Separate Cabins by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey [Dailey, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781451639797
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2011-02-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Alone, Rachel strolled along a street in downtown Puerto Vallarta, the second port of call of the Pacific Princess. As it had yesterday, the ship had berthed early in the morning. This time Rachel settled for the continental breakfast served on the Sun Deck and disembarked as soon as the formalities with the Mexican port authorities were observed and permission was given to let passengers go ashore.

To herself she claimed it was a desire to explore the picturesque city on her own. It was merely a side benefit that she hadn’t seen Gard before she’d left the ship. Common sense told her the coolness that had come between them yesterday was a good thing. She needed time to step back and look at the relationship to see whether she’d been swept along by a strong emotional current or if she’d been caught in a maelstrom of physical desire.

Few of the shops were open before nine, so Rachel idled away the time looking in windows and eyeing the architecture of the buildings. At intersections she had views of the surrounding hills where the city had sprawled high onto their sides, creating streets that were San Francisco steep.

Something shimmered golden and bright against the skyline. When Rachel looked to see what it was, a breath was indrawn in awed appreciation. The morning sunlight was reflecting off the gold crown of a steeple and making it glow as if with its own golden light.

With this landmark in sight Rachel steered a course toward it for a closer look. Two blocks farther she reached the source. It was the cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The doors of the church stood invitingly open at the top of concrete steps, but it continued to be the crown that drew Rachel’s gaze as she stood near the church’s base with her head tipped back to stare admiringly at it.

“It’s a replica of the crown worn by the Virgin in the Basilica at Mexico City.”

At the sound of Gard’s voice, Rachel jerked her gaze downward and found him, leaning casually against a concrete side of the church steps and smoking a cigarette. She felt the sudden rush of her pulse under the lazy and knowing inspection of his dark eyes. The cigarette was dropped beneath his heel and crushed out as he pushed away and came toward her. A quiver of awareness ran through her senses at his malely lean physique clad in butternut-brown slacks and a cream-yellow shirt.

“I’ve been waiting for you to turn up,” Gard said calmly.

The certainty in his tone implied that he had known she would. It broke her silence. “How could you possibly know I would come here?” Rachel demanded with a rush of anger. “I didn’t even know it.”

“It was a calculated risk,” he replied, looking at her eyes and appearing to be amused by the silver sparks shooting through their grayness. “Puerto Vallarta basically doesn’t have much in the way of historical or cultural attractions. It’s too early for most of the shops to be open, so you had to be wandering around, looking at the sights.

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