Until I Die Again [On The Way To Heaven] (Soul Change Novel) (21 page)

“Can I help?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice, then smiled. “Aw, I wanted to have dinner ready by the time you got home, but I forgot how long this takes to make.”

He peered into a pot of boiling fettuccine, then tasted a bit of the creamy sauce in another pan. “What are you making?”

“Chicken Carbonara.”

This is not what he expected. Hallie’s cooking expertise stopped at grilled cheese sandwiches. She hated to cook and hardly ever did. This was an all-out affair, with breaded chunks of chicken sautéing on the griddle, crumbled bacon sitting on a plate, and not a cookbook in sight.

“You actually made all this? By yourself?”

She turned and spread her hands. “Doesn’t it look like it?” Bread crumbs clung to her long hair and beads of sweat dotted her forehead. She turned and looked in another cabinet, then made a triumphant sound. “Found it.” She pulled out a colander and put it in the sink.

Hallie positively glowed, even covered with crumbs in a kitchen that looked like a culinary monsoon had swept through it. It was an image he wanted to preserve for later.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked with a smile.

“I’ve never seen you cook before.”

“Why does that not surprise me??” This she mumbled. She turned and dumped the pot of noodles into the colander. “Mom used to tell me what a great wife I’d make. ‘A woman today who actually likes to cook is a rarety,’ she’d say.”

“Your
mother
said you’d make a great wife?”

Hallie’s expression grew serious for a moment, then she looked away and continued to rinse the noodles. “Once. It was a long time ago.”

They ate dinner civilly, like any normal married couple. Crazy thought. The radio picked up a reggae station from nearby Jamaica. She told him about the purple orchids she’d found in the deep, secluded part of the island, and about her morning swims in the sea.

“There are these weeds that shrink when you touch them. Juicy said the natives use them to find their way back through the jungle. They know they’re retracing their steps when they see the shrunken weeds. Isn’t that neat?”

Picturing Hallie looking at weeds was not an easy thing to do. He helped her clear the table.

“Guess what I’ve got for dessert,” she said.

“Flaming Alaska?” he guessed, and wouldn’t be surprised if she said yes.

“No, silly. Mangos.” She opened the refrigerator and produced a bowl of four peeled, orange mangos.

“I thought they were out of season.”

“They are, but I spotted these babies way up near the top of a tree.”

“So who’d you con to get them down for you?”

“I got them myself. And what a view from the top of the tree! You should check it out. You can see the whole island.”

His mouth dropped open. “You climbed a mango tree?”

“I could see the air strip and the village of Contigua—”

He put his hands out to halt her. “Let me get this straight. You.” He pointed to her. “Climbed to the top of a tree?”

She nodded, looking exasperated by his disbelief. “Yes,
I
climbed to the top of a tree. Chicken Carbonara calls for something light afterward, and Ruby said you liked mangos. The kitchen didn’t have any more, so when I spotted these, I climbed up to get them. Now will you listen about the view.”

She continued telling him about the clear water and the school of dolphin twenty yards from the beach. He scratched his head and was at a total loss to picture his wife, the prissy, complaining Hallie, climbing a tree to get mangos for dessert because he liked them.

He headed toward the door. “I need to take a walk…”

“Want some company?” she asked with a bright smile.

“No, thanks. I need to be alone.”

Her smile faded. “Are you going to see Miguel?”

“Maybe.”

“Renee?”

“No.”

“Can you tell me why you’re leaving?”

“No.”

He stepped out into the garden-scented air and walked down to the beach to sort images from his present and past. Figuring out Hallie was like doing one of those damned two-sided puzzles.

As she waded into the sea two mornings later, Hallie thought how silly it was, them swimming every morning and not together. He had rejected her invitation to swim with her and had not proffered the same invite to her.

Since their special dinner, designed to bring them closer together, he had made a point to politely avoid her. When he
was
around, he watched her every move. She didn’t know which was more disconcerting.

Her tired legs carried her to the shoreline, and she plopped down on the wet sand and let the waves wash over her feet. She was as tan as she used to be, and she loved her life on the island where she could explore to her heart’s content. The only thing missing from her life was her husband. He was fighting her…and winning.

Renee was hanging around Jamie more and more, constantly carrying around some paper or another to show him as an excuse. It seemed as if every time Hallie saw him, that woman was walking right next to him. She dug her feet into the sand and kicked a huge chunk into an oncoming wave.

“Nice kick,” a feminine voice remarked. Hallie looked up to see Renee standing there, as though her thoughts had summoned her. “Can I join you?”

“Sure.” Hallie resolved then that she would not be rude, no matter what. God, give her strength.

Renee set her clipboard aside, and in her prim shorts and button-down shirt, sat down on the wet sand next to her. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you in the week that you’ve been back.” Renee laughed artificially. “It’s been so busy, what with some of our employees on vacation and such. How are you feeling?”

Hallie turned to her. “Great, thanks for asking.” There was a fine line between rudeness and frankness. “But somehow I don’t think we were bosom buddies before my stroke, and I can’t help but wonder why you’re really here.”

Renee swallowed loudly, forcing a smile. “Well, if you’re nothing else, you’re blunt.”

“I like to get to the point when I feel I’m being sugarcoated.”

“Actually, Jamie is the one I’m good friends with. I’m worried about him.”

“Worried about him or my being here with him?”

Renee smiled again. “Both. I care a lot about Jamie. We’re, well… you know.”

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you elaborate?”

“We’re…close.”

Close to what? Making love? Marriage?
She wanted to ask but kept her cool. “I see. And?”

“Before your stroke, you asked him for a divorce. Now, all of a sudden, you want him back. I wonder if you’re staying here because you feel you have no other place to go.”

“I’m here because I want to be here. With my
husband
.”

Renee let out a huff of breath. “Jamie and I love each other, although I’m sure he’s too noble to tell you. He won’t send you away, but as soon as a bungalow comes available, he’s going to move you out. And move me in. I’m telling you this so you can save face by leaving now. I know how hard that kind of thing can be on a woman.”

Hallie stood, forcing Renee to stand as well. “How very kind of you to think of the wife’s feelings as you try to steal her husband.”

Renee turned and walked away. Hallie was too incensed to even laugh about the wet blotch on her behind. Then she dropped down to the sand and wrapped her hands across her shoulders. Yes, Jamie had told her that as soon as a bungalow became available that he would move her into it. Was that why he so politely tolerated her presence?

No, she wouldn’t let that happen. Even if Jamie did have feelings for that woman, she knew he had feelings for her, too. What did they say? Desperate situations require desperate actions? She knew what she had to do, and it had to happen tonight. She was going to seduce her husband.

CHAPTER 11

Hallie fiddled with the lace-up front on one of the former Hallie’s red dresses. Through the lace, she could see skin clear down to her navel. The hemline stopped only a few inches below her buttocks. Perfectly for a seduction.

She pulled up her hair, letting a few strands hang down around her face. For the first time in a week and a half, she put on make up, though only a smidgen. Even her confident image in the mirror couldn’t hide the fact that her hands were shaking. She walked out onto the lanai and talked to the only friend besides Juicy that she had on the island.

“Greenpeace, how am I going to seduce a man who doesn’t want to be seduced?”

The green lizard sat where he usually did, on a white post near the pool, his legs stretched back behind him. He offered no advice, only quiet consolation.

“I’ve only made love to one man in my life, and that was right out of high school. I’ve never made love to Alan. Something just didn’t feel right when he touched me. I’ll bet the real Hallie was wild in bed.”

She remembered those alliances with Greg many years before. She had not been wild. More like stumbling, awkward and unsure of herself. Just like she felt then. Insecurity washed over her like a sudden thunderstorm, prickling her with the electricity of doubt.

She walked back inside, subconsciously pulling down the hem. The steaks were on the grill, the candles lit, and the baked potatoes in the oven. She could only hope that this dinner would bring him closer instead of pushing him away.

Jamie walked in, took one look at the candlelit table in the formal dining room, and walked straight to the bedroom. She raised an eyebrow. Hm, maybe it was working already.

When he emerged, he wore baggy black pants. “I wasn’t in the mood for anything elaborate,” he said, his expression soft.

“I just made steaks and twice-baked potatoes.”

“And mangos?”
 

“No mangos. I couldn’t find any more.”

Dinner was quiet, giving her nothing more to think about other than her planned seduction. After dinner, she followed Jamie into the family room. He flipped on a light and settled into an easy chair with a magazine.

She sat on the couch directly across from him. “Jamie, can we talk?”

He lifted his gaze. “About what?”

“I don’t know, anything.”

He laid the magazine down. “Okay, why does a stroke turn someone into a cover hog?”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“You were a neat sleeper before, but now every night I have to tug the sheets from around you. You also try to take over the whole bed. I find you sprawled on my side most of the time.”

This was not the kind of conversation she had planned on, although talking about beds was a start. She certainly couldn’t tell him she was used to having the whole bed to herself.

She shrugged. “Maybe I like to sleep next to you…”

“You never did before. You said you need space.”

“I don’t want to argue with you about sheets and bed territory.” She walked over and sat on the floor beside him. “Can I ask you something? How long has it been since we… made love?”

“Are we talking sex or actual lovemaking?”

“The last time we really made love.”

He looked up as he thought, calculating. “About a year and a half ago.”

“How about the last time we had sex?”

“Six months ago. It was more like a drunken booty call on both our parts.”

She chewed her bottom lip. Unless he was bedding Renee, she had libido on her side. The more she thought about Renee’s words, the more they niggled at her.

“Have you made love, or had sex, with anyone else??”

He looked at her, and she wondered if he was weighing whether to tell her the truth. “No. Why are we talking about this?”

“Because I wanted to know.” Warily she lifted her hand and traced a line down his arm. “I’m glad.”

“I didn’t abstain for you, Hallie. I did it for me. Revenge is no reason to sleep with someone.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.”

Her hand trailed down his fingers and dropped to his leg. From there they teased to his inner thigh. She hoped he couldn’t see her trembling.

“What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it kind of obvious?”

She got up and, with both hands still moving along his leg, leaned over him.

His gaze flickered away. “I wish you wouldn’t.”

She summoned her huskiest voice. “Do you really?”

“Yes.”

He sounded convincing, but he didn’t move away. She saw physical evidence that at least his body was interested and trailed her hands dangerously close. It had been so long since she had touched a man, and the thought sent pine-needle prickles down her spine.

She bent down and lifted his shirt to bare his hard stomach. Her hands trailed up over his chest beneath his shirt while she flicked her tongue against his neck between kisses. To finally feel the softness of his skin and the firmness of his muscles made her tingle.

For several seconds his body tensed, as though he were fighting any reaction he was having. Then he released a harsh breath. His hands were suddenly in her hair, moving slowly through her curls. When she thought he might snatch her head up to stop her, a soft groan escaped from deep within his chest, causing her heart to pound harder.

Scrunching her eyes shut, she unsnapped the first button of his pants, then the next. When she started unzipping his pants, he pulled her up as he stood. With his fingers tangled in her hair, he yanked her against him. His mouth crushed hers in a brutal kiss. They fell back on the sofa, but not for a moment did their mouths part. When his tongue pushed into her mouth, the groan she heard emanated from somewhere in her soul. She pulled him closer, inviting him to crush her with his weight.

Hallie was aware of every muscle and contour of his body as it pressed against hers. She felt his heat, his hands sliding down her arms. Her own heat rose and threatened to explode. He nipped her jawjaw line and down the sensitive skin of her neck, bringing her closer to the brink. She dragged her fingers up his back and through his soft hair. The fire threatened to consume her, the flames licking closer and closer. But this wasn’t what she wanted from him. Passion, yes. But more than passion; she wanted his soul.