Me And Mr. I.T. (Kupid's Cove Book 2) (13 page)

“You don’t have to be ashamed of your past, Maltrand. We all have one.”

“I suppose,” he answered. “But mine is dark and complicated. After my parents died, I didn’t deal with it well. Actually, it started before my parents died. I was working for my dad in his boat shop fixing motors. I wanted a change, and decided I would go to college. My father was angry that I didn’t want to work in the family business any longer, and he shut me out. I had no home and no place to go, until my brother took me in. I lived with him the first year I was in college. When my parents died, my father and I had yet to make amends. I had a right to make my own decisions in life, but my father wouldn’t accept them. The first hit was when my brother wouldn’t work for him and then me. He had no one to carry on the business when he died, but he was the reason for that!”

He was agitated and I had to squeeze his hand a couple of times to calm him.

He blew out a breath and shook his head a little. “I’m sorry. I still get angry thinking about that part of my life. My father liked to drink and when he had too many, he liked to hit people, namely his family. I couldn’t take it anymore, Ellie. My brother had already washed his hands of my father, and I hated to do it, for my mom’s sake, but I was worried.”

“Worried? About your mom?” I asked, trying to keep the convoluted story straight in my concussed mind.

“I was worried for her, but no matter how much we tried to get her to leave, she wouldn’t. No, I was worried about my own life. We worked with plenty of sharp and pointy tools. If he ever went into a fit of rage in the marina, he could kill me easily. I didn’t want my life to end that way.”

I freed my hand from his and smoothed it over his cheek. “I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s ancient history, now.” He shrugged, still not making eye contact with me. “I moved out of my brother’s place after the plane crash and funerals. Suddenly, we didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things anymore either. Maybe it was because we were both grieving in our own way, but I decided I needed space. That’s when things spiraled out of control. I’m not proud of it, but I didn’t think things out and within a semester found myself on the street. I lived in the cab, homeless shelters, or the school library. I slept in the back of empty college lecture halls, and full lecture halls in the farthest back corner.”

“You weren’t kidding about overcoming obstacles. What happened when you met Gideon?”

“I was worried about Katie the day after I dropped them off at the ER. I’ll never forget what he told me as he ran into the hospital. He said, ‘That woman’s name is Katie and she’s going to be my wife.’ I had to know if she lived, so I went to the hospital and inquired about a patient named Katie who was brought in the day before.”

“But they wouldn’t tell you anything, right?”

He did half a lip tilt. “You nailed it, but I refused to give up. I started wandering the halls of the hospital floors hoping to run into Gideon. I think the security guards thought I belonged on the psyche ward, but lo and behold, I found Gideon in a lounge getting coffee. He looked like hell, but he remembered me. He told me Katie would be okay and then asked again if there was anything he could do to help me to repay my willingness to save his fiancée’s life. I told him that I wasn’t there for payment. I was worried about Katie and wanted to make sure she was okay.”

I smiled. “That was sweet of you. I’m starting to see why Katie has such a soft spot for you.”

He chuckled and kissed the knuckles of my hand. “You could say after that things improved for me. Gideon noticed how rundown I looked. He offered me a night to recharge in the hotel and a free dinner. I wanted to turn it down, but I couldn’t turn down a chance to shower and wash my clothes, and eat a real meal.”

“I bet it felt like heaven.” I smiled, my heart aching that he had to go through that.

“Oh, you have no idea. The next day there was a knock on my door at checkout time. I had stretched my time there down to the last second, but knew it was time to leave. When I opened the door, Gideon was standing there. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but Gideon needed me as much as I needed him. He offered me a job helping him get a new office set up at Kupid’s Arrow once the building transfer was complete. In the meantime, he asked me to help him sort through the mess that arrived in Hawaii after his office building burned down in Chicago. He offered me room and board and paid for my last semester of college. I feel like I owe them so much. That’s why I’m so angry about the thefts. Gideon is so giving and caring. If whoever this is needed help, Katie and Gideon would have helped them; they don’t have to steal.”

“We’ll find them, Maltrand. I promise,” I whispered.

“I’m afraid to lose what I have now. It’s the reason the old cab sits in the back of the hotel. It’s my ‘in case of emergency’ card.”

“Hey, you don’t have to worry about going back to that lifestyle now. You have a degree that you worked hard for, and a job that you’ve made your life. Everyone loves you, even if they do call you Mr. I.T.” I tried to wink, but failed miserably. “They call you that out of love. Every single one of us knows without you we’d be screwed, for lack of a better word.”

“I shouldn’t be so touchy about it, and I can admit it is cute, coming from your mouth.”

He leaned toward me and kissed my lips. His were warm and I wanted more, but the icepack slid off and crashed down on his nose, pulling us apart.

I laughed and picked it back up. “Oops, see the dangers of kissing an injured woman?”

He reached his hand out and ran his thumb over the brow of my right eye. “Your eye is open now. That’s good, the swelling is improving quickly.”

He stared intently at me and I put my hand up to cover it. “It’s open?” I felt around and noticed the eyelids now had some definition to them.

“You can’t tell that it’s open?” he asked, his head cocked to one side.

I sighed and put the icepack back on it, rolling onto my back. It was now or never. “I can’t tell that it’s open in the dark because I’m blind in that eye, Maltrand.”

“And that’s why you didn’t see the Frisbee coming at you.”

“Essentially.”

“So that contact isn’t to help you see better,” he deduced and I shook my head, embarrassment staining my cheeks. As I lay there, trying to hide the truth about me, I felt thankful the room was dark and he couldn’t see me well. “Why is your right eye different than your left? It looks like a cat’s eye.”

“I was born with it. I have two different color eyes and a portion of my iris on the right is missing, which is why I’m blind. The contact covers up the missing part of the iris, so I don’t scare people, and it blocks some of the light from the sun. My eye can’t filter bright lights, and even though I’m blind, it’s painful to be in direct sunlight without it. Plus, my eye waters and looks like I’m crying, which isn’t helpful when I’m on camera.”

He sat up and took the icepack off, rubbing his thumb over the brow again. “You don’t scare me. You’re beautiful and unique.” His finger trailed down my face where he traced the scar that runs from my top lip to my nose. “Childhood injury?”

“Something like that,” I agreed, to save the explanation. I could tell he didn’t believe me, but I could feel my eyelids falling closed the longer we talked.

They closed all the way, but I heard him say, “I will find out who the real Eliana Monroe is.”

Good luck with that, I thought. Even I don’t know the answer to that question.

Chapter Eleven

My list of employees who might be responsible for the theft had grown instead of shrunk. With over four hundred employees in each location, the task felt too daunting for my tired brain.

I rested my forehead in my hands for a moment and took a breath. Mr. I.T. would be back in a few minutes, ready for dinner. After spending most of the day in bed icing my eye, it felt better. However, being cooped up all day was the downside and I wanted to get out for some fresh air. Maybe I could convince him to have dinner outdoors. At least I can wear my sunglasses outside and not look odd. A walk on the beach would be nice, that is if no one is playing Frisbee.

I snorted and looked up, the computer was humming waiting for instructions from my not so willing fingers. A box popped up on the screen showing a Skype call coming in from Katie. I clicked accept and waited until her face filled the screen.

“Aloha, Ellie,” Katie said, waving with one hand. “Oh, honey, that must be painful.”

“Aloha, Katie,” I greeted her, leaning away from the computer camera a little. “It looks worse than it is. The swelling has gone down significantly and I can drink again without dribbling.”

She laughed a little, but she wore a frown. “I’m sorry that happened, Ellie. Send Gideon the bills for whatever portion the insurance doesn’t cover and he’ll pay it.”

“That’s not necessary, Katie.”

“This is workman’s comp, Ellie. We will pay whatever bills are left and any follow up appointments you have.”

“We weren’t even working,” I said, laughing a little. “We were walking on the beach after dinner. I turned around to go back to the hotel and that’s when the Frisbee hit me.”

“Let me put it to you another way then, Ellie. While you’re at the resort, working on this project for us, you’re always on the clock. Do you get me?”

I saluted the screen. “Yes, ma’am.”

She chuckled at my antics. “Good.”

“I wanted to call you last night, but it was too late when we got back. How did your appointment go?” I asked. I felt a little bad talking to her about it over the computer, but I didn’t know when I would get back to Maui.

She shrugged. “Not as good as we thought it would. She thought she heard a leaky valve, and finally decided one of the holes they closed last year was leaking. They took me to the cath lab and did another procedure. They put in a bigger occluder device to seal it off.”

“I’m sorry, Katie. I know you were hoping to get a clean bill of health.”

She smiled a little and shrugged again. “Hey, otherwise she gave me a clean bill of health. The pacemaker is keeping my heart normal size and in normal rhythm. That has never happened before in my entire life. Yesterday’s procedure was short and I’m already on my way to recovery. I only need a few more days of taking it easy, and then I can do whatever I would like.”

“That’s good to hear. I know it’s the last thing you wanted, but it’s amazing how quickly they can do something as important as fixing a heart now.”

“I’m grateful. I can remember open-heart surgery, and let me tell you, it’s not quick, pain-free or easy. I will be back to planning the party in a few days.”

“Don’t push yourself, Katie. I’m here and can get things done for you, all you have to do is ask.”

She blew me a kiss. “I know, but sometimes it’s nice to get away and have some time and peace to think.”

I cocked my head. “Are you coming over here? Let me know when you’re coming. Maltrand and I will move to a different room.”

“Nonsense. If I decide to come, I’ll get a small room for the night. Don’t worry about that.”

“If you’re sure, but if you change your mind, it’s not a big deal.”

She shook her head and looked away from the camera for a moment, as though someone else had interrupted her thoughts. Only I knew she was alone, so the only thing interrupting her thoughts were her own thoughts.

“Gideon told me about what you and he talked about. You know,” she said motioning toward the back of the room.

“I know,” I smiled, trying to leave it open if she wanted to talk about it or not.

“My cardiologist thinks it wouldn’t be smart to try to harvest eggs now that the hole is leaking again. She said we would have to wait another six months in order to start, and that’s if the hole heals over. She doesn’t want to stress my body while it’s healing.”

“That makes sense,” I agreed, unsure what she wanted me to say.

“Gideon doesn’t want me to do it all, ever. He said it’s not worth the risk.”

I tapped my pen on my thigh. “I don’t have as much information as you do, but from what he told me before your appointment I might agree with him.”

She nodded, her chin trembling a little. “I don’t want to risk it either. I know I’m not Superwoman. I know there’s a fine line between what my body can handle and what it can’t. But I don’t want to have a surrogate if the baby won’t be mine, too. Is that selfish?”

I leaned forward a little. “Why would that be selfish?”

“I don’t know. Listen, I shouldn’t bring this up now; you’ve got enough going on.”

“While that might be true, I’m still worried about you. Is Winifred there? Maybe you need a girl’s day.”

“She’s here, but it’s hard to talk to her about this.” She shrugged again as an answer and I frowned.

“Would you like to talk about it with me? I have no opinions or judgments about it. If anything, I can probably relate to it better than anyone.”

She bit her lip and nodded, her chin trembling. “I have to talk to someone about it and after Gideon told me about your syndrome, I feel like you’d understand.”

I tried to smile reassuringly even though she was breaking my heart. “Did Gideon give you the card I sent with him?”

“He did, but I don’t want to talk about this with a stranger. When I talk to Gideon, he wants to fix it, but he can’t. When I talk to Winifred, she can’t relate when she’s holding a baby in her arms. That only makes it harder. Maybe I’m just whining.”

I chuckled a little, even though my heart was heavy. “You’re not whining. These are some big life choices, and I can’t help you make them, but I can listen and at the very least commiserate with you about the challenges we face. If you think that would help, I’ll come home tomorrow.”

She smiled a watery smile. “It can wait a few more days. You’re already injured and I have some lab work to do this weekend. If I’m feeling okay I’ll have Gideon bring me over on Monday, if you’re still there.”

I nodded. “We’ll still be here. The conference rooms won’t be ready until this weekend and I’m barely getting started on my work. When you get here, we’ll go visit some of the sponsors for your event. I also have an idea I’m fleshing out. When you get here I’ll tell you about it.”

That seemed to perk her up. “Oh, I’m curious now!”

“Good, something for you to look forward to. I’ll keep you and Gideon abreast of things here. Rest and let me know if you need anything done for the event. I’ll work it in, okay?”

“I should say the same to you, but I know you won’t rest. Thanks for always making me feel better, Ellie, even when no one else can.”

I winked and blew her a kiss promising to stay in close touch. I closed out the window and picked up my phone, dialing a familiar number.

“Aloha, Ellie. How are you feeling?”

“Aloha, Gideon. I’m doing fine. I’ve been working through the social media profiles, and I have to say, I’m not sure it’s going to find us our thief quickly. With the privacy settings that are available now, I can’t even look at a majority of the pages because I’m not their friend.”

“That’s a problem I didn’t think of, but then I’m not on Facebook. That’s your thing.”

I laughed, shaking my head a little. “Then trust me when I say it’s going to be a long way around to solving the problem.”

“What do you suggest then?” he asked, his tone of voice telling me he was exhausted.

“I was wondering how you would feel about bringing Leilani in on this. She’s here all the time; she knows all the employees better than I do, and I’ve vetted her. She has no skeletons in her closet.” He was silent for a few minutes too long, so I sighed, resigned. “It was just a suggestion. I’ll keep going through the profiles and talking with people. Hopefully, something will spark and I can run with it.”

He chuckled. “I wasn’t hesitating because of your suggestion. I was hesitating because I haven’t told anyone this, but it might as well be you, since you’re going to have to help me market her.”

“Market her?” I asked completely confused.

“I’ve been vetting Leilani behind the scenes for the last six weeks to take over the general manager position of Orchid Reef. Sending you over there had multiple purposes and one was to get your gut feeling on Lei and the kind of job she is doing for the hotel.”

“Holy wow, you seriously just took me by surprise, boss.”

“I know she’s young, but she has a degree in hotel management and she’s an amazing fireball of positivity. She deserves the job when Marcus takes his leave.”

“When is that?” I asked, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper to take notes.

“He’s leaving at the end of the month, after the charity event. I’m not concerned about training Lei for the job. She’s been doing most of it anyway, since Marcus has had his hands full with the business center renovation. What do you think about the idea?”

“I don’t even have to think about it. Lei would be a fantastic general manager because she cares about the hotel, and the guests, but more importantly, her co-workers. You should have seen her when I got hurt last night. She was calm and collected, but you could see how frantic she really felt, in her eyes. She stayed on top of things until Maltrand got me home, and then made sure we had everything we needed. She had already worked the day shift, but went back and finished the rest of the night shift because someone called in sick. You’re not going to find anyone more dedicated than she is to this hotel.”

“Great, then the decision has been made. I’ll fly over in a few days once Katie is feeling better and offer the job to Lei. In the meantime, you can fill her in on what’s happening, just don’t tell her about the GM position.”

“I would like to say I can hold off on talking to her, but I think she could save me a lot of time on these employee profiles. I won’t say anything about the GM position, though. Once you’re here, we can all sit down and discuss what’s happening and what the plan is moving forward. That said, I just got off Skype with Katie.” He sighed and it sounded exactly like I felt. “She’s not in a good place, boss.”

“Yeah,” he said on an exhale. “She’s a mess and I don’t know how to fix it for her.”

“Funny you should say that. She said when she talks to you about it, you try to fix it, but it’s not something you can fix.”

“I can’t make heads or tails of that.” I could hear the frustration in his voice, even though it was sad at the same time.

I turned and set the computer on the couch then propped my feet up on the coffee table. “And you will never be able to, because she’s broken and no one can fix her.”

I heard something heavy hit wood, and I suspected it was his fist. “She’s not broken! I hope to hell you didn’t tell her that!”

I waited until he finished his outburst before I answered. “Of course I didn’t tell her that, Gideon. Let me ask you a question. How would you feel if you had known all your life you couldn’t have children, but this gorgeous woman came along who could, and there was no way for you to give her a child of her own? A child who would be the best of both of you. Her beautiful eyes and your handsome smile? Her beautiful singing voice and your mind for business?”

He was silent on the line for almost a minute. I traced the pattern on the brocade material of the couch while he considered the question. “I guess I would feel broken and helpless to give her the one thing she wanted most.”

“If she told you repeatedly that she would be happy adopting would you believe her?”

“Probably not.”

“If she suggested she use a sperm donor and had a baby that was only hers genetically would you be happy?”

“In a way I would be. It would allow her to have a baby, but it would be hard looking at the child and knowing someone else fathered it.”

“Are you starting to see why this isn’t a situation that can be looked at as fixable?”

He sighed loudly again before he spoke. “When you put it like that, I can. There are plenty of ways to bring children into our lives, but it’s not about any of that. It’s about her perceived failure as a woman.”

“And he gets the gold, ladies and gentleman,” I said doing some hush cheering from my end.

“I feel like a heel for not looking at it that way. As a businessman when faced with a problem, I find a solution, end of story. That works with business deals, but not in matters of the heart.”

I shook my head a little bit and slid my hand down my leg. “Did you talk about her inability to have kids before you got married?” I held my hand up, even though he couldn’t see it. “Forget I asked that. It’s none of my business.”

He chuckled. “Since you’re already heavily in this business, I don’t mind answering. We talked about it, and she said she would be happy getting a surrogate to have our baby. She said she still had eggs and even though it would cost a lot more, we could do it.”