The Honeymoon Prize Read Free Page B

apart. He knew that might happen because he didn’t know how to have a relationship that lasted more than a couple weeks or month.
    Things had worked out for the best. Addie hadn’t been pissed at him or wanted an apology, proving she must not have been into him enough to want to go out. They’d stayed friends, good friends, though they hadn’t spent much time together after graduating because of his being away so much, and now they were married. At least according to San Diego County.
    Goosebumps covered her arms. The air temperature in the cabin was cool at altitude. She’d mentioned not flying much. He turned off the air vent, then adjusted the blanket so she was fully covered.
    She didn’t stir. After what she’d been through the past months, she must be exhausted. She needed this vacation.
    He pushed a strand of hair off her face, her skin smooth beneath the pad of his fingertip.
    Ten days on the exclusive, private Starfish Island would get rid of those dark, puffy circles under Addie’s hazel eyes. Relaxing would erase the two lines of worry forming a permanent V above the top of her nose. She could learn to have fun, be herself again, and not think about anyone but herself. Something she couldn’t do caring for her grandmother.
    A flight attendant named Teresa touched the back of his seat. “Your wife looks like a painting. Very pretty.”
    Nick pulled his hand back, not realizing he was still touching Addie. “I’m a lucky man.”
    And he was. He couldn’t ask for a better friend. Addie Sinclair was a total sweetheart with a generous heart. She’d cared for her ill grandmother, pushing her around in a wheelchair, driving her to one doctor appointment after another, for nine freaking years. Addie deserved a medal or something. Whenever he was deployed, she emailed him and sent a weekly care package. She was the only woman he’d ever trusted with his secrets, with everything.
    But friendship was all they would have because nothing else lasted. His parents constant fighting and numerous affairs showed Nick marriage wasn’t all hearts and roses. Carrie’s lies and cheating had taught him emotions were best pushed aside and ignored. “Addie is one of a kind.”
    Teresa’s smile softened. “Is there anything I can get for you, Mr. Cahill?”
    Not for him, but Nick wanted to make this trip special for Addie. He knew how to start—a toast to this new chapter in their twenty-two year friendship. “Two mimosas, please.”
    “Anything else?”
    “Peanuts.” Addie hadn’t cared for the caviar, but she’d liked the little foil pouches containing peanuts.
    “Mimosas and peanuts coming right up.” The flight attendant walked to the front of the cabin.
    As if on cue, Addie blinked open her eyes.
    He looked away so she wouldn’t catch him staring.
    She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “Are we there yet?”
    “A couple more hours.”
    She glanced out the window. “It’s daytime.”
    “It’s also tomorrow. We crossed the dateline.”
    “Fiji is nineteen hours ahead of San Diego.” She spoke softly, her tone hushed no doubt due to the other passengers in first class still sleeping.
    “Someone’s been using Google.”
    Addie shrugged. “Figured I should know a few things about where we’re going. It’s better if we stay awake now that it’s daylight.”
    “Why?”
    “So we’ll be ready for bed five hours earlier than normal.”
    “You always have a plan.” Addie had been making plans for as long as he’d known her, from earning money at Coronado’s Fourth of July parade, selling water bottles from her wagon to working as a waitress at a coffee shop on Orange Avenue to pay for college. Money she ended up spending on property taxes and other expenses for her grandmother’s bungalow instead.
    “Not really. I’ve given up planning. Seems like all mine fizzle out. Case in point, Grammy’s will.”
    The resignation in Addie’s voice bothered him. “Choosing not to challenge