9. Soleil
SOLEIL
Day Seven
The morning of our last full day on the island dawned warm and bright.
We were snuggled against each other on the outdoor sofa of the balcony, wrapped up in the fluffy resort-issued robes that we loved so much.
Spencer had ordered protein shakes from the café we’d visited a few days earlier when we went on the run. The bellman had brought them up to us.
Spencer having the drinks delivered, as opposed to us going out and getting them, led me to believe that it would be a lazy morning with no pressing team obligations.
“Is today a chill day?” I questioned.
“Today is definitely a chill day,” he told me. “If we don’t have to leave this room, we shouldn’t leave this room.”
“Agreed. We’ll just need to order breakfast. I’m starving.”
“Just tell me what you want, and I’ll order it, Sun.”
I pulled up Coastal Cantina’s menu on my phone, though I really should’ve known it by heart with as many times as I’d eaten there during the week. While I was perusing, Spencer’s phone rang.
I tried not to listen, and I was pretty much successful because all I caught were snippets.
I heard him say, “Man, is she okay?” And I hoped that the call wasn’t about his daughter.
I didn’t think it was, though, because he seemed pretty calm throughout the call.
I didn’t think he would have been calm if the call were about his daughter.
He said a few more things, but he seemed to listen a lot.
Finally, he ended the call and looked at me. “Harmony, Mikayla’s mother, had an accident.”
“Is she okay?”
“I mean, it’s not life-threatening, but she fucked up her knee.
She’s an attorney. She works in the juvenile court system.
Apparently, some parent was pissed and brushed past her too hard outside the courthouse, knocked her down the stairs.
The stairs are concrete, and there’s a lot of them.
She busted her knee. That was her mom. They ain’t wanna call me, but Harmony’s going into emergency surgery as we speak.
They’re gonna admit her to the hospital.
Someone needs to be there to take care of Mikayla. ”
I was shocked, particularly because my dad had recently suffered a similar fall that messed up his ankle. “Oh my gosh. That’s a lot.” I jumped up from the sofa. “Can I help you pack while you look for a flight?”
He stared at me.
“What?”
“Nothin’. I guess I’m trippin’ because you’re not trippin’. This is our last day together, and I have to cut it short.”
“To go take care of your daughter. Who would trip over that, Spence? It’s not like you’re leaving for something frivolous.
This is important.” I took a deep breath because the thought of some hypothetical woman being selfish enough to give him shit about needing to be with his daughter pissed me off for him.
“My suitcase is in the closet.” He pointed to the closet.
I left the balcony and walked into the suite. He stayed on the balcony looking for a flight.
I had most of his clothes out of the dresser drawers and on the bed when he stepped into the suite. “The closest airport to them is in Charleston. There are no direct flights from here to Charleston. I had to charter something. The private jet will pick me up in about two hours.”
“Okay, let’s get you packed.”
“Let’s shower right quick first.”
I knew what that meant, so I let that fluffy robe drop right to the floor as I followed him into the bathroom. We had semi-leisurely sex, then washed each other, got out, and dressed. I combed my hair while he grabbed his toiletries. Then we packed his bag together.
When he was all packed, and his car was waiting downstairs to take him to the airstrip, I walked to the elevator with him.
“I know we had plans to chill together today,” he began, “since it was supposed to be our last full day on the island. But I don’t want this to be our last day, Sunshine. I wanna see you when we both get back to Chicago. You wanna see me?”
I nodded because I didn’t trust my voice.
“Shoot me your address in the city.”
I nodded again.
The elevator door slid open, and we stepped on and rode down in silence.
When the doors slid open again, the two of us stepped out into the lobby.
He held the handle of his luggage in one hand and my hand in the other.
At the hotel’s entrance, he bent and kissed me thoroughly while I held onto him for dear life.
“I’ll call you,” he promised before turning away from me and heading out of the hotel.
I didn’t cry. I didn’t cry. But both my heart and my stomach did some weird stuff inside of me.
I walked back to the elevator and took it to my floor.
Once I was in my room, I didn’t call Bryanna like I thought I would.
I didn’t cry on her shoulder or complain about how my fairytale last day in paradise was ruined by life’s unfortunate circumstances.
Instead, I pulled out my own suitcases and started to pack.
I would be back to reality tomorrow. There was no need to prolong the inevitable.
The next morning, I thought I would beat it out of the hotel as fast as my legs would carry me.
I thought I would want to put the disappointment of yesterday and the resort where it happened behind me as quickly as possible.
Instead, before checking out of my room, I took one last loop around the property.
I peeked into the conference rooms and ballrooms—all three of them—the one where the meet and greet took place; the one where the wine and cheese tasting happened; and the one where Spencer and I made dinner together.
I thought about the memories we’d made in each and surprised myself by smiling.
It was raining, so I only peeked at the beach. I allowed myself to smile again at the memories I made on the island because I was blessed to connect with Spencer Charles early on the first day. Those memories would serve as a reminder that good men did still exist.
I headed back to my room, grabbed my luggage, checked out, and boarded the shuttle to the airport.
The rain caused some delays at the airport, but I didn’t let it bother me.
I just listened to one of the audiobooks I had planned to listen to while I chilled on the beach.
I didn’t spend nearly as much time doing that as I thought I would, because my time was mostly otherwise occupied.
I loved that for me. I slipped on my headphones, queued up Unexpected Pass by A.
Blossom, and settled in. Before I knew it, it was time to board my plane.
The plane ride was uneventful, and soon enough I climbed into the passenger seat of Bryanna’s SUV.
“Welcome home, boo,” she told me with a grin.
I returned it. “Thanks, Chica.”
“Was it hard saying goodbye to Spence Charming this morning?”
“I never shoulda told you that I have him in my phone as that.”
“Nope, you shouldn’t have. ’Cause to me, he’ll always be Spence Charming.” We both laughed. “Was this morning hard? Did y’all agree to meet up as soon as you touched down? What?”
“Um, actually he had to leave yesterday morning.”
“What?”
I told her about the accident and how he needed to be there for his daughter.
“Aww, poor Mikayla.”
I turned in my seat to face her. “Uh, how do you know his daughter’s name?”
“Duh. I internet searched him.”
“What?”
She took her eyes off the road for a second to glance at me. “You didn’t?”
“No. He was right there with me. If I wanted to know something, I could’ve just asked him.”
“Oh, that is so early 2000’s of you.”
I chuckled. “Shut up. Anyway, I agree. Poor Mikayla.”
“How long will he be there?”
“Who knows?” I gave a shrug of my shoulders. “I guess for as long as it takes for . . . I think her name’s Harmony, to get back on her feet.”
Bryanna parked in front of my house and helped me carry my bags up the stairs of the front porch.
There was a package on top of my welcome mat.
I grabbed it and carried it inside, along with the bags.
As I placed my purse on the console table by the door, I looked at the return address on the package.
Written in the rushed and sloppy handwriting of most men was Spencer’s name, along with the address of a P.O. Box.
“It’s from Spencer.” I was confused.
“Oh, well, now you’ve gotta open it while I’m here,” she told me.
I wanted to grab the scissors to open the packaging, but apparently, Bryanna couldn’t wait to open my package.
She just used her fingernail file. Inside the box was a beautiful summer sundress.
It didn’t look like the one I’d worn at the resort, but it was still pretty and floral.
I picked up the note before Bryanna noticed and grabbed it because that was something she definitely would’ve done.
“For you to wear on our next date. See you then. Spence,” I read.