The Tycoon's Proposition

by Rebecca Winters

  “A little.”

  “I would like to talk to Juanita Rosario. She lives in the apartment that belonged to Richard Jeppson.”

  “Ah. The Americano. He—how you say, muerto.”

  “Yes. I know. I am Señora Jeppson. Is Juanita still living there?”

  “Until tomorrow. Then she must leave.”

  “Could you tell her to come to the phone?”

  “I no have time.”

  “I see. Thank you for your help, señor.”

  Terri hung up the phone, afraid her sarcasm had been wasted on him.

  Not to be defeated, she looked in her purse for another number and phoned Captain Ortiz. By some miracle he was there, but he sounded surprised to find out she was the person calling.

  “Captain? I told Juanita Rosario she could get in touch with me through you. Just now I tried to reach her at the apartment, but the manager wouldn’t let me talk to her. Could I ask a great favor of you and get you to call him? Knowing you’re the police, he’ll probably agree.”

  “I’d be happy to do that for you, but I must caution you that she’s probably only trying to extort more money.”

  “What if she were your daughter left all alone in the world? She’s very young, and she’s going to have a baby. The woman needs help. I was thinking of offering her a job.”

  There was a drawn out silence. “You make a compelling case, señora. Give me the man’s number.”

  “Thank you, captain.” After she’d complied she said, “If Juanita comes to the phone, tell her I would like her to call me on my cell phone.” She gave him the number.

  “I will do my best.”

  “Thank you so much. You’re a good man.”

  “No, señora. You are a good woman. I envy your husband.” With those kind words he rang off.

  As she was hanging up, Ben came out the door of his office. Earlier at the hospital, the doctor had removed the dressings for good. No one except a few people who knew where to look would be able to tell he bore scars from his near-fatal accident.

  Terri knew. His handsome face was all the more dear to her because of them.

  His eyes looked around until he spied her at the desk. With the precision of a locked-on laser, he started toward her.

  “Unlike most wives who would have taken advantage of the time to go shopping, mine is busy on the phone.”

  She got up from the chair with a smile. “I was just taking care of a little, er, business.”

  “Is that so.” He pressed a kiss to her astonished mouth, nodded to the receptionist, then swept Terri out of the room. The helicopter was waiting for them on the roof of the building.

  During the flight back to the ship she gave Ben dozens of furtive glances while he patiently answered one call after another from his anxious co-workers. So many years of planning and preparation had gone into this incredible enterprise, she didn’t know how he managed to stay calm and self-assured.

  Anyone else would have been a nervous wreck. Not her husband. He was born for moments like this. In fact she knew he thrived on them.

  How she loved him! Every day of life since she’d met him was more exciting than the last. More than once she found herself touching her lips that still tingled from the brief contact with his.

  It had happened so naturally, she could have been forgiven for thinking he hadn’t been able to help himself. But the receptionist’s presence made fiction of her wishful thinking.

  Everyone in the company knew about their marriage. It was important for him to personify the ardent honeymooner in public for a few more days at least.

  Last night if people could have seen them playing one intense round of Black Jack after another until they’d resorted to cheating to win, no one would have believed it.

  Or the fact that she’d finally dragged herself off to bed in the guest bedroom after his painkillers had knocked him out.

  It was a good thing she hadn’t had any expectations about her wedding night. But it still didn’t prevent her from sobbing her heart out for what was left of it after they’d played their last poker hand.

  Deep in thought, she hadn’t realized how close they were to landing. Suddenly the helicopter dipped. She took one look out the window and cried her husband’s name as the ship’s heliport came up to meet them.

  “It’s a sight I never get tired of,” he murmured.

  At a height of twenty-three stories from the main deck, she could see the whole coast, the shipyard, the brilliant blue ocean, the pier bustling with a mass of humanity.

  “It’s so incredible, I can’t believe anything’s real.” She turned to look at him. “To think you saw all this in your mind years ago. I’m married to my own Leonardo da Vinci.”

  “Hardly,” he mocked. But as he continued to stare at her, his intelligent eyes gleamed with an inner light that penetrated to her soul. When the pilot told them they could deboard, she had no idea they’d touched down, or that the rotors had stopped whipping the air.

  A few minutes later they were back in their condo foyer.

  “Terri?” There was a certain quality in his voice she’d come to recognize.

  She kept her eyes averted. “I know. You have to go. Don’t worry about me. I have my own agenda.”

  “You think I’m not aware of that?” he teased.

  “Phone me if you need me. I’ll come running.”

  “I’ll remember that.” His voice grated.

  Terri felt his hesitation before he stepped back inside the elevator. She held her breath until the door closed, separating her from the husband she loved more than she ever thought it possible to love a man. If he’d remained one more second, he would have been in no doubt how she felt about him.

  Thankful there was so much work to do so she couldn’t go to bed and sob her heart out a second time, she hurried into the dining room and got busy writing thank-you notes.

  There were so many! Not only for the gifts from family and friends, but for the people like the captain of the ship, the organist, the chef and the stewards, the photographer, the dance band, all the staff who’d made their wedding day so exquisite.

  When there was so much to do to get ready for the launching, it couldn’t have been easy to plan a wedding at the last minute. In Terri’s mind it revealed their profound respect and regard for her husband.

  She still couldn’t believe that of all the women he could have married, he’d chosen her. In her heart she prayed he would never regret it.

  After working hard for the next couple of hours, she finished the last note, then separated them into piles to be mailed out or distributed to the staff. With that accomplished, she downed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, grabbed her map of the Atlantis and took off for the post office in her sneakers.

  In order to be of any help tomorrow, she decided to go exploring today so she’d know where to direct the new condo owners who might get lost on anything this gargantuan. One real plus to living on a ship this size—you could eat all you wanted because you ended up walking off the calories just to get from point A to point B.

  Ben’s private office, along with the other directors’ offices, were all located on the twenty-third floor surrounding the board of directors’ conference room. After she’d left the post office, she began her tour of discovery from the top floor, anxious to acquaint herself with Ben’s inner sanctum.

  It looked lived in. He’d obviously been working out of here for many months, but it needed plants and pictures. Perhaps the decorating firm hired for the project already had plans which hadn’t been implemented yet. She’d find out from her husband.

  The twenty-second floor to the fifth of the superstructure housed the condos. Floors one through four contained the shops, restaurants and businesses. She jogged around to get herself oriented.

  So many thousands of details had to have been worked out on the drawing board first. Just estimating the number of lifeboats, preservers and provisions needed in case of an emergency boggled her mind. One day
she’d like to shake the hand of the architects and engineers who’d brought Ben’s dream to life.

  The rest of the ship from the promenade deck down to the hull housed the crew and everything else necessary to the running of the massive vessel. On the flight to the city Ben had told her there was still space on A deck she could make into an office for the chamber of commerce. She headed there next, anxious to start planning her work space.

  When she found it, she discovered a medium-size room with nothing in it, but it was ready for occupancy. That was perfect. Her belongings would be arriving before they set sail tomorrow. She would recreate the office she’d had at her apartment in South Dakota down to the pictures and momentos. It would make her feel right at home and wouldn’t cost a dime!

  Pleased beyond words, she kept touring the ship until she found the personnel office for the staff. There was a sign in front of the thirtyish looking blond man seated at the desk. John Reagan, Manager.

  “Mr. Reagan?”

  He looked up from the computer. After an admiring male glance he got to his feet. “Hello.”

  “Hi. I’m Terri Herrick.”

  The revelation seemed to take him back for a moment, but he recovered just as quickly. “How do you do, Mrs. Herrick. We all heard he got married yesterday. Lucky man,” he said under his breath but she heard him.

  “I’m the lucky one.” They shook hands.

  He grinned. “Are you lost by any chance?”

  “Not yet, but the day isn’t over yet. I came to talk to you.”

  “Sure. Please. Sit down.”

  “Thank you.” She perched on one of the chairs. “You and I will be neighbors. I’m the new head of the chamber of commerce a few doors down.”

  “You’re kidding. I didn’t even know there was one on the ship.”

  “It’s just been announced. Anyway, I’ll explain the reason for my visit. There might be a young pregnant woman coming aboard who’s hit hard times and needs a job. I’m not sure how much English she speaks. Until I know more about her, I have no idea what her qualifications are.

  “She’s going to have her baby within the week, so in any event she wouldn’t be able to work until she’s back on her feet. I already know the rule about no babies, but that might change in the future.

  “My question is this—are there any rooms still vacant for a potential staff member?”

  “Quite a few.”

  “Are there any singles?”

  “Some.”

  “If she could stay in one of them until she goes into labor, I’ll pay for her room and board. One of the restaurants can send her meals. It may be that after she’s released from the hospital, she won’t be able to work on board and will have to be flown back to Guayaquil, but I’ll worry about that later.”

  “Sure. I don’t have a problem with that.”

  “Please don’t say yes because I’m married to Mr. Herrick.”

  “If we needed the space, I’d have to tell you no. But so far, so good. Seeing as she’s about to have a baby and won’t need the room very long, it’s fine with me.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Reagan.”

  “John.”

  “Thanks, John. The thing is, I don’t know if she’ll even show up, but I thought I’d better check with you ahead of time just in case.”

  “No problem.”

  “Wonderful. Now could you do one more thing for me? I need you to write down what I’m going to say to her in Spanish so I’ll be able to communicate with her if she calls me first. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all.”

  In a few minutes she felt prepared. “Thanks. I’ll see you again soon.”

  She left the room on a run and headed for the supermarket on the first floor. No matter the hour, she wanted a homemade dinner waiting for Ben when he came in. Meat loaf, baked potatoes, fresh shelled peas and fruit salad were easy. An hour later she’d set the round table in the dinette area. Everything was ready.

  “Terri?”

  At the sound of his familiar male voice, her heart turned over. “In the kitchen!” she called out as she took the food from the oven.

  There were footsteps. “Hmm. Something smells good. I didn’t expect this.”

  She wheeled around to face him. “I hope you’ve got time to eat before you have to put out another fire.”

  His eyes searched hers. “I’ll make time. I’m starving.”

  “Sit down and I’ll serve you.”

  Within minutes he was practically wolfing down his dinner. She’d made enough meat loaf for leftovers, but it had all disappeared by the time they’d finished their meal.

  He finally looked up at her a little sheepishly. “I was even hungrier than I thought.”

  Terri couldn’t help smiling. “It tells me you’ve had a very busy day, and it’s not over yet. Go on. Whenever you come home, I’ll have another video waiting which is guaranteed to put you to sleep. You need one for your big day tomorrow.”

  “What movie is that?”

  “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.”

  “The what?” He broke into laughter. “I’m afraid I’ve never heard of it.”

  “It’s everyone’s favorite in South Dakota.”

  He reached for her hand across the table and squeezed it. “I can’t wait.” After letting her go, he got up from the table. “The dinner was fabulous.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What are you going to do now?”

  “This and that.”

  He paused in the entry. “I’ll hurry.”

  Terri cleared the table and did the dishes, aware she was too happy. In a state hovering dangerously close to euphoria, her cell phone rang. The caller ID said out of area. Was it Juanita? She clicked on.

  “This is Mrs. Herrick.”

  “Señora? It’s Captain Ortiz.”

  “Yes, Captain?”

  “I have Juanita Rosario with me.”

  She blinked. “Where are you?”

  “We’re in my police car at the pier next to the second floating dock. After you and I spoke, I phoned the manager. He acted very strange so I drove out there. It seems he wouldn’t let her stay another day unless she paid him all the back rent your ex-husband owed.

  “She handed over the money you gave her, then he told her to leave. Now she has nothing. But she swears the manager was lying. I believe her. Therefore, I had some officers take him to the station for questioning. I told her what you were prepared to do for her. She came willingly, but I fear she’s ill.”

  “Do you think the baby’s coming?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Thank you for going beyond the call of duty, captain. I’ll think of a way to repay you. If you’ll keep her there, I’ll call the hospital and ask them to send a medical team ashore to bring her aboard. Tell her I’ll be waiting in the E.R.”

  For the next hour she was on pins and needles as she paced the E.R. lounge watching for the EMTs to bring in Juanita. Terri had already given what information she could to the triage nurse. When asked about insurance, Terri said she’d be personally responsible for the bill.

  By the time this was over, she would have used up her savings, but it didn’t matter. Not when compared to the worth of two lives which were in danger.

  At ten to ten, Ben left Carlos checking on some minor things and headed for the condo. Since dinner, getting back to Terri was all he could think about. The second the private elevator door allowed him entry, he called her name.

  The fact that she didn’t answer back didn’t mean she wasn’t here. He went to the kitchen first in search of her. Everything looked tidy, the dishes were done. She’d cleared away all the gifts from the dining room table. Maybe she’d gone to bed.

  He walked through the condo to the guest bedroom. Her bed was still made up. With pounding heart he hurried to his bedroom in the hope he’d find her asleep on his bed in front of the TV waiting for him.

  When she was nowhere to be found, his disappointment was greater than he could
believe. It hit him then just how profoundly Terri had affected his life. Until the accident which had brought her into his world, he’d never felt anything missing from his bachelor routine.

  For years he’d come and gone from his apartment in Guayaquil, and then more recently from the condo, without giving it a thought. When he did spend time with a woman, it was usually someone he’d met at a party when he’d flown to the States or Europe on business.

  Then suddenly when he was at his lowest ebb in that hospital room, an angelic looking face appeared above him. A pair of eyes peered into his with so much pathos, it changed the meaning of existence for him.

  Where was she?

  He pulled out his cell phone and rang her. By the time she finally answered, he had to tamp down hard on his emotions to act normal. She had every right to go where she wanted and do whatever she felt like.

  Ben had no business being upset because she wasn’t home waiting for him like a dutiful little wife. She’d already tried to do that for her ex-husband with disastrous results.

  Do you honestly think she would put herself through that again for you, Herrick?

  “Hi. Thought I’d check in with you.”

  “H-how is everything going so far?”

  His fingers tightened around the phone. Everything had been going fine until now. “Good.”

  “Where are you?”

  Something was definitely wrong.

  “Home.”

  “Oh—I didn’t realize you’d get through your work so fast.”

  So fast? It was after ten. He sucked in his breath. “How much longer do you think you’ll be?”

  “I—I’m not sure.”

  She was being so evasive, it scared the hell out of him. His brows knit together. “Do you want me to come where you are?”

  “No— I mean—now that you’re at the condo, you need to get to sleep. I’ll be home when I can.”

  “What’s wrong?” He’d had all he could take.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  “Where are you, Terri?”

  Her eyes closed tightly. She’d alarmed her husband when it was absolutely the last thing she’d wanted to do.