Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Naomi
T his is absolutely unreal.
I say a quick thank you to the gods of endless cloud storage as I snap photo after photo of massive centerpieces made entirely of woven grass and orchids. My attention is caught by glimmering copper, and I make my way over to where an orchestra of gongs and crystal singing bowls has been set up, ready to bathe the ceremony in sacred sound.
This is the kind of rich my father scorned. The flashy, wasteful, indulgent rich. He never so much as purchased a car that wasn’t black or a wristwatch that would have given himself away. And he wouldn’t let us kids behave that way either.
Or he wouldn’t let Dom anyway.
I was given a bit of a pass, allowed to buy myself the wardrobe of my wildest dreams. I guess he supposed subtlety was wasted on me anyway.
And look at me now. Living a life that’s completely visible, sprayed over the internet like hot pink silly string. No wonder the guy won’t talk to me.
I hop up and make my way back to the kitchen, where the crew is busy getting all the little snacks and appetizers ready for after the ceremony. I lean against a wall, trying to stay out of the way, and scroll through the shots I’ve taken. It’s hard to see the screen in bright sunlight, so some of the pics are a surprise even to me. It’s all epic though. The wedding practically screams Post Me .
I bite my lip, wondering if that’s what this is all for. If these people wanted the most internet friendly party ever, or if it’s just a coincidence. Or if my jaded mind is just so used to looking for content in every situation I’m in, that it’s all I can see now.
“Hey.”
I jump at Sam’s voice and pocket my phone, shaking off my gloomy thoughts and forcing a smile. “Hey.”
“I looked everywhere for you.”
“I’ve been doing content for Fran. This wedding is going to make the most incredible posts.”
Sam looks distracted, like he’s not hearing my words. I brace myself for whatever he’s about to say next.
“I have to get back upstairs, I just wanted to find you.”
“Sam,” I say quickly, wanting to let him off the hook. “I’m totally fine. You can go do your work, I’ll just be?—”
“Don’t go to Honduras.” His words come out all in a rush, too loud, like they burst through a blockage in his throat.
I try to think quickly if I have any idea what this is about, but I’m coming up blank. “I…”
Movement over his shoulder catches my gaze, and I glance to the left. Sam turns his head quickly to follow my gaze.
Right to Fran, who’s standing behind him.
His head whips back to face me, and I can see the panicked question in his eyes.
Did she hear?
I offer a shrug because I really don’t know what’s going on here.
“Am I interrupting something?” Fran asks, her tone lightly teasing, like she knows exactly what she just stumbled upon.
Unlike me.
“No,” Sam says, taking a step back and turning so Fran is now included in our little circle. “I was just?—”
“Telling Naomi not to join us in Honduras?”
He glances down at his shoes, clearly caught.
“Sam?” I ask, starting to get concerned.
“I need to get back upstairs,” he says, tossing me a tight-lipped smile and escaping through the wide double doors.
Fran turns to me, grinning. “I love this.”
I shake my head, still watching the doors swing. “I don’t know what that was about.”
“I do.”
I turn my head to her, eyebrows raised.
“We’re all going on a trip off the island when this wedding wraps up. Ave invited Sam earlier, but he isn’t coming. He never comes. And it sounds like he was trying to get you to stay here on Faraday with him instead of joining us.” She offers a satisfied smile. “I can’t say it’s a bad plan, actually. You two would have the whole island to yourselves for once.”
“Oh,” I say, totally taken aback by the situation. I have a lot to process, but for now, I need to say something intelligent. “Yeah, that does sound good. I’ll stay here.”
“God, as much as I want to pull you into that walk-in and interrogate you, I don’t have a single second to spare right now.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
Fran spins, glancing around, distracted by what she’s going to do next. “You just keep doing what you do best.” She looks back my way and meets my eyes with a smile. “I’ll see you on the other side, okay?”
I nod, and she’s gone.
The ceremony proceeds like a scripted, made for film video shoot. I snap away, getting all the angles, running video on my phone when there’s movement or high emotions. After the couple heads back down the aisle to start the all-night reception party, I take a moment to relax against the shade of a palm, flipping back through pictures to see what I captured.
I don’t get to rest long, however, because I spot the green polo shirts I marked earlier as the people from the tiger conservatory. And that can only mean one thing.
I reach the low, ornately molded fence surrounding the baby tiger enclosure just as they’re coaxing the tiny animals from cozy looking crates.
“Now this is something I never imagined seeing at The Sands.”
I turn to smile up at Sam, who’s standing a respectful eight inches behind my left shoulder. I want to lean back into him, but, of course, I don’t.
Good thing, too, because Fran appears on my other side a moment later and the last thing we need is to be caught canoodling by her a second time in one day.
“Isn’t this amazing? I can’t wait to see the website banner the graphic designer can make with these tiger cub shots.”
“No!” The word flies out of my mouth, drawing attention from everyone in the vicinity. I look down, embarrassed by my outburst.
But I’m not standing down. “No, Fran. These crazy wedding people can splash baby tigers all over their own socials, but these pariahs aren’t going anywhere near yours. This is an absolute scandal waiting to happen. Do you know what animal rights groups think about the practice of flying baby tigers around the world just so people can pet them? It’s created a whole black market for cubs and the enormous problem that is fully grown tigers in the suburbs once they’re not cute and cuddly anymore.”
Fran huffs. “It’s okay, the couple didn’t buy the cubs. It’s a tiger sanctuary and they paid for the whole decade of?—”
“I know,” I interrupt, waving off her excuses. “You told me. But no one on the internet is going to stop to ask. They’re going to see the opportunity to get a leg up on your rotting corpse and take you down.” I let out a huff of my own. “Ask me how I know.”
Fran sighs. “Dang. I never really thought about it like that. I guess that’s why we need tiger sanctuaries in the first place, huh? To adopt all the unwanted tigers after they grow up?” She looks disappointed, and I can tell she’s going to heed my warning. “But we can still, you know, snuggle them? If no one takes pictures?”
My face breaks into a huge grin. “Oh, yeah. You couldn’t keep me away.”
Fran gets permission to step over the low fence and, after making sure every camera is still busy taking pictures of the newlyweds and their adorable grandchildren, I follow. Glancing back for Sam, I find him smiling at me. I gesture with my head, and he follows me into the pen.
“I’ll keep an eye out for the paparazzi,” he says in a low voice once Fran is fully occupied with a cub on the other side of the enclosure.
Propriety be damned, once I’m in a pen with six baby tigers, I fall straight to my knees. One of the cuddly cubs crawls right into my lap, looking sleepy and absolutely freaking adorable. I hold the little guy to my chest and coo.
When I look up, Sam’s kneeling beside me.
“Aren’t they the cutest?” I ask.
He nods, but only looks at me.
I almost can’t stand the adorableness when a cub crawls up Sam’s leg and he scoops it into his arms. I give mine another little snuggle and look down to see that it’s fallen asleep in my arms.
“This is the most internet perfect moment that I’ve ever had, and I can never, ever let anyone see me doing it. Isn’t that ironic?”
Sam’s watching his cub with much less adoration than I feel. “So, you get to enjoy it in the moment. Make a memory that you’ll never forget.”
“I guess so. I guess this is how I need to learn to live. Like moments are enough even if I’m the only one witnessing them.”
“What if I’m there witnessing them as well?” Sam asks and I look up. He’s not watching his sleeping cub at all. All of the adoration in his gaze is directed at me.
I have to look down again as I feel myself blush. “That’d be pretty good too.”
When I look back up, he’s smiling.
“I’m not going on the trip with the others. I’m staying here on Faraday. I’m going to have the whole house to myself,” I say in a low voice.
I watch his eyebrows raise and his smile morph into more of a smirk. “You know, I always have my whole house to myself.”
My breath catches as memories of our yard work party flash through my mind. When I meet Sam’s gaze again, I can tell he’s thinking about the same thing.
“Well, now we have options.”
Sam lets his now squirming cub escape and we both watch it crawl over to a young wedding guest who squeals in delight.
When I look back at him, he’s already watching me.
“I’m not ready to let go yet.” I mean the tiger cub, but the words fall heavy between us.
“Me neither.”
My eyes fall closed at his whispered words.
“I’ll see you after the wedding, okay?” he says and disappears up the stairs.