Libby’s finger hovered to press Stop.
“Except there’s more, a lot more…” Dan said, and she pulled her finger back.“I don’t want my future to be defined by what I do, but rather by who I do it with.Life isn’t about who we fall in love with, but who wekeepbeing in love with.And without taking chances, there’s no way of knowing if a relationship will work.We need to stick around for a few laps to find out if we’re strong enough to run the full course.We need to keep hanging out, keep having adventures, big and small.Keep being friends.Companions.Lovers.Partners.”He looked straight into his camera now.“And yes, I’m talking about you, Libby.Take a chance with me, because it’s who we live our lives with that matters.In other words… What I’m saying, Libby, is… It’s you.You’re my Part Five.”
Dan’s video stopped.
The world stopped too, becoming a bubble of silence and awe.
Libby lowered her phone.
“Um…whoa…um…wha…”
Karim stuffed another cracker into his mouth and cocked his head at her.
“Yeah, that’s right, honey… For once, Mommy’s totally…utterly…speechless.”
Danshovedawadof cash at the driver and burst out of the cab as fast as his stupid leg would let him.He scanned the open front of the airport.Above people’s heads, he could just about see the check-in desks, but where would he even start looking for Libby and Karim?As the cab drove off, he strode forward.Maybe he should’ve taken Isabella up on her offer to come with him?Four eyes were better than two, but he’d told her to stay put.Who the hell ever stopped the woman he loved from boarding a plane with his ex-fiancée in tow?
Holy shit.
The woman he loved?
Yes!Yes!
He was in love with Libby!And that blast of heat that had engulfed his soul yesterday when he’d recorded his Part Five clips was the love he had for her, mounting, building, climbing.Waiting to be acknowledged and released.
God, why hadn’t he just told her how he felt last night?
Why had he waited?
Of all people, he knew the most how life could change in a flash—seize the fucking day!—and now she was running away from him before he’d had a chance to tell her.Before he could find out if she felt the same way.
He thought she did.
He felt it and desperately wanted to believe it.
But he had to find out for sure.
He had to find her!
With his pulse thrumming in his head, he skipped through a sea of people.
Libby could be anywhere… She could be checking her bag in.She could be boarding a flight.She could be—
There!
His heart caught in his throat.
He saw her.She was on the floor, by the taxi queue, leaning against the same planter he’d sat on that dark, windy night when he’d first arrived on the island.Oh, god, was she okay?
Dan picked up his pace.
She looked dazed.Stunned.He crossed the road, dodging suitcases on wheels, people on phones, and kids holding parents’ hands.As he got closer, he saw that Libby was clutching her phone.
No!
She’d been on social media, seen those stupid posts from Isabella’s friends, and put two and two together to make six.
“Libby!”
