Page 30 of Vacation with the Ice Queen

Tomasi came to stand beside her, his feet planted in the wet sand with the sureness of someone who had known these shores for decades.

"You've been quiet tonight," he observed. "Not like you."

Lila shrugged. "Just tired. It’s been a busy day."

"Ah." Tomasi nodded, gazing out at the horizon. "The new guest, the one with silver in her hair. She's keeping you busy?"

"How did you—" Lila stopped herself. "Never mind. Small island."

Tomasi chuckled. "I was trimming the hibiscus near the east point this morning and saw you both at Whisper Cove." His eyes, still sharp despite his seventy-plus years, held gentle understanding. "She carries much weight for someone so slim."

The simple observation struck Lila with its accuracy. "Yes. She does."

"And you want to help carry it." It wasn't a question.

Lila dug her toes deeper into the sand, anchoring herself. "It's my job to help."

"There's helping, and then there's taking on." Tomasi’s voice carried the easy wisdom of experience. "The first heals both people. The second wounds both people."

"You sound like Marcus," Lila said, though without irritation. "He thinks I have a type."

"Smart friend," Tomasi said with a nod. "Though I wouldn't say it's a type so much as a pattern."

"What's the difference?"

"A type is about who they are. A pattern is about who you are." He picked up a shell from the water's edge, turning it in his palm. "Why do you think you're drawn to people who hold themselves apart?"

The question caught Lila off guard. "I'm not... I mean, I don't specifically..."

"It's okay," Tomasi said gently. "You don't have to answer an old man prying into your business."

Lila sighed, staring at the moonlit water. "Maybe because I know what it's like to be seen as one thing on the surface while feeling something completely different underneath."

The admission surprised her as soon as it left her lips. She hadn't consciously formed the thought until this moment.

Tomasi nodded, accepting her words without judgment. "The helpers often know the pain they try to heal in others."

"I'm not in pain," Lila said quickly.

"Now, maybe not," Tomasi agreed. "But we carry the imprints of old wounds, even after they've healed. Like this." He held up the shell, its surface smooth except for a single crack that had mended over time. "Beautiful not despite the break, but partially because of it."

He pressed the shell into her palm, closing her fingers around it. "Just remember, genuine healing happens with, not for. You walk beside, not carry."

With that pearl of wisdom delivered, Tomasi turned and walked back toward the dying fire, leaving Lila alone with the shell and her thoughts.

She opened her hand, examining the shell in the moonlight. Its pearlescent surface gleamed with subtle blues and pinks, the healed crack visible only when she turned it just so. Imperfect yet whole, stronger at the mended place.

Was that why she felt drawn to Serena? Some unconscious recognition of similar fractures beneath different surfaces?

The thought was unsettling in its plausibility. Her attraction—and yes, she could admit it was attraction, at least to herself—might have less to do with Serena specifically and more to do with patterns woven into her own history.

Sophie's face flashed in her memory. She was brilliant, passionate, and ultimately unable to give what Lila needed. Always taking, rarely returning. The relationship had left Lila feeling hollow, emptied by giving without receiving.

Was she unconsciously seeking to replay that dynamic with Serena? The thought was troubling enough to make her close her fingers tightly around the shell.

The tide had begun to turn, water rising around her ankles. Lila stepped back from the advancing waves, tucking the shell into her pocket as she made her way back toward the staff quarters.

Tomorrow would bring another session with Serena, another opportunity to navigate the complex current between them. Professional boundaries would remain firmly in place, Lila resolved. She would be present, compassionate, and completely focused on her client's needs, not her own fascination.

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