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My whole life I’ve been needed. I’m the only boy in my family, and was always tasked to help my father with certain projects. When he died, I took on the role of keeping the family together and working to help my mother in any capacity possible, until I could drive and work at a job.

And now, I have the strangest feeling, like I don’t know what my purpose is anymore. The woman I love no longer needs me to help her through the struggles of life. Will she still love me despite that?

Rachelle gets out of the chute and I debate whether I should go in and congratulate her or just leave.

I need the time to think, to process all I’ve gone through in the past few minutes. Maybe a good night's sleep will help me figure out where to go with my life.

CHAPTER29

Rachelle

I’m on cloud nine walking back to the deck where Landon and I had been “reading” earlier. But he’s not back. At least Savannah is gone.

I wait for over an hour and then head back to the room.

“Tiffany,” I say, whispering loudly.

“What?” she asks in a growl.

“I just went on the skydiving simulator.”

She rolls over, her eyes trying to open, but the sliver of light from the bathroom is causing her to blink rapidly. “Really? Did you go with Landon?”

My heart beats quicker and a sliver of guilt trickles in. Should I have waited for him? I was so keyed up around Savannah that I needed some way to let it out. Would that have been a good experience for the two of us to do together? I’ll have to ask him tomorrow.

“No, but it was awesome. Go back to sleep.”

I don’t sleep well. I’m tossing and turning, having dreams that I’m actually skydiving. It’s official. Real skydiving will never be on my bucket list.

There’s no sign of Dani or Landon at breakfast.

“Maybe they’re at a meeting or something,” Tiffany says, grabbing a few more pieces of melon from the bowl.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” I’ve got a dollop of cottage cheese on my plate and am waiting for a waffle to cook.

“What do you want to do today?”

Today is another day aboard the ship as we travel to the last island. “How about we start with a mani and pedi?” I ask. Getting dolled up and feeling relaxed is the what I need this morning. And I might as well take advantage of the added package that came with winning the cruise.

“What about Dani? Do we want to look for her? I doubt she’d have to be at the meeting.” Tiffany’s words now make me doubt Landon’s whereabouts.

“Let’s eat and see.”

* * *

Dani steps out of her cabin door as we come down the hall.

“Hey girl!” Tiffany says. “Want to go to the spa with us?”

“Yes! I’ve been dying to go. I think I’m going to change the color of my toenails from the light blue to a bright orange.”

The two of them walk down the hall and I point to the door. “Is Landon still in there?”

Dani turns and shakes her head. “No, I think he left early this morning. I don’t know if he had a meeting to get to or something.”

My disappointment dives deeper, but I do my best to shake it off. Things had been going so well yesterday. Maybe Roman is requiring more meetings now that we’re traveling instead of stopping at port? That has to be the logical conclusion.

It takes a few minutes, but Dani directs us to the spa. Isabella is sitting in a chair in the lobby, flipping through a design magazine.