Page 19 of Deadly Waves

7

Seven

“What are you doing?”

James found Mandy sitting on the floor in front of the marine window when he left the bathroom a few hours later. He thought she was satiated after their romp and expected to have to slip underneath her to get comfortable before drifting off to sleep, but she surprised him by getting out of bed. She was completely naked as she stared through the window.

“What?” Mandy jerked her head away from the window, which offered enough light for her to see a few feet out. Unfortunately for her, nothing was there to catch her interest.

“You’re supposed to be asleep,” James chided as he moved to the floor with her. He didn’t bother grabbing a blanket to cover his nakedness because the room temperature was comfortable. “You promised to go out of your way to spend time with Ally tomorrow.”

“I have every intention of spending oodles of time with Ally,” Mandy said, sighing as James rubbed his hand over her bare back. “I just wanted to look for a few minutes.”

“Uh-huh.” James was understandably dubious. “You need your sleep. How is your foot?”

Mandy made a face as she shifted her sea-blue eyes to him. Her hair was tousled from some vigorous sea pirating and the soft light from the marine window gave her a sexy appeal that had James reconsidering how important a good night’s sleep was to him.

“My foot is fine,” Mandy replied. “I wish you would stop asking about my foot. The doctor says it is mostly healed. It’s not going to pop open when you’re not looking.”

James tugged a strand of Mandy’s hair behind her ear. “I’m your husband. It’s my job to worry.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Mandy said, her voice soft. “I’m okay.”

“I know you are. That doesn’t mean I will ever stop worrying about you. I can’t seem to help myself.”

Mandy’s expression softened and then another emotion James couldn’t identify flitted across her face. “Can I ask you a question?”

James groaned as he leaned back and rested his shoulders on the mattress. He looked pained. “Do you have to?” He loved his wife beyond all reason, but she had a tendency to ask philosophical questions at the oddest of times.

“No,” Mandy said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin our night.”

“Baby, you can’t ruin anything by asking a question,” James said, wetting his lips as he studied her profile. “What do you want to know?”

“It’s not important.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” James countered. “Tell me.”

“It’s just … um … .” Mandy blew out a heavy sigh and shifted her eyes to the ceiling. Whatever plagued her tonight was heavier than one of her normal questions.

“You can ask me whatever you want, Mandy,” James said. “That’s how this marriage thing works. We have to communicate to the best of our abilities to keep things working.”

“Okay.” Mandy rubbed her palm against her cheek. “When I was gone, did you think I was already dead? Did you let me go?”

She’d asked a myriad of questions over their two years together, but James honestly never expected that one. “I don’t … no. Why would you ask that?”

“When you found me at the cabin, you said that you thought you lost me,” Mandy said, her eyes glistening. “Then at the hospital you said you didn’t do well without me. I’ve seen the way Grady looks at you and thought … I don’t know … maybe you let me go because you thought I was dead. If you did, I understand. I’m not upset.”

“No, baby,” James said, his heart rolling at her sad expression as he slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer. “I never thought you were dead. Not for a second. It’s just … .” He wasn’t sure how to explain his emotions during her absence. He wasn’t exactly proud of the way he reacted.

“It’s okay,” Mandy said, running her index finger down his cheek. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

James cupped her hand and pressed it to his jaw line as he stared at her. “You’re allowed to ask whatever you want,” he said. “I’m just not sure I can explain what happened in an acceptable manner.”

“Who says it has to be acceptable?”

“Good point,” James said, exhaling heavily. “I didn’t think you were dead. I mean, I guess it crossed my mind because I was overcome by fear. I couldn’t function. My heart hurt and my head was fuzzy. I was convinced you were being hurt and I couldn’t stand the thought of it.

“I didn’t let you go, though,” he continued. “I will never let you go. It’s not in me. I knew you were out there and I had to find you, but I was frozen because of fear. I was afraid I would make the wrong decision and that would somehow come back to hurt you. I’ve never had that problem before, but I was lost without you.”