by Kelly Myers
Luke wasn’t even his full name. It was Lukas.
I felt like a fool.
Luke was a rich businessman. He didn’t need the hotel for money. It was a hobby to him, a nostalgic pastime where he’d come to honor his aunt. That was sweet, but he’d misled me.
He’d given me such a thorough song and dance about how I was never allowed to lie to him.
That was rich. He’d been fucking lying to me for months. I didn’t even know who he really was.
I crept back up the stairs. I raced to my computer and I Googled Lukas Kyros.Within seconds, dozens of articles popped up. Links to Barron’s, Forbes, and The Economist mentioned his name or featured an article about his investment company, and he was even on the cover of the latest Fortune magazine.
He wasn’t just wealthy. He was a fucking billionaire. And he was a business mastermind.
How stupid had I been? He had used me. I’m sure he enjoyed this sex. But, this to him was obviously something to pass his time, while he worked out things with his ex.
He didn’t need to make this beach house work. He wanted to ignore his real life, and his real problems for a while. And, all of that would have been fine, if he’d told her the truth.
It would have been easy. He could have said, ‘hey, I just got divorced, and I needed a break from running my multi-billion dollar company, so I came down here to chill out in my aunt’s house for the summer.’
She’d said he’d promised her he’d come back in the fall. Funny how he’d never mentioned that to me.
For the second time this summer, I gathered up all the cash I had saved. Luckily most of it was in a bank that had other branches. I packed up a few outfits, but only the ones that Luke had bought me for work. I didn’t take any of the lingerie; I couldn’t bear to look at it.
I had to take a few bras and panties, because Luke had instructed me to throw my old ones away. Once I was packed, I sat down with a notepad.
Dear Luke.
I heard your ex wife speaking to you on the porch. I find it ironic that you demanded total honesty from me, and yet you have shared hardly any relevant details from your own life, like the fact that your face graces the cover of financial magazines. I believed you were working hard, investing in this small business. I guess you fooled me.
I will be leaving soon for college, so it’s best for me if we part now.
I truly did love you.
Eden
It hardly expressed the depth of feeling I had for Luke, but I felt betrayed. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I did. I’d never before trusted a man, not in my entire life. How could I have? My father had tried to murder my mother. Mike had always abused us, and so had every loser boyfriend that my mother had paraded through our lives.
So, I had reason not to trust men, and I hadn’t.
Not until Luke.
He may have enjoyed my company, but he didn’t trust me. And he obviously didn’t love me.
I remembered telling him I loved him. Sure, I was floating, and high on incredible sex endorphins, but I’d known what I was saying. I’d known how much I wanted to express my love for him.
I’d let myself be honest, and I’d told him.
He’d said nothing back.
I was fucking done.
I grabbed my bag and headed to the street. I was going to call a taxi, and then the twins and I would hop on a bus. We couldn’t go back home to Mike, but I had a friend just over the Georgian border who’d probably let me stay with her until college started in two weeks.
We’d been friends in high school and then kept in contact. I wasn’t sure how long she could handle me and my sisters in her apartment, but at least I had some money saved.
I called the twins from the taxi. “Get packed up. We’re leaving.”
They sputtered and argued, but I was firm. “Get packed now. Tell Marla goodbye, and thank you. I’ll pay her the rest of the rent when I get there.”
When the taxi pulled up in front of Marla’s house, she and the twins were waiting on me.
“Did something happen?” Piper asked. Her gray eyes were clouded with worry. I hated that her experience with men was the same as mine -- she always expected something to go wrong.
“Nothing bad happened, it's just time for me to move on.”
“Something bad must have happened, or you wouldn't be leaving so abruptly. Don't lie to us like we're little kids. We can handle it,” Penny said.
“You girls are very sweet and I appreciate it. We'll talk about it when we get on the bus.”
Marla came stomping out of the house. “What's going on?”
“We're leaving.” I pulled the cash out of my wallet and handed it to her. “Here's the rest of the rent that I owed you. We appreciate you letting the twins stay here.” I was definitely over paying her but I didn't want to burn any bridges. It sounded mercenary but I might need her again in the future for the twins and I wanted to stay on her good side.
“But why are you leaving?” Marla asked.
The last thing I wanted to do is discuss my personal life with Marla. I certainly didn't want to discuss Luke, but Marla would understand romantic difficulties better than anything else I can explain to her. She’d had many tumultuous relationships herself.
So far I held it together emotionally. But as soon as I opened my mouth to tell her that Luke and I had parted ways, my eyes welled up with tears.
Marla genuinely looked shocked. “Oh no, what's wrong?” she cried. She threw her arms around me. We didn't usually have a close relationship like that but I did appreciate the sympathy.
“The guy I was working for…” I tried again. Now my throat was burning from the unshed tears I was holding back. “I was dating my boss.”
“Oh honey. that is always a mistake,” she said
“Well I've learned that lesson. I've never dated much before, so I suppose I had to learn the hard way through experience.”
To my surprise, Marla threw her arms around me again and hugged me tight. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Could you take us to the bus stop?” I'd studied the maps of the Greyhound bus routes and it looked like it would take us at least six hours to get to Savannah, Georgia. I wanted to get on the road right away.
“Yes, let's go right now,” she said.
“Thank you. Would you do me one more favor? If a man shows up here, would you mind not telling him where I went? I don't know that he will, but he might try to find me.”
“You bet. You're my cousin and he's a jerk.”
I wasn't sure that Luke really qualified as a jerk. I just knew that I loved him, and I couldn't be around him anymore after today's revelations.
Marla’s kindness was often fleeing, so I would take what I could get.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Luke
“Eden,” I called out. “Are you ready for dinner? I got us reservations at a place on the water. We can sit outside on the deck.”
I’d learned that Eden never tired of staring at the ocean. And, while most people appreciated the sight and sound of waves, Eden seemed to take a special pleasure in it, maybe because she’d never been to the beach until she was twenty-two years old.
There were no sounds from her rooms. The door to her room stood open.
She wasn’t there.
After I’d gotten rid of Helena, one of the guests had come charging in, with his kid wailing. The kid had been stung by a jellyfish.
The parents were completely helpless and had no idea what to do. Apparently they couldn't use Google. The mom was screaming hysterically while the dad was saying he was going to call 911. I gave them a pack of ice, and some meat tenderizer and sent them on their way, but the whole ordeal took at least an hour.
It was unusual that Eden didn't show up to help with the drama. She was much better with the hysterical guests than I was. Last week she'd even escorted one of the moms to an urgent care clinic after she cut her foot on a seashell.
She’d also removed fish
ing hooks from a kid's skin, rubbed aloe vera on burned shoulders, and helped wrap up a sprained ankle. She definitely was headed in the right direction, because one day she'd be an excellent doctor.
After the jellyfish family had gone on their way, I went to my rooms -- although I hadn’t instructed her to do it tonight, sometimes Eden surprised me by waiting on me in different places, dressed up in lingerie.
My bedroom was empty. The living area was empty. But there was a piece of paper folded over on my desk.
I picked it up. It was Eden’s neat handwriting.
Fuck.
She’d seen Helena. How much had she heard? Clearly enough to upset her, and now she’d left. I collapsed into my desk chair. How could I have been so careless?
I didn't understand why she hadn't just asked me what happened and why Helena was there. Then I remembered how insistent I had been that she always told the truth. She mentioned that fact in her letter, and I remembered clearly scolding her and spanking her because she concealed the truth from me.
It was easy to make excuses for myself, or try to justify why I hadn't been honest. I could argue that Helena's existence didn't endanger me, not like Mike's appearance endangered her. But from her perspective, I could admit that it did look really bad.
I hadn't even been consciously aware that I concealed my true wealth from her. I've been a billionaire for the last seven years and it was a part of who I was. Everyone that came in contact with me knew who I was, and they also knew what kind of money I possessed.
Eden was the first person that had no clue that I was extremely wealthy, and if I was honest, the lack of expectation had been nice. She hadn't been looking for a high-level executive job, and invitation to a charity ball posted on my yacht, or access to my extensive wealth.
She was the first person to see me as a regular guy. To her, I was a guy who owned a quirky hotel on the beach named Apricot Sunset. I was like a guy who had to work everyday for a living just like she did.
But that wasn't the true picture of who I really was.
Up until two months ago, I'd spent my days in Corporate America with my board of directors and my highly paid executives. My friends and acquaintances were investors, and other wealthy business owners. And, I always had my eye on the stock market.
My life in Seattle had been very different than the one I lived here.
And to my surprise, I had no desire to go back to that life in Seattle. I wanted the life I created here on the beach in Seagrove, Florida, running Apricot Sunset. But Eden was a big part of that life. Would it be worth staying here without her?
Now, I just had to convince Eden to forgive me.
How the hell was I going to find her?
Her cousin. That's right, her cousin lived nearby. I had her cousin’s address and phone number as her emergency contact. I’d go to her house and see if I could find Eden.
I jumped up from my desk chair. I didn’t have time to sit around feeling sorry for myself. I had to find Eden.
I tried to imagine how it must have looked to her to walk up and see Helena on the porch. Helena’s disdain and arrogance would have been fully on display. She’d mentioned our life together, and my business, which Eden didn’t even know about -- because I’d never told her.
She would have walked about seeing a stunning thirty-five year old woman, dressed in clothes that cost thousands of dollars, telling me to come back to my jet setting billionaire lifestyle.
She must have felt like I hadn’t shared my life with her.
And she’d be right. I’d kept her separate from the life I’d lived in Seattle, and Greece. It had been a blessing for me, a reprieve. I had ditched the pressure I’d been living with for so long. The pressure to conform, to make money, to build my empire.
While in Florida with Eden, I’d felt alive. And I’d felt free, like I was truly myself for the first time.
To her, it must have felt like I didn’t care about her enough to include her in my real life. But the life I’d been living with Eden at the hotel felt more real than any part of my previous life. I hadn’t told her that though. She didn’t know I had a previous life, not until Helena barged in.
I hadn’t told her I loved her either.
I should have. I should have let her know how much I treasured her. Because now she was gone.
After programming her cousin’s address into my GPS system, I headed out. I’d called her and texted, but of course she didn’t answer, and I’d never thought to ask her to put a location sharing app on her phone.
For the first time since I’d been in Florida, I didn’t enjoy driving the convertible. Marla’s house in Santa Rosa wasn’t far away. It took me about twenty minutes to get there. It was a pale yellow with a flat roof, and rickety porch.
The jellyfish incident had delayed me finding the note, and had taken about an hour, so maybe she was still there. If Eden had made the effort to pack up and left her cousin’s house within an hour, then she was angrier than I’d realized.
Before I was even out of the car, a woman came out on the porch and stood with her arms crossed. She looked like Eden, but much rougher.
As soon as I had my car window rolled down, the woman shouted at me.“She’s already gone. All three of ‘em.”
At least I found the right place. “How do you know who I’m looking for?”
Marla scowled. “She told me you had a fancy car.”
That was one way to describe the Maserati. I climbed out of my car and closed the door. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
She shrugged.
“Would you tell me where she’s heading?” I asked.
“She didn’t want me to.”
I was going to have to get a lot more honest about my feelings if I was going to make any headway with Eden for her family. “I love her. I know she’s angry at me, but I’d like to make it up to her.”
Marla just squinted at me.
I was already baking under the hot sun, which didn't really matter to me, but every minute I stood here arguing with this woman was a minute I was closer to losing Eden for good.
I knew it was wrong to try and manipulate people intentionally, but at that moment I didn’t care. I looked over at Marla’s rusty car with a cracked window. “I appreciate you taking care of the twins these last few months. Eden spoke of it often. I know it must have cost you. Would you be willing to let me cover the cost of wear and tear on your car?”
I knew that Eden had paid this woman rent, and that the twins had worked to pay for their own food and necessities. But, that didn’t mean I couldn’t try a little manipulation and bribery.
“How much are you willing to cover?” she asked.
Wow. She didn’t even hesitate. “I’ll purchase you a new vehicle, and cover the cost of any repairs you need on your house, with the condition that if Eden or her sisters ever need to live here again, you’ll allow them to.”
I’d wanted to set up a trust for her sisters, but I’d never gotten the chance. Buying a car for her shady cousin was the least I could do.
She crossed her arms. “How much?”
“Will $200,000 work?”
She gaped at me. “Are you being serious right now?”
“Yes. I am completely serious. I don’t have a check with me, but I can wire you the money today. As a show of good faith, I have $500 in cash in my wallet. I’ll leave that with you if you’ll help me find Eden.” I pulled the money from my wallet and handed it to her.
She took it without hesitation. “And, you’re going to come back and pay for the car and house later?”
“Yes. If you’d like a new house, we can make that happen too.”
“Okay,” she said, and I was pretty sure she didn’t believe me. She seemed like the $500 would have been enough to satisfy her. But I meant every word I have my promise to replace her car and house. She might not be the most stable cousin in the world, but she’d helped Eden and the twins when they needed it the most. I was grateful to her for it.
“So do you know where they're heading? Can you give me any details?”
“They left for Georgia. They’ll be going to Savannah. She has a friend there who said they could crash for a while.”
Shit. Savannah was six hours away by car. “How did she get there?”
“Greyhound Bus. I took ‘em all to the station.”
Dammit. I was too late. I was going to stop by the bus station and make sure they hadn't left yet, but chances were if Eden had insisted on leaving right then, she knew what time the bus left. She wouldn't have made her sisters go wait at the bus station unless the bus was close to pulling out.
I knew people took the bus everyday, but the thought of my innocent Eden and her young sisters on a bus driving across state lines made my heart stutter, especially because it would be dark before they reached Savannah. I had to get to her, and soon.
“Thank you,” I said to Marla. “Here’s my card if you need anything.” I handed her my personal business card after writing my cell phone number on the back. “I’ll be back once I’ve found Eden.”
I got back in my car and programmed in the address for the Greyhound Bus Station in Savannah, Georgia. I was going to find Eden, and tell her that I loved her.
If I was lucky, she’d forgive me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Eden
I prided myself on being strong for my sisters. But today, I was failing at that. I held it together while I packed up my stuff at Marla’s. I held it together while she drove us to the bus station. But once the bus started rolling, I couldn’t stop the flood of tears.
I had trusted Luke, in a way that I’d never trusted any man. And, he’d let me down. Big time. As the bus rumbled along, I wondered if I’d been too rash. Had I overreacted?