SEAL’s Love by Leslie North
12
The next day, it was time for their second meeting with Serenity at the resort. Harper and Colin were sitting in the lobby again, waiting and trying to look like just another vacationing couple in paradise. Except they’d been there for almost two hours already and Harper’s anxiety levels were skyrocketing. Harper tried to stay calm and positive, telling herself that any second now, Serenity would walk through the door. Maybe she’d even tell them that she’d gathered all the evidence that she needed, and that she was ready to walk away from the Wellness Center and leave it to the authorities to swoop in and take over. She tried so hard to believe that that was going to happen. Any second now. Any…second…now.
But the minutes kept crawling by with no Serenity, no phone call, no message. Nothing. It was just like those frantic days back in Baltimore when Harper felt like her sister had vanished off the map. Except it was worse now, because she knew exactly where her sister was, and there was nothing she could do about it. No way she could protect Serenity from the danger she might be in right this very moment.
“Aw, check out those adorable kids,” Colin said, hiking his chin toward a young couple across the way, their twins dressed in matching pink bathing suits. “I can’t wait to get married and have my own someday.”
Seriously? That’s what he wanted to talk about now? Harper did her best to hide her eye roll. Gah! She knew he wasn’t saying he wanted them with her specifically, but it was just another reminder that Colin was a long-term, till-death-do-us-part kind of guy. And she was… well, not that kind of girl. She did want kids someday—but she was less sold on the idea of having them with a husband she was bound to for the rest of her life. A mother’s love lasted. Romantic love? Well, it never had before. And she couldn’t imagine anything worse than staying trapped in a relationship that wasn’t working, just because her partner wasn’t willing to admit when enough was enough.
Her heart sank faster than an anchor. What the hell was she doing with him? She couldn’t give him the kind of relationship he ultimately wanted, and he wouldn’t be willing to settle for what she could offer. If they tried to keep things going long term, it would only end in disaster for them both. The smart choice would be to withdraw now, before they got too attached. Sleeping with him only made her feel closer and more connected with him when she should be working toward the opposite. But the thought of losing even a single day with him made her stomach twist. They wouldn’t have long together, and she wanted to make the most of it.
Her thoughts drifted back to the conversation she’d had with his mother that day on the lawn. It was so weird, being involved with a guy who had such a contentious relationship with his family when hers was the exact opposite. She loved spending time with her mom and her sister. Loved meeting up with them for long weekends in whatever place one of them was currently calling home. And sure, maybe her mom’s romantic past had skewed Harper’s perceptions about relationships. So what? Up until now, she’d been perfectly fine with a good-for-now or temporary status. Harper had been happy to be with someone who was going back to their home country as soon as they’d finished grad school, or someone who needed a good transition person to help them heal after a bad breakup. Basically, where anyone else might see a certain issue as a deal-breaker, relationship-wise, an “I shouldn’t waste my time on this” type of thing, Harper viewed as the opposite. Just because it wasn’t forever didn’t mean it couldn’t be good in the moment, right? Wasn’t it better to have short, satisfying relationships than to commit to something that wouldn’t be able to make her lastingly happy?
But then Colin had to show up and make her question it all.
Ugh.
It was frustrating and infuriating and more than a little terrifying.
Which was exactly what she didn’t need more of right now.
Not with her sister in danger and some crazy cult running around the island and… Dammit. Harper checked her watch again, her fears making her impatient. Where the hell was Serenity?
“I don’t think she’s coming,” she said, meeting Colin’s gaze across the table. “What if something horrible has happened to her? What if Sebastian found out what she’s up to and is hurting her right now while we’re just sitting here waiting?”
In an effort to stem her rising tsunami of panic, Colin reached over and took her hand. “It’s okay. I’m sure she’s fine. She said she could handle this. Plus, she has an exit strategy set up and she hasn’t used it, so that must mean that everything is still under control. Let’s wait a little longer and see if she shows. Don’t jump to the worst conclusions yet. It won’t help anything.”
But Harper was already there. Overwhelmed and overtaxed and way over waiting around and doing nothing. “No.” She pulled away, clasping her hands tight in her lap. “I think we need to pull Serenity out. It’s gotten far too dangerous. My sister isn’t trained for something like this.”
“Your sister was the one who figured out something was wrong in the first place. She’s smarter and savvier than you give her credit for. And I think that if Serenity promised to do this, then she’ll do it. That’s how promises work.”
Harper fought against the urge to throw something at his head. “Well, what if she was wrong? What if she can’t handle this after all? She’s my family—you think I’m going to leave her hanging just because she said she was fine? Maybe you don’t see it because you’re some kind of super soldier spy with family issues, but this is my sister’s life on the line here. And unlike you, I love my family and don’t want anything bad to happen to them.”
Colin blinked at her a moment, a flash of hurt in his eyes before it vanished. Then he sat back, trying to look casual, though the sharp set of his shoulders belied that. When he spoke again, his voice sounded a tad harder than normal, as if they weren’t just talking about her sister. “Trusting someone means maintaining that trust even when times get difficult and scary, Harper. And even though it may not look like it sometimes, I do love my family. We just don’t go overboard about it like some others do.”
Yeah. She really wasn’t down for a lecture right now. Not about her sister or her life or anything else. And how dare he make judgments about her family that he knew nothing about. Still, she didn’t want to make a scene, so she took a deep breath and swallowed the lump of roiling emotions clogging her throat—fear, frustration, resentment, hope. “I refuse to stick to a plan that has clearly gone out the window already. Something’s wrong. I can feel it. I trust my instincts, and right now they’re telling me we need to move, to get in there and help.”
“And how do you suggest we do that? We don’t even know where your sister is at the moment, let alone how to help her. She could be outside that door right now, just waiting to walk in and prove that all this worry has been wasted.” He scowled, picking at the edge of the table with his fingernail, frowning. “No. The logical choice is to wait here until we have more information. And that’s what I’m going to do. Because while you trust your gut, I trust facts and logic and concrete plans. Perhaps if you tried my way of dealing with this, you wouldn’t be so upset and stressed out, Harper.”
“Don’t tell me how to be. I’m perfectly fine the way I am. I like me.” She crossed her arms, struggling to keep her voice low—and failing, if the looks they were getting from the couples around them were any indication. She felt ready to explode from stress. She needed an outlet, and he was there and… fuck it. “I think I’m a pretty great person. And I don’t like you trying to force your views on me. I was raised to believe that when something feels wrong, you listen to your gut and get out of the situation. Maybe you should try it sometime. Might ease a lot of your headaches.”
“And I was taught to believe that when a situation gets difficult, you stick it out because the end result is worth it.” A muscle ticked near Colin’s tight jaw. He was looking at her now and she wished he wasn’t, his eyes dark with anger and hurt. But, true to the good guy he was, those emotions quickly disappeared behind his standard stoic expression. No matter how he felt, he’d keep a lid on it and get the mission done. She wondered if they taught that in SEALs 101. The only sign he was as deep into this emotionally as she was, was the tension in his voice, like a guitar sting stretched too tight and ready to snap.
They sat there, staring at each other across the table—a standoff without the weapons—until, finally, Colin shook his head and sat back, taking a deep breath, his broad shoulders slumping. “Fine. How about a compromise?”
She raised her chin. “Like what?”
“We’ll send Serenity a coded message asking her to contact us within the next forty-eight hours to let us know she’s okay.”
“And how do we do that?” Harper asked, leaning forward, intrigued despite her irritation with him.
“You can call the Wellness Center and pretend to be from the hotel. Tell them we found some personal items that Serenity left here at the resort and that she has forty-eight hours to notify us whether she wants us to hold them for her to pick up at a later date. Specifically mention the crystal, say something about it that she’ll know came from you. Then say that if we don’t hear back from her, then we’ll happily send the items to her new address.” One side of his lips quirked up into a sly smile. “Which is code for ‘if we don’t hear back, we’re going in to get her.’”
Even though she still felt prickly about their earlier fight, she had to admit it sounded like a good plan. “Okay.”
She made the call while Colin watched from the other side of the table and prompted her, when needed, to make sure they got the message correct. But when she hung up, Harper still felt as discombobulated as before. Not just about Serenity, but about everything.
Their argument had only highlighted for her how different she and Colin were fundamentally. Even their approaches under pressure were miles apart. He sat back and trusted Serenity to make her own decisions and to follow through on her plans.
But for Harper, life was much more complicated. Sometimes people bit off more than they could chew. Sometimes unpredictable things messed up your plans. Sometimes you had to just go with your gut. Not ignore the evidence in favor of focusing on what you want to be true.
She’d been concerned before about where things would end up between them.
Now, she was more worried than ever about their future.
