Cadence sat in the boat across from Liam. She was wearing her freshly washed and dried clothes, courtesy of her host. She hadn’t expected for him to be so warm and welcoming to her. She wasn’t sure what she expected.
Finding out that Willie was dead was an unexpected turn of events. She hadn’t been prepared for that, and wasn’t quite sure how she felt. Sure, she and her father had been estranged at the time of his death, but Cadence had loved him very much. She had many wonderful memories of her adoptive father, and she had thought of him often.
The journey to Dragon Isle wouldn’t take long, so Cadence tried to relax. Liam didn’t seem to be much of a talker on the journey, but he occasionally pointed out things he thought were interesting.
“You really love it here, don’t you?” She asked after awhile. “Living near the dragons, I mean.”
“It has its perks,” Liam agreed.
“But you want more from life?” She asked, trying to get him to open up to her. Cadence wasn’t sure what made her so curious about Liam. He was attractive, to be sure, and kind. She liked him instantly, and she could tell exactly why her father had hired him.
He had a good heart.
That was something that wasn’t easy to find in the world. Most people seemed to look out for themselves. Everyone was always in a rush and always trying to get ahead, but Liam didn’t seem to be that way.
“I live a lonely life,” he said after a long hesitation. “And being a caretaker is often difficult. Much of my job involves the dragons, but there’s more to it than that.”
“You have to keep the humans away.”
“In part, but I also handle all of the shipments to the island, arrange transportation at all hours of the night, keep Emerson up to date on safety concerns, and pay close attention to the weather. It’s my job to make sure the entire island stays safe while in transit.”
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Cadence offered.
“Yes,” Liam said. “It is.”
He fell silent and she tried not to stare, but she couldn’t help looking at him. His face was narrow and he had a strong jaw, but despite his handsome features, Liam looked very tired. She wondered just how lonely his job had become.
Did he have time for love?
Did he have time for friendship?
Did Liam have anyone he could talk to about his experiences?
Cadence had learned long ago that sometimes, the best thing you could do to work through a problem was to talk to someone. It didn’t have to be a very deep or in-depth talk, and it didn’t have to be scary, but talking with someone could help you come to realizations you might not have otherwise had.
She was quiet, and she waited.
Patience.
She needed to show this human patience.
She needed to show him that she was grateful for what he was doing, but that she was different from the other dragons he’d known. She wasn’t sure if they’d taken him for granted, but she certainly wouldn’t.
How could she?
He had saved her.
“What are you going to ask her?” Liam said after awhile.
“Why she gave me up,” Cadence said. “For starters.”
“She’s a good woman,” he said again.
“I didn’t say she wasn’t.” Cadence wanted to know what the woman had been thinking. How had she been able to give up her child? Her baby? How had she been able to give up her baby, knowing it meant her child might never know her?
Cadence didn’t understand. She hoped talking with her birth mother would give her some answers. She wasn’t about to get any sort of closure. She knew that. Chances were that the woman wouldn’t want to talk to her. She hadn’t for all of these years, after all, yet somehow, Cadence held onto hope.
She held onto the hope that everything was going to be okay.
She held onto the hope that her world would be fine.
She held onto the hope that no matter what happened, she would power through.
Cadence was brave.
She could do this.
“Adoption is a tricky business,” Liam said.
“You speak from experience?”
“I know dragons who have adopted,” he said. “They raised a human girl on Dragon Isle.”
“Seems a bit unusual.”
“She’s an incredible person,” Liam said. “But life hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes, it’s normal to wonder where you came from. Discovering your roots, well, there’s nothing wrong with that. As long as you remember it doesn’t change who you are now, that’s all that matters.”
“I guess part of me still feels betrayed. I wish my parents had actually told me they adopted me. I suppose my dad wanted to. It sounds like he wanted to, but my mother wouldn’t let him.”
“Parents are strange,” Liam shook his head. “They always want to protect us. They always want to give us this idealistic worldview. I know they’re worried we’ll be hurt, but it seems like it would make more sense to prepare us for that, you know?”
“Are you close with your parents?”
“My parents are dead.”
“Oh,” Cadence looked away.
“I’m sorry,” Liam shook his head. “I said that more directly than I should have. Dragon thing, I suppose.”
“You’re not a…?”
“No, I’m not a dragon. Human through-and-through,” he laughed. “But I spend so much time around them, it’s easy to see I’ve picked up on some of their less palatable habits.”
“Like being direct.”
“Exactly.”
She looked out at the water as they moved swiftly toward the island. They were getting closer, and it was becoming clearer now.
“My parents were in a car accident, along with my little brother,” Liam said. “They all passed away.”
“I’m sorry,” Cadence said sadly. “That must have been terrible.”
“I was lonely, and broken after that. My sister and I were left behind, and we both dealt with it in different ways. She poured herself into her schoolwork and her job, but I didn’t really know what to do.”
Liam gazed at Dragon Isle like it was a beacon of hope, and a small smile crossed his lips.
“Willie helped me. He took me, a bedraggled, crazy, silly kid and showed me that I had a future.”
“Willie was good that way,” Cadence smiled.
“Willie was the best,” Liam agreed.
He continued until they reached the docks at Dragon Isle, and when they stopped, he helped Cadence out of the boat. Liam nodded to a man who appeared to be guarding the docks. She wasn’t really sure.
“Do you have to pay him to leave your boat here?” She asked, feeling stupid.
“Not me,” Liam said. “One of the perks of the job.”
He led her down a little road that seemed to go straight to the heart of town.
“This is incredible,” she said, looking around. Beautiful buildings filled the little village. She saw a restaurant and a bunch of little shops. Some of them had second-floor living units and there were even some freestanding houses.
“There’s nowhere like it in the world.”
“All right,” Liam said, looking at the restaurant. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Why don’t we get some food, and then we’ll go find your mother?”