Love on the Malecon (7 page)

Nicole clicked her voicemail button and
waited to hear the first one. It was Kate, of course. She was
rather calm as she said,
“
Hi, sweetie! Thinking about you,
call me when you want to talk.” Then the second message,
“
Nic, checking again, love you.” By the third message, she
was beginning to sound concerned,
“
Nicole, is everything
okay? I’m getting worried about you. Please call me.” At the
fourth, Nicole could tell that she was trying not to sound mad,
“
I know you’re going through a lot right now, please call
me. I’m ready to call Andrew.”
Oh no, that isn’t good
,
Nicole thought. The fifth was a random call from a colleague about
covering one of her weddings. The sixth was Kate again,
“
Andrew didn’t answer his phone either. What is going on? I
may start stalking you and come by your place.” Nicole laughed
after hearing that. It had only been three days and she was ready
to send out a search party.

The seventh message was from Andrew. All he
said was,
“
I’m dodging calls from Kate. Are you ready to
tell me where you are?” He had no idea where she was. Apparently he
hadn’t been listening to all those stories she had told him about
her father. At least he hadn’t talked to Kate yet. Well, as of
early this morning he hadn’t.

She rolled her eyes and called Kate. There
was barely time for a ring on her end when…

“NICOLE! What is going on? Why haven’t you
returned my calls?”

“Hey, babe,” Nicole practically started
crying with happiness just being on the phone with her. Where to
start? She needed to tell her best friend everything. Kate may not
always agree with every decision she made, but she always listened
and supported her.
“
Guess where I am?”

“What? Guess? My mind has been going nuts
trying to figure that out.” Though Kate started to sound relieved,
there was still tension in her voice.

“After the funeral, I booked a ticket to
Vallarta,” Nicole said.

“Ticket? Singular? Is Andrew with you?”

“Nope, didn’t want to come.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Why didn’t you
call me? You know I would have gone,” Kate was practically
yelling.

“I know,” she soothed,
“
I didn’t care
that I would be alone. I just wanted to get here.”

Kate began to lecture when Nicole cut her
off.
“
Kate, I met someone.”

Silence.

“Start talking,” was all Kate had to say.
Nicole spilled the entire story, ending with Derek leaving her room
that morning.

Silence again.

Nicole waited and let her process everything.
It wasn’t long before Kate decided to speak,
“
You know I
love Andrew, right? But it sounds like from what you’ve said, this
guy, or someone like him, is far more suited for you. Maybe your
dad sent you there to find your true love.”

Wow
, Nicole thought. That was out of
character for Kate. She was usually far too practical to use the
term
“
true love”. She knew that Kate didn’t believe in soul
mates and true love came pretty close. Kate continued,
“
Most
girls would be screaming for a ring after three years and marriage
hasn’t even been on your radar. But you sound crazy about this guy.
Is this a vacation fling?”

“Kate, I can’t imagine waking up another day
without him there. I’ve known him for three days; I think I’m
losing it.” She hung her arm over her eyes to block out the world.
She did feel like she was going crazy and it felt good to say it
out loud.

“Who knows, Nicole, maybe this is where the
term ‘crazy about someone’ was coined. It’s ridiculously early, but
it does sound very intense between you two.” She had a good point.
But was
“
crazy about someone” the same as really being in
love with them? Nicole needed to think. She needed to run.

“I need to figure out what’s going on with
me, with Andrew, with Derek,” she said,
“
Please don’t say
anything to Andrew if he calls you. I just need some time to decide
what I’m going to do.”

Kate agreed. They finished talking and Nicole
promised not to go another day without calling her. They said their
goodbyes and Nicole got out of bed.

It was only 8:30 and already hot out. Still,
she hoped to get a few miles in before the sun began to singe her
skin. She headed out to the beach and began at a slow jog.

Nicole loved to run. It let her concentrate
on one thing and block out the rest of the world. She would let her
head spin with thoughts and memories. Everything swirled around and
her mind grasped onto the things that were really important. As she
ran, she realized that she was analyzing her relationship with
Andrew. It was mild natured and peaceful. But as she remembered
back over the last three years, she noticed that everything stayed
within Andrew’s comfort zone, which meant that Nicole had abandoned
the parts of herself that would disrupt the vibe of their
relationship. She wasn’t sure whose fault that was. Snapping back
into reality, she realized her hands were clenched and she was
almost at a full sprint.

She slowed herself to a stop, relaxing her
hands and leaning over to take in a few deep breaths. So part of
her was content and comfortable with Andrew, but not the whole
part. How important was that? Can couples really love all of each
other? Should she have stirred the pot a few times, made him
uncomfortable to make herself happy? She couldn’t deny that they
had been happy together. They had fun times and she had enjoyed his
company. She wouldn’t have stayed with him if that hadn’t been
true.

She set back into a jog as she thought about
all of those good times. Then she tried to think about the bad.
They didn’t really fight, but was that necessarily a good thing?
She wished she had started reading those relationship books…

Derek flashed into her mind and she wondered
if they would fight. For some reason, she thought that they might.
Not all the time, of course, but imagine the amazing make-up sex
when they did. Given the level of comfort she already felt with
him, it seemed like they’d each feel safe enough to give their
opinions on things regardless if the other agreed.
Isn’t that
how most fights start anyway?
she wondered.

She needed to stay focused on Andrew. Nicole
still wasn’t completely sure what to think of the fight they had
when she was packing. Even if Derek wasn’t in the picture, would
she still be mad enough to break it off? That may be the question
that would answer everything.

She forced herself to stay calm while
running; she didn’t want to overheat. She decided it was a good
time to turn around and make this the halfway point of her run. It
had been half an hour so she had gone maybe two miles? It was
harder to run in the sand so, even with the sprint, she knew her
pace had to be slower.

She knew she wasn’t mad that Andrew didn’t go
with her. She couldn’t have expected Derek. Regardless, she was a
grown woman capable of traveling on her own. It was that Andrew
left the apartment as if she would be home that night to work
everything out. He stayed away long enough for her to leave.

That was the kicker. That wasn’t right. If
people should live their lives by the old rules that you don’t go
to bed angry or say something you can’t take back, this was pretty
bad. What if the plane crashed? What if something horrible
happened? He’d have no idea. He should have at least made her tell
him where she was going. If he didn’t care, that spoke volumes. And
what she heard was that it was over with Andrew. She couldn’t
imagine going back to the life they led together. She needed more
excitement, more passion now.

She needed Derek. Or at least someone like
Derek. She tried to remind herself again that she had only known
him for three days. It was way too early to know if he was
“
the one.” Nicole thought back to her previous boyfriends
before Andrew, the guys that were more like Derek. How did their
relationships feel in the beginning?

Nick had been funny and they laughed a lot.
Mike was exciting and kept her on her toes (as it turned out, he
had kept a lot of other girls on their toes as well). Jason was
sexy and mysterious, but moody. None of them seemed to have all of
the characteristics she was looking for. And none of them were
successful like Andrew. She had given up that excitement for a type
of dependability. She never wanted Andrew for his money, but she
had liked that he was stable. All of the bad boys had broken her
heart and she had had a nice guy in Andrew. Derek seemed to have
all of these qualities rolled into one sexy package. But still,
none of her relationships had seemed as intense this early on.

Had Kate been right? Did her dad send her to
Vallarta to meet Derek? Was that even possible? She liked the idea.
She knew her dad would have loved spending time with Derek over
Andrew any day. He hadn’t spent lots of time with Andrew. Her
father loved Andrew for loving her, but she could always tell that
he didn’t quite see what the appeal was. They were very different
from each other. Her father never showed his success in how he
dressed or carried himself. He liked it better that way. It seemed
blaringly obvious right now that maybe Derek could have been sent
to her so she would see what she was missing. Maybe he wouldn’t end
up being the one. But he had shown her that Andrew wasn’t either.
Andrew was a good person and he would be perfect for someone else.
Could her dad have known that? Did he now have the power to show
her through Derek?

Thinking about her father made her sad again.
She was finally here in Puerto Vallarta and yet she hadn’t spent a
lot of time focusing on him. She had initially imagined this trip
as a time to soul search by herself in a place where she could feel
closer to her dad. She hadn’t even found the King’s Head Pub yet.
She decided to make a list of places to go when she got back to the
hotel room. She’d have plenty of time before she needed to meet
Derek.

Nicole made her way up the beach to the hotel
entrance, stopping by the bar just at the edge of the beach for a
bottle of water. She caught her breath and cooled her body and
began to head toward the elevator. She could see two female
employees out of the corner of her eye. It looked like they were
talking about her. One was a short little thing and she was giving
Nicole the stink eye as she spoke to the other woman. Nicole
wondered if she really looked that out of shape from her run. Just
as she shrugged them off, Hector walked up to her and hurried her
over to the elevator.
“Mi buena
, how was your run?” He was
too cute for words.

“Hi, Hector. It was hot. How are you?”

“Always good. When you are ready to meet
Señor
Derek, you come straight to me and I’ll take you
there.” Wow, she could get kind of used to a driver.

“Thanks, I’ll be down in about an hour.” She
pushed the elevator door. Hector stood there waiting with her. She
glanced around and the lobby seemed slow enough. Maybe he wasn’t
needed up at the front. She tried to think of small talk.
“
Are you going upstairs as well?”

“Oh yes, I have to see to the maids’ supplies
on your floor,” he said with a big, bright smile.

As the elevator arrived and climbed to the
second floor, Nicole again tried to fill the silence.
“
You
will be able to leave while you are working? You won’t get in
trouble for that?” She was concerned for Hector. He was such a nice
man; she didn’t want him getting in any trouble over her. She could
easily catch a cab or, if she hurried, she could walk it.

“No,
señorita
, I can do any driving
for Senor Derek. No trouble at all.” He stepped off the elevator as
it opened.

As she reached her door, she told Hector that
she would see him soon. Nicole wondered how Derek was able to get
the hotel to allow Hector to leave whenever he needed a ride. She
stepped into her air-conditioned room and practically shivered. She
wanted to shower first and then she’d figure out a schedule to make
sure she visited each and every place on her list of her father’s
favorite places.

Derek was impressed with how well Gael did on his
first solo trip. He knew he was a bit of a control freak when it
came to business. For his entire life, he had to do everything for
himself. That was what he was used to. Stepping back and letting
Gael take the lead on this meeting was huge for him. Most of the
business side would ultimately be done by the hotel company.
Derek’s company was there for their expertise in finding lucrative
locations. Gael had gone above and beyond. Not only had he been
thorough in his review and on-site visit of the location, he had
already found a contact within the Chicago city government to get
the paperwork started for necessary permits for their clients. He
had been meticulous in his groundwork. The hotel developer’s return
on investment would be nice, which translated to money for Derek.
All that was needed was for Derek and the client to give their
seals of approval.

Derek was not willing to give up any time in
Vallarta with Nicole. Still, he wasn’t sure how quickly they could
lose this location. Even a day trip would require over twelve hours
with travel time. As he and Gael sat on the balcony of the little
bar, he stirred his drink with the straw and considered his
options. Gael was quite confident in his impression of the location
and Gael was a smart man. He was very cautious with situations and
didn’t trust anything easily. Derek knew he had worked quietly in
his past with a federal investigative agency in Mexico. He
obviously didn’t know details, but he knew Gael could be dead
serious when needed. He had proven his abilities over the years and
Derek trusted his opinion.