The Dark Side of the Rainbow (26 page)

More pain was the last thing Landon wanted for her, even though he knew she meant ill toward him.

It had been incredibly hard to see her again after so many years and pretend to not know her. He knew it would be difficult, even agonizing, but he hadn’t been prepared. When he encountered Olivia in the dining room on her second evening at the Grand Vue, and she had assumed the investor’s daughter was his girlfriend, it was everything he could to do to not grab her by the shoulders and shake her. He had wanted desperately to tell her that she, Olivia Nelson, was the only woman he had ever wanted.

He played along with her charade, because the need to see her had been too great and he had been too weak. When he sent the note inviting her to dinner the night they went to Dragonfly, Landon decided he would go along with whatever plot of revenge she had concocted. He would take advantage of Olivia’s ploy in order to carve a piece of heaven on earth for himself. He would spin a clutch of memories to last him for the rest of his lonely life. When she was gone from him forever, he would sift through the moments he had with her in Patagonia and pretend they had been real.

The week before her accident, he had almost convinced himself that she was Brooke Johnson, the upstart photographer from Kalispell, Montana. That night at Dragonfly when she laughed at his stories about Gaston, he had forgotten how much she hated him. As the days went by, the lines of reality and fantasy began to blur even further.

Their port of call in Villa La Angostura had been magical with a good measure of sorrow thrown into the mix. From the ride in the cab to the moment in the cemetery, Landon had felt glimmers of hope that somehow Olivia’s feelings for him were changing. Instead of despising him, was she beginning to see him for who he really was? During the cab ride back to the boat, reality had made a comeback. Landon knew he had to leave, that he could no longer go on with the charade.

His will weak, he had succumbed to her invitation to dine on her deck that very same night. He would have one last moment with her, one last fictitious memory to get him through the rest of his nights. When Olivia invited him to dance, all his dreams of wanting to know what it felt like to be held by her and to taste her sweetness came true. With the lines once again blurred, he took from her and felt her desire as fierce as his own. Olivia’s heart may have hated him, but her body had said something altogether different. Thoughts of a future together had crept into his mind. Knowing it was impossible, he ended the evening.

Glancing over at Olivia, he watched as she lay on the hard ground of the plateau to obtain a different angle of the mountain range. When she stood, she turned her attention to him. Smiling, she waved before quickly clicking a picture of him. He waved back, sighing to himself. When she returned to her work, he lay down on the blanket with his arms under his head and stared up at the cloudy blue sky.

Wretched,
was what he thought about himself when he remembered their time in the hospital. The honest-to-goodness hope that had flooded his soul when he realized she had amnesia later made him feel like a heel. For the first few days, he had viewed her memory loss as a gift. This was his chance for her to fall in love with him. If Olivia did remember, there would be no turning away from him because she would be as mad for him as he was for her. All would be forgiven, her plot forgotten. On the last day of the seventy-two hour vigil, when she expressed her fear of remembering, he knew she had to know, regardless of how she felt about him.

As for her feelings, Landon was certain his wishes had come true and she was falling in love with him. Nothing in Olivia’s mind was holding her back from giving him her heart. There was no horrible truth forcing her to pretend she enjoyed his company. Void of the aching loss of her brother, whom she had loved more than anyone, her heart was open; it yielded to his tenderness. She was responding to his dance of love in a way he had only dreamed.

If Olivia never remembered who she was, Landon would always know. The truth would eat away at the life he wanted to build with her. He had decided the afternoon of fly fishing that he would reveal everything to her when they returned from Chile. It was time.

Too focused on his thoughts, Landon didn’t hear Olivia approaching. He saw her out of the corner of his eye when she bent to kneel by his side. He didn’t sit up when she touched his arm, but turned his head slightly to pull her fully into view.

Lightly, she touched his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb. “Landon, are you all right?” Her eyes were filled with concern.

He didn’t answer, but held her gaze. Carefully, he removed the camera strap from around her neck, placing the expensive piece of equipment down on his other side. Gently, he pulled her down to lay alongside him.

Olivia rested her head in the crook of his strong arm and shoulder, laying her hand on his chest. He nuzzled the soft tresses of her hair, missing her natural fiery-red curls. It was time for a number of things.

After several long moments of lying together in each other’s arms, Landon was the first to speak. “I love you,” . . .
Olivia.
He couldn’t bring himself to say the name Brooke after uttering the words his heart had been desperate to say for too long. Until he told her who she was, he would have to call her Brooke, but not now.

Brooke wasn’t sure if she had been dreaming. Lulled by the contentment of lying in his arms, she couldn’t be sure if she heard him right.

Lifting herself up onto her elbow, Brooke looked down at him. “Landon?” Her heart ached at the sight of the naked emotion she saw shimmering in his eyes.

“I love you,” he said again.

Pulling herself up, she knelt beside him, leaned over him, and brushed the soft brown hair from his brow. “Do you really love me?” She wanted to know, afraid to believe.

Landon sat up to face the woman he cherished, nodding his head.

“How can you be sure? You know nothing about me!”

Thinking back to their summer of meetings at the Espresso Room and the time they had spent together in this faraway land, he answered her. “I know that you are kind. The ability to fully love abides deep inside of you. It is like an endless river that flows wide and free, bringing sustenance to those who draw near to you.”

He ached at the sight of her tears, wiping the fallen ones away from her smooth skin.

As Landon spoke, he cradled her face within his hands. “I also know there is nothing you won’t do for those you love. Your loyalty and compassion are a treasure, a gift to be cherished. You appreciate Robert Frost’s poetry and aren’t afraid to traverse the road not taken. Passion is your second nature. It is an exquisite thing to behold, emanating from within you. There are no doubts in my mind about who you are. I love you.”

Reaching for his hands, her thumbs pressed gently to the inside of his wrists, against the scars that served as a reminder of how deeply he felt things. “Tell me again, Landon.”

“I love you, sweetheart.”

She closed her eyes as if savoring the richness of his words. When she opened them, the light in his hazel irises shimmered with expectancy. Olivia whispered, “I can’t remember what my hopes and dreams were before coming to Patagonia, but you have quickly become all that I desire. I think I loved you from the moment I opened my eyes. Will you kiss me, Landon? I have wondered how your lips and body would feel against mine.”

The slow descent of his mouth toward hers gave his heart time to wonder at her expression of love. Perhaps when he told her who she really was, or she remembered herself, she would find it in her heart to forgive him and to embrace him.

The contact was excruciatingly sweet, even sweeter than their first kiss onboard
The Absolution
. Unlike the first heated kiss, there was nothing standing between this one except mutual love. Her lips felt too wonderful. Landon took, then gave, before taking once again. Olivia met his passion measure for measure.

Reaching for her hand, he slipped it inside his jacket, pressing it against his heart so that she could feel the rapid beating inside his chest. “Do you know what you do to me, Brooke?”

She nodded; her heart was beating at the same erratic pace.

Unable to resist he lowered his mouth to the side of her neck, inhaling the sweet fragrance of her perfume. When he exhaled, Olivia arched her body as his warm breath fluttered across her skin. The closeness gave him free reign. Desperate to taste the soft flesh, Landon laid a trail of kisses from the base all the way back to her mouth. The moan that escaped her lips broke through the foggy haze of his desire.

Landon peered at her half-closed eyes and parted lips. Instead of taking more, he kissed her forehead. When she opened her eyes fully, he turned her around so that her back was to him. He pulled her to his chest and simply held her as they sat and faced the mountain range, fighting to catch their breath.

For the moment, it was enough to simply take pleasure in the revelation of their love for one another.

“I wish this moment would last forever,” Brooke said quietly.

“It will.”
It has to,
Landon told himself. Hesitantly he added, “I need time, sweetheart. There are things I must work out.”

T
he following morning Brooke was the first one out of her room. She hadn’t been able to sleep the previous night. With a cup of coffee in hand, she stood by the big window in the living room and watched the twinkling lights of Punta Arenas below her. It was five in the morning; soon Landon and Tomas would be up, preparing for their day. She had been thinking about the previous afternoon on the plateau outside of the Hotel Salto Chico. Brooke’s heart felt amazingly full. Barely able to contain the joy she felt, she was sure it would stop beating any moment. He did love her.
What a gift
, she thought.

What had kept her up all night were his words about needing time and the things he needed to work out. She was worried about the way he saw himself, as a fractured person. Brooke had thought all along if he knew how much she loved him, it would help alter the tragic way he viewed himself.

After they left the plateau, Landon had taken her to San Telmo, a restaurant in Punta Arenas. Named after the neighborhood of San Telmo in Buenos Aires, the restaurant mimicked its namesake by specializing in beef, live music, and tango dancing. The warm rust and beige colors of the restaurant and the red tablecloths lent themselves to the sultry music and the art of the tango.

When they had finished with their dinner, Landon reached for her hand. “I haven’t stopped thinking about dancing with you since our last night on
The Absolution
.”

Brooke arched her eyebrows in question, and Landon explained, “We danced that night.” Holding her hand, he stood. “Come.”

He led her into another room where an acoustic guitar player strummed the languid tunes of tango music. The area was softly lit. Unable to resist the allure of the music, several other couples were dancing. Landon and Brooke may not have known how to tango, but they knew how to hold each other close. Instinctively their bodies swayed to the slow rhythm of the song. Dancing cheek to cheek, soon there was no one else but the two of them on the polished floor.

A few moments later, Landon shifted so he could gaze into her eyes. “We also kissed that night.” The words where a whisper, his lips close to hers.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I needed to know how you felt about me.” Sweetly, he touched her lips with his. The hand at her waist tightened ever so slightly, drawing her even closer to him. “When we watched the tango dancers that night at the museum, all I could think about was how desperate I was to hold you the way they held each other.”

“Do you feel desperate now?” she asked, her turn to sample the feel of his lips on hers. It was a subtle kiss, a fleeting contact.

Landon swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the effort. He nodded, his gaze never once breaking free of hers.

“Me too,” she whispered, kissing him again.

Hours later, when they arrived at the hotel, Tomas was already in his room.

Keeping his distance and in a tight voice, Landon said, “Good night, Brooke. I love you.” Without another word, or another touch, he immediately turned toward his room. When she heard the lock of his door turning, she worried that perhaps she had wanted too much. They had spent the whole night in each other’s arms dancing, exchanging quiet words and soft sweet kisses. His declaration about needing time followed her into her own room and into her dreams.

In the early hour of morning, she couldn’t shake the feelings of concern that began to shroud her thoughts of love.

“Good morning, Brooke.”

Surprised, she quickly turned from the window and toward the sound of Landon’s voice.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Landon was wearing light grey suit pants and a sage green, button-down dress shirt. He was freshly shaven, his hair damp from his shower. She was afraid to approach him, even though she was impatient to be near him.

“It’s all right. I was lost in thought and didn’t hear you. Would you like some coffee? It’s fresh.”

“Coffee sounds good. What would you like for breakfast? I’ll call down to room service. Tomas always has the same thing. I guess he hasn’t stirred?”

“No, I haven’t seen him. An omelet and fruit sounds good.”

After placing the order, he sat at the kitchen table. Brooke placed his cup in front of him on the glossy cherry wood and began to move to the other side to take a seat. Landon reached for her hand. “Will you sit by me, please?”

She obliged him.

“I’m sorry for being so abrupt last night when we returned to the hotel.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I understand.”

“Do you?” he asked with a little more force than he intended. Softening his words, he asked again, “Do you, Brooke?”

She thought she did, but now she wasn’t quite sure. Uncertain of what to say, she simply held his gaze.

“If I hadn’t gone straight to my room, I would have had my hands all over you.”