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Julie sighed. “Whatever it is, I’ve had to live with the guilt. But at the time I would have preferred dying. I didn’t have the courage to kill myself, so I tried to disappear instead. I let a rich aristocratic British guy from Gordon’s posse lure me into a high-priced world tour laced with drugs and sex. We started out at a Swiss chalet that belonged to his family, but after a few weeks in other European cities, we hopscotched to more exotic locations, like Morocco and India and Africa.”
Seven years ago…
Julie wokeout of a fever dream, her cotton tee sticking to her skin, her body aching. The pillow beneath her head was damp, her hair too, but when she lifted her hand to her face, it felt cooler for the first time in…well, she wasn’t sure how long. The last few days were a hazy blur.
And her last dream was so wonderful she didn’t want to leave it. Sinking into the pillow, she replayed the images of her andNoah running down the streets of New York City. But this wasn’t her apartment, so where was she?
Lifting her head,Julie gazed out sliding glass doors at a beautiful view and she remembered. She was in Africa and this was overlooking the Maasai Mara Reserve that seemed to go on forever. Sitting up made her a little dizzy, but the nausea was gone. Julie doubted there was anything left to come out either end at this point anyway.
Overwhelming exhaustion hit her and she flopped back down on the bed, grateful that she and Noah had decided to splurge on a high-end tented suite complete with running water and comfortable furnishings rather than the rougher safari options. The medical staff here had taken good care of her, too, but some things just had to run their course.
They’d been traveling for six weeks and spending money like water, but she told herself it was worth it.
As she lay there, her mind fog began to clear.
Noah was not here with her.
She was with Wayne. Her heart sank.
After a brief fling, he’d asked her to marry him and said he wanted to take her on a pre-wedding honeymoon adventure. And she had said yes.
Yes to a guy she didn’t even like—because she believed an illness or accident would take her out before she ever got to any stupid wedding.
And this latest sickness almost had.
But here she was. Alive.
She’d thought death would be her just punishment, but maybe it would be marrying Wayne. He was rich as hell and kind of fun.
Speak of the devil,she heard the door to the sitting room open. “Wayne, I think I’m finally over this awful… Mr. Bittner?” She pushed herself to a seated position, holding the thin coverlet over the front of her damp and probably see-through sleep tee.
“Good morning, Julie. You look a lot better.”
James Bittner was an older man—in his sixties, she’d guess—who was staying in the tent suite next to theirs and had been joining them for dinner and drinks each night. Having lost her parents, Julie enjoyed his fatherly company and was intrigued by the stories he told them about his travels around the world.
But what was he doing here in her room this morning?
Just as her mind went there, Mr. Bittner said, “I’m sorry to intrude on you like this, but I was asked to give this to you.”
He set three things on the nightstand by her bed.
The key card for their suite.
A square white envelope that looked like it had a greeting card inside.
And Wayne’s ring.
She looked down at the matching one on her left hand.
When Wayne had asked her to marry him, they agreed to buy each other matching rings and they’d chosen gold bands with a diamond stud.
Seeing Mr. Bittner standing there as if he was waiting and anticipating something bad, judging by the concerned worry on his face, Julie got the disturbing hint that her “engagement” had just come to an end.
She picked up the envelope and opened it to see a card from the resort’s gift shop with a colorful Kenyan design pattern on the front. Inside, it was a blank card with a written message:
“Sorry, Julie. I just can’t go through with the marriage. But we had some fun, didn’t we?”
If she’d had anything left in her stomach, it would have come up. Despite the fact that Julie was way too accustomed to uglysurprises in her life, a cold chill went through her. Not because of losing Wayne, but because she realized she was truly alone in the world.
