Tamed Spirit

by Alison Tyler

  Liz came back and took the felt-tip pen off the table. With a small smile on her lips, she wrote, "To my blood sister, Stubbornness and fifty drachmas will buy you a cup of coffee in this town, but it sure as hell won't buy you love! Liz."

  "That's it for my words of wisdom, sweetie. Maybe you'll pick up some more thoughts from that book I bought you." Liz gave her a sly grin.

  After the star swept out of the room, Cat picked up the gift-wrapped package and undid it. When she read the title of the book, a broad smile broke out on her face.

  Luke had spent the morning running around the island picking up some last-minute gifts—a lovely shawl for Teri, who was probably still angry at him for canceling out on their last date to that seminar on alcoholism, and an amusing book on the history of belly dancing he thought Max Hart would enjoy.

  He was leaving in two more days. This visit to Greece had turned out to be nothing like he had ever dreamed. His weeks here had been filled with pure romance… and pure hell.

  When he walked out on Cat that last time, he was sure that was it. How many times could someone say good-bye? He and Cat must be close to having set the record.

  Oh, he had meant it each time. But this was truly the limit. Cat's brush with death had been the final, ultimate straw in a large collection of straws he'd been accumulating since their first memorable encounter. He had been furious at her for wanting to step right back in the thick of it all over again.

  That was four days ago. Actually, his rage managed to take him through yesterday. That was when his anger began to give way to other feelings. It was about time, he decided, to apply to himself some of the counseling skills he'd employed with others to such good effect over the years.

  When he arrived back at his bungalow in the afternoon, he was still sorting through exactly what course of action to take. On the chipped porcelain kitchen table he found a nearly indecipherable note from his clearing lady. With the help of a neighbor he finally was able to make out that Cat was in the hospital in Athens.

  His first reaction was fear. He called the hospital to find out her condition, but he did not ask to be connected to her room. He needed some time to think. When he hung up, his anger started to mount. She'd been so anxious to get right back into the thick of things that she didn't even take the time to get herself together after that close call on Skiros. Cat Roy, the woman who leaps buildings, doesn't give in to fear. Damn, she wouldn't even admit to its existence! He wouldn't be surprised if she was lying in that hospital trying to think up some great stunts she could do with a cast on her leg.

  She was impossible. She was also the woman he was madly, passionately in love with. Whatever stunts she pulled, even this latest one that broke her leg, couldn't alter his feelings for her. Nor did all the good-byes they had shared. How often do fantasies come true in real life, anyway?

  When Cat looked up from what she had been reading and saw Luke at her door, the first thing she did was shove the book under the covers.

  "That must be quite a story," Luke said, grinning as he crossed the room.

  "How did you know I was here?" she countered.

  Luke didn't answer her question, but Cat had a pretty good idea who had told him.

  He lifted the bottom corner of the blanket to check her leg. His eyes flashed on Liz's writing. "Your blood sister is a smart lady."

  Cat jerked her leg further under the covers. "Why did you come here?"

  "I heard you broke your leg and were laid up in the hospital."

  "Did you hear all the details?"

  "No. I don't really want to know them."

  "Of course. How could I forget?"

  "Cat… I once told you no other woman provoked jealousy in me the way you do. Well, there's never been another person on this earth who has made me feel as angry… as foolish… as frightened as you are capable of making me feel. Sometimes I want to grab you and shake you so that you will stop making me go through all this."

  He reached over and touched her cheek. "You also make me feel incredibly wonderful, and that's one feeling I never want to stop experiencing. Without you, that feeling vanishes."

  "So what do we do?" she asked softly, catching hold of his hand, drawing him closer to her.

  "It isn't easy to watch the woman you love jump out of buildings. Maybe I'll have to learn how to do it myself. Maybe I've been too damn conservative, too afraid to take risks all my life."

  "Luke, what are you talking about?"

  "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Isn't that how the saying goes?"

  "Stop teasing."

  "I mean hypothetically. Would you be able to cope with it? Would you feel that sick, sinking feeling in your stomach every time I leaped?"

  "No. If you are talking hypothetical, then no, I wouldn't panic. I would trust you. If you believed you could do it, I would. Luke, what the hell are you doing?"

  He strode over to the window and opened it wide. Looking back over his shoulder at Cat, he said, "If I told you, right this minute, that I could stand on this ledge out here and jump off… would you be scared?"

  "Luke, were on the second floor. You fall off that ledge and you'll wind up in the bed beside me."

  "How about if I tell you it's only a stunt? I've worked on it… perfected it… know it cold. Come on. Would you trust me? Could you watch me sail through space without feeling terrified?"

  Her back was to the wall, and they both knew it. He would never go through with it, she told herself. He just wanted to see if she could handle it any better than he did.

  "Yes. I could watch you without panicking."

  "Good." He blithely swung first one leg then the other onto the ledge.

  Cat could feel her heart start to pound, but she was sure he'd stop any moment.

  Now he was standing up, out on the ledge. Cat's nervousness made her cry out, "Luke, you aren't a stunt man. Even if you're joking, you could accidentally fall. Luke, get inside."

  "Remember when I begged you to come inside that first day? I owe you one."

  Then he jumped. Cat screamed. Frantically, she extracted herself from the covers and hobbled to the window.

  There was a look of pure terror on her face. It was replaced by one of shock as Luke poked his head up over the windowsill to peer at her. When she got to the window, she looked down to see that Luke was standing on a scaffolding left by the window washers. His leap had been a two-foot drop at the most.

  "You… you…"

  "Now remember, Cat. You said you wouldn't panic. And I did owe you that one for what you've put me through. At least this experience will be a little humbling for you. Make you more understanding of what I will have to go through every time you leave our happy home and hearth to go hurling your gorgeous body out of burning cars, off runaway horses… or whatever other crazy stunts you pull. A body, I might add, that I hope will bear our children one of these days."

  He climbed back inside as Cat continued to glare at him. "Are you mad at me?" he whispered, coming close to her. "It was only a joke."

  "At least when I pulled my stunts on you, I was truly contrite," she muttered, her anger fading as he put his arms around her. She looked him straight in the eye. "Did you mean what you said about 'home and hearth'?"

  "Every word."

  "It isn't going to be an easy life for either one of us. I don't know if I can handle being a psychiatrist's wife any better than you can handle being a stunter's husband."

  "I don't know. There was this rush of excitement when I took that leap." he teased.

  "Luke, you're crazy." She laughed, putting her arms around his neck. "You're right about one thing. I will be a lot more understanding of what you go through watching me."

  "Good. See, we're making progress already." He bent and kissed her lightly. Then he drew her tightly to him for a deeper kiss.

  "I don't know anything about your work. You said yourself, I wouldn't understand half the things you read and discuss. Teri Caulfield will probably stand up and denounce me a
t your next medical conference," she said with a small smile.

  "If I can learn the inner workings of 'gags' then you can learn the works of Sigmund Freud." He lifted her in his arms and carried her back to bed.

  When he pulled down the covers for her, he spotted the book she had hidden from him.

  "My blood sister thought I might find it helpful reading." Cat looked at him with a broad grin.

  He read the title aloud. "The Making of a Psychiatrist."

  Cat took the book from his hands. "I'd rather learn from a master," she whispered as she put her head on his shoulder.

  He encircled her in his arms and held her tightly against him.

  "Oh, Luke, it hurt so much when you walked away that day. I thought I'd never see you again."

  "No more good-byes. We're responsible for this crazy script, and I think it deserves a wildly improbable ending," he said as he kissed the soft curve of her neck.

  "I might give up runaway horses when I'm bearing those children," she murmured in his ear. "Who knows, one of these days I might even slow down—take over Dodger's job and just coordinate those wild stunts instead of doing them myself."

  He held her at arm's length and stared into her midnight-blue eyes. "Don't get too tame. I love that spirit of yours. One of these days I might even get used to it."

  "I love you," she said softly, adding with a smile, "I'm afraid right now you'll have to settle for tame. This cast is going to keep me off ledges for a while. You never did hear how it happened."

  "Cat, I don't… okay. I guess this is lesson number one in getting my feet wet," he relented. "What stunt were you doing this time?"

  "Well, there was this gag, kind of an aerial acrobatic maneuver from a helicopter…" She watched his frown begin to deepen, despite his efforts to remain calm. A teasing smile played upon her lips. "I was on my way to the runway when this guy on a motorcycle shot out of nowhere and ran me down."

  He broke out in laughter.

  "It isn't that funny. Twenty years of doing stunts, and my first broken bone is the result of forgetting to look both ways before I cross the street."

  Hugging her to him, he said, "I guess you just can't be too careful these days."