Aiden’s heart broke with every step back to his villa. Mabel was nowhere to be found. And with each broken tree branch or piece of siding he saw, he feared his dog had not survived the night.

As he approached the deck behind his villa, a vision of Mabel curled up on her favorite deck chair popped into his head and he sprinted up the wooden steps. Holding his breath, he walked toward the chair.

Empty.

He exhaled and sat, sure he was going to break down at any moment. A shuffling noise came onto the deck. Grams. She wore a long housedress and held a cup of something out to him. “No luck?”

He took the mug and sipped the steamy coffee. He shook his head, afraid of what his voice would sound like.

Grams dragged a chair next to him and joined him. “Have you talked to Felicity?”

“No. She didn’t answer her phone.”

“So, she doesn’t know?”

He shook his head again then let his shoulders fall. Another thing he’d screwed up today. Felicity probably hated him right now.

Grams patted his leg. “You’d better go talk to her.”

“I know.” He should have walked to her villa instead of going home. It’s just he had hoped Mabel would be—

A bark sounded and he shot out of his chair. “Mabel?” he called. He set his coffee mug on the glass table and ran to the railing. Felicity was walking toward his villa, Mabel in her arms. Relief poured over Aiden and he ran down the steps.

Felicity set the squirming Mabel down and she ran to him, barking and wagging her tail. Aiden bent down and picked her up. Mabel licked his face. He checked her over for any injuries but didn’t see any. “I can’t believe you found her. I was so worried.”

“Yeah, she was trapped under some plywood,” a man said.

Aiden realized for the first time that Felicity wasn’t alone, and a few things hit him at once. Felicity was wearing a swimsuit, a sexy cover-up, and had her hair pinned so she looked like a model. The man with her wore shorts, no shirt, and was standing too close to be a passerby. And suddenly he wanted to grab Felicity and pull her to him, but he pressed his lips together and tempered that thought. “Where did you find her?”

“She wasn’t too far down the beach from our villas.” Felicity motioned.

“Our villas?” Aiden gave the man another once over. What had happened this morning?

“This is Harold. He’s staying in the villa next to mine. Harold, this is Aiden...we went to the same high school.”

Ouch. He’d been downgraded from ex-fiancé to high school acquaintance. Felicity must be more than mad. She must be furious. Aiden stuck out his hand. He didn’t mean to squeeze so hard, but when Harold winced, he let go. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. You too.” Harold shifted. “Well, we, uh...just wanted to bring your dog to you.”

Aiden gave Mabel one last pat on the head and set her on the ground. Mabel barked and ran up the deck stairs. “So, you two are...?” He let the question hang.

Felicity hesitated. “We were just taking a walk.”

Meaning, together. The two of them. Aiden tried not to grind his teeth. “I see.”

His relief over Mabel being okay was dwarfed by his annoyance that Felicity was at his villa with another man. What was going on? He was a couple of hours late so she decided to meet other men? Yes, he messed up this morning, but she could have called or come to check on what the emergency was. How could she just dump the plans they’d made?

This was yet another thing that proved to him he and Felicity were not meant to be. He couldn’t be with a woman who didn’t allow for anything to ever go wrong.

Grams came down the deck stairs, a smile on her face. “Well, hello, Felicity. So nice to see you again. And who’s your friend?”

Felicity accepted Gram’s hug. “This is Harold. Harold, this is Phoebe.”

He shook Phoebe’s hand. “We were just walking along the beach when we heard Mabel trying to dig her way out from under the plywood.”

“Oh, dear me.” Grams put her hand at the base of her neck. “I’m so glad you walked by at that moment. Aiden’s been worried sick, searching the whole resort all morning.”

Felicity stared at him. “You weren’t off working on the resort?”

“No. And I’m sorry. I know I was supposed to meet you at ten.” He didn’t like the way she was looking at him. Like he’d disappointed her yet again. In his defense, he added, “I did try to call though.”

Oops, wrong thing to say. Felicity’s gaze hardened. “I had my phone with me all morning. When you hadn’t bothered to show up or call by ten thirty, I went out to the beach. That’s where I met Harold.” She motioned to him.

Grams put her arm around Felicity. “Well, come inside, dear. I have some of your favorite cookies, fresh out of the oven.”

Grams had been baking? Of course. She knew Felicity couldn’t resist her recipe. And, as if on cue, Felicity raised her eyebrows and took a step toward the house. “You didn’t.”

“Yes. Extra chunky chocolate chip cookies.”

Felicity pulled Harold toward the stairs. “Come on, you have to try these.”

Grams opened the glass door and waved Felicity and Harold inside. Then she shot Aiden a frown. “You left her alone all morning? After spending the night at her place?” Grams hissed.

“Grams! It wasn’t like that.” Heat surged up his neck. What did his grandmother think?

“You’d better mend things between you,” she said before entering the house and plastering on a smile. She grabbed Felicity’s arm. “Come into the kitchen with me. You can help me serve them up.”

Aiden slid the patio door shut and stood there in the family room with Harold, who shifted his weight and fidgeted with the pockets on his shorts. He looked over at the painting hanging above the mantle. “Nice place you have here.”

“Thanks.”

“So...you and Felicity go way back.” Harold eyed him.

“Yes. We do.” Aiden folded his arms and took a closer look at Harold. He had this lovable geek look going for him. He suddenly hated geeks.

Harold swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Look, I don’t want to—.”

Felicity walked into the room carrying a tray of cookies. “Harold, you have to try these. You’ll love them.”

Grams followed her in, and when Harold wasn’t looking, she began wildly motioning with her hands, mouthing something Aiden couldn’t understand. He held up his hands in a surrender position. Felicity raised her head and Grams hid her motions by smoothing out her hair. “So, Harold, what brings you to Belize?”

“Just taking a vacation.” He bit into a cookie. “Man, these are great.”

“Thank you.” Grams gave Aiden a meaningful look, but he still didn’t know what she wanted so he shrugged in response. Grams tossed him a dirty look before turning back to Harold. “You know, Harold, I was just talking to Aiden and we have some extra excursion tickets for this afternoon. If you want to go on one, I think the jungle excursion leaves in a few minutes.”

Aiden inwardly groaned. He hadn’t told his grandmother about the plans he’d messed up.

Felicity’s head snapped up. “You mean the one Aiden was going to take me on?”

Grams seemed taken aback for a second, then she recovered. “Yes. I suppose that’s the one.”

“I need to take some pictures today. I’ll go with Harold on the excursion. Will it get back before dinner? We have plans.”

Nice. Grams really should keep to her own business. This was not what Aiden wanted. And yet, what did he think he wanted? To get back together with Felicity? He knew she would never forgive him for the past. Maybe it was best if she went out with Harold, fell in love, got married and had little geek babies. They could drive little smart cars and...he shook the thoughts from his head. He was getting carried away.

But if Felicity went out with Harold, maybe Grams would stop shoving him together with her. He could lie low the next few days until she was gone. That could work, right?

The more he thought about it, the more it appealed to him. “Yes, the bus will get back around six.”

“You know, I’d really like that,” Harold said. “What time does the bus leave? We need to change.”

Grams shot Aiden a desperate look.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. Grams couldn’t say anything because this was her fault. She’d just have to accept it. “I think they leave after lunch, so you should have some time.”

His grandmother glared at him while Harold nodded. He seemed thrilled to get an excursion for free.

Aiden took a step toward the back room. “I’ll go get you some tickets.”

He walked down the hallway to the office. The extra excursion tickets were in the top drawer. He pulled two out and wrote in the date and time. On his way back, he bumped into Grams.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

He shrugged. “If Felicity wants to date this yahoo, I’m not going to stand in her way.” He pushed his way past her and into the family room. He handed Harold the tickets. “Here you go.”

Harold grinned. “Thanks.”

Grams glided across the room. “It was nice meeting you, darling.” She swept Harold into a hug before doing the same to Felicity. She put her arms around the two of them as she guided them to the door. What was she up to? She was acting weird. She doted on them a few minutes before sliding open the glass door and practically shoving them out.

After they left, Grams turned to him. “You have to fix this mess.”

Aiden ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Fix what? Felicity and I are not a couple, Grams.”

He’d figured his grandmother would balk at this, or maybe object. Instead, she pressed her lips together and poked him in the chest with her index finger. “You love her. Don’t try to deny it. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve loved her for years. Now that I’ve finally got her here, you have to win her back.”

And there it was. His grandmother was delusional. He knew all along Grams was playing some kind of game with bringing Felicity here, but she hadn’t come out and said it like that. What was he supposed to say to her? He loved his grandmother to death, but he wasn’t getting back together with Felicity. He tried a different tactic. “What do you want me to do? Go on the excursion with them? How awkward would that be?”

“Not very awkward.” Grams held up a key card, a wicked grin on her face. “I have a feeling Harold is going to miss the bus.”