Cold Feet in Hot Sand (8 page)

“We were talking about relationships,” Deanna said. “I’m… I’m not even sure how we got from point A to point B. He was upset, I was upset after we brought up Jason, and…” She shook her head. “It happened.”

Mom pursed her lips and didn’t speak for a long, tense moment. “I never thought you were even interested in Nick.”

“I wasn’t,” Deanna said softly. “Before tonight, I swear I never thought about him like that. If I could change what happened tonight, I would. But I can’t.”

“Well, I suppose there’s nothing I can lecture you about that you probably don’t already know,” her mother said. “I know you have a good heart, Deanna, so I don’t think you intended to do this, but I’m still disappointed.”

“So am I.” Deanna swallowed hard. “Do you think Kristina will forgive me for this? Eventually?”

“Something like this?” Mom took a deep breath. “I wish I could say she would.” Her eyebrows knitted together with sympathy. “But I think you and I both know her better than that.”

Deanna nodded slowly as her heart sank deeper and deeper in the pit of her stomach. Barely whispering, she said, “That’s what I was afraid of.”

Six

Nick could ignore the messages from his mother, but there was no escaping the pounding on his motel room door.

“Nicholas,” her voice came from outside, “Open this door immediately.”

He groaned. Great. As if his conscience hadn’t kept him up all damned night, now his mother was here to make him feel about five years old. Bracing himself, he turned the deadbolt and stood aside as he opened the door.

She stood on the other side of the threshold, her eyes narrow and her lips pulled tight in that look of fury he’d seen millions of times as a kid.

“Look me in the eye,” she ordered. “Look me in the eye and tell me you did not sleep with your fiancée’s sister.”

Nick kept his gaze down. “Mom, I did. I’m not going to lie to you or anyone else about it.”

He half-expected her to backhand him across the face, but she just shoved past him and stomped into his room. As he closed the door behind them, she said, “What’s gotten into you? You fly all this way, and on the day of your wedding, you
—
”

“Mom, think about it. Do you think I’m doing this for fun?”

“Obviously some of it’s fun for you,” she said, throwing him a pointed look.

He flinched. “Mom, it was a mistake. Plain and simple.”

“Of course it was a mistake! It was a mistake before that little whore got anywhere near you. Nick, you don’t desert a woman on her wedding day!” She gave an exasperated sigh and threw up her hands. “Do you have any idea how much Greg and Anita paid for this? How much money you’ve cost them?”

“I don’t care about the money, Mom, I care
—
”

“You’re being selfish,” she growled. “You don’t care because it isn’t your money.”

“No, I don’t care about the money because I can’t marry their daughter.”

“Then why on earth did you put a ring on her finger?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, cringing when his fingers brushed a few stray grains of sand the shower hadn’t washed away. “At the time, I wanted to.”

“And you couldn’t think to tell her you’d changed your mind until after her parents had
—
”

“Which part do you actually care about?” he asked, barely resisting the urge to raise his voice. “The money her parents put into it, or the fact that your son is unhappy enough to feel compelled to call off his wedding?”

“What reason could you possibly have?” his mother snapped. “Aside from having a thing for her
sister
, that is.”

Nick flinched again and turned away. “Mom, I never touched her before
last
night.”

“And what made you think it was a good idea to start
last night
?” She clicked her tongue. “I raised you better than this, Nicholas.”

With that, she stormed out of the motel room. The door slammed behind her, and Nick sank onto the foot of the bed. He pressed his fingers into his temples, closing his eyes as his mind replayed their conversation. Could he really argue with her?

Nick blew out a breath. He opened his eyes, and his gaze drifted toward his cell phone, which sat on the nightstand beside his wallet and keys. Thanks to advances in modern technology, he’d still had signal when he’d checked his phone earlier. Even if he didn’t get any reception, he could still scroll through the contacts and use the motel’s landline.

Question was, who did he call?

He had two “oh shit” speed dials on his cell. Two friends he could rely on no matter what kind of shit hit how big a fan. When he was in a bind, had car trouble, or needed a place to crash, Carlos always had his back just like Nick always had his. Carlos was the friend who’d bail Nick out of jail if he ever needed it, and they
might
have woken up in jail together a time or two in their young and reckless days.

But when he was hanging by a thread, when he thought the world was going to cave in beneath his feet, or he desperately needed advice or a shoulder
—
or, more often than not, someone to tell him to pull his head out of his ass
—
he called Deanna. If Kristina had been anyone else’s sister and Nick had fucked anyone else on that beach, he’d have been on the phone with Deanna before he’d even finished realizing just how badly he’d fucked up.

On the beach, he’d thought he needed her in a way he’d never imagined having her. The things he wouldn’t have done if he’d known how much he’d need her now, and how far out of his reach she’d be.

Nick had, in the space of a few hours, fucked up any chance of amicably separating from the woman he couldn’t marry, and he’d probably destroyed everything he had
—
everything he could have had
—
with the woman he should have been with in the first place.

They say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

Now Nick understood what that meant.

~ * ~

Last minute plane tickets didn’t come cheap. Neither, he guessed, would moving, getting a new place, and at least trying to financially atone for all the cash his not-quite-in-laws had shelled out for the wedding.

That could all be dealt with later, after he’d gotten himself back from this godforsaken island to someplace familiar. He bought a ticket online, then drove himself to the airport and dropped off his rental car. He was past security and halfway to the gate when it occurred to him Kristina or her family could be on this flight. It was a small airport, and almost everyone, including Deanna, was due to fly out tonight or tomorrow.

Fortunately, if they were flying out today, none of them had booked tickets on his flight. There was cold comfort
—
but comfort nonetheless
—
in the lack of any members of the Riley family aboard his plane.

Once he’d stepped out onto familiar terra firma, Nick called

the “oh shit” speed dial that he knew he still had in his corner.

Carlos picked up on the second ring. “Hey, hey, it’s the newlywed!”

Nick winced. “Well, not quite.”

“What? Wasn’t the wedding the other night?”

“It was supposed to be.”

“Oh. Shit. What happened?”

“It’s a long story.” Nick rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Listen, I really hate to ask, but is there any chance I can crash at your place for
—
”

“As long as you want, dude,” Carlos said. “You know you don’t even need to ask.”

“Thanks, man,” Nick said. “I need to go by the house and get a few things, but I’ll, um, I’ll be along.”

“You’re already back in town?”

“Yeah. Just got off the plane.” He winced
again
as he stretched a crick out of his neck. “And I really appreciate this.”

“Don’t mention it,” Carlos said. “Pretty sure I still owe you for a few favors anyway.”

Nick laughed. “Well, I’ll probably owe you by the time all this is over.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s, um, pretty bad.”

“Shit. Well, I’ve got cold beer, and it sounds like you need one.”

“God, yes,” Nick said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

After he’d hung up, he flagged down a cab. He and Kristina had decided against using long term parking, so at least they didn’t have to worry about who was taking the car home and who had to hitch a ride. One less thing to sort out or argue over. He’d take what he could get.

The cab dropped him off at the house they’d bought in a little suburb on the south end of town. He paid the driver, and as the car drove off, he went inside.

For a long moment, he just stood in the entryway, taking in his surroundings like he’d never set foot in this place before. The house was as empty and unwelcoming as he’d anticipated. It didn’t help that he and Kristina still hadn’t completely finished moving in. They’d closed on the house six months ago, but between moving, fighting, and planning the wedding, they’d neglected to settle in completely. There were still boxes here and there, not to mention blank walls.

They’d moved in, but never quite got around to making it home.

Guess we never will
, Nick thought, and went upstairs to the bedroom.

At some point, he and Kristina would have to talk things over. Figure out what to do with the house and mutual possessions. Right now, he couldn’t even work up the nerve to contact her and find out when she’d be home. And hearing his voice, even to ask a benign question, would just pile on the pain for her. They could work out details later.

For now, he just needed to pack some things, and he didn’t take much. His laptop. Clothes. A few heirlooms and things that had sentimental value. Kristina wasn’t the psycho, vindictive type, and she’d never been violent or destructive, but who knew what her state of mind was after all this? Nick and Deanna had pushed her far enough, he couldn’t exactly begrudge her if she came home and flew into a blind rage once reality had settled in. Taking a few irreplaceable things out of the potential line of fire didn’t seem like a bad idea.

With a handful of boxes, his suitcase from the trip, and a backpack piled in the trunk and across the backseat, Nick pulled out of the garage and headed over to Carlos’s place.

Carlos opened the door, took one look at Nick, and said, “You want a beer?” He paused. “Scratch that. You
need
a beer. Go sit in the living room.”