“I’ll try what you suggest, but it gets harder and harder.”
“Why?”
“Because she keeps fading from my memory. I can’t seem to recall what she looks like anymore.”
Amanda didn’t know what to say so she didn’t say anything. Silent tears filled her eyes and she bit her lip. All she could do was pray the rescuers arrived soon. If they didn’t she was afraid it would be too late. She hadn’t had any desire for a man in many years, but she knew she could possibly be on the brink of surrendering to this one.
* * * *
May 23—6:00 PM
Wendover, GA
“Steve,” Claudia stuck her head out the glass sliding door and shouted to him. “The news announcer just said they had picked up some film of one of the survivors who did an interview earlier today. I thought you might want to see it.”
Steve stood and went into the family room. His heart was racing. He knew the interview would be with Amanda. They’d all agreed she was the one to do the talking. She was best at saying things and she could tell their story without letting any of the secrets they couldn’t share with the world slip out. He wasn’t worried about what she’d say. He was only excited because he was going to get to see her.
“If you have a tape or a CD, please record it for me,” he said quickly.
“I’ll put one in, Grandpa,” Robin said.
“Thanks, honey.”
When the camera flashed to her, Steve was spellbound. He knew she’d be beautiful, but he never dreamed she’d look like a movie star. Yet, she had the coy shyness about her which made her so endearing. Oh, how he loved this woman. He couldn’t help it. Tears came to his eyes. He bit his lip as he listened to her gentle voice. She was as perfect as they all thought she would be. She told enough that every one would be satisfied, but she didn’t even hint at the things they’d agreed should never become public.
None of his family spoke during the time the camera stayed on her and Steve didn’t notice the strange way Dave was looking at him. When the interview was over, Candy said, “She’s a pretty lady. Did you know her, Grandpa?”
“Yes, honey. I knew her.”
“Did you like her, Grandpa?”
Steve chuckled. “Yes, Johnny. I liked her very much.”
“What was that grass she talked about? Did you really eat grass?” Robin asked.
“It wasn’t really grass, honey. It was kind of like greens. You know how good they are.”
“You mean like collards?”
“Something like that, only better.”
“Okay, kids, go finish your homework before dinner,” Claudia said.
“Ah, Mom,” Candy whined.
“Don’t complain, Candy. If you want to go to Betty’s house this weekend, you’d better do well on that test tomorrow.”
“I’ll do okay.”
“Don’t argue with your mother, Candy,” Dave said.
Candy bit her lip and left the room. Robin followed her.
“Do I have to go to my room?” Johnny asked. “I want to play in the yard.”
“You can go in the back yard, but stay close.”
“I’ll be sitting on the patio,” Steve said. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
In a few minutes Dave joined him. He pulled up a chair and said, “Okay, Dad. I’m ready to hear your confession.”
“What do you mean?”
“Come off it, Dad. I know something’s going on between you and the woman survivor who was on television. Your eyes took on the look of a spurned lover the minute she appeared.”
“No, son, I haven’t been spurned. I’ve just been put on hold for a little while.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Let me give you a little background. Amanda and I fell in love on the island, but we didn’t do anything about it for a long time. She knew I was married and she refused to be a party to me being unfaithful to my wife. It wasn’t until we finally accepted the fact we were never going to be rescued that we gave in to each other. We then lived together as man and wife in our own little hut built of tree limbs and palm branches.” Steve took a long breath then continued. “When we were rescued, I told her I was coming back here to ask your mother for a divorce so we could be together. She wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted I come home to see what Janet had done. She said she couldn’t live with herself if she was the reason some woman lost a husband she’d waited on for all those months. She also insisted it’d be a good test to see if our love was real or if it was something we chose because we had nobody else to turn to.”
When he paused, Dave asked, “So, how’s the test going?”
Steve chuckled. “I don’t need a test. I love that woman with all my heart and I can’t wait to hold her in my arms again.” He looked at his son. “I’m sure you think that sounds silly coming from an old man like me.”
“No, I don’t. Mom is as old as you are and she fell in love with Warner. Love knows no age.” He smiled at his dad. “How does this lady feel about you? Sorry, I didn’t get her name.”
“Her name’s Amanda and she’s just as much in love with me as I am with her. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.” Steve bit his lip. “I’ll tell you something, but you’ve got to promise it’ll never go any further.”
“I promise to tell no one except Claudia. You know I can’t keep things from her.”
“What can’t you keep from me?” She walked up to them. “Sorry to interrupt, but dinner’s ready. Now I want to know what you’re talking about before I call everyone in.”
“Let me start at the beginning again,” Steve said. “I want you to know the whole story.” He told her about falling in love with Amanda almost in the same words he’d told Dave. He then told her about the forced separation to get things straight with Janet.
“Okay, now she’s up to speed. What were you going to tell me, Dad?”
“I was going to say that Amanda and I are married.”
Claudia gasped and Dave’s mouth dropped. “Really?”
“Oh, we’re not United States legally married, but we’re married none the less. We stood on a flower covered knoll in our ragged shorts and shirts, with Amanda’s white hair half way to her waist and me with a pony tail and we said our vows to God and to our island friends and we became man and wife in the world we knew.”
“Oh, Steve. That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” Claudia brushed away a tear. “When are you going to bring her home?”
“Soon.”
“How can you stand being away from her?” She asked.
“It isn’t easy. I go to bed thinking about her every night and I get up thinking about her every morning.” He grinned at them. “I’m filling my time getting the house ready for her. We’re going to live in the old home place. I took the chain saw down there and cut up the trees across the drive this morning. This afternoon, I bush hogged the front and back yards. It still doesn’t look like much, but you can at least see the house now. I’m going to call some carpenters and see if we can’t get the repairs done as quickly as possible.”
“Things aren’t rushed around here right now, we can spare a few men to come help haul off the debris and to do some yard work.” Dave smiled at his Dad. “I want to help some, too. After all, if this woman is going to be my step-mother, I want to get on the good side of her.”
“Oh, honey how sweet.” Claudia leaned over and kissed her husband. “Now, come on and let’s eat. I want to hear more about Amanda. What’s she like? What are her hobbies? Do you think she’ll like us? We’ll talk about all that family stuff which needs to be talked about.”
Steve and Dave stood and followed her toward the door. “Come on in, Johnny,” Dave called. “Mom has supper ready.”
As they watched Johnny run toward the patio, Dave put his arms around his father’s shoulders. “Yes sir, I have my daddy back and if it takes this Amanda person to make him happy, I want to get her to Georgia as fast as we can.
Chapter 1
3
Twenty-Five Months Earlier
Amanda had finished another basket. She lined it with large thick leaves and sat it aside. They’d discovered with this thickness, the baskets could be used in carrying water. It was more efficient than the coconut shells.
“Where’s Steve?” Debbie asked.
“He went with Gene and Ray to look for something. I’m not sure what.”
“Maybe the natives? Nobody’s seen then since you spotted them a few weeks ago.”
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me where they were going. He just said they wouldn’t be gone long.”
“Oh, my Lord. What’s happened?” Fear crossed Debbie’s face and she jumped up.
Amanda looked around. Gene and Ray were coming out of the woods. They were supporting Steve. He had his arms around their necks and they were practically dragging him.
Amanda scrambled to her feet, dropping the reeds and grass she was using. She ran toward them, crying. “What’s wrong with him? What happened?”
“He was bitten by a snake, Amanda.”
“Oh no. Was it poisonous?”
“Probably,” Ray said as they carried him through the door of the hut.
“Oh, my Lord. Steve, don’t you dare die on me” She cried following them inside. “Don’t let him die, Gene. I don’t want him to die.”
As they eased Steve to the mat she prayed, “Oh, God, please don’t let him die.”
Steve’s eyes were blinking at her. She knelt beside him. “Steve, please hang on. I can’t make it here without you.” She wasn’t conscious of the fact that she added, “I need you. I love you.”
She watched his mouth form the words, “I love you, too.”
“Come out here a minute, Amanda. I need to talk to you,” Gene said.
“No. I won’t leave him.”
“Please, Wilma will stay with him.”
Wilma had come running up and nodded as she darted into the hut.
“Okay, Gene. What do you want?” Amanda reluctantly stepped outside. “I’ve got to get back to Steve.”
“Amanda, you need to get hold of yourself. We cut the bite and tried to suck out the venom. I don’t know how much good we did. The snakes on a tropical island are usually all deadly.”
“Is he going to die, Gene?”
He hesitated only a few seconds. “Probably.”
“No, No.” Amanda whimpered. “He can’t die, Gene. I love him.”
“I know you do, Amanda. We all know how much you two love each other. It shows when you’re together.”
“But we haven’t even...I mean he wanted to, but I kept putting him off. Now I wish I hadn’t.”
“Amanda, there’s more to love than sex. You and Steve had something special, even if it was never consummated.”
“Oh, I don’t want him to die. I want to consummate it Gene. He’s the only man I’ve ever loved.” She began to sob. “Please God, don’t let him die.”
“There’s always one chance in a million he’ll make it. I just don’t know. It all depends on how much of the toxin got into him.”
Amanda didn’t answer. She turned and went back into the hut. She dropped to her knees beside the only man she knew she’d ever loved. She gathered his hand to her breast. “Please, Steve, try to fight this. I need you.”
Wilma put her arm around her. “Keep strong, honey. He’d want you to.”
“Gene said there was one chance in a million.” Amanda stopped short. An idea crossed her mind. An idea she’d gotten from a movie she’d seen a long time ago. An idea which was so bizarre and so unthinkable, she knew she couldn’t tell anyone about it. She suddenly leaned over and kissed Steve’s forehead. “You hang in there my love. I’m going to give you that one chance. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll go into the great hereafter together.”
She stood and patted Wilma on the shoulder. “Take care of him until I get back.”
“Where’re you going?”
Wilma’s words were lost in the air. Amanda left the hut and ran toward the jungle. She didn’t slow down when Gene called to her and she was out of sight before anyone could stop her.
* * * *
May 23—8:00 PM
Charlotte, NC
“Well Amanda, I must admit, I’m proud of my mother-in-law. You did a beautiful job on the six o’clock national news. I’m glad they picked it up from the noon broadcast here.”
“Thanks, Noah. I hope I answered the questions people wanted to know about.”
“You answered some of them.”
“What do you mean?” She pushed the ice cream dish away and leaned back in the glider on Callie’s screened-in back porch. Callie and Diane had gone inside. Amanda and Noah and the twins were waiting for them to return. Sam was in the yard cleaning the grill.
“Some of the people at work today were saying they sent in questions which weren’t answered at noon.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Things like, did you folks ever have a fight? Did anyone ever get sick? Were there any torrid romances? Things like that.”
“Well, you can tell your coworkers that no, we never had a fight. The closest we came was the night Steve caught all those beautiful lobsters. We’d all eaten one apiece and everybody wanted the last one.”
“How did you settle that?”
“Steve threw it back in the ocean.”
“What about sickness? Did you ever get sick?”
“Not often. I had a stomach ache one time. I think it was because I ate some green bananas. I also had a headache once. I think that came from the limb that fell on me when I was gathering grass to make baskets.”
“Did anyone else get sick?”
“Mainly they had the type ailments I did. We were lucky. Bobby, did get a little fussy when he was cutting a tooth.”
“Were there any accidents? Any animal attacks? That sort of thing.”
“There were a couple, but they’re too painful to talk about. Maybe I’ll tell you about them later.”
“Well, that leaves the romance. How about torrid affairs?”
“Now, son-in-law you’re getting personal. There are minors sitting here, after all.”
“Oh, Nana, I like romance,” Kristy said.
“Not me,” Kenny jumped in. “That’s yucky.”
Noah chuckled. “Just wait a few years, son. You’ll change your mind.”
Callie and Diane came through the door. Callie said, “Amanda, there’s a man named Steve on the phone for you. I told him you weren’t taking calls, but he insisted you’d take his. Want me to get rid of him?”
“No!” Amanda jumped up from the glider and grabbed the portable phone from her sister. Without another word, she went into the house and slammed the door behind her, leaving a group on the porch with their mouths open.
“Steve, Steve,” she said into the phone. “Is it really you?”
“It’s me, darling.”
“Hang on just a minute. I’m going to my room. I want to have a private place to talk to you.”
“I’ll hang on. You don’t have to run.”
“I’m running anyway.” She made it to her room and again slammed the door. To be sure she wouldn’t be overheard she went into the bathroom and shut that door, too. “Now, I’m alone. How are you, my love?”
“I’m fine. I assume by the beautiful woman I saw on television today, you’re doing okay too.”
“Missing you is my only problem.”
“Tell me about it. My right shoulder’s in shock. It keeps twitching and trying to find your head at night.”
“Oh, Steve, you don’t know how much I wish I could put my head on that shoulder right now.”
“Amanda, I love you so much. I never dreamed I could love a woman like I do you.”
“And you know you’re the only man I’ve ever loved.”
“You told me that and it makes me feel good to believe it’s true.”
“Steve, I have to ask. How are things with Janet?”
/> “Over.”
“You didn’t walk out on her did you?”
“I promised you I wouldn’t and I didn’t. She walked out on me months ago.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She’s now married to another man and they seem happy.”
“Oh, Steve, does that mean...”
“Yes darling. It means we can get together soon. We’ll even make things legal if you want to.”
“I want to.”
“There’s one thing yet to work out.”
“What’s that?”
He explained about the legality of his situation with Janet. “Of course as soon as we get it worked out, there’s nothing to prevent us from being together.”
“Steve, my son-in-law is going to lease a house for a year for me. I couldn’t tell him not to do it and as far as I know it’s a done deal.”
“That’s okay, honey. We might need it.”
“Why?”
He explained about his house being turned into a bed and breakfast. “But, I’m working on something for us. Something I think you’ll like.”
“What?”
“It’s my old family home place. I hope I can make it into something you’ll be proud of.”
“I know I’ll love it. You’re good at making me like everything you do. You’re great at surprising me.”
“Well, you sure surprised me today.”
“How?”
“This reporter on TV said she was talking to Amanda Winston, but all I could see was this beautiful sophisticated lady with platinum hair and a figure any model would envy.”
“Do you like my hair?”
“Love it and everything else that goes with it.”
“Have you cut your ponytail?”
“Yep. Got rid of the beard too.”
“Not the mustache?
“Nope. Kept the mustache. You told me once you liked kissing a man with a mustache. And this man with a mustache likes kissing you.”
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