She could already feel the effects of the mini-vacation by the time her Saturday commenced. A grand idea, she thought. That evening, found her lounging in the private outdoor bathtub outside her bedroom suite. The round, smooth stone fixture was deep and secluded amidst the brilliant hibiscus indigenous to the area.
She lost track of time as she usually did when enjoying the decadence of bathing outdoors and ensconced in the ethereal splendor of her environment. She was still enjoying the bath, when she heard her name being called by Wylie, her head housekeeper.
“Persephone? Your guest.”
The three, simple words were enough to send her tumbling back into the daze she’d suffered through for the last two weeks. Persephone resisted however and managed a nod and easy smile for the small, darkly lovely woman.
“Thanks Wylie uh...tell Mr. Tesano I’ll be out soon.” Persephone was already looking around for the towel she’d brought out. “You and the others can go on home,” she said.
The trace of a frown furrowed Wylie’s delicate nut-brown brow and she looked in the general direction of Persephone’s bedroom door. “Are you certain?” Wylie swallowed. “He uh...he’s um…”
Persephone smiled, embracing what Wylie’s ‘he’s um…’ claim insinuated. “Yes, he is,” she took note of the woman’s mesmerized stare.
“It’s alright Wylie,” Persephone insisted when she’d regained a shred of the housekeeper’s attention. “You and the others go on home. Could you do me a favor and contact the rest of the staff? Tell them to take the week.”
“Persephone-”
“It’s alright, Wylie, seriously.” Persephone added a little nod of encouragement that she hoped was reassuring.
Wylie’s curiosity was evident but she managed to stifle it. Following a slow nod, she made her way from the room.
Alone, Persephone melted back against the
tub. The certainty and resolve she’d shown to Wylie had dissolved
into the scented water she’d lounged in. Lounge time was over.
Resolved once again, she stood and left the tub.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Not much surprised, let alone stunned Hilliam Tesano. He’d been just about everywhere there was to go in the world- had done just about all there was to do in it and yet there he stood dazed and dumbfounded by his surroundings.
The security checkpoint at the front gate was unexpected, but not much of a surprise. He knew the property in that part of Hawaii started at well over a million. What had him dazed, was the property that gate protected.
He wasn’t a big fan of the word ‘spectacular’- doubted he’d ever used it in a sentence, but damn it all if the place wasn’t precisely that.
The sun was setting as he’d arrived, but there was still enough light for him to make an accurate survey of the area. The mountain range in the distance sat on the other side of the ocean and made for one of the more exceptional views he’d seen in his lifetime. It was the house itself though, that held him awed.
A sweeping construction of marble, stone and brick boldly claimed its space amidst the 5 acres of lush green and blue sky. The driveway was a grand sweep of stone outlined by tall urns filled with burning rock. The sweep of firelight gave the place a thoroughly exotic appeal. The house had the sprawling boldness of a five star resort, yet warmth and home seemed stamped upon it.
Though the place emphasized the indoor/outdoor living style common in Hawaiian architecture, it harbored a coziness just the same. When he was granted admittance, he studied the interior like a kid in the presence of his first skyscraper. Travertine floors were glossed to a high shine and comprised the foyer, entryway and main corridors.
The tiny housemaid who’d answered the door led him into a great room furnished by midnight blue suede sofas all facing a retracting glass wall that was opened toward the rear of the property. The lawn was dotted far off with an unending trail of blazing torches that offered glowing illumination into its depths.
As he stood appraising the aesthetics, he couldn’t help but wonder what led Persephone there. It was a gem of an acquisition no doubt, but he’d never seen her as such a recluse. The thought of her there alone; but for servants and security, bothered him.
Having his fill of the view, Hill turned his observations to the warm interior of the room. Within seconds, his ebony stare was set on the pictures decorating the space. There were frames of varying shapes and styles claiming much of the area provided by the fireplace mantle, end tables and bookshelves in the room.
Stepping closer, he studied one frame at length before moving on to the next. The same little girls, two identical ones, were featured in the majority of the photographs. Little girls that had Persephone’s eyes...Hill straightened then quickly as though he’d sensed something that sent a foreboding tingle down his spine.
The little girls had Persephone’s eyes. They were hers. That discovery suddenly put him at a loss for what to do with his hands. He couldn’t decide whether to bury them in his trousers’ deep pockets or to flex them and clench his fists as he stalked the great room.
They were hers-the phrase etched in his mind at a dizzying speed. He needed to sit. He needed to pace. He needed air.
He took advantage of the retractable wall and bolted out to the lanai teaming with potted ferns and deep wicker-backed armchairs.
This is what she had to tell him and couldn’t. He dragged his fingers through soot-colored curls and buried the need to roar his anger into the wind.
This is why she asked him there. God...he tried to swallow and winced when he discovered that he couldn’t.
You waited too long!
The angry voice snarled the accusation in the rarely visited recesses of his mind. He’d wanted to go after her. God! How many times had he set out to do that very thing? To hell with giving her space, he’d raged. Then he remembered that the world always seemed to interrupt their happiness.
He’d believed- foolishly- that they were doomed to such an existence. Doomed to snippets of happiness, never at a life. Never a full life together. Given that, he’d believed their time would come around again. He certainly wasn’t without business to keep him occupied in the meantime. But when a year passed and then another...he called himself a damn fool and forced himself to face the facts. She wasn't coming back to him.
The ten years they’d spent together had meant nothing to her. Or perhaps they had...he realized his hand had gone numb from the fist he’d clenched. He gave it a shake while flexing his fingers once again.
Yes, perhaps those years had meant something to her and then she finally realized they’d be nothing more than what they were. Two people hiding from the world. It was the truth, wasn’t it? At least on his part. He’d elected to hide from the world-wracked with guilt over things he couldn’t change and she...she’d been sentenced to the same fate, all because she’d loved him.
It was a world he was fine with giving his ass to kiss. He had no desire to return to it. There was truth in that, but there was another truth as well. They’d had ten years together-ten- and they’d been good years. She hadn’t faked being happy with him. He would’ve known. That, at least, he would’ve known.
Ten years and she leaves him without so much as an ‘it’s been real’. Ten years and she leaves to go hook up with some other prick to have kids with? He was stubborn- fuck yeah he was a stubborn jackass but was he so bad that she could just walk out on him in search of a better deal? He observed the house with a resentful eye then. A better deal? Hell, if she’d wanted a house, he could’ve given her one- he could’ve given her as many as she’d wanted- anywhere- everywhere.
He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut to extinguish the rage pulsing behind them. This wasn’t about materialism, he blew out a calming breath and focused. She wasn’t a materialistic woman. Regardless of how pissed he was at her, he couldn’t tag her with that label.
No, this wasn’t about materialism. He returned to the great room, absently punching chair cushions as he passed. This place, plush and breathtaking as it was- it was a home. It was a place to live and to love- to keep secure the things, the people one treasured.
Whoever the guy was, he loved her. Hill rolled his eyes then, smirking over the obvious. Of course he loved her. She was a woman made to love.
California...California and what happened
there eased in alongside that thought all nice and neat then. She’d
been the truest remedy for what ailed him that night, for what had
ailed him all the nights he’d been without her. Now it seemed that
being without her was to be his destiny and it was a destiny he
couldn’t accept.
~~~
