Seduced by Love, Claimed by Passion~Summer Box Set

by Helen Conrad

  She found her friend out in his garden behind the boxlike house, picking a ripe papaya for his breakfast.

  “Karl,” she said without preamble as she flew into his yard. “How would you like to escape with me?”

  Karl whirled and blinked at her in bewilderment. “Escape what?” he asked.

  “This whole thing.” She threw her arms wide to indicate the island and all that dwelled upon it. “Aren’t you sick of it? Aren’t you tired of having Jack tell you what to do? Wouldn’t you like to cruise on back to Pago Pago and get on a big jetliner with me, heading back to Dallas?”

  He frowned, then looked down at the toe of his boot. “Well, you know that is exactly what I think you ought to do. I’ve told you so often enough. But I don’t have any reason to go with you ...”

  “You don’t have any reason? Karl! You told me yourself that you’re bored with the place. I sat at that dinner table and watched Jack tell you that you had to marry Valima. I have watched the resentment in your face as he ordered you around.”

  She came near and took his hands in hers. “Here’s your chance. Come back to Dallas with me. I’ll buy your ticket. And if all goes well, you can help me run Davis Oil.”

  “Run Davis Oil?” He looked positively frightened of the concept. “What do I know about running an oil company?”

  Summer sighed. “You learn, Karl,” she said emotionlessly. “You learn.”

  She studied the face of the man in front of her. Why was it that she had never noticed before how weak it was?

  “I can’t leave, Summer,” he said plaintively. “I. . . I owe Jack ...”

  “Oh, you don’t owe Jack anything,” she cried impatiently. “Is this a job ... or slavery? You can go if you want.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t leave the people, Summer. These people have been good to me. I know times are going to be hard because of Jack’s mismanagement and the way he squanders . . .”

  “Oh Karl, lay it to rest! You know as well as I do that Jack loves this place and is working on improving things all the time.”

  Karl looked uncomfortable and refused to meet her gaze. “And besides,” he went on, not missing a beat, “there’s my painting. How would I have time to paint if I were expected to run an oil company? I’d have to work all day and ...”

  Summer stopped him with a rough hand on his shoulder. “Never mind, Karl,” she said sharply, seeing him for the first time as he really was and not as she wished he might be. “It’s okay.” She grimaced. “But don’t marry Valima,” she said suddenly. “She isn’t your problem.”

  He looked surprised. “Valima? But I want to marry her.”

  Summer shook her head. At least she wasn’t quite that sappy. She wouldn’t marry Jack while another woman carried his child. “At one time,” she said a bit acidly, “I thought you wanted to marry me.”

  He had the grace to flush. “Yes, well, circumstances have changed.”

  Summer nodded. “They certainly have. So now you would rather marry Valima.”

  “I love Valima.” He finally came out on the defensive. “And at least she doesn’t talk back.”

  Summer stared at him for a long moment. “I see. Good-bye, Karl.”

  She turned slowly and left his yard. He never said a word of farewell.

  The yacht was tied to the dock where she had landed that first day, just as she had known it would be. It was still early and there was no one around. The scene was perfectly set for her great getaway.

  She was hoping her teenage experience with boats would hold her in good stead, and as she hopped aboard and began to run over the instruments and dials, she was relieved to see how familiar it all looked. She would do just fine.

  She sat down in the captain’s seat and went over every step in her mind before she started up the engine. When it sputtered into life with no problem, the needle of the gas indicator revealing a full tank, she could hardly believe her luck.

  “Where are you going?”

  Summer froze, then slowly turned to find Lia standing on the dock float. “I thought I’d take a little cruise to Pago Pago,” she said deliberately, holding Lia’s dark, unwavering stare with her own.

  As Lia smiled, Summer frowned. There was something in the girl’s eyes that told her Lia understood more than she was supposed to.

  “May I come along?” she asked casually.

  Now she was in trouble. How could she turn the girl down? And yet, if she took her along, how was Lia going to get back?

  “I might stay overnight,” she hedged. “How would you get back?”

  Lia’s grin became wider. “It’s my weekend off. I can stay with my cousin. She lives on the side of Rainmaker Mountain.”

  Summer pressed her lips together. That might be all right. Lia could stay with her cousin until Jack came to get the boat. Besides, if she refused the ride, Lia would run back and tell Jack what she had seen.

  “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “Hop aboard.”

  As things turned out, she was happy to have Lia with her. Another hand was welcome with the casting off and then later when she ran into rough water in the channel. Besides, the ocean looked very cold and lonely when she got out into it. It helped having some company as she faced it.

  The sky was still tranquil above their heads, but there was an ominous build-up to the cloud bank coming in from the south. Summer watched as it turned darker, widening and broadening at the same time.

  “Storm coming.” Lia pointed out the obvious. “You think well make it to Pago Pago in time?”

  Summer glanced at the girl, slightly annoyed. How did she know? She was a stranger here and had no idea what the weather patterns were like.

  “We’ll give it our all,” she told her.

  They cruised along steadily, each silently watching the surface waves as they slapped the sides of the little yacht. The huge, cool drops began to spatter against the deck even before the dark clouds were upon them.

  Summer turned and gasped as she saw the wall of dark rain coming for them. “Get below,” she called to Lia. “I’m going to put her on automatic pilot and come down too.”

  They both huddled below in the saloon with its shiny, hand polished rosewood interior, while the rain pelted down outside. The air was thick with moisture, but fresh, clean smelling, and Summer threw back her head, closed her eyes, and enjoyed it.

  “You’re running away, aren’t you, Summer?”

  Maybe if she didn’t open her eyes, Lia would think she hadn’t heard, maybe even that she was asleep. She didn’t want to get into it with the girl. Better that she just vanish from their lives.

  It gave her a pang to think that in such an incredibly short time, she had become so fond of the people she had come in contact with. The nurse, the servants, Lia, Jack’s mother—all had treated her well. She hated leaving without saying good-bye, to Mrs. Masters in particular. When she remembered now how repelled she had been when she first met her, shame stung her eyes like tears.

  “Is it because of Valima?”

  Lia had moved closer. Summer sighed. The girl was bent on having this conversation. There was nothing for it but to join in and get it over with.

  She opened her eyes and looked right into Lia’s face, grave with concern.

  “Not exactly. Don’t worry about it, Lia. It was inevitable.”

  The girl was shaking her head. “It’s all my fault,” she fretted. “I let Valima in. She promised she would stay in the kitchen, but when I went in to take Mrs. Masters her breakfast—“

  “Wait a minute.” Summer had come fully alert, her body held tensely. “You let Valima in? This morning?”

  Lia nodded, her eyes wide and serious.

  “Where was Jack?” Summer breathed.

  “Jack?” She blinked. “He went out to the plantation early, before dawn. There was some trouble ...”

  “He was gone before Valima arrived?”

  She shrugged. “Sure.”

  So Valima had been visiting the room
on her own. Funny what a sense of relief that spread through her. Funny, because it really didn’t mean a thing. It didn’t change the fact of the existence of the child.

  But a tiny smile curled her wide mouth. A small triumph, but a welcome one.

  “You see ...” Lia was getting herself comfortable on the cushion. Summer could tell she was getting ready for a major explanation. “Valima has always had this crush on Jack. Even when she was a little girl, she would tell everyone that he was meant to be her husband—because of their families being so close.” Lia grinned. “I think she thought it was like marrying the crown prince or something.”

  Summer nodded. That was exactly the impression she’d received. “And what about Jack?” she asked bravely. “When did he begin responding?”

  Lia looked puzzled. “Responding? I don’t know what you mean.”

  “When . . . when did they become lovers?”

  Lia laughed. “Oh, no, Summer. They were never lovers.”

  Summer stared at the girl. For just a second, hope flashed through her, but then she realized how futile it was. Lia was only a girl. What did she know about it?

  “That baby she’s carrying didn’t come by special delivery,” Summer said softly.

  Lia chuckled. “You think Jack did that? Sorry Miss Davis. That was your friend Karl.”

  It took a moment for the statement to sink in. “How do you know that?” she asked finally, her tone deadly calm.

  There was not a hint of guile in Lia’s bright face and Summer knew she was telling what she believed to be the truth.

  “Everyone knows it,” she said. “There never was any secret. Karl and Valima have been living together off and on for years.”

  “But Jack ...”

  “No.” Lia shook her head. “You were on the wrong track there. True, Valima always said she would get him. But I heard him tell her once that he considered her his little sister. And I think he meant it.”

  Summer groaned. This just about did it. She seemed to make all the wrong assumptions, no matter which way she turned.

  “Look,” Lia cried. “Storm’s over. The sun is shining. We’d better get up there before we run right up in Pago Pago Bay.”

  Summer followed her up onto the deck and took over the controls. The sun was shining so fiercely, one might think it meant to dry up the ocean, but Summer didn’t care. Her mind was much too busy with other things. She tried to remember just what had been said at the dinner table that night. No one had actually said the baby was Jack’s. Why had she assumed it? Why had no one told her the truth?

  But the only one she had brought it up to was Karl. She had mentioned it at a time when he was trying to turn her against Jack, trying to convince her to leave. So he let the falsehood stand.

  “Lia, tell me one more thing.” Summer took a deep breath and steadied herself. “Did you know about the girl who died falling from Lover’s Leap?”

  “Of course.”

  “Was she…was she in love with Jack?”

  Lia’s face scrunched as she thought that over. “Maybe. A little. But mostly, I think she was just desperate for love. Love from anyone. She was so hurt, so damaged by her past. Jack was good to her, but he didn’t love her and she decided she couldn’t face life without the sort of love that might heal her.” She shrugged. “I don’t think anyone could have met her conditions. Not anyone.”

  Summer steeled herself to ask the question she had to know. “Was she pregnant at the time?”

  Lia shook her head. “I don’t think so. But if she was, it would have been Liam, from the village. He was the one she hung out with all the time.”

  Summer felt like she could breathe again. “Not Jack.”

  “Jack?” Lia’s bright face looked astonished. “Oh no. He wasn’t even around very much during that time.”

  “Oh.” Summer closed her eyes as relief spilled through her.

  “Look,” Lia said. “We’re almost there.”

  They were coming up to the island now. First the tall mountain came into view, then the entire landfall.

  “There’s Jeeter’s place,” Lia cried happily. “Pretty good aiming, Summer.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Summer shaded her eyes with her hand, looking in toward shore. She could see Jeeter’s rickety little shack, and the various boats moored in front of it. She could also see a familiar figure waiting for them on the dock.

  It was Jack.

  Her first instinct was to turn the ketch away from shore and head out to sea again. But she knew that would be a cowardly thing to do. She had to face him. Slowly, mechanically, she prepared to dock.

  She tried not to look at him as they came close, but she couldn’t seem to avoid it. He was dressed in worn jeans and a plaid shirt worn open at the throat. His hair was falling over his forehead the way it did whenever it had the chance. As she repeatedly, yet surreptitiously glanced at him, she knew she loved him more than she had ever known she could love any man.

  “How did you get here before we did?” Lia called out to him, delighted with the reception.

  “Barney’s seaplane,” he answered, though he didn’t take his dark eyes off Summer.

  "Through that storm?” Lia went on, seemingly oblivious to the electricity that was crackling around them all.

  Jack shrugged impatiently. “We flew around it.”

  He leaned forward and took the rope to help tie them to the dock. Summer noticed with a sense of relief that Jeeter was coming down the pier. Surely Jack couldn’t do anything drastic to her with Jeeter as witness.

  “Climb out, Lia,” Jack said shortly. “Jeeter will take care of you while we’re gone.”

  Summer froze, her hand on the wheel. “Just what did you have in mind?” she asked icily. There was no other way. She would have to fight him. Her mind was too full of confusion and turmoil to make a sound decision about anything right now. What she needed was time alone, to think.

  He leaped on board with the grace that came so naturally to him. “We’re taking a sail, you and I,” he stated firmly, his dark eyes glittering with male confidence.

  “I’ve already had my sail, thank you.” She made a move to step to the side, but his hard hand on her arm stopped her.

  “Oh, no you haven’t,” he said harshly. “Your sail hasn’t even begun.”

  He looked at Lia, who was watching their exchange with wide eyes, and motioned with his head for her to leave. She quickly scrambled off the boat and Jack reached over to pull free the rope which Summer now noticed he hadn’t secured to the dock.

  He had to release her to do it, and she moved hopefully toward escape, but his rough arm circled her waist before she could make good her attempt, and she was held against him, a prisoner.

  “This is kidnapping, you know,” she snapped at him, twisting in his grip.

  “No,” he breathed into her hair. “This is enforcing my claim.”

  She turned around as he released her, not worried about her escaping as they were smoothly putting out of the harbor. Her heart was beating very fast. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, how much she needed to be his, but she couldn’t find the words. Antagonism seemed easier.

  “You can’t file a claim on a human being,” she grumbled, lowering her head so that her silver-blonde hair hid her face in a shimmering curtain.

  “Can’t I?” His dark eyes were glowing with some emotion she couldn’t identify. “That’s exactly what I’ve done. Now what are you going to do about it?”

  What was she going to do about it? She couldn’t risk throwing away the very thing she needed to make her life complete. No matter what the danger, it had to be faced. Drawing in a deep breath of the rain-cleaned air, she threw back her hair and stared straight into his eyes. Heart beating a wild tattoo, she gave him his answer. “Love you,” she whispered.

  His ebony eyes held hers for a long, tremulous moment. “Do you promise?” he whispered back, suddenly dropping the veil that had hidden the pain of her seeming
rejection.

  She took a step toward him, raising her arms, and before she had time to take another, he was there, sweeping her up in his embrace, holding her so tightly she could hardly breathe.

  “Summer, my darling,” he said, his voice a husky caress in itself. “When Valima told me how you had left the house, and then I found the boat gone ...”

  Emotion welled up in him and he couldn’t finish the sentence. Summer felt tears springing to her eyes.

  “Oh, Jack, I thought...” She pulled her head back to look him in the face. “I thought Valima was carrying your child and I couldn’t stand it.”

  “My child?” His face was incredulous. “The only woman who will ever carry my child is in my arms right now.”

  Her smile was shaky through her tears. “Do you really mean it? Do you really love me?” She still wasn’t sure. He hadn’t yet said the words.

  “Love you?” His grin was lopsided. “I’ve loved you for years. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  “Years?” She gazed at him blankly. “What do you mean?”

  He pulled her down beside him on the seat behind the wheel, one hand guiding the boat, one arm wrapped securely around her as though he was afraid she would get blown away by the tradewinds if he didn’t hang on.

  “When Karl first came here, he had a picture of you on his dresser. Did you know that?”

  She nodded. “He told me. He also told me that you saw it and asked questions about me.”

  He chuckled. “I did more than ask questions. I began to make up excuses to visit Karl just so I could see that picture again. I even planned to steal it from him. Of course I never did. But the desire was there.”

  The wind blew a strand of hair across her bemused lips and she brushed it away. “Why?” she asked curiously. “What was there about my picture that fascinated you?”

  He tilted his dark head back so that the sun gleamed on his coal-black hair. “That picture captured all the feminine fire that lives in you, Summer. I saw it from the first.” His grin was slightly embarrassed. “I guess I built a fantasy woman around it. Even though you didn’t know me, you ruined me for others.”