Her Hawaiian Homecoming (Mills & Boon Superromance) (32 page)

She marched through the crowd, abandoning her tent.

“Excuse me,” she said as she tapped Jennifer’s shoulder. The woman turned, a slow smirk appearing on her face when she saw her.

“Allie Osaka, right?” Jennifer flipped her blond hair off her shoulder. Her makeup was flawless. Allie barely wore any. But she didn’t care.

“I need to talk to you. About Dallas McCormick. In private.” Allie’s heart thumped so loudly in her chest she thought for sure Jennifer would be able to hear it.

“Oh, the whole island knows the way Dallas treated me. Nothing’s a secret here.” Allie was surprised. If Jennifer really had been having a secret affair with Dallas, she wouldn’t still be bad-mouthing him in public. Unless... Unless, she’d never had an affair with him at all. Unless, he’d rejected her and she was still angry about it.

In that instant, Allie knew Dallas had been telling the truth. He’d really ended things with Jennifer and had no intention of getting back with her. The honest hurt and anger on Jennifer’s face told Allie everything. She’d been wrong to mistrust Dallas. He’d been true to his word. That meant this woman had stolen money from him, just like he’d said.

“Unless you want the whole island to know what you really did, you’ll come with me right now.” Allie kept her voice low enough not to be overheard, but Jennifer got the message loud and clear.

Jennifer’s face registered shock and then something more—fear. “Not here,” she said, and she steered Allie away from her camera crew and back to a more secluded spot between two tents.

“What do you know?” Jennifer asked, her voice low and suddenly not quite as confident as she was just a few minutes ago. Allie looked at Jennifer and saw for the first time the dark rings under her eyes, the way she fidgeted nervously with her cuticles. She’d chewed her nails down the quick. Dallas had been telling the truth. Jennifer had done all he’d said!

“I know you stole fifty thousand dollars that didn’t belong to you,” Allie began. She was glad her voice sounded calm and even.

“I didn’t steal...” Jennifer murmured, but her heart wasn’t in her own defense.

“I don’t want to hear your side. I want you to stop bad-mouthing Dallas.”

“I—I...” Jennifer chewed on one of her cuticles again, anxious. The woman was as guilty as she could be. It was all the proof Allie needed.

“Don’t lie to me. You’re spreading lies, and they stop now.”

“Or?”

“Or I tell the whole town, including the police, what you’ve done.”

Jennifer turned as white as the polished inside of a seashell.

“You wouldn’t.”

But Jennifer sounded unsure, and she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

“Oh, yes, I will.” Allie lowered her voice as a group of tourists sauntered by. “You can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way.”

“Okay, listen. I think we can work this out, all right?” Jennifer splayed her hands helplessly. It only made Allie angrier. She knew the girlish gesture was all an act.

“Mommy?” Kayla had wandered between the tents, holding her stuffed animal by one paw.

“Sweetie, I told you to stay with Auntie Amy.”

“Amy talked to too many grown-ups. It got boring.” The girl shifted on one foot and then the other. Jennifer picked up Kayla gently and lovingly kissed her on the cheek. The picture was hard to reconcile: the coldhearted woman who’d drained Dallas’s bank account and then the woman who lovingly cared for the little girl.

The scene made her think that maybe Jennifer wasn’t 100 percent bad. Like everyone else, she was part good, part bad, doing the best she could with the hand she’d been dealt. Seeing her made Allie rethink Jason a little bit, too. Could he have been both the kind, doting fiancé she’d known and the man who’d cruelly cheated? Were those both
true
parts of him? Maybe the loving fiancé wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth, either. He was both men. That made it easier to live with somehow.

She hadn’t been duped; she’d just not seen all of the truth until the end.

Jennifer held her daughter and sniffed back tears.

“Kayla!” Aunt Amy, apparently, called out for her.

“One minute,” Jennifer said, and then she carried her girl out and left her with Amy once more. She beat a hasty return.

“I’m sorry, okay? I know I did a bad thing! I know it.” Tears started to well in her pretty green eyes. “I c-c-couldn’t help it.”

“You couldn’t help cheating on Dallas? Or stealing his money?
I
think you could.”

“I know I’ve done bad things.” Jennifer sniffed back more tears as she grabbed a tissue from her shoulder bag. She blew her nose indelicately. “But
you’re
Dallas’s latest prize. You have to know how it feels. Women throwing themselves at him all the time. He’s a good man and gorgeous, but how is he supposed to resist that
all
the time? I mean women line up to watch him kayak, for God’s sake.
Line up!
There was always someone younger or skinnier than me. Always. How could I compete?”

Allie didn’t say a word. She let Jennifer speak, let her get it out. She knew what it felt like to feel as though she didn’t measure up. After all, she’d had Jennifer’s beaming face on billboards to deal with for the past months.

“I did what I did because I just didn’t believe I could keep Dallas. I didn’t believe it was possible. I’m just
one
woman. A man like him needs more than one. I know. I’ve dated plenty of them. They’re amazing in bed, and so damn hot, but in the end, they can’t be faithful. It’s just not in their biology. Men are just men.”

Allie couldn’t exactly argue. Her experience with Jason told her the same thing.

“Did Dallas ever cheat on you?” Allie felt her stomach tighten, not quite sure she wanted to know the answer or not.

“Not that I know of, but who knows? It could’ve happened. Probably did.” Jennifer wiped her runny nose angrily. “And it
would’ve
. That’s what’s important. I slept with a producer because I had to hedge my bets. That’s all. I didn’t want him to leave me first.”

Allie just shook her head, amazed at the twisted logic. Jennifer really believed it was all about self-preservation. Jennifer barreled on, as if Allie could somehow absolve her of her sins.

“I took Dallas’s money because he owed me for leaving. He told me he’d take care of me and Kayla. He promised me.” Jennifer swiped at her eyes with the balled-up tissue. Allie almost felt sorry for her—almost. “Dallas gave his money away to
everybody
but me. Don’t you understand that? He gave it to God knows how many losers on this island. Helping them with this and that, but what about me? What about the promises he made to me?”

Allie shook her head sadly. As she looked at the sniveling, pathetic mess of this girl in front of her, it suddenly hit her that she was on the path to becoming just like her. If she kept believing that all men were Jason, if she kept mistrusting and seeing deception everywhere she looked, she’d be no better than Jennifer.

“Dallas left, too, like they all do in the end. Just like my dad. My high school boyfriend. Everybody leaves.” Jennifer started sobbing. And Allie felt more resolved than ever not to become like her.
This was what happens when you become a victim in your own life
, she thought.
Everything spirals out of your control, and you lose the things you love most.

How long have I let Dad’s car crash define who I was? How long would I let Jason’s betrayal make me who I am? Those things don’t define me. I decide who I am. Everything is a choice. I can choose to be obsessed with the past or I can move forward.

She wasn’t about to become like Jennifer, someone who spent her life wondering what bad thing someone was going to do to her next and figuring out how to stick it to them first. And then she realized how she could do it: simply decide
not
to. The answer was amazingly straightforward. She felt freer and lighter. She could be who she wanted to be.

“Jennifer, the past is the past,” Allie said, confidence welling in her. “But from here on out, you don’t say another word about Dallas.”

“And if I do?” she sobbed.

“Then things are about to get a whole lot worse for you.”

“Fine,” she agreed reluctantly.

Allie glanced up at the white coffee tent in front of her, the aroma of fresh-roasted coffee wafting through the flaps.

“And one more thing,” she said. “When it comes to the Kona Coffee Estate, you’re going to abstain from voting.”

Jennifer raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Abstain? You’re not going to twist my arm for a vote?”

“Nope,” Allie said. “That wouldn’t be fair to everyone else. But you have a history with Dallas, and you should tell the other judges you don’t think you can be objective. End of story. You don’t vote.”

Jennifer frowned as Allie imagined her idea of twisting the knife once more in Dallas’s back evaporated before her eyes. “Okay,” she agreed. “Whatever you want. I’ll do it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

A
LLIE
K
EPT
EXPECTING
Dallas to make a miraculous last-minute arrival at the festival before the judging began at ten, but he was a no-show. Right about then, Allie started to worry. Where was he? As she waited her turn to be judged, festivalgoers came by in droves to sample coffee and to try out the coffee scrub and mask she’d created. Several women bought tubs on the spot.

The judges came to each tent, and when they stopped at Allie’s, Jennifer did exactly what she was told. She glanced at Allie anxiously, but she didn’t take the mug of coffee sitting on the table. She told the other judges they’d have to decide.

Neither one looked particularly surprised. Both probably had known about her relationship with Dallas. Almost every local knew. As they tasted the coffee and jotted down notes, Allie watched their faces carefully for any sign of approval, but they simply sipped the Kona Coffee Estate mugs with poker faces. Allie’s palms felt clammy with nerves. She wished Dallas were here, and couldn’t imagine where he could be. Was he that angry that he’d stayed away? She called him multiple times, but each attempt to reach him went straight to voice mail.

As she waited, she got more anxious. Then, when she saw Officer Lyle approach her tent, she knew in her heart something was wrong.

“Allie, right?” Officer Lawson said. “Listen, I know you and Dallas are friends, so...”

She knew that somber expression he wore: police and doctors only wore it when they had bad news to deliver.

“Has something happened?”

“He’s been in an accident, miss. Looks as if a drunk driver pushed him off the road. He’s at the hospital now.”

“Oh, my God.” Allie felt her knees go weak, and she nearly fainted.
Please, no. Not Dallas!
Officer Lawson gently grabbed her by the shoulder and steadied her.

“I want to go there. Can you take me there? I have to see him... I...” Her head felt dizzy.

“Of course.” Lyle helped her to his police car, parked not too far away. With his lights on, traffic parted, allowing him through. Allie gripped her seat with white knuckles. All she wanted to do was get to that hospital. She couldn’t think of anything else. There was so much she wanted to tell him, but most of all, she wanted to apologize for mistrusting him, for thinking the worst. But it might be too late. She felt panic in her throat. Dallas couldn’t be taken from her, not now, not when she’d finally figured it all out.

Lyle let his sirens wail as they pulled in and out of traffic, and cars nudged themselves over to the shoulder, out of his way. When he pulled up to the ER entrance, Allie was out of the car, desperate to find out if Dallas was all right. She charged the nurse’s station, ready for war. When Lyle approached, too, the nurse had no choice but to give them the information they wanted: Dallas McCormick was resting comfortably down the hall in 112.

Allie had never felt such relief in her life. He was alive! She sprinted down the hallway and burst into his room.

“Allie?” came Dallas’s deep voice in surprise. He was sitting up in bed, his head wrapped in a bandage, his arm in a sling, wearing only a striped hospital gown. She couldn’t help herself—she threw her body on top of his and cried.

“Ow,” he said, and instantly she pulled back.

“I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?”

“The arm is a bit tender,” he said. “Doc said I broke it in two places and nearly broke my head, too. I was knocked out cold for hours.”

“Are you all right? I...I thought you were mad at me. I had no idea you...”

“I’ll be fine, Allie. It was a drunk driver. I swerved to avoid hitting them and hit a tree instead. I don’t know how long I was out, but one of Lyle’s buddies who was on patrol saw me and called it in. I’ve been at this hospital since, but I only just woke up. Once I did, I had Lyle find you. I knew you’d be at the festival, so I sent Lyle to get you and...”

Allie hugged him again, lighter this time. “I was so worried about you. There’s so much I have to tell you...I...”

Dallas pulled her in for a kiss, stopping her midsentence. Lyle cleared his throat awkwardly, and the two reluctantly pulled apart.

“Give us a minute, Lyle,” Dallas said, sending the patrol officer out of the room.

He squeezed her hand with his good one and smiled.

Her heart thrummed loudly in her ears as she worked up the courage to say what she knew needed to be said.

“Dallas, I am so sorry. I was wrong to want to leave,” Allie said. “I didn’t get to tell you before, but I should have. I...I...love you.”

Dallas’s eyes brightened. “You do?” he teased, his voice sounding raw and hoarse.

“Dallas!” Allie felt like punching him in the arm. Now was not the time to joke. She’d just laid her heart on the line! If he didn’t say he loved her back, then she was going to be an inconsolable mess. “Don’t tease. My heart can’t take it.”

Dallas grew serious as he pulled her palm up to his lips and kissed it. “Allie, I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. All I want to do is spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you.”