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“Pat sounds like one of the good guys.”
“All the Millers are.”
Jack straightened his shoulders, inhaling a deep breath. His red-rimmed eyes held her captive.
“I’m sorry, Adi. I wanted to talk about what’s been troubling you, but instead you had to hear my sad life story.”
She shook her head. “Don’t do that. I’m thankful that you confided in me. You can talk to me about anything. I’m here for you.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Thanks.”
She stared into his green eyes and wanted this moment to last forever. His trusting eyes were so open and free… For the first time in her life, she could actually read another person and fully understand where he was coming from.
Jack had a horrible past and must have felt alone for a long time. She knew she could tell him how she felt and that he would be able to relate to her.
“How about your mom? What was she like?”
Adela rubbed her chest with a shaky hand as she mulled over her answer.
“She was the best. My mom was the glue holding us three together.”
“You and your parents?”
She folded her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she nodded.
“Where’s your dad?”
“Probably screwing half of the port somewhere in Spain or Italy by now.”
“Huh?”
“My dad couldn’t handle my mom’s sickness. She had breast cancer. He once said that he couldn’t bear the idea of seeing his preciousCorazonwhither away. He will deny this, but I know for a fact that while my mom was sick, he… entertained other women. It only took him three weeks after my mom’s funeral to buy a sailboat and leave Hawaii behind.”
Jack grabbed her hand in his. “Leaveyoubehind, you mean.”
She wiped a tear from under her eye. “Yeah, well, okay… And me.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“It’s okay.”
It was not okay, but what else was there to say?
“It’s not okay. I know how much losing the people you love hurts. There’s a hole in my chest—”
“And there’s nothing that can fix it?” she filled in for him.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in. “That’s right. The pain will forever be a part of us.”
She rested her head against his hard chest. “I’m tired of feeling this way…”
“Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jack walkedhand in hand with Adela, his feet plowing through the hot sand after their talk behind the big rock at the end of their beach.
“Shall we take a swim before we head back?” she asked.
