“Are you sure that’s it?”
Almost.
But there’s still a part of me that hates it.
“Listen, Mom, I have to—”
“Go.”
I cut through the restaurant. Push out the door.
But there’s no sign of Leighton.
Chapter 42
Ryan
Leighton isn’t in the lobby.
She isn’t in our room.
She’s not lounging on a deck chair by the pool. Or strolling along the garden path. Or sucking sugar syrup from a shaved ice.
My dress shoes sink onto the sand as I step off the concrete path.
There.
Moonlight bounces off a silver dress.
She’s sitting on the beach, her legs pulled into her chest, her gaze on the starry sky.
I move closer.
The fear in her eyes comes into focus.
She pulls her hands to her sides. Lets them sink into the dry sand. “It’s beautiful here.”
“Yeah.”
“More stars than I’ve ever seen.”
There are, but it’s hard to see it as beautiful at the moment. Not with my stomach sinking like a stone.
“I’m sorry about your mom. I—”
“It’s okay. She gets it.”
She pats the spot next to her.
I drop to the sand.
She turns toward me with a soft smile. “You’re fucking up your suit.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do. I like it.” She shifts, straddling me.
She’s warm. Soft. Everything.