“And ye canna be trusted,” the nurse said.
“Dear, we’re leaving in a matter of hours,” Sean reminded her. Zach noticed that the older man still looked amused, and even a little bit proud. Well, he was in his seventies, with a beautiful young wife. He deserved to puff himself up a bit. “Zach, Amanda was just trying to cheer me up, but I think it would be better if I got some more sleep right now. Will you see her back to the hotel for me?”
Zach glanced at Caer, and she looked back at him steadily. She would be here, and Will Travis had remained on duty. He bowed to Sean’s will and turned to Amanda.
“Come on, Amanda, let’s get you back to the hotel. We all have to be up early, anyway.”
She nodded grudgingly, then smiled at her husband. “Tomorrow night we’ll be back home, sweetie,” she said.
“Where you’ll have to practice a bit of restraint for a while, as well,” Caer told her firmly.
Amanda flushed furiously as Caer went on, “You’d be risking his life. Haven’t you understood that?”
Amanda at last had the grace to appear abashed.
“I only want to help Sean get better,” she announced indignantly. She stared at them all defiantly for a moment, then moved to the bed and kissed Sean tenderly on the forehead. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight for a moment.
Then he released her. “Get on back to the hotel,” he told her.
“Yes, darling,” she said, and straightened with great dignity.
Unfortunately, the effect was ruined by the blinking lights that continued to shine from beneath her coat. She started for the door but stopped when Sean said, “Amanda?”
“Yes?”
“Your chest is still lighting up like a neon sign,” he informed her wryly.
“Oh!” For the first time she actually had the grace to look embarrassed.
She dug into her coat and found whatever little gizmo turned the lights out. Then she tossed the freshly coiffed length of her platinum blond hair from away from her face and proceeded out of the room.
Zach followed her, glancing back at Caer. She offered him a small smile that she couldn’t quite conceal, and yet there was something grave in her eyes, and he knew that they were both wondering if Amanda had come out of love for her husband or…
If she understood the gravity of the stress the illness had put on Sean’s heart, and had come offering what she knew might well be a death sentence.
6
Amanda sat next to Sean for the flight home, and Zach was next to Caer.
She had told him that she had never flown before, and judging by her nervousness, that was certainly no lie.
She was tense and embarrassed, but he couldn’t help being aware of the subtle scent of her perfume. When his arms brushed against hers, he felt her warmth and something deeper, her unique vitality and vibrancy, like pure fire. He moved quickly away, feeling ridiculous for being so entranced by a woman he couldn’t help being suspicious of. The thought haunted him constantly, like an otherworldly warning never to accept the obvious, and not to fall too deeply beneath the spell of those cobalt eyes and the lilt in her tone. It was odd, because as much as he sensed that there was something she wasn’t telling him, when he watched her with Sean, she seemed absolutely genuine.
As they waited to take off, the flight attendant came by with champagne, orange juice and mimosas. Caer started digging in her purse for money, so he reached over and touched her on the arm to get her attention. “It’s all right. It’s free in first class.”
She put away her money, thanked the flight attendant and took a mimosa, then sat back and sank into her thoughts.
Maybe she was worried about dealing with Amanda, he thought.
In his entire life, Sean had never been anything but courteous to those around him, even when he was working to develop the small, struggling business he’d inherited into the successful concern it was now.
For Amanda, life had been a bit different. Sean had worked for the money he had. Amanda had married into it. He knew that she considered herself superior to the hired help, and in her mind, that’s all Caer was. Amanda had made it clear that she didn’t see any need to bring Caer back to the States with them, but Sean disagreed. And when Sean had decided on something, not even Amanda could dissuade him.
She knew that. She had tested her limits early in their marriage and finally learned them.
Zach just hoped she stopped glaring at Caer and didn’t spend her time thinking up ways to make her stay in the U.S. a misery.
As the plane sped down the runway, he saw Caer grip the armrests so hard that her knuckles were white.
He reached over, placing his hand on hers. “We’re just getting up to the speed we need for takeoff,” he told her.
“Thank you,” she said softly, but he could tell that she was still nervous.
He kept his hand on hers until they had left the ground and were leveling out. Then, slowly, he released her hand.