Provocative Paradise: A Secret Stranger Romance Read online

  “Who got him out of the car?”

  “Some bystanders. One of them took the kid and the other got the man. It was too late for the woman.”

  I could only lay there and listen. I wanted to scream, to cry, and to get up and go to Grace and Nora. Instead, I could only listen as my entire world ended. Why couldn’t I have died, too?

  I jolted awake. My head was pounding and my mouth was dry. Tears were streaming down my face. Why? Why couldn’t I have died in the accident too? Why did Grace and Nora have to leave me?

  Would I ever be able to escape the mental prison I was in? Tortured nightmares every night, sickening hangovers by day, only numbed by the alcohol that allowed me a few hours of sleep before the cycle began again.

  Just then, my phone rang. Reaching over, I answered it. “Hello?”

  “How’s it going?”

  I was surprised at how glad I was to hear Helen’s voice. “Pretty good.”

  “Pretty good? You’re in the fricking Bahamas and it’s ‘pretty good?’”

  I had to laugh. It felt like the first time I’d laughed in ages. “Okay, then. It’s fabulous. Magical. I’ve never been happier in my life.” I felt a pang in my stomach. Even though I was kidding, it still felt wrong to joke about being happy.

  “Right. So, tell me all about it. What have you been doing?”

  “Honestly, not much. I have been sleeping a lot. Something about the ocean air I guess. I didn’t realize how tired I really was.”

  “Still having the nightmares?” I’d told her about them a few months ago after a few particularly bad nights of not sleeping.

  “Yeah. But only once a night, not all night long like before. So, that’s an improvement.”

  “Good. Good. I am really glad you decided to take this trip. I did call to update you about work, and how everything is going with the projects. The Juniors were pretty surprised to say the least that you were gone. But everyone was happy about it.”

  I laughed again. “I bet they were happy. Especially Diane.” I’d been pretty hard on her the last time I was in the office.

  “Everyone has been worried about you, Liam. But before we get into the work stuff, I have some Helenly words of unsolicited advice, if you don’t mind.”

  “Helenly words of unsolicited advice? Sounds like a newspaper column.”

  “With what you pay me, I’d probably make more money. Anyway. Look. I know I was a little hard on you before you left.”

  My silence wasn’t because I agreed, but because I barely remembered the conversation.

  “I know you feel guilty about what happened with Grace and Nora. And I know that everyone has said that it wasn’t your fault. The other driver was drunk. There was nothing you could do. Blah blah blah. You’ve heard it all til you’re blue in the face.”

  “Yeah?” My voice sounded raspy and I choked back emotion.

  “The thing is Liam, you’re not dead. You didn’t die that night, and it wasn’t by accident. I know you’re not a religious guy, and frankly I’m glad for that. But I, for one, believe in a grand scheme of things. If your time was up, it would have been up. The fact that you are still here means your story isn’t over yet. You need to learn how to live your life again.”

  It was just like what I imagined she’d said when I was in the shower.

  “I don’t...”

  “I know you don’t want to. But you have to. Wishing you were dead won’t make it come true. Grace and Nora would want you to be happy. They would! You know I’m right.”

  I took a deep breath. She was right.

  One night, Grace and I had made love, we had the conversation that lovers do. “If something happens to me, I would want you to remarry,” she’d said.

  “I could never do that!”

  “Please. Liam. I need to know that you would find love and happiness again. I would hate for you to be sad and alone for the rest of your life.”

  I knew everyone was right. What I didn’t know was how to do it. Maybe this retreat was the place to figure that out.

  Helen interrupted my thoughts. “All right. Enough of that. I want to update you on our projects.”

  ***

  After the call with Helen, I spent the whole afternoon napping. Now, the sun was setting, and I opened the front door to the bungalow to get some fresh air. I’d been thinking all about what Helen had said. Maybe it was time for me to let go of the past. I knew my drinking and anger had gotten out of control. Not that I planned to become some sober vegan yoga guru like that Napur Priyanka chick, but maybe trying to eat and sleep on a regular basis would be a good start.

  As I opened the door, a slip of paper fell in the room that had been wedged in the door jamb.

  Don’t forget to join us for yoga by the pool, a flower arranging class in the atrium, and a meditation class by the beach. See you at the Main House!

  Frowning, I crumpled up the paper and threw it away. The last thing I wanted to do was go to some damn class at the Main House. I just wanted to sit on the deck and have a couple of martinis and look at the ocean. Maybe see if I could see any activity going on at that beach again. Was that even real, or did my drunk ass imagine the whole thing?

  I hadn’t eaten since that sandwich wrap last night. There still wasn’t any food or drink at the bungalow, which meant I was going to have to go out at some point if I wanted food.

  I really did not want to go. But with no food here, and the voices of reason telling me to do it, I headed to the bathroom to take a shower and clean up. As I stepped into the steamy water, I made myself a deal.

  I’ll go, but first I’ll go see what’s going at that beach. If there’s hidden treasure there, I want to be the one to find it!

  As the hot water pounded down on me, my mind started daydreaming.

  They were laughing and splashing each other with water. “Mommy! Catch my wave!”

  Grace and Nora were sitting on the white sand beach. As was evident from the sand castles and beach toys, they’d been enjoying a wonderful day together. Grace was as beautiful as ever. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and those soft brown eyes smiled at Nora as she stood up and brushed the sand off of her. “Do we have to go, Mommy? Can’t we stay with Daddy?”

  “No, honey. It’s time for us to go. Daddy has some important things to do.”

  I started to run toward them. “No! Don’t go! I don’t want you to leave.”

  Grace and Nora stood facing me, hand in hand. There was a small white boat, now, bobbing in the waves, right next to them.

  “You know we have to leave, Liam. We’ve already stayed too long.”

  “It’s okay, Daddy. Mommy and I are happy. We want you to be happy too.”

  Grace helped Nora climb into the little boat. “I love you, Liam. We will always be together in our hearts. But it’s okay to love again. It’s all good.”

  Grace climbed in next to our daughter and the boat began to leave the shore. “Bye Daddy! See you later!”

  I stood on the shore until the boat was just a tiny dot on the horizon. And, then, with a flash of light, it disappeared.

  ***

  It was late afternoon by the time I headed out the door to go down to the beach. I’d pulled on a pair of jeans and a college sweatshirt, grabbed the keys to the bungalow, and after locking the door, stuck them in my pants pocket next to my phone. The path to the beach was less than a kilometer and it only took a few minutes to get there.

  The beach leading up to the entrance to the cave was pristine. Perfect white sand, apparently untouched by human feet, other than my lone footsteps behind me. The only evidence of any activity at all were tire tracks that led from the ocean into the cave.

  Looking around, I made sure that I was really alone on the beach. I didn’t want to run into whoever I heard last night. There was no one to be seen—just a few seagulls circling the storm clouds that were moving in from the horizon.

  Ducking into the mouth of the cave, I wondered how deep it went.

>   The first part of the cave was open and well-lit. But, toward the back, it got darker as the available sunlight dimmed. Curious to explore, I walked to the back of the cave. It branched off in two directions. One appeared to be just a shallow “room” about the size of an RV. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened the flashlight app. There wasn’t anything much of interest. Just a bunch of moss and a water line on the cave wall from when it got flooded during storms.

  I decided to check out the other direction. Look at me, getting all Indiana Jones in here.

  The entrance to that part of the cave was fairly narrow. If I spread my arms out I could touch both sides of the cave wall. It was pitch black as I made my way through the long passageway.

  This isn’t feeling very safe. I better head back.

  Just then, my phone flashlight picked something up. It appeared to be wooden crates stacked up against the back wall of the cave. Shining the light from left to right and back again, I saw dozens and dozens of these crates lined up. Jackpot!

  I went over and tried to open one of them, but it was nailed shut. I bet it’s the hidden treasure. Maybe some old coins or jewelry from sunken ships. Or pirates. I saw on CNN that pirates are still a real thing.

  I was trying to pry the top off when I heard voices echoing on the cave walls. I better get out of here. Pirates or no pirates, the people who stashed all this stuff here probably wouldn’t appreciate some American digging around. I began to make my way back to the mouth of the cave.

  “Quien esta aqui?” a voice said. “Who’s here?”

  Quickly, I pressed my phone light against my pants leg to cover it up, and turned the phone off. My best bet was to remain perfectly still and silent.

  “¿Hay alguien aquí?” “Is someone here?”

  Literally holding my breath, I was relieved when whoever was talking left. I stood there in the darkness for a good five minutes to make sure they were gone before I crept out of the cave and back into the daylight.

  That was close. I’d better be more careful next time.

  As I headed back up to the bungalow, I tried to look like just a regular tourist in case whoever was talking in the cave was watching me somehow. But, looking around, it seemed impossible that anyone else was here. My footprints were still the only ones on the beach. Did I imagine the voices?

  I got to the door to the bungalow and figured I’d take the golf cart out to get some food. I patted around for the keys in my pocket and my heart froze when I realized they weren’t there.

  Shit. They must have fallen out in the cave. I have to go back.

  Chapter Thirteen Jenny: Just Say No

  “What do you think of the vacation so far?” It was afternoon and we had just finished lunch and were looking at an activity calendar for the next couple of days. We were debating going to a whole foods/plant based cooking class or taking a painting class.

  “It’s been fun,” Julie said. “I haven’t done as much stuff as you have, though.”

  That made me wonder if she had somehow heard Liam and me last night. I felt a blush creep up. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’ve just been really exhausted this trip. You’re the one getting out and about.”

  I sighed. I knew I had to talk to Julie about the stash of medications I’d found in the bag with the condoms, but also didn’t want to get into why I was looking around in the bag in the first place. The only way I’d have seen the drugs would have been if I’d been looking for condoms.

  But, while telling Julie that I’d had sex with a virtual stranger would be embarrassing to say the least, it was nothing compared to the devastation I’d feel if I lost my sister to an overdose. I was going to have to say something.

  “Jules?”

  Julie was sipping a piña colada. “Yeah, sis?”

  “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  “You’re pregnant?”

  Good lord, where did she get that?

  “Uhhhh.... No.”

  “You’re a Colombian drug lord?”

  “Julie, I’m being serious.”

  She put her drink down and faced me. “Okay, Jen. I’m listening.”

  “So, last night, after you went to sleep, I needed something out of that silver bag in your closet.”

  Julie’s eyes darted back and forth while she was figuring out what I meant. “The silver bag in the clo... Oh!” Then the full realization hit. “Oh my god. The condoms? You needed to use a condom?” She sat straight up in the chair. “Holy shit! Jenny! Who was it?”

  “I’ll tell you in a minute. That’s not the part I wanted to talk about, though.”

  “It’s not? You slept with a total stranger and that’s not what you wanted to tell me?”

  “He wasn’t a total stranger,” I said, knowing that it was just semantics. “When I went in the bag, Julie, I saw all the bottles.”

  “The bottles?”

  “The pill bottles. The prescriptions?”

  “Oh! Oh yeah. That’s where I keep them. And my music CDs too.”

  “Your music CDs?” I was confused. I didn’t see any CDs in there. Just the pills and the condoms.

  “Yeah. You know. Drugs, sex, and rock n roll?”

  “Julie, I am not kidding. That was a lot of different medications. You can’t be taking all those. You’re going to get in trouble.”

  “Jenny, there’s nothing to worry about. I don’t take all of those! They are just in the bag for when I need them. The bottles aren’t even full. Do you think I could have gotten through customs with a huge stash of prescription drugs?”

  How did she get them through customs?

  “Julie. You’ve been on antidepressants and sleeping pills since Mom died. I knew you were taking some, but I had no idea it was this much. I wish you could get off that stuff altogether. That’s what killed Mom. I don’t want to lose you, too.”

  “Jenny, there’s a difference between taking a little Ambien to sleep and some hydrocodone when my bad knee acts up and what happened to Mom. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”

  I wasn’t sure what to believe. “Okay,” I said, dropping it for now. “I’m going to go for a hike. Want to come?”

  “No. My knee is bugging me. But, you’re not going anywhere until you tell me who you hooked up with last night.”

  “Can’t a girl have any secrets around here?”

  “Not when the girl is using my condoms. Now, spill the tea, sis.”

  Taking a deep breath, I said it so low it was practically a whisper. “It was Angry Hot Guy.”

  “WHAT?” Julie shrieked so loud that people turned their heads to see. “You slept with Angry Hot Guy? In our room? How the fuck did that happen?”

  “Shh!!” I looked around to see if anyone heard. “His name is Liam, and no. We did it on the balcony.”

  Julie started laughing. “Oh my god, you have to tell me everything.”

  ***

  “Here you go Ms. Wilson. Just return the cart by 9:00 pm.”

  “Do you have a map of the property? I was thinking of going back to some of those caves we went to during the tour with Mateo.”

  “Oh, sure.” The man pulled out a map. “Okay, so we are here. The caves are here. To get to them, drive up this road... and then park here. You can hike down this trail, and they are right there.”

  “What’s over here? My sister and I noticed that the beach was practically untouched.”

  “Oh that’s just the other side of Cave Beach. Really beautiful, but a little hard to get to except by boat.”

  I laughed at that. “I doubt the golf cart is an aquacart, so I’ll just stick to the regular caves.” Taking the keys and map, I said, “Thanks! I’ll be back by 9:00.”

  ***

  I was tooling along in the golf cart and feeling great. The warm breeze was blowing in my hair, I was having a great vacation with my sister, and best of all, I had SEX last night!

  Frankly, I’d never had sex like that before. Sure, I�
��d been involved with a few men. But Timmy Connors in high school, Howard Mathison in college, and even my long-term boyfriend Nicolas Rey were amateurs, sexually speaking, compared to Liam. I thought I’d had orgasms before, but good lord they were nothing like that.

  Honk!

  I’d been so busy fantasizing about Liam that I’d been sitting at a stop sign. I waved my hand in apology, and found the spot where I was to park the golf cart.

  Following the path as I remembered it, my mind went back to Liam. I was sure it would be pretty much a one-night stand. I mean, I’m not naive. That’s how these things are. Island hookups. And, that was fine by me. I had other things on my mind, like finding that cave and maybe even some hidden treasure.

  There’s no hidden treasure, you idiot. That’s just folklore. But, what if there were? Not that I was going to make it back home with diamonds and jewels stuffed in my luggage, but there might be some kind of a reward for finding it.

  You never know, I rationalized, as I headed toward the caves. What did I have to lose by looking? Other than Julie killing me for finding it without her.

  ***

  Twenty minutes later, I’d found the cave. It was just as pristine as I’d remembered, except that there were two sets of footprints. Well, it looked like one set going in and out of the cave and off to that bungalow up there. Maybe whoever lived there had gone exploring, too.

  I hope they didn’t find the treasure!

  I then laughed out loud at myself for being silly. The sand was so soft it felt like I was walking on sugar. It felt good to move, as I hadn’t gotten much exercise on the trip so far. My kickboxing classes seemed a million miles away from this deserted beach.

  As I approached the mouth of the cave, I thought it was odd that the tire tracks went from the ocean into the cave. Like, what kind of vehicle can go from the ocean into a cave and back? Maybe it’s a golf cart, I thought, and then laughed again. Sex sure seemed to improve my sense of humor.