A Coral Kiss Part 8

"Run along and chop lettuce or whatever it is you're going to do in the kitchen. Leave the barbequing to the male of the species."

Amy stifled a groan. "I'm beginning to wonder if I made a serious error when I invited you here."

"Nope. It was probably one of your brighter moves." Jed swung himself up off the lounger and glanced over to the far comer of the veranda where Slater was arranging coals in the pit of the barbeque grill.

Amy started to leave, but paused and asked quickly, "Is your leg feeling any better?"

"One more gla.s.s of white wine and it'll be good as new. Well, maybe five or six more."

"And that's another thing," she began, "I have not deliberately tried to alter your drinking habits! I never fuss. Especially not with you."

He gave her a gentle push in the direction of the sliding gla.s.s doors. "'Bye, Amy."

She clearly wanted to argue further, but surrendered to the inevitable with rather bad grace. Jed sauntered toward the barbeque grill to offer moral support.

"Can I pour you another Scotch and water while you deal with that, Doug?"

Slater chuckled and nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. Pour yourself one, while you're at it. As long as my daughter's out of sight, you might as well live a little."

"Thanks. I'll try not to run wild. Amy says you've had this place since before she was born?"

Slater nodded, bending over to poke at some coals. "Yeah, went in fifty-fifty with my partner, Mike Wyman. He and I were stationed here back in the fifties. That was when the Navy kept a supply depot on this island. Mike and I got drunk one night and decided Orleana Island was going to be the next Hawaii. We had visions of tourists pouring in as jet travel became popular. Land around here was dirt cheap. Still is, which tells you something about our real estate forecasting abilities. Mike and I bought up a lot of island. When we got out of the service we went into business together in California. After a few years of making money we built this place for our own use while we sat back and waited for Hilton and Sheraton to grovel at our feet. As you can see, it never quite worked out like that."

"I'll have to admit that little bunch of buildings and shops at the other end of the island doesn't exactly look like Waikiki."

Slater grinned. "From a business point of view, buying up a chunk of Orleana Island was about the stupidest move I ever made. But from a personal point of view, it was a real coup. Gloria and I don't know what we'd do without this place now. It's home. We've got friends here. Good friends, not business a.s.sociates, if you know what I mean."

"The kind of people you can count on," Jed murmured.

"Exactly. And you can't beat the climate. The book on managing in the aeros.p.a.ce industry I'm supposed to be writing keeps me busy. If I get really bored, I do a little consulting on the side."

"Did you have another business before Slater Aero?" Jed poured the two drinks and carried them both over to the grill. He handed one to Slater and leaned back against the railing.

"Another business?" Slater asked, obviously confused. "Oh, you mean with Wyman. No, Mike and I founded Slater Aero together more years ago than I care to remember. Mike was the engineering genius of the firm but he had mush in his head when it came to business."

"You, on the other hand, had the business sense to make his strokes of genius marketable, right?"

"It was the perfect partnership. We called the firm Wyman and Slater back then. Changed the name after Mike was killed. Working with Wyman was a little like working with an artist." Slater straightened and took a sip from his gla.s.s. 'Temperamental as h.e.l.l. But, Jesus, he was sharp when it came to aeronautical design. Slater Aero made a lot of money over the years off some of his early work. Wish he could have lived to spend some of it. Mike liked spending money."

"What happened to him?" Jed watched the last of the sunlight dapple the water in the cove below.

"Sailing accident. He loved the sport, but was a bit reckless. Went overboard during a cruise between here and Hawaii and was never seen again. He was the only person on board. He and the ship were both lost. Mike was always taking chances. I guess he took one too many. Things were a little hectic when the news came that he'd disappeared. Everyone knew Mike was the technical mind behind the firm."

"So everyone in the industry stood around and waited to see if you'd go under without him?"

Slater shot Jed an a.s.sessing glance. "As I said, things were a little hectic for a while."

"I'll bet." Jed could imagine the guts and determination it must have taken to hold the company together after Wyman's death. Contracts would have been hard to get until the firm had proved itself capable without the technical genius.

"How long have you known my daughter, Jed?"

"About three months. But I've spent a lot of time out of the country since I met her, so we really haven't had much of those three months together."

Slater nodded. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get her back to the island this year. She had a rough experience here about eight months ago."

"She mentioned a guy named LePage," Jed said carefully.

"Amy brought him here for a few days early last October. They'd met in San Diego about three weeks before, I gather. She lived in San Diego for three years before she moved to that artsy-craftsy Caliph's Bay. LePage was a nice enough guy, if you like the type."

"Meaning you didn't like him?"

"There wasn't anything to dislike, I suppose. Good manners. Smart. Gloria a.s.sured me he was handsome. I just didn't think he was Amy's type. But maybe a father never thinks any man is his daughter's type. Still, you can't protect them forever. And Amy always did make her own decisions."

"What happened with LePage?"

"Didn't Amy tell you? He insisted on trying to dive some flooded caves that have an entrance a few hundred yards out in the jungle." Slater waved his hand in a vague direction that took in much of the heavy, dark foliage beyond the house. "He hit his head somehow when he entered the cave. The blow knocked him out and he drowned. Amy found him the next morning. It shook her up." Slater looked at Jed. "Do you dive?"

"Scuba? Yeah, I've done some."

"Amy does a lot when she's here. Her mother taught her. We've got plenty of equipment if you want to do some while you're staying with us."

"I'd enjoy that."

"Glad to get Amy back here," Slater went on easily. "I was getting worried about her. Thought maybe her recent success was getting to her. Got published this year, you know."

Jed heard the fatherly pride in the older man's voice and smiled. "I know. I've read her books."

"Got another one in the works."

"I've seen the first part of the ma.n.u.script. It's called Private Demons."

Slater c.o.c.ked one brow. "Very interesting. Normally Amy won't let anyone read her stuff until it's in print."

Jed reminded himself that as far as Private Demons was concerned, he hadn't bothered to ask the author's permission before reading the ma.n.u.script. But that was a mere detail. He saw no need to mention it.

He stood leaning on the veranda while Slater prepared the barbeque and wondered what private demons were swimming behind Amy's almost green eyes. Soon, Jed promised himself, he would find out. He took another thoughtful sip of Scotch.

Chapter Five.

Gloria Slater had not done much diving in recent years, but she still swam daily and took long walks on the beach with her husband on a regular basis. Her figure, as always, had an athletic fluidity that had softened only a little in the last decade. Amy eyed her mother's narrow waist with rueful admiration, hoping privately that she would look that good when she was Gloria's age.

"I think I like your young man, Amy." Gloria removed a large salad bowl from a perfectly organized cupboard and went to the refrigerator.

Amy tilted her head to one side, considering the comment. "I never think of Jed as young. He's in his middle thirties, I think."

"Well, that sort of thing is relative, isn't it? Believe me, from my perspective, he looks young." Gloria smiled and handed her daughter a sack of romaine. "You can tear the lettuce. Do it with reverence. It costs a fortune to have it flown in from Hawaii. I'll do the dressing." She opened the door of her s.p.a.cious walk-in pantry and pulled out the makings.

Amy began work on the lettuce, wondering as she did so if Jed had ever been "young." The idea startled her. From the very beginning there had been something in his eyes that had spelled too much age and experience. That quality, she acknowledged for the first time, was one of the things that had both repelled and attracted her. It was as if she sensed that Jed might be the kind of man who would understand and possibly accept what she had done because he'd seen much worse. Irritated with the fleeting bit of self-perception, Amy concentrated on tearing the lettuce.

"Have you heard from Sylvia lately?" Amy asked, seeking a safe topic.

"Oh, yes. Got a call from her last week. She's doing beautifully. Women doctors, especially gynecologists it seems, are very popular these days. She has a full patient load." Gloria shook her head. "Amazing how times change. You should hear her talk about all the new birth techniques."

"I got a note from Darren saying he and Anne are going to Europe for a skiing vacation next December."

This wasn't what she wanted to talk about, Amy thought desperately. There were so many questions she wanted to ask her mother, and none of them had anything to do with how her brothers and sister were getting along.

"He and Anne need to get away," Gloria said as she whipped the salad dressing. Her movements were precise, efficient and strong. "Darren's just like your father was at that age. Totally committed to the business."

What about you? Amy asked silently. What were you like at that age? You weren't committed to the business or your husband, were you? You were pa.s.sionately in love with Michael Wyman.

Amy had seen the letters. They were all together in a neat little pile.

"Hugh and Glenda are going to have another baby, did he tell you?" Gloria moved back to the refrigerator.

"So soon?" I want to know how you did it, Mom. 1 want to know how you pulled yourself together afterward and went on with your life. How did you escape the nightmares? Or did you have any?

"It's good to have them close together," Gloria stated. "And voters love politicians who are good family men. About time you gave some thought to the matter, yourself, Amy. A family, I mean. I know it's fashionable to have your babies later these days. Sylvia told me about a forty-year-old woman who delivered her first child recently. But I don't think it's such a good idea. Time does run out for a woman."

Her own time was running out, Amy realized, in a way she couldn't explain. She had thought it would get better as time went on. She had thought she'd gradually put it behind her. She knew she would never forget, but she thought it would get easier. She was wrong.

How did you survive, Mother? I have to know. I want to survive, too.

"Have you discussed a family with Jed?"

"Mom! For crying out loud, I've only known the man for a few months." Amy ripped the last of the romaine apart.

"It's best to sort those things out in the beginning."

"I can't see Jed with a bunch of little rug rats running around his feet." The mental image was jarring at first, then it became amusing. Amy smiled in spite of herself. "Then again..."

"You never know about a man. It's hard to tell which of them will make good fathers."

"Sounds risky." Did you think Michael Wyman would make a good father? Or were you going to leave your children behind when you ran off with him? If it had worked out as you had planned, would we have ever seen you again?

"It is risky. That's why so many women make so many mistakes. A woman just does the best she can under the circ.u.mstances. Sometimes she makes an error in judgment, but she doesn't look back. She picks up the pieces and keeps going forward. Don't be afraid of the risks, dear."

The last risk I took almost killed me, Mother.

"If it were up to the men there wouldn't be any children in this world." Gloria finished the dressing with a flourish.

You took the same risk down in that d.a.m.n cave as I did. What was it like for you? Could you see his eyes, Mother? Did they stare at you so intently you wondered if some part of him was still alive? Did those eyes come back to haunt you? Could you feel the brush of his leg in the water? Did his hand touch you so lightly he might have been making love to you?

"It worries me that you haven't settled down with anyone, Amy. How serious are you about Jed?"

"Jed is just a friend, Mother."

"Amy, my dear, don't pull that one on me. I've seen the way he looks at you. Possessive men give themselves away with their eyes. Has he been married before?" Gloria asked casually as she handed the dressing to her daughter.

Amy nearly dropped the bowl. She didn't know, she realized in disbelief. She didn't even know if he had ever been married. "No, I don't think so. He's never mentioned a previous marriage."

"Ask," Gloria advised firmly, laying out silverware.

"Why?" Amy realized she was beginning to feel cornered. "I've told you, he's just a friend."

"I've lived long enough to know that very few men are capable of having a simple friendship with a woman." Gloria grinned, looking twenty years younger for an instant. "It's the nature of the beast. One of the biggest mistakes a woman can make is thinking she can have a real friendship with a man. Men almost always want something more, even if they never say it or act on it."

"That's an old-fashioned view, Mom, and you know it."

"You think so? Ask any man."

Before Amy could respond to that, Jed materialized in the doorway. He glanced inquiringly at Gloria.

"Ask any man what?"

Amy glared at him. For an instant she wondered if her mother had identified that look in his eyes accurately. No, it didn't make any sense. Jed would not be possessive of a woman. He wanted no strings. "Nothing. Go back outside and amuse yourself walking on hot coals or something. We'll be right out."

Gloria laughed. "Amy and I were discussing male-female relationships."

Jed nodded, folding his arms as he leaned against the doorjamb. "Always a fascinating topic."

"Amy thinks it's possible for men and women to have pure friendships. I told her I thought such true, platonic friendships were extremely rare. Men aren't built to engage in those kinds of relationships with women."

"It's a weakness in the brain, no doubt," Jed agreed.

Amy's head came up. "Are you saying she's right?"

Jed looked at her. "Based on personal experience, I'd say she is. It's possible to have a lot of female acquaintances, but not a lot of close female friends." He paused and then added deliberately, "Not unless there's something more involved."

"s.e.x?"

"Yeah." He grinned wickedly.

"Well, h.e.l.l." Amy began tossing the lettuce with the dressing her mother had made. "If that's the case, then I guess you're right. It's a weakness in the brain. Either that or you and my mother are both throwbacks to another era."

Jed moved from the doorway and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry about it. I consider us friends. Close friends."

Amy went red and was thoroughly fl.u.s.tered by the fact. She shoved the salad bowl into Jed's hands.

"Here, take this out on the veranda with you."