Fated - A Mermaid's Curse 2 (8 page)

Images of him in the coma come back to my mind. “He promised me he wouldn’t… no matter what.”

She sighs. “Imagine being in his place. Feeling like you don’t deserve anything good and then, the good in your life in taken away. Just give him the benefit of a doubt. I know he shouldn’t turn to alcohol whenever he has a problem and this,” she says looking around, “is not good at all. I know he needs help with that, but you’re what he needs to be able to change. Everything that happened was just too much for him to handle.”

None of what she says makes me feel better about this. Mostly, I’m afraid for him; afraid that with or without me, any little thing will cause him to turn to alcohol to numb his problems away. This is when I decide that no matter how much what happened pained me, I can’t let him see it.

Cindy looks over at me. “I think you two will be okay, sweetie. You’re so good for him. He stopped drinking once. He’ll do it again, and if not, I know you can talk him into getting help.”

I nod, not knowing exactly what she means by getting help.

“
I’m going to finish cleaning up before he gets back, okay?” she says. “You just sit here and relax, or you can lay down in the room if you’d like.”

I nod and get up to head to the room. I’m in shock to see that the room is no different than the living room. There are open alcohol bottles and shattered glass on the floor. I gasp as I take in the room. I close my eyes for a split second, take a deep breath and walk over to the dresser. I see the ring that Bram had given me and I can’t hold back the tears. The only thing that Blake had of me was one thing representing my worst memories from my world.

I don’t even hear him come in the room. I don’t realize it until I feel him stand right behind me. He puts his hands each on one side of my waist and turns me so that I’m facing him. I’m still holding the ring, and he takes it from my hand and puts it back on the dresser. “I’m sorry,” he says.

I avoid his gaze. Instead, I look at the broken glass and I don’t need to say anything else.

He places his fingers on my chin, tilting my head up so that I’m looking at him. “I’m really sorry. I just—I didn’t know how else to handle it.”

Still looking into his eyes, I say, “What if I had come back and something had happened to you, Blake? You’re all that I have!”

He pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me, burying his face on the side of my neck. He whispers, “I’m so sorry, Arianna. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

I wrap my arms around him tighter.

“
God, I missed this smell of the ocean mixed in to your scent.”

I can’t help but to tremble at his words. The way he says it, with his lips so close to my ears.

“
I thought I would never see you again,” I say.

He takes a deep breath. “Me too.”

He pulls away to look at me, looks at his watch, and sighs.

“
As much as I wish we could just stay here and relax, we have to get going, especially since we’re driving.”

“
But it’s late. Aren’t you tired?” I ask.

“
I’ll be okay. Unless you want to drive.”

“
I—I don’t know how.”

He gives me a puzzled look then smiles. “I’ll be okay. And maybe I can teach you someday,” he winks.

I’m surprised that doesn’t raise any questions. I smile at him. “Maybe”.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Cindy is already gone when we make our way back into the living room. Blake packs a few of his things and says we’ll find time to go get me some new things once we get there.

We get into his car and he looks over at me, kissing me before starting the car. “It’ll be a long drive, you should rest.”

I know that I should. I feel exhausted, but I still haven’t had time to process everything that happened. And I’m almost afraid to close my eyes and wake up back in my world.

He asks what I want to listen to. I say it doesn’t matter and he puts on a random radio station. The music is nice, but of course, I don’t recognize any of the songs. Blake puts his hand on mine; using only one hand to drive, and I stare out of the window, looking at everything that I’m seeing for the first time. Eventually, I doze off.

***

“
Arianna,” I hear him call my name and I smile because I didn’t think I would hear that sound ever again.

I slowly open my eyes. It’s bright and it takes me a few seconds to adjust to the daylight. I then look over to the side and find him watching me. He leans over and kisses me.

“
We’re here.”

“
Already?”

He nods and kisses me again.

“
Wait here,” he says.

He gets out of the car and walks around to open my door. While he does that, someone comes to get our bags and then follow us in.

I gasp once we walk inside. The entire hotel is fancy and it reminds me of some of the larger wrecked ships that I used to explore. I’m so shocked that I stand there, looking around. Blake smiles and reaches for my hand.

“
Come,” he says. “I’m going to check us in and you can rest while I’m in the meeting, then—”

“
But you haven’t had any sleep!”

“
I’ll be okay, trust me. As soon as I’m done here, I can get a few hours of sleep, then I have to meet with someone for dinner and depending on how that goes, I’ll have to either stay here the whole two days or we’ll be able to head back tonight.”

I sigh, not knowing what else to say. I feel horrible that he had to drive for so many hours after going back and forth between the hospital and work.

We go over to the counter and he says he has a reservation under Blake Crawford from Crawford and Jones.

The man behind the counter seems young and he looks at me confused.

“
Yes, sir. Here is your key.”

“
Shouldn’t I have two?” asks Blake.

The man again gives us a puzzled look. “Someone already has the other key, sir.”

“
Who?” asks Blake.

The man looks over at me and he seems uncomfortable.

“
I—hmm—”

“
All I need is a name,” says Blake. “If this person is in my room, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to give me that.”

For some reason, I can tell he doesn’t want to say it in front of me and as soon as he starts saying the name, I know why. “It’s—hmm—Ms. Brooke—”

Blake cuts him off. “Dammit. Can you give me another room, please?”

The man starts typing on his computer and Blake gives me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. There is nothing going on between us, I swear. My dad must be behind this.”

“
Excuse me, sir,” says the man. “We don’t have any other rooms available.”

“
Blake Crawford, long time no see,” a man says in an accent I had never heard before.

Blake turns to him and smiles. “Mr. Jones. Nice seeing you again.”

“
You look tired, boy,” he says as if he had known Blake for a long time. “And look at this beauty you brought along with you.”

I can feel myself blush.

“
This is Arianna, my fiancée,” Blake smiles at me. “Arianna, this is Mr. Jones.”

He shakes my hand. “Please, call me Mike.”

“
So, what is going on over here?”

“
Well, apparently Brooke is in my room.”

Mr. Jones gives him a puzzled look, “Wait. Wasn’t Brooke your—”

Blake nods. “And the hotel has no other rooms available. I know we should be meeting in a few minutes, but can we push it back a little longer? I just want to find a hotel where Arianna can stay and then I’ll be back.”

“
Well, son. I can’t really move it back because Mikaelis is already on his way and you know how he is, but how about I call my Carol and she can come get Arianna?”

Blake looks at me, “Are you okay with that? I can give you my card and Mrs. Jones can take you to another hotel. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”

“
Non-sense, son. You and Arianna can stay at our house. Ever since Jane left for college Carol has been moping around. She needs some girl time.”

“
Are you okay with that?” Blake asks.

I nod. “Thank you, Mr. Jones,” I say.

He smiles at me. “Mike.” He looks at Blake, “…and you have some explaining to do. I know there is gotta be a long story behind whatever is going on over here.”

“
You have no idea,” says Blake.

As he gets on the phone with Carol, Blake calls his credit card company and adds me as an authorized user. He then goes to a machine and gets some money out, which I put in my pocket.

By the time we get back, Mike is talking to a man about Blake’s age, who doesn’t seem happy to be there, and an older woman, who I assume to be Carol. Carol smiles and walks toward us.

“
Blake,” she says as she hugs him. Then she pulls away and smiles at me, “and you must be Arianna.”

I nod and I’m caught off-guard when she hugs me too.

“
Well, we’re going to have a girl’s day out while you boys meet.”

“
Thank you,” says Blake. Then he looks at me. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He winks at me and goes toward Mr. Jones and the other man.

Carol laces her arm through mine and leads me toward the back to the hotel, which gets me confused. “Well, I know you’re tired so I thought we would do something relaxing first and then some shopping and lunch. They should be done by the time we finish. And while we’re there, I want to hear all about how you two are together.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I smile nervously as we walk through the doors of a spa.

Carol looks at the receptionist and says that we are there for mani-pedis. The woman is not happy when Carol tells her we don’t have an appointment. Carol asks for the manager by the first name and as the receptionist disappears toward the back, Carol shakes her head. “They don’t ever get appointments this early. I swear it’s just an excuse for them to sit back and gossip.”

I look at her nervously. “Maybe we should just go. I’m not even sure I should be spending this money on Blake’s card. His dad—”

“
Ugh. Is that old man giving you and Blake trouble? You know what… this is my treat. The entire morning is on me.”

“
Oh, no. I couldn’t.”

She smiles at me. “Arianna, sweetie, I need this day more than you do. Please let me do this.”

I smile back thinking about how much she reminds me of Blake’s mom. I could get used to having more people like her in my life. When the manager comes out, she gives Carol a hug and apologizes for the receptionist. She says that the mani-pedis are on her and she walks us toward the back.

Getting my nails done is the weirdest experience. Sometimes even painful, but Carol distracts me by asking how Blake and I met. I tell her we met at his island and that I took care of Molly for a while. I tell her everything about Brooke and Blake trying to break off the engagement but unable to because of his dad. At one point, I wonder if I should be telling her all this, but something about her makes it so easy to just talk and I’m feeling so much better by doing so. She had already heard about Blake’s car accident, but when I tell her that I was the only one by his side the whole time while Brooke never showed up and his dad only did on occasion, her eyes are wide open. Then I tell her about my accident and I leave out the details, but she gasps in shock as I tell her that we were apart for days and Blake thought that I had died.

“
And you just got out of the hospital yesterday? Are you sure you are okay to be here and go out for the rest of the day?”

I nod.

“
So, you just left the hospital and the old man is already making Blake take his trips for him?”

I nod. “Blake thinks he did it on purpose.”

“
Oh, I
know
he did, sweetheart.”

I then tell her about Brooke being at the hotel and in Blake’s room and that we don’t know why or how that happened.

She shakes her head in disbelief.

The woman who is now painting my nails a light pink and who sat quietly throughout the entire time, up until this moment, clears her throat.

“
I think I have someone named Brooke for my next appointment,” she says.

Carol sighs and calls her friend who says she will take care of it by offering Brooke a massage and keep her there until we’re done. Carol insists on paying for that massage, which the manager declines at first, but Carol won’t let go.

When we leave, there is no sign of Brooke. I also look for Blake around the hotel but there are no signs of him.