Chapter 19
Zander secured the camcorder on the tripod, flipped the screen to face him so he could check the view, and hit record before taking a seat in the chair across from it.
A quick glance over his shoulder said that Kat was busy hanging the beach towels on the banister outside the beach house, her blonde hair getting tousled by the breeze.
Just the sight of her did things to his insides. It was unlike anything he’d experienced. The sudden shift when she was near. Like someone had snipped the wires of his body’s natural make, made everything go haywire in the most exciting and addictive way.
She was magic.
He hoisted his arm in the air, waved to get her attention, and grinned like a lovesick pup when she did. “I love you, Princess of the Pillows,” he declared.
“I love you, too, Robin of the Hood, champion archer of the west.”
It would take a while to wipe the grin off his face, he knew that much. But he turned back to the camera and tried just the same.
They’d promised to capture footage of their time there, which they’d done, and now it was time for the video diary.
He sighed a breath of contentment and set his eyes on the lens. “ Dang, she’s cute. So I’m supposed to talk about my…let’s see, thoughts and feelings, I think. My thoughts are this—Kat Morgan is an incredible woman. And in a matter of days, I’ve fallen in love with her. Undeniably.”
That smile came back as he recalled the declaration she’d given in return.
“I’ve been asked in each interview if I think this whole social experiment thing can work.
I’ve been pretty confident that it could, but not as confident as I am right now.
We’ve had a great time at the Maldives, and if all goes as I hope it will, I’ll be bringing Kat here for our anniversaries for years to come. ”
Kat stared at the camera while an inner dare ran through her mind. What would happen if she watched Duke’s video? It wouldn’t be hard. She’d simply need to hit the play button, tap the rewind tab a few times, and listen to what he had to say.
As much as she liked the idea, Kat decided against it. Her Robin of the Hood had been open and honest about his feelings, and she didn’t want to betray his trust by watching the taping behind his back.
So she reached over, pressed record, and sank back into the chair. He’d set the tripod on a place in the shade, but even still Kat couldn’t help but squint against the brightness as she looked at the lens.
“Duke Benton has surprised me in a million ways,” she said.
“And here we are, just halfway into our honeymoon, and I can honestly say that I’ve fallen in love with him.
” She laughed and shook her head. “It probably sounds crazy, but there’s a reason I felt so…
good about the experiment. And that reason is… well, it was meant to lead me to him.”
She took time to talk about their picnic beneath the trees, and the moment they’d declared their love for each other as well. It wasn’t until she was wrapping up the recording that she heard the distant hum of a motorboat.
Kat glanced away from the lens, stood to her feet, and looked out over the water as Jamal approached. It was then she noticed he wasn’t alone. Both Marsha and Randall sat in back. Marsha wore a pair of sunglasses that reflected Randall and his bright orange life vest. Twice.
A dart of concern snuck in as she guessed at why they would come. She and Duke were supposed to have the night to themselves after all. Kat was quick to stop the recording and head for the dock.
Hopefully nothing had happened back home. She mindfully breezed through the possibilities. Dad was in good health, Mom too. There was Jeanie, Craig, hopefully the boys were okay. She considered Duke’s side too, praying all was good with his family as well.
“Sorry to bother you, Kat,” Marsha said once Jamal killed the engine. She made her way out while he tied up the boat. “I’ve got to let you in on a new…development.”
Randall clung onto the collar of his life vest in a far corner of the boat, his eyes fixed on Jamal, who was still tying up the boat.
“Is Duke inside?” Marsha asked.
“Yes,” Kat said, moving to lead the way. But the woman put out a hand to stay her. “I’ll go speak to him. You stay out here and talk to Randall.” Marsha threw a look at the co-producer over her shoulder. “It’s safe now,” she assured. “Come on.”
Kat glanced back at Randall before turning her gaze back to Marsha. Why did she want them to be separated for the conversation? It didn’t make any sense.
“Is everything okay back at home?” she hollered to Marsha.
“Yep,” she piped without looking back. “Your families are fine.” Marsha was halfway to the beach house now. “Duke?” she called again.
Kat watched Duke hurry onto the patio. He was quick to look from Marsha over to her. A furrow creased his brow. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” she heard Marsha say. “Let’s go inside.”
Why did Kat have to be the one to talk to Randall? He’d take forever to spit out the details. Meanwhile, Duke was probably already hearing the gist of what they faced. Which was what, exactly?
Jamal offered Randall his hand and escorted the nervous man onto the dock.
Her anxious thoughts became sharp grains of sand, threatening to scratch the smooth layer of peace she’d enjoyed only moments ago.
“What is it?” Kat asked Randall. “What happened?”
The man pointed to a lookout bench at the end of the dock. “Let’s have a seat down there.”
Chaos broke out like an inner storm, forcing her body into panic mode. Stop, Kat. Calm down. But the effects were already coming. Chest tightening. Breaths speeding. Throat achy and dry.
She sucked in a slower, deeper breath and forced herself to hold it as Randall planted himself on the bench, the life vest still in place. She thought he favored the flushed and shiny look before; this climate brought that out even more.
He smeared fingers over his face before squaring a look at her. “There’s a social media page that’s growing a whole lot of popularity. We noticed it develop on the night of the live wedding. It was small at first, but it quickly began to grow.”
Kat shrugged, unable to even guess at what it was about. “Okay…”
“It’s called INDIZ, which is an acronym for It’s Not Duke, It’s Zander.”
The inner storm became a full-on tsunami. Each word like a separate, booming quake beneath the surface. It’s not Duke, it’s Zander.
She gulped, shook her head, willed the fuzzy state of her mind to sharpen. “They think it’s Zander.” She pointed a look at Randall. “Why do they think that?” Already her mind was racing. Was it possible they were right?
“They have their reasons,” he said with the wave of his hand.
“Like what?”
“Things like Zander not showing up for the wedding. Duke suddenly having Zander’s hairstyle instead of that man bun he likes so much…”
“Oh.” The single word hovered in the warm, suddenly breezeless air. “Yeah, I guess I can see why people thought that. But that doesn’t mean that it was him. Or is him. Even I thought it was Zander at first,” Kat admitted. “But their faces are identical, so they wouldn’t really know.”
Randall nodded. “True.” He gripped at the collar of his life vest once more and threw a look over his shoulder.
Kat braced herself for a freakout. Surely that inner tsunami was on the rise again, ready to wreak havoc in its usual ways.
But as she pulled in a tentative breath, the details Randall shared simmering in her mind, something strange happened. Her muscles weren’t tensing. Her throat wasn’t clamping. She felt…good.
She pulled in a breath of confidence as her shoulders rose. Despite what those viewers might think, Kat was confident that she was with Duke, not Zander. “Is that all you guys wanted to talk about—some conspiracy page about a twin swap?”
Randall tipped his head to one side. “Some of the…suggestions are more compelling than others.”
“Like what?” she prodded, feeling more irritated than anything else. The producers were making something out of nothing. She turned back to see if Duke had come out of the beach house yet; he was probably furious.
“Some people have taken clips from the Lion’s Den,” Randall said, “and placed them side-by-side with footage from the wedding. They say Duke’s dimple is more noticeable than Zander’s.
Their voices are almost impossible to distinguish, but they speak differently, you know?
The words they use…the way they carry themselves. That type of thing.”
Kat studied Randall as a realization came to mind. “You think they’re right.” It came out in a whisper.
He shrugged, tugged at his vest a little more. “I think they have a good case,” he said. “Which is why we’re here. To see what he has to say about it.”
“He’s going to be mad,” Kat assured. “It’s bad enough that perfect strangers are accusing him of lying. But you guys?” She shook her head and came to a stand. “I better go see how he’s doing.”
Sure, she hadn’t had a lot of time to sort out what Randall had shared, but she didn’t need it.
Unlike everyone on that social media page, Kat had spent every waking moment with Duke.
Heck, they’d only just declared their love for one another.
She would know if he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t.
“Why don’t you wait for them to finish up in there,” Randall hollered from behind.
But Kat only walked on. Marsha Langford could be a real shark. She was probably pinning Duke and his family with all sorts of financial threats over the whole thing. Plus, he might be worried that Kat actually believed this crap. She didn’t, and the sooner she let him know that, the better.
Yet even as she headed toward the beach house, ready to get the answer she knew would come, hints of that tsunami rumbled low in her gut. And as much as she wanted to dismiss it, that rumble felt an awful lot like a warning.