by Jill Sanders
She quickly pulled them off and set them down. “I don’t…” When he tilted his head in question, she smiled. “I mean, I don’t except when I’m tired, have struggled with a headache all day, and have to pour over invoices late at night.”
Without a word, he walked around the desk and took her hand. “I have a cure for all that.”
“Oh?” She allowed him to help her stand. He pulled her into his arms.
“Take a walk with me,” he said after a moment of silence.
“A walk?” She blinked a few times.
“Sure, I need the fresh air.” He stepped back, taking her hand, and started towards the door. She glanced back at the desk with a frown. “Paperwork can wait.”
She turned and locked up the office, then followed him down the back stairs and outside. When the cool night air hit him, he sighed. “It never gets old.” He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, then reached down and took her hand in his and started walking towards the back pathway that circled the island.
“I’ve always loved the air here,” he said, glancing down at her.
“Is it different than France?” she asked.
“Some. I don’t really remember much about my homeland. I was very small when I moved here.”
“How old where you?” she asked.
“Nine.”
“Did your parents move here for work?”
“No, my parents are still in France.”
She stopped so he turned and looked at her. “Who did you live with then?”
“My grand-mère, Sonya.” He smiled, remembering the first time he’d seen the woman’s kind face.
“Since you were nine?” she asked.
He nodded, feeling the lump of love in his throat.
“Why? Why didn’t you stay with your parents?”
He took her hand, moved to the dock, and sat on the bench that overlooked the boat docks. There were always boats docked there, but now it looked like a millionaire’s island. Every boat was a yacht, no doubt some of the most expensive ones to ever be tied up there all at once.
“They sent me to live with my mother’s mother to see if she could save me.”
“Save you?” Lilly turned towards him, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Yes.”
“From?”
He shrugged. “I suppose myself. I was a terrible child.” He chuckled.
“Still, to send a nine-year-old halfway across the world.” She shook her head and he could see the anger cross those lovely eyes of hers.
“Don’t be mad. Actually, it’s because my Nana raised me that I had the freedom to get where I am today. My father…” He paused and tried to figure out how best to say the next statement. “He’s very high up in the government over there. If I had stayed in France, I would have been led down a different path.”
She was silent for a while, then leaned back against his arm. “Well, then I’m thankful.”
“Oh?” He smiled as his fingers tangled in her hair.
“Yes, it would have been a shame to waste your talent in the kitchen.”
He chuckled and she laughed in response.
“Is that the only reason then?”
She turned and looked up at him. “That’s all I can think of.” She smiled as his fingers gently ran over her chin, pulling her face up to his.
“Then I’ll have to give you more reasons,” he said before his lips brushed over hers.
He’d never experienced a kiss that shook him to his core before. He felt like he could spend the rest of his life sitting under the stars, his arms wrapped around Lilly, their lips playing slowly over one another’s.
When he pulled away, she rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. He closed his eyes, wishing he could hold onto that moment, wanting to remember it for the rest of his life.
“What about your family?” Instantly he felt her tense and wished he could take his question back.
She sat up, her back straight as her hands gripped her knees. “My folks are out of my life too.”
“I’m sorry.” He reached over and started to rub her back, but she quickly stood up and walked over to the railing, looking out into the dark night. Moving to stand by her, he waited, watching her facial expressions. “How did they die?” he asked after a moment.
She turned to him. “They didn’t,” she responded. “I did.”
Chapter Seven
Lilith could see the shock and confusion on Adam’s face. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and decided that she could trust him with her secret. After all, hadn’t he just opened up to her about his life?
“When I was five, my real father died. The only thing I knew about him was that he was in the military and my parents had never married.”
“I’m sorry.” Adam reached for her, but then dropped his hand instead.
“Shortly after, my mother started dating Dave.” She turned away from him, her eyes burning as she looked out into the darkness without seeing anything. “Shortly after he moved in with us, he started sneaking into my room late at night or when my mother was at work.”
Adam’s hand reached up and took her shoulders gently. “Did he…” She couldn’t see his eyes through the mist.
She’d only told three other people in her entire life. She dipped her chin slightly, and Adam reached up and placed a finger under it until she looked at him directly.
“What happened?”
“It continued until just before my thirteenth birthday.”
“Then?”
“Then Hurricane Katrina hit.” She took a deep breath. “We lived in a part of town that was quickly under water. Somehow I got separated from my mother. She had tried to pull me into the rescue boat, but I was sucked under.” She closed her eyes, remembering the feeling of drowning, sucking in the water, along with the dirt. Gasping and fighting the strong current. She’d been so thin and frail back then. Her tiny muscles had cramped up and she could remember thinking, “This is it.”
The only parts of her life that flashed before her eyes were the terrible ones, so when a hand reached in and grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her to safety, she vowed, with the first real breath in her new life, that she would take control of her own life. No matter what it cost.
“What happened?” Adam asked again.
“Cara Kincaid died that day and Lilith Brown was born. Armed with only what the Red Cross gave me, I hopped on the free bus ride north and stayed in the donated hotels until one night when Crystal, Sarah’s mother, offered to put me up. Then, a few weeks into staying with them, I broke down and told them my story.”
She sighed and remembered how relieved she’d felt, feeling like she was part of a family for the first time in her life. She and Sarah had quickly become best friends. “Crystal was like the mother I always dreamed of and Sarah the sister I never had. So, they kept me on, and when I was old enough, I started working here.” She turned towards him.
“And no one from your family knows you’re alive?”
She shook her head. “No, and I don’t know if they survived that day, either. I scoured the news stations and papers, looking for their names, but since my stepfather liked to live off the grid as much as possible, I doubt their names would have shown up on any list. There are still around thirty bodies that haven’t been identified…” She dropped her eyes. “I never built up the courage to see…”
“You’re better off.” He wrapped his arms around her and she felt the tears soak his shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“For?” she said against his chest.
She felt his chest rise and fall with his sigh. “Everything. No child should have to bear such abuse. No person should hold in such pain.”
She closed her eyes and took in his scent. “I… It’s the main reason I’m so scared of relationships.” This time she felt him tense.
“Are you… You…” He took another deep breath and she leaned back.
“I haven’t been close to anyone before
.” She watched him drop his arms and take a step back.
“What am I supposed to do with that knowledge?”
She chuckled and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in this situation before.”
He ran a hand through his hair and walked to the end of the pier, then leaned on the railing and looked out to the night sky.
Walking over, she ran her hands up his arms, feeling the tense muscles in his shoulders. “Adam, I may have kept myself hidden, but with you, I’d like to step back into life. I’ve kept myself from getting close to a man. I’d like you to be the first one I open up to.” She held her breath and waited.
She’d thought long and hard about being with him over the last few days. Actually, she’d fantasized about it for months, ever since she’d seen him step off the ferry for the first time.
“Lilly.” He pulled her close. “You are an amazing woman.” He rained kisses over her face until he settled over her lips. His hands moved slowly up and down her back. She moaned and pulled him closer.
“Adam…” she said when he pulled back, his head snapping up and his eyes glued to a spot behind her head.
“Shh,” he whispered.
“What?” she asked, turning around, looking towards the bushes in question.
“I thought…” He shook his head. “Maybe we should finish our walk.”
She sighed, knowing it wouldn’t do to have guests discover them the way they had been a few moments ago. Putting her hand in his, she followed him back to the pathway.
“Is your grandmother still alive?”
“Yes, she lives just outside of town. She’s as feisty as ever and still has a way of pissing my parents off.”
She laughed all of a sudden, causing him to stop on the pathway and look down at her.
“What?”
She shook her head. “I notice that when you talk about your grandmother, you lose your accent.”
He smiled. “It has its benefits,” he said, speaking in a French accent.
“I bet. How many women fall for that old trick?”
He shrugged, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “Enough.”
“Do you see your parents often?” she asked as they made their way towards the pool deck.
“Every year. Either I go to them or they come to us.”
“What do they think of your career choice?” she asked as they made their way back to the employees’ apartment building.
“My father is appalled. My mother, however, couldn’t care less as long as it doesn’t interfere with her social life.”
He held open the door for her and she felt a spike of nerves rush through her. They walked up the stairs in silence. She stopped just outside her doorway.
“Goodnight, Lilly.” It came out as a whisper.
“Aren’t you…” He placed a finger over her lips, then dipped his head down and replaced it with his lips.
“Soon. When the time is right.” He kissed her again, causing her knees to turn to jelly. Her fingers rushed through his hair, holding him to her, wanting the moment to last forever.
Then, too soon, he took a step back. “I’ll wait until you go in and make sure everything is in its place.”
She smiled. “I started locking my door again.”
“Wise choice.”
“It’s a shame, I’ve lived here for years and always felt safe. Until now.”
“We’ll work on finding out who broke in, tomorrow.”
She nodded, then sighed. “If we make it through the Robinson clan.”
He smiled. “Thank you for handling it tonight.”
“It’s my job,” she added, then she stepped into her room. Everything looked in place, so she turned back to him. “Goodnight.”
“Night, Lilly.” He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
When she shut the door behind her, she closed her eyes and replayed how her nickname sounded coming from his lips.
She showered and changed, and then her cell phone buzzed with a message from Sarah.
-How did it go? BTW, I hate that you turned off your ringer.
-We survived. Sorry, it got busy. Forgive your BFF?
-Always! Love ya. TTY tomorrow?
-Yup, night.
She set her phone on her nightstand and pulled her covers back to climb in, only to see a green piece of paper tucked under her pillow.
Frowning, she pulled it out and stared at it for a moment before unfolding it.
Are you trying to make me jealous? STOP!
Her eyes moved over to her door. She was sure she had locked it. Playing over the last few minutes in her head, she remembered pulling her keys out and unlocking the door.
Then how did someone get into her room and leave this note? She felt a shiver run down her spine. Had it been here since the night of the break-in?
The first night she’d slept in Heather’s room, so she wouldn’t have noticed it. The next night, she’d spent half the night playing dress up for Adam, then had fallen into bed outside of the blankets and had only gotten a few hours of restless sleep. She doubted she would have noticed a boulder hiding under her pillow, let alone a small piece of paper.
Deciding to show Adam the following day as a clue to the break-in, she tucked the note in her nightstand and quickly changed the sheets of her bed. She tossed the old sheets into her trash bin. Still, instead of crawling under the blankets, she pulled a new blanket from her closet and wrapped herself in it then crawled into the oversized chair in the corner and stared at her bed.
By the next morning, her eyes burned, her head ached, and she had decided to see about getting a new mattress.
***
Morning shifts were Adam’s favorite time of day. He enjoyed waking up early and seeing the sunrise, smelling the fresh-brewed coffee and the warm bread baking in the oven, and knowing he was the only one who enjoyed being awake that early.
His crew of eight was present for every meal during the day. They rotated shifts, two weeks on the island, two weeks off. It made most of the staff happier.
He, however, worked three weeks on, four days off, which suited him best. He knew he was set to go off shift early Monday morning, after the big group left, but he wanted to hang around and spend more time with Lilly, since she was working straight through with no breaks until Sarah and Ben returned. He’d planned on talking to her about it when he saw her later that day.
Things usually ran smoothly for breakfast, since it was the easiest menu they had. However, that morning, two of his staff had complained about stomach issues, and he had sent them back to their rooms. Now, short staffed, he found himself rushing around the kitchen like it was his first day on the job.
Pans went unwashed, food sat in the heater for longer than it should have, and someone had actually written an order down wrong. He was pissed.
After the rush, he retreated into his office and called for backup. Rachelle, his other line cook, who subbed for Tara, was available and agreed to be there before the lunch rush. Rob was not available to fill in for Steven, however, so they were still down one person. Lunch and dinner were going to be rough.
They made it through lunch without a hitch, and he realized he had yet to see Lilly that day. Normally she came into the kitchen during her break for lunch, but today, she had requested that her food be brought up to Sarah’s office. He had been too busy to run it up himself.
If she didn’t show up in the kitchen by dinner, he was determined to hunt her down. He knew the party for the Robinson clan was happening upstairs, since the kitchen was a zoo. Thankfully, this time, no plates were returned and as far as he knew, the party went off without a hitch. He imagined Lilly had been so busy upstairs that she hadn’t had time to eat.
Less than half an hour after dinner shift, the kitchen phone rang and he overheard Rachelle take Lilly’s order.
“I’ll take it up myself,” he told Rachelle. He made sure everything on the tray was perfect before climbing the stairs.
He kn
ocked on the door and walked in to see a man holding Lilly to the desk, his mouth inches from hers. Her fists were balled and she held them between her and the man. But it was the fear in her eyes that made Adam drop the tray and rush across the room.
Before he knew it, he had the man pinned against the wall.
“Adam, don’t hurt him,” Lilly said somewhere behind him. His mind registered her words and reminded him that this might be a guest, but the irrational part of his mind wanted to smash the man’s face in.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the guy, who was clearly too drunk to care what was going on.
“No, we just had a slight misunderstanding,” she said, walking over and putting her hand on his arm. “Please, let Mr. Robinson go.”
Hearing the name snapped him to attention and his arms dropped away, causing the man to stumble slightly.
“Sorry about this,” Lilly said to the guest, causing Adam’s jaw to tense.
The man had looked like he was attacking Lilly, and she was the one apologizing!
Adam stood back and watched her walk over to her door, then waited until the guest walked out, giving him a backwards glance as he left.
“Why did you do that?” she asked when they were finally alone.
“Why?” He almost choked on the word. “Why did you do that?” He turned it on her. “Why apologize for the jerk pinning you down and almost molesting you?”
“That isn’t…” She sighed and rubbed her hands on the side of her head. For the first time since he’d walked into the room, he noticed how tired she looked. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face was paler than he liked.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” He moved over to her, taking her shoulders into his hands so he could have a better look at her.
“No,” she started to say, then he felt her slump against him and quickly pulled her into his arms as she sighed into his chest. “I’m okay, really,” she said into his shirt.
“If he upset you that bad...”
“No, it wasn’t him,” she said as she leaned back slightly.
“Lilly, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me,” he added after a moment of silence.