A Stirring from Salem (6 page)

“You sure you have everything?” Abby asked.

Charley was now dressed in a pair of white cotton OMG drawstring pants, a soft-as-velvet cream-colored tee, and white leather slip-ons with an ivory cashmere pashmina draped over her shoulders.

“If I don’t, I’m screwed,” Charley laughed. “The game farms are not the place to fill in your wardrobe.”

The upbeat atmosphere in Jackson’s flat was palpable. It had been a while since the Gaines siblings had had such a diversion. Both Jackson and Chance had been stunned when the world branded them as pariahs. There had been a time when the Donald Trumps of the world could go bankrupt twice and still reign supreme. The celebrity cache meant something. But the times they were a-changin’. There were now so many unemployed financial gurus and attorneys who had tanked in the global recession that the job market was flooded with more than capable and less than astronomically expensive talent.

The Gaines brothers were hanging on by the proverbial thread.

“Are you bringing your Hasselblad?” Chance asked.

“I am a very lowly assistant on this shoot, and all I’m looking for is a credit,” Charley reminded her savvy brother. “I’m bringing lightweight summer clothes, mosquito repellent, malaria tablets, and a positive attitude.”

“It’s why we love you,” Jackson added.

The buzzer rang from downstairs, and Jackson answered.

“The car is here for Ms. Gaines,” the disembodied voice told him.

“Oh, Lord, wish me luck,” Charley gasped.

She slipped out of her loafers, tipped her toes into white OMG sheepskin-lined boots, and then shrugged into a camel, triple-ply, cashmere, hooded floor-length coat. It would be nearly one hundred degrees in South Africa, but it was still nearly freezing in London.

***

Charley was accustomed to being around international celebrities from Brad Pitt to Prince William and was never rattled. But sitting this close to Vince Castle? They were barely into the Knightsbridge traffic when her hands started to shake.

“You okay?” He smiled.

“Just—cold,” she lied.

“Tomorrow afternoon you may be wishing you were.” He smiled again.

“I hear it’s spectacular down there. It’s the one place my mother was dying to go…before she died.” Charley looked away as the reality washed over her. “Sorry, this happens to me from time to time.”

“My mother died when I was ten,” Vince told her. “I get it.”

“I’m sorry,” Charley said.

“Time’s a pretty good healer,” Vince said warmly as he put his hand on hers in a gentle, comforting manner. “Keeping busy helps, too.”

“I guess that’s one reason I jumped at this job,” she admitted.

“And I thought it was my charming smile that seduced you.”

You do have a charming smile, she thought.

“But don’t let it fool you,” he added. “Once we’re on the clock, I’ll make the most savage lions around us look like kittens.”

“I get that,” she nodded.

“Your job, should you wish to accept it, and you already did, is to anticipate my every move.”

Is that his hand on mine? she realized. But before she could react, he pulled it away.

“I really do get it,” she said with a smile. “From making sure your alarm is set to your phone being charged to the position of your bounce light, should you need it.”

“Nice,” he said, smiling. “I knew you were the right girl for the job.”

“About the job,” she asked cautiously. “I have absolutely no details about it. But you know that, I guess.”

Vince reached into a Louis Vuitton duffel at his feet and pulled out a two-inch-thick binder labeled “The Look.”

Charley started to open it, but he stopped her.

“You’ll have plenty of time on the plane to go over the details,” he reminded her. “Eleven hours to Johannesburg.”

“If anyone understands budgets and scheduling, I do,” Charley assured him. After all, she had been at her mother’s side at every OMG fashion shoot since she was a toddler.

She slipped the binder into the oversized OMG lambskin handbag that held all of her essentials, next to a book wrapped with a simple ribbon. Vince noticed the book.

“Not sure you’ll have time for heavy reading material,” he said, smiling.

“It was a Christmas gift,” Charley offered and then hesitated. “Long story.”

The moment was broken as the driver hit the brakes to avoid running into an unruly pair of tourists who had stumbled into the street. The tires screeched as Vince’s arm immediately blocked Charley from being thrown forward into the back of the front seat.

“Thanks,” Charley gasped.

“We’ve got precious cargo here, mate,” Vince called to the driver. “Let’s get there in one piece.”

Lion, kitten, or viper? Charley wondered, as she glanced at the man who could change her career in a heartbeat.

Then she caught herself.
Viper? Where did that image come from? Why would I think that?

Marlena sat at the desk in the master bedroom and hung up her iPhone. She’d spent three glorious hours speaking to her children, who were scattered around the world. Being in Lausanne, Switzerland, Marlena was anywhere from two hours to seven hours ahead of them, and the time difference could be a bit disconcerting. She wished she could talk to her friends in Salem, too, but it was late, late night in the United States, so she would have to wait until late afternoon to connect with anyone.

She sat back and looked around the empty room. John had been predictably absent since his offer to surprise her with an adventure. Knowing John, that could mean anything from a romantic dinner in the vineyards to an impromptu visit to the devastatingly beautiful Greek island of Santorini. If being confined to bed for nearly two years had done anything for her husband, it had been to ignite his already white-hot passion for the unpredictable.

Then, as she cradled her chin in her hands, she noticed something that didn’t please her.

“Is that for us?” she asked.

It was a helicopter. And it was headed straight for Maison du Noir.

“Don’t be pissed at me, Doc,” she heard from the ceiling-high doorway behind her.

She turned and there was John, dressed and ready to go.

“A helicopter from door to ski lift?” she asked with an arched look.

Her voice was drowned out as the A-Star B2 chopper whirred past the enormous window and landed on an open pad next to the vineyard.

“Would I do that to you?” John grinned.

It was the same sexy, funny, Cheshire cat grin that he knew melted her the minute he used it.

“As long as
you’re
happy,” she answered. And the truth was that she meant it. John had been through such torture in his life that the least she could do was let him enjoy this freedom.

“Just let me pack,” she said, smiling. “I assume you have the ski gear arranged.”

“The chopper’s packed with everything we need,” he dodged. “Top to tail.”

“Let me get my makeup and—”

He cut her off. “I said everything, and I meant everything. No need to get anything but your beautiful butt out the door.”

“The new toothpaste…?”

John rolled his eyes.

“My eye mask…”

John took her hand and guided her out of the room.

“Sunscreen! The glare on my skin from the snow is—”

“Am I going to have to cover you with kisses to get you to
ferme
that
bouche
?” he laughed.

“Would that be so bad…” She giggled coyly.

“There’ll be plenty of time for that on the plane,” he answered. “Now move it, Sister!”

“Yes, sir!” Marlena smiled as she finally got into the spirit of things.

Wait a minute, did he say “plane”? she asked herself as they headed down the winding staircase.

***

The flight in the state-of-the-art helicopter was as smooth as the whipped cream on the Irish Coffees John and Marlena sipped as they flew over Lake Geneva.

Marlena couldn’t resist dipping her finger into the white froth, dabbing it on the tip of John’s nose, and then kissing it off.

John returned the gesture in kind.

Though being passionate was a bit awkward while wearing the headphones required in the helicopter, they were in sync and connected perfectly. This trip was starting off well for both of them.

“I think this is my favorite time of the day,” Marlena sighed as she looked out the window.

The sun was just setting, creating streaks of vibrant coral and peach across the deep blue of the winter sky. The vistas in front of them were dazzling. “I love seeing the lights flickering on as families are settling in for the evening,” she continued.

“We’ll be seeing that all the way to the Geneva airport,” John offered pointedly.

“You did say ‘plane,’ didn’t you,” she confirmed as she looked him square in the eye.

“When?” He shrugged as though he had no idea what she meant.

“Where are we skiing?” Marlena asked.

“We’ll be landing in five minutes,” the pilot interrupted through their headsets.

“Does it really matter as long as we’re together?” John answered.

Marlena was getting more curious by the second.

The helicopter set down at the private jet terminal of the Geneva airport, next to a Gulfstream V superjet.

“John?” was all Marlena could say.

“Nice, huh?” was all he answered.

As they boarded the plane, Marlena’s mind was spinning.

“Who are we traveling with?” she asked. It was a logical question since the “GV,” one of the fastest private jets in the world, could hold eighteen passengers.

“It’s just you and me,” he smiled.

“John…” she gasped.

“You’ve already said that,” he countered.

A strikingly handsome, uniformed flight attendant appeared from the back galley holding a silver tray with Dom Pérignon Rosé, strawberries, and crème fraîche.

“Doctor Evans, Mr. Black.” The tanned thirty-year-old Norwegian smiled.

“You can call us Marlena and John,” John said as he took the champagne flutes from the tray.

“Randy,” the attendant said, smiling. “We’ll be ready to take off in about fifteen minutes. Let me know if you need anything, anything at all. We’re fully stocked according to your requests, and I’m at your beck and call.”

“Thanks,” John answered.

“I have a question,” Marlena said as she took her glass from John. “How long is our flight time?”

“Approximately eleven hours.” Randy smiled as he put the silver tray on the linen-covered table that had been set up mid-cabin. “Cheers.”

Marlena stared at the husband she adored and who, since his recovery, was especially full of surprises.

“Eleven hours…?”

“I knew you were worried about Bill Horton. So I thought maybe you’d want to see in person.” John smiled warmly.

Marlena was thunderstruck. And speechless.

“Amazing what you can arrange with a few phone calls these days,” he added.

“Do Patch and Kayla even know?” she asked with a hint of trepidation.

“Everyone who needs to know does,” he answered. “And they asked us to stay with them, but I thought being in the house with a two-year-old wasn’t really the kind of vacation we needed. I was able to snag a suite at a game farm called the Royal Londolani.”

“Oh, my,” Marlena gasped.

“Not far from them and the clinic, from what I hear.”

“It’s gorgeous. It opened just before I went down there to volunteer.”

“Nothing but the best for my lady,” he said, smiling.

“Have I told you how much I adore you?” Marlena asked as she stared into John’s clear blue eyes.

“You can always show me after we take off,” he answered. Those same blue eyes were lit with the passion he’d felt for her since the day he’d met her more than twenty-five years earlier. “I made sure this jet has very private berths.”

***

When the plane reached cruising altitude, John refilled the two flutes of champagne and returned to Marlena on the couch.

“You do think of everything,” she cooed as she slid her legs underneath herself, took a sip, and snuggled into John.

“Only the best for my girl,” John replied, “and that includes the very best of me, too.”

Effortlessly, John set aside his drink and pulled the love of his life onto his lap.

“Let me know if this is one of my best.” He grinned slyly and slid his probing tongue into her mouth.

She gasped as John worked his way down her neck with his tongue while he undid the buttons of her blouse and then slid his hand inside to cup her breast.

Her ragged breathing was joined by a groan as John’s fingers fondled her.

“I treasure every moment with you, Doc,” John breathed. “And making love to you is one of my greatest joys.”

“I adore you, John Black,” she answered coyly, aware that the flight attendant could appear any moment. “I always have.”

She put aside her intoxicating bubbly and slid off John’s lap. Then, taking his hand, she led him to that very private berth.

She pushed the call button and Randy appeared.

“Don’t worry about us for the rest of the night,” she smiled, her eyes sparkling.

“You know where to find me if you need me.”

Randy slid the partition closed, and Marlena turned to her admiring husband.

Slowly, she began to peel off the rest of her clothes before returning to kneel at his feet.

Piece by piece, she helped him remove his shirt, slacks, and Calvins, kissing every bit of newly exposed flesh as she did.

“Of all the places we’ve made love,” Marlena acknowledged, “our private times on your plane are some of the most memorable.”

John pulled Marlena onto himself on the bed and kissed her with an intensity to match the animal prowess they would soon witness in the Timbavati.

Her fingers were on his chest as John’s hands worked themselves into Marlena’s hair, tipping her head back slowly to expose her luscious neck. Their bodies joined and began to writhe, first slowly and then with increasing rhythm, as they soared together across the sky.