No Place Like Home (18 page)

“
I need some time to think,” she told Omar. And she might as well do that thinking in Nassau, where no telephones, jobs, or visitors could interfere. It would be foolish to do anything else.

She showered and dressed faster than she had ever done before, throwing things into a beach bag almost at random. Then she filled the cat’s dishes, kissed him goodbye, and rushed out to her car.

She was fifteen minutes late, but the group of tourists, most carrying tote-bags, others already wearing umbrella hats as if attempting to exert their will over the Midwest’s weather, were still milling about the terminal. Kaye rushed up to the gray-haired woman in the purple jacket who seemed to be in charge.

“
I’m traveling on Miranda Lilly’s ticket,” she explained breathlessly, and handed it over.

The woman looked at her suspiciously over half-glasses and admitted that she had discussed the matter with Mrs. Lilly. “You’re late,” she said.

“
Yes, and I’m sorry I overslept. I certainly won’t be late the rest of the day, I promise.”

“
If you are, you’ll be left behind.”

Left behind, Kaye thought. In the Bahamas. She couldn’t think of a nicer fate. She snapped back to attention as the woman spoke again.

“
I said, do you have your passport? You’ll need it to get back into the country.”

Kaye waved her little blue passport folder under the woman’s nose. Marilyn had insisted that she get it when she took the job at Gulliver’s, but this was the first time she had ever used it.

“
Humph,” the woman said. Her tone seemed to indicate doubt that anyone so unreliable as Kaye could qualify for a legitimate passport. But she couldn’t question the official seals, so she put Kaye’s name on her list, next to the crossed-off entry for Edward and Miranda Lilly.

That’s odd,
Kaye thought.

But the woman pushed a purple folder into her hands and cleared her throat to get the attention of the group. As she started to give boarding instructions, Kaye began to flip through the information in her folder. Timetable, guide book—it was very thoughtful of them to include that, she thought.

“
Hi,” said a husky voice beside her. “I believe we’re seat mates.”

My God,
she thought,
I’m even hearing his voice, now.

Brendan bent and picked up her beach bag. “I’ll carry your things on board for you, if you like.”

He was really there, not just a figment of her imagination. Suddenly, Kaye was fiercely, illogically angry, as she saw her vision of a peaceful day on the beach waver and fade. “Do I have a choice?” she said icily. “Why in the hell are you here?”

“
Because I don’t believe in playing fair, when there’s something important at stake.”

“
Well, you can just go hang.” She grabbed her bag out of his hand. “I’ve got one solitary day of vacation time, and you are not going to ruin it for me!”

He looked for an instant as if he’d been slapped. “I didn’t intend to ruin anything,” he said somberly. “I thought perhaps we could have a little fun together. We did have fun, you know—at first.”

She felt just a bit ashamed of herself.
We had fun,
she thought hollowly,
until I began to wonder if I wanted more than just fun...

“
How did you manage this, anyway?” she asked, a little more calmly. “You can’t expect me to believe you were surprised to see me turn up. But this tour has been sold out for weeks, and I only knew I was coming yesterday.”

“
Poor Mr. Lilly,” he said mildly, as he followed her up the ramp to the plane. “Having to stay home and nurse his wife.”

“
Emily,” she muttered. “Damn you, Emily, you set me up! I wouldn’t put it past her to have pushed that poor woman down the stairs.”

“
Apparently,” Brendan said, “she set us both up. She seemed to think you’d be glad to see me. Obviously she was wrong.” He took her bag and put it in the overhead compartment. “Window seat? Or do you prefer the aisle?”

“
I prefer solitude,” Kaye said nastily.

“
Since it’s a little late to get off the plane, I suppose you’re stuck with me on the trip, but I promise to be very quiet.” He fastened his seatbelt with an emphatic snap. “You won’t even know I’m here.”

Impossible,
Kaye thought. How could she not know he was beside her, when every cell tingled at the memory of the way he had kissed her last night? She could still feel the stark demands of her own body, and her longing to let the world be swept away in a rising tide of desire...

“
I’m a champion chump, you know,” he said. “Last night when you said you wanted to think, I actually believed you meant it. But it was really only an excuse to get yourself out of a tight corner, wasn’t it, Kaye?”

“
I did mean it,” she protested faintly. She had never before heard quite that note of harsh self-deprecation in his voice, and it frightened her.

“
One day of fun,” he mused. “Nothing serious, no discussions, no questions. Just a few hours of adventuring together—that was all I wanted from today. But I promised to be quiet, didn’t I? Sorry.”

Why am I so angry?
she asked herself. Simply because he had the nerve to intrude on her holiday? But he had every right to be there. It wasn’t her own private plane, and he could have bought a ticket, just as all these other people had.

Was she angry at Emily, for the manipulation she had pulled? Yes, she admitted. But that was no reason to be angry with Brendan. Emily hadn’t told him the whole story, either.

You’re scared, Kaye,
she told herself.
You’re afraid to commit yourself to anything, for fear you’ll regret it. Well, he isn’t asking for a commitment. He’s made it plain that he’s only asking for a day to enjoy, together. And you will enjoy it; you do have fun when you’re with him.

A whole day to play, with no one to intrude—

“
Have a fling,” Emily had said. “Get him out of your system.” Perhaps that was all the day would mean.

But what if this day did not end the madness? What if she wanted more?

No matter what, you will always have today,
she told herself firmly. What was it he had said? Something about how memories could never be taken away...

She looked down at her hands clenched in her lap, and realized that she was still wearing Graham’s emerald. Brendan knew it, too, she reflected; no one could overlook that ring.

At least have the courage of your convictions,
she told herself.
You decided last night that no matter what else happened, you couldn’t marry Graham. And that hasn’t changed.

The jet was taxiing for take-off. It was too late to back out; they were going to Nassau.

You can have a day to remember,
she told herself,
or a day to regret. It’s entirely your choice, Kaye. Which is it to be?

She tugged the ring off. “Brendan,” she whispered, “will you take care of this for me today?”

He looked down at the dark green stone, and then into her eyes. “It’s not quite the right thing to wear on the beach.”

“
There have been a couple of burglaries in my neighborhood lately,” she said. “I could scarcely leave it in the apartment.” Her eyes must have said much more.

He took the ring, then picked up her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. The tension had melted out of his face.

“
My goodness,” said a professionally cheerful voice beside them. “What a beautiful ring.”

Kaye looked up in surprise at the flight hostess. The young woman smiled and said, “And what a setting for a proposal. Lucky girl!” She had moved on before Kaye could correct her.

Brendan saw the confusion in her face. “It isn’t important,” he said softly. He wrapped her ring gently in a handkerchief and put it in his pocket. “Just for today,” he said, “let’s forget about the world.”

You are my world,
she wanted to say. But she didn’t dare.

CHAPTER TEN

THE jet broke through the clouds just then and sunshine poured in, greeted by applause from the passengers. Kaye turned away from Brendan to stare out the window, and when at last she looked up at him again, her last doubts had vanished.

The only thing that mattered was today, she thought; the future would take care of itself.
Let’s forget about the world,
he had said. Very well, she thought. “No discussions, no quarrels, no questions,” she agreed. “Just a stolen day of summer.”

He picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips, and the pact was made.

The flight seemed incredibly short, and she was astonished when the seatbelt warning sign came on. A bit later, Brendan cut short her description of Blackbeard’s marauding tours through the Caribbean by taking the guide book out of her hands. “Don’t you want to know about the history of the islands?” she protested.

“
Wouldn’t you rather see them as they are right now?” he countered, and leaned over her to point out the tiny window.

She had scarcely noticed that the plane had been gradually descending, but below them—almost close enough to touch, it seemed—lay a green and white jewel of an island surrounded by a sapphire sea. Foamy white waves rolled lazily toward the beaches and shattered themselves against the sand, withdrawing to regroup and then reach out again. Buildings glistened in the strong sunlight, and palm trees formed a muted green backdrop.

She closed her eyes in sheer delight, and then was almost afraid to open them again for fear it was all just imagination.

It wasn’t until the taxi had dropped them in Nassau itself that Kaye allowed herself to believe it was really happening. She stopped in the middle of Bay Street, turned her face up to the sun, drew a breath of pure happiness, and said dreamily, “I’d love to live where it’s summer all the time.”

“
How could you appreciate it, if you never had anything to compare it with?” Brendan asked practically. “And get a hat on—you may adore the sun, but with that fair skin of yours, it isn’t going to be very friendly to you.”

“
I forgot to bring one.”

“
Then shopping is the first order of business.”

“
I suppose you’d rather be fishing, like that man you were talking to on the plane.”

“
Oh, no,” Brendan said airily. “Not after everything you told me about the pirates.”

“
Are you afraid they’re still lurking in the inlets, ready to come and get you? I never dreamed you were a chicken!”

“
I’m not. I just think that someone ought to stay around and protect the pirates from you. And if you think that shows a lack of courage...”

“
Protect them from me—well!” she spluttered, and he laughed at her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her across to a brightly-painted pushcart where he bought a hand-woven hat and put it on her head himself.

It was a golden day. She stood in the straw market near the waterfront and watched as a woman wove a precious, fine-textured little doll, and then bought it so she would always remember.

She was starting to turn away from the little stand when she saw a basket. It was about two feet in diameter, but the pale gold straw was finely woven like that of a much smaller basket, and a dainty pattern in darker straw repeated throughout the delicate work. She had never seen anything quite like it, and Kaye fought a brief battle with her conscience before she bought it. The last thing she needed was another basket. Nevertheless, it would fit nicely in the corner of her apartment, and it would be wonderful to hold all of those magazines that seemed to collect unread, spilling over everything. She gathered up her trophies and turned to look for Brendan.

For a moment, she thought he had disappeared. In his white trousers and brightly printed shirt, he blended right into the rest of the crowd. Then he came toward her from across the market, a silky jade-green scarf fluttering from his fingers. He tied it casually around the crown of her new hat and said, “There. That should make you easier to keep track of.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I should think it would be no trouble at all to spot me—just look for the tourist with the palest skin in town. Now you look like a native, at least as far as the costume is concerned. Tell me, did you just happen to have those clothes, or did you have to go shopping?”

His hands were buried in his pockets. “Oh, these old things?” he drawled. “One has to have them to go yachting with the boys, don’t you know.”

“
The trousers, perhaps. But you’d be thrown off any self-respecting yacht in that shirt.”

“
Do you insist on having all my secrets revealed? It’s a souvenir of a Hawaiian vacation, I’m afraid, and it’s one of the calmer ones I own, at that. Are you disappointed?”

“
Only mildly. See my new treasure?” She held up the basket.

“
I was trying to pretend I didn’t see it. Are you really planning to carry that enormous thing around Nassau all day?”

“
Oh.” She shifted the weight of her beach bag and looked down at the bulky basket doubtfully. They had left their coats aboard the plane, but she hadn’t considered that she would have to carry her souvenirs until they returned to the airport in late evening. “Perhaps she’d keep it for me,” she pointed out hopefully. “The woman who made it, I mean.”