7. Fox
FOX
U nder any other circumstance, this would have been a perfect day. The island landscape was spectacular, the traffic minimal, the music upbeat and the weather glorious. I was driving a convertible on an empty road with a woman by my side.
A woman who hated my guts.
I wanted to hold her hand. Comfort her. The more my hangover receded, the heavier my conscience weighed. What could I do, though? Not one damned thing.
It was hitting me that I was stuck here for a week unless I changed my flight. Much as I’d love to get the hell out of dodge, however, I was worried about Ash.
I was worried she wouldn’t get over her mad. I was a good friend. Shane had said so . It was eating at me that I had stomped all over my friendship with her, but I didn’t know how to make up for it. How could I? There was nothing.
Around and around my brain went, looking for a solution until, an hour later, we arrived at the resort.
I didn’t know how the parking worked so I pulled up at the valet stand. Ashley wasn’t talking to me and slammed out of the car the minute I put the car in park. She stalked away without a word.
“Ash.” I rose from my side, guts stretching thin as I felt an urge to follow her while my feet stayed rooted in guilt.
“I have to see Mom. The Holloways are in four-oh-two,” she tossed over her shoulder.
“Are you staying in the resort, sir?” A bellman wearing a hotel shirt held out a hand for the car’s fob.
“Yes, but I’m not checked in yet. I have to—” Oh, hell. Was it my job to inform the hotel that the wedding was off? I looked for Ashley, but she was gone. “I’m here for a wedding. The groom’s parents are already here and expecting me. I need to speak to them before I do anything else.” I didn’t know how tight the security was, but I remembered I was in the States and needed to tip. I offered a twenty.
“I’ll leave your luggage with the concierge and tap you into the elevator.” The bellman pocketed the bill.
“Thanks. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
We crossed a helluva nice open-air lobby with views of the surf that didn’t quit. Maybe I would stick around. There was no problem too big that couldn’t be outrun on a surfboard for a few hours.
The bellman tagged the reader in the elevator and pressed the floor number for me. I nodded my thanks, then let out a breath as the doors closed.
Shane’s parents, Eddie and Sandy, had always been good to me. Coming from divorce, I was kind of fascinated by their lifelong devotion to each other, especially because they’d been through a lot over the years. I always wondering what their secret was and I hated that I was going to upset them when they were expecting a happy event.
I knocked, only realizing then that they might be at the pool.
Sandy opened the door with a wide smile that faltered as she saw it was me, not the son she was expecting.
“G’day, Fox. Shane isn’t with you?” The permanent crinkle of maternal concern in her brow deepened. “He hasn’t answered any of my texts.” She backed up to let me into a room with a king bed, a desk and a chair.
The door was open to the balcony where Eddie was rising from his seat there.
“Shane’s totally fine,” I assured them. “But no, he’s not here.”
“I told her he’d want to see his girl.” Eddie’s body was stooped from a lifetime as a brickie. He kept hold of his beer and spoke through the open door. “Sandy wanted him to be able to find us when he arrived, but see? He’s with Ashley. We can go down to the pool and Shane can catch up to us when he’s ready. Beer?” he offered me.
“ No . Thank you. But I will come in for a minute, if you don’t mind.” I waved for Sandy to precede me out to the small balcony. “Shane is fine,” I repeated firmly, meeting Sandy’s anxious blue gaze. “Not hurt or anything, but he isn’t here. He decided not to come.”
Sandy touched the gold pendant of a fingerprint that she always wore. “Do you mean he was delayed? Or…?”
“The wedding is off.”
“Ah, shit.” Eddie lowered back into his chair and took a pull off his beer.
“Oh, Ashley,” Sandy said on a pained sigh. “Oh, dear.”
“Yeah.” I drew a deep breath and braced myself to confess the rest.