The Private Serials Box Set(57)
I had my driver’s license and twenty thousand dollars. Hawaii suddenly sounded like the perfect place to start a new life.
Just thirty minutes later, I was booked on a flight and waiting at my gate. I pulled my phone out of my purse and turned it on, ignoring the influx of messages I’d ignored for four days. I did, however, send one. To Sam.
**Hey. I just wanted to let you know I am okay, but I’m not going to be around for a while. I can’t tell you much more, but I’ll be in contact.**
I hit send and my heart broke a little because I couldn’t tell her everything I wanted to, couldn’t tell her what happened with Derrek, what happened with Preston, and why I was leaving. And I knew she’d freak out at my vague text. But I also knew she couldn’t be the one person who knew where I was – I couldn’t do that to her. The less she knew, the better.
**I’ll text you in a few days when things have settled down. Just know I’m okay and I love you. **
I saw a new text arrive from her, but I couldn’t bring myself to open it, knowing it would just be questions I couldn’t answer. So I walked to a garbage can and threw the phone away. I was officially and absolutely cut off from my old life entirely. And even though I was glad some parts were over and gone, other parts, I knew, would haunt me for a very long time. Even an ocean couldn’t make me forget the things my heart wanted to hold onto. But I was hoping warm sand, beautiful sights, and a new life would help me heal and move forward.
Chapter Two
It had been three weeks since I boarded that plane to Hawaii, and even though I was far from healed, I was at least starting to put the pieces back together.
I’d never been to Hawaii before and so when I’d gotten off the plane in Maui, I’d had no idea where to start. First, I asked my cab driver to take me to the beach. When I’d first set foot on the beautiful sand, I’d taken my first deep breath in days. I could feel the air seep into my lungs, offering something I’d been lacking for years – life. I was breathing in new life.
After I’d sat on the beach for an hour or two, I walked until I found a motel that looked safe and inexpensive. I was smart enough to know Hawaii was expensive, but I also knew if I didn’t watch my money, it would be gone long before I’d accomplished my task of, well, finding a new life.
Luckily, the motel had vacancies and wasn’t too pricey. I paid upfront for a whole week and then asked the woman helping me where the best place to buy some groceries would be, and how to take the bus to get there.
“You’re all by yourself?” the woman asked, hesitantly. She was a round woman, probably in her fifties, and I assumed she was a native as she looked everything like a born and raised Hawaiian woman would look in my mind. She was soft and warm and beautiful. Her dark hair was flowing freely around her shoulders, graced with just a few strands of silver laced throughout. Admittedly, if she’d been a man and asked me the same question, I would have lied and made up a story about my husband waiting in the car, but something about this woman left me feeling like she couldn’t hurt a fly if she tried.
“Yes. This is sort of an unexpected trip.”
“What brings a girl as pretty as you to the island all alone? Surely there’s someone who wants to keep you company.”
I couldn’t even bring myself to think of a lie for her, something to assure her I wasn’t as lonely and pathetic as she was trying not to see me as.
“Nope. No one wants to keep me company.”
She gave me a sad look, but then directed me to a small grocery store and told me which bus I could take to get there.
“If you ever need anything, I live just on the second floor in room thirty. If I’m not here, I’m usually there.” She paused, giving me an encouraging look. “I’m a real good listener, if you ever need to talk.”
I smiled at her because what she was offering was sweet. I held my hand out to her. “My name’s Lena.”
“I’m Rose,” she answered with a wider smile.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said as I let go of her hand. “And thanks for the directions.”
“Anytime,” she replied, and I got the feeling she wasn’t only talking about the directions.
This room was nicer than the one I’d gotten in Portland. I put my bag down on the bed and flipped on the lights in the attached bathroom. I saw my reflection in the mirror and instantly knew why Rose had seemed concerned about me. I looked just as torn up on the outside as I felt on the inside.
There were dark, plump bags under my eyes. My hair was in disarray, tumbled on top of my head in a dark nest of tangles and knots. My skin was pale, nearly gray. In other words, I looked like shit. I sighed at my appearance, but knew there was nothing more to do about it than sleep and eat.
Feeling more gross than anything, I hopped in the shower, hoping to wash away the grime of a day’s worth of traveling. When I emerged from the shower, I didn’t feel much better, but I looked it. The sun had set, and after a yawn, I decided it would be better to explore the island tomorrow in daylight than try to navigate a new area in the dark.
I flipped off all the lights and crawled into the queen sized bed, but only curled up on one side. I closed my eyes and tried to empty my brain, but just like the last few nights I’d spent by myself, my mind decided to torture me with images and memories of Preston. It was a nightly battle between my head and my heart. My heart remembered his touch, his words, and his body. I rolled back and forth, trying to get comfortable while I pictured Preston above me, slowly pumping in and out, while whispering sweet words of love and promises of a future together. My brain ached with the sound of Derrek’s words floating around my head. Preston was hired by Derrek to ruin my life – and he’d succeeded.