Jack shrugged. “It’s probably just stress.”
“It’s more than stress!” Was the man not listening to her?
Jack offered his dimpled smile and walked over with his Texan swagger he wore like a badge of honor. He pulled her into his arms.
She tried pulling away.
He wouldn’t let go. “Darlin’, don’t worry. I’ll check on Monica if it will make you feel better.”
She settled.
“You will?” A rush of emotion started to well inside.
“Did you tell her?”
“I couldn’t. She sounded so sad.”
Jack ran his hands down her back and to her waist. “It might have cheered her up.”
“It wasn’t the right time. And don’t you dare tell her about the baby unless I say.”
Jack rubbed noses with her and sealed his lips with hers. They’d just passed her second month of pregnancy and were waiting for the perfect time to tell the family.
“I’m good with secrets,” he told her.
Jessie rolled her eyes. “You should have been an actor.”
Jack had spent the first months of their relationship disguised as a broke dreamer who didn’t keep a steady job, when in reality he was heir and part owner of the Morrison empire of hotels and resorts. All because he wanted to know if Jessie loved him for who he was and not the dollars in his bank account.
Jessie knew he could keep a secret.
“Just find her and check for yourself. And if something is wrong you bring her home.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said with a wink.
“I mean it.” She knew her hormones were doing the talking. Thankfully, Jack didn’t do anything else but relent with a kiss and a smile.
I don’t care.
Three little words that filtered through Trent’s head for hours were easy to repeat, but hard to hear.
After he’d dropped Monica off at the clinic, he’d returned to the airstrip and poured himself into the relief effort. Although the military and several helping agencies had larger cargo-holding helicopters to shuttle supplies around the island, Trent found a reason to get in the air. More than one actually. He flew tourists back to the airport so they could leave the island behind even though there were now buses of people fleeing.
Even with all the back and forth, eventually there wasn’t a need for Trent to be in the air.
His sanctuary at home felt more like a holding cell. Instead of returning, he called Alex and Betty and suggested they meet. Although they hadn’t spoken of the future of Blue Paradise, Trent wanted to assure the couple they’d be taken care of.
There was a private pilots’ lounge, where Trent met with his employees.
He hugged Betty and shook Alex’s hand. “How are you two doing?”
Alex spoke first. “Better.” Alex took hold of his wife’s hand. “We consider ourselves lucky.”
“Almost guilty,” Betty added.
Trent understood that emotion. “We are the lucky ones. I know it’s soon, but have you thought about what you might want to do?”
Betty glanced at her husband then back to Trent.
“We were hoping you’d tell us our options,” Alex said.
Trent smiled and did his best to ease their minds. “I can’t even guess how long it will take to rebuild, or bring tourists in. You know how many locations we have and I’m sure I can find a place for you if you want to leave. If you want to stay here, we can work out something while things rebuild. It’s going to be your call.”
“Our daughter’s in Florida. We were thinking of visiting her for a while. At least until the basics are restored to the island. We don’t even have power at the house.” Alex ran a hand over his bald head. “Our food stores are nearly gone. Betty’s worried about disease.”
“It feels like we’re abandoning ship,” Betty uttered.
“It isn’t as if you’ve lived here all your lives,” Trent reminded them. They’d moved to the island a little over a year prior to the quake and had made it clear that they wanted to work through a “long vacation.” Alex was retired military and Betty had been a flight instructor. Between the two of them, they worked one full-time job… most of which Alex flew. “You tell me what you want to do, and I’ll help you do it. If you want to go to Florida to consider your options and get back to me, that’s fine too. None of us saw this coming and no one knows how long it’s going to take for normalcy to return.”
There were tears in Betty’s eyes when she said, “Thank you.”
“What are you going to do?” Alex sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee.
“I’m not entirely sure myself.”
“You have that beautiful house,” Betty reminded him.
“And like you, I feel guilty being the only one walking around in it.” For the first time since he’d had it built it felt too big and too empty. Trent pushed out of his chair. “You two talk it over and let me know what you decide. I’ll have Jason make a couple of calls about changing locations if you want. Just say the word.”
They said their good-byes and Trent made his way to his car. His stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since late morning. He had a few more reserves than most, but he too would run out of food eventually. The government had set up soup kitchens for the locals, but as much as Trent liked to call Jamaica home, he wasn’t a local, and he wasn’t without means.