“When your mother couldn’t reach you on your cell,” he said gently, “she called the hotel. My manager phoned to inform me before contacting the police, not realizing, of course, that you were with me.”
Her eyes filled with horrified tears. “Oh my God. Is Kevin all right?”
“I don’t know,” he said, punching numbers into the handset he held. “You can use this landline to get out. Just dial the area code and the number when you’re ready.” He set the handset on the table next to the bed.
Zoe swung her feet over the edge, pulling the sheet around her nakedness. Tears of remorse rolled down her cheeks. She was on the other side of the world in another man’s bed and Kevin could be lying in a hospital, fighting for his life…or worse. A sob escaped her.
“Here you go,” Colin said.
When she looked up, he was holding a robe for her. Feeling wretched, she stood and fumbled into it, trying to cover herself from his eyes. He glanced away. After she tied the belt, she picked up the phone and sat back down on the bed. With a shaking hand, she dialed her mother’s number, trying to do the math in her fuzzy head to figure out the time difference. “What time is it?” she asked him.
“Six in the morning here, 4 p.m. yesterday in Atlanta.”
She nodded. The phone was ringing. Her heart jumped erratically in her chest. Her mother answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
“Mom—it’s me.”
“Oh, Zoe, thank God. I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I know. How’s Kevin?”
She died a thousand deaths during her mother’s silence. Kevin’s boyish smile popped into her head. Please, God, he has to be okay.
“He has a concussion, and his arm was broken in three places. He had to have surgery to have pins put in.”
Zoe put the phone away from her mouth and choked out a sob of relief. She looked up at Colin and mouthed, “He’s okay.” Colin’s chest rose in obvious relief, then he discreetly left the bedroom and closed the door behind him.
She put her mouth back to the receiver. “Mom, what happened?”
“A truck driver tried to pass a group of them riding in Tybee and clipped his bicycle. Two days ago.”
She grimaced, knowing how easily an encounter like that could’ve turned out so differently.
“Zoe, where have you been? Kevin’s been asking for you. Why aren’t you answering your cell phone? When the hotel couldn’t find you in your room, I was on the verge of calling the police!”
Zoe closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mom. I got the opportunity to go to a ranch in Canberra and look for opals and…” She swallowed the rest of the big, fat lie. “I didn’t realize there was no cell-phone coverage here.”
“Kevin could’ve died, Zoe, and we couldn’t get in touch with you. You should’ve let someone know where you were going.”
Her eyes welled again, but she tried to stay calm. “Someone at the hotel knew,” she said. “That’s how they found me. Is Kevin home?”
“He’ll be in the hospital for a couple more days. He’s in a lot of pain.”
Zoe’s eyes welled again. “What hospital?” She wrote down the information on a pad that Colin had left. “I’ll call him as soon as we hang up.”
“Do that. He’s ready to put out an APB on his bride.”
Zoe closed her eyes. If he only knew. “I’m heading back to Sydney this morning, so I should be in cell-service range in a few hours.”
“What time will you be in Atlanta?”
“We land around nine in the evening. I’ll go straight to the hospital.”
“Visiting hours will probably be over,” her mother said sourly. “Your father and I have been going over every day.”
“Thanks, Mom. I appreciate it and I’m sure Kevin does, too.”
“We’ll all just be glad when you’re home where you belong,” her mother chided. “We have a wedding to finish planning, you know. How’s the reception seating chart coming along?”
“Um, fine,” Zoe lied, rubbing at the pressure building behind her breastbone.
“We’ll see,” her mother said in a disbelieving tone. But it was light punishment for Zoe, and she was willing to swallow it.
“I have to go, Mom. I’ll see you soon.”
Zoe disconnected the call and hugged herself, feeling as if she’d just been yanked back from some horrible precipice. She stared at her bare ring finger and the enormity of her betrayal to Kevin washed over her. He was lying in a hospital, in pain, recovering from surgery, worried about her because no one could reach her.
Her eyes filled up again, but she blinked the tears back, sniffing mightily. She needed to talk to Kevin, as soon as possible, and try her best to behave as if nothing was wrong. She picked up the phone and left the bedroom. Colin was standing in the far corner of the entertainment room, looking out the window. He turned when he heard her.
Zoe could barely make eye contact with him. “I’m sorry, but I need to make another call, if you don’t mind.”
“As many as you need to.”
“I’ve forgotten the country code to dial out.”
He walked over and took the phone from her, punching in several numbers and handing it back.
“Thank you,” she said, then walked back to the bedroom, a stone of dread in her stomach.
* * *
COLIN WATCHED ZOE WALK AWAY and felt utterly helpless. And just a little bit guilty. If he hadn’t invited Zoe to come with him, she wouldn’t have missed the call about her fiancé’s accident and neither she nor her family would be so upset.
She’d left the door ajar and he could make out her voice. He heard her say, “Hi, sweetheart, how are you feeling? I’ve been out of cell-phone range or I would’ve arranged to come back sooner. I’m so sorry I’m not there….”
Colin descended the stairs to give her more privacy. Besides, it bothered him more than he cared to admit to hear her talk like that to another man. He rubbed his hand across his mouth and cursed—of all the bloody bad timing. Irrational anger toward the faceless bloke in Atlanta billowed in his chest for robbing Zoe of her last few hours of fantasy, and for robbing Colin of Zoe.
Then Colin put a hand to his forehead and laughed at himself. He was angry at Zoe’s fiancé for having an accident and taking her away from him so soon? What did it say when one man was feeling possessive of another man’s bride-to-be?
That he was going mad.
At the sound of footsteps on the stairs, he turned. Zoe stood there, still wearing the robe.
“I’d like to get headed back to Sydney as soon as possible,” she said.
“Of course.”
“I can’t get on an earlier flight back, but I’d feel better if I was at least in cell-service range in case…just in case.”
“I understand. We can leave as soon as you’re ready.”
She stood there looking at him, as if she wanted to say something more. He waited. But she simply turned and slowly climbed the stairs.
* * *
ZOE DIDN’T WANT TO TAKE the time to shower, but she had to wash the scent of Colin off her skin. The warm sluice of water, however, brought back memories of the previous night, when they had washed each other and then made slow love on his bed without the benefit of any props.
And it had been amazing.
She closed her eyes and squeezed out a few tears for her foolishness. She’d gotten herself into this situation and she was lucky it hadn’t turned out worse. She was going home with a slightly bruised heart, but at least Kevin was okay. If he hadn’t been—
She turned off the shower and dried quickly, twisting her damp hair into a knot at the nape of her neck. After dressing in her own clothes, she tossed everything in her suitcase haphazardly. The chains and the handcuffs still hung from the ceiling trusses, mocking her. She pulled a stool over and climbed up to remove them, embarrassed now at her antics. She took them down and put them inside the duffel bag that Colin had brought. No doubt he would toss it when he returned to Sydney.
Golden girl Lauren Rook didn’t seem like the type to indulge in dark fantasies.
Zoe did take the time to find her jewelry case and fish out an item that had fallen to a far corner—her engagement ring. She slipped it on her finger, ruing the day she’d taken it off.
After zipping her suitcase, she left the bedroom and carried her bag downstairs. Colin looked up and met her, reaching for her bag. When he took it from her, she noticed him glance at her engagement ring. Her face warmed, but he didn’t say anything, just carried her bag to the bottom of the stairs.
“I’ll just be five minutes,” he said. “Then we can leave. I made coffee if you’d like some.”
She poured herself a cup while she waited for him to pack. She felt numb and just wanted to get back to Sydney as soon as possible. To be away from Colin, to start getting him out of her head.
True to his word, he came back downstairs within a few minutes, carrying his suitcase. He turned off lights and shut things down as they were leaving, and then they were back in his SUV and leaving Benbullen.
Forever. The word came to her as they were riding past the gum tree where he’d pointed out the koala bear when they’d driven in. She laid her head back and settled in for the drive ahead.