“I have to admit, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it. That’s not my style.” She snickers, casting a rueful look my way. “Big surprise, I’m sure.”
“No comment,” I whisper, and she laughs. Thank goodness.
“I can try though. I want to have fun.”
“You can do it. Tell Zack how you feel. He can talk you off the ledge whenever it seems like things are slipping out of your control and you get that tight feeling in your chest. Tell Hayley too.” She rolls her eyes. “I mean it,” I add.
“You know she won’t listen.”
“I think she will. I know she loves you, but you two would get along better, I think, if she saw you as a human being instead of this perfect person you give the impression of being. Like you never make a mistake or have things you regret. If she could relate to you, she’d get along with you. I swear. I’ve been putting up with her for years.”
It’s nice to hear her laugh after so many days of wondering whether her teeth would break if she clenched them any tighter.
She surprises me with a fierce hug. “Thanks. I’m so glad Hayley has a friend like you.”
“Do me a favor and tell her that, okay?”
She giggles and nods. “While I’m at it, I’ll ask Zack to ask his guys to lay off the booze. They’re treating this week like they’re back on spring break or something.”
“I know, right? It’s completely irresponsible, and you couldn’t have imagined that. But maybe, you know … maybe only the people who feel up to it have to go on the excursions and activities. Hayley’s probably down at the dock right now. Her boss called just as we were leaving the room. I know she wanted to snorkel, and so did Brandon.”
“Yes, I guess I can’t expect so much from certain people.” She hugs me again. “Thanks. I think I’d better go and apologize to the instructor.”
“Heck no. Let them do it. They’re the ones who made fools of themselves. You take care of you and your fiancé.”
She seems to like this idea. Her eyes even brighten a little before she hurries away in the direction of the snorkelers.
Maybe this morning isn’t a total waste. If I helped take the stick out of her butt, or however Hayley likes to put it, that’s fine with me.
The sound of a throat being cleared makes me gasp and spin in my chair.
“Sorry.” Kellen holds up both hands, freezing in place on the other side of the semicircular bar. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I laugh, nervous. “You have a habit of being nearby when I least expect you.”
“Yeah, I’m stealthy.” He looks away from me, to where Kylie is still visible on her way to the group. “No, really, I was looking for her. Zack was worried about her. He didn’t know what to do. If he ran off after her, it would make things look worse than they were and bring the mood down even further. So, I offered.”
“Best-man duties.”
“Something like that.” He eyes me with a grin. “You were too fast for me.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to step on your toes.”
“No, no, believe me, I’m glad you did. If I had caught up with her first, I don’t know what I would’ve said. It probably would’ve come off sounding stupid. You knew exactly how to handle the situation.”
Modesty compels me to shrug this off, though I can’t help but warm a little inside at the sound of his approving tone. Like he’s impressed.
“I’ve been paying attention to her. Trying to figure her out. Hayley granted me a little extra insight yesterday too.” I glance his way with a smile. “But, hey, don’t sell yourself short. You knew just what to say to me when I was freaking out inside the bus. A lot of people might’ve ignored me or handed me over to Hayley since she knows me so well. You didn’t. You kept me calm.”
He scoffs and tries to brush it off. “Yeah, well, Hayley already had her hands full with trying to keep her brother safe from the big, bad blondes.”
“Still, you didn’t have to. So, I think you might’ve been able to get through to Kylie.”
When he reaches me, he kisses my cheek. “You’re a real person. Decent. Substantial. Worth knowing.”
My cheeks flush. “I have to admit, I’ve never heard those words used to describe me before.”
“Then, you aren’t talking to the right people.” He squeezes my shoulder gently but firmly. “Just think, if you hadn’t talked sense into her, Kylie could’ve ended up regretting this entire week. You did something special today because you’re special.”
I’m so overwhelmed; I don’t know what to say. I guess anything would sound empty and silly at this point—not to mention the fact that my tongue is completely tied, useless. I can only glow in the warmth of his approval.
“Be careful,” I warn him. “I might start getting a big head if you don’t take it easy.” Because, obviously, I’m the queen of deflection when there’s nothing else I can think to say.
“Fine, be that way.” He backs away with a wide smile, holding his hands up like he did before. “Keep pretending you don’t know how cool you are. I’ll get through to you before the week is over.”
As he wanders off, all I can do is hope he keeps trying.
CHAPTER TEN
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
Missy shook her head, determined. “No, I’m going to. So long as it means shutting their mouths.”
She threw a look over her shoulder, where the mean-girl bridesmaids looked on. There was nothing in the world so obvious as somebody trying to pretend they weren’t paying attention when they clearly were.
Followed only by how obvious they made it that they couldn’t stand her.
“Them?” Trent snickered, shaking his head. “What the hell does it matter what they think? Or even what they say? Nobody with a brain in their head would pay attention anyway.”
She looked him up and down, not even bothering to make it seem like she wasn’t studying him. “You’re just saying that.”
“No, I’m not just saying it. I mean it. They’re jokes, all of them. Don’t you know that?”
“I know it. I just didn’t think you did.”
He had a nice laugh, the sort that made a person want to laugh with him. The sort of laugh that lightened a person’s spirits.
A miraculous laugh, since not much else in the world could’ve inspired Missy to giggle while standing on a cliff, overlooking the crystal-clear water below.
How was she to know she was afraid of heights? She had been all over the world, had gone to the top of the Eiffel Tower, had taken a hot air balloon ride. She had certainly enjoyed the view from more than one Manhattan penthouse.
There was a difference in all those situations when compared to the one she was in now.
A guard rail had been involved. Or a window. Something to hold on to, something between her and the free fall.
Not so much now. Standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down, down, down to the rocks below. Water battered those rocks, and how could she not picture her body being battered too?