Once upon a time, I fantasized that she and I could live like this forever. Together in a luxurious location, both of us taken care of, nothing lacking.
“Yes.” The breeze blew in and lifted her peroxide-blond hair off her cheek, revealing the entirety of the grin that lit up her face. She turned from the view to face me. “Well, not just like.”
Because this time only one of us would get the guy. For half a minute I’d forgotten.
“No, I guess not,” I agreed, and I managed to keep beaming despite the sinking feeling in my chest. A slow sinking, as though a paper airplane had been tied to my heart or my hope or the ball of optimism that I kept trying to nourish and sustain inside, and now had been tossed out into the wind. Little by little, it made its descent, carrying everything wonderful between us with it.
Behind us, footsteps could be heard across the stone tile of the common area. “Filip,” Amber said. “I’ll tell him whose bags are whose.” She turned to go.
“For what it’s worth,” I called after her, “I think the parts that are like old times are really nice.”
“Me, too.” She disappeared into the hallway and I reminded myself that, while there was beauty in this fall, paper airplanes never stayed in flight for long. Eventually, I’d hit the ground.
We spent the rest of the day settling in. Reeve was absent for both lunch and dinner, but with the four security guards, Filip, Alex, and two women house servants, the house didn’t feel lonely. While everyone else dined inside, Amber and I took our supper on the lanai off the kitchen, and, when the sweet Polynesian girl left the bottle after pouring my glass of merlot, I passed it to Amber.
“You’re very naughty,” she said with a wink. She dumped the water from her glass on the stone ground and replaced it with wine. “Reeve would not approve.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t.” I knew she assumed that my disregard for his rules meant that she still held the highest position of authority over me, and I let her believe that.
In truth, I wasn’t sure what my motive was. It might have had more to do with Reeve than with Amber. There was a stab of satisfaction at the idea of riling him up, even if he didn’t ever find out.
After dinner, we hung out in Amber’s room like old girlfriends at a sleepover. I’d commandeered a second bottle of wine from the kitchen and by the time we’d finished it off, I was feeling more tired than tipsy.
Seeming to sense that I was fading, she stood up from her bed where we’d been lounging and stretched. “I think I’m going to take a bath.”
“Okay.”
“Or I can soak in the hot tub instead, if you want to join me.”
I stifled a yawn. “I’ll take a rain check. I didn’t sleep on the plane like someone else I know, and this time difference is killing me.”
“You’re going to call it a night then?”
“Just as soon as I can work up the energy to get off this bed.”
She pulled a pair of panties out of a drawer and a slinky nightie out of another, and I tried not to think about the reason she’d picked out something so blatantly sexy in her online shopping spree.
Don’t think about it, I told myself. So she was planning to seduce Reeve. I’d have to get used to her sleeping in his bed sooner or later.
“No rush,” she said. “You’re welcome in my bed as long as you want. Make yourself at home.”
Yeah, because she probably isn’t expecting to sleep in here herself.
At the door, she paused. “But if you aren’t here when I get out, I love you and sweet dreams.”
Her declaration of affection caressed and scratched, like a beloved fleece blanket that had lost its softness from one too many times in the wash. I knew she loved me, and hearing her say the words warmed me, but they felt uncomfortable at the same time, and I didn’t know what to do with them or how to react.
She lingered, and after a few seconds I realized she wanted me to return the endearment.
The best I could manage was, “Same here.”
Fortunately, it was enough. She grinned then disappeared into her bathroom, and a minute later I heard the sound of water filling the tub.
With a weary groan, I pushed myself up to a sitting position then froze, my eye catching on an item sticking out of the travel bag open on the dresser.
I’d generally been one to respect Amber’s privacy, even when she didn’t always return the favor. But curiosity and concern overruled that consideration, and before I could think twice, I’d crossed to the bag and pulled out the object that had attracted my attention – a full prescription bottle. Two bottles, actually, one hiding under the other. Without removing the caps, I recognized the round, white pills inside as oxycodone.
Goddammit, I swore quietly.
And if I wondered where she’d gotten them, one look at the labels told me. Both had been prescribed to Bud Greenwood – Buddy. He hadn’t just given her cigarettes; he’d loaded her up with drugs.
I counted the seconds by the tick of the wall clock as I debated what to do about my discovery. One hundred twenty ticks passed before I decided that I’d thought about it for two minutes too long. Two bottles of oxy was serious. This wasn’t the same as secretly sharing two bottles of wine.
With both containers in hand, I took off in search of Reeve.
I crossed the courtyard between the east wing of the house and the center building. Seeing that the office light was off, I traipsed through the open door of the master bedroom, already making my announcement as I entered. “You won’t believe what I just found in Amber’s room.”