Time Heals Everything Read online

  He watched her out of the corner of his eyes. A broad brimmed hat shaded her face while a charming striped top bared her shoulders. A thick black belt cinched in her tiny waist while flaring pants masqueraded as a skirt. Slender straps held cork heels on to her bare feet; her toes, painted a bright pink, winked mischievously at him from the ends of her open-toed shoes.

  She looks happy, he thought, and more relaxed than I’ve seen her in a long time.

  Kat was still such a wonder to him . . . still holding that erotic combination of innocence and sensuality that continued to surprise him. There was nothing he couldn’t ask of her, nothing that he couldn’t do to her, nothing that she had ever refused. She not only readily accepted new situations and experiences, but dove headlong into them in order to explore it all. And each time, it drew her even closer to him, a concept that both worried and assured him.

  Do I dare bring her closer? Can I even help doing it? On the one hand – what is it going to hurt? It might be nice to have someone to laugh with, to experience things with – especially someone like Kat. But how long will it last like this? Sure, she’ll stay around as long as there’s place that I’ve been and she hasn’t, but there’s an end to every road. Once she reaches it, and I’ve got nothing else to give, how can I keep her with me? It wouldn’t be fair – not to her, and not to me, because I won’t want to let her go.

  Kat danced impatiently when they arrived at the harbor, waiting for the ferry that would take them across to the island. She couldn’t help but wonder what Nick was up to, what he might be expecting of her in return, and then she felt guilty for feeling so suspicious. It was just so unlike him to do something impulsive. Well, she thought, she would let it come as it may, and enjoy every moment of their time. As her shoulders relaxed, a smile played around her mouth as she skipped over the walkway on to the ferry. Once she was onboard, she stayed at the rail, a slender hand holding her hat in place, while tendrils of cinnamon colored hair wisped around her face.

  “If you’re not careful, you’re going to fall in.”

  Nick’s soft voice in her ear gave Kat a shiver of delight even as she leaned against his broad shoulder. An open collared shirt showed just a smattering of the fine hair on his chest; his arms were well muscled under short sleeves. She couldn’t help feeling a bit smug at the looks of envy that more than one woman gave her. It was sometimes easy to forget just how handsome Nick was. His Irish heritage was apparent in his high cheekbones and he was possessed of a mouth that was just made for kissing. Blonde hair blew softly in the breeze, a honey color that no bottle could have duplicated, and those incredible blue eyes of his gave him the look of a doomed poet. Movie star handsome, she thought.

  They stood there together in the silence, watching the waves lapping until a voice broke the stillness.

  “Your honeymoon . . . remember it, dearie. For these memoires will hold you through whatever rough times lie ahead.”

  Startled, both Kat and Nick turned, the same denial springing to their lips when they noticed the owner of that trembling voice. At their side, stood a woman in her mid-sixties, her gnarled hand held delicately by a man whose expression, Kat thought dreamily, couldn’t have been more tender as he looked at his wife through faded eyes.

  “Now Maude,” he chided, “you leave those two young people alone.” Smiling wistfully, he looked at Kat and Nick, his soft brown eyes skipping back to gaze at the woman at his side, seeing her still as the young bride she had once been, not his wife of over forty years. Knowing that she would follow, he shuffled slowly down the rail, giving the young people their privacy.

  Before she left, Maude took Kat’s hands in hers. “You think that you love your young man now. That you will never love him more than at this moment. You’ll find out just how wrong you are. Five . . . ten years from now, what you feel at this moment will only be a shadow of what you will know then. Love grows my dear . . . don’t ever forget that.” Waving casually, Maude walked away on sturdy brown shoes, joining her waiting husband further down the rail.

  I wonder what that would be like, Kat thought as she tucked her hand in Nick’s. Still to be so wonderfully in love after all those years. To have gone through all that life could throw at them, and yet no matter what, knowing they would still be at each other’s side.

  The blast of the ships horn, announcing that they were near the island, broke Kat’s thoughts. Lifting her face to Nick, she placed a gentle kiss on his mouth. We may not have all of those tomorrows, but we have the now, and now is all that matters.

  Nick couldn’t help laughing at the charm in Kat as she moved from stall to stall, gazing wistfully at the many souvenirs that were displayed. He didn’t mind shelling out the money, but there was something he wanted most of all to get for Kat, and it wasn’t some silly knick-knack from a cheap boardwalk stand.

  Privately, more than anything, he wanted to secure a night in one of the fanciest suites offered at the hotel on the island. He couldn’t -- it was way out of the league of someone like him, -- so he had settled on one of the charming bedroom cottages. He was more than gratified by Kat’s reaction to their simple room. He had laughed as her hands had flown to her cheeks in delight the moment they crossed the threshold. “It’s perfect . . . oh, Nick, I don’t think that I’ve ever loved you more than I do at this minute.”

  He paused, his eyes drifting to the inviting bed that beckoned with its cool sheets and a mattress as thick as a cloud. But, he had promised her a day’s adventure, and that she would have, but the night, he thought, the night would be all about the two of them. “C’mon kid, let’s go. I want to see this island.”

  The first place that they stopped was a rental for bicycles for two. Kat thought she had never laughed as hard as Nick manfully attempted to ride it. Never in this life would he admit that it was his first time on a bicycle.

  After tumbling for the third time, he looked at her ruefully. “Kat, if we keep this up, one of us is bound to get hurt.” He stopped at the sound of her laughter, thinking that she had never looked lovelier, covered in the dust of the day, her cheeks flushed by the sun and exertion.

  “You want to know the secret?” A passing couple on similar bicycles rode in easy circles around them. Pausing, a young man with laughing brown eyes shoved back his shock of sun-bleached hair. “The secret is to ride in tandem – it is right there in the name. You have to be in time with your partner. Know and trust each other. It’s a lot like dancing, except that you both take the lead at the same time.”

  Taking the young couples advice, Nick and Kat soon found themselves moving smoothly along. Her laughter streamed back on the wind, unexpectedly warming Nick’s heart. They had found their rhythm in this as they had so many other things.

  A secluded cove seemed to be the perfect spot to enjoy the picnic lunch that had been latched to the back of their cycle. As he moved to unhook the wicker basket, Nick tried his best to hide his aching back; if he let on that he was in any sort of pain, it would ruin the day for Kat. On the other hand, if she insists on one more tour around this island, I won’t have the energy for part two. Then he caught sight of her as she placed a checkered cloth on the warm beach. Flopping down as if it were the most comfortable bed ever created, every ache seemed to vanish.

  Watching Nick as he brought out wrapped sandwiches and a huge thermos of Lemonade, she smiled in blissful contentment. He’s so different – I would never have believed to see smooth, slick Nick O’Connor happy with the prospect of a picnic lunch. He’s actually smiling and laughing. He sang along with me in the car! Come to think of it, he really has a very good baritone voice.

  “Hey kid, are you just going to sit there daydreaming, or do I have to eat all of this myself?”

  They laughed and frolicked away the day as if they were once again children. Seagulls flew overhead, while the soft sound of the water rushing to the shore even brought a smile to Nick’s face. On the beach, Kat was content to sit as the cool water lapped about her bare feet. But Nick
sliced into the water as if it were his second home, cutting through the waves with the sleek power of some wild aquatic animal. It seemed to her that he swam for hours while she watched, and only the lowering of the sun brought him back to her side. He stood before her, water streaming down his chest while he toweled his hair.

  Tossing the towel beside her, Nick lounged next to her, taking her into his arms, his blue eyes searching her face, counting every freckle. Resisting the temptation to count the spots that trailed further down, he pulled her to her feet. “Time to get a move on. The day may be just about over, but the night is still ahead.”

  When they arrived at their cabin, it was awash with soft candle light, flowers in a deep blue vase adding their spice to the scented air. “Now,” he urged, why don’t you go and bathe, kid, while I grab a shower.”

  Her brows hiked into her curls. “Alone?” I wondered why this place had that little outside shower when we came up earlier. Why’s he going all the way out there, though? What’s he got up his sleeve now? She watched him as he grabbed a towel and his toiletries.

  His blue eyes were anything but cold when they met hers. “Yeah, alone. Your stuff is already on the back of the door in there. I won’t keep you waiting, I promise.” He wanted to give her the time she needed to feel special and he knew, perhaps better than she did, that he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands from her if he gave in and bathed with her.

  Something of that must have passed from his eyes to hers, because she nodded a moment later and turned with a swaying swish of her hips that made him groan with unrestrained desire. No, damn it. For once, she’s going to have it all: moonlight and roses, as the song says. Maybe then, she’ll realize just how much I . . . care.

  When she returned from her bath, glowing with the faintest bit of freshly applied make-up, he all but swallowed his tongue at the sight before him. Her shoulders gleamed from under a black, laced bodice topped with a bit of sheer lace. Small sleeves capped her shoulders and a tiny sash cinched in her waist.

  “Well,” she asked as she moved across the room, her hips swaying in a sultry walk. “Do you approve?” Because I certainly do. Oh, he looks so handsome, she thought dreamily, trailing her eyes over the warm sight of his tanned, well-muscled form. While the clothing he wore at the club was not slovenly by any means, Kat had never had the occasion to see Nick dressed in the same sort of formal attire she herself often wore. Though I guess I can see why he doesn’t – any red-blooded woman in the world would gladly do anything he asked of her if he went around looking like this all the time. He’d never get any work done. His soft charcoal pants fit his long legs to perfection, and the crisp lines of the shadow-black shirt he wore beneath his smartly pressed white dinner jacket only made her more aware of the strong, broad lines of his shoulders and back. He looks just swell, she thought admiringly. If I look half as good, I’ll be happy. He could easily have anyone on this whole island tonight – and I’m the only person he’s had eyes for this whole day.

  Nick was about to show her just how much he approved when there was a light tap on their door. “Yeah?” he growled, his eyes never leaving the vision in front of him. “What do you want?”

  “Room service,” replied a trembling voice from beyond the door. “You said dinner at eight.”

  “Oh . . . that.” His long legs ate up the distance to the door, only taking his eyes away from Kat at the last moment. She giggled behind a raised hand. If he had waited any longer to turn his head, he would have run into the door! She smoothed down the satiny cloth of her skirt and waited for Nick to return.

  Reaching into his jacket, Nick stuffed a wad of bills into the young man’s hand as he stood watching Kat with eyes that were easily the size of the dinner plates that sat on his cart. Nick saw where his line of sight had gone and managed a smile, though it didn’t seem a very pleasant expression to the young man as his cart was grabbed from him, and the door was slammed in his face a moment later. Once inside, Nick turned again to see if Kat had disappeared like the fragment of a dream he had thought she must be. She hadn’t, and oh God, she looked so beautiful standing there, all dark and glowing. She was all fire and fury, all independence and passion – and all his.

  “Here,” he muttered, pulling out a chair for her as he deposited the tray on the little table in the room. He was being gruff, and he knew it, but he couldn’t help what she did to him! “We’d better eat before it gets cold . . .” Or before I say what is on the tip of my tongue.

  He lost count of how many times, during that dinner, that he came close to saying the words he knew she wanted to hear. To say them aloud meant giving her the power to hurt him until there would be nothing left of him. She was his life, his world, and he couldn’t bring himself to give her more than that. Yet, somehow, he knew that his world and all he was willing to give her within it, would never be good enough for her.

  Yet, in the heart of it all, happiness shined in her eyes. “Nick . . . these strawberries . . . here, try one.” Delicately, she swirled the berry in a deep dish of cream, teasing at his lips until he neatly bit into the fruit. Until now, he had retained a hold on himself, on the desire he felt for her. When her fingers reached across to trace the trail of juice running down his chin, before slipping that finger into her mouth, however, the last bit of his self-control shattered and crashed at her feet.

  The table bounced and dishes sang discordantly together as he jerked to his feet as though she had bitten him, and began tearing at his clothes as if they had suddenly become ten sizes too small. As he kicked off his shoes, his hands were already reaching for her, and she knew her dress would be soon to follow in the fateful footsteps of his discarded clothing.

  “Nick, I really do love this dress,” she laughed in protest.

  “Then hurry and get the damned thing off.”

  She took her time, teasing him by fumbling with the sash, forcing him to undo the hook and zipper that were in back, pulling away with a low siren’s laugh when she felt him hurrying too much for her.

  “You don’t know what you’re asking,” he protested raggedly, but his hands were gentle once she returned and allowed him to continue removing every bit of her clothing. Nick’s strong fingers found the nape of her neck, searching for the pins that had held her hair in place, until her hair fell like a flaming waterfall about her shoulders. She was so small, so fragile, and yet when she wrapped her arms about him, he could feel the soft scented skin against him, the firm body that was already yielding to him.

  Excitement surged through her when she saw the heat in his eyes, felt the response in his body. That blue stare of his drifted over her with such hunger and possession. Yet there was tenderness there also; a gleam that, in anyone else, she would have said was a gaze of love.

  Their hands were everywhere, exploring and touching, as if they were making love for the first time. He was gentle and tender exploring every inch of her, stroking her soft skin, murmuring quietly in her hair, lifting her into his arms to lay her tenderly on the waiting bed. Blood roared in his ears as he finally knelt between her legs, feeling her wet and moist, her voice already softly calling out to him. There was no time, no Nick or Kat, only two souls that entwined in ways that neither of them would ever fully realize. At that moment, they became more than just lovers, much more than two people who found pleasure in each other’s arms. Without the blessings of a priest, or twin signatures on a piece of paper signed in City Hall, they became as married.

  Wrapping her tightly in his arms, Nick lay staring long after Kat had drifted into sleep. Tomorrow, they would go back to the club and all that went with it. Tomorrow, he would once more bury his feelings and protect himself – and her – from what he feared the most.

  It was too late for that, and he knew it.

  Nick O’Connor had fallen completely and forever in love.

  He woke knowing it, and it soured his mood, forcing him to shove and tamp down his feelings more fiercely than perhaps he should have. Surrounded by the memo
ries of all that he knew he could never have with her, Nick felt trapped as he looked around at the little room, which made him snappish and snarly with her, hurrying her to the ferry, instead of savoring their last moments there at Catalina.

  “What’s the big rush?” Kat asked, trying to keep the impatience from her own voice. “It’s not going to be the last ferry.” Taking his hand in hers, she tugged, trying to pull from him the man that she had seen the night before, that beautiful, gentle man with whom she had loved, known and become one. There didn’t seem to be any sight of him this morning, and Kat wondered if the previous night had all been some wonderful dream.

  “Yeah, and I’ve still got a club to run . . . things to do. And you’ve got a show to do tonight, which means a late rehearsal with Ted before you can even go on. So shake a leg! This was nice, but it’s time to get back to the club.”

  Yeah, Nick, she thought as they carefully packed their souvenirs. It’s always the club.

  Chapter Five

  Running his elegant fingers over the ivory keys, Ted waited as usual for the cue that Kat would soon be making her entrance. High cheekbones spoke of his Celtic heritage, brown eyes that seemed to melt into another world whenever music came into hearing. A shock of dusty brown hair fell perpetually over his forehead, while a shy smile belied the powerful musician that lived within. As he sat there idly playing, his thoughts drifted back to the years before Kat had entered the world of Nick O’Connor.