Chapter 2 #3
“No, you didn’t dream it. It sounds a little or even a lot nuts to me too.
But why should we both spend the holiday alone, when I have an enormous sailboat with five empty guest cabins?
We’re not hurting anyone. Your family is spending it the way they want to, without you.
My daughter doesn’t want to see me. So why not spend it together and have some fun?
I can’t think of anything better than being with you,” he said simply, feeling fatherly toward her, and protective.
“I feel like Cinderella,” Lillith said, breathless. “I didn’t do anything to deserve this. I sat next to you at a dinner party, and you fell out of the sky like the best Christmas present ever. Why me?”
“Because I didn’t see anyone else at that dinner that I wanted to take with me,” John said, teasing her a little.
“I looked, but the only one I found was you. And there are no strings attached, just to make that clear. You don’t even have to talk to me if you don’t want to.
It will just be nice having you there. Being on a boat is the best vacation there is.
All one’s cares and worries and troubles seem to melt away as soon as you leave the dock.
It’s the only place I relax. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
I just don’t want anyone to know when we get back.
This should stay between us. I don’t want to read it on Page Six,” he said clearly.
“Neither do I. And of course I won’t say anything to Isabelle or anyone else. I just can’t believe you’re giving me this amazing trip. Can I pay for my air ticket?”
“No, you cannot,” he said firmly. “It’s my treat, or it wouldn’t be a gift.” He was the kindest man she had ever met, for doing something like this for her. She didn’t know how she could thank him.
“Can I bring anything? Cookies? A cake? A potluck dinner?” She could just imagine the luxury on a boat like that.
“Just bring you, and whatever else you want to bring. You can use as many of the guest rooms as you want. All five if you like.”
“Thank you for making me happy.” No one had ever done anything like it for her before, and probably never would again.
“I’ve got a lot to do today,” he said. “I’m leaving tomorrow.
” He was flying to St. Barth on his plane, but she didn’t know that.
He hadn’t mentioned it. “So I’ll see you in St. Martin when we pick you up.
I thought I’d spare you the little puddle jumper that goes to St. Barth.
It’s a bit of a thrill, but it’s more pleasant if we sail in, and not as scary.
And don’t forget your passport.” He sounded like a doting father, something she had never had before.
And she was the loving daughter he hadn’t had in twenty years either.
As a little girl Gabby had adored him, but not for a long time now.
And Lillith thought he walked on water. It was refreshing to be admired and adored instead of hated, now that he didn’t have Helen to love him and balance Gabby’s contempt for him.
It was nice to feel appreciated again. Lillith didn’t love him, she didn’t know him well enough, but her gratitude knew no bounds.
Everything about her was new and clean, an empty slate for them to write on.
It was a fresh start after a year of tragedy for him, and a lifetime of neglect and emotional abuse for her, by the people closest to her.
John Williams was the reward. “See you in St. Martin. My secretary will send you your itinerary today by email.”
She left for work still feeling dazed after she spoke to him.
The email appeared on her computer that afternoon, just as he said it would.
It looked like Santa Claus coming down her chimney all over again.
She couldn’t help wondering why John’s daughter was so hard on him.
Especially with his wife dying, it seemed unnecessarily cruel for her to be so harsh with him.
And he seemed like a genuinely nice man with a fatherly, nurturing style.
It was hard to imagine why he and his daughter didn’t get along.
Lillith decided not to tell either of her parents where she was going.
Her father didn’t care, her mother was busy getting ready to have the babies, and there was no one else to tell.
She couldn’t tell Isabelle because she knew him.
And her family could reach her on her cellphone wherever she was.
They’d probably only text her when the twins were born, if they even remembered to.
She was never foremost in their thoughts.
This was her adventure, and she was going to keep it that way.
It was exciting leaving on a secret trip to sail away on a yacht in the Caribbean.
She knew she would be safe with John, and her parents didn’t worry about her anyway.
They hadn’t since she left for college nine years before, and not for many years before that.
It wasn’t the Christmas she had expected, far from it.
And she still felt like she was living a dream when she went home to pack that night after work.
She was arriving two days after John did, so he had time to settle in and get ready for her.
She pulled a big suitcase of summer clothes out of her closet and began rifling through them.
She didn’t have anything very fancy, a few nice slip dresses, some sweaters, T-shirts, and white jeans.
John had said they didn’t dress up on the boat, so she hoped she’d be all right with what she had.
And she could always buy something there if she needed to.
He had told her there were a lot of great shops, both simple ones and some really fancy ones, like Hermès.
She printed out her itinerary and stuck it in her purse.
She didn’t know how she was going to make it through the next two days until she left.
She was already counting the hours. By the next morning she was packed.
John was already in the air by then, on his plane, smiling to himself, looking forward to the trip.
He hadn’t had this much fun in years. It felt like an adventure to him too.
The countdown had begun for both of them. It was only two days now before he saw her again. His crazy idea was turning out to be the best one he’d ever had.