Page 42 of Match Made in the Maldives

After a moment’s silence, she says, “You should go get food with everyone. I know they’re very important to you.”

“Lou.”

“I’m fine.” Her gaze travels up my body. She looks full of regret, almost angry at herself. “This sucks.”

“Yeah.”

She nods her head toward the outdoor shower while pulling her knees into her chest, hugging them. “Don’t forget your swim trunks.”

Wet, lifeless swimsuit in hand, I turn to Lou curled up on the bed. “Can I get you anything?”

“Please, just go.”

As I leave, my feet feel heavy as lead, and I close her door behind me.

Chapter Fifteen

Luna

I spend our last day in the Maldives miserable in bed, blaming my lack of energy on the fall. Truthfully, my turned ankle didn’t give me too much trouble. Rolling my foot around, some of the smaller, lesser-used muscle groups burned, but nothing debilitating. Even with my injury on the mend, though, I’ve had zero desire to socialize with anyone, especially Aaron and Finn.

I should go all out tonight. We have the surprise meal we planned for my parents, and I want to make an effort by putting on a happy, put-together face. We’ll have photos from our final night to look back on for years to come. Plus, showing up to the restaurant looking like a total babe would remind Finn what he’s missing. But I can’t muster any enthusiasm and keep things simple by throwing on a dress, whisking my hair up in a clip, and nothing more.

He hasn’t shown up yet when the rest of us convene at the restaurant’s host stand. We’re underground and peering into the dining area, a striking room bathed in blue with a clear arched roof. Aaron’s purposefully ignoring me, but at least he’s quiet.He also looks disheveled, with dark bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t gotten any relaxation during this vacation, and I suppress a laugh. If last night caused him to lose sleep, then he’s being a total drama queen.

“How’s your ankle, sweetie?” My mom rubs my arm like I’m made of glass.

“Fine.”

“I’ve got some ibuprofen if you need more,” Cass offers, her voice sounding more tender than usual. Under normal circumstances, I might find her generosity sweet, but I see what she and Mom are up to. They heard about yesterday, and they’ve been treating me with kid gloves all day—checking on me every hour, telling me they’re there to talk, and tip-toeing around me.

“It’s seven of you, correct?” the host asks us.

“Yes,” my dad says with a terse nod.

“What about Finn?” The question comes out before I remember I’m mad at him and his whereabouts don’t matter to me.

“Um.” Mel looks to Aaron, then to me, linking an arm through mine as the host leads us to our seats. “We weren’t sure when to tell you, but Finn had to leave this morning.”

“Heleft?” We didn’t end things on great terms, but we hadn’t reached the point where either of us needed to change our flights over what happened.

“Not because of—” Mel catches herself. “He’d gotten a message from Blake, so he flew back to Chicago a day early.”

We reach the dining table, but I’m too distracted by the news to enjoy the schools of fish and other sea life swimming around us.

“His brother’s trying to start something,” I say. “He’s messaged Finn this whole trip. Blake’s mad that he’s here with us and all he wants to do is manipulate Finn into going home. Which he accomplished.”

“We looked into it,” Aaron says, meeting my eyes for the first time since yesterday. “Seems legit.”

“Finn got a troublesome message about his mother,” my dad says. “He decided it was best to get back to Chicago earlier.”

“Oh.” I steady my voice. “I-Is everything okay?”

“His mom went into surgery,” Mel says. “Your brother and I stayed up the whole night figuring out which hospital because, as you can imagine, Blake didn’t share many details.”

A text that readHope you’re enjoying your vacation bc mom’s in the hospital wondering why her youngest son hasn’t shown up, you worthless piece of shitgave them the only clue to figure out whether Blake was bluffing. No mention of which hospital or what she needed treatment for. Finn spent most of the night with my brother and Mel, calling hospitals in the Greater Chicago Area. They located her, but couldn’t get much information on her condition.

Finn. He and his mom don’t have the best relationship, but if he had to move up his return flight, something serious must have happened.

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