“Yes, there is.” He walked with her to the bed and drew her down to sit. Moonlight played over their hands as he took hers. “I came to Cozumel for one reason. My feelings on that haven’t changed but other things have. When I first met you I thought you knew something, were hiding something. I linked everything about you to Jerry. It didn’t take long for me to see there was something else. I wanted to know about you, for myself.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s impossible not to care about you.” At her look of surprise, he smiled. “You project this image of pure self-sufficiency and still manage to look like a waif. Tonight, I purposely maneuvered you into talking about Faith and what had brought you here. When you told me I couldn’t handle it.”

She drew her hand from his. “That’s understandable. Most people have trouble handling unwed mothers.”

Anger bubbled as he grabbed her hand again. “Stop putting words in my mouth. You stood in the kitchen talking and I could see you, young, eager and trusting, being betrayed and hurt. I could see what it had done to you, how it had closed you off from things you wanted to do.”

“I told you I don’t have any regrets.”

“I know.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “I guess for a moment I needed to have them for you.”

“Jonas, do you think anyone’s life turns out the way they plan it as children?”

He laughed a little as he slipped an arm around her and drew her against him. Liz sat still a moment, unsure how to react to the casual show of affection. Then she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. “Jerry and I were going to be partners.”

“In what?”

“In anything.”

She touched the coin on the end of his chain. “He had one of these.”

“Our grandparents gave them to us when we were kids. They’re identical five-dollar gold pieces. Funny, I always wore mine heads up. Jerry wore his heads down.” He closed his fingers over the coin. “He stole his first car when we were sixteen.”

Her fingers crept up to his. “I’m sorry.”

“The thing was he didn’t need to—we had access to any car in the garage. He told me he just wanted to see if he could get away with it.”

“He didn’t make life easy for you.”

“No, he didn’t make life easy. Especially for himself. But he never did anything out of meanness. There were times I hated him, but I never stopped loving him.”

Liz drew closer. “Love hurts more than hate.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Liz, I don’t suppose you’ve ever talked to a lawyer about Faith.”

“Why should I?”

“Marcus has a responsibility, a financial responsibility at the least, to you and Faith.”