by Carolyn Zane
Chapter Five
Ty stripped off his shirt and crossed his bedroom floor to open the French doors that led to his veranda. Running the wadded-up shirt lightly over his body, he could feel the warm coastal breeze begin to cool his overheated flesh. What on earth had possessed him to kiss her? he berated himself, and dropped into a white cast-iron chair near the railing. That certainly hadn’t been part of his “rehearsal” schedule.
Rolling around on his living room floor with a homeless woman he’d picked up at the side of the road was not his usual style for Saturday night. No. Usually he could be found at one of Boston’s finer restaurants, in the company of a beautiful and exciting socialite.
Why, then, was his heart still racing at the thought of holding Emily in his arms? He didn’t even know her last name, and yet he somehow felt closer to her than he ever had with Boston’s most elite, even after months of dating. Lightly scratching his chest, he hoped there’d been no harm done. He’d wanted her to get used to being a newlywed, hadn’t he? Maybe they shouldn’t practice kissing unless someone else was around, though. No telling where another one of those stupefying kisses could lead.
He stared, unseeing, down at the glassy surface of his pool. There must be something about California that brought out the stupidity in him. Since moving here, he’d done nothing but make one dumb decision after another. What ever happened to the hard-driving, workaholic businessman with the neon future? Ha. He’d traded that glory in on the chance to be husband, father, henpecked son and harassed employee to three wild women and a heretic. It seemed his brilliant career at Connstarr was crumbling before his very eyes. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Not with Roxanne as ringmaster of this circus.
Ty sighed in futility and propped his bare feet on the veranda railing. This was never going to work. How could they ever hope to pull it off? he wondered dismally, leaning back on the hind legs of his chair and staring up at the star-filled sky.
Even if Roxanne were to buy their story, how long would that last? Helga would undoubtedly build some kind of plastic monstrosity on the poop deck of the ocean liner, or Carmen would suddenly spill the homeless beans to some bilingual member of the Connstarr management team.
Groaning, he let his head fall back against the back of his chair. His life was a complete and total mess. And what did Tyler Newroth do after a wild weekend of screwing up his life?
“I’m going to Disneyland,” he muttered. Standing tiredly, he dragged himself to bed.
* * *
“Pepperoni or Canadian bacon and pineapple?” Ty held the pizza box up for Emily’s inspection. It was late the following evening and they were sitting alone in the cabana by the side of his pool. Two tapered candles stuffed into empty soda cans glowed cheerfully in the dark, casting a romantic glow across the table.
“Nothing for me.” She sighed contentedly and tossed her napkin onto her paper plate.
“Oh, come on,” he chided. “I had to slave over a hot phone for this meal. Besides, after what happened today, you need your strength.”
Emily blushed. “I’m feeling much better now, thank you,” she replied somewhat churlishly, and wriggled with embarrassment in her seat. How would she ever live down the humiliation of getting seasick on Mark Twain’s stern-wheeler at Disneyland that morning? How mortifying to be the most interesting spectacle on the ride.
Ty had been wonderful, though. So patient and understanding, as she leaned over the rail and fed the fish. He’d held her head and patted her back, while murmuring soothing words in her ear. Helga, the human megaphone, on the other hand, had loudly ordered the crowd to give her room.
“Get back!” she’d shouted, pushing and shoving anyone who dared get too close to her precious Emily. “You don’t want to get any on you, do you?” she’d hollered at the curious onlookers.
Emily could have cheerfully thrown herself overboard. She was sure this ignominious experience would end up gracing more than one family photo album.
She smiled ruefully across the table at Ty.
“Come on. Just one more piece,” he cajoled, flipping a slice of pepperoni across the table at her plate. “You’re too skinny as it is.”
“I am not,” she protested hotly, and lifting the pizza to her mouth, tore off a huge bite. Skinny, indeed! She may not be as voluptuous as old Roxanne was reported to be, but she had a few curves here and there.
“Okay,” he conceded. “Not skinny, exactly. But an extra slice of pizza won’t kill you. You ate like a bird all day.”
“That’s because I didn’t want a repeat performance of the boat ride once we got on the Matterhorn,” she groused. “Helga probably would have strapped me to her back and rappelled down the mountain, screaming bloody murder for a medic.”
“That’s my mom.” Ty chuckled and grabbed a slice of Canadian-bacon pizza out of the box he’d ordered after Helga and Carmen had gone to bed. “It’s amazing how sensitive you are to seasickness,” Ty marveled, and shook his head. “That river ride today barely moved.”
Emily winced. If he only knew just how terrified she was of being out on the water in a boat. She still had no idea how she was going to make it through this cruise of his. Taking a deep breath, she stiffened her resolve and knew that if it would help Helga and Carmen, she would cross the ocean in a canoe.
Ty thoughtfully chewed his pizza. “At least this way we know you are prone to seasickness and we can get some of those patches for you. We can’t have you spend the entire cruise hanging over the edge of the rail. Actually, it’s kind of fortunate it happened the way it did today.”
“Fortunate? You call having my mother-in-law shouting ‘She’s gonna blow!’ fortunate?” Emily bristled indignantly. “I have never been so humiliated in my life.”
Ty regarded her curiously as he poured them both another glass of wine. “Getting seasick today was one of the worst things that has ever happened to you?” Lifting his glass to his lips, he watched her over the rim.
“Yes. No. Well, you know what I mean,” she hedged, not wanting to explore this path any further. It wouldn’t do to have him thinking she was some kind of hothouse flower. She was a tough street person, she reminded herself. Getting sick on a ride at Disneyland was nothing compared to life on the streets. “I don’t know what got into me.” She shrugged, trying to lead him away from the fact that she was such a wimp when it came to boats. “Must have been a bad frozen banana.”
The corner of Ty’s mouth quirked and he nodded slowly. “Must have been. But, just to be on the safe side, we’ll get you something for seasickness before we go.”
Secretly relieved, Emily tried to appear nonchalant and shrugged again. Thank heavens. She couldn’t very well tell Ty that she always got seasick. Most homeless people she knew didn’t have much opportunity to go boating. She could just see Helga chasing the Connstarr bigwigs away while Emily tossed her own version of confetti over the rail of the ocean liner. She guessed he was right. It was a good thing he’d found out about her problem now.
Besides, it really hadn’t interfered with the fun today at all. Carmen had been completely enthralled by the happiest place on earth, and even Helga had seemed enchanted by the Magic Kingdom.
“It was awfully nice of you to take Carmen on the Small World ride so many times. That was above and beyond the call of duty,” Emily said appreciatively, and peeked through the candlelight at the man seated across from her. He stretched his arms up over his head, and she admired the way the muscles in his chest flexed and moved beneath his shirt. She wondered if he had any idea at all just how attractive he was. With his beautiful, dark brown hair, and his chiseled movie-star looks, it was no wonder his boss was after him.
“Oh, no big deal. I only lost half my mind. Besides, it was worth it to see the look of rapture on her little face.” He grinned and dropped to his elbows on the table. “She’s a doll. I can see why you and Helga are so protective of her.”
Nodding, Emily took a small sip of her win
e. “Helga tells me that this last year has been pretty rough on her.” She ran her fingers slowly over the rim of her glass. “As soon as I’m finished with my job for you, I want to see about getting her placed with a family through an adoption service. I know there must be some family out there that would just love her to pieces.”
A paternal look of concern momentarily crossed Ty’s handsome face. “But how could you be sure? How do you know that the new family would love her as much as you do? Or worse, what if no one wanted her at all?”
Emily shook her head ruefully. “I wouldn’t know. But, I’m beginning to think being passed around by the system has to be better than being out on the street.”
The muscles in his jaw worked angrily, and Emily could see that Carmen’s situation was starting to affect him the same way it affected her. It was hard to believe that life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for such a small child. And, unfortunately, it wasn’t just the one small child. There were literally thousands of children out there who weren’t even as well-off as Carmen was.
“Hey,” she admonished, trying to lighten his mood. “You’re taking good care of her now, and that’s something. And today you gave her an adventure she will probably never forget.”
“Doesn’t seem like a whole hell of a lot.” He shook his head in disgust. “It’s so easy to take things for granted. A warm bed. A hot meal. And then you meet a kid like Carmen and it kind of knocks you for a loop.”
She knew exactly how he felt. “Mmm-hmm.”
“She kind of worms her way into your heart, doesn’t she?”
Emily smiled sadly. “In a big way.”
He glanced at her, then focused on the candle flame. “I was pretty freaked when she disappeared after the teacup ride,” he admitted, referring to the few tortured minutes that Carmen had gotten turned around and lost in the crowd. “And then when I found her standing there crying, holding on to Mickey’s giant hand, it almost broke my heart.”
Sensing that this type of admission did not come easily to a man like Ty, Emily just sat and listened.
He pushed his chair slightly away from the table and crossed an ankle over his knee. “You know, when she saw me and smiled that big, watery-eyed smile, I thought I’d bust.” He ran a weary hand over his face, and around to the back of his neck. “I got lost at Coney Island when I was a little boy,” he reflected. “It was pretty scary. I hated that she had to go through that.”
“I know,” Emily murmured. “And the sad part is, in her short life, she’s been through so much worse.”
“So have you.”
Emily could tell that he was dying of curiosity about her past. And she was dying to tell him. But she couldn’t. Not yet.
“It hasn’t been nearly as bad for me,” she replied, leading him away from thin conversational ice. “It’s a lot harder on the children.”
The poignant moment gripped them both, and they sat, filled with a heavy sense of melancholy, regarding each other silently in the dancing glow of the candles. Shrouded in the intimate circle of light, they shared a moment together that slowly began to change the way they viewed one another.
“I learned a long time ago, you can’t save them all,” Emily murmured, twirling the stem of her glass between her thumb and fingers. “It was one of the most bitter pills I’ve ever had to swallow. But I know that if I can help just one or two people at a time, I’m moving forward.”
Ty’s curious green eyes were filled with admiration for her. “I’ve never spent much time worrying about anybody but myself,” he admitted, his smile self-deprecating. “Unless you count people like Roxanne—people who get in my way.”
“That’s not true, Ty.” Emily’s voice was soft. “You’re helping us. More than you’ll ever know.” Every time she thought about the creeps who could have picked her up at the side of the road, she was grateful all over again for his generosity.
“I’m glad I can help,” he said sincerely, his eyes growing warm under her earnest praise. “Hey. Enough of this macabre conversation. It’s too late to save the world today anyway. How about a quick dip before we turn in?”
Adrenaline surged through her veins. He might as well find out the truth now. Just another embarrassing thing he should probably be aware of before they set sail. “Uh...actually, I don’t swim,” she admitted and, taking a deep breath, peered into the darkness through the flickering candles at him for his reaction.
“You don’t swim?”
“No, but that’s okay, I’ll be happy to watch you. Go ahead,” she suggested, hoping he’d back off.
“Oh, you should learn to swim. It could save your life someday. You could drown without the basics.”
Emily grimaced. “No, really. I solve the whole problem by staying away from the water altogether.” She smiled brightly.
“Come on. I insist.” Ty waved a confident hand in her direction. “No big deal. I can teach you. We should probably practice being married some more anyway. After all, tomorrow night is our big debut with Roxanne.”
A jolt of fear ran down her spine. So soon? Were they ready? Looking across the table at this powerful, confident businessman, Emily’s fears somewhat dissipated. He must know what he’s doing.
“Okay, uh, sure,” she agreed as more than one doubt about this swimming lesson entered her mind. Hesitating, she stood to leave. “A swimming lesson sounds... er, uh, okay, I guess. I’ll just go get my suit,” she promised, and headed into the house.
Learning to swim before the cruise was probably a good idea, she admitted grudgingly to herself. Especially since she was notorious for sinking like a rock. And, unfortunately, she was even worse in the water than on it. Her twin sister Erica must have hogged all the genes for water sports, for she adored swimming and boating. Too bad she wasn’t here now, Emily mused as she trudged up the stairs to her room. Erica would probably prefer pinch hitting for her on a cruise to Mexico, to taking care of the less than delightful Spencer kids out in the middle of nowhere.
She should probably call Erica and check in, she reflected, rummaging through her drawer for her new bathing suit. Find out how she was doing. Hopefully, she and Will were getting along okay.
Will. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she tried to conjure his image up in her mind, but visions of Ty’s extraordinarily handsome face interfered with her reception, and she finally gave up. The niggling worry that absence was definitely not making the heart grow fonder with Will bothered her. Maybe she could talk it over with Erica, if she had a chance to call her. But then again, maybe not. Erica would only gloat, telling her that she always fell in love at the drop of a hat, and then probably threaten to kill her for making her stand in for her latest passing fancy. Poor Erica. Emily winced as a pang of guilt assailed her. Hopefully someday her twin would forgive her for making her spend her summer with the widower Will and his two holy terrors.
* * *
“Hey, hey, hey! Relax,” Ty commanded, peeling Emily’s arms from around his neck. She was coughing and sputtering and—unfortunately for Ty—grabbing at anything solid she could get her terrified hands on, including his nose, ears and hair. “You’re okay,” he soothed, pulling her weightless, slippery body into his arms and up against the solid wall of his chest.
Coughing, Emily clung to his neck and nodded, only letting go long enough to push her new, fashionably short bangs out of her eyes.
“Okay?”
“Heh—hmm.” She coughed.
“I guess this means we should hold off on the high-dive lessons for a while,” he joked as he slowly floated her over to the pool’s shallow end. “At least until we master dog paddling.” They’d been in the pool for more than an hour and Emily was no closer to swimming than a concrete block.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her hair out of her face and stared at him with large, fearful brown eyes.
Drops of water glistened on her full, sensuous lips in the moonlight, and Ty had to fight the overwhelming urge to kiss her into oblivion. She probably woul
dn’t buy the rehearsal excuse this time. The reverberation of his heartbeat echoed in his head over the whine of the pool pump, and he knew that she was beginning to affect him a little more than he was comfortable with.
Squinting, she shifted to a position where she could more comfortably peer into his face. “I almost drowned once, when I was little,” she admitted, reticent to reveal too much about her past. “And I haven’t been very good around water ever since.”
Ah-ha! So that’s why she got seasick so easily and couldn’t swim. She was afraid of drowning. “Understandable.” Ty nodded. “But all the more reason for you to learn to swim. Here. Let’s try floating again,” he suggested, anxious to concentrate on something other than the amazingly smooth texture of her slick skin. Rearranging her across his chest, he slid his hands behind her back, and immediately she wound herself tightly around his body.
Ty smiled wryly down at her. As amazingly enjoyable as he found this to be, he knew that if she was ever going to float—and if he was going to hang on to the last vestiges of his control—she had to chill out.
“Sweetheart, relax,” he pleaded, as though coaxing a frightened child. “I promise I won’t let go. There is no way on earth you can drown. Honest. It’s only three feet deep at this end.”
“Th-th-three?”
“Three.” He grinned. “Come on. Stand up.” When she did, Ty put one hand on her smooth, bare midriff, and the other in the middle of her back. “Let’s try floating on your back. I promise I won’t drop you. Scout’s honor.” He held up three solemn fingers.
“Okay,” she whispered tentatively, and pinched her nose tightly shut.
“Just relax,” he instructed, wishing he could follow his own advice. He was strung more tightly than an electric guitar. That neon pink scrap of material she called a swimsuit was doing shameful things to his libido. “And try,” he said, attempting to get her to loosen up a little, “not to pinch your nose off.”