“Oh, my God,” Amy breathed, her hand going to her mouth as she backed up instinctively.
The rest of The Serpent’s clientele moved respectfully aside, watching the spectacle with great interest. At the table nearest Amy she could see two men laying down bets on the outcome. Others cheered on the action. Ray stood watching from the other side of the bar, making no move to dig out the hose he had used the night the sailors had gotten into a brawl.
“Someone stop them!” Amy yelled furiously. No one paid her any attention. Jase and Ty were locked in savage combat. Tables were overturned, chairs were sent crashing, glassware shattered. It was chaos, and Amy’s emotional reaction hovered somewhere between hysteria and fury. Fury won out.
As the two men rolled across the floor and the sickening thud of fists striking flesh reached her ears, she turned desperately toward where Ray stood impassively behind the bar.
“Ray, do something! Stop them! Use the hose,” she cried.
“This is Jase’s fight,” Ray pointed out philosophically, as if she didn’t understand the finer nuances of these things. “He’ll settle it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! They’re trying to kill each other!”
“Jase will be okay,” he assured her.
“I want it stopped!” she yelled.
“Jase would probably kill me if I tried to interfere,” Ray explained gently. “At the very least I’d lose my job.”
“Well, I don’t have a job to lose! Give me that hose!’ plunged behind the bar, grabbing for the garden hose coiled underneath the sink.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Ray managed, seeing her intention.
But she already had the water turned on. With shaking hands she aimed the blast toward the two men, knotted together on the floor in front of the bar.
There was a mingled shout of laughter from the onlookers as the cold water showered over the pair. Jase and Ty broke apart, both drenched and both seeking the source of the water with furious eyes. They stared in astonishment as they saw Amy wielding, the hose.
“For God’s sake, Amy,” Jase gasped, his chest heaving as he caught his breath. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Stop spraying that goddamned water!” Ty gritted, trying to roll aside to avoid the spray she was still aiming at them.
With a wrench Amy reached beneath the sink and turned off the hose. Holding the dripping end in one hand, she stood behind the bar and glared at Jase. “I swear I’ll turn it on again if the two of you don’t stop acting like a couple of cowboys fresh off the trail! I want you to know I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! A couple of real macho types, aren’t you? Have you both proved your manhood now? Honest to God, you should both be ashamed of yourselves. If this is what you think it takes to prove your manhood, I’ve got news for you: Right now you both look like two young punks. A couple of boys out to show the world they’re still boys. Not men—boys! This is all part of the fantasy, isn’t it? Have a few drinks and then get into a bar fight over a woman!”
“Amy,” Jase tried to say, dabbing at his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand, “put down the hose.
“I will not put down the hose until I’ve had my say!” she shouted, aware that everyone else in the bar was thoroughly enjoying the scene. She focused on Jase’s stony face. “Is this how you’re going to spend the rest of your life, Jase Lassiter? Drinking more and more rum? Getting into meaningless fights over the occasional lady tourist? Trying to prove your manhood by taking on other men like Ty Murdock who haven’t grown up yet either?”
“Amy...” Surprisingly it was Ray who attempted to interrupt this time. She ignored him, continuing her tirade with unabated ardor.
“Listen to me, Jase Lassiter,” she went on forcefully, the words tumbling over themselves as she spoke without stopping to sort out her thoughts. “I’m going to give you a choice. A real choice between a home and a future made up of a succession of nights like this one. Are you listening to me? I’m offering you a home, complete with home-cooked meals and slippers by the hearth and... and a woman in your bed every night. I’m offering you a future, not just a present. I’m offering you something steady and real and lasting. I’m offering you everything I have to give a man. I’ve never been willing to take that risk with any other person. When you decide whether or not you’re interested in taking me up on my offer, come and find me. I’m taking the plane home to San Francisco in the morning!”
Throwing down the hose, Amy turned and strode out of the room full of stunned men. She looked neither to the right nor the left and totally ignored the pair of bleeding, bruised men on the floor. Once out in the street she hurried toward Jase’s house.
When she reached it she raced to her bedroom, collecting her clothing and shoving it into the suitcase. Not pausing for an instant, she let herself back out into the warm night, hurrying toward the Marina Inn
“Well, well, Miss Shannon,” Sam the desk clerk said cheerfully as he looked up from a centerfold to find his old customer standing in front of him. “What can I do for you this evening?” He ran interested eyes over her disheveled appearance but refrained from making any inquiries about it.
“You can give me my old room back, Sam, and you can see to it that I am not disturbed by anyone at all this evening!”
“Yes, ma’am,” he murmured, reaching for a wad of keys. “Here, take all the extra keys to one-oh-five. That way I won’t have any to give out in case someone comes asking.”
She smiled wryly. “In other words you’ll be off the hook?”
“You got it. Have a good evening, Miss Shannon. How long you plan on staying?”
“I’ll be leaving at dawn.”
“The six-thirty flight?” he asked warily.
“Yes.” Amy turned and made her way up the stairs, dragging her suitcase behind her. Slowly the adrenaline that had been pounding through her bloodstream began to slacken, leaving behind a weary depression for which there was no cure.
She had taken her chance. There was nothing else she could do. It was up to Jase now. She didn’t need to be told that the odds were against his deciding to take her up on her offer. He’d decided a long time ago that a cozy, stable home life wasn’t for him.
Why did it have to be this man? she asked herself hopelessly as she undressed and crawled into bed wearing the champagne-colored nightgown. Why couldn’t she have found herself someone who wanted what she had to offer? Why did her heart insist on trying to take the risk with a man who was probably beyond the reach of any woman’s domesticating talents?
It wasn’t fair, but since when had life ever been fair? Amy fell into an exhausted sleep and dreamed of a man with turquoise eyes who would not be gentled or tamed by a woman’s hand. For the remainder of the night she chased him, offering every inducement she could think of, but to no avail. In the morning she awoke as tired as she had been when she’d tumbled into bed. No one had bothered her during the night.
Which meant she had probably lost her gamble.
Wearily she packed for the flight home, trusting to luck that there would be an empty seat on the jet that left for the States once each day. There were seldom many passengers coining or going from Saint Clair. The bulk of the airline’s clientele on the Pacific run would be picked up in Hawaii.
With a long sigh Amy finished her preparations, glancing around the room one last time. As she did so, there was a quiet knock on the door. In spite of herself, her heart leaped. Warily she opened it to find Jase standing on the other side.
“You look a mess,” she said unthinkingly. His face was bruised and the cut on his mouth still looked raw and painful.
“Thanks. You ought to see the other guy,” he growled. “I came to drive you to the airport.”
Amy’s sense of defeat engulfed her. He wasn’t going to throw himself into her arms, apparently, and take her up on her offer. Well, wh
at had she expected?
“Thank you,” she managed, forcing a distant calm into her voice. “I appreciate it.”
He picked up her suitcase without a word. The short drive to the airport passed in heavy silence and Amy waited impassively for the incoming plane. She felt everything slipping away and didn’t know how to stop it. What was there to say now? She’d made her best offer. It was up to Jase to accept or reject it.
And it appeared that he fully intended to reject it.
The small plane came down out of the sky, landing with a flourish on the short runway. There was no time left now. In a few minutes Saint Clair ‘would be far behind her. Amy collected her suitcase and started toward the door to the informal embarking area.
She looked up at Jase as he pulled her to a halt. The expression in his eyes was unreadable, but she thought there was pain embedded there. Pain and a kind of desperation.
“Yes, Jase?”
“Amy, did you mean what you said last night?”
Her throat tightened. “I meant it, Jase.”
He drew a long breath, his fingers tightening on her arm. “Amy, I don’t think I could make it back in the States now. It’s been too long.”
“Please, don’t give me any excuses, Jase. It was a straightforward offer. Yes or no will do.” But she knew that the answer was going to be no.
“Amy...”
The steps had been rolled out to the plane, and Amy started forward. “Good-bye, Jase. I understand what your answer is. You don’t have to spell it out.” She halted once more, stood on tiptoe and brushed his mouth with her own. Then, before she could make any more of a fool of herself, she hurried up the steps.
As the plane left the ground, Amy stared out the window at the receding figure of the man she loved. Her last image of Jase would linger in her head forever, she knew: his windblown hair, the way he stood, his hands thrust into his back pockets, and the stark, raw expression on his face. And then Jase and his island vanished from sight.
Forty-eight hours later Amy sat cradling her nephew at Melissa’s kitchen table while she told her sister the whole story. Adam Trembach sat by Melissa’s side, his arm protectively around his wife-to-be. He wasn’t a very handsome man, Amy thought affectionately. Not particularly tall, a little stout, but as gentle as could be with Melissa and Craig. Adam was also as solidly dependable as his name implied. A good man. He had assumed the responsibilities of husband and father with natural flair.
“Well, that settles it,” he declared now as Amy came to the end of the story. “If he ever shows up around here, it will only be to make trouble. I’ll take care of him if that happens.”
Melissa smiled lovingly as Adam made his declaration. If she was remembering that Ty Murdock was a lot taller, a lot stronger, than Adam and thrived on a life of violence, she didn’t let it show. She acted as if Adam could handle him with one hand tied behind his back should the necessity arise. Amy watched her sister’s lovely face and realized it wasn’t an act put on for Adam’s sake. Melissa really did trust this man to look after her. And perhaps, in a real showdown, Adam would be the winner. His motivation would be a lot stronger, and that counted for a great deal. Besides, Amy didn’t think Ty would ever be back.
“I left the mask at the bottom of the cove, Melissa. It has no intrinsic worth, apparently, and I decided Craig didn’t need it.”
“No,” Melissa agreed, watching her sister play with the happy, dark-haired child. No he doesn’t need any reminders of Ty. Adam is his real father in all the important meanings of the word.”
Craig gurgled cheerfully, smiling enticingly up at his aunt as she bounced him on her knee.
“One of these days that young man is going to have some brothers and sisters,” Adam grinned proudly. “He’ll have all the family he needs.”
Amy glanced up and caught her sister’s eye. More children, Melissa? she asked silently. Are you really willing to take that risk again? Even for this man? But she didn’t have to ask the question aloud. The affirmative answer was in Melissa’s eyes.
“When are you going back to work?” Melissa asked, pouring more coffee for all three of the adults at the table.
“Tomorrow. Today I really felt the jet lag.”
“You look beat,” Adam told her bluntly. “Are you sure it’s just the jet lag?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him, summoning a smile. She had given them only the briefest description of her association with Jase Lassiter, not implying at all that he had become her lover during the time she had spent on Saint Clair. But she was aware of Melissa’s half-curious, half-speculative glance.
It wasn’t until the next day, when Melissa showed up with Craig at Shannon’s Sensuous Chic Boutique near Union Square, offering to take her sister to lunch, that Amy got the questions.
“Tell me about him, Amy,” Melissa ordered as they ate stuffed croissant sandwiches in a neighboring shop. “What happened out there on Saint Clair?”
“I found a man I wanted to make a home with,” Amy replied quietly. “He apparently didn’t want any part of the process.” Under her sister’s blunt probing, Amy told her the whole story, feeling strangely relieved when it was concluded. “I suppose I’m lucky he had enough sense of honor not to let me take the risk, hmm?” she ended half humorously.
“Oh, Amy, I’m so sorry,” Melissa whispered sympathetically. “You have so much to give and you’ve been cautious for so long. To finally take the chance and then have it all thrown back in your face...!”
“I’ll survive. Women do, you know. Look at you and little Craig. A woman named Maggie told me that it’s the female of the species that keeps the race going We’re the ones who take the biggest chances.”
Melissa smiled lamely. “She may have a point. A little hard on us, but I guess it does work toward the survival of the species. She’s right about one thing: I can’t picture a man willingly taking the chance of getting himself pregnant!”
Amy laughed, remembering Maggie’s similar words. Then she sobered as she realized her sister was staring at her in consternation. “What is it, Mel?”
“Speaking of getting pregnant,” Melissa began with heavy emphasis.
“Oh!” Amy blinked and then looked away, flushing at the very direct question. “No, there’s nothing to worry about, Mel.”
Her sister arched an eyebrow. “I know you don’t make a habit of carrying contraceptives around with you, Amy. Are you telling me this Jase Lassiter was, er, fully prepared for entertaining lady tourists?”
“Melissa, don’t be crude. Just take my word for it. On that issue I’m perfectly safe.”
Fortunately, Craig chose that particular moment to spit out a large chunk of liver pâté-stuffed croissant. Amy, who was holding him at the time, grabbed for a napkin.
“You know, Amy, you’d make a good mother,” Melissa observed easily as they prepared to leave. “Look how well you handle Craig. The two of you get along great together.”
“Uh-huh. That’s because we both know that we’re not stuck with each other. As soon as the socializing’s over, we get to go our separate ways.” Amy chuckled, mopping up the liver pâté from the corners of Craig’s mouth. He giggled delightedly and grabbed for the napkin.
“I don’t think you’re quite the coward you believe yourself to be when it comes to kids,” Melissa observed softly. “Tell me something. When you went to bed with Jase, did you really think about protecting yourself?”
The red stain on Amy’s cheekbones was answer enough. “Let’s go, Mel, I’m late getting back to the shop.” Firmly she handed her nephew over to his mother.
Melissa sighed, getting to her feet as she put her son into his stroller. “For a woman as cautious of real romance as you are, you’re sure in a funny business!”
The days wore on, falling back into their normal pattern. Thoughts of Jase and Saint Clair seemed to hover
as close as ever, although Amy did her best to put them out of her mind But when night fell, she went to bed wondering if Jase was sitting in his corner of The Serpent, watching for lady tourists who were looking for a “souvenir” of the islands.
Was her relationship with him no more than a pleasant memory for Jase now? Please, God, she thought, let it have meant something more to him than that. She might not be able to have him, but a part of Amy wanted Jase to remember her. Just as she would always remember him
A few weeks after her return to San Francisco, Amy conceded that time was not as great a cure-all for heartache as she had supposed. How long did it take to get a man out of one’s head? She forced herself into a faster-paced routine, accepting invitations, attending concerts, working late. But no matter how crowded her days, her nights seemed emptier than ever.
It was Melissa who finally took charge one afternoon. “Amy, you look awful. Something’s wrong.”
“I’m just a little tired, Mel.”
“Well, you can’t use jet lag as an excuse any longer. You’ve been back over three weeks now. And I don’t think you’re just pining away from unrequited love either.”
Amy arched an eyebrow. “I should hope not!”
“I think you should see your doctor.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! There’s nothing wrong with me.”
“Not just any doctor, Amy. I think you should see Dr. Carson,” Melissa stated.
“My gynecologist? Whatever for? I just had my yearly physical a few months ago!”
“You know very well what for, Amy Shannon. You’re a big girl now. How long?”
“How long what?” Amy demanded, puzzled.
“How long since...?” Melissa let the question trail off as a clerk hurried over to ask Amy a question.
By the time she had finished answering the clerk’s question, Amy had figured out what it was her sister was trying to ask. “Oh, no, Mel,” she whispered, suddenly feeling weak. “That’s impossible. I can’t be. He promised!”
“Men,” stated Melissa with the voice of experience, “have made promises like that to women for the past several thousand years. Probably longer. And women,” she continued, “have believed those promises for the same length of time, even though they ought to have known better.”
Serpent in Paradise Page 18
