AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Something inside him moved. Of course. He liked her, yes, but much more than that, he loved her. He loved everything about her. A smile threatened to split his face in two. Why had it taken him so long to make sense of his feelings?
He jumped up, not sure what to do next. Of course he loved her. It was that simple and that complicated. Simple, because she’d touched his soul the minute he’d laid eyes on her all those months ago, and he’d fallen in love with her at that precise moment. Complicated, because he’d messed up the whole thing and had some serious groveling to do. He winced. He’d even accused her of using him!
*
Twenty minutes later,Dale was cursing a blue streak while he was trying to get Darryn on the line. Finally, his brother picked up.
“She’s left!” Dale called out, giving voice to his frustration. “I went looking for her but she’s already left on a flight, damn it. What time are you leaving?”
“I assume we’re talking about Zoe?” Darryn asked, clearly amused.
“Yes, I’m talking about Zoe. She’s gone. I can’t believe she just left without telling me!”
Darryn barked out a laugh. “You fired her, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t know then what I know now!”
“You have it bad, don’t you, you poor sod? Hurry up, we’re just about to take off.”
Dale grabbed his wallet and sprinted for the door. He had to get to Zoe as soon as possible. The same urgency that had brought him to Mahé in the first place was back. The only difference was—this time he was the one responsible for hurting her.
*
Zoe lifted herbag from the carousel and fell behind the other passengers walking down the long corridor. The only thing preventing her from bursting into tears was the knowledge Caitlin would be waiting on the other side of the sliding doors.
The past twelve hours were a blur. Someone had come to her room to pack her things; dazed, she’d followed the friendly woman down to reception where someone else was waiting to take her to the airport. Just before she left the hotel, she remembered she hadn’t paid, but when she’d offered her card card, she was told it had been taken care of. There was a lot she had to thank Caitlin for.
She’d walked down corridors, waited in long queues, handed over her ticket, found a seat. For seven hours she stared out of the window. She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t eat, couldn’t drink. The pain, lodged just below her heart, was worse than her aching ribs and filled her whole being, making it impossible to think of anything else.
The sliding doors opened and she looked around frantically for Caitlin. She couldn’t see her sister. Maybe she should try and phone her…
“Zoe,” she heard a voice behind her and turned quickly. For a minute, she’d thought it was Dale, but it was his brother Don, Caitlin’s husband.
“This way,” he said and took her arm.
She felt like crying. The last person she wanted to see was Don. He and Dale looked so much alike and she didn’t want to be reminded of the person who’d ripped her heart out.
“Caitlin…” she got out before she had to swallow the lump in her throat.
“Waiting in the car for you. The airport was so busy when we arrived, and I didn’t want her to stand around for too long.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’m a bit overprotective, she tells me.”
Zoe tried to smile, but her throat clogged up again. She concentrated on following Don. He was besotted with his wife and didn’t even try to hide it. It would seem as if Caitlin’s fairy tale might just be one long happy-ever-after. At least one of them would get to live out their mother’s stories.
“Look, I don’t want to make excuses for my brother, there is no real justification for his behavior. But I would like to tell you about the intern we had a few years ago who screwed him over. It’s no excuse but explains his paranoia when it comes to his plans.”
Zoe listened as Don told her what the intern had done. Yes, it made sense that he would be distrustful of strangers wanting to see his plans. But she’d given her body to him, she wasn’t a stranger. He should at least have known enough about her to know he could trust her.
She lifted her head and tried to breathe. People were milling around, and the airport was busy as always. Six days ago, she’d also been here, trying to get away from Dale. But then he’d come to her rescue, and she’d spent the most amazing few days and nights with him.
Maybe a few days of bliss were all most people got. She’d never forget the magic of those few days.
But she never wanted to be hurt like this again. Ever. A body could only handle so much pain in one lifetime. She had her work, her mom, her sisters and, now and then, her dad. That would be her life. And in the bigger picture, it wasn’t such a bad one after all.
