The Cancun Trilogy, An Erotic Beach Romance (16 page)

Maia’s eyebrows rose slightly,
impressed by the directness of the question. “I don’t dislike you,
dear. You seem perfectly harmless, in a weak, American sort of way.
I dislike you wanting to marry my son.”

“Why?”

Maia looked annoyed by the question.
“Why? It’s obvious, isn’t it? You’re marrying him for his
money.”

“What money?”

A slow sneer spread across the older
woman’s face. “Oh, please. I am not so stupid. I was not—how do you
say—born yesterday.”

“What money?” Terra asked again,
standing firm.

“You pretend not to know?”

“Know
what?”
Terra could hear
voices down the hall, arguing. It sounded like Nik and Arteus. Was
Arteus keeping Nik from coming back? Had they planned
this?

Maia studied Terra, unsure, her sneer
fading. “Okay, maybe it’s you that is stupid. Nikolaos’ grandfather
left him an inheritance—a vast amount of money—which he received at
the age of twenty-five. Two years ago. Apparently, he is using some
of it to build this… this silly project in Mexico. I suppose you’re
part of that, too.”

Terra stood there, stunned. “I had no
idea.”

“Humph. Sure.” Maia stood up, still
clutching the medallion. “Listen,” she said, facing Terra. “I’ll
tell you a secret. I know a little something about marrying for
money.”

“Oh?” Terra said. She could hear Nik
and Arteus getting closer, their voices just outside the
door.

Maia came closer, stepping into
Terra’s personal space. “Yes. Because it’s what I did,” she said
quietly. “And believe me, it’s not worth it.” Her eyes softened.
Terra felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. “I barely know my
husband now. We live in this big house so he doesn’t have to see
me. There’s an old saying that I found to be true.
When you
marry for money, you end up earning every penny
. Don’t let that
be you. Don’t marry my son.”

“But I didn’t even know he
had
money,” Terra pleaded, wanting to convince her.

Maia gave her a wry look of disbelief.
Nik came bounding in the room, followed by Arteus. “Terra, I’m
sorry. Mom, what are you doing here? Terra, are you
okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I was just talking to
your mother.”

Pushing past his mother, Nik took
Terra’s hand and led her out of the bedroom and into the hallway.
He walked her briskly down the hall toward her bedroom without
speaking as Terra gripped the towel covering her. When they got to
her room he lead her inside and shut the door, leaning his back
against it.

Terra put the towels in the bathroom
and began dressing. Neither spoke until she was fully dressed. She
stood, facing Nik. He slid down the door to a sitting
position.

“Nik—” she began, trying to find the
right words. “I’ve trusted you. Completely. I’ve put my total faith
in you.”

“I know.”

“Was I wrong to do that?”

“No.”

“Have you lied to me?”

“No. But I didn’t tell you… about the
money.”

“It’s true? You’re rich?”

“Yes. Very,” he said, looking at the
ground between his feet.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because, I love you, and I want to
marry you, and I was afraid if you knew, it might color how you
really felt about me.”

“Why would it do that?”

“You’d be surprised,” he said, now
looking at her. “I’ve seen it happen.”

“Your mother.”

Nik nodded. “It can make it hard for
people to see the real you.
You
see the real me. I didn’t
want that to change.”

“It wouldn’t. God, Nik. It
wouldn’t.”

“I know. I know that now. I’ve known
that for awhile now.”

“Then when were you going to tell
me?”

“Before you leave.”

“You told me the dive sanctuary is
paid for with grants.”

“It is. In part. But only a small
part.”

Terra paused, looking at the ground.
“Why does your mom have your medallion?”

Nik sighed. “It’s not actually mine.
Technically. The medallion is a symbol. It actually belongs to her.
It has a long family tradition. Only she can give it to someone.
She lent it to me when I left for Mexico, as a way to make sure I’d
come home.”

“But you gave it to me.”

“That way I knew I’d never lose you.
God would never allow it. That’s the tradition.”

“So you give it to someone, and they
always come back?”

“
Yes. Only
when it’s ready to be passed to the next generation will my mother
actually give it to someone.”

Chapter 8

The
wheels of the plane hit the ground hard, jolting Terra awake. She
was disoriented for a moment. The images from Greece moved around
her head in a fuzzy collage of sights and sounds. She had a
panicked moment, thinking that it was all just a dream.
It
wasn’t just a dream
, she reminded herself.
It actually
happened
. She felt like she’d slept for hours, but it had only
been minutes.

Terra looked at Vicky, who now looked
spry and refreshed.

“Well, there’s the blushing bride,”
Vicky said, as Terra shook her head in an attempt to clear the fog.
“I’m glad you fell asleep. You needed some rest. I couldn’t sleep
at all.”

“Umm.” Terra took a long drink of
water.

She thought about the image she had of
Vicky when she faced Maia, and how it had given her the strength to
confront her.
Get it together and stand up for yourself!
Terra smiled. She reached over and took Vicky’s hand.

“Thank you,” Terra said.

“For what, girl?”

“For… well, you know.” She gave
Vicky’s hand a quick squeeze.

“Pshaw. Don’t get all sappy.” Vicky
pretended to rearrange her purse as the plane taxied to the gate
and came to a stop. The
fasten seatbelt
sign dinged off.
“Now, let’s go get you married.”

Chapter 9

Carmine was waiting for them when they got off the plane. He
gave Terra a big hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her.
“Little T, it’s so great to see you,” he said with a broad smile as
he set her back down. “Nik’s riding his motorcycle all over,
getting last minute supplies,” he told her, before she could ask.
“He’s going to meet us at the house.” He turned to Vicky with his
warm smile. “Hi.”

“Carmine, this is Vicky,” Terra
said.

“Oh, I know. I’ve heard all about you,
Vicky,” he said, shaking her hand. “Same here,” Vicky said, smiling
in a way Terra recognized.

Carmine hauled Terra’s suitcase into
the back of the sanctuary’s old truck. They slid across the bench
seat, shoulder to shoulder, with Terra in the middle. As they drove
away from the airport, Carmine got her caught up on all that had
been going on in the last year. “You should see your medical
clinic,” he said.

“Really? It’s almost done?”

“Oh, yeah. Just about. I mean, it’s
not exactly a hospital, but I think it’ll do the trick.”

“I can’t wait.”

Terra’s idea for starting a small
medical clinic that could provide free, basic services for kids
seemed like a pipedream when she first came up with the idea, but
with the support of Nik and Carmine, it looked like it was going to
happen.

As they hit the coast, the ocean
spread out next to them like an old friend. Terra pointed out the
sights to Vicky as the truck rattled along. It was a gorgeous,
clear day overhead, but there were clouds sitting on the far
horizon.

“Weather should hold off. Supposed to
be beautiful tomorrow. Day after will probably be a storm though,”
Carmine said as he put in an old cassette tape of
Sublime
for the final stretch.

They turned off the main road and down
the dirt trail. When they got to the old broken down gate, Terra
felt a touch of nostalgia, remembering when she first came here
with Nik two years ago. She was so scared then. Unsure of what she
was doing, thinking she was foolish for putting herself in danger.
It
was
foolish, but it also turned out to be the greatest
thing to ever happen to her.

Carmine climbed back into the truck.
“I’ll leave the gate open. I’m going to come back later and string
some lights so people know where to turn.”

When they got to where the dirt turned
to sand, they parked the truck. There were a lot of other cars and
motorcycles parked along the path that lead to the
house.

When she got out of the truck, Vicky
stood, taking it all in. It was late afternoon. The sun lit the
ocean surface in shimmering patches. The sand on the beach was so
white it looked like pure sugar.

Nik and Carmine had recently painted
Nik’s house a pale blue with yellow trim. The pier that led off the
back deck of the house had Nik’s sailboat moored at the end. The
dive sanctuary buildings looked finished, all designed and painted
to blend perfectly into the surrounding environment. A white arbor
and trellises had been set up on the sand in preparation for the
wedding, along with a walkway of white planks.

Colorful birds flew over the white
cliffs and skimmed the water, as if putting on a show. Terra had
shown Vicky pictures of the bay, but nothing compared to seeing it
for the first time.

“Holy mother of God,” Vicky said.
“I’ve never seen a place so beautiful in all my life.”

As if on cue, Spidey the spider monkey
began chattering his greeting as he ran circles around the top of
his palm tree. Vicky turned to Terra. “You are one lucky girl,” she
said.

They heard the sound of Nik’s
motorcycle coming up the path as they were hauling their luggage
out of the back of the truck. Nik skidded to a stop in a cloud of
dust. He slid off his bike as Terra went to him. They fell into a
deep embrace. Before even kissing him, she hugged him tight and
breathed him in. Her face tucked under his ear, she pulled in his
scent like nourishment as he wrapped his arms tightly around
her.

They kissed. His hand went to the back
of her head as he pressed his mouth tightly to hers. His other arm
pulled her to his body, as if claiming her as his own. She closed
her eyes and got lost in his warm, wet mouth, the familiar taste of
him, as her hand ran over his shoulders and back.

“I missed you,” he said, before
pulling her tighter and kissing her all over again.

“I missed you, too,” she said after
they finally broke. She opened her eyes. When she did, she realized
Vicky was gone. Her and Carmine were carrying their luggage up the
steps to the house. Terra wondered how long they had been kissing.
She could get so lost in his kisses that it sometimes felt like she
had slipped into a time warp.

“So, ready to get married?” he
said.

“I am
so
ready.”

The house was packed full of people,
all preparing for the wedding—cooking food, making decorations,
talking on cell phones.

Red was the first to find Terra,
grabbing her in the living room and giving her a big hug.
“
Teeeraaa!
,” she squealed. To Terra’s surprise, Red was
pregnant and looked ready to give birth any second.

“Red! You’re pregnant! I had no idea!
Why didn’t Nik tell me?”

“Ah well, you know men. Yeah, just
about a week or so away. We’re having a little ginger man,” she
said, flicking her flaming red hair.

“Who’s
we
?” Terra was dying to
know. Soren walked up. “Terra, star of the show!” he said in his
thick Swedish accent, giving her a hug. Red gave Terra a look.
“
Soren?
” Terra said with a broad smile.

“Yeah, looks like she found a way to
keep me here forever,” Soren said, putting an arm around Red and
patting her belly. They both smiled, glowing with happy
anticipation.

“You guys—I’m so happy for you,” Terra
said. “Does this mean you plan to stay here for the long
haul?”

“No plans to leave,” Red said happily.
“Who wants to leave paradise?” Soren added.

Everyone that Terra knew from her time
in Mexico was there. A rowdy group of Nik’s old friends from the
diving school had just come back from a dive and were holding court
on the outside deck, their trunks still wet as they told a group
about a whale shark they spotted. The gang from Circle Rock bar was
there, including the bartender, who was putting on a demonstration
in the kitchen, showing everyone how to make a floating blue
margarita. The band from Circle Rock bar was in the living room,
playing songs on acoustic guitar. Allan, the accountant from
Boston, who once seemed so out of place, was in there with them
singing and playing a ukulele.

More and more people showed up. As the
house filled, the party spilled out onto the deck. Terra lost track
of Vicky. She was worried about her. Not knowing anyone, Terra was
afraid Vicky would feel out of place. Her fears were alleviated
when she finally spotted her with a group of others on the pier,
beer in hand, cracking up at something Carmine was
saying.