Champagne Kisses: A Timeless Love Story (9 page)

We played game after game of volleyball, winning some and losing some. Since I was the tallest girl, our team won most of the ones we played. We told jokes and bantered with one another, and I laughed until my abs hurt. My smiling muscles felt like they were going to fall off my face from all the grinning. It was the first time we had all really hung out since the night at the bar.

J
une 8, 1990- Evening

At some point when it started to get dark, Tony and Kim sneaked away and started a small fire down on the beach while the rest of us were on the volleyball court. Tony put some hamburgers on the grill that his aunt kept in the garage, and by the time we were done with the last volleyball game, he had paper plates full of food for us to eat. We opened a bag of potato chips. Tony removed the grill from the fire and began to throw more and more fuel into it, quickly turning it into a bonfire. We cracked open some beers and all began to eat. None of us spoke much, busy eating and simply enjoying the good company.

I sat on the sand and watched the fire as the sun finished setting, leaning my head against Dean's shoulder as we munched on potato chips. The waves crashed against the beach below, and soon a cool wind began to blow in from the ocean. Dean graciously slipped my tank top off his neck and let me have it back. It was just the right amount of clothing to be comfortable, especially since it was still warm from Dean's skin.

This is our last night together
, I thought with a heavy heart. I sipped my beer and leaned closer to Dean. On the one hand, I wanted to enjoy our last night together in bed, hopefully giving him something to look forward to upon his return. On the other hand, I was so comfy here. Dean felt solid, a rock for me to hold on to, and I didn't want to let him go for anything.

Jenny finally spoke up. "This has been some week, hasn't it?" Everyone muttered an agreement. "This is basically the best vacation I've ever had. To meeting new friends," she said, raising her beer in the air. It was the same toast we had shared in the bar. That seemed like a lifetime ago, and so much seemed to have changed since then. Still, I raised my beer in the air and clinked with Dean.

Jenny drank the rest of her beer in one swig. "I'll definitely be sorry to see you all go, but summer flings can't last past summer, can they?"

There was silence. Everyone but her seemed to be thinking the same thing, that they wished this summer could go on forever. The silence went a moment too long, and Jenny cleared her throat. Even Matt seemed to reel for a moment, but then broke the tension. "Yeah, if I had you for any longer, I'd probably break you in half."

Jenny smiled and laughed. "You were a pretty good lay, Grinswald, maybe the best I ever had. You take care of yourself." She was either oblivious to the fact that she was breaking Matt's heart, or she wanted to make it clear to him that what happened on vacation stayed on vacation.

Matt laughed but his voice sounded sad. "Same to you, Jenny."

Nobody seemed to have much to say after that. After finishing their beers, Kim and Tony took off back to the condo. Jenny whispered something in Matt's ear, then flicked her tongue against it. He smiled and nodded. The two got up and walked toward the house.

"Guess it's just you and me," Dean said.

"Guess so," I said. I didn't want this to end. I'd do anything to keep this vacation from ending. I hoped he didn't look at my face, because I was beginning to cry.

"Was I a pretty good lay?" he asked.

I laughed a little. "Maybe the best I ever had." Then I looked at his face, and he could definitely see the tears reflecting the fire's light. "Definitely the best I ever had."

He smiled back at me, his blue eyes seeming to twinkle. They were unquestionably wet. "That's encouraging," he said.

I laughed. "That's not what you're supposed to say," I said.

"What am I supposed to say?" His voice was soft and low.

I paused. "What if I asked you not to leave?"

Without hesitation, he said, "I have to leave."

"I know, but what if I asked you
not
to go? What if I asked you to come with me to a place where summer never ended?" I asked, my voice trembling a little bit.

"You have your own dreams, Rachel. You'd have to leave those behind," he said.

"I could deal with that." I was dead serious. "What do you think?"

Dean didn't answer right away. He hugged my shoulder and pulled me in closer. "There's something I haven't told you, something that you should probably know."

The tone of his voice told me that this was something big.
He's married
, I thought.

"I'm not just going back to the army base tomorrow. Well, I am, but it's temporary," he said.

He's got three kids, and he lives off base
, I thought.

"There's a war going on right now between one of America's allies and a much larger army. They have no chance of winning without our help. So we're going to help." He paused. "I'm going to help."

I looked at him, suddenly feeling tiny and lost. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "I leave for Saudi Arabia in three days. Our whole company is. We're going to be there in case the Iraqi army won't leave Kuwait."

I was shocked. "You're going to war? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Because this is a vacation. Because I didn't want to think about it. Because I thought that you wouldn't want to hang out with me if you thought of me as a trained killer instead of as a pretty face." He smiled, but it was an empty smile.

I laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. I never thought of you as a pretty face," I said. I started to laugh at my own joke, but I couldn't. Instead, I began to bawl openly, leaning into his shoulder. I didn't want him to go anywhere, and I certainly didn't want him to go to war.

Dean let me cry, stroking my hair gently. The fire began to go out in front of us, having consumed all the fuel that had been put into it. My heart felt the same way. In one week, I had known such intense highs that my heart had burned like a star, and now that it was starved of fuel, I felt it being extinguished.

I moved my head from Dean's shoulder. He tried to hide it as he wiped a tear away, but I knew. I looked at him. The dying light of the fire was just enough for me to see those crystal clear blue eyes. "Make love to me, Dean. Make love to me like this is the last night we'll ever spend together."

Dean nodded, then moved in to kiss me. There, on the beach where I first laid on eyes on him, the two of us became as one. I cried as I spent the last night I figured I might ever have with him.

Before that, I had never felt that close to anyone, and in the twenty years since then, I never did again.

T
wo Years Ago

I sat in my office, typing on my laptop. In a few short hours, I would be free for the weekend. Jack and his secretary, Brandi, were on their way to the Caribbean, and I was going to have a few days off. It felt wonderful to know I was going to have a weekend for myself. Things at work had me running overtime. Jack was about to transition to CEO of DS Oil and Gas, now that Daniel's failing health was making it harder for him to work. We had hoped to delay the transition another year, but Daniel's cancer was growing more aggressively than expected. The doctors were only giving him maybe another year.

I shook my head, ridding myself of the negative thoughts. I was going to have a weekend to myself. I had reservations at a charming little bed and breakfast in upstate New York, complete with a spa and relaxation package. It was going to be a great weekend.

My phone buzzed on the desk, and I picked it up. I frowned as soon as I saw it was Jack. He was supposed to be on a plane right now with his ditzy secretary, not calling me. I picked it up.

"Rachel, we need a new flight plan. And, we're going to need you to come to the airport and get on a plane," Jack said.

"What?" I was apparently now going on a flight. My weekend plans started waving goodbye.

"Oh, and will you please make a note to give Dean a bonus? He's been fantastic today."

"Sure. What's going on, though?" I felt like I was trying to put a puzzle together without the box. For some reason, Jack's flight plans were changing and I was now getting on a plane. And something about that all occurring meant that Dean was getting a raise.

"Somehow, the paparazzi were tipped off that I was going on a trip. Dean knows how important it is that they don't figure out where I'm going. This is my last vacation, and I won't have their busybody cameras ruining it." A touch of anger came into his voice, but he took a deep breath and continued. "When they followed us, Dean eluded them. We missed our original flight plan, but Dean came up with an idea. We're flying separately now."

"Okay. So I'm guessing Dean's going to fly with you, making it look like one of your business trips, and I'm flying with Brandi to make it look like a separate business trip," I reasoned out.

"You and Dean must share a brain or something. Dean and I are going to take the chopper into the private strip in Tampa. You and Brandi will take the jet. Once Brandi and I are safely on the jet together and on our way to the island, you and Dean can head home." Jack sounded very pleased with his little plan. I had to admit that it would get the paparazzi off his back, but there was just one small hitch.

"So you're going to make me take a plane ride with Brandi?" I made sure that my distaste was apparent.

Jack sighed. He knew I didn't like her. The blonde-haired secretary was a bimbo. A bimbo that I highly suspected was just after Jack's money and fame. She was pretty and did her job well enough, but I had a feeling that she would do whatever it took to get into Jack's wallet. And right now, that was pretty easy because she was already in his pants.

"I know you don't like her, but this is my vacation. I wanted her to come along," he said quietly. I could tell he was muffling the phone so she wouldn't hear.

"No, I don't like her. I think you can do so much better. She's a gold-digger. I wish you would just find someone with a brain in her head."

"Unfortunately, I don't exactly have a lot of opportunities to meet women. We can talk about this later. Right now, I want this to get underway. Dean already has the helicopter en route. He wants me away from these paparazzi as soon as possible, so we'll be in Tampa before you." Jack switched on his business voice, telling me that it was time to do my job.

"Yes, Mr. Saunders. I'll be right there."

***

I
managed not to kill Brandi. I was close, though, especially as she filed her nails for the billionth time and blabbered on about her "designer shoes." I kept it to myself that they were obviously a knock-off and that they gave her clown feet. I hoped she broke a heel stepping in the sand with them. Longest three hours of my life.

When we finally landed, I practically skipped off the plane. Jack walked sedately up the private tarmac, greeting me as I came out.

"You owe me a raise," I told him sweetly.

"Like you don't already have access to all my bank accounts already," he responded with an eye-roll. I gave him a grin.

"Have a great time. I'll do my best not to call you, but I make no promises." I gave him a quick hug. "Be sure to compliment her shoes."

"Her shoes? I don't understand women and their shoes. I need to find someone who likes just wearing sneakers. Sneakers I understand." Jack's eyes glazed as he looked up at the plane and thought about shoes. I had a sneaking suspicion that this fling with the secretary wasn't going to last long. I hoped he still managed to have a good vacation anyway.

Jack waved as he stepped up the metal staircase to the cabin door. He looked like a movie star as he ducked inside. I walked quickly off the tarmac and into the small office, pulling out my phone to figure out how I was going to make it back. With any luck, I could catch a charter flight home and still make it in time for check-in at the B&B.

One new message. The green light blinked on my phone. I decided to listen to it before making my flight plans. Maybe Dean had waited with the helicopter and I wouldn't have to worry about planes at all.

"Hi, Rachel," a male voice slurred. "This is Dean. I'm gonna need you to come get me."

The message ended abruptly as though he had dropped the phone. I stared at my cell for a moment, at a loss as to what to do. I couldn't believe he had called me.

I had tried to avoid him as much as possible since his having been hired. It had been easy enough. The few times that I had been alone in a car with him we had been polite and civil. Since we were usually just waiting for Jack to arrive or emerge from a meeting, our encounters had been thankfully brief. It appeared to be working.

I thought I was over the heartache of losing him. We only had a few short days together, and then he had never written me any letters. Despite his promise to come find me, he never did. I had forgiven him a long time ago, but now, with the Florida humidity and his voice still in my ears, I was having a hard time.

Dean was the one who got away. I had tried to have boyfriends since he left, but they never lasted long. They were either only looking for a way to get to Jack Saunders, or they weren't content playing second fiddle to my job. I had made my peace with being alone. For one brief, shining moment, when I had seen Dean's name for the interview, I had held out a hope that things might work out. That maybe, despite the years apart, we could be together. Dean had made it painfully clear that he wasn't interested and wanted as little to do with me as possible. Until this phone call, that was.

I picked up the cellphone and dialed his number. It rang four times, and I was about to leave a message to just have a car sent to wherever he was and that the company would pick up the tab, when an unfamiliar voice answered.

"Hello? Who is this?" The voice was gruffer and deeper than Dean's. I glanced at the screen to make sure the number was right.

"This is Rachel Weber. Can you put Dean Sherman on the phone, please?" I asked politely. I wondered where Dean was that someone else would pick up his phone.