For a short period they’d felt a mystical connection. Two mortals reaching out to each other for comfort in a dark sea. But that temporary assuagement was as ephemeral as the night itself. With the advent of morning, they’d found themselves at opposite points of the compass, out of sight, out of touch.
She stared down at her ringless left hand. She’d left the rings he’d given her on the dresser in the guest bedroom. Now she had nothing tangible to remind her of him. That was the way it had to be, she couldn’t bear it otherwise.
She couldn’t cope with anything right now. How was she going to make it through the night, let alone the rest of her life?
Beth. I’ll call Beth.
No sooner did she reach for the phone on the table than she heard a knock on the door. She got up from the bed. “Jim?”
“It’s Ben. Open the door, Terri.”
She froze. No— It couldn’t be.
“Shall I tell the manager to unlock it because my wife is too ill to get out of bed?”
“Please don’t,” she begged, struggling for breath. “I’m coming.”
Her body shook uncontrollably as she crossed the short distance to undo the lock and chain guard. He pushed the door open and stormed in, slamming it behind him.
Terri took a step back, scarcely recognizing this man whose emotions had gone beyond anger to something else she couldn’t comprehend.
In the dim light from the bedside table his face had the gaunt, haggard look of an older man. He was breathing heavily, like someone who’d been running miles without stopping.
Gone was the sling. His ship whites were damp and wrinkled, his dark hair disheveled.
She didn’t have enough moisture left in her mouth to swallow. “J-Jim said it was too dangerous to fly.”
“As you can see, he was wrong.” His voice grated.
In the next breath he seized her by the upper arms, bringing her close enough she could see into his eyes.
Terri gasped.
They were the same pain-filled gray eyes that had spoken to her with such frantic urgency when she’d first looked into them at the hospital. Alone and helpless, he’d tried desperately to convey something vital. She’d felt his soul reaching out to her then.
She felt it reaching out to her now.
“What is it?” she cried in an agonized whisper.
His hands tightened, but she didn’t think he was aware of it. “Why did you leave the ship?”
It was truth time. Better to get it all said and end this nightmare for both of them.
Hot tears gushed from her eyes. “Because I knew you couldn’t stand me any
more.”
A noise escaped his throat. It sounded like ripping silk. “In the name of all that’s holy, where did you ever get an idea like that?”
“Because you threw me to the wolves this morning!” She flung the words at him. “After the horrendous way I hurt you, I know I deserved it. The only thing I could think of to do was get out of your life,” she said on a sob.
“How do you think you hurt me? Tell me!” He gave her a gentle shake.
“On our wedding night I trampled all over your beautiful dream. Here you gave me everything, and I—I—” She was so convulsed she couldn’t talk.
He crushed her against his hard body. “You only said what I’ve known and felt from the inception of my idea back in high school. But when you dream dreams on that scale, you need backers. That means compromise.
“All along I’ve tried to convince myself that half a loaf was better than none. Until my adorable new bride expressed what I’d known in my own heart from the embryo stage of my idea. Your passionate input gave me the courage to try something outrageous.