Bittersweet Passion

by Peggy Webb

  She walked stage right to get a better look, and Daniel gave her that unforgettable smile, the one she could conjure up in an instant, the one that had followed her all the way from Atlanta, Georgia, to Huntsville, Alabama. The one that would follow her to the ends of the earth.

  She would have done the entire first set standing on stage right drinking in the sight of her husband except for the fact that she was here to entertain.

  Skylar crossed to stage left with a new bounce in her step. As always when she was performing, she lost all count of time. Music flowed from her. And when she left the stage, the spotlight followed her until she disappeared into the wings.

  Pete was standing there to hand her a towel. “Thanks.” She kissed his cheek. “I didn’t even see you leave.”

  “I guess not.” He grinned. “He’s waiting for you in the dressing room. Take your time. If you’re not back, the band can start the second set with Eric’s new songs. This would be as good a time as any to give them a test run.”

  If Skylar hadn’t been so nervous she’d have raced back to her dressing room the minute she heard Daniel was waiting, but for the first time in her life she felt shy and uncertain. What was she going to say to him? What would he say to her? After all, she was the one who’d left. His smile could mean everything…or nothing. Daniel was a friendly man. He smiled at everybody.

  “You’re making sounds like a manager, Pete…I hope.” She and the other members of the band had been thinking of changing managers for quite some time.

  “Could be.” He nodded toward the dressing room. “Go on, Skylar. You have better things to do than stand here gabbing with me.”

  “Thanks, Pete. For everything.” She took a deep breath. “Wish me luck.”

  “You don’t need it, Sky. You have everything you need right here.” He put his hand on her heart, then gave her a little push. “Knock ’em dead, beautiful.”

  Daniel couldn’t pray, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t do anything except pace. What if Hannah had been wrong about him doing this alone? What if Skylar took one look at him and slammed the door? What if Pete told her he was waiting and she didn’t even show up?

  What if…?

  The door opened and there she was. His wife. The woman he loved more than life itself. The most magnificent, most remarkable woman he’d ever met.

  He couldn’t lose her again. He wouldn’t lose her again.

  “You were great, Sky.”

  “Thanks.”

  She hovered near the doorway and Daniel realized she was as unsure of her footing as he. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? He didn’t know. All he knew was how much he wanted to touch her.

  They stared at each other for a small eternity. Daniel couldn’t get enough of looking at her. The tight red-sequined dress clung to the curves he knew so well, and perspiration shone on the skin he’d kissed a thousand times.

  The skin he was going to kiss again. Without thinking of the consequences, Daniel closed the distance between them and took her in his arms. She gave a startled gasp and opened her mouth to say something but Daniel never heard what it was. He was too busy kissing her.

  And she was kissing him back. That was the main thing. His wife was kissing him back without hesitation and without reserve. Suddenly Daniel knew paradise. It was here, in this room in Huntsville, Alabama.

  He molded her to his body and marveled once again at how well they fit. Always had, always would. There could never be another woman for him. There could be no life for him without Skylar, for his heart was irrevocably bound with hers.

  All he had to do was convince her.

  They kissed until their lips felt bruised and puffy. They kissed until they had merged so close together you couldn’t tell where one body left off and the other started. They might have kissed forever if Skylar hadn’t felt the burden of things not spoken.

  “Daniel…” She leaned back to look at him, and Oh, that was love she saw in his eyes, his face. It had to be. “There are some things we need to talk about.”

  “Yes.” He took her hand and led her to the only chair in the room, then knelt in front of her, still holding her hand.

  It felt wonderful. And she realized what she’d almost lost, what she could lose again if she weren’t careful. She brought his hand to her lips and kissed each knuckle with such reverence he got tears in his eyes.

  “I didn’t want to leave you, please understand that.”

  “I know. Your note made that clear.”

  “Good.” She sighed. All the things she should say raced around her mind, squirrel-like, and she couldn’t seem to get them organized.

  “You have a show to finish, Sky. We can talk later.”

  “There’s no hurry. I won’t be able to sing unless I know why you’re here.”

  “To take you home with me…if you want to go.”

  Relief settled over her, warm and comforting, and suddenly she could breathe again.

  “Yes…oh, yes. I want to go home.”

  She couldn’t bear another moment without being in his arms. They reached for each other at the same time and ended up on the floor kissing as if the world were coming to an end and they’d have to wait till the next lifetime to get another chance.

  Skylar didn’t know whether she’d tumbled or Daniel had pulled her off the chair; the thing that mattered was his lips on hers. His hands were all over her and she thought she would die of happiness.

  Outside their little spot of heaven the band filed back onstage, and faint strains of music drifted around them. Blues. Music of the heart. Music of the soul.

  Daniel leaned back a fraction of an inch. “You have to go back.”

  “Not yet. Not for another thirty minutes or so.” She ran her hands inside his shirt and tangled her fingers in the crisp chest hair she loved so well.

  “Sky…” His voice had dropped half an octave to that deep sexy timbre that made her shiver.

  “The door’s locked,” she whispered, then reached for his belt buckle.

  When Daniel slid into his seat, Hannah whispered, “You’re late.”

  He grinned at her and said, “I know.”

  She leaned back to take a good look at him, and even though it was mostly dark in the auditorium Daniel figured his face still glowed with love, for his sister’s smile got so wide it made him think of the Cheshire cat.

  “Good,” she said, then settled back into her seat just as Skylar Tate Westmoreland took the stage.

  She didn’t need spotlights. The glow in her face was enough. Daniel settled back to enjoy the show. Really enjoy it. Now that he knew how it would all turn out, now that he knew his quest was over, he could pay attention to songs Sky sang, to the way she was singing them.

  She sang with a new power. A freedom that made the music soar. He was her biggest fan. He’d always admired her talent and enjoyed her music.

  But this was different. This music mesmerized, hypnotized. He was aware of nothing except the woman and the music.

  If he had never heard her sing he would have given all the credit to the rousing lovemaking they’d enjoyed in her dressing room. The marvelous welcome-back-home way they’d greeted each other.

  But Daniel sensed something different about his wife. A new spark. A magic.

  The audience did, too, for although many of the songs she sang were different from her recordings, they responded with wild enthusiasm that at times bordered on frenzy.

  Skylar sang until almost midnight, and the crowd kept calling for more. Daniel could see how sweat glistened on her face and in her cleavage. But he saw no waning of energy, no signs of fatigue.

  “She’s absolutely marvelous,” Hannah said.

  “Yes, she is.”

  “I’ve never heard anything like her.” Hannah swiveled in her seat to study him. “You know what this means, don’t you, Daniel?”

  “Yes.” To take her away from the entertainment world would be almost a sacrilege. He’d always understood that. But his sister had
to make certain.

  “Don’t domesticate her.”

  “I won’t even try.”

  Skylar wound up her final song, then held her arms up in appeal to a crowd that still called for more.

  “One more encore,” she said, and the crowd went wild. She smiled, waiting for them to calm down, then she came to the edge of the proscenium and said, “But first I have someone I want to introduce to you. Someone very special. My husband.”

  Nothing in his ministry had prepared Daniel for the kind of scrutiny he endured as he wove his way through the crowd. When he took his place on stage and put his arm around Skylar, the audience went wild once more, yelling and stomping and clapping.

  He looked across the crowd till he found his sister. Hannah was enjoying every minute of it.

  Skylar held up her hands once more. “I want all of you to meet my husband, the Reverend Daniel Westmoreland.”

  Hushed silence fell over the crowd, then as the shock wore off they went into another frenzy of stomping and yelling and clapping. Tonight Skylar Tate could do no wrong.

  “I didn’t know you were going to do that,” Daniel said.

  They’d talked briefly about the introduction. After he’d zipped her into a green-sequined gown that matched her eyes, she’d asked, “Do you mind if I tell them you’re my husband?” and he’d said, “I would be honored.”

  That was all.

  Now she leaned close to him and said, “You’ve let me have my identity. How can I not do the same for you?”

  That’s when he kissed her. And she kissed him. They didn’t even know when the crowd finally quit clapping and went on home.

  The only encore she got around to was the one in her dressing room with Daniel.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Room 414 at the Marriott was filled with flowers. Skylar went from one bouquet to the other inhaling the fragrance while Daniel watched her.

  “You did all this for me,” she said.

  “Yes.”

  “Even though you weren’t sure I’d come.”

  “I knew you would come back to me.”

  She laced her arms around his neck and pulled him close. “How did you know?”

  “Because we belong together.”

  The truth of what he said was in Skylar’s heart, and she knew that if Daniel had not come to her, she would have gone back to him. No matter what the consequences.

  “Daniel, I know it’s late but we have to talk. I’d like very much to do it before I sleep. In fact, I’m not sure I can sleep.”

  “I don’t intend for you to,” he said, and she felt as flushed as if this would be their first time together. He led her to the sofa, then opened the curtains so they could see the Saturn 5 rocket lit up and reaching toward the sky.

  “You don’t mind, do you?”

  “It’s one way to ensure that we talk instead of do delicious things to each other.” She nabbed a sofa cushion and stuck it behind her back, then Daniel pulled her feet into his lap and began to massage them.

  “Comfortable?”

  “Very.”

  “What do you want to talk about first?”

  “You. What happened at the meeting? I hope they weren’t too hard on you.”

  “Just the opposite. The newspaper article stirred their compassion. They offered their apologies and their support. They asked how they could make it up to you.”

  Skylar couldn’t speak around the lump in her throat. Daniel reached over and wiped her tears with his fingertips, then pulled her into his lap and kissed the rest of them away.

  “So you see, Sky, you didn’t have to run at all.”

  She couldn’t answer for a long while because his mouth covered hers. “Yes, I did,” she said, finally. “I had to run because of me. I had to come back here and confront my past in order to be free.”

  “You’re free now, Sky. And safe. You don’t ever have to run again.”

  “Yes, I know.” As she rubbed her cheek against his chest she thought about how far she’d come—from the defiant woman hiding the scared little girl inside, to a contented woman who wasn’t afraid of anything anymore, including letting the child inside her come out to play.

  “Daniel, can you carry me to bed?”

  “Certainly.” He swept her up and said, “Just right. A woman I can carry around.” Then he dumped her on the bed where she bounced, laughing. Daniel was already headed toward the windows to close the curtains.

  “Leave them,” she said. “I want to see the rocket.”

  “My competition.” He left a trail of clothes as he came back to the bed.

  “I wouldn’t worry if I were you. I think you’re equal to the task.”

  “You’d better show me,” he said.

  And she did.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  They all left today for the Himalayas—Anne, Hannah, Daniel, Skylar, Emily and Jake. I wish I could have gone with them. I tried. I really did try.

  Anne almost backed out at the last minute. She said, “I can’t leave Michael alone like this,” and Clarice told her, “He’s not alone, he’s with me, and if you don’t get out of here I’m going to whip your butt.”

  Clarice is here with me now. I can smell her perfume and hear the bangles on her wrist every time she moves her arms. I’m glad Anne has her.

  When I wake up I’m going to do something special for her to show my appreciation. I can’t think what right now. But it will come to me.

  Everything seems to be coming back to me. I have devised a method of keeping track of time. Since I’m in a cave of sorts I’ve imagined a sharp stone I can hold in my hand and use to mark off the days. Amazing how it works. All I have to do is call up that cave wall and I see the series of marks I’ve made.

  For instance, I know that today is October thirteenth. The wedding is on the seventeenth, and Anne will be back the nineteenth. Six days. A whirlwind trip.

  She’ll be exhausted. I wish she would stay longer. I wish I could have told her, Take all the time you need, angel. Don’t hurry back on my account. I’ll be right here. Waiting for you.

  I can tell by the sounds outside in the hall that it will soon be dark. Clarice is getting restless and anxious to go home. She has a new boyfriend. I know this from her conversations with Anne. She’ll soon leave and I’ll be alone for the first time since the accident.

  Truly alone.

  That scares me. If I stay in this coma much longer, Anne will have to resume her life. She won’t be around day and night talking to me, holding me, loving me.

  I can’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen.

  While she’s gone I’m going to do my best to wake up. I’m going to use every ounce of willpower I have to get out of this bed and surprise her.

  That would be a wonderful homecoming. For both of us.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  They approached the Himalayas on the Nepalese side. From the moment the peak had come into sight, Michael Westmoreland’s family had fallen silent. They were under the spell of the mountain.

  It affected each one of them differently. Jake became energized, which is what Daniel would expect from his future brother-in-law. Jake had climbing in his blood just as Michael did. Mountains would always lure him. He would always climb, but probably not without Emily.

  What surprised Daniel was her obvious eagerness for this high-altitude adventure. He could imagine how she would choose to climb with her husband. Not all the time but enough so that the mountains wouldn’t separate them for long stretches of time the way they had her mother and father.

  Then there was Hannah. She faced the mountain with fierceness and determination, in typical Hannah fashion. But there was something else, too. An inner rage that Daniel had hoped would have abated by now.

  He knew that he felt none. The mountain no longer seemed the enemy it had when it first took Michael’s ordinary life and cast him into a world of deep sleep. It was neither friend nor foe. Neither benevolent nor angry. It was awesome
in its power and grandeur.

  For the first time in his life he understood why his father had to climb. He understood why his father had left his family for weeks at a time in order to challenge the mountain. Just as Daniel found what he was seeking in the church, Michael found it on the mountain.

  And both of them were right.

  Skylar squeezed Daniel’s hand, and he glanced at his wife. She was feeling the same thing. He could tell by the look on her face. And tonight when they lay side by side in their tent, curved close against each other in the sleeping bag, they would talk about the mountain in awed whispers.

  He squeezed her hand right back, then leaned over and kissed her.

  His mother saw them and smiled. She was the one who had surprised Daniel most. He didn’t know what he’d expected—a few tears, perhaps, or at least a bone-deep sadness. Instead the mountain had an uplifting effect on Anne. It was as if she understood for the first time what had happened to Michael and why. It was as if she were shedding some great burden she’d carried on her shoulders, placing it at the foot of the mountain and saying, “Here, you can have it now. I’ve finished with it.”

  “We’ll pitch camp here,” their Nepalese guide told them, and they all got busy setting up their tents for the night.

  Tomorrow they would reach their destination, Base Camp Number Two which was a modest climb and easily attainable, even for those who had never climbed, which was all of them except Jake and the guide.

  Night came quickly in the Himalayas. One minute it was light, and the next a black curtain dropped down and they all went inside their tents to rest from the day’s hike and prepare themselves for tomorrow’s climb.

  Skylar wrapped her arms around Daniel, cuddled close and wet his chest with her tears.

  “What’s wrong, Sky?”

  “It’s not what’s wrong; it’s what’s right. Oh, Daniel…” She sighed and inched closer. “This mountain feels sacred to me. Do you feel that?”

  “Yes. Reaching the peak must have been a spiritual experience for Dad.”