SCORE (A Stepbrother Sports Romance)(34)

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.