“Did I?” He shrugged. “It’s a nice night for a drive. Let’s go a little farther.”
“What about Bandit? He’s been inside a long time.”
He glanced at her with a coy smile and said, “I closed the bedroom door. If he steals anything, it’s not going to be our stuff.”
“I meant that he might have to go out.”
“We won’t be long,” he said casually.
He turned onto a narrow, winding road and continued up the mountain. Two turns later they came to a clearing, and up ahead was a landing strip and a small airplane.
“What are we doing here?” Carly asked.
Zev cut the engine, winked, and hopped out of the truck without answering. As he walked around the truck, he waved in the direction of the plane. She followed his gaze to a man she hadn’t noticed standing beside it.
She opened her door and took his hand as she hopped out. “Is that Jack? Didn’t you guys meet earlier?”
“That is Jack Remington, Treat’s sister Savannah’s husband.” He put his arms around her and said, “We’re taking a little trip to Silver Island, and tomorrow we’re going out on my boat for a dive at the site of the wreckage.”
Her jaw dropped as she tried to process what he’d said. “I…We’re going…” came out as a stunned, breathless whisper, and the emotions she’d been tamping down bubbled to the surface. She squealed and leapt into his arms. “Zevy! Silver Island? Your boat? The Pride? I don’t have clothes, or a bathing suit, but I don’t care! This is the most romantic, amazing thing anyone has ever done for me!” As she gushed with excitement, reality hit her, and she reluctantly took a step back, her heart shattering. “It sounds brilliant. Perfect, actually. Crazy, but so very us. But I can’t just leave, Zev. I have a business to run. It’s not like I can just call in sick and expect Birdie to figure things out. And what about the Chickendales and Band—”
He silenced her with a firm press of his lips and drew her into his arms. “I would never expect you to leave your business unattended. I talked with Birdie and Quinn when we were at the bar. They’re covering the shop, and Cutter’s at the inn right now. He’s staying there, caring for the animals.”
“They are? He is?” she asked, tearing up, unable to believe what he’d done.
“Yes, and you know that heavy stuff in Birdie’s trunk and the inventory she was doing at Karma’s boutique? She was actually doing a favor for me. She was buying you clothes and a bathing suit, and she was pretty damn excited. She said something about it being even better than your hair-down days, whatever that means, which she said you’d had plenty of since we reconnected.”
She laughed, tears slipping down her cheeks as Birdie’s voice whispered through her mind. You’re allowed to be terrified. But you have to trust me. He will not hurt you again. “She knew all along,” she said more to herself than to him. Her head was spinning at all he’d done, and her heart could barely keep up it was so full.
“You know I was never good at slowing down or taking time to plan. I’m more of a get up and go guy. But not this time, Carls. This time I tried to think of everything so you wouldn’t be stressed. I packed your toiletries from the inn, and all the things Birdie bought are waiting for us in the plane. There’s one hitch, and I can’t figure out a way around it. You know we can’t fly for twenty-four hours after we dive, which means we can only do one dive, and it has to be very early. We won’t be able to fly back until Saturday morning, and you won’t get to work until midafternoon. Birdie said she could handle it and take care of preparing for the baby shower, but I know you like doing that. And you probably have other things to do. So if you would rather not go, that’s okay.”
The man who didn’t plan had thought of everything. “Are you kidding? Not go? I trust Birdie, and I don’t care if it’s only one dive. That’s one dive and a trip to Silver Island I never thought we’d get,” she said, as fresh tears fell.
“I was hoping you’d say that. I talked to Cowboy and Dare, who said if the girls run into any trouble, they’d help