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She was the one who could bring Malcolm and Aunt Mary and their like down, once and for all.
And he was going to do everything in his power to help her.
“You did good,a stór. You did right.”
She gave another shaky laugh as she handed him his jacket, which he only put back around her shoulders, earning a beautiful smile from her. “I don’t know what that means.A store? A stork?I tried to look it up, but I wasn’t spelling it right.”
He was touched that she’d tried. But then again, she had a curious mind. “I’ll tell you later. What happened after this?”
Her gaze flew to his before she turned her head toward the sea. “What do you mean?”
He had a moment of indecision before he pressed it down. In this moment, he had to trust his gifts, and they were telling him to dive deeper. “Painting that mural opened up something inside you, didn’t it? I just think there’s more to the story.”
The tension flowed back into her like it had been carried on a rough tide. “There is. In brief, I started sneaking out to hang with the guy who’d helped me. We were painting and dating. Well, I mostly painted and he helped. Then a couple of weeks after the teacher was fired and the supposed prankster was crowned a hero, he claimed he’d done it. Said he’d heard the story from a student who’d gone slumming.”
He narrowed his eyes as she flipped her hair angrily over her shoulder. “He took credit? That’s ballocks.”
“Yes, it was. He was suddenly a hot street artist with a whole bunch of murals to his cred, ones I’d mostly done. I mean, he’d helped fill in my designs and paint in my lines, but he didn’t have my irony or vision. But he did know about the streets and the scope.”
“It must have crushed you,” Liam said as they started to walk again, hand in hand.
“Yeah.” She kicked at a rock, sending it into the sea. “I’d thought I loved him, and he loved me. He was my hero. My first. I was young and stupid, so I’d let him be my everything.”
Liam could see it so clearly. This guy had helped her in a moment of need and opened another world to her. Liam couldn’t understand how a relationship like that, one that had started with such positivity, could turn into such a great betrayal. “And your parents?”
“Oh, that’s another tragic story.” She kicked at another rock with more force. “They figured out I’d lied about being at a friend’s house one night, so they searched my room. They found my drawings that I’d hidden in my locked chest, which was where I kept my diary. A place they weren’t supposed to invade, they’d promised. They figured out it was me, although they thought I was helping the guy more than doing it on my own, which pissed me off.”
“Of course it did.” Now he better understood her desire for privacy. His mind reading would trigger those memories of invaded privacy.
“We had a huge fight. They threatened me. Yada yada. I kept on painting murals on my own. By then, I’d figured out how to do it alone. Then I got arrested one night because some off-duty cop came across me while he was chasing his dog. Anyway, my parents threatened to cut me off if I kept doing it. Not pay for college. That sort of thing. I told them to go screw themselves, and I walked out and went to a friend’s. I was eighteen by then, so I could. And when I got a scholarship for college, I wanted to rub that in their face too.”
She’d told him about walking out before. Now he knew from whom. “That was the last time you spoke to them.”
“Yeah. They didn’t come to my graduation from NYU, even though I graduated top of my class. In journalism. Not law or medicine like they’d hoped.”
How could they not have seen how perfect journalism was for her? “I wish I could have been there to see you that day, what with your cap and gown and victorious smile.”
She stepped back, her mouth dropping open. “Did youseeit? Because yeah, I felt pretty victorious that day.”
What could he say? “It wasn’t hard to imagine, Taylor.”
“Okay, I’ll accept that answer since I’m pouring my heart out to you as an apology.”
He took her gently by the arms and waited until she met his eyes as the sea thundered around them. “Is that what this was? I’d hoped it was your way of sharing something important with me.”
A heartbreaking flash of vulnerability shot through her eyes like a lightning spark. “I also did it so you can understand why I hate men like Malcolm Coveney and why I want to bring him down. Hard.”
He reminded her of the teacher. “Well, Taylor, it just so happens that I also want Malcolm Coveney to face justice for what he’s done. How about we agree to help each other do that?”
Suddenly, he had a flash of intuition. That was what the spray paint was for.
“Oh, shit.” She stormed a couple of steps away. “I can see it on your face. You already know what I’m planning.”
He made a helpless gesture with his hands. “A stór,I can’t always help it. I told you it comes in out of nowhere sometimes. Like now. You matter to me. My every sense seems to be on high alert.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, looking oddly protective. “Let’s leave that for now. Tell me what thisa stórmeans.”
His heart gave a little shudder. How would she react? Well, he would have to take a chance and share with her as bravely as she’d shared with him. “It meansmy treasure.”
