by Marion Myles
“What is the nature of your relationship with Rebecca Diaz?”
“It’s a personal relationship,” he said smiling. “A deeply personal relationship.”
“Can you tell us more about this mystery woman?”
“Well, she’s brave and tough. Before this trip she used to really like chocolate.”
“It sounds like you saved her life when she fell. I guess that makes you a hero?”
“No way. If anyone’s a hero, it’s Rebecca. She’s saved my life more than once. I owe her everything. She’s a very special woman, and I’m so lucky to have her in my life.”
Rebecca’s heart swelled. Talk about romantic.
The questions went on and on, mostly about her relationship with Liam. Once that well had gone dry, they moved into other areas of his life including music.
“Are you ready to go back out on tour?”
“We’ll see. I have to meet with the guys and decide what’s next. Don’t worry. You’ll be the first to know.”
She didn’t like the sound of that and hoped he was just saying it for show. No way could he handle a big tour right now. Jack stepped up beside Liam and took the microphone.
“That’s all we have time for right now. Thank you for coming. Don’t forget, Dangerous Intent will be out in theatres later this year. It’s a great movie. You’re all going to love it.”
When evening rolled around, and her stomach started to make noises about food, Rebecca ordered a pizza. She munched contentedly and thought about the next day. She and Liam still had an awful lot to figure out, but she couldn’t wait to dive in and get started.
Life had been so strange. A few months ago, she’d been grieving and in financial ruin on that flight home from New York when fate had literally plucked her up and turned her in an entirely different direction.
She couldn’t help but wonder if the plane crash had been fate’s way of ensuring she fell in love with Liam because—without that experience, she’d never have seen through to the real man inside. She took another bite of pizza and shook her head at the thought. Surely fate didn’t work like that. Crashing planes into mountains seemed pretty drastic, after all.
Outside, darkness fell over the city and soon a nurse came in to check her vitals. She tried to stay awake for Liam’s return…wanting to talk about the press conference and hear everything from his side. Her eyelids refused to cooperate, getting heavier with each passing moment. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.
The phone jolted her awake. Heart hammering, desperately trying to orient herself, she remembered she was in the hospital. On the table beside Liam’s empty bed, the phone continued ringing. She hobbled across and snatched it up.
“Hello.”
“Becks, it’s me.” Music blared in the background, and she had to strain to hear what Liam was saying. “I have to tell you something bad. Please don’t be mad, okay?”
Her heart, beginning to settle after the abrupt awakening, picked up the pace again. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt. We’re at a club. Me and Ben and Lars.”
Now her blood froze, and skitters of electricity raced across her skin. Outside, the sky was inky black, and the city lights shone brilliantly against the darkness. Exhaling, she closed her eyes.
“Have you been drinking?”
“Yeah, that’s what I had to tell you. I’m sorry, baby. I’m not sure what happened, but we were having fun, and they had a live band earlier. Somehow I had a Jack and Coke in my hand, and I drank the whole thing and then another. I’ve had a lot of them. I’m really wasted.”
He giggled. Her fear transformed into red hot rage
“You need to leave right now,” she said, working to keep her voice neutral. “Come back to the hospital, and we’ll get you home to LA and figure this out.”
“Sure thing. We’re going to one more club first, and then I’ll come back. Don’t worry. I know how to fix this. I have a plan. You’ll be really proud of me. I promise. Please don’t hate me. You can’t hate me because I love you. You’re everything to me. You know that, right, Becks?” His words slurred together as he rambled on.
“I don’t hate you,” she said wearily. “But you need to come back right now.”
“Okay. I’ll come home.”
Rebecca sat watching the sky lighten along the horizon, and eventually an anemic sun peeked out briefly below the clouds before disappearing behind a wall of grey. Rain spit against the window, and she checked the time again. Almost seven a.m.
She dialed Jack’s number. When he answered, she launched in without so much as a hello.
“Liam’s been out drinking all night, and now he’s not answering his phone.”
“Shit,” Jack said. “Okay. Give me a minute here, and I’ll start tracking him down. Don’t worry, Rebecca. He’s probably still with Lars and Ben. And if he’s not, I’ll find him. Just sit tight.”
It was more than an hour before Jack called back. An hour during which she’d raged and wept and questioned her sanity for letting herself fall in love with an addict. But the fact was she did love him. Even right now when she partially hated him.
“I’m with Liam,” Jack said. “We’re at the Four Seasons, and he’s in rough shape. I think it’d be best if I give him a couple of hours to regroup.”
“I’d like to talk to him.”
She heard a muffled conversation before Jack’s voice came back on the line. “He’s not up for talking right now. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.”
“Do you think we’ll still be flying home today?”
“I’m not sure, but knowing Liam, he’ll be good to go sooner than you might expect. Try not to worry.”
She made a scoffing sound in her throat. “Yeah. Like that’ll work.” Pausing, she worked to steady her breath. “Jack, we have to get him into rehab. I think it’s the only way. Even then I’m terrified he’ll never beat this.”
The tears flowed again, and she swiped at them furiously.
“Hey, I’ve seen harder cases than Liam turn themselves around. And with you in his life, he has a really great reason to get sober. I’ll stay in touch.”
She hung up and lay back in the bed, using the sheet to dry her face.
It’ll never work if I’m the only reason he’s trying to get sober. So that means we’ll never work. Oh God, I think I’m going to have to let him go.
It was nearly dark before Jack brought Liam back to the hospital. Liam’s eyes were bloodshot and a day’s worth of light brown stubble showed on ghostly pale skin. He kept his gaze on the floor. When Rebecca asked how he was feeling, he answered, “I’m okay,” in a soft, hesitant voice.
Jack backed out of the room. “I’ll give you two a minute alone. If you still want to fly to LA, the plane’s ready to go whenever you get there.”
He shut the door, and Rebecca took in a deep, steadying breath.
“You must be seriously mad,” Liam said. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not mad, but I am upset and really scared.”
“I’m scared too. I thought I’d be fine. When we were on the mountain and I’d made it through the worst of the detox, staying sober was unbelievably easy. I felt so strong. So invincible, you know?”
“No addict is invincible. That’s why we need to build you an excellent support system and…” She paused, hoping he’d lift his eyes. When he didn’t, she continued on anyway. “I think we should book you into rehab. We can fly straight there. You can’t do this without help. And you need to know…if you don’t go to rehab…I won’t stay with you. I hate making it an ultimatum because it isn’t good for your recovery, but there it is. I love you, but I can’t be with someone who isn’t sober.”
His head lifted at last and his eyes locked on to hers. “I’m not going to rehab,” he said.
She swallowed and looked away, nodding. “Okay. Well, I guess there’s nothing left to talk about.” When a sob threatened to erupt, she paused and swallowed again. “Look
s like this is goodbye. I’ll get myself back to LA in the morning.”
“I have a better idea than rehab. Please hear me out.”
He walked over, pulling a chair along with him, and sat beside her bed. She couldn’t look at him. Not when her heart was breaking. Not when her whole world was crumbling around her.
“Rebecca. I love you. You know that. And I’m ashamed of what happened last night. Ashamed of myself and the man I’ve been for the past ten years. All the stuff I did? The things you saw while you were working for me? God, I wish I could take everything back because just thinking about it makes me want to throw up.”
Her eyes fixed on where her hand twisted in the sheet. The way he was talking was making this so very much harder.
“What’s your big plan?” she asked impatiently.
“Look at me, Becks. I have something to ask you.”
When she finally met his gaze, he slid the chair back and lowered down on one knee. Her heart stuttered when he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, square jewelry box. He opened the lid. Inside was an emerald cut diamond, probably the biggest diamond she’d ever seen, set on a platinum band.
Without thinking, before she even realized what she was doing, her hand struck his cheek. Then she did it again and again. He didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. His eyes stayed intent on hers.
“You bastard. How dare you do this to me.”
“Wait. Let me speak. Rebecca Diaz, I want to marry you. And next year, on this exact date, I’m going to propose to you…with this ring, unless you want something different. During the three hundred and sixty-five days between now and then, I will be sober.”
“But…it’s not that easy…you know it isn’t. Last night was the first time you left the hospital, and your sobriety lasted less than three hours.”
“That’s why I’m in the process of buying an island off the coast of Belize. Jack’s got the lawyers starting the paperwork. I’m going to move there for the next year. I’ll live on the island, make music, and focus on staying sober. After that, I’ll see.”
Deep in her heart, a spark of hope bloomed strong and true.
“You’re planning to cut yourself off from the world exactly the same as after the plane crash,” she said slowly.
“Except in a luxurious house surrounded by the Caribbean Sea where the average year-round temperature is in the mid-seventies. We can swim from our personal beach to a coral reef.” He paused and, setting the ring box on the bed beside her, shifted back to the chair. “I hope like hell you’ll agree to come with me, but either way, that’s where I’ll be.”
“You want me to move to an island for a year?” she asked incredulously.
“What I want is for us to be together. Always.”
“And you need the island,” she said.
“Yes. I do. But I also need you. So much. Please say you’ll come.”
Reaching out, she grasped his hand and pulled him onto the bed. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Epilogue
Rebecca stood barefoot on the beach and watched the sun rise over the Caribbean Sea. The air was warm and the breeze silky soft against her skin. Raising her arms straight above her head, she inhaled, then swooped down until her hands touched the tops of her feet. She lifted halfway, pausing for a breath and once again reaching toward the sky before finally bringing her palms together in front of her chest in the prayer position.
Several hundred feet out, Liam’s head bobbed above the water. He swam steadily toward the shore, his arms slicing through the waves, strong and sure. That was how she thought of him now, strong and sure. And at peace.
The peace had been hard won during the past year. For both of them. Liam had sunk into a heavy depression during the second month on the island, and Rebecca had tried to support him as well as deal with the intense physical therapy on her ankle and shoulder along with adjusting to her new life shuttered away from the world.
By the third month with Liam, thankfully still sober, but so lost in his own darkness he struggled to even get out of bed every day, Rebecca found a psychologist who specialized in addiction and arranged to have him to come to the island two to three times a week. Liam at first resisted the sessions then gradually admitted they might be somewhat worthwhile before enthusiastically embracing Dr. Hernandez and throwing himself into the therapy.
Rebecca, still shell-shocked after everything that had happened since her mother’s death, decided some therapy couldn’t hurt and also began seeing the good doctor once a week. It was an eye-opening experience, and with Dr. Hernandez’s help, she was finally able to come to terms with the emotional wounds inflicted on her during a childhood spent with an alcoholic parent.
Liam started working on his music again. At first, mainly just wandering around with a guitar, but gradually equipment was flown in, and he rigged up a studio in one of the spare bedrooms on the other side of the house. With Jack’s help, he found some session musicians who agreed to the no drugs, no alcohol rule and they came out to the house and stayed for a week or two at a time to work with him.
Dr. Hernandez began pushing Liam to leave the island. The first time, so terrified he might lose control, Liam couldn’t bring himself to get off the boat. Rebecca sat holding his hand and reassuring him it would get easier. And slowly but surely it did.
They went for short walks through the village, visited a farmer’s market one morning, got haircuts, and finally, enjoyed lunch at one of the hotels. Each excursion gained Liam confidence in himself and his recovery until one night he was able to do a solo trip and pick up several items Rebecca needed for dinner.
When Siobhan came to visit, Liam insisted they take her to a fancy restaurant in Belize City. Throughout the night, he was relaxed and sure of himself. He told Rebecca later while they lay together in bed, he’d only briefly yearned for a drink and pushing through the temptation hadn’t been as hard as he feared.
After that, they made a point of having a date night once a week at a nice restaurant. It was only then that Rebecca finally started to see the darkness disappear from Liam’s eyes.
The last few months had been absolute and utter bliss. They swam in the sea every morning before going their separate ways for several hours—Liam to the studio and Rebecca to either a medical clinic on the mainland where she volunteered her time or to sink into studying her textbooks. Afternoons were devoted to body and soul sessions, as Liam called the time spent in the gym or with Dr. Hernandez. Food preparation was a joint venture and most nights they ate on the rooftop patio overlooking the sea.
Rebecca had never had such a strong and meaningful connection with another human being as the one she now shared with Liam. They’d worked through the darkest and lowest moments, bared their souls to one another, and she could no longer imagine a single day without him. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t alone.
And Liam had discovered a newfound joy in simply being alive in his body on planet Earth. Each day seemed like a precious gift with Rebecca being the biggest prize of all. He could tell her anything and loved nothing better than to lie with her draped over his chest while they talked into the night. He, who had always sought excitement and the next big high, marveled that he could simply be with Rebecca and feel completely and wildly happy.
Now, when he reached the beach and saw her standing there in tree pose, so slim and strong and breathtakingly beautiful, he voiced a prayer of thanks to the heavens for sending him an angel.
“Good swim?” she asked.
“The best.”
Reaching out, he grasped her hand and pulled her against him, kissing her long and hard. Mine, he thought. And I’m yours, forever and ever.
That night, she dressed in a soft blue silk dress that dipped low in the back and flowed around her legs. It had been bought especially for the occasion. She’d curled her hair and left it down in long, loose waves. On her way inside from the garden, Rebecca picked a lily and pinned the flower behind her ear.
Slipping an arm around her shoulder, he led her to the edge of the patio overlooking the sea and turned her to face him.
“Three hundred and sixty-five days ago, I made you a promise,” he said, “the biggest promise of my life so far. I told you I’d stay sober. I’ve worked hard every single day to keep my word.”
“You’ve been magnificent,” she said, blinking back tears. “I’ve never seen anyone fight so hard.”
Liam took her hand, bent, and kissed her knuckles. “You know I never would have made it without your support. I owe you my life…again…I owe you everything.”
Her breath sobbed out. “Same,” she managed.
“So now, Rebecca Diaz, I stand before you sober and clear-eyed and ready to make you another promise. A bigger and better promise. Not only will I continue with my sobriety, but I’ll protect you, support you, nurture you, and love you to the best of my ability from this moment until my dying breath. All my worldly possessions…my body, my soul…they’re yours now. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
He slipped a hand into the front pocket of his pants and brought out a ring, the same stunning emerald cut diamond ring from the hospital room in Seattle during that awful morning she’d thought everything was lost.
Rebecca stared up at him. He was incredibly tanned after a year on the island, and the regular workouts and clean eating had chiseled his body to perfection. Sometimes she couldn’t believe she’d ended up with a man who looked like Adonis, had the heart of a lion, and the soul of a poet.
Bowing her head, she untucked the medallion she’d hidden behind her bra strap and removed the chain from around her neck.
“For the past year, I’ve watched you fight like a gladiator to beat your addictions. Some of the days, seeing you suffering, it was brutal, but every time you clawed your way through and came out the other side that much stronger. I feel privileged to have been part of your journey.”
