A Matter of Circumstance by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781488026782
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 1986-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

When Sean awoke, it was barely dawn with just the palest filtering of pink light entering the room. He could make out Mandy’s huddled form, curled so trustingly against him, lips slightly parted as she breathed, her lashes falling against her cheeks, her hair falling over her shoulders—and his own.

He eased away from her and carefully pulled the covers to her shoulders. He wanted to hold her, to glory in her all over again, but the shield of darkness was gone, and he knew innately that she had been his only because of that darkness.

Sean rose silently and donned his cutoffs. He needed to be alone. He crept quietly from the room, closing the door tightly behind him.

Julio, on a mat outside the door, was awake, watching him, the ever-present Magnum at his side.

“I’m just going down to the beach,” Sean said.

Julio nodded and lay back down on the mat. Sean continued on out the kitchen door. No one was really awake yet. No one but him.

He was glad. There was no time here like the breaking of the dawn. No time when the heavens appeared more magenta, no time when the coming sun kissed the sand more gently. A breeze stirred the trees and the rippling water.

He walked over the soft dunes and neared the water, listening to the soft rush of the tide, gazing at the glittering droplets caught and dazzled by the coming sun. Again the irony of it all struck him. Here, in this incredible Eden, they were prisoners. It should have been a place of freedom. No crime should touch this shore, only laughter and tenderness and…passion.

They should have made love beneath the stars, not on a shabby mattress inside a primitive cabin in the dark. This was a place of exquisite loveliness; it should have remained unsoiled.

Sean sat down and wrapped his arms around his knees.

So many things in his life had been beautiful, he thought.

Havana had been beautiful. Once upon a time it had been a fantastic city, a playground for the rich and famous. There had been dancing and music, beautiful women, poets and musicians, artisans and scholars. The warm Caribbean breezes had touched the patios of homes and nightclubs; the palms had swayed; the air had been touched by perfume.

Once upon a time…

He had been only six the last time he had seen Havana, but as long as he lived he would never forget that night.

Revolution had been brewing for a long time. The old men at the cafés had talked about it; the young men had shouted about it. Batista had been a dictator, and it was very true that the poor had suffered beneath him. Yes, revolution had been brewing. His father simply had not seen it clearly enough.

As a six-year-old Sean had adored both his parents. They’d met in New York City, where his mother had been a model and his father had been selling superior Havana cigars. They had fiery tempers, but totally different cultural backgrounds. Love had always been the tie that bound the two of them.

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