AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’d be happy to do that for you, but I must caution you that she’s probably only trying to extort more money.”
“What if she were your daughter left all alone in the world? She’s very young, and she’s going to have a baby. The woman needs help. I was thinking of offering her a job.”
There was a drawn out silence. “You make a compelling case, señora. Give me the man’s number.”
“Thank you, captain.” After she’d complied she said, “If Juanita comes to the phone, tell her I would like her to call me on my cell phone.” She gave him the number.
“I will do my best.”
“Thank you so much. You’re a good man.”
“No, señora. You are a good woman. I envy your husband.” With those kind words he rang off.
As she was hanging up, Ben came out the door of his office. Earlier at the hospital, the doctor had removed the dressings for good. No one except a few people who knew where to look would be able to tell he bore scars from his near-fatal accident.
Terri knew. His handsome face was all the more dear to her because of them.
His eyes looked around until he spied her at the desk. With the precision of a locked-on laser, he started toward her.
“Unlike most wives who would have taken advantage of the time to go shopping, mine is busy on the phone.”
She got up from the chair with a smile. “I was just taking care of a little, er, business.”
“Is that so.” He pressed a kiss to her astonished mouth, nodded to the receptionist, then swept Terri out of the room. The helicopter was waiting for them on the roof of the building.
During the flight back to the ship she gave Ben dozens of furtive glances while he patiently answered one call after another from his anxious co-workers. So many years of planning and preparation had gone into this incredible enterprise, she didn’t know how he managed to stay calm and self-assured.
Anyone else would have been a nervous wreck. Not her husband. He was born for moments like this. In fact she knew he thrived on them.
How she loved him! Every day of life since she’d met him was more exciting than the last. More than once she found herself touching her lips that still tingled from the brief contact with his.
It had happened so naturally, she could have been forgiven for thinking he hadn’t been able to help himself. But the receptionist’s presence made fiction of her wishful thinking.
Everyone in the company knew about their marriage. It was important for him to personify the ardent honeymooner in public for a few more days at least.
Last night if people could have seen them playing one intense round of Black Jack after another until they’d resorted to cheating to win, no one would have believed it.
Or the fact that she’d finally dragged herself off to bed in the guest bedroom after his painkillers had knocked him out.
It was a good thing she hadn’t had any expectations about her wedding night. But it still didn’t prevent her from sobbing her heart out for what was left of it after they’d played their last poker hand.
Deep in thought, she hadn’t realized how close they were to landing. Suddenly the helicopter dipped. She took one look out the window and cried her husband’s name as the ship’s heliport came up to meet them.
“It’s a sight I never get tired of,” he murmured.
At a height of twenty-three stories from the main deck, she could see the whole coast, the shipyard, the brilliant blue ocean, the pier bustling with a mass of humanity.
“It’s so incredible, I can’t believe anything’s real.” She turned to look at him. “To think you saw all this in your mind years ago. I’m married to my own Leonardo da Vinci.”
“Hardly,” he mocked. But as he continued to stare at her, his intelligent eyes gleamed with an inner light that penetrated to her soul. When the pilot told them they could deboard, she had no idea they’d touched down, or that the rotors had stopped whipping the air.
A few minutes later they were back in their condo foyer.
“Terri?” There was a certain quality in his voice she’d come to recognize.
She kept her eyes averted. “I know. You have to go. Don’t worry about me. I have my own agenda.”
“You think I’m not aware of that?” he teased.
