Chapter 10
“So? How was it?” Cara rubbed her hands together and sat cross-legged on Izzy’s bed, watching her unpack the suitcase. She was tempted to leave it until tomorrow, but the sand in some of her clothes was going to bug her if she didn’t deal with it tonight.
Izzy knelt on the floor, clearing everything out. going through her suitcase which lay on the bed in front of Cara. “It wasn’t so bad.” She took out the clothes from her suitcase.
“Wasn’t so bad?” Cara chortled. “You need to give me something, Iz. I want details.”
Izzy pulled out her toiletries bag and threw a heap of dirty clothes into the laundry basket. A moment later she collapsed onto the bed, alongside Cara.
“It was okay.”
“It was okay?” Cara hollered. “You went to the wedding of the year, on a private island, on a private plane—”
“Only going there,” Izzy interrupted. “We came back on a normal flight.”
Cara’s jaw dropped open, and she turned to her side, propping herself up on one elbow.
“Just getting into a private jet would have made my year!”
“It was pretty neat.” She yawned. Lying on the bed made the tiredness all rush back. It was nearing midnight, and she had lectures tomorrow which she was determined to attend. No way could she afford more time off college. “I need to get some sleep. The flight back was a bitch.”
“Because you had to travel economy?”
“Because the time difference is a killer, and it’s actually been an exhausting trip.”
“So now you’re complaining?”
Izzy yawned. “I’m not complaining at all. I’m glad I went.”
“You’re welcome,” Cara said in a voice that indicated she was taking all the credit.
“Okay, thanks. Yes, I’m glad I went. I have to sleep, Cara. Can we talk tomorrow?”
“I’m not moving,” Defiance was written all over her friend’s face. “I’m not moving until you give me a run-down of the wedding.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“I can’t talk about it. I signed an NDA with Tobias. I can’t let out any details about the wedding.”
“Who’s going to tell?” cried Cara indignantly. “I won’t.”
What Tobias didn’t want was for anyone to sell photos to the press. And she had none, nor would she have uploaded them or sold her story, and she knew Cara well enough to know her friend wouldn’t pass on anything Izzy told her but, damn it, she had college tomorrow and a ton of notes to catch up on.
“Were there any hot guys?” Cara asked.
“I have no idea.”
“What was her dress like?” Cara clearly didn’t give a hoot about the NDA.
“Nice.”
“And Tobias? How did he look? What did he wear?”
“He looked okay.”
Cara rolled onto her back and started up at the ceiling. “Somehow, I can’t see how Tobias Stone would have looked just okay on his wedding day.”
Izzy sighed loudly. “He wore linen trousers, and a white shirt. It was all very casual because it was too hot to wear a suit.”
“Casual?” Cara propped herself back on her elbow with a renewed interest. “How did they look together?”
“They looked good.” They had. “They make a pretty nice couple.”
“Is she nice?” Cara whispered.
“She’s nice, and normal, like you and me.”
“Lucky cow.”
Izzy considered her friend’s reply. Was Savannah lucky? Izzy knew her story very well by now, since Cara had drummed it into her head plenty of times, how the poor woman had made good by marrying the rich billionaire. It was the stuff of fairytales, and Izzy wasn’t one for fairytales unless they were of the type where Jack vanquished the big evil giant. Those were her types of stories. Not so much the princess-being-rescued ones.
Maybe, given the circumstances, and what she had seen of Savannah and Tobias, maybe Savannah was lucky. Taking away the money, and the beautiful island, and all the trappings of wealth, when it came down to it, there was something between this couple that she hadn’t seen in the Shoemoneys—a deeper sense of love and belonging. She had seen it in the way Tobias looked at Savannah, in the way the two of them held hands, automatically, in the way their hands and bodies reflected a closeness that all new lovers seemed to share.
Based on all she had seen, she had decided to accept Savannah’s offer to her of babysitting Jacob on weekends. It made sense, because starting this coming weekend, while Tobias and Savannah were on their honeymoon, Jacob would be at home with his grandparents. Savannah had been thrilled when she had accepted.
She hadn’t had to think about it much. Every dollar counted. She had books, bills and rent to pay. The income from babysiting would help. She could fit this in around her other jobs.
“Please, Cara,” Izzy whined, yawning again, and this time raising her arms towards the headboard to have a good stretch. She’d been up for almost 22 hours.
“I’ve got to be fresh for class. I’ve got a ton of notes to catch up on.”
Cara sat up slowly. “This wedding was wasted on you,” she wailed. “If I’d have gone—”
“If you’d have gone, Tobias would have had to put a blindfold on you and gag your mouth.”
“Tobias Stone can do that to me anytime.”
Izzy shook her head. “That man has eyes for nobody but Savannah.”
“Give it a few months. They all stray, eventually, especially these filthy rich types. Risk-takers, that’s what they are, and easily bored, too.”
Izzy didn’t think so. “Not Tobias. He’s smitten. It’s not only with Savannah. He’s pretty close to Jacob.” She had seen him with the boy on many occasions, and it wasn’t as if he was trying to be overly loving, as if he was putting on an act in front of Savannah, she had seen Tobias break away from his circle of friends and go and see what Jacob was doing, and then he would stay and spend time with him.
Plenty of times she’d seen him examine some of the toys he had been playing with. It went beyond being interested on the surface. The way Tobias was with Jacob was so different to the way Gideon Shoemoney had been around his kids, and even though Jacob wasn’t Tobias’s real son, Tobias seemed to have more love for that boy than she’d seen Gideon Shoemoney show for his own flesh and blood.
She felt sorry for the Shoemoney children. They might have been privileged, and would never worry for money or for getting by in the world, but when it came to love, to having that strong foundation that only parents could give, those children lost hands down. And Jacob, for all that his parents had split up, and he had come from a broken family, that boy seemed to be the more grounded and happier child.
“I’m not getting anything more out of you, am I?” Cara asked, sliding off the bed like a petulant 5 year old.
“Tomorrow.” Izzy yawned. “I promise I’ll reveal the details tomorrow.”
“And you don’t have any photos? You really don’t have any?”
“No. Sorry”.
Cara looked dejected. “What’s his brother like?”
“A jerk”. The reply came easily.
“What’s Gisele Steiner like?”
“She wasn’t there.”
“She wasn’t there?” Cara’s face brightened. “Those rumors are true then.”
“What rumors?”
“That they split up.”
“Great.” As if she cared, though it went some way towards explaining why he’d had his tongue rammed down Kay’s throat that night.
“Great?” Cara repeated.
“As in ‘please leave.’ I need to get to bed.”
Cara sauntered towards the door. “Did you get to talk to him?”
“Yes,” Izzy walked towards the door and ushered her friend out.
“What’s he like?”
Izzy yawned. “A jerk. He’s a real jerk. He thinks he’s god’s gift to women.”
“He’s a player,” Cara stuck her foot so that the door wouldn’t close. “Did he try it on with you?”
“Who didn’t he try it on with?”
“Really?” Cara squealed.
“You need to let me get some sleep.”
“Tomorrow—you’ll tell me more tomorrow?”
“Yes,” she replied, letting out a harsh breath before closing the door. She thanked her lucky stars she’d never have to see Xavier Stone again.