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She lifted her bare foot. “I doctored myself up beautifully.” She kept her smile on. It wasn’t Hays’s fault his buddy hadn’t come. She’d thanked Paul and Hays profusely for saving her, feeling awful that she couldn’t thank Jagger, kiss him desperately, then get upset with him again.
What a muddled mess.
“I feel terrible,” she admitted, “but it’s good to be here and rest.” She wasn’t going to explain the extent of her ‘terrible’ feelings.
“I’m sorry you don’t feel well. Would you like to join us for dinner?”
“Us?”
“Paul and I.”
That hurt. Jagger not only hadn’t come for her, but he wouldn’t even eat dinner with her?
“I’m not hungry,” she managed, only a slight wobble in her voice. “Why didn’t Jag come?”
Hays lifted his brows. “He asked me to check on you and see if you’d eat, but he … needed to go swimming.” He pointed out at the ocean. The thick trees next to their patio covering the beach path made it so she could glimpse a bit of the beach and the ocean. She wanted to run and watch Jagger swim.
“I see. Thanks for checking on me.”
“Of course. Can I bring something up?”
“No, thank you.”
Belinda had never been this quiet, and she was only this polite to the elderly.
Hays nodded and turned away.
“Do you know?” she demanded.
“Know?” He turned back. His dark eyes were very kind, like an adorable little boy’s eyes, big and irresistible. She could bet nobody wanted to tell him no.
“How long have you been friends with Jagger?”
“Since basic training.”
“I remember him talking about you. Do you know why he ditched me halfway through A school?”
Hays shook his head, lifting his hands. He paused as if debating how to share while still putting his loyalty to his friend first. “We all got our first leave in four and a half months that weekend,” he said. “I went home to Long Island and … it was a rough weekend for me. When we got back, we were both a mess. Shawn tried to pry it out of us, and I tried to talk to Jagger, but … nothing.”
So Jagger had gone somewhere, maybe to find her, and Hays could still pinpoint the weekend it happened all these years later.
“I’m sorry you had a rough time too,” she said.
The eyes that had been so kind and almost boy-like hardened and Hays became as closed off as anybody she’d ever interacted with. His body coiled like he was ready to fight. The change was surprising, but even still she knew Hays would never do anything unkind to her. Whatever he’d been through, it had hurt him.
“It’s all right,” he said evenly. “Have a good night.”
He turned and walked down the hall and disappeared down the stairs.
Belinda ran to her patio, pulling out her necklace and holding onto the ring. She could see Jagger’s large form in the water. She wanted a closer view. Hurrying back into her room, she slid into some flip-flops, brushed her teeth, put on some mint-flavored lip gloss, fluffed her hair, hid her necklace again, and half-tripped on the way out her door and down the stairs.
When she reached the main area, Paul and Hays both rose from the table where they had a mouth-watering spread of pasta dishes, green salad, and breadsticks.
“Hey. You feeling better?” Paul asked.
Hays’s eyes were still shuttered, but he smiled at her.
“A little. I’m going to walk down to the beach.”
