Second Chance: A Christian Romance (Royals Book 2)

by Nicole Taylor

  The last time Dana had been to Frances’ home had been two years prior. A lot had changed since then. Not surprising since Fran, as an interior designer, was always experimenting on the latest décor fad it seemed. Much of the antique furnishings she had noticed before had been replaced by modern pieces. It was a good thing that Gregory was a partner at an accounting firm and brought home a fat paycheck to keep up with his wife’s whims and fancies. It also helped that Frances’ business was doing well. Particularly since she had been able to advertise that the Cortellis were clients.

  The usual crowd was not present for the hastily pulled together party, Dana noted, and she was glad for Robert’s sake. He was still recovering from surgery after all.

  The guests included Frances’ three siblings, a few of their cousins and assorted wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends and kids. Dana counted about fifteen persons in all, excluding Robert and herself.

  After a pray offered up by Annette, the family dished out their food, buffet-style, and found various parts of the house and the wide terrace overlooking the valley below, to eat, talk and laugh. Robert of course was the center of attention. He was peppered with questions by the enraptured crowd, while the children ran around or played video games in the living room.

  Robert had confessed early on that he had amnesia and, after a few sympathetic murmurs, the group began filling him in on the latest happenings on the island. Dana also noted, with irritation, how close Lorraine was to Robert. She was almost sitting in his lap. And Robert didn’t seem to mind one iota.

  She bristled from her view in the kitchen where Fran was busy frying the last batch of her tasty fishcakes. “I am going to squeeze your sister’s neck before this night is over,” she warned.

  Frances took a glance over her shoulder to see what Dana was referring to and shook her head and sucked her teeth. “Girl, I tell you about her already. You know she is as fast as ever. I didn’t tell you she been saying how she going to California and she staying with you.”

  Dana’s eyes widened. “Staying with me, huh? I would set her up in a hotel one hundred miles away before I’d let that happen.”

  Frances snorted with laughter. “Girl, you have nothing to worry about. Bobby only humoring her. You should see the way that man look at you a little while ago when you were talking to Gregory. Like he would eat you up in one gulp. I can’t believe you all were married eleven years. He was staring at you like he just meet you.”

  Dana sighed. “In a way he has,” she confided.

  Frances paused from the process of removing the finished fishcakes from the hot oil and watched Dana seriously, “What you mean?”

  “He doesn’t remember me, either.”

  “What! You didn’t tell me that.”

  “Most people don’t know. Please keep it that way.”

  “Of course I will.” Frances said. She turned off the stove and removed the dish with the fishcakes to the island in the middle of the kitchen. “Excuse me,” she said.

  “Omar,” she called out to her eldest son. When he came over she said, “Take these out to Uncle Bobby and the others out there on the patio…and don’t stick ya dirty hand in them, child,” she hollered after him.

  She shook her head. “Come. Let’s go on the upstairs patio and talk. I done sweating over a hot stove now. Anybody who want anything else could make it themselves.”

  When they were seated on the much smaller upstairs terrace, located adjacent to the master bedroom, enjoying the cool breezes, Frances said, “Yeah, so you were telling me about this amnesia thing.”

  “There is good news. He has been remembering a few things and since we got here he remembered a few more. So I’m hopeful things will improve.”

  “It will. A nice, relaxing time on this island and some good loving will jog his memory in no time.” Frances said with a comforting pat on Dana’s leg.

  Dana gave an embarrassed laugh. “I don’t know about the good loving part.”

  “What you mean?”

  “Well, we haven’t…you know…made love since the accident.”

  “Why? What he got don’t work no more,” Frances exclaimed, eyes bulging.

  “Fran! You are so crude!”

  “No. Seriously, sometimes when people injure their brain they become impotent, you know. I read that somewhere.”

  “Not Bobby. He’s fine.”

  “So, then why…?”

  “Well, originally, it was because he didn’t know me. I felt like he didn’t love me. I couldn’t just have sex with a man who didn’t love me.”

  “What! Girl, what foolishness you telling me? You are his wife. And that man is real good looking. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Gregory is a good looking man, but Robert Cortelli is in a league all his own. And you telling me you got that hot-blooded Italian man under your roof and won’t put something on him ever since. No wonder his memory ain’t come back yet. Girl, try and stop this foolishness, hear?”

  “I had planned to. He told me he loved me our first day here and just as we were about to make love he got a migraine. I figured he should take it easy. So I have been avoiding him…”

  Fran cackled out like a setting hen and Dana felt her face heat up. “Dana Dickson. You mad. That man got a migraine because you probably had him worked up in such a frenzy that he almost exploded. No wonder he letting Lorraine drape herself all over he so. Listen to me, see? Go and take your man by the hand. Take him home and give him some good, good loving. In fact that is the prescription for the remainder of your stay here. Make love to your husband at least three times a day. If, when you finish, that man does not recover his memories of you, the book wrong.”

  “Which book?”

  “The good book. And you know that book ain’t wrong!”

  Chapter 22

  The bedroom suite, one of the four on the property, screamed honeymoon chamber. The gilded bed with its ivory coverings was flanked by two mahogany side tables with antique lamps providing intimate lighting. Translucent ivory curtains softened the light of the sun by day and reflected the silver light of the moon by night. And everywhere, from the antique exquisitely crafted writing desk to the glass coffee table in the corner of the room to the massive vase on the floor, were flowers, freshly picked tropical flowers releasing an intoxicating, spicy scent throughout the room. The setting, though, only served to frustrate Robert by reminding him of what he was being denied.

  He didn’t know what had transpired at Frances’ house but Dana had brought their evening to an abrupt end by mumbling an excuse about her needing to attend to a matter back at the villa. He figured that she was probably annoyed that Lorraine was flirting with him and showing her displeasure by dragging him away from the gathering. Not that she had anything to worry about, of course, but he didn’t mind her thinking she did. Maybe seeing him through the eyes of another woman might inspire her to treat him less like an invalid and more like a desirable man.

  He had asked her what the urgent business was. Her response was that they’d discuss it at home.

  So here they now were. In the master bedroom of the villa. He reluctantly sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what the discussion would be about. Quite frankly, if she was going to deny him the pleasure of her body like the previous night, he just wanted to go to bed.

  “Unzip me, will you?” Dana asked, her back to him.

  He obliged as he gritted his teeth. He was beginning to think she derived some perverse pleasure from teasing him.

  “Bobby, I have to apologize,” she said as she turned to face him and stepped out of her dress.

  Robert didn’t reply. He drank in the sight of Dana’s scantily clad body as he fought to control a surge of desire.

  “Maybe I made a mistake.” He could hear her saying, but her voice seemed to come from far away because now she was unpinning her hair and it was falling in lush waves around her face. He gripped the edge of the bed until he was sure his knuckles would crack.

  “I thought I was doing
the right thing. Not letting you make love to me, but I see now I was wrong.”

  Robert knew in that moment that there was no way he would go to bed without making love to Dana. Not tonight.

  “I just felt so afraid after that headache. I was sure that you were regressing or something. Oh, why did I lose faith so fast?”

  Robert sprang from the bed like a panther. He grabbed Dana’s arm with one hand and buried the other hand in her hair. She moaned and melted in his arms.

  “Dana?” he whispered huskily, as he bent his head and kissed the side of her neck.

  “Yes?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Shut up and let me ravage you.”

  He was rewarded to hear her gasp.

  “Okay,” she squeaked.

  In short order, Robert was separating his wife from her flimsy coverings.

  ~*~*~*~

  A little while later they lay intertwined in each other’s arms.

  “That was amazing,” Dana said as joy coursed through her heart.

  “Wasn’t it, though?” Robert said with the most contented of sighs. “I think I hear angels singing.”

  The laughter in Dana’s heart quickly burst through her lips as she snuggled closer to Robert.

  “Aren’t you ascribing a bit too much importance to your carnal delight?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I like to think that God’s heart sings when a woman gives her husband a little taste of heaven like you just did.”

  Dana laughed again.

  Oh, how she had missed Robert. Robert like this, without a care in the world, just focused on her and their time together. It had been so long since she was all he cared about.

  She caught her breath.

  It sounded like he existed just to make her happy and shower her with love and affection all day. And that had been pretty much what he’d been doing for the last month since they had returned to Los Angeles, and she had been lapping it up. If she had to be honest, she had been enjoying having him all to herself for a change. Except, it wasn’t right for her to think that way. He was still a vibrant force in the prime of his life. He still had incredible talent. Was it right for her to want to keep him from that?

  She cleared her throat. “Honey.”

  “Ummm.”

  “Have you been missing making movies?”

  “Not really.”

  “Oh.”

  He stroked her hair.

  “But aren’t you concerned about that?”

  “No, I’m not. I’m an actor. It’s what I do. That’s never going to change. It’s just not the right time that’s all. I trust God to tell me when it’s time to go back out there. I’ve ordered my steps for too long, Dana. I think it’s time to hand over those reigns to God. He will lead me where he wants me to go. One thing I do know is that my first priority has to be the amazing wife and kids he’s blessed me with.”

  She pushed away from him slightly so that she could prop on one arm and look into his face.

  “Who are you and what did you do with my husband?”

  His laughter elicited a smile, but she was only half kidding.

  “So, may I ask what brought this on? Not that I’m complaining,” he added hastily.

  Dana ran her hand lightly over the black hair on his chest. “Frances reminded me that at the end of the day all any of us really want is love.”

  “Love?”

  “Good love.”

  “Good love?”

  “Good loving.”

  Robert threw back his head and laughed until his sides ached. “Remind me…to send Frances a dozen roses tomorrow,” he said as he wiped his eyes. “She’s like my new best friend.”

  ~*~*~*~

  The next morning, Dana walked on the beach and talked to God. She asked Him to forgive her for being so selfish during her marriage to Robert. She had accused him of making his life all about work, but she had never made his struggles any easier. Instead of praying for his deliverance, supporting him as best she could, focusing on his good qualities and being an example of a godly wife, all she had done was nag him, resent him and punish him when he was home. She had not treated him with respect so how could she have expected him to act in loving ways to a woman who made him feel like less than a man; a woman who withheld sex and adoration all because he had not pleased her? She was to blame for not being obedient to God and loving her husband as she ought. Instead of dealing with the plank in her own eye she had focused on the speck in his. No wonder his absences had increased. Who wanted to come home to a contentious woman? She called to mind the Proverb that spoke about how it was better for a man to live on the corner of a roof than in a mansion with a contentious and quarrelsome woman.

  She thought about sharing with Robert what had transpired on the night of the L.A. Dance Project Benefit Dinner, but she felt her stomach somersault. She would tell him some day. Not now, not when they had just begun to rekindle their romance. This was an opportunity for them to start fresh with a clean slate; to do things better.

  After her shower, Dana dressed in a short, patterned dress from a local designer, Avark, and went in search of her husband.

  She found Robert swimming in the pool. From the vigorous strokes he made as he cut through the water, she realized that he was very close to where he had been before the accident.

  When he emerged ten minutes later, she asked, “How many laps today?”

  He grinned boyishly and said, “Seventeen.”

  She clapped excitedly. “Excellent.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I do feel pretty good.”

  He bent over and kissed her neck as he dried off.

  “I have you to thank. You inspired me. After yesterday and this morning, I feel like I could pull a Mac truck.”

  “Well don’t. Conserve that energy for the work I’ve got for you to do later,” she teased.

  He laughed. “I do so love the sound of that, baby. Just let me get some grub first and we can work on a child who looks like you.”

  “Hey!” Dana kicked out her foot at him and almost caught him on the shin, but he nimbly hopped out of the way.

  “I’m just saying. Didn’t you hear what Annette said yesterday when you showed her the photos of the kids? She said that they are the splitting image of me, and you need to work on getting your own child now. Ever the helpful spouse, I’m willing to work with you on that.”

  “I’ll bet.” She smirked. “Remember, though, we’ve got a tour lined up for today. You said you wanted to see more of Barbados. We’re going to see Harrison’s Cave.”

  “Have I been there before?”

  “Yeah, we visited for our honeymoon so it’s been years. I’m told that they’ve made some changes since then to enhance the experience, so it should be interesting.”

  “I’m game.” He walked over to the breakfast buffet and took up a large yellow mango. He bit it, spat out the skin in a bowl and returned to the table with bowl and mango.

  Robert ate his mango and watched Dana thoughtfully as she ate her cubed mango with a fork.

  “You know,” he said, as he mimicked the Barbadian accent and pointed to Dana’s fork, “Jean told us, you don’t eat a mango so.”

  Dana burst out laughing.

  “I don’t care. I hate getting my hands all sticky with fruit you know that. Oh…you don’t know that.”

  “Don’t say sorry. I forbid you to say sorry. It’s okay Dana I’m not going to fall to pieces because I don’t remember something about you. And I hope you don’t either. I’m getting to relearn how you are. And you know what? It’s an exciting journey. How many people can say they get a second chance? A redo. I hope that I won’t make the same mistakes I did when we first started out. No, I’m praying I won’t.”

  She watched him with love, and her heart felt like it would burst.

  “Kiss me with that mangoey mouth,” she said.

  “So, you don’t mind your mouth getting all sticky then?”

  “Not when it’s for a good cause.”
<
br />   ~*~*~*~

  Robert was fascinated with Harrison’s Cave. It was described as one of the world’s natural wonders. It was wonderful, he thought as he took in the stalagmites and stalactites. In a tour which included some locals and tourists, he wondered vaguely how much of the experience the others took in. They seemed very fascinated with Dana and himself, and when the two stopped inside the cave to take pictures of the natural springs and formations, several came up to him and asked to take pictures with them. Others wanted to simply wish him well. They shared that they had been praying for his full recovery and were happy to see him looking so good.

  It was a lovely feeling to think that people actually cared and that they really saw him as a human being and not just as a larger-than-life persona.

  After the Cave tour, they went over to the nearby Welchman Hall Gully, a very interesting trek during which he saw the native horticulture and learned more about the land his wife’s ancestors hailed from.

  Following the tours, they made their way to the photogenic east coast of the island, with its unique rock formations, therapeutic sea sprays, and panoramic cliff views. They stopped for lunch in Martin’s Bay, St. John at the rustic Bay Tavern restaurant where they experienced real Bajan, a local name for Barbadian, hospitality and friendliness. The bartender related his favorite scene in Train Crash and encouraged Robert to try a Banks beer, on the house.

  Robert took the beer, and when he tasted the cool liquid, a memory flashed into his consciousness. It was of him and Dana and some other people. It was a party, and Dana was dancing to the local music, and there was some kind of barbecue going on, and they were having a good laugh. He was holding the bottle in his hand, and someone asked him if it was better that a Budweiser to which he’d replied, “It comes pretty close.”

  Dana broke into his thoughts. “Another memory?” The excitement in her voice was evident.

  He nodded and shared it with her.

  “Brought on by a beer of all things. Go figure,” he said.

  In the days that followed, they hired a car and explored the island on their own. Dana sat in the passenger seat and pointed out places they had been and what they had done. On the day of their anniversary, they wandered down to Speightstown Fish Market to buy fresh fish and explore the lively market. She laughed at him as he pondered over the price of groceries as if shopping was something he did every day. But he revealed that because of the friendliness and nonchalance of the Barbadian people he could relax in relative anonymity although he did notice that a few pictures were snapped by the local press.