“Yeah, that sounds great. We’ll need to share a room though.” I offer my arm, and she links arms with me.
“It will be like the old days,” she says happily.
“You better not tell me ghost stories.”
“Poor baby. And they’ll all be about shark specters looking for jet skiers.”
I remember the panic I felt when I realized my jet ski didn’t work, before Jason arrived to rescue me.
My face must look green or something, because she stops. “Shit. I’m sorry, Cal. That was probably too soon?”
I give a strangled laugh. “It’s good to see you.”
She nods, but her eyes remain assessing. “You seem different.”
“That’s what being stuck on an island does.” My laugh is maniacal, but I continue to sweep my gaze around the terminal hoping, hoping, hoping that Jason is here.
I stare at all the people marching through the airport. None of them are Jason.
Not being with him feels like a breakup. In fact, the ache in my chest feels worse than any breakup I’ve ever had.
Jeremy and Rex finally make their way over to Tessa and me.
“Jeremy and Rex, this is my sister Tessa.”
Tessa clears her throat. “Correction. I’m his awesome sister.”
“The awesomest,” I agree, squeezing her tightly, because I wasn’t sure I would ever see her again. I turn to Jeremy. “Mind if Tessa crashes at our place?”
“The more the merrier,” Jeremy says.
“Cool.”
I look around the airport again. “Did you see Larvik?”
Rex’s eyes narrow. So do Jeremy’s.
I avoid looking at Tessa, because sibling instinct is a thing.
“Looks like the paparazzi were here,” Jeremy says, flashing me his phone.
I stare at a panicked-looking Jason on the small screen.
Shit.
“I need to see him.”
Jeremy frowns. “Dude. You saw a whole lot of him.”
Rex scrutinizes me with similar curiosity. “You still need to write that article about him. I guess you weren’t able to do it on the island.”
I shake my head. “No notebook.”
“Shame.” Rex gives me a kind smile. “Tell you what. I’ll give you the rest of the day off. Let you recover. Then you can come back to the office tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.”
He slaps his hand on my back. “The article will be great. I bet you got lots of personal details from him. I want you to write about what he’s really like. The real Jason Larvik story.Likes, dislikes, personal details. All the vulnerabilities that other reporters don’t know. Get it on my desk by the end of the week.”
