Tempting Isabel (Paradise South #1) (33 page)

CHAPTER 48

S
he got out
of the elevator into the waiting room. She walked past the evil glares of Stephanie and Annette Rine, and the subtle and muted greetings of the remaining friends in the wedding party who must have extended their stay in light of the accident.

Isabel looked for the nurse’s desk. A wall sign directed her beyond the waiting room through a set of heavy electronic doors. She took a breath, then quickened her pace, because if she didn’t, she’d lose her nerve altogether––she was certain that the red illuminated exit sign behind her was summoning. Loudly buzzing her name.

As she approached the nurse’s desk, she saw an older woman leaning over the counter talking to the nurse. Isabel came upon them quietly as not to interrupt, but within five feet, the woman turned around.

Zack’s mother, Elaine, a relieved smile spreading wide across her tired face. “Oh God, thank you. Isabel dear, you’ve come. Darren called and told me you were on your way, but, oh goodness, here you are, and…I am just so glad to see you, and meet you,” the woman said with welling tears in her weary eyes. And on the next breath, Elaine had Isabel tight in her grasp and wouldn’t let go.

A strange, morphing minute went by. Feelings of guilt, then sheer sympathy, on to oozing warmth filled Isabel’s chest until, finally, she surrendered to the woman’s embrace. Almost against her will, though. This was Zack’s mother. She couldn’t have him, she couldn’t have his mother, she could have none of it.

And what made it worse, Zack had told her so much about Elaine, such tender stories, Isabel felt like she already knew and, God, even loved the woman. Zack’s mother was holding Isabel as if she were the woman’s own daughter.

Dear God, this is too much, too
hard.

Isabel began pulling away, trying to unlatch, to separate from the wholehearted woman.

But Elaine took control. She slid her hands down Isabel’s arms, and held her firmly at the elbows. Then she looked Isabel dead in the face. “Isabel. My precious boy has found his heart in you,” she said. “He’s alive
because
of you! He almost left us, but fought his way back for you. To be with you! Thank heaven for you, my dear Isabel. Just thank heaven.” Elaine James hugged her again, clutching Isabel to her even harder this time. And then Elaine released her grasp, and kissed Isabel on the forehead. “He’s waiting, dear. Oh he’s been waiting and waiting. Go to him.” She turned to the charge nurse behind the desk. “Maria, this is the one. My Zack’s Isabel.”

“Hello, Isabel,” the nurse said with a tender smile to match Elaine’s. “Please sign in here and I’ll take you right back to him.”

Please, no.
“Okay, thanks.” Her pulse filled her throat as she signed the form. The nurse stood to take her to Zack. There was no turning back now, and she’d promised Darren.

Elaine patted Isabel’s hand and nodded. “I will see you shortly, dear.”

Oh, how Isabel wished she would see Elaine shortly, or ever again. God, how she wished.

*

Isabel went with the nurse, while Elaine made her way back to the waiting room through the automatic doors.

And through those slow opening and closing doors, she heard a familiar crowing, Stephanie’s loud, shrill voice, her hike in volume maybe even for Isabel’s benefit.

“Rumor has it that she’s killed four husbands. She’s like a
real-life
witch! Bad juju! The Mexi room service girl at the resort confirmed it! And then she almost kills Zack! I could kill her myself!”

Used to such talk, Isabel tuned out the noise, even though, ironically, every word the crazy woman uttered was true. It strengthened her, in fact, to keep moving toward Zack. She had to save him from herself.

“Just this way,” the nurse said. Isabel followed the woman to the door of the next wing, and just before entering, she could hear another voice from the waiting room, one even louder than Stephanie’s.

“Stephanie Rine, you’re just a stupid, insecure…hussy!”

Elaine?
The nurse, Maria, looked at Isabel as if she’d read Isabel’s mind, and nodded. Yes, it was indeed Zack’s mother. The electronic security doors shut, blocking any other delicious reprimand Elaine may have delivered. Isabel smiled, a tiny burst of justice leaked into her heart. She lifted her chin and let the feeling fill her chest.

But as soon as she looked down the long white gleaming hallway ahead of her, the burst fizzled to dust.

“The room is just at the end of this hall,” said Maria, waving Isabel on.

Isabel wanted to sprint the other way. She wasn’t ready. She needed time. So much more time. If only the long, sterile hallway in front of her could have stretched miles more, taken forever to walk down. But it didn’t. In fact, her feet had already carried her to the room door, as if unconsciously and absolutely against her will.

The nurse opened Zack’s door, but Isabel stood back against the corridor wall, unable to move or think or breathe.
Breathe, in and out, Isabel.
Then one last tight breath in and a choking, choppy breath out and she was ready, but not really at all, for what would be her official and final goodbye.

CHAPTER 49

H
is head pounded,
while his nausea was controlled only by his fear of leaning over, because leaning or bending, even breathing, inevitably resulted in shattering pain throughout his fragile rib cage. He pressed the morphine button and immediately relaxed, closing his eyes, thankful for the slightest relief.

“Mr. James,” the nurse whispered. “She’s here.”

He willed his lids open against the heavy morphine daze, and then forced his eyes to come into focus.

A flood of déjà vu. Although he knew this was her first physical visit to his hospital room, he was sure that the vision that stood at his bedside, this bronze angel in white flowing silk scarves, had been right there watching over him during his entire hospital stint. “Isabel,” he murmured. “Isabel.”

He felt a strained pressure through his entire spinal column just having his head rotated an inch, trying to keep his gaze on her, but he took care of it with another click of the button. His mouth and throat were
desert-dry
, so instead of trying to form sound just yet, he held out his hand for her to take.

“I am so, so sorry,” she sighed, then he heard and saw her swallow, her emotion tripping down the smooth column of her throat.

Oh don’t be sad, my angel.
But he still couldn’t get words out.

She took his hand in her own and squeezed hard. “I knew…and I told you! Here’s our glimpse, Zachary James. I just couldn’t take it if you had…” Tears streamed down her silken cheeks now. He wanted so badly to reach over and wipe her tears and all her sadness away. But he couldn’t even sigh without stabbing pain.

“But…I’m right here,” he managed to scratch out from his parched throat.

He had so much to say to her, but first he pointed his finger to the side table where a lone cup of water stood, a straw bent over its edge. She brought it to his mouth, he pulled a few sips. Between the shallow incline of his pillow and a small bubble of air getting into the straw, he coughed on the last gulp, and his roar of pain startled Isabel, and the water spilled down the side of the bed.

The charge nurse flew in. Zack was holding his sides with his crossed arms, as if his skeleton would just collapse, bones falling limp to the mattress if he didn’t keep himself together. He could see Isabel out of the corner of his eye—she looked terrified, her back flat against the room wall. He couldn’t stand to see her fear, her dread that he’d reduce to ashes from a goddamn cough. But again, he was here. At least he was alive and here.

The nurse increased the incline on the automatic bed, brought in a new cup of water with a lid, and cleaned up the small spill at his bedside.

“All good?” she asked.

Zack blinked yes while Isabel nodded, relaxing her expression and her shoulders just a bit as she returned to Zack’s side.

“I hate that you’re in so much pain.” She took his hand again.

His voice cracked to a start as he wove his fingers into hers. “With this button here, I’m just fine.” He smiled, hitting it again.

Then he cleared his throat with a tiny grimace. “My mom, you met her?”

“Yes. Yes I met her. Very sweet woman.” She gave him a warm yet distant smile.

“Just wish I could’ve seen the look…the look in her eyes. She must be in love. Like I am–—” Then a small start of a cough interrupted his words and sent pain through his middle. She got him more water, and after a few sips, he pushed the cup away.

He was ready to tell her what he’d been dying to say.

He took a painfully deep breath. “Isabel…the doctor, he actually used the word ‘miraculous’! It’s a miracle that I’m alive. And I see now, I have
seen
!” He flinched from the slight excitement of his words, but signaled for another drink and was ready to go again, now in a slow whisper. “I’m so lucky,” his raspy voice confessed. “I’m the most… the most fortunate man in the universe. And you…you’re the one who brought me back. My God, I have so much…to tell you, Isabel. But”—he smiled—“it will probably take our entire lives for me…to explain it all. They say I was in a coma for three days, but where I went, there was no”—he swallowed and winced—“no such thing as time, Isabel!” he told her in his morphine haze, his voice becoming quieter and quieter, even hard for him to hear. “Just…no such thing as…as…time…”

*

And then that haze swallowed him up to sleep, his head falling back onto the pillow, a smile still on his perfect mouth. And his grip of her hand slipped, letting her hand go free.

“Goodbye, Zachary James.”

CHAPTER 50

H
er last words
to him tasted like bitter poison as she’d said them. But fate, for once, had let her off easy, relatively speaking. Zack, being such the fighter, and Isabel, having proved to be so
weak-willed
and unable to combat his charms, she had been sure that their end would be a horrendous,
battle-torn
one.

So if she had to choose, she couldn’t have imagined any better way to slip out of his life.

Ah, the illusion of
choice.

Because it was absolutely not her damn choice, she fumed. There was a knot the size of a boulder in her throat, and the pounding of
red-hot
misery in her head was blinding. At the doorway, she glanced at Zack one more time, her last vision of him, and then flew down the hall, stopping just before the doublewide exit door to the waiting room.

There, with no one around, she threw herself against the wall for balance and then slid down, crumbling to the floor.

*

She realized the loss of an immense something accompanied by a great fear, like she was plummeting into darkness. It was familiar to her, similar to the out of control feeling the day Sebastian had left her alone in this hell called her life.

Fucking
fate!

Furious, she frantically took out her cell phone from her bag. She scrolled through her photos, ignoring the cracked screen and her own splintered reflection it showed. She found what she was looking for.

Her home screen image,
Sebastian
.

Delete it, damn it. Forever.

And with just a tap of her finger, it was done. The photo trashed. The end. And with no images of Zack to replace it with, she was free of the pathetic reminder, the idea, the hope that she could find and hold love. Because she goddamn couldn’t! Not ever.

All she got to keep a hold of, tight and true, was her endless void, a void she hadn’t been prepared to add to, to deepen, in this lifetime. But here again, deeper it went.
Endless
plus
infinity
.

But as her tears began to collect, despite her best efforts, Zack’s face came to mind. And those sweet and sensual eyes of his, clear as the sea. She bit down on her bottom lip hard,
pain-clearing
hard, then surrendered her head back against the wall. With eyes closed softly to the world and tear drops now crashing to the sanitized floor, the only thing willing her next breath was that she at least knew Zack would go on. He’d live. That wonderful man would live the hell out of life. He’d be an amazing lover, partner, friend, and God, a father, to a lucky someone else, somewhere else, very far away from her.

CHAPTER 51

O
ver two days’
time, Isabel had gathered up enough courage to go into the Golden Rings office to collect her things. She went in early so she could avoid Lucinda and all of the staff, except for the receptionist.

When Isabel got to her private office, her desk was all just how she’d left it. She hadn’t been in for a while—not with her remote access and the bum rush of events over the last weeks—but still, God, she’d miss her desk. And the energy and bustle of the office, the clinching of clients, and even the unending hours of preparation. She’d miss her position, her purpose, having a hand in solidifying potential soul mates for life.

And Lucinda. She’d miss Lucinda most of all.

She sighed in surrender, then began to box up her belongings.

A photo of her and her favorite nieces, Celeste’s girls, was the only thing of significance. The rest, just stuff. And when she was done with clearing the surface and emptying the drawers, she stood back. And peeking out from under the keyboard on the now barren desk was an envelope with just her first name on it. In Lucinda’s handwriting.

*

She picked it up. The envelope’s contents were firm, rigid, but light. She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, but with the office empty and her curiosity piqued, she just had to take a quick look inside. She tore it open and pulled out her last paycheck and a handwritten letter wrapped around some photos.

I hated to let you go, Isabel, love, but I can’t risk the bad press. Nor can I start any bad precedents with the staff…but please know that I miss you already! You know, though, my interests aside, you shouldn’t be coordinating other people’s bonds of love anyhow…you should be coordinating your own, damn it! The photos say it all, and I am and will always be the expert! ~ Lucinda

Isabel pulled out the photos.

That damn photographer! The man had caught Isabel and Zack first in an eye lock at the rehearsal dinner, then Zack staring at her during the ceremony, and one shot at the party…of her only feet away from Zack, her eyes gazing up at his face. His handsome and truly kind face.

“If that’s not two people in love, I don’t know what is.” Lucinda stood in the doorway smiling softly at Isabel.

Awkward, thick vibes filled the room while her
ex-boss
’s comment registered, and was then disregarded. “Lucinda… Good morning.”

“What’s your plan now, dear?”

Isabel swallowed then sighed, fingering the check under the photos. “With this, I’ll invest in vacation rentals. Charlie said he’d throw me overflow during high season. The two condos on either side of me are vacant.”

Lucinda released a jagged breath, took one long stride toward Isabel, tapped the photos, then lifted Isabel’s chin to gain total attention. “I didn’t mean work, love.” Lucinda’s gaze narrowed. Inescapable. “You’d better make this whole thing worth it, Isabel Ruiz. If you’ve lost your position here and
then
let that man go, I’ll be really fucking pissed.”

Isabel sucked in her bottom lip and tried to smile with her eyes. “I know you don’t believe in our superstitions, Lucinda…but I’ve faced so much hell over the years. I can’t imagine going through it again. The car accident was my final warning sign. I just can’t take the risk. I can’t risk…him!”

Lucinda rolled her eyes. “I’ve run through four husbands, Isabel…does that mean I’m cursed? Wait, bad example.” Lucinda shook her head. “The fact is this…” The older woman paused, staring hard at Isabel, who shifted her stance preparing for a longer than usual speech. How funny—she’d be more than relieved and elated to receive a lecture from her mentor, especially now that she had no right to her. While the alternative cold shoulder of shame would have killed her.

“Life is a
day-to
-day pain in the ass, Isabel—
cursed
or not. It’s finding the small pleasures and sharing them with your loved ones, or better yet, your
one
true love, if you can find him. Most don’t. And you already know that I’m a hopeless romantic, a true believer in that one true love.”

Isabel narrowed her eyes at the woman.

“Okay, well, that may not necessarily apply to
my
life, but that’s my case in point! Following?”

“Yes, Lucinda.”

“Good, good. Now look, I would go get that delicious hunk of a man myself if I were the young, intelligent beauty you are. Hell, I would try to get him myself being the
old
, intelligent beauty
I
am…but he wouldn’t be interested. He’s quite obviously not interested in
anyone
but you, love,” she said, pointing at the photo from the wedding ceremony.

Isabel stared again at the pictures. Her mind wandered to the recent scenes of Amy and Darren during their first dance. Then her thoughts traveled farther off, to that old black and white of her grandparents, their loving gaze, a forever fixture in her head and heart. And then back to the photos in her hand. She couldn’t deny the look of adoration Zack was giving her—or her, him.

Lucinda, as usual, was right. Isabel and Zack were pretty damn magical together…on so many levels.

But could the affection they shared combat her curse? And, more than that, was her heart strong enough to place that bet? Especially when Fate was dealing the hand for the house, and everyone knows that
no one
ever beats the house.