What are the Chances? Page 9

  At ten, Granddad knocked on my door and came in. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?” He placed a tray with toast and juice on the table for me.

  “Not great. Sorry to leave you stranded on your own.”

  “You did almost everything, and have you forgotten that I managed just fine all by myself while you were in Europe? I’m not retired yet.”

  “That was before the busiest part of the season.”

  “I’m fine. And Alan is here now to work the front desk.” He sat on the edge of my mattress and checked my forehead for a temperature. “Trevor was asking for you. He wanted to come down to see you, but I told him you weren’t feeling well. Was that the right thing to do?”

  “Yeah. I don’t want to talk to him right now. Was a blonde girl with him?”

  “Yes. She seemed like a nice young lady.”

  My face grimaced, so I tried to hide it.

  He patted my shoulder. “Get some more rest. Being in that cold water might have taken more out of you than you thought. Alan and I can handle things out front.”

  Ironically being swept down the river in a near-death experience had been easier to deal with than facing the truth that Trevor was out of reach. When Granddad stood to leave I asked, “Did the man from room 208 bring his driver’s licence down for you to copy?”

  “He didn’t give it to me but Paula might have done it yesterday. I’ll check. Why?”

  “I got a weird vibe from him. Maybe monitor him and don’t let him talk to Kailyn.”

  He nodded and his eyebrows angled together in concern because he knew my instincts were a little stronger than the average person’s gut feeling. “He’s out right now, but I did see him asking Kailyn about something she was drawing. I’ll keep an eye on him when he gets back.”

  “Thank you.”

  After he left, I decided to go over and talk to Trevor. Partly because if I didn’t it would bother me all day. And partly because I knew there had to be more to the story about why Lindy slept over—other than them having sex. It didn’t make sense to sit around making myself sick over hypotheticals when all I had to do was walk up and ask him.

  I grabbed the helmet and the leather jacket and stepped out the emergency exit into the parking lot. Jim’s truck was gone but Trevor’s 4Runner and the red Honda were still parked out front. I headed to their front porch, but stopped when I noticed Lindy sitting on the rocking chair. She was so beautiful. Her skin was flawless and she didn’t even appear to have any makeup on.

  “Hi,” she said. Completely pleasant. “I’m Lindy.”

  “Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Derian.”

  “Yeah. Trevor has mentioned you before.”

  I nodded, wishing I had waited until she was gone. “Is he around? I need to talk to him.”

  “No. He and Jim got called out to another rescue just after breakfast.”

  “Another one. Wow. They’ve been unusually busy lately.” Like ridiculously out-of-the-ordinary busy. I stepped up on the porch and placed the helmet and jacket on the bench. “I borrowed your things because Trevor needed to give me a ride into Vancouver yesterday. I hope you don’t mind.”

  She glanced at the helmet and jacket, then smiled. “I don’t mind at all. You can borrow those anytime.”

  I retreated back to the steps and glanced around the village to give myself time to think whether it would be better to come up with an exit strategy or a way to pump her for information. “Trevor wouldn’t have offered to give me a ride and lent me your things if he had known you were coming.”

  “That’s my fault. I was away visiting my parents in Comox and came home early as a surprise. He didn’t know.” She leaned back and crossed her legs to get comfortable. “I thought since we might be moving in together in the fall it would be a good idea if I met Jim and Kailyn. And you, of course. He thinks of you as a sister, too.”

  Meeting the family because they were going to be living together was not the explanation I was hoping for, or even remotely prepared for. The shock of it nearly dropped me to my knees. I reached for the railing to steady myself and smiled to fake some composure before I said, “Getting a place together is a big step. How long have you two been together?”

  Her expression made it seem like she was pretty impressed with herself. It bordered on smug. “We met in September and were really close friends at first. Things got serious gradually. He hasn’t talked about our relationship with you?”

  “No. He’s kind of private when it comes to girlfriends.”

  “How about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

  “Um.” I swallowed hard, trying not to wince from the excruciating pain of suffering through the conversation with her. “No. Nothing serious.” I pointed over my shoulder. “I should probably get back to the Inn. Are you staying long?”

  “Just until they get back. Trevor asked me to watch Kailyn because you have some sort of dodgy guy staying at your Inn or something.”

  Her tone was almost accusatory but she was good at covering the bite with a sweet smile. Maybe I was just bitter, but her fakeness bugged me. “If you need to get going I’d be happy to keep an eye on her. I usually do. The rescues can take hours, sometimes they even go well into the night.”

  She smiled, but it wasn’t pleasant. It was a warning. “I can stay as long as they need me to.”

  Message received. “Great. Well, nice meeting you.” I turned and walked away, wishing I could shrivel up and disappear. Her stare felt like a laser in my back. Obviously she knew something happened between Trevor and me. Or if she didn’t know for sure, she was smart enough to realize it was a concern.

  Trevor was not the person I thought he was, and that actually hurt more than anything else. His integrity used to be one of things I admired most about him.

  After I ducked into the lobby my phone buzzed with a text from Mason: No pressure, but I wanted to make sure you got my note inviting you out tonight. If you’re interested, let me know. No worries if you aren’t. I’ll understand.

  The summer was supposed to be fun, right? Going on a date with Mason would be fun. Not serious. Not long-term. Not emotionally consuming. A relationship between Trevor and me couldn’t be temporary and casual. Even if Lindy wasn’t in the picture, committing to something with Trevor would have meant staying in Vancouver, living with my mom, and throwing away a scholarship. And there were no guarantees it would have worked out. It was better to not put myself through the drama only to end up where I started again, completely crushed. Mason was the easier choice, or at least he was the easiest way to distract myself while my first choice was busy sleeping with his first choice. In an impulsive reflex that might have been entirely fueled by wanting to show Trevor I had options, I replied to Mason: I’m interested. What time should I be ready?

  Six. I’m looking forward to it.

  Me too. See you then.

  The only thing that would keep me from completely obsessing about Trevor and Lindy was to stay busy. I placed orders, wrote cheques for our suppliers, restocked the pamphlet display, watered all of the plants, washed the windows, folded towels, and even helped the maid service with some of the rooms.

  While I was in room 208, I took a look around to see if I could find out anything about the guest’s true identity. Besides the no suitcase thing, there was nothing out of the ordinary that I could see. The only remotely revealing clue was a poker chip from the casino. It was on the table with his pocket change. I felt guilty for snooping, so I let the maids finish without me.

  I had no name to go on and he was out in his car, so I couldn’t even ask Doug to check the plate. At least Kailyn was safe when he wasn’t around. If that was even what the visions were trying to tell me. I was so messed up, it was impossible to know.

  At four-thirty, I was sitting at the front desk with my granddad when Trevor and his dad finally got back from the rescue. They’d been gone since before nine, so it must have been a pretty big rescue. To avoid seeing Trevor and Lindy together, I made up the excuse that
I had to get ready for my date and rushed to hide in my room before they could see me.

  It was the longest amount of time I had ever spent getting ready for anything. After a long bath, I moisturized my skin with a cream that had a sheen to it and made my skin look silky smooth. I rolled my hair up and clipped it the way Sophie had showed me. Then I shimmied myself into the dress. Sophie’s mom was stick thin, so her dress fit my curvier body tight in all the right places. I put on the necklace Mason had given me and slid my feet into the silver strappy heels. When I saw my reflection in the mirror I couldn’t help smiling.

  My phone buzzed with a text message. It was from Trevor: We need to talk. Please.

  I looked out the window. The red Honda was gone. I texted him back: I have nothing to say to you.

  I threw my phone down on my bed and took deep breaths so I wouldn’t ruin my makeup. It might have been possible to forget that he had a girlfriend if Lindy had never showed up. With her perfect face seared on the back of my eyelids, it was impossible. Seconds later, there was a knock on my door. “Deri, open the door.”

  I didn’t know what to do. He obviously knew I was home and I couldn’t exactly jump out the window in my outfit. My stomach twisted into a knot and I started to sweat. I flailed around for a few seconds, trying to come up with some way to avoid him. Unfortunately, I was going to have to face him at some point anyway. The most mature thing was to just get it over with. I swung the door open almost violently.

  His body jolted back as if he was stunned or something.

  “I thought you wanted to talk. Speak,” I said coldly. My lower lip trembled a little, so I bit it to make it stop.

  “You look amazing.”

  “Save it,” I said and tried to slam the door back on him.

  He braced his arm and blocked the door. “Derian, please let me explain. May I come in?”

  “No. I’m on my way out.”

  “Please just let me come in and—”

  “I’m not interested,” I interrupted.

  He stepped sideways and filled the doorway. “You’re the one who is always asking me to talk about things. I’m here. I want to talk about what happened.”

  “Oh really? You want to talk about the fact that you made out with me and told me you don’t want me to move to Toronto, then came home to find Lindy—who was supposed to be away visiting her parents in Comox—standing on your porch?”

  He frowned, wondering how I knew that. “You talked to her? What else did she say to you?”

  “It doesn’t matter what she said. It matters what you did. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that she spent the night? Then to add insult to injury, you brought her here for breakfast in the morning. That was really mean.” I grabbed my phone off my bed and stuffed it into my purse. I squeezed past him to get out of my room. “There is literally nothing you could say that would make this all right.” I stormed down the hall towards the lobby and hoped that Mason had already arrived to pick me up.

  Trevor followed me out into the parking lot. “At least give me a chance.”

  “Okay. Do you have a good explanation for why you would ask me to stay in Vancouver when you already had plans to move in with her in the fall?” My back was to the water and I heard the noise before I saw what made it. A helicopter landed on the dock.

  Trevor’s expression creased, completely confused. “Lindy told you we were moving in together?”

  “Yes, she did. Among other things.”

  “It’s not true.”

  “No? Well, then she’s as unclear about the status of your relationship with her as I am. Maybe you need to sort that out.” Mason got out of the helicopter and hopped down from the dock onto the sand. I looked over my shoulder and said, “Evidently my date is here. I have to go.”

  Trevor scoffed as I walked away from him. “A helicopter might be a first even for Chance Cartwright.”

  I turned back towards him. “Why do they call him Chance?”

  Trevor laughed scornfully. “He wouldn’t tell you, would he?”

  “He wanted me to form my own opinion of him.”

  “Chance is short for ‘No Chance’. They call him that because when he goes after a girl she has no chance to resist him. They say he’s never met a girl he didn’t score with.”

  “Well, if he at least has the decency to break up with the current girl before he pursues the next one, he has more integrity than some guys. Right?”

  Trevor frowned, then glanced across the highway at the helicopter. Something shifted in his expression, as if he surrendered. Not like he had no defence. More like he wasn’t willing to fight. Frustrated, I turned away from him and rushed to meet Mason.

  When I eventually looked back over my shoulder, Trevor was gone.

  CHAPTER 14

  Mason met me at the edge of the highway, smiling. He looked classy in a tailored charcoal-coloured suit with a white shirt, a shiny black tie, and what looked like really expensive dress shoes that were getting dusty from the sand.

  “You look exquisite,” he spoke closely into my ear so I could hear over the sound of the helicopter.

  I smiled and mouthed, Thank you.

  He kissed my cheek and then scooped me up to carry me across the beach. I held on tightly around his neck and turned my face towards his chest because the helicopter blades were spinning and the wind whipped sand at us. When we reached the dock, he put me down and held my hand to escort me into the helicopter. He shut the door and we were in the air before I even had enough time to consider the potential danger. Definitely outside my comfort zone. Sophie would have been proud.

  My life felt crazy, like I was spiralling out of control in a whirlwind of bizarre events. The party, the highway washout, kissing Trevor in Vancouver, and then literally lifting off the beach with a millionaire playboy in a helicopter. It was surreal. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to try to ground myself in reality. It didn’t really work. I still felt like I was in a dream, which was enforced by the fact that the view from the helicopter was mind-blowingly spectacular. Although I’d lived in Britannia Beach my entire life, I had never seen it from that perspective—like a painting with azure skies, sapphire mountaintops, emerald old-growth rain forest, and turquoise-and-jade water. The helicopter banked from side to side as we followed the coastline towards Vancouver.

  Mason touched my knee and pointed out the window on his side. I leaned over to see what he was showing me. It was a pod of Orca whales breaching below us. It was so cool. Mason smiled with the whitest and straightest teeth I had ever seen. He reminded me of the Ken doll I used to make my Barbie kiss when I was little.

  The helicopter banked again and we flew over the towering trees towards the North Shore. In what seemed like an impossibly short amount of time, the city appeared in the distance. We skimmed over the buildings and then hovered above one of the high-rises downtown. The pilot lowered the helicopter and landed on the roof of the building, then turned off the blades.

  Mason climbed out first and helped me step out. “That was incredible.” I beamed.

  “Not a bad way to travel, I have to admit.”

  “Where are we?”

  “My office. Do you want to see where I work?”

  “Definitely.”

  Mason spoke with the pilot to tell him what time to pick us up and then tugged my hand to rush me into the building before the blades started whirling again. We took an elevator down just one level and it opened up into a lobby that looked like a five-star hotel. One of the walls was entirely covered in slate and water cascaded down it in a waterfall. The evening sun angled through a huge skylight in the roof and onto the receptionist’s desk. No one was there and the lights were on half-power, so it was very quiet and sort of soothing, like being at the day spa.

  “It’s beautiful,” I whispered. “You must love working here.”

  He shrugged. “I haven’t actually spent much time in the office.”

  We walked down the hall past framed archive p
ictures of Vancouver, which were hung art-gallery style. He opened the double wood doors of a corner office, stood to the side, and made a sweeping motion with his arm to invite me in. Two floor-to-ceiling glass walls revealed a panoramic view of the ocean, city skyline, and the mountains. It put my mom’s balcony vista to shame. The desk was teak with clean lines. The chairs were modern chrome art pieces. Whoever decorated the space had impeccable taste.

  “Is this your dad’s office?”

  “No, it’s mine.” He sat down at the desk and put his feet up. “Doesn’t it suit me?”

  “Wow.” I scanned the paintings on the wall and items on the book shelf. “You’re a bit young for an office like this.”

  “The benefits of nepotism.”

  I sat in one of the chrome chairs, just so I could run my palms over the gorgeous lines. “The other employees must hate you.”

  He laughed. “They did when I first started.” Then he winked and added, “I’ve used my charm to win them over.”

  “Ah yes.” I stood and gazed out the windows. “The incomparable Chance Cartwright. Your reputation precedes you.”

  “Maverty told you, didn’t he?”

  I spun around to face him. “He might have said something about me having no chance.”

  “From where I’m sitting, I’d actually say your chances are very good.”

  “Oh, really?” I stepped closer, rested my hands flat on his desk, and leaned my weight forward on my arms. “You should probably know that I’m not a huge fan of helicopters, and I will be the one who decides whether you have a chance with me, not the other way around.”

  His eyebrow rose and he bit the corner of his lip for a second before he responded, “I can live with that. I am remarkably charming, though.”