Authors: Julie Ortolon
“I’m not upset,” she insisted automatically.
“Chloe.” Allison pressed fingertips to her temples. “Why do you always make this like pulling teeth?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, trying for blasé.
Allison dropped her hands and gave her a sympathetic look. “I know you’d rather not bother anyone when something is upsetting you, but honestly, it would be easier on me if you’d just tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry.” Guilt hit Chloe as she wondered if her efforts to spare her aunt actually achieved the opposite effect. Her shoulders sagged as she gave in. “You’re right, I am upset, but it’s not about Diane. It’s Luc.”
“Oh?” Allison looked confused. “I thought that was going great.”
“I did, too.” Chloe struggled to hold her emotions in. “I know he only arrived a couple days ago, but I’ve never felt this way about anyone. He seemed so different from any guy I’ve ever known. I thought I’d finally found someone I could trust. Now I don’t know what to think.”
“What happened?” Allison asked.
“All I can say is, Diane isn’t the only one who wants the necklace. Luc and I were walking on the beach, and I told him about finding it. Out of nowhere, he announces that it belongs to his grandmother and the whole reason he came here is to get it back.”
“What?” Allison’s eyes widened.
“According to him, Hurricane Katrina sucked the necklace out into the Gulf and Hurricane Ike dropped it on our beach three years later. How crazy is that?”
“I don’t know.” Allison shrugged. “I’ve heard of crazier things, especially when storms are involved.”
“Excuse me?” Chloe stared at her. “If it’s true, why didn’t he tell me about it when he first got here? Why would he wait until I brought it up?”
“I don’t know.” Allison’s brow furrowed. “Did he say why he waited?”
“He said he didn’t know how to tell me. How lame is that?” she asked. “All I can say is, good luck to him taking his story to the Historical Commission.”
“Does he have any proof?” Allison asked.
“He claims the necklace was the inspiration for some portal in the game he created years ago, and that anyone who compares the two will see that. He thinks that proves the necklace didn’t come from the shipwreck.”
“Have you compared them?”
“I haven’t had the chance,” Chloe insisted. “I’ve been too busy all morning.”
“You need to do that. Whatever the truth is, you need to know. Then we can talk about what you should do.”
“I know,” Chloe admitted in dread. “I’m just not sure which truth I’m hoping for.”
“Come on,” Allison said, motioning for Chloe to follow. “Let’s go to the office and look for this portal online.”
Seeing no choice, Chloe followed her aunt across the lobby to the office in the former parlor.
Aurora sat behind the desk that served as a check-in area for guests. She’d opened the windows along the curved wall, allowing the approaching storm to stir the gauzy curtains.
“Hey, guys.” Aurora glanced up with a smile. “What’s up?”
“Rory,” Allison said, “we need you to do an Internet search for a gaming company.” She turned to Chloe. “What’s it called?”
“Vortal,” Chloe said, taking a guess at the spelling.
“Okay.” Aurora keyed in the search term.
Allison moved behind her sister to watch the screen. Chloe couldn’t, though. She felt rooted in place. What if Luc had been telling the truth?
“Holy cow,” Aurora said, her eyes going wide. “That looks like the necklace Chloe found.”
Chloe’s heart clenched.
Allison lifted her eyes from the screen to look at her. “I think you need to see this.”
Chloe forced herself to walk around the desk and look. Filling the screen was an animated image of an ornate gold frame with sparkling gemstones embedded in the filigree vines and leaves. A colorful mist swirled within the frame, and beneath it in flowing script were the words,
Enter the World of Vortal Gaming
.
Other than the stones being multi-colored and the vines a bit more elaborate, it looked nearly identical to the pendant.
“No,” she moaned in denial. “It can’t be.”
“What’s going on?” Aurora asked, glancing between them.
“Chloe’s friend, Luc, claims the necklace she found on our beach actually belongs to his grandmother,” Allison told her.
“How can that be?” Aurora asked. When Allison explained, Aurora shrugged. “I’ve heard of stranger things.”
“That’s what I said,” Allison told her sister.
“No,” Chloe moaned. “The similarity is a coincidence. It has to be. My necklace was part of the shipwreck. It couldn’t have been in New Orleans when Katrina hit.”
Allison gave her a questioning look. “Why does it matter so much?”
“Because...” Chloe struggled for a way to explain. Frustrated, she moved to the window to look out toward the cove. Lightning flashed on the horizon while a cool breeze stirred the curtains.
“Chloe?” Allison said, coming up behind her.
“I thought it was a gift from Marguerite and Jack,” Chloe admitted, not turning to face her aunt. “But it wasn’t.”
“Why does that upset you?” Allison asked.
“I’m the only person who lives on this island who has never felt Marguerite and Jack. I thought it was because they didn’t want me here, but then I found the necklace. I was sure that meant they did accept me. Only I was wrong.”
“Of course they accept you.” Allison laid a hand on her shoulder. “If they didn’t, Jack would have been up to his tricks to push you away.”
“But why haven’t I ever felt them?” Chloe turned, pleading with her eyes.
“Actually, we have a theory about that,” Aurora said.
“You’ve discussed it?” Chloe asked, unnerved at the thought of them talking about her. “What?”
The sisters exchanged looks. Aurora gave a silent go-ahead signal, and Allison turned back to Chloe. “You don’t believe in them.”
“Of course I believe in them,” she protested. “I do.”
“You want to believe in them, but that’s not the same as actually believing. Until you believe in the kind of love that holds Marguerite and Jack on Pearl Island, you won’t truly believe in them.” When Chloe just frowned at her in confusion, Allison elaborated. “You don’t believe in love that’s strong enough for someone to sacrifice her own happiness for someone else. Marguerite made that sacrifice for her daughter while she was alive. Now, she seems to have transferred that protective instinct to all of us. Since she won’t leave, neither will Jack.”
Chloe bristled and wanted to deny it, but couldn’t. “Okay,” she said instead. “I admit, I find that hard to swallow. Yes, I know she supposedly stayed with Henri for her daughter’s sake, but honestly, how many women would sacrifice being with the man they desperately love because they think it’s best for their daughter?”
“I would,” Allison said.
“Me too,” Aurora added.
“Seriously?” Chloe looked at them in doubt. “Y’all would live in a horrible situation, apart from Scott and Chance, for the sake of your children?”
“I’m not saying I think Marguerite made the right choice,” Allison said. “I don’t think having her mother stay in an abusive relationship was best for Nicole. Marguerite should have taken her child and sailed off with Captain Kingsley, but I can understand how fear might have held her back. ”
“Fear of the unknown is a powerful thing,” Aurora added. “Jack never explained what her life would have been like with him—and I bet it would have been a lot more stable than she imagined. If he’d known how miserable her life was here, maybe he would have tried harder to convince her.”
“Maybe,” Chloe allowed. Then she made a gesture to the opulent mansion around them. “Unless Marguerite loved all this more than the idea of running off with a sea captain and having to scrape by.”
“Or,” Allison countered, “maybe the legend is true, and giving her daughter a stable life meant more to her than being with the man she loved.”
“I’m sorry.” Chloe shook her head. “I’m not buying it. Not all women have a mommy gene as strong as you two. I’m not sure there really are that many women who would sacrifice their own happiness for their children.”
“Chloe,” Allison said gently. “Not all women are your mother.”
“Oh God, my mother.” Chloe covered her eyes as that issue came flooding back. “What am I going to do about her?”
“I take it, then, you haven’t decided?” Allison asked.
“Actually, there’s nothing to decide.” Dropping her hands, Chloe released a breath. “I have to go.”
Even without the threat to her trust fund, she’d rather suffer through a few days with the family than allow Diane to bother Scott and Allison. Or worse, cause a fight between Scott and John with lawyers involved. The tension from something like that would spill over onto everyone on Pearl Island.
“All right.” Allison nodded, accepting her decision without argument. “If I can do anything to help, let me know.”
“Thank you.” Chloe’s throat grew tight.
“So, I guess,” Allison said, “the more immediate question is what are you going to do about Luc, since it looks like he was telling the truth.”
“I don’t know.” Chloe’s heart twisted with longing. “I still don’t understand why he waited so long to tell me about the necklace.”
“Maybe…” A smile turned up the corners of Allison’s mouth. “Having sparks ignite between you two the minute he arrived threw him off course.”
The words, undoubtedly meant to encourage, felt like a cold slap of truth.
“Oh my God, you’re right.” Chloe stared into space as the pieces fell together. “Of course, that’s why he waited. He thought once we did it, I’d go all soft and dreamy-eyed and agree to help him. That manipulative jerk!”
“What?” Allison’s eyes widened. “Chloe, that’s not what I meant.”
“But I’ll bet it’s true.” Chloe paced in agitation. “He was so clever, too, acting like he wanted to wait until we knew each other better. What faster way to seduce a woman than to convince her you want more than sex? Which is exactly why I’m normally more cautious about letting it be anything beyond that.”
“A little too cautious,” Aurora mumbled.
“Not cautious enough,” Chloe insisted. “Men know women are emotional creatures and they use that to control us. It happens all the time.”
“Not all men are like the ones your mother dates,” Allison said. “Maybe Luc got sidetracked because he really is interested in you.”
“Right.” A humorless laugh escaped her. “I’m so disgusted with myself right now. I can’t believe I let him suck me in like that. He made me think he was different, that I might have found what you two found with Scott and Chance.” Anger bubbled beneath the hurt. “Instead, the whole time, he misled me because he thought I’d go along with anything he wanted if I fell for him first.”
“Or because he honestly likes you,” Allison said. “Chloe, not all men are liars and users. Sometimes I love you means I love you.”
“Well, we didn’t go that far, thank goodness.”
“Could it have if not for this thing with the necklace?” Allison asked.
“I don’t know.” Chloe rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know what to think.”
Allison smoothed her hair in a motherly gesture that made Chloe’s heart ache. “You’ve had a rough morning. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? I’ll work the gift shop.”
“No. I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”
“But—”
“Maybe,” Allison said with a firm look, “I want to spend some time puttering around my own gift shop. Indulge me.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Positive.”
“All right.” Chloe wanted to turn into Allison for a hug, but checked the impulse. Disappointment lined Allison’s face, adding guilt to Chloe’s misery. Over the years, Allison had tried to make her more comfortable with shows of affection, but Chloe still felt clumsy about it. “Thank you,” she said, hoping to make amends. “For everything.”
Chapter 12
The wind picked up just as Chloe left the inn, headed for her cottage. The scent of rain made her stop and lift her head. The storm had yet to reach the island, but the turbulent weather suited her mood. Too restless to be closed up, alone with her thoughts, she took the path down to the pier and didn’t stop walking until she stood at the end. She stared at the clouds crawling toward the island like a giant, black beast with fangs of lightning. It filled the sky before her, approaching from the gulf, chewing up the blue skies still hovering over the mainland.
With the wind whipping her hair, she wondered if Allison and Aurora could be right. Maybe there was a reason—a good reason—why Luc hadn’t told her why he’d come. Maybe it had nothing to do with trying to manipulate her into helping him. Wrapping her arms about her waist, she longed to believe that. Longed for it in a way that made her chest grow tight.
She didn’t need the kind of legendary love Marguerite and Jack supposedly had. She wasn’t even sure that kind of love existed. What she wanted was something much simpler, but apparently just as hard to find: a trustworthy man who honestly cared for her. Yes, she wanted that.