Dangerous Pursuit (The Protectors) (23 page)

“It was a change of pace.”

“Your vacation must be different from the ones I take. Whenever Tom and I go anywhere, we always end up running ourselves ragged, trying to see everything. We have to come home just to recuperate. I’m glad yours was quiet and peaceful.”

Samantha smothered her laugh, turning away to act as if she were interested in stocking her shelves.

“Where did you go? Nell never said.”

“Brazil.”

“Ah, the warm beaches of Rio. I can see why you were rested. Did you sample any of the nightlife? I’ve heard it’s quite hot.”

Hot? Yes, it certainly was. “No, I rarely left my—accommodations.”

“Oh. Well, that must account for all the rest you got. I’d better let you get back to work. I think I’ll look around some more. This may be a two-book business trip.”

Samantha paid little attention to the books she was placing on the shelves. Usually she loved to scan them, deciding which ones she would read first. But now when she went home at night, she would end up daydreaming about another time, another place, another life. She no longer read or did the things she had done in her free time before the Amazon, before Brock.

Face it, Samantha Prince, you're bored and lonely. You miss Brock, and no matter what you do, that fact isn’t going to change
.

She was beginning to think there was more of her brother in her than she had ever thought possible. Samantha was actually yearning for the life she had had with Brock. No, she was actually yearning for the man. She loved him, and nothing was going to change that—not time, not distance.

“Samantha, look at this!” Nell scurried over to her, waving a current news magazine at her. “There’s an article about Mark in here.”

“You’re kidding.” Samantha took the magazine and flipped through it until she found the article on her brother and the large gold deposit he had discovered.

But what riveted her attention was that next to Mark in the picture was Brock. Her heart stopped beating for a few seconds. She caressed the black-and-white image on the paper, wishing he were standing in front of her so she could touch the man.

“It tells all about how your brother found that man who was wounded and trying to escape the Major in the jungle. It makes Mark sound like such a romantic hero, describing how he tried to save the man’s life, even though in the end the man died of an infection.”

The prospector had been staying at the Major’s outpost and had gotten drunk one night, telling them about the gold deposit he had found. From then on he had been running for his life. When Mark had tried to help him and the prospector had known he would die anyway, he had given Mark the complicated location of the gold deposit on the promise that her brother would make sure his wife back in Belem was taken care of. Mark had written the directions down in his journal in his abbreviated code when he had realized he was in as much danger as the prospector had been.

“Who’s the man in the picture with Mark? Is that the man who helped you?”

Samantha nodded, not trusting her voice. She hadn’t told Nell much about Brock, to her friend’s disappointment.

“Wow. And you were with him for two weeks? I’m surprised you even came home. He’s something else.”

“Yes, he is,” Samantha murmured, giving the magazine back to Nell, feeling more depressed and discontented than before. 

While she was in the Amazon she had kept trying to discover who Brock was, when in actuality his background was unimportant. It was the man he was that was important, and every day they had been together he had revealed another facet of his personality.

“You never told me much about what happened in the jungle. Is it scary? Are there a lot of snakes? Bugs?”

“Yes. Yes. And yes,” Samantha said with a laugh. “In fact, Brock saved my life when I had a close encounter with a fer-de-lance.”

“I’d have died.”

Not with Brock around. She could endure a lot with him. With that realization, she knew she could even endure an uncertain future if Brock was a part of that future.

The ringing phone interrupted Nell’s next question, and Samantha hurried to answer it. She was expecting Mark to call her today.

“Hi, Sam. How’s everything?” Mark greeted her.

“More to the point, how are you doing? Any problems?”

“Not now. I just can’t believe all the attention this thing is getting.”

“I know. I saw an article on you in a magazine.”

“A publisher has approached me about doing a book on my little escapade. What do you think? You’re the book expert.”

“It definitely has possibilities. You always were creative, Mark.”

“I might, once things settle down.”

Samantha laughed. “Settle down around you?”

“Sis, sometimes I envy your quiet, normal life.”

And sometimes she envied his exciting, carefree life. Maybe that was the reason she always read adventures, thrillers, and romances. “Things can get pretty exciting around here. I don’t know if you could handle it. Just last week I had two checks bounce.”

Her brother chuckled. “I hope to be in New Orleans in a month. Will you fix your favorite brother his favorite meal?”

“I’ll fix my only brother shrimp gumbo.”

“My mouth’s watering just thinking about it. Till then, Sis.”

“Wait. Mark—” Samantha started to ask her brother about Brock but wasn’t quite sure what to say. Brock had walked away from a long-term commitment in Manaus as much as she had.

“Brock was fine the last time I saw him. I kept your promise about the ten percent. I’d have given the man half. He saved your life. But he only wanted the ten. He said something about an oil deal he needed to finish up. I haven’t seen him in over a week. I wasn’t going to ask, Sam, but you know your nosy brother. What happened between you two?”

“Nothing a plane ticket can’t fix. Do you think he’s still in Manaus?” She had changed Brock Slader’s mind about helping her find Mark. She was determined to change his mind about a more important matter.

“I don’t know. I can ask around. Why?”

“Because I’m coming to Manaus tomorrow.”

“Samantha Prince, you aren’t an impulsive person. What’s this world coming to?”

“My world is finally going to be right. I’ll see you tomorrow. See if you can track down Brock. You know me and the language.”

“Yes, Brock told me about how you two met.” Mark’s laughter flowed over the line. “See you when you arrive.”

With her decision made, Samantha knew she had little time before she had to leave. First, she made a call to the airlines to book passage to Brazil. Then she informed Nell she was leaving again. Nell just smiled and told her that she had been expecting her to, especially after seeing the picture in the magazine. Samantha would have been crazy to let someone like him go, Nell informed her.

Standing behind the counter, Samantha tried to make a list of everything she needed to do in the next twenty hours. She was down to paying her bills when Mrs. Carson came to the register to pay for three books. Nell was busy stocking the shelves, so Samantha rang up Mrs. Carson’s purchases, trying to hurry so she could leave.

The bell over the door rang, indicating another customer. It would be just her luck to have the busiest day of the year when she had to go home and prepare for her early morning flight. Oh, well, it looked like another sleepless night. She was too excited to sleep anyway.

“Be right with you,” Samantha automatically said to the customer who entered the store.

“Take your time, Sam.”

Samantha spun about, dropped the change she was going to give Mrs. Carson, and stared at Brock. Mrs. Carson looked from Samantha to Brock, then back to Samantha.

“Is anything wrong, dear?” Mrs. Carson asked, worried.

Samantha shook her head, absently scooping up the money on the counter to hand Mrs. Carson. If the older woman hadn’t quickly placed her hand under Samantha’s, she would have dropped the change again.

“I was just talking to Mark,” Samantha murmured, marveling at her ability to say something so unimportant when the occasion called for brilliance. This was her chance to convince Brock they could work everything out, and her mind went blank.

One corner of Brock’s mouth lifted in a smile. “Is that any way to greet your knight after he’s traveled thousands of miles to see you?”

A broad smile spread across Samantha’s features as she rounded the counter and was across the store so quickly that Mrs. Carson was probably left wondering what had gotten into the sensible Samantha Prince.

Samantha threw her arms around Brock’s neck, and he lifted her off the floor, swinging her around and around.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you,” she exclaimed.

He settled her back down on the floor, held her head in his hands, and kissed her soundly on the mouth. “And I’ve missed you, Samantha.”

Mrs. Carson discreetly coughed, and Samantha blushed. She turned to her longtime customer and said, “Mrs. Carson, this is Brock Slader. I met him in Brazil.”

“I’m glad to meet you. Thanks, Samantha, for the recommendation. I’ll see you when I get back from my trip.” As Mrs. Carson left the store, she gave Samantha a look that said she understood why Samantha had hardly left her accommodations.

Another customer came into the store only seconds after Mrs. Carson left. Brock whispered, “Do you have an office? Someplace we can go for privacy.”

“The back room.”

The second the door to the back room closed behind them. Brock drew her into his arms and kissed her over and over, as if he couldn’t get enough.

“I’ve come to several conclusions in the last six weeks, Samantha. The first is that I love you and can’t live without you. Will you marry me?”

“I never could accuse you of subtlety. Yes, I’ll marry you. I came to the same conclusion. Do you think that’s something we have in common?”

“I do know one thing we have in common.”

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“This.” He pulled her close as his lips took hers in a kiss full of longing and love.

When Samantha could think and breathe again, she asked, “What is the other conclusion you came to?”

“I opened a Roth IRA account with some of the money from the gold deposit.”

Samantha’s eyes widened. “You? A Roth?”

He nodded.

One part of her was disappointed. It obviously meant he intended to stay in the States and try her lifestyle. She had just spent the last six weeks convincing herself that she wanted, even yearned, for his way of life. She would go anywhere, do anything, for Brock as long as they could be together.

“I realize there was a certain thrill to the danger we experienced in the Amazon, but I think I can settle down to a sedate life as a suburban housewife if that’s what you really want.”

Brock tossed back his head and laughed. “Who said your life will be sedate? I may have opened a retirement plan to satisfy your need for security, but I’m leaving for Africa next month and I’m taking you with me.”

The End

Excerpt from
Dangerous Interlude
(Book 2 in The Protectors Series):

Silence finally reigned in the room, the noise and energy level swept out with the ten children who raced to catch their bus. Anna Stanfield walked slowly about the class, straightening some desks, picking up a piece of wadded paper, and savoring the quiet that came at the end of a school day.

At the window she paused, took several deep breaths, and gazed at the mountains west of Denver. A cold front was pushing the unusually warm October weather further south, the wind catching multicolored leaves and hurling them through the air like bright tennis balls. People pulled their coat fronts tighter as they bent their heads into the norther.

Anna smiled. She loved winter with its snow and crisp, chilled air, and had already gotten down her skis the weekend before. Along with her other skiing equipment, they were in her spare bedroom, just waiting for the first opportunity to use them.

Turning away from the window, she gathered up her purse and briefcase and headed for the teachers’ lounge. She was giving her friend Molly a ride home and was to meet her there.

Even before Anna opened the lounge door, she heard Molly’s booming laugh. Her best friend looked at life with a gleeful appreciation of everything. She knew she was lucky and never said otherwise. Anna had to admit that Molly was lucky, too. Her friend had a wonderful, loving husband and three adorable children. At one time Anna had thought of herself in that light.

“Oh, there you are,” Molly said as Anna entered. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t make it. You’re just in time to try your luck. It’s your turn this week to make the call.”

Anna hadn’t forgotten about their weekly ritual on Wednesday afternoons precisely at 4:10. “I’ve never won anything in my entire life, Molly Peterson. You try. You have the Midas touch. Last month you won your car payment.”

Molly frowned and held up the receiver. “No, you don’t. I tried last week but was caller number nineteen. Caller number twenty got the trip to Hawaii. We all agreed”—she gestured to the group of four teachers—“to take turns calling since there’s only one phone in here.”

“Besides, it’s kind of neat to see which one of us will be the chosen one,” another teacher chimed in.

“The chosen one! We all know it’s a million-to-one shot,” Anna replied with a chuckle.

“But someone has to win, so why not one of us?” Molly’s gaze scanned the group in the lounge.

“You’re an eternal optimist, Molly.” Anna shook her head as though she couldn’t believe her friend, but laughter laced her voice.

“And you’re an eternal realist. Dream, Anna,” Molly countered.

The song on the radio was over and the announcer cut into the conversation, silencing the six women. Anna moved to a chair next to the phone and waited as the disc jockey described the vacation.

Two weeks in Austria.
To Anna, who had dreamed for years of skiing in the Alps, it was an unbelievable vacation. All day she had thought about the cold wind whipping past her as she sped down an alpine slope or the quiet serenity of the snow-blanketed landscape on a cross-country ski trip. Now, that was the way to see Austria.