Serpent in Paradise

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  They were married the day following Jase’s first visit with Dr. Carson. Melissa and Adam were the only ones in attendance, and afterward they took the newlyweds. out to dinner.

  “You’ll be able to take Melissa and me out to dinner next month, Adam announced expansively, pouring the champagne.

  “You’ve set the date?” Amy demanded in delight, reaching for her glass. Her sister nodded, smiling brilliantly. “Well, terrific!” Amy exclaimed, feeling euphoric about everyone and everything. “Here’s to next month’s wedding!” She hoisted her glass and everyone at the table followed suit. Just as the wine hadn’t tasted as good as it should have the night of the party, the champagne wasn’t quite as interesting to her taste buds as it normally would have been. Still, it was drinkable, and a few minutes after the toast, Amy reached once more for the fluted glass in front of her.

  Before she could close her fingers around it, Jase put out a hand and moved it aside. Amy blinked in astonishment and then smiled “I wasn’t going to spill it. I haven’t dropped a thing since the night of the party.”

  He smiled back, amused. “I know. Nothing like pregnancy, it seems, to settle down a high-strung woman.

  “Well, then,” she began determinedly, reaching for the glass again.

  “You’ve had enough,” Jase told her mildly and put the glass completely out of reach.

  Amy’s mouth dropped open. “Jase! I’ve had one sip!”

  “That’s enough. Dr. Carson says alcohol should be avoided during pregnancy.”

  “Dr. Carson!”

  “I got a long list of dos and don’ts from her yesterday when I talked to her,” he explained easily.

  “But, Jase...” Bewildered, she started to argue and then, realizing how ridiculous that was on her wedding day, she ceased at once, managing a politely aggrieved smile that brought a knowing laugh from Melissa.

  “Amy isn’t accustomed to having anyone look after her, Jase. And after being in charge of her own business for the past couple of years, she’s used to giving the orders.”

  “Things will be different, now that she’s married,” Jase predicted complacently.

  “Will they?” Amy couldn’t resist taunting.

  “You have a husband now,” he said more seriously. “A husband is the head of the family.”

  “Jase, darling, things have changed a little here in the States since you’ve been gone,” Amy began sweetly, only to be interrupted as the formally dressed waiter brought a glass of milk on a silver tray and set it in front of her.

  “Drink your milk, Amy. You need the calcium.” Amy stared hard at the glass of milk. “Jase, I don’t like milk.”

  “Dr. Carson says you’re to drink it.” As if that settled. the issue, Jase turned to Adam and began questioning him on some of the changes in the new tax laws. Amy, telling herself the last thing she wanted to do was ruin her wedding day with an argument over a glass of milk, grimly swallowed the liquid in silence.

  “So your friend Ray will be running The Serpent for you while you’re here in California?” Adam was saying with interest a few minutes later.

  Jase nodded. “While we’re waiting for the baby, I’m going to be a full-time househusband. It should be an interesting experience. After the baby’s born and the pediatrician has given the okay, we’ll all be leaving for Saint Clair.”

  Amy’s fork slipped out of her fingers as she started. It clattered loudly to her plate, bringing Jase’s head around in concern.

  “Is there a doctor on the island?” Melissa hastened to inquire, seeing the annoyed flush on her sister’s cheek.

  Diverted, Jase nodded. “Dr. Kenton. He and his wife retired there a couple of years ago. Marsha Kenton is a nurse. Don’t worry, Saint Clair has good, basic medical care. In extreme situations a patient can be flown to Hawaii for more sophisticated treatment. Amy, if you go for that champagne glass one more time, I’m going to lose my temper.”

  Amy withdrew her hand. “I think I need it, Jase,” she said meaningfully. “I seem to be getting a bad case of bridal jitters.” She wished he would stop talking about returning to Saint Clair. He had followed her to San Francisco and this was where they would stay! Here in civilized surroundings they could make a home.

  “If you’re getting the jitters,” Jase said smoothly, “then I’d better take you home. It would be too expensive to replace the dishes and all the glassware on this table.”

  Jase’s first consultation with Dr. Carson was far from his last. He not only accompanied Amy every month for the routine visit, he always had a separate, serious discussion of his own with the rather amused but indulgent doctor. To Amy’s chagrin no subject was sacred. They discussed her well-being from one end to the other while she sat on the sidelines, not knowing whether to be amused or exasperated.

  “I don’t think she’s gaining enough weight,” Jase announced on one visit, eyeing his wife with a critical look. “That book you gave me last month says she should be putting on a little more than she is.”

  Dr. Carson acknowledged the concern but assured him that Amy was well within normal limits.

  On the next visit Jase and Dr. Carson deliberated on the matter of Amy’s increasingly tender breasts, and. Amy devoutly wished she’d had enough sense to keep from wincing the night before when Jase had lightly grazed her nipple with the palm of his hand during lovemaking.

  “Perhaps a larger bra size would make her feel more comfortable,” the doctor suggested.

  “We’ll go shopping for one this afternoon,” Jase announced instantly.

  “Have both of you forgotten that I own a lingerie store?” Amy interrupted aggressively. They both turned to look at her as if she had no business involving herself in the decision. And so it went.

  While Amy spent her days at work, Jase buried himself in the San Francisco Public Library, researching the latest information on childbirth. His conversations with Dr. Carson took on an increasingly clinical tone. By her sixth month Amy began to feel as if she were in the presence of two physicians instead of one doctor and a husband.

  One day during lunch with Melissa, Amy tried to explain what was happening. “He watches me like a hawk, Mel. Every meal has to be perfectly balanced nutritionally. I haven’t been allowed a potato chip for the past two months! And he’s got my vitamins so carefully scheduled that, when I accidentally forgot them one morning last week, he came down to the store with the bottle and stood there amid a pile of nightgowns, making sure I swallowed the tablets! He’s taking over, Mel. He’s completely in charge now! It’s scary.”

  “I think it’s rather sweet,” Melissa chuckled.

  “The problem,” declared Amy, “is that he doesn’t have a job. He’s devoting his whole attention to me and the baby, and when the kid’s born he thinks we’re all going to go happily back to Saint Clair.”

  “But he has got a business, Amy. The Serpent does very well, from what Adam says. Jase has spent ten years making a livelihood on Saint Clair. He’s not going to walk away from that. Especially now that he’s got a family to support.”

  “But, Mel, I wanted him to come to San Francisco so that I could make a home for him here. A civilized home. When he showed up on my doorstep, I thought he had decided that was what he wanted.”

  “He’s taking his responsibilities very seriously, Amy. Just the way you always thought a man should take them,” Melissa pointed out gently. “He has a very old-fashioned streak in him when it comes to this sort of thing. He wants to provide for his wife and child and he’s well equipped to do that on Saint Clair.”

  “He could get a job here!”

  “Doing what? He’s been away from the States for ten years, Amy. About the only thing he could do is what he’s already doing on Saint Clair.”

  “Running a bar?”

  “Exactly. And it would take a long time to build one up to the profit level of Th
e Serpent. Even if he wanted to try. You know how competitive this town is when it comes to restaurants and bars.”

  Amy stared out the window of the restaurant in which they sat. “He hates the city, Mel. He tries to hide it, but the truth is, he feels out of place.”

  “I know,” her sister whispered sympathetically. “Some men aren’t meant for city living.”

  “Oh, God, Mel, what’s going to happen after the baby is born?” Amy whispered, growing frightened.

  “You,” Melissa stated quietly, “are going to have to make some serious decisions.”

  “I couldn’t bear it now if he were to leave. Tears stung Amy’s eyes just at the thought of such a possibility.

  “Jase would never abandon his wife and child,” Melissa said with utter conviction.

  The realization that Jase didn’t like the city had been forced upon Amy soon after he settled into her apartment. As far as he was concerned he was only in town so that the baby could be born in a first-class hospital under the care of a doctor Amy trusted. San Francisco was only a temporary place. The only part of it that he really seemed to enjoy was the wharf area. As the time of her delivery approached, Amy’s fears became more concrete. How long would Jase stay after the baby was born? How long before he announced that they were all going to Saint Clair? What would she do when he issued the ultimatum? These days, she reminded herself, women didn’t give up their careers and lifestyles to follow a husband who insisted on living at the ends of the earth. The home she had envisioned creating had been a civilized setting like San Francisco.

  Damon Brandon Lassiter came into the world at four in the morning, only one day before the date Dr. Carson had ordained for his arrival. For the first time since Jase and Dr. Carson had become colleagues, they were both forced to acknowledge that, after all their planning and instruction and consultation, it was Amy who finally had to do the real work. For some reason that shook Jase up more than Amy would have believed.

  “Did you think you were going to be able to do this part yourself?” she teased weakly between increasingly harsh contractions. Jase was beside her, holding her hand as if he would never let go.

  “Hell, sweetheart,” he muttered in angry frustration, “I only wish I could. I didn’t realize, I guess, that in this modem age it all still hurt so much.”

  “Give me the breathing exercises,” Amy instructed briskly, aware that the only way to keep him from falling apart was to keep him working. To her relief he seized willingly on the task, remembering the role he had learned during the childbearing classes that he had made Amy attend so faithfully.

  “I feel rather extraneous,” Dr. Carson observed when she arrived. She smiled down at her patient. “I think my esteemed colleague, Mr. Lassiter, is quite capable of getting you through this on his own!”

  Amy clutched her husband’s hand more tightly as another contraction swept over her. “Yes,” she panted. “He could. Jase can handle anything.”

  He remained by her side during the entire process, holding her hand, sponging her forehead, talking to her with gentle encouragement. At the very last, when the exhausting, painful work of giving birth had sapped most of Amy’s energy and nearly all of her fortitude, she clung to the reality of her husband’s sherry-rich voice, her nails biting savagely into his palm as she drew strength from him. And he was there for her.

  She knew in that moment that Jase would always be there for her. It was his nature. The knowledge set her free in a way she couldn’t fully describe.

  When she awoke hours later, she was back in the private room that Jase had insisted on. The stark white surroundings were almost invisible behind the wall of flowers that seemed to surround the bed—huge flowers, reminiscent of the giant, lush blossoms she had seen on Saint Clair. It didn’t take much effort to guess who had arranged for them.

  The man responsible for the flowers was standing by the window, cradling a tiny bundle in his arms. He was staring down at his son as if he couldn’t quite believe the reality of what he held. Amy watched his profile for a long moment smiling drowsily to herself. He’s going to make a fine father, she thought with absolute certainty.

  Jase glanced up, the wonder and the joy gleaming in his turquoise eyes. For a long moment he stood silently, watching his wife and cradling his son. Then, very carefully, he placed the sleeping infant back in the tiny cot beside Amy’s bed and came to his wife’s side.

  “Did we do okay?” she asked softly, made happier than she had ever been by the happiness in his gaze.

  “We did just great,” he breathed in hushed tones. “Oh, Amy, he’s perfect. You’re perfect. My God, I’m the happiest man alive.” He hesitated and then growled forcefully. “But never again. I never want you to have to go through that again.”

  “I’ve heard it gets easier,” she whispered.

  “Oh, Amy!”

  “Jase, I couldn’t have made it without you.”

  He shook his head. “No, Amy. You could have made it without me. Women are so strong when they have to be strong. I’m the one who can’t make it without you. I realize that now. You’ve given me so much—all of yourself and now a son into the bargain. How can I ever thank you? I love you so much, sweetheart. I know you’ve been worrying about going back to Saint Clair, but you can stop thinking about it. I decided while you were sleeping that we’re going to stay here in San Francisco.”

  “But, Jase—” she started to say urgently. He shook his head firmly.

  “No, this is where you’re happiest. This is where your business is and this is where all your friends are. You have a busy, exciting life here. I’m going to become part of it,” he stated.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Amy told him fondly as she turned to look down at her sleeping son, “Damon Brandon and I will be quite content to follow the head of the family wherever he chooses to go.”

  “Amy, you wanted a home,” Jase said softly.

  “We can make a home anywhere. That was something I hadn’t quite realized up until very recently. I had some preconceived notions about what constituted a `proper’ home, you see. But now I know that I’ll be at home wherever you are. And so will Damon.”

  Jase’s hand tightened around hers. “That’s not a very modern attitude,” he pointed out, as if obliged to do so. “Women don’t make statements like that anymore.”

  “Probably because there aren’t a lot of men around who are worth the risk. I got lucky, didn’t I?” She smiled.

  “But, honey, will you be content without your business to run?” he pressed anxiously.

  “Who said I wasn’t going to have a business to run?”

  “Now what are you talking about?”

  “Those letters from Ray that we get every month say that a cruise ship or two are putting Saint Clair on their ports-of-call lists, right?”

  ‘Well, yes, but...”

  “Well, let me tell you something about tourists that I thought you already knew,” she drawled. “They love to take home souvenirs.”

  He looked astonished. “You’re thinking of opening a gift shop on Saint Clair?”

  “Umm. With some really classy stuff, not a lot of cheap junk. Ray’s paintings of the island should sell well to tourists, don’t you think? And I’ll bet there are a lot of other interesting things available. Although,” she added gruffly, “I think I should make it very clear that the proprietor of The Serpent is no longer on the list of souvenirs of Saint Clair!”

  Jase’s turquoise eyes shone suspiciously bright. It took Amy a moment to realize that her husband had tears in his eyes. It astounded her. She’d never seen a man with tears in his eyes. “Amy,” he whispered shakily, “the proprietor of The Serpent has his hands full with a family now. He doesn’t have time to cater to souvenir hunters.”

  The modem age had given women more choices, but it hadn’t provided all the answers. Amy reflected on that simple f
act of life a few months later as the plane settled down on the Saint Clair runway. As long as there weren’t always perfect answers, women would still take risks. And sometimes the results would be worth everything. Not all of her friends in San Francisco had understood Amy’s decision to sell the boutiques, invest the money and then leave for the ends of the earth with her husband and her small son. But as Amy scanned the lush tropical atmosphere awaiting her, she decided she would never regret the risks she had taken.

  The plane screeched to its customary dramatic halt on the meager runway and Jase chuckled. “I can just imagine what the pilots have to say every time they have to land on Saint Clair. The language in the cockpit probably gets extremely salty. What with the tourist trade picking up, we’ll have to see about adding a few more feet to the runway.”

  Amy smiled and glanced out the window again. “We’ve got a reception committee. I can see Ray, and there’s Maggie and even Fred Cowper.”

  “No kidding?” Jase eagerly followed her glance, and she realized that for him this was going to be a very special homecoming. He was anxious to show off his small family to his old friends.

  “Here,” she said, handing over his tiny gurgling son. “You take Damon and I’ll bring the baby bag. I wouldn’t want to get nervous and drop him in front of your friends. Very embarrassing.”

  Jase laughed but accepted the baby. “You know damn well you’re steady as a rock with Damon. A natural mother. I always knew you would be, you know.”

  The plane taxied to a complete halt in front of the old building that served as a terminal, and Jase stood aside in the aisle so that his wife could emerge from her seat. Then, looking every inch the proud patriarch, he shepherded his little family off the plane and onto the soil of their new home.

  The reception committee was as enthusiastic as Amy could have wished. Ray and Maggie and Fred swarmed over the new arrivals, the welcome solid and sincere. Several of the people who worked at the terminal came out to add their greetings.