LOVE AND HATE (A Billionaire Romance) (27 page)

Willow smiled sadly at her daughter. “Amy’s right. As bad as this may sound now, Trent has probably moved on while you hide out in your room and rot. I know it’s hard but you need to keep moving forward.”

“I’d rather not,” Claire said, her voice full of sorrow.

“So you want to spend the rest of your days off from work like this?”

Claire looked at her mother with hollow eyes. “What do you suggest I do, Mom? Go out and party like nothing happened?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying you need to pick up the pieces and get yourself together. This isn’t doing you any good.”

“Wait, I have an idea,” Amy said as her face lit up. “I think you should go to St. Lucia.”

Claire looked at her like she was crazy. “You want me to go on my honeymoon by myself?”

“Yes, except you wouldn’t be by yourself. The three of us could go. St. Lucia is a beautiful place, and it will be good for you to get away.”

“That’s an excellent idea, Amy,” Willow said. “And Claire, you have no excuse. Your reservation is still active. Amy and I will get our own rooms if you want privacy.”

“Mom, I can’t…”

“Claire, this is not up for discussion. Now, pack your bags and get ready. We leave in the morning.” Willow walked out of the room, leaving Claire with no choice.

“I don’t want to go,” Claire said after her mother had gone.

“You heard your mom. You know she’ll make you do it,” Amy said as she sat next to her on the bed. “I promise you’ll love it. Besides, I’ll be there to hang out with you.”

“Yeah, right! You’ll leave all those men on the beach to come hang out with me? Do you think I believe you?”

“Claire, just do as your mom says, please,” Amy said, heading toward the door. “I promise it’ll be fun.”

Long after the two had gone, Claire sat alone in her room, picturing Trent in bed with the other woman, laughing and pretending she didn’t exist. She tossed the covers back, and with anger bubbling inside her, she yanked the suitcase from the closet and started packing. Damn it, she was going to St. Lucia without Trent. Fuck him!

CHAPTER 3

It was an exciting moment for two out of the three passengers in the cab that drove along the interstate to the airport that evening. Claire stared as the outside world raced by, her thoughts doing the opposite, remaining fixated on one event.

“I bet you will love it in St. Lucia,” Willow said as she playfully poked her daughter’s ribs.

“Come on, Claire,” Amy nudged. “Blue skies, white sandy beaches, crystal clear water. That’s got to put a smile on your face.”

Claire looked at the girl with a blank expression. “Perhaps.” It was hard to imagine anything fun when hurt weighed on her like an anchor. Her entire life was drifting by, and as far as she was concerned, she was just floating into oblivion.

The other women temporarily gave up any attempt at lightening Claire’s mood. They reached the airport and wheeled their luggage sets from the car. Luckily, the airport wasn’t crowded. They quickly checked their luggage and joined the other passengers as they waited for boarding.

Claire had the window seat once inside the plane, and she stared endlessly through its crystal partition, taking account of every cloud that passed. Amy had the seat next to her, and Willow had the aisle seat. Willow was busy doing a crossword puzzle, and Amy struggled to find something to watch on the small rectangular monitor in front of her.

“I don’t get it,” Claire said, to no one or to them both.

“That’s how these things operate,” Amy said as she continued pressing the control on her armrest. Then she looked over at Claire and realized she wasn’t looking at the television. “Oh, did you mean something else? What don’t you get?”

“Trent and I have been together for three years. Why would he do this now?”

“Men sometimes do stupid things, Claire. Chalk it up to that. It has nothing to do with you,” Amy told her.

“Yeah, but what if I drove him away? What if he was with that woman because she was sleeping with him?” She had guilt in her eyes, and she looked pleadingly at Amy. “Maybe I shouldn’t have been a prude.”

“That’s nonsense,” Willow intervened. “You did nothing wrong by waiting to marry him before having sex with him, or any other man, for that matter. A good man would have appreciated that.”

“Still, it could have been the reason. Men are more physical than women,” Claire defended. She wanted that to be the reason; nothing else made sense to her.

“If that was the reason, he wouldn’t have waited so long,” Amy told her.

“He wasn’t waiting. He was probably fucking the other woman throughout our relationship. No wonder it didn’t seem to bother him so much, and I respected him for it. Ugh!”

“Enough of this foolish talk, Claire,” Willow interjected. “Trent chose his path, and I am glad you became aware of it before you married him. Trust me, divorce is never easy. You know I went through that with your father. You need to move on. Whatever the reason, it’s already happened and you can’t fix it.”

At that instant, the aircraft dipped a few feet, surprising them and making Claire forget whatever response she had meant to give her mother. They looked at each other with horrified expressions. Some of the other passengers were whispering.

The plane started moving up and down haphazardly. The passengers were talking loudly and beginning to panic. The shaking continued, and some of the passengers began screaming as oxygen masks fell from the overhead compartments.

“What’s happening?” Claire asked as she looked out the window. She could see nothing but blue and white. Her heart hammered in her chest. The blood rushed to her head, and she could feel it flowing inside her as her palms grew clammy. She started hyperventilating. “We’re crashing!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, please make use of the breathing masks in front of you,” the flight attendant called over the microphone.

Claire tried to remember the instructions given before take-off.

“Come on, girls,” Willow told the girls as she began strapping on the device. Claire could see terror written all over her face, but her voice remained calm.

“Hey, what’s going on?” a man behind them shouted. “Is the plane going to crash?”

“No, far from it,” the flight attendant tried to reassure them. “We are experiencing some turbulence because of high pressure winds in the area. Please, remain calm and do as you are told. The pilot will issue an advisory shortly. Remain in your seats and fasten your seatbelts.”

There was a chorus of clicking as everyone on the plane simultaneously snapped their seatbelts. The plane rocked continuously, and Claire grabbed Amy’s sweaty hands as they clung to each other for support.

“She’s lying. This is it,” Claire said under her breath as she struggled to put the mask over her face. “I should have stayed home.”

“Calm down, Claire,” Willow said. Her eyes were closed and her head rested on the seat. She seemed to be breathing heavily as she held the mask over her nose.

The captain’s voice came over the intercom: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are experiencing major turbulence at the moment. We are going to make an emergency landing. Please remain seated and calm as we get you to safety. Everything will be okay.”

The tension did not abate after the cabin grew silent. The plane made a sharp swing to the right, and Claire swore everyone in the cabin screamed. The screams were unnerving as the aircraft battled against the pressure outside. For the moment, Claire was temporarily distracted from her brooding as she focused on her life flashing before her.

After a few more bumps and jerks, the plane levelled off, landed, and rolled to a stop. Most of the passengers hastened to exit the plane before the captain or flight attendant made any announcements.

“Man, where are we?” a young man, a college student from the looks of him, asked as he looked outside. “This ain’t no airport.”

There were other murmurings to the same effect until an elderly man spoke. “Would you have preferred to stay in the air while the captain found a nice long runway?” he asked the man, then turned to address others still streaming from the plane. “Just be grateful we landed safely.”

“Yes to that,” a woman agreed. The young man shrugged his shoulders and dug his hands into the pockets of his shorts and put on his headphones.

When everyone realized they were all alright, the question resurfaced: where the heck were they? The flight attendant announced they could stretch their legs outside of the plane as long as they stayed nearby and didn’t wander off.

“Let’s get out of here,” Amy said to Claire and Willow. The other women nodded and followed her out of the plane.

As soon as they got out of the plane, Claire looked around, noticing that the airstrip was professionally done, but they weren’t at an airport either. They appeared to be somewhere in the Caribbean; she could make out a forested area behind them with the beach in front. There was a jet at the end of the runway, not far from what she assumed to be a hangar.

“I think this is a private island,” she said to Amy.

“Why?” Amy asked.

“Well, it has to be,” she said. “Look at the layout. If this place had an official airport then that’s where we would be. Not here. This is probably some old rich asshole’s private airport.”

“Makes sense,” Willow chuckled. “I better go find that old rich man then.”

The women laughed, and for a few moments, Claire forgot her sorrows. “I’ve never seen one of those,” Claire said and pointed to the jet. “Wonder what it looks like inside.”

“Probably nice,” Amy responded. “So if there’s a private island and a private jet, there’s hopefully a young, sexy billionaire close by.”

“Amy! You’re one crazy….” Claire laughed, but she didn’t complete her comment as they saw the pilot walking toward them. There were other people gathered around.

“Everyone, I have an announcement,” the pilot trumpeted over the voices. “We had to make an emergency landing on this island for obvious reasons; the owner was gracious enough to respond and allow us to land here. He will accommodate us until we can get back into the skies. In the meantime, stay close. Don’t wander around and get into trouble. We don’t want to leave anyone behind.”

“How long will we be here?” an old woman asked. “Someone was expecting me in Castries by a certain time. I need to get to my appointment.”

“Ma’am, I cannot tell you that with any certainty, but I’ll get you to your destination as soon as it’s safe to fly. I do apologize for any inconvenience, but this is out of my control. Once the weather clears and I am sure our plane is safe to fly, we’ll continue to our destination.” He smiled at her and joined the flight attendants in discussion a few yards off.

“Great! We’re stuck on a stupid island,” Claire said as she folded her arms. “Why can’t things ever work out in my favor?”

“Hey, it’s not like you were in a hurry, right? Let’s look around. Maybe we will find something interesting. Or someone interesting.” Amy said. “Come on, be glad we’re all alive.”

“I guess so,” Claire said.

“You want to explore the island?” Amy asked.

“Why not? You coming, Mom?” she asked Willow.

“No, I think I’ll stay here for a while. You girls go ahead.”

The island was beautiful, lined with coconut and palm trees as far as the eye could see. A path led them to an incline, and they lowered their heads as they wound their way into the mini-jungle. Not far up the path, they spotted a couple making out, and Amy hurried Claire so she wouldn’t start moping again.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Claire said when they passed the pair. “It’s not like I care.”

“Do what?” Amy asked innocently.

Claire rolled her eyes at her. “I might be hurting, but it’s not like I begrudge anyone else their happiness.”

“I didn’t do anything. Okay fine, I’m sorry,” she said and laughed. “But look, we’re almost at the top.”

Claire followed closely behind Amy, appreciating the beauty around her along the trail. From the top, they could make out the expanse of the beach front, and to the north they noticed a stone pathway that led to one of the biggest houses they had ever seen.

“Now that’s a house,” Amy said and whistled. “A house and a half.”

“More like a mansion,” Claire said. She stared at the building that towered to the sky. It was white with a modern look about it. Its balcony faced the sea, and a wide and evenly manicured lawn surrounded it.

“I bet there is a pool or Jacuzzi or something up there,” Amy said dreamily. “Should we go find out?”

“We are not going up there,” Claire said as she tugged her friend’s arm. “We don’t even know who they are.”

“They can’t be too bad; they let us land on their island,” she said as she attempted to free herself.

“No,” Claire said and held her arm firmly. Her eyes involuntarily looked up, and she relaxed her hold on Amy.

“What?” She followed Claire’s line of sight.

On the balcony stood a man. He had golden hair and perfect skin that glistened in the sun. He gripped the railing with both hands, and she could make out his muscles against the black, tight shirt he wore. White shorts completed his outfit. He relaxed on the rails and looked around, and Claire found it utterly impossible to turn her eyes away. He caught sight of her, and she blushed as she grabbed Amy’s hand and hurried back to the beach.