And that broke her heart.
Still, she wouldn’t let him see that she knew what he was doing. Wouldn’t let him know that her heart ached to be with him. That the thought of leaving made her feel as though she had been hollowed out and left an empty shell.
If he could make these last few days together special, then the least she could do was join him in the pretense. There would be plenty of time later for the tears that seemed to be constantly near the surface. So for now she smiled up at him and let him see only the pleasure she felt at being beside him. “Are we going in a car or on your boat?”
“For what I want to show you, we’ll have to take the car.”
“I’d love to.”
She bent to pick up her sandals and then followed him from the beach and across the manicured lawn to the driveway in front of his home. A small red sports car sat in the shade of several trees, waiting for them.
Once they were in the car and buckled in, Rico fired up the engine and steered the car out of the driveway and down to the main road. But instead of heading toward the hotel and the village, he turned left and sped along the narrow, paved road.
“You’ve been here nearly three weeks,” he said, his voice carrying over the growl of the engine. “And I thought you might like to see the rest of the island.”
Before you go.
He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. She knew exactly what he meant. A bubble of pain opened up in the center of her chest, but Teresa fought it down. Being here with Rico was too nice to spoil with thoughts of what was going to happen all too soon.
“Thanks. I would.”
She’d seen a lot of Tesoro from his boat and he had taken her to the foot of the hills to search for topaz. But there was still so much she hadn’t seen. Still so much she hadn’t done. Leaving tore at her and she turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the sorrow in her eyes.
Instead, she looked at the landscape as they passed. As they got farther from the village and the hotel and Rico’s house, the land changed, shifted. Stands of jungle were so thick the trees looked like a solid green wall. Even the sunlight barely made it through the leafy foliage. It was like driving through a green tunnel. Then they emerged into the light again and Teresa gasped at the beauty spreading out on either side of the car. Meadows with wildflowers dancing in the breeze. Patches of farmland, even a small vineyard. And at the edge of the island, a beach with sand so white it hurt the eyes to look at it and the ocean beyond.
“It’s so gorgeous here.” She leaned in to Rico to make sure he heard her.
He grinned, whipping his hair back from his face as he turned to smile at her. “It is. And what I’m going to show you now will take your breath away.”
That happened just looking at him, Teresa thought. But she was so glad to see pleasure in his eyes, in the easy curve of his mouth, she only said, “I’m ready.”
He laughed and stepped on the gas, sending the little red car hurtling along the road at a speed that brought a laugh from her throat.
The road wound on and Teresa hoped the ride would never end. She could spend eternity like this, she told herself. Beside Rico, off on an adventure together, with the wind in their hair and the sun on their faces. But eventually Rico pulled the car over and turned the engine off.
She looked around and saw a wall of rock spilling down into a patch of trees that looked cool and shadowed. “Where are we?”