“Except a solid contract.”
“Already dealt with. You’re free to go anytime you want to.” She bit her bottom lip. “I did mention that Dominic has issues with boundaries, didn’t I?”
I sat down, torn between wanting to dismiss everything she’d said and wanting to believe her. “How is Riley winning my mother over?”
“It’s not just her.” The woman took out her phone and showed me a photo of my mother smiling at an older gentleman in a way I’d never seen her look at anyone before “His name is Hamilton Wenham. He’s Gavin’s father and sweet on your mother. The two are adorable together.”
What the hell? “She hasn’t mentioned him.”
“It’s quite new, but he dotes on her.”
“Why do you have a photo of them?”
She wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “I’m Dominic’s eyes and ears. Needing to know more than I should has been a lifelong gift and curse. Dominic and my husband are really the only two who understand me. I guess that’s why I’m so loyal to Dominic. He’s never judged me.”
“Dominic doesn’t sound like someone who’d hurt my sister or my mother.”
The woman’s eyes misted. “He’d give his life for them—and for you. You’re his family.”
“His family,” I repeated the words and looked away. I sighed, not sure how much of this I should believe. If what she’d said about Dominic was true, he was no more guilty for what had happened than my mother was. Riley was happy to have the Corisis in her life. My mother didn’t appear to be crying anymore. Maybe it was time to meet this brother of mine—see for myself what kind of person he was. I went to say as much to the red-haired woman, but she was gone.
I took out my phone to send Dominic a text when I noticed that I had an email. Normally I would have waited until the next day to read it, especially since I had so much else on my mind, but something told me it was important.
It was from JTremblay. My heart started pounding wildly as I opened it and read: This is me setting up lights on Juno Beach to help save hatchling sea turtles. Wish you were here.
I read the message again then lost myself in the smiling eyes of the woman who had been on my mind every day since we’d met. Jade.
Wish you were here . . . She’d ended her message the same way I’d started every journal entry to her.
And I’m free to go to her . . .
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jade
It wasn’t a wetsuit day or even a leave-the-office day. I’d spent the last six hours double-checking a coworker’s plant identification findings and documenting any discrepancies I found. It wasn’t fun or a job that made me particularly popular with the team, but that was why it had fallen in my lap. They’d all done the same, starting out, and made it through. I would as well.
As a child when I’d dreamed about being a marine biologist, I’d imagined someone holding a shark’s mouth open while I counted its teeth and exciting things like that. In college I’d listened to the field stories of my professors and imagined myself flying off to exotic places as soon as I graduated.
The field was much more competitive than that. Those experiences were out there but to have them I’d have to get my masters and then likely a PhD as well. I was ready to take that next step or would be right after I finished paying my grandparents back. Canceled weddings are expensive, especially when the man you decided not to marry wants nothing to do with the bills. I probably could have gone after him legally, but that wasn’t where I wanted to put my energy. Onward and upward.
I had just closed down my computer when a text came in from a number I didn’t recognize. Sitting on Juno Beach next to the pier. Wish you were here. Kal.
A photo came in of him in a T-shirt with the ocean as a backdrop. My breath caught in my throat, and I nearly dropped my phone. Holy shit. He’s in Florida. How? Why? To see me? What should I write? With shaking hands, I typed: I can be there in about thirty-three minutes.
I reread my text and groaned—Way to sound desperate to see him.
I also could have been less specific. I only knew how long it would take me to get there because I remembered the time it had taken from this office to that beach when I’d volunteered there.
Don’t rush. Unless you want to.
I want to. I just finished work for the day, so this is perfect timing.
Hungry?
In more ways than I’m ready to admit. Starving.
There’s a restaurant across the street. I can have something waiting here for you on the beach or I can wait, and we can eat inside.
The beach. I’m not a picky eater. Just no pickles, please. I don’t like them.
Awesome. Text me when you get here.
I will.
I said a hasty goodbye to the two other people in the office and sprinted to my car only to realize that I’d left my purse with my key fob in my desk. As I made my way back into the office, I told myself to breathe and relax.
That didn’t stop me from calling Sasha as soon as I was on the road. “He’s here,” I said in a rush. “Kal texted me and he’s waiting for me at the Juno Beach pier. Right now. I’m on my way to see him.”
“Slow down,” Sasha said with a laugh. “So did he get your gift?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask. He must have gotten my email, though. I can’t believe he’s here.” I checked my face in the rearview mirror. “Shit, I’m going to see him in jeans and a work shirt. I didn’t even stop to put on makeup. What if I get there and he’s gone?”
“Why would he be gone?”
I returned my attention to the road and gripped the steering wheel. “Because he doesn’t feel real. I’ve thought about him so much. What if he’s nothing like I remember? What if I’m not what he remembers?”
“You were drunk and crying when he met you. Let’s hope you’re different.”
“Right. And whatever he saw in me will still be there.”
“If he came to see you, he already likes you.”
“According to his tour schedule he should be in Singapore. Why isn’t he? He’s missing a show and he never does that.” A thought occurred to me. “What if something terrible happened? Oh, my God, maybe someone he knew died. I’m fantasizing about him naked, and he could be in town for a funeral.”
“Jade, stop. He’s probably here to see you.”
“In the middle of his tour? Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know, but that’s something you could ask him when you see him.”
I took a deep calming breath. “Sasha, he’s here.”
“I know, hon.”
“What if he’s only here because it’s highly likely that I’ll say yes to sex with him?”
“My guess is that if he’s only looking for sex, he could have found some in Singapore.”
“You’re right. Still, I should take things slowly with him until I’m sure.”
“Some of the best sex I’ve had with my husband was when we were first together and figuring things out. That’s not to say sex isn’t great now, but there’s just an intensity to it in the beginning when emotions are running high.”