“He’ll be here,” Joette said dismissively. “How’s the plantain?”
The plantain was delicious. The whole meal was delicious, Joette’s cooking made better by eating it in the company of others. It was noisy and chaotic and that was wonderful. The conversation engaged me. The private stories of their families held my interest in a way I’d never thought domestic tales would interest me. I laughed—really laughed—for the first time in months. Maybe even longer.
I felt, shockingly, at home.
We were midway through the meal when I heard the front door open, and less than a minute later, I discovered why Louvens had missed dinner, where he had been.
He’d been at the airstrip.
He’d been picking up Edward.
Seven
“Edward.” It felt like I talked about him all the time, like he was always present in my mind, but seeing him in the flesh felt like seeing a stranger. And as much as I hated him, my breath caught in my chest, my heart tripping with elation.
His eyes held mine as he approached me, one hand held behind his back.
I stood automatically. “I didn’t know you were... What are you doing here?” I hadn’t expected him for another couple of weeks.
“Could I really stay away from my wife this weekend? It’s our first Valentine’s Day together. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Valentine’s Day. Time lost all meaning on Amelie. I barely knew it was Friday let alone that there was a holiday tomorrow.
Especially when the holiday wasn’t important.
Valentine’s Day wasn’t why Edward was here.
This was for show, as was the bouquet of calla lilies and roses that he presented from behind his back, but the flowers and the tender kiss on the lips did something to me. Dazed me. Made it hard to think.
I swallowed, running my sweaty palms along the front of my dress in a pretense of smoothing my skirt. Tom was already up and taking care of the flowers, finding them a vase, and Mateo had another chair and place set before I could get my wits together.
Edward sat, taking my hand in his so I sat as well. His attention, though, was on those around him, listening and smiling as his staff brought him up to speed on island life.
I picked at my food after that, sipped anxiously at my wine. My stomach was in knots and the press of Edward’s fingers laced through mine was distracting. The tug of an unanswered question swirled through my mind, wanting resolution.
When the group was preoccupied with an unimportant family debate, I couldn’t take it anymore. I leaned toward him, keeping my voice quiet. “What happens now?”
“We finish dinner.” Letting go of my hand and stretching his arm around my chair—a natural move for a husband who’d missed his bride—he bent into me, the warm air of his breath tickling my ear. “Then, tonight, we begin.”
When Edward had been on the island before, the socializing had gone on long after the meal was over. This night, as though everyone had been given orders I wasn’t aware of, the group departed as soon as the table was cleared.
Edward must have slipped away during the goodbyes because, immediately after our guests had left, he instructed me. “I’ve laid out clothes for you on your bed. Wear them and nothing else. Meet me in the library when you’re finished.”
With tingling fingers and toes, I nodded and left for my room. I hadn’t decided if I meant to make this easy for him or not. I was still angry with him—outrageously angry—but two and a half months had made me more comfortable with that anger. It no longer spewed from me. I was able now to hold it, to wait.
Wait for what, I wasn’t sure. I’d know when the time was right to draw it out.
Curiosity now dominated my emotions. And nervousness. What would Edward do to me? Would it hurt too much? Would it not hurt enough?
I was beyond ready to know.
On my bed, I found the items he’d set out. They hadn’t been with the clothes he’d sent me, so he must have brought it. I would have tossed them out otherwise. The underwear were plain white cotton briefs. The matching bra had no wire and did nothing in the way of support. The white dress—smock was a better term for it—had no shape. It hung past my knees, accentuating absolutely nothing about my body. White ballet flats accompanied the outfit. The best thing I could say about them was that they fit.
I lingered in front of my bathroom mirror for almost a full minute. I’d given up doing my makeup since I’d been on the island, and, while my body had developed a nice tan, sunscreen had kept my face blotchy and uneven. Edward hadn’t specified anything about cosmetics, but he seemed to be going for plain, a look that I didn’t wear comfortably.
Some foundation and a bit of rouge would make me feel better. I had a feeling that was the reason he wouldn’t want me applying them.
I settled for freshening my lipgloss, leaving my lips a natural pink, then headed to the library to find my husband.
“This isn’t sexy,” I said when I arrived.
He glanced up at me from behind his computer. “I know.”
Ouch.
But now I had to wonder—was this plain Jane appearance meant to throw me off balance or keep him from losing his?
The possibility that it was the latter felt warm in my belly.
A few taps of keys and the printer behind Edward woke up, shooting out several pages. “These are for you,” he said, gathering the items and handing them to me.
I could feel the crease in my brow as I looked them over. Right away I noticed something very startling—the pages were emails.
“You just printed these. How are you on the internet? The Wi-Fi has never worked.” I’d tried an unbelievable amount of times to connect with no success. There was only one server option. No password required. It wasn’t like that was the reason I’d been locked out.
“Because I’ve had the server disconnected. I had it turned back on when I arrived.”
“There’s been a working server here the whole time?” I didn’t know how he continued to surprise me.
He looked at me like I was ridiculous. “How else would I be able to work while I’m here? And don’t get any ideas. It’s password protected.”
Password protected and disconnected server—the man really didn’t trust me.
I considered lashing out about it and quickly decided not to. I’d already been confined to the island with no contact with the outside world. It wasn’t like this was a new horror, even if it was new to discover the details around it.
With a sigh, I turned my focus back to the papers in my hand. They’d been printed from my email account. I scanned the top, my eyes rushing lower when I realized the top section was in reply to something below. I recognized the words there. They were my words. For the most part. They’d been edited to exclude the main point, which was that my husband had taken me captive, but the little that was left were the words I’d written to my parents in my first letter.
I shot daggers at him, again contemplating giving him my wrath, but really. What had I expected? I’d never really believed that those letters would get through, that he’d let me talk freely to my parents.
It was a pointless argument.
Taking another deep breath, I read through my mother’s replies. Each were cordial and succinct. My mother preferred conversing on the phone, and she said as much in one of the emails, It’s too bad you don’t have service there so you can call.