“I’m right here, darling!”
Her answering voice had to be the sweetest sound he’d ever heard in his life.
They met midship and fell into each other’s arms. He crushed her to him, lifejacket, backpack and all.
“Dear God, I thought I’d lost you—” He was trembling so hard from fear he could hardly stand up. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
“I won’t— I promise—” Her voice shook. “I’m so sorry I frightened you, Payne. Forgive me.”
He couldn’t stop kissing her face and hair. “If anything had happened to you—”
She burrowed closer. “I swear I’ll never knowingly do anything to alarm you like that again.” She lifted wet green eyes to his. “After last night you know I love you more than life itself.”
Last night…
He hadn’t known what living was all about until last night. Her loving had made him feel reborn.
“You are my life, Rainey. When I reached for you a few minutes ago, and you weren’t there—”
“It’s because I love you so much. I wanted you to catch up on some sleep. While I waited for you to wake up I reached for my sketchbook. All these images were running through my head, but I needed more light so I came up on deck.
“The wind turned fierce a few minutes ago, so I put my things away and planned to bring you lunch in bed. I was just coming back when I heard your frantic voice. I thought maybe something horrible had happened to you and I couldn’t get to you fast enough.”
He felt the tremor that rocked her body and clung to her. “Something horrible did happen. You weren’t there when I wanted you.”
“That’s exactly how I felt when the helicopter flew me away from Crag’s Head and I knew I’d never see you again.” Tears ran down her cheeks already wet from salt spray.
“That’s all in the past,” he whispered, kissing her with a hunger even greater than before. “You’re my wife now, and I love your plan for lunch in bed. But the next time you feel an irresistible urge to sketch, tell me first. My heart won’t be able to withstand this kind of punishment a second time.”
“Neither will mine. I adore you, Payne. I couldn’t live without you now.”
“Then we understand each other,” he whispered against her lips. “Come on. Let’s get out of this wind and take a nice warm shower.”
Her cheeks filled with color. “If we do that first, you’re going to be starving later.”
He drew in a deep breath. “I’m starving now. For you.”
Obeying a need that had grown out of control, he picked her up and carried her back down to their bedroom.
It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that they surfaced to fix a meal together and take it back to bed. Once they’d eaten, his gorgeous wife curled up against him with her adorable blond head nestled between his neck and shoulder. He heard a sigh of contentment. Before he knew it, she’d fallen into a sound sleep.
And no wonder.
After their ten-thirty a.m. ceremony at Rainey’s family church, followed by a meal at her parents’ home, the pilot of his company jet had flown them and his family and bodyguards back to New York.
At that point he and Rainey had taken the helicopter to Crag’s Head, where they’d immediately boarded the sloop so their honeymoon could begin.
Once out on the ocean, to give Rainey a view of their home from the water, he weighed anchor in the bay so he could give his bride his full attention.
Until the last few hours there’d been no sleep for either of them. Worried that he might have worn her out with his insatiable appetite for her, it thrilled him to realize her desire for him was every bit as boundless.
He’d married a talented, generous, deeply emotional woman whose passion for life thrilled him to his very soul. Marrying Rainey had set him on the adventure of a lifetime.
She wanted his baby right away. Secretly he’d wanted that too, but he’d told her he didn’t want her to feel rushed. That’s when she’d asked him to close his eyes while she handed him her sketchbook.
When she gave him permission to look, he looked. She’d entitled the drawing Our First Little Engineer. She’d drawn a six-month-old boy wearing boots and a hard hat. He was riding on top of Payne’s shoulders. The likeness of father to son was unmistakable. It touched a place in his heart he hadn’t known was there.
Rainey’s green eyes blazed with light. “I did this the first night you stayed at my parents’ house. Since I couldn’t creep into bed with you, I did the next best thing to feel close to you.”
He’d already been given proof his wife had second sight. Like pure revelation he knew that baby boy was destined to make an appearance at some point.
Putting the sketchbook aside, he’d reached for her. “No more ‘next best thing’. I plan to give you so much closeness you’ll cry for mercy.”
“I’m afraid it’s going to be the other way around,” she admitted in a tremulous whisper.
“Then we’re the luckiest man and woman alive.”
“We are.” Her voice caught before rapture consumed them for the rest of the night.
Payne drew her sleeping body close against him one more time. Then he laid her down and moved off the bed, compelled to see what she’d been drawing.
He found her backpack and pulled out the sketch pad. After studying the little engineer one more time, he turned to the next drawing and came face to face with himself.
It was the picture on the cover of Manhattan Merger. But there was a different woman in Payne’s arms, a different look in his eyes. This time he held his adoring wife in his embrace. They both wore their wedding clothes. The gold band she’d given him was on his finger.
She wore his diamond ring and wedding band. The picture on his office wall had been changed to depict Crag’s Head and the sailboat. There was another little picture propped on the desk next to Winston. It was Bruno.
The eager, tremulous look of joy on their faces brought tears to his eyes. She’d dated and titled it, The Look of Love.
Emotion made his throat close up.
“I wanted to capture our wedding night so we’d have it forever.” Rainey had come up behind him and slid her arms around his chest. She pressed her cheek against his back. “I love you so much I never want to do anything to take that look away.”
He put the sketchbook on the end of the bed. Turning in her arms, he cupped her precious face in his hands. “We’ll hang this in our bedroom. It’ll be our guiding star as we navigate through life together.”
“Yes—” she cried as her eyes filled.
Payne lowered his head to taste those salty tears before he swept them away to the place destiny had reserved for them.
EPILOGUE
“RAINEY?”
“Yes, Betty?”
“There’s someone here to see you.”
Rainey was expecting her husband home any minute now. “Who is it?”
“They want it to be a surprise.”
Because of security, no one dropped by Crag’s Head unless they were family. Unless— Could it be Drew Wallace? He and his wife had been on vacation in Canada. Maybe he’d decided to pay her husband a personal visit now that he’d returned. The poor man was facing a mountain of work.
When Rainey reminded her husband he shouldn’t be so gleeful about it, he reminded her that a mountain of work meant his company was still in business, for which they should be grateful. Coming from a soon-to-be trillionaire, that was quite a statement.
“I’ll be right down, Betty.”
At this point Rainey was eight months pregnant and didn’t move nearly as fast as she once had. Sometimes she paused on the stairs to get rid of a leg cramp before taking another step. The calcium tablets were supposed to help, but she still had her moments.
Winston was so cute. He’d stop on the step with her and wait. She could tell Payne found it all very amusing. His blue eyes danced whenever he watched her struggle in an attempt to appear graceful.
He could ha
rdly wait to be a father. They were going to have a boy. Catherine and Linda had already volunteered to baby-sit. Both sets of parents were ecstatic. Rainey’s mother and father would fly out the minute she went into labor. Craig would come for the christening. Everything was ready for the big event.
Still wearing her artist’s smock, which worked as a perfect maternity outfit, she put down her paintbrush and left the nursery to see who’d dropped by. With the addition of an owl peeking out of a large knothole in the tree, her mural of the forest creatures would be complete.
Winston stayed right with her. When she reached the bottom step and heard her name called, she turned in the direction of the living room. A beautiful long-legged brunette in a periwinkle suit started walking toward her.
“Diane—” she gasped incredulously. “Look at you!”
The other woman’s smile was radiant. “I was going to say the same thing to you.”
She stopped in front of Rainey. They eyed each other for a long moment while unspoken messages flowed between them. Then they embraced each other. By the time they let go, they were both laughing and crying.
Rainey wiped her eyes. “You don’t know—you just don’t know what this is going to mean to Payne.”
“Yes, I do.” Diane insisted. “And seeing this will take away any residual pain.” She lifted her left hand, where Rainey spied a gold band on her ring finger.
“I’m Mrs. Unte now. My husband, Karl, is one of the doctors I met at the clinic in Switzerland. We’re expecting a baby too, but I’m only six weeks along.”
Three miracles.
“We live in Zurich, but we’re home for our first visit. If you can, I’d like you and Payne to come to my parents’ house for dinner this evening. I know it’s late notice, but we barely arrived and I couldn’t wait to see you.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted you to wait!” Rainey’s heart hammered with excitement. “I can hear the helicopter coming. Why don’t you run out and issue your invitation in person?”
“You think it will be all right?”
“How can you even ask me that question?”
Diane smiled, then headed for the entrance hall. Rainey followed at a slower pace, marveling at the other woman’s mobility after all she’d suffered.
This was a private moment for two people who’d been through a horrendous experience together. Rainey stood in the doorway to watch from a distance.
Payne couldn’t help but see Diane now. The helicopter had landed. She ran toward it, waving her hands.
When Rainey saw her husband jump down and crush Diane in his arms, she could hardly breathe. Two or three minutes passed while the two of them conversed. Suddenly Payne swung her around. Their happy laughter filled the air.
Two people had been let out of prison.
Their joy was full. So was Rainey’s.
She rested against the doorjamb, waiting for the most wonderful man alive to tell her all about it. She didn’t have to wait long. The second Diane drove off, Payne came running.
As he drew closer she saw the one ingredient that had been missing in their marriage. The look of peace. The one priceless gift needed to make their love complete.
She knew that was what he was trying to tell her as he pulled her into his arms and wept.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7820-6
MANHATTAN MERGER
First North American Publication 2003.
Copyright © 2003 by Rebecca Winters.
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