“I have a slight concussion, but the doctor says I'll be fine,” I told her. “Tyler did a good job.”
“You must be very brave, Tyler.” Izzy put her hand on Tyler's shoulder and he stood a little taller. “What happened?”
Tyler's blush must have gone all the way down to his toes. He looked up at Logan, a little lost as to what he was supposed to say. I knew he didn't feel like he was the hero. “Um, well...”
“Olivia and Tyler were jet-skiing over by the reef,” Logan explained, his voice low and dramatic. Tyler gave him a grateful nod as he continued their story. “Tyler was in the water and Olivia was coming to get him when she hit a wave and was thrown from her jet-ski. She was knocked unconscious and was drowning. Tyler not only swam to her rescue, but kept her above the water. He kept calm the whole time.”
“You helped a lot too, Mr. Hayes,” Tyler said quietly.
Logan shrugged, deflecting any of the credit. “I just happened to be nearby. I didn't do anything special. You were the one who really saved her.”
Tyler peeked around shyly at the group of adults, waiting to see their reactions.
“That is amazing!” Izzy exclaimed. The other adults murmured in agreement and Tyler beamed. Every adult was beholding at him with awe and he knew it. His chest puffed out a little bit, and he stood up a little straighter as his confidence soared.
Bless Logan for giving him this moment. I had been sure that once we were in a public setting he would take all the credit for my rescue, but instead he had given it all to Tyler. I could barely believe it; the man did have a shred of decency in him, but this was the most generous thing he could have done for Tyler. Seeing the confidence in Tyler's face, I could almost imagine that Logan wasn't evil.
“I think this calls for a toast,” Noah said, motioning to the bartender in the corner. The bartender quickly hurried over carrying a tray with six champagne flutes. He handed a specific one to Tyler.
“This one is sparkling cider,” the bartender explained to Maddy as she reached out to take it before Tyler could.
“Could I get a cider, too? I'm not supposed to have anything alcoholic today,” I asked the bartender with a blush. He nodded, and once his tray had only the one champagne glass, hurried back to the bar to return with one filled with cider.
“To Tyler, the hero of the island,” Logan announced once I had my glass.
“To Tyler,” everyone echoed, raising their glasses. Tyler's grin threatened to split his face in half. This certainly was a vacation that he was never going to forget.
As we sipped our champagne, a man in a white uniform and chef hat stepped into the center of the room. “Dinner is served,” he announced.
Two tables rolled in behind him and were added to the buffet table in the middle. From where I was standing, I could see roast beef, lobster, crab legs, and more. There was enough food to feed an army.
“Will you sit next to me?” Izzy asked Tyler as we headed toward the food. He looked to his mother's smile and then nodded enthusiastically. He was crushing hard on her.
“That is a lot of food,” I commented to Noah as we joined the other guests lining up for the food. We were the last two in line. There were only maybe fifteen people, but there was enough food for double, if not triple, that many guests on the table.
“We were expecting more people to be here, but the threat of a hurricane scared several groups away,” he explained, picking up a plate.
“Hurricane? Last I heard it was just a tropical storm, and much farther North,” I said with a frown. Technically, it was still hurricane season in the Caribbean, but the odds of a hurricane actually happening were incredibly low. It was the reason we had been willing to risk the trip.
“It was upgraded to a tropical storm this evening, but the word ‘hurricane’ was said somewhere, and now it's all people are talking about.” Noah shook his head as he piled crab legs onto his plate. “Don't worry, though. The island is safe. A hurricane hasn't hit these shores in over twenty years, and even then the damage was minimal.”
“That's good to know.” I piled mashed potatoes onto my plate. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I saw the food.
“But just in case you were wondering, the hotel is still hurricane-ready,” Noah informed me. “Each building is secure and there are a series of tunnels that connect the
two main buildings and several other areas of the resort. If a hurricane ever did hit the island, the resort is very safe and very ready. And all ecologically friendly, of course.”
I paused from putting a lobster claw on my plate and looked at him. “If I didn't know better, I might think you were trying to sell me something, Noah.”
He laughed and handed me a napkin from the end of the table. “It's hard to turn off the sales pitch sometimes. I'm very proud of this resort.”
“As you should be. It's beautiful, and the fact that it's all green-certified is amazing,” I told him as we headed to a round table. Izzy, Tyler, Maddy, and Logan were already sitting, all of them digging into their food with a passion. Noah took the seat on the other side of Izzy, leaving me to sit next to Logan. I wished there was just one more seat at the table so I didn't have to be so close.
“Will you and Izzy be staying here this week as well?” I asked Noah once we had slowed down on shoving the delicious food into our faces enough to talk. If they continued to feed us this well, I was going to go home ten pounds heavier. Even with that image in my head, I was tempted to go back for more. It was just that good. Logan stood and went back to the buffet table. Apparently he didn't care about the weight either.
“No,” Noah said, shaking his head sadly. “Our jet is actually being prepped now. We have to be in New York by tomorrow morning.”
“That's too bad. It look's like Tyler's really enjoying Izzy.” I nodded my head across the table where it appeared the two of them were having an animated discussion about something. I thought I heard the word “shark,” but I wasn't sure. Whatever it was, Tyler looked like he was having the time of his life. Noah smiled at the two of them, his eyes soft. Izzy looked up and caught his gaze, her eyes twinkling at him before returning to her conversation.