Page 30 of Always Another Sunset

Liking the direction JC took the conversation, Bella lifted her drink too. “I agree,” she said. “That’s very exciting.” Chris looked at JC and then to Bella with a slight smile on her face that Bella thought bordered on a smirk.Good,she thought.I want her to recognize where things stand, and that JC is with me.

After a pause, Chris nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “She’s an amazing woman, and I’m very lucky.”

“Where did you meet?” Bella asked before bravely taking another sip of her drink, hoping Chris’s answer wasn’t another bomb.

At that question, Chris’s smile became genuine. “I met her in San Diego. She took one of my technical writing classes.” She shrugged. “And one thing led to another. We’d been together for over a year, and she asked me to marry her when she found out about being relocated to Hawaii.”

“Have you found a job here yet?” JC asked, and Chris shook her head as she lifted her drink to finish it off.

“Not yet,” she said. “That’s why I’m hesitating.” Chris drank, allowing Bella to process what the woman was telling them.JC’s ex-girlfriend may or may not be moving back, but if she does, it will be with her fiancée,she thought.So, why do I keep feeling like Chris has some hidden agenda?There was also the situation where Bella was leaving the island soon, which was something Chris didn’t know about.Will that help her make up her mind?

“It’s a big move,” JC said, and Bella watched Chris meet JC’s eyes.

“I made a big move once before, and it turned out to be a mistake,” she said, and the tightness in Bella’s chest ramped up again. Bella wasn’t naïve enough not to catch the reference to the fact she left JC behind when they broke up.

The statement hung in the air before JC put her arm around Bella’s waist. “I believe everything worked out precisely as it should have,” JC answered, and Bella was thankful she recognized how upsetting the conversation made her. Chris nodded and met Bella’s eyes. Bella couldn’t miss the message in the woman’s gaze.She realizes how lucky I am, Bella thought.And even though she has a fiancée, and I imagine they are happy, she still has regrets over JC.

Finally, Chris looked away. “Yes,” she said. “Everything did. My fiancée is a wonderful woman, and I can’t wait for you to get to know her.”

Drivingthem home after a delicious dinner of seafood spaghetti complemented perfectly with an excellent bottle of red wine, JC reflected on how the evening had gone. After a somewhat rocky start over cocktails, things smoothed out once they were seated in the dining room. She wasn’t sure what to make of Chris’s bombshell that she was moving back to Oahu.Contemplating moving,she thought, correcting herself. Unfortunately, always one for the dramatic, the way Chris announced it was more than a little unfair to Bella. That had been no accident, and she knew it as she took the ramp onto the freeway.For whatever reason, Chris wanted to get under my skin. I just don’t know why.Regardless, JC wasn’t happy about the maneuver.

JC had sensed Bella noticeably relaxing when Chris elaborated on why she was thinking about moving to the island. If she was being honest, it calmed her too. Although JC would never share the information with Bella, she had her own concerns about why Chris might be moving back and trying to seek her out. Their breakup had been polite for the most part, but JC struggled for a while with the hurt and disappointment of Chris’s choice.And now I have Bella in my life again, she thought.Even if I didn’t, there never will be room for Chris on my horizon. I need to make sure bothwomen always know that.

The best thing to come out at dinner was learning Chris was a big fan of Bella’s bestselling novel. “Oh, wow,” Chris said. “I have read your book so many times. Promise me when we meet again that you will be willing to sign my paperback copy.”

“I would be happy to,” Bella had said with a blush. JC knew she struggled to believe people loved her work, and the unexpected praise from Chris no doubt caught her off guard. Luckily, the conversation had been a nice segue onto safer topics about how JC’s business was booming and the story about finding Roxie. When the waiter offered dessert, Chris declined. “I actually have a few little things still to do tonight,” she said before leaving rather abruptly. In JC’s opinion, it was just as well as they had run out of safe things to talk about.

“What are you thinking?” Bella asked, and JC glanced at her. The woman was quiet since they got into the Jeep, but then so was JC. Clearly, they were both lost in their thoughts.No doubt she is reflecting on the evening as well, she thought.There is a lot to process.

“I’m thinking that all in all, dinner went well,” JC said. “How about you?”

Bella nodded. “Chris seems nice enough,” she said. “I imagine we can all be friends at some point.” She hesitated and then took JC’s hand. “I look forward to meeting her fiancée.”

There was definitely an emphasis on the word fiancée that JC did not miss. “Yes, so do I,” JC said, rubbing her thumb over the back of Bella’s hand. “Assuming Chris even moves to the island. She had a big decision to make.”

When Bella hesitated for a second, JC realized Bella might be facing a similar decision someday and wanted to clarify. “That is true,” Bella finally said before JC could say anything more.

Ready to change the subject from Chris and difficult decisions but not wanting to end their evening quite yet, JC decided to try something fun. “What do you say we make a detour before getting to the house?” JC said with a grin. “Roxie will be okay for another few minutes.”

Bella smiled back. “I’m happy to go anywhere with you,” she said. “You know that.”

Loving how good Bella’s words made her feel, she lifted Bella’s hand and kissed the back. “Thank you,” she said. “I was thinking, since we didn’t have dessert at the restaurant, I know of a fun little ice cream parlor not too far from the house that we haven’t tried yet. They should still be open.”

“I think that sounds wonderful,” Bella said, and JC was happy to see whatever Bella had on her mind seemed to be put on hold for the moment. Although JC was no fool and realized a conversation about the woman’s leaving soon was inevitable, she hoped it could wait another night. In less than week, Bella would have to attend the conference, and it would be up to her to decide what came afterward. For tonight though, she would enjoy their time and try to make each moment as special as she could.

30

Distracted to the point she kept misplacing things, Bella tried to pack the two large suitcases she had brought from the mainland. Patient as always, Roxie watched from her bed in the corner of the room. Bella tried to ignore the gentle brown eyes tracking her every move, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty. Leaving JC was hard, but it would be tough to leave Roxie as well. They had bonded while spending the last few weeks together, with Bella writing and Roxie sleeping at her feet. Among many topics during the previous five days, JC and she talked about what exactly they would do with their new pet. Even with the flyers and posts online, no one ever stepped forward to claim her. One option was for Bella to take her back to Portland, but even then it would have to be after the conference. Ultimately, they decided Roxie would do best staying with JC in Hawaii. After a few phone calls, JC devised a plan for the dog to stay in the office with a new part-time helper during the day. “Until I teach her to ride on a kayak with me,” JC had said with a wink, and Bella believed the woman just might.

Overall, JC was very understanding about everything, but Bella could not miss the hurt look in her eyes whenever they talked about being separated for longer than a few weeks. Bella simply did not know what she was going to do after the literary conference. In so many ways, she didn’t want to leave and struggled with her mixed emotions. She missed her family, her house, and her friends back on the mainland. Somehow, she needed to find a way to make her two worlds meet. “What am I going to do?” she asked Roxie, who patted the floor with her tail. Reaching to rub the wonderful animal behind the ear, Bella sighed. “I love you too, and I know if you could tell me the answer, you would.”

Finding it too depressing to keep packing her suitcase, Bella decided to call her editor and give her a quick update. Settling into one of the patio chairs, she pressed Joanie’s number. The woman answered on the second ring. “Don’t tell me you’re canceling,” she said, and Bella had to laugh at her abrupt answer, even though there was a hint of desperation in the woman’s voice.

“Well hello to you too,” she said, smiling. She loved Joanie and knew the woman only had Bella’s best interest in mind. “You know you have a bad habit of doing that.”

“Only with you,” the woman said. “No one else keeps me on pins and needles like you do.”

There was enough humor in Joanie’s voice for Bella to know she was only partially serious. “I will be coming back tomorrow morning,” she said. “I decided to go home for a couple of days before the conference and pack different clothing.”

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