“What I told my husband was that if he and I were a couple in the market for a condo on anything as fabulous as the Atlantis, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have considered it after finding out about the restrictions.
“I understand the reasons for them. It’s obvious you didn’t have couples like us in mind. But it’s my opinion that you’d have every condo sold in a few days if you lifted those restrictions.
“Having said that, I beg you to remember one thing—if I’d known what Ben had in mind before he brought me in here, I would have told him I revered all of you too much to risk offending you.”
Without looking at Ben she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. “See you later, dear.”
Total silence followed her exit from the conference room.
The board meeting broke up at five o’clock. Ben shot out of his chair and headed for the elevator.
“Terri?” he called to her the second the door opened to the condo foyer. He made a quick tour dodging packing boxes to find her. When it became clear she wasn’t there, he phoned her.
She’d left the voice message on her cell phone.
Frustrated, he made a beeline for the hospital. If he knew his wife, she’d been there most of the day holding Juanita’s baby. To his surprise, when he questioned the nurses, none of them had seen her.
Maybe she was in her office getting settled in.
It wasn’t until he discovered it empty that a sense of foreboding assailed him. He charged down the hall to John Reagan’s office.
The other man’s blond head lifted when Ben walked inside. “Mr. Herrick?”
“I’m looking for my wife. You haven’t seen her by any chance, have you?”
“No. In fact I went over there a couple of times to ask if she needed any more help, but she wasn’t there. Have you tried the hospital? She was pretty worried about that woman who had the baby.”
Hell. Ben didn’t need the other man to tell him what he already knew about his wife!
“Thanks for the suggestion,” he bit out.
“Sure.”
Terri could be in a hundred different places. There was no help for it but to have an all call put out over the PA system from the chief purser’s office. Ben rang Jose and told him what he wanted him to do.
In a minute the message went out through the entire ship for Mrs. Herrick to get in touch with her husband. The only thing to do now was to go back to the condo and wait for her to either call or show up.
On his way to the elevator his cell phone rang. He clicked on. “Terri?”
“Sorry, Mr. Herrick. This is Les Cramer on the flight deck. I heard your all call. Your wife took a flight out of here at noon today.”
Ben’s heart almost stopped beating. “In this weather?”
“It wasn’t as bad earlier. I assumed you knew. The pilot wouldn’t have taken her up if there’d been any hint of risk. She said she was in a hurry to get back to Guayaquil, that it was an emergency.”
Lord. “What was his flight plan?”
“He flew to El Cerita. Depending on the weather, he’d either go all the way to Guayaquil, or stay put till it was safe to fly.”
“Has he checked in with you yet?”
“No, but I can still reach him.”
“Do it now while I’m on the line, then patch me through to him!”
“Yes, sir.”
Like his near-drowning experience where his life flashed before him, images of Terri flooded Ben’s mind and heart till he couldn’t breathe. If anything happened to her…
“Mr. Herrick? I’ve got Jim Nash on the line. Go ahead.”
“Jim?”
“Yes, Mr. Herrick.” The pilot sounded far away. There was a lot of static.
“Are you still in La Cerita?”
“Yes, sir. I’ve just made the decision to stay over until tomorrow. Your wife took a taxi to the Hotel Flores.”
“Thank God. Both of you stay put until further notice.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Les?”
“I’m here.”
“I need your best pilot to fly me to the nearest airport from the ship.”
“Just a minute. Let’s see… You could probably make it to San Cristobal.”
“That’s fine. I’ll drive from there to La Cerita. I’m on my way up. Tell the pilot to get ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
The pilot had told Terri La Cerita was a small town of thirty thousand people. He made arrangements for them to stay at the Hotel Flores, which catered to American tourists. They would both be comfortable there.
Jim Nash had been terrific to her, but when she’d begged him to fly her the rest of the way, he’d adamantly refused. After putting her in a taxi, he told her he’d check in at the hotel later. That was hours ago.
She ate dinner by herself in the restaurant, watching for him in case he felt like joining her. When he didn’t come, she went back to her room and got ready for bed, presuming she wouldn’t hear from him until morning.
Thank heaven there’d been a way to get off the ship. After that dreadful experience in the boardroom, she couldn’t have faced Ben again. The pain would have been too immobilizing.
As soon as she arrived in Lead, she would take steps to get their marriage annulled. When she thought about it, their relationship wasn’t that different from two ships passing in the night.
For a short period they’d felt a mystical connection. Two mortals reaching out to each other for comfort in a dark sea. But that temporary assuagement was as ephemeral as the night itself. With the advent of morning, they’d found themselves at opposite points of the compass, out of sight, out of touch.
She stared down at her ringless left hand. She’d left the rings he’d given her on the dresser in the guest bedroom. Now she had nothing tangible to remind her of him. That was the way it had to be, she couldn’t bear it otherwise.
She couldn’t cope with anything right now. How was she going to make it through the night, let alone the rest of her life?
Beth. I’ll call Beth.
No sooner did she reach for the phone on the table than she heard a knock on the door. She got up from the bed. “Jim?”
“It’s Ben. Open the door, Terri.”
She froze. No— It couldn’t be.
“Shall I tell the manager to unlock it because my wife is too ill to get out of bed?”
“Please don’t,” she begged, struggling for breath. “I’m coming.”
Her body shook uncontrollably as she crossed the short distance to undo the lock and chain guard. He pushed the door open and stormed in, slamming it behind him.
Terri took a step back, scarcely recognizing this man whose emotions had gone beyond anger to something else she couldn’t comprehend.
In the dim light from the bedside table his face had the gaunt, haggard look of an older man. He was breathing heavily, like someone who’d been running miles without stopping.
Gone was the sling. His ship whites were damp and wrinkled, his dark hair disheveled.
She didn’t have enough moisture left in her mouth to swallow. “J-Jim said it was too dangerous to fly.”
“As you can see, he was wrong.” His voice grated.
In the next breath he seized her by the upper arms, bringing her close enough she could see into his eyes.
Terri gasped.
They were the same pain-filled gray eyes that had spoken to her with such frantic urgency when she’d first looked into them at the hospital. Alone and helpless, he’d tried desperately to convey something vital. She’d felt his soul reaching out to her then.
She felt it reaching out to her now.
“What is it?” she cried in an agonized whisper.
His hands tightened, but she didn’t think he was aware of it. “Why did you leave the ship?”
It was truth time. Better to get it all said and end this nightmare for both of them.
Hot tears gushed from her eyes. “Because I knew you couldn’t stand me any
more.”
A noise escaped his throat. It sounded like ripping silk. “In the name of all that’s holy, where did you ever get an idea like that?”
“Because you threw me to the wolves this morning!” She flung the words at him. “After the horrendous way I hurt you, I know I deserved it. The only thing I could think of to do was get out of your life,” she said on a sob.
“How do you think you hurt me? Tell me!” He gave her a gentle shake.
“On our wedding night I trampled all over your beautiful dream. Here you gave me everything, and I—I—” She was so convulsed she couldn’t talk.
He crushed her against his hard body. “You only said what I’ve known and felt from the inception of my idea back in high school. But when you dream dreams on that scale, you need backers. That means compromise.
“All along I’ve tried to convince myself that half a loaf was better than none. Until my adorable new bride expressed what I’d known in my own heart from the embryo stage of my idea. Your passionate input gave me the courage to try something outrageous.
“If anyone’s terrified I am for putting you in that position this morning. I know what I did was unforgivable, but I knew if you couldn’t convince them, no one could.”
Terri sniffed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Slowly she lifted her head. “You actually thought I could accomplish what the creator couldn’t?”
His eyes wandered over each feature of her upturned face. “I once told you you’re a woman who lights her own fires. You stole into my hospital room and proceeded to transform my life.
“On that first afternoon when you got to the part where you told me you were divorced, my first thought was, thank God! Because you see by then, I had already fallen in love with you.”
“You did?” Her voice squeaked for joy.
“Yes, my love. You can’t imagine my guilt. There you were, trying to find your ex-husband. And there I lay, helpless to tell you he’d died, and loving you so deeply I knew I had to have you or nothing else in life mattered anymore.
“Make no mistake. If you hadn’t let me slip that diamond ring on your finger in Lead, I would have let the Atlantis sail without me because I wasn’t going anywhere without you.”
“Oh, darling—” She threw her arms around his neck. “I’ve loved you so terribly from the moment I looked into your eyes. Those beautiful eyes that reached out to me in pain and compassion. I wanted to ease your suffering. I wanted to climb on the bed next to you and hold you in my arms, comfort you.
“My guilt was so much greater, Ben. I had no idea if you had a wife or a lover. But it didn’t seem to matter. I’d found the man I’d been searching for all my life. I would never have let you go. I love you more than life itself. Lov—”
His cry of joy smothered the rest of her words as his mouth hungrily covered hers. He picked her up and carried her to bed, following her nightgown-clad body down against the mattress.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? How much I’ve been aching to make love to my precious wife? My very heart?”
Oh, yes. Terri knew. After such long suppressed passion, words weren’t enough. She had to show him what he meant to her and began devouring him in earnest.
She couldn’t help it. With one touch of his hands, her body exploded with desire. His mouth was driving her crazy. Entwined in his arms and legs, she’d reached a level of rapture that had set her on fire.
This was her adored husband loving her into oblivion. She had no sense of time or space. All she knew was this driving need for fulfillment with the man who’d captured her heart, body and soul.
When the phone rang, Terri groaned in displeasure. After a glorious night of lovemaking, she’d fallen asleep in her husband’s arms. She couldn’t bear for anything to disturb their contentment.
It kept ringing.
She felt Ben’s chest rise and fall in protest before he reached for the receiver. When he said hello, his voice sounded an octave deeper than usual. Terri loved it. She loved him. She loved everything about him.
After a minute she heard him say all right, then he hung up the receiver and promptly found her mouth as if he were starving for her. Since she’d been in that abandoned state since last night, she responded with a voracious hunger of her own, dying for the whole loving process to begin all over again and again.
They were both moaning in ecstasy when he suddenly pulled away from her and sat up.
“Darling—” she half gasped in protest and raised herself up on one elbow. “What’s wrong? Is it your shoulder?”
“No, my love.” He leaned down to kiss the end of her well-shaped nose. “That was Jim. He says we have a small window of opportunity to get back to the ship if we leave now. Otherwise we may have to wait another day.”
“Where is your pilot?”
“In San Cristobal. I drove here.”
“Oh, Ben. I always cause you so much trouble.”
“Hush.” He whispered the words against her mouth.
“We’d better not keep Jim waiting.”
It took superhuman effort, but she managed to get away from him and hurried into the shower. Ben followed, shutting them inside.
She blushed. “If you stay in here, I’m afraid we’ll never come out.”
His smile was wicked. “Tired of your husband already?”
“You know I’m not.” Her voice trembled. Much as she wanted to stay right here and forget the world, she knew she couldn’t do that. This was only the second day of the sailing. Everyone was depending on him.
“Say the word and I’ll tell Jim we’ve decided to go into hiding for the duration.”
She cupped his handsome face with its slight male rasp. “We can do that in the condo.”
His eyes ignited with light. “Promise?”
“Don’t you know by now I’m out of my mind in love with you?”
“Enough to have a baby with me? I could have made you pregnant last night.”
“I’m hoping you did. But just to make sure, let’s hurry home. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”
He pressed a kiss to her mouth. It was hot with desire. “I’ll leave you alone to get ready. But I’m warning you now, when we’re back at the condo, you can forget the word privacy.”
“Promise?” she teased.
To her surprise, his expression grew serious.
“What is it, darling?”
“I have something to tell you.”
“And?”
“I don’t want it to change things between us now.”
Her heart thudded in alarm. “How could anything do that?”
“Because you’re not the average woman.”
She blinked. “Is there something about me you don’t like?”
His eyes closed tightly for a moment. “No, darling. It’s just that you throw yourself into everything you do with such passion.”
“I know. It’s my greatest fault.”
“It’s not a fault. It’s a gift you have. It’s so powerful, you managed to convince the board they shouldn’t have been so hasty in some of their decisions. In a word, you made them see the light.
“They voted to get rid of the ban on children and pets. You’re now in charge of seeing about schools and day care centers. They want you to work up a new sales brochure to present at the next board meeting.”
“Ben!” She practically shrieked in delight.
“I knew it.”
His comment brought her up short. “What?”
He didn’t say anything.
“Darling?”
“I can already see that look in your eyes.”
“What look?”
“It’s the one you get when you’re going after something.”
She was trying to understand. “What does this conversation have to do with something changing in our marriage?”
He sucked in his breath. “I’m a possessive man. I’ve found that I don’t like sharing you. The other night when I walked in
the condo and you had dinner ready for me, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
“That’s never going to change. I’m your wife first and always.”
“You say that now…”
“Now and forever,” she declared, stunned by his vulnerability. Who would have guessed? “You think I like being separated from you? I have an idea that will solve our problem. Why don’t I move the chamber of commerce into your office. We’ll work together.” There was fire in her eye as she said, “That way we’ll be able to coordinate all our coffee breaks, long lunches and early dinners.”
He pulled her back in his arms. “As long as it means we spend them in each other’s arms, you have my blessing. I love you, Terri,” he cried as the phone rang again. A reminder that they were going home where they belonged.
Genoa, Italy.
Ben checked his watch. It was ten after five in the evening. He threw down his pen, unable to work at his desk any longer. Feeling at a loose end, he got up from the chair and left his office for the condo.
For the last couple of hours he’d expected Terri to come walking through the doors of their combined office, excited to tell him about her shopping spree.
Earlier in the day she’d gone ashore in one of the tenders with Juanita. They’d decided to pick out some more things for the new day care center Juanita was running with two other licensed day care specialists.
According to Terri, the Italians made the best children’s toys. She wanted to check them out and thought Juanita could use a few hours away from the demands of little Rosita, and her job. Now that all the condos were sold, the center was always filled with small children.
He didn’t like it when Terri was away from him. Hell. He missed her like the devil. Everything fell flat without the wife he adored. She’d promised they’d only be gone part of the day, but he should have realized she’d get engrossed and lose track of the time. What surprised him was that she hadn’t phoned yet.
While the Atlantis was in this part of the Mediterranean for the next few weeks, he planned to take her to Venice and Florence for a surprise on-shore honeymoon. Tomorrow was their four month anniversary.
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