A strange smile tipped her lips. “Oh, I don’t know. I kind of feel like killing you now just to see.”
He laughed too loud. “See? You’re fun. You’re funny. But you’ve got to admit, you’d drive me crazy if we were stuck together for ten days.”
“‘Stuck’?” The word trembled. For some reason, her brain flashed back to all of the spring and summer breaks when her parents would quietly argue in their bedroom about who would bring Presley to work with them. Each of them acted like they were happy to do so to her face, and she knew they loved her, but she’d always felt like… a burden.
“This is a great birthday present, Pres.”
Her spine stiffened as she pushed against the hard plastic back of the booth. Both of her brows lifted. “Seems like it.”
He covered one of her hands with his. It was clammy. “Itis.But a real gift is all about the recipient, right?”
Tears blurred her vision just a little as the effort it had taken to coordinate and execute this surprise flipped through her head. “It was definitely all about you.”
“Then I should get to pick who I want to go with me.”
Her heart might have actually stopped in her chest. Pulling her hand back, she sat up straighter. “What? Are you nuts?”
Emmett looked around, then at Presley. “Keep your voice down. No, I’m not nuts. If I was, I’d go on a ten-day vacation with the woman I’m seeing.”
Presley’s temples throbbed and she swore she heard a sharp crack. Probably the last of her patience. “‘Seeing’? What the hell is that supposed to mean? This isn’t high school. We’ve been together for eight months. I thought we were moving forward.”
Again, he looked around like the few customers in the diner were watching the show. “We are. Just clearly not in the same direction. Thisis fun and all, but my idea of a vacation doesn’t involve being nagged for ten days to keep you busy and entertained.”
The sharp breath she sucked in made her cough. Those tears spilled over, but at least now she could blame them on choking. She took a sip of her pop, grabbed her purse, and stood up.
“You are a complete ass. I can’t believe I thought we had something special.”
He looked up, his expression guarded. “To be fair, you think everything is special. You see what you want to see and read too much into things, Pres.”
She kept the bad words flitting through her brain to herself, leaned over, grabbed the packet, and tucked it in her purse. “Well, this will be easy to read into: you now have tonight and the rest of your life free and clear to do whatever you want. We’re done.”
“Stop being dramatic. Where are you going?”
Her lips curved. “On the vacation of your dreams. Alone.”
She hurried toward the door, briefly locking eyes with the waitress, who had clearly heard everything. When Emmett tried to follow, the waitress stopped him.
“Excuse me, sir, if you leave without paying, I’ll be forced to call the police.”
She heard Emmett swear, but it gave her time to get to her car. Small kindnesses—even if they were just an extra few seconds of space to breathe and toss her idiot ex’s bags onto the cement of Slices’ parking lot. As a bonus, she got to see Emmett’s stunned expression as his bag burst open and the contents spilled out.
Two
Presley’s stomach roiled like angry waves as she stared at the boat meant to take them to the lodge. She didn’t really remember the bus ride from the airport. She’d watched through the window as buildings, cars, and people whipped past without actually seeing anything. She’d gone through the motions like she was on a human assembly line and somehow ended uphere.The details of it were foggy at best, but she would sure as heck remember this part. After experiencing the bus with wings that the airline called a plane, she hadn’t thought it could get worse.
It was one of many things she’d been wrong about today.You see what you want to see.Well, she didnotwant to see this. Or get on it. The boat seemed too small to be called a cruiser. She couldn’t keep hesitating on the pier like she was about to walk the plank. A tall, dark-haired guy with mirrored sunglasses stood behind her like a reminder that she could only go forward.
When she was little, she’d asked her parents if she could sleep over at a friend’s house. They’d said yes, but when she’d woken in the middle of the night, wanting nothing more than to go home, they’d told her she had made her choice and they’d pick her up in the morning. Follow-through was an Ayers family must. She’d made her choice. The person behind her was ready to go. She just needed to do it first.
“Let me help you,” the boat captain offered, extending his hand.
Did people have to go to school to operate boats?They must. Of course they do. It’s a vehicle. You need a license to drive a vehicle.
“I promise you, it’s safe,” the guy behind her said in a low, steadyvoice. He must have leaned closer, because the chill running through her body lessened for a fraction of a second—whether from the warmth of his tone or from his body heat, she didn’t know. The pleasant scent of his cologne, or maybe just his soap, worked like smelling salts bringing her back to life.
It got her on board. Even though the deck felt more like an extension of the wobbly dock than a boat, she made it to the closest seat. There was a small hard-shell canopy at the front of the boat, but Presley’s chill returned, and she didn’t want to move, even if it meant her fair skin would burn. Leaning her back against the padded leather seat cushion, she hugged her large travel bag to her chest.
The ferry terminal was smaller than she had expected, with only a few boats docked. One boat had cars being loaded onto its lower bay while passengers walked up a ramp to a higher level. In the distance, an impressive bridge stretched across the sky. Because she was unable to see the beginning or end from where she sat, it gave the illusion of being suspended, even with its concrete pillars and cable lines.
