She and Natalie took a bench seat toward the back. Minutes later, Rhys joined them as they pulled away from the dock. Her sister let out a deep, hitching breath. “It’s finally over.”
Gaby slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, honey. It’s over, and you’re going home.”
As the boat entered deeper water, it picked up speed and veered right. Gaby couldn’t keep from looking at the island one last time. Smoke still rose from the ruined structures. Stone blackened. Grandeur broken.
But beyond the scars, the jungle remained lush. The cliffs still met the sea in wild, breathtaking lines. The water glittered, untouched.
The island itself wasn’t evil. It had simply been claimed by the wrong hands.
As the shoreline receded, her gaze swept from her sister—eyes closed, face tipped to the sun and wind—to Rhys, who reclined strong and solid beside her. They weren’t riding off into the sunset. Far from it. What came next was uncertain. She doubted it would be easy or perfect, but it belonged to them, to be molded into whatever they chose.
She’d be there for Natalie every step of the way and hoped the same held true for Rhys. The look he’d given her earlier and the soft words and touches made her believe it might.
Chapter 25
She’d been checked out by medics but refused evaluation at the local hospital.
“I want to go home,” Natalie insisted. “If I never see the jungle again, it will be too soon.”
They arrived in Miami in under three hours, where Gaby insisted she see a doctor. As a precaution, Natalie stayed in the hospital overnight. She was dehydrated, slightly anemic, and in mind, body, and spirit, she had been pushed past endurance for too long. Her sister was also frighteningly thin, cheekbones too sharp, skin pale beneath the IV line taped to her arm.
She was fragile, but alive. The thought circled endlessly in Gaby’s mind, an answer to every prayer she’d whispered.
Long after visiting hours ended, she sat at her bedside, watching the slow rise and fall of her sister’s chest. Natalie didn’t sleep much. When she did, it was fitful, her brow creasing, breath catching, fingers twitching like she was bracing for something.
Resigned to keep vigil, she kicked off her shoes and curled up in the uncomfortable chair. She didn’t remember closing her eyes, but pale light had crept across the floor when she opened them again and found Natalie watching her.
“You drool,” her sister observed dryly.
Gaby blinked then laughed, wiping her mouth. “I quit my job to search for you for months, and this is the thanks I get? Pointing out my flaws?”
“You quit the force?” Natalie’s face fell. “Oh, Gaby. Being a detective was your dream.”
“It turned out to be a nightmare. Besides, I have an even better job now. I’m a private investigator. I work with Mateo, remember him?”
“Of course. But interesting you didn’t mention a tall, blond, slightly broody Brit.”
Sure, practically ignore the equally gorgeous Latin man with soulful brown eyes and cut right to the chase. That was so Natalie. And being so Gaby, she deflected.
“Rhys is as American as we are, actually.”
She tilted her head, a knowing little hum escaping. “Mmm. What else is Rhys to you?”
Gaby searched for the right word to define them and couldn’t find it. “That’s complicated.”
“I’m not asking for your Facebook status, Gaby. There’s something between you two.”
Even at nineteen, Natalie was perceptive.
Gaby shrugged. “You noticed that, huh?”
“Looks hot enough to make the plane combust and enough tension for anyone with eyes to see? Yeah, I noticed.”
“We’re still trying to figure it out.”
“Which means you’re stalling. Or got stalled because of me. You always put romance on the back burner for school or career or something. If he’s one of the good ones, you shouldn’t let him slip away. Besides, you’re almost thirty.”
“That ancient, huh?”
