The waitress came back and gracefully delivered their drinks.
Daniel felt his eyes widening at Lorelei’s comment. “You feel that way too? I always look at the DD Studios sign and wonder if I’m in some extended dream where I’m only imagining my success.” He scratched his jaw. “I’m not sure it will ever truly sink in that I’ve achieved this huge level of success. And that I’m so incredibly blessed as to be able to do what I love each and every day.”
Lorelei nodded. “That’s definitely something we have in common.”
Daniel leaned in and whispered, “We can beat this, right? I think it’s a matter of us both feeling as if we deserve it. Sometimes it’s hard to believe we deserve good things.”
She swept strands of hair from her face and smiled. “I agree.” She raised her glass of sangria. “Let’s make a toast, Daniel. To embracing success!”
Daniel raised his glass and clinked with her own. “To embracing success in all areas of our lives!”
By the time their entrees arrived, Daniel and Lorelei had settled into a lively conversation. He had told her funny stories about growing up in Pelican Bay as part of a large, bustling family. Daniel loved being able to make her laugh. She wore the look of joy well. It added to her beauty, which didn’t seem possible to Daniel since she was already stunning.
After indulging in Tiramisu for dessert, accompanied by cups of cappuccino, both Lorelei and Daniel decided a walk on the marina would be beneficial to work off some off the calories they had consumed. The night air was cool, which was a welcome relief from the summer heat. As they walked side by side in perfect sync, their convivial conversation ensued.
Daniel continued to tell her stories about growing up as part of the large Donahue brood.
“I love hearing your childhood stories. I grew up as an only child, which isn’t fair really. I don’t have a lot of funny stories to tell.” Her voice softened. “Having siblings would have been a dream come true. I used to pretend all the time when I was little that I had a twin sister named Ruby. I could tell her anything. She knew all of my secrets.”
“Ruby, huh? I guess you were pretty lonely to invent a twin sister.”
“A bit,” she said with a shrug. “Now that I’ve said it out loud, Ruby sounds really creepy, but as a kid it was comforting.” Her expression was a bit sheepish at the admission.
“I remember hearing that it’s a sign of creativity,” he said with a grin. “Does your family
live in the area?”
“My mother lives in Boca Raton and my Dad is a world traveler of sorts. He’s never really put down roots.” A sad expression passed over her face. “My parents divorced when I was ten. I really didn’t grow up with a family. Not like you did.”
“That must have been hard. My own parents are separated and it’s been tough emotionally on all of us,” he admitted. “I can’t imagine how hard it would be as a kid.”
Lorelei took a deep breath. “It was really difficult. I overheard them one day fighting about who I was going to live with, and to this day, it haunts me.” She looked away from him, focusing instead on the ocean.
“That’s not uncommon for parents to want the child to live with them.”
Lorelei let out a brittle sounding laugh. “You don’t understand. They were fighting because neither of them wanted me. They were going back and forth arguing about who would take me. I guess I was an inconvenience. Neither one wanted to take responsibility for me.”
Daniel let out a shocked sound. He couldn’t imagine parents feeling that way, nor could he conceive of them not wanting Lorelei. What kind of people did something like that? It must have been devastating for Lorelei to have grown up with the knowledge that she hadn’t been wanted.
Lorelei shuddered. He reached out and clasped her hand in his. It wasn’t like him to make a gesture like that, but Lorelei brought it out in him. He wanted to comfort her. The memories she was dredging up were clearly painful and he hated to see her struggle. No doubt the experiences with her parents had shaped her life and deeply affected her. It made Daniel sad to see how emotional it was for Lorelei.
She locked eyes with him and there was moisture pooling in the green depths of her eyes.
“They ended up sending me to boarding school in Connecticut, which was a nightmare in its own right.”
Daniel frowned. “You didn’t like it?”
“Not even a little bit. I didn’t fit in, and because I was tall and rail thin, the other girls made fun of me. They called me all kinds of names. For a long time, I had a really poor self-image thanks to that bullying. Thankfully I found a really great friend my second year there. Bethany. She stuck up for me and taught me how to stand on my own feet and fight back against the bullies. We’ve been best friends ever since. She works for me now as my assistant.”
“It’s great to have a best friend. I grew up with seven best friends, so I consider myself truly fortunate. I’m not sure how I would have waded through my childhood without them.”
Lorelei’s expression changed to one of surprise. “I remember Micah talking about his big family, but I didn’t realize there were so many of you.”
Daniel let loose with a throaty chuckle. He was used to this reaction from most people. “Eight was a handful for my parents, but they did it with a large measure of faith and an equal portion of love. They’re my heroes.”
“There should be more heroes like them in this world. It’s so sad to see young kids idolize reality stars who do nothing but flaunt their wealth and document every moment of their lives for the camera.”
“Well said,” Daniel responded. He couldn’t have said it better himself. It bugged him how the most idiotic people were put on pedestals. “I do a lot of volunteer work with at-risk kids and it’s really important to steer them toward positive role models and people in the community who are actually doing worthwhile things.”