He smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and drawing her close. As he looked out to the
horizon, his eyes crinkled and she knew he was happy. So was she.
***
The house was amazing. White cotton-covered windows waved gossamer sails rather than screens,
and doors were never closed. They spent their days walking the private beach, making love wherever
they pleased, and napping in hammocks under the shade of the tall palm trees. Lucian carved a
coconut and she sipped the milk right from the fuzzy shell. It was a magical escape, better than the
pages of any book read to her before. This fantasy was reality.
On the morning it rained, they remained tucked away in the bungalow, wrapped in their own slice of
heaven. She recollected tales of Robinson Crusoe and whispered remembered adventures to Lucian as
the soft rain pelted the open sills. His fingers never left her.
Languid days folded into unforgettable nights. The world was far away, and the untouchable
sanctuary they’d found was catalogued in her mind as the sweetest fairy tale she’d ever known.
One evening, after making love in the surf as the sun bowed brilliantly behind the horizon, they
rested on the cool sand, wrapped only in a blanket of stars. Uncountable white stars winked through
the inky canopy of night, and she considered never returning to the city again.
“We could live here?” she whispered in his ear, her fingers slowly combing through his sea-scented
hair.
“We could,” he agreed on a contented sigh.
“Would you miss the city?”
“So long as I was with you, there isn’t much I could miss.”
She smiled softly. “Sweet talker.”
They curled closer as the breeze chilled their skin. Soft ripples of the never-ending waves whispered
over the sand beneath the hushed motion of the palms.
“Lucian?”
“Yes.”
“What’s going to happen with your deal? With Parker?”
He sighed and she waited as his eyes took in the fathomless sky. “When life announces its fleeting
presence, things are sometimes thrown into perspective.” His hand coasted over her shoulder, its
weight a comforting presence. “I spoke to Parker the day after we found Pearl. He said, when you lost
it after I fell, he realized the way you loved me would never equal anything he could make you feel for him. It was never about force with us, Evelyn. It was always about surrender.
“There’s an old saying, that if you love something, you must let it go. He said he could never let
you go completely, but he cares for you enough to let you be happy.”
“You make me happy,” she whispered.
His lips pressed into her temple. “I’m glad, because, for as much as I love you, I don’t believe I
could ever let you go. My only choice is to keep you happy for the rest of your life so you never want
to leave.”
She remembered that horrible afternoon when she’d thought she lost it all. “He made me go with
you. He said you needed me and I was so afraid, but he made me go.”
“As brave as I pretend to be, Evelyn, I’m glad he did. Seeing you in that house before all hell broke
loose, knowing your mother was gone, I was terrified. All I’ve ever known is how to lead. I’ve always
protected those I loved, because my father never did. But when I fell, I was helpless. My last thought
was you. Being helpless to protect you is my greatest fear. I can only protect you when you’re safely
by my side. Not having you there is the worst torture I’ve ever known.
“In my mind, when he insisted you go to me, he surrendered. Men are made of pride. That wasn’t
easy for him, but it was the right thing to do and in doing so, he earned my respect. That’s something
Parker Hughes never had before.”
“But what about what he’s doing with the company you want?”
He chuckled. “I have a hundred companies, Evelyn. There’s only one of you. He can have them all
if that’s what it takes.”
She sat up, her hair pooling over his chest as she looked into his eyes. “But you put a year into that
deal.”
“And it will be a great boon to your friend. He’ll get the security he’s been searching for, the
confidence he never had, and I’ll get the rest of my life with you. Sometimes victory is won by
surrendering something great. And in surrender, we unburden ourselves so clarity can come through.
We’re all just men hiding behind curtains and impressive toys, Evelyn. He can have whatever trinket
validates his struggles, but he’ll never have your heart. That’s mine. I’ll surrender everything, except for you.”
She kissed him. Her heart overflowed with emotions there were no words for. As the chill of night
subsided and their skin heated, he carried her to the bungalow and they made slow, sweet love. His
proclamation that he’d sacrifice all in order to hold on to her heart was the most selfless vow she’d
ever been given.
Every doubt she’d ever harbored, every condition she’d ever entertained, it all fell away as he