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“I’m busy. I do have a life outside of you.” Ty’s tone was glacial.
“I know you do. Does this have anything to do with my father?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly.
“Yes, it does, but you don’t seem to care. I want you to look at the video we enhanced,” Ty demanded.
“And what? Identify him? I don’t know who it was,” I replied, feeling a knot form in my stomach.
“I want you to look at some pictures. Maybe we can match it,” he insisted.
“Why can’t you believe me when I tell you I don’t remember anything?” I said, frustration edging into my voice.
“You’re suppressing. I know it was a long time ago, but don’t you want your father’s case solved? He deserves it,” Ty pressed.
“I want it solved, but not at the risk of my sanity. I still have nightmares. You want to dredge that shit up for me and make it worse,” I countered, my voice breaking.
“No, but maybe they’ll go away if the man responsible goes to jail,” Ty argued.
“Or maybe not,” I said, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Say you’ll think about it,” Ty pleaded.
“I have to go. Oliver is taking me to dinner,” I said, trying to end the conversation.
“Have a wonderful time,” he said sarcastically and hung up. I stood there with the phone to my ear as the line went dead.
“Sweetheart?” Oliver’s voice broke through my daze.
My bottom lip trembled. “He won’t let it go. I can’t do it. I just want it to go away,” I cried, the tears finally spilling over.
Oliver came to me, wrapping his arms around me. I buried my face in his chest, sobbing.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he murmured, stroking my hair.
“I want my father’s murder solved, but I can’t see the man that killed him. I just can’t,” I whispered, my voice muffled against his chest.
“We’ll find another way. You’re not alone in this,” Oliver said firmly, holding me tighter.
he said, his expression softening slightly. “Let’s take that shower.”
I nodded and we headed to the bathroom. As the hot water cascaded over us, I felt the tension of the day start to melt away. Oliver wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned into his embrace.
We had a wonderful time in St. Croix. The next day, Oliver took me back to Fox Island to drop off Jonah, who was feeling much better. We explored the two miles of land, and he led me to a waterfall and a small lagoon about half a mile from where the house was being built. I had plans for that spot when we went on our honeymoon.
We drove around in a golf cart with extra-large tires so it could handle the sand and rough terrain. The island was beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to do more exploring when we were there for two weeks.
I dreaded going home because New York was in the throes of a polar cold front. It was freezing, and Sadie told me not to come back. I wished we could stay for another few days. I spent one full day browning my skin on the beach and ended up with a nice golden tan. Oliver made sure to slather me with suntan lotion every two hours so I wouldn’t get burned.
On the plane, I slept while Oliver worked. He even took a conference call as we hiked through some of the wooded areas of the island. I was amazed he got any connection at all. I was so fascinated with the vegetation and the coconuts that fell from the palm trees that I wasn’t even annoyed he was working.
“Ryleigh, we’re landing in a few minutes,” Oliver said as he gently shook me awake.
“I’m not ready. Can’t we just fly to California or something? I want warm weather,” I whined, still half-asleep.
“You wouldn’t want to miss Christmas, would you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course not, but we could celebrate anywhere,” I replied, my voice filled with longing.
“What about a tree?” he asked, smirking.
