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“You know, I studied karate for seven years, and I always carry pepper spray. Not to mention we’re in public.”
“Consider me warned,” he says and opens his menu. “They do good fish here, I’ve heard.”
I finally sit down, my movements slow. “Yes. It’s in the name.”
He gives a low hum.I look down at my menu, but the words bleed together on the page. At least his sudden arrival means I don’t need to think twice about what the other guests may be thinking, seeing me here alone.
Across the table, he flips a page of his menu. “Dinner is on me as a thank you,” he says. “Choose whatever you want. And no need to worry about awkward small talk, either, if you’re not in the mood. I have some emails I need to take care of.”
I look at him. “You’re going to work?”
He keeps his eyes trained on the menu. “Would you rather we talk about nothing important just to fill the silence?”
“Wow. I… just wow.”
He looks up with a faint frown. “What?”
“I don’t think anyone’s ever spoken to me the way you just have.”
“Right. I can be direct.”
“No, really?” I ask. Sarcasm drips from my words.
He puts the menu down, and it looks like it pains him. “I’m sorry about crashing your evening. Is it okay with you? Say no and I’ll leave, no questions asked.”
“It’s okay,” I hear myself saying because, if nothing else, this is a story to tell Becky about. “I’m just… surprised.”
He nods like that’s that, and returns to his menu.
The silence stretches between us. I read my menu without really taking in the words and sneak looks at him. I haven’t spoken to a man who wasn’t my family member, a coworker, or a friend’s husband since Caleb and I ended our engagement.
He leans forward, a lock of dark hair falling over his forehead. A heavy watch on his wrist reflects the flickering candle on the table.
“What are you having?” I finally ask him.
He closes the menu with a snap. “The steak.”
“The steak,” I repeat. “At a restaurant famous for its fish? On an island in the middle of the sea? You do know that swordfish is famous in Barbados?”
“Yes.”
“I think I’m having the locally sourced marlin.”
He makes that low humming sound again and reaches into the pocket of his slacks. He pulls out a phone and puts it on the tabletop. “I don’t want to be rude,” he says, “but I really do need to answer a few emails.”
“You’re working on your vacation?”
His eyes are already on the screen. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you just order room service?” I ask.
He doesn’t look up at me, but he seems to tense up at my question. “My room wasn’t properly cleaned when I arrived. They’re fixing it now.”
“Oh.” That seems… odd at a five-star resort, but okay, then. I entertain myself by reading through the dessert menu, and then the wine list. My eyes graze over the impossible prices of the glass to the bottle. Between mine and Caleb’s salaries, this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Staying at the Winter Resort was always going to be a stretch. When I sat down to cancel the honeymoon and learned about the cancellation fees we’d have to pay for the flights, and the deposit we’d lose on the standard double at the resort… well. Caleb already took the wedding from me, and I’ll be damned if he takes my lifelong dream vacation, too.
Past Eden wouldn’t have considered traveling to a foreign country on her own. But Eden of several months ago thought her maid of honor was one of her best friends, and her fiancé was the man she was going to spend a life with, so she wasn’t exactly all-knowing, either.
