The Stud

by Barbara Delinsky

  On the one hand, Jenna loved talking with him. On the other, she felt like a heel for deceiving him. So she decided that she would look her absolute spectacular best while she was with him. To that end, she had her hair conditioned and trimmed, had a facial had a manicure and pedicure. Being a McCue, she also shopped. She visited five of her stores, scattered in three different states. All five were already filled with fall clothes, but each had fitness departments that were stocked with things like bathing suits, shorts and T-shirts year-round. She struck out when it came to a sun dress, but she had enough of her own not to mind. Moreover, several of the T-shirts she bought were oversized enough to be belted into dresses this trip, then worn loose later, when she needed more room.

  She had one large suitcase and a well-stuffed car-ryon waiting when Spencer picked her up at the house. "All for a bathing suit, a couple of T-shirts and shorts and a sun dress?" he asked, eyeing the bags in dismay.

  She didn't take offense. He was such a wonderful sight that she doubted she could have held much of anything against him—except the plane, which she was making a monumental effort to forget. "I knew how hot it would be down there and that I'd be sweating a lot I wanted to have fresh clothes to change into. "

  "I could keep you naked. It'd be simpler. " His eyes teased her with something indecent, and in spite of all they had shared, she felt a blush warm her cheeks. He laughed at that and picked up her bags. "Let's go. "

  She was fine on the way to the airstrip. She didn't allow herself to think that this flight would be any different from the others she'd taken. Her heart rose to her throat when she spotted the plane, but she pushed it back down. People flew on small planes every day, she told herself. She looked out over the other private planes that were moving in the area of the runway. She didn't expect any of those to crash. There was no reason for her to believe Spencer's would.

  It struck her men that she was responsible not only for her own life, but for the baby's, too, and she felt a sudden need to tell Spencer that But if she told him about the baby, he wouldn't feel impelled to take her anywhere, and she wanted so to be with him. Besides, when all was said and done, she trusted him with her life.

  Holding that thought close, she stayed calm as she went with him into the flight office. After he had finished his business there, she walked with him onto the tarmac. The plane should have looked larger close up, but, if anything, the opposite was true. Still, she was composed. She trusted Spencer. He was a veteran pilot He knew what he was doing. He wouldn't let anything happen to her.

  When he stowed her luggage in the back, she widened her eyes on the other things stowed there, a full assortment of bags, boxes and cartons. "What's all that?"

  "Supplies. Whenever I'm up here, I buy things to bring back for the house. "

  Two bags immediately caught her eye. They were a familiar purple color and were filled to the brim. "You were at McCue's?"

  "I needed new towels and blankets. "

  Another bag—not from McCue's—held paper goods. Several others, actually four or five, she guessed, held groceries. She saw a large cooler, a bag filled with books, a combination radio/cassette player still in its box and a bag from Tower Records. "I thought you were in New York on business. From the looks of this, you spent the whole time shopping. "

  "I did do business. "

  "Is your manuscript okay now?" She knew that his editor had made him do work even beyond what he had done that weekend at her house.

  "Finally. " He helped her into the plane, then slid around her into the pilot's seat. As soon as their seat belts were fastened, he began to flip switches. Nonchalantly he said, "You don't look nervous. "

  "You said I shouldn't be. You said I was safer in this plane than in a commercial jet You said you were the best pilot around. I'm taking you at your word, Spencer. I'm trusting you with my life. " Her voice was nearly as nonchalant as his had been, but her eyes sent him a pointed message.

  If he was at all bothered by the responsibility, he didn't show it "You're a wise woman, " he said with confidence, which, under the circumstances, was the best thing he could have done.

  Jenna fed off that confidence. It kept her steady during his preflight checks, during the conversation he held with the control tower, during the slow trip out to the runway. At each step, he told her what he was doing. He identified the noises she heard without her having to ask and reassured her that the bumps and vibrations she felt were totally normal.

  With surprising ease, the plane was in die air and climbing, and though Jenna's heart was bearing faster than normal, she was in no way panicked. Spencer clearly knew what he was doing. He seemed as comfortable at the controls as she was behind the wheel of her car.

  "You're doing real well, " he said. "I'm proud of you. " He reached for her hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss.

  She quickly took it back. "Both hands on the controls, please. You're right, I'm doing real well, but only because you're concentrating fully on this. If you're going to start fooling around, I'll take the first parachute home. "

  "I don't have parachutes. "

  "What?"

  He chuckled. "Just kidding. Not only do I have parachutes, but I packed them myself. I'm an experienced sky diver. Did I ever tell you that?"

  "No, but I assumed you've done most everything along that line, like hang gliding, helicopter skiing, hot air ballooning. "

  His eyes lit up in enthusiasm, confirming the last "Ever been in a hot air balloon?"

  "No. "

  "You'd love it. It's smooth and silent. Incredibly peaceful. "

  "It looks a lot simpler than this, " she mused with a lost look at the bank of switches and dials.

  Spencer shrugged. "This isn't terribly complicated. You could fly it. "

  "No, thanks. I'll pass. "

  "I'm serious. "

  "So am I. You got me up here. Don't push your luck. "

  He chuckled again, and paid several minutes' attention to the control bank that she found so complex. "I have to say one thing. We got great weather. The flight path all the way down the coast is clear. This time last week Hurricane Chloe was threatening things right and left. "

  Jenna had followed Chloe's course closely. If the hurricane had gone anywhere near the Keys, she would have been a nervous wreck on Spencer's behalf. "You didn't get much more than rain, did you?"

  "Nah. "

  "But you've lived through far worse. "

  "Don't you know it This season is a tough one. If it isn't a hurricane, it's a tropical storm or gale winds or driving rains. That's why salvaging now is out of the question. When the seas get churned up, the dangers multiply, and the seas get churned up this time of year with disgusting regularity. " He grunted. "So the judge can take his sweet time coming down with the ruling. We can't do a damn thing in the water until the weather stabilizes. " He tapped one of the dials.

  Jenna's gaze flew to it Her pulse faltered. "Any problem?"

  "Nope. "

  "Is that reading okay?"

  "It's great"

  He sounded confident, which was enough for her. Her pulse leveled. She relaxed as much as she ever relaxed in an airplane, which meant that she was able to take a deep breath, release her death grip on the sides of her seat and quietly put her hands in her lap. The ride wasn't so bad, actually. True, she felt more by way of ups and downs than she would have felt in a larger plane, but Spencer was right, there was a sense of control. Then again, maybe that sense of control came from her faith in him. She doubted there was any other person who could have gotten her on an airplane this size.

  "Still with me?" he asked.

  "Still with you. "

  "Not airsick?"

  "Not airsick. " She waited for him to say I-told-you-so—just as she had waited once before, that first month, when he had told her not to go to Hong Kong. But he hadn't said it then, and he didn't say it now. He was special in that regard, too. Other men made a thing of machismo, of pride and superiority. Spencer
didn't, though Lord knew he had better cause to do so. The difference was in self-confidence. Spencer had it. He had earned it He had proven himself ten times over in the things that mattered to him. She felt such respect for him, such respect.

  That respect grew even more during the next two hours. Spencer handled the plane as calmly and capably as he handled her. When he made changes at the controls, he told her what he was doing and why, and that included a landing in Savannah that Jenna hadn't realized they would be making. She wasn't pleased when he told her. Takeoffs and landings weren't her cup of tea even in jumbo jets; her travel agent had long since learned to book her a nonstop flight at any cost. But Spencer wasn't her travel agent, and he claimed that even if she didn't have to use the bathroom, the plane needed fuel. She couldn't argue with that.

  So they landed in Savannah. He talked her down, then, after they'd availed themselves of the rest rooms, the coffee shop and the fuel tanks, talked her back up into the air. She had to admit that it was easier the second time around, since the sound and feel of the plane were familiar. Still, she knew she wouldn't be completely comfortable until they landed on Spencer's Key. Once she was on the ground there, once she knew that she wouldn't be flying again for two full weeks, she would be able to relax and enjoy Spencer.

  Prior to Savannah, they had hugged the coast Now they flew over water. Jenna put her head back, closed her eyes and, as she always did for the purpose of escape, dozed off. When she awoke, they had just passed to the west of Grand Bahama Island.

  It wasn't long after that when she saw a troubled look cross Spencer's face. She wasn't overly alarmed. Surviving four hours in the air, with two takeoffs and a landing, made her something of a veteran. "Something wrong?" she asked casually.

  "Nah, " he said, and returned his attention to the highway of the sky.

  But something about the way he'd said "Nah, " as though in annoyance more than conviction, kept her darting him regular looks. Sure enough, several minutes later, he tapped the same dial again and frowned.

  "What is it, Spencer? You can tell me. I'm prepared for the worst"

  "No worst This dial has been giving me trouble for the past six months. I've had it replaced twice, but it's still giving cockeyed readings. "

  "You told me this was a safe plane. "

  "It is. "

  "You told me you could sense if anything was wrong even before it showed up on the dials. Do you sense anything wrong?"

  "No, " he said reasonably. "The plane's flying great But I also told you I'm a safe pilot and a safe pilot doesn't ignore a cockeyed reading. We're going in. " With the shift of a throttle and the flip of two switches, the plane began to descend.

  "In? Where?" Up to then, Jenna had been remarkably calm. Now some of her calmness began to erode. "All I see is water. "

  "We're coming up on an island. " He pointed with a finger that was perfectly steady. "Over there. See it?"

  She could make out something vague, barely. "It's a mirage. "

  "No, it's an island. "

  "What island is it?" The blob she saw didn't look big enough to allow for a landing, much less repairs on the plane.

  "'It's just north of Bimini. "

  "What's it called?"

  "Private Island #457. "

  She stared at him. "Are you serious?"

  "Could be #483 or #421. It's hard to tell with these little ones. Did you know that there are seven hundred islands in the Bahamas, and that only thirty of them are inhabited?"

  Jenna had a perfectly awful thought "Are you trying to tell me something, Spencer?"

  He grinned. "Yeah, I guess I am. I'm trying to tell you that assuming there's a reasonable stretch of beach, I'm putting down on that little island, and if I do, it's very possible we'll be the only ones there. "

  "We're putting down on an uninhabited island?" She swallowed hard. "With no runway?"

  "A beach is a great runway. "

  "Spencer, " she complained. He didn't seem the least bit upset, which should have been reassuring but wasn't Her nightmare was coming true.

  "Come on, angel, " he coaxed gently. "We're in no danger. If this island isn't appropriate to land on, I'll find another. Once we're down, I'll see whether there's any problem. If there is, either I'll fix it myself or radio for help, and if there isn't, we'll take off again with nothing lost but a few minutes. "

  Jenna was back to gripping the side of her seat though only with one hand this time. The other hand rested protectively on her stomach. "I should have taken a commercial flight That was what I wanted to do. "

  "But you agreed to come with me because you trusted me, and I'm saying that you can trust me still. Do you think dials don't go haywire on commercial jets? Sure they do. But commercial jets can't land on beaches, so they continue on to their destination and a mechanic may take a quick look at the dial between flights. I'm playing it safe. "

  "By landing on a beach?"

  He held up a finger. "Only if the beach looks right. I told you I didn't have a death wish, and I meant it. I also told you that I wouldn't do anything to endanger you, and I meant that, too. " He chucked her under the chin. "This is an adventure, angel. Think of what you'll be able to tell your grandchildren someday. "

  "Uh-huh, " Jenna said with the only energy she had to spare. The rest was being directed toward willing the plane to stay in the air until it reached the island. She imagined she heard all kinds of strange noises coming from the engine. She imagined the air in the cabin felt different She imagined the plane was losing speed at such an alarming rate that they'd have to put down in the water, which, no doubt, was infested with sharks.

  Silently she began to pray. She promised to be good, so good, if only the plane didn't crash. Her life was just beginning. She had so much to live for. She didn't want to die the way her parents had, and she especially didn't want to die before she'd had a child. Could fate be that cruel?

  "Hanging in there?" Spencer asked.

  "Do I have any choice?" she returned in a high-pitched voice.

  "Yeah. You could be scrambling around in back hooking on a parachute. "

  Her eyes widened. "Should I be doing that?"

  "Of course not. There's no need for a parachute when we have a perfectly good beach to land on. "

  She looked out the window. The island had solidified into something resembling a chocolate kiss, but in green. Rimming it was a healthy band of sand. "Are these landings difficult?"

  "Nah. Piece a' cake. "

  She went back to praying. It was either that or yell at Spencer for endangering her life, but that would be counterproductive. He had to concentrate on landing. Then she'd yell.

  "Okay, " he said with a breath, "now, this landing is going to be exactly the same as the one we made in Savannah. " He banked the plane, sending it into an arc that would bring them into alignment with the beach, and he kept talking, just as he'd done during that earlier approach.

  Jenna's heart rose to her throat and stayed there this time. Pictures of her life passed before her as the stretch of sand came closer. She thought of her parents, and wondered what they had been thinking in the minutes before their plane had crashed. She thought of her friends and of the people at McCue's, and wondered what would become of the store. She thought about the baby that had such potential—and of Spencer, who was so full of life and had so much laughing yet to do. If she hadn't been paralyzed by fright, she might have cried at the loss.

  The plane descended the last hundred feet and skimmed the beach for a second before touching down. It bounced once, then a second and third time in quick succession before it finally remained on the ground.

  Jenna sat still as stone.

  "You can breath now, " Spencer said softly. Releasing her seat belt, he drew her rigid body into his arms. "I'm sorry, angel. I know that was tough on you. "

  "Tough?" she said weakly, then caught a wave of returning strength and said more loudly, "Tough? It was horrible!" She struggled out of his arms and glared at him
. "How could you do this to me, Spencer Smith? You know I'm terrified of small planes. You should never have suggested I come on this thing in the first place!" Pushing her door open, she scrambled down over the wing and hit the sand at an angry stride.

  "Where are you going?" Spencer called, following her out.

  "Where can I go?" she cried, and kept walking. She had to put space between herself and that plane. She had to gather her wits. So she strode down the beach to an outcrop of large rocks, climbed onto the largest, put her back to Spencer and the plane and sat staring angrily out at sea.

  Some time later, Spencer joined her. He didn't touch her, didn't even sit on the rock abutting hers. He chose one that left room between them, which was wise, Jenna realized. Given what he went on to say, had he been closer she would surely have hit him.

  "We have a problem, " he began.

  She pressed her forearms to her thighs.

  "The reading on that dial was faulty, all right There wasn't anything wrong with the hydraulic system. The problem is electrical, which is why that dial was going wild. "

  She planted her chin on the heels of her hands and gritted her teeth.

  "Unfortunately, " he went on, "when I turned the engine off just now, the problem that affected the dial caused a larger short circuit that's now affecting far more than one dial. So it looks like we won't be taking right off. That's the good news, " he said just as she was thinking it herself. "The bad news is that I don't have the parts I need to fix it. We won't be taking of at all until someone gets them to us. "

  She let out a breath and returned her forearms to her thighs. "How long will it take?"

  "That depends, " he said in such a hesitant way that her eyes went to his.

  "On what?"

  "On when we're spotted. "

  "What do you mean, 'when we're spotted'? Can't you just radio in an alarm?"