“I can’t argue with that. So you picked this up in the kitchen when you worked at the hotel?”

“That’s right. We’d take a meal there. The cook would show me how much of this and how much of that. He was very kind,” Liz remembered. “A lot of people were kind.”

He wanted to know everything—the small details, the feelings, the memories. Because he did, he knew he had to probe with care. “How long did you work there?”

“Two years. I lost count of how many beds I made.”

“Then you started your own business?”

“Then I started the dive shop.” She took a thin cracker and broke it in two. “It was a gamble, but it was the right one.”

“How did you handle it?” He waited until she looked over at him. “With your daughter?”

She withdrew. He could hear it in her voice. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I wonder about you.” He kept the tone light, knowing she’d never respond to pressure. “Not many women could have managed all you’ve managed. You were alone, pregnant, making a living.”

“Does that seem so unusual?” It made her smile to think of it. “There are only so many choices, aren’t there?”

“A great many people would have made a different one.”

With a nod, she accepted. “A different one wouldn’t have been right for me.” She sipped her wine as she let her mind drift back. “I was frightened. Quite a bit at first, but less and less as time went on. People were very good to me. It might have been different if I hadn’t been lucky. I went into labor when I was cleaning room 328.” Her eyes warmed as if she’d just seen something lovely. “I remember holding this stack of towels in my hand and thinking, ‘Oh God, this is it, and I’ve only done half my rooms.’” She laughed and went back to her meal. Jonas’s bowl sat cooling.

“You worked the day your baby was born?”

“Of course. I was healthy.”

“I know men who take the day off if they need a tooth filled.”

She laughed again and passed him the crackers. “Maybe women take things more in stride.”

Only some women, he thought. Only a few exceptional women. “And afterward?”

“Afterward I was lucky again. A woman I worked with knew Señora Alderez. When Faith was born, her youngest had just turned five. She took care of Faith during the day, so I was able to go right back to work.”

The cracker crumbled in his hand. “It must have been difficult for you.”

“The only hard part was leaving my baby every morning, but the señora was wonderful to Faith and to me. That’s how I found this house. Anyway, one thing led to another. I started the dive shop.”