Zara deleted Noah’s texts, refusing to save his new number in her phone. He’d been gone for two weeks now, and every minute felt like someone trying to hollow her out the way they would a pumpkin.
You’re fine, she told herself as she ran the dry floor mop along the entryway in the mansion. And she was fine. She had a good job. A lead part in a very successful show. Another opportunity as a dancer coming up in a luau this winter. And her friends and family.
She didn’t need Prince Noah Wales.
In fact, ever since she’d met him, her life had been turned upside down and twisted inside out. She’d abandoned her friends, and her concentration at work had slipped.
She was better off without him.
Then why didn’t she feel better? She wasn’t sure, but she knew she could figure it out and then make her text come true. She could figure out how to move on.
She finished the cleaning, packed her bag, and drove down to the amphitheater. She didn’t need to be there for another hour, but Ian had asked her to come go over the plans for this new kind of production he wanted to put together. Part luau and part dance party, he actually wanted Zara to participate in the show but also help him direct it.
It was a great opportunity for her to expand her résumé, and she couldn’t wait to get started. As she parked, her phone rang, and she really hoped it wasn’t Katya again—or Noah. Perhaps he’d been with people earlier, and that was why he’d chosen to text instead of call after so much time had gone by. After all those pictures had been posted.
Did he think she wouldn’t see them? That she wouldn’t be worried that he’d basically fallen off the face of the planet?
Zara had learned that he didn’t know Katya was texting her, and the other woman had never said how she’d gotten Noah’s phone with all his contacts. But she was ruthless and relentless, and she made sure Zara saw every little thing going on in Noah’s life, emphasizing how Zara wasn’t a part of it and Katya was.
It wasn’t Katya or Noah, but Shannon, Hope Sorensen’s assistant. Zara answered with a very confused, “Hello?”
“Zara,” Shannon said brightly. “It’s Shannon from Your Tidal Forever?”
Even though her name had come up on the screen, Zara said, “Oh, hi, Shannon.”
“I know this is a long shot, but I was wondering if you’d seen Holden Montego around the island? Someone said you’d dropped him off once or twice while he was volunteering for us.”
Someone had seen them. Zara’s mouth turned dry, and she wasn’t even sure why. “I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks,” she said truthfully.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Shannon said, her voice definitely deflating. “We’ve got so much work to do, and I can’t seem to get more volunteers in. He was such a good worker. Do you know if he’s looking for a job? Hope’s hiring a whole new construction crew.”
Zara knew Holden was not looking for a job. And a lot more about him. But she just said, “I’m sorry, Shannon. I don’t know. I don’t think he’s even in Getaway Bay anymore.”
“Really?”
“I don’t know,” Zara said, because that seemed the safest answer.
“Okay, well, thanks. Sorry to bother you.”
“No problem.” Zara hung up and stared out the windshield. The conversation itself wasn’t a problem, but the feelings and memories of Noah it stirred up certainly were. She hated that she didn’t know if he’d be coming back, and then she reminded herself that she’d broken up with him only a few hours ago.
She didn’t want him to come back, and his complete lack of response to her break-up text proved he didn’t really care that much about her.
With her heart stinging in her chest, Zara got out of her car, shouldered her bag, and headed inside to meet with Ian. She didn’t need Noah Wales. Oh, no, she did not. Maybe if she told herself that enough times, she’d start to believe it. Maybe it would even come true.
“So he’s just gone?” Suzie asked later that week, the cup of coffee she’d insisted on getting before they could drive up to the mansion sitting abandoned on the table beside her.
“I think so,” Zara said. She’d shut down every question and conversation about Noah over the past couple of weeks, but Suzie could be relentless in her pursuit of drama and details. She had a flair for gossip, and she loved being involved in everything her friends did.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not great,” Zara admitted.
“And he was really a prince?”
Zara had told Suzie all about her and Noah’s little summer fling over the past couple of nights. Jill had started seeing Beni, and they went out with another group from the cast after the show, leaving Suzie to be Zara’s sounding board since the break-up.
Zara knew she didn’t mind, and she lifted her hot chocolate to her lips though it was still plenty warm in Getaway Bay. In fact, mid-July could be downright brutal. But they didn’t sit by the pool tonight, choosing instead to lounge inside with the air conditioning and the comfy couches in the living room.
“He was really a prince,” she said. “I knew him for a month. I don’t know why I’m so hung up on him.” She’d dated other guys for much longer.
“There’s been no closure,” Suzie said simply.
Zara almost rolled her eyes. “You’ve been talking to your brother about me.”
“No,” she said, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Though if I did talk to Jeremiah, he’d say the same thing.”
“He’s a child psychologist.”
“And he understands closure,” Suzie shot back, the banter between them friendly and so welcome to Zara. She hated coming back to this big house alone, and Suzie had been staying over with her for a few nights now.
A few minutes went by, and then Zara finally said, “Closure,” like she’d decided she did need some of that when it came to Noah. He hadn’t texted again, but neither had Katya, and while one of those was a relief, Zara couldn’t believe Noah had given up so easily.
Two texts, and he was done?
She’d thought he had more determination than that.
“You know, Miah hasn’t dated anyone in a while,” Suzie said.
Zara stood up with a groan. “I’m not going out with your brother.”
“Why not?” Suzie picked up her unfinished coffee and followed Zara into the kitchen.
“Because I don’t need to be set up,” Zara said. “And he’s not a nice Indian man.” She smiled at Suzie. “Maybe I should just try to find someone my parents would approve of. I’m sure there’s some very nice Indian men I could go out with.”
Suzie stared at her, obviously dumbfounded. “Who are you? Where’s Zee?”
Zara laughed and shook her head. “Come on. It’s late, and we have another show tomorrow night.” She stared down the hall, Suzie right beside her.
“Seriousy, Zee, I’m worried about you.”
“I’m okay, Suze. Really, I am.” She paused outside the bedroom her friend had been staying in. “I do miss him, but it’s not like….” Her voice trailed off, unable to say what she wanted to say. It’s not like I was in love with him.
But they had talked about him moving to the island permanently, and she’d taken him to meet her parents. That in itself was a very big deal, and Zara couldn’t just dismiss it. She’d been willing to go through that terrible dinner, and so had Noah.
“Maybe just call him,” Suzie said in a small voice. “See what he says.”
Zara nodded just so she could escape to her own room. She didn’t really think she’d call Noah. After all, she’d erased his texts from that new number, and he hadn’t tried to get in touch with her again.
She wasn’t the most technical person in the world, but she’d once helped her mother find out who Sai was texting by logging into their cell phone providers account and looking at the individual texts.
So she knew how to get the number. Instead of pulling out her laptop and doing that, she climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering where Noah was now and what he was doing.
It would be noon in Triguard, and he’d probably be lunching with a crowd of adoring fans. Then kissing Katya and laughing about everything that had happened in Getaway Bay with the clueless Indian girl who thought synchronized swimming was a career.
Zara rolled over, bitterness and heartbreak yanking through her hard enough to make tears come. And this time, she didn’t push them back or hold them in. She cried, because she missed the man she had fallen in love with.