Destination Wedding ~ A Novel (13 page)

"What's going on?" Jim whispered, taking a bite of his muffin.

Claire waved his question away.
Was Steven crazy? Sell her house? Right now?
"I'm not ready to sell my house, Steven," Claire said pointedly. "
We
haven't talked about selling my house.
You've
talked about it. I've never said I wanted to sell it. And I'm not even sure I want to move in with you yet."

"He's selling your house?" Jim asked, loudly this time. "Why the hell is he selling the house?"

Claire looked over at Jim. "He's not selling the house. He's just talking about it."

"Who's that with you?" Steven asked. "Is that Jim?"

"Yes, it's Jim. We're having breakfast," Claire said.

"Together? I thought you couldn't stand the sight of him. Where's Diane? Is she eating with you, too?" Steven asked, sounding concerned.

"No. Diane isn't eating with us. She didn't come on the trip. And yes, I'm eating breakfast with Jim. It's a small island. I couldn't ignore him if I tried."

Jim frowned. "Geez, thanks."

Claire made a face and waved at him to shut up.

"Oh," Steven said, his tone changing to his business voice. "Well, maybe I should let you get back to your breakfast."

Claire sighed.
Really? He was jealous?
"Listen, Steven. It's just breakfast. The whole group has been doing almost everything together while we've been here. As for selling my house, I'm not ready to yet. It's not for sale, okay? I'd really rather talk about all this face to face and not during a phone call that's costing me two-fifty a minute."

"You're missing a really good opportunity to sell your home," Steven said. "The perfect buyer doesn’t always come around so quickly."

"I'll take my chances," Claire said.

There was a long pause, then Steven finally spoke. "Okay. We'll talk when you get back. Goodbye."

"Bye," Claire said, but she could tell that Steven had already clicked off his phone. Angrily, she turned off her phone.

"What the hell?" Jim asked, looking over at Claire.

"He practically had my house sold and me moving in with him," Claire said, anger rising in her voice. "He even took the people past the house to see it. Can you believe that? Does he really think just because he wants to put a ring on me that he's going to own me?"

Jim whistled low. "Wow. That takes nerve."

"I don't want a man with nerve. I want a man who listens to me and doesn't try to con me. God, what was he thinking? Am I just a commission to him? Who the hell is he to tell me what I want?" Claire grew angrier by the second. She grabbed her charm bracelet and started twirling it around her wrist. "Why do all men think they can manipulate me like that? Am I that much of a pushover? Doesn't anyone think I have a brain of my own?"

Jim reached over and gently placed his hand over hers to stop her from twirling the bracelet. Claire glared at him. Before she could tell him to leave her alone, he caught her eyes with his. "I don't think you're a pushover and I know for sure that you have a brain. You're smart, Claire. You always have been. You raised an intelligent, strong, confident daughter and grew a business out of nothing. Woe to any man who doesn't appreciate you for the capable woman that you are."

Claire slowly pulled her hand away. "Do you really mean that?"

Jim nodded. "With all my heart. I may have been stupid enough to lose you, but I never discounted how amazing you are. Don't let Steven run over you. You deserve better."

Claire took a breath, and surprisingly, felt better from Jim's words. She ate a bite of her muffin and then sipped her coffee. Her anger had subsided. All that was left was disappointment in Steven.

"You know, that really isn't like Steven to be so pushy. He's usually very considerate of my feelings. I can't imagine what got into him," Claire said, feeling she had to defend Steven even after what he'd done.

"Well, he is a salesman," Jim said.

Claire frowned. She hated to admit it, but Jim was right.

From behind them, Claire and Jim heard footsteps and turned to see Mandy coming up the steps to the patio.

"There you two are," Mandy said. "I've been looking all over for you."

"What's going on?" Claire asked as Mandy sat down at their table.

"Everyone is heading down to Land's End beach for the afternoon," Mandy said excitedly. "There's a guy there who's taking people out parasailing, so we all want to try it. I figured you two would want to come, too."

"Parasailing?" Claire asked. "What's that?"

"The guy hooks you up to a parachute and pulls you along with a speedboat until you're flying up high. It looks like fun."

"Are you crazy?" Claire asked. "Being pulled behind a boat with a parachute? Count me out."

"Aw, come on, Claire," Jim said. "It sounds like fun. We could at least go and watch. We can take pictures of the others doing it."

Claire eyed Jim. She didn't trust him not to sign her up for this craziness. "Okay. I'll go to watch, but I won't do it. Understand?"

"Of course," Jim said, winking at Mandy, who smiled back conspiratorially.

Claire narrowed her eyes at both of them. "Understand?" she repeated.

"Oh, Mom. You're so suspicious. Of course we won't make you do it."

Claire didn't trust either of them, but she agreed to go nonetheless.

After Claire changed into shorts and a tank top with a swimsuit underneath and Jim changed into his swim trunks, they joined the group down by the golf carts and drove to the other end of the island. It was another beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the eighties, and the breeze from riding in the open golf cart felt good. Claire planned on working on her suntan while watching the younger people go up parasailing. Janice and Carl had stayed back at the lodge, and for once, Claire thought they might be the smart ones.

When they arrived at the beach, there were only a few people from a nearby resort signed up for parasailing, so everyone in their group who wanted to parasail signed up on the sheet and waited their turn. Each ride lasted fifteen minutes, and the parasail held two people, so it wasn't long before it was Mandy and Craig's turn to go up.

Claire watched as Mandy and Craig each stepped into the swing-type harness attached to the parachute. They were also given life jackets for safety. The couple was told to stand on the back of the boat and as it gained speed, they would slowly lift off and one of the crewmen would unreel the line that tethered them to the boat. They could go up to five-hundred feet into the sky. Just the thought of being up that high made Claire queasy.

"Are you sure this is safe?" she asked Jim, who stood beside her, taking pictures.

"Of course, it is," he said, grinning. "You saw the other groups go up and come down safely. They'll be fine."

Claire bit her lip. She didn't care if the others came down safely. She only cared if her baby girl was safe.

Everyone watched as Mandy and Craig slowly lifted off the back of the boat as it sped faster across the calm ocean. The parasailing group had explained that they only operated on his side of the island, because the surf was always calmer there. Soon, Mandy and Craig were high up in the sky. They waved at their friends down below and seemed to be having a great time.

"Looks like a blast, huh?" Glen said as he and Lisa came over to stand beside Claire and Jim.

"Looks dangerous to me," Claire said. "Are you two going up?"

"Of course. Wouldn't miss this for anything. The view up there must be amazing," Glen told her.

"You're both crazy," Claire said.

Glen laughed. "You know I am, baby sister." He turned to Jim. "Man, you have to try to talk Claire into going up. She'll love it once she's up there."

Claire glared at Glen. "Are you insane? After what happened at the lighthouse? I almost ended up living up there. No way am I going up in a parachute over the ocean."

Glen shrugged. "Yeah, but you survived the lighthouse, didn't you?"

"Barely," Claire said.

"It would be fun," Jim admitted. "Look at how happy Mandy and Craig are up there. And you can go up in twos. We could go up together."

Claire shook her head. No way was she going to be pulled behind a speedboat as she flew up in the sky.

Soon, everyone took a turn parasailing and each couple came down telling Claire how much fun they had.

"You have to try it, Mom," Mandy told Claire. "It's so amazing. It's like swinging up in Heaven."

"Claire, you have to go up," Lisa told her after she and Glen had their turn. "It feels completely safe and it feels like you're flying. You just can't miss this."

Claire sighed when Kaylie came over to tell her what she was missing out on. Everyone was trying to sell her on parasailing, but she wasn't buying. Just watching them scared her to death. But when the last group went up, Claire noticed Jim watching them with longing in his eyes.

"You should go up," she told him. "Don't miss out because of me."

"No, it's okay. They only have the two man harness with them today. It's two people or nothing. I admit, it looks like a lot of fun, but I don't have to do it," Jim said.

Claire frowned. She didn't want to ruin Jim's chance of having fun. "Why don't you go up with Mandy? I'm sure she'll be happy to go up again."

Jim shook his head. "I'd rather go up with you. I know you're afraid of heights, but I don't really think this will scare you once you're up there. And they pull you in so smoothly that you never have to touch the water. But I don't want to force you into anything."

Claire felt torn as she watched Cameron and Angela soaring up high. After watching everyone else, she felt tempted to try it. And she also wanted to go up so Jim could go. But part of her was paralyzed with the fear of being up so high. She thought about how much she'd enjoyed the view at the top of the lighthouse. She'd have missed it if Jim hadn't helped her go up there. He'd been so nice, helping her down even though she was panicking. She didn't want Jim to miss out on parasailing just because she was chicken.

Claire closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and blurted out, "Okay. Go sign us up."

Jim turned and looked at her, astounded. "What?"

"I want to go up," Claire said, trying to sound sincere. "Go sign us up to be next."

Jim cocked his head and stared at her. "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like you have to go up because of me."

Claire managed a small smile. "I'm sure. Let's do this."

When Cameron and Angela came down, Claire and Jim were on the dock, waiting. Mandy stood by her mother, and Glen and Lisa were there, too.

"Are you sure, Mom?" Mandy asked. "You really want to do this?"

Claire took in a deep breath. "Yes, I'm sure. Everyone looked like they were having fun. I'm sure I will, too."
If I don't die of fear first.

A crewman helped Claire into the harness and snapped it firmly around her waist. He then gave her a life jacket to put on and helped her fit it properly. Jim was harnessed in and had his life jacket on, too. Their harnesses were secured to straps that were attached to a long, padded bar that would be above their heads. The bar was secured to the parachute. Claire was fine up until the moment everything was ready to go and she and Jim were standing on the back of the boat.

"Ready?" the boat driver asked.

Jim nodded. Claire stood there, holding her harness straps tightly, gritting her teeth.

The boat took off. "It's going to be fine," Jim whispered in Claire's ear. Just breathe."

Easier said than done.
Claire squeezed her eyes shut.

As the boat sped faster, Claire felt herself being lifted off the boat. Slowly, inch by inch, she was lifted up higher into the air. She kept her eyes shut, afraid to look down. The wind blew in her face. She was happy she'd kept her sunglasses on so her eyes didn't water. She didn't move. She was afraid if she moved even a little, she'd fall to her death into the ocean.

"I can do this. I can do this. I can do this," Claire chanted softly to herself.

Finally, when it felt as if they were moving at a steady speed, Jim put his mouth to her ear. "Open your eyes, Claire. Look. It's beautiful."

Slowly, Claire inched her eyes open. She looked all around her. There was nothing but blue-green water all around far below her. Her hands grasped the harness straps so tightly, her knuckles turned white.
I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

"Claire," Jim yelled over the sound of the wind. "Look over there. It's the island." He took one hand off the harness strap and pointed.

Claire's stomach lurched.
Hang on, you idiot,
she wanted to yell, but she couldn't get the words out. She turned her head slowly, and that's when she saw the island. Their group was down there, waving at them. They were so far down, they looked like little, tiny dolls to Claire.

As they continued moving steadily, Claire relaxed. They weren't bumping around, and she started feeling safe in the harness. She looked all around her, and the beauty of her surroundings completely astounded her. She was doing it. She was way up high in the sky, she had her eyes open, and she was actually enjoying the ride. Like a child at an amusement park, she turned to Jim with a huge smile.

"I'm doing it!" she exclaimed with pure joy. "I'm actually up here. I can't believe it!"

Jim smiled back at her. "You are. I'm so proud of you," he said. Then he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, just like he'd done in the lighthouse. Claire smiled wider.

Claire felt like she was flying. It was an amazing feeling. She realized that she'd never had tried this if it hadn't been for Jim. If she'd been with Steven, he'd have never even wanted to try this. He'd also have never persuaded her to go up in the lighthouse. Jim had always been the one to get her to try things she feared. He'd been the one to hold onto her tightly years ago at the Grand Canyon so she could look over the edge and see the view. He knew, even though she was frightened, she'd want to see down the canyon. And she'd always trusted him to keep her safe. Surprisingly, she still did.