The only complaint she’d ever had about his appearance was that he always looked too put together and buttoned up. Too in control. But he didn’t look like that anymore. His shirt was rumpled and he’d rolled up the sleeves. His dark hair was mussed, as if a woman had run her hands through it, and his lips were as full and kissable as usual. He looked more like her dream lover than he usually did in the daylight. Austin Wright looked positively approachable.
Approaching wasn’t happening, she told herself firmly, and neither was kissing. Walking was the order of the day, and the sooner the better. Was he strong enough for the hike that was coming? He wasn’t limping and she hadn’t seen a cane when he boarded the plane earlier. Still, she knew physical therapy was a long and difficult process. It had been torture for Uncle Artie near the end.
They’d take breaks, she decided. She didn’t want to be responsible for any backsliding in his rehabilitation.
If he hadn’t decided to come to Eden for the fourth time, this wouldn’t be an issue.
None of that mattered now. He was here and still a guest of Vardalos and Eden. Still Joely’s responsibility. And Wanda or no, she would get them to their destination or die trying.
Reaching for one of the smaller brown leather bags, she started to open it when Court stopped her. “No need to reorganize that one, Mary Ann. That bag is full of my necessities.”
Joely wasn’t convinced. “Eden has a wonderful shop full of toothbrushes, nose hair trimmers and beard combs, Mr. Stiles.” She unzipped it as she spoke and reached in, pulling out the package on top. “We even have…”
She took one look and, knowing instantly what it was, slid it right back into the bag—alongside a few other items that looked disturbingly familiar. There might even be one or two of them in her bedside cabinet. She did
not
have two boxes of condoms and a pair of furry handcuffs, though they were suddenly intriguing in this man’s possession. It wasn’t exactly what she expected to find, but then again, he’d come to the island for a reason.
Joely met his blue gaze without expression. She was rather proud of herself. “Eden carries all of these necessities as well, sir. In bulk. Seriously, I think there’s a warehouse, and I’m certain that under the circumstances, Mr. Vardalos would be more than happy to replace everything you leave behind.”
Austin sighed when he looked over her shoulder into the bag. “Why am I not surprised, Court? We need sunscreen and first aid kits, not sex toys.”
Court Stiles held out his hand and she gave him the bag without a struggle. His smile was determined and a little wicked. “You never know when something could come in handy in the depths of this particular jungle, so I’ll bring it along to be safe. My camera bag will also be traveling with us. She’s
my
Wanda, so you’ll understand.”
She nodded, determined not to blush. “I suppose that answers the ‘what do you take with you if you know you’re going to be stranded on a tropical island’ question. A camera, booze and butt plugs—all the comforts of home.”
Austin and Court both laughed in surprise and she couldn’t suppress her goofy grin. “I’m in shock, remember? Forget I said that.”
“I don’t think that’s possible, Joely.” Austin moved to pick up his bagful of water bottles a few changes of clothes and adjusted it on his broad shoulder. “But you can tease Court later if it makes you happy. Unless he has a toy in there that doubles as a flashlight, we need to get moving while we still have some daylight to burn.”
They both looked at Court and he shrugged apologetically. “I’ve never been marooned on an island before. Next time, I’ll know what to pack.”
Hiking the bag of liquor and energy bars onto her own shoulder, Joely led the way into the thick stand of trees. It was warm and damp, and within minutes her shirt was clinging to her back uncomfortably. The only thing she had going for her was that she was sure they were moving in the right direction. The benefit of starting at the ass end of the island was that there was only one way for them to go.
She tried to remember her survivalist training as she walked, but it had been too long and she’d been spoiled by Eden’s comforts. She didn’t want to drink water from banana leaves or build a shelter with nothing but bark and vines and the wire from her bra. She had absolutely no desire to find a place to pee outside and she couldn’t, for the life of her, recall if Eden had poisonous snakes.
No snakes, okay?
she silently begged.
No snakes, no quicksand, no vicious man-eating plants. And don’t play any mind games with the men until I can get us out of here. Just a pleasant walk in the woods. A heroic stroll where we’re closer to civilization than I realize and I save your guests in time for dinner. You wanted me to have a fantasy? That’s it. Grant that wish.
As they pushed into the interior, she couldn’t help scanning every tree for some sign of debris. She kept hoping she’d turn down a twist in the path they were following and find her baby magically intact and ready to fly.
“Did you see any sign of the plane back there? A wheel? A wing? Anything in the water or on the beach?” Maybe she’d missed something.
“No,” Austin murmured, close behind her. “Believe me, I’m as confused as you are. I’m just glad no one was hurt. I keep telling myself it has to be this place. The things I’ve seen since my first visit, not to mention my dreams…nothing Eden is capable of should surprise me. But I’ve never imagined anything like this happening. Have you?”
“Have I what?”
“Imagined it.”
“Having my plane disappear? Maybe in a nightmare.” Had Eden given him dreams too? She wanted to know what they were about. If they were anything like hers.
They couldn’t be. She would have known.
“I see.”
Court stomped behind them, breaking branches with his big arms and whistling softly under his breath. “
I’m
surprised. I heard a lot of talk about the Eden experience. Something about a BDSM dungeon the size of a football stadium and massages that turned your muscles to jelly. Nobody said anything about forced nature walks and plane-eating clouds.”
Joely leaned her hand on a nearby tree to propel her forward, feeling the bark lightly scrape her palm. “When you get to the castle it will be worth it. You aren’t exactly seeing our island at its best.”
“I don’t know.” Court’s tone said he disagreed. “I’m enjoying my view at the moment, but I think khaki shorts must be one of my turn-ons. I’m also enjoying the humor in this situation. You see it, don’t you? A seasoned pilot—though to be fair, you look all of sixteen—and a man with the last name
Wright
are stuck with the rest of us pedestrians on foot because they lost the plane. You didn’t just forget where you parked it. It actually—
poof
–disappeared right out from under you. Come on, Mary Ann, admit it. It’s kind of funny.”
Irritation made her walk faster. “Not really,
Ginger
. You know what
will
be funny? You, clinging to your bag of sex toys after days of trekking through this jungle. Finally crawling to the front desk with the last of your strength, only to look inside your complimentary gift bag and realize how much energy you could have saved by dropping a dildo or two. Gilligan and I will laugh.”
A sound of amused protest emerged from Austin’s throat. “Gilligan? Please. If I’m anyone in this three-hour-tour scenario it’s the Professor.”
“He has a point,” Court seconded. “He thinks too much and his house is so full of books you can hardly reach his videogame collection.
Professor
is another name for nerd, isn’t it?”
“Stop helping, Court.”
“Personally I always had a crush on the Professor.” She stepped over a large root and looked over her shoulder at Austin. “Can you make a radio out of coconuts?”
His gray eyes were shining. “If you can get us some coconuts I’ll give it my best shot. There’s a good chance Ginger’s necessity bag is full of extra batteries.”
Joely bit her cheek. She wasn’t sure why she was smiling, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Then Professor it is.”
She caught a glimpse of Court’s matching grin. “It’s already worth the carry for this conversation alone,” he declared, satisfaction laced through his words. “And by the way, if anyone feels the need for one of my specialty survival items before we get to the resort, I’m open to haggling.”
“Shut up, Ginger,” Austin growled. “Your timing is not—”
“Oh my God.” Joely had turned back toward the path as they bickered when she saw it—a glint of metal covered with foliage and rust. “I don’t believe it.”
She immediately ran toward it, accompanied by the sounds of liquor bottles clinking together and Austin swearing behind her as she wound her way through tight rows of slender trees. When she reached the old plane, she set the bag down as gently as her impatience allowed and started yanking off the slender green ropes of vine.
“I’ll be damned.” Court caught up to her first. “It’s not yours, but it has wings. Do you think it will fly?”
Joely laughed, feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. “Never in a thousand years,” she assured him. “This is a Model 10 Electra. Amelia Earhart flew one like this when she disappeared.” She stroked the nose of the plane. “What are you doing here, beautiful?”
“Think she wants to be alone with it?” Court murmured to Austin before raising his voice. “Maybe Amelia landed here and spent the rest of her life in orgiastic bliss with her copilot. I bet that was
his
fantasy. What was his name again?”
Joely shook her head, waving him off without taking her eyes from the beautiful machine. “This isn’t her plane, it’s
like
her plane. Our girl was made in the forties.”
“Our girl,” Court repeated. “Time for a water break, buddy. The tour guide is having a moment.”
She couldn’t help it. She’d known they weren’t the first people to find Eden. Vardalos had purchased the island from someone, and it had been around long before that. Floating unseen, in a place where people were known to disappear.
How many of those people had ended up on Eden?
At least one, she thought, wiping the window with her forearm and looking inside. It had lost its wheels and a propeller blade, but the pilot must have survived his landing. The plane was empty.
Austin appeared around the other side of the Electra. “There’s a door over here.”
She heard him grunt, then the sound of rusted metal groaning as it moved, and she gasped. “Wait for me.”
By the time he’d finally worked it open enough for them to look inside, Joely was practically dancing with excitement. This must be what it was like to travel back in time. The pilot could have been here five minutes ago from the look of things. Behind the dusty seats was a rumpled bedroll, an old apple core, an empty beer bottle and a bouquet of dried flowers from the island.
Austin climbed in carefully and squatted down beside the blanket. “He definitely survived here for a while. See those marks? He was crossing off days. Looks like at least a few months’ worth.”
Joely cautiously joined him, marveling at how this plane had remained so perfectly preserved. “I wonder what happened to him.”
Austin lifted a faded leather bag that had been used as a pillow and then whistled. “You should see this.”
“What did you find?”
“Treasure,” he answered mysteriously, smiling up at her, seeming as lost in the moment of discovery as she was. His expression took her breath away. She’d always known he was handsome, but in this moment he was dangerously irresistible.
“Show me.”
Kneeling down beside him, she looked under the bag to see what he was seeing. She wanted to reach out, but she was afraid to touch anything. It all looked so delicate. Fragile.
“These look like love letters to me,” Austin said softly. “And there’s a journal. Maybe he wrote about how he lasted so long by himself.”
When he looked at her now, they were so close she thought he might kiss her. “How do you know they’re love letters?”
“They’re worn smooth,” he answered simply. “He read them more than once, but then he carefully refolded them and kept them tied together with a red ribbon. Her ribbon, I’d be willing to bet. He missed her enough to pick her a bouquet of flowers that were as beautiful as she was, and he kept that beside him in the night so he wouldn’t forget to give them to her. Some part of him believed he was going to see her again. Planned on it.”
All the air disappeared from the old plane. “That’s…surprisingly romantic, Mr. Wright.”
His gray eyes narrowed and he looked down at her lips. “I’m full of surprises, Ms. Jones. You should pay attention. Do you want to take them with you?”
She wasn’t entirely sure what he was talking about. She couldn’t concentrate. “Take…what?”
He licked his lips. “The love letters, Joely. Do you want them?”
She wanted. She
really
wanted.
Joely made herself look away from him and back down at their treasure. The pilot’s treasure. “No, I don’t think I do.”
“Why not?” Austin seemed genuinely surprised. “This is history. It’s a message in a bottle on a magical island. Tell me you haven’t fantasized about finding something like this on the island. You must have thought about it. How can you resist?”
She studied the bouquet of dried frangipani, hardly aware of what she was saying but knowing it was true. “The message isn’t meant for me. When he was here, lost and alone, the love letters were the only thing that kept him going. Someday they may give someone else hope when
they
need it.” She felt him staring and blushed. “It’s hard to explain, but I think they belong here.”
Austin made a sound of frustration, but then he sighed. “I see. This is part of it, isn’t it? Your feelings. Your gift.”
Joely winced and lifted her head. “How do you know about that?” Vardalos would never tell him.
Austin’s expression was apologetic. Careful. “I’ve spent some time on the island now, remember? You might not want to hear this, but I think you’re as much a subject of fascination as my old friend Theo at the resort. They see you every day, but
you
see
him
and…other things.”