still broken up over Horacio. Jamila had loved him and in a single night had seen him become an abusive monster, a man she hadn’t known. Then in the end, Jamila had watched him die before her eyes.
Swan knew Jamila was going through something that only time could heal. That’s why when Swan had reopened the shop this week and Jamila had asked for extra work hours, Swan had given them to her.
“So what are you going to do?” Candy asked her.
Swan glanced over at her. “About life? Work?”
“No, about David.”
Swan just couldn’t understand why Candy couldn’t accept that David was no longer in the equation. “I’m a survivor, Candy. Although it was hard, I made do after my parents’ deaths and I will make do now.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m getting dressed to go into the shop today. The cruise ship comes into port tomorrow, so business will pick up. I want to make sure most of my new pieces are on display.”
Another thing they had found out was that Horacio had been fired from the cruise ship months ago but hadn’t told Jamila. He had moved into Rosie’s place while the woman had been gone. The duplicity of the people she’d thought she knew simply amazed Swan.
“And I need to be on my way,” Candy said. “I promised my folks we would go out to dinner tonight. You can join us if you like.”
“Thanks for the invite, but I’ll pass. I just want to have a relaxing evening here tonight. I might go swimming on the beach later.”
Swan had called Jamila and told her she would bring lunch from their favorite sandwich café. However, there were no clients in her shop when Swan got there, so she decided to do something she usually didn’t do, which was close for lunch.
Normally, the shop remained open and she and Jamila would alternate lunch duties. But today she wanted to check on Jamila, talk to her to see how she was faring. Although Swan had been there for Jamila last week, they hadn’t had a real honest-to-goodness talk since Jamila had admitted to being her cousin.
“What are you doing?” Jamila asked when Swan put up the Closed sign and pulled down the blinds.
Swan smiled over at her. “New store policy. From here on out, we will close at noon for lunch.”
“What about the sales you’ll lose?”
Swan shrugged. “Sales aren’t everything. Besides, it’s just for an hour. Come join me in my office.”
“All right, let me grab some sodas out of the refrigerator.”
A few minutes later, she and Jamila were enjoying their lunch when Swan gave Jamila a long look. “How are you doing?”
Jamila shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Trying to move on. I loved Horacio so much only to find out he wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
“I know the feeling.”
“No, you don’t.”
Swan snatched her head up, frowning. “Excuse me?”
“I said you don’t know the feeling, Swan. David Holloway was nothing like Horacio. David intended to save you and Horacio would have killed me if that woman had ordered him to do so. Big difference.”
“But like you, I was betrayed.”
“How?” Jamila countered. “Your godfathers sent David Holloway here to prove your innocence and he did.”
Jamila put her soda can down and then added, “And another thing. What man takes a chance and swims across the ocean to save a woman? Do you know how far from land we were? Think about that.”
Swan had news for her—she had thought about it. She could never forget how David had appeared seemingly out of nowhere on that boat, looking tough and ready to kick asses while wearing nothing more than an outlandishly tight pair of swim trunks with a military belt around his waist. Even when she’d been in what seemed like a dire situation, that hadn’t stopped the woman in her from noticing how dangerously sexy he’d looked at that particular moment.
“When I mentioned what an astounding feat he’d accomplished to his friends,” Jamila said, reclaiming Swan’s attention, “they said that’s why they call him Flipper. Did you know that’s his code name as a SEAL?”
Swan wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Yes, I knew he was called Flipper. But no, I didn’t know it had anything to do with him being a SEAL because I didn’t know he was one. I assumed Flipper was his nickname.”
Swan forced from her mind the day she’d asked him about those dolphin tattoos. He’d told her then they represented Flipper. That had been the day they’d made love in this office. Right here on this desk.
She wished she wasn’t thinking so hard about that now.
She looked over at Jamila. “Why are we talking about me instead of you?”
“Because I think you should and because I think I should,” Jamila continued. “Talking about your situation actually helps me believe that not all men are jerks and that there are some who still possess real honor, Swan. Whether you want to admit it or not, David Holloway is an honorable man. He couldn’t help being attracted to you any more than you could help being attracted to him.”
Swan stuffed the wrappings from her sandwich into the empty bag. “Now you sound like Candy.”
“Maybe there’s a reason why I do,” Jamila said, stuffing her own wrappings into a bag. “It might be because Candy and I can see things that you refuse to see. I often think about what could have happened to us had David and his friends not shown up when they did. Do you ever think of that?”
Swan drew in a deep breath. “I try not to.”
“I think you should,” Jamila said, standing. “Thanks for bringing lunch. It will be my treat the next time.” She then walked out of the office.
Swan stayed in her office after Jamila left, trying to put their conversation out of her mind. She was working on her computer, verifying inventory, when her office phone rang. “Thank you for calling Swan’s. How may I help you?”
“Hello, island princess.”
She smiled upon hearing her godfather’s voice. “Godpop 2. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I just wanted to check on you. So much has happened and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
She had spoken to each of her godfathers and had thanked them for believing in her. They had taken a risk with their individual careers to do that. “I’m fine. How is Godpop 3?”
“He’s fine but as the director of naval intelligence, he has his hands full with the investigation. It seems that more names are popping up in this scandal each day.”
“And how are Godpop 1 and Barbara?”
“They are as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Learning about Georgianna was a shocker for all of us. We had no idea. When we decided to send Lt. Holloway to prove your innocence, the three of us weren’t sure just
