wrath of the Sea Queen (132 page)

"
Ok, what's going on?
"
  Vin walked up behind her and removed the spatula from her hand, s
e
tting it beside the serving tray.  As he turned her around to face him,
C
a
eli
playfully ran her hands up his bare chest and answered him.

"
I thought that you might enjoy
starting o
f
f
at least one day of this vacation
pleasantly
.  I made your favorite coffee and your favorite breakfast.  I s
natched
your shirt because I knew that if you put it on, you
woul
d head out of the room
. 
I wasn't ready for you to leave yet.  I
thought
that
after we had a private breakfast
,
you might enjoy another of your favorites as well…
"
  C
a
eli flashed him an inviting smile and turned back to flip the pancakes, removing the last of them from the pan
and
leaving Vin to consider he
r
offer.  He reached over and tugged
his
s
hirt off her shoulder.  Naturally, she couldn't refrain from teasing him further.

"
Of course, if you insist on taking the shirt, I
wi
ll have to take that last item off the menu.  Now, go sit down and eat your breakfast before it gets cold.  I'll be right back.  I promised Max and everyone else
they could share in your
breakfast
bounty
.
"
 

C
a
eli picked up the large serving tray and headed for the door.  Vin propped
it
open for her and
offered to carry the tray.  C
a
eli
thanked him,
but insisted that he return to the table and eat. 
She was well enough to manage the tray on her own and
would rejoin him in a few minutes.  Before she walked away, Vin tossed his shirt on the floor in front of
her
. 
As Vin watched
her
walk
t
oward
the door
, he mu
ttered
loud enough for her to hear
.

"
Breakfast would have been my second choice.
"

Vin went to sit in one of the two chairs at the small table.  There was a plate stacked with pancakes in the center.  Two place settings were laid out, including delicately folded napkins, silverware, and all
of
the breakfast trimmings.  C
a
eli's glass of orange juice was on one side, so Vin grabbed his coffee and sat at the other.  He could barely
wait to dig in as he heard
C
a
eli
laugh.
  He
was thrilled to see
her
return
ing
to
her
normal
self again
;
but he knew that her
enticing
offer
had only been in
jest.
  It was way too soon
for such
activity, though the
exciting
thoughts
it invoked
were unavoidable
.

When she reached
the
threshold
, C
a
eli stopped and turned back. 
Vin
was
already eat
ing
.  It truly was his favorite breakfast, and
he
thoroughly enjoyed each bite.  C
a
eli
continued to
laugh in delight as she walked out the door. 

"
Do wipe your chin.  The syrup is starting to drip.
"

C
a
eli walked into the lounge, humming, carrying the tray loaded with pancakes.  Salma already
had
the table
set
with everything else
n
eeded
.  This is what she and
C
a
eli
had
arranged
earlier.  C
a
eli in
formed her
that she would make breakfast, and she was not accepting any refusals.  She
insisted that
everyone eat together this morning and wasn't saying anything more.  Salma
detected
the same mischief in the air that Vin noticed, but then again, that was
typically
C
a
eli's fun-loving personality.

Max walked into the lounge from the other hall about the same time that C
a
eli came in carrying the tray of food.  His eyes became almost as big around as the pancakes when he saw the
fluffy
stacks.

"
Wow!  Did you make all those, pretty C
a
eli?
"

"
I sure did.  I hope you're hungry.
"

"
You bet I am.  I don't get to have pancakes
very
often.  Papa always burns them.
"

C
a
eli laughed as she looked over at Apela
,
who hung his head in mock shame. 

"Well, I'm with you, Max.  I think I could eat a whol
e stack by myself.  Come sit by me
and
let's
see if they taste as good as they look
.
"
 
Salma maneuvered Max out from under C
a
eli's feet.

Everyone except Ben was seated at the table and began eating.  C
a
eli walked over to
Ben
as he stood
looking out a
screened window
several
feet away from the table.

"
Have you told him yet?  I'm on eggshells over here,
Lass
.  I can't even look at Salma.  She already knows that you are up to something.  She will know I've aided your mischief before too long,
"
Ben whispered.

"
Oh, don't worry
, Uncle Ben
.  Try to enjoy breakfast.  I
put a lot of
work
into
it.  It will
all be out in the open in
another minute
or two
.  I do so love to surprise
Vin
, and this is a rare opportunity. 
After all the bad things the last few days
have brought
,
I wanted to make
the good news
memorable,
"
C
a
eli
chuckled
.

Ben thought she was nearly floating in her happiness, a complete
reversal
since Sunday.
  He was glad to see the change.

"
C
a
eli!  C
a
eli!
"
  Vin's
excited
voice could be heard coming from their room. 

She skipped like a schoolgirl in that direction, winking at Ben as she left.

Vin continued to eat
after she left
, knowing he hadn't really spilled the syrup.  C
a
eli was teasing him
,
one of her favorite pastimes.  She was in such a good mood
and seemed to be feeling
so much better
that Vin decided
,
then and there
,
that
he
would
go to the conference with Ben.  But until then, he wanted to spend
some
quality
time with C
a
eli, perhaps even take her up on that last offer. 
Maybe she was well enough
after all
. 
Although this was the first time it actually felt like it
in days
, t
his
was
their
vacation.  Of course, he
woul
d have to tear himself away from this
delicious
breakfast
first
.

Vin
reached for his napkin as he pushed
his
empty
plate away.  Picking up
the cloth
and shaking it open, Vin noticed a thin, white tube inside a Ziploc bag and a piece of paper
as they
f
e
ll out of
the napkin
.  The
baggie containing the tube
landed on the floor and the paper in his lap. 
Vin
unfolded the paper as he reached to pick up the
baggie
. 
The page
looked like it might be part of the lab work Salma performed the day before. 
He
set it aside, not
reading it or
giving it much thought.  It
had
probably
been
left on the table
at some point
.