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  Right on the heels of her question, Greg asked, “What are the hours of the hotel bar?”

  They headed up to their room in companionable silence, both taking in the majesty of this gorgeous place. Greg seemed to have left his irritation behind, which Judy took as a good sign.

  “Oh my God, Greg—look at this! It’s perfect!” Judy exclaimed as they walked into their room. She barely acknowledged the king-sized bed with its inviting white linens set off by the soft blue hues around the room, as she threw open the French doors to the balcony. The view of the Pacific was spectacular and the balcony was much larger than the photos had hinted at. The wicker furniture on the balcony made a peaceful lounging area. She could already see them having the conversations here that would heal their marriage. For the first time in months, she felt like things were going to work out.

  She looked down at the infinity pool on the hotel patio and the adjacent bar/eating area. What a perfect spot for a drink and a bite to eat.

  “Hey, I think I’m going to head down and grab a drink,” Greg said.

  “I’ll go with you, I think I could use a bite to eat,” she responded, smiling.

  “Okay, but I’m planning to write up the plane trip for the blog, I probably won’t be much company for a while,” he answered her blankly.

  “That’s okay,” said Judy. “I’ll bring my book and just hang out.” She missed the look of annoyance that passed over his features. It was a small mercy; after all, she had organized this trip to be about the two of them.

  *

  The patio was even better in person than looking down on it. The palm trees swayed in the afternoon sun casting shadows that mimicked the movement of the ocean waves, and the stone patio was warm on her bare feet. The wicker furniture was comfortable and begged for light-hearted conversation and fruity, colorful drinks.

  They sat down at a table big enough for Greg to set up his laptop and hook up his phone to download the photos he took on the plane. The plane ride to Catalina seemed like a million years ago. She relaxed more every minute they were there.

  “I wish the Wi-Fi was a little faster,” Greg commented, breaking the silence, “and the service.”

  “I’m sure someone is on the way, anyway, what’s your hurry?” she asked. “Remember, we are here to relax, be in the moment, right?”

  “Yeah, okay,” he mumbled, not having heard a word she said.

  At that moment their server approached. “Welcome! What can I get you started with?”

  “I’ll have a Bulleit bourbon, neat,” he ordered.

  “I’ll have some chips and guacamole, and a margarita on the rocks,” she said.

  “Nice choice,” responded the server. “Salt or no?”

  “Salt, of course,” she answered.

  “Excellent, I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

  “Hey Judy, I’m going to need a little quiet time right now while I write, is it okay if we don’t talk?” Greg looked at her, his expression flat.

  “Of course,” she said, though she felt a little deflated. She knew he was working, but this didn’t feel right. Why couldn’t he wait until they got home to write his blog?

  The problem with Judy and Greg was that their careers had always run opposite of each other. Her advertising career mandated regular workday hours. She worked usually 8 to 5, or 8 to 6, 7, or later, depending on what was going on. She was a mid-level manager with people who depended on her, and higher level management that she answered to. She had deadlines, clients, people to charm and situations to finesse. She was the consummate professional, but when she was away from the office, she made an effort to not bring work with her.

  Greg, on the other hand, was a writer and kept odd hours. He wrote for music blogs and contributed to some of the local newspapers and magazines. His work uniform was jeans and a ratty concert t-shirt, and he called the shots on everything he wrote about. He was his own boss completely, not even having a formal editor. He spent tons of time in clubs watching bands and interviewing them after. It seemed he never stopped working. He was always thinking of how he could turn whatever they were doing into an article or blog post.

  She tried to get to the office before 8am, but sometimes he wasn't even home yet from whatever show and after-party he covered the night before. It wasn’t shocking that they barely saw each other. Their hours almost never matched up. She hoped this trip would help them figure out how to make their respective schedules work. Apparently, that was easier said than done.

  Eventually, after he ordered his third bourbon and was still writing, she decided to give him his space.

  “Uh, Greg?”

  “Yeah,” he said, without missing a beat in his typing.

  “Hey, could we chat for just a minute?” she asked tentatively, hoping to not end up arguing with him when she just wanted to ask a simple question.

  He looked up from his laptop at her. This time, she did not miss the annoyance in his expression. She sighed.

  “I was hoping that maybe we could just set up a time to talk. I know you want to work right now, and I’m thinking of exploring the beach. So how about tomorrow for lunch, maybe we can talk? About us?”

  It was ridiculous that she had to practically beg him to talk to her about their marriage. It was humiliating. The whole point was for them to come here and try to work things out—that had been clear from the beginning—and they both agreed to this. Why was it so difficult?

  “Yeah, that sounds good,” he said, lowering his eyes back to the laptop. “Lunch is good,” he mumbled, while he absorbed himself back into the writing zone.

  “Great,” she said, essentially to no one.

  She stood up and headed down to the beach. Maybe this was a good time to gather her thoughts. It looked like she’d be the one driving the conversation about their marriage, so maybe it would be good for her to have some sort of plan.

  She thought back to their anniversary, just a few months prior. They had gone to dinner to celebrate 5 years of marital bliss. It was preplanned, of course. Judy had to clear late meetings from her schedule to make it happen and Greg had to take his pre-work nap earlier in the day. Other than talking about the menu, they were at a total loss for conversation. They’d both looked at each other with the “is this it?” expression. Somewhere between the second course and dessert, they had decided to take a big step toward salvaging their relationship. After all, they’d always liked each other in addition to everything else. Maybe they just needed time to reconnect. Her conclusion was that they could work it out if they had some time to be together, time to talk, share, love. A romantic getaway seemed like the perfect salve for their bruised relationship.

  Here’s hoping, anyway.

  Judy walked the beach, took in the tide pools and waded in and out of the waves. After a while, her growling stomach told her it was dinner time, so she headed up to the hotel to see if Greg wanted to eat. He wasn’t on the patio, and when she checked their room, she found him fast asleep on the bed. After unsuccessfully trying to rouse him, she decided on getting dinner alone. It’s okay, she thought. It was their first day, and their schedules have been a wreck for so long, that wouldn’t fix itself overnight. It was okay if they had some breathing room before digging into the real work of fixing their marriage.

  She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, though, as she got on the elevator. They had both agreed that they would try to fix their marriage. At that anniversary dinner, they gave each other the opportunity to back out of the marriage gracefully.

  “Greg, do you think we should stay married? Honest. We were friends before everything else…. Do you think we should be together?”

  He’d looked at her for a long moment. When he answered, he was adamant. “Yes. We belong together, we always have. Let’s make this work.”

  That had been three months ago. It had taken some time to organize this trip and for them to work it into their schedules. There was also the money—he didn’t think they should spend
the money on a trip like this, especially when it was basically the high tourist season for Southern California.

  “Don’t you think we could do this without spending so much money? We could go to the San Juans and it would save us the plane fare. Plus, we’d have a car,” he’d suggested.

  “The whole point is to get away from what we know and to create a new experience together. We are in a rut. The best way to get out of it is to mix it up.”

  “I don’t know,” he’d responded. “It seems like a lot of money to spend without having something tangible to show for it.”

  She’d known what he’d been getting at with that comment. He thought it was too much to spend because he was obsessed with getting a classic Corvette. He’d told Judy it’s an investment, that it will be worth so much more money within a few years after they bought it.

  It wasn’t the trip that was going to hold him back from getting the car, though. She couldn’t fathom spending that kind of money on a car. They lived in the city and barely needed a car day to day. Plus, she had an SUV. They didn’t need a sports car.

  Eventually she had convinced Greg the trip was a good idea. They needed to be truly away, someplace new to solve their problems. It was symbolic: A new experience to kick off their new beginning. Though the fact that she had to sell him on the idea of this trip grated a bit.

  The concierge waved as she walked by on the way to the patio. She waved back and smiled.

  One of the wait staff approached her as she walked out onto the patio.

  “Table for one, ma’am?”

  “No, I think maybe I’ll just sit at the bar,” she replied. No need to feel lonelier than necessary, she thought.

  The bar was always more festive than a table for one, and the view of the ocean and sunset was breathtaking. Even though it was evening and the sun was disappearing, the air still felt warm on her skin, like an ocean breeze hug.

  “What can I get you, miss?” The insanely hot bartender asked. She was beginning to think it was true what people said about southern California—everyone was gorgeous.

  “How about a glass of white and a menu?” she answered with a smile. She found everyone’s good mood infectious.

  “Comin’ right up.”

  She settled in. She’d brought her phone and her book, just in case she needed a diversion, but the ocean sunset was so spectacular, she had trouble tearing her eyes away from it.

  Somewhere midway through the glass of wine but before her meal arrived, Judy heard a voice behind her ask, “Is this seat taken?”

  She looked up, and there was Greg, a little sleepy-looking, but every bit as sexy as the man she married.

  “It’s just waiting for you,” she said, winking at him.

  The awkwardness of their earlier interaction seemed to have disappeared, and they found easy conversation, as those who have known each other for years do. Without saying a word, they honored their promise to talk about their marriage the next day, and for the evening, just enjoyed each other’s company. That alone was a wonderful first step.

  Chapter Four

  AFTER JASON CLEANED OUT the plane—and then cleaned it out a second time for good measure—he headed to the hotel he’d booked for the week while Tommy gave him a test drive on the SoCal flights. He had a couple of flights scheduled over the next two days, but mostly his time was his own for the next 7 days.

  Once he got to the hotel and checked in, he marveled at the beauty of his surroundings. He loved Seattle, which had been his home base for the last few years, but it was nice to be in the sun and feel that heat. It was also nice knowing that the Pacific Ocean waters might not be so cold as to require a wet suit even in the summer. He could see why Tommy loved it down here. The hotel was spectacular. It was done in the old plantation styles that you’d expect in Savannah or the Florida Keys, but with the charm that only comes from Southern California—relaxed but glamorous.

  He sat at a table for one on the patio thinking he’d catch up on a little paperwork and some emails from his sisters and mom. He had been mostly ignoring his family since he had broken up with Vanessa a couple of months ago. Vanessa had lasted more than the other few women Jason dated, but it was still only six months. He just couldn’t take the next step with her. He knew now that he hadn’t been in love with her.

  He wasn’t sweating it—he didn’t think there was anything wrong other than the fact that he hadn’t met the right girl yet. But his sisters had other ideas and God knew his mom wanted to see him safely married off and giving her grandkids. He just didn’t see what the big hurry was. He wanted to be sure when he married. He wanted his marriage to be like his parents’—they were in love right up until his dad passed away a couple of years ago.

  He also had the business deal to work out with his dad’s company. It was better to be making that deal happen without the distraction of a relationship.

  He paused in his paperwork and looked up at the ocean, and happened to notice the woman from the flight earlier today sitting at the bar. She looked like she was feeling about a thousand times better than when he saw her at the airport earlier, and he watched her sip her wine for a few minutes. She was stunning with the glow of the sunset shining on her face. He was just thinking that he should close his laptop and take the empty seat next to hers, when her husband approached and sat down, giving her a million-dollar smile.

  Jason shook his head to clear it. What the hell had gotten into him? At some point in the last five minutes he had forgotten she was married and almost invited himself to have dinner with her. Something was seriously wrong with the air in Southern California.

  Chapter Five

  JUDY AWOKE THE NEXT morning to the sound of the waves coming through the balcony doors. She’d left them open last night and the room was filled with the ocean fragrance. Everything felt perfect. She and Greg had spent a lovely dinner together, and then went for a romantic stroll on the beach. They talked and laughed about nothing and everything, just like they used to when they were first married. After spending a couple of hours on the beach, she’d hoped that he would come with her back to their room, but instead he begged off and went back to the bar to work some more on his blog. Ah, well. It was a start.

  She hadn’t heard him come in last night, so she wasn’t surprised that he didn’t stir as she crawled out of bed. She was up quickly, though. It was the perfect morning for a run on the beach.

  In no time she was up and out the door, running shoes in hand. She waved to the concierge and made her way down to the water line. She ran about two miles and then turned around to head back to the resort.

  She had just been watching some dolphins out in the distance that she spotted, when she ran smack into a brick wall of human male. Apparently, someone else was out for a run and looking at the same dolphins.

  “Oh!” Judy said as she backed away, unable to help herself from noticing the perfectly formed pecs she just crashed into. “I’m sorry!” She looked up and realized the person she collided with was none other than the pilot. This was weird.

  “It’s you!” She exclaimed before she could think. How’d she miss those pecs the other day?

  “Hi Judy,” he smiled.

  Crap. She couldn’t remember his name but he remembered hers.

  “Nice morning for a run, huh? I think we were both caught up in watching the pod of dolphins out there,” he pointed toward the ocean. “Sorry if I startled you.”

  She remembered those blue eyes, though. They seemed to match the blue in the ocean this morning and they sparkled. Just like the ocean with the sunlight dancing on it. She was captivated by his blond hair blowing around in the breeze, and the shirt pulled tight across his shoulders and chest, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember his name. She forced herself to lift her gaze from that marvelous chest to his face. She’d been blatantly checking him out. What had gotten into her?

  “Oh no, it’s fine—we were both looking at the dolphins. I guess it never gets old, seeing something
that,” she said turning her gaze to the waves.

  He nodded. “It’s nice to see you are feeling better and the airsickness was short-lived,” he said, with a grin and a tiny glint in his eye.

  “Oh yes, well,” she said, obviously flustered and flushed with left-over embarrassment, “that was a completely new and unpleasant experience for me. Sorry again about the plane.” Was he teasing her?

  “No,” he said, turning those baby blues on her brown eyes, “it was my fault. I should have known the turbulence would be rough. It’s my job, after all.”

  She bit back a smart-ass comment. He looked so contrite, she didn’t want to make him feel worse, even if the urge to tease him back was strong. Plus, cleaning out the plane was probably penance enough for him.

  “It’s okay. I think we should both forget it ever happened and start over. Hi, my name is Judy,” she said and she held out her hand. She silently congratulated herself for working out a way to get his name.

  “Jason. Nice to meet you, Judy,” he said as he took her hand.

  “Backatcha,” she said, casually. There was a long pause as they looked at each other awkwardly. “Well, I think I’m going to see about finishing this run without taking down any other victims,” she said with a wink.

  “Ha, right. Me, too. See you around, Judy.” He gave her a parting smile that warmed her body from the inside out.

  Judy took off at a faster pace than before, almost like she was trying to get away from herself. Where did that flirty wink come from? Also, why did it seem significant that her hand felt nice and warm in his? And that t-shirt. What was he doing with that? He looked like he was getting ready to pose for a sexy pilot calendar. She sighed in exasperation and reminded herself for what seemed like the 20th time why she was on this island in the first place.

  Chapter Six

  “I'M SEEING SOMEONE,” GREG said between sips of his margarita.

  After Judy had returned from her run and cleaned herself up, he was still sleeping so she headed down to the patio for brunch with her book. A couple of hours later he managed to find her and they ordered lunch and margaritas, taking in the vast panoramic view of the Pacific. They were both relaxed, and it felt like the right time for them to open up the conversation about their marriage. Until he dropped his bombshell.