Tender Triumph

by Judith McNaught

  As if she had taken an oath to tell the whole truth and nothing but, Katie corrected him. "Ac­tually, I was having trouble with a man who was, ah, kissing me in the parking lot, and Ramon hit him. He was a little intoxicated I think."

  Behind his gold wire spectacles, the priest's eyes turned into icicles. "Senorita," he said with con­tempt, "are you trying to tell me that Ramon Ga-verra engaged in a drunken brawl in a public park­ing lot of a cantina over some woman he did not know—namely, you?"

  "Of course not! Ramon hadn't been drinking, and I certainly wouldn't call it a brawl—he only hit Rob once, and that knocked him unconscious."

  "And then what?" the priest demanded impa­tiently.

  Unfortunately, Katie's wayward sense of humor chose that moment to assert itself. "Then we stuffed Rob in his car, and Ramon and I drove away in mine."

  "Charming."

  A genuine smile drifted across Katie's features. "Actually, it wasn't quite as terrible as it sounds."

  "I find that hard to believe."

  Katie's smile faded. Her eyes turned a deep, rebel­lious blue. "Believe whatever you wish, padre."

  "It is what you wish me to believe that astounds me, Senorita," he snapped, rising from behind his desk. Katie stood up, her emotions so tangled by this unexpectedly abrupt conclusion to their inter­view that she scarcely knew whether she felt relieved or worried. "What do you mean by that?" she asked, puzzled.

  "You think about it, and we will meet again on Monday morning at nine.''

  An hour Later, Katie" had changed into slacks and a white knit shirt. She felt angry, bewildered and guilty as she began the hike up the long hill from Gabriella's house to the cottage where Ramon was working.

  On the first plateau, she turned to look out over the hills splashed with wild flowers. She could still pick out the roof of Gabriella's house, and Rafael's house, and of course, the village itself. Ramon's cot­tage was so much higher than the surrounding houses—two more plateaus up, in fact—that Katie decided to sit down and rest. Drawing her legs up against her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and perched her chin on her knees.

  "It is what you wish me to believe that astounds me, Senorita," the old priest had said. He actually made it seem as if she were trying to give him a bad impression, Katie thought angrily, when in actuality she had shopped all day in a shirtwaist and heels so that she would be appropriately and respectfully dressed when she kept her appointment!

  She had merely told him the truth about how she and Ramon had met, and if that outraged his old-fashioned morality it was certainly not her fault. If he didn't want his questions answered, he shouldn't ask so many of them, Katie thought wrathfully.

  The more she thought about it, the more blame­less Katie felt for the hostile tone of her first meeting with Padre Gregorio. In fact, she was feeling quite justifiably indignant about the whole thing until Ramon's words floated through her mind. "How could you forget your appointment with Padre Gregorio only a few hours after I reminded you of it?... Padre Gregorio is the only possible obstacle to our getting married in ten days. Do you want him to decide we are not suited, Katie?"

  Uncertainty promptly cooled Katie's ire. How could she have forgotten that appointment? Her first wedding had required months of preparation and countless appointments with dressmakers, florists, caterers, photographers, printers and a half-dozen other people. Not once had she ever "forgotten" an appointment with any of them.

  Had she subconsciously wanted to forget yester­day's appointment with Padre Gregorio, Katie won­dered a little guiltily. Had she deliberately tried to make a bad impression on Padre Gregorio today? That question made Katie squirm inwardly. No, she hadn't tried to impress him either way—bad or good, she admitted to herself. But she had let him form a distorted and unflattering image of her meet­ing with Ramon at the Canyon Inn, without trying to correct it.

  When he tried to probe into her divorce she had practically told him it was none of his business. With innate honesty, Katie conceded that it was very much his business. On the other hand, she felt she had a right to resent anyone—anyone at all—who tried to force her to discuss David. Still, she could have been less hostile about the subject. She could have simply told Padre Gregorio that her reason for divorcing David was adultery and physical brutality. Then, if he tried to delve further into the subject, she could have explained that the details were im­possible for her to discuss and she would rather for­get about it.

  That's what she should have done. Instead she had been uncooperative, flippant and coldly de­fiant. In fact, she could not remember ever being so brazenly discourteous to anyone in her life. As a result, she had antagonized the only man who could stand in the way of her marrying Ramon in ten days. What a foolish, irrational thing for her to have done.

  Katie picked up an African tulip that had fallen beside her and began idly stripping it of its scarlet petals. Unbidden, Gabriella's words came to mind. "You have not bought one thing just because you want it." At the time, Katie had disregarded that as being untrue. But now that she really thought about it, she realized that she had unconsciously avoided choosing one single item that would put the stamp of her femininity, or her personality, on Ramon's house. Because that would obligate her to marry him and live there. The closer their wedding day came, the more alarmed and hesitant she was becoming. There was no point in denying it, but admitting it didn't help either. When she left St. Louis with Ramon she had been so certain that coming here was the right thing to do. Now, she was certain of nothing. She couldn't understand her fear or her uncertainty; she couldn't even understand some of the things she was doing! For someone who prided herself on her logical thinking, she was suddenly behaving like a complete neurotic. There was absolutely no excuse for her behavior, Katie thought angrily. Or perhaps there was. The last time she had committed herself to a man, to marriage, her world had fallen apart. Few people knew better than she what an agonizing, humiliating experience a bad marriage could be. Perhaps marriage was not worth the risk. Perhaps she should never have considered remarry­ing and—no! Absolutely not!

  She would not let the emotional scars David left her with ruin her life and destroy her chance to have a warm and happy marriage. She would not give David Caldwell that much satisfaction—dead or alive!

  Katie jumped up and brushed off her slacks. On the second plateau, she turned again and looked down on the village. She smiled softly, thinking that it looked like a page from a travel brochure; tiny white toy buildings nestled in green hills, with the church in the center. The church where she would be married in ten days.

  Her stomach instantly clenched into knots at the thought, and Katie could have wept in desperation. She felt as if she were being torn to pieces. Her mind pulled her one way and her heart tugged another. Fear coiled in her chest, desire pulsed through her veins, and her love for Ramon burned like a steady, glowing fire in the center of it all.

  And she did love him. She loved him very much.

  She had never actually admitted that to herself be­fore, and the admission sent a fierce jolt of pleasure and panic through her. Now that she acknowledged her feelings, why couldn't she just accept her love for this beautiful, tender, passionate man, and follow wherever it led her?

  Follow love wherever it led her, Katie thought with bitter despair. She had done that once be­fore, and it had led her into a living nightmare. Biting her lip, Katie turned away and started up the hill again.

  Why was she suddenly thinking of David and her first marriage all the time, she wondered miserably. The only similarity between David and Ramon, other than their height and coloring, was that they were both intelligent. David had been an ambitious, talented attorney; a polished, worldly man. While Ramon....

  While Ramon was an enigma, a puzzle: a well-spoken, widely read, intelligent man with an intense interest in, and staggering grasp of, world affairs. A man who could mingle with effortless ease among her parents' sophisticated friends—a man who chose, neverthele
ss, to be a farmer. A man who chose to be a farmer, yet had no deep feeling, no real pride, in his land. He had never offered to take Katie into the fields, even though she had asked to see them, and when he discussed improving the farm with Rafael, Ramon spoke with resolute determina­tion—but never any real enthusiasm.

  Katie had been so surprised by his attitude that earlier this week she asked him if he had ever wanted to do something besides farm. Ramon had answered with an uninformative "Yes."

  "Then why are you going to do it?" Katie had persisted.

  "Because the farm is here," he had replied unan­swerably. "Because it is ours. Because I have found more peace and joy being here with you than I have ever known."

  Peace from what, Katie wondered desperately. And if he was really happy, he didn't always look it. In fact, there were many times this past week when Katie had glanced at him and glimpsed a grim taut-ness in his face, a ravaged harshness in his eyes. The instant he realized she was watching him, the expres­sion would vanish. He would smile at her—one of his warmly intimate smiles.

  What was he hiding from her? Some deep sad­ness? Or something much worse? A streak of viciousness like David's or—

  Katie shook her head in denial. Ramon was noth­ing like David. Nothing like him. She stopped in her climb to break off a branch of a small flamboyant tree. It was covered with yellow blossoms and she raised the branch to her nose, trying to chase away the tormenting uncertainties that pursued her everywhere.

  As she came to the top of the hill, Katie heard the sounds of hammers and saws coming from the cot­tage. Four painters were working on the outside ap­plying a fresh coat of white paint to the bricks and wood trim, another was painting the shutters black.

  Her spirits lifted when she compared the run­ down hovel it had seemed to be on Sunday, with the way it looked now. In five days, with the help of an army of carpenters, Ramon was transforming it into

  the picturesque little house he must have remem­bered visiting in the days when his grandfather lived here.

  "Flower boxes," Katie said aloud. She tipped her head to the side, trying to visualize the boxes bloom­ing with flowers below the wide windows on either side of the front door. That was exactly what the cottage needed, she decided. That would make it a storybook cottage in a storybook setting on a story­book island. But would her life be a storybook life here?

  She found Ramon stepping off a ladder on the far side of the house where he had also been painting. At the sound of her softly spoken "Hi" he turned in surprise; a slow, devastatingly attractive smile sweeping across his tanned features. He was so ob­viously pleased to see her that Katie felt suddenly, absurdly happy, too.

  "I brought you something," she joked, taking the blossom-covered branch from behind her back and thrusting it toward him like a bouquet.

  "Flowers?" Ramon teased, accepting the branch with grave formality. "For me?"

  Though his tone was light, Katie caught the warmth kindling in his expressive eyes. She nodded, a provocative smile curving her lips. "Tomorrow it will be candy."

  "And the next day?"

  "Oh, jewelry is customary. Something tastefully expensive, but small—nothing ostentatious that might alert you to my true intentions."

  He grinned. "And the next day?"

  "Lock your doors and guard your virtue, because that's collection day," she laughed.

  His. broad chest was bare, gleaming like oiled bronze, and he smelled like soap and sweat, a com­bination that Katie found strangely stimulating as he pulled her into his arms. "For you," he said as his hands moved lazily over her back and his mobile mouth came nearer to hers, "I will be an easy con­quest: my virtue for the flowers alone."

  "Shameless hussy!" Katie teased a little breath­lessly.

  His eyes darkened. "Kiss me, Katie."

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Katie's head jerked up as Padre Gregorio said her name from the altar, followed by Ramon's. He was reading the banns, she realized. Everyone in the crowded church seemed to turn in unison toward the pew near the back where Katie and Ramon were seated between Gabriella and her husband, and Rafael's family.

  The villagers certainly knew who Ramon Galverra Vicente was, Katie thought, which wasn't surpris­ing, since he had been born here. But what was sur­prising was their peculiar attitude toward him. From the moment he had walked into church at her side, they had been watching him with open curiosity. A few of the villagers nodded or smiled at him, but there was curiosity in their expressions, too, mixed with uncertainty and even awe.

  Of course, Ramon's demeanor before the service began had definitely discouraged anyone who might have wanted to make a friendly overture. With an aloof, coolly courteous smile, he had passed one glance over the inquisitive occupants of the church, sat down beside Katie, and completely ignored them.

  Katie shifted uncomfortably in the hard pew, her expression one of rapt attention as she listened to Padre Gregorio's sermon, of which she understood not one word. She was beginning to wonder if the fates were all conspiring to prevent Ramon and her from being alone together for any appreciable length of time. In the last seven days there had been no occasion for the "sharing of each other" that Ramon had predicted there would be.

  On Friday, while Katie was still wrapped in Ramon's arms joyously receiving his drugging kisses of gratitude for his "bouquet," a bank of dark clouds had rolled across the sky, blotting out the sun. What began as a sprinkle soon became a down­pour. They spent a pleasant, if very unsatisfactory, evening playing cards with Gabriella and her hus­band.

  Saturday it cleared, and the men worked all day at the cottage. Now that the electricity was on, Ramon was keeping them working inside when darkness fell, which eliminated the cottage as a trysting place. Early Saturday evening, Gabriella's husband, Eduardo, suggested to Ramon that Katie might en­joy a trip to Phosphorescent Bay.

  Katie had been amazed that Eduardo, of all people, would suggest a romantic outing for them, as well as offer his car for the drive to the south­western coast of the island. She couldn't imagine Eduardo in the role of Cupid, when she knew he heartily disapproved of her. The mystery was solved the moment Ramon consulted Katie and she eagerly agreed to the trip. "Then it is settled," Eduardo said. "Gabriella and I will be pleased to have you accompany us." That effectively prevented Ramon and her from being alone in the house while Eduar­do took Gabriella to the bay. Beneath Ramon's ex­pression of bland surprise, Katie could tell that he was very annoyed with his friend.

  Despite that, the evening was an unexpected suc­cess. At the beginning of the fifty-mile drive over well-maintained island roads, Ramon was silent and thoughtful as he sat beside Katie in the back seat. Realizing that Eduardo was the cause, Katie put on her brightest smile and soon had Ramon grinning at her while he tried to answer her endless questions about the passing landscape.

  Phosphorescent Bay was a magical experience for Katie. The same heavy clouds that had brought the rain and kept most of the tourists away from the Bay, also obliterated the moon. With Gabriella and Eduardo in the front of the rented motorboat and Katie and Ramon in the rear, Katie alternately turned her face up to Ramon's for a lingering stolen kiss, then twisted in her seat to watch the shimmer­ing green lights that swelled in the wake of the boat. At Ramon's suggestion, she leaned over the side and dipped her arm into the water. When she lifted it, a veil of the same shimmering green lights clung to her arm. Even the fish that leaped from the water left a shower of light behind them.

  For his part, Ramon relaxed in the boat, looking like an indulgently amused native who was humor­ing three tourists. If there was anything he enjoyed more than watching Katie enjoy herself, it was thwarting Eduardo's wish to have some romantic privacy with his wife in the back of the boat. Each time Eduardo suggested Ramon and Katie take the front seat, Ramon declined with a good-natured, "We are perfectly comfortable back here, Eduar­do."

  By the end of the evening, it was Eduardo who looked annoyed and Ramon who was grinning wit
h satisfaction.

  Thunder boomed, echoing through the dim church, followed by a triple flash of lightning that il­luminated the splendid stained-glass windows. Katie smiled wryly, accepting what was apparently going to be another day when the weather drove them in­doors, another day and evening when Ramon and she would not even be able to talk alone.

  "We have a perfect day for shopping," Gabriella announced at eight-thirty the next morning as she carried her cup of coffee into Katie's bedroom. "The sun is out," she added gaily, sitting down on the bed. She sipped her coffee, watching Katie who was getting ready for her appointment with Padre Gregorio.

  "Do I look demure enough, do you think?" Katie asked, straightening the gold chain at the waist of her mandarin-collared white dress.

  "You look perfect," Gabriella smiled. "You look the way you always look—beautiful!"

  Katie rolled her eyes, laughingly accepting the compliment as she left the house, and promised to come back for Gabriella as soon as she was finished with Padre Gregorio.

  Fifteen minutes later, Katie was not laughing. She was pinned to her chair, flushing under Padre Greg-orio's piercing scrutiny.

  "I asked," he repeated ominously, "if Ramon knows that you are using your money, your credit cards, to pay for the furnishings for that house?"

  "No," Katie admitted apprehensively. "How did you find out?"

  "We will get to that in a minute," he said in a low, angry voice. "First I want to know if you are aware that Ramon is returning to this village after an absence of many years? That he left it long ago for something better?"

  "Yes—to work for a business that failed."

  Her admission made Padre Gregorio look even angrier. "Then you understood that Ramon has come back here to start over again, with nothing?"

  Katie nodded, feeling as if the ax were about to fall, though she wasn't certain from which direc­tion.