Promises in Paradise

by Sandra Kitt

  She glanced away, over the spectacular vista of scattered islands, bays and cays in the Atlantic. Hale knew why she hadn’t spent the holidays with her family but thought better of saying so. Everyone has a history. Baggage. Sore points. No one knew that better than himself.

  “Who’s at the house?”

  “Half the Eastern Seaboard,” he said dryly. But she didn’t smile. “Adam, Eva, the kids. Your brother Simon’s coming sometime this week. Bailey brought along a girl pal, Courtney. Me. You.”

  “You weren’t kidding,” Diane commented. “Where’s everyone sleeping? The house is not that big.”

  “You know that as long as there’s a piece of floor space and a cot or sleeping bag Eva will make it work. I think Eva said Simon opted to stay at a guesthouse. Something about not wanting to cramp his social life.”

  “He can be something else,” she murmured.

  “Really? That reminds me of someone else.” Hale said with a meaningful drawl. She didn’t take the bait.

  Silence fell but Hale was still on the alert. He was aware that Diane was being unusually civil toward him. They were actually having a conversation that had not, as yet, deteriorated into sarcasm, attitude and insults.

  “What about you?” she asked, swaying in her seat as he shifted and took another of the sharp curves that challenged drivers.

  “I’m staying on board the sloop.”

  “You’re not staying at the house?”

  He honestly couldn’t tell if she was pleased or not.

  “Like you said, the house is not that big. I figure, family first. All others get in line. I don’t mind.”

  Her gaze remained on him for a while but Hale pretended he didn’t notice. He knew that this moment, the drive with her from Cruz Bay without histrionics, was major. Bigger than major. How long was it going to last?

  Hale slowed as they approached a turnoff on the right, the road suddenly narrow and steep. He shifted into second and the Jeep easily took the climb, bumping along over the mostly dirt surface.

  “I wish I knew how to drive stick,” Diane said.

  “Do you? How come?”

  “So I could tear up this hill as if I was clearing a road through the jungle.”

  He merely nodded to show his appreciation and understanding.

  The Jeep crested the road as it wound to the left, to a small clearing that overlooked the island-dotted ocean. To the right was a modest but airy house set on an angle about fifty feet above the ground. There were steps that switched back once, leading from the road up to the wide veranda deck and the entrance. Beneath the deck was a carport, which was generally used as a staging area for loading and unloading vehicles. Barely visible was a recessed second level consisting of two rooms and a bath. Hale knew Adam had added it when Bailey and Hayden were still children, so they’d each have their own room when in residence on the island. From the sea looking back and up the side of the hill, the house looked a little like a two-tiered cake.

  Even before he’d turned off the engine what seemed like a mob of people, but was actually only five, suddenly appeared from various openings and doors of the house, rushing toward them with shouts of “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas,” mixed with squeals of welcome and delight.

  Hale remained seated and watched the scene unfold. He smiled slightly in amusement and envy as the extended Maxwell family descended upon Diane, wrapping her in great enthusiastic bear hugs. Smothering her with kisses. Circling her with love and attention. Diane pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head and, with a big smile and a wide gaze, she welcomed it all. As when he’d first seen her on the dock at Cruz Bay, she was completely unselfconscious. And her response to her family was really beautiful to witness.

  Eva, petite and dwarfed by even her own two children, was the first to receive a kiss and hug from Diane. The other things distinguishing her from the young people around her were her short salt-and-pepper hair and her narrow, fashionable eyeglasses. Bailey, who was sixteen and almost as tall as her brother and Diane, muscled her way in next. Hayden, eighteen, crowded in to make it a three-person hug. Diane beckoned to Courtney next. She was shy with glasses and a little overweight. Hale had been told that she and Bailey had been best friends since grade school. Adam towered over them all, the patriarch and indomitable leader.

  Diane tried to answer all the questions at once, laughing and being interrupted and shaking her head helplessly because everyone was talking over each other. They all admired her new hairstyle, Hayden commenting that she looked pretty hot, Bailey immediately decided she wanted her hair cut the same way.

  Hale took in the warm and noisy family reunion and there was a part of him that suddenly wondered if it was such a good idea for him to be here, imposing himself on this very open and public display of familial love.

  He had so little experience with it himself.

  He got out of the Jeep and removed Diane’s luggage. And while the greeting continued, the noise level finally settling down, he walked away from the gathering toward the house.

  “I’ll take one of those.”

  Adam Maxwell grabbed the tote filled with gifts and swung Diane’s other bag to his shoulder.

  “Damn! What the devil is she carrying in here?” he asked in his deep booming voice.

  He started up the steps and Hale was right behind him. He noticed, as he had on a number of occasions, that Adam certainly didn’t move like a man of a certain age carrying something too heavy. In fact, Hale was pretty impressed that Diane’s father remained a vigorous, physically dominate person, one not easily ignored or forgotten. In the last few years there was evidence of a bit of middle-aged spread, but Adam could still not be considered fat. Even a year or so shy of sixty, he didn’t have many gray hairs.

  Hale was grateful that, more than anything, it had been Adam’s commanding presence, his straightforward talk combined with a few threats, that had pulled his butt out of the fire at a time when he thought he knew more than he did. Hale never had any trouble admitting to anyone who was interested that Adam Maxwell had saved his life.

  “Diane said she wasn’t coming, so she gets what’s left of a place to sleep around here,” Adam said.

  He proceeded through the large open main room of the house to the back. There was a small sundeck off the kitchen to the right with a deep wooden awning overhang that protected the space from rain. It was, however, completely screened in. With a pull-out love seat and a storage trunk that served as a table, the deck passed very nicely as an open-air bedroom. Private and quiet with a view of the sea from one end, where the sun was already sinking toward the western horizon.

  Hale and Adam put down the bags. Adam looked at him closely.

  “So? How was she when you picked her up?”

  Hale leaned against the door frame and removed his dark glasses. He shrugged. “She was surprised but cool about it.”

  Adam raised his brows. “No hissy fit? No dramatic scene?”

  “Nope. As a matter of fact, we actually talked on the drive back. It was…pleasant. Different.”

  “I’ll bet,” Adam said dryly. He took a deep breath and spread his arms. “So. No need for me to mediate a truce?”

  “Not as far as I can tell.”

  “It’s early yet. Watch your back.”

  Hale chuckled. “Point taken.”

  “Well, then.” Adam’s tone was not so much fatalistic as resigned. “Let the games begin.”

  Diane, now changed into a pair of shorts and a gauzy top, returned to the living room. With the excitement of her arrival long over, no one paid any attention to her as she wandered aimlessly around the room in her bare feet, familiarizing herself with what was new or different since her last visit to St. John.

  But she was equally curious about where Hale was, and her wandering gaze darted about until she realized he was with her father on the veranda, quietly talking against the background of a setting tropical sun. It was as if she needed to affirm that he had not been an appari
tion that afternoon, waiting for her on the dock at Cruz Bay. Then she needed to question why, upon realizing it was indeed him, she’d felt light-headed, a peculiar sensation of déjà vu and tongue-tied. And she didn’t know yet how she felt about sharing the holidays with him.

  Diane sat in one of the high-back wicker chairs as Eva entered from the kitchen.

  “That has got to be one of the most original Christmas trees I’ve ever seen,” Diane said, making reference to a rather bizarre leafless arrangement of driftwood and Christmas lights.

  “Don’t laugh,” Eva warned as she put down a tray with frosty glasses of iced tea and lemonade. “It’s not like we can get evergreen down here. We make do. Don’t you remember the year your father jerry-rigged a tree out of wire coat hangers and we wrapped it in crepe paper?”

  “Daddy tried to attach a star lamp on top…”

  “And it kept falling over.” Eva laughed in merriment with Diane as she sat in a wicker rocker adjacent to her stepdaughter.

  Diane’s good humor continued as she watched her half sister and brother, and Courtney, try to sort out the labeled gifts underneath the tree.

  “Has Hayden made a decision about a college for next fall?”

  “He wants to accept the offer from Brown. Duke is his second choice. We’ll still talking about it.”

  “I can’t believe how tall Bailey has gotten just since her last birthday,” Diane said with some amazement. “And she’s so pretty.”

  “I know. Adam goes into meltdown every time a boy even looks at her.”

  “He wasn’t like that with me,” Diane commented thoughtfully.

  “Well, he didn’t need to be, honey. You were more than capable of taking care of yourself. He never had to worry about anyone taking advantage of you. You would have ‘drop-kicked him to the curb.’” Eva chuckled, quoting her son.

  Diane merely nodded. She was reminded of the times she’d discouraged some overeager, testosterone-driven boy because he’d gotten overly familiar with her. Not because she was totally uninterested but because she was so afraid of disappointing her father. And then she’d been introduced to Hale Cameron.

  It had been during spring break one year in D.C. at Adam and Eva’s house where she’d come to visit for two weeks from her mother and stepfather’s home outside of Boston. She’d heard about Hale for months before, how her father has taken on the court-appointed guardianship of him rather than see the teen succumb to the temptations of street life or the influence of an older brother already serving time. Then she didn’t know what to make of someone like Hale. Street-smart and sullen, talking a language she didn’t understand. She’d made no mystery of her feelings about him. He was not worth it. He was trouble. She was going to prove it…until she’d found herself alone with him…in the family room late one night…

  “Mom, can we open gifts now?” Bailey asked, getting impatient.

  Diane squirmed, her recollections having an unexpected affect.

  Blinking away the memory of that long-ago night she turned her attention to the front veranda. The sky was tinted deep blue with touches of rose and yellow blending into a gorgeous sunset. Her father and Hale were sitting enjoying beers and each other’s company. Of course she wondered what they were talking about.

  Her?

  “…dinner to be so late. So, let’s get started, okay? Adam? You and Hale come on in here.”

  Eva reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Honey, I’m so glad you came. It wouldn’t be Christmas without you.”

  Diane smiled faintly. “What did you do last year and the year before when I didn’t come?”

  “Missed you a lot. Hoped you’re getting over what happened.”

  Diane didn’t want to talk about it.

  “I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. I have noticed that there’s something different about you, though.”

  Eva briefly averted her gaze. “I’ve lost a little weight.”

  “And I’m not too happy about it, either,” Adam interrupted as he and Hale returned to the living room. “Tell her she doesn’t need to lose weight,” he said to Diane. “I’m happy with every square inch of what I married.”

  “Adam!” Eva admonished.

  At just that moment of the affectionate exchange, Diane caught Hale’s glance. Their gaze locked and then she turned away, feeling embarrassed. As if she’d been a voyeur to something private and endearing.

  The three teens went into action, organizing the distribution of gifts. All Diane and the other adults had to do was wait to be served.

  The next hour was a mixture of oohs and aaahs and exclamations of pleasure and satisfaction. There was lots of kissing and hugging as thanks were given for each gift. That was their tradition. Diane was aware that Hale was not left out, and he garnered his fair share of presents. She was more than surprised by the amount of genuine affection and regard with which he was held by her family.

  It made Diane feel as if there were things about her own parents, her siblings, that she was not aware of. Things about Hale that she had not known or never accepted before. Such as the fact that he was almost one of the family, that he did seem to belong.

  For probably the first time she was seriously curious about Hale’s background, and his own family. She didn’t even know if he had one, other than his brother whose life, she’d always known, had taken him down a different path.

  “This is for you. It’s from Hale,” Hayden said as he handed her the medium-size box.

  “For me?” Diane asked, confused. She glanced at Hale but he was actually distracted, helping Courtney with the instructions for her new iPod touch.

  The box had weight to it. She resisted the urge to shake it as one might do if suspecting an explosive device.

  Both Eva and her father sat watching her as she began to peel away the wrapping paper. Since she hadn’t expected Hale to actually be on St. John, let alone have a gift for her, Diane’s mind was a total blank as to what it could be.

  Suddenly, the room was very quiet and she realized that everyone was now waiting for the big reveal. She only frowned when she read the side of the box. Tom Tom ONE 125.

  “That’s pretty cool,” Hayden said, taking the box out of her hands.

  “That’s mine,” Diane said, quickly taking the box back.

  Adam and Eva laughed. Hayden shrugged. Hale silently watched her.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “A GPS system,” Eva said. “You use it in your car to get from point A to point B. I have one and I love it.”

  “It even talks to you,” Bailey added helpfully. “It tells you when to turn and how far away you are from a street or whatever. It’s pretty cool.”

  Suddenly, Diane understood. She glanced at Hale who watched her with the most serious expression on his face. She gave him a self-effacing grimace.

  “Cute. I’m sorry to say I probably should use one.”

  “You almost don’t have to think for yourself anymore,” Hayden said.

  Diane made a face at him. Smart ass, she mouthed, but he only grinned back.

  “So, where does this go in my car?” she asked, opening the box to pull out the contents, examining the parts.

  “On the dashboard. I’ll show you how it works, if you like.”

  She glanced at Hale as he casually made the offer. “Thanks.”

  “You forgot something,” Bailey said officiously.

  Diane sighed inwardly. She stood, with the GPS in hand, and stepped over the debris in the middle of the floor until she could reach Hale. Bending, she planted a quick and light kiss on his cheek. He showed no surprise and said nothing. But Hale moved unexpectedly. Slightly. Not away but to accommodate her gesture.

  She was suddenly reminded of the polite kiss Hale had been forced to give her under the mistletoe in Ron Jeffrey’s office. And the one later that evening, which had been prompted not by holiday cheer and goodwill to all men but by something more complex. She had not rejected him either time. This time, neither
had he. “Okay, dinner!”

  With that boisterous command from Adam, the Christmas gift exchange was considered over and done with. Everyone was instantly hungry and ready to eat. Diane was spared any further reflection.

  Except that she was seated next to Hale. Diane was grateful that any tension between them was lost in the overall cheerful and irreverent conversation and laughter of Christmas dinner. No one was spared teasing or embarrassing questions or unasked-for opinions or comments…like any other family.

  Eva had prepared a feast of apricot-glazed fresh ham, mashed potatoes, vegetables and biscuits served family style, everyone helping themselves and each other.

  While the kids cleaned up the mountains of torn and shredded gift-wrap paper, Diane helped Eva wrap and store leftovers in the kitchen. Hale took care of carting the garbage down to an outdoor bin and Adam cleared the table.

  Turning from a cabinet stocked with plastic storage containers, Diane caught her father in the act of kissing his wife. It was a quick peck on the mouth. The action was spontaneous but so loving that Diane felt like she was somehow invading a very private moment. She turned quickly away only to see Hale crossing the living room from the veranda. Diane knew he must have witnessed the exchange between her father and Eva as well. Once again, she and Hale’s gaze met before they both turned away.

  Hale knelt to organize all the opened gifts under the tree so that there was room to move around. Diane distracted herself by helping with the gifts. They worked in silence, but conversation and laughter around them filled the house with background noise.

  “I wasn’t expecting anything from you,” Diane finally said quietly.

  “Of course not,” he said smoothly, taking a box holding a sweater.

  “That’s not what I mean,” she said quickly, defensively.

  Hale sat back on his haunches and looked at her, amused. “Look. Let’s agree to stop tap-dancing around each other. I won’t second-guess you if you don’t second-guess me. I’ll say what I mean and you do the same, deal?”

  She studied him for a long moment and silently nodded. He was being sincere. And he was right.