She smiled as we went up into the cabin. “I can’t wait to find out where it is. And you had to help me get a passport. So it’s abroad.” She gave a little excited skip, and I tried to remember how long it had been since I’d been excited about going abroad. I enjoyed her excitement, though, and sat beside her as we took off.
“It’s a long flight, sweetheart, so we’ll have lunch as soon as we level out, then maybe we can rest this afternoon.”
She reached out, took my hand. “Thank you.”
I changed her grip, put my hand around hers, relishing her nearness. Three weeks since I’d found her, after fearing that I’d never find her again. Two weeks since she’d moved back in, and in all that time I could hardly bear to let her out of my sight. Two frantic weeks of work on her app and the extras. Two frantic weeks of add-ons for Chess too. And two weeks at home, discovering more about each other, two weeks of increasingly growing closer.
Two weeks of news from home, two weeks of heavy negotiations with lawyers and financiers. Now I was ready and prepared to tell her everything. Set her free to make her own choices in life unconstrained by insecurity. I just hoped that she’d choose to stay with me. But I needed desperately to know that she was making that choice freely.
I didn’t think I’d sleep as the jet flew on into the Pacific, but I did, the strain of the last days having built up. As the note of the jets altered, and I began to descend, I stretched, and looked over.
Toni was sitting watching me, wide awake and laughing at me. I made a face at her. “I’ll have the last laugh. It’ll be early afternoon when we land, and you’ll be tired long before me.”
“I’m far too excited to be tired.” She craned around, trying to see out of the window. “There’s not been much to see.”
I smiled. “Not long now.”
* * *
And it was very soon that we were met by a smartly dressed driver and limousine. A bevy of people saw us out and into the vehicle, and another followed with a retinue of staff.
There wasn’t the luxuriousness here of the top resorts, but I valued the chance at privacy more. Only our cabana on the beach, there was no one else unless I brought them here. I didn’t want to meet anyone, I had Toni, and I needed to talk to her, tell her what she needed to know and give her the best time of her life.
She was childlike in her awe as we walked from the simple but comfortable cabana straight out onto the beach. The fine white sand squidged between our toes, and she gazed around in awe.
“And this is all yours?”
“Mmhmm. I like the privacy. I couldn’t get that in a resort.” I strolled down with her towards the water’s edge. The gently lapping wavelets, and the brightness of the sun on the water let my body relax. I didn’t get here often enough. Maybe now I could slow the pace of my life and enjoy time with her away from work. I could feel the weight of the envelope in my pocket, and I hoped that we would be together at work as well as at play.
Past the clump of palm trees, and around into my little hideaway, where there was a lounging area with the beach and sea stretching in front and the trees and rocks behind us. It felt enclosed and open all at once.
“Let’s sit here for a while, Toni. We’ve got to talk before we can enjoy our holiday.”
She stared at me, wide-eyed. “Secrets.”
I nodded. “Secrets.”
“Okay.” She plumped herself down onto the sand, and arranged her back leaning up against the rock. “Okay, James. You’ve chosen the right location for this. Sun, sea and sand. I’ll probably forgive you everything.”
I grinned. “Don’t forget the sex. Sun, sea, sand and sex.”
She made a face at me. “You get into that topic and we won’t get around to the secrets at all.” She patted the sand beside her, and I sat beside her. Then she leaned back, shut her eyes. “Right. Shoot.”
I hesitated. I didn’t know how to start. Both topics, business and family swirled around in my head. She opened an eye, then sat up.
“I’m sorry. It’s not an easy thing, I can see that. But James, you promised that neither thing would keep us apart. So nothing can be bad, can it?” Her hand slipped into mine and she squeezed it encouragingly.
“No, I hope not.” I turned to her. “Everything sort of combines really, but I need to talk about them separately.” I drew the sealed envelope out of my pocket and gave it to her.
“We need to do this first, because once you know about it, it might affect the choices you make afterwards.” Please God, she makes the same choices though, I thought, as she looked at me puzzled and slit the envelope open. She read the letter briefly and glanced at the certificate. I heard her gasp and watched as the color flooded to her face. Then she folded the sheets and stuffed them back in the envelope.