1
Maddie
“I could get used to this.” The smile on my face felt like it went from ear to ear.
“Hell yes!” My sister—aka the bride to be—agreed with me. “Wait, which part? The blue skies? The white sands? The gorgeous island in the Caribbean?”
“The golf cart,” I said as I pressed down on the pedal. The cart zoomed forward and I couldn’t help laughing at how fun it was to drive. The private island—commonly referred to as the Isle of Matrimony—had a tradition wherein the maid of honor and the best man got their own golf carts to help them carry out their wedding week duties. “It’s just so cool.”
Gina laughed as I steered past a series of small pools. A little farther on, there was an Olympic-size swimming pool. With all this luxury and an ocean view to boot, this place truly was a tropical paradise. We’d only arrived this morning, and I was dying to explore all that the resort had to offer.
“Did you see that last pool had a bar you could swim up to?” Gina said with a sigh of longing. “Once I find Doug, that’s where I’m headed first.”
“Sounds like the perfect afternoon to me.” And it did—for Gina. She was small and slender and looked amazing in a bathing suit. Her fiancé, Doug, certainly seemed to think so. For me, bathing suits weren’t my friend. I had more curves than my sister, and for me, swimsuits came in two sizes: too small, causing my larger-than-average chest to spill out, or much too big, making me look like I was wearing a tent. Still, the blue water of the pools, not to mention the gray waves of the ocean beyond them, looked pretty damn inviting.
“What are you going to do?” Gina asked. She and I were close, but not exactly the type of sisters who were best friends. Back in the real world, we saw each other a few times a month, not every day like some siblings.
“Maid of honor stuff.” I’d already started on my tasks. Gina and I were returning from a meeting with the head of hospitality. A lot of the menu and event planning had been done prior to this week, but there were still a few things, such as choosing some items from the amazing menu, that could only be done in person.
“Don’t work too hard,” Gina said.
“I won’t. I’ll reserve lots of time for driving this baby all over the island. I still can’t believe it’s mine for the week.”
“Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility,” my sister intoned as I hit the brakes, bringing the little cart to a screeching halt in front of the main lodge.
Her solemn tone made me laugh. “Screw responsibility, we’re on a private island!” But truthfully, I was going to have to be careful to balance getting stuff done and having fun this week. Still, helping my sister out in such a beautiful setting seemed a lot more appealing that working back home in Tennessee at a lackluster job for a horrible boss. Hell, if I had to perform wedding-related tasks 24/7 in this beautiful place, it would still be a win in my book.
Gina climbed out of the little cart, staring up at the pristine lines of the main lodge. “I wish you could stay here, too.”
“Me too, but I’ll be okay.” The wing that housed the honeymoon suite was the only one currently open. Two weeks ago, the island had been sideswiped by a hurricane. Fortunately, there had been no loss of life or significant injuries, but for a while, we feared the worst and frantically searched for another venue for the wedding. But the resort staff worked hard and got enough things up and running for us to come. Parts of the island were still inaccessible due to downed trees, and a few buildings had significant damage, but things had mostly worked out.
Gina turned back to me, shielding her eyes with her hand. “Did you know that Doug wanted you to have one of the other suites on the top floor?”
“Really?” That was nice of him. I was quite fond of my future brother-in-law. My whole family had liked him immediately, back when we thought he was a normal guy. A few months ago, he sprang the news that he came from an extraordinarily wealthy family. At the time, it had been quite a shock because he seemed so nice and normal, but it didn’t seem very strange anymore. Doug was just Doug. He still seemed like a regular guy to me, at least until his family had flown us all in a private jet and arranged to have an entire island at our disposal for a whole week. So everything felt a bit surreal right now.
“We were going to surprise you,” Gina said. “I’m sorry that it didn’t work out.”