wrath of the Sea Queen (14 page)

"
It will be
, and I
a
m
looking forward to the trip
despite
what I look like on the outside
at the moment
.  Leaving you has th
is
effect on me. 
I can't help it.
"

"I'm going to miss you, too.  Promise me that you will be careful down there.  Try to keep Salma out of trouble."  Vin was only half-joking, and C
a
eli understood.

"I will.  Now, i
f you don't make this a quick farewell, I
wi
ll be terrible company
by the time
Salma
gets here
,
"
C
a
eli smiled up into
Vin's
bright blue eyes as she
took a
step
out of his embrace
, wiping away the
remaining
wetness at the corner of her eye.

"
D
on’t' worry,
Vin.  Perhaps
I
can
find
another handsome, young face
for her
to stare at on the plane.  That might
take her mind off of you
and kee
p me out of trouble
as well.
"
  The remark came from
a tall
, attractive
woman, with long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail
, smiling broadly as she approached
.  The lady walked up to them
from the parking lot entrance
, and a
familiar man
stayed
close
to
her side.  The
middle-aged
lady
laughed as she
gave C
a
eli a hug.

Vin laughed
, too
,
not surprised by the comment.  It was par for the course between
the two of them
.  Their banter always kept
Vin
on his toes. 
Therefore
, h
e could not let Salma get the best of him.

"
Why Salma, I'm shocked! 
Barely
a newlywed and
you're
already
openly
search
ing
for
younger men
.  I don’t think Ben
i
s going to
like that idea
,
"
Vin teased
as
e
veryone laughed. 

"Hello Salma
,
Ben."  Vin reached out to shake Ben's hand and gave Salma a hug. 

"
Hi, Aunt Salma,
"
C
a
eli emphasiz
ed
the title that, until recently, neither
she nor Salma
had known.  Salma, C
a
eli's best friend and physician, was also the half
-
sister of C
a
eli's dad. 
Though they
had been
friends for many years, neither
knew
about th
eir
familial
relationship until six months ago.  A police captain investigating C
a
eli's abduction made the connection through
an
old photograph.

C
a
eli's father died very young
,
before she was
even
born.  He was advanced in his school work and entered college at age fifteen. 
During h
is second year, he met and fell in love with C
a
eli's mother.  Against his father's wishes,
the couple married.  Within a few months, his nineteen year old wife was pregnant.  They had not yet shared this happy news with
his
parents when C
a
eli's father was tragically killed in a car accident.  C
a
eli's grandfather was so devastated by the event that it
soon
led to his divorce from C
a
eli's grandmother. 
The man
could not find any
interest in his widowed daughter-in-law and never knew about
his granddaughter
. 

C
a
eli's grandmother,
whom she affectionately called Jaddah,
was much more
sympathetic
. 
She had been touched by tragedy herself,
believ
ing
her first husband and daughter
had
died
during
a bombing in her home city.  She understood how the widowed girl must have
grieved
and took her in
to love and care for
as
she
would her own daughter
, who would have been only a few years older than
C
a
eli
's mother if she had lived
.

After C
a
eli was born, she and her mother lived
happily
with
Jaddah
for several years
before t
ragedy struck again
.  C
a
eli's mother died while C
a
eli was
in grade school
. 
Jaddah
Mesi
,
C
a
eli
's
only known relative, then
raised
C
a
eli
alone
.  C
a
eli
lived with her grandmother until
her senior year of high school, when Jaddah
was killed
as another knot in the endless
string of tragedies that seemed to follow C
a
eli
through her young
life
.
 

Unfortunately,
Salma missed the opportunity to meet
C
a
eli
's grandmother and was out of town when she died.  If she had
met her
, they
naturally
would
have discovered their connected heritage
much
sooner.
  Salma certainly would have recognized her mother, even after all those years.  Salma was the daughter that C
a
eli's grandmother mistakenly thought she lost
in th
e
bombing
.

 
Captain Ben Erickson, t
h
e
officer
who
discovered
th
e
connection
, was the man now standing beside Salma, his wife of three months.
  When C
a
eli
was reintroduced to
him
a few months ago
, she mistakenly thought
Ben
was in his
early to mid-fifties, though he was only forty
eight
.  C
a
eli explained to Ben that it was the air of confidence and experience that he displayed
on the job
that made her think he
had
earned
those additional years of wisdom. 
Ben
was not at all offended,
especially
since
C
a
eli phra
sed her apology in such a compli
mentary way,
and
he
readily forgave her th
e
minor misjudgment.  They took a quick liking to each other, and now Ben was a
welcome
d
and
loved addition to
he
r
family.

"
Salma, if you don't mind terribly, I
a
m going to steal your husband away.  Otherwise, C
a
eli will
be unfit to travel
.  Besides, if we hit the road now, we
wi
ll reach the lake with plenty of time for
Ben to brag about his
fishing
expertise
before breakfast, and he might even be able to catch our
lunch.  Have
fun.  Be safe. 
Call when you get settled at your hotel. 
W
e
wi
ll see you on Friday," Vin steered t
he parting toward a quick end.

After a final round of farewells, the
guys headed toward the parking lot
while
the two
women made their way through
the
security
checkpoint and over
to the boarding gate
.  Their flight to
Hawaii
was scheduled to leave
at
six o'clock
, just as the sun would begin to rise
.