Chapter 7 #2
“Our order will take fifteen minutes. That okay for the bomb?”
“Perfect, thank you.” As she gazed at the turquoise sea and the golden sandy beach, she let out a happy sigh. “Isn’t this just so beautiful?”
“It’s unreal.” Dan cast his sad eyes toward the horizon.
“I’ve wanted to come here my whole life.
My parents traveled here before they were married, and since my father…
Well, he died when I was thirteen, so I guess we’ve always considered the Cook Islands to be a special place.
See that little island in the lagoon out there? ”
Libby turned to where he pointed.
“I’m pretty sure that’s the island in the picture still hanging in my mum’s kitchen.”
“She must be so stoked to be coming here again,” Libby said. “Is this her first visit back?”
“Yeah. We’ve planned to come several times over the years. When I was younger, we couldn’t afford it, and then when we could, my sisters kept having babies, and Mum likes to be on hand for each new arrival.”
“How many kids do your sisters have?”
“At the last count, Femi has four and Gabi has three.”
“Seven grandchildren! Whoa, that’s one busy grandma in need of a break.” Libby grinned, not quite believing how much Cranky was talking after being so…well, cranky. “What have you got planned with your mom and aunt?”
“They both like to read and do crossword puzzles.” Dan leaned back in his seat. “I guess we’ll mainly be hanging out on the beach doing that.”
Hanging out with two old ladies… Not quite how you imagined spending your honeymoon…
But that would’ve been one bad joke too many for Cranky Jones, especially as he should’ve been lunching here with his gorgeous wife instead of her and Karim. What a letdown.
“So, I told your mom what happened with our accommodation,” Libby said. “Once she knew you were okay, she found it funny.”
“Yeah, she would.”
“She also said it was a shock to hear that you were here. Why didn’t you tell her you were coming?”
“I didn’t tell anyone. I slipped out the back of my house early one morning, got the first train to London, and then jumped into a cab to the airport. It was best that she didn’t know. I didn’t want her to worry.”
“That makes sense. I’ll still worry about Karim when he’s your age. So, it’ll be cozy with the three of you staying at Are Moana. Will your mom and aunt sleep on the couch bed, like we did last night?”
“No.” Cranky shook his head but gave out a little laugh. “Believe it or not, my mother raised me to be a gentleman.”
“Ha.”
“Seriously, she’d give me what for if she knew how I behaved toward you and that it was you and your son who slept on the sofa last night.”
“We won’t tell. Honest.” Enjoying herself, Libby leaned back. Daniel Jones wasn’t bad company. The light didn’t quite reach his eyes when he smiled, but it was good to see him make the effort.
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said, “and then I’ll move to a dorm bed in the main house when one comes available.”
“A dorm bed? You mean like a bunk bed in a shared room? Are you serious?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“But you’re…you’re…” An Olympic hero, a sporting superstar—with lots of money.
Surely he had money, right? She leaned forward, so inexplicably intrigued.
“Why not stay in a big, fancy resort? Are Moana is cute and all, but it’s budget accommodation.
” He shifted, as if she’d poked that bruise.
Damn her and her big mouth, always with the questions.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, “I didn’t mean to get personal. ”
“No, it’s okay.” He played with the corner of his napkin. “Everyone expects that with people in the public eye, but I’ve come to learn from sad experience that there’s always someone sniffing around for a shot at celebrities in places like that.”
He wasn’t wrong. Libby knew lots of journalists and photographers who hung out at the most exclusive Beverley Hills hotels. Although it worked both ways. Often, celebrities went to such places to be seen and tipped paps off that they’d be there.
“But anyway,” Dan continued, “I also thought it would be cool to stay where my parents stayed thirty years ago.”
“I didn’t think Are Moana was that old. It looks quite modern.”
“The bungalow’s new, but back then, they had two dorm rooms in the main house. One for boys, and one for girls. My parents had to sleep apart.”
“So, this really would be a trip down memory lane for your mom. Are Moana is gorgeous. I’m sure she’ll love what Mr. Hehu and Serita have done with the place.”
“I’m sorry you’ve had to move out.” Dan looked at his hands. “If it’s any consolation, when I saw Hehu and his daughter this morning to pass my thanks on to the nurse, they couldn’t apologize enough for the double booking.”
“Oh, they’ve been great. I’m not mad at them at all, and they’ve fixed me up with a nice little place farther along Muri Beach.
It’s got a second room, too, so Karim can sleep there.
The only thing is, after tonight, it isn’t available again until the day before Christmas Eve, but even that’s okay because—get this!
I went ahead with this cool ten-day package deal to Atiu. ”
“Atiu? That’s another island near here, isn’t it?”
Libby nodded. “It’s a forty-five-minute flight away. Population four hundred. Isn’t that amazing? I thought Rarotonga would be the farthest Karim and I would ever get from the rest of the world, so this is a dream come true.”
Dan whistled, seemingly impressed. “My sisters say a trip to the supermarket with kids becomes an all-out mission, and you’re doing all this.”
“Oh boy. We have the same missions, too. But that’s just it.
Being a mom is hard work wherever you are, whatever you do, and whomever you’re with.
” A lesson she’d begun learning the moment Karim was born.
“At least while we’re on the road, we can pretty much please ourselves.
I’m not looking at the same pile of dishes that need to be washed every night, or the same floor that needs to be swept, and if I don’t like where we’re living—or the company I’m keeping—I pack up and move on.
If everything is going well, then we stay. ”
“You make traveling with a kid sound like a picnic.” Dan leaned back in his chair and, with a soft wince, stretched his leg out to the side of the table.
Libby’s gaze drifted to the scars on his knee, her big mouth twitching with questions. “I guess life hasn’t been a picnic for you recently, huh?”
“No, it hasn’t.”
“Is that why you came out here, even though your…your plans had changed?”
“Yeah.” Dan shifted in his seat as he gazed out toward the horizon again.
Knowing when to shut up was a skill just as important as knowing when to ask questions.
So Libby let the silence stretch out between them.
She glanced under the table to check on Karim.
He was lying on his stomach, still playing with his cars.
Farther down the beach, a gray-haired white couple walked hand in hand along the water’s edge.
A moped scooted past along the island road, and music from the café’s kitchen drifted on the breeze.
“They’ve been hounding me for a story for weeks.”
Libby turned back to Dan.
“Journalists,” he added. “Paparazzi. That’s why I came out here…even though my plans had changed. Keeping the press off my back was becoming a full-time job.”
Whoa. She hadn’t expected such honesty.
Libby swallowed. “Don’t you have an agent to handle all that for you?”
“Not anymore.”
“Oh.”
He shrugged. “But it’s not like an agent is around when so-called journalists climb over my back fence and press their faces against my window.”
“That’s not cool.” Libby studied her nails.
Under Juliana’s orders, she’d pressed her face up against people’s windows on more than one occasion.
True, those windows mainly belonged to politicians on house arrest, but there’d often been innocent kids and wives in the house too. “That must feel very…violating.”
“It is. But you know, journalists will do anything for money and prestige.”
“I guess.” Libby bit her lip, ashamed of her past. Ashamed of her initial intention to reveal Dan’s secrets. But the new Libby Jones didn’t do things like that anymore. And she’d helped him in the end instead of selling him out. “So…I read a while back that running might be—”
“Yeah, that’s over.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said sharply.
“I guess not.” And there was her big mouth again, putting that abrupt tone back in his voice when she’d only meant to change topics away from the journalists he so clearly hated. Damn her stupid curiosity. But double damn—she couldn’t help it. Daniel Jones was so freaking interesting.
She could write a whole series of articles about him!
Or even make a whole series of mini documentaries.
Lightning Strike: The Highs and Lows of Daniel Jones.
How he dealt with the trauma of his accident, what it took for him to get back on his feet.
The guy must have guts of steel and an off-the-charts pain threshold to have undergone all that physio.
Though right now, the one topic that would really gather interest in any story about Daniel Jones was what had happened between him and Isabella. Which was the one question Libby could never ask.
Not when she already knew the answer.
Dammit. If only so many people’s lives wouldn’t be affected by that little secret slipping out into the world.
Hunter, his wife, their children. Even Isabella.
Her squeaky-clean reputation would be ruined, and what message would her affair with a married man give to all those young people who looked up to her as a role model?
The world was full of nasty, salacious gossip. Once upon a time, Libby had been responsible for churning some of it out, but not anymore. From now on, for Karim’s sake if nothing else, she’d focus only on positivity and inspiration.
And that right there was why she found Daniel Jones so interesting. If he ever stopped sulking for more than five minutes, he’d realize his accident wasn’t the end.
It was just the beginning.