It had been her intention to tell him about Juanita. Just not tonight, not on the eve of the embarkment he’d been looking forward to for years!
He had the weight of the world on his shoulders right now. To worry him about anything else was killing her, but there was no help for it. When a baby decided to enter the world, it didn’t check to see if it was convenient.
“I’m at the hospital w—”
“Lord—”
“Ben— I’m all right!” she cried, but the line had gone dead.
Oh, no.
Knowing she could expect her husband to arrive any minute, she left the waiting room and went out in the hall to the elevator. While she watched for him, she reproached herself over and over again for keeping silent about Juanita.
After the wedding, she should have told Ben what Captain Ortiz had said to her in the wedding line—that Juanita had been trying to get in touch with her because she was in trouble.
This was yet another example of Terri trying to keep problems away from her husband and fix one for someone else at the same time. Only it had backfired in a way she was afraid he wouldn’t be able to forgive.
She heard the ping of the elevator. “Ben!” she cried as her husband emerged with an anxiety-ridden face.
He took one look at her and suddenly she was in his arms, sling and all. “Thank God.” His voice sounded so shaken, it was a revelation to her.
“You hung up before I could tell you I wasn’t the patient,” she whispered into his neck.
Afraid she might lose control and pull his head down so she could kiss him, she backed out of his arms. Maybe it was her imagination, but he seemed reluctant to let her go.
She noticed his chest rise and fall sharply, as if he were trying to catch his breath. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story, but I’d rather tell you about it when we’re back in the condo.”
“Who was hurt?”
Terri moistened her lips nervously. “It’s Juanita Rosario.”
His expression underwent another alteration. She saw that his eyes had darkened. “What’s she doing on the Atlantis?”
“Having a caesarian section.”
He blinked.
“A little while ago the obstetrician told me the baby was in trouble, so he made the decision to operate. I was waiting to hear if everything had gone all right before I went back upstairs. Then you called.”
She could hear his brilliant mind working, turning things over until he’d made sense of it.
“Parker made a big mistake when he gave her money.”
“No—” She shook her head. “It doesn’t have anything to d—”
“Mrs. Herrick?” At the sound of the triage nurse’s voice, Terri swung around.
The other woman had popped her head outside the E.R. doors. “Oh— Mr. Herrick! What an honor! Congratulations on your marriage!”
“Thank you,” he muttered.
“Mrs. Herrick? Dr. Cardenas wants to talk to you now. Just so you won’t worry, the patient gave birth to a beautiful little five-pound daughter. Just think—the first baby born on the Atlantis! The staff couldn’t be more delighted. What an amazing night this has turned out to be!”
Ben’s arm tightened around Terri’s waist as they walked toward the excited nurse. “That woman took the words right out of my mouth.”
CHAPTER NINE
“BEN? May I come in?”
“The door is open.”
It had only taken her a minute to slip on her nightgown and robe, but she’d given him a little longer to get ready for bed.
She walked all the way in the room. It was dark except for the light coming from the hallway. “I have your pills.”
He’d already slid under the covers and lay on his back. “I took some in the bathroom.”
Terri set the water glass on the table.
This time he didn’t pat her side of the bed. She sat down anyway.
“I’m going to tell you everything from the beginning so you’ll understand.”
Without stopping for breath, Terri launched into a full explanation of her visits to the apartment where she gave Juanita money. She told him how she’d used Captain Ortiz and Parker to help translate for her. When Parker added his contribution, it was a spontaneous gesture meant to back up Terri.
Ben didn’t break in, so she sped on with her account of the conversation with John Reagan in personnel, and the subsequent phone call from Captain Ortiz at the pier.
“I swear I never intended to use a dime of your money for this. Before we left Lead, I withdrew all my savings. It’s not a lot, but there’s enough to pay her hospital bill and board until she gets back on her feet.”
“Which won’t be for some time considering she had to undergo a caesarean,” he said in a surprisingly calm voice. “I’m afraid she can’t stay in staff quarters with a newborn.”
“I know.”
“So what were you thinking?”
Grateful he didn’t sound angry she said, “I hoped the hospital would let her stay long enough to get back on her feet. Then I’d fly to Guayaquil with her and help her find work and a place to live with her baby.”
“That’s very commendable. Now let’s hear Plan B.”
Her face went hot. “Well— I guess if I could make a case with the board for allowing families with children to live on the ship, maybe one of the condos that hasn’t sold could be turned into a day care center.”
At this point Ben made a strange sound in his throat, much like the kind she’d heard coming from him when he was mummified.
“It would give the mothers a break for a few hours or all day. I realize we’d have to get a trained, licensed person to head the center.” She spoke faster and faster.
“Possibly they could train Juanita so she could be licensed, too. The two of them could live in one part of the condo with her baby, and set up the center in the other.
“If down the road Juanita wanted to leave the ship, she’d have a skill so she could find a good job elsewhere.”
He sat up and leaned toward her. “And when all these babies are too old for the nursery, then what?” he drawled.
“It would mean there would have to be a preschool, and an elementary and middle school. The thing is, while I was getting acquainted with the ship this afternoon, I noticed that on the Sun Deck there’s a whole area in the aft section that hasn’t been designated for anything specific yet.
“If the schools were put there, they’d be near pools and outdoor activities that would be perfect for recess.”
He reached out to brush some blond tendrils away from her cheek. His touch sent a shock wave through her body. “I’m afraid the directors have a casino in mind.”
“Casino— But there are several dozen bars on the ship. Surely some of them could be turned into dens of iniquity at much less expense.”
She felt his body shake. He was laughing at her again. At least his mood had improved since they’d left the hospital.
“I can tell there’s a lot more on your mind. I’m willing to listen, but I can almost hear your teeth chattering. Get under the covers and make yourself comfortable.”
Her heart almost went into fibrillation. He’d just asked her to get in bed with him. She’d been wanting to do just that ever since she’d met him.
Was he testing the waters? Or was it a case of his being too tired to sit up talking to her any longer?
He was a man who liked to do the chasing.
He had asked…
Desperate to find out, she stood up and pulled the covers back so she could get in.
“I’m sure that feels better,” he murmured as she pulled the covers to her chin.
He was only a few feet away from her. She could feel all that male warmth. Terri would sell her soul to be wrapped up in it.
“What is it about men that they love to sleep in freezing cold rooms?”
“I didn’t realize you’d done a study on the subject.”
“I
haven’t exactly. But my dad and Richard were the same way. Beth says Tom’s so bad, he runs the air-conditioning when it’s sixty degrees out.”
His legs stirred. “Maybe it’s a macho thing. One of those mysteries of the male psyche not meant to be understood.”
“I can’t explain PMS either, so I guess that evens the score.”
The bed shook. “Is this your way of telling me you’re having a bad day?”
“No.” She chuckled. “It was just a comment since we were talking about mysteries.”
“How about solving one for me?”
There was something in his tone that sounded serious.
“If I can.”
“I understand your need to help Juanita. But to go as far as to try and help her find a job—”
“You probably think it’s weird.”
“No. But I have wondered if it means you haven’t let go of Richard yet.”
“Richard?” she cried in exasperation. “He has nothing to do with it!” she declared with every fiber of her being. “Our marriage was over on the honeymoon. But I’d made vows and was determined to keep them. I thought, if I could have a child, then I could pour out my love on it.
“As I explained before, Richard happened to be away both times I lost my babies. But what I didn’t tell you was that I found out he’d made several women pregnant while he was in California. That’s why he moved around, so he wouldn’t have to take responsibility.”
She felt him reach for her hand and cling to it.
“Ben—when you told me Richard had only worked down here for four months, I realized Juanita’s baby couldn’t be his. That meant the birth father had abandoned her, just the way Richard had abandoned me and those two other women.”
Tears sprang to her eyes unbidden. “Captain Ortiz finally told me her story. She ran away from an abusive home, was abused by the man who got her pregnant. Though she knew that Richard was seeing other women, that he partied with them, she stayed with him because at least he didn’t slap her around.
“It made me so sick for all the women who love bad men and don’t have the tools to get out.” She half sobbed the words.
“After you told me Richard had drowned, I thought ‘oh no,’ she’s been abandoned again. The cycle’s never going to stop. She’ll go on being abused for the rest of her life. The same thing will probably happen to her child.
“You should see her, Ben. She’s young and beautiful, but she’ll go to her death never knowing the good life.
“It made me so angry, I can’t tell you. Captain Ortiz made me angry at first. He said, ‘Don’t give her money. She’ll be back for more.’
“The point is, she didn’t ask me for anything. I had to throw it at her. She almost didn’t take it from Parker. I kept thinking, there but for the grace of God go I. My parents raised me in a loving home. I never knew emotional abuse until I lived with Richard. Fortunately I had an education, a job, backing.
“Juanita has none of that. Captain Ortiz must have sensed her plight because he finally softened enough to tell me she’d been trying to get in touch with me for help. He didn’t have to tell me that. He could have left it alone, and I’d have been none the wiser. But his conscience won out.
“So here we are. Stuck on your dream ship with my problem. One you didn’t ask for, and didn’t need. You were better off when you didn’t have a wife. I had no right to tell you what improvements I thought should be made.
“I’m sorry, Ben. So sorry.”
Pulling her hand away, she jumped out of bed and started running.
“Terri? For the love of heaven, come back here.”
Afraid he might follow her into her bedroom, she dashed into her bathroom and locked the door.
Sure enough, she saw the handle turn. “Terri, we have to talk. Open the door.”
“Please go away. I promise that as soon as Juanita can get on an airplane, I’ll leave with her and you’ll never have to deal with a liability like me again.”
“That’s your PMS talking. Go ahead and have a good cry. By the time you come back to bed I’ll have the room at a toasty seventy degrees. How does that sound?”
“Ben—tomorrow’s the biggest day of your life. You need your sleep.”
“I need something else a lot more. Be my wonderful wife and come and give me a leg massage. It worked like magic before. I could use a little of that tonight. Even a business titan like me is a bit shaky right now thinking about what’s going to happen in the morning.”
She sniffed. “You’re really nervous?”
“What if after all this, it doesn’t sail?”
“That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“That’s why I need you. To tell me everything’s going to be all right.”
Her husband was such a tower of strength to the people around him, it never occurred to anyone he had normal human fears. But Terri had seen his human side the first time she’d looked into those unforgettable gray eyes filled with pain and pleading.
Without conscious thought she reached for her lotion and unlocked the door. Her heart sank because he was no longer there.
No doubt he’d gone back to bed. He probably assumed she’d stay in the bathroom until she thought it was safe to come out. But that would be immature and selfish of her.
“Why don’t you turn on your stomach and I’ll do the backs of your legs first,” she said after she’d ventured into his room once more.
He tossed the covers aside and rolled over. She pushed his pajama legs to the knee, then got started. At one point she sat down so she could do both legs at once. Loving him as much as she did, it was ecstasy to be able to worship him with her hands.
“That feels like heaven. Don’t ever stop.”
She kept up the rhythm until she heard the deep, even sounds of his breathing. Very carefully she put the covers over him. He’d fallen asleep.
Terri knew he needed it badly. Her husband would have to be up and ready to go by six-thirty for a day that would go down in history, starting with the ship’s christening.
Ben explained that Captain Rogers’ wife would have that honor. Once she’d broken the champagne bottle against the hull of the Atlantis, their voyage would begin around the tip of South America.
Fifteen hours later Terri stood alone against the railing on the promenade deck with the stiff breeze blowing her tangerine-colored suit skirt against her legs. The shipyard and pier had long since faded from view.
Ben had arranged for both their families to ride in one of the many tugboats that followed the Atlantis for a distance. As Ben had stood behind her, he’d put his binoculars in her hands. She’d been able to find their boat and see their faces.
Together they’d taken turns watching and waving until all the boats became mere specks on the horizon. The whole time Ben had wrapped his free arm around her neck while they’d stood locked against the railing. She’d felt cocooned in the warmth of his hard body and legs. Several times he’d buried his face in her hair.
Emotions had to have been running rampant inside him. Joy, excitement, relief that everything was going perfectly. Terri was so thankful that he was alive to see this day come, she hadn’t been able to stop the tears from falling.
“You can see your family whenever you want,” he’d whispered against her ear. For once he hadn’t been able to divine her thoughts, but she was glad for that. Better to let him go on believing it was a wrench to leave her loved ones. He still didn’t know he had become her whole world.
The ship was in open sea now.
Terri had taken two different ferries with her family when they’d visited the Puget Sound area of Washington on vacation, but she’d never experienced being on an ocean going vessel before. The motion of the ship would take some getting used to, however she didn’t feel queasy or anything.
Before Ben had left her side to join Carlos and the chief engineer for an inspection now that they were underway, he’d urged her to take some seasickness
tablets, just in case. To humor him, she said she’d try one as soon as she returned to their condo. He’d pressed a kiss to her neck before walking away.
But that was several hours ago, and she was still in their same spot near the bow with other condo residents, watching the ocean in rapt wonder, trying to take it all in. A blimp from one of the major television networks filming the unprecedented event was still following their progress.
With the sky overcast, the water appeared a grayer blue today. According to Ben, they were headed into bad weather. He was looking forward to it, anxious to see how the Atlantis handled before they reached Buenos Aires on the Atlantic side of the great South American continent. There they would take on more condo owners.
When her stomach growled, she left her vigil and went back to the condo for a sandwich and a change into casual clothes and sneakers. Then she headed for the hospital, eager to see Juanita’s baby.
En route she received a call from the cargo hold. Where did she want her belongings taken?
It shouldn’t have surprised her business was going on as usual, even on their first day at sea. That meant her plan to visit the nursery would have to be put off for a while.
She told them she’d be right there and headed in the direction of the hold. Of course being right there took a little time on a ship four thousand feet long.
Beth, bless her heart, had organized the packing. She’d labeled the boxes, kitchen, study, living room, bedroom, bathroom. That made it easy. Everything was to go to the condo except the boxes marked study. Terri accompanied the latter to her new place of business and sent the rest upstairs.
Once she got started opening everything, she lost track of time. John Reagan saw what was going on and came in to help her set up her desk and computer. She felt guilty about taking him away from his work and told him she could do everything just fine.
“Hey— I put a sign on the door that if anyone needed me, just look inside here. So far no one has come, so show me what you want done next.”
“Well—that big crate has my love seat in it.”
“Let me run back for my tool kit.”
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