“No, I…” Her chin wobbled. She didn’t have it in her to fight him. No reserves left at all. Which, he surmised, was the only reason he won the argument.
“Finish getting ready. I’ll call the pilot and get dressed. I’ll be back in less than ten minutes.”
* * *
They left the house in silence, and silence reigned for the entire trip from Wolff Castle to the airstrip. Larkin drove. It meant he had to keep his attention on the road. He wanted badly to comfort Winnie in the only way he knew how, but this was neither the time nor the place for what he had in mind.
On the jet, he thought she would immediately fall asleep. Instead, she kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs beneath her, choosing a seat opposite his. They were served a small snack during preflight checks and taxiing. Once they were airborne, Larkin requested pillows and blankets from the attendant and then asked not to be disturbed.
Winnie was a broken flower stem, her head drooping with fatigue. He didn’t know what to say to her. Even now, his wanting to help was not enough. It never had been.
She stared at him, her gold-and-green eyes hazed with grief. “I don’t think you should be here. But I’m selfish enough to be glad you are.”
His hands clenched the armrests. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else. My sister and all the rest of them will understand.”
“I hope so. You’ve been more than good to me, Larkin. Don’t ever think differently. And though you don’t realize it, you’ve brought me out of a long, deep freeze. You asked me why I do what I do. I think you deserve to know.”
Shock immobilized him for the tick of several seconds. Then he pulled up the two armrests and beckoned her. “Come sit with me, Winnie. You’re too far away.”
She did as he asked. In moments her head was in his lap, the rest of her curled like a child in the cramped length of the two extra seats. He stroked her hair, torn between wanting her to rest and the need to hear the secret she had been unable or unwilling to share before now.
So he waited.
When he put his right arm around her waist, she linked her fingers with his. “It happened when my parents died,” she said, her words drowsy and slow. “Our family lawyer was a man in his early forties. He was so kind to me, so helpful after the tsunami. There were arrangements to be made, decisions to wade through. I wanted to jump on a plane and go there. He convinced me that it would be best to stay home. After photos and videos began to pour in, I knew he was right.”
“But you said the bodies were recovered?”
“Eventually. I had known the lawyer for years as Mr. Parker. He now insisted I call him Mike. And during the funerals, everything…he was right there, holding my hand…literally. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”
Larkin’s left hand fisted at his side. This wasn’t going to be good. “And afterward?”
“He came around a lot. Sometimes even spent the night, always with an excuse about it being too late to drive back into town. I didn’t think a thing about it.”
“But something changed.” Hearing her recitation was tearing him asunder, because he had a fair guess as to what was coming.
“Yes,” she said. “Something changed. One night after dinner, after the housekeeper left, Mike sat down with me in the living room. Told me he wanted to talk about my future. I told him what I was thinking. That I wanted to travel a bit…perhaps get an advanced degree. Then he…”