Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth (web ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Riley ordered enough lunch for two men. She sipped her drink while her ears caught the sounds of pulsating music as it pushed the morning a little farther from her mind. “Thank you, Mia. This really is what I needed.”

Mia wrapped her hands around her Diet Coke and nodded. “My pleasure. No one should cry alone.”

Riley laughed. “You know, I haven’t really made a good friend since I’ve been here.”

“That’s because you work all the time.” She brushed her wavy blonde hair over her shoulder, a stark contrast to her black silk, button-down, short-sleeved shirt.

“I do work a lot, but I’m still new here. But none of it will matter. I’m sure I’ll be fired by evening.”

Mia’s blue eyes widened and her eyebrows rose sharply. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, trust me. The way I talked to Laine, I’m surprised I haven’t already had a call from Max to pack my bags.” She took another sip and then moved her drink as the waitress set her burger down in front of her. “Maybe if I stay away from my phone, I can keep my job a couple more days.” She stared at the burger, her appetite suddenly gone.

Mia leaned over her plate of seviche and looked intently at Riley. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Riley leaned back in her chair. “Yeah, I do.”

“Tell me, then. I want to know.” Mia’s words rang as a friend’s would. A real friend, who until that moment Riley didn’t know she needed and at the same time didn’t know how she had lived without. She spent the next hour sharing her entire history with Mia—the accident, the depression, the alcoholism, the loss of Gabby, the loss of her marriage, Max’s friendship, and how he offered her this job to get her away from her past. When they had finished everything on their plates, she was pretty much finished with her life story. Mia had to set her fork down for much of Riley’s story. Horror, compassion—the full range of emotions had played across Mia’s face. When Riley was done, Mia reached over and laid a hand on top of hers.

“I’m so sorry, Riley. For everything. And there is no way you will lose your job over this. We’ll just have to let Max know everything that happened.”

“Oh, Max knows me well enough to know. It’s the others who don’t know me that will force his hand. And I can’t have him perpetually looking out for me. The contract the other day could have been a nightmare. No, it’s my fault. I have more self-control than that, and I still chose to act like a beast. Laine didn’t make me do any of that. I just allowed her to get to me. At the end of the day my actions are my responsibility. If I’ve learned anything through this journey of mine, it’s that.”

“You’re an amazing woman, Riley Sinclair.”

She laughed. “I’m a mess.”

“Thank you for sharing your story with me.”

“It’s your turn next. For a friendship to work, we have to know each other’s stories.”

“I’ll look forward to that.”

Riley wiped her mouth and set her napkin down beside her. “Well, since Max hasn’t fired me yet, we’d better get back to work.”

“May our other guests require far less maintenance.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Riley said, and they both raised their glasses one more time.

* * *

Tamyra rushed into Riley’s office, startling her. “Riley, Winnie’s bolted herself in her room and won’t come out.”

Riley skirted around the side of her desk. “Is she feeling okay?”

Tamyra was halfway out the door. “She won’t tell me anything. She asked me to leave her alone and to tell Laine that she wasn’t swimming with dolphins and that she wasn’t coming out of her room until she leaves on Saturday.”

Riley shook her head as she followed Tamyra out the door. “That doesn’t sound like her. Wonder what happ—” She stopped in her tracks as Laine opened the main door.

“Oh, Laine, glad I found you,” Tamyra blurted out. “Winnie won’t come out of her room. I have no idea what’s going on. I came down here to get Riley to help me, but I’m not sure we’ll be joining you for the dolphin experience.”

Laine’s expression was slightly startled. “Oh, okay. Well . . . I was just coming by to talk to Riley . . .”

Riley felt the thud in her gut. “You know, if it can wait, I think I really need to go see what’s wrong with Winnie.”

Laine stood there awkwardly. “Sure, yeah . . . sure. But let me come with you.”

“Well, come on then, you two,” Tamyra said, pushing past them and scurrying down the hall toward the elevators in The Cove’s lobby.

“Gerard, come with me,” Riley said as they swung through the lobby.

“Sure. Everything okay, Miss Riley?” he asked, following behind their sprinting high heels.

Riley pressed the button for the fourteenth flour and the doors closed behind them. “Not sure yet, but we’ll find out.”

Tamyra ran her hands through her black hair. “This is so odd. She was fine when I left her last night. She was excited about being with Laine this afternoon. So I don’t know what in the world happened in less than twenty-four hours. Though there was that brief incident at the pool yesterday.”

The elevator doors parted, and the four of them exited wildly and darted up the hall. “What do you mean by incident?” Riley asked.

“A man. Some neighbor from home or something. She freaked out about it.”

They came to Winnie’s door and Riley turned, the other three stopping abruptly as she did. “Now, we’ve got to calm down. Just let me talk and we’ll be fine. Okay?”

They all nodded obediently. She tapped lightly on the door. No answer. She knocked a little harder and leaned her ear to the door. Tamyra scooted her over so she could hear too.

“Winnie, it’s Riley. Tamyra was concerned about you and I came up to check on you.”

They could hear movement at the door. “That’s very nice of you, Riley, but tell Tamyra