On the Edge

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  Slater laughed and straightened to reach for his Scotch. “Sooner or later you were sure to encounter Amy’s temper. It takes a lot to rile my daughter, but when she gets angry, it’s for real. I won’t ask what happened during the dive this afternoon.”

  Jed smiled wryly. “It wasn’t all that much. She did something stupid underwater and I yelled at her for it afterward. I think she’s as furious with herself as she is with me.”

  Slater nodded. “You’re probably right. She’s not used to being yelled at, however. Because she was the youngest I think we all tended to coddle her. She was different from the other three. She seemed to lack any clear direction. Hugh, Darren and Sylvia all seemed to know what they wanted to do in life by the time they were twelve or thirteen. Amy sort of drifted along. It was frustrating at times. Especially when she reached her twenties and was still drifting from one silly, mundane job to another. Who’d have guessed she’d wind up writing science fiction?”

  Jed abruptly thought of the heroine in Private Demons swimming through the black depths of an underwater cave to face an indescribable horror. Memories of Amy’s increasing stress in the small cavern that afternoon mingled with what he’d read in those last pages of her manuscript. “I take it you never expected her to end up as a writer?”

  Slater shook his head, smiling indulgently. “To tell you the truth, I always understood my other offspring far better than I understood Amy. There were times when Gloria and I swore she must he a changeling. But some things about her are crystal clear.”

  “Yeah?” Jed watched Slater’s face, aware of a deep curiosity.

  “She’s loyal as hell, for one thing. She’d face the devil himself for someone she loved. Don’t get me wrong, so would my other kids. But they’d use a little finesse. Hugh would negotiate. Darren would produce a contract so airtight, the devil himself couldn’t break it. Sylvia would charm him silly.”

  “And Amy?” Jed prompted softly.

  Slater met his eyes. “What do you think Amy would do?”

  “I think she’d go for his throat.” Jed paused, thinking about it. “She’d somehow know that the direct approach is the only one that works in some situations and she’d do what had to be done or go down trying.”

  Slater nodded. “That’s Amy.”

  Jed would bet his last dollar she got the trait from her father. Studying the older man, Jed sensed with the intuition that had helped keep him alive the past eight years that he was right. Doug Slater had definitely passed a few of his own personal traits down to his daughter, whether he realized it or not. Jed was about to say something else when the phone rang just inside the open doors. He turned his head and saw Amy hurry out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel, to answer it. She didn’t look at him as she picked up the receiver.

  Amy said hello into the receiver and then smiled as she recognized the voice of her sister Sylvia on the other end of the line.

  “So that’s where you are, Amy. I’ve been calling Caliph’s Bay for two solid days. I was beginning to think you’d run off with some handsome little green man with pointy ears.”

  Amy sank down onto the cushion of a rattan chair. “It’s tough to find handsome little green men, Sylvia. All the good ones are married. What’s up?”

  “I was calling to give Mom and Dad the good news.” Sylvia’s voice was laced with sheer, feminine satisfaction. “What good news?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  Amy surged to her feet. “Pregnant? Sylvia, that’s impossible. You can’t be pregnant!” She glanced around wildly and realized she had everyone’s attention. Gloria Slater was standing in the kitchen doorway, looking astonished. Her father had crossed the veranda to look questioningly into the living room, and Jed was watching Amy with mild amusement. Amy put her hand over the phone and said baldly, “Sylvia’s pregnant.”

  “We heard, dear,” Gloria said calmly. “Let’s get the rest of the story.”

  Amy took her hand off the mouthpiece and said very determinedly, “Sylvia, you can’t possibly be pregnant. You’re an obstetrician, a gynecologist for heaven’s sake. How could you have had an accident?”

  “Who said it was an accident?” Sylvia murmured.

  “Oh, lord.” Amy sank back down onto the cushion. “Don’t put us through this suspense, Syl. Tell me the whole thing in one gulp.”

  “I’m pregnant and I’m going to get married. How’s that for neat and simple, little sister?”

  “I can’t believe it. Who are you marrying?”

  “His name is Craig Larsen. He’s healthy, handsome and upwardly mobile. Excellent genetic stock. The folks are going to love him.”

  “Is he a doctor, too?” Amy demanded, aware that she was about to lose the receiver to her mother.

  “Yes. An orthopedic man. Is that Mom I hear in the background?”

  “How did you guess?” Ruefully Amy started to relinquish the phone. “Congratulations, Syl. Can’t wait to meet—” She didn’t get a chance to finish. Her mother already had the receiver in her hand and her father was heading for the bedroom to pick up the extension.

  Amy was left to wander out to the veranda where Jed was still looking amused. She cleared her throat. “My sister,” she explained.

  “So I gathered.”

  “She’s getting married.”

  “And she’s pregnant.”

  Amy glanced at him and her mouth curved in spite of herself. “Apparently so. Sylvia is a lot like my mother in her organizational abilities. She likes things tidy and efficient. I should have realized the pregnancy was no accident. Knowing Sylvia, she probably refused to marry this poor Dr. Larsen until he’d proven his reproductive abilities.”

  Jed chuckled. “I think your parents are in shock.”

  “Sylvia knows how to handle them. She knows how to handle everyone. Mom and Dad will be thrilled by the time she finishes talking to them on the phone. Wait and see.”

  Amy was right. Gloria and Doug were not only excited, they were bound and determined to meet Dr. Craig Larsen before they went to Europe. Amy’s mother was already realigning their schedule to accommodate the surprise. She sat across from Amy at the dining table, handed her the salad tongs and announced, “I think we’ll leave tomorrow afternoon instead of next week. That will give Doug and me a few days to spend with Sylvia and meet her fiancé. We’ll even be able to attend the wedding, which, I gather, is going to be extremely simple.”

  Amy’s heart pounded wildly as she realized what her mother was saying. Amy couldn’t leave yet. She hadn’t found the key. She had to face something on the island and she hadn’t figured out how or when she was going to do it. If she left now she might never be able to return and face it again.

  As though he’d read her mind, her father said easily, “No reason you and Jed can’t stay on here for as long as you like.”

  Stay alone with Jed? Amy’s eyes flew to his. She found his intent gaze already fixed on her.

  “Sounds like an excellent idea. I’m getting addicted to the lifestyle,” Jed said. “What do you say, Amy?”

  She had to stay. She knew that. And it looked like there was no way to avoid having Jed stay with her. She couldn’t even convince herself she really wanted him to leave. He troubled her and raised questions that couldn’t be answered, but the thought of staying without him brought no sense of relief. Somehow, she realized, Jed had become mixed up in her nightmare and could no longer be separated from it. He was part of the key.

  “Yes,” Amy said quietly, “it does sound like an excellent idea. I’d like to stay for a few more days.”

  “Wonderful,” Gloria enthused, covertly eyeing her daughter’s expression. “I’d much rather have someone in the house; I hate to leave it standing empty any longer than necessary.”

  Amy glanced down at her plate of grilled fish. Until her father had retired the house had stood empty most of the time. The Slaters had only used it a few weeks out of the year while Amy was growing up. Leaving the house empty in those d
ays hadn’t worried Gloria Slater. She was matchmaking.

  “Good heavens, I can’t believe we have another grandchild on the way, Doug.” Gloria smiled benignly. “I hope it’s a girl. What with Hugh and Darren’s kids we’ve got enough boys running around. How like Sylvia to present us with a fait accompli. Baby on the way and a wedding scheduled in four days’ time. I hope she knows what she’s doing.”

  “She does,” Slater said easily. “Sylvia always knows exactly what she’s doing. Has since she was five years old. She inherited your talents for organization and detail, my dear.”

  Amy concentrated on her fish, only half listening to the conversation. It was hard to believe she had thought she could learn to handle her problems by observing the way her mother lived her life. Amy knew she wasn’t anything like Gloria.

  Something made Amy glance up again to meet Jed’s steady gaze. He was watching her as her mother chatted about grandchildren and plans for the future, his eyes full of that assessing, perceptive quality that could be so unnerving at times. It was almost as if he could read her mind. But in a flash of disorienting intuition, it was Amy who thought she read his.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d had the experience, but she reacted as she always did, retreating instantly, just as if she’d been about to cross some dangerous mental barrier. There always seemed to be shadows on the other side of that barrier, shadows Jed kept locked behind iron gates.

  * * *

  Hours later, Amy stood in the veranda doorway of her bedroom, listening to the silence of the house and the soft sounds of the island at night. Her parents had gone to bed two hours before. Jed had wished her a pleasant good night and vanished to his own room. As far as she knew he was asleep.

  As usual, it was only Amy who was wide awake in the middle of the night. She told herself she ought to be growing accustomed to it.

  She stepped out onto the veranda, her bare feet making no sound on the boards. The soft warm air caught the hem of her long cotton nightgown, causing it to drift lazily around her ankles. The gown was cut with a demure scoop neck and tiny sleeves. Lightweight and comfortable, it was designed for sleeping on a warm, tropical night. It most definitely was not from Fredericks of Hollywood. Jed would have no reason to think she was trying to seduce him.

  Amy moved silently along the veranda until she came to the open doors of his room. Standing quietly for a moment with the light of the moon outlining her slender figure, she peered into the darkness. If he was sound asleep she wouldn’t wake him, she promised herself.

  “Having trouble sleeping again, Amy?” His voice was like a dark shadow among the other shadows of the room. Until he moved, pushing back the sheet and swinging his feet to the floor, she couldn’t see him. Then he was walking toward her out of the darkness, turning from ghost into man. He stopped a couple of feet away, not touching her.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” she said quietly.

  “About staying here after your parents leave?”

  She shook her head. “No. About what happened in the water today.”

  “Ah.” The single syllable emerged as a soft, satisfied sigh. He stepped through the doorway and moved to lean against the veranda railing.

  “Look, Jed, if you don’t want to hear this—”

  “Hush, sweetheart. Keep your voice down or you’ll wake your parents.” He paused, regarding her stiff, uncertain figure with an indulgent eye. “Come here, Amy.”

  Reluctantly she went to him, her eyes never leaving his. “What did you want to say about today?” he prompted softly.

  She drew a deep breath. “That I’m sorry. I behaved like an irresponsible idiot. I shouldn’t have lost my temper afterward. You did the right thing. There, I think that about covers it.”

  He didn’t move, but she could tell he was scowling. “Is that all you wanted to say?”

  “What else is there to say? I assume you don’t want me to actually grovel over a minor bit of stupidity. I thought an apology would be sufficient.”

  “How about telling me why you reacted the way you did down there? You’re supposed to be a competent, experienced diver. What upset you?”

  “It’s been several months since I dove.” It was a lame excuse and she knew it. “Next time I’ll be fine.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Dammit I will be all right next time.”

  “Okay, okay.” He lifted a palm as if to ward off an attack, although Amy hadn’t moved. “We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”

  “Look, Jed, if you’ve got doubts about going down with me again, just say so. No one’s forcing you to keep me company on this island or underwater. If you’d rather go back to California, you’re welcome to leave tomorrow with my parents.”

  “Trying to get rid of me again?”

  She closed her eyes briefly against the injustice of it all. “I am not trying to get rid of you.” Each word was enunciated with great care. She felt Jed’s big hand close around her arm and opened her eyes to find him standing very close.

  “I’m glad you’re not trying to ditch me,” he murmured, “because I’m not ready to leave yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “Take a guess.” He tugged her lightly into his arms.

  Instinctively, Amy’s hands lifted. Her fingers slid up along his forearms and she heard him suck in his breath as she touched the long scar above his elbow. “Jed? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He tightened his grip on her, intending to pull her closer.

  But Amy had felt the heat around the newly healed wound. She touched him again, lightly. “There is something wrong. Come inside. I want to have a look.”

  “Amy, just leave it alone, will you?”

  “No.” She wrapped her hand around his wrist and drew him into the bedroom. He sighed impatiently but didn’t argue as she pulled him through the shadows into the bathroom where she quickly flipped on the light. Instantly she saw the reddened area around the scar. “There’s a clinic in the village. Tomorrow when we take my parents to the airport we’ll stop in and have someone look at this.”

  “There’s no need. It’ll be fine.”

  She frowned at him. “Don’t be silly. It will only take a minute and there’s no sense taking chances. Why didn’t you tell me you were having trouble with this arm?”

  “Because I wasn’t having trouble with it.”

  “When did it start getting red like this?”

  “This evening,” he growled. “I’m sure it will be fine by morning. Now, if you’ve finished playing nurse, let’s get back to what we were discussing on the veranda.”

  She ignored him. “You probably shouldn’t have gone into the water this afternoon.”

  “I’m sure it’s got nothing to do with the diving. Amy, normally I like it when you fuss over me, but—”

  “I do not fuss!”

  He smiled. “Yes, you do. You try not to, but you do it anyway. It’s sweet.”

  “Sweet? You think I’m sweet? Is that how you see me, Jed?” She released his arm and stepped back.

  “Amy, I think an unnecessary argument is taking shape here. Let’s stop right where we are, back up and start again.”

  “Not a chance. I’m not in the mood.”

  “Headache?” he taunted.

  She lifted her chin. “Not at all. As it happens, I suddenly feel very sleepy. Given my insomnia habits, I can’t afford to ignore any sign of genuine sleepiness. I’m going back to bed.”

  She swept toward the door before Jed could think of a way to stop her. At the last possible instant he had a thought.

  “Amy?”

  She paused in the doorway. “What is it?”

  “About your sister.”

  “Sylvia? What about her?”

  He took a couple of steps toward her and halted. “Her big announcement about expecting a baby made me realize that we…” He paused, searching for the right words. Finally he gave up. “That we haven’t been taking precautions.”

  “A fine
time to start worrying about it.”

  He heard the asperity in her voice and sighed. “I’m sorry, Amy. I should have thought about it earlier. We went along for nearly three months as friends and then, all of a sudden, we were more than that. Things just started happening very quickly between us.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Jed. I know you don’t want any strings. I paid a visit to Dr. Mullaney last month and got a prescription.”

  “Last month!” He was startled. “But nothing happened between us until I came home the last time.”

  “I know.” She smiled faintly in the moonlight. “But I’m not a complete idiot. I knew something was probably going to happen sooner or later.”

  “And you didn’t want to take any chances?”

  “Neither of us can afford to take chances, can we Jed?” she asked wryly and turned to go.

  “Amy, wait.” He caught up with her, catching hold of her wrist. “Do you think I’d make such a lousy father?” Christ, he didn’t know what made him ask such a dumb question, but it was too late to call back the words.

  To his surprise, Amy didn’t respond with the scathing retort he expected. Instead, she touched her finger to his bottom lip, her eyes misty with an expression he couldn’t read. “As a matter of fact, Jed, I think you might make an excellent father.”

  He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t know what to say. Before he could think of anything brilliant, Amy was gone.

  He stood staring out into the darkness and thought about private demons. Amy wasn’t the only one who had them.

  Gloria Slater had herself and her husband packed and ready to leave late the next afternoon. Amy could only marvel at her mother’s ability to accomplish such miracles, but her father had learned to take the talent for granted over the years. He was relaxed and good natured as he and Jed discussed the vehicle situation.

  “Follow us into town and return that rusted out rental MacCready gave you. Then you can use our Jeep for the rest of your stay. When you leave the island, just leave the Jeep with MacCready. He’ll take care of it until we return.”