Page 44 of Match Made in the Maldives

Carmen frowns. “Good riddance.”

“Aw, Lou,” Mel says. “You okay?”

I nod, appreciating the inquiry. “Yeah. I’m over him. Promise.”

My dad’s face, however, has fallen, and disappointment is carved into every corner of his expression.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter. “And while we’re at it, I might not be cut out for running a business. I want to, and I made some changes to my pricing structure a couple days ago, but I haven’t been much of a businesswoman extraordinaire lately. Just a struggling graphic designer who doesn’t have enough time in the day.”

“Wait, you loveFinn?” my brother asks.

“Yes.”

“YouloveFinn?” he asks again.

“Are you listening to me? Yes, I love Finn.”

“I told you,” Melissa mutters to him.

“Is he aware of this?” Aaron asks.

“Not quite in those terms, no,” I say. “But I think he has a good guess.”

Everyone’s staring at me, wide-eyed and obviously shaken by the bombs I just dropped. I can’t recover from this. The desire to sayKidding! Everything with me’s great, pass the salt, pleaseoverwhelms me. What was I thinking, confessing to this? And on our last night as well?

“I’m full,” I say, standing up so fast I knock my fork to the ground. “I should go. Sorry, I’m just really, really sorry.”

I exit the dining room and take the stairs back up to the surface, burning with humiliation despite the cool ocean breeze.

Chapter Sixteen

Luna

A few knocks on the door to my patio startle me, and I turn to find my dad.

“May I join you?”

“Sure.” I hug my knees into my chest as he sits down on the loveseat next to me. We stare at the moon reflected on the water, slivers of silver dancing in the night.

When I returned to the villa, I bundled up in my robe and sat on the balcony attached to my room. The whole walk, I had expected to break down at every step, once I entered the front door, or once I washed my face. But the tears didn’t come. Instead, I caught myself smiling. My steps were light, unburdened. Almost like letting my family see an uglier side of me, a less put-together but more honest side, has given me relief.

“Dinner to remember.”

“I’m so sorry, Dad. I—Tonight was about you. You and mom. I turned around and made it all about me.”

“It is about you. Tonight was about all of you. This entire trip was.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, turning to him. “We’re here to celebrate your cancerversary.”

“Did you not hear my speech?” He gives me a soft jab with his elbow. “I could not care less about commemorating the cancer remission. Give me time with my kids. That’s all I need.”

“Well, I ruined your last night with your kids.”

“The only person who ruined anything was Blake.” He wraps one arm behind me, tucking me closer to him. “You didn’t mess up a thing, LouLou.”

“I’ve let you down.”

“How’s that?”

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