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‘Ah. I get it.’

* * *

Javier stared at her averted profile. She’d had a perfectly good reason for accepting money from him. Made sense to the part of him that was coolly, analytically logical.

He’d wanted a favour. Why shouldn’t she be compensated for agreeing?

But there had been a deeper reason and in a strange way that deeper reason seemed far more in keeping with her personality.

Carlos was lucky.

Javier’s jaw clenched as he accepted the reality of having no one close to him with whom he could ever share anything of a personal nature.

There were a few people he trusted but he’d never really opened up to anyone in his life before.

He’d been handed responsibilities at the age of fifteen and had tailored his personality to meet the demands that had fallen on his shoulders.

He relied on no one. He’d lost the two people he’d loved most deeply when his parents had died. His vivacious, fun-loving mother and his genial, grounded, supportive father. He had dealt with his grief alone. When he’d been told the direction his life would have to take during those final days with his father, he had quickly realised that the only thing he would ever need in order to deal with the task in hand was strength.

Love, trust and vulnerability were weaknesses that would never serve him well. Loving left you open to pain. These were the lessons he had learned at too young an age to question them.

He frowned and wondered why these thoughts were surfacing yet again. Usually he wasn’t introspective in the slightest

‘It’s a shame we can’t see anything because it’s dark,’ Hope said, wistfully. ‘If Carlos isn’t there, I guess we won’t be seeing much when it’s light either.’

‘But it means you’ll be back all the sooner to start your Christmas shopping.’

‘You’re a better listener than I thought you were going to be,’ she said suddenly.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I’ll be honest. When I first met you, the impression you left on me wasn’t great.’

‘Really? I would never have guessed. I’m thinking my brother did a comprehensive job at painting me as the bad guy.’

‘Not so much bad as perhaps cold, tough, maybe even unsympathetic. And when you waltzed into my workshop with your threats…’

‘I sincerely thought we’d already covered that angle,’ Javier said, interrupting her flow.

Hope ignored the interruption.

‘As I was saying, when you waltzed into my workshop you seemed to live down to everything I expected. But right now, I’d say you’ve listened and you’ve surprised me.’

‘Well, I’ll take the compliment that’s buried in there somewhere.’

‘But what I don’t get is how you can listen to me and yet, from everything I’ve gathered…’

‘Carlos has always been very sensitive,’ Javier said brusquely. ‘When he was a child that was fine. But life’s not kind when it comes to sensitive guys and Carlos needed to be made of sterner stuff. Running the family business takes a lot more than brains. The truth is, I’ve been diversifying quite a bit over the past few years. Branching out into my own areas of expertise. It’ll fall on Carlos to take over the bulk of the company once he graduates and heads back to Spain. It takes grit. It’s being able to make tough choices and put in the hard work until you think you’re going to drop.’

‘And you like that sort of life?’

‘It’s not a question of liking or not liking it.’

* * *

Hope could sense the conversation was closed. She thought of Carlos entering the world of cutthroat business and shuddered. Javier was right. Carlos was sensitive and that sensitivity, combined with a lingering hero-worship for his older brother, had led him to agreeing to major life decisions without putting up enough of a fight. One such decision had him to studying a degree in a subject in which he had no interest.

She turned away, lost in her thoughts for a moment. The scenery swept past, the mountains eventually disappearing behind them to be replaced by the dark, still ocean on the right.