Ocean of Fire (15 page)

“It’s so wild and untouched,” she gasped, when they reached a clearing from where they could see across the rugged mountain range for many of kilometres. “It was worth it, wasn’t it?”

There was no reply from Philip. She turned to find he had gone to stand at the other side of the look-out. He was gazing down at the void below when Nicole stopped beside him.

“Philip?” Tentatively she placed a hand on his arm. For a moment he didn’t move, and then, without looking at her, reached for her hand, taking it in his. She slipped her other arm through his, knowing better than to talk right now. Something told her all he wanted was her comforting touch, and for what seemed like a long time they stood close together, silently gazing out across the green mountains.

“All this wilderness kind of puts things into perspective,” he said finally. “It makes our problems seem rather insignificant.”

Nicole knew he was at the verge of telling her what was troubling him. She held her breath, waiting for him to go on, but a noise that sounded very much like a child wailing caught her attention.

“Did you hear that?” she asked, turning in the direction she’d heard it coming from. She couldn’t see anything through the dense foliage around the clearing.

“Hear what?”

There
was
a child crying somewhere in those trees, she realized as the sobbing grew louder. Nicole started back across the clearing, just as a small frightened boy stumbled out of the greenery, a child she instantly recognized as little Marcus Martinoli.

She rushed towards him, taking his small shaking body into her arms.

“There there. It’s all right,” she soothed, stroking his soft black hair from his forehead. There was a scratch on his cheek, but apart from that he seemed to be uninjured.

“Did you lose your Mummy and Daddy?” she asked.

The little boy bawled even louder.

“Hey, it’s O.K. We’ll find them. You’re safe now. Aunty Nicole and Uncle Philip will look after you. You remember me, don’t you? I had breakfast with you this morning.”

Marcus gulped a few times, nodding. Nicole glanced around to where Philip stood several feet away. He was regarding them both with another grim expression hardening his features. Something about the Martinolis was definitely bothering him, she decided.

“Do you suppose they’re lost too?” she asked him.

“I doubt it.”

“What do you think we should do then? Wait for them here. I mean this is the end of the road, so to speak.”

“No, there are other trails which we passed that they could have taken.”

“Not with a four year old. They’re day trips.”

“I think we should just take him back with us,” he said after another long moment.

“Yes, that would be best.” Then she turned back to Marcus. “We’re going to take you back to the hotel with us, where I’m sure we’ll find your Mummy and Daddy. We were all supposed to have dinner together, remember.”

“I was so scared,” he gulped, balling grubby fists into his tear stained eyes. “Mama called me, but I wanted to play with the furry bunny. He kept running away. I chased him, and then… then...”

“Then you got lost. Poor baby! But you’re safe now.” She stood up, taking his small hand in hers.

They started walking back the way they had come, but it was slow going, as they had to adjust their pace to Marcus’s little legs.

They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when she glanced down at him again. He was obviously tiring, and Nicole wondered if one of them should carry him. She could see Philip’s black jacket moving through the foliage ahead of them. He’d said nothing more once they had set off, leaving her to take care of Marcus. Did he think it was a woman’s job to look after children, or had he had so little to do with them that he was afraid to get involved? Now wasn’t the time to wonder about it, as she glanced down at the weary child again.

“Do you want me to carry you?” she asked the little boy.
He nodded gratefully. She reached for him, hoisting him up and securing him on her hip. He’s no lightweight, she thought, knowing she wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long.

“Slow down!” she called out to the figure disappearing through the trees ahead of them. He stopped, allowing Nicole to catch up with him. Philip frowned when he saw she was carrying the child, yet he didn’t offer to take him from her. A flash of anger shot through her, as he turned to continue on his way. How could he be so inconsiderate? He had been quite prepared to look after her when she’d been ill, because as he’d said he liked the feel of her in his arms, but offering to carry a weary child was obviously too much bother. She scowled at his back as he walked away from them.

For a while she struggled along with Marcus getting increasingly heavier. Finally, before she dropped him, she set him down.

“You’ll have to walk again for a while,” she told him.

“That’s all right. Mummy won’t carry me anymore. She says I’m a big boy now and can walk by myself,” he declared, falling into step beside her, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before he started dragging his little feet again.

Another ten minutes elapsed before Nicole called out to the figure ahead of them again.

“I think you should take him now,” she asserted, when they caught up with Philip. He looked at her for a long moment, before shifting his gaze down to the child. Another dark brooding look crossed his face. “Please,” she added.

Marcus stared up at him as he advanced towards him. For a moment Nicole thought he was going to object, maybe even burst into a fresh set of tears. Looking at Philip from a child’s point of view, he would cast a rather menacing figure. Were she Marcus’s size, she’d be inclined to make a run for it instead of placing herself in his care. The way he frowned down at the boy didn’t help either. But Marcus was either too tired to care who carried him, or didn’t consider Philip quite so terrifying after all, for he didn’t complain when the big man picked him up.

Their pace accelerated considerably after that. They hadn’t been walking for long when they heard people shouting ahead of them. It soon became clear who they were, since it was Marcus’s name they were calling.

“Mama! Papa!” the child shrieked.

A few moments later they came into view, and Philip set Marcus down when he started wriggling excitedly in his arms.

“Oh thank God you’re safe,” Marina cried, hugging the boy to her. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Don’t you ever run off like that again,” Nick reproved, also hugging the little boy. “There won’t always be good people like Nicole and Philip to find you.”

“I won’t,” he promised solemnly.

“Thank you ever so much,” Marina said, turning to Philip.

“It’s Nicole you should thank. She was the one who comforted him.” Only because you didn’t seem to want anything to do with him, she thought crossly.

“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I think we should buy you dinner tonight,” Marina said.

“You don’t have to do that. We only did what anyone else would have under the circumstances,” Nicole replied, feeling a little embarrassed by the other woman’s gushing display of gratitude.

“Of course we do,” she insisted. “You found our son.”
Nicole decided not to argue with her, and they set off again with Philip bringing up the rear.

They were to meet Nick and Marina at seven that evening. Nicole slipped into the only dress she had brought with her. The rest she’d left for her mother to stow on board the yacht for its return journey. It was electric blue, body hugging, reaching mid-thigh, and another one of her mother’s gifts. When she emerged from the bathroom wearing it, she collided with the full force of Philip’s appraising dark eyes. After meeting up with the Martinolis and returning their son to then, he’d remained as distant as ever, but all of a sudden a flash of warmth flickered across the hard planes of his face.

“You might be small, but everything is perfectly proportioned. You have a beautiful body, Nicole. A sweet little face, and the most adorable hair,” he said softly, reaching out to stroke the soft curls falling across her shoulders. She stared bemusedly back up at him. The seductive, sensual Philip was back, and even though she welcomed this side of him, she still couldn’t help wondering what brought about these abrupt changes in his personality.

Deciding to play it cool, she placed her hand against his shirt. “You don’t look so bad yourself,” which was the truth. He did look terrific in the pale blue shirt and gray trousers he was wearing. They weren’t the height of sophistication, but even in formal wear the rough edges of his character showed through. Not that she cared. Nicole wasn’t the epitome of sophistication herself. In that respect they were perfectly suited. It was a pity that in so many other ways they weren’t, and it seemed Nicole wasn’t the only one who noticed it. Marina did too.

They had finished their entrees and main course when she asked Nicole to accompany her to the Ladies room. They had bought a hamburger for Marcus on the way back to the hotel, and after his ordeal that afternoon he was fast asleep before they even left for dinner.

Philip hadn’t been as uncommunicative as over breakfast, and when the two women left the table, he was giving Nick some legal advice on a business venture he was planning on undertaking.

They were standing in front of the basins when Marina turned to her. “I know it probably isn’t my place to ask this, but what on earth is bothering that boyfriend of yours? Surely he isn’t always so distant and aloof.”

That was coming straight to the point, Nicole thought. If she didn’t like the other woman so much, she would have told her to mind her own business.

“No, he isn’t always like that,” she replied, thinking of all the times he’d been anything but. It occurred to her that was always when they were intimate, and never when issues of importance cropped up. Her worried expression must have given her away, for Marina placed a concerned hand on her arm.

“You care for him a great deal, don’t you?” Marina asked.

“I didn’t want to, but now that do I’m determined to fight to develop a decent relationship with him.”

“It won’t be easy. You’re the social worker, so I’m sure you’ve already noticed that something is troubling him, probably has been for years.”

“Yes, his parents’ death. They died in a car accident,” Nicole admitted. “But he refuses to talk about it.”

Marina looked thoughtful for a moment. “He said something to me when we got back to the car park.” Nicole remembered seeing them exchange a few words, but had thought nothing of it at the time.

“It wasn’t so much what he said, but the way he said it. He told me to look after Marcus, because we might not be so lucky next time.”

Nicole understood exactly what she meant. Philip had witnessed the fine line between life and death. He’d seen the people he loved most in the world slip across that line.

“You must get him to tell you about it, Nicole. I have this awful feeling your relationship is doomed if you don’t.”

Little Marcus reminded Philip far too much of Michael. So many painful memories had surfaced over the past few days, making him wonder why everything had to return to haunt him now when he’d finally made something of himself and found a woman he really cared about. He sincerely suspected that was the reason. Because he’d allowed himself to fall in love, the shell he’d built around his heart had shattered, allowing all the pain of the past back in again. He’d opened himself up to emotion and now it flooded him with all its torment, as well as all its warmth, warmth for the beautiful red-haired woman who’d made him feel again.

He’d been so awful to her today and not very nice to her new found friends either, making him wonder if he should just let her go. Nicole didn’t need him and all his baggage in her life. Her parents were bound to give her a hard time over him. The two of them were worlds apart.

But even contemplating the thought made him ache with loneliness, the same debilitating loneliness that had consumed him after his entire family had died. For the first time in years Philip felt lost and confused, not knowing which way to turn, and he hated that feeling.

It was after ten when they parted company in the hall, the other couple thanking them again for finding and looking after Marcus.

“Perhaps we’ll see you at breakfast,” Marina said to Nicole. Philip was already heading for their room further along the corridor.

“If not, enjoy the rest of your trip. And I wish you all the best on that other matter.” She slanted a glance in the direction of Philip’s departing figure.

Nicole hugged her newfound friends, before they turned to unlock their door.

The room was in darkness when she entered, but before she could reach for the light switch, she felt Philip’s strong arms encircling her waist, pulling her up against his body.