She’d forgotten how damaged Dan was.How traumatized and vulnerable.How moody and volatile.His outburst last night was a warning to not get close.That ugly guy on the flight from Auckland hadn’t gone anywhere, and regardless of what she’d assumed these past few days, she didn’t know Daniel Jones at all.They weren’t friends.They were just two strangers, jumbled randomly together by fate and bad luck.
And she’d almost kissed him?In front of Karim?
Had she lost her freaking mind?
As the rooster crowed again, Libby returned to bed.At least Karim was sleeping through the noise.Beautiful boy.Warmth flooded through her as she took comfort in her son’s unconditional love and soft baby smell.
The notebook…her press pass.
Your kind…
Yes, she’d been ruthless in getting stories in the past, but she was different now.She was no longer programmed to sell her soul like that.Was she?No, if she still was, she’d have emailed Juliana about Xav Hunter and Isabella immediately.She’d have milked more details out of Dan while he’d been sick.She’d have taken photographs of him lying in a mess on the bathroom floor, and she’d have pumped more information from his sweet mom.
That’s the kind of journalist Dan had in mind.The kind who’d offer an underpaid hospital worker a wad of cash they couldn’t refuse in order to violate an injured man’s privacy.
But her?
She’d wiped that injured man’s face throughout the night, made sure he didn’t choke on his own puke, and then washed his goddamn clothes.
She’d even left him breakfast!
Asshole.
Anger propelled her out of bed.It wasn’t even five a.m.The sky was still dark, but she was wide awake now and more than ready to lose herself in the actual journalism work she had to do.She had an hour—if she was lucky—before Karim woke.So, she fired up her laptop, grabbed her notepad—still creased up from where that idiot had gripped it in his fist—and began to type.
Quickly, she lost herself in her work.An hour later, she’d dumped down all her ideas and angles for herParent and Childarticle.Later, she’d refine it, find her hook, re-draft, and proofread it.At the end of the week, she’d send it to her editor in New Zealand and hope that she’d want another installment.
Karim stirred.The sky was paler now, and that damn cockerel working overtime told Libby the sun was rising.She shut her laptop, quickly got dressed, and made coffee.Her first sip had barely made its way down her throat when Karim, fully awake now, called her.
“I’m coming, honey!”She made her way back to him, passing the room that would’ve been Dan’s.
Maybe he’s camping out at the airport, waiting for the next flight back to Rarotonga?
But the next flight wasn’t for another two days.
And would he really want to head back there anyway if there was a risk of journalists snooping around, not to mention playing third wheel between Carina and Malek?
It was more likely that he was sulking somewhere.Probably a dark, damp cave where he could wallow in the peace and tranquility of his own misery.
Good luck with that, Cranky.
Libby made breakfast for Karim and got ready for a day of exploring while he ate.From rock pooling to finding interviewees for her videos, her list of places to visit and things to do would keep her and Karim busy for several days.She packed her phone, her selfie stick, and her makeup.Then, once she’d checked that her bag was stocked with snacks, water, a towel, and spare clothes, she held on to Karim’s hand and stepped out onto the deserted road.
“Which way, sweet cheeks?Left or right?”
It was all the same to her.Karim tugged his hand free.Instinct and habit had her reaching for him again, but really, no one was passing by, and anyone traveling down this long, wide road would be able to see them.Karim hadn’t gone far anyway.He’d found a shallow puddle.
“Splash!”
“Yeah.”She smiled at him as he played.But twenty minutes later, she’d had enough of the damn puddle.“Let’s walk, honey.”
They made it a full thirty feet, to where a bunch of logs had been piled on the side of the road.Karim scrambled up onto it.She held on to his T-shirt until he was safely at the top, a whole impressive three feet high.
“Look how tall you are!”Despite her restlessness, she couldn’t help but giggle at his grin.So easily pleased.“You want to walk to the end?Hold Mommy’s hand in case you fall.”
For the next half hour, Libby walked back and forth along the logs, trying to ignore how much she missed adult company.Daydreams of going on little adventures around the island with Karim and Dan had filled her silly, lonesome head too much.
Never mind.
