Char finally made contact with her uncle Zachary and he invited her to bring her brood up for a beach day on Saturday. She agreed happily. It had been so long since the boys had seen him and she wanted to make sure her little guys grew up with their great uncle as a part of their experience, as well as a part of their family. Besides, this would finally give her a chance to see if she could find out just exactly what was going on with his rebellion. She felt as though she owed it to Michael to at least make some sort of attempt. After all he’d done for her, she wanted to do something for him. If it was at all possible.
They piled into her old car with blankets and sand toys and implements of destruction and headed north. The day was gorgeous and her spirits were high.
She stopped off at the cliff site to show the boys where the main part of the resort would be built, and to her surprise, the place was swarming with workers. Cars, vans and trucks were parked haphazardly and a young woman in an orange jumpsuit was directing traffic.
She pulled her car up and let the boys out so that they could run in a sandy area for a few minutes. Shading her eyes against the sun, she looked around to see if there was anyone there that she knew, and was rewarded with quite a few appreciative glances and even a low whistle that took her aback.
“Hey, pretty lady,” said Judd, the handsome construction worker, who spotted her right away. His gaze showed obvious approval of the way she filled out her designer jeans and blue jersey top. “We meet again.”
“What are you all doing here?” she asked. “Don’t you get weekends off?”
“Not this one. The powers that be made some plan changes and we’ve got to get the surveying done all over again by Monday. They’ve got ground-breaking next week. But we’re happy. Overtime work means good pay.”
His words were casual but his tone and attitude were definitely flirty, and she couldn’t help but respond with a big smile. She was just about to say something equally inconsequential, just to keep the conversation going, when Michael suddenly appeared next to her.
“Hi,” he said, glancing from Judd to Char and back to Judd again. Judd took the hint, winked at Char and got back to work. Michael looked at her sideways.
“There’s another crew working over on the other side,” he told her softly. “Maybe you’d like to walk over there and drive them crazy, too.”
Char’s mouth dropped in outrage. “Are you implying…?”
He held back a grin. “I’m not implying, I’m telling you. Construction guys like pretty women. And they’re usually pretty noisy about it.”
She calmed down, but she couldn’t let him get away with that scot-free. “If you think I dropped by to get an ego boost, you can think again,” she said, tossing her head. “We’re on our way to have lunch with Uncle Zach and I thought I’d show the site to the boys while we were at it. I didn’t know you all would be working today.”
His gaze sharpened and he looked at her with a speculative frown. “Great idea,” he said, as though she’d suggested something. “I’ll come along with you.”
“I didn’t invite you,” she protested, but her heart skipped at the thought of him coming along. That was happening more and more these days. Could she help it if she found him fun to be with? Despite everything, they got along very well.
Oh, who was she kidding? He was the sexiest thing to come along in her life for a good long time, and she responded to him like a flower to the sun. There were so many reasons why she shouldn’t. To fall for Michael was to ask for heartbreak, not only for her but for her children as well. It wasn’t fair to let them like him too much, to let them begin to see him as a father figure, when he had never pretended that he was going to be around any longer than his temporary assignment lasted. She wasn’t about to follow through on the impulses his presence conjured up in her. But she wasn’t about to banish him from her life, either.
“It’s destiny, darling,” he drawled, smiling at her. “Fate drew you here and threw me in your path. Don’t try to fight it.”
She couldn’t help but smile back at him. She loved it when he was playful like this. “You’ve got nerve, haven’t you?” she teased. “I feel so helpless. You’re such a take-charge kind of guy.”
“I’m glad you finally understand that,” he responded smugly. “Hey, time’s a wastin’. Let’s go.”
The boys came running up and Ronnie called out a greeting to Michael.
“Mr. Greco is going to go to Uncle Zach’s with us,” Char told them.
“Yeah!” Ronnie cried happily.
Michael grinned at him. “Hey. You want to ride with me?”
Ronnie nodded his head vigorously.
Michael looked at his brother. “How about you, Ricky?”
For the first time, there was a response in Ricky’s eyes. For just a moment, he almost thought Ricky would agree to come along with him, too. But then he shook his head and came over to stand very close to his mother, twisting his hand in the hem of her shirt.
Looking up, Michael met Char’s gaze, and for just a moment he felt a communication that didn’t have words. Then she looked away and they both headed for their cars.
They had to take one of the car seats from Char’s car and set it up in Michael’s, which took some doing, but finally they were on their way. Michael looked in the rearview mirror at the happy boy in his back seat and he grinned. There was nothing like a smiling kid to put a glow on the day.
A little voice inside was yelling at him, asking him if he knew what the hell he was doing, but he was ignoring it. Yes, he’d promised to stay away from Char. And yes, he knew he was risking going through torture again. But right now, he didn’t care. Being with Char was too good to give up just because he was going to have to pay a major price down the road. And that was all there was to it.
They pulled up alongside the little beach house moments later. The boys piled out, running into the yard and tackling Zach as he came out the door to meet them.
“Hey, you little rascals,” he growled at them, laughing and hugging and then letting them run on into the house. Turning, he saw Michael and all humor drained from his face.
“Hey. This is a family party.” Zach stared at Michael with unconcealed animosity. “I’ve said all I’m going to say to you and your damn company.”
“He came with me, Uncle Zach,” Char said, slipping her arm through Michael’s. “He’s my friend…and my boss.”
Zach scowled, looking from her to Michael. “So you’re still working for the bloodsuckers at TriTerraCorp, are you?” he said, his voice dripping with contempt.
“No rabble-rousing, Uncle Zach. Remember, this is a family party.” She threw a significant glance toward the house, where the boys were playing, and leaned forward to kiss the old man’s cheek.
Zach nodded, though he looked darn grumpy about it. He glared at Michael, but he stood back to let them both into his little house.
Zach’s home was chock-full of mementos of the ocean. His wife had died fifteen years before, so there had been no one to inhibit his pack rat tendencies. From one end of the house to the other were items of seagoing lore that he’d collected over the years. Carvings of pelicans and seagulls sat shoved in between old life preservers, a huge clam shell, green glass fishing balls, a piece of a mast and half a rowboat. There was an old fishing net sitting in the corner and a sail tacked up on one wall. And everywhere there were seashells.
The boys were thrilled. They had to know what everything was and Zach lost most of his animosity toward Michael as he got into telling little anecdotes about each item. And once they’d exhausted that topic, the boys headed for the beach with shovels and pails in hand.
“Go on out and watch them,” Zach said, shooing Michael and Char out the door as well. “And leave me to put the finishing touches on my secret chili recipe.”
“Do you think I dare eat any food that old codger gives me?” Michael whispered as they went out through the front gate.
“Uncle Zach would never resort to poison,” Char advised him. “I’d duck if he picks up a baseball bat, though.”
“How reassuring.”
She laughed. “Oh, come on. His bark is much worse than his bite. He’s been gruff for as long as I’ve known him, and I’ve never seen him hurt a flea.”
They walked out along the beach, the ocean breeze in their faces, the sun on their backs. Ronnie and Ricky were filling their pails with sand and storming down to the water’s edge to throw their contents into the water, laughing with glee as the sand sank quickly out of sight.
“Are you going to try to talk to my uncle about clearing out of here?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No. I’m just here to judge the lay of the land, that’s all. I’m not going to pick a fight.”
“Good.” She gave him a provocative smile. “You’ve made enough trouble for one day. Accusing me of soliciting construction worker whistles!” She rolled her eyes.
He gave her one of his adorable crooked grins. “I didn’t mean it. You know that. I was just jealous.”
Her eyes widened and she went very still. “Jealous? Jealous of what?”
He looked down at the sand, then looked into her eyes. “Of the way you were looking at Judd.”
“I….” She flushed. “I can’t believe you said that,” she muttered, but her guilt was written all over her face. “I mean, it’s not like we’re…we’re…”
“No, we’re not, are we?” He caught hold of her hand and drew her closer. “And that’s the only reason I’m not kissing you right now,” he said softly.
She looked up into his luminous eyes and then away. She wanted his kiss so badly she could hardly breathe. But she couldn’t let him. Not here. Not in front of the boys.
“I’ll never be able to go to the beach again without thinking about how you looked dancing in the waves,” he said softly, his eyes cloudy with the memory.
She turned to look at him, ready to make a bright, sassy retort, to say something, anything, to keep things light and casual, but the words died in her throat. Suddenly her eyes were swimming in tears. The unutterable sadness of what he’d said, the implication that they’d lost a chance at something that could never be retrieved, touched her in a way she hadn’t expected.
“What’s wrong?” he said when he noticed.
“Nothing.” She wiped furiously at her eyes, appalled at herself. “It must be the sea air or something,” she muttered transparently.
He curled her into the shelter of his arm and bent to plant a kiss on the top of her head. He didn’t say anything, but he kept her there for the rest of their time on the beach, pressed close to his side, pressed close to his heart. And she reveled in the warmth of his body next to hers as the breeze tossed her hair.
The chili was wonderful, thick and spicy and covered with melted cheese. So were the light, fluffy biscuits Zach had made to go with it. They ate, laughing at silly things the boys said, listening as Zach regaled them with tales of “how it was in the old days.”
It was obvious Zach had begun the stories as a way of sticking it to Michael, proving to him that he was a monster to be contemplating destroying what had once been so rich and special in this place. But as he got into it, he forgot all about that and his eyes became alive with the tales he was telling.
He told stories about sea captains washed ashore and nursed to health by Indian maidens, and of Spanish explorers staking out the land for Spain, and of settlers building their homes out of ships deserted by crews who jumped overboard to head for the gold fields, and of watching for enemy submarines during the Second World War. Then he told the boys things about their mother as a little girl, things that made them squeal with laughter and made Michael grin with delight—and Char blush.
They had little dishes of Zach’s special banana chocolate ice cream, and then the boys wanted to go out and play again, and Char and Michael went out to watch them. They found some interesting hermit crabs living in a tidal pool in among the rocks. That kept them interested for half an hour, but while the two adults were still poking through trapped kelp, looking for beasties, the boys grew bored and were on the lookout for new horizons.
“Can we go on the pier?” Ronnie asked.
“Okay,” Char said, glancing at it. It wasn’t far from where they were wandering. “If you’re very careful.”
The boys ran off. She turned to Michael. “I suppose we’d better start back ourselves,” she said. “It’s about time to wrap up this little caper.”
He agreed, but reluctantly. He was having one of the better days of his life. Funny how they all seemed to revolve around Char lately.
He kept telling himself that he’d only come on this outing to check out Zach and maybe to try to ingratiate himself with the old man. But he knew better. He’d come because he had jumped at the chance to be with Char for an afternoon. He was beginning to think about her all the time. She filled his head, filled his senses, and if he wasn’t careful, she would break his heart.
But silently, he scoffed at his own sappy thoughts. His heart had been broken years ago. What he carried around now was a shattered relic of what it might have been. He could be happy, he could be unhappy, but he couldn’t be broken. Not anymore.
They started back, walking slowly, talking softly. As they neared the pier, Michael turned to take the shells they’d collected up to the house. Char watched him go, thinking warm and cuddly thoughts, but the sound of a large splash made her whip around. At the same time she heard Ronnie shout.
“Mama, Mama! Ricky fell in!”
“Oh, no!” She started for the pier, not terribly anxious at first. Both the boys took swimming lessons at the YMCA and Ricky had actually played in the water off that very pier only months before.
But Ronnie wasn’t acting as though it were nothing. He was jumping up and down and pointing. “Mama, Mama, come quick. Ricky’s going down.”
That quickened her pace, and she began to panic when she saw the vague outline of Ricky’s body going deeper into the water. And for a few seconds, she just couldn’t understand it. She’d been taking the boys to swimming lessons since before they could walk. Ricky could swim. Why wasn’t he moving? Why was he just floating away…?
“He hit his head, Mama. Right here.” Ronnie pointed to his temple and jumped up and down with anxious excitement. “He hit his head on the wood. Quick, Mama. You gotta get him.”
Before she could gather her wits and think what to do, something flashed past her and she realized it was Michael. In seconds, he was in the water, grabbing Ricky’s body and pulling him to the surface.
“Ohmigod,” she cried, running to the edge of the pier and helping to get Ricky up on the deck. He stirred, conscious now, and frowned as though he wasn’t sure what had happened.
“Oh, my baby!” She pulled him into her arms. “Are you okay? Michael, is he okay?”
Instinctively she turned to him for reassurance. Sopping wet, Michael vaulted onto the deck and bent over the boy, checking his breathing, his pulse.
“He seems okay,” he said roughly. “But I think a doctor should see him.”
“I’ll call an ambulance.” Zachary had come out on the pier.
“Forget the ambulance,” Michael said, lifting Ricky into his arms and looking at Char. “Let’s go. You drive my car. I’ll hold him.”
They did as he said, all four of them piling into Michael’s car and racing for the hospital in downtown Trivolo. Char drove, forcing herself to remain calm and keep her mind on her driving. Ricky was still groggy, but he clung to Michael as though he knew exactly who had saved him from the water. The two of them were thoroughly wet, and she’d thrown a blanket over them before they’d left the beach. But she was numb, aware of what might have happened if Michael hadn’t acted so quickly.
At the hospital, they all poured out and made their way into the lobby. A nurse hurried them on into the emergency room and a doctor was there to help in no time. Ricky was prodded and tested and given a red balloon. Michael and Ricky both were given dry clothes. And then there were more tests for Ricky.
“He’s fine,” the doctor said at last. “He had a bad bump, but I see no signs of concussion. No water in his lungs. Just a bad scare.” He smiled at the boy. “But you had better be more careful on piers, young man. You might not always have such a quick lifeguard to save you as you did this time.”
Ricky held tightly to his balloon, but he looked at Michael, who scooped him up to carry him to the car again. Char looked on in exhausted relief. Her boy was okay—thanks to Michael.