Contingencies, page 30
“When did you do all this?” Dani gasped.
“On my therapy walks to the café,” he said. “They have a computer and free Wi-Fi.” Her smile was pure light. Gone were the dark clouds behind her eyes that she thought he couldn’t see. He had fixed her front door, replaced it with an ornately carved, centuries old door, repurposed and repaired what he could in and around the tiny cottage while she tended to her small gardens, but it would be a long time before the horrors of that day would fade. The issue of what to do with the secret millions in blood money kept a heavy pall over their heads and the wound of betrayal open and sore.
They headed east with no agenda and, as far as Dani knew, no destination. Reilly rose first each morning and quietly slipped from the stateroom to discuss the day’s agenda with the captain. They swam in warm waters and wandered the streets of Saint-Tropez, Monte Carlo, and Florence and with each port-of-call, grew more comfortable with the pace of their lives and each other. On the morning of the tenth day, he gave the captain specific directions for the next stop.
Several miles from port, a small speedboat met the yacht. It cut its engines upon approach and silently drifted alongside. A young, dark haired man dressed in white hailed, boarded, and then returned as unobtrusive as he had arrived. Reilly awoke at the sound, dressed, and was greeted by the captain with the morning’s forecast and a thick white envelope. Reilly tucked it under his arm and returned to the deck.
Standing at the rail with his hands in his pockets, the warm breeze off the ocean filled him with a chilly uncertainty. He was about to enter unchartered waters he couldn’t navigate. He was always ready for the next step but like the waves rolling and cresting, the wind had changed his direction. His life picture was about to permanently change and he questioned how he would fit in this new puzzle. It was one he knew would never be complete without the final piece he held in his hands.
He questioned his real courage to see it through and thought of Dani’s definition of bravery. The choice was his but it would mean giving up control. It would be very easy to toss the envelope into the sea where its secret would be kept forever but doing so would make this secret a lie and that was a promise he would never break.
Terraced homes and buildings in a rainbow of sherbet colors clung to the steep cliffs above the sparkling waters of the coast, waiting for the sun. Its rays cast a pink glow over all it touched as it beckoned the sleepy Italian town to begin another day. One deck below, Reilly knew Dani was doing the same.
He entered their stateroom where Dani tossed a good morning from the edge of the bed as she tied her shoes. Dressed in a simple yellow sundress, she had pulled her hair back with a ribbon and let the rest hang on her shoulders. Reilly sat beside her, cupped his hand gently on her jaw and kissed her deeply when she lifted her head.
“Wow, if you do that again, I’m going to untie my sandals and drag you back into this bed.” He kissed her again, lightly. “Where are we today?” she asked.
“Amalfi. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day, too.” Her smile was one of the happiest he had seen in a long time.
“Did you know that of all the times I’ve been to Italy, I’ve never been here?”
He steadied his hand. “This is for you.”
“More? But I don’t need anything else,” she said. “Really, this trip has been perfect in every way. I feel alive again, like I can finally move forward and that’s only because of you and everything you’ve done. I hope you know how much I’ve treasured each moment.”
Reilly gave her a half smile then closed his eyes and kissed her forehead.
Dani opened the envelope and carefully slid out a brown leather portfolio. Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh, my god,” she whispered.
A picture of a woman, old by any politically correct standard, with white hair, deep wrinkles, and a stiff smile stared at her from the left inside cover. The woman’s eyes brought tears to her own. They were her father’s. Trembling fingers traced the outline of the woman’s face but when Dani opened her mouth, she choked on the words.
Reilly had found her real family, to fill the empty space in her heart. A space he wanted, but only if she was willing to give it. He tried to settle his nerves by kissing her temple. “This is your grandmother, Giovanna Lucia Serrano,” he said. “Want me to read what it says?”
Dani replied with a nod. She threw her legs over his and crawled into his lap, careful to sit only on his left thigh. She kissed him deeply on the neck and tucked her head between his chin and shoulder.
“Your grandmother is seventy-seven years old and has lived here in Amalfi her whole life. She is the only daughter in a family of five children. When she was sixteen, she was involved with a boy her parents did not approve of. At that time, they had arranged that she be married to the son of her father’s business partner but before that could happen, she found herself pregnant. To hide it, they sent her to a convent to have your father. She left him in the care of the nuns with the only gift she could give him.”
Dani gently fingered her medallion as Reilly continued. “She returned to her family and was forced to marry the man she didn’t love. Your grandmother was resentful for a long time and while they eventually made amends, she never had other children. You have a lot of cousins though. She never saw the baby’s father again and she wouldn’t give me his name. I think she was still protecting her memory of him.”
“You’ve spoken to her? What did you tell her about my dad?”
“Only what I could. I told her that he grew up in that orphanage. That at eighteen he went to the U.S., attended college, and became a citizen. That he was an honorable man and faithful to his religion. As far as his job, I told her that he worked for his government like an international policeman. She seemed to understand what I meant. I told her about your mother and that they had died unexpectedly while serving their country. And, I told her about you.” He gently kissed her head. “She can’t wait to meet you.”
Dani ran her fingers around the edge of the picture. “Family was so important to my father. I never understood why he didn’t try to find her. Maybe he was afraid of what he would find. He never took off his medallion except when he was in the field and from the time I was five, he would give it to me to hold until he returned. It was our connection to each other. After he died, I never took it off. I was so lonely without them that eventually, I started to wonder if his mother could be alive. I wanted my family back.”
“When we were stranded, you mentioned that you were looking for her. I thought this was the least I could do for you for saving my life. More than once, by the way.”
Dani shook her head and kissed his neck. “It’s really the other way around.”
“How’s that?” he asked gently.
“That day, before you got there,” she started then hesitated a moment. “Mariner told me you were dead. I didn’t want to believe him…but…he got into my head.” She closed her eyes, let Reilly’s strength and warmth wrap and protect her like an impenetrable suit of armor. It was the only place she would ever feel safe.
“He was so strong,” she continued softly. “I tried –” She stopped when Reilly pulled her in and waited for the trembling to subside. “My dad used to tell me when I was a little girl that when you die, those you loved who had gone before you would be there to greet you. It’s probably something you simply tell a child after a nightmare but I remember thinking that I would finally be with him and my mom again. I was ready to give up, until I heard you call my name and I wanted only to be with you. You pulled me from that darkness and stopped Mariner. You saved me from his knife and now you give me this.”
“You told me once that blood family was the only family that mattered. I know you feel that way because of everyone who betrayed you.”
Dani took a deep, cleansing breath. “So tell me, how’d you do all this without me knowing? I thought we made a promise to each other not to lie.”
Reilly grinned. That night on Dmitri’s porch was another lifetime. They were two different people now. “To use a line from my favorite country song, I have friends in low places. Besides, this was a secret, not a lie. There is a subtle difference you know.”
“Very subtle,” she laughed.
A gentle knock was heard at the door. “We’ve docked, Mr. Reilly,” said a deckhand through the wood vents.
“Great, thanks. We’ll be there in a minute.” He scooped Dani up off his lap. “Are you ready to go meet your real family?” he asked but Dani’s smile faded. He couldn’t hide the overcompensation in his question. Before he could rise, she stood before him and placed her hands on either side of his face. Her heat wove its way through his every cell as she placed a soul-filling kiss on his mouth.
“You are my real family,” she said. “Sempre famiglia, remember? No matter how many people come into our lives, I won’t let anything or anyone come between us.” Reilly didn’t answer but placed his head to hers. She pulled back and kissed his forehead. “I was wrong that night when I said blood was the only family that counted,” she said, “and I’m sorry if my words hurt you.”
“You could never hurt me,” he said. “Your question that night about my mom and what I missed most? Your tenderness made me see that I didn’t have to hide that pain or push it aside. I knew then that I could trust my heart to you.”
A tear danced along Dani’s cheek. “Even after I said all those things about trusting the wrong people?”
Reilly wiped her face with his thumb. “You should’ve never been used in such a vicious game and you’ve lost so much. I was hoping this would bring you some closure.”
“Not closure,” Dani said, “a beginning. Because despite everything that was taken, you’re the only one who has found a way to add to my life. Because of you, I know now that family has nothing to do with blood but everything to do with love and who’ll stand beside you at the end.”
“I’m glad you’re by my side.”
Dani smiled. “We’re partners.”
Reilly kissed her sweetly and grabbed her hand. “Come on then, partner, let’s go meet our grandmother.”
Acknowledgements
Thanking everyone who has helped me on this journey is harder than creating characters who are whispered to me slowly, quietly, unobtrusively, from a realm I cannot see but whose portal, I swear, is located somewhere in my laundry room. The love and support I’ve been given from family and friends cannot be explained and each is more special to me than they could imagine.
Thank you to my parents who have more creativity in their little fingers than I will ever have in this lifetime. They’ve taught me patience and persistence through hard work and that true, unadulterated, enduring love exists in this questionably insane world. Each is half of one soul and the love they share (and that for their four daughters, son-in-laws and eight grandchildren) has no boundaries.
Thank you to my in-laws for welcoming a skinny, quiet, seventeen-year-old in to a home filled with crazy laughter and love and for raising the sweetly cynical man I fell in love with.
Thank you to my sisters Patty, Joann and Kathy who have championed my efforts from day one and provided endless hours of proofreading and coaching, especially Joann whose is a viciously cruel editor.
Thank you to my children who provide me with a daily reminder of what I consistently tell them: go after your dreams and don’t let ‘no’ stop you; it only means ‘not now.’
And finally, thank you to my husband who has tolerated my huge learning curve for the past five years, my meltdowns when the computer wouldn’t work, my scatterbrain and blank looks while he’s talking (knowing all the while I wasn’t listening because I was working out a scene in my head), crappy sandwiches for dinner, and an exhausted partner for reasons I couldn’t explain because I hadn’t really ‘done anything’ all day. That, my friends, is true love.
About the Author
Nadine Dandorf is a Jersey Girl to the core having grown up in the northwest corner of the state where green valleys are tucked between mountain ranges and livestock and crops rule instead of concrete and stop lights. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America, including its New Jersey and Kiss of Death Chapters, and when not writing likes to garden and decorate and go to spin class to have her butt viciously kicked three times a week by an unrelenting German girlfriend. She is a dark chocolate addict, a fan of classic/hard rock, an obsessed New York Rangers fan and has decided, at this point in her life, that cooking is entirely overrated. She is thankful her husband isn’t fussy and her nest is empty as their son and daughter have beaten them to North Carolina. As she and her husband wait for retirement, they take turns caring for the three cats their children have left behind.
Nadine Dandorf, Contingencies
