He walked off, hands in his pockets, while Randi watched him.
“What kind of choice is this!” she shouted after him.
But he’d reached the edge of the veranda, and without looking back, he took the steps that led to the beach and disappeared. Randi stared at the open sky long after Mike vanished from sight.
“He betrayed you?” Hector brought her back.
She turned to him, dazed. “Yes, I guess it feels that way,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the heart. Set up…”
“I don’t ask you to jump into anything without thinking it over. You have until morning; that should be enough time. Breakfast will be at 6:30, Mike flies out at 7:00.”
Hector smiled, and for just a second, he laid his warm palm over Randi’s hand where it lay limply on the table. Then rising to his feet, he started to
