Chapter Seven
Awarm tropical rain was falling, and the wind was stirring up debris around their ankles when Abe walked Rachel back to her bungalow. She’d teased him that it was only a few hundred yards away but he insisted. She was crushing so hard on him, but she had no clue how this thrilling ride would end. They could spend the next few days together but then what? Vacation would be over and he would have to go back to work. The only good news was she hadn’t committed to a job, starting her own business, or if she’d brave her dreams of law school and family law yet. Maybe she could move to Buffalo, take the time she needed to get to know him. Who knew, but she liked the possibilities.
Abe stopped at the small porch overhang of her bungalow. His gaze was intense on her. He said in a low, rough voice, “I’d better leave you here. I’m afraid if I kiss you in there I won’t be able to walk away.”
A thrill ran through her at his implication. She also loved that he knew his limits and wasn’t going to push them. “That’s probably smart of you. If you thought Caleb was tough at lacrosse you should see how well all five of my brothers perform in a fistfight.” She winked to show she was teasing. She didn’t think her brothers would fight him. Well … they did love to fight and had always been a little overprotective of her and Eve. Especially since her accident. Actually, they’d always been over the top with Eve because she was so sweet, and if any of them found out who Paisley’s real father was, the guy would probably be ripped into pieces.
He nodded solemnly. “I’d let them thump me if I ever disrespected you.”
“Abe.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. She could’ve kept kissing him, no matter the rain or the wind or the worries over kissing too much, but Abe pulled back, gently removed her arms from his neck and backed away.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” he promised.
She nodded. “I bet you can’t wait.”
His gaze was intense as he nodded. “I can’t. Please punch in your code so I know you get inside safe.”
She smiled and obeyed, pushing the door open and raising a hand in farewell. She didn’t have time to sit and sigh over how incredible he was. As soon as she stepped inside, she heard her phone ringing. She’d left it here, hardly using it the past few days.
Running to grab it before she missed the call, she saw it was Luke.
“Hey, big brother.”
“Rach. How are you?”
“So good. This place is insane! You and Mar have to come. I was telling Preston how you beat Joshua on this one, it’s the coolest vacation spot I’ve ever been to.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad. Thanks, sis. Hey, how bad’s the storm?”
She peered out her windows. “It’s just raining and some wind. I’ve seen a lot worse.”
“That’s good. Keep an eye out for me. The weather service that watches over the island contacted me because Preston wasn’t responding. They’re worried it might reach a category one hurricane.”
“Truly? How bad is that?” Rachel had been on a lot of tropical vacations and lived in Puerto Rico with her family for short stints, but she’d never been through a hurricane. March wasn’t typically hurricane season so she hadn’t even given a bad storm a thought.
“Worst case, the winds could get up to ninety-five miles per hour so you definitely wouldn’t want to be out in it, but that’s absolutely worst case. The buildings there are built to withstand hurricanes, and the rest of my staff are aware and are trying to find Preston. If it gets horrible there’s a storm shelter below the fitness rooms.”
“Gotcha.”
“No worries, I’m sure it won’t progress past a tropical storm. Hurricanes are rare in the spring in the Caribbean. It’s just odd they can’t find Preston and I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“Thanks. I’m great right now.” She rushed to tell him the little news she had. “So I’ve quizzed every employee I’ve interacted with and they all seem happy and content, not a one would breathe a word against Preston. Interesting, huh? Especially after that conversation I overheard.”
“That was odd and disturbing. So obviously, he and this woman have stolen from someone before and she’d go to prison if the person saw her. Hmm. Makes me think my manager would likely be stealing from me also, but that’s good the employees are happy.”
There was a long pause. Luke was thinking and she let him do it. When he spoke, instead of expounding on Preston and his worries of embezzlement he said, “What else have you been up to? This is going to sound cheesy, but your voice sounds as happy as Mar’s when she talks about me.” There was an obvious tease in his voice, but it was also full of hope. She knew how much all of her family had worried about her the past eight months. Luke would be very happy to know she was doing so well, and maybe had found her special someone like all of her brothers had been busy doing the past year.
“The truth is … I met someone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He’s great. We’ve spent the past two days together. I like him a lot.”
“How much is a lot?”
She cleared her throat and admitted, “I wore my hair back from my face tonight for dinner. He touched my scars and told me how beautiful I am.” Maybe it was too much information, but she was an open book with her family.
“Ah, sis.” Luke cleared his throat. “That’s so great. We’ve all been praying you’d know how beautiful, smart, and impressive you are. The scars don’t change that one bit.”