Waylen sighs and says, “I just wanted to enjoy this while I can. I’m leaving on a business trip this afternoon.”
“When will you be back?” Leilani asks.
“It’ll be at least five days,” he says.
“Oh,” she says, frowning. She knows it’s silly, but she hates to think about him leaving for five days. She feels lonely, just imagining it.
“Wait for me,” he says, kissing her quickly on the forehead. “I’m going to surprise you when I come back.”
“Are you sure you mean a surprise and not a shock?” she asks.
“I promise, it’ll be good,” he says.
“Okay, I’m looking forward to it,” she says. She pushes him gently and adds, “Get up, and I’ll help you pack.”
Leilani slides out from the warmth of the sheets and gets her robe from the bathroom floor. She ties it tightly around her waist and walks upstairs to Waylen’s dressing room. She trails her fingers down the row of neatly pressed suits. Finally, she pauses on a dark blue one. The color will look nice with his eyes, she thinks.
She pulls the suit from the rack and prepares to take it out to Waylen, but something small hits the floor and rolls away under the clothing rack. Leilani wonders if a button has fallen from the suit. She gets down on her hands and knees and starts to look. Her eyes widen with surprise, and she gasps in shock.
Leilani closes her hand around the Meyer family ring. She can’t believe it was in Waylen’s closet. He promised her he’d give it back to the Meyer family, but he must have lied. If he lied about something as small as the ring, what else has he lied to me about? She wonders.
The green diamond gleams in the dim light, and she feels an intense wave of guilt: there’s a small chip in the surface of the diamond that wasn’t there before. She drops back down to her hands and knees and looks for the missing piece, but it’s impossible to find on the gray marble floor. Soon, she hears footsteps and jumps to her feet. She hides the ring in her pocket and pretends to examine the collar of a blue shirt.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Bamford, I just wanted to let you know that lunch is ready,” a maid says.
“I’ll be right down,” Leilani says. “I just have to finish packing.”
She rushes around the closet, choosing shirts, ties, and suits. She neatly folds them and places them in a leather suitcase and walks downstairs. The ring feels heavy in her pocket, and she can’t shake the feeling that Waylen will find out she has it.
She finds Waylen in the bathroom. He’s standing in front of the mirror, and thick white foam covers his jaw and cheeks. The electric razor loudly buzzes as he glides it over his face. She fights the urge to laugh—he looks a bit like Santa Claus.
“Do you need my help?” she asks.
“I’d be honored,” he says, winking at her in the mirror.
He sits down and presses his lips together, and Leilani takes the razor. She watched the salesgirl in the supermarket, but she’s never shaved a man’s face before. She bites her lip and lightly presses the razor to his cheek, slowly sliding it downward.
He’d be really handsome with a beard, she thinks. It’d make him look more masculine and rugged. Maybe someday I’ll ask him to grow one for me. The thought makes her smile.
“What are you smiling about?” Waylen asks.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she says, smiling even wider.
Leilani continues shaving, slowly scraping the razor down his face. His skin is smooth and clean beneath the foam, and she strokes his cheek with her fingertip. Waylen smiles and wipes some of the foam onto his finger. He flicked it onto her face and then grabs her wrist, painting the foam up her arm to her elbow.
“Stop fooling around,” Leilani says.
She pulls her arm away, but he reaches for her hair. She jerked backward, and the razor slips in her hand, cutting his cheek. Blood drips from the cut and turns the white foam a strange pink. Tears well up in her eyes, and she swallows hard.
“See, now I’ve cut you,” Leilani says, fighting back the tears.
“It’s okay,” Waylen says. He wraps his arm around her waist and gently strokes her back. “You look like you’re in more pain than I am.”
“I’m not,” she snaps. “I’m just upset because you won’t sit still. If you keep moving, I might cut your whole chin off.”
She wipes her eyes and looks at the small cut on his cheek. Why am I so nervous today? She wonders. Everything is making me jumpy—first, I broke the ring and now this. Is it because he’s leaving?
“What do I do now?” she asks Waylen.
“Keep shaving,” he says.
“Aren’t you afraid I might make it worse?” she asks.
“No, it’s fine, just don’t shave that part again,” he says.
Waylen gently places his large palm over the back of her hand. He moves his arm, guiding the razor over his face. When he finishes, he lifts her hand from his face, kisses her wrist, and lets her go. She grabs a white towel and wipes the foam from his face, careful not to rub the small cut.
“Please don’t go anywhere while I’m gone,” Waylen says. “Stay safe at home if you can. If you have to go somewhere, take bodyguards.”
“Okay,” Leilani agrees.
He stands and traces the outline of her lips with his pinky. He smiles crookedly, tugs a shirt on, and takes her hand to lead her to the dining room. He pulls out a chair and immediately sits down, pulling her onto his lap. She snuggles into his arms and lets him feed her the Caesar salad. She finishes eating, but she still feels a horrible emptiness inside when she thinks about the next five days.
When they finish eating, he walks with her to the front door. Robert holds Waylen’s suitcase, and the Bamford family helicopter waits on the front lawn to take them to the family’s hangar. The gorse flower on the side of the helicopter glitters in the sun.
The blades begin to spin, and Leilani’s dress wh.i.p.s around her knees. She throws her hands down to her thighs to hold it in place, and Waylen smiles. He leans in and kisses her lightly on the lips, climbs into the helicopter, and shuts the door. Leilani stands on the lawn and watches the helicopter turn into a speck in the cloudless, blue sky. Standing alone on the lawn, she feels small and abandoned.
“Mrs. Bamford, Ms. Johnson is here to see you,” a servant says.
Sophie is waiting for her in the front parlor. The French windows are wide open, and the fresh spring air blows into the room. Sophie leaps to her feet and gives Leilani a warm hug, and Leilani feels overwhelmingly grateful for her mother’s friend. They sit on the sofa, and Leilani calls for tea.
“I’m so sorry,” Leilani says. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with Bryan, but I haven’t been able to reach him.”
“It’s okay—I know he’s a free spirit,” Sophie says with a small sigh. “If he really is my son, I’ve already waited more than twenty years to know him. I suppose I can wait a little longer. Besides, I’m hoping you’ll hear from him soon. Until then, I have to stay in town for some unexpected business.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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