Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Looks like the missus came out to greet you,” Bruce jokes as we stride down the long wooden dock toward the shore.
I follow his gaze and spot Sabrina sitting on one of our beach chairs. She’s wearing her oversized sunglasses, with her dark hair arranged in a loose side braid and her nose buried in her thriller.
“We’re going to grill up that mahi-mahi for dinner,” Kevin says, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “You and Sabrina are welcome to join us.”
My stomach growls at that. It’s only four o’clock, a bit early for dinner, but the lobster salad and breadsticks we had on their boat hadn’t filled me up. “Let me go ask the missus.”
Sabrina smiles at my approach. “Hey! How was it?”
“Fucking awesome,” I admit. “The guys asked if we want to—” I stop in horror. “What the hell happened to you?”
Sabrina, who’d been in the process of twisting around to tuck her book in her beach bag, eyes me in confusion. “What? What do you mean?”
I tug her off the chair and turn her around. The brief glimpse I’d caught of her back hadn’t misled me. Now that I have a full, clear view, there’s no mistaking the sunburn. Her skin is nearly the same shade of red as her bikini strings.
Sighing, I poke her lightly between the shoulder blades.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“You’re sunburnt. It looks bad, darlin’. Didn’t you put on sunblock?”
Her nose scrunches, and she looks away while she thinks for a moment. “I fell asleep for a bit after I got off the phone with Jamie. I might have forgotten.”
Sighing, I just look at her.
“Don’t give me that Dad look,” she warns. “Because you’re looking a bit red yourself.”
“I’m fine.”
Eyes narrowed, she lifts the hem of my T-shirt and smacks my stomach.
I flinch. “Fuck, Sabrina. Christ.” It feels like she threw scalding water at me.
It’s then that I glance down and see the stark white handprint left behind on a very red canvas.
“Well, shit.” Guess I forgot too.
Sabrina looks like she doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She opens her mouth to speak but is interrupted by a commotion from the water’s edge. Our attention shifts to Bruce and Kevin, who are examining something on the wet sand.
“Tuck!” Bruce shouts when he catches my gaze. “Sabrina! C’mere! You are not gonna believe this!”
Exchanging a wary look, we walk over to the men to see what all the fuss is about. When we reach them, Bruce is peeling strands of seaweed off some item I can’t quite make out.
When he flings the last of the seaweed off, I suck in a breath. Jesus fucking Christ.
“How remarkable is this?” Kevin says, eyes wide. “It just came in with the tide and floated right up to our feet.”
A curious Sabrina steps forward before I can stop her. “What is it?”
Then she sees Alexander and starts to cry.
29
Sabrina
Day 5
This trip is one indignity after another. The day after Alexander forces himself back into our lives, Tucker and I both wake up feeling like pieces of fried chicken. We spend the morning slathering aloe on each other while putting towels down so we don’t ruin the expensive white couch in the living room. We alternate between that and lying on the cold marble floor.
“Maybe we should just call it,” I tell Tucker.
“Call it?”
“Accept defeat and go home.”
“You want to leave?” Plastered to the floor, he turns his face to look up at me where I lie facedown on the couch because even the air touching my back feels like a million fire ants feasting on my flesh.
“We’re halfway through this trip, and at this rate we’ll end up dead before it’s over. And I miss Jamie. A few minutes on the phone isn’t enough. And who knows what your mom is feeding her.”
“I miss her too, but they’re fine.” He sits up, wincing when the side of his thumb accidentally brushes his sunburnt stomach. “I know there’ve been a few bumps, but we’re not going to get another chance at this for a while once you start your new job.”
“Don’t remind me.”
It’s the constant thought that’s stalked me every day since graduation. I’m no closer to a decision while the stress of making the wrong choice mounts like my throat is filling with sand. And, frankly, I don’t appreciate Tucker piling more guilt on me for our much-delayed honeymoon going to hell.
“What’s that look?” he demands, because he can read me like a book.
“Nothing.”
“Sabrina.”
I sit up too, trying to stop the words biting on my tongue. But they spill out anyway. “I’m sorry my career is ruining everything for you.”
“Hey. That’s not what I said. But for what it’s worth, having to choose between two pretty great opportunities isn’t an awful problem to have. At least you’re excited about both jobs.”