Summer Magic

by Rochelle Alers

  I’ve come to terms with the fact that I love him. I no longer fight my feelings. And now that I can admit it to myself I don’t feel so tortured. The only thing I’m not ready to do is talk about my failed marriage or ex-husband. What I don’t want is for Logan to see me as a weak idiot.

  My outburst after we’d left the dance floor the other night—I’m still trying to make some sense of my reaction. It was not the first time Logan and I had danced together nor was it the first time he had become aroused when were dancing together. I think my reaction had something to do with Ham and Tia seeing us together. I’ve denied my feelings to Tia so many times that she knows I’m lying. And I’m certain she saw right through me when I was dancing with Logan. Only a blind person would not be able to see what had passed between us. I was embarrassed. There is no other word to explain my behavior. Now I know I’m not as mature as I’d like to believe I am. Still more insecurities left over from my failed marriage.

  Logan rented a car yesterday, and we toured El Yunque rain forest. We hiked along the trails, overwhelmed with the beauty of viewing a minute portion of two hundred forty different tree species and over two hundred types of ferns. The guide reported four forest zones grow at different elevations along the slopes. Seeing the exotic heliconia was breathtaking. The leaves looked like those of a banana plant, but instead of producing bananas it yields yellow or red lobster-claw brats that grow up to a foot. After recognizing hibiscus poinsettias, and bougainvillea growing in abandonment, I purchased an assorted bouquet from a flower vendor in San Juan and gave it to Ham and Tia for their apartment.

  I’ve learned to order food in Spanish, which surprised Logan when we stopped at a small roadside stand. He gave me a skeptical look until he tasted the bacalaitos, asopao, and pasteles. The pasteles have become my favorite—pork filling surrounded by a soft mixture of green bananas and yautía wrapped in plantain leaves and boiled. I’m told they are very popular at Christmastime.

  This morning Logan and I will take a short hop over to St. Thomas to shop. We invited Ham and Tia, but they declined. They plan to sail on the Maggie E for a fishing expedition. They’ve offered to look after Domino, who has become my constant companion. He rarely looks at Logan except when he wants to eat. Logan says he’s going to change his name to Traitor because he’s become a certified mush.

  I have to close because I hear Logan calling to say we’re ready to leave for the airport for the flight to St. Thomas.

  Caryn held on to Logan’s hand throughout the thirty-minute flight from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas. She chided herself for not having an empty stomach each time the commuter plane dipped and swayed before the pilot landed the small aircraft smoothly.

  Logan cradled Caryn to his chest, pressing his lips to her moist forehead. “It’s over, baby,”

  “It’s not over, Logan. We still have to fly back,” she moaned.

  “Do you want me to charter a boat for our return trip.”

  Pulling back, she stared up at his solemn expression. “When?”

  “Now.”

  “You want to leave now?”

  He nodded. “I will if you’re not feeling well.”

  She gave him a stunned look. “But I came here to shop.”

  “You feel up to shopping?”

  “Logan Prescott. I did not endure that harrowing flight so I could go back to Puerto Rico without shopping.”

  “Okay,” he drawled, smiling. “Let’s find a taxi so we can shop until we drop.”

  Caryn thought of Puerto Rico as romantic and St. Thomas as sensual. Clear blue-green water surrounded an island of steep green hills. A taxi driver took them to Charlotte Amalie, a bustling picturesque town with narrow streets and quaint Danish colonial architecture. They stopped counting at ten the number of cruise ships and yachts docked in the harbor. The duty-free shops offered many discounts on liquor, fine jewelry, cameras, watches, perfumes, silks, and lace.

  She and Logan strolled the narrow streets, entering and exiting many shops while deciding on what they wanted to purchase.

  Four hours later, laden with shopping bags containing perfume, fine jewelry, and watches for her niece and nephew, Caryn climbed aboard the commuter plane and closed her eyes. Logan secured his own shopping bags, fastened his seat belt, then held Caryn’s hand as the plane taxied for takeoff.

  He had purchased gifts for his parents, his personal secretary, and for the Wheaton’s unborn child. He had also purchased a gift for Caryn. He knew she would be pleased with his choice because he’d watched her admiring the necklace although she’d refused to try it on.

  Squeezing her fingers, Logan smiled at her. “We have just one more day before we go back to the States.”

  She nodded. “There’s so much more of Puerto Rico I’d like to see, but there’s isn’t enough time.”

  “We can always come back.”

  “When?”

  “Whenever you have a school recess. I can call you—”

  “Don’t, Logan,” Caryn interrupted. “Let’s not plan beyond today.”

  “Are you saying you won’t come back here with me?”

  “I’m not saying anything. What I am saying is that I don’t know where I’ll be next summer.”

  “None of us know where we’ll be tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan.”

  “You’re right about that because I surely didn’t plan to come to Puerto Rico when I left Asheville for Marble Island.”

  He flashed a wide smile. “It has been a summer of surprises.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said mysteriously.

  And it was. She hadn’t planned on meeting a man, and she hadn’t planned on falling in love. It was a summer to remember.

  All plans the two couples made for their last day in Puerto Rico were quickly dashed by a heavy tropical downpour, and the Wheatons returned to the Maggie E to wait out the rainy weather.

  Caryn lay on her bed, reading. She’d found a recent People magazine among a stack in the dining room and had begun to read every word on a page. Logan had retreated to the galley where he and Hamilton joined the crew members in a very vocal poker game.

  The sound of rain tapping against the porthole and the rocking motion of the anchored ship lulled her into a state of total relaxation until she had to struggle to remain awake. A noise caught her attention and she listened intently. It came again. Someone was knocking on the door.

  Pushing up on an elbow, she closed the magazine. “Come in.

  The door opened slightly and a curly, sun-streaked head appeared. “Do you mind company?”

  Caryn sat up, smiling. “Not at all. I’ve found myself reading the same words on the same page for the past fifteen minutes.

  Cynthia walked in and sat down on the bed. Caryn shifted, giving her more room. Pressing her head against the pillows propped up against the headboard, she closed her eyes. “Today is the first day I really feel pregnant.”

  Caryn glanced over at the very noticeable mound under Cynthia’s oversized T-shirt. “Maybe that’s because today you really look pregnant.”

  Nodding, she placed a hand over her rounded belly. “First my belly was flat, then wham! I look like I swallowed a honeydew melon.”

  “How are you feeling otherwise?”

  “Wonderful.”

  “When are you due?”

  “The middle of January. And with my luck I’ll probably go into labor during a snowstorm.”

  Caryn laughed. “Bite your tongue.”

  “That’s what Ham says whenever I tease him about getting me pregnant in the spring. The next time we’ll try for the fall like most teachers do. That way I’ll deliver either late spring or early summer.”

  Adjusting a pile of pillows behind her shoulders, Caryn stared at Cynthia. “Do you and Ham plan on having more children?”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “Probably one more before we get too old. How about yourself? Do you plan to have any children?”

  “I’d like a couple. But I want to be
married first.”

  “What are you waiting for?”

  “I’d like to find Mr. Right.”

  Turning and shifting her body to her right side, Cynthia stared at Caryn. “You have Mr. Right.”

  “Logan?”

  “Yes! Logan Prescott.”

  Closing her eyes, Caryn shook her head. “It’s not that easy.”

  “Why not?”

  She opened her eyes, staring across the room. “I was married once.”

  “And?”

  “It was a disaster.”

  “That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work with Raven. He can’t be anything like your ex-husband, otherwise you wouldn’t have come to Puerto Rico with him.”

  “That’s for certain.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “There’s no problem. Logan and I are friends, and nothing more.”

  Cynthia snorted delicately. “I believe you guys are a little bit more than friends.”

  “Okay. We’re friends who happen to sleep together.”

  “I knew that the moment we were introduced.”

  “How did you know?”

  “The way Raven looked at you. And whenever he touched you there was a possessiveness that was so apparent even Ham mentioned it.”

  Caryn winced. “It’s like that?”

  “Yeah, it’s like that.” A secret smile curved Cynthia’s mouth. “I don’t know if you realized it, but when the two of you were dancing in that club in Old San Juan you were downright shameless. I almost slapped Ham to get him to stop gawking.”

  Heat flooded her entire body and her face burned in remembrance. “Don’t remind me. I’ve never been so embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be embarrassed. You had every woman in the club throwing daggers at you. Even I was jealous.”

  Caryn sat up straighter. “Jealous because Logan decided to use the dance floor to make love to me?”

  “Hell, yeah. I love Ham to death, but he’ll never become one of People magazine’s sexiest men alive. Now, Raven would definitely be in the running. Women were always throwing themselves at him, but he was very discriminating. He usually dated tall, dark-complexioned women. That’s why I was surprised when I saw the two of you together.”

  “I hadn’t planned to spend the summer on Marble Island with Logan.” Caryn explained how she had come to share the house with him.

  “So, the two of you were sort of thrown together?”

  “Exactly,” Caryn said smugly.

  “Oh, how romantic.”

  “If you say so.”

  Cynthia’s expression sobered as she stared at Caryn. The cabin was silent as the two women sat regarding each other. “I know I’m a wretched busybody,” Cynthia said after an interminable pause, “and I won’t get mad if you tell me to mind my own business. But there’s one thing I have to know.”

  “What?”

  “Are you using Raven?”

  Caryn’s body stiffened in shock. What was Cynthia accusing her of? “Using him how?”

  “Are you sleeping with him to punish your ex-husband?”

  Annoyance replaced the shock. “How dare you accuse me of using Logan. What I feel for him has nothing to do with my ex-husband.”

  Cynthia arched a pale eyebrow. “So you do love him?”

  “Of course I love him,” she said recklessly. “I’d never sleep with a man I didn’t love.”

  Cynthia reached over and hugged Caryn, then kissed her on both cheeks. “Thank goodness.”

  “Now I suppose you’ll go and tell him.”

  “No, Caryn, I won’t. If Raven doesn’t realize you love him, then he’s a fool.”

  “I don’t think he’s a fool. It’s just that I’m very good when it comes to pushing him away. There are times when I ask myself whether he’s using me to forget his ex-fiancée, then I say it doesn’t matter because once I leave Marble Island everything I’ve shared with Logan Prescott will end. He won’t owe me anything and vice versa.”

  “It all sounds very adult to me.”

  “Because we are adults, Tia. Logan and I are carrying emotional baggage that shouldn’t be unloaded on each other. I need to be able to come to Logan not worrying about whether he’ll be faithful or supportive. Not only do I want to love him, but I always have to trust him. I don’t want to marry a Dr. Jekyll, then wake up to find Mr. Hyde.”

  “Is that what happened to you, Caryn?”

  “Yes.”

  Cynthia clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, sweet heaven. You poor thing.”

  Caryn managed a tight smile. “It’s okay, because I got out in time to save myself.”

  Cynthia hugged her again before sinking back down to the mound of pillows cradling her shoulders. The women lay on the bed talking for the next hour, offering vignettes of their childhood. Caryn told her everything with the exception of who she’d married and the abuse she’d had endured from the man she’d pledged to love until death parted them.

  They returned to Gooseneck Island the second of August at sunset. Domino wound himself around Caryn’s legs, seemingly relieved to be back on dry land.

  She hugged Hamilton, then Cynthia. “I’ll never be able to thank you for a wonderful week,” she said to the now very obviously pregnant blond woman.

  “We thank you and Raven for helping us celebrate our last fling with freedom before we’re faced with baby formulas, disposable diapers, colic, and teething,” Cynthia teased.

  “And I’m willing to bet you’ll love every minute of it.”

  Hamilton wound an arm around his wife’s thickening waist. “I’m certain we will. I’ve waited a long time for this event.”

  Logan, having stored the last of his and Caryn’s luggage in the Wrangler, walked over to join her and the others. “Ham and Tia, what can I say except thank you very much for a wonderful surprise.”

  Hamilton inclined his head. “When do you want to get together again?”

  “You have my numbers. Give me a call.”

  “Will do, Raven.”

  Logan handed Cynthia two gaily wrapped packages. “Here’s a little something for the baby from Caryn and I.”

  She took the gifts, her eyes filling with tears. “Raven—you guys didn’t have to.” She sniffled loudly. “You’d better go before I start bawling my eyes out.”

  Caryn hugged and kissed her new friends again, feeling as if she’d known them for years. Cynthia clung to her neck, weeping. “He loves you,” she sobbed in her ear.

  I don’t want him to love me because it’ll make my leaving him so much more painful, she whispered back silently. Easing out of Cynthia’s embrace, she walked over to the Jeep and pulled herself up without waiting for Logan to help her. She was already seated and belted in when he picked up Domino and placed him behind the front seats.

  Logan swung up onto his seat in one fluid motion. He glanced at her before turning the key in the ignition. He switched on the headlights, put the four-wheel-drive vehicle in reverse, then backed out of the driveway. A wave of sadness shrouded him when he realized seeing his college friends again reminded him of what had eluded him for years—his loving a woman enough to marry her.

  But he’d miraculously found love since coming to Marble Island. He had fallen in love with a woman who kept him at a distance; a woman who offered him her body and her passion, but withheld what he needed most.

  The drive, which would have normally taken an hour to return to Marble Island, was accomplished in half that time as Logan exceeded the speed limit by more than twenty miles per hour. The drive commanded all of his concentration because of the dark, single-lane road.

  He maneuvered into the driveway of the Crawfords’ house beside Caryn’s car, shutting off the engine. Shifting to his right, he glanced at Caryn. The silvery light from a full moon showed her head hanging at a grotesque angle. A tender smile softened his features. She had fallen asleep.

  “Stay, boy,” he whispered to Domino when the dog rose to his feet, whining softly.

&n
bsp; He retrieved the keys to the house, then gathered Caryn in his arms. She stirred, mumbling softly to herself, then settled back to sleep by the time he’d opened the front door. He flicked a switch on a wall in the entry, flooding the upper level with light. Making his way slowly up the staircase, he stared down at her face relaxed in sleep, his heart welling with emotion.

  Caryn hadn’t slept much the three days they were at sea for their return trip. Most nights she had sat on deck, staring out at the ocean. Their last night at sea she had refused to come to bed and wound up napping on the deck chair.

  Logan walked into his bedroom and placed her gently on the bed. She would sleep with him this night. He would make certain of that.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Caryn turned over, encountering a solid object. Opening her eyes, she saw a wall of dark brown flesh, realization dawning. She was in bed with Logan. She hadn’t slept with him the past three nights because she needed time to withdraw, time to decrease her emotional and physical dependence on him. Moving a leg, she eased her body toward the edge of the bed, but was thwarted when a large hand snaked out and held her fast.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Logan frowning at her. “I’m getting up.”

  Exerting a minimum of pressure, he pulled her back until she lay over his chest. “No, you’re not.”

  Something in his voice, the command, sounded so much like Tom’s that she snapped. Raising her free hand, she swung at him, but found herself lying flat on her back with Logan looming over her, his superior weight pressing her down to the mattress.

  “What is the matter with you, Caryn?”

  “Nothing,” she screamed in his face, trying unsuccessfully to free herself. “Let me go!”

  He eased his hold on her body but would not let her up. “What’s going on with you?” Holding her shoulders, he shook her gently. “Come on, baby. Tell me what he did to you.”

  His calling her baby was her undoing. All of the shame and pain she’d carried for years swept over her, and she bit down so hard on her lower lip that she drew blood.