Chapter 17
Early the next morning, Dan woke with the sheet tangled around his legs and his pillow bunched up against the wall.
His breath came quick and his heart beat in his throat, but instead of ending up on the floor after dodging the horse in his nightmare, he remained rooted to the mattress by the bright-blue sky streaming through his window.
The glowing daylight told him exactly where he was.
His pulse steadied, and in a slow, measured exhale, he let his breath—along with the fear, the pain, the memories—go.
Just a dream. It’s not real. Not anymore.
Rubbing his face, he sat up and took another deep breath as he stared at the sky, waiting for the dread to descend like it always did every morning.
But not today.
The sun. The tips of the palm trees he could see through his window. Libby, holding her camera last night and giggling when she’d asked her questions. It all ran through Dan’s mind, keeping the dread at bay enough to allow something that felt like excitement to flow in.
He swung his legs off the bed as best he could, then loosened his neck and shoulders.
Indeed, dread had been replaced with an unexpected awareness that he was looking forward to today.
Being friends with Libby again had a lot to do with that.
These past couple of days without her had been lonely.
Now, he had four hours before she and Karim came to call for him.
They’d go to the beach, and after lunch, while Karim napped, Libby would shoot their first proper interview.
Part One. His childhood. Life before fame.
His early life had been covered many times before, but he suspected Libby’s questions would make it feel like a whole different experience.
She’d put a new spin on things; he knew she would.
He just didn’t know how. Which should worry him, but it didn’t.
He trusted her, and he was prepared to be guided by whatever style she thought would work best—as long as she kept her promise to keep their content an Isabella-free zone.
Any other journalist he’d had worked with in the past would’ve questioned this request. They’d have made a story out of it.
But not Libby. Her easy acceptance was just what he’d needed, because when the shit of Issy’s affair hit the fan—and it was only a matter of time before it did—he didn’t want to be on record saying anything about her.
Whatever he said would be taken out of context, and he’d either look na?ve and stupid for supposedly not knowing about her affair with Hunter or look like a complete liar for covering up the real reason for their breakup.
Either way, his engagement to Isabella was in the past. So what if his heart still ached a little at all his discarded dreams—it wasn’t like he was still in love with her.
How could he be, when she’d stopped loving him?
When, quite possibly, she’d never been in love with him in the first place.
Because if she had been, she wouldn’t have fallen in love with someone else so easily.
Dan dressed, cleaned his teeth, and headed outside to work out in the colonel’s garden, like he’d done every morning for the past three days. Barely 6:30 a.m., and the humidity was already rising.
A cockerel crowed nearby. Somewhere in the bushes, chickens clucked and scratched. The garden was surrounded by unruly ancient forest and palm trees, but right in the middle, there was a lawn. It looked like it had been plucked out of the Home Counties of England. Out of place. Not quite fitting.
Just like him. Plucked out of his old life and dumped into his new one.
Dan rubbed his chest where Libby had poked him yesterday. You’re alive, you idiot. You’re alive. It was time to crack on with the new life. Easy to say; difficult to do.
But as he began to ease his stiff body into his exercise routine, instead of dwelling on his loss, he focused on the plans he’d loosely made for post-retirement.
Plans that had been brought a few years forward thanks to his accident, but decent plans, nonetheless.
He glimpsed a future filled with training other athletes.
Helping them to be the best that they could be.
Or coaching them back to recovery after injury.
Dan studied the grass under his bare feet. It was emerald green, lush, and soft. The lawn might look out of place, but it was thriving.
And one day, he’d thrive again, too.
After his workout and breakfast, Dan stood outside the Cabin’s main entrance to wait for Libby and Karim.
They were late, not that it mattered, but he headed down the road toward the village anyway to meet them.
He heard them a few minutes before he saw them turn the corner.
Karim was pushing the stroller at a snail’s pace and objecting with a frustrated squeal every time Libby tried to steer him away from a bush.
She looked frazzled, like she’d been striving for patience all morning. Hiding a smile, Dan walked up to them.
“Everything okay, kiddo?” he asked.
Karim stopped mid-whine and stared at him wide-eyed, as if trying to decide whether to cry or cheer up.
Dan couldn’t help but grin at him. He looked so small. “How about a high five?”
The kid managed a smile and smacked his little palm against Dan’s, and then with a dramatic half-whine, half-cry, he buried his face against Libby’s legs, as if he’d just remembered he should be in a bad mood.
Libby pulled a despairing face. “Sorry we took so long,” she said.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” She hoisted the grumbling child onto her hip.
“And now even the sky’s the wrong color for you, isn’t it, honey?
” She swiped at her forehead with the back of her free hand.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, either. ”
Yeah, he could tell, but he kept that to himself and asked, “How come?”
“I was working. I had a deadline.” She told him about an article she’d had to write for a parenting magazine. No wonder she looked shattered.
“I didn’t realize you had work,” Dan said. “I shouldn’t have stayed so long last night. Libby, I—”
Karim whined again and thrashed around on Libby’s hip.
“You want to walk again?” she asked.
Karim shook his head and moaned, just like his sisters’ kids did when something had crawled up their backsides. Libby puffed out her cheeks and, with her free hand, pulled out a tub from the bottom of the stroller. “Here. Have some mango?”
Karim shook his head like she’d offered him a lump of mud.
“That figures that you don’t like them now that we’ve got a ton in the fridge.”
“Here, let me take him.” Dan stretched out his hands.
“Oh, no, that’s okay.”
“Let me help, Libby.” He patted his shoulders. “Come up here, kid. You’ll be up high. You can touch the leaves of the trees as we walk.”
Contemplating the offer, Karim gave him that wide-eyed stare again, but Dan didn’t wait for his answer. He took him from Libby’s arms.
“No, Dan, he—” But when the kid let out a little laugh, Libby gave Dan the same wide-eyed stare. “He doesn’t usually go with other people,” she said, frowning. “He can get heavy. Is the extra weight all right for you? Your leg…”
“He’s fine.” The dull ache was only a little worse, so Dan ignored the extra pressure on his hips. “I’ve run with sandbags heavier than him.” Karim’s giggles were worth the discomfort, anyway. Then, glancing at Libby, he added, “You’re not used to people helping you out, are you?”
“No, I guess not.” She wiped her brow again, then massaged her neck. “We haven’t had any help since we left my friend Rick’s place in London.”
Libby had mentioned this guy Rick before, but now Dan’s interest piqued. “Are you two involved?”
“Me and Rick?” Libby choked. “Oh, goodness, no. Not at all. He’s good-looking, if you like tattoos and blue hair.”
“Blue…?”
“Yeah, you heard. Blue hair.”
“Is he a Smurf?”
Libby giggled. “He’s shaved it off now, but when we lived with him earlier this year, the blue hair was his ‘thing’ for one of his channels.
” She flicked her own hair. “That’s why I made it my thing too when he inspired me to start up my own.
It not only makes you stand out on a thumbnail but also gives off funky vibes—if that’s the kind of crowd you’re trying to attract. ”
“He certainly sounds funky.”
“But if you ever see his videos, don’t be fooled by the redneck persona,” she said. “Rick is a very shrewd businessman and one of the best investigative journalists out there. He’s—”
Someone jumped out of the bushes. “Hello there!” It was the colonel.
“Henry!” Dan held Karim’s hands tighter and stepped closer to Libby, who’d yanked the stroller as if she’d been about to chuck it at the old man in defense. “You nearly gave us a heart attack.”
“Gosh, I’m sorry, old chap.” Henry guffawed.
“I was hacking back bushes when I heard voices.” His eyes were fixed on Libby as he spoke—or rather, Libby’s chest. But she was laughing now, one hand on Karim’s leg, as if to tell him everything was all right, and the other spread above her left breast, as if to calm her thumping heart. “Hello there, young lady.”
“Hi!” Libby introduced herself with a smile that was wide, bright, and lethal. “So, you’re Henry Harrison?” Of course she’d already know the old man’s full name. She stretched out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you’re the woman who everyone thinks is married to this man.” Henry nodded toward him. “Cheerful chap, isn’t he?”
Dan snorted. “Thanks.”
Libby burst out laughing. “He has his moments.” Then she introduced Karim, who, at the mention of his name, kicked his legs and made that grizzling noise that meant he wanted his mum again.
Dan lowered him off his shoulders and handed him back to Libby, who immediately engulfed the little guy against her chest and kissed his head.
“You have a beautiful place here, Henry.”