Garden of the Moongate (2 page)

"Oh, of course; I'm terribly sorry," she repeated, stuffing her ticket envelope into her purse as she rushed away. "Well, if looks could kill, I'd be dead now," she muttered to herself, stepping lightly onto the escalator that carried her to the second level of the terminal, where Lynn waited.

"Why are your cheeks so pink?" the older girl asked before Allendre could sit down. "It must have been awfully warm up there. Was the air conditioning off?"

"Not exactly," Allendre murmured vaguely, lifting her tote bag off the floor. After slipping the strap over her shoulder, she gestured in the direction of the nearest snack shop. "Let's have a drink, okay? Something cool and refreshing."

A few moments later, as both girls sat sipping iced tea at a corner booth, Allendre had conveniently forgotten the embarrassing episode at the ticket counter. Crossing her long, shapely legs, she propped her elbows on the tabletop and rested her chin in her hands.

"You look tired," Lynn remarked sympathetically. "But I imagine you had to get up very early to catch the flight out of Chicago."

"Three-thirty," Allendre muttered, yawning. "That is a mite earlier than I usually get up."

"That's earlier than chickens get up, but maybe you can catch a nap on the plane," her cousin suggested. "Then, when you land in Bermuda, you'll be all bright-eyed and rested for your spy mission."

"Oh, I'm sure nervous energy will keep me going until bedtime tonight at least," Allendre said, then added wryly, "Although I have a distinct feeling this assignment won't be nearly as exciting as it sounds."

"It'll be more exciting than spending the rest of the summer sweltering in Chicago, won't it?" Lynn wrinkled her nose, stirring her tea abstractedly with a red-and-white plastic straw. "Heaven knows, I wish Neal and I could get out of New York before the end of August. But since he doesn't graduate until then, I'll just have to be patient."

"Didn't you tell me he's hoping for a church in New England after he graduates? What are his chances of finding one?"

"Fairly good. Obviously, there aren't that many music majors who are interested in becoming church music directors, especially if the church is tiny and in a small town. So we've heard about a few openings. There's a small town in Maine—I can't remember the name. Then there's a church in Preston, Vermont, in the Green Mountains, not far from Stowe."

"And of course you're hoping Neal is offered the position there. You must be, the way you like to ski." A mischievous smile played across Allendre's full, shapely mouth. "Well, I just hope that, wherever you go, the parishioners never hear about your past. It simply wouldn't do if they discovered the music director's beautiful young wife had been such a wild little girl."

"We were a couple of little devils, weren't we?" Lynn said, laughing. "I really don't know how our parents endured us."

"Or Jim," Allendre added; her green eyes sparkled. "Remember the Fourth of July when he was sixteen and we were about twelve? That's the
only
time I can remember being glad he was your brother and not mine. He was absolutely livid when he saw his underwear flying from the flagpole in your front yard. I guess you shouldn't have done it."

"Now, wait just a minute!" Lynn protested with a grin. "I recall having
some
help in that little endeavor. You stood lookout for me, remember?"

"Yes, but I didn't actually take part in the banner raising," Allendre said primly. "And besides, it was your idea to do it in the first place."

Lynn emphatically shook her head. "No. I distinctly remember that the idea was yours."

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

As they laughed together Allendre sighed. "I wonder how many times we bickered just that way. Oh, I know our families had to be so relieved when we finally grew up."

"Undoubtedly," Lynn agreed. "We were two wild and unmanageable little hellcats, at least according to Great-aunt Nita. Remember what she always said about us?" Pursing her lips tightly, she mimicked in a nasal tone, "'These two girls are destined for trouble, mark my words! They're positively unruly. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if their antics end up disgracing the entire family. Something must be done to discipline them right now!'"

"And we weren't even teenagers yet," Allendre muttered softly, then shrugged and added louder with a grin, "But old Aunt Nita's always such a grumpy prude, constantly complaining about something." Then, suddenly, her smile faded and she felt her cheeks redden as the man in the booth behind Lynn turned his head to glance over his shoulder. His gray eyes gleamed with disdain, as obvious and insulting as it had been during their earlier meeting at the ticket counter. Apparently, this time he had only heard Lynn's last words and was drawing his own erroneous conclusions. Suppressing a groan of embarrassment, Allendre met his gaze directly for an instant, then looked hastily away as a mocking smile twisted his strong, firm mouth. He really had a nerve, she fumed. She had a fierce desire to toss the rest of her tea in his dark, sardonic face. Controlling the urge, she looked up again, but he had turned away.

"Let's go," she muttered, sliding out of the booth and marching away, barely aware of the puzzled frown her cousin wore as she rushed to catch up.

"Only twenty minutes until boarding," Allendre said a moment later, synchronizing her watch with the official clock on the opposite wall of the mezzanine. Shifting her tote bag to her right shoulder, she sighed and strummed her fingers against her knees. "I wish I weren't so nervous; it's really silly to be. All I have to do in Bermuda is relax as if I were a typical guest on vacation. The hotel staff will never know I'm there for any other reason."

"Of course not," Lynn reassured her. "Mr. Meredith was right—you look too young for anyone to ever suspect you of being there to evaluate them. So don't worry, Allie." Lynn's brown eyes glowed with affection.

"I'm not really worried, just eager to get started, I guess," the younger girl admitted. "I suppose you could say this is the most adventurous thing I've ever done in my life and I'm overly excited. I'm really glad you could meet me here while I had this stopover; I would've been a bundle of nerves if you hadn't been here to talk to."

"And I came hoping some of your adventure would rub off on me," Lynn retorted, but without a trace of real discontent. "Heaven knows, I'll have to get my adventures secondhand, since I'm destined to live the mundane life of schoolteacher and wife of a church music director."

"And you wouldn't change places with me for all the money in the world," Allendre said solemnly. "And I must admit
I
envy
you
for what you and Neal have together. A great marriage is much more important than an occasional semiadventure and I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever find a man I could share a relationship like that with. After all, I'm twenty-two already."

"But not quite senile yet," Lynn teased. "And I'm sure the right man will come along soon. Maybe you'll even find him in Bermuda."

"I doubt that. I hear it's pretty much a haven for honeymooners, and the few single men who might be there probably won't be searching for very meaningful relationships." With a rueful smile Allendre glanced at her watch again, then leaped to her feet. "Fifteen minutes to go. I'd better head for the boarding lounge. It's been so great seeing you. Thanks for coming, Lynn."

They exchanged a brief hug, and Allendre began to hurry away. "When you come back, Neal and I will throw a big party for you," Lynn called after her. "We'll shock the neighborhood," she joked.

Appreciating the absurdity of such a suggestion, Allendre laughed back over her shoulder as she continued walking. "Great," she retorted gaily. "Tell Neal I'll expect a really wild bash."

Walking backward proved to be a mistake. As Allendre lifted her hand to wave goodbye she collided violently with something solid and unyielding. Her sandaled feet tangled with a pair of expensive black leather shoes, and she felt herself beginning to fall. Two strong hands gripped her upper arms and, none too gently, set her aside. She heard a loud thump behind her and a few gruffly exclaimed words she wouldn't have cared to repeat. With cheeks flushed crimson, she spun around, an apology hovering on her lips. But when she found the man from the ticket counter raking icy gray eyes over her tensed body, words simply wouldn't come. Her gaze came to rest on the black briefcase that lay on the floor between them, paper and folders spilling out in all directions. Allendre stared down at it with dismay, a pained expression settling on her delicate features.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Again," she muttered weakly, bending to help him retrieve the scattered papers. They reached for the same stack simultaneously, and as his strong, tan fingers brushed against her much smaller hand he snatched the papers away, glaring at her when they nearly bumped heads as they both straightened up again.

"Do me and the rest of the world a favor, will you?" he remarked icily, stuffing the sheets haphazardly into his briefcase. "Tell your Neal not to go overboard on that coming-home bash. You're enough of a menace stone sober."

Allendre was tongue-tied and glanced back toward Lynn, who was watching the scene with some amusement. "She was only…" Her words trailed off as the man ignored her attempted explanation and strode away. She wrinkled her nose at his broad back, then shrugged her shoulders expressively as Lynn gave her a parting grin.

After passing through the security check, Allendre hurried across gate seven's boarding lounge just in time to hear the last call for her flight. After all her eagerness, she had nearly missed the plane, and she was mentally chastising herself for not being better organized when a beautiful, raven-haired flight attendant glanced at her ticket envelope.

"Forward, through the curtain. Straight down the aisle. Seat Six-J." The beauty lazily lifted one finger to point out the way. "By the window."

Allendre came to an abrupt halt in the center of the aisle before she reached her seat and stared dismally at the man sitting in Seat Six-I, right next to her own assigned place. "This is
definitely
not my lucky day," she muttered disbelievingly to herself before taking a reluctant step forward. She nervously cleared her throat, preparing herself for the insult of an icy stare. But as the blue-gray eyes swept slowly over the length of her slender body up to her flushed face she was instead astonished to hear a short, deep-throated laugh.

Shaking his head, the man raked his long fingers through the dark thickness of his hair. "Don't tell me. You're Six-J?" When she nodded with a weakly apologetic smile, he lifted himself out of his aisle seat with languid grace. "Sit down, then. Just let me get my feet out of your way."

Suddenly, he seemed to be making much too much out of a few unfortunate encounters. Eyes flashing, Allendre flounced past him, subsiding with a huff in the window seat. And when he lowered himself down beside her, stretching his long legs out in front of him as much as possible in the cramped space, she lifted her chin and glared at him indignantly. "Maybe if your feet weren't as big as gunboats, they wouldn't be continually getting in
my
way," she suggested stiffly.

"You're the only person who seems to have trouble with them," he replied, then added, in a patronizing tone, "But I'm a fair-minded man, so I'll give your suggestion careful consideration."

Since Allendre had expected her insult to elicit a flare-up of temper, his more subtle put-down confused her considerably. She turned away from him, opening her tote bag and feigning a great interest in its contents.

During the twenty minutes following takeoff, Allendre acted as if she were completely uninterested in the man seated next to her. When she was sure he wouldn't notice, she occasionally glanced his way, examining him out of the corner of her eye.

Thirty or so, dressed in unmistakably expensive clothes, he impressed her as being the typical up-and-coming young executive. She watched him thumb through the papers from his briefcase, seemingly enthralled by his work. He was one of those willing slaves to his career, she decided, and, dismissing him as an ill-tempered workaholic, she took a paperback book from her purse and began to read.

Allendre's concentration, however, was almost immediately disturbed by a sultry feminine voice.

"Why, Ric, darling, it's been ages, hasn't it?" the raven-haired stewardess cooed, leaning over the man in seat Six-I. "I still fly this route quite often, and I haven't seen you in two or three years. But I must admit I do think about you a lot."

"It's nice seeing you again, Judy," Ric responded; his answering smile etched attractive lines in his lean cheeks and gentled his finely chiseled features. "It has been a long time. And if I remember correctly, the last time I made the trip you told me you were about to be married, didn't you?"

Judy giggled. "I did, and I was. And it's all over already. Art and I divorced last year, so I'm free again," she declared, her amber eyes issuing a blatant invitation, then drifting down to examine his tan left hand. "And I see you've managed to avoid tying yourself down with one little woman, so you're free, too. Right? And how long will you be staying in Bermuda?"

"I'm not sure," he answered, loosening his wine-colored tie and unbuttoning his pin-striped vest. "Several weeks, probably."

"Oh, how lucky for you," Judy said enthusiastically, then pursed her lips in a silly pout that made her look like an overgrown schoolgirl. "I'll only have a two-day layover there this time, but if we could see each other, I know I can make the most of such a short stay."

"Maybe we can get together, then," he said noncommittally, apparently accustomed to women nearly begging him to take them out. "Call me tomorrow afternoon, why don't you? Maybe I can get away for dinner."

"Oh, do try, love," Judy gushed; she trailed her crimson-tipped fingers over his long white shirt sleeve, allowing them to linger on his hair-roughened wrist. "We could have such a fabulous time, catching up on what we've missed the past three years. Now, would you care for a drink before we serve dinner?"