'Til There Was You

An Ennoble Line Romance

by Joyce and Jim Lavene

Published by Awe-Struck E-Books, Inc.

ISBN: 1-58749-079-X

'Til There was You

There were bells on the hill,
But I never heard them ringing,
No, I never heard them at all,
'Til there was you.

-- with apologies to Meredith Wilson

Chapter One   Chapter Two   Chapter Three

Chapter Four   Chapter Five   Chapter Six

Chapter Seven   Chapter Eight   Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten   Epilogue

Chapter One

"Hi." Robbie Jo smiled at him. "You're from the conference, right?"

"Right." He smiled back at her and checked her short skirt and pretty face. "Are you here for the conference, too? I'm here to pick up Dr. Smolka, but we could fit one more. I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing the car with you."

"I'm with Regal Hotel management. There's been some kind of screw up. They need you back there."

"Come on! Why?"

"Another assignment." She shrugged. "I don't know. I just follow instructions like you." She smiled at him again but he didn't smile back.

"That's stupid! I'm already here! I've been here for half an hour! If I leave now, I don't get a tip for the fare."

"Hey, don't tell me. I just go where they send me. Besides, I heard these foreign doctors are pretty tight when it comes to tipping." She held out her hand for the all-important welcome sign. "Dr. Smolka, you say?"

"Yeah." He glanced around. "I'm not taking this crap from them. You stand here. I'm going to call the hotel. They can't just push us around like this!"

"You tell 'em! I won't let Dr. Smolka get away."

He handed her the sign and stalked off, looking for a pay phone.

Robbie Jo Connor marshaled her forces as carefully as any general before a major battle. She knew what time Dr. Smolka's New York plane was landing at the Atlanta airport. She had his picture in her pocket in case she couldn't identify him. She was standing at the exit where he would have to get off and was holding a sign with his name on it.

The plane had already landed and passengers were beginning to straggle off the wide body jet. She glanced around nervously, hoping the other driver had plenty to say to the person at the other end of the phone before he realized his mistake. Hurry! She urged her prey, looking at the people's faces as they disembarked. His face, when she spotted him, was just like the pictures from the magazine articles.

Dr. Alexei Smolka had a thick dark hair that he wore a little longer than was fashionable, and an arresting angular face. He was tall and had broad shoulders, even though he was very thin. He looked a little frail, but it was probably just his height with that thin frame. His face was pale and his vivid blue eyes were keen. She suffered a momentary twinge of guilt for what she was about to do, but it passed quickly. She wasn't about to abandon her plan.

Robbie Jo watched him remove his wire-rimmed glasses and put them in his pocket. His magazine photos hadn't done him justice, she decided. Or she hadn't really noticed. He was a very handsome man. He had the look of a brooding, dark prince who came from some Carpathian castle. Without his white coat and the clinical background, he could almost be a cover model for a romance book.

She shook her head at the fantasy, but it had already lodged in her brain somewhere and refused to leave. He carried a travel bag across his shoulder and held a book in one hand. She could tell from the way he refocused his gaze that he had been absorbed in it on the plane. He had begun to search the waiting crowd for his ride. Robbie Jo took a deep breath, straightened her short skirt and walked boldly toward him.

"Dr. Smolka?" she inquired politely with what she hoped was a dazzling, trustworthy smile.

He looked at her, equally polite, but his smile was a little less forthcoming. "I am Alexei Smolka. Are you from the conference?" he asked in heavily accented English.

Robbie's smile became bigger. "That's right. Do you have any other luggage?"

"Just one bag," he replied quietly. He followed her as she started moving through the crowd. "Shall I pick it up now or will it be sent to the hotel?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the angry face of the driver she'd sent away. Beside him were two, large security guards. They were all standing at the side of the crowd coming from the plane, searching their faces as they walked by. She knew that they were looking for her. Damn! Robbie took Dr. Smolka's arm to hurry him through the gate area.

"We're running a little late, Doctor," she explained, stepping up the pace. "If you could walk a little faster?"

Alexei looked down at her hand on his arm. "The conference doesn't start until tomorrow. How late can we be?"

"We're not late for the conference, of course," she said without slowing. "We're late -- with the car. The conference has to send a car out for other visitors."

"Of course," he agreed, shifting his bag to accommodate their near running mode. "I'm grateful that they could meet me at all."

"This way, Doctor." She tugged at his arm, veering them away from the driver and security guards who spotted them and begun to pursue.

"Wait!" the real driver yelled, seeing them. "Dr. Smolka!"

"Did someone call my name?" Alexei asked, starting to look around them.

"No," she replied, tugging at him harder. They were almost at the outside doors, just a few more steps. Robbie was double parked in a loading zone. She knew she'd be ticketed, but she wouldn't have to go out into the parking lot and look for her car.

"I believe those men are pursuing us," Alexei told her, noticing the three running after them. He stopped and turned to face them.

"No way," she reassured him breathlessly, tugging at his arm to get him going again. "They're probably chasing a purse snatcher. Or a bomb suspect. I heard there was a bomb here earlier."

"A bomb?" he asked incredulously. "Why haven't they evacuated the airport?" he demanded as they reached the doors.

"They're trying, but the crowd is going to go wild. Panic, you know. That's why we have to get out before it happens."

"And my bag?" he asked.

"The hotel will pick it up later. When the bomb threat is over," she said, hoping her lungs wouldn't burst before they got away. "Please hurry!"

"They have excellent service," he commented. "I hope the bomb doesn't explode."

Robbie pointed to the left. "There we are, Doctor. Just another minute and we'll be on our way."

Alexei frowned when he saw the vehicle. It was a nearly demolished red pickup truck with a stone hole in the front window and a KISS sticker on the side. "This is what the conference sent for me?"

Robbie took his bag and pushed it on the seat. "There are so many people attending the conference," she lied smoothly. "They had to do the best they could."

He continued to frown at the decrepit truck. He was noticing the length of rope and the scattered pieces of shingle in the bed. Robbie looked back and saw that the real driver and the two security guards had made it through the doors and were looking for them.

"What is this piece of paper?" Alexei asked, picking up the parking ticket that he found on the window under the wiper.

"They...uh...give me that to park here," she told him, looking at the three men still standing by the doors. "Doctor, please! I'm going to lose my job if we're late."

He smiled at her and nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry to be a bother." He pushed himself into the pickup and closed the door. "It was kind of the conference to send what they had for me."

Robbie climbed in and slammed the door shut. The sound caught the attention of the three men at the exit. They turned and pointed, then ran toward the truck, shouting after them.

"There are those men again," Alexei said, staring at them as Robbie started the engine and pulled smoothly into traffic.

"They're too late," Robbie told him triumphantly.

"Too late?" he wondered.

Robbie smiled at him. "They lost the purse snatcher, I'm afraid. I hope they do a better job finding the bomb. Sit back, Doctor. It's a long ride to the hotel."

Robbie knew she was lucky that Dr. Smolka had been in the U.S. for only a few weeks. He didn't know a lot about American ways yet. Certainly no American doctor would have gone along with getting into a ten-year-old pick up truck with three men chasing him. He might have asked for her ID. She'd been prepared for that. She'd even been prepared to pretend that she was carrying a gun in her pocket, if necessary. One way or another, Dr. Smolka was going with her!

She knew a few personal things about Alexei Smolka. He was from Croatia, they had written those things in the magazine articles. She knew that he'd perfected a new surgical technique back home, but that the U.S. government was sponsoring trials for it. The technique actually restored the hearing of children who were born deaf.

"We seem to be heading out of the city," Dr. Smolka observed as they left behind the tall buildings and city congestion.

Robbie turned the truck on the Interstate. "It's a ways out, Doctor. They thought you might like the fresh air and green grass."

Alexei Smolka studied the woman who sat behind the wheel. She drove like a demon, her eyes constantly going to the rearview mirror. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew that she was lying. "What is your name?"

She glanced at him. "Robbie Jo. Robbie is fine."

"I am Alexei. Where are we going?"

Robbie's smile never wavered. "To the hotel."

"What hotel?"

The one you're staying at," she responded carefully.

"And the name?"

"The Regal. Relax, Doctor. I know where I'm going."

Alexei nodded. "I am certain that you do. But I think you should take me to the hotel."

Robbie's smile faded. She held her hands tightly on the steering wheel and put her foot down harder on the accelerator. She'd been hoping this wouldn't happen for a little while longer. They weren't even to the state line yet. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I can't do that."

Alexei frowned, not sure if he should be alarmed or not. It seemed difficult to believe that this slip of a girl was kidnapping him. Yet hadn't he known women in his own country who had been dedicated enough to a cause to do whatever was necessary to further it? During the war, there had been as many women as men participating in the bloodshed. It was old-fashioned of him to think that a woman was incapable of violence just because she was a woman.

He studied Robbie, the lovely young woman who had just kidnapped him. Years of living through war and dealing with unusual circumstances to stay alive held him in good stead now. He didn't panic. He didn't try to push her. Instead, he watched and waited for the right moment.

"Where are you taking me, Robbie?"

She didn't look at him. "I'm taking you home with me."

Alexei smiled. "It's a novel approach, but surely we could have had coffee first?"

She smiled and looked at him. "You're very good looking, Dr. Smolka. I'm sure you know that. But I'm taking you home for Rickey, not for me."

"Rickey?" He puzzled over the name. If this woman was dedicated to a cause and in the thrall of some man, she was doubly dangerous. But what could they want from him?

"I apologize for doing it this way, but I tried to get to see you and I could tell that wasn't going to work."

"You tried to see me in New York?"

"No, I tried to get an appointment to see you while you were in Atlanta. Your secretary said you weren't seeing anyone while you were at the conference."

"That's true," he agreed. "I'm here to teach, not to be a celebrity."

Robbie urged the truck past a car on the road. They were only a few miles from the state line. She checked the rear mirror for police or speeding security forces closing in on her. There was only a tanker truck and a Cadillac convertible.

"I only need you to meet Rickey and hear our story and then if you decide you won't help," she shrugged, "you won't help."

"And you'll take me to the hotel?"

She nodded. "I'll take you to the hotel."

He nodded. "All right. Then I'm listening."

She shook her head. "I'd rather not tell you until you meet Rickey. I could have explained the whole thing to you in Atlanta, but I wanted you to meet him first."

"Why not bring him with you?"

"Because I wasn't sure how this would turn out and I didn't want him to be here if it went bad. We're only about a hundred miles from Atlanta, two hours by car. It shouldn't take long for you to get there and get back. You said it yourself, the conference doesn't start until tomorrow."

A mistake on his part, Alexei decided. Soft living in luxury hotels with drivers and attendants had made him give too much away. Robbie seemed innocuous enough, but she had kidnapped him and planned to elude the police without her lover Rickey getting the blame for any of it. He would not do or say anything to help her again.

"That's true, but there are people who will be looking for me when I'm not delivered at the hotel."

"Actually," she began with a wry smile, "they're already looking for you. I sent the driver who was supposed to pick you up on a wild goose chase. Those three men who were yelling and running us will have called the police by now. We may not make it back to Flattsboro."

"That's where Rickey is?" he questioned. "In Flattsboro?"

"Yes."

"Wouldn't it have been simpler to have him meet us somewhere closer to Atlanta?"

"It might have been," she agreed. "But I didn't want anyone else to know about this. That way, if I am caught or if you decide to press charges against me, there's only me to blame."

"You've thought it out very carefully," he conceded. "And you're right, there will be consequences to pay for this action. I hope it's worth it to you. Perhaps you shouldn't have let Rickey influence you so much."

Robbie took an exit off the Interstate. "You don't understand."

"Just so," he admitted. "You have kidnapped me and purposely not told me why."

Robbie pulled the truck off on a two-lane, back country road. Trees grew thickly along the sides and the road was free of traffic. It was easy for Alexei to understand that she thought the back roads would be safer. They would be harder for the police to track. He realized that it also gave him an opportunity that might not come again.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I couldn't figure out any other way to do it. And when you meet Rickey, you'll understand."

"I don't think I will understand your desire to please this man who could lead you to prison."

"Man?" Robbie asked with a short laugh. "But Rickey is just -- "

When she looked away from him and pressed on the brake to avoid hitting a squirrel that ran across the road, Alexei made his move. He leaned close to her and put his hands on the steering wheel.

"You're going to kill us both!" she yelled, trying to keep the truck on the road. Her foot slipped across the gas pedal and the truck leapt forward. "Let go!"

"Did you think I'd just sit here and let you take me to your lover?"

"Lover?" she squealed. She looked into his face so close to hers. "Rickey's my son!"

"Your son?"

The truck hit the thick gravel at the side of the road and the wheels flew off the pavement. They tried to bring the truck back on the road but it was no use. It careened off into the swamp and hit a tree. The engine died and the front wheels spun above the ground, but at least they had stopped.

Robbie had hit her head against the dash and it hurt like hell. She looked at Alexei, prepared to lash out at him for making them wreck her truck, but he was unconscious against the seat. When she looked at his white face and the trace of blood on his head, she groaned and cursed out loud. Then she passed out next to him.

When she awakened sometime later, it was dark. She glanced down at the lighted face on her watch, but it was cracked. It had stopped at three thirty. She looked out at the moon in the black sky and knew it was well into the night.

Alexei still lay slumped on the seat next to her. Her head throbbed painfully, but she managed to rummage under the seat and find her flashlight. She looked at her reflection in the cracked rearview mirror and saw that her head had been bleeding. The blood was dry. She touched it gingerly, but it didn't start bleeding and it didn't look like she would need stitches. She wasn't sure about Doctor Smolka.

"You've done it this time, Robbie," she muttered under her breath, releasing the seatbelt. "Of all the damn fool things to do!"

What if she had killed him? She had a feeling that any judge or jury would find guilty. He had been trying to escape because she was trying to kidnap him! He thought she was taking him to her lover, for some reason. She knew some of what he'd been through in Croatia. She shuddered to consider what he'd been thinking.

"Should've thought of that a little sooner," she chastised herself.

She shined the flashlight into his face. His eyes were still closed, but the cut on his head had stopped bleeding. She felt for the pulse in his neck and gasped when she didn't feel anything. He was dead.

"The pulse is here," he told her, taking her hand in his and holding it to his neck.

"Oh." She felt his blood course through his vein. His neck was warm beneath her fingers. He kept his hand on hers against his throat. "I'm so glad you're not dead."

He sat up, groaned and put his hand to his head. "I'm so happy to please you."

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Of course it hurts," he replied angrily. "Let me have that flashlight."

She gave it to him and he shined the light into his face, examining his head in the mirror. The cut was superficial, but he probably had a slight concussion and he had been unconscious for some time.

"Where are we?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure. Probably about three miles from my home."

"Flattsville?"

"Flattsboro," she corrected him.

"Whatever." He shone the light at her. "You're injured?"

"My head hurts."

"Good!" he told her calmly, shutting off the light. "You deserve far worse than that for this insane act!"

Robbie watched as he leaned back and kicked the crushed door open. He jumped down from the truck, then reached back for his bag.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"Away from you. You're a mad woman!"

"I am not a mad woman," she defended hotly, pushing over to his side and jumped out after him. "I'm just...oh, I...I'm -- "

She passed out at his feet. Alexei looked down at her and started to walk away. She was a mad woman, no matter what she said. She had kidnapped him and almost killed him. He certainly didn't owe her anything. But years of saving lives and caring for others took their toll on his conscience. He couldn't walk away from her, no matter what she'd done. What was it she had said to him before they hit the tree?

He knelt down beside her on the dark, damp ground and felt her pulse. It was strong and even. He had glimpsed her injury in the truck. It hadn't looked much worse than his, but head injuries were the devil to diagnose. She had probably just fainted when she jumped down. She moaned softly and started to move, proving the validity of his diagnosis.

"What happened?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"You fainted."

"Fainted? I've never fainted in my life."

"It was probably stress along with the head trauma," he told her. "How many men have you kidnapped before?"

"None," she admitted sheepishly. "Oh God! And I've wasted my time! I've ruined my life and it's already too late! I've ruined Rickey's life, too! For nothing!" She burst into tears.

"Come now." Alexei helped her to her feet and stood with her a moment while she swayed a little. "You'll feel better in a moment."

"How can I feel better?" she demanded, barely able to speak through the sobs that shook her. "I've screwed the whole thing up!"

Alexei had heard women cry. He'd had five sisters and a mother who had cried if the dog didn't sleep in its bed by the fire. He'd lived through a war where thousands had died around him and mothers and wives had wailed at their loss. Yet he didn't think he had ever heard a woman cry so loudly and pathetically as this one. It seemed only natural to drop his bag and take her in his arms. He could almost wrap his long arms double around her slender body. She was not much bigger than a child herself. It was then that he recalled what she'd said to him. Rickey was her son!

"So, Rickey is not your lover but your son?" he asked, hoping to do anything to distract her. The front of his shirt was soaked with her tears. Between the blood and the tears, he had a feeling his suit was ruined. And still he didn't understand why he was there!

"That's right," she sniffed. "I'm sorry. I should've explained."

"When would you have done so?" he queried, glad that she could speak again without sobbing. "You've been trying to abduct me."

"That's true," she admitted, her voice still thick with tears. "I know some things about your background. I should've known you wouldn't just let me kidnap you."

"And how do you know these things?"

"I read the Time Magazine article about you coming to this country to conduct trials of your new surgical technique. They mentioned a few things about your life."

He nodded and released her. "Yes, they did. They had no right to do so. They asked me to talk about my successes then they added what they wanted."

"Welcome to America," Robbie said with a grin. "Free press and women kidnapping innocent doctors. What a country!"

The mist was rising from the swamp. It was cool and damp and felt like it could seep through even the sturdiest of clothes and shoes.

"Perhaps we should go," Alexei said. "I hope you know where we are, because otherwise we're lost." He looked around the dark trees and soggy ground.

"No problem, Doctor," she assured him. "I've spent my whole life here. I know my way through these swamps without looking."

He gazed down at her. "We could follow the road and find our way."

"We don't need the road! This way is shorter."

Robbie was already trudging through the soaked ground and the hanging moss. The moon made ghostly shadows filtering through the trees. An owl called through the branches over their heads.

"I think the road would've been simpler," he called out as she slapped him in the face with another tree branch.

"But not as fast," she explained. "Two hundred years ago, there was a man named Andrew Jackson. They called him the swamp fox. He's one of our heroes of the Revolutionary war. He and his men lived in these swamps and popped out to raid the British garrisons and trick the soldiers. He helped win the war."

"Living in these swamps?" Alexei asked doubtfully.

"Exactly. He knew that travel was faster and harder to detect when they stayed in the swamp instead of on the road."

"And who would follow them?" he wondered sarcastically.

"That's right," she announced cheerfully. "No one wanted to be in the swamp."

"I think I can appreciate their sentiments."

The swamp became deeper and murkier. The trees and moss were so thick that the moon couldn't even penetrate some spots. Alexei clung to his bag and refused to wonder what it was that had squished into his shoes. A bird flew out at him and something else hissed. He kept his eyes on Robbie's back as she kept up the pace.

Robbie refused to think that she had ruined his suit and shoes and probably given him a concussion. She would buy him a new suit and a new pair of shoes. He'd get over the concussion. Once she got home, it was all going to work out. She knew it was going to be okay.

"You've told me a part of your history and you've told me that Rickey is your son, but you haven't told me why I'm here," Alexei reminded her.

"You're right," she said, feeling a little foolish. "I had wanted to save it for when you meet Rickey, but under the circumstances, I know you deserve to hear the truth."

"I think that and a hot cup of coffee would be nice," he replied.

"Don't worry," she told him, stopping to rest her hand on his shoulder. "When we get home, I'll take care of everything. You'll only lose a little time."

"All right," he agreed, anything to distract him from where they were and the mosquitoes working on his neck and face. "What is the truth?"

"Rickey is my son. He's four years old and he was born deaf."

His quiet, "Ahh," made her realize that he understood at once.

"It's not the way it seems." She hurried forward to keep him from drawing the wrong conclusion. "I know that a lot of people want to be part of your camp where you'll select the applicants who'll have the surgery. I'm sure you get this all the time."

"None quite so inventive."

She swallowed hard on the trace of sarcasm in his voice. "Well, anyway. Rickey needs the surgery and I read that the trials only let you operate on ten children this year then not again for five years while they're evaluated."

"That's right. You're very well informed for someone who lives in a swamp."

"But that's part of the problem. Rickey is only four instead of five, like the regulations say he has to be. But when the new surgery takes place, he'll be too old for the new trials since they have to take place between the ages of five and ten."

"Your AMA seems to think that is the right age to begin the surgery," he answered. "I have nothing to do with making the rules."

"I realize that," she replied. "But you could bend the rules a little."

"For Rickey?"

"Exactly."

He nodded. "I do understand now."

"Not really. You can't understand, really understand, until you meet Rickey! He isn't your typical four-year old. I've been working with him. He's very mature and he could fit into the program. I know he could."

"I know this is a hardship for you," he said carefully. "But your son is too young for the program. Maybe in a few years, the trials will be over and he can have the surgery."

"But he'll be too old. He'll be five this fall. The AMA might not approve the surgery. You'll go back to Croatia and Rickey still won't be able to hear!"

She turned to face him. He took a step back. His foot slid in a patch of deep mud and he sank down to his knees in it.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed. "Alexei!"

He struggled to hold on to his case, finally releasing it to the swamp just to be able to get himself out of the mud. It was sucking at him, dragging him down. He had no intention of dying in the cursed swamp with this woman!

Robbie tried to help him, pulling on his arms to get him up before he sank any further. She slipped in the mud and came down hard on her backside. It was a satisfying sound for him, who was steadily losing his sense of humor to the situation. He was covered with mosquito bites, full of oozing, smelly mud and his head hurt. On top of that, when the mud finally released him, it felt as though one of his ankles might be injured and he had lost one shoe.

"Are you all right?" she asked, looking into his eyes, the moonlight showing the mud that covered her face.

"I'm fine," he answered, feeling around for his bag. He swept his hands in a circle, but the bag was gone. He started to take a step back and thought better of it. His book, even his papers, weren't worth falling back into the mud.

"Thank goodness," she replied with heartfelt relief. "Try to stay right behind me. I know where to walk to avoid the mud traps."

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak for fear that he would do this woman violence. He walked immediately in her footsteps, never more than one step behind. One minute she was there before him, albeit a foot below him. The next she dropped down with nothing more than a slight oops! and disappeared.

"Robbie?" he called her. "Robbie?"

Robbie surfaced in the deep mud pit that she knew was a lot like quicksand. If you fell in you had to stay very quiet until help came or it would pull you under. Fortunately, he hadn't been close enough to follow her into the mud. He looked down at her. She was covered in mud. The moonlight broke through the trees as a faint breeze started to rise. She looked like some primitive swamp demon rising.

"Could you help me?" she asked, wiping as much of the mud as she could from her face with dirty hands.

"Could I help you?" he returned, considering the question. "Let me see, you've kidnapped me, almost killed me in your truck, dragged me through the mud and the swamp. My clothes are ruined except for what is lost. I think I will have malaria from the mosquito bites and I have lost one shoe. I believe the question should be, why would I help you?"

Robbie smiled at him a little shakily. "Because you're a decent human being."

He smiled at her wickedly, white teeth flashing against his dark face. "Try again."

"Because you could still get lost here without me."

"And that would be worse than being lost with you?" He wished he could pace, but found himself restricted by the fear that he would fall into the slimy mud, too. "You are truly outrageous!"

Robbie could see that he was really angry. She supposed that she couldn't blame him, but they weren't going to get anywhere like that. She purposely pushed her face down a little more in the mud. "Alexei!" She spit out some mud and tried to sound pathetic. "I can't last long in here. This is like quicksand. It sucks you under and drown."

He stared at her. It was dark and the moonlight was behind him. He knew she couldn't see the expression on his face. He couldn't let her drown, as much as she might deserve it. He reached for her and waited while she grasped his hand. Even with the mud clawing at her, she was light. Her body made a sucking noise as the mud released her.

"There! You're free. Can we go?"

"I'm sorry. I know this has been bad for you." She pushed as much mud as she could from her neck and chest, then stamped her feet to get it off her legs. "I know this hasn't turned out right. But it was done with the best of intentions."

"Intentions, young woman, don't make it right," he told her flatly. "Where do we go from here?"

Robbie looked around at the silvered, moonlight-painted swamp and shivered convulsively. "Alexei, someday, you will look back on this and laugh."

"But not for some years, I think," he assured her. "Which way?"

She bowed her head, wishing that she wasn't such a mess, but it was her own fault. "I don't know."

"What?"

She cleared her throat and looked at him. "I don't know. I think we're lost."

Chapter Two

"Lost?" Alexei asked, sure that he couldn't have understood her. "How can we be lost?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. But I marked the tree over there." She showed him the scarf she'd tied on it. "We already walked by it once."

He laughed. "This must mean something different in your country than in mine. To be lost in my country means the person doesn't know their way. You assured me that you did know your way."

"Maybe it's my head. It really hurts. Or it could be because it's nighttime. I'm not usually out here at night."

"So, we're lost in the middle of miles of swamp that your swamp dog used against the British?"

She drew herself up to her full imposing height that barely reached his shoulder. "Swamp fox. And all we have to do is wait until morning and we'll be able to get home."

He swatted at a mosquito that had already left a welt on his jaw. "What little there will be left of us for them to find."

"No one will have to find us," she reassured him. "I can find my one way home in the light."

Alexei looked around. There was a spot that looked dry under the wide spreading branches of an old oak a few meters from them. "I'll wait for help. Anything else might be suicide." He walked carefully to the tree and sat with his back against the big trunk. Moss dripped mist to the grass around him. He pulled up his collar against the cool, damp night and closed his eyes.

Robbie frowned at Alexei. He seemed to have found a spot that wasn't just mud and slime. She drew in a deep breath and sat beside him. She hadn't anticipated being out in the swamp at night. Her black skirt and matching jacket were thin and soaked wet. She shivered and stared into the night.

"I wonder what time it is?" she asked finally, wanting to hear the sound of his voice.

"You mean you can't tell from the moon or the sound of the frogs?"

"There's no reason to be nasty about it. I was just wondering."

"I don't wear a watch."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

"How do you know what time it is?"

"I ask other people," he said. "I'm trying to sleep."

Robbie tucked her legs under her to conserve warmth. "You could look at this as an adventure."

"And you could look at this as twenty years in prison. In Croatia, it would be life."

Robbie glanced at him, but he hadn't moved or opened his eyes. "A jury in this country would never convict a mother who was trying to save her child's life."

"Is that what you were trying to do? I thought you were trying to convince me that I should allow him into the clinical trials."

"All right," she said, grinding her teeth. This man was truly obnoxious. He made everything sound worse than it was. "Then no jury would convict a mother who was trying to help her child have a better life!"

"A sane mother."

She turned on him. "Are you saying that I'm not sane?"

He opened one eye and looked at her. Even in the moonlight with mud caked on her face, she was a very pretty woman. Her features were delicate and her eyes were alive with the fire of life. He rebuked himself for noticing what she looked like in the moonlight. But this wasn't a romantic interlude. "I'm saying that not everyone would consider it sane to kidnap a man and drag him through the swamp."

"It was partially your fault, you know."

"What?" He sat up and opening his eyes in surprise. "How was this my fault?"

Robbie tried not to feel intimidated. She didn't move her body because she didn't want to alarm him. But she started feeling along the ground for a rock or a stick, something to defend herself if it got ugly. "You grabbed the steering wheel and made us wreck the car."

"Because I was trying to escape from you kidnapping me!"

"If you would've waited, you wouldn't have been hurt." She sniffed. "Neither would I."

Alexei stared at her. He'd never met a more illogical woman in his life. She was infuriating! He leaned against the tree. There was no use arguing with her. She wasn't rational. He would conserve his strength to take her to court. He hit another mosquito that bit him in the neck.

"Perhaps you should sue me since I caused all of this."

"Not all," she said in a small voice. "And I'm sorry. I didn't plan it this way."

"I know. You just planned to kidnap me and take me home to meet your son. Nice and neat."

"I said I was sorry." She looked up at the starry sky that she could glimpse between the branches. "I just wanted Rickey to have his chance. I wanted him to be able to live like other children. Is that so terrible?"

He opened his eyes, but didn't move. He studied her profile in the moonlight. There was no way to sleep in this godforsaken spot. He might as well hear it all. Not that it would persuade him to help her. Nothing could do that after everything he'd been through.

"Tell me about Rickey."

She glanced at him, seeing his eyes gleaming, but the shadows prevented her from reading his thoughts. He might be just humoring her. Or he might really be interested. Either way, no one had to ask her twice to brag about Rickey. And she didn't want to miss an opportunity to sway Alexei's mind.

She nodded. "All right."

Alexei listened as she described her son in a glowing mother's voice filled with pride and love. He had to concede that this woman was devoted to her son. He really didn't believe she was insane, just misguided. Where was her husband or some other family member who might have reasoned with her?

"So, that's why I decided that you had to meet him. The letter we got said that he was too young for the clinical trials, but it's only a difference of six months. Six months! Rickey is very mature for his age. I read that this was going to happen two years ago and we started working towards it. If you leave him out now, he'll be almost ten before he has a chance again, and that's too old."

"Only in this country," he said. "The United States is the only country that has decided to restrict the surgery to children."

"I know." She shivered. "But we live in the United States! I read that you had hearing loss and had the technique done to you. Do you have full hearing now?"

"Yes," he replied carefully. "I was fortunate, though. Rickey might not have complete hearing. Not everyone gains complete function."

"But just think what partial hearing would mean to him! He has everything to gain and nothing to lose. I want him to be able to hear music and laughter. I want to be able to call him and have him answer me."

He understood her dilemma, but he didn't make the rules. This was an opportunity that he had worked hard for the past two years. He wanted to introduce his technique to the world. With U.S. support, he could accomplish that. He had to follow the guidelines the government had set up.

"What does his father think? Surely he would not have allowed you to carry out this crazy scheme?"

Robbie surprised him by laughing. It was a clear, soft sound in a night full of mosquitoes buzzing, owls hooting and frogs croaking. "Troy doesn't know. He probably wouldn't have approved, but it's hard to tell with Troy. It doesn't matter, anyway. Troy and I have been divorced for three years."

"Ahh."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "It means, ahh. I understand."

"It must be nice to be so condescending. I suppose you think I wouldn't have come for you if Troy and I had still been married?"

"Perhaps not. But your life would probably be different."

"I would still love Rickey and I would still want him to have this chance. What would you do if he were your son?"

He considered her words. They drove into him painfully and lodged in his soul. "I think we should try to sleep now. I have a feeling that you will have to lead us out of here when morning comes, because no one will be able to find us."

Robbie sat back, sorry that she had struck a nerve. Was his son deaf? She knew that he had stayed in Croatia despite the war, and that he had probably seen terrible things. The magazine article only hinted at his past. She knew that he had lost his hearing in an explosion. He was lucky to be alive, she supposed. She sat back and closed her eyes with a sigh.

She shivered violently and clamped down hard to keep her teeth from chattering. She was too wet to think that her clothes would dry. If she died out here, or later from pneumonia, and had to leave Rickey in Troy's care ... she didn't want to think about that. She'd made some bad decisions, but that didn't mean that everything was lost. Maybe Alexei was angry right now, but he hadn't met Rickey. They had come this far and she would probably be hanged for it. He was going to meet Rickey, even if she had to tie him up and throw him over her shoulder!

Alexei awakened to see the moon low in the sky. He'd slept through all of the frogs, owls and the mosquitoes. His head still hurt and his back was sore, but he was still alive. He heard a strange sound and glanced at Robbie. She appeared to be asleep, curled in the fetal position on the ground, shivering. The sound he'd heard were her teeth chattering!

He took off his jacket, not allowing himself to think that they wouldn't be here if not for her. Gently, he pulled her close beside him and brought the jacket over both of them, sharing his warmth. She was still sticky with mud. She didn't wake up, but murmured something in her sleep and snuggled close to him. Unless he was mistaken, she had whispered her ex-husband's name, Troy.

He sighed. She was probably still in love with the man. Couples divorced in Croatia, but not many. In America, they barely got to know one another before they split up. He granted that Robbie and her husband might have separated due to their baby being born with a hearing loss. He'd seen many couples break up because of their disappointments and unhappiness when a child was born less than perfect. What would you do if he were your son? Robbie had asked him. He closed his eyes and rested his head against hers, refusing to allow himself to consider that question. The pain of the answer was too sharp and too deep to contemplate.

It was morning when Robbie opened her eyes. She heard people yelling and dogs barking in the distance. She stirred against a warm body. Shafts of warm sunlight glided across Alexei's face. Dark stubble covered his chin and cheeks. His eyes were still closed, but the effect of the beard and the rumpled, muddy clothing gave him a raffish air. He didn't look quite so scholarly as he had when she'd picked him up. She wondered if she had crept up on him during the night, then realized that his jacket was covering them.

"Good morning," he said slowly, watching her watching him.

"Good morning," she replied, her face close to his. "Thanks for keeping me warm."

"The least I could do was keep you alive," he said quietly. "I didn't want to turn a corpse over to the authorities."

"I'm sorry, Alexei," she said gently. "Sometimes I tend to overreact. I didn't mean this to happen. It was supposed to be a simple snatch and run operation. We weren't supposed to get hurt and spend the night in a swamp."

"I know," he said with a rueful grin. "Promise me that your next simple snatch and run operation will be planned better, hmm?"

She smiled and he caught his breath. He could feel her heart beating close to his side. Dew dampened her face. Her lips were very pink and looked as soft as rose petals. He stood abruptly and helped her to her feet. He slipped on his jacket and ran his hands through his hair. What was he thinking?

Robbie shook herself and hoped she didn't look as bad as she felt with the dried mud and slime covering her from head to foot. For just an instant when he had looked at her, she had seen something in his eyes that had been amazing -- and arousing. She shook her head and stretched herself. The sound of dogs and people was getting closer. "I think they've come looking for us." She glanced around. "I could've found my way out now."

"Let's not tempt fate," he said quickly. "Someone found us. Perhaps it's for the best."

She nodded and wrapped her arms protectively around her chest. "They probably saw the truck and guessed we were in here."

"Do you think they know why we're here?" he asked and had the satisfaction of seeing her smile fade as the reality of the situation sank in.

The dogs and the searchers came from behind the scrub trees and cattails, entering the clearing from different directions. There were police officers and sheriff's deputies and the dogs. Robbie saw Troy and waved to him. He saw her and made some hand motions, but he didn't look pleased. When the police saw them, they rushed, barely holding their dogs in check. One of them fell into the mud pit that Robbie had fallen into. She glanced at Alexei and saw him grin at the sight. She was glad he had a sense of humor. It might be the only thing that kept Rickey in the running. No matter what happened to her, she had to find a way to get Alexei to talk to Rickey.

"Police!" One man yelled at the front of the pack. "Lay your weapons down!"

Alexei and Robbie looked at each another. He was used to the drill after years of war, put his hands behind his head and dropped to his knees.

"Are you all right, Dr. Smolka?" a deputy asked as he rushed to his side. He glared at Robbie. "Don't move! You're under arrest!"

Two officers ran toward her. She held up her hands, but they jumped on her, forcing her to the ground. They clamped handcuffs around her wrists and began to read her the rights.

"Troy, make sure Rickey gets to see him," she yelled, oblivious to them. "Make sure Rickey gets to talk to him."

"I'm fine," Alexei said in amazement, lowering his hands to his sides and getting to his feet. "What happened?"

"Airport security got her license plate number. We tracked the truck to where you had the accident. When we found it abandoned, we followed you in. She's pretty clever, all right, bringing you out here instead of walking up the road. Sorry we couldn't get here sooner, sir."

"That's all right." He stared at the two officers with their knees in Robbie's back. They had told her to be quiet and when she didn't comply, they pushed her face down into the soft ground. She was still resisting them, trying to yell at the man who wasn't in uniform. Her ex-husband?

Sometimes, he had to remind himself that he wasn't involved in the war anymore. Sometimes, he felt that it had taught him too much. He had seen too many terrible things and known that there was no way he could stop them. All he could do at those times was comply and help to heal the torn and battered bodies when it was over. He looked at Robbie again. He had sheltered this woman with his body last night. He couldn't see her treated this way in the morning.

"Don't worry about anything, sir," the officer told him. "We'll get you out of here and back to Atlanta. If you could swear out a complaint, we probably wouldn't even need you to testify."

"Let her up," he said harshly, not able to see her abused. "She did nothing wrong."

"Doctor Smolka, what are you saying? We know she took you from the airport yesterday against your will. We have laws for that."

"Hardly against my will," Alexei said. "She reminded me of an appointment that I had to see her son."

The officer looked skeptical. "That's not the way the airport security and the driver from the conference saw it."

"Then they were looking at it incorrectly. She did nothing wrong."

"So you spent the night out here on your own?"

"We were involved in an accident. We were both injured and we lost our way." Alexei glared at the man. "Let her up!"

The officer nodded. "Let her go, guys."

The two men who were holding Robbie got up and dragged her to her feet, still handcuffed. She was spitting dirt and gasping for breath. Her hair was a wild mass around her shoulders. Her clothes, already abused, were torn and twisted on her small frame.

"Doctor Smolka," the officer began again. "You could be in trouble if you lie about this."

"Release her," Alexei insisted. "I've told you, she did nothing wrong."

The deputy hesitated, but without Alexei's complaint, there was nothing he could do. "Let her go," he told the other two.

The man Alexei guessed to be Robbie's ex-husband, rushed forward and hugged her. "Thank God you're okay, honey! What were you thinking off?"

"You see, this man who claims to be her ex, says she was coming to kidnap you and force you to perform surgery on her son," the deputy explained. "Care to elaborate?"

Alexei's eyes collided with Robbie's. She looked surprised that he wasn't going to press charges. He smiled. He was surprised as well.

"She came to get me from the airport. I simply forgot to tell the conference director that I would be coming here first. I don't know this man, so I don't know why he said anything."

Troy looked affronted. "But she said --"

"Troy," Robbie silenced him. "Would you mind shutting up now?"

Troy looked around at the group. "I guess I was wrong."

The police officers took a deep breath. The one next to Alexei, who seemed to be in charge of the group, pushed his hat back. "All right. I can't arrest her if you say she didn't kidnap you, Doctor, but you better be careful."

"I know." Alexei grinned. "She looks incredibly dangerous to me. Her teeth chatter during the night."

Troy looked at him. "You spent the night with my wife?"

"Ex-wife," Robbie reminded him through clenched teeth. "Can we go now?"

Troy Connor was a massive, beefcake of a man, with a full head of strawberry blond hair and baby blue eyes. His face was a trifle dissipated from too many beers and too many disappointments since he'd been the star tackle on his high school football team. He glared at Alexei, who was as tall, but only half his size.

"Is there gonna be trouble over this now?" the deputy asked.

"No trouble, Deputy. Thank you for coming to my aid," Alexei said. "I'd like to follow you out of this place. Spending one night here was too much."

"Yeah." The deputy glanced at Robbie and Troy, then turned away. "Sure."

The cops helped their comrade out of the bog and squelched their way back to the road. Alexei could hear Robbie and Troy arguing behind him. The man seemed to be a moron. How could he have confessed what she'd done to the police? Why would he help them find her? Alexei had seen such things during the war. Politics had divided families and destroyed lives. But they were not at war here. This was a blessed land of peace and prosperity. What had possessed the man to betray her?

The way out was much shorter than it seemed going in last night. In daylight the place wasn't as intimidating. They reached the road and the crashed truck in short order. Three police cruisers were parked beside it. Troy's SUV was parked near them.

"Can I give you a lift somewhere?" one of the deputies asked. "Looks like you might use a few stitches in that cut on your head."

Alexei could feel Robbie's eyes on him. He knew what she wanted from him. But he felt that he had done his good deed for the day. He needed to get back to the conference and his otherwise sane and ordered life. He felt bad for her son, but he didn't see what good meeting the boy would do. Rules were rules. Even if he bent them for her, it was unlikely the other doctors at the camp doing the evaluation of the children would see past Rickey's age.

"Yes, thanks." He turned back to Robbie. She was glaring at him. "You should have your head examined."

"Thanks, but I'm not crazy!"

He smiled. "The cut on your head," he said, conscious of the eyes on them. "I will see you later."

Her gaze turned soft and her eyes were edged with tears. "Really? Do you mean it?"

He could hardly say that he didn't in front of the officers since he'd said that he came to see her son. "Of course. I need a shower and some clean clothes. I'll get back with you after the conference."

Robbie knew when she was being sweet-talked. She'd been married to Troy for two years. He was the king of sweet talk. She glared at Alexei, but she was also aware of the cops and her narrow escape. "Sure. Thanks, Dr. Smolka."

He nodded and ducked his head to get into the police car. She continued to look at him even when the car was a block up the road.

"Are we going, Robbie?" Troy asked, holding open the door to his car.

"Yes," she said, trying not to cry. She stomped back and got in the SUV, slamming the door after her.

"So, do you want to go to the hospital or something?"

"Who's got Rickey?"

"He's with your Dad." He pinched his nose and sniffed. "God, Robbie Jo, I'm gonna have to have this cleaned out! You smell awful!"

She sighed. "Just take me home, Troy."

She'd tried, but it hadn't worked. She'd done her best, hadn't she? She did get lost in the swamp and wrecked the truck, although that was really his fault. Dr. Alexei Smolka! His name had been bandied about their house for the past two years like he was a God or something! True, he hadn't pressed charges and that had surprised her. What had been surprising was to wake up with his arms around her. But he'd still refused to meet Rickey. He was right there in Flattsboro. How much would it take? She didn't know. Her head hurt and she did smell bad. She was exhausted and soaked. There wasn't a part of her that didn't hurt. Even her teeth ached, but she supposed that was from them chattering all night! What kind of thing was that to think?

She groaned and buried her head in her hands. Rickey's one chance and she'd blown it! Maybe she could've seduced him. She'd thought about it when she was planning the whole thing. It was a way to get an edge with a man. Something squirmed in her at the thought. He was very attractive in a thin, bookish kind of way. He had a nice way of talking and he was compassionate, despite the fact that he wouldn't see Rickey.

"Something wrong, sugar?" Troy asked.

"Rickey won't be able to have the surgery," she told him.

He shook his head. "I told you that experimental foreign stuff wasn't any good anyway. Just look at that doctor. Skinny as a rail. Probably never worked out a day in his life! Is that what you want for Rickey?"

"I want him to be able to hear, Troy. I don't want to marry the man!" she told him bluntly. "Never mind. Just get me home."

"Can do, honey bun!"

"Why did you help them, Troy? I didn't tell you when I was going but you knew why, and you told them."

He frowned and pouted. "I was afraid that doctor had made off with you, sugar. When I saw the truck and I knew you were in the swamp, I thought he was taking advantage of you."

She sighed heavily. "You are such an idiot!"

"Sorry, honey." He glanced at her. "Do you think you might have a twenty until payday, sugar? Things have been a little slow at the dealership this month."

"Sure. If I don't get fired over missing work this morning."

"I called Herb at the diner and told him you were in an accident," Troy explained brightly. "He said to take care of yourself and let him know when you can come back."

Robbie looked at him. "Well that was useful."

He preened. "I know."

She shook her head, going over the whole thing in her mind. "I wish it could've been different. If Rickey would've had a chance to go to candidate's camp, he would've shown them all."

"Well, never mind," Troy soothed, sliding his hand across her thigh. He withdrew before she could slap him away. He sniffed and frowned. "Anyway, Rickey will be fine, sugar. He just needs us to get back together."

"That's not going to happen," Robbie told him, and smiled when he took out a wet wipe to clean his hand where he had touched her muddy thigh. "Rickey knows that."

"It could make a difference to all of our lives," Troy continued. He pulled the car into her drive at the edge of a small trailer park near the edge of town. "I could come in and we could talk about it, after you've cleaned up."

"Maybe later," she said, getting out. "Thanks for the lift home. I'll talk to you later."

"The twenty?" he reminded her deftly.

She felt around in her pocket and fished out a dirty twenty-dollar bill.

He took it carefully between two fingers. "Thanks."

"See you later."

Rickey and her father met her on the porch. Rickey's eyes were worried and he didn't care about her mud-covered body. He launched himself at her and hugged her tight. Robbie closed her eyes and held him to her. She used her hand to spell 'I love you' into his hand.

Are you okay? He answered back with his little fingers.

"I will be when I've had a shower," she replied quickly, signing and speaking aloud. 'Now, you'll have to shower, too.'

He laughed and stepped back to look at her. 'You're all dirty.'

'I know. That's why I need a shower.'

'Where were you?' He wondered anxiously.

'With Dr. Smolka.'

His eyes were so like hers. The excitement grew in his round little face. 'Is he coming to see me?'

She looked at him. There was no other way to tell him. 'No, honey, he's not.'

Rickey's face fell into a mutinous expression.

"How about saying some of that out loud?" her father asked from the stairs. "Are you okay? Troy said you were in an accident and the cops were going to arrest you."

"It's a long story," she said as she signed the words to her son. Speaking and signing was a way of life to her. It actually seemed odd not to do both at the same time. "But Dr. Smolka isn't going to consider Rickey for the candidate's camp. He's probably going to go to the hotel and take a shower then head back to Atlanta."

"Well, come on in and get cleaned up and I'll make some pancakes. You can tell me all about it when you get dressed."

She held Rickey's hand as they walked up the stairs together. "Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked and signed.

'I should.' He answered with a guilty smile. 'Gramps said I didn't have to go.'

Robbie hugged him again. "I'm glad."

Robbie stripped off her clothes and threw them in the trash, tying the bag for good measure. She didn't want anything to remind her of last night, and she didn't think she could wash the smell of mud out of them. She looked at the bag thoughtfully, wondering how Alexei could stand to have her so close. Either he had no sense of smell, or he smelled so bad himself that he couldn't smell her.

She remembered being cold during the night. She didn't remember pulling herself up against him. She wouldn't have done knowingly. Not even if she had thought it would make him come and talk to Rickey. She wasn't like that, despite the fact that she'd been pregnant when she'd married Troy fresh out of high school. In those days the world had been theirs. She was the head cheerleader and he was the star football player. Everyone at Flattsboro High knew them. They were king and queen of the prom. She was the homecoming queen. Their senior year had been perfect.

The night of graduation they had sex for the first time. No one would have believed that she was a virgin and that she dated Troy Connor! It was an agreement they had while they dated. They would do it on their graduation night and then they would go to college and get married. Unfortunately, they didn't use protection and she got pregnant. She couldn't afford to go to college, even the local one. Troy's father had died and he had to go to work. They married right away, so that no one would be embarrassed or ask awkward questions. But their perfect lives were over. All that was left was real life. It was hard and dreary and not like the dreams they'd had.

When Rickey was born, it was harder, but they were both proud of their new son. Then they found out that he was deaf. Troy couldn't handle the extra burden. She had moved out of his mother's house and gone to live with her Dad. They were divorced a year later.

Robbie looked at her pink face when she got out of the shower. It was covered with mosquito bites. She wondered what Alexei thought of her. Evidently not much, she sighed, picked up the brush and ran it through her wet hair. She wasn't the head cheerleader anymore. Now she was just Rickey's Mom, who lived in a trailer park in Flattsboro, South Carolina, who worked two jobs to keep them going and in between, fought off truck drivers who wanted to take her to bed, and Troy who just needed her for various reasons.

It had been a long time since she'd danced or worn something pretty besides her jeans or her waitress uniform. Even longer since she'd felt that her world was perfect.

But it wasn't like her to feel sorry for herself. She put on clean jeans and a pink ribbed t-shirt. She'd managed to get out of working that morning, but at five, she'd still have to go to work at the Super Pick grocery store at the corner. And there were pancakes waiting on the table, and her little boy waiting to hear her tell him what it was like to spend a night in the swamp. How could life get any better?

She went into the kitchen, following the smell of her father's golden pancakes. "That smells wonderful," she told him as he scooped some on a plate.

He looked up. "Where's Rickey? Is he gonna eat again?"

She looked around. "I don't know. I thought he was with you."

Because they couldn't call him, they had to cover every inch of the trailer and the yard. Robbie looked at the woods, but he knew better than to go there. She saw a neighbor and asked her if she'd seen Rickey.

"Just a few minutes ago," Mrs. Brockmeyer told her. "He climbed into the car with Fred. He had a note that said he had permission."

"Where was he going?" Robbie asked in disbelief.

"He was going to town to run some errands. Is something wrong?" Mrs. Brockmeyer asked. But Robbie was gone.

Chapter Three

Alexei had gone to a hotel, the only one in Flattsboro, declining the offer of a hospital. He didn't think he needed stitches, just a long soak and some calamine. He got the calamine from the local pharmacy and ignored their questioning looks at his appearance.

The men's clothing shop was another story. The man in charge was so offended by the state of his clothes and the fact that he wasn't wearing shoes, that Alexei finally told him what he needed, gave him his credit card number and left the store.

He closed his eyes as he sat back in the big old tub, letting the hot water take away the aches and pains and soothe the bug bites, chiggers and his enraged sensibility. It was almost unbelievable that he had actually been kidnapped and spent the night in a swamp. Even though he knew it was true, he had a hard time believing it. His colleagues would certainly find it remarkable and possibly a bit frightening.

He hadn't been afraid, even at the start when he thought that Robbie was taking him to her lover. He smiled, thinking how outraged she had been at the thought. But then she was the kind of woman who lived on her emotions. Passionate, angry, protective, worried. Hadn't Helena been very much the same?

At that thought, a powerful anger shut down everything else. How could he compare Helena to another woman? How could he be attracted to another woman when Helena lay dead in his homeland? Yet he was attracted to Robbie. It had happened the moment he had seen her at the airport. Even when he was worried that she meant him some harm, it hadn't lessened the attraction. She looked like a woman he'd seen once in a painting. She was tiny and delicate with bright eyes and sable brown hair. He didn't know the artist. In the painting, she had been wearing a white gown and had a single pink rosebud in her hair. The painting was very old, but the impression had come back to him when he'd first seen Robbie. It was as though he had seen her before.

He didn't want to be attracted to Robbie. He despised himself for it. He loved Helena. Her memory was sacred to him. He still wore his wedding ring, even though she had been dead five years. It seemed as though she had been gone forever. Sometimes, in the night, it felt like he had been alone forever.

He had his work. It was a consuming passion. Having the medical profession acknowledge and accept a new surgical technique was a difficult and lengthy task. He reveled in it. His only sorrow was that the man who had created the process hadn't lived to see it happen. Dr. John Zabutas had been doing the surgery on war victims for two years before Alexei was injured. After having his hearing restored, Alexei worked with Dr. Zabutas to perfect the operation. Dr. Zabutas was killed in a car bombing before their technique was viewed by the outside world. His mentor's death gave a focus to Alexei's life. He knew what he had to do and how he had to do it. He worked sixteen hours a day for two years, went to hundreds of conferences and filed thousands of documents to have the chance to prove that the technique worked. His life was a rigid schedule, even after he had reached New York.

Then Robbie had to come into his life. She took him away from his routine and made him think other thoughts. In just a few short hours something had changed within him. He wanted to put it back the way it had been, but he wasn't sure that he could. Like Pandora's box the damage was already done. The light in Robbie's eyes had pushed away some of the darkness that had filled his soul. That was the real reason he had decided against going to see her son. If a few hours in the swamp could make him feel this way, what damage would be done in a few days?

There was a knock at the door and Alexei ignored it. It came again, louder and more persistent. It stopped and he closed his eyes, settling back into the tub. Then it started again, harder and louder. It reverberated through his skull until he finally had to drag himself out of the tub. He wrapped a big white towel around his midsection. His old clothes were gone and the new ones were still to be delivered. Being without clothes was disturbing. His mouth tightened. Just another in the list of experiences Robbie Jo Connor had brought his way. Knowing her for only a single day was like riding a whirlwind!

"Yes?" he called without opening the door.

There was no sound from behind the closed door.

"Yes?"

There was still no reply.

He opened the door and looked out into the hall. There was no one there. He glanced down and realized that a small boy was standing there looking up at him.

"Hello? Were you knocking at my door?"

The boy with large blue eyes and dark brown hair continued to stare at him. His baseball cap was dusty and his jeans had a tear in one knee. He didn't speak, but he did hold out his hands. He signed the words. 'Are you the doctor?'

Alexei knew in his heart that he was looking at Robbie's son. He peered down the hall, prepared to blast that devil woman for putting her son up to this last ruse to get his attention, but there was no one there. He looked at Rickey and signed. 'Where is your mother?'

Rickey smiled a little, showing a missing tooth. 'Home.'

Alexei folded his arms across his chest. Either the boy didn't understand him, or his mother was tutoring him to be a liar. He asked again. 'Where is your mother?'

Rickey repeated. 'Home.'

"Then how did you get here?" Alexei signed and asked aloud.

'I got a ride with a neighbor.' Rickey told him. 'He brought me to town. I had to see you.'

Alexei heard the elevator door open. He looked up to see a startled elderly woman going by, staring pointedly at his half naked form. "Let's go inside." He signed and spoke to Rickey.

He closed the door and looked at the little boy as he wandered around the room. He was beginning to believe that Robbie wasn't there. That meant a four- year-old deaf boy had come to look for him. He marveled at his courage and dedication. Most deaf children were afraid to go out alone.

"What can I do for you?" He asked Rickey, touching his shoulder to get his attention.

Rickey sat down in the chair, his shoes dangling off the edge. 'I want to go to candidate's camp.'

'Do you know what that is?' Alexei wondered, sitting across from him.

'Yes. It's where children go before they can have something that fixes them.'

'An operation.' Alexei supplied. 'Do you know what that is?'

Rickey looked at him as though he must be dense. 'It's where they open you up and take out the bad stuff and put in the good stuff that makes you hear the birds sing.'

Alexei smiled. 'Makes you hear the bird's sing? You are a very clever boy.'

Rickey was very mature, as his mother had stated. He was also bigger than most four-year-olds. He could easily pass for five appearance. He pulled himself back. What was he thinking?

There was another knock at the door. Alexei signed to Rickey that he should wait there. He pulled his towel a little tighter around him then went to answer the door.

It was his clothes delivery from the store. He didn't know if he had ever been so happy to see a pair of slacks and a shirt! Even during the war, he'd never been left in a strange place with nothing to wear. He signed the bill the delivery driver gave him and closed the door again.

'I'm going to get dressed.' He signed to Rickey. 'Then we are going to find your mother. I don't think she'll be happy that you're here.'

Rickey looked a little remorseful, then treated the man to a rebellious glare. 'Why won't you help me? Why don't you like me?'

'It has nothing to do with liking you.' Alexei assured him. 'There are rules. Everyone must follow them.'

'There are rules that say you can't help me?' The boy inquired.

Alexei took a deep breath. This was Robbie's fault whether she was there to answer for it or not.

'I am going to get dressed then we will get some ice cream. Okay?'

Rickey grimaced. 'Okay.'

Alexei started to walk to the bathroom when there was another knock on the door. Wondering if it was the whole town that was cursed instead of just Robbie Connor, he went back and opened the door. This time it was Robbie.

She took one look at him then caught a glimpse of her son in the hotel room behind him. Her first thought was that the doctor needed a little feeding and the second was that he wasn't wearing anything under the towel. He had long legs that ended in very large, bare feet. His hair was slicked back, still wet. It wasn't like she hadn't ever seen a naked man before. She'd been married to Troy who felt like walking around naked was his birthright. Alexei certainly wasn't Troy. He was a little taller, maybe. He was definitely thinner. His dark hair and high cheekbones were the perfect foil for his pale eyes. They were riveting, making her wonder for a moment why she was there, until she caught sight of Rickey again.

"What's going on?" she asked, walking right into the room and signing at her son as she spoke. "What made you come up here and scare me to death?"

Rickey frowned and signed back that he had to come and see the doctor.

Alexei shook his head and closed the door. He smiled at her and waved a little. Robbie and her son were signing furiously at one another. It was easy to tell the kind of rapport they possessed by the fluid movements they used. Some of the gestures had barely begun before the other picked up on what was being said. He watched them for a moment. Robbie was clearly upset and Rickey clearly was not. The boy had a purpose and he wasn't going to apologize for what he'd done. Alexei admired his spirit, even as he considered the difficulties he would have as he got older.

"I'm going to change," he said finally, both aloud and signing for Rickey's sake. "I'll be back in a moment."

He wasn't sure if either of them heard him, but standing in his hotel room in a bath towel was getting awkward. Particularly when he'd met Robbie at the door. Suddenly the large towel felt distressingly tight. He found that he could stop his brain from thinking about her, but his body refused to comply with his altruistic thoughts.

There was another knock at the door. Alexei shrugged and went to answer it. The whole thing was becoming humorous in an absurd way. This time it was the hotel manager.

"Excuse me," the man who barely reached Alexei's chest was saying, "I've had a report of some shenanigans going on around here!"

"Shenan --?" Alexei tried to wrap his tongue around the word.

"You know, we don't much cotton to foreigners around here," the little man told him. He stepped into the room and saw Rickey and Robbie. "Oh! Is this your wife and son?"

"No!" Robbie and Alexei spit out at the same time. They glared furiously at each other.

"Say, you're Robbie Connors, ain't you? You kidnapped that doctor from Atlanta."

"It was not kidnapping," Alexei tried to explain, struggling to maintain his dignity in a towel without laughing.

"What?" the manager asked. "Were you there?"

"We spent the night in the swamp," Alexei assured the man. "Nothing more."

The older woman, who'd been listening in the hallway, gave a small shriek of horror.

"We don't put up with any of that here," the manager said stiffly. "This ain't no third world nation! You'll have to pack up and find someplace else."

"Why?"

"He didn't do anything wrong," Robbie argued.

"He's standing around in a towel and the rest of what God gave him," the manager pointed out for her.

They both turned to look at Alexei, who to his surprise felt hot color come into his face. He felt like a rude schoolboy being chastised by the headmaster!

"Fine," Robbie decided for him. "He doesn't need to stay here anyway."

"I don't?" Alexei wondered.

Rickey shrugged and smiled at him.

"No, you don't," Robbie told him squarely.

"But I can't get a rental car until tomorrow," Alexei protested.

"Then you'll just have to come and stay with us until you can make other arrangements!" She walked to the door and looked at the older lady in the hall. "And I've heard there are roaches in this hotel!"

The woman in the hall screeched again. The manager's jaw dropped.

"There are no roaches here!" he assured everyone. "We are very careful about that!"

Robbie led him out the door. "I'm sure you are. But what was that I saw in the elevator on the way up?" Before he could speak, she closed the door in his face.

Alexei was amazed and disturbed. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Robbie looked at him, her gaze sparing him nothing. "Get dressed. We'll wait for you in the lobby."

Alexei had been speaking English since he was five-years-old, but at that moment command of the language nearly deserted him. "What are you doing?"

"Saving you," she explained, taking Rickey's hand to leave the room. "Again."

"Again?"

He thrust her out the door and closed it behind her. The woman was infuriating! He muttered beneath his breath as he pulled on slacks and socks. She was a nightmare! A horrific harpy sent to torment him. How could he be attracted to her? How could she have such a smart, resourceful son?

When he was dressed, he looked around the room and realized that he had paid for a bed in which he had never slept. There was nothing to leave behind because he'd lost all of his conference material in the swamp and his clothes were still at the airport. It was like a terrible dream that he couldn't seem to wake up from. He was tempted to sneak out the back of the hotel and not take a chance on what else she could do to his life, when he realized that there was nowhere else to go. This was the only place to stay in Flattsboro besides a disreputable motel called the Motor-In where a huge picture of a woman in a nightie waved at the road.

He shuddered at the thought of staying there and made his decision. Robbie owed him a good night's sleep and a meal or two. She was responsible for him being there. He'd missed most of the conference, lost his possessions and been kicked out of a hotel in Flattsboro for being disrespectful. What more could she do in a day?

"Ready?" Robbie asked.

Alexei nodded, smiling at the boy. It wasn't his fault that his mother was a terrorist. "Yes."

"Good. Let's get out of this roach trap!" she said loudly as several new visitors arrived through the front door. She smiled at the manager. He cringed.

Robbie felt her bravado begin to wind down as they approached her father's car. It was an old Chrysler with faded blue paint and a sticker from a trip they'd made to Florida when she was ten. She watched Rickey open the door for him, watched Alexei ease his lanky frame into the back seat that was still filled with newspapers from her father's paper route. She had never felt more like trailer trash in her whole life.

After all, a small voice whispered, hadn't she wanted it to work out this way? She hadn't done it on purpose, but the cards had fallen her way. Who was she to spit in the eye of destiny?

"I'm sorry," she said gently when they were headed away from Flattsboro. "I didn't know he'd get so upset."

Alexei stared at her in the rearview mirror. "That seems to be a common failing with you."

"What?"

"Not considering your actions or how others will react to them."

She frowned. "Are you a psychologist, too?"

He laughed. "If I were, I'm sure I could find some designation for you!"

She didn't like the way that sounded. She was going to have to try to get on his good side if she wanted him to like them and give Rickey a chance. "My Dad's a wonderful cook," she told him with a smile. "He'll put some weight on you."

"I don't think I'll gain weight overnight," Alexei answered. "Besides, not everyone can look like your ex-husband."

"That's true," she admitted. "Troy was all state and all district quarterback in school. He could've been a pro but he hurt his leg."

"You have a good relationship for being divorced," he remarked slowly, refusing to acknowledge that it bothered him. "I'm surprised the two of you haven't reconciled."

Robbie chuckled. "He's always after me to go back to him. But I need something more than a nice car and some muscles in my life."

They pulled off on a dirt road and Rickey signed that they were home. Alexei looked at the small plots of ground and the tiny box homes. South Winds Trailer Park, the sign said at the gate beside wilted petunias. There was a palm tree and an awful drawing of a dancing girl on the sign. Fortunately, time and weather had worn most of it away.

"Here we are," Robbie told him, pulling the car into a drive beside a pale green home. "We live with my Dad, but you'll like him."

"Oh?" Alexei couldn't help but look doubtful.

"He's a little stuffy, too," she assured him. "Come on."

He wasn't sure that he would have followed her, but Rickey took his hand and smiled at him. He was signing everything, telling him about his home so quickly that Alexei had to ask him to slow down. "I was deaf for a time, too," he signed and said aloud. "I know how frustrating it can be when you want to say something. But I'm not as fast as your mother. You'll have to go a little slower for me."

Rickey shrugged and told him that it was okay. He started again more slowly, telling Alexei about the woods behind the house and the creek where they watched tadpoles. He told him about his bicycle that his father got him, but his mother was afraid for him to ride, and the dog next door, wondering what the animal sounded like when it moved its mouth.

Robbie watched them together in the yard as Rickey took Alexei to his favorite places. Alexei seemed to forget that he didn't like her when he was talking to Rickey. She laughed as she watched Alexei try to explain what the neighbor's dog sounded like. It struck at her heart, watching them. She turned away from the sunlight and went inside to get ready for work.

"Find him?" her dad asked her.

"Yes. I brought him home with me. I brought Alexei, too."

"Alexei, huh?" Her father grinned at her.

"After getting him kicked out of the hotel, I had to do something. I didn't mean for that to happen, but it was a stroke of luck, wasn't it? Now, he'll have to talk to Rickey."

Her father shrugged. "I don't know, honey. Could be a good thing. But you might just be letting yourself in for disappointment, too. This guy has seen hundreds of smart deaf kids like Rickey. Why would he make an exception for him?"

"Because Rickey is more than just a smart deaf kid," she told him firmly. "And anybody can see that. I have to get dressed for work. Will you take care of him tonight?"

Alexei saw Robbie come out of the house. She was dressed in a short, ugly green dress and had her hair tied back against her neck.

"I have to go to work," she told him, kissing her son when Rickey registered his disappointment. "I should be home by ten." She bent down close to Rickey. "Don't give Gramps a hard time, okay?" She signed and spoke. "Show Alexei your books, take a bath and be in bed by eight. You have school tomorrow."

"What do you do?" Alexei asked when she started to turn away.

"I work at the grocery store down the street from five to ten every day. Dad will make you something to eat. I'll see you later."

Robbie drove away; waving and signing the words 'I love you to Rickey.' He waved back and stood watching her go for a long time.

'Your mother loves you very much.' Alexei signed to the boy, putting his hands on his thin shoulders. 'You are a very lucky.'

Rickey signed that he loved her, too, but he wished she didn't have to work so much. And he hated her green dress.

Alexei laughed. 'It is ugly, isn't it?'

Rickey shook his head and signed. 'Not worse than the pink one she wears to her other job.'

They laughed together then Jack called them in to get ready for supper.

Jack Donahue was a WWII veteran. It wasn't long before he and Alexei were talking about war and Europe. They were still at it when Robbie dragged in from the grocery store. She walked in carefully, slipped off her shoes and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Is Rickey in bed?" she asked with a groan.

Jack nodded. "And I took away his flashlight. He was reading in the dark again."

Robbie smiled. "I used to do the same thing."

"I know. Your mother and I used to argue over who was going to make you turn it off."

Robbie laughed then glanced at Alexei. It was strange coming home from work and finding him there. Last night was like a dream sequence from a bad movie. In some ways, it didn't seem real. Had she really gone to Atlanta and dragged him up there and then got them lost in the swamp? She sighed. No wonder he hated her.

"Are you hungry?" Jack asked.

His daughter's eyes skittered back to him. "Not really."

"You should eat. You don't eat enough, Robbie."

"All right," she agreed. "Just something small, okay?"

"Alexei and I were swapping stories about Europe and war. Between us, I think we re-fought pretty much every campaign. He is quite the scholar!"

The two men laughed. Robbie looked at the plate of pancakes her father had set before her. She didn't think she could put any of it in her mouth. At least he liked Jack. Or he was making the best of a bad situation, she reminded herself. She'd argued in her own head all night while she was working. Was it possible that in one night that she could convince him to admit Rickey to the camp? They'd had such a bad start. He seemed to like Rickey, but she hadn't made a good impression. What could she do to get him to like her?

"I'm going out to walk Butch," her father said. "I'd ask you to come along, Alexei, but you probably better stay off that ankle as much as possible." He looked at his daughter. "His ankle is swollen."

Robbie had picked up her fork and stabbed a small sliver of pancake, but it never made it to her mouth. She looked at the cuts and bites on Alexei's handsome face, realized where his injury had happened, and lost her appetite.

"I'm sorry," she began when they were alone. The words were like ashes in her mouth. "I don't know what else to say."

Alexei cleared his throat. "Do you have his medical records?"

"What?" She couldn't have heard him right. She searched his face. "What did you say?"

"Do you have a difficulty with your hearing?"

"I just -- I mean --" Intense joy and relief flooded her pretty features. "Of course! In triplicate." She rose to get the records but stopped short, throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

Alexei's face colored rapidly. He cleared his throat again. "There are no guarantees, you understand. I can only look at his records and observe him."

"Of course! I'll be right back!"

He looked at her uneasily as she ran into the next room. He didn't know what was wrong with him. She was just another mother with a child who needed his help. He had interviewed dozens of them across the country. It wouldn't do for him to lose his objectivity in this case. He had worked hard to get here. He was so close to having Dr. Zabutas' technique accepted. Yet he could still feel her arms around him and the way her hair had brushed his face. She was so alive, so vibrant. She pulled at his senses, even as his heart tugged painfully at his memories of Helena. When was the last time he had felt such naked passion for a woman? When had his heart beaten faster just because he saw a pretty face?

She returned with Rickey's medical file. "Everything is in here. I kept it all. What I didn't have, I rounded up to show you. And the other doctors. I know you aren't the only one who makes the decision. But you're the most important one."

"I suppose I should be flattered," he said, putting on his glasses as she laid the file in front of him. "By being the most important one, I was the target for your kidnapping."

Robbie sat beside him. Her blue eyes were intense. "I can't say I'm sorry in Croatian. I've said it in English. Maybe I made a mistake --"

"Maybe?"

She grinned. "Well, you're here, aren't you? Would you like another cup of coffee?"

He accepted the coffee because her capricious grin threw him off balance again. His grandmother would have called her an imp. He watched her at the counter with the coffee pot. She was a seductive imp. Alexei looked away before she turned toward him. Luckily, he didn't have to read the material aloud that was set before him. She was all he could see.

"Robbie Jo, you aren't making the man read the files, are you? I would think kidnapping him and dragging him through the swamp would be enough for a few days. He deserves some rest!"

"He asked me, Dad!"

"Well, I'm going to bed. Don't let her keep you up too late, Alexei. She loves to talk!"

"Thank you, Jack." Alexei glanced at Robbie. "I will be wary of her."

"Good man! Good night, Robbie."

"Good night, Dad!"

Robbie poured herself a cup of coffee. Her hands trembled with excitement and fear. If he rejected Rickey outright, if Rickey never got a chance to go to camp, she would have done it all for nothing. Rickey would be condemned to spending his life without ever knowing what a dog sounded like when it barked. For the past two years, she had dedicated herself to getting him into this program. They had trained as hard as any professional athletes.

She studied Alexei's profile as he read through the texts. He wasn't what she had expected. He'd looked so studious in the pictures she'd seen of him. Up close, there was a provocative gleam in his eye. He had a sense of humor that showed in the smile lines on his lips and eyes. There was sadness, too. He looked like a man who had suffered more than just the physical wounds she'd read in the article.

"I...uh...tried to keep them all in order as we got them," she told him nervously.

"Hmm."

"If there is something that should be there that you don't see, you tell me and I can find it for you."

"Hmm."

She stirred more sugar into her coffee and accidentally dropped the spoon on the green tile floor. The clamor was deafening. "Sorry."

He glanced at her. "This will take some time, Robbie. You should go to bed."

"It's all right," she answered quickly. "I'll sit down and you won't even know I'm here."

Alexei found that difficult to believe, but there was no way to tell her that he found her so attractive. When she brought her coffee and sat down beside him, he shook his head and forced himself to concentrate. It was ridiculous that he should be so drawn to this woman on so little acquaintance. It was preposterous!

For the five years since Helena had been killed, he had been celibate. He had not so much as looked at another woman. Now suddenly, Robbie had become the center of attention for some adolescent fantasy that had taken hold of him. He was tired, distracted, and beginning to feel the effects of his long enforced solitude. When he got back to New York, he would find someone to talk to about it.

In the meantime, being near her was torture. He could feel the coffee as it touched her lips. He could feel her breath as she sighed. His hands trembled with wanting to touch her silky hair, caress her tanned skin, hear her whisper his name.

"Enough!" he said suddenly, causing her to jump back and spill her coffee on both of them.

"I'm sorry," she said at once, using her napkin to wipe the excess off of his pants leg.

Her warm hand and the movements of her fingers were incredibly arousing as she tried to cure her mistake. Alexei finally put his hand over hers to stop her then stood up abruptly as though he'd been burned.

"I cannot concentrate," he said, taking off his glasses. He glanced down into her upturned face. "You are too distra -- I am exhausted! The kidnapping and the journey here have exhausted me."

"Of course," she said, getting up at once. "I'm so sorry. Let me get your room ready. You can look at these in the morning."

"Thank you."

He sat back down at the table as she left the room. It was a mistake to come here. He looked around the tiny kitchen. It was a mistake to give her any hope. Even if he accepted the boy, the chances were that he would be taken out in the first round of applicants. The rules were very specific. Even with his recommendation it would be unlikely that he would be one of the candidates for the surgery.

So why was he there?

Robbie poked her head around the corner and smiled at him. It spread through him like sunshine, warming parts of him that he didn't think would ever respond again to warmth or love. "Your room is ready."

Chapter Four

Alexei knew it was her room when they entered through the tiny hallway. It was smaller than Rickey's, but it was very clean, very tidy. Like her paperwork, he reflected, surprised by the file she'd given him. He'd looked at dozens of files that were little more than invoices from doctors put together in a folder and secured with a rubber band. Her file was precise. It contained information from each of the specialists that Rickey had visited. There was information from the school he attended and reports she'd had done on his particular hearing loss. She'd put together the file with the same precision and accuracy that she'd used to kidnap him. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and she went after it, or him, in his case.

"I can't take your bed, Robbie," he protested. "I could sleep on the sofa or the floor."

"The sofa is about two feet too short for you," she replied. "And there isn't a piece of floor long enough either. I know it's a little frilly for a man." She glanced around the room with a stranger's eye. "But you'll just have to make do. I'll sleep with Rickey."

His mother had taught him to be gracious when offered the best that someone had to offer. In Croatia, they understood the importance of hospitality. He nodded. "Thank you."

"I know we left your suitcase at the airport, so you don't have anything to sleep in," she said, holding a fresh pair of her father's pajamas. "This is the best I could come up with."

"Thank you." He accepted the red striped pajamas from her. "This will be fine."

Robbie studied his face for a moment. "Thanks for looking at his file anyway, Alexei."

He held up his hands. "What else could I do?"

"You could have had me arrested." Her eyes were jewel bright on his face. "Why didn't you have me arrested? I'm not sure what I would have done if someone had kidnapped me and dragged me through the swamp."

He shrugged. "You convinced me that you were only trying to help your son. There is more to life than living by the rules."

"And that mattered to you?"

His voice was hoarse when he spoke: "Is there anything more important than a mother's love for her child?"

She saw the flash of deep pain in his eyes. When he looked away, she started to speak, but kept her mouth shut. They were strangers. She'd only known him a day. She didn't know him well enough to pry into his personal life. The anger and the pain she saw there was almost too deep to be borne. She wasn't sure she wanted to know about that kind of suffering. It was all she could do to handle her own heartache.

"No, I suppose not." She folded her arms across her chest protectively. "Good night, Alexei. Sleep well."

"Good night, Robbie. I'm sure I'll be fine."

He stood in her room behind the closed door and looked at those things that were dear to her. There was a huge gold cup for being homecoming queen and a picture of her in her sapphire gown beside Troy. There were many stuffed animals and cheerleading trophies and countless pictures of Rickey amid the lavender print drapes and pink pillows. He didn't touch anything, just looked. It was all there. Her whole life was contained in that one room.

There was an innocence there that he was sure she would have denied. It was something that was lost in many of his friend's homes in Croatia. Maybe it was a sense of feeling safe, an awareness that her son slept in the next room in clean sheets and wouldn't be disturbed in the night by artillery guns. Americans hadn't known warfare in their homeland for decades years. Few here could realize the devastation of the total destruction of security.

He switched off the light and took off everything before he put on the red- striped pajamas. They were large, but not so big that they swallowed him. The pants didn't quite reach his ankles. Jack was about a foot shorter.

At one time, he had slept nude, always preferring the freedom. That was before long nights of fear that they would have to run at any time to escape air raids or guerillas. He was not ashamed of his body, but he preferred to be at least semi-clothed. Helena had laughed at him the first time they'd gone out to the street in the middle of the night. He'd grabbed a towel as he ran out the door. They'd spent four hours in a shelter that night. He'd bought pajamas after that.

Helena. His heart still whispered her name and ached with her loss. How many nights had he been unable to sleep, thinking of her? Did being attracted to Robbie mean he had suddenly forgotten what Helena meant to him?

There was a soft knock on the door. He looked at himself in the full-length mirror on the back of Robbie's door and decided that he looked presentable. "Come in."

Robbie peeked in, smiling when she saw him in her father's pajamas. "Those look a lot different on you," she said, looking down the lean length of him before she realized what she was doing and forced her eyes back to his face. "Sorry."

He smiled politely at her red face. "You came to appraise my sleepwear?"

"No. I just wanted to thank you again for not having me arrested. It was a dumb thing that I did, thinking I could kidnap you and bring you here and everything would be fine. Anyone else --"

"Wouldn't have been so gullible? From now on, I'll be more aware of someone who picks me up from the airport."

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "Well, thanks anyway."

"And your tactics did work," he reminded her.

"That's true," she agreed, feeling better about the whole thing.

"But if I hear that you've done it again, I will testify against you at the trial."

She nodded. "Okay. Good night again."

"Good night, Robbie."

She eased herself into bed beside Rickey. He was a sound sleeper and didn't move. When she'd first learned that he was deaf, it had bothered her that he slept so deeply. She was afraid all the time for him. There was so much guilt on her part. She'd tried to take care of herself when she was pregnant. She'd stopped drinking coffee and taken her vitamins.

The one thing that was difficult to control was her anger at herself. What fools she and Troy had been for taking a chance and getting caught. She knew better, but it was only one time. No one got pregnant after one time.

But she did and it had ruined both their lives. All of their dreams, all of their aspirations, had died with the responsibility of raising a child and getting married. When she'd learned that Rickey was deaf, she had blamed it on her anger and disappointment. It had been the last straw for Troy. The bitterness between them had increased until there was nothing left. They both loved Rickey, but they couldn't live together any longer.

Robbie sighed as she stared up at the glow of the star and moon stickers on Rickey's ceiling. Maybe that was why she had worked so hard at being able to get Rickey into the program. Maybe she thought that she could make up for everything that had gone wrong. Maybe she thought she could make it up to Rickey that she had been so angry and disappointed when she'd found out she was pregnant with him. She wasn't sure and she sure couldn't explain that to Alexei.

It was strange. She had expected to feel so formal with him. He was from another country and he was a stranger. He was a whole world different from her. Yet she felt an immediate closeness to him. Instead of Dr. so and so, like the rest of Rickey's doctors, she thought of him immediately as Alexei. It suited him.

She felt so sure he had a good heart. She knew he could help Rickey -- if Rickey could just get into the program. Maybe her expectations were too high, but she knew that it would change their lives. They would still be trailer trash and she would still be working two jobs to support them, but they would be part of something bigger. And Rickey could have a better life.

Robbie heard Alexei move in the bed on the other side of the thin wall. Was he having trouble sleeping, too? She closed her eyes and willed herself not to think about him that way. He wasn't one of her lost causes. He was a highly respected surgeon who had survived a war and had a gift to pass on to people who couldn't hear. Yet she knew that there was so much more to him. She glimpsed it in his eyes. It was enough to set her mind off on other tangents. The terrible sorrow that was inside of him. Was it something he had shared with someone, or did he keep it locked inside him?

She had been so devoted to her cause that she hadn't dated or looked at another man since her breakup with Troy. Troy had attributed it to the fact that she wanted to get back together with him, but wouldn't admit it. Robbie knew that her disappointment in marrying Troy had made her shy of even thinking about another commitment.

She was attracted to Alexei. She knew it when she'd first seen him taking off his glasses as he got off the plane. In the swamp, curled up next to him, she'd felt something more. The awareness tingled inside of her. His sadness touched a deep chord within her. She wanted to understand him and kiss away those shadows she saw in his face.

That way was trouble, she reminded herself, punching her pillow. She finally slept restlessly for a few hours. She didn't need her alarm clock to tell her it was time to get up. She was due at the diner by seven. She had to get Rickey up and ready for the bus by six-thirty.

It was a long, expensive ride to the Eckman School for the deaf. She counted her pennies and skipped meals and new clothes so that Rickey could be there with people who understood. They had taught him so much that she knew it was worth every cent. She had learned in the process, and that was just as valuable. Rickey needed a parent who could help him continue to learn and challenged him to be the best he could. Troy wasn't capable of being that parent so the burden and the joy were all hers.

She was creeping toward the bathroom for a quick shower when the door opened and Alexei walked out. He was wearing pants but his shirt was gone. His hair was wet.

"Sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be awake yet."

"No problem," she replied quickly, looking away from him. "I expected you to use the bathroom. But around here, everyone gets up early. Dad is probably up walking the dog now. Rickey leaves for school at six-thirty." She knew she was babbling, but she was nervous around him suddenly and she couldn't seem to stop.

"The Eckman School?"

"Yes."

He nodded. "Would it be all right if I accompanied him today?"

His dark eyelashes were spiky with water around his clear eyes. His hair was combed back from his narrow face. His collarbone was pronounced and his shoulders were too thin. He was too thin. Yet there was something about the way he looked at her. There were secrets in his eyes. She was fascinated as she watched his mouth move, wondering what it would be like to feel his lips against her skin.

"Robbie?"

"Oh, sorry." She smiled at him, hoping he hadn't said something important. She had to stop thinking about him as anything but Rickey's doctor. He wasn't an attractive man with a sexy voice, a dark soul, and deep eyes. He was Rickey's doctor. "What did you say?"

"I was asking about going to school with Rickey today. I would like to see the school."

"Oh."

"What were you thinking just then? You were looking at me so oddly."

"I...uh...I was just thinking that you should eat more."

"What?"

"You're very thin. You could do with a little more skin on your bones."

He smiled, thinking that this was how she looked in the morning with her eyes still sleepy and her hair tumbled around her face. She was wearing a big, pink t- shirt that had the words baby doll etched across her breasts and some kind of fluffy pink animal slippers on her feet. "We can't all be football players, I think."

She swallowed hard on the lump in her throat that had formed as she felt his eyes on her. "Not...uh...football players, just decently fed. You don't eat much do you? Skip meals for work, huh?"

"I do what needs to be done."

"At the cost of your own well being," she said with a sad shake of her head.

"I usually survive well on my own when I'm not being kidnapped and dragged through swamps."

"I think you have an obsession with the past. And you need a razor." She touched a finger to the dark beard that had grown on his chin and cheeks, jumping back as an electric shock passed between them.

"Perhaps I'll grow a beard." He touched the spiky hair where her finger had been to ease that tingling she had left behind. "Isn't it said that your President Lincoln grew a beard because his face was too thin?"

"Maybe, but I think he did it because he was ugly. Noble, but ugly. You don't have that problem." She looked at the darkness in his eyes and felt herself being drawn closer to him. "You're too good-looking."

"Too good-looking?" He laughed at her. "How can that be when I don't look like a football player?"

"Don't pretend that your limited knowledge of English doesn't translate that phrase. You must be conceited too."

He shook his head. "And you are an audacious young woman!"

"That's the way we are here. Trailer trash speak their mind."

"Trailer trash?"

"You might not have heard that before. It means people who live in trailers in tiny parks. They don't have much money and this is the best they can do."

"And you are trailer trash?"

"I suppose I am." She looked away from him. "I have to get Rickey up now."

"It's not good to think of yourself this way." He reached out and touched her shoulder. "It is not good for Rickey to think of himself that way."

"I know." She shrugged, hoping his hand would move away. The warmth of his touch was beginning to seep into her bones and do funny things to her knees. "And I suppose I don't really, or I wouldn't be so audacious, would I? I probably wouldn't even know what that means."

Instead of his hand leaving her shoulder, it had begun to caress her. Alexei caught himself and pulled away. "About going with Rickey to his school today?" he reminded her briskly.

"Oh-oh, sure. Dad can take you after he drops me off at work. I'm sure Rickey would love to show you off to his friends."

"Even though I am skinny and too good looking?"

"I'm sure he won't mind a bit."

"But it bothers you?"

She smiled and held her trembling hands together. "Only when I look at you."

Alexei couldn't stop the laugh that rumbled from his chest as she stepped into Rickey's bedroom and closed the door. She was outrageous!

By six fifteen, Robbie had Rickey up and dressed and in the kitchen where his grandfather put a plate of eggs and toast in front of him. Alexei could see that this was a daily occupation for them. The three of them worked in silence and harmony together to begin the day. Jack signed a little, but mostly relied on a more personal type of hand signals and body language that occurred between people who were deaf and knew each other well. Robbie signed to her son as she made his lunch. She refused breakfast and only drank coffee while she tried to get everything together for work.

Before they could leave, Troy walked in through the door without knocking. He smiled at his son but made no attempt at communicating with him. Rickey glanced at him then quickly looked away.

"Mornin', everyone. How's my girl?" he asked Robbie, grabbing her as she passed him.

Robbie was astonished to see his mouth coming towards her. He'd meant the kiss to land on her lips but she turned away and it barely glanced her cheek.

He frowned when he looked at Alexei. "I see you still have the Doc here. I can run him back to Atlanta in a company car, if you need me to."

"He's going with Dad to visit Rickey's school today," Robbie told him, not filling in the blanks about Alexei looking at the files too. She didn't want to sound too desperate, although after her actions, she didn't see how he could take it any other way.

"Oh?" Troy looked at Alexei. "Maybe I should go, too."

"Why?" Jack wondered. "You haven't bothered before."

"Rickey is my son, in case all of you have forgotten."

"We were just wondering if you remembered," Jack said.

"That's enough," Robbie intervened. "It's hard enough to get out of here in the morning without listening to the two of you."

"Sweetie," Troy whined.

"Take me to work, Troy. That way Dad doesn't have to leave so early and he doesn't have to go out of his way." She leaned down close to Rickey and kissed his soft cheek.

'I'm going to work.' She signed into his little hand. 'I love you. Be a good boy at school.'

'Okay.' He answered. 'I love you, too. Is Alexei staying today?'

She glanced up at Alexei who nodded. 'Yes, he is, if you're good at school. Introduce him to your teachers and your friends.'

'Will he make me hear again?'

'I don't know yet. I have to go.'

"Can't you talk out loud, too, Robbie Jo?" Troy demanded. "That other stuff is just spooky."

"You're spooky, you big idiot," Jack declared.

"Old man --"

"Let's go," Robbie urged her ex-husband out the door. "I'll be home about three, Alexei. Dad will pick you up at the school about one. If there's anything else --"

"I'm sure your father will know what to do," Alexei said, trying to ignore Troy's possessive hand on Robbie's arm.

"Okay." She kissed Rickey again and then she was gone, leaving a trace of perfume behind her.

"Is she always so --" Alexei waved his hand in the air as words failed him.

Jack sighed, understanding. "Always."

Rickey grinned and mimicked his hands fluttering in the air. 'Mom.' He signed and then shrugged and finished his juice.

"Troy's a big, dumb jock," Jack told Alexei as they drove to the school. "Always has been, always will be. Dottie and I couldn't understand what Robbie saw in him. We were hoping she'd grow out of it, but you know how teenage girls are. Then she made her second big mistake and slept with him. She got pregnant. He was too dumb to know what to do about that, too, I guess."

"They seem very close," Alexei said. Most divorced couples he knew didn't barge in on each other the way Troy had that morning.

"He'd like it to be closer. He's always after her to take him back. I'd like to crack him over the head!"

Alexei laughed. "And Robbie?"

Jack glanced at him with knowledge in his eyes. "She's a looker, isn't she? She can cook, too. She's like her mama that way, bless her soul."

"She's very pretty," Alexei agreed carefully.

Rickey signed the word beautiful. Alexei agreed.

"Sometimes I think she might take him back if he just showed he was interested in Rickey or if he could add anything to her life. I've seen her come home so tired; she didn't know which end was up. This school costs her a fortune and she doesn't make much money. I help out, but I only have my social security and my paper route. Lucky for me and Rickey that his daddy is a worthless excuse." He looked at Rickey and signed an apology. "Anyway, I don't think she loves him anymore. But if he made some money instead of always borrowing the little bit she has, I think she'd take him back just to make ends meet!"

"Trailer trash," Alexei muttered beneath his breath.

"Huh?"

"Robbie told me this morning that she was trailer trash. I told her she shouldn't say that about herself or her family."

"She's kidding. Don't let that fool you! Robbie Jo has always had the confidence of a queen. She doesn't believe she's trailer trash."

They arrived at the school and Alexei was warmly welcomed and shown around the facility. It wasn't a large school, but it was very modern and comfortable. Some of the faculty were deaf. Alexei found that particularly heartening. Having lived as a deaf man for almost three years, he knew how difficult it was to explain it to someone who'd always been able to hear.

They allowed him to sit in on the classes. One of them was a preschool with Rickey in it. Rickey smiled at him and signed to his friends. Alexei waved back to him, then took some notes.

Alexei and Rickey ate lunch together with a few of Rickey's friends. The lunchroom was strangely quiet compared to a hearing children's school, but the energy generated by the flying hands speaking was enough to light up the sky.

'What do you think?' Rickey signed.

Alexei took off his glasses and put them into his pocket. 'It is a very nice place. Do you like it here?'

'Yes. But it's hard for my Mom.'

'To let you come here?'

'She works hard so I can come here because I can't hear.' Rickey explained. 'If you could fix me, she wouldn't have to work so hard and I could go to school with the other kids in the neighborhood.'

Alexei wondered if Robbie realized the depth of her son's understanding of the situation. It occurred to him that she was right about what she'd told him. If he hadn't come there and met Rickey, he wouldn't have believed the little boy was so intelligent and mature. It was possible that he could handle the psychological trauma of suddenly being able to hear and learning to speak. He was only six months short of the development they needed as far as his physical status. He would have to examine him, but he felt fairly sure that six months wouldn't mean that much.

In short, he considered as they rode home that afternoon, he had decided to invite Rickey to the candidate's camp. It would go slightly askew of the rules, but he wanted the other doctors to evaluate Rickey. If it were up to him, he would probably observe him a while longer than perform the procedure. He could already see that the boy had a strong, supportive family that would help him afterwards, no matter what the outcome.

But while he could issue the invitation, he couldn't make the final decision by himself. There were four judges who would be at the camp observing the children and making the decision. There would also be the physical reports and the child's background to take into consideration. Two of the judges were surgeons and the other two were psychologists. Alexei would be teaching the procedure on the ten children they chose to have the operation.

Rickey took his hand and dragged him outside in the sunshine when they got home. Robbie wouldn't be home for another hour and the boy had changed into play clothes. He wanted to show Alexei the creek where his grandfather had taken him to catch frogs. The air was warm and sweet. Moss hung heavily from the trees around them. Tiny blue and yellow crocus doted the lush green grass. It was only March, but already the roses had buds on them.

Alexei watched Rickey's eager young face as he signed a hundred names for the things he saw, almost too quickly for the older man to keep up. He knew most of that knowledge had come from Robbie's stubborn insistence that Rickey be the best he could. The rest because she was willing to sacrifice what she had to send him to the Eckman. She had created a small wonder in this child. He had to commend her for her efforts even if they had led to him being kidnapped.

Would he have come if she had approached him and explained the situation? Probably not. It was something to consider about the screening process. He wanted everyone to be considered, not just the elite with the money and contacts to get noticed.

Rickey was waving his hands frantically to get Alexei's attention. Alexei stood up when Rickey approached him with a snail in an ivory white shell. They looked at it together.

'Snail.' Rickey signed with a breathless smile. 'They travel with their own shells, like our trailer.'

Alexei laughed. 'Yes. I suppose that makes them shell trash?'

Rickey laughed. He wasn't so young that he hadn't heard the phrase. 'That must make butterflies cocoon trash, he responded.'

Alexei agreed. Rickey took his hand to bring him closer to the edge of the creek to see a group of small silver fish in the sunlit, dappled creek bottom. They perched on the slippery rocks that were green with moss and full of water from the splashing creek. Rickey leaned over to try to catch a fish and Alexei pulled him back to keep him from falling into the water.

"What's up?" Robbie asked suddenly as she came on them.

Alexei's foot slipped out from under him. He opened his mouth like a fish but no sound came. Robbie and Rickey both reached for him, but before they could grab him, he fell face first into the creek.

Robbie pulled Rickey back. 'Stay here.'

Rickey nodded and watched as she ran to the creek, splashing in up to her ankles to help Alexei get a footing. They were both soaked by the time he got up.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he asked her.

"What?"

"Came up behind me and startled me so that I fell into the water! It was some form of retribution!"

"I didn't do anything like that and --"

Robbie was unable to continue. Alexei reached down and jerked her foot out from under her and she fell back into the cold water.

"Have you lost your mind?" she demanded in a squeaky voice as she rose spluttering. "What made you do that?"

"You," he replied with a wry grin. "It was just retribution."

"Just...that's it! I'll show you retribution!" She reached down and splashed him until he was dripping wet.

Alexei returned the favor until her hair was hanging down in wet curls. "You don't know the meaning of the word!"

"We'll see about that, whoa!" She lost her footing on the green stones and tumbled into the water, taking him with her.

Rickey sat on the shore and watched them. They were having such a good time playing. He wished his mom would play more often. It made her happy.

Robbie surfaced with Alexei's arm around her waist as he came up from behind her. "I give up," she said, laughing breathlessly. "I surrender."

He helped her get to her feet. Her shoes squelched. His arm was still around her waist when she looked up at him with her words of surrender.

Laughing and wet, Alexei was suddenly serious as he looked at her. Nothing had prepared him for this surge of emotion. Her eyes gleamed and her lips were parted. The water had done nothing for the blue cotton dress she wore, but what the wet dress did for his blood pressure was astounding. "And I surrender. Do what you will with me."

Robbie touched his face with a trembling hand. She realized he was going to kiss her a moment before his lips touched hers. She shivered but not from the cold water. Any thoughts of what she might say or do fled from her head. When he bent his head, she lifted her mouth to his. His lips were warm and firm. She put her hand on his shoulder and felt his hand at her waist bringing her close to him.

It only lasted a moment. The sun was warm on their heads and the frogs croaked beside them. It was only a light touch. Yet when they parted, their hands clung to each other. They didn't look away until an interested party clapped his hands.

'I saw Alexei kissing Mommy in the creek!'

"I...I think we should leave now," Robbie said, forgetting for a moment to sign for her son. She covered her confusion by repeating her words to Rickey. She took his hand as she turned away from Alexei.

'I saw Mommy kissing Alexei in the creek.' Rickey signed gleefully.

'Okay,' she told him. 'I know what you saw. You don't have to share.'

'I saw Mommy throw Alexei into the creek.'

Rickey!'

'And then kiss him!'

"He's telling the truth," Alexei said. "It did happen."

"Well, we don't have to talk about it again," she told him. "Things happen sometimes. It doesn't mean they mean anything. It doesn't mean anything."

"Robbie --"

"I have to go and change. I'll be late for work."

"What the hell was going on down there?" Troy asked as she rounded the corner of the trailer. "You're soaking wet." He caught sight of Alexei. "He's soaking wet, too!"

"Leave me alone, Troy." Robbie brushed past him. She signed to Rickey that he needed to take a hot bath and change clothes.

"I want to know what happened down there," Troy demanded, this time of Alexei.

"Robbie fell in the creek trying to help me get out." He shrugged. "Nothing more."

"You're gonna be late again," Jack said to his daughter, seeing the two men glaring at each other outside the storm door. "What happened?"

"Nothing," she answered quickly. "Could you help Rickey take a hot bath and change his clothes? He's all wet and slimy."

"Sure, honey, but you seem a mite agitated."

"I'm wet and cold and slimy and if I'm late again, Mr. Frasier will probably fire me. That's all. I'll be fine."

"Okay." He looked at Troy and Alexei again then smiled at his grandson. 'Okay. Let's take a bath and get out of those wet clothes.'

'Mommy kissed Alexei.' Rickey signed to him with a wide grin. 'Then they fell in the creek.'

"Oh." Jack watched Robbie gather her clothes, then slam into Rickey's bedroom to change. "Ohh!" He smiled and led Rickey into the bathroom. 'Did Alexei kiss Mommy, too?' He asked his grandson when they were safely behind the bathroom door.

'Yes,' Rickey answered affirmatively.

'Let's not tell Troy.' His grandfather replied, reasonably certain that Troy didn't understand any sign language. He wasn't willing to take a chance. 'Let's keep this our secret.'

'Okay,' Rickey agreed, slipping from his clothes. He took the snail out of his pocket and handed it to his grandfather. 'Alexei called this shell trash, like trailer trash.'

"He did?" his grandfather asked, signing and speaking put loud as he frequently did when he was with Rickey. "Well, well!"

Alexei and Troy were still outside the door to the trailer.

"When are you leaving?" Troy asked bluntly.

"When I'm done examining Rickey."

"And when will that be?"

"When I'm finished. I've decided to invite him to the camp."

"Well, whoopee do."

Alexei frowned. "You aren't pleased that he might be selected for the surgery? It could restore his hearing."

"You mean he'd be normal?"

"He is already normal, Mr. Connor. He is beyond normal. He is exceptional. I am trying to make his life better." Troy's ignorance wasn't new to Alexei. How many times had parents said the same thing to him? How many times after he'd lost his own hearing was he treated like he was less than normal?

"Better." Troy considered the words. "Best way to do that would be to leave his mama alone."

"If you recall, Robbie brought me here, Mr. Connor. I didn't come on my own."

"All the same," Troy looked at him closely. "Robbie and I still love each other. That spark is still there between us. All it needs is a little fanning." His large, good- looking face grew cunning. "Say, how long is this camp?"

"Two weeks, at the end of May."

"That could be just what I need to fan that spark into a fire, Doc! You take the kid to camp for two weeks and I get to spend quality time with my wife."

The idea was repugnant to him, but Alexei let it go. He didn't plan to challenge Troy for Robbie when he barely knew her. If she decided to go with him, that was her business. His business was to help her son. The kiss they'd shared in the creek, the feelings he had for her meant nothing. The circumstances were unusual. He would leave the next day and there would be no more to think about it. It was just a strange aberration.

"Hey, Doc," Troy asked, completely at ease now. "Could you loan me a twenty?"

Chapter Five

About midnight, Robbie heard the first clatter of stones against the bedroom window.

"Psst! Robbie! Robbie Jo? Are you there?"

It was the way Troy had always called for her when they were in school. Robbie opened her eyes and looked at the clock. She listened for another minute, but there was nothing. She must have been dreaming. She punched her pillow. What a waste of a perfectly good dream! She could have been dreaming about Alexei!

Whoa! She caught herself and sat straight in bed. Dreaming about Alexei?

She'd gone to work at the supermarket right after the incident at the creek and has been spared immediate awkwardness. She'd come home to find Alexei studying Rickey's file in the kitchen. He looked so thoughtful and caught up in the folder that she wished she could sneak by him without him noticing.

All evening, she'd thought about what she could say to him about that kiss. She could say that he took her by surprise, that she didn't see it coming. She could continue to rattle on about how it didn't mean anything. Or she could pretend that it didn't happen. When he looked up from the file at her, she opted for the last. She wouldn't say anything if he didn't say anything. And if he did say something, she would pretend that she hadn't thought about it at all.

"Hello," he said slowly, taking off his glasses. "Is it that late already?"

"Yeah. Dad just left on his paper route." She glanced at the file on the table. "That's a lot to read, I guess."

"Doctors tend to take themselves too seriously," he said. "They write a page when a sentence would do."

She laughed nervously. "Yeah. Well, you should know, shouldn't you? I mean, being a doctor and all."

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking at her closely.

"Just really tired," she said, relieved at having come up with a reason not to talk to him alone.

He nodded and rubbed his eyes. "Yes. I think I'll turn in as well." He paused and gathered the file. "There was just one thing. I think we should speak about what happened at the creek this afternoon."

"You know, I have such a headache. Maybe this could wait?"

"Of course. We can talk tomorrow before I leave."

"Thanks." She gave him the winning smile she'd learned at cheerleading camp. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Robbie."

She was tired and her head was starting to hurt. She hadn't been lying about that. Besides, she reminded herself as she dressed for bed, he was leaving tomorrow. She was an adult. He was an adult. Sometimes, these things just happened between adults. She went to sleep with a clear conscience.

There was another handful of stones against the window. "Robbie? Robbie, are you in there?"

She took a deep breath. It was Troy and he sounded drunk. She yawned and snuggled down into the covers beside Rickey. She didn't feel like arguing with Troy. Maybe he'd get tired of being ignored and go away before he woke Alexei. Maybe if she didn't move, he'd pass out in his car or wander back to Billy's for another beer.

A stone hit the window and smashed it open. Robbie was on her feet as she heard the glass splinter. She put on her robe and slippers and ran into her room where Alexei was sleeping. Alexei heard the glass shatter and got to his feet instantly. The sound had been too much like the sounds of war. Car bombs blew out windows from a mile away. Sniper's bullets kept wooden shutters closed. How many people had he treated for fragments of glass in their eyes? How many children had lost an eye or been scarred forever from it?

"Sorry," Robbie whispered as she opened the door and walked into the bedroom. "It's Troy. He's drunk again." She looked at Alexei in the half-light. "Are you okay?"

Alexei realized that he was breathing hard. He sneezed a few times. "I think I have a virus."

She picked up the fist-sized stone that Troy had hurled through the window. "I have some cold tablets that will help you breathe easier."

"All right. What about Troy?"

There was another shower of pebbles against the window. "Robbie Jo? Robbie Jo, please come out. I...I need you, honey."

She grimaced. "I'd better take care of him first before he drives his car through the side of the house."

"I think he still loves you."

"He thinks he still loves me. He doesn't know the meaning of the word. I'll be right back."

Alexei put on his pants and shoes. His chest was tight and his throat was sore. He looked out the window at the front yard bathed in light. Robbie and Troy were face-to-face on the small patch of grass. They appeared to be arguing, then Troy dropped to the ground at her feet. She shook her head then wrapped her arms around his shoulders, trying to move him. The man was twice her size and she wasn't having an easy time of it.

She tugged at Troy's body again. He had passed out as she'd hoped he would. Too late for that, now he was just a nuisance. She couldn't leave him face down in the grass. She struggled trying to drag him to his car parked at the curb.

"Let me help you," Alexei volunteered.

"You shouldn't be out here with your cold," she protested in a quiet voice. "I'll get him. You just go back inside."

"Let me help. It will take you all night to move him by yourself. You did say you had cold pills?"

"Yes." She wondered if anything else embarrassing could happen to make him think less of her. "Okay, you take one arm and maybe we can drag him."

Alexei bent down and got Troy up on his shoulders in a fireman's cradle. "You open his car door and I'll put him in."

She didn't argue. She ran for the side door of the Cadillac Troy was driving. Alexei heaved the body into the front seat, then clasped Troy's hands across his chest as he continued to snore lightly. The door had to stay open. They couldn't get his feet on the seat.

"Thanks," she said. "Let's go inside and I'll get those cold pills."

They tiptoed through the trailer to the kitchen. She rummaged around until she found the cold pills. "I know you must think I'm crazy not leaving Troy out on the ground all night. He deserved it for being such an idiot."

"Probably true," he agreed, "but the heart always knows better."

She decided to ignore that. "Let me get you some juice."

Alexei took the cold pills and drank the juice she gave him.

"My heart is not connected with what I feel for Troy," she told him softly.

"Some other organ then?"

She made a face at him. "He's not a bad person. Just a little confused."

"But you no longer love him?" He looked at her then held up his hand. "Sorry. I have no right to pry."

"It's okay. I care about him. We grew up together. He couldn't handle being married and having Rickey. It was a lot to be asked to be a responsible adult when he had expected to be in college playing football."

"I understand. But what about you? Wasn't the burden just as heavy for you?"

"I suppose. But Rickey has been so wonderful. It's not like being responsible to do things for him, even working all the time and doing without. I guess that's the difference between being a mother and a father."

"Perhaps."

"But I don't love him anymore like a husband. He's more like an old beagle. He messes up once in a while, but that's no reason to throw him out on the street. It's enough that I don't have to live with him."

Alexei laughed, caught his breath and started coughing.

She put her hand on his forehead. "You're burning up. We have to get you back to bed."

"Am I an old beagle to be taken care of?" he wondered with a smile.

"No," she replied cheekily. "You're the man who's going to make Rickey hear again. I have to take care of you." She urged him to get back in bed and pulled the comforter up to his chin.

"Robbie --"

"I know," she said. "You don't have to tell me again."

He coughed. "I should leave later today."

"I don't think you're going to be leaving as sick as you are."

"Was this part of the plot?" he asked when she was about to leave.

"Absolutely. I drag you here through the swamp, push you into the creek and then take care of you while you're sick. It makes you stay here another few days. You decide you can't help but do the surgery on Rickey. We're all happy."

"I trust that you won't let me come down with pneumonia since it would ruin your plans."

She looked at him in the dim light as he closed his eyes and settled back against the lavender pillows. "That's right, go to sleep." She smoothed back a lock of dark hair from his face then kissed his forehead. "Good night, Alexei."

He peeked enough to see her stuff a towel into the hole Troy had made in the bedroom window. Her tiny waist and subtle curves were just above him, within arm's reach. He closed his eyes and tightened his hands beneath the comforter. When she was gone, he lay staring at the ceiling until the first faint light of morning, then he closed his eyes and fell into a labored sleep.

Robbie checked in on him before she went to work. He was sleeping, but his breath was coming in shallow, hoarse gasps. She put her hand lightly on his forehead and he didn't wake. He felt hot to her touch, but she thought it was better to let him sleep than to wake him up to take his temperature.

They were quiet that morning getting ready for work and school. Troy's car was gone, so she didn't have to explain to her father what had happened, who already thought very little of Troy. She told him that Alexei had picked up a cold and she had given him pills during the night. She was letting him sleep since he couldn't go back to New York sick.

"Sure this wasn't something planned?" Jack asked his daughter.

"Of course not. How could I make him catch a cold?"

"Well, it does fall in with your plans to keep him here."

"Even I can only do so much," she said with a smile. "But if nature chooses to lend a helping hand, I won't look the other way."

Recalling Rickey's words from the day before about Robbie kissing Alexei, Jack started to speak, but thought better of it. There was no use reminding her that he was going to leave, warning her not to get her heart broken. He liked Alexei. He didn't think he was the kind of man to play loose with her. He didn't doubt that they had kissed, but he wasn't worried about it going any further. She already had one disastrous relationship.

Alexei was awake as Robbie walked into the bedroom that afternoon. He didn't open his eyes or move as she sat beside him and touched her cool hand to his forehead.

"Wake up, Alexei," she urged him quietly.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. The sunlight was streaming through the broken window. It picked out golden highlights in her hair and threw motes of light across the smooth contours of her face. He knew he would always remember her this way. A look of compassion and worry etched between her brows, a slight smile on her full lips. It was a look that spoke volumes about her large heart and exuberant nature.

"It's afternoon. You slept all day."

"I'm feeling much better."

"I think your fever is gone. You must be hungry and thirsty."

He shrugged. "Not so much."

"Well, this isn't New York and you aren't working, so you need to eat something."

He smiled at her. "Yes, ma'am."

"You're a very cooperative patient. Just stay here and I'll get something for you."

"I can get up, Robbie," he told her. "I only have a cold."

She shrugged. "I know. But I feel like it's my fault. Let me take care of you."

His dark eyes were wary. "I am not a beagle."

She laughed. "No, you are not a beagle. Get up then and come into the kitchen."

The trailer seemed very quiet as Alexei dressed and walked into the kitchen. "Where is your father and Rickey?"

"Dad took Rickey to a ballgame," she said without turning. Peppers and onions were sizzling in a pan. "Dad's not the best at sign language, but he and Rickey understand each other pretty well. He's the only male role model Rickey has. Troy is more like a strange friend who comes around from time to time."

"I noticed that," Alexei said, coming to stand beside her. "Your father and Rickey have developed a sympathetic language of their own. Your father doesn't really need signing."

She added a few mushrooms to the pan. "No, I guess not, but I like people to use sign language with Rickey as much as they can. I want him to learn."

"He's already extraordinary."

"Thanks."

"I want him to come to the camp, Robbie."

She stopped putting spaghetti into the pot of boiling water and turned to face him. "Even after everything I've put you through?"

"This is not for you," he said. "This is for Rickey. He deserves a chance."

"Alexei! That's -- thank you! I don't know what to say." Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck. She hugged him tightly then briefly pressed her lips to his.

Time stood still in the warm, fragrant kitchen. It was merely an instant of sunlight and the scent of cooking and the chemistry between them that enchanted them. The clock on the cabinet struck the hour. Alexei heard himself make a noise in the back of his throat then he pressed her closer with his hands and slanted his mouth across hers, deepening the kiss.

Hungrily, she swayed into his embrace. He was devouring her and she was glad to be devoured. Her body knew no shame or logic when she was near him. The need was clear and powerful. She wanted him, his kiss and his touch. She drank him in like cool white wine on a hot summer day. He had the same effect of going right to her head.

It was Alexei who finally recalled himself and moved a fraction from her. He touched the scattering of little golden freckles across her nose and cheeks. He looked into the deep blue of her eyes and barely stopped himself from tasting the curve of her lips again. To have brought her joy made his heart sing, but to have her pressed against him was making other parts of him happy.

"You're welcome," he said in a husky voice. His hands were resting at her waist. She was small and supple beneath his touch. She moved closer again and he caught his breath. "Robbie, I --"

Robbie felt the flare of awareness in her body. She saw his eyes darken as he looked at her lips. She returned the favor, staring at his mouth. "You know, it was part of my plan to seduce you if you didn't agree to let Rickey go to the camp."

"What?"

She smiled. "You heard me and don't pretend your English doesn't take you that far. I thought if nothing else worked that I would seduce you after I kidnapped you. You didn't look too old or too gruesome. I thought it might work as a last resort."

"To get me to operate on Rickey?"

"Yes."

"I can't imagine anyone going that far or being that desperate."

She stroked her fingers through the thick, dark hair at the base of his neck. "I would do anything for Rickey."

"Fortunately for both of us, that won't be necessary now. You have what you wanted."

"Yes," she said, though she still didn't move. He hadn't moved his arms from around her either. His body was very lean but not bony. Her breasts were cushioned against his chest and she could feel the hard muscle there. "You're much stronger than you look."

"How so?"

"The way you picked up Troy and dumped him in his car. He's a big guy."

Alexei shrugged. His hands slid slowly up her back. "It is not always size that matters. Look at you."

"Me?"

"You're quite small, yet you make a big dent in a person's life."

She laughed, then looked seriously into his eyes. "I just want you to know that I haven't ever kidnapped anyone before. And it won't ever happen again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," he warned her. "If you thought it was necessary --"

She rested her head against his chest. He looked down at the rich darkness of her hair, indulging his desire to stroke through its length with his fingers.

"I think my peppers need turning," she said quietly.

"Is that American slang for something that has nothing to do with cooking?" he asked with a smile. He kissed the corner of her mouth. "I've changed my mind. Rickey isn't old enough. I think I must be seduced to guarantee my compliance."

Robbie laughed at him. "My peppers really are going to burn and that's not slang for anything but a bad meal. As far as me seducing you --"

The door opened suddenly and Jack and Rickey walked into the kitchen. "The game was rained out," Jack told them, not missing anything when they sprang apart at his entry. "Bunch of wusses. Let a little rain stop a game."

Rickey sniffed the air. 'What smells good?'

'Supper.' She answered. 'You go and clean up and it will be ready.'

Jack looked at Robbie and Alexei and frowned, but he went with Rickey to wash his hands. He would have to have that talk with Robbie after all. The girl didn't have a brain the size of a pea if she couldn't see that Alexei was married to his work. Her mistake with Troy was bad enough. He didn't want to see her hurt again.

They had a quiet dinner with everyone praising Robbie's spaghetti. Troy stopped by after it was over and Robbie walked out into the yard with him.

"I would like to put Rickey to bed," Alexei told Jack after he watched Robbie go out with Troy.

Jack shrugged. Alexei was still watching Troy and Robbie. "That's fine. You know, I didn't tell you about Robbie and Troy so that you would take advantage of her."

Alexei frowned. "I would never take advantage of your daughter, sir."

Jack laughed. "You say that with the greatest degree of sincerity, my friend. But I know the two of you kissed yesterday. Rickey told me. I don't want Robbie to be hurt again. It's taken years for her to get over the last time. I don't want that for her again."

"And what does she want?" Alexei asked as he found his glasses. He picked up a book to read to Rickey as the boy went to his room.

"She doesn't know what she wants," Jack told him. "She's spent all her time getting Rickey ready for this camp thing. She never goes out except to work. She doesn't see friends or go out to dances. She used to love to dance."

Alexei studied the book cover. "I won't pretend that I don't find Robbie attractive. But I will promise that I won't hurt her."

Jack nodded. "That's all I can ask, I suppose. I hope she's not stupid enough to fall for you. I don't think either of you are ready for it. But you'll be leaving soon. I guess it can't be too bad."

Alexei nodded thoughtfully. He went into Rickey's bedroom and sat beside the boy on the bed.

'I told Gramps that you kissed my mom. Was that bad?' Rickey asked.

'No. You were honest. There is nothing wrong with that.'

'Were you kissing her again tonight?'

'No.' Alexei signed, not wanting to lie to the boy, but not wanting him to worry about his mother the way his grandfather was worried about her. He was already very protective of her.

'You were standing close together when we came in.'

'I know. But we were talking, not kissing. And I think this is something you should not worry about. Shall we read this story?'

Robbie was still not inside when Alexei came out of Rickey's bedroom. Jack had left for his paper route. Alexei poured himself a cup of coffee and sat at the table to make notes about Rickey's files.

Robbie came in about a half an hour later, drenched from standing in the rain with Troy. Alexei looked up, but he didn't speak when he saw that the water on her cheeks was tears and not rain. She walked by him quickly without a word. She came back in her robe and her hair wet. He pretended to be reading as he watched her make a cup of tea and sit across from him. His brain tortured him with thoughts of her being naked beneath the fluffy robe.

"Thanks for putting Rickey to bed," she said quietly. "I had to get a few things straightened out with Troy."

He wanted to ask what things, but refrained. Her father was right. He was leaving. He had no right to indulge himself at her unhappiness. "It was a pleasure. And I'm here to get better acquainted with him."

"He really likes you."

"I really like him."

She smiled. "But you can't get emotionally involved."

"That's right."

"So your decision to accept him at camp was not an emotional one?"

"Not at all."

"Are you saying you aren't ever prejudiced by your emotions?" She was not sure what he was saying about the things that had happened between them.

"No. I'm saying that the clinical trials have to be based on facts, not emotion."

She sighed. "It must be wonderful not to be swayed by your emotions."

"I didn't say that I don't have emotions," he corrected her. "But I have to put them aside to do my job."

"I understand."

He leaned forward. "Let me ask you a question."

"Okay."

"Have you thought about what you'll do when this is resolved? You've worked very hard to get Rickey into the trials."

"After the surgery, I'll be helping him adjust to being able to hear."

"And if he doesn't have the surgery?"

She sipped her tea. "I don't allow myself to think about that. If it happens, I'll deal with it."

"You have everything invested in Rickey having the surgery. You may be devastated if he doesn't qualify."

"I'll deal with it," she repeated, getting to her feet, wondering what had brought on this attack on her life. Was he regretting their kisses? "I've been disappointed before. I can handle it."

"What about Rickey?"

"Are you trying to talk me out of going ahead with this because it might not happen? We've worked too hard to let it go by without trying, Alexei. But that doesn't mean that we won't go on if it doesn't work out."

He shrugged and sat back. He took off his glasses and ran his hand across his tired eyes.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, seeing the gesture and feeling contrite for her anger.

"I'm better. Was your talk with Troy productive?"

She laughed. "If you mean does he understand that I don't want to get back together with him, no. And now he thinks that we, that you and I --"

"Us?" Alexei asked in surprise. He had clung to the idea that it didn't show so much even though Jack had picked it up.

She nodded. "I know he doesn't know about yesterday. Or today. I mean --" She looked at him and bit her lip. "Not that anything really happened."

"It was spontaneous," Alexei said, thinking about what Jack had said to him.

"Exactly."

They looked at each other then looked away.

"I should go to bed," she told him. "I work tomorrow morning, but I'm off tomorrow night. I thought maybe Rickey and I could take you out for dinner."

"That would be fine," he said. "Then if all goes well, I'll leave the next day."

"All right. I'll make plans to drive you to the airport."

"I can rent a car."

"I brought you here. I'll take you back."

"All right. Thank you."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow night," she said with a smile. "Good night."

"Good night, Robbie."

Alexei was up late that night, looking over Rickey's files. The boy seemed to be a perfect candidate for the surgery. He believed Rickey would be able to regain total hearing with the operation. He sighed and put away the folder. That didn't mean he would have the surgery if the other doctors were more impressed with other candidates. But he could only do what he could for the boy and for Robbie. Anything more could compromise his integrity to the project and the whole thing may be scrapped. He couldn't allow that to happen. It was all he'd worked for during the years since he'd regained his own hearing. It was the anchor in his life that saved him from nightmares about Helena.

He went to bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about Robbie and Rickey and Troy. Troy was nothing more than a large child himself, although it was easy to imagine that he would want Robbie back. The man was a fool for letting her go in the first place. He went to sleep finally, thinking about their lives and the life he led in New York. His life was more detached, more clinical. It was easy to see why Robbie thought him unemotional. For all intents and purposes, he was. He had to be to survive.

It was odd how life could change so abruptly. One minute, he was walking through the airport, sure of his goal and his destination. The next, he was in a small trailer and a woman he'd never met until a few days before was reshaping his life. All pivotal points seemed to come without warning. Helena had died and his life had changed immediately. He had lost his hearing only to regain it and go on to champion the surgery that had been used to restore it. Robbie Jo Connor had kidnapped him and made him feel alive again.

Had those few kisses and the soft words meant as much to her as they had to him? He turned in the bed and faced the wall that separated them. When he kissed her, he had no doubt of it, even though she had said more than once that they were meaningless. Maybe she was just aware, as he was, that he was going back to New York and they might never meet again. He finally fell asleep, only to dream of the moment when Helena had died. He could smell the acrid scent of the bomb and hear the cries of the people around them in the street. He saw Helena's beautiful face as she took her last breath.

He awakened in a cold sweat and realized that what Jack had said was true. He was not ready for a relationship with a woman. Robbie had made him feel something again. She had made him think about something else besides his job. But his heart was still with Helena.

He got up, showered and dressed. Jack was there with Rickey but Robbie was gone. He refused Jack's pancakes and sipped coffee. He didn't ride to the Eckman School with Rickey and Jack. He saw the hurt look on Rickey's face, but he refused to allow himself to feel it. He was a doctor and though the circumstances of his arrival were unusual, he was there to proceed with Dr. Zabutas' legacy. Nothing more.

Robbie pulled up in a shiny new truck that afternoon. The sun was bright and the day was mild. Alexei was out in the yard looking at the roses.

"Hi! How are you feeling?" she asked, getting out of the cranberry red truck.

"I'm well, thanks. I was admiring your father's rose garden."

"He keeps it up for my Mom. She loved her roses. He didn't know a thing about them until she died. Now he spends hours working out here and reading about roses. People change, I guess."

"Yes."

"Where's Rickey and Dad?"

"They went to the washed out game. Your father said he would do his paper route later. The game was more important."

"Oh no! Rickey and I were going to take you out to eat!"

"Perhaps another time," he suggested, glad after his revelations that it should be so. He didn't need any further personal involvement with this family.

"You're leaving," she said. "It has to be tonight."

"Where did you get the truck?" he asked casually, hoping to change the subject.

"It's a loaner until mine is fixed," she replied with a smile. "I guess I'll just have to take you out to dinner myself."

"It's not necessary."

"I think it is. I wanted to do something special for you and you've already had my best meal." She grinned. "Once I make spaghetti, we either have to go out or have more of Jack's pancakes."

"Robbie, you don't have to feel that this is something out of the ordinary. I give permission for many children to go to camp."

She frowned at him. "How many of their mothers have kidnapped you to do it?"

"None," he answered with a shake of his head.

"There! You see why it's necessary." She smiled at him and he found himself smiling back.

"All right. But I drive!"

"I don't think so!" She laughed. "Let me change and we'll go. I know a great place."

Chapter Six

Robbie thought carefully about what she was doing. She was going out alone with Alexei. She had planned to have Rickey with them, but she was determined to take him out for dinner anyway. He had been kind and willing to overlook all of their strange behavior. It was the least she could do. It wasn't a big deal, she told herself as she stood in front of her closet, trying to decide what to wear. It didn't really matter what she wore as long as it was nice. It wasn't a date or even a romantic evening out. It was just to say thank you for his help.

Twenty minutes later, she had discarded the third outfit and stood frowning into her closet.

Alexei knocked on her door. "Are you all right, Robbie?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I just need a few more minutes."

She swore softly and grabbed a dress she hadn't worn for a long time. It was short and red and flirty. She'd worn it the last time she'd gone out with Troy when they were still a couple. She'd worn it to try to keep him from looking at every other woman in the room. It hadn't worked. And she still wasn't sure if it was her fault or Troy's.

She started to put it on and hoped it still fit. It looked good on her, but she wasn't sure if it was too much. After all, she wasn't trying to flirt with Alexei. That wasn't the thrust of the evening at all. She was supposed to be friendly and thankful. She was Rickey's Mom. She felt like she should have been wearing a sack-like garment with a hood and a rope around her waist.

"Robbie." Alexei knocked on the door again. "It takes less time for the queen of England to go to dinner."

She made a face at him through the door and stepped into black pumps. She needed all the height she could get with him. He was so tall! Her make up was smudged a little but she corrected it quickly. She draped a black shawl with red roses on it across her shoulders.

"I'm ready," she said, stepping out into the hall. She had the satisfaction of seeing a fire dance in Alexei's eyes. Her heart leapt at the sight. Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. She was his friend and a grateful mother, that was all.

"You look...wonderful," Alexei breathed, staring at her. He collected himself and held out his arm. "Shall we go?"

"You're not driving," she reminded him as they left the trailer.

"You left the keys in the truck," he told her, handing her into the passenger's side.

"You don't know where we're going."

"You can direct me." He closed the door on her next objection.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're stubborn and like to have your own way?" she asked.

"No. Most think I'm perfectly amiable and easy to get along with."

"They're lying to get on your good side," she told him bluntly.

"And how can I trust you when you confessed to being willing to seduce me for Rickey's sake?"

"I was joking," she answered, wishing she hadn't told him that part of her plan.

He started the truck and turned back to her, his breath catching at the sight of her. "You were willing to kidnap me and risk prison but not willing to take me into your bed?"

The thought made her insides warm and uncertain. "I'm not like that."

He smiled. "So, where do we turn?"

"Oh." She smiled, realizing that they were on the road. "Right. It's not far. I hope you're hungry."

The Texas T was a restaurant that did everything big: lots of food, lots of games, a huge dance floor and lots of music and noise. It was already crowded when they were seated. The waitress took their drink order with a smile and a wink at Alexei, then shimmied away in her short cowgirl outfit.

"This is a nice place," Alexei said, raising his voice above the noise. He would have preferred someplace intimate and quiet where they could talk, but in the circumstances, he supposed it was better not to be in that position with Robbie. Despite his resolutions from the night before, he was drawn to her. All she had to do was smile at him or wear that silly dress and he felt like a young schoolboy again. Did she feel it as well? He glanced at her as she sipped her Coke.

"I've only been here once before when I was looking for a job. It opened too late for Troy and me to come here."

They were seated close to the dance area with its shifting lights and slowly moving floor. The music got slow and quiet and the lights dimmed. Robbie drank her Coke nervously while Alexei looked at the couples on the dance floor.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked, thinking about what Jack had told him.

"What? Oh, no! I just sat here because the game area is noisier. I didn't mean that we should dance."

Alexei smiled. "I didn't say that you did. I was asking if you'd like to dance with me now that I've asked you and you've thought about it."

"N...no," she replied less steadily. "I...uh...don't dance."

"Come on," he coaxed, standing and taking her hand. "You were a cheerleader. I saw your pictures at the prom. I think you dance."

Robbie made a mental note to get rid of that stuff. She wasn't a child anymore. She didn't need those embarrassing reminders. In the meantime, Alexei was standing by her chair, waiting for her. Yes! She wanted to dance with him. She wanted to feel his arms around her and have him press her close to him. It wasn't wise and it certainly wasn't what she'd planned. But she wanted it, if only for one time.

"All right," she said, putting her hand in his. She looked away from his handsome face so that she didn't give anything away. "I'd like to dance."

They reached the dance floor. She laughed self-consciously as she stepped on the moving platform.

"This takes some adjustment," Alexei said.

"I wouldn't want to be on this if I was drunk," she told him. The floor was moving slowly, but constantly beneath their feet.

"And now for all you lovers," the DJ said from the podium above the floor.

The lights stayed dim and the haunting strains of Unchained Melody came sliding out around them. There were a few other couples on the large circular dance floor. They were wrapped around each other, paying no attention to anyone else in the world.

"Well," Robbie said, clearing her throat. Her hands were cold and her heart was pounding. "I haven't danced in a long time."

"It's something you never forget how to do," Alexei assured her. "I haven't danced for many years."

Robbie cleared her throat again, looking at him, hoping he couldn't see the need inside of her. She wanted to close her eyes and lose herself in his arms as they danced. "Uh -- do you want to -- uh --?" She put out her hand, but Alexei bypassed it discreetly. He put his arms around her, his hands at her waist.

"I think this is how it's done," he said warmly.

"I -- uh --"

"Relax," he whispered into her ear. His breath stirred the tendrils of hair against her neck and made her shiver. "I don't bite."

Taking a deep breath, Robbie put her arms around his neck and let him hold her close to him. It felt so good. Her knees felt weak and her eyes closed as she rested her head against him. It was like she was made to be there with her head tucked under his chin and their bodies moving slowly to the music.

Alexei closed his eyes and thought of the woman in his arms. There was no room in him to think about anything else. To hold her this way, close to his heart, seemed to be sheer stupidity, but it was a moment he was willing to pay for later. She was warm and soft and sweet smelling. Her hair was like silk beneath his chin and her body melted into his.

They danced through five songs without realizing it, without knowing when the music had changed from one song to another. It wasn't until the lights came up and the music changed to a fast dance that either one of them looked up.

"I guess we should sit down," she said as the Latin beat came up on the speakers and the crowd grew around them.

He still held her hand and used his leverage to spin her around then caught her in his arms. She looked at him in wide-eyed wonder.

"I don't think I can --"

"Just follow me."

They danced the next group of fast dances and breathlessly went back to their table. They ordered dinner then went back to the dance floor in silent assent as the music became slow and romantic again.

She didn't want the moment to end. She wanted to stay there with him, in his arms forever. There wasn't any place else that she wanted to be, no one else that she wanted to be with. She craved his warmth and his strength. He made her feel, for the first time since Rickey had been born, that there was someone she could rely on. Someone she could hold on to.

Alexei wanted so much more than to hold her in his arms. He could feel his body come alive again, feel his heart beating in his chest. It was like being reborn. He wanted her until the thought was almost overpowering. He wanted to kiss her soft body and hear her call his name. No one since Helena had touched him this way. No one had moved him to think beyond her death to a world of life and love. He bought drinks and they danced another few dances.

"I'm a bad drunk," she told him honestly. "I don't handle liquor well."

"It doesn't affect me much," he promised her. "I'll hold you up."

It was past midnight when they left the restaurant. Robbie's words were a little slurred and her giggles and flushed cheeks made his own temperature rise. He clamped ruthlessly down on his libido. He was not a man ruled by his emotions. There was a strong urge in him to protect her, to be part of her life, but he pushed that back, too. He helped her into the truck then started to close the door. Close proximity was not the best thing at this time.

Her hand shot out and caught his. "Thank you. I had a wonderful night."

"Thank you," he answered, delightfully trapped by her warm touch. "I had a wonderful night, too, although I fear your father won't be pleased by us being home so late."

"He won't mind this once." She stared at him, still holding his hand. "Thank you for Rickey, too. I can't believe you would do this for me after everything I put you through."

"He deserves the chance. I'm glad you showed me the error in the way we were selecting candidates. Everyone deserves a fair chance, though it may still not go his way."

"I know. The other doctors will have to agree. I know how the process works. I'm willing to let him take his chances. He's special. You see it. So will they."

"I agree with you."

She looked at his large hand. His fingers were long and very narrow, not an ounce of extra flesh, like the rest of him. "What is it like to be able to change a person's life with your touch?"

It occurred to him that he might ask her the same thing. Meeting her had changed his life. He could feel some of the ice that had surrounded his heart melting away at her touch. He couldn't say the words. They could never be together. His bond to Helena was too strong. He would never be with another woman.

As if she sensed his thoughts, she looked at the plain gold wedding band on his finger. "You're married?"

"Yes." The answer choked him. He was overcome with guilt at his thoughts. How could he betray Helena this way?

"You kissed me," she said in a small voice.

"Yes."

"I would never --"

"My wife is dead," he blurted out unevenly as though the words were forced from his throat. "My wife is dead."

Robbie looked into his face. Her eyes were wet with tears that she didn't bother to hide. "I am so sorry. I...I didn't know."

"How could you?' he asked ruthlessly, taking his hand from her. "We hardly know one another." He closed the truck door and got in on the other side.

"I could feel a terrible sadness in you," she continued when he was behind the wheel. "Was she killed during the war?"

"Yes. The blast that took my hearing also took her life." He looked at the wedding band that Helena had put on his finger. He gripped the steering wheel tightly. "She was pregnant with our son at the time."

"Oh God, Alexei! How terrible for you." She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.

Hesitantly, he put his arms around her. The ring burned on his finger, like his conscience burned in his mind. But she felt so good in his arms. Part of him wanted to push away that warmth and excitement, not wanting to give up his sorrow for Helena's loss. Part of him wanted that fire that Robbie made him feel. He had mourned Helena for five long years. He knew a part of him would mourn her loss forever. He didn't know if he could get past that to love Robbie, but he knew his heart was urging him to try.

"My mother always said that when things seem darkest, that's the time they're about to change for the good," she told him. "You lost...everything, but you've done so much for so many people. You give children like Rickey hope for a new life. There has to be something very special in store for you."

He could feel her tears, wet against his face, as she spoke to him. She smelled of whiskey and perfume and the clean woman who was beneath the sassy dress she wore. It was intoxicating. He wanted to rip the dress from her body and pick her up in his arms. He wanted to lay her down on her bed in the room full of her childhood memories and make love to her. He wanted to bury himself deep within her and free some of the dark grief that lived in his soul. The need almost overwhelmed him. He reached to push her away from him and his hands grazed the sides of her breasts. Desire flared within him like a firestorm, destroying everything but the thought of her sweet, yielding body beneath him. His heart pounded in his chest and his breath was ragged.

Robbie had wanted only to ease his suffering. Through the whiskey and the gratitude for the chance he was giving Rickey, she suddenly felt something so much more. It was the same thing she'd felt earlier when he'd kissed her. It trickled down through her cold limbs, warming them and starting small fires in the rest of her. She closed her eyes, unable to resist that warmth, even though she might be sorry later. She kissed his neck and his chin and finally, his mouth.

He shuddered and drew her closer. His kisses devoured her. There was no space to breathe or move beyond where they met and fused. The fire melted them together, dragged their shivering souls into the light and the heat of the inferno. They were suspended in that moment, in that kiss, while the world shifted and the darkness fled.

"Alexei," she moaned as his lips slid from her mouth to her neck and breasts. "I didn't expect to feel this way. Even if I would have seduced you for Rickey' sake, I wouldn't have felt this way."

He smiled and kissed her again. "Would it have been better or worse?" He looked at her in the half-light from the dash. Her eyes were closed and her lips were smudged with his kisses.

"I don't know," she mused, opening her eyes to trace her finger across his lips and chin, loving the contours of his face. "I don't think I've ever seduced a man."

"You have seduced me," he told her, kissing her hand. "I look at Rickey's file and I see only you." His body was stinging with the fire that had overtaken him. "I look at Troy and wonder how he could have been so blind to let you go."

She sighed heavily. "I'm a little drunk. And I've thought about this happening so many times between us. I can't tell if it's real or just my imagination."

He kissed her again, his lips and his hands exploring her body, enticing her, making her feel the heat that he felt for her. "Does that feel like your imagination?"

"No," she whispered, letting his strong hands move her closer to him. "It feels like magic."

She sat close beside him with her head on his shoulder on the way home. Jack was annoyed until he saw the dreamy gaze on Robbie's face and the intense way Alexei was looking at her. He was worried and annoyed. He left to go out on his paper route with a warning glance at them both. Neither one of them appeared to notice.

When he was gone, Alexei drew her back into his arms. He stared deeply into her beautiful blue eyes and stroked his hands through her silky dark hair. "You are a beautiful woman."

"I feel beautiful with you," she answered. "I can't believe that this is happening."

"I know," he agreed, kissing her jaw and her forehead. "After so long alone, I never thought to feel this way."

"Especially with someone who kidnapped you?" She grinned. "There's something to be said for bondage, I guess."

He smiled. "Thank you for kidnapping me, Robbie. I will always be grateful to you."

His mouth touched hers lightly, then pressed more deeply. Her lips parted and she moaned as his tongue touched hers, stroking and persuading her to other intimacies. His hands cupped her breasts and the nipples hardened with awareness. She felt his touch drive fire into her stomach and lower until her legs were weak and she forgot everything but him.

She felt a button rip from his shirt under her restless hands as she tried to get closer to him. His skin was warm and smelled like soap as she pressed her nose close to his neck. They fell back against the sofa together with her landing on top of him. His hands slid up her thighs beneath the hem of the sassy dress. She could feel his need, hard and real against the softness of her inner thigh.

"I have never wanted anyone this way," he told her in a deep voice. She grew still and quiet against him and he looked into her face. "Robbie?"

"Alexei." She nodded towards the back of the trailer then got up quickly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the look that crossed her face.

"Rickey," she said aloud, then went to her son and signed. 'What's wrong?'

'Not feeling so good.'

'Where does it hurt?'

'My tummy. Gramps said I had too many hot dogs at the game.' Rickey looked at Alexei. 'Were you kissing again?'

'Never mind,' she told him. 'I think we should get you back to bed.'

'I don't want to go back to bed. I want Alexei to tell me another story.'

Robbie looked at Alexei. "Could I persuade you to tell him another story?"

"Of course," he agreed readily. "I have the perfect story in mind."

Rickey smiled. 'Can Mom hear, too?'

'I think so.'

"I'd like to hear it too," she agreed, signing and smiling at Rickey.

Robbie went to get her son a glass of water while Alexei tucked him back into bed.

'It's okay if you kiss my Mom.' Rickey told him.

'Thank you.'

'Does that mean you'll be my new dad?'

'No.' Alexei told him with a shake of his head. 'Sometimes, grown-ups kiss each other. It's just a thing they do.'

'Oh.'

Robbie came in with the drink of water. 'Maybe this will help your tummy.'

'Thanks, Mom. Do you want Alexei to be my new Dad?'

Robbie glanced at Alexei who shrugged and sat down on the bed beside Rickey.

"He wanted to know if that's what kissing meant," he explained.

"Oh."

Rickey and Alexei looked at her while they waited for her answer.

"Well, sometimes," she signed and said aloud, "it can mean that, but not always."

'Is Alexei going to be my Dad?'

"That's not a question you should be asking. Alexei came in here to tell us a story. I think we should listen."

Rickey nodded solemnly. He drank some of the water then waited for Alexei.

"All right," Alexei began, signing and speaking aloud. "You know we've spoken of the bear before that lived in the woods outside my house when I was a child? Well, once that bear watched my mother put out pies on the windowsill to cool. There were three apple pies and they smelled so good that the bear wanted them. It was the end of winter and he was very hungry. He crept close to the house, wary of my father's gun, and snatched one of them. He ran off with it and ate it in one bite."

'A whole pie?' Rickey asked.

"Just so," Alexei replied. "But the pies still smelled so good that he went back for another. He snatched it and ran off and this one he ate in two bites."

'But he was still hungry?'

"Yes, he was still hungry. So he went back for the third pie and snatched it up and ate it in three bites. He heard my mother come out of the house, looking for whoever stole her pies but by now, he was so full and feeling sick that he could only lay on the ground and moan."

'Did your mother shoot him?'

Alexei laughed, but Robbie frowned at her son.

"No, she didn't shoot him, but she did take her broom and chased him into the woods. He was so full of pie that he couldn't get away from her easily and spent the next day sick because he had eaten so much and was sore because she had beaten him with her broom."

'So next time, I shouldn't eat so much in case Mom chases me with a broom?'

"That's right," Robbie said. "Not go back to sleep! I'll leave the water here and I'll be in bed in a few minutes."

'Okay.' Rickey agreed slowly. 'Are you going to kiss Alexei again?'

'Rickey!' She corrected him with a stern face and angry hand movements.

'Good night, Rickey.' Alexei said to him. 'Sweet dreams.'

'Good night, Alexei. You won't leave before I get up will you?'

'No.' Alexei promised. 'I will be here in the morning to say goodbye.'

Rickey was satisfied with that and snuggled down into his blanket. Robbie closed the door, but didn't move away from it. "I guess I should say good night, too."

Alexei nodded. He kept his distance from her like a man who wasn't sure he could resist any other way. "Good night, Robbie. I had a wonderful time this evening."

"So did I," she replied stiffly. "Thanks, Alexei."

She went back into Rickey's room and closed the door. She stood with her back against it for a long time, looking at the stars and moons on the ceiling. She felt cold without Alexei's arms around her. He was leaving tomorrow. She might never see him again. She stood there for a long time, thinking about her past. Troy had made her afraid of having another relationship with a man. Rickey's care and her dedication to her goal of getting him the surgery had made a perfect wall between her and the rest of the world. She hid behind it whenever she was afraid that she might get hurt again. Alexei was right about her not looking at the future when that excuse might not be there anymore. She was terrified of facing that world.

Yet, that moment, that night, was magical. She was willing to scale that wall for Alexei. Maybe because she knew it wouldn't be anything serious between them. Maybe because she knew she was in love for the first real time in her life, the first adult time. Alexei wasn't a football hero, but he was a special man. She wasn't willing to let him go the next day without hearing his voice again and feeling his lips against her skin. She wanted him in ways she had never thought to want Troy. When she heard Rickey's deep, even breathing, she opened the door quietly and crept to her room.

Alexei heard the click of the door, but didn't move. He lay still on the bed, barely breathing, though his heart was pounding in his ears. He smelled her perfume before she spoke, he felt her there beside the bed before he could see her.

"Alexei," she said softly. "I...I had a nightmare."

He swallowed hard. "Yes?"

"I...uh...was scared."

"Robbie," he said in a voice he scarcely recognized as his own. He slid across the bed and held up the comforter and sheet for her. "What can I do to help?"

Robbie slid into bed beside him. She was so nervous that she was shaking all over.

"You went to bed in your clothes?" he asked as he felt the brush of her dress against his legs.

"I lied," she confessed. "I haven't gone to bed -- yet. But I would like to -- go to bed, I mean."

"You're freezing," he said, touching her arm, knowing he should send her away, knowing he didn't have the strength to send her away. His body had heated up just knowing she was standing beside him. He wanted her so badly that his mind was no longer functioning or asking what was wrong or right. "Poor darling. Let me warm you."

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, please."

His hands were quick and clever. It took only a few seconds for them to strip her clothes away while his lips distracted her. She felt him beside her, naked, and she shivered in longing and need.

"Still cold?" he asked, his lips near her ear. His tongue traced the delicate shell and she pressed closer to him. Her breasts teased his chest and he shuddered, desperately wanting her.

When his mouth closed over one of her breasts, she moaned and stroked his hair, urging him closer. She felt his penis, hot and hard against her. She caressed its velvety tip and heard him gasp. She bit his neck and kissed his jaw until she reached his mouth. He buried his hands in her hair as she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He drank her in greedily, wanting everything she had to give him.

"I want you," she moaned. "I want you so much."

"Robbie, my heart," he whispered as he kissed her throat and breasts that arched against him with their pale pink peaks. When his hand slid between them and caressed that moist heat that lay waiting for him, it sent a shock through them both.

Robbie whispered her pleasure as she slid astride him. She touched him briefly, but it had been so long for both of them that there could be no teasing, playful touches. She took him inside her and slid down the length of him, gasping when he first entered her.

He kissed her and murmured her name along with words she didn't know. He teased her breasts and slid his hands up to cup her tender backside as she moved against him, thrilling him and taking her pleasure from him. He felt her need, heard her ragged breathing and knew she was near her own release. With a quick move, he was on top of her, driving into her while she moaned his name and thrashed beneath him.

She wrapped her legs around him and took him deeply within her. She heard him call her name again and again. She stopped his cries with her mouth until her own muted cries mingled with his in their short breaths and rapidly beating hearts. They lay together for long moments without separating. Neither one moved or thought about anything, but the passion that had flared between them. She realized that she still held his mouth with hers when she tasted the faint copper taste of blood against her tongue.

"I...I think I bit you," she said in gasps.

"I don't care," he assured her in a trembling voice.

"I hope I didn't hurt you."

"If you did, it was the most wondrous hurt I've ever felt."

They both groaned in loss as they finally separated. Alexei lay back on the bed, taking her with him, wrapped against him as though it was the only place to be in the world.

She smiled against his chest.

"What do you find amusing about this?"

"When I was planning on seducing you into helping Rickey, I practiced faking it to be more real."

"Faking it?" He frowned, kissing her cheek.

"You know," she urged, turning her lips up for his kisses. "Pretending to feel something with you when I seduced you."

"You did it very well," he commended, obliging her by kissing her mouth. "Oww!"

"What?"

"I think you did bite my lip."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said at once. "I could kiss it and make it better."

"I should think you would."

She kissed his lip carefully.

"That was the wrong one," he informed her brightly. "You have to kiss the other."

"I think you're using your hurt lip as an excuse," she told him.

"An excuse?"

"You just wanted me to kiss you."

He looked at her face so close beside his and smoothed back her dark hair. "Do I need an excuse?"

"No," she told him honestly. "It seems to be enough that you're close to me."

Sometime later when they were both exhausted and the night had almost waned to day, Robbie lay against his shoulder, thinking about this man who had taken her heart. "What was she like?"

Alexei wasn't surprised at her question. "Helena?"

"Yes."

He smiled. "She was beautiful and funny. She played tricks on everyone. She wanted to have a baby more than anything in the world. Every time we tried, she miscarried before the second month."

"But not the last time?"

"No. She was already seven months pregnant when she died. The doctors told me later that they tried to save the baby, but he was injured also."

"Did you name him?"

He took a deep breath, pain flowing like acid through him. "Yes."

"What was his name?"

"Stefan."

There were no words of comfort that she could offer him. She knew how deep the pain and loss went within him. Anything she could say would be meaningless and trite. So she said nothing, lying against him, loving him until the first gray light of morning lightened the room.

They had gone so long without speaking that she had thought he was asleep, but when she started to get up, he pulled her close.

"You should go."

"Yes."

"And I will leave today."

"Yes."

"Robbie, I --"

She put her hand against his mouth. "Please, don't make it any harder," she begged him. "I can smile and wave and pretend that everything is fine if we don't say anything more."

He nodded silently, but he kissed her palm. He let her go when she moved again. He stood for a long time, watching the sun rise through the trees and the moss and the television antennas on the roof of the trailer across from them.

She went to wake Rickey up, but he was already awake. He was looking at her in such a strange sad way that she was afraid that he knew what had happened between her and Alexei last night. She didn't want to know how she was going to explain that to a four-year-old!

'What's wrong?' she asked.

'I had a dream last night. I was alone and I was scared.' He snuggled closer to her.

Robbie wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his sweet smelling neck. She kissed his soft hair and his face. 'I would never leave you.'

'Gramps and Alexei were talking about Alexei's wife last night. They said she died.'

'She did die. But I'm not going to die. I won't leave you.'

'If I go to camp, won't I have to go alone?'

'Yes, but --'

'Then I don't want to go!'

'You won't really be alone. Alexei will be there and lots of other kids will be there, too.'

'I want you to go.'

'You know I can't go.'

'I'll be scared without you.'

Robbie kissed him again and tickled his soft tummy. He was upset because of the dream. He wouldn't feel that way when the time came. He'd be fine. She sighed and rested her head against his for a minute. She was just going to have to find a way to fly him to camp!

'At least no one will be there to tickle you!' She said to him.

'That would be good!'

'And you might be able to have Alexei make you better so you could hear the dogs bark and the wind whistle through the trees.'

He nodded. 'I know. I love you. Promise you'll be here when I get back?'

'Promise. Let's see what Gramps has for breakfast his morning.'

Chapter Seven

Alexei was on the phone when she walked into the kitchen. Troy was at the table eating their food as usual. Her friend Wanda was there. She was licking her lips and studying Alexei with open greed.

"Who is he?" she asked when she saw Robbie.

"He's the surgeon who's going to help Rickey."

"You mean you really did kidnap him and it worked?"

"That's what she means, Wanda," Troy assured her. "Even though she almost went to jail for it."

"Yeah, well, somebody had to be the man of the family!" Wanda flared back at him.

"Someday, Wanda Jean --"

Wanda stuck her middle finger up at him then took a plate of pancakes from Jack with a warm smile. "Thanks!"

Jack laughed. "Wanda, if you were my daughter --"

"I might as well be," Wanda replied. "I've always lived here more than at my house."

"I know," Jack said. "How's Grammy?"

Wanda shrugged. "She's okay. Still drinks as much."

"She's had a hard life," Jack said sympathetically.

"She's a lush," Troy added.

Wanda glared at him. "Shut up, you loser!"

Alexei glanced at Robbie, wondering why the room had suddenly become so noisy. Robbie felt his gaze like a warm caress against her skin. Any embarrassment she might have felt about last night evaporated in it. She smiled at him, then hushed the others.

Rickey joined them, ready for school. His bottom lip jutted out and his eyes were a little teary. 'I don't want to go to school today. I want to stay and play with you and Alexei. We could go down to the creek and you could kiss him some more if you want to.'

Robbie looked around her, glad that the others didn't understand sign language. She saw the frown on her father's face and knew he understood what Rickey had just said to her.

'I'm going to look for another job today, Rickey. And you have to go to school. You might have to take some time off for a cold or flu. You can't miss a day to stay home and play. But we'll be here when you get home this afternoon.'

'I know.' He answered, mouthing the words rather than using his hands.

Alexei watched them while he waited to hear if he could get a rental car to go to Atlanta and catch his return flight to New York. Gently but firmly, while Wanda and Troy argued and Jack fed pancakes to his dog, Robbie took her son's hand and formed the two words with his fingers. 'I know.' She smiled at him and messed up his dark hair a little. He smiled back and used his fingers to say the words again without her help.

That was why he would be ready for the surgery, Alexei understood. Because he had a mother who worked with him and it made all the difference. He could have had the finest tutors and not been as capable of handling the difference between the hearing and non-hearing world. Robbie would bridge that gap.

Wanda stuck her tongue out at Troy, then used it to wet her lips as Alexei joined them at the table. Jack put out another plate of pancakes and Wanda scooted the plate beside hers. "I'm Wanda Jean."

Alexei smiled at her, but looked at Robbie as he sat down at the table. "I can't get a car until tomorrow. I'll have to try to get another flight."

"I can't let you do that," Robbie said. "It's my fault you're here. I told you I'd take you back to Atlanta. We can pick up your luggage and you can catch your flight."

Alexei frowned. "But you have work today."

"I'm off today because I work the weekend. Danny can't afford to pay me overtime."

"What about a car?" Jack asked. "I don't know if my old junker will make the trip and bring you back. You can't take the loaner that far."

"I'll borrow one from Troy."

"What?" Troy demanded around a piece of pancake and syrup. "I'm not giving you --"

"And you won't have to pay me back that money you owe me," she concluded with a sweet but sure smile in his direction. "Deal?"

"What kind of car? I can't give you the Corvette, Robbie Jo! You know how you love to speed."

"I'll take that gray Honda I saw at your lot the other day."

"That's my best Honda," he moaned. "You're gonna take half the value away from it."

Robbie nodded. "Just get it ready, Troy. What time is your flight, Alexei?"

"Not until nine tonight but --"

"All right," Troy agreed. "But I'm coming along, too."

"I don't think so."

"Robbie --"

"You owe me four hundred dollars this month, not counting child support," she replied. "Pay up."

In the end, Troy agreed. He didn't have much choice since he was broke again and needed money. There was the added benefit of getting rid of the high and mighty Dr. Alexei whatever-his-name-was too. That would take a big weight off his mind. He didn't like the way he and Robbie exchanged looks. Or the way Rickey had dashed to Alexei's side when it was time to leave for school.

He agreed to have the car ready by five while Robbie, Wanda, Rickey and Alexei piled into Jack's car to take Rickey to school. Troy stood in the driveway and watched them go.

Jack patted him on the back. "Cheer up. Robbie isn't kidnapping anyone this time."

"That's true," Troy agreed. "You notice anything funny between her and that doctor?"

Jack suppressed a quick smile. "Not a thing."

"Good. She doesn't need no foreign doctor coming around trying to make time with her."

"No," Jack agreed sarcastically. "Not when she has you."

"Exactly!" He slapped Jack on the back. "I'm getting a good feeling about all of this, Jack. I think this may be my chance with Robbie when the Doc takes Rickey to camp."

"You think so?" Jack wondered, thinking about the kiss and maybe something more that Robbie and Alexei had shared. There had been a lot of furtive looks between them that morning. "I hope it works out."

"Me, too."

Robbie drove and Rickey sat in the front seat with her after Wanda persuaded him to let her share the backseat with Alexei. She gave him five dollars. He stuffed it into his backpack and climbed in the front seat beside his mother. Wanda might not know sign language, but she had a way of getting her point across.

"So, Alexei," Wanda purred. "Tell me about being a surgeon. It must be so interesting."

Robbie rolled her eyes and Rickey giggled when he saw her do it, although he had no idea why she did it.

"It's wonderful to be able to help people with difficulties," Alexei responded, moving aside as Wanda pressed closer.

"I am so attracted to people who help other people," Wanda told him, moving closer to him again. "I try to help other people whenever I can."

"Oh? What line of work are you in?"

"I work at The Cherokee Club. It's a special place for men." She rested her hand on his shoulder. "You'd like it there."

"I...uh --"

"I'm going to help Robbie Jo get on there today. She can't dance worth a lick, but she can wait tables."

Alexei frowned at the rearview mirror while Wanda crept closer until she was all but on top of him. "Is this true, Robbie?"

"Yes. The owner comes in all the time at the diner. He offered me a job for double what I'm making at the grocery store."

"Yes, but --"

"I want to fly Rickey to camp, Alexei. I don't want him to have to take the bus."

"I can understand that, but there must be another way --"

"Hey," Wanda whined, "The Cherokee Club is a respectable place. Girls dance, but they don't take their clothes off. It's just good clean fun."

When they dropped Rickey off at school, Robbie decided to take pity on Alexei's predicament in the backseat with Wanda. "How are you feeling Alexei?" she asked with great concern. "It was nice of you to let Rickey ride in front even though the backseat makes you car sick."

"Car --?" His face brightened then he coughed a little and tried to sit up away from Wanda's clinging body. "I am a little sick, but --"

"You'll have to come up here then. Poor man!" She smiled at Wanda. "He gets carsick."

"Oh, but I have some peppermint," she volunteered, scrounging in her purse. "I know I had some here somewhere." When she looked up with the lint-covered peppermint in her hand, Alexei was in the front seat beside Robbie.

"This is much better," he said, trying to look as though he were sorry to leave the backseat. "Thank you, Robbie."

"My pleasure," she said with a smile.

"You could try this mint," Wanda reminded him, holding out the candy.

He took it and thanked her.

"Since we're going to stop at the club," Wanda schemed, "you could come in and I could pick up my check and I could show you around so you won't be bored."

"Alexei would love that," Robbie agreed with a grin. "Wouldn't you, Alexei?"

"Yes," he muttered, finding that he minded very much that Robbie would consider working for a place that had dancers and a bar. In Croatia, there were no nice places of that type. He had a feeling this was no exception.

Robbie stopped outside The Cherokee Club. It was a seedy looking fake log building that had once been a lumberyard. Only half the lights in the outside sign worked but the GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! sign was very clear from the highway.

"Let me go in and check it out to make sure someone's here," Wanda volunteered with a wink at Alexei. "I just feel so rewarded when I help people."

When she was gone, Alexei turned to Robbie. "Why are you doing this?"

"I told you why," she answered quickly. "I need the money."

"There have to be other jobs you're qualified for."

"None that pay as well. I don't have any real skills, Alexei, except for working with Rickey. Sign language doesn't pay much around here."

"Have you thought about working at Rickey's school?"

Her face turned red. "I didn't go to college. I finished high school then I got pregnant with Rickey."

"That doesn't mean you couldn't work in some other capacity. I will speak to them for you."

"Alexei --"

"Bobby's here." Wanda opened the door to tell them. "He's really looking forward to you working here, Robbie. He said I could show you around for free, Alexei, since you're from out of town and all."

"Robbie --" Alexei tried once more, but she had already opened the car door. She closed it and began to walk toward the building.

"I'd like to show you around," Wanda told him with a saucy smile and another wink.

"All right," he decided since he didn't want Robbie going into the place alone.

The inside of The Cherokee Club was as bad as the outside. Worse, maybe, but without sunlight on the dingy carpets and smoky stage, it was more difficult to tell. There were tables scattered around the base of the stage. A few men were already sitting there drinking, or still sitting there from the night before. The smell of whiskey and stale perfume combined with cigarette smoke to make a potent aroma. The scent alone made Alexei long for a bath.

Bobby met the three of them at the door. "Hello," he said to Alexei, talking loudly since he knew Alexei was foreign. "I'm Bobby Mackey. Welcome to The Cherokee Club. Drinks are on me since you brought me these two prime babes. Wanda tells me you're from another country."

"That's right," Alexei said. "I'm from Croatia."

"I've been there. A tropical paradise. I have some money invested down there."

Alexei didn't bother to correct him.

"And here's my girl," Bobby said, putting his arm around Robbie. "Wanda tells me you don't dance."

Robbie smiled, but her face felt tight. "I don't dance, Bobby. We talked about me waiting tables."

"Well, see that's a problem, cause what I really need is someone to be onstage every once in a while between acts. You wouldn't have to dance, baby. Just stand up there and look pretty."

"I don't know," Robbie said, shaking her head. She looked at Alexei's retreating back as Wanda took him away.

"You can do it," Bobby assured her. "Let me take you backstage. Hardly anyone here now. You can try it out and see how it feels. You don't like it; you don't have to do it. But I'll tell you now, it will make the money you've been taking down look like chicken feed." He mentioned a sum and she gasped.

"You'll pay me that to stand on stage between numbers?" she demanded, trying not to sound eager.

He nodded. "Try it. No harm, no foul."

Alexei told himself that what Robbie did was none of his business. She'd kidnapped him so that he could meet her son. Despite that strange beginning, he had agreed that Rickey should be included at the camp. She was a good mother. Rickey was a very intelligent little boy. He would be a good candidate for surgery. That was all he was supposed to think about while he was in Flattsboro. What they had shared didn't give him the right to tell her what she should do with her life. He was leaving later that day. He couldn't protect her from the things she had to do. He couldn't make her life better just because he loved her.

The stunning soul-confession made him take a step back. He shook his head as Wanda rambled on about costumes and make up. Did he really love Robbie? It was ridiculous, really. He had barely known her a few days. No one fell in love in a few days. He'd known Helena from their childhood and still they hadn't known that they loved one another until college.

He was attracted to her. He was willing to concede that. Their lovemaking had been awe-inspiring. But he wasn't a child anymore. He knew that sex wasn't the same as love. She hadn't mentioned love either. They both knew that they weren't going to be together. He was simply concerned, as any decent person would be, that she might get into something that would be over her head.

But as Wanda's whine began to be insufferable, he realized that it was more than that. It had been five years since Helena had died. He wasn't an unattractive man or a stupid one. There had been women who'd approached him. Women like Wanda, and worse, as well as colleagues. Yet his heart had remained stern in its devotion to Helena. He'd never considered for one instant that he might be attracted to any of them. Robbie had changed all of that for him.

Wanda had walked him through the entire nightclub, including the dressing rooms where she lured him into a dark corner and pressed her well-developed, surprisingly muscular body against his. Alexei had no trouble resisting the invitation. He wiped at the bright red lipstick Wanda had left all over his face. Wanda fumed and pouted as he insisted that they return to the club entrance.

When they reached the entry, there was a rush of foot stomping and clapping. Alexei looked up at the dimly lit stage to see Robbie walking towards him. She was wearing something that could only be called a nightie. It was bright pink. It matched the stiletto heels on her feet and the bow in her hair. She was wearing too much make up and not enough of anything else.

Robbie kept repeating the sum of money that Bobby had promised her if she walked on stage with an advertising card between acts. That's it. Just walked on stage and held up the card. Of course, she had to dress like a hooker but she knew she wasn't one. That was what was important, that and the money. She kept her eyes open so that she wouldn't fall off the stage but she wasn't really looking at anything except the dirty wall in front of her by the door.

Suddenly, she saw Alexei's face right in front of her. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it. She blinked her eyes but it was still there. He muttered something to her in what she assumed must be Croatian then he picked her up in his arms and jumped off the stage with her.

"Hey!" Bobby yelled. "What's goin' on, Alex, my man." He looked around for Wanda. "Hey, does anyone speak his language? Is this acceptable in Croatia?"

It was then that it hit her that Alexei had really picked her up in his arms and taken her off the stage. She looked into his face. His dark hair had fallen down across his forehead. His eyes were dark and angry over the top of her head.

"We're leaving now," he growled in English.

"Hey, Robbie! What's goin' on?" Bobby demanded in a louder, more nasal voice. "Hey, Wanda! Where the hell is Wanda?"

Alexei didn't bother to put her down. He simply strode through the doors with her held tightly against his chest. He didn't stop until he reached the car.

"What are you doing?" she finally managed to ask breathlessly. One of her shoes had dropped off her foot. The bright pink nightie looked ridiculous on the street. She grabbed the bow out of her hair.

"Saying no thank you to the offer Mr. Mackey made you," he replied sullenly. "Something you were obviously incapable of doing!"

"What are you talking about? I went to him for the job! He didn't come and beg me to take it!"

He put her down and she pulled the pink nightie shut. She didn't move her hands, knowing that the sun was revealing more than the nightie was concealing. "You see?" he baited her. "Tell me you aren't ashamed to have me see you this way. Tell me you'd be willing to sell your body so that Rickey doesn't have to ride a bus to camp!"

"You don't understand," she fumed, kicking off the other shoe so that she could stalk away from him. "This is real money. I could make more in a few months here than in a year at my other job."

"I do understand that you have a son to think of, but making money is not worth losing your soul."

"It's so easy for you to judge me," she continued, striding up and down in front of him. "You have plenty of everything. People respect you. You've done something with your life. I'm Rickey's Mom. That's all I know how to do. I'm good at it, but it takes money, lots of it. What difference does it make to you how I get it?"

He looked at her, his impossible libido zooming up and down inside of him. She was beautiful and more desirable than any woman he had ever seen. The nightie was short and completely transparent except for the light layer of color it gave her. Her skin was tanned and taut. Her eyes flashed at him, making him aware that he would like to stand and watch her as much as any man in that club. He wanted her to dance only for him. He wanted her in his bed again, for more than one night.

"Here's your clothes," Wanda said, a worried frown between her eyes as she approached them. "You could've told me." She glanced at Alexei. "I didn't know."

"There's nothing to know," Robbie replied harshly, taking the slacks and blouse Wanda gave her. "He's just crazy."

Wanda smiled. "I'm not too bright, Robbie. But I'd say he's crazy about you."

"Wanda --"

"Never mind. I'm going back inside. Bobby's not too disappointed about losing you. Don't expect such big tips at the diner from him anymore, though."

Robbie threw the clothes into the backseat and slammed herself into the car. She didn't watch as Alexei climbed in after her. She started the car and spun out on the gravel.

"I won't apologize for my actions," Alexei told her bluntly. "It was wrong for you to consider working there."

"Oh really? Where exactly did you consider me working that would be right since you've known me all of four days? I'm capable of anything! I kidnapped you to bring you here!"

"Robbie --"

"And I told you that my plan was to sleep with you, if necessary, to motivate you to let Rickey into camp!"

"You aren't a whore!"

"I am whatever I need to be to make Rickey's life better! I would stand in the street and sell myself if it meant that he could hear again. I would -- let go of the wheel, Alexei! You're going to kill us!"

The car swerved off the road, but came to a stop on the grassy shoulder with Alexei's foot on top of hers on the brake. He pulled her from behind the wheel until she lay half on top of him and half between the seats in the big old Chrysler.

"You aren't a whore! You're a good and decent woman who is faced with terrible things in your life. That isn't the same thing."

"You don't know me that well," she said between clenched teeth. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

He looked deeply into her eyes and saw the tears of fear and desperation. The fear and desperation in his own heart was mirrored in her eyes. There had been only one passion in his life for so long; trying to perfect Dr. Zabutas' work that had saved his hearing. Hadn't he allowed himself to be bought and sold to accomplish this goal? Hadn't he allowed the AMA and the FDA and his own government to tell him what he should do and how he should do it to reach this goal?

"I know," he said quietly. 'I know.' He signed the words as she had for Rickey that morning. He pushed the hair from her wretchedly made up face and kissed her bright pink lips. He expected her to fight him, to refuse him, but she murmured something and wrapped her arms around him.

Robbie wanted so much more than this for her life. She wanted it for herself as well as Rickey. She craved peace and the knowledge that life wasn't going to throw her on the rocks again. She was afraid if it did that she couldn't bear it.

All of that emotion was wrapped up in her as she kissed him. She hadn't ever felt this way about Troy. Maybe she'd been too young. She hadn't wanted to find this man attractive. She hadn't wanted to love him. She hadn't expected him to be anything more than Rickey's savior but when he'd kissed her beside the creek, she knew there were powerful influences at work. She could feel them now as he touched her. She felt her lips part as he kissed her, allowing him greater access to those secret places inside her.

She felt lost with him, waiting for the next shoe to drop. She wasn't looking for a relationship, Rickey took up too much of her time and energy to bother dating or looking for Mr. Right. She'd had enough of that to last her forever. But Alexei's kiss, his touch, was like a gift of grace. He showered sunlight into her heart. She felt whole with him.

Not expecting her enthusiastic response, Alexei was overwhelmed by the emotions that passed between them. Robbie was so sweet. She was like honey on his tongue and warm silk in his hands. The memory of their night together whetted the edge of passion. Without rational thought, guided by desire, he might have lost himself in her, there and then, except for a sharp rap on the window at the driver's side.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am. I'd like to see some ID, please."

Robbie struggled to disentangle herself from Alexei's grasp. Her face was flaming hot when she felt the cop's eyes rove over her scantily clad body. "I have my driver's license here somewhere," she told him.

Alexei tried to reach his pocket for his wallet and his passport but Robbie's warm, soft body was still on top of him and his body was refusing to accept the fact that nothing was going to happen between them. "I'm sorry, Officer," he told the cop. "I have identification, but --"

Robbie pushed her hand through the space between the seats and retrieved her purse. She fished out her wallet and half of her purse spilled on the floor. "I'm sorry, I --"

"You know, we've talked to you girls before about this," the cop said to her as he took her license. "You know this is illegal. You can dance all you want up at the club but you can't take men out in the cars with you and show them a good time for fifty bucks."

"That's not what happened," she protested. "I don't work at the club. And I wasn't showing him a good time for fifty bucks."

The cop looked less than understanding. "I saw you leave the parking lot up there together. He carried you out. Then you argued about the price for a few minutes. Then you left together and now I find you here. Would you please step out of the car?"

"But I --" she looked at Alexei, lost for words.

"This is personal," he said. "Not professional."

"I can only observe the situation as I see it," the cop told him. "You'll have to explain it to the judge."

"You can't mean to arrest me?" Alexei asked in disbelief.

"I do, sir. I'm arresting you for violation of the sex crimes laws of Burnette County."

"You can't be serious!"

"You're only going to make this worse on yourself and the lady." He smirked at the thought of calling Robbie a lady in her hot pink nightie. "You're both going to have to come in with me to the station."

There was no way to explain what the cop had seen. They went with him in his squad car. Robbie used her one phone call to call her father and let him know that Rickey might need a ride home from school. Alexei called his diplomatic counsel to ask for advice. The Croatian ambassador handled the situation with dignity and a hefty check that was wired to the courthouse.

Getting Robbie out was a little more complicated and required Jack to come and put up his trailer and land for collateral for her release. He had to guarantee that she would show up for trial.

"Now I've been kidnapped and arrested," Alexei mourned, shaking his dark head as they walked out of the station house.

"And you barely have enough time to get to the airport before nine," Jack told him, flipping the key for the Honda to Robbie. "They towed the car in. I'll take it home. Robbie, you better do some safe flying to get down to Atlanta in time,"

Robbie, who had finally changed from the hot pink nightie to her own slacks and blouse, nodded. "With my record so far in the last few days, I'd expect another phone call from the police."

Jack hugged his daughter and shook hands with Alexei. "Come back anytime. I would love to see you again. You're the only person who's been willing to listen to my war stories since my wife died. Good luck, Alexei."

"Thank you, Jack. I expect to do follow up on all my patients. I hope Rickey will be one of them and you can tell me more stories then."

"Yeah, now get out of here. Be careful, Robbie. You managed to pull off a few miracles the last few days. Don't press your luck."

"I'll be back, ticket free," she told her father. "Kiss Rickey good night for me."

It started raining halfway to Atlanta. It made driving more difficult, but traffic was lighter once they got into Georgia. Their conversation had been forced and uneven. Robbie didn't know what to say after everything that had happened. He had agreed to help Rickey, but it had been a nightmare.

Except for those kisses and the night you spent in his arms, her conscience nudged her.

Alexei watched her surreptitiously as she drove, not taking her eyes from the road. He didn't know if such intense concentration was really necessary, even though the roads were wet and glared in the headlights of passing cars. It felt to him that they hadn't run out of things to say to one another, they just didn't know what to say next.

"I'm sorry," he began about an hour into the drive. "I was wrong to try to make that choice for you at the nightclub. I do understand being poor. I grew up that way. I wouldn't be a doctor, but I was fortunate and found a wealthy mentor."

She glanced at him and smiled a little shakily. "Yeah, well, you were right. I got on that stage this morning, but I couldn't have done it again. It's just not me. Some people were meant to be poor, I guess."

"I think you've just underestimated your abilities," he said. "You are so much more than you give yourself credit for. You are Rickey's mom as you said this morning, but it took a lot to raise such an incredible child."

"Thanks. He is special. But I sure can't take the honors for that. I helped, but it was already there with him."

"I know. I wish things could be different."

"Don't we all!"

He looked at the rain, then back at her. "So, are you and Troy going to get back together?"

"Is that what he told you?" she wondered, merging into traffic as it became thicker near Atlanta. "That's not going to happen. I can only take care of one child at a time. Troy and I had something great together before real life set in. As long as there were football games to go to and we looked good together, it was okay. But when it came to changing diapers and giving up college, that was another story."

"I see," he said, not sure why he had even asked such a personal question. He was leaving, wasn't that torture enough? Some part of him didn't want to think about her being alone.

"What about you?" she asked. "No steady or Mrs. Doctor Smolka wannabes?"

He laughed. "No, I don't think so. My work gives me little time for anything but more work."

"I know that feeling!" She glanced at him. "But mostly, it's Helena, isn't it? You miss her."

"I do. It's been five years since she died. Five years since I held her in my arms and watched the life drain out of her. There was nothing I could do to save her or our child. I couldn't even hear her last words. She spoke to me, but I couldn't hear her."

Robbie touched his hand. "She probably didn't know you couldn't hear her. I worked at a rest home for a while. When people would die there with no family or friends, it was more important that they knew someone was there than anything else. At least you were there with her."

"Yes."

"It's a terrible thing when people die alone and unloved. Your wife was lucky in that way. She never had to doubt that you loved her."

He took her hand in his and smiled at her. "You'll find someone for you. Your first marriage was bad, but that doesn't mean your life is over. You're young and strong and you will love again."

I already do, she assured him silently. Nothing would drag that admission from her. She had caused him enough pain and grief. "Thanks. I hope so."

"You're a beautiful woman, Robbie. I'm sure there must be many men who -- "

"Not so much with a package deal that includes a deaf son," she answered with a smile. "You'd be surprised how that scares the men away."

"The right man will come."

"And the right woman will help you get over Helena, too," she said quietly. "It was terrible that you lost her and I know you loved her. But life is for the living. She's gone and you're still here."

"There were many times that I wished it were not so, but I know that you're right."

They parked in the concrete deck outside the main terminal building at the airport. It was eight-fifteen. They had made good time. Robbie wished she could feel some joy in knowing she'd got him there on time. She was glad at least that she hadn't thrown his life off anymore. She'd done enough. Not like there could be anything between them, she considered as she started to get out of the car.

"You don't have to come," he told her. "I don't want to keep you any longer. You have a long drive back home."

"Don't be silly," she said with a grin like it wasn't breaking her heart. "I always walk my kidnap victims back to where I picked them up. It's my MO."

"MO?" he questioned blankly.

"Mode of operation, I think," she said. "It's what I do." She picked up her purse and locked her car door.

Chapter Eight

It would have been easier leaving her in the dark parking deck. He walked beside her into the well-lit building with all the noise and bustle of a busy airport and realized how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to her.

"We still have time to get your suitcase," she informed him. "Do you have the claim ticket?"

"Yes. Robbie, I --"

"Well, you can go and check in at the desk and I'll find your suitcase for you," she cut him off, not wanting to hear what he was going to say. It was almost more than she could bear to leave him there, but she knew, she knew there was no future for them. She wasn't the naïve trusting fool she'd once been when she went out with Troy. Alexei was out of her league and he was still in love with his dead wife. She wasn't going to fool herself that spending the night with him meant anything more than just that.

"All right," he agreed, not sure what his next words would have been anyway, an undying declaration of love? That was ridiculous. They barely knew one another. Was he going to ask this struggling young mother to come to New York and sleep with him? That was even more preposterous. They were attracted to each other. In another time and place, that might have meant something but not this time and not this place.

She had shown him that life did go on and he was grateful for that knowledge. If he could feel these things for her, his heart and soul weren't as dead as he might have thought. There would be a right time and a right place and sadly, a right person to share his life. But it wouldn't be Robbie Connor.

There would be someone for her, too, someone who would love her, as she deserved to be loved, freely and passionately. Someone who didn't carry around his guilt like other men carried their laptops. He had a duty to perform, a task he had sworn to do, the only thing that had kept him alive after Helena's death. As much as he might wish he could, he couldn't go back on it until it was finished.

He checked in at the desk and they told him he could board anytime. He still had a half hour to go, but he thought it would probably be best if he got on the plane. He had no regrets about what had happened to him when he arrived in Atlanta. He'd missed the conference but what had happened to him had been more important. He didn't want to ruin that with some meaningless drivel that his conscience might be willing to hear for his own sake. He looked at Robbie and hoped that she felt the same.

"You travel light," she said with a bright smile. "It would take more than this to get me here and back home!"

Alexei laughed, but it had a forced, unreal sound to it. "I travel a lot. It's necessary to getting approval for this surgery."

She looked at his face. "That's really important to you, isn't it?'

"Yes. It's the one thing that has sustained me since Helena's death. It has given meaning to my life."

"I understand that." She handed him the suitcase.

He checked the bag with the flight attendant. "She said that I could board now." He looked at Robbie awkwardly. "I'll be back in New York by midnight."

Robbie grinned. "And all of the craziness of the last few days will be behind you. I can't thank you enough for what you're doing for Rickey, I --"

He put his finger on her lips. "I should thank you. You've made me see things differently. Not only with the application process for the surgery, but also with my life. My heart thanks you."

She looked at him in the blue shirt he'd borrowed from her father. His dark hair was always unruly. His face was thin and pale, but his eyes were bright and intelligent. She looked at his mouth. Pain and regret shot through her like a knife. It couldn't be after only a few days. She knew better than to think that she loved this man but she wasn't sure if her heart could tell the difference. Don't leave me!

Alexei knew it was lust. What else could it be? Even in her demur shirt and slacks, he wanted her. Even though he knew he might not be able to get back to work for days, he wanted to stay with her. He wanted to forget the work and the past with her. Somewhere in her dark blue eyes and her giving soul were the answers for what was terribly wrong inside of him. His mind might tell him that he was being foolish but his emotions urged him to give back the plane ticket and forget everything but what he felt when he was with her.

"Last call for boarding Flight 208 for New York," the flight attendant said into a speaker that permeated the small crowd at the gate.

All around them, husbands and wives were kissing each other and their children goodbye. A young man with a guitar and ragged jeans walked past them to get on the plane. Two older ladies with silver white hair gave their tickets to the flight attendant then boarded the plane.

"I should go," Alexei said quietly, not hearing or seeing anyone else around them. He could only see her beautiful face and the tears welling in her eyes.

"You should go," she agreed, not believing that she could feel so bad thinking that she might never see him again.

"Everything you need will be sent to you in the mail," he explained quickly.

"I know."

"If you need anything --"

Only you, her heart whispered. "We'll be fine."

"Good." He nodded, his eyes never leaving her face. "Good."

"Doctor?" the flight attendant called from behind them.

"Good luck with your work," she said.

"Tell Rickey goodbye for me."

"I will."

"Doctor?" the flight attendant prompted.

"Goodbye, Robbie." He touched her cheek with his finger.

"Goodbye, Alexei."

She would have let him go, but when he touched her, the tears spilled down her cheeks. She turned her face to his touch and it proved both their undoing. Alexei kissed her, lifting her off the ground against him. Robbie wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. Their mouths and bodies fused together, their thoughts empty except for each other.

There wasn't enough time. They couldn't get close enough standing there as the plane was about to leave and the flight attendant was clearing her throat impatiently. Robbie felt as though she had never been kissed until Alexei took her into his arms. She would have given up almost anything to go with him or to keep him there with her.

He wanted so much more than they could share. He wanted to give her so much more than just a taste of his passion. He wanted to touch her face and feel her body arch into his forever. He wanted their kiss to go on until the rest of the world burned down around them. There were only ashes besides the taste of her on his lips and the scent of her on his hands.

"I'll call you," he said when they finally released each other. "I will call!"

Robbie shook her head and waved after him as he boarded the plane. The engine was already roaring into life. She couldn't speak. She didn't dare say anything for fear that she would say what was in her heart. She pressed her face against the cool glass and watched as the jet moved away from the building and taxied down the runway toward a dark sky.

"Goodbye," she said softly, wondering how she could already miss a man she'd only know a few days. "I love you, Alexei." She could say it now when he couldn't hear her and there was no danger of the words falling from her lips. She would have felt like a fool saying them.

In the plane the sound of conversation was muted and the flight attendants were offering pillows and soft drinks. Alexei looked out of the dark window at the lights from the airport, watching them fade away until he could no longer see them.

"Goodbye, Robbie," he whispered to the sky. He put his hands to his face, still able to smell her perfume that clung to him and he closed his eyes. "I love you."

Four months later, Rickey and Robbie got off the plane together in Hardwicke, Connecticut at about ten AM. The flight was smooth. The summer sky was very blue and cloud free as they flew over the states that separated them from the two- week camp that might change Rickey's life.

Rickey had been very excited about the plane trip. Robbie had felt a little queasy going up, but once they'd leveled off, it had been exciting for her too. She'd asked Rickey how he felt, but there was no reply. He was too busy looking out the window at the ground below, trying to describe what he saw.

She tried not to, but she found herself looking expectantly for Alexei's dark hair and handsome face. It had been four long months since they'd parted at the Atlanta airport. The camp had been delayed for unexplained reasons and the May deadline had come and gone. The new date in July had been established and she had been notified. The plans had changed, however, and a guardian was expected to accompany each child. The research group that was backing Alexei's work in the U.S. had generously supplied airfares for them.

She couldn't help but feel Alexei had changed the rules for her and Rickey. She told herself it was stupid, that he wouldn't have them go through all that trouble just for her, but the feeling lingered. Emotions that were still jumbled about their meeting and their short but sweet encounters added to her excitement at arriving at the camp. She knew he would be there with the three other doctors evaluating the children every day. Part of her couldn't wait to see him again. Another part of her dreaded it.

She hadn't heard from him since she'd watched him board the plane for New York. She'd received letters from the clinic and letters from the project developer, but nothing from him. A sick thought twisted inside her when he wasn't there to meet them. Suppose it hadn't meant as much to him as it had to her? She had lain awake at night for four months thinking about him and going over their conversations and their night together. But what if it was only one-sided?

"Excuse me, Robbie Connor and Rickey?" A young woman in a navy blue blazer asked as she approached them. She held a sign with their names on it.

Robbie smiled at the memory of kidnapping Alexei. "Yes. I'm Robbie Connor and this is Rickey." She looked past the other woman but didn't see Alexei. "Is...is anyone else here?"

"You mean from the camp?" the young woman asked with a perky smile. "No. You're the only ones on this flight. Some of the children are already at the camp. Others are coming later today." She signed her words at the same time to be sure to include Rickey in the conversation.

Robbie felt that sick twist again and heard a voice that had been the harbinger of doom since they separated. He was probably busy with the camp setting up and everything. She had spent so much time thinking about him that she had been sure that he would be there. The tiny voice of doubt became a little louder in her ear.

"That's fine," Robbie replied, reining in her disappointment. She would see Alexei soon enough. She took Rickey's hand and they followed the girl to pick up their luggage. Afterwards, they got into a green van that was marked with the camp's name, Camp Hope.

Robbie had been teaching Rickey to read and his favorite things were signs. He read and touched the name on the van then turned to his mother when they were inside.

'Why do they call it Camp Hope?'

'Because it offers hope to the children who come here,' she answered, pretending to admire the scenery they passed while constantly thinking about Alexei. She had so much to tell him, so much she wanted to share with him.

It was a short ride to Camp Hope. The driver signed a little as she went and explained out loud about the area with its green hills and pleasant valleys. Robbie had never been out of the south before and she was fascinated with everything. She didn't want to appear to be a hick, so she kept her comments to herself and smiled at what the driver had to say.

'Where's Alexei?' Rickey asked his mother using their special sign for Alexei that they had developed between them.

'He's probably working.' She replied silently. 'We'll see him soon.'

'I thought he would be at the airport,' Rickey told her, disappointed.

Robbie smoothed his hair back from his face. No matter how many times she combed it or what she did to it, his hair would never stay in place. If she tucked in his shirt, it always came out of his pants in about five minutes. His shoes would never stay laced and he couldn't eat a jelly sandwich without the jelly dropping on his chin or shirt. Her father said he was a typical boy, proud of his grandson.

'He isn't here just for us.' Robbie reminded him. 'Remember? I told you there would be lots of other children here. You can play with them. But Alexei is going to be busy. He might not have much time for us.'

Rickey grinned. 'But he will have some, won't he?'

She smiled back at him. 'Yes, he will have some time for us.'

"Is he nervous?" the driver asked, seeing their conversation.

"No," Robbie answered. "Just excited."

They pulled in through the camp gates. Other vans were at the welcome building. Robbie took out the papers that had been sent to her and took Rickey's hand.

"I'll drop off your luggage at the cabin where you'll be staying. They'll give you a map when you check in. The camp is accessible by footpath and there are bikes if you'd rather ride. If you have any other questions or can't find something, just ask. There are guides like me all over. If we don't know, we'll find out."

"Thanks," Robbie said. "We appreciate your help."

Rickey signed thank you to the woman and smiled.

'You're very welcome.' The young woman signed in return and smiled at him. 'Good luck.'

Robbie and Rickey waited in line for a few minutes before they reached the welcome table. She was given a list of instructions and a map. Meals were served three times a day in the dining hall. Lectures were at other times in the main meeting hall. They gave her a personalized list of evaluations and tests that Rickey would have to undergo.

Most of the exams were psychological, since they were interested in how the children would cope with being able to hear after being born deaf. They would all be judged by how well they went through the tests and what the four doctors thought of them. Then they would be compared with the other children.

Robbie knew only ten surgeries were going to take place that year. There wouldn't be any more for the next five years while they evaluated the process. She'd seen at least a hundred other children at the camp. How would they decide what child was going to hear and what child was not going to receive Alexei's gift? She was glad she didn't have to be the judge, not just because of her personal involvement, but she didn't think she could stand to see the looks on the other children's faces when they were dealt that blow.

All the while, she looked for Alexei's face and listened for his voice. She thought about his beautiful eyes and his dark hair was almost as unruly as Rickey's. She thought about the strength in his arms when he held her and the deep emotion in his kisses. She wanted him to kiss her again. She wanted to be in his arms and hear his deep voice telling her that he loved her and that he had missed her.

Rickey was pulling at her sleeve as she tried to finish picking up all the packets and maps she was supposed to have for the two weeks. She tried to sign to him to wait, but her hands were full. She turned her head and mouthed the words, but he frowned and let go of her shirt. When she looked back again, he was gone.

The line behind her was long and the rest of the building was full of women and children. There were a few men who stood impatiently in the line, waiting to be welcomed to the camp. The crowd milled around with the other guides like their driver pointing out directions and signing carefully to their guests.

Robbie searched, but she didn't see Rickey's dark head anywhere. It wasn't like him to wander away. She put the armful of papers down on a table and concentrated on her search. There was a man by the door who didn't look like a father; at least she didn't see a child with him. She saw him lift Rickey in his arms and walked a little faster.

"Excuse me," she said, relieved that she had found him. "Thank you," she said out loud to the man's back, hoping he could hear. "You found my son."

Rickey had his arms around the stranger's neck, something Robbie had never seen him do before. She was embarrassed and hoped that none of the doctors or staff saw this happen. They might judge it badly and hold it against him.

The man turned and Robbie's mouth dropped open. It was Alexei! The hair was the same, but he had put on some weight. She would never have recognized him from the back that had become deeply muscled and broader. He had picked up a tan that made his face even more handsome, showing off his light eyes and high cheekbones.

"Robbie," he greeted her. "It's good to see you! I think Rickey saw me and made a beeline for me." He signed and spoke so that they both understood.

Robbie closed her mouth. She hadn't envisioned their reunion this way. He seemed different, happier. Yet he was also more professional and distant. She had dreamed about this moment when he would grab her up in his arms and not want to let her go. Instead he put Rickey down and held his hand, smiling at her in an absent way that made her insides cringe.

"You look -- good," she said then felt her face turn red. "Well, I mean. Rested. You got a tan."

He laughed. "I spent two weeks on an island in the Caribbean. It was wonderful! The first vacation of my life."

She swallowed hard and tried not to stare at him. This wasn't going at all as she had planned. "That's great. Just great."

"And how are you? You look well, also. Rickey looks a little taller."

"I think he might be. I haven't measured him. He's just all legs and arms."

"Boys get that way," he told her. "It is wonderful to see you here. I'm glad you could make it. I'm looking forward to talking with you and Rickey again."

"Alexei?" A willowy blond interrupted them with a dazzling smile. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but the Lancome family just arrived and I wanted you to meet them. Excuse us, won't you?"

"Excuse me," Alexei signed and said aloud. "I'll be seeing you later."

Robbie watched the two of them walk away, hurrying down the stairs to meet with an older couple and their daughter.

"The Lancome family," a guide said to her without signing for Rickey. "Money and power. Not that anyone's prejudiced, but it's a pretty sure bet their daughter will be one of the surgeries."

Robbie stood at the door, looking at Alexei as he spoke with the couple and their daughter. The blond tucked her hand through his arm as they spoke.

"You know Dr. Smolka?" the guide asked.

"We met briefly earlier this year," Robbie replied, too stunned by what had happened to snap out of it.

"Briefly is what everyone sees him these days now that Patricia, Dr. Hallet, has her hooks in him. There's a lot of speculation that they'll get married. I haven't seen a ring on her finger yet, but who knows? He's been alone a long time."

Robbie looked at the guide. "How do you know so much about them?"

The young woman smiled. "I work for Dr. Smolka. I volunteered my time to be here to help out. Amy Washington." She held out her hand.

"Robbie Connor."

"Then that must be Rickey." Amy crouched down beside him. 'I know all about you.' She signed. 'How are you?'

'Fine.' Rickey signed with a smile. 'I like Alexei.'

'Me, too. He's a good guy.'

Amy stood up. "I know where your cabin is, if you'd like me to take you there. Dr. Smolka was very interested in everything being set up for you and Rickey. You're one of the few referrals here that he made. The rest were chosen by different programs or by some of the other doctors."

With difficulty, Robbie forced her eyes away from where Alexei stood with Dr. Hallet and the Lancome family. She focused on Amy Washington, refusing to let her shock and surprise show on her face. "That would be great. I put my papers down over there. Let me get them."

Amy and Rickey were already friends by the time she got back. They skipped down the stairs together, holding hands. Robbie held her papers as though they were a lifeline that would take her safely away. Alexei had changed so much. She could see it in his face and his eyes and his tanned, muscled body. Apparently, Dr. Hallet was making him happy. All of her dreams and her excitement at seeing him again vanished with the light breeze that rustled through the treetops.

She looked up and their gazes collided across the stairway. His gaze made her heartbeat pick up, but his causal nod and smile made her look away. She would be all right. She just needed some time to adjust.

Amy skipped and danced with Rickey all the way to the cabin down the path through the tall green maples. Robbie and Rickey were sharing a cabin, but there was plenty of room for both of them. It was small, but neat with two bedrooms, a tiny kitchen and a sitting room. The hardwood floors gleamed under a few colorful rugs and the furniture was serviceable though not extravagant.

"There's a great view of the lake," Amy told them, signing for Rickey as she lifted him to show him the lake.

'Can we swim?' Rickey asked at once.

"Sure," Amy responded. "Want to go now?"

"Are you sure you should be doing this?" Robbie asked the young woman. "Aren't you supposed to be bringing in other people?"

"Nope. I'm pretty much at your service. You have to share me with one other father and daughter who were referred by Dr. Smolka, but they aren't here yet. "They'll be in the cabin next door. Here's my number if you need to call me." She gave Robbie a card with her cell phone number on it.

'Can we go swimming, please?' Rickey asked his mother with pleading eyes.

"It's okay," Amy told them both. "Nothing is planned for today, just arrival. I'd enjoy taking him if you'd like to get unpacked and settled."

Robbie looked at her son's pleading face and took a deep breath. She could use the time to adjust her expectations about Alexei as well. She didn't want to make a fool of herself about him. "Sure," she signed and spoke. "That would be great. Let's find your swimming trunks, Rickey, and you can change."

Twenty minutes and one suitcase all over the bed later, Rickey was pulling Amy towards the lake to go swimming. Robbie watched them go toward the lake. Other children were already in the water with their parents or helpers like Amy. The sand at the edge of the lake was clean and white in the sunlight. The water reflected the blue of the warm sky.

She looked away and closed her eyes. Maybe if she went and jumped in, it would make her feel better. She doubted it. But it was bound to be cold and maybe the shock would make her wake up. How had she made such a mistake? Simple, she reminded herself as she began cleaning up Rickey's mess. After convincing herself before he left that sleeping with him had just been a physical thing, she had convinced herself after he left that it was more. She'd had fantasies about him being in love with her and wanting to marry her.

She was awful with men. Her father was right. Jack had told her about mooning over Alexei and she had refused to pay any attention. She might as well get used to the fact that her father knew more about men than she did. Maybe he could pick the next one before she fell in love with the wrong man again.

First there was her major mistake with Troy. On her second time out, she bumbled into Alexei. Thank God she hadn't done or said something stupid. Thank God she'd seen the distance in his eyes before she had embarrassed herself and ruined Rickey's chances for the surgery. After all, she reminded herself sternly, that was why she was there. Rickey was going to have his chance to prove himself to these people. He was going to have the surgery that would change his world and make him hear. She had worked hard for this opportunity for the last two years. Rickey was the important one.

Then why did she feel so small and unhappy inside? She finished putting away the clothes ands toiletries. Why did it all seem wrong just because Alexei had looked at her like she was someone he'd met once and forgotten? With a heavy sigh, she took down her hair and stripped off her clothes. She adjusted the water in the shower and prepared herself for a good cry while she stood under the stinging needles of hot water. She was going to cry this once, she promised herself. That would be all. It would be over and she would put it behind her.

When she'd received the invitation saying that all children needed a guardian with them, she'd thought he wanted her to be there. She'd thought that he wanted to see her again, even though he hadn't contacted her since he'd left for New York. She'd heard from his office and she knew he was out there, but there hadn't been a letter or a phone call from him in four months. In all honesty, she had her doubts, but she had clung to her hope. What had she been thinking?

Just as she stepped into the shower, there was a knock at the door. Her robe was still in the bedroom and her clothes were in a heap on the floor. Quickly wiping tears from her face, she folded a huge green bath towel around her, satisfied that she was at least covered if not totally presentable. Her hair was wet already and she pushed it out of her face. Her eyes weren't puffy yet and the shower running and wet hair would make it look like her face was just wet.

"Yes?" she answered the door after another series of knocks.

It was Alexei. "Robbie," he said in surprise, his eyes quickly going over her state of undress. "I can come back."

"It doesn't matter," she said, wishing he would see her then go away until she could handle herself. She stepped back and let him into the cabin then shut the door behind him. "What is it?"

"I was just making sure you were all right and that the cabin was good for you. My assistant, Amy, should be by --"

"She met us at the welcome building and walked us here. She has Rickey out swimming already. I just thought I'd sneak in a shower before they came back."

"Good." He nodded. "Good. How was your flight?"

She stared at him. Had he come by to torture her? "It was fine. We went up and we came down, no problem."

He studied her face intently. "Is something wrong? If this cabin is bad for you -- "

"The cabin is fine." She sniffed. "I...I just wanted to thank you for the recommendation you gave Rickey's school. I got a job there because of it."

"That's wonderful," he answered with a smile.

"I'm working with the kids, helping them learn sign language where they need it. It's a good job. I appreciate you thinking about me."

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you're happy there."

She nodded. "Rickey is doing well. I'm doing well. Thank you for your help." Her voice was precise and clipped. She couldn't help it. It was either that or she would cry all over him. She wouldn't do that.

"Are you sure you're well? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine." Please go away!

"I know Rickey will shine even with the other children here. I know he'll have the surgery."

"Thanks."

"Robbie --"

"Please go," she said, starting to lose her composure. Then she remembered that she couldn't afford to alienate him either. "I...uh...need some time to myself. I was...uh...sick on the plane. I'm still not feeling very good."

"Of course." He put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and nodded. "I'm sorry. I can get you something for your stomach if you need it."

"I'll be fine," she repeated. "This always happens when I fly."

He frowned. "All right. I'll see you and Rickey later then. I'm glad you could make it."

"Of course." She mimicked him. She held the door open then closed it firmly after him. She was going to have to do better than that, she told herself. She needed all four judges. She couldn't stand around letting her emotions get in the way. Wasn't that what he'd said to her about his work?

Alexei looked back at the door. He looked down at his hands. They were shaking with the effort of not touching her when he could clearly see she was in distress. For four months he had stopped himself every time he started to pick up the phone to call her. He'd tried not to think about her. Seeing her again was like a jolt of electricity. She was as beautiful and desirable as he remembered. But clearly, she had not felt the same about their last encounter. Fortunately, he hadn't made a fool of himself by grabbing her up and kissing her when he first saw her. He had forced himself to find a different perspective when he'd come back from Atlanta, convinced that his lack of any life outside the hospital was what had caused his intense attraction to her.

He'd taken his vacation and spent his time getting a tan as he walked the beaches and forced himself not to think about her. He'd even dated a few women of his acquaintance, like Patricia. He'd worked out and gained weight. He told himself that he didn't do it for Robbie, but his heart knew that he lied.

Nothing had changed in that time to make her less attractive to him. When he saw her standing in the welcome center, he had wanted her as much as when he had kissed her goodbye in Atlanta. It had shattered his illusions about himself and his world where he was content to be without her. That's what had brought him to her door, even though he had a thousand other things he should be doing.

"Alexei!" Patricia hailed him from a golf cart, coming to a stop in the sandy path that ran by the cabins and the other facilities. "I've been looking for you."

"I had a call to make," he explained briefly. "What is it?"

"Nothing important. It can wait. Would you like a ride back to the center?"

"I don't need to be there." He shook his head, but climbed in the cart beside her. "I'd like to go back to my cabin."

She studied him closely. "All right. Is something wrong?"

"No. I have a lot to do."

She glanced at the cabin. "I can help, if you'll let me."

Robbie held her breath as she saw the pretty blond doctor lean towards Alexei in the cart. Nothing happened between them and the cart moved away. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. She had to get control of her emotions where Alexei was concerned. She had to forget about what had happened between them and concentrate on Rickey and the camp. She couldn't let her disappointment ruin Rickey's chances.

Amy brought Rickey back a short time later. Robbie had showered and dressed and was waiting for them. She had put on invisible armor that was going to protect her from feeling that hurt again when she looked at Alexei. She wasn't going to make a fool of herself and she wasn't going to ruin Rickey's chances. What had happened between them had happened four months before. It was over. She had to concentrate on the important matter at hand. Rickey was going to have that surgery.

Chapter Nine

"He's a good boy," Amy told them both. "We had fun, didn't we, Rickey?"

Rickey nodded and signed. 'The water was cold!'

'Your lips are blue! Why don't I give you a warm bath and then you can get dressed?'

After Robbie put the water in the tub and set Rickey in it with a soft washcloth and some soap, she went back to Amy. "Thanks for taking him."

"No problem. I really enjoyed it. I can see why Dr. Smolka was so impressed with him. You know, Rickey is the youngest child here."

"I thought he might be," Robbie said. "Do you think it will hurt his chances?"

"Not at all. They're basing their judgment on maturity and Rickey is very mature. I wouldn't be afraid to pit him against any five-year old. And he has Dr. Smolka on his side. That has to count for something."

Robbie thanked Amy and they went over Rickey's schedule for the next day. He would be having a few tests and he would meet with all four doctors. Amy showed her the dining hall on the map.

"Just remember," Amy reminded her. "You aren't alone in any of this. I'm just a phone call away and Dr. Smolka can answer any questions I can't answer." She looked at Robbie. "You know where his cabin is, don't you?" She made a bright red circle around a cabin not too far from theirs. "You know, I've worked for Dr. Smolka for the past three years. When he came back from the Atlanta conference where he met you and Rickey, he was a changed man. I thought maybe something happened down there that made him different. He never said anything."

Robbie could felt that Amy was waiting for her to fill in the void, but she didn't reply. Alexei would have been careful not to say too much about what had happened between them. Any show of being partial on his part might be bad for the program. Apparently, he'd said they met at the conference. He hadn't told his assistant that he was kidnapped and taken to South Carolina. She was grateful to him for not embarrassing her.

"I'd better go and get Rickey out of that bath," Robbie said to Amy. "Thanks for your help."

Amy looked disappointed, but smiled and took Robbie's hand. "I'm going to find the Kozinski's, Dr. Smolka's other referral patient. Good luck."

Rickey was ready to get out of the tub when Robbie walked in the room. 'Can we go play on the playground now?'

'We'll take a walk around the whole area and make sure we can find all the buildings. Then we can play.'

'Great!'

Robbie helped him dress, holding him close for a moment while he squirmed and told her that he was ready to go. She kissed his damp, sweet smelling head and said a little prayer that he would be one of the lucky children. She so much wanted him to be able to hear the ducks on the pond and the frogs at night. She wanted to be able to share everything he had missed with him.

They walked around the compound with the map and located the dining hall and the testing buildings. Robbie glanced up for an instant when they passed Alexei's cabin, but she didn't point it out to Rickey. He wouldn't understand that they couldn't go and knock on his door and see him. She didn't want to make things any harder for either of them.

Rickey took off running when they were finished and ended up at the playground. He ran for the slide first and then for the swings. There were other parents there with their children. Some stayed back with their parents and watched the other children play. One little girl was signing to her mother over and over again that she wanted to play. Her mother refused and dragged the little girl away.

Robbie understood the woman's wanting to protect the girl. It was her first reaction with Rickey. He had been born unable to hear even the loudest sounds. How could she ever be sure that he would be safe? She had to thank her father for telling her that she was smothering Rickey. Jack had told her that she had to let Rickey be a boy first and deaf child second. He wasn't in any more danger than any other child. By putting his handicap between him and the world, she would ruin his life.

It wasn't easy, she considered, watching her son run between the swings and the slides. The playground was like any other, but its occupants were different. The silence of their playing was marked by the sun and the wind and the call of the birds from the lake. Sometimes she sat in the living room at night with the sound off on the television, just to imagine what it must be like for her son. She watched the people's mouths move and saw their gestures and wondered how he could be so happy and carefree. It was frightening to her, but she never let Rickey see it.

When Rickey was done playing, really when Robbie was done waiting for him because he was never done playing, they walked back to their cabin and changed clothes for dinner. The welcome book said that dinner was served in shifts and they encouraged everyone to eat at their assigned shift. Robbie and Rickey had drawn the first shift.

The dining hall was long and narrow with the cafeteria-style foodservice at one end and the door at the other with the tables and chairs sandwiched between. The day was starting to cool off as the evening came on. Rickey wolfed down his meal enthusiastically, but Robbie played with the little salad she'd put on her plate. She thought about Alexei and wondered if it would have been different if she'd contacted him after he'd left. She'd waited for him to get in touch with her but maybe that had been a mistake.

"Is this seat taken?" a man asked, smiling at Robbie and Rickey.

"No, please sit down," Robbie relied. She smiled at the little girl who stopped with a tray in her hands.

"I'm Tom Kozinski, from Chicago," he said and signed. "This is my daughter, Tara."

"I'm Robbie Connor and this is Rickey," she replied.

"You're Dr. Smolka's other referral," he said quickly. "I'm glad to meet you." He shook her hand heartily and sat beside her at the table.

Alexei came in a few minutes later. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't look up their schedules, but it was a promise he couldn't keep. Their dinner schedule was nearly over when he walked into the dining hall. Robbie was laughing with Tom Kozinski, their heads bent close together, while their children ate silently beside them. He knew Tom had some things in common with Rickey. They were both divorced and their children were born deaf.

Seeing them together, he smiled to himself ironically, and left the dining hall. He was not only a surgeon; he was a matchmaker. They were perfect for each other. He was happy for them. He walked back to his cabin and sat alone in the darkness. Rickey had a physical examination set for first thing in the morning. All the children were given physicals even though they had been required to send in the results of new physicals done on each of them in the past year. Robbie was surprised to open the door to the examination room and find Alexei.

"Good morning," he said as they walked into the room. He crouched down close to Rickey and asked how he was feeling.

Rickey replied that he was feeling great and eager to go swimming again.

"That's good. You let us worry about everything else and you have a good time, okay?"

Rickey nodded.

"I'm going to put you up on this table and let your Mommy take your shirt off. I'll try to do this as quickly as I can so that you can get it all over with and go swimming."

Robbie unbuttoned Rickey's blue shirt as he sat on the table. Alexei smiled at her, but it was an aloof doctor smile that any doctor would give his patient. She swallowed hard at the emotions that shot through her. She wasn't interested in him in any other way, she repeated to herself. He was there to help Rickey and she was there to support her son.

Alexei picked up his stethoscope. "That's great, Rickey." He glanced at Robbie. "And you? Are you feeling better today? You look a little pale." He warmed the end of his stethoscope with his hand before he put it against Rickey's skin.

"I'm fine," she answered stiffly. "The cabin is very nice."

"And you've spoken with other parents?"

"Yes. I've met a few of them."

"Especially Tom Kozinski?" he pressed, wondering why he couldn't exorcise that perverse imp inside of him who wanted to hear her say she was attracted to the man.

"He's very nice," she responded, wanting to tell him to mind his own business and get the exam over with so that she wouldn't have to stand so close to him.

"He's divorced, you know. And he has a good job."

"That's...nice."

"Many women would find him attractive."

"Are you setting me up with him?" she asked pointedly when she couldn't take it anymore. Why was he asking her those things?

"Setting --? No, of course not. I was just...interested in making sure that you were happy here."

"We're happy here. Tom is nice. Are you almost finished with Rickey?"

Alexei frowned at her. "You seem a little strained by all of this."

She looked away. "I don't like seeing Rickey tested and prodded any more than any other parent," she said, hoping he would leave her alone.

"Ahh."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing," he answered, smiling and winking at Rickey who giggled back at him. "How is Jack?"

"Fine."

"And Troy?"

"Fine."

"And the dog, what was his name?"

"Butch. He's fine too." If he asked about Rickey's goldfish, she decided, she was going to throw something at him.

Alexei put away his stethoscope and smiled at Rickey. 'Can you put your shirt back on while I ask your Mommy some questions?'

'Sure.' Rickey answered with a little shrug. 'I can get dressed all by myself.'

'I know.' Alexei squeezed his shoulder.

"What questions?' Robbie asked.

"Sit down, please," Alexei asked, gesturing to a chair while he got his clipboard and took another chair. "I have a form of questions that I must ask you."

"All right."

He scooted forward in his chair until their knees touched. Robbie jerked back away from him and Alexei looked at her. "What's wrong, Robbie?"

"Nothing," she answered, smoothing her hand over her jean covered knee. "What are the questions?'

"You've probably answered them dozens of times before," he said, distracted by her and her reaction to him. Did she find him so distasteful that she couldn't bear his touch? He looked at Rickey, fidgeting on the table. "Perhaps Rickey would be happier if Amy came to take him to the playroom while we go through these questions." He said the words aloud and signed them for Rickey.

'Yes!' Rickey answered at once.

Alexei buzzed for Amy who was glad to help out. 'Let's go play!' She signed for Rickey, holding her hand out for his. With a quick look for his mother's okay, Rickey let her lead him out of the office.

Alexei looked at Robbie and took a deep breath. "Now." He put on his glasses and began to sort through the papers on his clipboard.

Seeing him with his glasses on reminded her of the first time she'd seen him getting off the plane. The awareness made her fidget in her chair almost as much as Rickey. The room was too small and too close. Alexei was sitting almost on top of her. She pushed her chair back a little more than settled back and waited for the questions.

Alexei asked her personal questions about their family history and her pregnancy with Rickey. Did she take drugs? Did she drink? Was the labor hard or extended? Did she have complications? Was Rickey in distress when he was born?

Robbie answered the questions, wishing there would be a speedy end to them. She found herself staring at Alexei's hand as he wrote. He was left handed, like her mother. The tip of one of his fingers was slightly crooked and deformed. She thought about the blast that he'd said killed his wife and son and injured him.

"Robbie?" He looked up from his papers when she didn't answer the question he put to her. She was looking at his hand. He wiggled his deformed finger. "It was almost destroyed in the blast that took my hearing. The doctors were able to repair it. but this was left."

"Sorry," she said, feeling silly being caught staring at his hand. "I didn't mean -- "

"That's all right. Children always notice. It was one of the first things Rickey asked me about."

Implying that I'm a child? She fumed. "I only noticed because you're a southpaw, like my mother."

"Southpaw?"

"Left handed," she translated. "And I'm not a child."

He sighed. "I didn't mean that you were."

"I know what you said."

"Robbie --"

"Are we through here? Because I really want to go and play with Rickey." She didn't know why she was so angry or why she was so embarrassed about being caught looking at his hand. If she wouldn't have kissed him, if they wouldn't have made love --

"Robbie, please." He put his hand on hers, as he would have any other agitated parent. The contact between them was like an electric current, immediate and powerful. He looked into her eyes and saw that she was as startled as he by the effect.

"Alexei," she whispered painfully, starting to draw her hand away.

His fingers moved casually on her wrist. "Your pulse is racing. Are you nervous?"

"I...I'm worried," she lied, looking at his hand on hers. "About Rickey. And the whole process."

"Naturally." His fingers were caressing the soft skin on her inner arm. "But we will do the best we can for Rickey."

"I...I know." She managed to ease her hand away then smiled up at him foolishly. "Anything else?"

He frowned and took off his glasses. "If you're having second thoughts about the surgery --"

"No! No, not at all," she replied quickly. "I...uh...I'm just nervous. And worried." Dear God, this was going badly! She was too close to him. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think with him sitting so close.

He nodded. "I only have a few more questions and we're finished."

Robbie got up and paced the room as she answered the last questions.

Alexei wrote down her response then got up. "Robbie, the other doctors are going to be looking at you as well as Rickey. They're going to want to know that you can handle this change in him, if it comes. The psychology of it is as important as the surgery. They don't know you as I know you."

She turned to him. "You mean they haven't slept with me?"

Alexei's dark eyes grew thoughtful. "Ahh."

"Don't say that to me," she demanded. "Don't patronize me! I know why we're here. I won't forget. I'm the one who kidnapped you, remember?"

"How could I forget? The Croatian embassy took my passport and put me on three months probation for soliciting a prostitute. If I do it again, they'll deport me."

Robbie was stunned. "Alexei, I'm sorry! I had no idea! I didn't mean --"

He crossed the room to stand beside her. "Hush! You see before you a changed man because of you. Don't I look different?"

"Yes," she admitted, feeling heat sweep up into her face. "I wasn't even sure it was you at first."

"So that was why you looked at me so oddly, hmm?"

"I --"

He turned his head slightly to study her face. "Are you afraid of me, Robbie?"

"No." She laughed but the sound was hollow. "No, I --"

"Do you trust me with your son's life?"

She looked into his eyes and knew she would trust him with anything she possessed. "Yes."

He nodded and a lock of his hair fell into his face. Without thinking, Robbie reached to smooth it back.

Alexei gasped at the sensation caused by her touch and caught her hand in his. He stared at her for a long moment before he raised her hand to his mouth.

Robbie closed her eyes at the feel of his lips on the palm of her hand. He touched the tip of his tongue to that sensitive spot then kissed each of her fingertips. She thought that he would kiss her. She prayed that he would kiss her. Her legs went weak with the thought. They were so close, so close --

Alexei shook his head and realized what he was doing. He put her hand down and cleared his throat, feeling that hunger for her well within him again. Nothing had changed between them. Just looking at her made him weak with anticipation of her touch. He wanted her in his arms, in his bed --

"I'm sorry," he said finally. "That was unprofessional. Uncalled for. I --"

"Shut up!" Robbie saw the need in his face. He wanted her. The thought gave her power. She took the step between them and put her arms around his neck to drag his unresisting mouth down to hers. He was an easy target.

With a sigh, he put his arms around her and kissed her until there was nothing but the two of them. Nothing else mattered.

"I...I thought you'd forgotten me," she whispered, kissing his hands and his face.

"No," he muttered, pressing urgent kisses on her neck and mouth. "I couldn't forget you. I've tried, for both our sakes."

"Why?" she looked at him sadly, not understanding.

"Because it would be best for both of us. You're not ready for this. I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

"What does it take to be ready?" she wondered, kissing him again. He was like a drug in her system. She couldn't get enough of him.

There was a knock at the door. Alexei moved quickly to push her away from him.

The door opened and Patricia Hallet smiled at them. "Hello! You must be Rickey's mom. I'm Dr. Hallet. I'll be examining your son too. I was just talking with him in the playroom. He seems to be very mature for his age."

"Thanks," Robbie managed, hoping she didn't look as kissed as she felt.

"Alexei," Hallet turned her clear blue gaze on him. "Could I speak with you for just a moment?"

"Of course." He smiled at Robbie. "Excuse me."

Robbie took in a deep breath when she was out of the room. She felt like she'd been running a marathon! Her heart was racing and she was having hard time breathing. She sat down in the chair again and put her head in her hands. This was what she'd expected. This was what she'd thought would happen between them. He was as wonderful and as sexy as she'd recalled. There wasn't a part of her that wasn't affected by him.

He came back into the room and closed the door behind him. He stood for a moment with his back against the door. His blue shirt was very dark against the white of his lab coat. "I didn't think this will happen between us again."

She swallowed hard. "I know this isn't the time or the place."

He nodded. "The other doctors, the program directors could think I was prejudiced in your favor."

"I understand."

"I want this for Rickey and for you."

"I know."

He groaned and wrapped his arms around her again. "You don't make this easy for me."

"Alexei?"

"Hmm?" he asked, kissing the top of her head, inhaling her perfume.

"I just need to know that what happened between us isn't...wasn't --"

"You've made me feel alive again," he whispered desperately near her ear. He kissed her and kissed her throat. "I wanted to die with Helena. I thought I would never feel this way."

She nodded, tears making her throat tight. "I was afraid I'd made a mistake."

"So was I." He glanced at his watch. "I have another patient waiting for me. I won't be free again until later today. But we must talk."

"Alexei, I --"

He kissed her, his lips persuasive and warm on hers. "Meet me later. Here? I should be off by six."

"All right." She nodded. "I'll be here."

The rest of the day passed like a dream. She was going to meet him that evening. He did care about her and about Rickey. Maybe she wasn't such a fool for coming to the camp. Amy must have been wrong about him and Dr. Beautiful, as she had come to think of Dr. Hallet.

She and Rickey had a session with Dr. Beautiful that afternoon. Robbie looked at her as she spoke with Rickey, wondering if Helena was as beautiful. Flawless skin, perfect lips, golden hair, she was like a dream.

Dr. Beautiful asked Rickey questions about his home and his life. Rickey told her about the creek and his leaf collection. He told her openly about school and his Grampa.

It made Robbie angry to watch her son guilelessly tell his judges everything in his young heart while they wrote down parts of it and sorted out what they didn't want from him. She swallowed hard on that anger. She had done everything she could to bring him here, including risking jail. She wanted him to win his place in the program. Ten slots, she reminded herself. There were only ten slots.

She spoke with him later about making sure his answers were good answers. He nodded silently as she explained that the judges were listening to him. He had to be careful about what he said to them.

'What should I say?' He asked her afterwards. 'I told them what they asked me.'

'I know.' She smiled as she signed for him. 'But you have to win, Rickey. You have to be the best. You have to sound like a big boy for me. Can you do that?'

'Yes. Can I go swimming?'

Robbie took him swimming for an hour at the lake. The sun was hot and the water was cool lapping around her body. She tried to think of ways to make Rickey understand what he should say and what he shouldn't say to the doctors. He didn't really understand what they wanted from him. She wasn't certain that she did either. She did know they were looking for signs that he could handle the transition, that they could handle the transition together, as Alexei had reminded her that morning. They were more worried about the trauma afterwards of suddenly being able to hear than the surgery.

There was a pottery class at the welcome center at five-thirty. Rickey wasn't sure he wanted to go, but Robbie persuaded him. It would be good for him to be out and involved, for the doctors to see that he was active and not just sitting around the cabin or swimming all the time. It would be better for her; she considered when she left him there with the teacher, if she saw Alexei alone. She didn't want Rickey to accidentally say something about them as he had to her father. Explaining to Troy was one thing. Explaining to Dr. Beautiful was another.

She stopped short as she rounded the curve in the path that led to the center where Alexei had examined Rickey that morning. He was standing in the doorway, hugging Dr. Beautiful to him. He kissed her forehead and smiled at her. Robbie couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were standing too close to each other and looked too happy for her to believe it had anything to do with the program.

Quickly, going back around the corner of the building before they saw her, Robbie chewed her lip and tried to decide what to do. Hadn't she gone through the same thing with Troy? There was always someone else with Troy! She had refused to believe it at first but eventually the body count grew until she couldn't ignore his friendly looks with a waitress at the diner, the cashier at the supermarket and the next-door neighbor. Robbie had confronted him and he had denied it. It wasn't until she actually caught him in bed with her hairdresser that he had no choice but to admit that he had slept around. Then he had blamed it on her and Rickey.

Robbie knew she wasn't going to go through that again. She wasn't married to Alexei. They weren't even dating. But she wouldn't sneak off to secret meetings with him while he still smelled of Dr. Beautiful's perfume! She didn't want to see her perfect lipstick on his collar or find them together.

They were striking together. Both of them were tall. He was so dark while she was so...beautiful. Robbie looked up and realized that her feet had taken her back where she started at her own cabin. She didn't know what she was going to tell Alexei, but she knew a bad thing when she saw one. Maybe he was attracted to her. Maybe she had made him come alive again. But she would be damned if she would share him with Dr. Beautiful! She stalked back to the pottery class to get Rickey.

Rickey had made a few new friends while she was gone. The three boys looked like him, slightly disheveled and grinning hugely. They're going to have a bonfire, Rickey signed to her. 'Can I go?'

Robbie looked at the woman who was conducting the pottery class. "That's fine," she told Robbie and Rickey. "I have a few other aides coming to help. We'll walk the children home when it's over."

His daughter told Tom Kozinski the same thing as he walked into the welcome building. "We might as well walk back together since our kids have rejected us," he told her.

"Sure," she replied, glad it wasn't a long walk since she didn't feel companionable.

"Nice evening," he said when she hadn't spoken for a few minutes as they walked down the sandy path towards their adjoining cabins.

"Yes." She glanced up at the first star, recalling when she was a child how she really believed wishing on that first star would change anything bad. She closed her eyes to wish, but only saw Alexei's face and wasn't sure what to wish for anymore.

"Is your son doing okay? I'm sorry, I don't recall his name."

"Rickey. He's fine." She smiled. "And I know what you mean. There are a lot of children here. How is your daughter doing?"

"Okay. Tara's a little stressed. But so am I."

"Me, too."

"Would you like to go and get a cup of coffee at the dining hall?" Tom asked quietly. "We could talk about hearing impaired children or something."

"I don't think so. I appreciate the offer, but I'm really tired. Maybe another time?"

"Sure."

They parted at her cabin. She waved to him and wished him a good night. Robbie opened the door to the cabin and stepped inside. She reached for the light switch but before her hand could make contact, Alexei wrapped his arms around her.

"Where have you been? Why were you with Tom Kozinski?"

"I went to the medical building," she told him blankly.

He was kissing her all over her face and hair. His hands were strong and persuasive but she managed to pull away from him. She reached for the light switch again and he stopped her.

"We can't risk anyone seeing me here."

"Then maybe you should go," she suggested.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything. You said we couldn't risk anyone seeing you here. I don't want to take a chance with Rickey's future. You should go." "Then why did you come to the medical building at all? Or why didn't you stay to tell me you felt that way instead of going off with Tom Kozinski?"

"This morning, you acted like you wanted to me to go off with Tom Kozinski!"

"That was before --" He paused and looked at her in the dim light that was filtering through the cabin windows. "I was there with Patricia."

"I know." She squirmed away from him. "I saw you."

"And now you think I'm like your ex-husband? That I'd make love to you and Patricia at the same time?"

"We aren't making love. And I don't care what you do with Dr. B--Dr. Hallet. It's none of my business."

He laughed. "You were jealous!"

Robbie cringed. "I think you should leave now."

"Robbie, Patricia is only a good friend. She's going through a bad time right now. I was consoling her. She is...what is the word I'm looking for --"

Beautiful? Elegant? Tall? Sophisticated? Robbie could supply plenty of words for him.

"Gay. She's in love with my assistant, Amy."

"What?" She sat down on the sofa. "I don't believe it!"

"You would rather believe that I prefer her over you?"

"I would rather...oh, Alexei! Do you have any idea how many wild stories Troy told me to cover up?"

He sat down beside her and smoothed her hair back from her face. "I would rather that you didn't compare me to that hulk. He's not a father to Rickey and he wasn't a husband to you."

"I guess I'm just afraid that I'm reading more into this than there is," she confided as he stroked her hair.

He pulled her against chest until her head was resting on his shoulder. "I've thought the same thing. That was why I was afraid to write to you or call you. It happened so quickly. It wasn't something I thought would happen to me. I tried to forget you when I came back. Then I knew I had to see you again and I made arrangements so that a parent would have to fly here with their child. If you came, I told myself, I'd know you wanted to see me. If you didn't, I'd know that you forgot about me."

"I can't believe you did all of that to see me again." She sighed, relaxing against him.

"Are you flattered?" he wondered, kissing her neck.

"Yes," she admitted with a smile. "I would have come for a stamp on a letter saying you wanted to see me again."

"But that wouldn't have solved your problem with Rickey riding on the bus alone."

"No. It wouldn't. Thank you."

"So you see how desperate I was? Would I go through all of that trouble if I wanted to be with Patricia?" He kissed her cheek, tiny delicate kisses that shivered up her spine.

"I...uh...no, I guess not."

"We do have to be careful, as I said this morning. I don't want to give up seeing you. Patricia said she would help. Everyone thinks we are romantically involved anyway because she spends so much time at my office, but it's only for Amy."

"Amy thinks you're in love with Dr. B--Patricia," Robbie corrected. "Maybe someone should tell her the truth."

"I don't know if Amy is...gay," he confided. "And I don't want to be involved."

His mouth reached hers and she turned slightly in his arms to allow him better access. His hands slid down her body to gently cup her bottom, bringing her further up on him as he sank lower on the sofa.

Robbie moaned softly, opening her mouth for him, as he gently caressed her legs and bottom through her slacks. She could feel the heat building inside her. Alexei was hard beneath her. His mouth was warm and knew just how to touch hers. She threaded her fingers through his silky hair and rubbed her breasts against his chest until he groaned and shifted so that he could touch her.

"Alexei," she whispered, touching his ear with her tongue. "I want you."

"Robbie, my heart, I am all yours."

They lost themselves in each other. Robbie sat astride him and opened the buttons on his shirt with trembling fingers. Alexei lifted the blouse she wore over her head and touched the satin and lace of the bra beneath it. His mouth closed over a satin-cupped breast and Robbie shivered at his touch. She bent her head and rained tiny kisses all over his chest and neck.

"You aren't so skinny anymore," she remarked, touching his broad, flat belly, caressing his muscular chest.

"Still not a football player," he added, delighting in her questing hand and gentle lips.

"Better," she informed him. "Much, much better."

The door burst open and Robbie shrieked and grabbed for her blouse. Alexei helped her to her feet then pulled on his own shirt and ran a hand through his hair that had been mussed by her wandering fingers.

The light came on with a click of the switch and the door closed behind Rickey who beamed up at them both.

'Alexei!' He signed, using their secret sign for his name.

"What?" Alexei asked Robbie.

She made the sign again. "We decided to have a sign just for you. This is your name in code."

"Code?" He laughed and made the same sign into Rickey's small hand. 'That's good! You're a creative little boy.'

'It was Mom's idea.' Rickey told him honestly. He looked at his mother and at Alexei. 'Were you and my mom kissing again?'

Chapter Ten

"No!" No, we were just talking. Robbie finished in silence, signing to Rickey as she straightened her clothes and hair.

Alexei grimaced and sat down close to Rickey. 'Yes. We were kissing.'

Rickey frowned. 'Why?'

'Because I like your mother a lot. That is what adults do when they like each other a lot.'

'Oh.' Rickey looked at them both. 'Do I have to go to bed now?'

'Yes.' Robbie told him. 'It's getting late and you have a big day tomorrow.'

'Will I see you tomorrow?' He asked Alexei.

'Certainly.'

'Good.'

"Go in and get washed up and brush your teeth," Robbie told him. She turned to Alexei when Rickey went into the bathroom. "Why did you tell him that? What if he says something to someone else?"

"Don't you think he's more likely to say something if he thinks there's a mystery about it?"

"He's four years old! Everything is a mystery to him!"

Alexei shook his head. "Don't be so nervous. It will all be fine."

"That's easy for you to say," she retorted, resisting him a little as he drew her closer.

"It's easy for you, too. Look." He signed. It will all be fine.

She smiled. "All right. I believe you."

"Good." He kissed her and she walked him to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Alexei."

The next three days were a never-ending maze of tests and meetings. Rickey was tested for his maturity and his ability to understand what would be happening to him. They gave him a battery of psychological tests and tested his hearing to be sure that he was deaf. He was weighed and measured and asked to look at inkblots and put round pegs into round holes. He colored pictures that were evaluated and gave blood twice.

Alexei met them again. He was present at some of the tests. He ate dinner with them, but he ate lunch with the Kozinski's. He took Rickey and Tara swimming once and joined them at the playground during some of his free time. There were no private meetings between Robbie and him again. Robbie held it in her heart that she was special to him. She wouldn't let Amy's meanderings or seeing him with his head bent close to Dr. Beautiful take that away from her again.

On Friday night they had a parent's social. Robbie almost didn't go. She felt too wound up to do anything more than fall into bed. The tests were terrible to watch, but so were the faces on the other parents. They all wanted it so much. It made her furious to think that all of the children could have the surgery but only ten would be chosen. Why make them all feel like lab rats when Alexei could either perform the operations or teach others to help him?

Amy showed up on their doorstep at eight PM. She looked at Robbie's sweat pants and t-shirt and frowned. "Aren't you going to the social?"

"No, Amy. I'm too exhausted. It's been a hard week."

"But I'm taking Tara and Rickey to the Lassie movie at the welcome center."

"I don't think so, thanks."

Amy tapped her foot. "But it's the program."

"Thanks but I think we'll pass."

"Okay," she finally gave in. "Dr. Smolka won't be pleased."

Robbie tucked Rickey into bed and read him his favorite story.

'Are you doing okay?' She asked him, brushing his soft hair with her fingers.

'Sure. There's lots to do here.'

'Lots of tests.'

'Yes. But Alexei says they're part of being able to hear.'

She smiled. 'You like Alexei?'

'Yes!'

'Because he can make you hear?'

He shrugged. 'Because he's a good guy.'

'Yes.' She hugged him and kissed him then pulled the blanket up. The nights at the camp were cool compared to what they were used to in July in South Carolina.

'Good night, Rickey. I love you.'

'Good night, Mom. I love you, too.'

Robbie sat in a chair by the window that overlooked the lake. She couldn't sleep even though she felt bone-tired. She'd brought a favorite romance with her, but she couldn't get interested in it. There was so much to think about in everything that was happening. She had so much hope for Rickey getting the surgery. She'd allowed herself to have so much hope for what she felt for Alexei. She realized that she was putting her heart on the line for both.

She heard a noise at the window but didn't pay any attention at first. Then it got louder. She looked out in time to see Alexei throw another handful of small pebbles at the side of the cabin, some hitting the window.

"What are you doing?" She went to the door and asked in a hushed voice.

"I'm trying to get your attention."

"Well, you've done it. What do you want?"

"You!"

"Alexei!"

"Come outside for a few minutes."

"Rickey's asleep."

"We won't go far."

She nodded, as she knew she would, and slipped on her shoes.

It was dark, but there was a small crescent moon hanging high in the sky between the trees. The camp was well lit and the sounds of laughter from the welcome building and the cafeteria met around the campground in the shadows. The scent of pine and water dominated the air while doves cooed near the lake.

"I thought you were going to the social," Robbie said, sitting on the steps of her cabin.

"Because you were supposed to be there," Alexei told her bluntly. "Where were you?"

"I was tired," she admitted. "This week has been --"

"I know," he consoled, sitting beside her. He drew her to him with his arm around her shoulders.

"Aren't you worried that someone might see?"

"I think I can put my arm around your shoulders without anyone thinking I'm taking advantage of the doctor-patient relationship."

"Okay," she agreed with a sigh, glad that he was near.

"Tomorrow is the day that the lists go up for the first cut," Alexei told her.

She drew in a deep breath. "I know."

"Rickey has done his best."

"Do you know what's going to happen?"

"I don't have the final say. I gave that up to make the program work in this country. It's not easy for me to see you go through this, either. I wish it could be different."

"I know."

"But Rickey will be fine."

"It's hard to watch people treat him this way. I want to snatch him up in my arms and take him home."

He nodded. "I can see it in your face."

She panicked. "Do you think they'll hold that against him?"

He kissed her cheek and lingered to nuzzle her neck. "You smell wonderful."

"Alexei!"

"No, I don't think anyone else would notice it. But I notice many things about you that most would not."

"Such as?"

"You like to bite the inside of your cheek when you're nervous. I notice that you twist your ring sometimes. You have the most beautiful blue eyes. When you smile, they light up your face." He paused and his voice deepened. "And your breasts were made to fit into my hands."

"Alexei!" She protested, but his words had made her feel warm despite the chill in the air around them.

"Yes?"

"We can't...I mean --"

"I know." He smiled. "But I can remind you of how I feel when I see you."

"Well, in that case," she returned smugly, touching his chin with her finger. "I notice that you can't keep that one lock of hair from falling in your eyes. When you talk you like to use your hands even when you have something in them. And you have the best ass of any man here."

"No!" he denied with a laugh. "Even young Jaimie, the lifeguard? I've heard he's the best looking man here."

"Not his backside."

"You've looked?"

She shrugged. "A girl has to check out the market."

"You are a flirt," he told her.

"And so are you!"

"It looks like the social is breaking up," Alexei said, nodding towards the cafeteria. "I suppose I will go."

"Kiss me. Before they come this way."

Without having to consider the invitation, Alexei kissed her warmly, hugging her closer to him, cradling her in the shelter of his arms. His mouth wasted no time separating her lips until his tongue could taste her inner honey. Fire danced between them, burning through them until both of them were drained and panting.

"I have to go," he said hoarsely, putting her away from him.

"Good night, Dr. Smolka."

"Good night, Mrs. Connor."

Surprisingly, despite the excitement that his kiss generated in her, she was able to sleep better after seeing him. He wasn't able to promise her that Rickey was going to make the first cut and be at the camp for the second week of tests, but he had warmed the promise his eyes made her every time he looked at her. She fell asleep thinking about his kiss and the feel of his arms around her.

She was awakened in the morning by a loud pounding on her door. Rickey came out of his bedroom, rubbing his eyes sleepily, not aware that their door sounded like it was going to be pushed in at any moment.

It was Tom Kozinski and Tara. "It's up. Those bastards! They cut us both! We didn't stand a chance!"

"Slow down." She tried to understand the importance of his words and his red face. "What are you taking about?"

"The cuts! Tara and Rickey were both cut from the program. Half of the group is gone. We're gone."

"Where is it?" she asked, forgetting for a moment where they'd told her it was going to be listed.

"At the welcome center, but you can take my word for it. Tara and Rickey have both been cut."

Robbie threw on sweats and slipped on shoes. She carried Rickey. He was still in his pajamas. Groups of people were already there before her. Some were walking away with satisfied looks on their faces. Others were in tears. She pushed her way to the front of the group and searched the list of fifty candidates with frantic eyes. Tara Kozinski was on the list of those cut from the program. Rickey Connor was there, too.

At the bottom of the list were the signatures of the doctors. Alexei Smolka was the top signature. Her brain felt like it was on fire. He'd known! He'd known last night and he hadn't told her!

'What's wrong, Mom?' Rickey asked.

'We're going home.' She told him.

'Why? What about Alexei?'

'We didn't make the program, Rickey. Alexei cut us out of the program.'

'No!'

'Never mind.' She tried to console him and herself. 'Let's get dressed and get out of here.'

Amy came to the door as Robbie was packing. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe you were both cut. Dr. Smolka is furious."

"When did he find out?" Robbie asked.

"Late last night. I'm not sure exactly. He's letting the program directors have it."

"Someone was bound to be cut," Robbie stated flatly.

"He's taking it personally," Amy explained. "Both Rickey and Tara are his patients."

"When does the first van leave, Amy?"

"About an hour."

'Hurry, Rickey.' She signed to him. 'I want to be on that first van.'

"If there's anything I can do to help," Amy started.

"We're fine," Robbie told her quickly. "Maybe you should check on Tom and Tara. They were pretty upset."

"Okay." Amy sighed. "It was nice meeting you both" She signed and said out loud.

Rickey was on the brink of tears and didn't reply.

They finished packing when Amy left. Robbie took a last look around the cabin to be sure they had everything. Someone else knocked on the door. When Rickey saw through the window that it was Alexei, he opened the door and threw himself into his arms.

'It's all right.' Alexei tried to soothe him. 'It's going to be all right.'

Rickey sobbed into his shoulder.

"Give him to me," Robbie said coldly.

"Robbie, I've done everything I could to change this," he tried to explain. "I've argued with the directors until they've threatened to shut down the testing for the program. There's nothing I can do to change what's happened."

"You knew last night," she accused in a low voice, not signing for Rickey to understand. She took her son from Alexei's shoulder. "You knew, didn't you?"

"Would it make a difference? Would it change the outcome for you to have one last night of peace without this despair?"

"We're going to be late." She brushed by him. "I want to be on that first van out of here."

"Robbie!"

"Alexei, please, just go back to your program and let us go."

"Robbie, you always knew this was possible. I tried the best I could to prepare you for it."

"Don't worry, Alexei!" She flashed him her cheerleader smile. "Your program still exists. You haven't lost anything."

"You can't think I wanted this to happen!"

"Your name was on the bottom of that cut sheet," she told him. "You were part of it. Why was Rickey cut?"

He shrugged. "It was the age factor. There were too many other candidates who fit the profile exactly. Two of the doctors couldn't get over the chance that he might not be mature enough. Dr. Hallet and I argued for him. The program directors made the choice."

"You let them cut him!" she yelled at him while Rickey sobbed. "You knew what this meant to us and you let them cut him!"

Alexei recoiled from her words. "Robbie, you don't mean that! You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt either of you."

"I trusted you!" she raged, walking past him to the stairs. "I trusted you and you let me down!"

If pleading with her any further would have helped, he would've followed her up the sandy path to the welcome center where the vans waited for the departing children. There was nothing that he could promise her. The surgery wouldn't be done again in the U.S. for at least five years. He couldn't secretly rent a hospital and perform the operation on Rickey because he loved his mother.

It occurred to him that he hadn't told her. He'd spent so much time telling her other things that didn't matter. He wasn't sure if he was ready to love anyone besides Helena despite the whispering of his heart that he would be devastated without Robbie and Rickey in his life. She hadn't said that she loved him, not in words. But she had a painful past and her own doubts and uncertainties.

Would it help to say the words? He ran down the path towards the welcome center, his coat flying out behind him in the cool morning air. The first van was already leaving the parking lot. Amy was on the steps waving goodbye.

"Were Robbie and Rickey on that van?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yes," she said with tears in her eyes. "Tara and Tom, too. Maybe they'll be able to console each other. They were all so upset." She turned away, shaking her head.

Alexei watched the van disappear into the distance. He felt like screaming as he had after Helena's death. She had taken his life with him and left him nothing but years of loneliness and heartache. This was different, he considered, still watching the long road away from the camp. Where there was life, there was hope. There was always hope.

"Alexei?" Patricia Hallet called from the center. "Would you come and say a few words to the Richters?"

"Yes," he said, finally turning away from the road. "I'm coming."

Robbie sat on her father's back porch in the shade. It was so hot that even the sunflowers were wilting in the late afternoon sun. Bees were flying drowsily between the roses and the honeysuckle that grew on the fence close to the woods.

"Pesky bugs," her father commented as he put down a recently emptied beetle collector. "Too many of them this year. Must be because it's so dry."

Robbie didn't say anything. She stared into the garden, barely hearing his words.

"Why don't you call him, for God's sake, Robbie Jo! You look like a love-sick calf!"

Robbie looked at him. "Don't you think I've tried? He won't take my calls."

"You were upset. You were disappointed. He's not stupid. And he's not the kind of man to hold something like that against you. Call him again."

She sighed. She had been back a month. The trials for the program were over. Ten lucky children were going to hear again. Rickey wasn't one of them. She had come to terms with it.

It hadn't taken her longer than the plane ride home to realize what a fool she'd been. Yes, she'd been angry and disappointed. Yes, she felt like her world was ending. She'd wanted that surgery for Rickey so badly that it made her teeth hurt. But she knew Alexei had done everything he could to help them. He had changed the rules and the playing field for them. There was nothing more he could do without jeopardizing his own dream. She understood that as she was leaving him.

She also knew that she loved him. She hadn't told him. He hadn't said the words to her. He still wore his wedding ring. She knew she had hurt him. She'd hoped that she could apologize and make it better, that there was something to salvage from the whole experience. Apparently, he didn't feel the same way about her. She'd called him and written him letters. She'd called the camp, but he'd left to go to New York. She'd called his office in New York, but Amy told her that he wasn't accepting calls from anyone about the program. When Robbie had told her it was personal, Amy said that he wasn't in the office.

Robbie sat back in the swing and sighed heavily. Rickey was out of school for two more weeks. He was spending the night at a friend's house where they were going to view an alignment of planets with his friend's telescope. He had come out of the whole thing with little more than a shrug. He consoled her when she was upset, but at the camp, he had been crying more for her sake than his own. He told her that he missed Alexei and that he wanted to see him again. Robbie didn't know what to tell him.

"How about running to the corner and getting me some beer?" her father asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I'm beat. I'll make something to eat while you're gone."

"Sure. I need some shampoo anyway. I think I'm going to spend tonight and tomorrow in the tub. I'll come out wrinkled but much better."

He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. "Everything will work out, honey. You'll see."

She nodded, close to tears. "I know. You warned me from the beginning not to get involved with him. I guess I leapt before I looked again."

"Yeah. You've got too much heart, like your mother. Always taking in strays and not knowing when to say no. Love is a great thing. It'll come to you, too, honey. Just give it some time."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Do you love Alexei?" her father asked her looking into her face that reminded him so much her mother. "Are you sure he's the right man?"

"I thought he was," she said quietly. "Maybe I was wrong again." She sniffed, then smiled. "No. I wasn't wrong. Just silly I guess to think that he might love me back."

"Get out of here before you have me crying, too," he said, hugging her again, then letting her go. "Get plenty of bubble bath. It sounds like you're going to need it."

He watched her hop into her rebuilt truck and turn out of the driveway. He shook his head and went inside to pick up the phone to make a brief call before he started supper.

Robbie drove down to the supermarket where she used to work. It was such a pleasure not to work there anymore. She knew she had Alexei to thank for that. He had changed her life in so many ways. He had done so much for them and she had said such terrible, ugly things to him. He might never forgive her. She might never forgive herself. On the other hand, they had never spoken of having any kind of relationship or a future together. Maybe they had all they could share. She loved him, but maybe it wasn't the kind of love that could stand long-term commitment. Here she was, looking for marriage when her first attempt had been such a terrible failure. It might be for the best that they never reached that place. Alexei had his work and she had Rickey. She had her work at the Eckman School. It would have to be enough.

Her heart was breaking at the thought of never seeing him again. Maybe she could scrape up the money and fly to New York. She could go to his office and wait for him. He would have to talk to her or have her thrown out. He would never cause a scene like that. She could wear something sexy and make him notice her.

She slammed the bottle of shampoo into the basket. The woman beside her looked up curiously.

Who was she kidding? She would never go to New York, demand to see him, then seduce him in his office. She had been brave enough to kidnap him only for Rickey's sake. And she didn't know if he loved her. She didn't know if he was willing to give up his past so that they could have a future together. Helena and his son would always stand between them. Troy and her first marriage would always be a stumbling block for her.

She checked out her purchases, then stepped out on the street. The afternoon had given way to early evening. With it came a slight lessening in the heat of the day. People were beginning to come out of their air-conditioned houses. It was Saturday night, date night. The roads would soon be full of cruising teenagers with raging hormones and the clubs would be full of lovesick adults trying to find the right man or woman. The whole world wanted to be in love. She had thrown away her chance.

A dark car slid up in front of her at the curb. The door opened and she peered into the car to see if the driver needed help. As she did, someone bumped her from behind and she fell into the car. It only took an instant for them to shove her feet inside. The car took off across the parking lot. Robbie's shampoo and her father's beer were left behind on the sidewalk.

"Hey! Hey, wait a minute! I think you've got the wrong person!" She looked around the dark interior. The windows were tinted almost black and there was a dark window between the passenger and driver's seats. She realized that the car was a limousine about the same time that she noticed that there were no handles on the inside to open the back doors.

"Hey! Let me out!" she yelled, pounding her fist on the glass separating the seats. "Let me out! I...I have a gun."

When the driver didn't respond, she abused him, threatening everything she could think of; from prison to retribution from her extensive family. She looked for something in the back seat to use as a weapon, but couldn't find anything. The seat was smooth and cool. The space where the phone should have been was empty.

She finally sat back into the seat. Her hands were sore from pounding on the window. She was out of breath from all the yelling. The car was headed up the highway. She'd heard of things like this happening before. There was a woman in Charleston who was thrown into the back of a car and never seen again. She'd been a friend of Mary Anne's down at the Flattsboro School of Beauty. Mary Anne speculated that it was the work of black slavers. They had kidnapped her and sent her to a harem in some foreign country. Robbie thought Mary Anne just read too many romances. Now she wasn't so sure.

That was when she remembered that Troy had just received a limousine to sell at the car lot. He'd been overly impressed with himself, as usual. When the limousine pulled out on the Interstate, heading towards Charleston, she knew Troy was going to be sorry when they stopped.

"Troy?" she demanded. "Did you know this is illegal? I could have you put in jail for this! Stop right now and turn around."

There was no response.

"Troy! This won't make me love you!"

No reply.

She started to get angry. "This is the most stupid thing you've ever done! We aren't getting back together! You can kidnap me and take me to Timbuktu, but we still aren't getting together. And we're not having sex just because you think this is romantic or something."

He still didn't answer, but the limousine had accelerated and was eating up the miles as it sped down the dark highway.

Maybe Troy had finally snapped, she considered. Maybe she needed to reason with him. "Troy, I don't love you anymore. I know you think it should be different because we have Rickey, but it's not. We both have to move on with our lives. I love someone else."

She paused, but nothing changed. "Troy, can you hear me? I'm in love with Alexei, Troy! Kidnapping me won't change that. I know he and I can't be together, but you and I can't be together again, either. You have to stop this for Rickey's sake. I know you love Rickey. I know you want to be part of his life. This won't make it happen."

She finally gave up. Nothing she said made any difference. She sat and looked out the window, hoping she could either reason with him when he stopped the car or kick him in the balls and run for it. He had obviously lost his mind. She could only imagine that one of his buddies had pushed her into the car for him. This degree of planning from Troy shocked and scared her. She wouldn't have thought he was capable of something like this. But she knew it was him. A tiny shiver of fear began to slither down her spine.

Robbie wasn't wearing a watch, but she guessed they were about an hour from the trailer park when the limousine pulled off the highway. She could see the lights that meant they were near Charleston and she started to worry again. She felt certain it was Troy, but Mary Anne's story about her friend had crept into the darkness with her. What if it wasn't Troy?

As the car left the exit ramp and headed south, she began making plans. If it was Troy, he was crazy and she couldn't take the chance that she could reason with him. If it wasn't Troy, she was going to need a quick attack before her kidnapper had a chance to get her into a position she couldn't get out of. She would have the advantage when he opened the door. She might not have it again.

The car pulled off the main road to a long drive lined with stately trees that were dripping moss. It was already too dark to see more than that. There was some kind of structure at the end of the drive, but it was hard to tell in the darkness with the heavily tinted windows whether it was a house or a commercial building. When the car rolled to a stop, she felt her nerves edge into high gear. She was shaking, but she knew she had to make the first move or she was lost. She lay back on the seat when she heard the front door open. The driver was approaching the left passenger door. She held her legs back and when she saw the door open slightly, she kicked it as hard as she could and ran from the car like it was on fire.

There was gravel, then grass beneath her feet. She saw someone on the ground, assumed it was the driver and ran as fast as she could. She didn't bother to check to see if it was Troy or a stranger.

"Robbie!" She heard someone call after her. Adrenalin was pumping through her lungs and muscles.

"Robbie!" he called again. "Wait!"

She was halfway down the hill when he caught her. He threw himself at her and they rolled down the hill. At the bottom, both were both out of breath and in pain from rolling over rocks and exposed tree roots. Robbie pushed herself to her feet and was prepared to sprint again when his hand shot out and grabbed her ankle.

"I should have brought chloroform," he muttered. "Wasn't that how they used to kidnap people in the old days?"

"Alexei!" she yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Kidnapping you."

She dropped to the ground beside him. "Kidnapping me? Why?"

"It seemed like the thing to do before you kicked the door into me and pushed me down the hill."

"You didn't do a very good job."

"I'm not a professional like you," he growled, getting to his feet. "Jack thought you might be willing to listen to reason."

"Jack? My Dad pushed me into the car?"

"Yes. After I convinced him how much I loved you."

"You...love ...me?"

"I thought it was obvious. I thought --"

He wasn't allowed to finish the sentence when she launched herself at him, smothering his face in kisses. "I thought I'd never see you again. I was going to come to New York and seduce you, but I was afraid you didn't care. I love you, Alexei! I'm sorry I was such an idiot at the camp."

"I knew you were going to be broken hearted. I couldn't tell you that night before. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's over. Rickey is going to be fine without the surgery. He's smart and he's going to do wonderful things with his life whether he's deaf or not. I know that now."

"Do you?" He looked at her in wonder. "And what about you? Will you be fine?"

She stared into his face. "Not without you, Alexei. I don't care about your past or my past. I don't care about anything else but being with you. If you want me."

"Robbie, can there be any doubt of it? I borrowed this wonderful house and kidnapped you to persuade you that we should be together."

"You didn't need to do anything so elaborate. I was here for the asking the whole time."

"Ahh," he said softly, "but you won't want to miss the big, old bathtub and the canopied bed! Dr. Hallet told me we could use the house for as long as we like. It belongs to her family. She's in the Caribbean with Amy, by the way."

"Good for her!" she told him with a wide, wicked grin. "I suppose I could look at that tub. I was just going home to take a hot bath anyway."

Later, much later, when they were wrapped in the delicious Egyptian cotton sheets in the massive four-post bed, Robbie snuggled close to Alexei and sighed when she felt him kiss her forehead. "I love you," she murmured sleepily. "And I love to make love to you. I guess we'll just have to move to New York so you can work. There's not much going on in Flattsboro."

"I love you," he said, kissing her. "I want to marry you, Robbie. I don't want to risk losing you again." He held up his hand to show her the wide blank space on his ring finger. "I loved Helena, but that was another life. I want to share this one with you."

"We're going to have to fix that blank spot then," she said with tears in her eyes. "As soon as we get back."

"Actually, I was thinking of something different. The program is set in place, but the surgeries won't begin until the beginning of next year. I'm going home to Croatia for one important surgery that I can't perform here. We have to be married for you to come with me."

"Alexei --" She rose up on one elbow. "You don't have to do this. It's not why I love you. I don't want you to feel you have to do this."

He put his finger to her lips, then replaced it with his lips. "I want to do this, my heart. It's my gift to you and to Rickey. You are my family now."

Robbie clung to him and cried until she had no more tears left. "I love you," she told him hoarsely.

"Then why do you weep?" he asked quietly.

"Because I'm so happy and I'm sure I'm going to wake up and it will all be a dream."

"No dream," he said, putting her hand on his chest. "A man who loves you with all his heart."

She kissed him and smiled. "That's the kind of reality I can get used to. I love you, Alexei. Slide over here darling, and let me show you how much."

Epilogue

It was warm for fall the paper said. At least as much of the paper as she could read. Her knowledge of Croatian was limited to phrases and words that Alexei had taught her. She smiled, thinking that most of them would not be found in the newspaper.

Alexei kissed her back as she sat in the bed. "Good morning, wife. Can you really read any of that, or are you simply posing in the sunlight for my attention?"

As his lips traveled further up her spine, she began to wonder as well. "I can read some of it," she told him a little breathlessly. He nibbled at her neck and ear and she put the paper down, losing interest.

"Ahh, I have your attention at last," he said in a deep, sleepy voice. "As beautiful as your back is, I'd like to see more of you."

The door burst open and Robbie snatched the blanket to her chest.

'Can we go swimming again today?' Rickey signed with a wide grin that showed his newly missing tooth.

Robbie smiled and put her hands on top of his. "If you say the words."

Rickey frowned. "It's haarr...dd."

"I know, but it's the only way to learn."

He glanced at Alexei, but he knew that Alexei would side with his mother on this one. "Caa...nn we go sw...iimm -- ing to...day?"

The words weren't clear and the intonation was wrong, but Robbie didn't care. The attempt was sweet music to her ears.

Alexei laughed and rolled Rickey on the bed between them. "Yes, we'll go swimming again today. And we'll take some bread to feed the ducks."

"Quack, quack, quack," Rickey said carefully. He grinned at them both. "I kn...oow wh...at du...cck says."

"Yes, you do," Robbie agreed, feeling tears well in her eyes. It would take years of speech therapy to help Rickey speak clearly, but the operation had made him hear. The miracle had happened.

"I loo...vve yo...ou," Rickey said, putting his arms around Robbie. "Yo...ou, too." He added, not quite able to say Alexei's name yet.

"It will come," Alexei told him, hugging both of them. "We have time and love enough for all of it."

The authors wish to acknowledge the broad interpretation of sign language used here. It was meant as a conversational device, more to understand the thoughts of the speaker, than to adhere to the true definition. Thanks!

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