by Meryl Sawyer
The group bought margaritas from a stand and strolled around the dock looking at the various acts. Vendors sold everything from cotton candy to hats woven from sea grass and topped with small, wind-driven fans to keep the wearer cool. Jennifer thought the people watching was even more interesting than the performers. Where did some of the tourists get their clothes?
“Everybody’s out to make a buck,” Tyler commented as he pointed to a golden retriever, who had just completed an amazing high wire act. The dog had a bucket in his mouth. People threw dollar bills on the ground, and the dog picked them up and dropped them into the tip bucket.
“Sadie, you’re not earning your keep,” Jennifer joked.
“Everyone collects tips after their act,” Lisa told Jennifer. “It’s the only way most of these people make a living.”
Jennifer noticed that Lisa had attached herself to Tyler and seemed very cool to her brother and Raven. Jennifer caught Raven’s eye and the brunette looked at Lisa and rolled her eyes heavenward. Obviously, Lisa was still giving her brother trouble about Raven.
Kyle hadn’t said anything. Jennifer could feel him watching her and wondered what he was thinking. She wanted to question him about what Chad had told her, but this wasn’t the place to have a private conversation.
“There’s Chad!” Lisa cried.
Jennifer looked through the crowd and saw Chad approaching slowly, his progress impeded by the closely packed people watching shows and awaiting sunset.
“What happened to his nose?” Tyler said.
“Don’t go there,” cautioned Raven with a quick glance at Kyle.
Jennifer noticed Chad’s nose appeared a little red and might have been slightly off-kilter, but his appealing smile was right on target. The others returned his wide grin, but she knew the artifice behind the smile too well to respond.
“I hear it’s party time,” Chad announced almost too brightly.
“Clive is having a barbecue for everyone who helped fix the roof on the Angela Street house Trevor is restoring,” Chuck said.
“That lets me out,” Jennifer said. “I didn’t lift a finger.”
“Me either,” Chad said, “but I helped restore one of the old homes in Coral Gables. I’ll bet I could give them some good advice.”
“Really?” Lisa said as if she’d just heard God Himself speak.
“Sure, honey. I had a great time doing it. There’s nothing like preserving history to make you feel good.”
Chad said all of this in his easygoing, sincere tone. If Jennifer didn’t know better, she would have believed him, but Chad had told her that he despised construction work of any kind. Or maybe that was a lie.
She didn’t know, and she was proud of herself for no longer caring. Raven caught her eye, then winked. So, Raven doubted Chad’s story, too.
“Come with us anyway,” Kyle said. “Trevor and Clive won’t care.”
Raven tugged on Chuck’s hand. “We’re missing the sunset.”
Kyle bent over, picked up Sadie as if she were a toy poodle, and tucked her under one arm. “Don’t you think she’s walked enough for one day?”
“Probably,” Jennifer conceded, “but I didn’t want to leave her at home. She hates being alone. Sadie’s used to being with me.”
Kyle’s eyes met hers and, surprisingly, the look wasn’t censuring. “Better let me carry her over to Clive’s.”
She nodded, desperately trying to throttle the dizzying current racing through her. Despite everything that had happened now and in the past, she constantly had to battle her attraction to this man.
Kyle angled his shoulders sideways and plowed his way through the crowd to the edge of the dock where people were crowded against the rail to watch the setting sun. Jennifer followed, and he scooted aside, making a very small space for her.
Her rib cage pressed against the rail, Jennifer felt Kyle’s free arm go around her. The evening air was warm, his body warmer yet against her back. She shivered slightly and something caught in her chest.
The three of them together. It seemed so … right. She glanced up at him and the heart rendering tenderness of his gaze startled her.
Flustered, she trained her eyes on the horizon where nothing more than the top rim of the sun was still visible. Through the jewel-clear air, crystal-like shards of light sprayed across the sea, turning the turquoise water to molten gold. High in the sky, brushstroke clouds caught the last embers of the day and were transformed from stark white to russet and crimson and copper.
Dong! Dong! The bell rang, signaling another sunset in paradise. A raucous cheer from the crowd shot up to the heavens, and people began to clap and whistle. Jennifer and Kyle kept watching, not joining in the cheering.
“What are you thinking?” Kyle whispered in her ear.
She gazed into his green eyes and saw pinpricks of gold reflecting the setting sun. “I’m thinking of my mother and your father. They’ll never have a chance to see a magnificent sunset like this again. I think you appreciate nature’s beauty even more when you realize someone you love will never have the opportunity.”
She quickly turned away before the tears came. He kissed the back of her head and hugged her. “You’re right. Never forget to take the time to smell the flowers.”
The sun had disappeared, and the crowd turned its attention to the amateur acts on the dock. Kyle and Jennifer watched the brilliant light slowly fade until nothing more than a lavender twilight hovered over the channel.
“Jen, what happened with Chad?” he asked quietly.
Chad and the rest of their group had also moved away from the rail and were heading toward a man in a turban who was sitting cross-legged, playing a flutelike instrument to coax a python out of a basket. As embarrassing as it was to admit she’d been a complete fool, she had no choice.
“Chad didn’t want to marry me, not really. He accused me of having an affair with you, but that was just an excuse to get rid of me.”
“He’s a damn fool.”
“No, Kyle, I’m the fool. Chad seemed to be so much fun, so easy to be with that I saw what I wanted to see. I didn’t see the real man.”
His gaze bore into her in silent expectation. “Why, Jen? You’re so bright. Why didn’t you see the real man?”
Because of you! Because of the past! She knew the answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to discuss it with Kyle. She’d built a dam, a barrier in her head, and if it broke, she didn’t honestly know if she could handle it.
“I thought we’d be good together,” she began, certain she sounded like an idiot. “We were both so interested in our careers.”
“What about having a family?”
She hesitated, then told half the truth. “No. Chad was adopted. It was a bad experience. He didn’t want children.”
Kyle seemed set to press the point, then changed his mind. “Okay, Chad can be pretty convincing.”
“Jennifer, Kyle,” Raven interrupted them. “We’ve had all the fun we can have. We’re going over to Clive’s. Are you coming?”
“In a minute,” Kyle answered for her. He waited until Raven had walked away, before saying, “Do you want to go over there?”
“Not really. I’d better take Sadie home. Poor thing’s exhausted.”
The leg with a cast outstretched and resting on the rail, Sadie was asleep, cradled against his hip and supported by his arm. Jennifer couldn’t have held her like that for two minutes, yet Kyle had picked up Sadie at least ten minutes ago.
Kyle slowly turned so Sadie’s injured leg didn’t suddenly fall off the rail, saying, “Let’s catch a rickie to your car.”
“I didn’t take the car. I saw Brody as I was leaving, and he gave me a ride.”
“On his Harley?”
“Sure. I put Sadie between us.” She gave the dog a quick stroke. “You loved it, didn’t you?”
Sleepy-eyed, the dog gazed at her. Kyle’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t comment. In silence, they made their way through the crowd still pack
ed around the performers. The acts would continue until there was no one around to tip them.
“Shouldn’t you let Clive know you aren’t coming?” she asked Kyle.
“I’ll call him from the house.”
Across from Mallory Dock was Mel Fisher’s Maritime Museum where Key West’s rickshaws lined up to get rides. The “rickies” were two-wheeled carts pulled by buff locals who sat up front and pedaled the modified bicycle. They made their living driving tourists around the island, darting between automobiles that were often gridlocked for over an hour just to go a few blocks.
Kyle held up his arm and whistled. A rickie shot out of the line and over to them. The driver wore black bicycle shorts and a tank top cropped short to reveal a muscular torso and a tattoo of a dragon.
He skidded to a stop in front of them, saying, “It’ll be extra for the dog.”
“Okay.”
Kyle stepped back, motioning for Jennifer to get in. Then he set Sadie at her feet, and the dog put her head on Jennifer’s toes. Kyle climbed in, rocking the vehicle to one side. He settled into the seat, taking up all of the empty space.
“Thunder Island,” he said, and the rickie lurched off over the uneven cobblestones. Kyle put his arm around the back of the seat, touching her shoulders without actually putting his arm around her.
The driver worked hard, standing up to pump the pedals as he turned up Green Street. They passed Duval Street, the main drag, and the tourist mecca of bars and T-shirt shops. Even though the sunset celebration was just breaking up, the open-air bars were full and different types of music blared out at them. Not that any of the commotion woke up Sadie.
The hotshot driver sped up the street, dodging between cars and skillfully avoiding pedestrians. They passed a huge poster reading:
RED NECK FESTIVAL
“Redneck Festival,” she commented, trying to make conversation. “That’s a new one.”
“I guess Hemingway Days and the October Fest isn’t enough to keep the tourist board happy. They’re advertising this big time on the Internet and inviting rednecks from around the country to come for the hub cap toss, the tobacco spitting contest—”
“You’re making this up.”
Kyle held up both hands. “No. Honest. There’s also a chance to dive for pigs’ feet the way you would bob for apples. There’s more, too, but I can’t remember everything I read.”
“Just what Key West needs,” she said with a laugh.
“If Thelma Mae served dinner, we’ve missed it,” he told her. “What about grabbing conch fritters from Frit Ta Ta?”
“Sure, sounds good.”
Frit Ta Ta was a rolling cart that no one had ever seen move from the corner near Planet Hollywood. Papa Joe-Joe, one of Key West’s Hemingway look alikes, ran the popular stand. Kyle told the driver where they wanted to go.
“I’ll have to double back,” the driver responded. “That’ll be extra.”
Jennifer and Kyle shared a laugh. With rickie drivers even a handbag was extra. They worked hard and made a good living. No one seemed to mind their “extras.”
They pulled up at Frit Ta Ta and Kyle jumped out. “I’m getting one for Sadie, too.”
“She eats kibble. People food is bad for her.”
Of course Kyle paid no attention. He got into the line at the stand with a cute grin. She couldn’t help smiling, especially when Sadie sat up and looked around for Kyle. No question about it; her dog adored Kyle.
Minutes later, Kyle returned with three baskets of conch fritters and two sodas. Sadie completely forgot how tired she was and sat up while Kyle shared fritters with her. Bouncing along, eating the fritters, and looking at the historic homes in Old Town, they made small talk about the house Trevor was restoring.
She put off asking him questions about Chad or about Kyle’s past in the hopes that he would turn the conversation in a more personal direction, but he didn’t. They pulled up at Thunder Island and Kyle paid the driver, then carried Sadie up the path toward the dark house.
“Looks like no one’s here,” he said, putting Sadie down on the verandah that wrapped around the building.
“I guess everyone’s over at Clive’s,” she said lightly to hide the uneasiness she felt at being all alone with him. Thelma Mae rarely left the house in the evening. Jennifer had been counting on finding her at home. “I’ll go fill Sadie’s bowl with kibble and bring it. She’s starved, aren’t you, girl?”
Sadie looked hungry all right, hungry for Kyle’s attention. He sat down on the swing and Sadie hobbled up to him, silently begging to be petted. Jennifer left them on the side porch and went for the dog food.
When she returned with a bowl of kibble and Sadie’s water bowl, she found Sadie up on the swing with Kyle, her head in his lap.
“Din-din, Sadie.”
Kyle lifted her down, and the dog took her sweet time—when normally she would have bounded over—getting to her meal. Jennifer stood nearby, leaning against the railing and watching Sadie eat. She was waiting for the right moment to ask Kyle about … about what? Well, she could start with Chad, then see if Kyle would open up enough to tell her about Libya.
“Come here.” Kyle patted the space on the swing next to him.
A familiar shiver of awareness rippled through her along with the note of caution sounding in her brain. She walked over to the swing, skirting Sadie and thinking of the first litter of motherless puppies that her stepfather had put her in charge of. The nonstop work had brought her out of her deep funk.
Looking back, she knew she’d been on the verge of a severe depression like the one that drove her mother to commit suicide. She wanted no part of the black abyss. By taking up with Kyle she was only courting disaster.
She sat on the swing, steeling herself to his virile attraction, and asked, “How did you meet Chad?”
Chapter 25
“How do I know Chad?” Kyle repeated, Jennifer’s question taking him by surprise. She nodded quickly, a determined set to her sensual mouth. The last thing in hell he wanted to talk about was that cocky prick, Chad Roberts. What was it with women and Chad?
“I’m waiting,” she responded, her voice tight.
“Look. It’s a small world out there. DEA, ATF, and the military antiterrorist units all operate in the same parts of the world.” He put his arm across the back of the swing, wanting to hold her, but knowing now wasn’t the time. Something was on her mind.
“I thought the military couldn’t be involved in drug activities without congressional approval or something.”
“Right, but the military is always involved in antiterrorist operations, and often the two overlap.”
“Like Cuidad del Este where Brody’s going.”
She knew more than was good for her, Kyle decided as he nodded. “Cuidad del Este, Bogota, Rio, San Salvador—they’re all the same. Drug kingpins and terrorists from as far away as Afghanistan live in each other’s pockets. They coexist because they all operate on the dark side of the law.”
“I see.” Jennifer rocked back slightly and the swing moved, a gentle, lulling motion. “So you and Chad were in the same circles.”
“Not exactly. I ran into him in Panama where the DEA has an ongoing operation.”
She looked at him expectantly, and he wondered what she wanted from him. After a moment, she said, “And?”
“And that’s how we knew each other.” He didn’t want to sound petty by saying he thought Chad was a cocky hotshot who would tell anyone who would listen how great he was.
She arched one delicate brow, then looked down at Sadie. The dog had finished her dinner and was sprawled out at their feet.
“Was there a woman?” she asked.
“A woman? What are you talking about?”
“Did you and Chad go out with the same woman?” she asked, her voice seeming a bit forced.
“We were on special assignments. It wasn’t exactly party time.” Then the light dawned. “Is that what Chad said?”
Sh
e nodded with an apologetic expression. “Sorry. I should have known better. Chad told me something about you being with a woman, then he came along and she left you for him.”
“What else did he say?”
“Well, let’s see,” she hedged.
“Wait a minute.” He slammed the heel of his palm against his forehead, recalling an incident in Panama City. “One night I was in a bar, hanging around, waiting for an informant to show, and this waitress kept flirting with me. She was sitting on my lap when Chad came through the door with a group of guys from the DEA. I told the woman to take a hike, and she went after Chad next. Turning that incident into stealing my girl takes balls.”
“I’m sorry. I should know better than to believe a word Chad Roberts says.” She paused a moment, and at the base of her slender throat a pulse beat swelled, tempting him to lean over and kiss her there. “It’s just that you haven’t really told me very much about yourself.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “What would you like to know? Ask away.”
The tender, yet excited gleam in her eyes touched him in a way that nothing had in years. “I want you to tell me what happened in your life that’s important to you.”
Aw, hell. That’s a woman for you. Couldn’t she just say what was on her mind? He didn’t want to rake through the muck that was his life, asking himself what had been important and what hadn’t.
He tried to joke. “Hey, we don’t have all night, and that’s how long it would take to tell you about SEAL training, then the special antiterrorist courses.”
“Can’t you be serious?”
“Can’t you? Tell me what you want to know.”
She glared at him with burning, reproachful eyes, then asked, “What happened to you after Mother and I left?”
“I told you. Dad’s unit was called up. He left for Greneda, and I stayed with friends. You remember Bud Felder, don’t you?”
“Of course. He was your best friend.”
“I was staying with him when Dad was killed.” He rushed the story, the memory of his father’s death triggering a raw ache deep in his chest. “After the funeral, I was sent to live with my dad’s only relative, a distant cousin. The woman had never been married. She hadn’t a clue about what to do with a rebellious sixteen year old. Within a month, she gave up, and I was sent to a foster home.”