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CHAPTER TWENTY
WHERE IS SHE?
It was late when Xander returned to the island. Still, he’d only been gone for not quite twelve hours. How far could she get?
He inwardly groaned when he thought of the answer. Lea could have gone quite far. He’d searched every room in the bungalow and her office. She was nowhere to be seen. And that was when he realized the one person who would know where to locate her—Popi. They were as close as two friends could be.
He knew it was late but that didn’t stop him from approaching Popi’s door. Surely she would understand the urgency. The longer he let this thing linger, the further Lea slipped away from him. The thought of losing Lea forever had him urgently knocking on the door.
When the door didn’t immediately swing open, he started to worry that Popi wasn’t home. But where else would she be on the island? It didn’t exactly have a night life unless there was a wedding. And he knew from his work on the island that there was none scheduled for the evening.
He knocked again. “Popi! It’s Xander. I need your help.”
The door swung open. Popi stood there with her hair mussed up as she clutched a short white robe around her and glared at him. “What’s going on?”
“I’m really sorry to disturb you this late.” And he was sorry, but that didn’t stop him. He had a feeling that if he didn’t find Lea soon, she would plan a new life that didn’t include him and he wouldn’t have a chance to change her mind. “I need to find Lea. She’s gone.”
Popi sighed. “And this couldn’t have waited until morning?”
He shook his head. “I messed up real bad. And now I need to find her. I need to tell her... I need to tell her so many things.”
Popi studied him for a moment and then she shook her head. “I can’t help you.”
When she began to close the door, he stuck out his foot, blocking the door from closing the whole way. “Listen, I know I screwed up in more than one way. I shouldn’t have left her. I should have stayed and fixed things. I made a mistake. Surely you can understand. You’ve made mistakes, haven’t you?”
“Sure, I have. But walking away from someone that you’re supposed to care about after you’ve screwed up royally, well that’s a special kind of mistake. It’s the kind of mistake that makes the other person need time to sort things out in their head.”
“And that’s why I have to get to her.”
“Leave her be. You can speak to her when she gets back—”
“It’ll be too late. She’ll have written me out of her life and we all know how stubborn she can be when she feels as though someone she cares about has betrayed her.”
“You mean her parents?”
He nodded. “I’ve been trying to talk her into reconciling with them, but she’s hesitant. If she does the same thing with me, I don’t know how I’ll ever win her back.” He pleaded with Popi with his eyes. “Please help me. I love Lea and she doesn’t know it. It might make a difference in what she decides to do next.”
Popi let go of the door and crossed her arms above her rounded abdomen. “I don’t want to, but I believe you. But you have to understand that I made a promise to my best friend not to tell anyone where she went.”
He was the one to sigh this time. “And you are worried that Lea will see this as a betrayal.” He hated what he had to say next. “I can’t ask you to do that, not only for your sake but also for Lea’s. She needs you.”
He turned to walk away. He’d just reached the stepping stones when he heard Popi call out to him. He paused and turned back.
“If you need a place to stay tonight, I know of a little secluded hut.”
Was she trying to get him out of the way? Or was she trying to tell him something? He quietly waited for her to go on.
“With it being out of the way, it would be a good place for you to figure out your next step. If you’re interested, I can tell you how to get there.” A small smile pulled at Popi’s lips.
And then he knew she was giving him directions to reach the love of his life. He agreed and she gave him the instructions. She told him he might want to wait for daybreak before heading into the rough terrain and getting lost. But he couldn’t stand to live any longer with this rift between him and Lea. With every passing moment it felt like Lea was slipping away.
