Orchids & Hurricane Kisses

by Stacy Eaton

  “It’s just a little infection, nothing major.”

  “Oh, Joanne, you know how a little infection can affect her. What if a donor becomes available? She will get passed over because she’s not well enough.”

  “I know, but you can’t think like that. We’re taking all the precautions. She’s in quarantine so no one brings more germs in to her. I promise we are doing all that we can.”

  “I know you are.” I swiped at a tear that eased down my cheek. Normally, I didn’t cry, but I was so frustrated.

  “Look, I’ll find someone to be with her while I take my finals today, and then I’ll be with her until you get back.”

  “If I get back,” I muttered.

  “You’ll get back. Now, go have some fun. Is that chef back yet?”

  “No, and now it doesn’t look like he will be back before the storm.”

  “So what are you doing? Working on your tan?”

  I glanced toward the patio but didn’t see Rye there. I wondered if he’d left but figured he was probably down by the water giving me privacy. “Actually, I met someone.”

  “What?” she squeaked. “You met someone? As in a man-someone? As in a cute man-someone?”

  “Do you remember that picture in my dining room, behind the table, the guy that has his arms wrapped around me?”

  “Yeah, the model. What was his name? Rod?”

  I laughed. “Roan, his name is Roan. Well, I’m spending time with his twin brother.”

  “Oh, my god! Twins!” She giggled. “I want details!”

  I smiled briefly. Joanne was the one and only friend to whom I could talk about life, love, stress, work, and Cammie. I trusted her with my life. “I’ll give them all to you when I get home.” I paused. “Joanne, if for some reason I don’t make it home—”

  “Stop! Don’t even think about that. You will get home, maybe not before the storm, but you will get home.”

  “But—”

  “Stop it, Amy! I’m serious. I am not going to think like that,” she hesitated, “but I know what you were going to say, and, of course. I love her like she’s mine already.”

  “Thank you, Joanne.”

  “You’re welcome. Now go have some fun while you can. It’s not often that you not only get a vacation but get to hang with a gorgeous man. He is gorgeous, isn’t he?”

  “Oh, yes, that he is, just like his brother.”

  “Then what are you doing on the phone! Get off and go have fun. We are fine. I will call you tonight and let you know how she is doing, but don’t worry about us. We will be fine.”

  “Thank you, Joanne.”

  “We love you.”

  “I love you, too. Give Cammie a kiss for me.”

  “I will.”

  Once I hung up, I stared at the phone. Deep inside my gut, I had the feeling I wasn’t going to make it home before the storm, and I feared what might happen if I was stuck here. More than once I had spoken to Joanne about taking care of Cammie if something happened to me. It was now obvious that Andre didn’t want to have anything to do with us at all. He wanted perfect, not defective, and that’s what he thought of us, especially Cammie.

  I wiped at my face again, making sure to erase all traces of tears, and went to find Rye. Over the years, I had become quite adept at hiding my emotions, especially the fear and anger. I was always upbeat and happy when I was around Cammie and never wanted her to know that I stressed every minute of every day over how we would make it until a donor organ could be found.

  It was horrible to wish death on someone so that another could live, but that was what needed to happen, or my daughter would die.

  Rye was seated on the swing, and I joined him. He didn’t say anything, and I had a funny feeling that he understood that I needed a few moments of quiet.

  This morning when I’d woken, my first thought had been about my daughter, the second had been about the handsome man lying beside me. He’d asked about my Cammie last night, and fear had latched onto my heart. Would he think her defective as her father did? Would he find out that she might die—realize how much drama surrounded my life—and run for the hills? I didn’t know, but I did know that it was better not to tell him, better to keep what we had separate from everything else, and that’s what had pushed me from his bed.

  Yet, as I sat beside Rye, I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to share with him how my daughter always looked on the bright side of things, and how she was my shining star, a beacon of hope to me. I wanted to tell him about how Andre had left us because he didn’t want to watch his daughter die, how he had pushed us aside as if to pretend she—or we—already were dead. I wanted to laugh and tell him about all the silly things my daughter did, and about the pictures that she loved to draw.

  I didn’t. Instead, I pushed it all back inside my chest and locked it up. I had precious few hours left with Rye, as I had no doubt that he would leave before the storm arrived, and I wanted to take advantage of every single one of them.

  After we made love, we grabbed quick showers, and had a simple breakfast at the pool café. We walked hand in hand out to the front of the resort where a jeep awaited us.

  “Man, Autumn would have hated this,” Rye commented as we got comfortable in the backseat.

  “Why? Jeeps are so much fun! I had one when I was in college.”

  “They are fun, but it would have messed up her hair.”

  I stared at him. “How did you almost marry a woman like that?” I asked as our driver headed away from the hotel to the docks.

  Rye laughed and took my hand. “To be honest, I have no idea. It’s funny, Roan kept telling me that I didn’t love her, but I thought I did. It wasn’t until I found out she’d cheated on me that I realized I was grateful for her infidelity because it gave me a good reason to walk away, and I really wanted to walk away.”

  “I would have run.”

  He chuckled. “I did, kind of. I called my travel agent, told her to change my flights and get me the hell out of there. I was on a flight a couple of hours later and then walked right into you the minute I arrived.”

  “And the rest is history.”

  “Yes, the rest is history.” He leaned forward and tried to kiss me, but my hair was whipping all around us as the driver picked up speed. I wrangled my long locks into a ponytail and presented my hair-free face to him for a sinfully sweet kiss.

  We arrived at the docks a few minutes later, and the driver led us down a long dock to a large boat near the end. I knew nothing about boats, which was strange since I had grown up and lived near the ocean. I just knew that some were nicer than others, and this one was the cream of the crop.

  “Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Waterman, congratulations on your nuptials.” A man stepped forward and held out his hand. Rye shook it first and then I did.

  “Thank you, I assume you are the captain,” I said as I let go of his hand.

  “Yes, I am, but please call me Drew.”

  Rye replied, “Drew, you sound like you’re from New York, not the island.”

  He laughed, “You are quite right. I’m from Rochester. I got tired of the cold winters and the lake being frozen. I needed to find a place where the water was always warm.”

  “You picked a good place.”

  “Where are you guys from?”

  Rye wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Pennsylvania, hence the reason I recognized the New York accent.”

  “Really? What part?”

  “Have you heard of Middletown? It’s about an hour south of the New York border near Elmira.”

  “Yeah, strangely enough, not long ago, I had a guest on my boat from Middletown. Said he owned a gentlemen’s club there.”

  Rye grinned. “Pleasure Your Fantasies. I’ve been invited by a member to visit it myself.”

  “Nice place?”

  “From what I hear, it’s amazing.”

  I jumped into the conversation and jokingly asked Rye, “Do you visit gentlemen’s clubs often?”

&nb
sp; Both Drew and Rye laughed, and Rye answered, “Not anymore, dear.”

  “Funny,” I said as I began to laugh.

  We boarded the boat, stowed the few things we’d brought with us inside the air-conditioned cabin, and then sat on the rear deck as Drew and his two other crew members got things situated. A few minutes later, we were heading out into open water.

  Rye and I climbed the ladder to the top where Drew was piloting the boat. Rye took a seat beside him and pulled me into his lap as Drew began to tell us about the island and where we were. He pointed out the best fishing areas, the most dangerous reefs, told us about a boat that had sunk during a storm, and shared other island trivia.

  The wind in my hair, the sun on my skin, and the sound of the water splashing on the sides of the boat, along with the voices of the two men, lulled me into a blissful tranquility, and I dozed off onto Rye’s shoulder.

  I woke with a start as the boat lurched a different way, and Rye kissed my forehead. “Hey, sleepyhead, you interested in snorkeling, or do you want to go inside and take a nap?”

  “No way!” I said as I quickly woke myself up. “I love snorkeling. Sorry about falling asleep on your shoulder.” I climbed off his lap, but he held onto me and didn’t let me get too far.

  “I’m glad you are comfortable enough to fall asleep on my chest. That says something.”

  “Yeah, I’m tired.” I grinned back at him. I didn’t want to think about the deeper implications.

  “Yeah, that, too.” He winked as he stood and let go of me.

  We climbed down the ladder, and I yanked my t-shirt over my head. Rye was coming down the ladder and paused, and for a moment, I reveled in the look he gave me as his eyes caressed my body. I glanced to the side as the boat rocked and saw Drew glance my way and give me a cursory look. It was nothing like the way Rye looked at me, and for that, I was glad.

  “Where is the snorkeling gear?” I asked excitedly. I had only been twice in my life, but both times, it had been incredible. I loved putting on the mask, snorkel, and fins and then floating along the surface or diving down for a moment to view the world under the water’s edge. Just the difference in sound was remarkable, and I was thrilled to be able to add this memory to my stockpile of coveted ones of Rye and me together.

  One of the crew members handed me a set of flippers, mask, snorkel, and safety vest. “You are required by law to wear the vest,” Drew explained.

  “No problem,” I told him and quickly got myself situated. Drew also pulled out snorkel gear, and Rye was putting his on. One of the other crew members was pulling on flippers when I took my seat on the edge of the boat. “Can I go?”

  Rye and Drew exchanged a smile, and then Drew nodded. With a last smile to Rye, I fitted my mask over my face, popped in my snorkel, and then fell over the edge of the boat, my back rounded so as not to pull off my mask.

  The moment I hit the water, I was transported to another world, and with all the stress of life, family, hopes, and dreams never to be fulfilled, I was tempted to dive deep and never surface again.

  Chapter 11

  Rye

  “Heck of a woman you have there,” Drew commented as Amy disappeared off the side of the boat.

  “That she is.”

  “May I ask you a question?”

  “Sure,” I tightened my second fin around the back of my heel.

  “Are you really married to her?”

  I sat up and studied him. “Why would you ask that?”

  He got up and went to retrieve a folder from just inside the cabin, pulling out a copy of my engagement photo to Autumn. “Because this woman does not look like the woman who just dove into the water, and her name isn’t Autumn.”

  Another splash told me that a crew member had entered the water. “No, Amy and I are not married. I met her when I arrived on the island.”

  “And what happened to Autumn?” he asked.

  “I found out she cheated on me, got pregnant by another man, and I left her at the altar. I came on my honeymoon alone and met Amy the moment I arrived.”

  “Wow, lucky you—for escaping that shit-show and finding Amy.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  “It’s going to be a great story to tell your kids,” he said as he slipped his feet into his fins.

  “Yeah, it would be if we were staying together, but this is just a holiday thing.”

  “Is she married?” he asked as he glanced up.

  “No, she’s divorced, but she lives in Maryland, has a daughter. She said she doesn’t want more.”

  He frowned as he removed his t-shirt and tossed it on a seat. I did the same and then both of us fiddled with our masks. “That sucks. You two are really good together. I don’t know either of you at all, but from what I see, you two look like the real deal, like you’ve been together forever and will be buried beside one another in another sixty years.”

  “You know, Drew, I almost feel that way myself, but Amy is pretty adamant about keeping it on the island.”

  He stood and approached the side of the boat. “Then your lady friend is hiding something. If I ever found half of what you two seem to have, I’d be sinking my hooks in and never letting go.”

  He adjusted his mask and snorkel before flipping back over the side of the boat. I knew he was right and that there was something going on, but was Amy hiding something more than just a daughter? Maybe she wasn’t really divorced.

  The thought bothered me more than I cared to admit, and as I hit the water, I was determined to find out what was really going on with Amy before I left. Once I knew that, I could decide if there was anything to really fight for.

  We snorkeled for hours, and then Drew drove us to another part of the ocean where the crew brought out an elaborate tray of sandwiches, fruit, chips, beer, and rum punch. We all sat in the sun and enjoyed the food as we talked about local customs, and I mulled over everything I knew of Amy.

  After lunch, the fishing poles were pulled out, and we fished for the rest of the afternoon. Amy seemed just as happy with a fishing pole in her one hand and a cold beer in the other as the men onboard did.

  The sun was getting low in the horizon as we motored along, and Drew asked us if we wanted to see the sunset on the ocean. Turned out that he didn’t have any moonlight cruises tonight, so he was willing to hang on the water for a few more hours if we wanted.

  He even cooked a couple of the fish we’d caught, and as the sun began to set, Amy and I cuddled on the bow of the boat.

  “Amy, tell me about your daughter.”

  She stiffened in my arms. “I thought we weren’t going to get into the personal parts of our lives.”

  “What if I want to?” I tightened my arms around her waist. “What if I don’t want this to be over? What if I don’t think you do either?”

  She sighed, “Rye, we can’t.”

  “Why?” I loosened my hold on her waist. “Are you really married—or involved with someone?”

  She grabbed my hands to keep them from sliding away. “No!” She twisted slightly so she could see my face. “I told you the truth. I have never lied to you, Rye. I’m divorced, and there is no one else. My life back home is complicated, and, for just a little while longer, I don’t want it to be my focus. I don’t want to taint what we have with it. When we leave, I want these memories to be about us, not anything else.”

  “Do you really think your life is so complicated that I wouldn’t get it, that I wouldn’t be able to understand or accept it?”

  “I don’t want you to get it or accept it. It’s my burden to bear, not yours.”

  “Amy, maybe I want to share your burden.”

  She shifted slightly away. “Rye, we barely know one another. Yes, the last two days have been some of the best moments of my life, and I will never forget them, but what we have here won’t carry over to the real world.”

  “You don’t think so? I do.” I cupped the side of her face. “I think that the two of us are fantastic together. T
he way I feel about you after just two short days is more than I have ever felt for anyone besides my parents or brother.”

  She stared out over the water. “It’s not possible, Rye.”

  “I think it is. I think it’s worth fighting any issues that you might have for us to really get to know one another and look at a future.”

  She turned to stare at me with such sadness that my chest hurt. “A future—” she whispered.

  “Wait—” My heart began to speed up. “Amy, are you sick? Is that what this is? You’re sick and you think you’re going to die, so you don’t want to burden me with that.” Suddenly, I saw my brother’s haunted face in my mind and wondered if I could be as strong as he had been when his wife had been consumed with cancer.

  Amy came to her knees as she turned to me quickly and took both my hands in hers. “No, I’m not sick. I promise.” She bowed her head for a second, as if she were wrestling with a decision. “Rye, you have no idea how much I want to let myself go and fall in love with you. I could, so easily, but I can’t. We both need to leave here, and I can’t have my heart torn apart when I get back home. I have too much to deal with.”

  I pulled her forward and urged, “Amy, fall. Fall in love with me, like I have fallen for you.”

  Tears welled in her eyes as she pleaded, “Rye, don’t!”

  “What? Don’t tell you that I love you? I do. I didn’t want to fall for you, but I did. I think I did the first moment I heard you laugh. It touched something fundamental in my soul. I needed your laugh, no, I need it. You make me feel things that I’ve never felt before.”

  “Rye, stop, please stop,” she begged, and the tears streamed down her cheeks. “You can’t love me.”

  “I can do whatever the hell I want, Amy. I’m in love with you, so what are you going to do about that?”

  She swiped at a tear and shifted away from me. “Nothing.”

  “What do you mean ‘nothing?’”

  She sighed heavily, and the weight of it settled around us. “All I can give you is what we have right now—here. I can’t promise you anything, Rye. I can’t say the words back to you. If what we have right now isn’t good enough for you, then I’m sorry.”