Chapter 1
STEPPING INSIDE OF HER Newbury Street condo situated in the desirable Boston neighborhood of Back Bay, Calista Grant wiped the flakes of snow from her tweed winter coat. Leave it to me to wait until the day before Christmas to pick up my packages at the post office. She shook her head as the realization that her decision to procrastinate yet again had put her in the time crunch she now found herself in. If she hadn’t ordered the swimsuits from some online retailer, then she wouldn’t have had anything to wear on her upcoming vacation to the tropics.
Virgin Gorda, a remote island in the British Virgin Islands, was touted to be luxurious, beautiful, and most of all, peaceful. Cali needed the latter because after publishing seven books in less than a year, she was mentally and, some days, physically exhausted. She wouldn’t trade her job for anything in the world, though.
Ever since she was a young girl, all she had wanted to be was an author. While she wrote these grand romantic tales and even had several on the major bestseller lists, every unique story was purely fiction. Her real life was sorely lacking in any type of excitement or fulfillment. At least she got to entertain others with her fantasy world, which was all that mattered. Right? The answer was a resounding no, especially to her best friend, Emily.
Her gorgeous, vivacious, and adventurous friend was everything that Cali wasn’t. The sad but true fact had been driven home when she’d finally hit her twenty-ninth birthday and looked back on her life as a huge disappointment. At the time, however, she had a year to decide how to change things, intending to ring in both her thirtieth birthday and the New Year differently than all others.
Emily never let her forget about that, and months ago had hounded her to book this upcoming trip, more than likely afraid she would change her mind. To appease her friend, Cali had even gone with the riskier option and chosen the all-expense paid, and more importantly, nonrefundable one. No way would she lose the type of money she had to shell out for this adventure. Now that those months, weeks, and days had finally turned to hours, she dreaded making that decision after all.
Since she only had a small window of time in which to pack her stuff and get to the airport, she moved over to the coffeemaker and inserted one of the premeasured pods into the machine. This was a job for caffeine, and lots of it. As she turned the appliance on, her phone began to ring. Shaking her head as she looked at the caller ID, Cali answered it and was unable to even greet the other woman before she started talking.
“What were you doing working last night? You leave for vacation in a few hours. You better not have changed your mind.”
“I didn’t change my mind and I’m still on schedule to leave later this evening,” Cali told her as she retrieved the creamer from her refrigerator. That was certainly the truth. With the last manuscript turned in, she had two full weeks off to rest and relax before getting back to her writing.
“Please tell me you have at least packed?” the pretty brunette asked suspiciously.
Cali thought about telling Emily what she wanted to hear if for no other reason than to avoid the inevitable lecture.
“I’m taking your silence to mean that you haven’t. Calista Lynn Grant! I can’t believe you would procrastinate over something so important.”
Cali knew Em was about to launch into a tirade and decided to cut her off at the pass.
“Well, I planned to pack everything last night, but I needed to finish the second round of edits,” she said hurriedly. “Despite where you think my priorities should be, making sure my books are as perfect as they can be is much more important to me than worrying about what bikini to wear, any day of the week.” She was beginning to sound defensive, even to her own ears.
“Quit being so melodramatic. Do you need me to come over and help you?”
“That won’t be necessary.” She smiled. “I’m sure I can piece together a few matching outfits for the trip.”
“Of course you can,” Emily told her. “I just want you to enjoy yourself for once. You aren’t getting any younger, you know. Your horizons could stand to be broadened.”
And there it was. From the day she had decided upon this trip, Emily had made sure to remind her that she needed to do something wild and crazy for once in her life. Evidently throwing three months’ worth of rent down on a two-week vacation wasn’t impressive enough. Cali rarely did anything in her life on impulse, so this was a huge step for her.
“I know they need to be expanded, which is why I agreed to go on this little vacation in the first place. That’s more than I would have done in the past. Can’t I take baby steps?”
While her friend continued to chatter on, she rolled her eyes, grabbing the mug of steaming energy from beneath the small pot on her Keurig machine. Blah, blah, blah. You work too hard, Cali…Take time off, Cali…You’re getting old, Cali…Push your boundaries, Cali…Inhaling the rich aroma, she took a sip, the hot liquid sliding down her throat. The fact remained that because she had a flight later that evening and still had not packed a single item, she would now be rushed to get everything done.
“I know I don’t say it enough, Cal, but I’m so proud of you,” Emily praised. “This is more than a baby step and I just want everything to be perfect for you.”
Cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder, she finished the English roast coffee, swapping out the K-cup before turning the machine back on. While the machine did its thing, Cali would go pack. Hopefully, she would also find time for a nice, long soak in her tub, but if not, she’d just make do with a scalding hot shower.
“Hold on for just a minute,” she said as she entered her bedroom, placing the phone on the bed and immediately peeling her sweats off. After depositing the solid black pants and neon-striped shirt into the clothes hamper, she grabbed an oversized T-shirt out of one of the drawers. Picking the phone back up, she resumed the conversation.
“I had to change clothes. Since you insist on distracting me further, my friend, what do you suggest I bring along with me?”
Cali heard Emily squeal with glee. She didn’t actually plan to bring everything the other woman told her to, but she would humor her in the meantime.
Moving to her closet, she dug out the two suitcases she would need for the trip. She’d purchased the plaid Burberry luggage set several years earlier, but outside of a few book signings in New York City, they’d never been used for anything else. It was rather exciting to think where the bags would go now.
“Obviously,” Emily said, “you’ll need bathing suits, cover-ups, a few dresses, and a negligee or two…”
“Lingerie?” Cali laughed, amused at the very idea. “Who am I supposed to wear lingerie for, the resort housekeeper?”
“Of course not, unless he’s cute…but I digress. You never know who you’re going to meet in paradise. Wouldn’t you rather be prepared just in case?”
Cali sighed. Both Emily and their friend, Natalie, had spent the better part of two weeks trying to fill her head with ideas. Lingerie, indeed. Deciding that maybe it would be better to finish packing without interruption, she replied, “Fine, I’ll pack one or two negligees even though I don’t really see the point. If that’s all, I really need to finish getting everything done.” It was hard to fold while balancing a phone on her shoulder and now she really was ready to get the packing over and done with. She’d pushed it off long enough.