“This trip,” he began, “…it feels so…so… complete, like things are in balance again. I’m not sure if I’m making any sense here.”
Sunny tightened the grip on his hand.
“It makes sense, Liam. I think I understand what you’re trying to say.”
“The last time I remember feeling this way, was when…” he continued, but then trailed off.
His voice was thick with emotion, and Sunny squeezed his hand further in silent reassurance. He was thinking about Kate, she reasoned. About his previous life. About the girls. About all the adventures they had shared. His eyes betrayed a heady mix of emotions. Guilt. Apprehension. Fear. Hope. It was hard to discern exactly what he was thinking and feeling.
“Stay with me, Sunny,” he rasped. “However this crazy journey ends, don’t go.”
He sounded almost afraid at the prospect of her leaving. Of having to face more loss. More emptiness.
She just sat close to him, hand in hand, watching the huge blazing Sun rise over the horizon. She had no plans to go anywhere.
Liam
The Caribbean sun had barely set on their idyllic getaway when reality came crashing down like a rogue wave. It was their last night on the island, and the girls were sound asleep after another exhausting day of excursions.
“Liam, you need to see this,” Sunny said, her voice grave as she handed him her phone.
They were seated in the large living room, furnished with dual white leather couches, dark mahogany furniture, and huge glass double doors that offered a breathtaking view of the beach beyond.
Squinting at the screen, Liam felt his stomach drop and his blood run cold.
Fuck.
Splashed across the gossip websiteLimeLightwas a photo of him and Sunny on the beach, his arm casually slung around her waist as they strolled along the shoreline. The headline screamed: “Hockey Hunk’s Hot Time With Nanny!”
The image was slightly grainy, obviously taken with a long lens.
“What the hell?” he muttered, scrolling through the article as his face flushed with anger and shame. There were more intimate photos — them standing on the balcony, him tenderly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as they gazed up at the stars.
Liam gripped the phone tighter, his knuckleswhitening.
The article speculated about their relationship, insinuating he was rebounding from his wife’s death with the much younger nanny. Worse, it included a photo of Kate from happier times, her brilliant smile forever frozen. His heart lurched as he looked at her — with guilt, with shame, with foreboding.
“How did they get these pictures?” Sunny whispered, staring wide-eyed, like a rabbit caught in headlights.
Liam shook his head, his jaw clenched.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
His first thought was Morgan. His prickly sister had made no secret of her disdain for Sunny, viewing her as a gold-digging ‘interloper.’ That was her word.
Liam had informed his parents of the holiday plan. Had his mom or dad let it slip to Morgan? Could she have tipped off the press as a twisted act of revenge?
Rubbing his temples, he felt the familiar tendrils of grief intertwine with rising panic as he continued to stare at the image of his dead wife. He recalled telling Morgan that Kate would want him to be happy. But not like this. Not in the sordid public glare. Kate would never have wanted this. She would be devastated to see her memory dragged through the mud for cheap clicks. Even more so for the girls — his precious daughters — who had already suffered so much. Liam imagined the ridicule they would face in the playground when they returned to school.
How could he protect them from this spectacle? Was it even possible at this point?
“I’m so sorry, Liam,” Sunny murmured, momentarily pulling him from his spiral of worry. “I never wanted to cause you more pain. But it seems that’s all I do.”
Her eyes were awash with tears, and her lower lip trembled as she hugged herself.
In that moment, she looked impossibly small and fragile, a stark contrast to her usual bubbly radiance.
Liam’s throat tightened at the sight of her distress. Despite the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside him, the familiar urge to comfort her took hold.
