by Nancy Loyan
Victoria swiped at tears drizzling down her cheeks. The boy was her son. Her son! It just didn’t seem possible. He wasn’t a baby but a grown man. Years had passed and he had been raised well without her. From the dimpled smile on his face he looked content and happy.
“Was he ever told anything about me?” Victoria mumbled, setting the frame facedown on the table.
“As with most of the children, we told him his parents were dead and that he was an orphan.”
Victoria choked and coughed. “He thinks I’m dead?”
Jovanna nodded. “Mothers never return.”
“Yet I have.” She rose from her seat so fast her chair wobbled on the wood floor. “Maybe this was a mistake. I should never have come here.”
The heat and humidity of the room was penetrating and with her chills, she broke out in a cold sweat. If she didn’t get some fresh air from the stifling claustrophobia of being indoors she would be sick. Covering her mouth, just in case, she rushed out of the house, out the front door, bolted down the steps and into the yard. Drawing a deep breath of floral-scented air, she dropped to the grass in tears.
He thinks I’m dead! My son thinks I’m dead! At that moment she wished she were. Throughout most of her life, everyone thought she was so together. She was the single woman who had everything: a great job, money, a fancy car, an apartment at the right address, and always a handsome successful man on her arm. It was all a lie. She had been living a lie. She had nothing. Without the son she gave away she had nothing!
She felt the hand on her shoulder and looked up. Jovanna looked down at her with a kindly smile. “Miss Montcherry, we cannot relive the past but we can create a future.”
“What do you mean?”
“Perhaps if you meet your son in person it will help to determine the next step.”
“Meet him? Is that a good idea?”
“He doesn’t need to know who you are yet. I suggest taking things slowly and seeing where they lead. Only you can determine if and when you wish for him to know. After spending some time with him, you can decide whether his future is best being left alone or with you.” Jovanna smiled, reaching out her hand.
Victoria grasped her broad hand and stood. She embraced the woman. “Thank you for being so understanding.”
“My child, take things one step at a time. One step at a time.”
Chapter 10
“Son, I warned you not to get involved with that Montcherry woman,” Alexander Well’s voice resonated through the headset of the telephone like an unwelcome intruder.
Daemon had awakened to a ringing telephone and his father’s angst. He glanced over at his bedside clock, its digital numbers the only light in the dark room.
“Do you realize what time it is here?” Daemon asked.
“Aren’t you aware of the time difference?”
“I don’t give a damn about the time. I do wonder what’s gotten into your head or, better yet, your pants.” The bite in his voice crackled over the line.
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been screwing around with that woman and I want it stopped.”
“What did you do, hire someone to spy on me? I’m too old to be told how to live my life.”
“When it interferes with the future of Eden Resorts it’s my business.”
Daemon chuckled. “Your business? Eden Resorts became your business when you married my mother. Her father founded the chain. You’re only a beneficiary through marriage.”
“If not for me, Eden wouldn’t be the world’s leader in luxury resorts. It would have remained a string of mom and pop motels in the States. I grew this business. I created an empire, an empire that you’re set to inherit. That is, if you’re deserving.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“If you live a life according to your bloodline and not marry any mixed blood natives.”
“Like Victoria Montcherry?” Daemon scooted up against the headboard.
“You marry that woman and you’re disinherited.” Alexander’s tone was loud and direct.
“Disinherited?” Daemon shook his head. “As if I’d really care if you disinherited me? Lest you forget, I have a generous trust fund Mother left me that you cannot touch. In addition, I have fifty-percent interest in Eden Resorts whether you like it or not. I don’t need your fifty-percent nor do I care.”
“Don’t be so flip with me, boy.”
“You may be my father, but you cannot run my life. I really don’t care what you do with your fifty-percent share. I have my own career as president of a thriving helicopter service and as a member of the Seychelles government. I have enough money and investments to live comfortably at my island home. If I desire to share that home with Victoria and a family of our own, that’s my business.”
“You’d give up controlling interest in Eden for a native woman?” His father choked out the words.
“Yes, I would. Unlike you, I want to share my life with a wife and family. I plan to breakfast with my children in the morning and hold my wife each night. I want to be there when my sons win a football tournament and my daughters have a first date. I don’t want to be jetting off to some foreign country living out of a suitcase, a cell phone in my ear, my eyes focused on a laptop and my nose in a briefcase. I don’t want to grow old, angry, and alone except for a business empire.”
“I’m not alone!”
Was his father finally feeling guilty? Guilty for being the absentee husband and father? A man who valued his business contacts more than his personal ones? A man who lived for himself to the exclusion of all others?
“I hope you aren’t alone. Loneliness is a sad state. I should know. My children will not suffer the same fate.”
“Listen up! I did the best I could. I couldn’t be in two places at one time. If I worked at home, Eden wouldn’t be what it is today. I was out securing your future and the future of your children.”
Daemon swallowed hard. Memories of his childhood flooded back. Memories of friends who had fathers who participated in their lives.
He remembered how he had been goalie in the state championship soccer game. The scores were even and the opposing team had the ball. Their star player was positioned to make the winning goal. Daemon reached out with all his power and blocked the ball just as the buzzer ended the tournament. Crowds in the stands waved and cheered at the victory. His teammates lifted him on their shoulders and paraded him around the field like a hero. It had been the happiest day in Daemon’s life, yet his father wasn’t there to witness it. As always, Alexander was away on business. From that moment on, Daemon acted as if he didn’t have a father and had rebelled accordingly. He realized why he had taken to Justin. The boy reminded him of his past.
“I needed a father, not an empire,” Daemon said under clenched teeth.
Alexander audibly sighed.
“We can’t go back in time. We can only deal with the here and now,” Daemon said. He had learned long ago not to live with regrets.
“The here and now is your growing up and taking responsibility for Eden Resorts and leaving that Montcherry woman alone.”
The phone line went dead.
Chapter 11
Victoria thought of the ancient Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” She had traveled well over a thousand miles to return to the Seychelles. That was one first step. The next was to meet the son she had left behind.
Jovanna Payette had arranged a meeting for Victoria to observe and later greet her son. The boy was participating in a “football,” soccer, tournament in the Stade Populaire in Victoria. His team, the under-23 national team, was up for an inter-island school championship.
Victoria sat with Jovanna in the stands observing the fast-paced action. Flashes of yellow, the boy’s team, whizzed across the grass. Chasing a white blur of a ball, they used shins and heads to forward it toward a far net. Screams of encouragement erupted from observers in the stands.
“Which o
ne is my son?” Victoria asked, a tremor in her voice and throughout her body.
“He’s the team’s keeper, goalie.”
“Goalie? Isn’t that the most dangerous position to play?” Concern wrinkled her brow.
“And the most important.” Jovanna smiled. “Your son is the team’s star player.”
“Really?” Victoria didn’t know if that was good or bad. Pride mixed with concern. Though soccer wasn’t as violent as hockey or American football, being a goalie was front and center in play. His was a very physical position.
Victoria kept her eyes peeled on the goalie’s net. The boy was protected with a long sleeve psychedelic jersey with padded elbows, long soccer socks with shin guards, and padded gloves. As the opposing team trampled his way, he was on alert. He played defensively, keeping the ball from hitting its target and scoring in the net. The frustration of the other team could be felt all the way in the stands as play became more hurried and aggressive. You’d think the boy had eyes on all sides of his head, the way he saw and deflected the incoming ball. Long arms reached up to catch it. Muscular legs kicked the ball away from its intended target and sent it sailing across the field. The boy had boundless energy and determination. Victoria realized he had inherited some of her traits.
Cheers and whistles erupted when the scoreboard revealed the opposing team had not scored one point. As the game ended, teammates swarmed around the boy. In their yellow shirts, they reminded her of bumblebees. Victoria followed Jovanna’s lead in rising and descending the stairs toward the field.
“It’s time you meet Justin,” Jovanna said, stopping and turning to face her. “You must refrain from showing emotion and not reveal your relationship. This is just an introduction and nothing more. I will direct the conversation.”
Victoria nodded, her heart skipping. She was to meet her son. Her son. It would take all of her strength not to become emotional.
Down on the field, the boys in yellow were raising soft drink bottles in a toast of victory. Victoria felt like an intruder. At the sight of Jovanna, several of the boys raced toward her and embraced her in a loving group hug.
“Ma Mere,” the boys said in greeting. Justin reached up and planted a kiss on Jovanna’s cheek and a broad smile erupted on her face.
Victoria stood nearby, fidgeting, yet trying to act composed. The boy treated Jovanna as his mother. She began to hate herself for intruding into his life. He already had a mother who had raised him and loved him. How difficult it had to be for Jovanna to talk to her, yet alone discuss him.
“I want you to meet a special friend of mine.” Jovanna’s enthusiastic voice startled Victoria from her thoughts.
Victoria found herself standing face to face with her son. He was taller in person than in the photograph and towered over her by several inches. His hair was lighter, bleached out by the sun and his skin tanned. His dark eyes danced as they met hers and he smiled, a perfect smile with rows of ivory teeth. The planes and angles of his face made his an arresting and handsome face. He would be quite a hit with the girls, if he weren’t already.
She found herself trembling in his presence, as love flowed through her. How could she feel such love for someone she just met? He wasn’t a stranger. He was her son.
“Justin, this is Miss Montcherry,” Jovanna introduced.
“She’s newly returned to the Islands and I thought I’d treat her to a football game. She wanted to meet the star player.”
Justin extended his hand. Victoria accepted it, observing his long fingers and strong grip. His touch was electric and tremors permeated her being. She was touching her son, her son Justin!
It took all of her resistance to keep from drawing him into her arms, into an intimate embrace, to feel his warmth, run her fingers through his hair, to smell him, to lavish him with kisses, to look him in the eye and tell him that she was his mother.
As he released her hand, he laughed. “I am not a star player, just merely part of a talented team.”
His voice was a deep tenor and his manner modest. Though his face was as smooth as an angel’s, he had a man’s voice. Victoria knew she couldn’t have been more proud of him. He had been raised well and had turned out to be a charming young man. A mother couldn’t ask for anything more. Even an absentee mother.
“Your team is a joy to watch.”
Just as Victoria said the words, she caught a man approaching from the corner of her eye. He sauntered toward them with an easy confident stride. She would have recognized that walk anywhere. What the hell was Daemon doing on the soccer field?
She didn’t need to wait very long for an answer.
”Ah, Mr. Wells. I was just telling my friend how your team is the best in the Islands. I just introduced her to your top player,” Jovanna said.
Victoria met Daemon’s startled gaze. No one was more startled than she. The connection hit her. The soccer players were all wearing polo shirts matching Daemon’s, the same hue as his helicopters. Though Justin’s shirt was multi-colored it bore the same insignia. All were embroidered with the name “Paradise.” The “Paradise Team”, as in Paradise Helicopters.
Without a word, Daemon approached Victoria and greeted her with a full mouth kiss. “My dear, what brings you here? What a wonderful surprise.”
As he drew away, Victoria took a deep breath for composure. His spicy scent was about to make her lose it.
“You know each other?” Jovanna asked, startled.
“Yes,” they answered in unison.
Daemon chuckled.
Victoria glanced over at Justin, who chuckled as well, a blush of red on his cheeks. My son!
Daemon casually draped an arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Justin is the best player in the Seychelles Football Federation and, one day, the world. Scouts are already observing him with an eye toward the future.”
“Awe,” Justin said, hanging his head.
“Talented and modest.” Removing his arm, he ruffled the boy’s fine hair. “Better run along and join your teammates before they eat all the food and leave you without.”
“I won’t let that happen, Mr. Wells,” Justin said, turning. “I’ll see you later Ma Mere. Great meeting you, Miss …”
“Montcherry,” Victoria helped, watching her son disappear into a crowd of boys. “He’s such a good kid. The best. I couldn’t love him more if her were my own son,” Daemon said, a mist settling in his eyes. “He’s an orphan. I even thought of adopting him but it would have been unfair to Jovanna. She’s the only mother the boy’s known and he loves her so. The boy needs his mother.”
His mother!
Victoria’s eyes grew moist and she felt faint. This couldn’t be happening. Her lover loved her son. Not only that, her son loved Jovanna. What Pandora’s Box did Victoria open by returning to the Islands?
She knew at that moment that she couldn’t reveal her identity to Justin. Not now. Not ever. The boy had a wonderful life full of love and promise. She would just muck things up. She had to be grateful for having met him, for having known that he turned out to be healthy, handsome and talented. That had to be enough. She swallowed hard, a bittersweet taste rising in her throat.
“What’d you think of the game and of Justin’s performance?” Daemon asked, pride evident in the joyous tone of his voice.
“Just wonderful,” was all she could manage to say.
“You know, Mr. Wells was a professional soccer player in America before fighting in Afghanistan and coming to the Seychelles?” Jovanna explained. “A goalie.”
“I wasn’t aware,” Victoria mumbled. What wasn’t Daemon good at?
“That’s why Justin idolizes him. Mr. Wells has also been teaching Justin to fly. He’s truly the father the boy never had.”
Jovanna’s words made Victoria shudder. This couldn’t be happening.
“Any man would be proud to be Justin’s dad. Well, I’d better go see what the boys are up to. As sponsor and coach, I do have an obligation,” Daemon said. “By the way, Vict
oria, don’t forget about Saturday.”
He waved and she waved back mechanically as he left to join his team. She had promised to sail with Daemon to Fregate Island on Saturday. A promise she now had to break. It was evident that he loved her son to the point of wanting to adopt him. Just looking at Daemon now would only remind her of her son. She could see that being with Daemon would also mean spending time with Justin. The two seemed close. How much could she take before she broke down and ruined everything for everyone? Justin had a mother in Jovanna and a father in Daemon. Jovanna loved the boy. Daemon loved the boy. Justin loved them. Justin had everything he needed in Jovanna and Daemon and it was evident that they loved him as well. He was a teenager, a vulnerable age when adapting to change was difficult, especially when so many biological changes were taking place. Her sudden appearance would disrupt his life and possibly even wreck it. The lives of Jovanna and Daemon would also be changed forever. There was no room in their lives for Victoria.
She had to get out of their lives, the sooner the better.
Chapter 12
The telephone call from Singapore had been unexpected and shocking. Victoria wondered why Alexander Wells wanted to schedule an appointment to meet with her. Did it concern her land purchases or her relationship with Daemon?
As she sat at the linen clothed reserved table at the Shangri La, she surmised she would soon have her answer. In five minutes Wells was scheduled for their “get acquainted” luncheon meeting.