by Sandra Kitt
Eva looked genuinely surprised, and then her expression softened and her lashes actually fluttered. She seemed embarrassed by her own thoughts.
“No. Oh, no. We’re…Adam and I…well…”
“So you’re not having any marital or sexual problems.”
Eva couldn’t seem to respond, the topic was so suddenly personal. She simply closed her eyes and shook her head.
Diane smiled to herself. She was ten years old when she’d first met Eva, on a flight down to St. John as it happened. She knew it must be a little odd for Eva to have her grown-up stepdaughter—even if she was a doctor—make reference to her intimate life.
“Are you in pain? Uncomfortable in some way?”
Eva seemed relieved to be directed toward the possibilities.
“Sometimes I get cramps in my stomach. Below my navel. And in my lower back at the same time. Sometimes when Adam and I…afterward, I hurt a little.”
Diane listened carefully and gave Eva her full attention, seeing that her stepmother, who barely looked more than forty, was going through something real. She nodded, mentally cataloging the complaints. And in a way that surprised her, she was so glad that as a doctor she could help someone she loved so much.
“I feel bloated. Adam’s been teasing me that I’m either pregnant or getting fat.”
Although she said it with a caustic grin Diane could hear the uncertainty beneath the attempt at humor.
“Glad he can joke about it. I’ll have to have some words with him about his pouch. I’ll be right back.”
Diane returned to her room and rummaged through her luggage until she found the case with her stethoscope and blood pressure kit. Eva didn’t seem the least bit surprised that medical equipment was among her vacation gear. Diane told her she never went away anywhere without these basic tools of her profession.
“I’m just going to take some preliminary readings and, if you don’t mind, I’ll like to look at your stomach.”
Diane was glad that her stepmother could joke, even uneasily, about the sofa doubling very nicely as an examination table. It didn’t take long and when she was done she gave Eva a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Don’t worry. Gynecology is not my area but if I’m right I don’t think it’s serious. Worst case, it’s endometriosis. But it’s more likely cysts. They’re generally harmless little bubbles that attach to either the uterus or ovaries. They can get big, creating pressure and pain in the pelvic area. Have you been bleeding heavier than usual?”
Eva nodded.
“Well, I’ll get you something to help with the pain, but I’d like you to get an ultrasound.”
Diane began to put her things away and was curious when Eva grabbed her hand.
“Please don’t tell your father.”
“It’s nothing serious, I’m sure.”
“I know, but…Adam will worry more than he needs to, and…”
“You mean he’s overprotective.”
Again, Eva nodded.
“That’s…very sweet,” Diane said, squeezing Eva’s hand. “Okay. I won’t say anything. If you’re taking any medications I’d like to see what they are.”
“Just a few. I’ll get them for you.”
Eva sat adjusting her clothing and Diane returned to her room and put her tools on the bed. Then she sat on the edge thinking about her parents. Thinking about herself and Trevor.
As a matter of fact, to her way of thinking, her father and Eva’s was a rare relationship. Adam Maxwell didn’t just love his second wife, he adored her. And yes, he was protective.
Diane used to think it was because Eva was so small, so petite and delicate physically. However, Eva was probably the one person on the face of the earth who was capable, fearlessly, of putting Adam Maxwell in his place when it was needed. Diane smiled ruefully. Even she, his eldest child, didn’t have that kind of power.
As a teenager she’d been outright jealous of their closeness and wondered if her father’s second family, with the birth of Hayden and then Bailey, would push her to the background. She’d already achieved that status with her natural mother’s second marriage and the birth of Simon. And, of course, it had surfaced with a vengeance when Hale entered the scene. But Eva had comfortably, without effort or pretense, always made sure that her place in her father’s life was secure, along with his love and regard.
It was only when her father had made himself responsible for Hale Cameron that she’d again felt vulnerable…and unwanted. He was not family, and that had made it easy for her to belittle him, to treat him as an interloper and resent having to share him with her parents. Even as Hale had the ability to get her excited.
Diane also recognized, now that she’d attempted and failed at her own brief marriage, that what she wanted was exactly what her father had achieved with marrying Eva. Someone who loved him, and whom he loved, unconditionally. Someone who was so thoroughly the right person for him. Adam had once said so himself, confiding in her when she was fourteen or fifteen that he didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky as when he’d met Eva Duncan that summer on St. John.
“This is what I’ve been taking.” Eva suddenly appeared, thrusting a handful of pharmacy bottles at her. “They’re back,” Eva quickly added before rushing off to greet her returning family.
But Diane continued to sit. She absently looked at the individual labels. Mostly vitamin supplements. One or two were unnecessary, she thought, and made a note to tell Eva so. One bottle was a hormone replacement and another for high blood pressure. She frowned at these, as well, questioning the need for the prescriptions.
The arrival of the family filled the house with life. She put the medication bottles on the bed next to her. She was feeling a sudden terrible loneliness. Even a gripping fear, that maybe she just wasn’t the kind of woman that men wanted to love. Or cherish. “Til death do they part.”
And why not?
The sudden queasiness in her stomach signaled she understood more than she was willing to admit.
It sounded like a small army had arrived in the driveway below. She heard her father’s booming voice, telling Hayden and Bailey to go rinse off the snorkeling equipment and asking Courtney to take the picnic basket up to the kitchen. She heard Eva going out to the veranda to wait for them, knowing she would greet each one with an affectionate kiss.
Her father and Eva had never been shy about that. Showing how they felt about one another.
Finally Diane roused herself from her contemplative stupor to go and say hello. Plus to see if Hale had returned to the house with them as well.
Hale had learned long ago to stay out of the way of the Maxwell family when they were all together in the same place. He lurked in the background, trying not to be obtrusive. Sometimes it was hard to be an inadvertent witness to their open affection for each other.
He felt like a voyeur.
Hale trailed behind, as he often did, until everyone had settled down, and his presence simply became an accepted fact. But this time was different. There was the added awareness of Diane. Ever since Adam had gotten under sail out of the small marina at Chocolate Hole, he’d been thinking about her and wondering what she was doing. But to be honest, Hale was not disappointed that she had not joined them. It was no longer possible to keep up any pretense that they were nothing to each other. Since the moment he’d met her on the dock in Cruz Bay, he’d recognized that their youthful animosity toward each other had mysteriously become serious adult attraction.
He didn’t see her right away and thought perhaps she’d gone out somewhere on her own for the day.
He didn’t know if what he felt just then was disappointment or relief.
And then she did suddenly appear, coming into the living room quietly and unobserved by everyone except him. She glanced openly at him for a moment, on her silent journey around the boisterous cluster of her family. He pretended not to see her. She seemed to be headed toward him.
Hale felt a genuine moment of panic. Their litt
le adventure the night before was still fresh enough in his memory that he was afraid he’d give something away, either to Diane or to her family. He feigned a distraction by chatting briefly with Courtney to find out how she’d enjoyed her first attempt at snorkeling. When he turned, Diane was standing close to his side.
He could smell her.
She’d showered earlier with some botanically scented soap. Her hair was simply but attractively tied with a banded scarf. She looked barely older than Bailey. Still as young as when they’d…
“Hi. How was the sail?” she asked.
She was standing too close. It made him…too aware of her.
“Pretty nice. We headed over to Jost Van Dyke to swim. Had lunch there.”
“Sorry I missed it,” she murmured, looking at her bare feet.
“Maybe just as well. Being around teenagers is an interesting experience,” he commented. “It’s all about them.”
Diane smiled rather coyly at him. “Don’t forget, we were once teenagers.”
Hale made a point of catching her gaze and holding it.
“Yes. I remember very well.”
He had the satisfaction of seeing her almost blush.
“What did you two do while we were gone?” Adam asked Eva and Diane as he sat himself in a chair and propped his feet on the coffee table.
Neither answered right away. Curious, Hale observed the two women exchange covert glances.
“It was a girl thing,” Diane responded lightly. Her father laughed.
“We talked and talked,” Eva said with a shrug.
“And talked some more,” Diane reiterated.
“Don’t act like you even missed us.” Eva chortled.
“It would have been nice to have you along,” Adam admitted, speaking in a warm tone that Hale knew was for his wife.
Hale felt like he would give anything to know how it was done. How do you love someone that much? How do you build the trust? How long is it supposed to take?
“I couldn’t leave Diane alone,” Eva explained, “since no one else volunteered to stay and keep her company.”
“I didn’t realize there was an option,” Hale found himself saying quietly.
“She’s a big girl. I’m sure she’s used to being alone.”
Hale watched as Diane visibly cringed at her father’s thoughtless remark. Even Eva swatted her husband on his shoulder to silently chastise him. Hale walked over to the stack of gifts under the tree and searched until he located a box. He stood and turned to Diane.
“Come on. You and I are going out for a while.” He headed to the veranda.
“We are?” Diane asked, caught off guard.
“You are?” Adam and Eva said together.
“Can we come?” Bailey asked, pulling Courtney next to her.
“’Fraid not,” Hale said emphatically. He held up the box. “I’m going to show Diane how to use her GPS system.”
“Oh…” Bailey grimaced, losing all interest in accompanying them.
“Besides, you’re both sandy and your hair’s wrecked. Go shower. Both of you. You too, Hayden. I’ll make some snacks,” Eva said, getting up and heading into the kitchen.
Hale could have kissed her.
He looked at Diane. Her eyes were bright and regarded him with smiling consideration.
“Let’s go,” he said smoothly and she followed him down the stairs to the front of the yard.
“Where’s your Jeep?” she asked him.
Hale began removing the contents of the box. He gave her the instruction booklet and told her to put it away somewhere safe, just in case.
“Still down at the bay. I caught a ride back here with Adam.”
“But I can’t drive stick,” she reminded him.
“You will. I’m going to show you on Adam’s car for now. Get in,” he said, already climbing behind the wheel.
Diane did so. Hale thought for sure she’d be a little annoyed. If not by the insult of her needing a guidance system in her car, then at least by the idea of him teaching her a thing or two about driving. He was surprised to see that she seemed willing and enthusiastic.
He backed up to turn around to descend the steep driveway.
“Hey!”
Hale hit his breaks sharply as Adam’s voice grabbed their attention from the veranda above.
“Simon will probably be on the four o’clock ferry. Pick him up, will you?”
With a wave from Diane, Hale continued down to the paved main road.
“We’re going to the street behind the school yard, just outside of Great Cruz Bay,” Hale announced, expertly shifting as he took the curvy turns. “It should be deserted because of the holidays. We’ll let you practice there. Then I’ll show you how to use the GPS.”
“Hale?”
He gave her a quick glance, not taking his eyes from the road for more than a second.
“Pull over.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Although confused, and suspicious, Hale did as asked, driving onto a shoulder of the road so narrow that the Jeep was tilted at an angle.
He turned to look at Diane askance. Before he could do anything else, Diane had leaned toward him, curved her hand around the side of his head and began kissing him.
He wasn’t going to respond as if he were a trained pet for her amusement. But the instant he felt the soft searching of her mouth, the persistence with which Diane sought to share her tongue with him, he caved in.
He was not happy with how easy it had been. But God, she tasted good.
He hated the thought that she had won after all.
Hale gave as good as he got, and didn’t deny that kissing in this deeply intimate way was having its affects. A taxi van rattled by and the passengers, spotting him and Diane in the middle of nonverbal communication, whistled and hooted and cheered them on.
It was enough of a distraction to get his attention. He pulled away.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, hoping his voice was sufficiently firm.
She smiled seductively at him, her eyes bright but hooded. “Couldn’t you tell?”
“Why now?” he asked, more softly.
“Why not? Isn’t it about time?”
He couldn’t respond. That was his thought exactly.
“I’m apologizing. I’m admitting that I was a little bitch to you. I was a tease, and impossible, and I was very young. And…I was wrong.”
He gazed into her eyes wide with earnestness and, much to his surprise and reluctant admiration, he believed her.
She was nothing if not fearless.
“What do you expect me to say to that? What do you want me to do?”
She shrugged. “Tell me I’m not making a total ass of myself. Forgive me?”
Forgive her?
He faced the road, staring out into the lush landscape, letting the tropical breeze cool his anger and his ardor. He shifted slowly into first. His healing had already begun. Last night had proved it.
He wanted her.
“I’m working on it,” he said.
He suspected that she was disappointed in his answer. But Diane had taught him well, all those years ago, to be cautious. He wasn’t willing to give in at her bidding.
He demonstrated the function of the three floor pedals, and how two were used when shifting gears. Diane was a good student, as he knew she would be, if for no other reason than she hated to fail. She caught on quickly to the mechanics. After only a half dozen attempts that stalled, she finally nailed it, finding her own touch and feel of the shift stick.
Hale became the passenger as she drove through different streets and situations in and around the always crowded center of Cruz Bay. After an hour, he suggested they stop for a break and they sat outside a food truck that served only conch fritters. They shared a plate, along with cold beers and pleasant conversation. They stayed away from any mention of the kiss they had shared or their feelings about it. He wondered if Diane was frustrated. Ha
le wondered if she was aware that so was he.
Afterward Diane took over the driving again, getting ever-more adventurous on the steep and narrow roads of the island. Near the top of a rise as she attempted to shift for the down run, the car stalled. It nearly caused an accident with another car fast approaching from behind. The second car screeched to a stop when Hale and Diane rolled back several feet. Hale felt his whole body brace for impact and he was about to reach over to shift for her when Diane, gritting her teeth with determination, muttered to him, “Don’t even think about it.”
She shifted roughly. They jerked forward several times and then got going.
Hale couldn’t help laughing when they were clear of the hill.
“Damn! You haven’t changed a bit.”
She didn’t answer for a moment and then said, rather reflectively, “Only where it matters.”
He thought about that. He hoped so, too.
Hale instructed her to drive to a location she wasn’t familiar with, inland. Then, he showed her the GPS system, and how to enter a starting point and a destination that the system could then map.
“I want you to take us back to the post office,” Hale said to her. “We can pick up Simon from the dock afterward.”
He had her enter the address for the location from a service directory for Cruz Bay that was in the glove compartment. The system came on and began to talk in a digital female voice directing her where to drive, how far, when to turn and even when to slow down to stay within the speed limits. Hale was glad to see that she was like a kid with a new toy. She said she loved that it did most of the work for her.
“I think I’m going to buy stock in this company,” she announced triumphantly when she’d pulled into a parking spot opposite the post office entrance.
They left the car there and walked to the dock to wait for the ferry from Red Hook. Again, the pier was busy with people waiting for arriving passengers, and those waiting to board for the return to St. Thomas. And with nothing to do but wait, he could tell that they were both, again, remembering the flirtation between them that seemed to be escalating.
