“When I told her you’d asked me not to leave because you had things to tell me, she put me on the spot about it. That’s because she knew how paranoid I’d been since my divorce from Nate.”
Andreas sucked in his breath. “That’s the first time you’ve mentioned his name.”
Zoe nodded. “Nate Owens.”
He put a hand on her arm. “While we walk back to the car, I want to hear everything. It’s growing dark.”
“You’re right.” They’d been so deep in conversation, she hadn’t noticed. To be this close to him was heavenly.
“How long since your divorce?”
“I married him at eighteen. He was twenty-five, a year younger than I am now. It lasted exactly a year and a half. Being a career pilot in the air force, he was handsome as blazes in his uniform. We met at the beach that summer while he was in Santa Monica on leave. I fell hard for him and we got married at a justice of the peace. My adoptive parents didn’t approve. Neither did his family.”
He stopped walking. “Adoptive parents?”
“Yes. Nancy and Bob Perkins, who are now divorced. He moved to his brother’s place in Oregon. She still lives by the beach. I keep in touch with both of them, but they never knew anything about my own birth parents. To this day I don’t have a clue about them.”
“I’m sorry, Zoe.” He sounded devastated for her.
“Don’t be. Apparently, after I was born, I had a first set of foster parents who called me Zoe. When I was four, I was put in the Perkinses’ foster home. They eventually adopted me and gave me my last name. They also adopted two other foster children.”
“Are you in touch with your siblings?”
“No. The boys were older and left at eighteen. The Perkins did their best and I owe them my life. Because of them I excelled in school and went to college. In that regard I was very blessed.
“But where my boyfriends were concerned, I thought they were too strict. When I told them that Nate wanted to marry me, Nancy said I was too young and warned me that my whirlwind romance might not work out. Bob urged me to wait and give it more time. But I didn’t listen.”
Andreas sat there listening.
“They were right, of course. After the wedding I fought with Nate because he wasn’t ready to start a family. I caught him in half a dozen lies about other women and soon realized he wasn’t ready for responsibility. His infidelity caused everything to unravel from there.
“I told him I wanted a divorce and he agreed. With no attorney involved, it didn’t cost a lot to end the marriage. The experience left me wary of getting involved with another man again. You could say my stab at marriage caused me to grow up in a hurry.”
“No wonder you ran from me.”
By now they’d reached the car. He clicked the remote and opened the back door. Reaching for a towel he’d put on the back seat, he turned to her. “If you’ll sit sideways, we’ll get the sand off your feet.”
Before she could say a word, he hunkered down and wiped them off. The feel of his fingers against her skin made the gesture so intimate, it sent darts of awareness through her body. Then he reached for her sandals and slipped them on for her.
“There you go.”
He moved out of her way so she could stand up. While she went around to the front of the car, he used the towel on himself and put his shoes back on. When he slid behind the wheel, she reached over to squeeze his bronzed forearm.
“No one has ever treated me the way you’ve done. I’ll never forget how you came to my rescue after that accident in the taxi. Thank you for being you.” The throb in her voice seemed to reverberate in the car’s elegant interior before she removed her hand.
Andreas turned on the ignition and they started back to her apartment. “Did your adoptive parents support you financially after the divorce?”
“No. They didn’t have much money and I wouldn’t have expected it. He worked for the post office and she ran a preschool in their modest home. They couldn’t have children, so they took us all in, but I’m afraid the stress was too much for their marriage in the end.”
“What amazing people.”
“They were. I babysat to earn money. Later on I won some financial awards at school and received a four-year scholarship to undergraduate school at UCLA. It took care of my tuition and books.’
“Your name is Greek. It means life. That’s one thing you’re full of.”
She smiled.
“You had to have been a brilliant student.”