Island Promise

by, Jewel Stone

PROLOGUE

              Shadows danced across Enrique’s face, formed from a candle flickering in the breeze coming off the Caribbean Ocean. The flame lit his dark eyes, tinting them with flecks of red, orange and gold: eyes that gazed deep into Anna’s soul through her own, sending silent messages to her heart. Never before had she been happier than at this moment — dinner with the man she loved under the dark, velvet blue star littered night, candlelight, wine, music… Everything felt perfect, except she would be leaving Enrique and this enchanting island in the morning.

“I love you,” Anna whispered, her heart aching.

“I feel more than love for you,” Enrique replied as he studied her, as if trying to drink in as much of her as he could. “I want to memorize the crystal blue color of your eyes, the sweet sound of your voice and the color of your hair as it is right now, shining in the moonlight. Every detail of you is fascinating. I don’t want to forget any part of you.”

“My heart will remain here, with you. Always.”

A silent agreement had been made between them not to talk about what would happen in a few hours. Neither wanted to spoil their last night together with sad good-byes. Despite the effort, torment of Anna’s departure suffocated the air between them. Desperation to hold onto each passing moment was evident in the long, silent stares.

“The thought of life in the next months without you to talk with, laugh with, love, seems unbearable.” Enrique searched to find a woman like the one sitting before him, a woman who gave her entire heart and soul into her love, his whole life. True love eluded him time and again; making him believe in the curse his mother swore was cast on his family. He gazed at Anna across the table, thought of the past days together and could not help but smile. Life would be perfect when she returned to be with him, to share the joys of living life together. For the first time in his thirty-two years, he’d fallen in love. Now he felt certain he would not be cursed to spend life alone.

A tear escaped, betraying Anna’s effort to bear the pain of her morning departure. Enrique reached across the round table and gently wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. He cupped her cheek with his palm. She leaned her head into it, kissed the inside of his wrist.

Her voice threatened to crack as she found the courage to speak. “I wanted to be strong, to not cry. Leaving you tomorrow is torturing me. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever endured. These past days have gone by so fast. There is so much I want to say, to do, to learn about you. My heart feels like it’s breaking with each passing moment bringing us closer to the time I must leave.” She swallowed hard, fought to find words her heart and body felt. “I want to have more of you, Enrique. —To explore your body, to know you in every way. I want the memory of your love inside me, to give me strength to make it through the months without you.”

His hand left her cheek to run lightly over her bare shoulder, then trailed down her arm. Small shivers rushed through her body from his touch. His hand ended on hers and lifted it gently, turning her palm face up. “I have something for you,” he said, as he pulled a small velvet pouch out of his jacket pocket and placed it into her hand, “so you’ll remember me when you are far away.”

“I could never forget you.” Carefully, she untied the pouch and emptied the contents onto her trembling hand. “Oh, Enrique, it is so lovely. The charms reflect everything I love about this island. Look at the shells, sailboats and even little palm trees! This is the most precious present anyone has ever given me.” With fumbling fingers she attached the bracelet around her wrist. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. Her lips lingered a moment, as she inhaled the spicy scent of him. She sat back in her chair and twirled the bracelet in her fingers, admiring every charm.

“Let it remind you of my love each time you wear it. Dance with me, Anna.” Enrique took her hand and led her from the table.

Sultry music played. The slow rhythm blended with the sound of waves crashing on the beach below the restaurant. Panic swept through Anna, causing her heart to beat its own calypso. She couldn’t dance with Enrique under the star filled sky in the midst of paradise; allow her body to touch his.

Desperately she avoided such closeness. Even the slightest touch from him caused electric sensation to generate within, warming her body.

Anna could not take such sweet torture but Enrique gave her no chance to refuse. He led her to a secluded area of the deck, away from the other diners, into the shadows of night. Mentally, she tried to prepare her body for the fight against the temptation that being in his arms would bring.

Enrique brought her close into his firm arms and swayed to the sensual rhythm of the music. She fit his body so perfectly that they seemed to be one form silhouetted in the night. They molded together, as if they were meant to be. A caress of warm breath made her intensely aware of his mouth by her ear.

Shivers coursed her body before turning into heat pulses in dark secret places within her body.  Enrique’s palm pressed gently on Anna’s lower back, commanding her to him, so no distance fell between them. His other hand braided in her fingers. The cold of her wedding band burned his skin.

Closing his eyes, he tried to ignore the symbol proclaiming her to belong to another man. A primal urge to lay claim to the woman that he loved consumed him. “I want you, Anna. I want to make love to you, want you to feel me, feel my love,” he whispered in her ear.

Anna shivered. “I wish I had the right to ask for you to wait for me, to make you promise you’ll be here for me when I return. I want to be selfish and demand it, but I won’t. It’s not fair. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, how long it will take to make the necessary arrangements. I’ll return as soon as I can, but…” Enrique pressed his lips to Anna’s, ending her words.

He meant only to touch her soft lips briefly to silence her but once his lips tasted the sweet intoxication of her mouth, restraint slipped away. He delivered tender, light kisses, which left him needing more.

Parting her lips with his tongue, he devoured her; plundering and exploring like a savage beast. He wanted her, all of her. Now! In an attempt to regain control of his escalating senses, he dragged his mouth from Anna’s. Never before had a simple kiss sent his mind swirling, his body pumping. He rested his forehead on the top of her head and tried to return to a normal state of mind.

              They needed to end this moment of closeness, to go back to the safety of the dinner table. He loosened his grip on Anna, parting them but before he could move away, she brought herself up on the tips of her toes. Her breasts pressed against his chest, the peaks of her desire beckoning to him.

               She clamped her hands around his neck, pulling his head down so she could reach his mouth. Her tongue skimmed the line of his lips before it slipped into his mouth, which only moments ago struggled for the power to abandon hers.

Enrique could not resist. He kissed her back with such hunger that she struggled for breath.

Anna’s body melted into Enrique’s as they kissed under the star laden night, forgetting now to move to the music. She knew for certain that she would crumble to the ground should Enrique release her.

As if reading her thoughts, he swept her effortlessly off her feet and into his arms. Hands locked around his neck, she nuzzled into him, circling the light brown skin of his throat with her tongue, teasing his earlobe with her lips.

Again, she repeated, “I wish I could make you wait for me.”

“You don’t have to ask, Anna. I’ll wait for you. Forever, if I have to. My heart gives me no choice.  I promise I’ll be here for you when you return.” With long strides, Enrique carried her out of the restaurant and toward the ocean shore.

 CHAPTER ONE 

 June, 1990

 Tear streaked, Anna walked through the house and smelled the lingering scent of rose potpourri her mother burned on the stove. Memories flooded in as she touched trinkets her mother proudly displayed around the house over the years. A statue of two hummingbirds collecting nectar from a delicate pink flower sat in a shadow box, as shiny as it was when Anna gave it to her twelve years ago for her birthday.

Anna entered the familiar kitchen to make a pot of coffee. A strong cup would hopefully soothe her exhausted body from the long, tiring day. She rinsed the pot out in the sink and began filling it with cool tap water when her gaze drifted out the small window covered by lace. The vegetable garden her mother spent hours tending to every summer sat wilting in the backyard. She knew without needing to turn

around, a list of “to do’s” would be posted on the refrigerator. The list would give her careful instructions on how to water the plants every day until her mother returned from the trip she planned — only her mother would never return home again.

Forgetting the coffee, Anna slipped off her black pumps and walked out the back door, making sure the screen door did not bang behind her, as if the warning from her mother still might come. “Anna!  What have I told you about slamming that screen door? It’s going to fall right off one of these days!”

…And one day it did. The hinges broke loose from the screws that held them in the frame and the door toppled down the steps after Anna. She and her mother spent an entire afternoon reattaching the door. The first few attempts left it uneven, so it wouldn’t shut properly, but finally they got it hung.

Anna turned the hose on and selected a soft spray setting on the nozzle. Her mother would have used the same setting so the sprays of water wouldn’t bruise the fruits and vegetables or damage the leaves of the plants. Mother was the happiest in her garden, humming to herself as she picked off dead leaves and saw to each and every plant. Anna enjoyed helping her mother in the garden, even as a young child. The

dirt and bugs fascinated her, providing entertainment for hours at a time.

When the plants bore their crops at the end of summer, Anna would bend over, very seriously and help her mother search for the ripened vegetables and fruit. “Look, mama! Strawberry!” she would holler.

Mother would smile at her from under the big straw gardening hat as the sun-ripened berry disappeared into Anna’s mouth, leaving red stains on her hands and face. Mother never said a word about Anna’s empty gathering basket.

“Mom, I miss you,” Anna said into the air, hoping somehow she could hear. The memories of her childhood brought comfort and pain, in a myriad of emotions.

She drenched every plant in the garden, turned off the water and returned to the kitchen, to the mundane task of making coffee. Anna poured a cup of the coffee when it finished brewing, took it to the couch and sipped the steamy liquid. The tension in her neck loosened as she began to relax.

What a relief to have escaped the hordes of mourners and their smothering hugs and kisses gathered at her Aunt’s house. The solitude and comfort of her mother’s house soothed her in a way no other place could. Anna knew the friends and family that came to pay their last respects to Gale meant well, but she needed to be alone with her mother’s memories.

It was only the two of them since Anna was five years old so an outsider could not understand the special love and bond they shared. Gale the perfect mother, was now gone. Forever! Anna felt alone and wished for just a little more time with her mother. She closed her eyes and pictured her mother as she’d seen her last. Her brown hair started to gray, she was a little heavy around the middle, but she was happy and filled with joy to have Anna home for a weekend. Had Anna known it would be her last visit, she would have stayed longer. 

Anna sat in her attorney’s office a week later and tried to understand the problems with her mother’s estate. “What exactly are you telling me? My mother had two mortgages on the house with neither payment made for months? Her credit cards are maxed out and she had no insurance at all?” she questioned what the attorney just explained for the third time.

Surely, he must be mistaken. Her mother always paid her bills, even if it meant working a few extra hours. However, the attorney explained it clearly and repeated himself several times. Mother’s savings were depleted and she owed on everything, including the hospital bills incurred from her fatal accident and the funeral expenses. Anna’s head reeled as the list went on and on.

“I don’t want you to feel guilty, Anna, but your mother spent every last dime she had on your college tuition. It must have been important to her that you received a good education. She probably figured she could rebuild her savings after you graduated.” The attorney clearly tried to offer comfort.

She’d just finished her last exam when she received the horrible call informing her Mother had been in an accident. By the time Anna drove home from the university two and a half hours away, her mother was gone, unable to survive the massive injuries she sustained in the car accident.

Anna sat across the huge desk and wondered how this man could expect her not to feel guilty.

Mother worked hard to raise her alone, sacrificed everything for her without complaint. Seeing she went to college and received an education had been important. Gale wanted her to have the opportunities she did not have. Anna questioned how life could be so cruel, to let her mother die the very day she finished her college exams. Glancing up to the attorney, she realized he still spoke.

“…As a parent myself, I don’t believe your mother would have any regrets for the choices she made in your best interest. I’ve outlined the steps I think you should take. There won’t be much left, a couple thousand, maybe. If the house sells for what I expect, the debts will be cleared.”

Anna looked over the papers the attorney handed her. She didn’t care about the money and only hoped to keep the little house she was raised in — the house where memories of her childhood and her mother’s love spoke to her. Reading over the documents, she realized it would be impossible.

“I’ll clear out the house. Will you do the rest?” She massaged her pounding temples, wishing to be anywhere but here.

“Yes, of course. —And Anna, I’m here if you need anything.”

She rose from the chair and thanked the attorney, then hurried from his office, as if fleeing from him she could escape the reality of the situation.

The next day, after a fitful night sleep, Anna began to clear out her mother’s house. She unloaded the boxes she got from Safeway from her car and brought them into the house. She couldn’t help but dread the task. There would be no escaping the reality once she started packing her childhood and Mother’s life into the brown cardboard boxes. The apartment she rented could not hold more than a few things so the rest would go into storage or be given away for donation.

Anna saved Mother’s bedroom for last, debating on what to do with her personal items. The clothing was too small to give to her aunt, so she neatly folded each garment from the closet and placed them into a box marked Goodwill in big black letters. She packed the costume jewelry and bottles of

perfume carefully, knowing she would want to have her Mother’s small treasures with her in the apartment. 

Several days later the house sat empty. Anna sighed heavily as she shut the door and wiggled the handle to make sure it locked. She dropped the keys into the mailbox for the realtor to pick up and started down the path to the rented U-Haul. She stopped halfway and turned for one last look at the house she loved since she was a child.

“Goodbye,” she whispered, then turned back down the path. She knew she would never enter the beloved house again.

 Anna flopped down on the sofa in her apartment in complete exhaustion. Her whole body ached from having packed and moved the contents of her mother’s entire house. She unloaded some of the stuff into a mini-storage shed and moved the other portion up two flights of stairs to her apartment. The scorching June heat did not make the job any easier. Swiping sweat from her forehead, she took a long drink of cool water.

She decided to unpack the boxes that littered her living room later. There was no need to hurry now that the house sat empty, ready to be sold. Of course, she would have to begin looking for a job. She didn’t send out her resume as the other graduating students did months ago. Instead, she planned for a leisurely summer to unwind from the rigorous four years of college, not expecting to enter adulthood so suddenly. She had no mother to call now if her money ran out.

Nor a comfortable childhood bed to lie on and cry on if her heart got broken, or a home she could return to if life got tough. Anna could only depend on herself from now on.

Needing to escape the loneliness surrounding her, she dug out a book from a box, got a blanket and walked across the street to the park. Even for the late hour, the park was filled with activity.

The Columbia River, which ran along the park, attracted people throughout the summer months, offering relief from the dry summer heat. Speedboats pulled skiers along the mighty river’s swift currents, whoops of joy and laughter could be heard over the roar of the boat engines from the shore. Families enjoying late picnics and children playing on the jungle gym toys, were scattered along the banks.  Everywhere Anna looked were happy people enjoying the evening that had yet to cool to a tolerable temperature.

She spread out her blanket under the shade of a large oak, leaned against the rough bark and began reading. She peered up from the pages whenever someone passed by on the winding trail along the water’s edge. An older couple with a spunky beagle out for a leisurely walk passed by and smiled at Anna.

Moments of envy passed through her as she wished for someone to share an evening like this with, someone to ease her solitude.

Dark clouds began rolling in, blackening the blue sky, and threatening an unexpected thunderstorm that would deliver a much-needed rain. Some people packed their belongings and left the park before the storm’s immanent arrival, but most stayed. Summer storms were common in Eastern Washington and the natives were used to the electric light shows dancing through the sky above the hills surrounding the three cities.

Anna surveyed the storm but decided to wait a while before heading back to her stuffy apartment. The fresh air and cool breezes from the river were too refreshing to leave just yet. Turning her attention back to the book, she forgot the clouds as she lost herself in the pages. A little while later, a basketball rolled down the slope and stopped at her feet. She ignored the ball until the owner arrived to fetch it.

“Sorry, I didn’t hit you, did I?”

Glancing up at the man bending over to retrieve the orange ball, recognition hit. “Matt? Hi!” she said, welcoming a familiar face. “No, the ball didn’t hit me.” Anna tried to gauge how long it had been since she’d seen Matthew Harding: two years… perhaps three?

“Anna Collins?” Matt said in surprise. Anna hadn’t crossed his mind for a long time. She looked sweet as ever sitting on the blanket, her long brown hair fingered to the side, falling softly over her shoulder and onto her breast. Her long, lean legs were sprawled out across the blanket, her feet bare. “It’s good to see you.”

“You, too. How are you? It’s been a long time.”

Matt lowered himself onto his haunches, holding the ball between his knees and folded arms. “I’m doing well. I passed the bar and am working in my Father’s practice. How about you, are you home for the summer?”

“No, I just finished my finals a few weeks ago. I’m back permanently. Gosh, it felt like I would never graduate. It’s good to be home.”

“Well, it’s good to have you back. Do you have a job lined up yet?”

“No, um … I haven’t had the time although I planned to start looking, tomorrow in fact.” Anna knew the best job openings would already be filled, but she needed to find something. The house hadn’t sold yet and the money in savings wouldn’t last long.

“Let me know how it goes. Maybe I can put in a good word for you or something.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Hopefully it won’t be too tough finding a decent job. It really is good to see you. I’ve missed you.”

Anna couldn’t help notice that Matt looked more handsome than ever. The wild college boy she knew turned into a man. She could sense maturity developed over the past few years. His once long blonde hair was now a neat cut above his ears. Instead of the tough guy goatee he once preferred, his jaw was freshly shaven. Despite his present attire—gym shorts and a tank top—she thought Matt looked very much like a prominent young attorney.

“Yeah, I kind of missed you, too,” Matt said, flashing a charming grin. He reached over and plucked a blade of grass from her hair.

He couldn’t remember why he ended their relationship three years ago. Reacquainting himself with Anna could very well solve the dilemma he’d been trying to find a solution to. She would definitely suit his parents’ idea of a suitable wife far better than would the vivacious blonde he was about to produce an engagement ring to. Sheri, although sexy as hell and possessing the power to satisfy him in the bedroom, lacked the natural beauty, honesty and brains of a woman like Anna.

Matt made the decision that very moment, bringing a satisfied smile to his face. His parents and associates would approve of a hometown girl like her. Anna would be that woman to enable him to get his trust fund.

Lightening struck across the sky, followed by a thunderous boom. Rain poured from the blackened sky, soaking Anna and Matt in a moment’s time. Holding the blanket above their heads, they ran across the park to the safety of Matt’s car. He opened the door for her and waited in the rain while she situated herself, then dried her off with the blanket. He swiped a drenched tendril of hair off her brow and brushed his lips to her.

Yes, Anna Collins, I will make you my wife.

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