Forgiving Paris: A Novel(46)

And what was this vulnerable feeling she had around him? Whatever it was, she didn’t like it.

At Marina Village, they walked past a dozen ostentatious yachts, boats with helicopter landing pads and open dining rooms where staff served their wealthy guests. The very sight of the yachts made Eliza sick to her stomach. The Palace customers all came off yachts.

They kept walking. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe it was too soon to be on a mission. She drew a deep breath and kept her eyes forward. No, she wasn’t wrong. This was where she needed to be. She remembered Rosa and Alexa. Forget about the yachts and the man at the casino, she told herself. I’m more than ready.

If she didn’t help Jack identify the bad guys and at-risk children on this island, who would?

They ate at Carmine’s, and since it was too much work to keep up the role, Eliza relaxed a little. “Where are you from, Jack?”

“The East Coast. Maryland.” He held her look for a moment. “What about you?”

All she’d told the FBI—or Jack for that matter—was that she had been a Mennonite. She didn’t want to say more than that. What if the bureau found their way to Lower Barton Creek? She didn’t want to connect the safe world of her young childhood with this one.

Eliza took her time. “There are Mennonite communities in the United States.” She held the crystal water goblet in her hand and took a sip. “Did you know that?” She’d never eaten at a restaurant like this, but she didn’t want to tell him that.

“Yes.” Jack didn’t look surprised. He reached across the table and took her hand. “I’ve been there. Pennsylvania and Ohio. Nice people.”

“They are.” Eliza pictured her mama and Daniel, her great-grandpa Ike. The grassy fields of Lower Barton Creek. “Very nice.” She blinked to keep her tears from coming. “What about your parents? Tell me about them.”

No one could hear what they were saying. The clinks of glasses and the sound of silverware and conversation around them were too loud. Jack only smiled. “It’s a long story.”

“I have time.” It was true. Their meal hadn’t even arrived yet.

“It isn’t pretty.” Jack’s eyes softened.

“Neither is mine.” This hardly felt like make-believe. Their fingers together made her feel safe. Her smile felt different now. More real. “Tell me.”

“Okay.” He released her hand and sat straighter. “I had one brother. Two years younger than me.” He paused. “Shane died when I was sixteen.”

Eliza felt a strange ache for the man across from her. “I’m sorry.”

“For a few years, my parents grieved in silence. They were there at my football and baseball games. They spent more time with me than before, but they were never the same.” He paused. “They were in the Middle East a few years later, visiting U.S. troops, when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.” He looked at his water glass. “The Army told me they never knew what hit them.”

Eliza had no idea what to say. “They were… military?”

“Diplomats.” Jack’s smile was heavy now. “I was a senior in high school.”

The meal came and they made small talk again. But on the walk back to the Reef, Eliza stopped and turned to him. “I really am sorry. About your family.”

“Thanks.” A breeze made its way across the path and Jack brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. “I’ve been alone for a long time.”

Again, she wanted to kiss him, not to prove herself. But because she’d never felt like this. She kept her feelings to herself. “Is that why you became an undercover agent?”

“Sort of.” A couple was walking up behind them, and Jack kissed Eliza’s forehead. They started moving again, slower this time. “I was going to be a Navy SEAL. Oliver found me after I graduated from the Naval Academy. He was my father’s best friend, when the two were younger.”

The pieces of his story were coming together. “You joining the FBI, that was Oliver’s idea?”

Jack was quiet for a long moment. Like there were pieces of his story he didn’t want to share. At least not yet. “Someone at the Navy knew that Oliver and my dad were friends. Oliver got word that I might not survive SEAL training.”

“Why?” That didn’t seem possible. Eliza couldn’t imagine a soldier stronger than Jack.

“I pushed too hard. Didn’t care if I lived or not.” Jack shrugged. “Oliver believed that attitude would be better put to use with the FBI.”

Eliza kept walking. They had more in common than she’d thought, this FBI agent and her. As they passed the casino, Jack put his arm around her again. Once, when two guards were walking their way, he stopped and pulled her into his arms. Again he kissed her forehead. “I love you, Masey. It’s only been a few days, but I love being married to you.”

Masey. This was for the sake of the men. In case they were in on the trafficking ring. She leaned her face against his chest. “Me, too.”

Love was a word she’d heard every day of her life. The customers loved the girls at the Palace. Her father loved her. The men from the yacht club loved how she looked. She was the princess, so they loved her more than all the other girls.

But here, even when he was only pretending, the way Jack had said the word made her feel something she’d never felt before. She closed her eyes and she could only think one thing: the way it would feel to have him say those words and actually mean them.