''I Do''...Take Two! (9 page)

“Tommy did get a little upset when I told him Mrs. Wells would need surgery,” she admitted. “He seems okay now. Travis is supervising his bath at the moment. Then we thought we might tune in to a movie on the kids' channel, if that's all right?”

“Fine with me. My guess is he'll dragoon you into watching
Frozen
. He's only seen it fifteen or twenty times. Letty—Mrs. Wells—threatened to quit if she had to watch it again.”

“I can't speak for Travis, but it'll be the first time for me. So don't worry, okay? Stay with Letty as long as she needs you. We're fine here. And we'll be glad to watch Tommy for you tomorrow,” she added, “so you can be at the hospital during the surgery.”

“You better check with your husband on that,” Ellis said ruefully. “I got the impression he'd planned a romantic interlude with you in Venice. I doubt those plans included riding herd on my lively offspring.”

“We're nothing if not flexible,” Kate tossed back.

She smiled to herself, thinking how this whole Italian experience had already taken more unexpected turns and twists than she could have imagined.

“And I have reinforcements coming if they're needed. The two friends I'm traveling with called a few minutes ago. They're staying at Carlo's villa in Tuscany but decided to take the train over to Venice for the weekend if I can get them a room at our hotel.”

“If not, they could stay there at the Gritti.”

Kate glanced around the magnificent suite and didn't even
want
to think how much it must cost a night. “The Gritti might be a little out of their price range.”

“No, they would be my guests. Letty's suite is just down the hall from ours,” Ellis explained. “Whenever we travel, I always make sure she has her own sanctuary to retreat to in the evenings. She needs one,” he said drily, “after a day with Tommy. I'm going to bring whatever she needs to the hospital in the morning. Then I'll have the hotel staff pack the rest of her things for the flight home. So her suite will be empty. Your friends are welcome to use it this weekend, or longer if they like. It's booked for the duration of our stay.”

“That's very generous.”

“It's the least I can do after dragooning you into service.”

“Let me check with our hotel first. If they don't have anything, we may take you up on that offer.”

Or, Kate thought, if the room rate at the Palazzo Alleghri was as exorbitant as she suspected, despite Travis's assurances they were getting a break.

“Whatever works,” Ellis said. “I should be back in a couple of hours. I'm just waiting on the surgeon. He's on his way in to discuss tomorrow's procedure with me.”

Of course he was. Mere mortals didn't see their surgeons until moments before the anesthetist slapped a mask over their face. Mrs. Wells and her employer obviously occupied a different universe.

“And Kate...?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. I won't forget this.”

“I'm just glad we can help.”

She hung up, reflecting yet again on the remarkable acquaintances Travis had made during his stint in Italy. They might not all wear the same uniform, but they sure seemed to have grown as tight as any band of brothers.

A call to the Palazzo Alleghri confirmed that they did indeed have another suite available. And they would be most happy to let Maggiore Westbrook's friends have it at the discounted rate.

“Which is?”

The answer almost stopped her banker's heart. Gulping, she said she would consult with her friends and call back in the next five minutes if they wanted to take the suite.

She hung up with absolutely no intention of calling back. Dawn might be able to swing half of the Palazzo Alleghri's exorbitant rate, but Kate wouldn't even consider allowing Callie to dig deeper into her savings. Instead, she relayed the alternative proposal.

“Have I got a deal for you,” she said when Dawn answered.

“Hang on. Let me put you on speaker. Okay, shoot.”

“Brian Ellis—the man whose son we're watching—is arranging a private jet to fly the injured nanny back to the States on Sunday.”

“A private jet?” Dawn gave a low whistle. “Your hubby seems to be running with a whole different crowd these days.”

“No kidding! But back to Ellis. He's taking what the nanny needs to the hospital tomorrow morning and having the rest of her things packed for the flight home. So her suite will be empty, and when I mentioned you guys were coming to Venice, he offered you the use of it as a thank-you to me for watching his son.”

“I don't know.” That came from Callie. “First this villa, now a hotel suite. I feel as though we're taking advantage of Travis's friends.”

“It's your call. But Ellis sounded genuinely sincere.” Kate skimmed a glance around the suite. “And trust me, you haven't lived until you've bunked down in an honest-to-goodness doge's palace.”

“We'll take it!” Dawn said, overriding Callie's reservations. “I, for one, could get used to living in opulence.”

* * *

Kate told Travis about Ellis's generous offer while Tommy fired up the ginormous flat-screen TV in the sitting room.

“Callie was reluctant to accept it,” she related, curling up next to her husband on a sofa backed by plump, fringed cushions. “She thinks we're taking advantage of your new pals.”

“Well, yeah, we are. But you and I know friendship's a two-way street. You have to give, but you also have to accept each other's gifts graciously.”

“True.”

Very
true, she mused, leaning against the familiar comfort of Travis's shoulder. He toyed idly with a strand of her hair while keeping a close eye on Tommy as he skimmed the movie channels. The boy zipped past the half dozen adult channels, thank goodness, but paused at a shoot-'em-up action drama that promised blood and gore.

“Keep moving,” Travis drawled.

As his father had predicted, Tommy opted for a repeat showing of
Frozen
. Halfway through, however, he went out like a light and didn't so much as stir when Travis scooped him up and carried him to bed.

“Whew,” Kate murmured when Travis rejoined her on the cushion-strewn sofa. “We managed to make it through the evening with no water balloons or other flying projectiles. Think we'll be as lucky tomorrow?”

“Doubtful.” He tucked her against him. “But we don't have to play watchdog tomorrow, Kate. Brian knows how many hoops I had to jump through to get this time with you. He could hire someone to—”

“Yeah, right,” she interrupted with a snort. “Like you would bail on a friend in need? Or I would let you?”

“Ah, Katydid.” He shifted her in his arms. “That fierce loyalty is just one of the reasons I love you.”

“Care to elaborate on the others?”

“Later,” he murmured with a smile that did stupid things to her insides. “After we get back to our hotel.”

Chapter Eight

I
t was after midnight when Brian Ellis called from the lobby to let them know he was on his way up.

“That was considerate of him,” Kate commented wryly as she scrambled to straighten various items of clothing that had somehow got all twisted and bunched.

“Like I said,” Travis replied with a twinkle in his hazel eyes, “he knows the hoops I had to jump through to get this time with you.”

Kate's tugging and twisting stilled. She wanted her husband out of the military, but she didn't want him leaving under a cloud. “You're not missing any critical tests or milestones, are you?”

“Carlo is covering what needs to be covered.”

“Travis! Please tell me this leave of absence isn't going to get you in trouble.”

“If it does, it's nothing I can't handle.”

Kate's heart sank. Great! Just great! As if the fact that she was forcing her husband to choose between her and the career he loved didn't make her feel guilty enough.

She was still squirming at the thought when Ellis rapped on the door. Travis let him in and offered to return his key card.

“I can get another key at the desk. You'd better keep that one...if you're
sure
you don't mind staying with Tommy the Terrible during Letty's surgery.”

“We're sure, and he wasn't terrible at all.”

“Ha!” his loving father replied. “Don't let that angelic exterior fool you. He's always on his best behavior with strangers. But in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara, tomorrow is another day.”

Travis laughed, and Kate picked up on that cue. “Speaking of tomorrow, my friends decided to zip over to Venice for the weekend. If
you're
sure you don't mind them taking temporary occupancy of Letty's suite.”

“Lord, no! Now I won't feel so guilty about interrupting your Venetian interlude.”

“Did you talk to the surgeon?” Travis wanted to know.

“I did. I also had my people do a thorough scrub of his credentials. From all reports, he's tops in his field.”

“What time is the surgery?”

“Ten a.m. I need to get to the hospital by eight,” Ellis said apologetically. “I want to be there when they prep Letty.”

“No problem,” Travis assured him. “How about we show up here at seven?”

“Let's make it seven thirty. I'll arrange for a vaporetto to pick you up, then take me directly to the hospital.” He raked a hand through his short brown hair. “It's been a long day. I could use a drink. How about you two?”

To Kate's relief, Travis took a pass. She was feeling as whipped as Brian Ellis now looked. With his tie loosened and whiskers beginning to bristle his cheeks and chin, the executive was showing the effects of the traumatic evening.

He insisted on sending them back to the Palazzo Alleghri in the Gritti's luxurious private vaporetto. Due to the late hour, the oak-paneled motorboat glided almost silently through the canals. Although light still spilled from a few cafés and trattorias, the residences lining the waterway were shuttered and dark. Gondolas shrouded with canvas bobbed in their moorings, and even the floodlights illuminating Venice's distinctive landmarks had been turned off.

Kate drowsed in Travis's arms for most of the short ride, but when the door to their suite clicked shut behind them, she came wide awake. The strenuous activities that followed wiped her out, however. So much that she groaned and dragged the sheet over her head when the phone beside their bed buzzed a wake-up call at six thirty the next morning.

Afterward, Kate could only blame her lack of sleep for forgetting Brian's prophetic warning. Not until she and Travis arrived at the Gritti Palace did she discover that tomorrow was indeed another day.

“There's still time for you to back out,” an obviously exasperated Ellis warned when he opened the door.

“You take care of Mrs. Wells. Kate and I will hold down the home front,” Travis assured him with what they both later agreed was totally misplaced confidence.

Ellis threw a dubious glance at the pint-size figure planted on the sofa. His arms were crossed over the snarling dinosaur on his T-shirt and a mutinous expression sat on his face.

“Go,” Travis insisted.

Yielding, Ellis hefted the small suitcase sitting next to the door. “I've asked the hotel to pack the rest of Letty's things and move them into our suite,” he told Kate. “They'll clean the rooms and have them ready for your friends by noon.”

“Great. Last word was they planned to arrive around three this afternoon.”

“Okay.” He shot his son another glance. “I'll call you as soon as Letty's out of surgery and tell you how it went, bud.”

His only reply was a scowl.

* * *

With his soft brown hair and angelic blue eyes, the boy looked like an advertisement for Cute Kids Inc. But the real Tommy the Terrible emerged almost before the door clicked shut behind his father.

The first crisis involved breakfast. No, he didn't want to go down to the restaurant. No, he didn't want anything on the room service menu. The oatmeal was too mushy. The cereal didn't contain one single raisin, and they did something funny to their scrambled eggs.

“Okay,” Travis answered with commendable patience. “What
do
you want?”

“Nothing.”

“Suit yourself. But Kate and I haven't eaten.” He threw her a conspiratorial glance. “How do blueberry pancakes and a cheese omelet sound?”

“Wonderful. Order a side of bacon, too. I'm starving. And orange juice,” she added with a quick look at the pouting youngster.

“And coffee,” Travis muttered. “We're going to need coffee.”

Mulishly stubborn, Tommy refused juice and bacon but did force down a half glass of milk, a stack of pancakes and several helpings of thick-sliced Italian toast oozing butter and strawberry jam. While they ate, Kate tried to coax him out of his unhappy mood. He was scared, she knew. No doubt thinking of the mother he could barely remember. She tried to soothe those fears by suggesting a walk to St. Mark's Square to feed the pigeons.

His blue eyes lit up briefly. Too briefly. Then the sullen mask dropped over his face again. “Mrs. Wells says the pigeons are dirty. 'N' they poop on your head.”

“Okay. What about jumping a vaporetto and heading over to the Lido? One of my guidebooks said there's a beautiful beach. We could swim and—”

“We have a pool right here at the hotel.”

“Well...” Desperate, she powered up her iPhone and searched for kids' activities in Venice. “Have you taken the elevator to the top of the Campanile?”

“What's that?”

“The tower across from the cathedral in St. Mark's Square.”

“The big one?”

She didn't trust the expression that flitted across his face. With a distinct frisson of alarm, she nixed that idea.

“This says the lines for the Campanile elevators are a mile long and there's no timed entry. But there are timed tickets for St. Mark's Cathedral. Want me to see if we can get in?”

“Is the cathedral where those big horses are?”

“Yes.”

“Mrs. Wells 'n' me saw them when we were out walking, but she said she was too old to climb the steps up to where they are. You could climb them, though. You 'n' Major Westbrook 'n' me.”

Kate turned a helpless look on Travis. His shoulders lifted in a you-got-us-into-this-one shrug.

“Let me see if there are three tickets available today.”

There were, but only at 2:15 and 5:20. Even with timed entry, the website warned, guests should expect to encounter lines. Kate repeated the warning to the two males at the table. Travis left the decision to Tommy, who made a face but said he guessed he could stand in line...for a little while.

Not reassured by the grudging admission, Kate grabbed the earlier entry slots. To fill the time until then, she suggested they check out the ship models at the Castello's naval museum and have a pizza lunch at a trattoria before heading for the cathedral. Tommy made a show of reluctance but agreed with the proposed itinerary.

When they were ready to leave the hotel, Kate penned a quick note to leave at the desk for Callie and Dawn while Tommy retrieved a ball cap and backpack from his room.

Travis eyed the backpack suspiciously. “You're not toting any balloons or water bottles in that, are you?”

“No, sir.” His voice rang with indignation. “Dad said not to drop any more, 'n' I
always
do what he tells me to.”

Travis didn't dispute that profoundly questionable statement, but his eyes danced as he ushered Tommy and Kate out into the wild vortex that was Venice at the height of tourist season.

* * *

By the time they returned to the Gritti in midafternoon, Travis was seriously rethinking this whole business of being a parent. He and Kate had always planned to have kids—someday. The topic had come up with less and less frequency in the past few years, but it had still been there, part of his vision for their future. Now he was having second thoughts.

He felt almost as whipped as he had after completing his brutal three-week survival, escape, resistance and evasion training. The SERE course was intended to prepare military members who might be trapped behind enemy lines for the worst. Damned if Tommy the Terrible hadn't tested almost every one of Travis's hard-learned survival skills!

True, the sweltering August heat constituted as much of a problem as the crowds. Kate had kept a viselike grip on one of Tommy's hands, Travis the other. They didn't let the kid off the leash for more than two or three milliseconds, yet he somehow managed to melt into the throng at the ship museum. They found him several heart-stopping moments later with his feet planted wide in the well of a life-size model of a fifteenth-century gondola, pretending to pole his way through rough seas.

At that point a disapproving museum attendant had suggested they depart the premises. Chastened, Tommy behaved himself at lunch, although he put away more pizza than Travis would have believed possible for someone his size. Unfortunately, Brian called while they were at the pizzeria to relay the news that Mrs. Wells's surgery was taking longer than expected. Matters went south from that point.

In quick sequence, Tommy let them know that he was
not
happy about having to stand in line for gelato, the men's room, or to retrieve their tickets to St. Mark's Cathedral. Travis responded with dwindling patience to each of those sullen complaints. The terrifying minutes on the balcony of St. Mark's, however, took at least a year off his life.

It started when they claimed their tickets and a brochure that contained a brief history of the four iconic bronze horses mounted on the balcony directly above the cathedral's main entrance. Tommy seemed interested when Travis related the historical background. That the sculptures were probably Greek in origin. That they'd once adorned the hippodrome in Constantinople and were looted by Venetian forces when they sacked the city during the Fourth Crusade.

His mistake, Travis realized too late, was relating the interesting fact that the Venetians had severed the horses' heads to transport the massive war trophies from Constantinople. Once in Venice, they'd soldered the heads back on and fashioned jeweled collars to hide the seam. Naturally, any kid as lively and inquisitive as Tommy Ellis would want to see the decapitation site for himself. And to do that he would have to hoist himself up on the balcony ledge.

Kate had spotted him first. Screeching, she'd grabbed his dinosaur T-shirt and hauled him off the ledge. When he had both feet planted back on the balcony, Travis did a mental ten count. Then another ten. He was about to go for thirty when Brian called. After relating the welcome news that the surgery had gone well and Tommy's nanny was in recovery, Ellis had asked to speak to his son.

The change in the kid was instant. His face lit up like one of the megawatt flares the Combat King dispensed to deflect oncoming missiles. But despite Tommy's dramatic upsurge in spirits, Travis felt as though he'd been put through a meat grinder by the time they returned to the Gritti.

The message waiting at the desk didn't do much to lighten his mood. Kate gave an excited hoot when she learned that Callie and Dawn had arrived a little over an hour ago. She couldn't wait to schmooze with her pals and bring them up to date on all the happenings since they'd parted company in Rome. Travis couldn't wait to down an early but well-deserved scotch.

* * *

Kate's friends rang the bell of the Ellis suite less than fifteen minutes later. Eager to see them, Kate set aside the wine Travis had just poured for her and hurried to the door.

“Look at you,” Dawn murmured, searching her face with the keen eyes of long friendship. “You're glowing, dammit.” She gave an exaggerated sigh. “If that's what taking a belated honeymoon does for you, maybe I shouldn't have left two grooms standing at the altar.”

“Well...”

“Never mind. I'll get it right one of these days.”

She breezed in on that rueful admission. Callie gave Kate a fierce hug and followed.

Scotch in hand, Travis rose to greet them. His smile carried that faint tinge of wariness he'd adopted since the two women had declared open season on him. “How was Tuscany?”

“Incredible.” Dawn's glance swept the opulent suite. “These new pals of yours certainly live well.”

“They do. Can I get you a drink?”

“A red wine would be great.”

“You got it. Callie?”

“I'm good for now, thanks.”

While he attended to things at the antique cabinet that housed the bar, Callie greeted the fifth person in the room. He was slumped in a corner of the sofa, regarding the newcomers with a mix of curiosity and shyness.

“Hi. I'm Callie.”

“I'm Tommy Ellis.”