Between the lines, however, Lorelei read the story of a young boy, unloved by any adult, his only friend his older brother, computers his whole world. Her heart broke for the little Liam, and she wiped away more than one tear throughout the reading. If she hadn’t met his mother, she wouldn’t have been able to believe the woman’s indifference to her son’s needs.
It made Lorelei’s childhood, full of aunts, uncles, cousins, and especially a mother who loved her, seem blissful. Family had surrounded her all her life, and she’d taken their nosy interference for granted. She could barely imagine the emptiness Liam must have endured with only his brother to love him.
Unaware of how much time had passed, she was surprised when a shadow loomed over her. She glanced up to see Horace standing with a picnic basket in one hand and a thermos in the other. “Excuse me for the interruption, Miss Lorelei. As it’s almost two, we figured you might be hungry. Is there anything else I can get you?”
Guilt swept through her at making the elderly man come down all those stairs to bring her food. “Please, will you eat with me? I’d like to hear how you came to work for Liam.”
Horace hesitated a moment, then nodded and sat on the sand, even though Lorelei had moved up to allow him room on the hammock.
“Celine and I are originally from Montserrat. When the volcano blew we had to evacuate. We lost everything—our house, farm, all gone. Our children up and moved to Europe but we couldn’t face living there with all them people and the cold weather. So we came here and squatted on this land. There was just an old derelict house at the time. We built ourselves a shack out of some of the loose materials. It wasn’t much but it kept us mostly dry in the rains. We raised some chickens and had a little garden for some vegetables.”
“Wasn’t there some government assistance for you? Didn’t your children help?” Lorelei was appalled that an elderly couple were forced to live in such conditions, in this day and age, through no fault of their own.
“Europe is very expensive and our children didn’t have any extra money. And the government wanted us to live in some settlement. We’d always lived on the land, had space. We couldn’t live on top a bunch of other people. When Mr. Liam bought the property, however, we thought we was done for and we’d have to move. Instead he offered us jobs here. He built us a nice little place of our own, said we could have the garden, and the chickens, and all we had to do in return is keep an eye on the place when he wasn’t here. Make sure no one broke in or nothing. Of course, Celine does a little housekeeping, making beds and such, she can’t help it. There’s another girl who comes from the village to do all the heavy cleaning.”
“Well, that’s very nice of him,” Lorelei added lamely.
“Sure was. And he treats us like family when he does visit. Yup, was a blessed day when Mr. Liam bought this place. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Miss Lorelei. Celine wants me to climb up and get some coconuts for a cake she’s gonna bake.”
Horace got to his feet and after tipping his hat to Lorelei, sauntered up the path. She wasn’t sure if it was safe for the old man to climb a tree, but he’d probably done it since he was a toddler.
She picked up the book again. Horace’s revelation of Liam’s generosity made it harder to stay mad at him. When she got to the part where his first girlfriend in college turned out to be a corporate spy, hired to steal the security program he was developing, she understood. When caught, the woman had laughed in his face and told him he wasn’t the kind of guy women loved. First his mother, then this girl. No wonder he’d never considered that she could fall in love with him and get hurt; no woman ever had.
He ended the narrative with Marcus begging him to finish his novel and his instruction to find a woman to teach him about love, not believing it was possible someone would care enough for him to be hurt by his self-serving actions.
Lorelei shut the book with a snap.
…
“So, how was your day?” Mandy was sipping a cocktail on the terrace as Lorelei reached the top of the path back to the house. It was already five o’clock and Lorelei had spent the last half hour sitting in the sand, letting the soft grains run between her fingers.
Her mind was whirling and she wasn’t sure what she felt about what she’d read. If it was accurate, then Liam wasn’t half the villain she’d thought. Still, he had lied to her, deceived her and hurt her… If only she knew if the last words were true or written just for dramatic effect—I finally knew what it was to love and be loved by a woman. Then I screwed it up.
Realizing her friend was staring at her, waiting for a response, she replied, “Fine, I spent the day reading on the beach. How was the market?”
“Fabulous. Jason is a great guy. Did you know he was a homeless drug addict and Liam took him off the street, sent him to rehab, and then gave him the job as his personal chef? And he’d never even met him before?”
Lorelei shook her head. “No, I didn’t.” She got up. “I think I’ll have a shower before dinner.”
“Oh, um…about dinner. Jason has cooked, but we were wondering if you minded if he served you and then he and I are going to pop back to town. He says there’s a great steel drum band playing one of the local parks. We’re going to eat there. You can join us if you like,” Mandy quickly added.
Lorelei examined her friend. She was glowing, and not only from the sunshine. Mandy hadn’t been so happy since her fiancé dumped her. “No, it’s all right. You two go ahead. I’ve got some thinking to do and will probably turn in early. No need to serve me anything. I can dish it up for myself if he’s already cooked.”
“I told Jason you’d say that. Thanks a million, Lorelei. If we leave soon we can get good seats. Oh, I’m so happy!”
Mandy sprinted toward her room to get ready, while Lorelei followed at a more sedate pace into the house. She popped her head into the kitchen and found Jason on the phone. He paused his conversation at her entrance.
“I just wanted to let you know I can help myself tonight. No need for you to wait around. Enjoy your evening,” she told the chef.
The smile he gave her was worth the loneliness of eating alone. She trudged up the stairs and into the master bedroom. Wandering out onto the deck, she leaned against the railing and stared at the ocean. Where was Liam now? Was he in China in some boring business meeting? It had been six weeks since she left him; had he come to terms with the loss? Would he try to contact her again when she returned to San Francisco, or was this holiday the final parting gift from him?