Point taken. I smiled at Kiran as Mrs. Lange called out the next name. "Dash!" Dash pushed himself up from his chair and gathered a few boxes from under the tree.
The rest of the morning proceeded in much the same away, each name being called in turn, everyone shouting thank yous and you 're welcomes and glad you like its. Soon I had a pile of presents at my feet--a Thread sweater, a Tracy Reese top, a set of stacking rings from Tiffany, a Longchamp bag. Amberly gave me a lifetime Carma Card--something she'd given to me once before, then stolen back from my room. I wasn't sure if it was a gesture of apology or some kind of dig (an obviously free gift), so I just said a quick thank you and shoved it in the box with the gloves. Dash got me a gift card
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from Hollister, which was about the safest thing in the world, thank goodness. He gave Noelle a pair of diamond-and-ruby earrings-ruby was her birthstone. I could tell she was trying hard not to look impressed.
"Wallace," Mrs. Lange called out.
Mr. Lange got up with a stack of white envelopes and started to distribute them. He handed one to Taylor, one to Kiran . . . and then he passed me by. I felt a sting and glanced at Noelle, who looked embarrassed. She shrugged and shot a look at her father's retreating back, like she might smack him upside the head later. Why would her father hand out gifts to everyone but me?
"Peninsula Spa? That is so incredible! Thank you Mr. Lange," Taylor said.
Everyone had received spa gift certificates to exclusive spots in whatever city they lived in.
'You're welcome," Mr. Lange said, lifting a stack of silver boxes from under the tree. He walked over to his wife and handed one of the boxes to her, then gave the next to Noelle, and then gave the third . . . tome.
"What-"
It was the only word that came out. I was too surprised to formulate what I was thinking. Noelle looked as confused as I felt. Meanwhile, Mrs. Lange already had opened up her box and gasped.
"Wallace! It's lovely!" It was a white reptile-skin purse, which she already had slung over her shoulder. "Thank you," she said, getting up and offering him a quick kiss.
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"You're welcome," he said.
Instantly, Kiran and Taylor started whispering. I could tell by the reactions of the other women in the room that there was something special about this bag. My throat was dry as I looked down at my gift, wondering what I'd done to deserve a box instead of an envelope. Noelle finally shrugged.
"Go ahead," she said.
We both opened our boxes. Inside were two more bags identical to her mother's. Noelle's was red and mine was a gorgeous rust color.
"Holy crap. You got her a Kelly bag?" Kiran blurted, grabbing for my new purse.
Everyone laughed in a nervous way.
"Wow, Daddy," Noelle said, eyeing my gift. "That was . . . unnecessary."
"Noelle," her father admonished.
"No. She's right," I said. I didn't know, exactly, what the significance of this bag was, but it was clearly huge. "I don't know what to say."
Noelle's father squared his shoulders and placed his hands in his pockets. "Well, you're Noelle's best friend and, from what I understand, you've had a . . . rough time. I thought you deserved something nice." For a moment no one said anything. "Hell, it's Christmas," he said with a laugh. "What's Christmas without a few surprises?"
"Hear, hear!" Upton's father cheered, lifting his glass and rousing everyone else to do the same, which thankfully seemed to break the tension.
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Noelle got up and hugged her father. "Thanks, Daddy," she said with a genuine smile. Now that she knew the thinking behind the gift, she was clearly touched that he'd gone to the trouble.
"Yes. Thank you. Really. It's amazing," I said. I wasn't sure if I should get up or hug him or what, so I just stayed sort of frozen on the couch, gazing up at him like he was the real Santa Claus.
"You're welcome," he said. Then he cleared his throat and looked around. "Who's next?"
Noelle's mother called the next name as I wrested my new bag from Kiran's hungry grasp. It was a gorgeous bag, and I made a mental note to write Mr. Lange a formal thank you.
Gradually, we settled back into the rhythm of the gift giving. I noticed that the Hathaways' names were never called and wondered what that was about, but it seemed impolite to ask. Finally, it was Tiffany's turn. She gave all of us photos from the shoot the day before, set in simple glass frames. The one she gave to me was a black-and-white shot of me and Tiffany, hugging each other against the cold as the water lapped at our feet, the shoreline stretching out forever in the background. It was a beautiful picture.
"We both look like supermodels," I said.
"My father, the genius," she replied with a grin.
So modest. The girl could have been a supermodel--I thought she was even prettier than Kiran. But Tiffany was a behind-the-camera type of girl.
"Hey. What's that? " Kiran asked, pointing at a black smudge in the background.
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I lifted the photo close to my face and my heart skipped a beat. It was a person. Some lone figure standing up the beach.
"Oh my God," I said, breathless.
"What?" Noelle asked, leaning in.
"I knew I wasn't imagining things. Someone is watching me," I said, handing her the picture.
Noelle squinted at it. "So? It could be anyone. Someone out for a stroll on the beach."
"Not possible," Tiffany said, leaning in and holding her champagne glass at a safe distance. "That's a private beach and my dad paid through the nose to have the police make sure no one disturbed the shoot. Whoever that is, they had to get by police barricades to get down there."
Great, so not only a stalker, but a determined stalker.
"It looks like light hair," Taylor said, grabbing the picture from Noelle.
My heart skipped a beat and I looked at them, wide-eyed. "What if it's Poppy?"
They all cracked up laughing. "And what, she's stalking you because you stole Upton?"
"Um, hello? It's not like that hasn't happened to me before!" I pointed out.
They all fell silent and looked away.
"Reed, Poppy is off the island," Noelle said finally. "The Simon Says was gone, remember?"
"So what? Maybe she took it out and then docked it somewhere
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else on the island. Or maybe she just let it go out to sea so it would look like she was off the island," I spit-balled. "There's no way to know that she's definitely not here somewhere."
"Here. Let me see that," Tiffany said, snatching away the frame. She went over to her father, who was standing near the wall watching Tiff's little sister play with some new handheld video game. Her dad checked out the photo, then nodded.
"He says he'll try to clean it up later on the computer, and he'll see if he can get the figure in focus," Tiffany said, returning to us and handing the frame back to me. "If someone is watching us, hopefully we'll figure it out."
"And that's it! We're done!" Mrs. Lange announced, lifting her perpetually full mimosa glass. "Merry Christmas, everyone."
I stared down at the blurry figure, my heart choking my throat. Merry Christmas, indeed.
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CHAPTER 29 AN APOLOGY
Once the gift-opening ceremony was through, the room descended into happy, relaxed chatter. I stashed the photo underneath my pile of gifts and got up to talk to Upton. But before I could make a move, Sawyer appeared, out of nowhere, at my elbow.
"Can I talk to you?" he asked.
My eyes darted to Noelle, who eyed us curiously. "Um, sure."
Sawyer led me across the great room and into the dining room, where all our dishes already had been cleared away and the table had been wiped to a shine. He walked over to the back wall and looked out the window at the ocean. I stayed on the far side of the table, hesitant.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry," he told the window, his arms crossed over the starched white shirt his father probably had forced him to w
ear. "About last night."
"Oh," I said, my hand on the back of Mrs. Lange's chair. "That's okay."
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"I'm sure you've heard. About my sister," he said, glancing briefly over his shoulder at me. "Of course, in this group, you've heard."
'Yeah," I said, feeling guilty, even though I'd done nothing wrong.
"This is my first Christmas without her," he told me. "I think I'm having a hard time."
God. Of course he was having a hard time. Why hadn't that occurred to me before? I walked around the table and joined him at the window.
"It's okay. I understand," I said.
He looked over at me. In the sunlight, I could see that his eyes were actually gray and flecked with brown. Very unusual and beyond beautiful. Sawyer was really handsome. I suddenly recalled how I had mistaken him for Upton that first day, and wondered why the girls refused to take him seriously as a potential hookup. Maybe he was brooding, but brooding was attractive. Or was that just me?
"Anyway, here. This is for you," he said, pulling something out of his pocket. "Thanks for including me. Or trying to."
He held out a tiny white shell on a black cord. A necklace. Clearly one he'd made himself. "You didn't have to do this," I said, touched nonetheless.
"Just take it," he said shortly.
I blushed. "I didn't mean to--"
He glanced past me. Upton had just walked into the room.
I slipped the shell into the pocket of my skirt, then wondered why I'd felt the need to do that.
"I should go," Sawyer said.
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Then he ducked his head and walked around the table, turning sideways to get past Upton.
"Hang on a sec, Sawyer," Upton said, placing his hand on Sawyer's shoulder. "I haven't had a chance to say happy Christmas."
Red blotches appeared on Sawyer's cheeks. "Sure, whatever."
"What's up with you?" Upton asked, a hint of a downturn in his cheery smile. "You've barely said a word all week."
"It's nothing," Sawyer said. "Would you mind letting go of me? I'd like to get back to my family."
Upton lifted both hands as if in surrender, and Sawyer quickly rushed off. As soon as he was gone, Upton whistled quietly.
"He's always been standoffish, but this year he's taking it to a whole new level," he said.
"Don't take it personally. I think he's just upset about his sister," I said.
Upton frowned for a moment, and then shook his head. "Of course. I should have guessed." He held open the door, a forced smile on his face. "Well, shall we? My mum wants to check out your handbag."
As Upton put his hand on the small of my back and steered me into the living room, I reached into my skirt pocket and ran my fingers along the shell's smooth edges. Now that I knew Sawyer was struggling with the memory of his sister, I was more determined than ever to see the guy smile.
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CHAPTER 30 PITY PARTY
That night, after private Christmas dinners with their families, the crew gathered on the beach in front of the Simon Hotel to get hammered around a huge bonfire. Apparently an entire day spent with parents, stepparents, and siblings made these people feel the need to drink themselves silly. Luckily, my family was a million miles away, so I felt no such compulsion. Instead, I got to sit back in the sand and watch all my friends get progressively messier, while I obsessed about my blurry stalker and whether or not Poppy might still be on the island.
Good times.
"This is the year!" Gage shouted, standing in front of the bonfire and holding up a bottle of beer in each hand. His burgundy shirt was unbuttoned, but his tie was still knotted around his neck. "This is the year I get you girls to take off your shirts for the best boob contest!"
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"Woo-hoo!" Kiran and Amberly cheered in response. Kiran even reached for the tie on the back of her halter top dress.
Like I said, messy.
"No, no, no!"
Noelle walked over, having a bit of trouble keeping her balance in the thick sand, and put her hand over Kiran's before she could expose herself.
"We are not having a best boob contest," she said, shaking her head as she gestured with a half-full bottle of champagne.
"Noelle. You are dead to me," Gage said, taking a swig of his beer and almost falling over from the change in balance the action caused.
"No. I'm not saying no," Noelle said. "But we can't do it. Not without Poppy. If Poppy gets here, then I am totally in."
"Okay, Noelle. That's it. I'm taking away the champagne," I said, shoving myself up from the ground and reaching for her bottle. I had never seen her so drunk in my life. Noelle usually liked to maintain at least the appearance of being in control.
"Do not touch the bubbly, Glass-Licker!" she said, pointing a finger at me and holding the champagne out of my reach. "Don't forget I control your living situation when we get home!"
"I would never try to take away your bubbly," Amberly insisted, her eyes at half-mast as she tried to hug Noelle. "That's how much I love you!
"All right! Now we're talking! Girl on girl!" Gage crowed, plopping into the sand as if he were getting ready for the show.
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"This is ridiculous," I said under my breath.
I looked around for Upton, who had gone in search of the bathroom with Dash a good fifteen minutes ago. He had promised to come right back so that we could go for a walk alone on the beach together--to get away from the craziness and score some quality time, which would be nice, considering the fact that every girl here seemed to be flirting with him tonight. Blame the alcohol again. So far, I had managed to ignore the giggles and grins and batting eyelashes, but a girl only had so much tolerance for such things. When he got back, he was all mine.
Unfortunately, Upton was nowhere to be found. I hoped he hadn't gotten sick. Upon arrival, he had downed four beers faster than I could have consumed four root beers and proceeded to suggest the limbo.
No one had taken him up on it.
Finally, I spotted Dash wending his way back toward us from the patio area. He, at least, was slightly less drunk than the rest.
"Dash! Have you seen Upton?" I asked, jogging over to him.
"Yeah. He's right behind me," Dash said, gesturing over his shoulder.
I squinted toward the hotel and saw three people sort of lurching in my direction, their arms looped around one another. As they passed under one of the lampposts around the pool, I saw that it was, in fact, Upton, and that he had his arms around Paige on one side and Sienna on the other. They all were laughing, and Sienna's hand had worked its way under Upton's shirt and onto his bare chest. Paige was leaning her head on his shoulder, her mouth tipped toward his neck.
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They're just drunk, Reed. They're drunk.
But it did matter. Whatever I'd been telling myself, Upton had become way more than just a fling. I couldn't handle seeing him getting all sloppy over two girls who were not me.
Then, while I stood there like a pathetic, gaping loser, Sienna grabbed Upton by the back of the neck, pulled him to her, and kissed him.. . and he didn't push her away.
Bile rose up in the back of my throat, burning like hot soup. I turned around, found Noelle's clutch purse in the sand, and fished out her keys as tears burned my eyes. I had to get out of there. Now.
"Hey, Glass-Licker, what're you doing with my stuff?" Noelle asked, slinging her arm around Dash's back as she joined us. Dash looked very pleased at this development.
"I need to go home," I told her, my voice cracking. I kept my back turned to Upton and his two gropers, not wanting to see anything more. I handed over the purse but kept the keys.
"Oh, no. You are not taking my car," Noelle said. "Dash, tell her she cannot take my car," she added, getting right up in his face--so close that their noses touched. I saw Dash glance down at her cleavage, which was half exposed by her current position, and he blushed like mad.
"Um, Reed. You can take her car," Dash said. "I'l
l drive her home."
"Yeah. I'm sure you will," I said.
""Wait a minute. I said no. You're supposed to be kissing my butt," Noelle protested.
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"Yes. And I promise I'll get right back to it tomorrow," I said, my heart pounding. Upton, Paige, and Sienna had to be getting dangerously close. Unless, of course, they had stopped to have a three-way in the sand. "Later."
I was out of there before she could argue further. I fled down the beach, taking the long route back to the parking lot so that Upton and his girl toys wouldn't spot me.
All the way back to the Langes', I forced myself not to cry. The island roads were unfamiliar and not well lit, and the last thing I needed was to go driving off the pavement. Luckily, their house wasn't too far from the Simon Hotel, and I was back within ten minutes. That was about as much as my aching tear ducts could take. As soon as I got to my room and closed the door behind me, I let the tears fly.
How had everything deteriorated so quickly? Just last night, I had been beyond happy. Upton and I had spent all that time alone together, talking about Christmas memories and silly stuff from our pasts. I had thought we were getting to know each other and that we'd come out of that library with a deeper connection. But he just couldn't stay away from the Upton Game girls, could he?
I sat down in the center of my perfectly made bed and grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand. It was Christmas. I shouldn't be crying. I should have been home, watching Home Alone with my brother, eating popcorn and leftover chocolate chip muffins. I missed Scott. I missed my mom and dad and my dog. I even missed snow. Who the hell spent Christmas in the islands? It was unnatural. Didn't everyone dream of a white freaking Christmas?
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I tried to stop myself, but I was having a pity party, so of course I had to invite in thoughts of Josh. I couldn't believe that he hadn't called or texted or e-mailed once since that night at the hospital. He had told me he would keep me informed about Ivy. He had practically told me he was still in love with me. Yet here it was, the biggest holiday of the year, and not so much as a MERRY XMAS! TTYL!