Beauty from Pain(72)

“It’s not funny, Lachlan.” She pretends to be mad but can’t quite pull it off—not with the underlying grin trying to break through.


“I’m very sorry you were embarrassed, but I did tell you she would be here today.”


“I know, but it slipped my mind because it’s only been the two of us in the house since my first night with you.”


I like the full-time privacy when we’re the only ones here. Perhaps I should give Daniel and Mrs. Porcelli some additional vacation during our stay at Avalon.


I haven’t explained my employees’ routines to Laurelyn. “None of the staff is in the house before eight or after five unless asked to be.”


“Oh. They don’t sleep in the house?”


“No, they have their own quarters in the guest house. They need their privacy as well.”


I see the relief on her face. “Of course they do.”


Mrs. Porcelli comes out of the house carrying a serving tray with two plates. “I thought you might be hungry, so I brought some sangers and fruit.”


“Thank you, Mrs. Porcelli. We’ll have lunch at the patio table.” She leaves the food and returns inside the house. “Are you hungry?”


Laurelyn winks at me. “I had a late breakfast, but I could eat again.”


“You always have brekkie late, sleepyhead.” She retaliates by splashing water in my face. I lift my hand and make a production of wiping the water from my eyes. Laurelyn lets go of me and begins backing away because she knows what’s coming. “Oh, you asked for this. There’s no backing out now.”


I catch her by the arm and pull her to me. I lock my arms around hers, holding them by her side as I prepare to dunk her.


“Please, don’t,” she screams and I hear hysteria in her voice.


I release my grip so I’m able to turn her around. I’m shocked by the pure terror I see in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Laurelyn?”


She drops her face. “Nothing.” She pushes away, so I let her go. She gets out of the pool and wraps a towel around her body before sitting at the table where lunch is waiting.


I get out to join her, but I’m not sure if I’m welcome. Her eyes continue to avoid mine and it’s because something isn’t right with her. “Lunch looks good.”


“Uh-huh.” That’s all I get.


I begin to eat while she ignores the food on her plate. “Mrs. P. will think you don’t like her food if you don’t eat something.” This isn’t my happy, carefree Laurelyn in front of me. This one is guarded and withdrawn. I want the other one back. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”


She has a distant look on her face and I wonder where her mind has taken her. It certainly isn’t here with me. “My mom was an addict when I was a kid. She was addicted to prescription drugs—painkillers, sedatives, whatever she could get her hands on. When I was eight, I found her passed out and submerged in the bathtub. I tried to pull her out, but she was too heavy. Every time I’d get her face above the water, she’d take a breath and then slip from my grasp. She pulled me into the tub under her and I was drowning. I still remember what it felt like to be held under that water knowing I was about to die.”


“How did you not drown?”


“I had pulled the plug in the drain as soon as I found her. It took a while, but the water drained low enough for me to breathe.”


“What happened to your mum?”


“Almost killing both of us was her wake-up call. She got clean and has been for almost fifteen years.” I would hope so if her addiction almost killed her and her eight-year-old daughter.


She’s watching my face. “I’ve never told anyone that.”


How could she not tell anyone? “What do you mean?”


“It’s been our secret all of these years. You’re the only person who knows.”


“Both of you almost died. That’s not the kind of thing you keep secret.”


She pulls the towel tighter around her shoulders. “I learned to keep secrets at a very early age, Lachlan. I would’ve been taken away from her if I had told.”


“Maybe you should have been taken from her.”