have wanted to learn from his sister’s one true love had been negated by the reality of Charlotte’s destruction.
“Do you still think I’m lying?” Ariel asked unexpectedly.
He looked at her, at the curve of her cheek and the fullness of her mouth, at the bruises that had nearly faded. “Are you?”
“You ask that question so easily, as if you’re actually willing to believe my answer.” She sighed. “I’m not lying. I have no reason to lie.”
“I have no reason to believe you.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. Why won’t you believe me?”
He glanced back at the sea, a dark, murky mystery blending with the horizon until it was impossible to see where one ended and the other began.
“It’s a long, ugly story,” he said.
“I’m willing to listen if you’re willing to tell it.”
He understood that by simply offering her the truth, he’d already made a decision of sorts. On some level he was willing to trust her. Dear God, don’t let him be wrong again.
“My parents died when I was eighteen,” he began, blocking out the view in front of him and instead staring into the past. “I don’t remember much about that time except it rained during the funeral and that it was unusually cold for August. Tracy was already in college and I was due to start in a few weeks. The Wilkenson family has been in hotels since they came over from England in the early 1800s. In nearly two hundred years fortunes had been made and lost. Fourteen years ago we were in one of the bad times.”
He spoke the words without thinking, almost as if he’d told this tale a thousand times before. But the truth was, he’d never told it. Business associates learned bits and pieces from rumors and gossip. He’d discussed specific areas of his past when they were relevant to his work, but that wasn’t often.
“Things have changed,” Ariel said. “You’re obviously very successful.”
He shrugged. His ability to turn the company around wasn’t the point. “I finished college in three years so I could get right to work,” he went on. “For a while there was talk of Tracy taking over instead, but she was never interested and once she met Donald, she didn’t want to spend time working. It took me five years to get the company back on its feet.”
“Let me guess,” she said softly. “You worked twenty-hour days and never came up for air.”
“Exactly.” He turned toward her. “I didn’t have time for anything else. Then, when I finally could draw a breath, I realized the world had taken notice of me and everyone wanted a piece of the Wilkenson genius.” He grimaced. “It was hell.”
“Even the women?” she teased.
Her question shocked him, then he remembered she didn’t know the truth about what had happened. “Let’s just say there were downsides to that. I was emotionally still a kid. My college class load hadn’t left a lot of time for socializing, and neither had my work schedule. I wasn’t prepared to be that popular. In the end, I withdrew so I could stay whole.”
“Is that why you moved here?”
He nodded.
“You’re so cut off from everything. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“I prefer to think of it as one long vacation.” He didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t go back. But he was lying about the vacation. He recognized his home on St. Alicia for what it was—a very beautiful, very secure prison.
“You’re trapped here,” she said, surprising him by reading between the lines. “Are you staying because you want to or because you don’t have a choice?”
“Both,” he admitted.
She tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “What about Anna Jane? You can’t keep her here forever.”
“I know. I’ve thought about sending her back to the States. Maybe to a good boarding school.”
“She’s already afraid of that,” Ariel told him. “Are you familiar with a children’s book called The Little Princess?”
He shook his head.
“Anna Jane has read it several times. The story is about
“Do you still think I’m lying?” Ariel asked unexpectedly.
He looked at her, at the curve of her cheek and the fullness of her mouth, at the bruises that had nearly faded. “Are you?”
“You ask that question so easily, as if you’re actually willing to believe my answer.” She sighed. “I’m not lying. I have no reason to lie.”
“I have no reason to believe you.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. Why won’t you believe me?”
He glanced back at the sea, a dark, murky mystery blending with the horizon until it was impossible to see where one ended and the other began.
“It’s a long, ugly story,” he said.
“I’m willing to listen if you’re willing to tell it.”
He understood that by simply offering her the truth, he’d already made a decision of sorts. On some level he was willing to trust her. Dear God, don’t let him be wrong again.
“My parents died when I was eighteen,” he began, blocking out the view in front of him and instead staring into the past. “I don’t remember much about that time except it rained during the funeral and that it was unusually cold for August. Tracy was already in college and I was due to start in a few weeks. The Wilkenson family has been in hotels since they came over from England in the early 1800s. In nearly two hundred years fortunes had been made and lost. Fourteen years ago we were in one of the bad times.”
He spoke the words without thinking, almost as if he’d told this tale a thousand times before. But the truth was, he’d never told it. Business associates learned bits and pieces from rumors and gossip. He’d discussed specific areas of his past when they were relevant to his work, but that wasn’t often.
“Things have changed,” Ariel said. “You’re obviously very successful.”
He shrugged. His ability to turn the company around wasn’t the point. “I finished college in three years so I could get right to work,” he went on. “For a while there was talk of Tracy taking over instead, but she was never interested and once she met Donald, she didn’t want to spend time working. It took me five years to get the company back on its feet.”
“Let me guess,” she said softly. “You worked twenty-hour days and never came up for air.”
“Exactly.” He turned toward her. “I didn’t have time for anything else. Then, when I finally could draw a breath, I realized the world had taken notice of me and everyone wanted a piece of the Wilkenson genius.” He grimaced. “It was hell.”
“Even the women?” she teased.
Her question shocked him, then he remembered she didn’t know the truth about what had happened. “Let’s just say there were downsides to that. I was emotionally still a kid. My college class load hadn’t left a lot of time for socializing, and neither had my work schedule. I wasn’t prepared to be that popular. In the end, I withdrew so I could stay whole.”
“Is that why you moved here?”
He nodded.
“You’re so cut off from everything. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“I prefer to think of it as one long vacation.” He didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t go back. But he was lying about the vacation. He recognized his home on St. Alicia for what it was—a very beautiful, very secure prison.
“You’re trapped here,” she said, surprising him by reading between the lines. “Are you staying because you want to or because you don’t have a choice?”
“Both,” he admitted.
She tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “What about Anna Jane? You can’t keep her here forever.”
“I know. I’ve thought about sending her back to the States. Maybe to a good boarding school.”
“She’s already afraid of that,” Ariel told him. “Are you familiar with a children’s book called The Little Princess?”
He shook his head.
“Anna Jane has read it several times. The story is about
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