Parker's Island (13 page)

I was surprised to find a
close match in the size of the clothing.  He had even managed to supply me with a new bra and panties. 
The bra was
very
snug, but I
felt I needed to wear one
, so I squeezed my
b
reasts into the
all
too small cups.
 
All of the clothing still had tags on them, so I knew they were new.  I found a new toothbrush, and all of the toiletries in the bathroom I could possibly need. 
I noticed that there was no sign of my torn dress anywhere.  I was glad that I didn’t have to ever see it again. 
When I felt I was presentable, I headed down the stairs, noting how beautiful and large his home was.

“Wow, this is really beautiful
,
” I said, as I walked into the kitche
n.

“Thank you.  How do you like your eggs?”

“Um, any way is fine.  I’m not picky.  You don’t have to cook for me
,
though.  You’ve done too much for
me
already. 
W
here
did
you g
et
the clothes?” I asked, curious.

“
T
hey’re
Martina
’s
,
”
h
e said
, turning back to the stove
.

“Who
’s
Martina
?
”
I asked.

“She’s…my wife
,
”
h
e said,
refusing to look at me.

“Oh, I totally blocked that out!  Oh God, I’m so sorry.  I shouldn’t be
here;
I shouldn’t have asked you to
hold
…
”  I was almost ready to bolt out the door.

“Delaney
,
”
h
e said, sensing my urgency to leave
,
“
it
’
s
okay.  She’s not here.  We didn’t do anything to be ashamed of.  I
’ve
broke
n
no rules and neither
have
you.”

“Where is she?” I asked,
even more curious now
as I
slowly
sat back down
.

“She stays at
my
house on the mainland.  She hates the water
, so she never comes here
.  So
I
stay here as much as possible
,
”
h
e said through gritted teeth.

“
I
don’t understand.  You’re not..
.
t
ogether
?”

“Not unless we
have
to be
,”
he said, and then filled my plate with scrambled eggs and
a couple
pieces of
toast.

“Thank you
,
” I said, not wanting to eat
,
but feeling like I should since he went to the trouble to cook for me.

“The next ferry leaves at noon.  Do you want to call Molly and let her know you’re okay?”
H
e looked at me from across the table and then
aske
d, “Are you okay?”

“I guess I have to be.”

“It’s not too late to go to the police.”

“Yes, it is.  It wouldn’t matter anyway.  What’s done is done.  No one can give me back…what I lost
,
” I said, tears betraying me once again by gliding down my cheek
s
without my permission.

“You didn’t lose anything
,
Delaney.  You didn’t give yourself to him willingly.  He took what he wante
d
.  He’s
a coward.  You are still exactly as you
were before
;
young, beautiful
and innocent.”

The tears continued.  He was so kind to me and although his words made sense, it didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t a virgin anymore.  Everything was stolen from me, even my first kiss happened without my permission
or even my knowledge
.

“Please don’t cry.  You have nothing to be ashamed of
.  Y
ou did nothing wrong.  HE DID!  Would you
please
tell me who it was?” 

“I can’t.  I can’t even say his name.  Please understand.”

Logan took a deep breath and picked up his fork.
“I guess we should eat.”

“Okay
,
”
I said
while
wiping my eyes with the napkin he handed me.

Chapter
Four:
The H
istory of Parker
’s Island

We ate in silence and then I helped him with the dishes.  I had to know more about his
wife
, so I took the direct approach, hoping I wouldn’t offend him
.
“Logan,
do you
love her?”
I s
ens
ed
he didn’t, but need
ed
to know the truth.

He
stopped rinsing the plate and looked at me, “No, I don’t love her
.
I never have.”

“Then why?”

He thought about my question for a moment, and then said,
“Did you know that this
i
sland was named after my great grandfather?”

“No,
” I said, listening intently.

“Parker is my mother’s maiden name.  This was my great grandfather’s
i
sland, then it was handed down to my grandfather, then my mother and
now me and
I’ll give it
to my
children…
som
eday.”

“
You own the island?”
I was s
hocked.

“
Yes
.
”

“What does any of this have to do with…”

“
It’s a long story
.  A
re you sure you want to hear it
?”
h
e asked, looking like he needed to talk about it.

“
Yes,
I want hear it, p
l
ease.”

“My mother was very wealthy when she married my father
.  S
he was madly in love with him.  She did little to protect herself or her company when it came to him.  She was foolish, but she
was deeply in love
.
  Before my grandfather died, he used to tell me stories about her.  I wished I had known her.
”
  He looked very sad.

“What was her name?” I asked.

“Elizabeth.
  Elizabeth Parker Barnett
,
”
h
e said,
and
then continued.

“
She handed over the
control
of
her company to my father when she found out she was pregnant with me.  My grandfather was not happy, but he had given up his say in the company when he
gave it to her
.  She wanted to be a mother, not an owner of a large corporation.  She readily signed over most everything
to him, with the exception of
this island and a trust that she and my grandfather put together for me before I was born.

“My father has since run the company into the ground.  He borrowed
from the wrong people, has terrible business sense and had all but lost
everything
when a man by the name of
Arturo Bolivar
offered him a merger with his
own
company
in Venezuela
.  The merger was set, all ready to go and then
Se
ñ
or Bolivar
backed out, sensing it was a bad business decision
on his part
.

“In order to save my mother’s company, my father and I flew to
Venezuela
to meet with him, to try to change his mind.
  I put together another
proposal
;
one where the benefits were more equally shared.

“We sat down and met with Se
ñ
or Bolivar and his daughter.  She has a very good business sense, but refused our offer, at first.  She asked us to stay a couple of days and said we could possibly work something out.

“I desperately wanted to save my mother
’
s business.  I felt I owed her that.”
             
“Why?  It wasn’t your fault that she died.”

“It doesn’t matter
.
I couldn’t let
her
company die
,
too
.  Anyway, Se
ñ
or Bolivar
’s daughter came to our hotel and asked to speak to me alone.  I thought maybe she had some sort of counter-offer, so I
agreed to meet with her
.  Evidently, she was very used to getting everything she wanted and in order for her to a
gree to the merger, she wanted…
”

“You
,
” I
said quietly
, u
nderstanding that desire all too well.

“Yes.  And, she wanted U.S. citizenship.”

“So, she got what she wanted, as usual
,”
I said, catching on quickly.

“
My father thought it was a great idea and practically ordered me to do it.  They both assured
me
that
it would only be for six months, then she would have her green card and we could divorce.
 
I was foolish enough to believe
them
. 
She did get
her green card six months after we were married, but in order to keep her citizens
hip she needs to remain married
…for three years!

“I was furious when I found out, but what could I do?  She and her father still had all the power.  They could pull the rug out from under our merger at any time.  I tried talking to her, reasoning with her, but she wouldn’t budge.
  She was angry
with
me when I didn’t
fall all over her and
do just as she
ordered
.

“I finally had
enough and told her that I was through.  She could do whatever she wanted, but I wanted out.”

“That’s great.  So, you’re free
,
then?” I asked, sensing I was wrong, yet hopeful
,
nonetheless
.

“No.”

“Why?”
I asked.

“Delaney, she’s
…
pregnant.”

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me.  “Oh, I see.”

“No, you don’t.  We never…
”
he sighed and continued, “I
’ve
never touched her, not once
!
  On
e
mandatory
kiss at the stupid ceremony.  T
hat’s it!
”

“Well if the baby isn’t yours, then you have the perfect out.”

“Se
ñ
or Bolivar is very old fashioned and he idolize
s
his daughter.  She put together a party
two weeks ago
,
and she
told me I had to attend
because it was for
business
, as per
one of
our
stipulations to the contract
. 
When I walked in, I notice
d
that it was a party alright, and my home was full of all of our friends and family.  Her father had even flown in for it. 
She announced to everyone, all of our friends and family that ‘we’ were having a baby.
  My father
even
toasted us, even though
I think
he knew the truth.
 

“She knew I wouldn’t
reveal to
everyone that she had cheated on me.  She knew it!  I should have done it, but I just stood there
listening to one
congratulation
after the next.  Everyone
was
patting me on the back,
wishing us well.  She smiled at me from across the room
, knowing she had won and that I was stuck
.”