Love in the China Sea

by Fran Baker

  “Pardon me, but aren’t you Anne Hunter from the United News Agency?” A red-haired woman removed her sunglasses as she stepped out of the line that had formed at the activities desk.

  “Susan Fisher?” Anne recognized her as a secretary from the American Embassy in Hong Kong.

  “Right.” The freckle-faced woman smiled, evidently delighted at discovering a familiar face. “I’m being transferred back to the States, so this cruise is my vacation.” Susan waved the activities schedule she held. “Tell me what you’ve signed up for, and I'll add my name to the same lists.”

  Although they had shared only a nodding acquaintance while in Hong Kong, Anne and Susan hit it off immediately. They lunched at an umbrella-shaded table beside the pool. Susan carried most of the conversational ball, and her daffy chatter about the problems of finding a husband while in the foreign service kept Anne in stitches.

  “I’ve heard that a cruise was a good place to meet single men, but the pickings on this tub are mighty slim.” Susan’s tight red curls bounced as she talked. “By the way, whatever happened to that gorgeous guy who escorted you to some of the diplomatic receptions?” She cocked a curious eyebrow. “If I’d known you were leaving him behind I might have refused my transfer and tried my luck with him.”

  A wistful smile accompanied Anne’s light attempt to field Susan’s question; then she changed the subject to the ports of call along their sailing route.

  “Singapore is our first stop,” Susan read from a brochure furnished by the cruise line. “We’ll only be there for a day, but let’s have some fun. We’ll do the tourist number, you know, a guided bus tour and outrageously useless souvenirs. The whole bit.”

  They finished lunch and agreed to meet by the pool in half an hour. Anne returned to her cabin and changed into a dramatic maillot with a plunging neckline and high-cut legs. She’d bought the suit to wear when she and Kai—no!

  Anne caught herself before she could wallow in her misery-laden memories. First thing tomorrow she would buy a new suit and then, perhaps, she could get to work on the business of developing a case of selective amnesia. When she packed her bottle of sunscreen into her totebag, Kai’s remark about her porcelain skin came back to haunt her. She stiffened her spine as she closed the door, deliberately shutting such thoughts behind her.

  Anne stretched out next to a dozing Susan in the hot afternoon sun, half asleep and barely aware of the loud voices of adults and children frolicking in the pool. Vulnerable to another surprise attack of regret, her thoughts drifted back to Kai.

  “Look within yourself, Anne.” His black eyes had probed her face. “Tear down that facade and discover what’s really important to you.”

  Kai’s words echoed in Anne’s heart. He was right— she had never allowed herself to see what really mattered. At that moment Anne knew without a doubt that Kai was all that mattered to her, and now he was gone. She would never know another man like him as long as she lived. He had been her best friend as well as her lover and she had thrown it all away because of childish fear and stubbornness. Anne raised her head from the velour towel and stared out at the empty ocean. A half-smile curved her full lips.

  “Susan, I’m sorry, but there’s something that I have to do,” she said as she stood and gathered up her towel and bag.

  Back in her cabin, Anne hurriedly changed into white shorts and a wine-colored T-shirt. She impatiently ran a comb through her still-damp hair and tied it loosely at the nape of her neck. Now that her decision was made she could scarcely contain her excitement. A moment later she dashed down the corridor toward the ship’s radio office.

  Anne’s hands trembled with nervous anticipation as she dug in her purse for identification. She found what she needed and presented it to the girl at the front desk.

  “I’m Anne Hunter, in Cabin 204B. I’d like to place a ship-to-shore call to Hong Kong.”

  The girl took down the telephone number that Anne recited. “Who is the party with whom you wish to speak?”

  “Kai . . . I mean Edward Payton.” Anne bubbled with joy and excitement as she took a seat in the reception room and thumbed blindly through a magazine while the girl went into the inner office to arrange for the call. Anne’s mind buzzed with what she would say to Kai. Of course she wouldn’t have much privacy, but she would make him understand that now she realized how important he was to her. She could leave the ship in Singapore and take a flight back to Hong Kong.

  After what seemed like an interminable wait the girl came out of the office and called Anne over to the desk.

  “We were unable to contact Mr. Payton,” she explained. “His secretary told us that he’s away from the city for an indefinite period of time. She’s still on the line, would you like to leave a message?”

  Numb with grief, Anne shook her head. “No. There’s no message.” She stumbled toward the door, then turned and looked at the receptionist. “Thank you for your help.”

  She left the office, guided more by instinct than vision. It was too late—he was gone and he would never know how she felt. Walking along the deck, Anne found a quiet corner and sank into a lounge chair. She would continue to function—a walking statue with a frozen heart. Anne’s face was shadowed with poignant sorrow as she laid her head back and closed her eyes, utterly defeated.

  Her head and heart ached as she remembered the melt-down pleasure she had found in Kai’s embrace. He had accepted her decision gracefully, and he wasn’t the sort of person who looked back in anger or with regret. Anne knew that Kai cared for her deeply, but she also knew that he would make no further attempt to dissuade her from what she felt was right for her. It was time she faced this new, empty reality that she had chosen.

  * * * *

  Anne squinted into the bright sunlight as she strolled along the deck, waiting for Susan. The days had dragged by in a monotonous routine, and now the ship was docked in Singapore. Susan Fisher had convinced her to come along on a sight-seeing and shopping tour of the picturesque old city. Anne was making every effort to keep from sinking any deeper into a morass of despair, and trying to fill her waking moments with activity so that she would not have to think about Kai. Nights were the hardest time for her. She would toss in her lonely bed, remembering the priceless hours spent with her handsome, black-eyed lover.

  Later that afternoon, after a whirlwind trip through Singapore, Anne and Susan returned, exhausted but pleased, with their various purchases. They arranged to meet for a drink in the lounge before dinner. Anne treated herself to a luxurious soak in a steaming tub before going to her closet to select an outfit for the evening. The red crocheted dress she had worn the first night she met Kai caught her eye, and she decided to wear it with the black pearls that were hidden in the bottom of a suitcase. When she saw the envelope with Kai’s exquisite poem inside she dropped it into her purse on impulse.

  Over drinks Susan explained that she had finally caught the attention of a young ship’s officer she had been eyeing with interest. Consequently, she apologized, she would probably be spending as much time as possible with him, and she hoped Anne would understand. An hour or so passed pleasantly, then Anne and Susan adjourned for their final dinner together. When Anne finally saw a chance to escape the crowd she made her way to the secluded spot near the bow of the ship where she usually whiled away part of every evening.

  Moonlight beamed a silvery path across the waves as Anne studied the watery horizon crowned by a starry sky. The warm tropical breeze lifted her cascading blond hair away from her face and molded the ruby dress to her soft curves. Unable to continue fighting off thoughts of Kai, she reached into her purse for the poem. She read again the tender lines that spoke of his feelings, then shivered involuntarily as the scent of sandalwood wafted around her. Almost frightened at the scope of her imagination, she could not resist looking over her shoulder. A tall, lean figure moved out of the shadows toward her and a deeply resonant baritone repeated the last words of the poem that she held in her shaking hand. “Off
ering a promise of love.”

  “Kai! It’s really you,” she cried as he swept her into a crushing embrace. He held her tightly as his mouth devoured her hungry lips.

  “I tried to call you,” she whispered intently. “I wanted to come back to you, but you were already gone.”

  “Yes,” he replied softly. “I was at West Wind for a couple of days; then I flew to Singapore to meet your ship.” His eyes blazed with desire. “Anne, I will not let you go—you’re too important to me.”

  Anne’s platinum hair glistened in the moonlight as she nodded her head. “Kai, I know now that I love you. I will always love you, and I’m not afraid any longer.”

  They kissed again, and Anne reveled in their newfound closeness. This was what she had always dreamed of, and the dream had become a reality that would belong to them forever.

  At a dimly lit table in the lounge Kai and Anne toasted their love with chilled champagne, oblivious to the noisy crowd around them. When the band slowed its tempo Kai led her onto the polished mahogany floor. It was the first time she had ever danced with him, and their bodies moved as harmoniously to the seductive music as they did during their lovemaking. After the band ended its number Kai tucked Anne’s hand securely into the crook of his elbow and they walked back to their table.

  “Would you rather go out on deck?” he asked. The clamor around them had increased as the gleeful passengers in the cocktail lounge celebrated their last hours in port.

  “Yes, I would,” she acknowledged. “There are so many things to say. I just want to be alone with you.”

  “I feel the same way,” he confirmed with a knowing smile. “Sharing time with you is my fulfillment.”

  The pair strolled in the balmy, salt-scented air, speaking of things that were important and other things that weren’t important at all. The time flew by on wings of silver sharing as they walked and talked. Anne was astounded when Kai glanced at his watch and told her it was well after one o’clock in the morning. Gazing into her luminous gray eyes, he suggested they call it a night.

  When they reached Anne’s cabin, she peeked in the mirror as he was locking the door. “Kai,” she spun around to face him. “I completely forgot to thank you for these beautiful pearls.”

  “You’re most welcome, Anne.” Quite casually, then, Kai reached into the inside pocket of his navy linen jacket. “Here is something else that I want you to have.”

  Anne’s eyes darkened with emotion as she gazed steadily at him. She took the small velvet box and opened it. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the magnificent ring—a single large diamond surrounded by dark blue sapphires and mounted in white gold. She removed the ring from the box and studied it. “I have nothing to give you in return,” she murmured.

  “Your love is the greatest gift I have ever received.” Kai hushed her with a kiss, then took the ring from her hand. “I want to put this on your finger, Anne. When you accept it from me you give yourself to me forever.

  Anne stretched out her slender left hand. Kai bent his head and his lips brushed her soft skin before he slipped the ring on her finger. The simple ceremony completed, Kai took her in his arms and held her against his muscular body while their two hearts beat as one.

  “I love you, Anne . . . my quicksilver Lotus woman,” he whispered in a husky voice, his warm breath stirring her honeyed hair.

  Anne’s heart swelled with happiness as she leaned into the warm security of Kai’s promise. Over his shoulder the bright tropical moon was framed in the porthole like a picture in a locket, its radiant glow blessed their eternal bond of love.

  Copyright © 1982 by Judith Baker (Fran Baker)

  Originally published by Silhouette Desire

  Electronically published in 2005 by Belgrave House

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the publisher. For more information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117-4228

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  This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.