Hawaiian Masquerade (Destination Billionaire Romance) (15 page)

S
omehow Lexi made
it home and crawled into bed. She’d thought about calling Jordan to vent her sorrow, but she didn’t dare. He would just insist that she come home to Chicago.

Sunday morning, she rose early and drove to Ke’e Beach. She wasn’t looking for Derek. He wouldn’t be there this early. She was looking for solitude.

Lexi started hiking the trail down from the beach. The tears made it hard for her to avoid the tree roots that wound surreptitiously across the path. She stumbled and fell hard when she reached Hanakapi’ai Beach.

The burn on her knees and scuffed hands broke the remaining timbers in her dam; Lexi sat down right there and sobbed. She rubbed her eyes, wondering why the people she loved the most were taken from her. She loved Derek, and she thought her love would be enough for him to overcome his disdain for excessive wealth, but it wasn’t. She took a shaky breath and admitted to herself that this was different from her parents’ death. It was her fault for keeping the truth from Derek. She’d convinced herself that it was the only way, but seeing Derek’s face last night—the look of betrayal etched into his features—was proof that she’d been wrong.

Something furry rubbed along her calves. Lexi started and looked down to see Mango winding around her legs, his bushy tail flicking her ankles. “Oh, it’s you. Aloha, kitty.”

Lexi ran her hand along Mango’s back, and then impulsively picked the cat up and held him close. Mango purred and rubbed her neck with his head. “What am I going to do?” Lexi whispered. Her heart felt like one of Pika’s coconuts that had cracked open, and Derek was the one holding the machete.

A vision of the Na Pali coastline came to her mind. She remembered telling Derek that she couldn’t think of anything that would make her ever want to leave this place, but she would have to amend that statement because she’d never considered the pain of a broken heart. Kauai wasn’t a paradise without Derek.

Thinking of her broken heart led to thoughts of Shawn. He’d declared his love for her, but settled for just friends. Maybe he was right when he warned her that people with money have to live a different life even if they don’t want to. Shawn was a good man. He probably had a more accurate idea of Lexi’s worth than she did, but he’d never acted like he was interested in her for her money.

She wasn’t desperate for a relationship, but she
was
desperate to fix things with Derek. She clutched her phone. She dialed Gracie and Jordan, but neither answered. Where was the advice hotline for billionaires when she needed it?

She found Shawn’s picture in her contacts and stared at his face. He spent more money on the highlights in his hair than Derek probably did for his entire wardrobe. She pushed call.

“I don’t know what to do.” Her words tumbled over each other as she confided her deceit and greatest fears to Shawn.

“Do you love him?”

Lexi wiped the tears from her cheek. “Yes.”

“Then you have to find him and tell him. If he can’t see that you’re authentic, then he doesn’t deserve you.”

Lexi’s heart fractured in another jagged line with Shawn’s words. “I don’t know if he’ll listen.”

“On his own, away from the crowds. Maybe things will be different.”

“It might be too late.”

“If it is, then I’m here, Lex,” Shawn said. “Second best is better than nothing at all.”

“Oh, Shawn. I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It hurts me to hear the tears in your voice. It hurts me when you’re unhappy. I still love you, Lexi. So go find this guy before I do. I’ll be waiting, and I might be praying that a large fish swallows him.”

Lexi chuckled. “I’ll try. But you deserve someone better than me—someone who can love you with their whole heart.”

“I’m a patient man,” Shawn said. “Good luck.”

Lexi ended the call and hugged the phone to her chest. The pain in her heart was more excruciating than any emotional pain she’d felt before. Her heart
hurt
, with a physical hurt that left her gasping for breath. She looked up at the skyline filled with the brooding mountains of the Na Pali coast, and she knew where she’d find Derek.

Her legs were shaky when she stood, but a surge of energy pushed her forward, and soon she was running up the trail and skidding past sharp rocks and branches toward Ke’e Beach. When she got there, she sprinted to her Jeep and drove the long, winding road around the island toward Waimea Canyon.

She passed the overlook where Derek had taken photographs of her before he’d lost his camera, before he’d been put up for auction. The clouds grew darker and heavier the farther she drove.

Her Jeep groaned as the incline rose, and she pressed the gas pedal down. The sign for the Pu’u o Kila Lookout came into view, and Lexi wrenched the steering wheel to the right, skidding to a stop in the empty parking lot. Empty except for a certain rust-colored Subaru driven by the man she loved.

A fine mist hung heavy in the air. She put on a rain jacket, her heart tightening with fear and laced with hope. If she could just tell Derek that he meant more to her than anything else in the world. His love for the island made her feel at home, and she never wanted to leave. If he would listen for one minute, then maybe he could forgive her deceit.

Lexi hopped out of the Jeep and scanned the area for Derek; then she hurried up the trailhead, stopping at the overlook that had taken her breath away the first time she’d seen it. She sent up a silent prayer for help to find Derek and that his heart might be softened before she caught up with him.

A quiet peace filled her as she looked at the canvas in the Creator’s hand with colors she’d never imagined before. Greens with a vibrant golden lining and blues muted by the gray skies above. The panorama before her spoke to her soul, filling her senses with a reverence for the gifts that God had given her on this island—a chance to find herself and to learn what was most important.

Lexi’s throat clenched and her eyes filled with tears. Derek was the most important thing to her in that moment. She turned from the vista and walked forward along the red trail, searching for him.

The mist turned to rain that fell softly at first, and then harder. Red mud squelched around Lexi’s tennis shoes. She reached a point in the trail where it curved around large boulders and traveled down a steep hill. Water trickled along the rocks, and Lexi looked up at the sky, wondering how long the rain would last. She recalled the waterfalls from Derek’s photography and how he’d explained that they sprouted with every rainstorm.

She put one foot in front of the other, holding on to the rocks as she climbed down the slope. The rock she’d just placed her foot against rolled. It happened faster than the rain falling from the sky, yet Lexi saw it in slow motion: the trail collapsed and muddy water rained down on her as she fell. She slammed into a boulder and cried out, the air pushed from her lungs with such force that she was left with searing pain, gasping for air. She moaned and heaved, trying to stop her lungs from convulsing. When she finally sucked in a breath, her head tingled. She lifted her fingertips to her scalp and recognized the warm thickness of blood.

Lexi kept still, breathing slowly, trying to decide what to do next. Her foot was cold, and when she wiggled her toes she realized that her leg was hanging halfway off a rock ledge. With one hand, she felt for the edge of the drop-off, gripping the rock. The rock sat like a pedestal in the ravine with one side against the muddy mountainside, and Lexi was in the center of it. The cliff rose up sharply away from the trail, and the boulder was just far enough from the outer rim she’d been standing on that it would take a giant leap to reach safety. She closed her eyes and prayed for help to the God who had created the incredible vista, the raindrops, the red mud, and Derek.

T
he rain pelted
Derek’s face, but he lifted his chin, letting the warm moisture roll down his cheeks and drip from his beard. It was past time to turn back, and he’d gone farther than safety recommended in this storm. He’d replayed his conversation with Lexi last night—every angry word. It contrasted painfully with every encounter he’d had with her before last night. The Lexi he knew in his heart was not the shadow her money created in his mind. The peace of the Na Pali coastline had given him a chance to open his eyes and see that his judgment against Lexi and anyone with wealth was wrong. He’d let his own insecurities blind him to the beautiful gifts God had given him on the island—not only in the raw nature surrounding him, but in Lexi. He clenched his jaw until it trembled. What if it was too late to fix things?

He scraped his boots on the rocks and flipped his hood up. This part of the trail was always tricky, and for a moment he considered waiting until the rain stopped, but then he heard a cry. It was too loud to be a bird, and birds were silent in the rain. It had to be human, and strangely, he thought it might be Lexi. His heart ricocheted in his chest, and panic flared through his veins.

He paused, looking around, listening to the rush of rain mimicking the sounds of the ocean below. It couldn’t have been Lexi, but her voice reverberated in his head. Lexi was everywhere around him. He could imagine her smelling the flowers and hiking the trail with determination and a smile. Of course he would think of her when he heard that noise. He’d made his decision: pride was a lonely partner, and he didn’t intend to live his life in agony. Lexi was waiting for him somewhere. He just had to find her and ask for her forgiveness.

He grabbed onto a tree branch and pulled himself farther along. Stumbling on rocks, Derek noticed that a mini-slide had occurred higher up the trail. The large boulder that marked the upper ledge streamed dark red with mud.

But wait, that wasn’t just dirt . . . Derek lurched forward, scrambling up the trail. A line of blood shimmered along the indentations of the boulder, and Derek knew in his gut that it was Lexi’s.

The mud ran thick around the rocks, and Derek had to go off-trail and climb through bushes and around trees to get to the top. He spied a neon-green running shoe caught against a jagged boulder. “Lexi! Lexi! I’m here!”

A moan answered his cries, and he looked to his right to find her curled on a rock, a hand to her head. He searched frantically until he saw a bush that he could grab. He held tight to the coarse bark and dropped down to the ledge, where Lexi lay dangerously close to the edge. “Don’t move. I’m here. Can you hear me?”

She opened her eyes, the jade hue in crystal-clear focus, piercing Derek’s soul. “You came,” she whispered.

“Lexi, I’m an idiot. I’m so sorry. Please be okay. I’m here now. Can you move? Is your back okay?” His words came faster than the raindrops pelting his face.

“It’s just my head. It hurts.” Lexi reached her other hand up and touched the scruff on his cheek. “I love you.”

Derek grasped her hand, his throat thick with emotion. She loved him, after he’d rejected her, humiliated her—after all he’d done to her. “I love you, too, Lexi Burke—my golden girl.”

He was able to get her to her feet and pull her up the muddy surface, flinching every time she winced in pain. Once they reached even ground, he scooped her into his arms and hurried to his car. “I have a first aid kit. Let’s take a look at your head.”

She had a two-inch gash on the back of her head and was sucking in air like every breath hurt. Derek helped her apply pressure and settled her in the front seat of his car, with the seat reclined. He drove as quickly as he dared on the slick roads with his precious cargo. Minutes ticked by, and Lexi’s breathing evened out. Derek spoke in hushed tones, keeping her alert. “You’ll be okay. Head wounds bleed a lot, but it looked clean. How do you feel?”

“Glad that you found me,” Lexi said.

“But you found me,” Derek said. He glanced at her with a smile. “You’re some kind of angel, aren’t you?”

“Angels don’t lie. Derek, I’m so sorry that I wasn’t honest with you.”

Derek held up his hand. “No, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t acted the way I did, you wouldn’t have been afraid to tell me that you’re, you know, a billionaire.”

Lexi laughed weakly. “I promise that I didn’t know about being a billionaire. That was news to me, and I still haven’t confirmed it.”

“I’m not angry anymore, Lexi. I’ve been up here all morning asking God to help me fix things. I was completely unfair to you. You didn’t need to tell me your personal financial situation, and if I’m being the kind of man that I should be, your money shouldn’t matter.”

Lexi sighed. “Thank you. I’m sorry that I was living a Hawaiian masquerade this whole time. From now on, my mask is off.”

The relief in her voice pricked Derek’s soul, and he vowed to earn her trust, respect, and love. She was a finder of lost souls. Derek could see each moment he’d known her, from the first day when she held the little girl in the store, to spending time with her friend who was struggling, to the intense scene last night when she’d stepped out from the crowd like a vision and rescued him. “Thank you. I need to tell you that GlobePhoto contacted me last night. They were confused about some kind of arrangement that Eliza was trying to make between us, using some of my photos and hers combined in a tourist package deal. It was all Eliza. I don’t understand why she was trying to exploit me when she has plenty of talent herself, but you, you . . . saved me...”

“It only cost a million dollars.” Lexi chuckled, and the sound warmed Derek’s heart.

He helped Lexi into the hospital. While she waited to be checked out, she held his hand. “I would’ve given a lot more than a million dollars for you, Derek.”

Derek leaned forward and kissed her gently. “I know. I didn’t understand how that much money could ever be a good thing, but I do now. Money is a tool, like a machete. With the right intent, it can support a family, help a friend, or even fix a water heater. Your soul is beautiful, Lexi.”

Lexi kissed him until the nurse returned to stitch up her head.