Including the private jet that had carried him home.
“I know, son,” she said, rubbing his broad back. “I know.”
Kendall blew out a long breath as he pulled away, immediately retrieving Liza’s hand. “Mom, this is Liza Teller, Elijah’s granddaughter.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss, Ms. Teller.”
“Please,” she replied, accepting the warm hand, “call me Liza. And thank you very much for coming. I know my grandfather would appreciate it.”
Jacqueline chuckled. “He would be quite entertained by my presence, I’m sure. Old Elijah and I weren’t the best of friends, but he was good to my boy, and for that I will always be grateful.”
“He loved Kendall very much.”
“And so do you, I hear.”
Liza had never seen Kendall blush and cringe at the same time. “Yes, ma’am, I do.”
“Good. Because I’d like to have grandchildren sometime soon.”
Kendall winced as he pulled his mom against his side. “Okay, okay, okay. That’s enough embarrassment for now.” To Liza he said, “Ignore her. We are not talking babies anytime soon.”
Thank goodness, because babies were not on her radar. At least not yet. Liza was still adjusting to living with a dog.
“What are you doing out here, babe?” Kendall flipped on the overhead light of Liza’s New York apartment and padded into the living room, eyes half-shut. “It’s two o’clock in the morning.”
Liza looked up from the floor, photos in her hand and a sea of them scattered around her. “I found a box,” she said, the quiver in her voice a sign that she’d been crying.
Feeling as if he’d stumbled into a minefield, Kendall joined her on the age-worn rug, struggling to determine if she was happy or sad about this finding. “A box of pictures?” Stupid question, but she had him at a disadvantage. Thirty seconds ago he’d been sound asleep.
“Look.” Gently sliding a stack out of the way, she scooted closer. “This is Elijah in his uniform. He was so handsome.”
Kendall had to agree with her. “He looks like a kid.”
“He was.” Liza turned the picture over. “This was taken less than six months after his high school graduation.”
Though he’d joined up at the same age, Kendall felt protective of the boy in the picture. Like someone should have stepped in and said he was too young to go.
She handed him the old black-and-white photo to reach for another. “This is my favorite so far.” Dropping her head onto his shoulder, Liza sniffled. “This is the day he and Grandma met at the Bronx Zoo. I love that they met on a blind date. Did he ever talk about her?”
“No, he didn’t talk about his life before the island at all.” Kendall now realized that must have been a survival tactic. He’d missed his family too much to talk about them. “How did you find these?”
Liza sat up and reached for a tissue on the table behind her. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t leaving anything important behind, and something told me to check the top of the closet.” Since she was moving to the island and wanted to keep Grandma Teller’s apartment in the family, they’d found a younger cousin who was happy to move in and take care of the place. “I pushed a chair over and found a shoebox at the back of the shelf.”
Kendall picked up a handful by his foot. They were black-and-white photos with a scalloped edge all the way around. “Do you know who these people are?”
She leaned over to look. “I’m not sure, but that one looks like Julia, so maybe those are his sisters.” Pointing to another, she said, “Wow. I bet those are my great-grandparents.” The image showed a stone-faced couple standing in front of a large ship. “They came over from Poland in 1923, I think.”
Kendall flipped the photo to find a date stamp of September 17, 1923. “I think you’re right. This guy definitely looks like Elijah.”
Liza cleared a space on the rug and took the photo from Kendall’s hand. “We need to organize these. Put the oldest ones here, and we’ll go by decade.”
“Honey, we fly out in the morning. This could take all night.” His words fell on deaf ears.
“That’s why we have to do this now.”
“But—”
“Kendall, I can’t sleep knowing that all of this history is sitting in a box waiting to be rediscovered.” Gathering the last snapshots in the bottom of the box, she froze, eyes locked on whatever she’d found.
“What?” he asked.
Eyes misty, she turned the picture his way. “You look just like him.”
The picture showed Elijah Teller standing beside a black Cadillac and smiling up at a much taller man dressed in an ill-fitting suit. “That’s my dad.” Kendall held the picture as if it were a priceless treasure. “I’ve never seen a picture of him this young before.”
“When I met your mom, I thought you looked like her, but, Kendall, that could be you standing beside Elijah.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “We looked a lot alike. Some people even thought we were brothers.” Memories flooded back. Fishing. Throwing ball. Building things together. “Do you think there might be more of Dad in here?”
Liza smiled and kissed his cheek. “I don’t know, but I’d be happy to help you look.” Kendall kissed her hard on the lips before rolling to his feet. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“To make the coffee. We have a long night ahead.”
When he reached the doorway to the kitchen, Liza called his name. “Kendall?”
He turned, expecting instructions on how to make her coffee. “Yeah, babe.”
Huddled on the floor wearing baby-blue pajamas and surrounded by their shared history, she said, “I love you.”
Kendall’s heart swelled as he memorized every detail of the moment, from the emotion in her blue eyes to the color on the tips of her toes. Grateful for the man who’d brought her into his life, he smiled. “I love you, too, Liza.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Though writing is a solitary endeavor, I couldn’t possibly shape and mold these stories into being without the help of some amazing individuals. For this book, I have to thank Kim Law for helping me get the initial idea off the ground, and then swooping in during the editing phase and saving my sanity. I also have to thank my editor, Selina McLemore, for going above and beyond to help me whip a seriously flawed manuscript into a book I can be proud of.
As always, I’m grateful for my agent, Nalini Akolekar, who might be the most patient woman I know, and Megan Mulder, who pulls the levers behind the scenes that turn my stories into full-fledged books. And then there’s my daughter, Isabelle—my cheerleader, my support, and the best thing that ever happened to me. Thanks for unloading the dishwasher, never complaining about all the fend-for-yourself meals, and scooping the litter boxes.
Haven Island is fully and affectionately based on Dewees Island, just off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. When I stumbled upon the setting on a map and began researching, I couldn’t believe there was an island with no paved streets, cars, stores, or restaurants. It seemed impossible in this day and age, but the place really does exist. I was fortunate to spend several days on the island, absorbing the peace and quiet, and I enjoyed bringing the beautiful setting to life on the page.
Portions of this book were written in Paris and London, and the opportunity to visit such amazing cities was a direct result of the generosity of readers. I am more grateful than I can possibly express and will do my best to keep writing stories that offer a laugh, a sigh, and a satisfying smile at the end.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2017 Annastraya Photography
Terri Osburn is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance with heart, hope, and lots of humor. She fell in love with the written word at a young age, and the genre of romance beckoned during her teen years. In 2007, she put pen to paper to write her own heart-melting love stories, including the Anchor Island series, the Ardent Springs series, and the Shooting Stars novels. Her work has
been translated into five languages and has sold more than a million copies worldwide. Terri resides in middle Tennessee with her teenage daughter and a menagerie of high-maintenance pets. You can learn more about her by visiting her website at www.terriosburn.com.
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