Crew said nothing, just gently stroked her back and waited for her to continue.
“I was so ashamed of who I was, even though the servants tried for years to tell me that my grandparents were wrong. Many of them stayed on only so they could look out for me when I was home during school holidays, and I’m grateful they did. It’s why it’s so much easier for me to speak with people in the service industry. I was never to show my face when my grandparents were entertaining guests. They didn’t want to remind the community that I was around. They’d done their duty by providing a roof over my head and food, but that was as far as they were willing to go.
“How was school? Did it give you freedom?”
“No. School was worse than home. My grandparents paid my tuition and gave me the bare minimum of supplies and clothing, but I was going to a wealthy school where all of the other kids had plenty of money to spend on activities and socializing. I had nothing and was left behind. They all looked at me like a charity case, and I made zero friends while there. It was lonely, of course. I always was. I became interested in boys even though I had my grandmother’s voice in my head calling me a slut for even thinking about wanting to kiss one of them.”
“She was wrong!”
“I know that now. I honestly do, but it took me years. My grandparents died when I was eighteen. There was a gas leak in the house and they passed in their sleep. Even though they were horrible to me, I still felt sadness. None of the servants died —they slept in separate quarters behind the house. They’ve moved on, and we’ve now lost touch. A couple checked on me for a couple of years after the death of my grandparents, but then they had to worry about their own lives. The house sits empty, only a gardener left to make sure the grass doesn’t overtake it.”
“So, you’ve held on to it for six years?”
“I haven’t sold it yet. I honestly don’t know why. It took over a year for all the estate to finalize and for me to get my inheritance since there wasn’t a will. I have always planned on getting rid of it. There are no happy memories there for me now, I just haven’t done it yet. I will…”
“I don’t know how I can make any of this better for you, Haley. I can’t even say that I understand, because I don’t. It’s inconceivable for me to think of people treating one of their own kin, someone they are supposed to love, in that heartless, inhuman way.”
Silence stretched out between them as she tried to push her raw emotions down. She’d shared her tale with only one other person, her counselor at college, and it had helped her to see she wasn’t a child of Satan who didn’t deserve to live. Still, it wasn’t easy to get beyond the horrors of her early life.
She hated admitting all of this to Crew, since she wanted him to view her as something more than a child in the shadows, but it also felt good to get it off her chest, to share this burden with another human being, one who wasn’t being paid to listen. As much as speaking with her counselor had helped, the woman had just sat behind her desk taking notes, hadn’t rubbed Haley’s back and let her know it would all be OK. Still, without her, Haley would never have had the confidence to get a job or take this vacation she’d won, or ever been able to approach Crew to ask for his help.
It had taken her years to gain the courage to try to change who she was. She wanted to find a man who would look at her, desire her, maybe even love her. Every romantic movie she’d watched had a hero racing in to save the day, and she’d ached for that, whether it was politically correct or not. She wanted her prince charming to save her.
“So, you decided to change your life, and then you found me.”
“No. Not quite that quickly. It took me years to work up the courage to actually find a man to teach me,” she admitted. “I came here because I won the trip, and I figured this was a good place to find a teacher because it’s an island — much harder for a man to escape,” she finished with a laugh.
“I don’t want to escape you.” The words sounded wonderful, but she wasn’t stupid. They were both caught up in this magical night — in this surreal moment. They would probably both see things in another light once dawn approached.
“You are teaching me to feel different about myself, Crew. I’ve felt things in the last week that I never imagined I would, but this is all just a fantasy, a game I came up with to change who I am. It may work, and it may not, but I don’t want to think past right now. I need to remain in reality.” She pleaded with him to understand. “Let’s not pretend this is something it isn’t.”
After a short pause, he responded. “I will agree to live in the moment if you agree to quit the game and give me a chance. I’m not a bad guy, and though it surprises me to say this, I like you, Haley…a lot. Let’s forget about this other man you wanted to seduce, and focus on having you seduce only me from now on. You’re pretty damned great at it!”
Haley knew there was a reason she should protest — knew she’d figure out what that reason was if she thought about it long enough, but while his hands caressed her, while his warmth kept her sated and secure, she couldn’t find fault with what he was asking of her. After a brief pause, she nodded her head.
“Say it, Haley.” The nod wasn’t good enough.
“I will forget the other guy…for now.” She knew her answer wasn’t good enough for Crew, but at least he wasn’t pushing her.
The two of them lay in each other’s arms for the next hour, or two — they didn’t know — listening to the soothing sound of the ocean waves until the cool evening air had them admitting it was time to go in. When Crew led her to his room that night, she didn’t fight him. She wasn’t ready to let go just yet.
Pulling her into his arms to hold her and nothing more, she felt the first warm stirrings in her untutored heart. But she couldn’t be falling in love with him. She didn’t know what love was, had no examples of it in her life. Her emotions were clearly just in overdrive from everything that had occurred during the day, and night.
Falling asleep with a smile on her face and Crew’s arms wrapped around her, she slept better than she ever had before.
Chapter Sixteen