She’d thought she’d cried herself out, but her eyes filled again and she shook her head, embarrassed. “What the hell is wrong with me? I need a plumber.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Zach reached into the cupboard and pulled out two mugs. “You’re grieving, that’s all. It’s natural.”
“It’s been three years.”
“I don’t think there’s a time limit on these things and anyway, I bet you kept yourself so busy you barely had time to stop and breathe.”
“Maybe.” She blew her nose. “I was in Greece. I’d been home just the month before and she was fine. Then I had a call from Agnes Cooper in the middle of the night.” Her eyes filled again. “I wasn’t even here.”
He put the mugs down and sat down next to her. “You were living your life. That’s what she wanted.” He took her hand between his and she looked down, noticing the contrast between her slim fingers and his rough, calloused palm.
“You don’t think I’m going crazy?”
“What I think,” he said slowly, rubbing her palm with his thumb, “is that you loved a person enough that losing them left a big hole in your life. That’s going to hurt.”
“It does. I miss her so damn much.” She tugged her hand away from his, grabbed another tissue and blew her nose. “Sorry. Wow. This is attrac
tive. Hysterical woman drenches you. Great way to start your day.”
“I’ve known worse ways to start a day.” He stood up and made the coffee. “You shouldn’t have cleared the attic on your own.”
“That’s what Sky said.”
“So why did you?”
She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I guess I was being stubborn and pigheaded.”
He smiled and poured the coffee into the mugs with the same smooth economy of movement he showed in everything he did. Then he placed one on the table in front of her. “Drink.”
“Do you think I was wrong to read her diaries? I felt like an intruder. I keep thinking that if she’d wanted me to read them, she would have given them to me when she was alive.”
“Or maybe she wrote them, put them in the attic and forgot about them. When was the last entry?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t look.” She sipped the coffee gratefully. “I wish I’d asked her more about her past. It wasn’t really something we talked about. I never realized how hard she found it when she first came here. It was my grandfather who wanted to make a life here and she loved him so much, she agreed. From what I’ve read so far, it seemed as if all that mattered to her to begin with was being with him. She thought the rest would figure itself out. And then she fell in love.”
“She wasn’t in love when she married him?”
“I meant, she fell in love with the island. This place.” She warmed her hands on the mug and looked across the kitchen to the sun-filled garden. “They bought this place together.”
Zach stared at her for a long moment and then stood up. “Go and fetch a sweater.”
“Why? I’m not cold.”
“Not here, but you might be where we’re going.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you flying.”
“Flying?” Her head ached from crying and her heart felt like a lead weight in her chest. She hadn’t heard from him in days and she still hadn’t asked why he was here. “Why?”
“Because the weather is perfect and that’s as good a reason to be up in the air as any I can think of. Because you asked me what I love about flying and the simplest way to explain that is to show you. Better than sitting here digging yourself deeper into misery.”
Even though she knew it was dangerous to read anything into it, her spirits lifted. “Give me five minutes to wash off the dust.”
TWENTY MINUTES LATER they were at the airstrip.
“Do I sit up front with you?”