“He wrote to me ten years ago, confessing everything and saying he wanted to come home.”
Feeling dizzy, she locked her fingers on the arms of the chair. “What did you say?”
Eyes down, her father uttered the meanest words she’d ever heard. “I told him to stay dead.”
“Why would you do that?” she cried, leaping from her chair. “He’s your father. How could you turn him away like that?”
“He left us first,” her dad argued. “Burying that man devastated your grandmother. For years, she would hardly even leave the house. And then there was this mess.” He waved a hand at his surroundings. “Criminals for clients. Fake books and offshore accounts. Once I cleaned house and convinced the FBI that we were no longer a Mafia affiliate, it still took years to make this a reputable operation.”
The callousness disgusted her. “You didn’t even give her a choice, did you? How could you steal that from her? How could you keep them apart like that?”
Nostrils flared. “He’s the reason your mother took you away from me. His criminal activity, and the danger it brought to all of us, drove her away. I told her I could take care of my family, but the last brick through the window was too much.” Rage swept through him as spittle accumulated at the corner of his mouth. “I lost my family because of him. He didn’t deserve to have his back.”
Liza stared at the stranger before her with Francine’s words replaying in her ears . . . his son wanted nothing to do with him.
She didn’t approve of what Elijah had done, but he was more family to Liza than this man had ever been. Remembering what her mother had told her on her eighteenth birthday, she took great pleasure in clearing up her father’s illusions.
“Mom left you because you were selfish, mean, and could never love anyone as much as you loved yourself.”
“That’s a lie.”
“That’s the truth. And you didn’t lose your family. You tossed us away like a child does an unwanted toy. I was right there!” Liza yelled. “Five hours away. All you had to do was drive five hours to see your only daughter, and you wouldn’t do it.”
Her father leaned forward, unmoved by her outburst. “Your mother never should have taken you away. I was here. Our home was here. I never should have had to drive anywhere to see my child.” One finger drove into the top of the desk. “She should have had to bring you to me.”
Liza went numb as she realized all the years she’d wasted on this man. Longing for his attention. Craving his approval. Convincing herself that someday he’d love her enough to want her in his life.
“A real father would have done anything to see his little girl. But then, you were never a real father.”
Without another word, Liza walked away from Ephrem Teller for the last time.
Chapter 27
Two days after the doctor declared Ray Wallis a dead man walking, he made her half-right by walking out of the hospital. Well, technically, he rolled out, floating on a pharmaceutical cocktail that could fell an elephant, but he departed still breathing, and that was more than anyone had expected. Including Kendall.
Unfortunately, he was going home to die. But on his own terms, and on his own turf. Surrounded by the people he cared about. All except one.
Kendall never heard from Liza after that phone call at the hospital. No texts. Not even a cheap flower arrangement to say give ’em hell on the other side. Francine seemed the most disappointed. Up until the moment they loaded Ray into the ambulance for the slow ride back to the ferry, she’d truly believed that Liza would make an appearance.
On the other hand, Ray didn’t seem bothered by the no-show at all. Unlike the rest of them, he didn’t leap with anticipation every time someone knocked on the hospital-room door. He didn’t even ask about his granddaughter. Kendall assumed that either Ray didn’t remember their conversation or had accepted Liza’s silent rejection.
But then he considered a third option. Maybe, in the back of his mind, Ray believed that she was coming. And just maybe, that belief was keeping him alive. How long that would last, Kendall didn’t know, but whether a few hours or a few days more, he would gladly accept the extra time without complaint.
Establishing full hospice care in Ray’s home had not been an easy feat. First, they’d struggled to find a provider willing to ship all the necessary supplies to the island. A logistical quagmire resolved in record time by an obscenely large check. Kendall would have paid more, if necessary. Then they’d needed qualified caretakers willing to live with Ray full-time until their services were no longer needed.
This task proved more difficult, as Kendall refused to hire just anyone. He’d spent three hours reviewing candidates, finally settling on two nurses—one male and one female. Both possessed impressive credentials and came highly recommended, but testimonials provided by family members of other patients they’d both served had clinched the deal. One claimed that nurse Oliver had kept her mother laughing until the end. Another mentioned nurse Lauren’s endless patience and calming nature. All the elements Kendall wanted for Ray—laughter, patience, and peace.
The living room was transformed into the ritziest hospital room Kendall ever expected to see. The automated bed and machines that fed pain-dulling meds straight into Ray’s veins could not be avoided. But thanks to Francine, nothing else looked sterile, beige, or uncomfortable. Colorful landscape paintings of every size filled the walls, bringing the outside in until it looked as if there were no walls at all. As if Ray lingered directly beneath the trees with the water a stone’s throw away.
The patient slept most of the time, and when awake, spoke very little. But he smiled, flirting with Lauren with his eyes and appreciating Oliver’s offbeat sense of humor. Haven Island residents and regulars paid daily visits, and Kendall knew Ray enjoyed the attention. To help him feel as much himself as possible, Aadi had altered a few of the trademark fedoras so they could perch atop his head without being knocked forward by the pillows.
Just over twenty-four hours into the new routine, Ray had felt well enough to spend an hour on the back deck. Lauren lined an Adirondack chair with blankets, and Oliver and Kendall carried Ray’s frail and fading body out into the warm sunshine. With a thorough pillow fluff and a quick check of the ever-present medicine machine, the young nurse asked, “Are you good, Mr. Wallis?”
Waving her close with his gnarled fingers, he whispered, “My name is Mr. Teller. Elijah Abraham Teller.”
Lauren nodded, her soothing smile never slipping. “That’s a nice name. Are you comfortable, Mr. Teller?”
The old man grinned, nodding as his eyes closed, and Kendall made a mental note to slip a sizable bonus into the nurse’s next paycheck.
Amos curled up at the foot of Ray’s chair as Kendall lowered himself into a rocker. The dog hadn’t left Ray’s side, other than for the necessary trips outside, since they’d brought the patient home. The first night he’d whined until Oliver fetched a footstool that Amos then used to catapult himself onto the bed. His owner understood his dog’s need to stay close, since he himself had taken to sleeping in a guest room instead of his own bed.
A heavy shower had passed through that morning, blessedly carrying off the blanket of humidity that had been suffocating the island for days. Enjoying the breeze left behind, Kendall watched a rare Wilson’s plover snag a mud crab from the sand and flit off to savor his midday meal in the shade. From the corner of his eye, he saw Amos raise his head, body instantly alert, seconds before someone knocked on the door from inside.
Expecting another local, he turned to find Liza stepping onto the deck at the same time Amos leaped into motion. She bent to greet the excited animal, accepting a thorough face-soaking without complaint, before straightening to greet his owner.
Kendall rose from the chair, struck speechless by the sight of her, a dream he never expected to see again. If she was a dream, he hoped to God he never woke up.
Liza had been chanting the same prayer over and over since boarding the plane in
New York.
Please, don’t let it be too late.
When Kendall didn’t speak, she feared that’s exactly what she was—too late. Thankful for Amos’s weight against her leg, she managed to murmur a greeting.
“Hi.” Inadequate, but the best she could do under the circumstances.
The large man nodded in response, holding silent. Feeling like a fool for believing that Kendall might be happy to see her, Liza turned her attention to the frail man between them. He was hooked to a blinking machine by a clear tube that disappeared beneath a heavy blue blanket tucked up close to his chin. Unaware of the tension snapping above his head, he slept peacefully, almost childlike in his expression.
“How is he?” she asked. “We went to the hospital, but they said he went home. Does that mean he’s getting better?”
Kendall shook his head, still silent.
“Oh.”
Liza had never watched a person die before. Other than growing winded more easily, Mom had been fine the week before she’d passed. Grandma Teller had been in the hospital only three days when she’d succumbed to an undiagnosed staph infection stemming from a routine procedure the month before. In both cases, Liza had arrived too late to say goodbye. She would not make that mistake again.
“Can he talk?” she asked, not planning to bombard Elijah with endless questions, but hoping to replace their last encounter with a more positive memory.
Kendall progressed from gestures to one-word answers. “Some.”
Annoyed by his lack of communication, Liza moved closer to her grandfather. “I can see that you’re surprised I’m here, but he is my grandfather, and I had a right to come.”
“I know. That’s why I called you.”
So he could string together a full sentence. “Then why are you standing there with your arms crossed like a statue?”
“Because I’m fighting the urge to touch you.”
The confession melted Liza’s resolve to hide her true feelings. “Kendall, I—”
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said that.”
He tried to charge past her, but Liza blocked his path. “Please, don’t go,” she said, heart beating out of her chest. “Not yet.” Their eyes met, and she recognized every emotion he fought to hide—doubt, regret, longing, hope. She knew them all well. “We need to talk.”
He slammed his hands in his pockets, nodding. “I can do that.”
Standing a foot away from the man she’d dreamed about for weeks, Liza let his scent surround her. Fresh, strong, reassuring. Just like Kendall. Her courage strengthened as his eyes took her in, and she braced for the heat as one strong hand lifted toward her face.
“Is that my Liza Ruth?” rasped a shallow voice from behind her.
Amos barked as if to answer, and Liza laughed. “It’s me, Ray. I’m here,” she said, moving to kneel beside his chair. The name had slipped out, a habit from their time together.
“Not Ray,” he murmured, watery eyes only half-open. “Elijah.”
Her breath hitched. “How about Grandpa Teller?”
A flicker of his sweet smile curved her grandfather’s chapped lips. “I’ve waited a long time to hear those words.”
Liza would make sure he heard it many more times before he left this world. As his eyes drifted closed, she said, “Can you stay awake a little longer? I brought someone else to see you.”
Fighting exhaustion, and probably whatever medication they were pumping into him, Elijah opened his eyes. “Who would come see me?”
Without answering, she rushed to the open door and waved. Hesitant but eager, Aunt Julia stepped onto the weathered deck. Liza caught Kendall’s confused stare and mouthed, “His sister.” When the older woman reached her brother, she fell apart.
“Julia?” Ray mumbled. “Is that you? I thought you were gone with the rest.”
Too emotional to respond, Liza’s aunt buried her face in her brother’s chest, weeping uncontrollably. Knowing she’d done the right thing, Liza wiped away her own tears as Kendall led her inside.
They walked in silence more than fifty yards down the beach with Amos running on ahead. Liza turned toward the water, sandals dangling from her slender finger, and Kendall stopped beside her.
“That’s Elijah’s younger sister,” she finally said, watching the waves roll in. “I couldn’t let him go without telling her.”
A generous thing to do, but she could have brought every Teller in New York State so long as she came back. “I’m glad she was willing to come.”
“Me, too.” Head back, she closed her eyes. “I missed this wind.”
Kendall missed her.
“No wind up in New York City?”
She smiled. “Not like this.” Breathing deeply, she peered once again over the water. “I missed other things about this island. The quiet. The smell of salt in the air. You.” His heart skipped a beat. “I missed you the most.”
Now he had to be dreaming. “The most, huh?” he replied, keeping his tone light.
Liza shook her head. “No, that’s a lie. I missed Amos the most.” The blissful dog sprinted by with a large stick in his mouth. “But you were a close second,” she added. They laughed together, some of the tension easing between them, but Kendall knew this was his best chance to make amends.
“I’ve missed you, too,” he said, relieved to finally say the words.
Her expression sobered as she stared out over the water. “Then why didn’t you ask me to stay?”
The question knocked the wind out of him, and it took him a long time to find the words. “I told you what my parents’ marriage was like. I saw what happened when a person was asked to give up everything. I would never do that.”
Turning, she faced Kendall head-on. “But I’m not your mother. I love this island.”
“You say that now, but after a few months. A year. Things would change.”
“No, they—”
“I planned to go with you,” he said, cutting her off. “I’d already decided that I didn’t have to stay here. I was going to move closer to you, and we could see if this would work, but I needed you to be patient, until Ray was . . . taken care of.” Kendall couldn’t bring himself to say once Ray was gone. “I was going to ask you to wait, but then Ray told you the truth, and everything blew up.”
The confession poured out of him, heaped into the space between them with all the pent-up frustration that had been choking Kendall since the day she’d left.
Liza took a step closer. “You would leave Haven Island for me?”
Kendall nodded. “I’d do anything for you.”
Taking another step, she held the curls back from her face and looked up into his eyes. “There’s only one thing I want from you, Kendall.”
Willing to honor any request, he said, “What is it?”
Slender fingers flattened over his heart. “Ask me to stay.”
Cupping her face, he searched her eyes, unable to let the past go.
“There’s nothing in New York for me,” she said, dragging the hair out of her face. “Everything I want is right here on Haven Island. This is what I want, Kendall. You are all I want.”
His breath hitched as her words sank in. “Are you sure? You have to be sure.”
Soft lips curled into a smile as she nodded. “I’m sure.”
Kendall pulled her into his arms, vowing to never let her go again. “Then stay, Liza. Stay with me.”
On a warm July morning, in the shady corner of a quiet New York cemetery, Elijah Abraham Teller was laid to rest, permanently this time, beside the love of his life.
The lack of family in attendance was more than made up for by an abundance of friends who’d made the journey north to pay their last respects. Liza couldn’t help but smile when Kendall leaned close to whisper, “He’s up there bragging about this turnout to anyone who will listen.”
Yes, he probably was. And she had no doubt that he was doing so with one arm wrapped tightly around his favorite girl.
T
he service was simple and solemn, and as the mourners proceeded to their cars, Liza supplied tissues to her bereft aunt, grateful for Kendall’s foresight to bring extras. As the crowd thinned, Francine and Aadi lingered not far from the grave, waiting for the three stragglers to make their way to the car. Not until Kendall squeezed Liza’s hand did she notice the solitary figure dressed in black waiting beside their rental car.
“Who is that?” she asked, squinting to make out the face.
“My mom,” he replied.
Liza knew that Jacqueline James lived in the city, and they’d planned to pay her a visit before going home, but she’d had no idea the woman would attend the funeral. Based on Kendall’s dazed expression, neither had he.
“Go on,” she said. “I’ll wait over here.”
Never releasing her hand, Kendall turned to the couple who’d been with them through every trial of the last couple of weeks. “Could you guys take care of Aunt Julia for a minute?”
That he called her Aunt Julia made Liza love him a little bit more.
“Of course.” Francine took over tissue duty as Kendall tightened his grip on Liza’s hand.
“I need to warn you,” he said as they respectfully skirted a line of graves, “Mom and Ray never got along.”
Liza didn’t know what to do with that information, but if he was trying to make her even more nervous about meeting his mother, mission accomplished. The first thing Liza noticed as they approached the statuesque brunette was the striking resemblance between mother and son. He may have gotten his overall size from his father, but the hair, mouth, and expressive brown eyes were all Jacqueline.
Releasing Liza’s hand, Kendall skipped the greeting and wrapped his arms around his mom, burying his face in her neck like a little boy seeking the comfort only a mother could provide. Though Elijah had been her grandfather, she’d somehow failed to realize that in every way but blood, he’d filled that role in Kendall’s life for more than thirty years. If anyone was family here, it was this stoic man who’d put his own grief aside to take care of everyone else. From making sure Elijah left the world with dignity and peace, to paying every penny of his funeral expenses.
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