Chapter Ninety-Three

Leah stood at the rail of her deck comfortable in white tights and a white off-shoulder top, looking out over the inky ocean and the barely visible beach in the darkness below the cliff on which she resided. There had been rain this evening leaving behind lingering clouds, and before that, a fog bank had threatened to roll in, but instead hung out there just off the coast. To her right, she could still see the light at Point Bonita Lighthouse dutifully flashing, its light reaching out across the expanse of water until it hit the fog and stopped as if it had hit something solid.

She loved the salt smell of the cool breeze that accompanied the storms coming in from the marine layer. This peaceful view and the clean, crisp air had been the lure that made it easy to leave the hospital each night. She had no idea how she would get by without it.

Earlier that evening, Albert had called to tell her that Doug Manning had sold his consulting business and left the country. Since he had received her frantic call from Washington, he had Manning closely watched by his network of business associates who knew other business associates who knew the right people to get just about any job done. Without any fanfare at all, Manning had just up and left, having been able to sell his homes and his company quickly…too quickly for there not to have been some pre-planning. The reason he left in addition to his destination were still unknown. Albert had told her to sit tight. They didn’t know anything yet. But how could she go on with business as usual without knowing?

Standing with her eyes closed, letting the salt breeze wash over her, Leah couldn’t shake the niggling in the back of her mind that he wasn’t through with her. She’d humiliated Doug; two very public humiliations, and he was too proud and too sure of himself to just disappear and lick his wounds.

Then there were her unanswered calls to Angela. Leah had left so many messages on Angela’s answering machine that she filled it, and it had remained filled.

She was struggling with the decision to tell Trapper her fears, but was leaning toward not. The less he knew, the safer he would be if Manning was up to something.

She heard the gate monitor beep. “Leah, it’s Trapper. I’m coming in.”

Blowing out through her mouth, she left her bottom lip jutting out, wondering how she was going to hide her worries from Trapper.

When he turned the corner, she was still leaning against the rail and watched him with a smile as he veered inside the open sliders, throwing his clothes on the sofa and returning to the deck, stepping behind her, leaning into her and moving his arms around her so that his head was right next to hers. “If I want?”

“Well, I didn’t know how tired you’d be after surgery.” She turned in his arms to face him, rubbing her hands over his chest and up the front of his shoulders. “I thought, perhaps, you’d go home and get some rest, but I see you didn’t even take time to remove your greens.”

“I don’t think I’d get much rest in an empty house. Not anymore, anyway,” he said with the corners of his mouth upturned, his nostrils flared and a puckish gleam in his eyes as he bent his head for a light, playful set of kisses. “I thought you liked my greens.”

Breathing in deeply, wearing a sated smile, she thought how wonderful life could be with Trapper without complications. “Hm. I do. How’s your patient?”

“Mother and baby are doing fine.”

“Mother…baby? They called you for a delivery?”

“The mother had a ruptured liver. Dr. Reyes took the baby by C-section, and then Gonzo and I repaired her liver. She’ll be fine. She just needs to rest.”

“Did you get something to eat?”

“No. Did you?” She bowed her head to hide her wince, and then glanced up at him quickly. Taking her hand, he led her into the house. “Let’s go see what’s in your refrigerator.”

“Let’s see,” she said, bending to look into the fridge. “We have chicken that I need to cook because it’s already thawed, cheese and cream.” She pulled everything out and went to the cabinet. “We’re in luck. I have some fettuccini.” Spinning around, she asked, “How do you feel about Chicken Alfredo?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did I see broccoli in there?”

“Yes, you did. Are you trying to make a heart attack on a plate healthier?” she teased with a cheeky smile. Rolling his eyes, he opened the refrigerator door and grabbed the broccoli.

***

“The broccoli was a good idea. I don’t feel as guilty.”

Trapper rolled fettuccini onto his fork then speared a piece of chicken. “You planned this meal for yourself?”

She watched him put his forkful in his mouth. “How could you possibly chew all that?” He shrugged. “Yes. I was going to eat my way to a heart attack.” Halting his chewing, he sat rigid, prompting her to hold up her hand. “Kidding. Don’t choke on it, please. The truth is I was going to try to make a cheesecake from scratch. The chicken and broccoli were going to be dinner.”

“Did you have a chance to work on your list?”

“That took all of two minutes,” she said, twirling pasta onto her fork into a much daintier bite than his. “I only have a few close friends I’d care to invite…Albert, Angela, Leo and Carlotta and Ernie. I thought about inviting Dr. Sandler, but I wasn’t sure it’d be appropriate.”

“I’ll invite David if you’d like him to be there. He’s a colleague, but I think it would do him good to see how things ended up.” He glanced up and reached for his wine. “Uh…how would you feel if I invited Melanie?”

Furrowing her brows, she glanced away for a moment. “Why would you invite your ex-wife?”

“Melanie and I are friends. We’ve even met…occasionally.”

“Met? Met how?” she asked, folding her lips to suppress smile.

He glared. “Met.”

Biting her lip, she raised her brows and nodded. “So…who’s on your list?”

“Arnold, Stanley…Ernie…Gloria, Gonzo, Aunt Minnie, my sister, Maureen, a couple of fishing buddies, and a few doctors and their wives. I don’t think there will be more than twenty-five between us.”

“Well, anyone local can come to the party, but that won’t include Albert and Angela. I’d hate for them to have to travel all this way twice.” She pushed away from the small table on the deck. “I’m done.” Picking up her wine, she walked back to the rail.”

Trapper pushed his chair back away from the table, crossed his legs and studied her. “Is something else bothering you?”

“Something else?” she asked without turning around. “What could be bothering me? It’s all falling into place, isn’t it?”

“Every bride I’ve known who’s actually gone through with it was positively giddy. You don’t seem too happy.”

“Perhaps, I’m just lamenting leaving all this,” she replied, waving her hand across the waterscape in front of her. “Do you realize the kind of peace I find leaning on this rail? When it’s raining, I find the same peace standing on the other side of the sliding glass doors looking out on all this. When I’m not looking, even the sound is soothing. It calms my overactive brain,” she said, ending with a chuckle.

He startled her when he moved his arms around her waist, then waited for her to shift her lean against him so he could rest his chin at the side of her head. “We don’t have to give this place up. We could stay at the house on work days and come here on the weekends. Or better yet, we could buy a place of our own on the coast…find a small, quiet, isolated cottage.”

“Where would we find that here?”

“We wouldn’t. We’d have to look somewhere else.”

“We could buy a boat instead.”

A satisfied grunt escaped him. “I like the way you think.”

They stood silent for awhile enjoying the feel of the crisp breeze and the sound of the waves as the fog slowly made its way to shore.

“What about your kids?”

Taking a deep breath, he tightened his arms around her. “Kim, maybe. I don’t know if JT will come.”

“Why?” she asked, twisting her neck so she could look up at his face.

Trapper chuckled. “Let’s just say, he’s feeling his independence out from underneath his father’s thumb.”

Turning her head back to the view, she nestled closer into to him. “You should invite him anyway. Both of them.”

“I don’t know if I’d want to surprise them that way. They’ve never met you. It could be awkward.”

“For you…or me, or them?”

“All of the above.” She didn’t see the smile on his face and had no way of knowing the contentment he was feeling at that moment because she remembered his children.

“Wouldn’t it be better to invite them instead of shocking them with the introduction of your wife after the fact?”

He grimaced. She was right. They needed the chance to meet her before she was thrown into their lives. “Maybe we could ask them to dinner. JT’s local, but Kim would have to fly down. We’ll have the party, then dinner with the kids, and after that, we’ll get married. Okay?” he asked, looking down on her as she looked up at him with a smile. A quick kiss sealed the agreement.