Tropical Balm

by Franny Armstrong

  Groaning, he mumbled into the pillow, “Oh, lass, you have the hands of an angel.”

  “Just rest Cam. I’m going to be working on it for a while. In the morning, we’ll give you another good soak in the tub.”

  “Ah…the tub. I love that tub. Especially the little green monster under the tub. He’s my friend. I owe him a lot.”

  Giggling, she said, “Why do you owe him?”

  “Oh, my sweet lassie, he placed an angel in my lap. It was one of the most wonderful days of my life.”

  Swatting his good shoulder, she said, “Go to sleep, you goofy man. Monsters indeed.” Grinning, she recalled the day she’d ended up in his lap in the tub. She owed the monster herself. Cam was just what she’d needed to start living again.

  Cam drifted off as she worked for the next half-hour. She was just washing the oil off her hands, when she saw a car come up in the drive.

  “It’s four in the morning. Who on Earth is that?”

  A loud knock at the door had her cringing. She called through the door, “Who is it?”

  “Tyrell Johnson. Open the door,” he demanded.

  “I will not! It’s the middle of the night. Go away.”

  “If you don’t open the door, I’ll have my men break it down.”

  Furious, Teal whipped open the door. Tyrell was dressed head to toe in white, his suit impeccable.

  “What the hell do you want?” she whispered harshly.

  Pushing her aside, he entered her kitchen.

  “There was a man watching my compound. He headed this way. Where has your Mr. Brooke been all night?”

  “He’s been right beside me of course. Now be quiet or you’ll wake him. His shoulder has been acting up, and he’s taken a painkiller.”

  Tyrell’s eyes followed the green satin to the ‘V’ in her robe, and he licked his lips.

  “We still have a date, you and me.”

  “We do not! Get the hell out of here. I have nothing nice to say to you, and you don’t want to hear what I really think.”

  Two of his henchmen were standing, in the doorway. Tyrell became bolder, since he had backup, and pushed her against the wall. His hand came up and cupped her breast through the satin.

  Teal struggled, but the only thing that that did, was open the robe more, much to Tyrell’s pleasure.

  “It will happen, whether you like it or not. I want you, and what I want, I get.”

  “Get your hands off of my future wife, Tyrell.”

  As if he’d been burned, he let Teal go, and backed up. His two henchmen crowded in closer

  “We are looking for a man who was spying on my compound. We thought perhaps you’d know who it was.” Tyrell felt braver now, and snapped at Cam.

  Stepping between Teal and Tyrell, Cam put on a fierce expression. “As you can see, there are no extra men here, only me. Ms. Greenwood has already told you that we have been here all night, now I suggest you leave here, and don’t come back. Am I making myself clear?”

  Narrowing his eyes, Tyrell gave Teal a promising look before turning to leave. Cam watched until the car lights had disappeared before closing the door. He was weaving on his feet from the drug.

  Putting her shoulder under his good arm, she helped him back to bed.

  “Are you all right, Cam?” she asked.

  “Aye lass. Just help me lie back down,” he said.

  Groaning, he lay on his stomach, and waited for her to turn out the lights before he began dozing off.

  Lying in the dark, Teal wondered if the man Tyrell was looking for was indeed Cam. He’d been acting a bit strange lately, mysterious even. When he and Delon were talking to each other, it was in hushed whispers. Sometimes when she would enter the room, they’d stop talking. Something was definitely up. Curling up beside him, she thought long into the wee hours of the morning before finally falling into a fitful sleep.

  ***

  Cam was stretched out on a flat bed, his hands and feet tied to the posts. His eyes were filled with fury, but he didn’t speak. Another man was lying on the floor in a heap, blood pouring from a gash in his head. When she looked closer, she saw that it was Delon.

  Screaming at the top of her lungs did nothing. No sound came out of her mouth.

  Poppy was standing there looking down at her son, weeping, and wringing her hands. She shot looks of anger at Teal, as though it were all her fault.

  Suddenly Teal stood at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the wild ocean waves. A long slide spiraled down into the depths of the water. At the top of the slide, Cam and Delon lay, tied to large rocks. They were going to slide down into the water and drown.

  Tyrell laughed, “Now you are mine Teal Greenwood. I can do whatever I want with you, and no one will be able to stop me.”

  “No…Don’t hurt them. Please…” she moaned.

  “You must give yourself to me, Teal, or they die.”

  “All right! I’ll give myself to you completely, just let them live!” she cried.

  “Come to me now, Teal. Come to me now,” Tyrell ordered, pointing at the ground in front of him.

  Dragging her leaden feet, she collapsed to her knees in front of Tyrell.

  “Let them go now. Let them free.”

  A wicked leer on his face, Tyrell unzipped his pants. “You know what you must do to save them. Do it now.”

  “I can’t do that. You make me sick. Let them go!”

  Unable to lift her arms, her knees stuck on the ground, she watched as Tyrell laughed harder. “Let them go boys,” he yelled. “Set them free!”

  The men laughed, cutting the rope that bound Cam and Delon. Suddenly they were sliding downwards, toward the sea, toward their deaths.

  “Nooo…nooo…she screamed as she watched them flying downwards. She didn’t see them splash into the ocean because Tyrell yanked her by her hair to face him.

  “Now you will finish it. You have a job to do.” He began pulling her toward his body, though she fought him all the way.

  “Nooo…nooo…stop it. I said Noooo—.”

  The more she fought him, the harder he pulled...

  “Come back now Teal. Wake up. Stop fighting me. Teal. Teal! Wake up!”

  Gasping, she was jerked out of the dream. She stared up into the welcome blue eyes of Camden Brooke.

  It took her a few moments to realize that she was safe, and then she burst out crying, holding onto him for all she was worth.

  “Oh, Cam. It was so horrible. I don’t want you to die, or Delon! Please, tell me you will stay away from Tryell. Please Cam.”

  She had known that the two men had been up to something over the past few weeks, but she hadn’t been sure what. Now she had a disturbing picture of exactly what they were doing.

  “You have to lay off him. Let him be Cam. I can’t lose you too. Please...” Breaking down into sobs, Teal cried for a long time. Cam stroked her hair, holding her close, though his shoulder was on fire.

  “Everything is going to be all right, Teal, I promise you. Just let it go. Relax now love. Relax.”

  Eventually, she stopped crying, and fell into a fitful doze.

  Cam held her close, lying there with his eyes wide open, while in his mind he plotted the downfall of Tyrell Johnson.

  CHAPTER 12

  Finding The Right Place

  Each of the children had a small flute. In Canada, her brother Brock had bought them, so it was easy to supply the whole group of thirty students.

  Teal played a tune on her flute, and the children did their best to follow along. Hiding her smile behind the mouthpiece, Teal kept up the pace. When she finished the song, the children went wild with applause, thrilled that they too could play.

  Laughing with Leah, Teal put her flute down, and she too clapped. It had been a week since the incident with Tyrell. Each day he drove slowly past the school. Cam and his crew worked hard on the foundation for the new school.

  The children had been moved to the opposite side of the school, into a small area, so that th
e men could work on the new building.

  “My, but that was a song that touches a man’s heart,” Cam said. He stood with his shoulder leaning against the old schoolroom doorframe, staring at her with a loving smile.

  “Why thank you, Mr. Cam,” Teal said, winking at him.

  “Are you about ready to go, love?” he asked, his voice husky.

  Blushing, Teal said, “Yes sir. I do believe I am. We only have one more song to do, and then we’ll call it a day.”

  “Well don’t let me stop you. I could listen to you play all day.” His warm smile caught the kid’s attention.

  “Mr. Cam? Can we play a song for you?” a young boy asked.

  Seeming pleased, Cam said, “Why, I’d be honoured if you’d play a song for me.”

  Two children, without flutes, stood up and moved over to stand beside Teal.

  Teal grinned. “Are we all ready?” she asked.

  A resounding ‘yes’ came from the kids, and they all placed their flutes in position.

  The two standing children began to sing a song, while the others followed Teal’s lead.

  It was an uplifting, light song, that had toes tapping, and fingers slapping thighs. They sang about a hero who conquered the villains, and saved the damsel in distress.

  When the song ended, Cam and Delon both applauded, to the delight of the children.

  “That was the nicest song that I’ve ever heard! You were all wonderful.” Cam patted heads and grinned as he was swarmed by the children.

  Teal sat back, wearing a grin as she placed her flute in its case. Cam was wonderful with children. A part of her wished they could have gone back in time, and had children together, but having him all to herself wasn’t such a bad thing either.

  “Okay children,” she shouted over the noise. “It’s time for Mr. Cam and I to leave you. I’ll see you in a couple days for our English class.”

  Groans of dismay came from the children, but their eyes told a different story. They loved taking English class with Ms. Teal.

  “They are all yours, Ms. Leah,” Teal called out. “Bye kids.” She walked away with Cam and Delon.

  When they reached the other side of the schoolroom, she said, “Cam? Where is everyone? It looks like nothing was done today on the school.”

  “Oh, lass. There was a big job that needed doing, and we had to hire two extra men to finish it. They’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

  “I see—so, what would you like for dinner tonight? I gave Poppy the night off to spend time with Zola. The poor dear hasn’t had a great deal of sleep since the baby came. She was going to tell us his name tonight. It has taken quite some time for her to decide on what it will be.”

  Cam opened the rear door of the car, and helped her in. Winking at Delon, he walked around the car and climbed in beside her.

  “What are you doing? You always sit in the front with Delon.” Teal frowned. Something was up, and she started tensing up in fear.

  “Relax darlin’, I just wanted to be close to you. I missed you today.” Cam grinned at her, acting as though everything was normal.

  “Camden Brooke! You tell me what’s going on! I—.”

  She never finished her sentence because his lips captured her words. In seconds, she was melting into his embrace. She never noticed Delon’s grin as he began the short trip home.

  Keeping Teal busy would have been a difficult task, but when he kissed her, she forgot about everything else, and focused on him. Cam kissed her the whole twenty minutes it took to get them home.

  She was moaning, aching to get him into bed. She hadn’t necked in a car since she was a teenager. Something about the man’s lips, was like an aphrodisiac, making her melt and burn with passion at the same time.

  Delon stopped the car, grinning even wider. He opened Teal’s door, and Cam broke off the kiss and jumped out of the car, reaching her side before she came out of her love-induced daze. Keeping her attention on him, he took her hand, helping her out of the car.

  Teal stared up at him with a hungry look. His eyes were filled with expectation and humor.

  “Don’t you want to head to the house?” he asked.

  “Well sure I—.” She stopped, completely stunned. “Oh, my God! Cam…it’s beautiful!” Tears filled her eyes as she stared at her house. The entire house, including the addition was covered in textured paint, the exact colour of her eyes!

  “Why did you pick that colour?” she asked, staring at the aqua-green paint with wonder.

  “You said I could choose. Every time I look into your eyes, I melt like butter. The color calls to me, and I wanted to share it with you.”

  “Oh, Cam...” she whispered, choked up.

  “Do you really like it?” he whispered in her ear.

  “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Cam, I love it!” Her home was complete. It had a Jamaican charm, and it was the colour of the Caribbean ocean.

  “The men worked all day on it,” he murmured in her ear.

  She saw the team of six men standing off to the side, acting shy and uncertain. Teal walked up to them.

  “Thank you so much. It is just beautiful. If you would care to stay, I’d like to make you all dinner. We are going to have a party to celebrate!”

  The men all nodded acceptance, grins on their faces.

  Poppy and Zola came down the hill with the new baby held snug in Zola’s arms.

  “Girls! Isn’t it beautiful?”

  Wide smiles were on both women’s faces as Teal took the child from his mother.

  “Hello, my favorite little man,” Teal cooed at him.

  “Ms. Teal,” Zola said, “I’ve decided on a name for him.”

  Teal’s eyes flew to Zola’s. Grinning, she asked, “What is it Zola?”

  Her eyes swept to Delon’s and then Cam’s. “Well, I’ll call him Camden, Delon.”

  Both men were stunned. A moment later, they were slapping each other on the back, and kissing Zola’s cheek.

  “What about a last name Zola?” Teal asked, smiling at the baby, who sucked her finger.

  Shyly, Zola looked at Delon. “What is your last name Delon?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper.

  Delon swallowed hard, “Millford. My name is Delon Millford.”

  “Well, I’d like to call him Camden, Delon, Millford.”

  Delon just stared at her, his heart in his eyes.

  Cam nudged him. “Take the girl for a walk, and stop drooling.”

  Snapping out of his daze, he said, “Would you like to walk with me, Miss Zola?”

  Her smile nearly blinded all, as she nodded, and took his arm.

  The couple disappeared into the trees, walking along the pathways. Teal stared after them, wearing a melancholy smile. The baby began to fuss, so she put him over her shoulder, patting his back, and rubbing circles around over it. Camden Jr. settled right down.

  “I can see that you were an exceptional mother. You know the best places to pacify a man.”

  “I suppose that you could be classed under children then, since it works on you too.” She grinned.

  Poppy went into the house to begin dinner.

  “Here,” Teal said, handing the baby to him. “I have to help Poppy. You get to babysit your namesake. She watched as he placed the boy on his shoulder like a pro.

  “I think the same thing goes for you being an exceptional father, Cam. You know all the right places.” Grinning she turned to walk away.

  His hand swatted her butt, bringing a squawk from her. “I’ll show you all the right places later, love.”

  Throwing a teasing grin over her shoulder, she waltzed off to the kitchen to help Poppy.

  ***

  Teal worked in her bedroom, standing at the easel. Her painting was of large, rose-coloured hibiscus flowers. The colours were eye-catching, vibrant tones of pink, sitting on a bed of equally vivid greens. Peeking out from one of the flowers, was the small green head of her bathtub monster. His tail curled around the stem of a
flower.

  Grinning, Teal finished adding aqua-green to his cheek, and sat back. “Finished. I hope he likes it.” Chuckling, Teal began cleaning up her paints and brushes.

  Humming a tune, she scrubbed the paint off her hands. She paused for a moment, wondering when she had last felt so content and happy. Nothing could make her day better, she thought.

  “I see that you still can’t keep the paint on the canvas, rather than on your hands!”

  Teal froze, and then screamed, spinning around. She launched herself at the man behind her, hugging him tight to her chest.

  “Brock! What are you doing here? How did you get here? Why didn’t you call? We could have picked you up. What on Earth is going on?”

  With her held tight in his arms, he tilted his head. “Well, let’s see now. I am here to visit you. Ah…Oh, yeah, I took a plane, just like anyone else and…I wanted it to be a surprise. As to the rest, I’ll let your Scottish boyfriend fill you in.”

  Grinning, Teal stepped back. “It’s so good to see you. Where is that man anyway? Keeping secrets from me! What nerve!”

  “I would imagine he is outside. Let’s go find him. Ah…before we go out, why do you have a lizard in your painting?”