CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Ben
The passage of time can be a fickle phenomenon. When you’re in love, every divine second feels fleeting as you rush to scramble the sands back into the hourglass. Uselessly trying to pause the moments, the love, the rush that overtakes your body and soul. But when your heart is broken, every second is one that you want to speed past and skip. Time slows to a crawl, dragging your heart through memories and pain that can only be eased by walking through what seems like endless dark days.
A week had gone by since I had seen Chelsea. She wouldn’t answer my calls, and when I stopped by Paul’s house, Derek met me at the door with a don’t-come-back message. Admittedly, I had asked Derek to protect her. I just didn’t think it would work against me.
The collection of reporters Rebecca had assembled for her staged love reunion departed a few days after she did, realizing that Brees Island wasn’t the most exciting place. The locals left me alone, but the tourists knew I was there now and I had seen more cell phones emerge to capture my face than I had seen in months.
Foolishly, I thought once the media storm was over and Rebecca left, Chelsea would realize things could go back to normal. However, maybe once you’ve made national news, things never go back to normal. I didn’t know anymore.
It didn’t feel the same being on Brees Island, knowing that Chelsea wanted me as far away as possible. Silver Sand Dollar was filled with memories of her. Every part of the beach reminded me of walking with her after the hurricane. I couldn’t see a kayak without thinking about going overboard. My sanctuary had turned to loneliness. It was time to leave.
***
“Oh, baby, I’m going to miss you around her. You sure you can’t stay until the end of the month? It’s August and summer is almost over.” Alice pulled on my neck.
I untangled from her arms. “No, I think it’s time to head back to Texas. But that’s between you and me.” I winked. I knew Alice wouldn’t gossip about me. She never had.
“Well, you take care of yourself, and I’ll look for you on the big screen.” She smiled.
I shook my head and tossed my duffle bag into the backseat. “Don’t count on that for a while. I’m taking a break, but you never know.”
After I had fired Rick, I knew I needed to hire a replacement, but that wasn’t going to be easy. How do you hire someone to represent you and handle your media when you don’t want to star in another film? There was still a job to be filled. There was media. There were charity commitments and the foundation to run. Someone had to help navigate the business I had created.
Rebecca might have left the island, but she hadn’t given up on us garnering the Love & Bondage roles. She texted relentlessly, emailed, and left voicemails. It was worse than when I saw her magazine pictures from Hawaii. I wasn’t about to tell her I had ordered a copy of the book. The spine wasn’t broken yet, but if my name was getting tossed around and she was campaigning for it, I at least wanted to understand the fascination and obsession with the story.
I had a meeting set up tomorrow to interview a new agent. He was a fellow Texan, and I hoped Hollywood hadn’t corrupted him yet. It would be a while before I trusted someone like that again, maybe never. Rick had deliberately tracked down Chelsea’s bio under the guise of providing information to Brandon at Blue Steel. That was how we were revealed—how Rebecca found us. I had kicked myself a hundred times for getting involved. If I had left it alone and let her try to break in the music business on her own, we never would have been found.
I looked at the Sand Dollar one last time before snaking down the path to the office.
Mistakes were made way before I asked Rick to get Chelsea in with a label. The first one was lying to her the day I took the job at the store. I didn’t need a job. She would know that now. I had millions in the bank. I could have told her so many times. If I had only seized one of them, maybe I wouldn’t be handing over the Sand Dollar’s keys to Flo.
I closed the screen door behind me. “Hey, Flo.”
“Look who’s here.” She was working on a crossword puzzle.
I held up the key. “I came to drop these off. I’m moving out.”
She stood from behind the desk and walked toward me. I didn’t know what was happening. She reached up with her lips and kissed me on the cheek.
“Flora!” I smiled.
“You know I’m a big fan, and I wasn’t about to let you waltz out of here without at least one smooch.” She giggled like one of my twenty-something fangirls.
“I hear you might have a calendar of mine. Can I sign it before I leave?” I waited while she pulled it from the desk drawer.
“I wasn’t going to ask you to sign it.”
“I know, but I want to.” I reached for her crossword puzzle pen. “To Flora,” I read aloud while I wrote my message. “Thank you for a wonderful summer. I’ll never forget Silver Sand Dollar or you. All my love, Ben.”
I handed it to her. “And thank you for keeping my secret all summer.”
“It’s none of my business.” She swatted at the air. “You going to tell Carl you’re off? He’s fishing.”
“I wouldn’t leave without doing that.” I moved toward the door. “Bye, Flora.” I closed the door behind me and headed to the beach where Carl would be sitting with his pole, waiting for the fish to bite.
***
The ferry crew waved me on the ramp. I had barely made it. When I pulled up and realized I was at the end of the line, a sliver of hope surfaced that maybe I didn’t have to leave Brees Island. Even though I knew there wasn’t any reason to stay. It only brought her more pain if I tried to see her, and I was done causing her pain.
I parked behind a pickup truck and waited for the crew to put the blocks under my tires before stepping out of my Jeep. It might hurt, but I was going to take in every mile of the island while the ferry floated me toward the mainland. I needed to memorize it. I heard the horn blow and I leaned against the railing, letting the wind whip my hair. I pulled my glasses over my eyes and watched Brees Island slip farther away.