by Mimi Milan
Completely out of his control.
“Mr. Marshall? Did you hear what I just said?”
“Uh, I’m sure he did, Your Honor.” Mr. Phelps spoke on his behalf. “We thank you for both the extension and the voluntary departure status.”
“Very well. The defendant is free to go with the understanding that she will leave the country before the allotted time. Failure to do so will result in an order of immediate removal.”
The judge banged her gavel, effectively closing their case and moving on to the next. His attorney helped him stand and led him out of the courtroom. Once in the lobby, he shook Rhett’s hand. “Well, it wasn’t too bad. Not exactly what I expected, but not bad either.”
“How is it not bad?” Rhett asked, a range of emotions from dejected to infuriated swirling inside. “She still has to leave the country!”
“Yes,” the attorney agreed. “She still has to leave the country. However, she gets to do so voluntarily – meaning she isn’t barred from entering the United States ever again. Also, it won’t be until after you have your surgery. That gives us a whole other month to file a spousal petition – maybe more if we file an appeal and are granted a reprieve. Then, provided she doesn’t have any kind of criminal record in the Dominican Republic, she’ll be back here in about six to eight months.”
Rhett let out a tired sigh. What could he say? He had survived much worse for far longer during his time in the army. What was a few months if it would ensure that Luciana could return, a permanent resident of the United States?
“Okay,” he said. “Except I don’t want to wait until after my surgery. I want us to swing by your office as soon as she’s released and start the process today.”
Epilogue
Charlotte Douglass Airport
Three Months Later
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Luciana asked. “The plane hasn’t taken off yet. There’s still time to change your mind.”
Rhett reached out for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He gently traced the back of it with his thumb. “Have I told you how much I love looking at you?”
She half-laughed, half-groaned. “Ay, amor. I’m serious.”
“So am I,” he insisted. “I’m so glad I went through with the surgery – even if it didn’t bring back all my vision. One good eye is fine with me so long as I get to look at you every day. Does that answer your question?”
She leaned in close, drawn to the beautiful eyes that had captured her since the first time she met him – the one that could now see perfectly and the other that could do little more than detect light from dark. It had been something of a terrifying surgery – more so when they learned that Rhett’s ex-girlfriend, Amy, was the surgeon’s nurse. However, she had displayed no malice towards the newlyweds. In fact, she thanked Luciana for her role in convincing Rhett to go through with the surgery. Then she wished the couple all the luck and happiness she had recently found with her own fiancé.
Luciana placed a soft kiss over the brow of Rhett’s troubled eye. “Yes, that answers my question. I’m just amazed that you would be willing to leave your home to come with me.”
“No, what is amazing is how you’ve stood beside me every step of the way – from before regaining my sight was even a thought to my recovery afterwards. I knew you were a keeper right from the moment I painted you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Okay. Maybe not that exact moment, but pretty close.”
“When?” She challenged him. “When did you know?”
“Right after you said ‘I do.’”
“Oh, you knew right then, did you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And just how did you know?”
“It was all in your kiss, darling.” He puckered up his lips and made a smacking sound.
She laughed and swatted him away. “Boy, get out of here. I told you I was just playing the part.”
He grew serious. The look in his eyes was dangerously inviting. “And later that night? Were you still playing the part?”
A delicious shiver ran down her spine. She would never forget the moment she had truly become his wife. All their days since then had been great – especially since their appeal had allowed them more time to set up house and really get to know one another. Still, nothing compared to that night. Everything paled considering that was when…
Should she tell him?
She quickly looked away and studied the passengers loading the plane. Not too much longer and they would take off. Then it would be several months before they could return. Just in time for…
“What all do you want to do when we get to my island?”
He squinted at her, a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you changed the subject. But to answer your question, I’m hoping to do some exploring – find all kinds of new ideas to color my canvas. Maybe paint Punta Cana.”
“That would be nice,” she said. “Although I personally think you should stick with portraits.”
“Of course,” he agreed. “I’ll start with a portrait of your family.”
“That would be good. Just make sure you get me looking like this.” She cradled her arms in front of her.
“Well, that’s strange. Why would I paint you like that?”
She took his hand and gently placed it on her belly. “So that later you could add in the baby.”
“So later I can…”
Rhett silently mouthed the rest of the words. His eyes grew wide.
“Are you—”
Luciana nodded.
Rhett jumped up and whooped, startling the rest of the passengers on the plane. “Well, doggies. I’m gonna’ be a daddy!”
The passengers erupted in cheers and applause; those sitting close by offering congratulations. He shook hands with several of them before finally sitting again. He turned to her, suddenly serious. “Wait a minute. This is going to change all kinds of things. Are you sure you don’t mind? What about your dreams of managing a museum?”
“Hey, this isn’t the olden days, you know. Lots of women manage to have quite successful careers while raising children. Besides, I’ve been thinking that maybe a museum isn’t the way to go after all.”
“It’s not?” He stared at her, his mouth wide with shock.
“No,” she said. “I was thinking that with all the wonderful art you produce, you’re going to be in need of a manager. Maybe someone to help you manage your own gallery?”
A wide smile spread across his face. He leaned in close, tenderly touching her belly and whispered. “Well, make it a family affair. You, me, and our little angel.”
“Sounds heavenly,” she murmured. Then his lips found hers.
A Letter to the Readers
There are never words enough to thank you all for reading my stories. Writing them is a true labor of love, and the support I receive from readers is what drives me onward. You all have my never ending gratitude.
I always welcome feedback – regardless of what it may be. Should you ever find yourself unsatisfied with the writing in one of my stories, please contact me and let me know why. Likewise, I enjoy hearing from readers who loved my stories too. If that is the case, then please leave a review! Otherwise, I may be reached via the following links:
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Now, please turn the page to check my next release When Angels Sing.
Chapter One
“Are you ready to rock and roll?”
Energy pulsed through the crowd as they screamed, wild with excitement. It was the exact response he had hoped to get from them. A surge of adrenaline rushed through Eddie Rivera. He flipped back his long, dark mane and fingered the black electric Fender again, strumming a few cords on the old guitar. A hush fell over the listeners. The slow progression of notes began to build – faster
and faster until he was jamming to the single that had successfully crossed over to American charts. He was still down on the list, but at least he was on there. One day, he would really make it as a musician. He would eventually be number one. Until then, Eddie was more than happy to play the Latin rock tune that had made it across the divide. Thanks to Vivo Por Tus Besos and its English version, Your Kiss is Life, venues were getting better. No more seedy bars where the patrons threw beer bottles when they didn’t like you. No more commission deals with owners who didn’t pay because he supposedly hadn’t brought in a large enough crowd. Now the gigs were steady and the money was guaranteed. He had a manager – a jerk of one, yes, but a manager all the same who made sure his career was on route to the life he had always wanted…
A fast one.
“I was living like a dying man until that fateful night.” Eddie began to sing and motioned for the crowd to join in. They did, a throng of voices filling the club. “When you stepped out of the shadows and brought light into my life.”
He continued strumming and singing with the crowd until the last note. They cheered, yelling for more. Eddie smiled and waved at a group of young women close to the stage. One of them – a pretty blonde with the skimpiest black dress he had ever seen – screamed even louder, causing him to chuckle. He loved this kind of life. Everything he wanted was there for the taking – nothing like the life he had lived so long ago.
Once upon a long time past, he had started out the kid of a drug dealing dad and an on-again, off-again mom who spent more time in rehab than she did at home. When the state finally came to take Eddie and his younger brother, Carlos, he knew it would be the last time he ever saw either parent. What he hadn’t known was that it would be the last time he saw Carlos, too. Unable to find a foster home to take them both in, Eddie and Carlos had been separated and sent off into different directions – paths that never crossed again. Of course, he hoped – even prayed a time or two – that his brother had been fortunate enough to find a good home. He, on the other hand, had bounced around from place to place with nothing more than a family photo and the guitar his father had left behind, until he finally placed out of the system at age eighteen. The fact that he had gotten that far without a criminal record made a world of difference when it came to finding a job. He worked part-time at a music shop with an owner who loved guitars so much that he insisted on teaching Eddie.
“Look, kid. You can keep strumming and make a lot of noise, or you can learn how to make music. Which is it gonna be?”
So Eddie learned. Fast. Two years of steady playing and he was noodling little diddies and “nothing” songs – tunes without any real rhyme or reason – to running riffs and blistering solos. They got him into one dive after another, from one coast to another. Now here he was up on stage, signaling to the other members in the band to switch things up. He wanted to pull a lucky lady up onstage to help him sing. The women loved it. He did, too. The ones that got five minutes of limelight always went home with him at the end of the show.
“And now,” he breathed into the mic, “I’d like to ask someone special from the audience to help me sing this next number. Who’s it gonna be?”
A crazy chorus of cheers and tears sounded again. He looked down at the blonde again and pointed at her, mouthing “you.” Her eyes grew wide and she took a step forward when a thick, burly hand clamped down on her shoulder. Eddie glanced over at the protective man who she was obviously with. The man glared at him, but the musician only shrugged and once again scanned the crowd. Surely there was some beauty waiting to be…
Discovered.
There she was – stage right. A coppery cutie with straight strands that turned into soft curls at her shoulders. Her features were regal, but the look in her eyes was dangerous. He walked across the stage until he was standing directly in front of her and pointed down. A look of surprise registered on her face and she looked over to where a friend stood, who nodded encouragingly and pushed her towards the stage. She stepped forward, accepting Eddie’s outstretched hand. He easily pulled her up and gave her a quick once over. Maybe a head shorter than him, she was petite but with curves in all the right places. She was fairer than him, too, and he couldn’t help but think she would burn in his Santa Cruz sun.
But they weren’t in California. They were in the foothills of North Carolina and he was going to enjoy all the delights the south had to offer… starting with this royal redhead.
She stared at him – more specifically, at his lips – with the kind of intensity that he felt whenever he played his music. It was passion and desire; emotions that raked you over and left you raw.
Yeah, she wanted him.
He spoke into the mic again. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Rachel,” she bellowed.
He chuckled. “And are you gonna help me sing the next number?”
She yelled again. “Yes!”
“Woo,” he laughed again and turned to the crowd. “We’ve got ourselves a wildcat here. Put your hands together and give it up for rockin’ Rachel!”
The audience cheered as he handed the mic over. The music started. It was a slower ballad he reserved specifically for this moment, lest the ladies become intimidated by something fast and hard. Rachel closed her eyes while opening her mouth to sing. Silence fell over them all when they heard her awe-inspiring voice. Eerily haunting, striking notes that could only be described as perfect.
If there’s a choir in Heaven, she’s the lead.
Eddie walked over to another mic, pulled it off the stand and went to join Rachel for the chorus. Their harmony sent a chill through him, making the hair at the nape of his neck rise up. It stayed that way until the song ended and she had sung her last evocative note. He stared at her, captivated by the golden gleam in her amber eyes, breathless from the beautiful music they had just made together. She blinked, her eyes breaking contact as she looked out at the audience. Startled back into reality, he turned to the crowd and yelled into the mic.
“Woo! Yes! Give it up for Rachel and her amazing performance.” Eddie turned just in time to see her making her way back across the stage, heading into the sea of people. He wanted to call out to her, but didn’t want to make it seem obvious that he was interested in her either. He didn’t have much to worry about in the way of paparazzi, but they showed up every now and then. The last thing he needed was gossip started that he was a taken man. Show too much interest in any one woman, and the media would have you married off the next day. Then again, he didn’t want her walking out of his life just yet. He turned stage left, looking for help and caught sight of his manager. A single nod sent the man off in search of the singing siren who had graced his stage. Meanwhile, there was still a show to put on. Eddie turned back to his fans and strummed his guitar again.
“You ready for more?”
A resounding cheer was all the encouragement he needed.
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