TWO
Isabel hadn’t had much time to think about Damon since last night, but now, sitting in a cramped plane on her way to Boston, the emotions were swelling up inside her. Damon was her dearest friend, and she loved him like a brother. She was going to miss him. A tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. It wouldn’t do to start crying in front of the other passengers. Fortunately, the aspirin she had taken earlier was finally kicking in, and her headache was beginning to ease. She pulled her baseball cap down low on her forehead, curled up against the window, and slept hard until something jarred her awake. She thought about asking the eternal student with the goofy smile sitting next to her what that clunking sound was, but she didn’t want to engage him in conversation because she knew, once he started talking, she’d never get him to stop.
And then it dawned on her. The sound she heard was the landing gear. They were arriving in Boston. She couldn’t believe how long and how hard she’d slept. She didn’t feel rested, though. Remnants of her hangover were still streaming through her head. She felt grimy and thought she probably looked like an extra on the set of The Walking Dead. After exiting the plane, she hurried to the ladies’ room to freshen up. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, then applied makeup so she would look human again. Feeling a little bit refreshed, she headed to baggage claim, where Kate would be waiting.
Uh-oh. Her cell phone. She had forgotten to turn it on, and as soon as she did, she saw thirty-eight texts. The first one was from Owen telling her that several people had posted her singing at Finnegan’s on YouTube and that she had gone viral. From the number of exclamation points peppering his text, she knew he was excited by his news. But then, so were Lexi and JoAnn. They left voice messages, and both were downright giddy with their news. Viral? What was the big deal? Maybe a hundred people would see the video. Then again, maybe not. Here now, gone in an hour.
Scrolling through the texts she found one from Kate telling her that a car would pick her up and take her to the Hamilton Hotel. She and Dylan were running late, but one or both of them planned to meet Isabel in the hotel lobby and drive her over the bridge to Nathan’s Bay. They should be there by five, six at the latest, and suggested that Isabel sit in the lounge and have a beverage.
More sitting? She inwardly groaned.
Too late she realized she should have rented her own car, then she wouldn’t have to depend on others to drive her around. Kate and Dylan had talked her out of it, using the excuse that Boston was one of the worst cities for traffic and gridlock. She knew that wasn’t the real reason they didn’t want her to drive, though. They thought she was—as Dylan put it—“a lunatic behind the wheel.” Granted, she had had a couple of near misses, and it just so happened that Kate and Dylan were in the car with her at the time. She had swerved her way out of both messes—or “near-death experiences,” as Kate called them—and she didn’t have a single ticket on her license. As far as she was concerned, they had nothing to complain about.
She quickly went through the rest of her texts and read another one Kate had sent telling her that she had reserved two rooms at the Hamilton just as a precaution, in case all eight bedrooms at the Buchanan house were filled. Isabel remembered there was also a coach house on the property with two large bedrooms, and she wondered if those would be occupied, too. Were all the Buchanan brothers and sisters going to be home for their parents’ anniversary celebration? It was a big family. Six boys—four were married now. And two girls—one was married, the other still single. If they were all back home with their spouses and children, it would be quite a crowd.
They were such a fun family. She loved all the Buchanans... all but one, anyway. Michael Christopher Buchanan, or Bonehead as she secretly called him, was the exception. He was rude, and if there was anything she couldn’t abide, it was rudeness. He was also insensitive, impatient, and obnoxious. Yes, he was good-looking, but then all the Buchanan men were. Michael was tall, dark, and handsome, and she imagined there were a lot of dim-witted women who would fall at his feet. She wasn’t dim-witted.
He didn’t particularly like her, either. He never said so, yet it was obvious all the same. She knew she was being judgmental, but she couldn’t seem to care. As long as she kept her unkind opinion of Michael to herself, she didn’t think she was committing a sin, at least not a big one. True, she had spent only one weekend with him, when he and the rest of the Buchanans came to Silver Springs for Dylan and Kate’s wedding. That was over four years ago, but it was long enough to form a strong opinion of the man. He had seemed pleasant at first. She had assumed he had good manners and was as charming as his brothers. Big mistake. He didn’t have a charming bone in his body.
Kate had paired her with Michael for the wedding ceremony, which meant she had to walk down the aisle to him. Since Kiera was the maid of honor, she was paired with Dylan’s best man, his brother Alec. Isabel begged Kate to let her trade Michael for one of the other brothers, but her sister wouldn’t let her. She insisted Michael had a great sense of humor and was fun to be around.
After only a few hours with him she wondered if maybe he showed his good side to others. Most of the time he seemed oblivious to her. It was a fact, she wasn’t used to being ignored by men, but in his eyes she simply didn’t exist. The man looked right through her.
During that monthlong weekend, every time Michael saw her, he had to be reminded what her name was. He couldn’t be bothered to remember it. If she didn’t immediately respond to his question, “What’s your name again?” he called out, “Hey, you there.” And if she continued to ignore him, he shouted, “Hey, kid.” Oh yes, he was real fun to be around.
The insults didn’t stop there. At the wedding dinner there was assigned seating, and she was forced to sit beside Michael. Once again he snubbed her by spending the entire meal with his back to her, talking to an older woman wearing way too much makeup and sporting such big breasts Isabel was amazed she could stand upright. The woman couldn’t keep her hands off Michael, and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the attention.
Then there was the whopper of insults. When it was announced that all the bridesmaids and groomsmen were to take the floor for a dance, Michael grabbed the wrong bridesmaid and swept her onto the dance floor, leaving Isabel to stand alone. She quickly scanned the room for another groomsman without a partner, but there weren’t any nearby. She couldn’t tell if the blood rushing to her face was from anger or embarrassment.
Trying to appear unfazed by the slight, she nonchalantly turned and headed toward the open French doors to go outside on the terrace for some fresh air. She had just made her way through the first row of tables when she was intercepted by Dylan’s friend Noah.
“May I?” he asked as he held out his hand.
Assuming he was taking pity on her, she hesitated. But when Noah said, “Please? This is my favorite song and I don’t want to waste it,” she took his hand and let him lead her to join the rest of the wedding party on the dance floor. In no time at all Noah had her smiling and enjoying herself. Every time Michael and his partner glided past them, however, her smile vanished and her eyes shot daggers of disdain.
Isabel would never forget dancing with Noah. The fact that he was a gorgeous, sexy man might have something to do with that. She had a terrific crush on him for a while, but that wore off shortly after the wedding when she learned that Noah and Dylan’s sister Jordan had fallen in love and were getting married. Now Noah and Jordan were two of Isabel’s favorites in the Buchanan clan, and she couldn’t wait to see them again. She certainly wasn’t looking forward to seeing Michael, though. She hadn’t forgiven him and imagined he was still a rude boor. If luck was on her side, he wouldn’t be at Nathan’s Bay. He was a Navy SEAL, and surely they never got time off. Besides, he lived in San Diego or somewhere in Virginia, didn’t he? And hadn’t he been deployed? Or was he already back from that stint? Isabel couldn’t ask Dylan about his brother because he might want to know why she was interested.
Since she wasn’t in the mood to put up with Michael’s rudeness, the Hamilton was the answer. She quickly texted Kate and told her she didn’t want to put anyone out, and so she was going to take one of the rooms Kate had reserved.
She immediately perked up. She absolutely adored the Hamilton hotels. They were a chain of luxury hotels owned by the family of Kate’s sister-in-law. When Isabel was in high school, she had stayed at the Chicago Hamilton while she checked out a couple of universities in the area, and she’d also stayed one night with Kate at the Hamilton in Boston. They were five-star hotels with their own unique personalities. No matter the location, you knew you were in the Hamilton the second you walked through the doors. Everything about them was aesthetically pleasing. If any hotel was suited for a special occasion, it was the Hamilton. The beds were fabulous, the staff catered to their guests’ every need, and the food was outstanding. So were the fitness center and spa. Tomorrow she would go up and check out all the machines. Not today, though. She was determined to go outside and take a long walk to get in sync with the city she so loved. Boston was expensive, but if she had the money, she would move there in a heartbeat.
Okay, time to focus on the here and now. Be in the moment. That’s what her sisters were constantly telling her to do. She hurried to baggage claim, retrieved her checked luggage, spotted her driver holding up a sign with her name on it, and headed in his direction, all but dragging her backpack behind her.
The driver introduced himself and collected her luggage. His name was Woodson, and on the way to the limo she chatted with him, or rather listened as he launched into his concerns about his new girlfriend flirting with other men. Isabel wasn’t the least surprised or caught off guard to hear the man’s personal problems. The truth was, she expected it. Strangers unloaded their worries on her all the time, usually within five minutes of meeting her. Being a sounding board was a peculiar trait, she supposed. At least that’s what she had often been told by family and friends, but she was used to strangers pouring their hearts out and sharing intimate details of their lives with her. She never offered advice and they never asked for any. She took it all in stride, figuring they simply needed someone to listen to them.
At her request Woodson placed her backpack on the seat beside her, and while he continued to talk, she pulled out her navy blue windbreaker. The thin-as-air nylon jacket had a hood and zippered pockets. She put her wallet in one pocket and her cell phone in the other. Continuing to nod every now and then so Woodson would know she was paying attention to what he was telling her, she stuffed her purse and her baseball cap in the bag and zipped it closed.
Traffic was a snarled mess. There must have been an accident on I-90, she thought, until she checked the time and realized they were in the middle of rush hour. The plane trip had seemed interminable, and now the ride to the hotel was taking forever. She had been sitting so long she was surprised she didn’t have bed sores.
Woodson’s voice cracked. He sounded as though he was about to cry, which she was sure would embarrass him, and so she tried to help him think about something other than his girlfriend.
“How long have you worked for the Hamilton?” she blurted.
He paused for a few seconds and then answered, “Oh, I don’t work for the hotel. I’m employed by a service the Hamilton sometimes uses when their limos are busy.” He added, “The more good reviews I get, the better my chances are to move up in the company I work for now.”
She took the hint and promised to give him a rave review.
“The thing with my girlfriend...” And he was off again, pouring his heart out. He finished unloading all his worries just as they were pulling up to the hotel’s circular drive. He opened her door, took her hand, told her how much better he felt, and thanked her profusely. Since she hadn’t said a word during his heartfelt soliloquy, she simply smiled and said she was happy she could help.