Destination Wedding ~ A Novel (20 page)

As Claire lay in Jim's embrace, she remembered his words from the night before.
I love you, Claire. I've always loved only you.
She wanted to believe his words were true, that he really felt that way about her, still. If she were honest with herself, she still loved him very much, too. Despite his leaving. Despite the divorce. But how could she ever believe completely that he'd never cheat on her again?

Jim shifted in the bed behind her and Claire felt a soft kiss on her shoulder.

"Good morning," he said, pulling her closer.

Claire rolled over in his arms and faced him, smiling. How many times had they awoken just like this over the years? More times than she could remember.

"Good morning," she said.

Jim reached up and brushed Claire's hair away from her face, then lifted his head and kissed the side of her neck. A warm sensation ran down Claire's spine.

"I could stay here all day," Jim said, his breath warm on her neck.

Claire laughed and pulled away, sitting up in bed and pulling the covers up around her. "And miss out on our last day in paradise?"

Jim sat up against the pillows and tugged at her blankets. "I am in paradise," he said, grinning. "Right here with you."

Claire reached out and tenderly brushed the hair from Jim's eyes, across his forehead. Her eyes grew sad.

Jim drew up straighter. "Claire, don't. Please don't. I can see the doubt growing in your eyes," he said gently. "Please don't tell me you regret last night, because I don't regret a moment of it. Everything we did was out of love."

"Oh, Jim," Claire said, sighing, resting her head back against her pillows. "Last night was beautiful, and I don't regret it. But where does it leave us? Nothing has changed. Eventually, we still have to go back to reality."

Jim moved closer to Claire, curling his arms around her under the blankets. "This is reality, Claire. This can be our new reality. I love you. I want to be with you. We're still so good together, last night proved that. I'll do whatever it takes to convince you that I love you."

"Didn't our divorce prove that love isn't always enough?" Claire asked sadly.

"Just give me time, Claire. Please. Give me time to prove to you that I will be loyal to you forever. I made a huge mistake leaving you. I will never make that mistake again, I swear."

Claire bit her lip and looked at him doubtfully.
Can it really be that easy?

"Let's not overthink this today, okay?" Jim said. "Like you said last night, let's not think about anything other than this very moment. We have one more beautiful day in paradise, so let's go out and enjoy it. I'm sure everyone else will be hiding out to enjoy their last day here, so let's do that, too. We can spend the day on the beach, tanning, walking, swimming, whatever you want. Okay?"

Claire nodded. "You're right. Let's just enjoy our last day here."

Jim smiled wide. "Good. You shower first and then we'll head over to the coffeehouse for breakfast and go from there."

Claire slipped out of bed, conscious she was completely naked, yet not uncomfortable about it. After all, Jim had seen her this way thousands of time before. She grabbed her clothes from her suitcase and walked to the bathroom, all the while feeling his eyes on her.

"Um, you wouldn't want some company in the shower, would you?" Jim asked.

Claire threw him a sideways glance and shut the door firmly behind her.

"Hey," Jim said. "You can't blame a guy for trying."

Claire's giggle could be heard through the bathroom door.

***

Claire and Jim walked hand in hand downtown to the coffeehouse. When they entered the patio, they saw Glen and Lisa sitting at a corner table and went over to say hello.

"Well, don't you two look chummy," Glen said with a wink. "Why don't you join us?"

"Coffee and a muffin?" Jim asked Claire. She nodded. "You sit and relax. I'll go get it."

Claire pulled out a chair and sat next to Lisa. "It's hard to believe it's our last day here," Claire said. "It went by quickly."

"Looks like you and Jim are getting along better," Glen said. "You were dancing awfully close last night."

Lisa hit Glen playfully on the arm. "Stop teasing her." She turned to Claire. "I'm glad you and Jim are getting along. I always liked you two as a couple. You fit well together."

Claire raised her brows. "What makes you both think we're together again?"

Lisa shrugged. "I'm only guessing," she said with a smile. "But to tell you the truth, I'm pulling for you two."

Claire cocked her head and stared at her brother and sister-in-law. She wondered if either of them had ever liked Steven.

"Here we go," Jim said, carrying a tray. "Fresh coffee and homemade blueberry muffins."

Claire smiled at him as he set down the tray and sat beside her. She took a small sip of her coffee. "Hmmm. Heaven in a cup," she said, sighing. Everyone at the table laughed.

"Everything around here is like Heaven," Glen said, finishing up his coffee. "We're all going to miss it here."

Claire nodded agreement. In that moment she realized that tomorrow she'd be going back to reality, back to her old life—her life without Jim. Was that what she wanted?

Glen spoke up. "We ran into Mandy and Craig earlier. They're going to hang out on the beach all day. It sounded like they wanted to be alone." Glen waggled his eyebrows. "I have a feeling everyone will be like that today, bracing themselves for leaving tomorrow. We're going on a bike ride around the island. Do you two want to come along?"

Claire looked over at Jim and saw his answer in his eyes. "Thanks, but we're going to spend the day on the beach, too," Claire told Glen. "Maybe we can catch up with you at dinner time."

"Sounds good. Have a great day," Glen said, and he and Lisa rose and left.

"Did you want to spend the day with Glen and Lisa?" Jim asked after they had left. "I know you don't see him as much as you'd like. I really wouldn't mind."

Claire shook her head. "I want to spend the day with you," she said softly. She was rewarded with one of Jim's fabulous grins.

After they ate, Claire and Jim stopped at the hotel long enough to pick up towels, sunscreen, and some water bottles which they threw in a beach bag. Claire also grabbed her camera. Then they hopped in their golf cart and drove to Land's End Beach on the other side of the island.

They found a spot on the beach close to the sandbars and laid out their towels. The day was perfect, warm with a gentle breeze, and there were hardly any people on the long strip of beach. Far in the distance, they spotted Kaylie and Mark lying in the sun. Down on the other end of the beach a boat had come in and anchored by the shore and a few teenagers swam in the water there. Way out on one of the sandbars, a woman walked around with a bag, gathering something, but Jim and Claire had no idea what.

After applying a heavy layer of sunscreen, Jim followed Claire out onto the sandbar. The sandbars ran far out and at low tide were only about knee deep in the water. There was no surf here and the water was calm and easy to walk through. As they walked along, they saw shells, small fish, and starfish in the crystal clear water.

After about an hour of navigating the sandbars, they returned to their towels and dried off by lying in the sun. Jim lay on his side, admiring Claire in her bikini. She'd worn shorts and a tank over it when she walked on the sandbar, but she'd finally given in and taken them off to sunbathe.

"What are you staring at?" she asked when she opened her eyes and saw him watching her.

"You. You look amazing. I swear you haven't aged a day since we met in college," Jim said, smiling down at her.

Claire rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Don't be silly. I'm old. You must need glasses."

"Nope, I can see just fine and I'm enjoying the view," he told her. Jim leaned over and kissed her gently. "You taste like salty air and coconut suntan lotion. I love that combination."

Claire laughed and pushed him over so he'd lie on his back. Jim joined in with laughter.

Claire had almost fallen asleep under the warm sunshine when Jim tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, we should find some shade. You're already looking a bit toasty," he told her.

"Already?" Claire asked, reluctantly sitting up and taking off her sunglasses to look at her arms. He was right, she was getting red.

"Let's go to the resort bar down at the end of the beach and I'll buy you a beer," Jim suggested.

Claire agreed and they gathered up their things and walked up the stretch of beach to the Last Stop Bar & Grill. They found a table in the corner that faced the water and Jim went up to the bar and ordered two Kaliks, the specialty beer of the Bahamas, and brought them back to the table.

"So, tell me about the boutique," Jim said after they'd settled at their table. "How is it doing?"

Claire smiled. She loved her shop and she enjoyed talking about it. "It's doing amazing. It took those first years to build up, but these past couple of years business has increased despite the economy. Thankfully, the age group of women we cater to generally have money to spend and they spend it on clothes. We keep increasing our stock, but now the store seems to be getting too small to hold it all."

"That's wonderful. Just think of how far you've come in just ten years. When you started it, it was just a small store and now you're outgrowing it. Do you think you'll need to move to a bigger space?"

Claire shrugged. "That would be nice, but rent is so expensive. Ariana thinks we should extend the store to include a shoe line, but I don't know where we'd put it. She's right, though. Women like convenience, and if we had shoes to go with our outfits, they'd buy them. But for right now, I'm happy to be making a profit and I don't want to go into debt to expand."

"Ariana is great. You're so lucky to have her," Jim said.

Claire nodded. "I agree. I don't know what I'd do without her." She took a sip of her beer. "What about you? How is work?"

Jim sighed. "It's okay. I'm doing fine there, but to tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind a change. I've been working for that company since college and I'm about as high up as I'm going to get. Not that I'm complaining. It's a good job and pays well. It's just not challenging anymore."

"Didn't you just go to the Chicago offices to settle some things?"

"Yeah. My boss sent me there to smooth a few things over. What he really wants is for me to move there and run the office. But I'm not so sure I want to live in Chicago, so far away from family. Of course, it would make life easier not working with Diane any longer. But who knows," he said with a wink. "Maybe we'll be grandparents sometime soon. I don't want to miss that."

Claire laughed. "Well, maybe they should send Diane to Chicago and make everyone happy."

Jim's brows rose. "Actually, that's a good idea." His expression turned serious. "You never really liked her, did you? I mean, except for the obvious reason that I left you for her, you just didn't like her as a person."

"Was I supposed to like her?" Claire asked, amused. "Besides, it's not like you have love in your heart for Steven, either. Apparently, no one cares that much for him, I'm finding out. Glen and Lisa just alluded to that this morning."

"What did they say?" Jim asked.

"Only that they like the idea of you and I getting back together. They seem convinced that we're a couple again."

A devilish grin grew on Jim's face. "I kind of like us as a couple, too." He reached over and curled his arm around Claire's shoulders, drawing her close, then kissed her lightly on the lips.

Claire pulled back, but she was smiling. "I think we have a long way to go before we'd ever be considered a couple again."

Jim looked into Claire's eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. I can wait."

Claire's heart swelled with affection at his words.

"Can I get you two another beer?" A young waitress wearing a skimpy tank top and shorts came up and smiled at Jim.

Jim barely glanced at her. He turned to Claire. "Do you want another?"

Claire shook her head. "No. I'm good."

"No, thanks," Jim said to the waitress, pulling a couple of dollars out of his pocket. "But thanks for asking," he said to her with a wink.

The girl smiled provocatively at Jim, then left them alone.

Claire frowned as she watched the girl walk away. She knew the exchange between the waitress and Jim had been innocent, but his wink, and the girl's smile had left Claire feeling jealous. It was ridiculous, but she couldn't help how she felt.

"Let's head back to the hotel," Claire said, picking up her bag and pushing away from the table.

Jim looked at her warily. "What? Is something wrong?"

Claire tried to smile. "No. I just want to change before we go to dinner. Maybe we'll catch up with Glen and Lisa, or some of the others."

Jim agreed and they hopped back into the golf cart and headed back to the hotel.

Chapter Seventeen

Claire was quiet during the ride back and several times she felt Jim watching her. She couldn't help how she felt. She didn't want to feel jealous over something so minor, but with their history, how could she not? Yes, Jim was a good looking man and women had always flirted with him, and before he left her, she'd never worried about it. But now, it irritated her to no end. And it made her wonder if he was really as serious about her as he'd proclaimed. Or, was what happened between them just another game to him? She wasn't sure what the real answer was.

They met up with Glen and Lisa on the patio at the hotel when they arrived.

"How was your day on the beach?" Glen asked. He looked tanned and windblown from his bike ride around the island. And happy. He had his arm casually draped around Lisa's waist. Claire couldn't help but think that theirs was a true marriage built on love.

"It was beautiful and peaceful," Jim said. "How was the bike ride?"

"Long," Glen said, laughing. "But really pretty. We explored all the corners and little niches on the island. I think we even ran into a place where some country singing star lives. It was gated all around and right on the beach. Ah, but to have that kind of money."