Sunflower, with her wooden bangles clacking, laid out ten identical documents.One for each of us, plus the master copy for the Island Elders.While Gabrielle wasn’t a real estate lawyer, something about the way she slowly read all the pages and wrinkled her nose said that while this might be legally binding, it was still odd.
My hand cramped by the eighth time I had to sign my name, but I powered through and we all stood back, waiting for Gabrielle to finish.
Her pen flared off the final page and she lifted her amber gaze, a small smile on her face.“There we have it.”
“There we have it,” Hattie echoed.“We all look forward to seeing your vision come to life and how you plan to honor Bonn’s legacy.”
We shook hands with the Island Elders and chatted a bit more with them.Then, finally, all nine of us filtered out of the conference room, down the hall toward the front door, and out into the brisk April evening.
I longed for the summer, when it was daylight until nine o’clock and beyond.For evenings spent on my patio, overlooking the rows of grapevines, with a chilled glass of my favorite Moscato and a plate of cheese and fruit.It was something I’d earned after the first twenty-odd years of my life.A luxury I didn’t take for granted, nor wasted.It was something my cousins and I all knew we deserved, and we relished every moment of our “freedom.”Because that was what we were—free.Finally.
I hopped into the back of Gabrielle’s SUV while Naomi rode shotgun.
Raina gave us all a wave goodbye as she climbed her short little redheaded butt into Jagger’s enormous truck.
Gabrielle pulled out onto the road, the silence in the vehicle between us thick with questions—but also bridled excitement.I think we were all still in a bit of a shock that we actually “won,” for lack of a better term.While we did increase our likelihood of “winning” Bonn Remmen’s land by five percent when we joined forces with the McEvoys, we still had three other very worthy competitors who just as easily could have submitted better proposals and been granted the land.It’d take a bit for it all to sink in for us, but the surrounding air crackled with electric excitement to get our plans for Bonn’s land officially underway.
“Well, Mr.Barone isveryhandsome,” Naomi finally said, breaking through the quiet in true Naomi fashion.“What’s his deal?I’ve never heard of him.And this is only the second time I’ve ever seen him.The first time I saw him, I didn’t know who the hell he was.”
I debated only half a second whether I should fill them in.
“He’s a former pro Italian footballer—or soccer player.Runs an animal rescue sanctuary on the other side of Bonn Remmen’s—or I guess,our—land.Keeps to himself.Totally funds the entire thing out of his own pocket.”
Naomi whipped around in the front seat with enough flare for two people.Probably because Gabrielle couldn’t since she was driving.“Excuse me?We have a millionaire living on the island and we didn’t even know it?Not to mention, a sort of famous athlete?”
“More importantly,” Gabrielle cut in, “what the hell did he want with Bonn’s land if he’s got a nice chunk of his own already?”
“I think that argument could be made for most of us who submitted proposals,” Naomi said blandly, which earned a shrug and nod from Gabrielle.
“Fair,” our oldest cousin replied.“Still, though.Do you think he just wanted toexpandhis sanctuary?And also, what kind of animals does he have on it?Do we have like lions and tigers and—”
“Bears, oh my?”Naomi cut in.
Gabrielle gave her a glare that, even in the dark cab of the vehicle, I could see easily.“Or snakes.What if a fucking snake got loose?”
“I don’t think he has snakes,” I replied.“Cameron said he has horses, goats, ponies, donkeys, maybe sheep, a pig.I think he mentioned an alpaca.Nothing that will slither into your underwear drawer and hide until you reach for a G-string and get a fang in the pinky finger.”
Naomi snickered.“Gabs won’t be able to sleep for a week now.And we all know Gabrielle Campbell doesn’t own a G-string.”
Gabrielle shook her head.“I still can’t believe I didn’t even know this place existed on the island.Or thathewas on the island.Is he new?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Whose land is he on?Is he renting?Who died and sold their land?I have so many questions,” she went on.
“Clearly,” Naomi stated.“I think everyone in that room besides the Island Elders has a million questions about our mystery fifth party.We might know who he his, but we still know nothing about him.”
“I wish we’d been able to maintain that kind of anonymity,” Gabrielle murmured.“The whole island knows our dirty secrets now.”
Naomi and I simply nodded in agreement.
The three of us fell into silence again as we drew closer to home, the towering evergreens on either side of the road turning the dark, streetlamp-free pavement into an almost-tunnel.I stared out the window, unable to banish the stirring thoughts or Tommaso Barone’s light-brown eyes from my mind.
I’d already been unsure about just “rolling up” to his house to ask if Sam could hang out with his horses, because while I would absolutely fight for my child, I was also a shy person by nature and not one to “put myself out there” very often.
However, I planned to do it—eventually.For my kid.Anything for my kid.
But now that I knew what kind of handsomeness would be at the end of the driveway, I was more nervous than ever.And my family’s proposal had just beaten out his proposal, so maybe he’d be licking his wounds and less willing to help out of spite.
