“That’s the one!” He smiles. “Furiosa. I might call you that from now on.”
“I’d like that.”
“Then, I shall,” he says, getting up and sitting back in his seat. “You should rest. We have a whole lifetime to find a way to make things work.”
I pull the blanket onto my lap and lean my pillow on the window next to me. “What are you going to do?”
“Watch you sleep,” he says. “And think of ways to make sure you have all the freedom you need while simultaneously keeping you close to me.”
32
Whiny Wills and the People Who Love to Team Up on Them
Will - One Month Later
Paradise Bay, Santa Valentina Island
“So,when are you going to tell me what really happened out there?” Harrison asks.
It’s his day off and I’m sitting on a lounge chair under an umbrella next to the kiddie pool. He and Clara are playing in the water together while I spend another afternoon wishing I could rip off this cast and dive into the ocean.
It’s been four long weeks since my surgery and each day feels like an endless abyss of boredom, frustration, and failure. My surgeon figured me for the type who couldn’t be trusted with a boot alone, so she casted my leg, then put a boot on it to keep me from doing any damage. She’s not wrong. Itotallywould have ditched it by now if I could have. Just for a few minutes to have a quick swim. Or maybe do a little scuba diving. But nothing that wouldhurtmy ankle. Okay, I definitely would have gone surfing yesterday, but only because the waves were perfect.
Instead, I sit around with my leg up, waiting for the minutes to tick by. I’ve taken to keeping a chopstick on me at all times so I can temporarily relieve the itching while I deflect questions about my non-existent love life. “I already told you. We were hiking in the dark, and I was going too fast, so I fell into the ravine like a total dumbass.”
“Language,” Harrison says, giving me a stern look from under his eyebrows.
“She’s not even two,” I answer, pointing to Clara who is currently dressed in a floppy swim hat and a UV-protection long-sleeved swimsuit with pants. She’s filling a plastic watering jug with water, then pouring it over her dad’s outstretched legs, and giggling like crazy. I wish she would come water my legs. I’m dying here.
“Yeah, well, she’s absorbing new words like a sponge. Yesterday, Libby said…” Harrison cups his hands over her ears. “‘Screw it.’” He lets go and continues. “And when we put her to bed, we could hear her repeating it over and over in her crib last night.”
I chuckle a little and smile at my niece. “You’re a tiny badass.”
“Seriously, man?” he asks.
“Sorry, last one, I promise,” I say, taking the chopstick out of the pocket of my cargo shorts and digging into my cast.Aahhh, that’s the stuff.
Harrison watches me for a second, looking slightly disgusted. “Something happened out there. I’ve never seen you this grumpy before.”
“Broken ankle, concussion, no bonus.” That one really feels like a kick to the junk because I got a text from Stew that Oprah’s listing her house so he can’t hold on to Matilda any longer. I haven’t told Harrison. There’s no sense in breaking his heart when he never knew we came so close to getting her back. “All reasons for me to be in a crap mood.”
He shakes his head and purses his lips. “Nope. That’s not it. This is a woman thing.”
Rolling my eyes, I say, “It’snota woman thing. When have I ever let a woman get to me like this? Never. That’s when.”
“Until now. But I can tell. You love her.”
I growl a little and pick up my beer, gulping back the rest of the bottle. “I do not love her.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No, Ireallydon’t,” I say firmly. “And even if I did, there would be no way to make anything work between us, so it’s better if we leave things how they are.”
“Which is?”
“Which is nothing. We spent a few days in the jungle together filming a TV show. End of story.”
“Hey, you two goofballs,” Emma says, sauntering up to us, dressed in a loose skirt and tank top. She’s got that ‘just got back from my luxurious, super long honeymoon-two days ago’ look about her as she melts into the chair next to mine. She waves and opens her mouth wide at Clara. “Hi, baby! How’s my favourite girl?”
