meant nothing.
Had he truly loved her? Or had this just been a Hawaiian love affair for him?
How could she be so wrong about another man? David had seemed to be fully committed to their relationship, even proposing, and he’d left her for another woman. Her own father had betrayed both her and her mother by building an entirely new family while lying about his loyalty. He’d replaced her with new children.
Tears ran down her face as the familiar childhood pain reared its head.
Whether Daniel wanted to marry this Nadia Mackenzie woman or not, it appeared he was. Once again, another woman was chosen over her.
Daniel had chosen her and not Harper.
It was time to stop being a fool and forget him. Yes, it would take time for her heart to heal, but she was going to stop looking at her phone waiting for the apology or farewell that was clearly never going to come.
Goodbye, Daniel.
Whether Cooper was the right man for her, only time would tell. Harper would not pursue anything further with him.
She just wanted to get home to New Zealand and if they stayed in touch and he ended up visiting, then so be it.
Now she was going to look after herself.
––––––––
A FEW HOURS LATER, after a big swim in the ocean and some retail therapy along Kalakaua Avenue, Harper made her way up to Altitude. She had a feeling her three amigos would be there.
“Well, well, well,” Graydon said, smirking at her when she sat down opposite him sipping on a tall blue cocktail which had about seventy-five cocktail umbrellas and half a pineapple sticking out of it. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
Harper grinned at him.
“You really didn’t need to go to all the effort,” Luke said, referring to her bikini and towel.
“Living the Hawaiian dream. What can I say?” Harper shrugged. She’d quickly noticed people dressed in all kinds of outfits for sunset cocktails. One table could be full of people dressed for a night out while others had come straight from the beach. No one cared.
Harper risked a peek in Cooper’s direction. He winked at her, and she smiled. The light had dimmed in his eyes, but it probably had in hers, too.
The four of them talked trash for a few hours while Harper watched the sun sink into the ocean for the last time.
“Man, they never get old.” She sighed, taking her last photo of the pink and orange sky.
“You’ve caught the bug,” Cooper said, crunching on some corn chips.
“What bug?”
“The aloha bug. You either love Hawaii, or you don’t.” He grinned. “You, Harper Kane, love it.”
She couldn’t argue with that. It truly was paradise. Her phone buzzed before she could reply.
Daniel.
