“Erin.” He said her name quietly but she jumped and jerked around to stare at him with her liquid amber eyes. Even there, in her eyes, he could see a strain that had not been there before. For some reason a feeling of guilt gripped him. Was he the cause?
“Are you alright?” He walked over and pulled out the chair at the end of the table, the one closest to her. He sat down and was just about to reach out and take her hand when he stopped. An innocent gesture but one she might misconstrue. He wasn’t taking any chances.
She gave him a tiny smile and her eyes glittered in the candlelight. Or was that the glitter of tears? Dare could not tell but no matter what he was going through tonight he would be gentle with her. He knew he didn’t have exclusive claim to problems. She was probably facing personal challenges of her own. And he could guess that being pregnant was no easy thing.
“I’m fine, Dare,” she said, and her voice cracked on his name.
What the deuce had upset her so that she seemed on the verge of tears? “What’s wrong, Erin? And where is your friend? Did something happen between the two of you?”
Erin tightened her lips then took a deep breath. “She had to go back to Vancouver earlier than planned. She’s alright, though. She’s fine.”
“It’s not her I’m worried about,” Dare said, frowning. “I want to know about you. Did she upset you?”
Erin smiled again and shook her head but it was a sad smile and Dare was not fooled.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, watching her intently.
“No, that’s okay. Let’s just eat.” She picked up her napkin and rested it on her lap then looked at him expectantly.
He did the same but he had suddenly lost his appetite. Erin had been upset or hurt by Robyn whatever- her-name-was but obviously she wasn’t comfortable talking about it. He would give her some space…for now. But damn if he wasn’t going to get some answers. There was a lot about Erin that remained a mystery to him but he was going to get to the bottom of this one sooner rather than later.
They began to dine, in silence at first, and then slowly Erin began to relax in his presence. She popped an olive into her mouth, chewed and then looked over at him. “How did you manage to leave the office early today? You’ve been so busy with your project I didn’t think you’d make it back in time for dinner.”
“I promised,” he reminded her. “Your friend made me.”
At the mention of the recent departee her face clouded over but then it cleared and she was smiling again. “Well, I’m glad you made it.”
Dare said nothing but he had to admit he felt good about it, too. Since he’d brought Erin back to the island he’d spent precious little time with her. Hell, they’d hardly exchanged words except for that time he’d tried to carry her off to his bed. And that had ended in disaster.
“And how’s it going?” she asked. “Your project, is it almost completed?”
Now it was Dare’s turn to look glum. He’d vowed not to even think about the damn thing tonight but now that Erin had brought it up all his anger came flooding back.
“Trust me,” he said, “you don’t want to know.”
“Oh, but I do,” she said quickly and reached out to touch his arm.
He dropped his eyes and looked at her hand and it looked so small and defenseless against the muscles of his arm. He was still staring at her hand when she pulled it away and in her eyes was a look of chagrin.
He could see that she was stiffening again and withdrawing into herself. He’d better start talking before she shut him out altogether. “Do you want the short version or the long version?” He said it with a smile, hoping to get her to relax again.
He knew he’d found success when she smiled again and said, “I’m not going anywhere. Let’s have the long version.”
And so it was that he told her about his two hundred and fifty million dollar dilemma.
“Oh, my God. Dare, you’re joking.” Her eyes were wide with wonder. “Right?”
He chuckled. “I wish.”
“My God,” she whispered, her eyes never leaving his face. “I can’t even begin to imagine that amount of money. And you lost all that?”
He shrugged. “Pretty much. I still have the property but most of the buildings are only fit to be bulldozed. I guess I’ll have to start from scratch with this one.”
“Oh, no,” she said then she looked back at him with a worried expression. “Does that mean you’re bankrupt? Will you lose your house?”
She looked so distressed that Dare burst out laughing. “No need to worry your little head. You won’t be put out on the street. I’ll still be able to buy you little trinkets.”
That got him a glare from Erin. “I’m not worried about me, you idiot. I’m worried about you. I’m used to being poor. You’re not.”
“So sweet of you, cherie,” he said in a teasing tone, hoping to get another rise from her. She was so cute when she was angry. “But I’ll be fine. It’s a lot of money but it won’t make me go broke.”
“Wow.” The word was filled with awe. “I can’t imagine being so rich that I could say words like that.”
“Oh, but you are, my dear.”
“I’m what?”
“Rich. You’re my wife. We didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement so you are part owner of the estate.” Then he looked at her through narrowed eyes, trying to gauge her reaction. “That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
For a moment Erin stared at him, a confused look on her face, then as his meaning sank in her face turned red and she shot up from her chair. “Dare DeSouza, you’re the one who came looking for me. You’re the one who forced me to marry you so don’t you accuse me of pursuing you for your money. You’ve got some nerve-”
“Okay, calm down. I was only joking.” He reached out to grasp her wrist and tug gently until she sank back into her chair.
“Your joke was in bad taste.”
“Yes, I can see that,” he said, trying to look sorry although inside he was grinning. That had certainly put the pink back into her cheeks. He much preferred the passion of her anger to seeing her sad and defeated.
“But seriously,” he continued, “do you know the worst part?”
“What? Isn’t losing all that money the worst part?”
“No, losing a friend.” He hoped she could see that this part was no joke. “I lost someone I’ve known for years, someone I thought I could trust.” He clenched his fists and just stopped short of pounding it on the table. “If you can’t rely on someone so close to you, who else can you trust?” He lifted his head and looked at her. “If there’s one thing I expect from my friends it’s honesty, you know?”
For a second Erin looked nonplussed then she nodded quickly but he could see the blood rising up her neck and to her cheeks. She looked like she wanted to say something but no words came. Instead she carefully placed her napkin beside her empty plate and for the second time that night she stood up. “I’m feeling a bit tired. I think I’ll go to bed now.”
She didn’t even wait for him to reply. She walked away, leaving Dare staring after her in confusion.
Now what had he said to upset her? He shook his head. If he lived a million years he would never understand women.
***
After her dinner with Dare, Erin went back to her old strategy - avoid him as much as possible. That seemed to have been working fine until Robyn came and spoiled everything.
She knew she was being foolish but she still hadn’t gotten over the shock of Dare’s last statement at the dinner table. It was like he’d been talking about her. The guilt would not let her sit still and she’d had to leave as fast as she could before she broke down and told all.
It was five days since Robyn left the island and she hadn’t heard a whisper since then. With each day that passed she breathed a sigh but she could guess that the girl would drop her bombshell at a strategic moment, at that point when it would hurt most. It was only a matter of time.
After a week passed and then two without any word from Robyn, the tension in Erin’s belly began to dissipate. The threat still hung over her head but how long could she remain on edge? She willed herself to be calm. She had her baby to think about and she would not let anything - neither high blood pressure nor negative emotions - consume her and jeopardize the health of her unborn child.
She signed up for classes at the local Mommy Yoga Center and fell into a comfortable routine of yoga and birthing classes in the mornings and daily swims in the pool in the cool of the evenings. Eventually she stopped thinking about Robyn and the threat she posed.
With the passing of time Erin grew rounder and rounder until she looked like she had swallowed a basketball. When Dare teased her, calling her his panda bear, Francine came to her defense and laughingly found names for him, too. It didn’t help that those names were in Spanish so Erin had no idea what she was talking about. She didn’t care, though. It felt good to have another woman on her side. She and Dare fell into a comfortable rhythm that made Erin sometimes forget that her marriage was not quite the norm. From observing them no one would guess that their marriage was in name only.