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“Lea, don’t do this. We can work everything out. I... I just need to take care of something first.”
What could possibly be more important than this? And then she realized the foolishness of her question. It had to be business. It always came back to his business, whether it was trying to sweet-talk her out of the land or sending his sister in to do his dirty work.
“Just go.” She turned her back to him.
“Lea, please believe me. I would never do anything to hurt you, but if I don’t go, my company will be put in jeopardy from a large lawsuit. Please say you’ll wait here for me. And then we can talk.”
She turned back to him. “I’ll be here. I’ll always be here. But you won’t be welcome.”
She didn’t need to hear anything else he had to say. He’d been keeping things from her, just like her parents had kept information about her family and her heritage from her. And they all had their excuses, but none of them were reason enough to keep Lea in the dark.
“I’ll be back. I promise.”
His words fell on deaf ears because she refused to believe anything he had to say from here on out. If she needed any further proof that he wouldn’t change—that he would always put business ahead of his family—this was it.
Frustration, pain and anger churned within her. After Xander left, she needed to do something, anything. But she couldn’t concentrate enough to go back to the office. Instead she started to clean out her kitchen cabinets. She’d been meaning to do it for a long time now but had put it off for one reason or another.
She’d inherited all of this stuff. Some of the dishes were in amazing condition. Others had most definitely seen better days. She kept working, pulling everything out and sorting out the keepers and those that could go.
When her phone rang, she considered ignoring it. If it was Xander, she had absolutely no interest in talking to him. And if it was Popi, she didn’t want to get into this with her, not yet. But she realized that it could be island business and that was something she couldn’t ignore. And she refused to think how her priorities were similar to Xander’s.
She glanced at the caller ID and her heart stopped. It was her mother. After an entire year, her mother was calling her. Was she returning her call? But it has been so long. Or had something happened? Was her father ill? Please say it isn’t so.
Lea knew that all she would have were unanswered questions unless she accepted the call. Not giving herself time to think of all the reasons that this was a bad idea, she pressed the answer button on her phone.
“Hello.”
“Lea? Is that you?”
“Yes, Mom. It’s me.” Her insides shivered with nerves. “Is something wrong with Dad?”
“Um...no, he’s fine. I’m returning your call. I’m so sorry we missed it. My battery died just after we left on an Alaskan cruise so we had to rely on your father’s phone.”
“Dad has a cell phone? I thought he was opposed to them as they are a nuisance.”
Her mother sighed. “A lot has changed since you left.”
“A lot has changed here, too.” It wasn’t until she heard her mother’s voice that she realized how much she missed speaking to her.
And as much as she’d worried about how things would go when she finally spoke to her mother again, they quickly fell into a comfortable conversation. It was almost like nothing had happened. And Lea opened up about the baby, Xander and the island being in trouble.
“You have a lot on your shoulders,” her mother said. “I’m sorry about adding to your worries. Neither your father nor I meant to hurt you. We honestly thought we were saving you from more pain by being rejected by my family. I know what it feels like to be turned away and told I was dead to them for marrying a man they didn’t approve of.”
That was more information than Lea had gotten before, but that might have been because she’d been so upset with her parents that she hadn’t let them say much. Lea told her mother that she regretted leaving Seattle in such a huff and not calling. Her mother apologized, too.
“But what will you do about Xander?” her mother asked. “Will you hear him out?”
