A hotel full of noisy people. Of stress. Of sleeplessness.
I shuddered.
Stop that.
Reinvention...remember?
You might meet a handsome stranger in the hotel restaurant and have the time of your life before flying home as planned tomorrow.
I scoffed.
As if.
“Miss...is your name Ms. Evermore?”
I frowned. “I’m Estelle Evermore, but I’m travelling on my own.”
The guy’s forehead furrowed. “Oh? You’re not with Duncan, Amelia, Conner, and Pippa Evermore?”
“What? No...” I looked past the guide and froze. By the frangipani-decorated van stood the family who’d boarded while I’d been stuck at the gate in Los Angeles.
The wife smiled, waving a little. “Hello again.”
I swallowed. “Uh, hi.”
The driver tapped his clipboard. “So you know each other? You family or not?”
“We’ve met but aren’t related.” The husband with his bushy beard grinned. “We’re strangers but more than happy to travel in the same van.” He strode toward me, hand outstretched. “I’m Duncan. Nice to meet you...”
My manners kicked in. “Estelle. Pleasure to meet you...for the second time.”
“Likewise, Estelle. That was rather random back in the States, huh? Never met another Evermore before. Perhaps we are related and just don’t know it.” He winked as his large hand wrapped around mine, squeezing warmly. “Oh well, any girl as pretty as you is welcome to join our family.” Turning to face his loved ones, he pointed at each in turn. “My wife Amelia, and our rug-rats, Conner and Pippa.” He rolled his eyes at his brood. “Say hi, kids.”
The little girl hugged her tatty-stuffed kitten. “Hi.”
The teenage boy didn’t look up from his gaming device, his fingers flying over the controls.
I waved lamely. “Hi, guys.”
“Don’t mind them. Just tired and need sleep.” Duncan took a step back. “So, what brings you to Fiji?”
Before I could answer, footsteps sounded behind me followed by an intake of breath. “You.”
My heart skipped as I whirled around. My gaze locked onto the vibrant blue eyes framed so deliciously in black glasses.
The man from Los Angeles.
“You.”
He smirked. “I already said that.”
“What are you doing here?” Nerves scattered over my skin, adding to the residual trembling from turbulence.
“I think the same reason why you’re here.”
The driver butted in. “Are you Mr. Oak?”
The man tore his eyes from mine. “I am.” Hoisting his backpack higher onto his shoulder, he swiped a hand through his thick dark hair. The locks immediately flopped back over his forehead as if they’d claimed that part of his face and refused to behave. His skin was the perfect alabaster of a true Englishman while his height and broadness of well-used muscles hinted he might be more farm boy than aristocrat.
A mental movie unravelled in my head of him toiling away beneath the hot sun (shirtless, of course) with his glasses sliding down his sweaty nose.
I’d never thought of glasses as a sex statement (more of an inconvenience) but on him...holy crap.
His attention fell back to me. He cocked his head, running his tongue along his bottom lip. “I wondered where you disappeared to.”
“Pardon?” I hated the way his gravelly voice slipped beneath my clothes as if he’d already seen me naked. I loathed the way his accent made me want to revoke my many rules and beg to listen to who he was and share my tale in exchange. I never wanted to talk about myself...so why him? What made him so different?
“On the plane. You bolted when we landed.”
My heart stopped. “Wait. You could see me on board?” Embarrassment flushed my skin. He’d seen me throwing up? He’d witnessed a neurotic idiot shove as many belongings as she could into pockets of a jacket that’d become far too stifling in the muggy heat, all because she’d had a hare-brained idea of surviving after plummeting thousands of feet into a stormy ocean?
Wonderful.
Flipping brilliant.
“I saw you. I was even tempted to come and talk to you.” His eyes slipped over my nose, cheeks, and lips, taking far more liberties than a stranger should. His damn glasses glittered in the lights, drawing all my focus to the one part of him I wanted to escape.
Wait...
Tempted to talk to me but didn’t.... Guess he did see me in all my crazy glory.
My voice cracked with nerves. “And why didn’t you?”
Why would you ask that?
I didn’t want to know what’d turned him off. I’d made a pact to reinvent myself when I returned home. Whoever he’d seen on the plane no longer existed.
Then why do you care if you're no longer that person?
Shut up!
God, I was annoying myself.
His eyebrows quirked in an entirely roguish way. “Why didn’t I what?” The connection between us grew heavier by the second.
Seriously?
He’d baited me, and, like a stupid fish, I couldn’t ignore the hook. “Come talk to me?”
Suddenly, the smouldering awareness snipped free with one caustic laugh from him. “Oh. Let’s just say, I have my reasons.”
My cheek smarted as if he’d slapped me physically rather than just figuratively. I didn’t know how to take that.
Should I be impressed that he noticed me and not care why he hadn’t approached, or jilted that I’d interested him but not enough to enlist conversation?
Egotistical jerk.
Duncan laughed under his breath, returning to his wife.
Mr. Oak noticed we had an audience and the brief glimpse into the man who chased what he wanted (but for some reason didn’t chase me) shut down, leaving a polite stranger in his wake.
He waved at the Evermore family. “Galloway.” His eyes once again landed on mine. Leaning forward, he held out his hand. “Anyway, we’ve talked now, so no harm done. Like I just said...I’m Galloway.”
Automatically, social graces made me loop my fingers with his.
Big mistake.
Colossal mistake.
The second we touched, the embarrassment flushing my skin turned to sexual mist, mingling with sweat from the humid tropics and rolling in a dirty droplet down my spine.
His touch felt like a hundred fireflies—bright, flickering, and completely alive against my flesh.
His mouth parted.
His fingers tightened around mine.
And the driver coughed loudly, hacking a spit-ball by my feet.
Eww!
I leapt to the side, wrenching my hand from Galloway’s, leaving me confused and not entirely sad that the touch had been severed.
What the hell was that?
And why did I have equal measures of fascination and abhorrence for this cocky English man who complimented me and insulted me all in one breath?
“Ready to go?” The driver marched to the van door and tossed his clipboard inside. Coming toward me, he stole my suitcase and yanked it toward the trailer attached to the back. “We’re all here. Let’s go. Perfect time to get you to your hotel before the rain starts again.”
The shock of having my suitcase stolen deleted all thoughts of Galloway and the unwelcome power he’d had. I was a professional songwriter and singer. I wasn’t a dumb mute rendered idiotic by a handsome man.
Slipping my heavy jacket from my shoulders, I wiped beaded sweat from my forehead. “Wait...are you sure there isn’t another flight leaving tonight? I’d rather stay at the airport, just in case—”
“She’s right,” Galloway muttered. His five o’ clock shadow bristled in the low illumination. “I need to leave tonight. Not in the morning. I don’t care what they say; I’m travelling to Kadavu.”
The driver cocked his head. “Kadavu?”
Galloway crossed his arms. “I start work first thing. If I don’t get there o
n time, I’ll lose my contract.” He took a step toward the driver. “Surely, you must know of someone willing to fly.” Pointing at the storm-slashed but now calm sky, he added, “There’s hardly any wind and it’s not raining anymore. The storm’s gone—just like they said. It’s safe to travel.”
Duncan Evermore came forward. “Don’t mean to interrupt, but we’re trying to get to Matava Resort. If you want, we can join forces and see if we can hire a boat or something?” He looked over his shoulder at his family. “I’d much prefer to get to our hotel and start our vacation now, rather than waste time in the morning with packing and checking in for another flight.”
The driver tutted under his breath. “Boat would take too long and no one would go in the dark.”
Galloway ignored him, focusing on Duncan’s potential solution. “I’m with you. I’m happy to split the cost if it means getting to where we want tonight.”
“Not possible.” The driver shook his head. “No one will travel tonight.”
Amelia (Duncan’s wife) caught my eye. We smiled, shrugging.
Men.
Even though they’d been told multiple times they couldn’t travel, it didn’t stop their pig-headedness at trying.
Galloway opened his messenger bag and pulled out an envelope with a wad of currency. “We’ll pay.” Wafting it in front of the driver, he taunted. “You help us arrange what we need, and you’ll get a bonus.”
Unable to take his eyes off the money, the driver rubbed his chin. “Kadavu and Matava?”
Galloway and Duncan nodded together. “That’s right. But it has to be tonight, and it has to be for all of us.”
All of us not including me, of course.
My heart raced as I was ignored completely. The only person paying attention to me was the little girl hugging her stuffed kitten.
Somehow, we were all strangers, but I’d become the odd one out.
Again.
Normally, I preferred it that way. I deliberately pulled back, letting others bond so I could remain quiet and on the outskirts where I liked it.
But this time, I felt left out—as if an adventure was forming and I hadn’t been given an invitation.
Is this another message?
Another hint that life happened all around me and unless I was brave enough to jump in, I would miss yet another opportunity.
My heart raced.
Perhaps my reinvention needed to happen here...not when I got home to Australia.
The driver dug a cell-phone from his back pocket. “Wait a minute.” Pacing away, he held the phone to his ear and conversed with someone on the other end.
Duncan shook Galloway’s hand. “Looks like we might be in luck, my boy.”
Galloway crumpled the cash-filled envelope, shoving it deep into his bag. “Hope so. I have no choice. I’m not accepting no for an answer.” His eyes found their way back to me.
Not succumbing to his power again, I deliberately looked away, feigning interest in a billboard for a diving site complete with jewelled fish and reef sharks. The advertisement held the true colours of Fiji—bright pinks and blues and yellows. It was nothing like the dismal evening where black was the colour palate and the whiff of warm asphalt and rotting rubbish overshadowed holiday welcome.
Finally, the driver returned. “Matava Resort is on the island of Kadavu, yes?” Tapping his phone against his thigh, a glint formed in his gaze. “Very exclusive resort. Expensive.”
Duncan stiffened, understanding the undertone. “If it’s about cost, name it. I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”
Galloway didn’t move. He held himself rigid but beneath I sensed an anxious need to move forward rather than stay stationary. Whatever his destination or reason, he wouldn't back down or accept defeat.
I envied him.
I was jealous that he had such passion for bending the rules and getting what he wanted.
“I’m with Duncan,” Galloway said. “Find a way to get us there tonight and money can be discussed.”
The driver slouched against his van, oblivious to the chaos of other passengers being ferried to their destinations. “I might have a friend.”
Duncan slapped him on the shoulder. “Great. What’s the damage?”
“Damage?” The driver immediately looked at his vehicle as if we’d vandalized it while he was on the phone. “What damage?”
Galloway chuckled. “He means how much?”
The driver smiled. “Five hundred US per person.”
“No way. Five hundred for all of us.” Pointing at his family and Galloway, Duncan clipped, “Five hundred for five people.”
Wait.
What was I supposed to do? Travel meekly to a hotel I didn’t want to go to, check into a room I had no interest in, and sleep in a bed I already despised?
No.
They had their plans while I rotted in indecision. I had no backbone to my life. I was done being a passenger as tides took me this way and that. I wanted some direction for once.
I wanted to live.
I wouldn’t ignore the messages any longer.
If I couldn’t get home, I would go somewhere second best. I would celebrate like Madi said I should. I would enjoy a holiday, new experiences, and something spontaneous—all because I could. “Um, Mr. Evermore?”
Duncan paused, smiling kindly. “Yes?”
I ignored Galloway watching me. “This resort you mentioned. Is it quiet?”
Amelia answered on his behalf, tucking copper hair behind her ear. “It’s an eco-lodge. Thatched bures with solar power and no carbon footprint. It’s for those who crave solitude and silence.”
Holy crap, that sounds amazing.
Idyllic.
Custom made for me.
I could relax around the pool (if there was a pool), write, daydream, and plan a future where I wasn’t afraid of living.
My heart skipped but this time with hope. “Do you think they’d have vacancy?”
Duncan scratched his chin. “I only made the reservation last week and they said they were at half occupancy. If I were you, I’d be willing to take the risk.”
Thoughts of peace and tranquillity enticed me more and more. I could take a week off and recuperate from my tour, before returning home where the internet would hound me, my work would crush me, and obligations awaited.
Why did I want to rush back if I could have a week just for me?
I’d always been a structured person. I didn’t take gambles or make spur-of-the-moment decisions, but what if this was exactly what I needed?
And they’re going without me.
What would I regret more? Letting them find a way to paradise and holing up in some awful hotel, or taking a risk, going with them, and finding the best experience of my life?
I smiled at the driver. “We’ll pay six hundred for six people.”
Galloway raised an eyebrow. “You’re coming, too? But I thought you said—”
“I don’t care. I’ve changed my mind.”
“You can do that? Just change your mind?”
My smile hardened. “I can do whatever I want.”
“But don’t you have to—” He scowled. “I dunno. Work or something?”
His body language switched from eager to standoffish. Why did he have a problem with me hitching a ride? It wasn’t as if I was asking him to marry me. We’d never see each other again after this.
“What the hell is your deal?”
Galloway flinched. “What do you mean? I don’t have a deal.”
“You don’t want me to travel with you.”
“I never said that.”
“You did.”
“Whatever. Hear what you want to hear. I was merely concerned for your welfare.”
I planted hands on my hips. “My welfare. What do you care about my welfare? You don’t even know me.”
“That’s right. He doesn’t.” Duncan stepped between us, acting as referee. “Six people. No problem at all.” Patting me on the shoulder,
he grinned. “Pleasure to have you along for the ride, Estelle.”
“Estelle?” Galloway’s voice stole my name, turning it from a simple address to an angry caress. “That’s your name?”
“Don’t tell me you have a problem with that, too?”
His face tightened. “I don’t have any problem with you. No problems. None.”
“Then stop being one for me.” The snapped command hovered between us, neither dispersing nor fading.
His eyes turned to steely flint as the friendliness and whatever bond we’d had evaporated.
Jerk.
He’d had the opportunity to talk to me on the plane and didn’t. He’d deemed me unworthy of his time, insulted me more times than anyone, and we’d only just met.
The moment we got to where we were going, I’d put him out of my mind and never waste another second on him.
Unless it’s to write a nasty song where he meets an unfortunate end.
“Okay, six people for six hundred. Done.” The driver pushed off from his slouch and wrenched open the sliding door of his van. “Get in.”
The Evermore children climbed in first, followed by Amelia and Duncan. Galloway planted himself in front of me, pausing to talk to the driver. “Where exactly are you taking us?”
The driver said, “I have a cousin who flies produce and supplies to outlying islands. He can help.”
“He can get us there tonight?”
The man nodded. “Tonight. No problem.”
“Great.” With a cold smile, Galloway clambered inside the van.
Hugging my jacket with my pockets filled with random survival gear, I squeezed in after him, taking the spare seat beside Pippa. The little girl smiled, stroking the foot of her kitten. We shared a look as the driver slammed the door, cocooning us in the tight space.
My mind skipped ahead to the idea of waking up tomorrow on a quiet beach, eating fresh fruit, and penning lyrics in the sunshine. Pure excitement fell like silky petals.
I was pissed off at Galloway and more tired than I’d ever been after two months on the road, but for the first time...I was uncomplicatedly happy.
I’m proud of myself.
I’d finally listened to the messages to live deeper, louder, brighter.
I’d finally paid attention and decided not to squander my life away with mediocrity.