If you like this online read you'll enjoy Christine Rimmer's books!

Valentine's Secret Child
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The Man Who Had Everything/Bonus Book: Marrying Molly
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A Bride for Jericho Bravo
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Yes! Gwen could see it. A plane ? a small one, far out over the water, but coming this way. The drone of the engine was faint, but getting louder.

As gently as she could, Gwen eased Rafe?s head to the pillow of his life vest. Then she leapt to her feet and took off at a run for the campsite.

A number of dry kindling sticks waited where Rafe had left them, ready to set afire and carry as matches out to the pyre. She grabbed several, stuck them into the red-hot coals, her mind instructing in a singsong chant, Be calm, take your time, do it right, make it count?.

The sticks caught. In the sky, the plane seemed to be growing larger, the engine sound deepening, getting louder?.

Gwen forced herself to keep the sticks in the coals for precious seconds longer, to be certain they'd burned hot enough that they would not go out as she carried them to the pyre. Finally, praying they would stay lit, she pulled them free and started off.

Overhead, the plane droned louder. Gwen raced along the beach, carrying the flaming sticks, one hand out in front as a not-too-effective shield against the wind. The flames didn't last ? but the ends were still glowing, still red-hot.

Gwen reached the pyre, shoved the sticks in at the base. The plane, at that moment, was directly overhead. Surely the pilot could see her, see the pile of wood and brush, see the word HELP in stones across the sand. She knew it was probably pointless to yell and jump about, but somehow just couldn't stop herself.

She shouted, waved her arms, screamed, "Down here! Help! Down here!" She even stuck her whistle in her mouth and blew for all she was worth.

The plane seemed to dip toward her. And then it swung upward again ? and flew on above the palm trees, disappearing from sight.

"No!" she screamed. "No, you come back here! You come back here right now!"

All at once, the embers at the ends of her kindling sticks caught. With a roaring rush, the pyre burst into hot, burning life. Gwen stood where she was and watched it, watched the flames lick and rear high, watched smoke pour up into the clear blue sky, listened for the plane to circle back around.

But she waited in vain. The sound of it had faded to nothing.

She had failed, hadn't been quick enough, hadn't been ready enough. She cast a glance at Rafe, so still now in the sand, and all she wanted was for it to be her lying there, sick and helpless, for him to be standing here now by the burning pyre they had created together, standing here, well and whole and certain of what he should do next.

Hopelessness was a living, hurtful force inside her. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

And then a voice in her head, a voice that sounded very much like her husband's voice, commanded her, "No."

It was his voice she heard, but her own that actually said the word aloud.

She could not afford this. No self-indulgence. She was the one standing, the one in charge now. And she would not, under any circumstances, surrender to her own despair.

The fire was burning, the smoke was going up, thick and dark. The pilot would see it. He would circle back around.

And right then, as she was telling herself that it was going to happen ? it did.

She heard the hum of the engine coming on again, roaring up louder ? coming back. Coming back!

And then, out over the wide sea, she saw it: a small boat, a rescue boat. It was speeding straight for them, a white wake churning out in a stream behind.

Overhead, the plane dipped, rose up, circled and came back. The boat raced toward the beach.

The miracle had happened.

They were rescued. They would be saved.

She ran to her husband and found him unconscious. She took his head in her lap and she whispered, "Oh Rafe. You'll be all right now. I promise you. You'll be okay. Help has come?

* * *

Six months later?

The sleek gray cat followed at her heels as Gwen checked on her children.

She eased open the door to Kenny's room first, tiptoed across the floor and then pulled up his covers, tucking them around him carefully, not wanting to wake him. Then she moved on to Matty's room, repeating the same motions, smiling to herself when her mouth popped open in a big, loud yawn.

The cat was waiting at the door for her when she emerged into the hall again. He accompanied her down the stairs to the office room at the front of the house.

Rafe was sitting at his computer, lost in the images of some new project he was working on. She smiled to herself and started to back silently out the door.

But he must have heard her. He turned in his chair and held out his hand. She went to him.

He laid his palm on her round belly. "How's the island baby?"

"The island baby is just fine."

She bent down and kissed him, tasting the sweetness beyond his lips, thinking how much she loved him, thinking that it was the very best kind of love: a love good for a lifetime. love that endured.

The End



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