Always Friday (17 page)

Scurrying up the companionway, she ran to the wheel and
grabbed it with both hands. Feet spread apart, she closed her eyes and listened
to the cry of seagulls overhead and the water licking against the hull. A
breeze had kicked up. It caressed her cheeks with damp sea air, carried green
ocean smells and the scents of wax and wet new wood. She held her face to the
play of the wind and imagined canvas flapping overhead as the ship bobbed
gently beneath her bare feet. How grand it must have been to have sailed the
seas in Laffite’s day. She could almost hear the roar of cannons and the clash
of cutlasses.

Dan’s arms clamped around her waist. “Gotcha, my pretty,” he
growled in her ear.

Squealing with laughter, she slipped from his grasp. Two
steps away, she wheeled, drew her plastic saber, and shouted, “Back, back, you
scurvy sea-dog! Back or you die.”

For a moment, the breeze ruffling the red plume on his hat
was his only movement. Then his eyes narrowed, his lip drew into a lascivious
sneer, and he reached for his sword.

“Give over, my bloodthirsty vixen,” he growled in his
deepest voice. “You’re mine.”

She thrust her nose in the air and exclaimed in a falsetto, “No,
never.”

Uttering a theatrical, villainous laugh, he grabbed her and
threw her over his shoulder like a sack of coffee beans. “We’ll see about that.”
Her hat went tumbling across the deck as he strode to the companionway.

“My hat!” she squealed as its yellow plume disappeared over
the side.

“I’ll buy you a thousand hats after I have my way with you.”

She wiggled and giggled and beat on his back with her fists.
“Unhand me, you bloody cutthroat.”

He smacked her on the bottom. “Quiet, wench, you’re no
lightweight.”

He carried her down the narrow steps to the captain’s
quarters and dropped her on the bunk. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him.
“Surely you wouldn’t ravish an innocent maiden.”

Eyebrow quirked at a wicked angle and one corner of his
mouth raised in a satyric smirk, his gaze burned a path from toe to nose. “No.”

She heaved a sigh. “Oh, shoot.” She started to rise.

Laughing, he captured her in his arms and fell onto the bunk
with her. “But I plan to ravish you.” Soft blue-gray eyes, the same shade as
the shirt he wore, scanned her face. His hand pushed her tousled hair. “Mind?”

“Do your duty, mate.” She took off his hat and tossed it
aside.

He lowered his lips to hers and tasted and teased and
tormented with the tip of his tongue until her arms slipped around his neck and
pulled him into a kiss that curled her toes.

“Oh, God,” Dan whispered, fumbling with the clasps of her
overall bib. “Woman, you set me on fire.”

Slowly, he pulled the garment down over her hips and along
her legs to her ankles, his eyes feasting on her as he went. She kicked her
feet free, and with a roguish chuckle that made her breath catch, he pitched
the orange wad over his shoulder.

His hands slid up the outside of her legs, along the curve
of her hips, and under her fuchsia shirt to cup her breasts as he sought her
mouth.

Amid urgent kisses, they stripped one another, tossing
clothes aside until they lay bare on the captain’s bunk.

Dan’s tongue circled her navel, then dipped into the shallow
recess. She moaned and threaded her fingers through his thick mane of hair as
he kissed a wet, winding trail over her belly and up to the underside of her
breast. He licked and laved and kissed his way around one soft mound until his
lips closed over its hardened peak. She drew in a quiet scream as he nibbled
and sucked at the sensitive tip while his hand slipped between her thighs.

Her movements grew fevered and frantic as his mouth and
fingers worked fiery magic on her flesh. She reached for him but he twisted
away.

“Not yet, me pretty, I’m not done with my tormenting. “

And he wasn’t.

“Dannn!” she squeaked as his mouth went lower.

By the time he knelt between her legs, she was a mindless
bundle of sensation—raw, exposed, arching, aching for release. He hooked his
arms under her knees and grinned down at her, his nostrils flared, his need as
evident and great as hers.

“You want me, my comely wench?”

She whimpered and nodded.

“You got me.”

He raised her up and plunged deeply. He drew back and thrust
again. A hurricane of desire swirled over her and swept her up in its tempest.
Flinging herself forward, she rocked him to his back and sat astride him. His
arms snaked out to catch her waist.

She smiled down at the ecstasy that drew the cords of his
neck and opened his mouth in a soundless groan. She rotated her hips and the
sound became audible.

Rotating her hips again and again, they strained against one
another—giving pleasure, taking pleasure, until the hurricane increased in
intensity and roared over them with a fury that ripped release from their
bodies.

Tess slumped forward against his damp chest and he held her
tight. “Tess, my Tess. How could I ever live without you?”

They lay still until their ragged breathing had calmed and
their heartbeats slowed. “I love you, Dan. I love you so much.”

He rubbed his chin across the top of her head. “And I love
you. Tess, will you marry me?”

“Of course,” she said, snuggling and settling closer in the
comfort of his arms. “I always intended to.”

The deep rumble of his laughter vibrated against her cheek
and the hand splayed across his chest. “Just like that? Love, you never cease
to amaze me.”

She smiled. Life with Dan would be so wonderful. Even though
they couldn’t have the house she’d wanted for their family, they would find
another to restore. It would be so beautiful that soon everyone in Galveston
would know what a fine restoration architect Dan was. Clients would be beating
the door down with projects for him. He’d have his dream, and she—well, having
him, knowing that he was happy and healthy, and sharing his love was worth more
than any house in the world.

The gentle sway of the ship lulled them and they closed
their eyes.

“Ahoy, there!” At the sound, their eyes flew open. They
could hear footsteps on the deck above.

“Oh, my God! It’s Gus!” Tess jumped up and they began
scrambling for their clothes. Dan pulled on his briefs and his pants and
grabbed his shirt while she fumbled with the hooks on her bra. “Do something,”
she hissed at him.

“Ahoy, there!” Dan called out the door as he yanked his
shirt over his head.

“Got a man here to deliver some fittings for the galley,” came
the voice from above.

“Stall him,” she whispered. Dan grinned and went up the
companionway as she grabbed up her shirt and overalls. Hurrying as fast as she
could, she dressed and, after finger-combing her hair, stuck the red-plumed
buccaneer hat on her head. She quickly straightened the bunk, picked up Dan’s
sword, took a deep breath, and went topside.

They said their good-byes to Gus, who grinned the whole
time, and went down the gangplank to the warehouse.

“I couldn’t find my panties,” Tess said out of the side of
her mouth.

“They’re in my pocket.”

“How did they get there?”

“They were tangled in my shirt.”

She rolled her eyes. “I could die of embarrassment.”

“Why? I don’t think Gus suspected anything.”

“No?” She gave a little snort. “Your shirt is inside out.”

They hitched a ride back to the car in Amos’s carriage and
stopped by a service station to make a few repairs to their appearance. They
ate a late lunch in an old dining car on the tracks at the railroad museum and
spent the rest of the afternoon walking barefoot on the beach.

They held hands and laughed over nothing. They filled their
pockets with shells, and watched children building sandcastles. They ate
strawberry snow cones while they watched two young men fly elaborate triple-
and quadruple-rowed kites through intricate maneuvers. They basked in the
sunshine and in their love for one another.

When the air began to chill, they turned and walked to the
car.

“Feeling better about the treasure?” Dan asked as he wiped
the sand off her feet before they got into Buttercup.

She shrugged. “I suppose. I haven’t thought about it very
much.” When she closed the car door, a bittersweet vision of her house flashed
into her mind. “Would you do me a favor?”

“Anything.” He smiled and reached across to stroke her cheek
with the back of his hand.

“Would you go with me to say good-bye to the house?”

Dan opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. “Sure.”

Each lost in quiet thoughts and plans, they drove to the
corner where the strange, small palace with the rusticated stucco walls sat
amid creeping vines and overgrown shrubs. Tess got out, leaned against the iron
fence, and looked up at the sculpted torch on the tower and at the nine gables
along the gray slate roof. It looked so forlorn that she wanted to weep.

Indeed she must have, for Dan gathered her in his arms and
said, “Oh, babe, don’t cry. If you want that house so much, we’ll buy it. It
may not be practical with us living in Pittsburgh, but what the hell. We can
come down for a weekend now and then and a few days during the summer.”

A sharp stab of pain gouged deep into her heart. Her mouth
went dry and a vacuum of shock sucked all the air from her lungs. Panic gripped
her stomach. Eyes wide and wild, she drew back and stared at him. Surely she’d
misunderstood.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll buy you the house for a wedding present.” He smiled. “I
can afford it.”

“Forget the house!” Her fingers dug into his upper arms as
she searched his face. “What did you say about living in Pittsburgh?”

His smile faded. “Sweetheart, I know you’re not fond of
cities,” he said, his tone gentle and appeasing, “but that’s where my work is.”

“Your work?”

“Friday Elevators, remember?”

“Friday Elevators?” Her voice was a shrill squeak. “You can’t
go back there! You hate it! It almost killed you!”

“Honey, I’m okay now, and the company is my responsibility.
I can’t let Kathy continue to shoulder a burden that’s rightfully mine.”

“You’re going to stay here in Galveston and be an architect.
Just as you always dreamed.” She ground the words out and shook him as if to
convince him with the force of her will.

He pulled her against his chest. “Oh, love, I wish I could,
but that was just a fleeting fantasy. The reality is that I’m head of the
family, and I belong as president of the company. A lot of people depend on me.”

“No!” She jerked away. “I won’t let you go back to the way
you were. I won’t let you kill yourself. You’ve been happy here.”

“Tess, please try to understand. I have to return to Pittsburgh
soon. It’s been a wonderful vacation, but I’ve stayed away from my business
longer than I ever intended. I can’t expect Kathy to continue doing my job. She’ll
buckle under the strain. Let’s get married right away, and you can come back
with me.” He lifted her chin and smiled at her. “You can keep me from eating french
fries and make sure I take my medicine.”

“You stubborn idiot!” She beat on his chest with her fists
as tears streamed down her face. “I won’t go with you. I won’t move to Pittsburgh!”

He grabbed her wrists. “Tess, be reasonable. I have to go
back.”

Regret, as deep and aching as any pain she’d ever felt,
hovered over her heart like a dark, gathering storm, and its clouds painted her
soul an empty, ominous black. “I won’t help you commit suicide. If you go,
Daniel Friday, you’ll go alone.”

The room was dark. It matched his mood. Dan sat in an easy
chair in his posh high-rise apartment in Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington
district. He stared out the window at the lights of the city below and the
shadowy trees in the park where the famous three winding rivers met. He’d lived
here all his life and the sights should have comforted him, made him feel at
home. But strangely enough, he felt like an alien in the familiar surroundings.
And he’d never been as lonely in his life.

For three days, he’d stayed in Galveston and begged and
wheedled and promised Tess the moon if she’d come back with him. With her at
his side, even running the company would have been bearable. But she’d refused
to budge.

Exasperated, he’d left. He’d give her a few days, then he’d
call. Perhaps when she’d had time to think things over, she’d come around. They
loved each other, and people who loved enough could work things out if they
were determined. And he was.

Tomorrow morning, he’d report to his office in the plant on
the Monongahela River and take over from Kathy. Already his stomach burned at
the thought.

He took a sip of the smoothie Ivan had sent along in a
thermos. He ought to fix something for dinner— Ivan had sent a detailed menu as
well, and Gram had called ahead to be sure Kathy had stocked his refrigerator
and pantry—but he wasn’t hungry. Only Tess’s face filled his mind.

Lord, he missed her.

*    *    *

“No, Dan, I haven’t changed my mind. I’m sorry.” Tess
gripped the phone tightly and squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears. “I’m
sorry,” she whispered. “I can’t. I won’t.” Before her voice broke, she gently
replaced the receiver on the hook and fell back across her bed.

It was the second time in the week since Dan had been gone
that he’d called. Seven days. Seven days of misery. Several times she’d been
tempted to defy her good judgment and fly to Pittsburgh. Once she’d even gone as
far as dragging her suitcase out of the closet, but she’d forced herself to put
it back.

If she caved in, she’d be with Dan and they might be happy
for a while, but she would hate being caught up in the corporate rat race
again. If she went, sooner or later Dan would slip back into his old ways. She
could envision the pattern. It would be this emergency or that, a few extra
hours here and there, and before he realized it, he’d be a workaholic with
blinding headaches and a bleeding ulcer again. Their relationship would become
more and more strained until love turned to resentment and there would be
nothing left. Didn’t he know what going back to his old habits would do to him?
Did he have some kind of unconscious death wish?