Home  Parts 1-3  Parts 4-6  Parts 7-9  Parts 10-12  Parts 13-15

Parts 16-18  Parts 19-21  Parts 22-24  Parts 25-28  Part 29-30

Part Twenty-Two

Just Like She Promised

Motivation:  Faith Hill ~ If I’m Not In Love

… If I don’t need you’re touch, why do I miss you so much, tonight…if my heart is lying then, what should I believe in…to hold you forever, give a part of me I thought I’d never give again to someone I could lose…

"We need to talk, please.” His secret weapon didn’t fail, just like she promised she wouldn’t...

Sydney couldn’t speak any longer. For the first time since they got home from Turkey, she was being forced to acknowledge this very real problem. She didn’t know quite what it was that she was feeling, but words like despondent, grieved, and heartbroken came to mind. Closing her eyes, it all came flooding back in a deluge of bottled-up emotions she would rather not acknowledge. She had worked too hard to keep them buried… and part of that included pushing Nigel so far away that he sought comfort from another. He was absolutely right, she was a coward.

Syd could still remember what her hospital room looked like, and how empty and dark it felt. She recalled hearing Nigel’s disquieted cries from the chair beside her when he thought she was sleeping, and how broken-down and defeated he'd looked. She knew that she wasn’t the only one who lost something that night. His eyes had been as hollow as her body felt. It was like something had been mercilessly ripped away from the both of them...

And it had.

Now he was sitting there silently, patiently waiting for her response. “Sydney, tell me what you’re feeling and thinking, right now.”

Her eyes wouldn’t cooperate, and her ability to enunciate was even worse. If she died right now, it would be a welcome reprieve to having her heart torn out from her chest again. “I, I… don’t know… I don’t wanna know!” She looked at his face and the hopeful, yet hurt expression he carried. He moved closer, placing his hand on her arm in a small gesture of support. “I hate this!” She cried out, and in an unprecedented move, Sydney started to sob. Her shoulders quaked up and down, and her eyes welled with tears that were coming too fast to wipe away. She hadn’t cried like this since she lost their baby…

“There now, I promise you everything’s going to be all right…” Nigel slid up beside her, drawing her into his arms, she went willingly. For the first time in months, she let him hold her, and it felt so good, so right.

He squeezed her tightly, and guiding her head to his shoulder, he released a remorseful sigh. He was home again, but poor Sydney, she was still lost. Nigel had an advantage she did not. In all the months following, he had Karen to cry to. Sydney chose not to cry at all. Now here they were, the storm of the century unleashing itself full-force for all to see. No more was she Sydney Fox, tough-as-nails relic hunter and class-act History Professor. Right now she was just a mom, vulnerable and grieving over the loss of her child.

“I, I don’t understand…” she suddenly choked out. “It shouldn’t feel like this… It shouldn’t feel this bad! Oh, Nigel… it wasn’t even a real baby yet!”

“No, no Syd… That’s where you’re wrong!” He couldn’t stand what the sound of her cries did to his ability to remain strong for her. His eyes were red and sore, and his throat ached from trying not to cry. “She was a baby from the moment she came to be, we both know that… And, and she can be again.” Just like she promised, he thought, and he kissed the top of Sydney’s head.

Part Twenty-Three

Drive

Karen couldn’t believe what she heard. Whoever Syd got this from wasn’t fooling around, but he didn’t let on to her! She could hardly wait to present her new information to her colleagues, and rushed out from the trattoria in a terrible hurry, barely stopping long enough to pay her bill! If what the waiter said was true, all Syd and Nigel would have to do is find a way in. Most of the stuff she had was all hearsay, but there was one small thing her talkative waiter did point out… the gold never left the ship. In fact, there was a well-known children’s story told from generation to generation about the tall ship that rested in the centre of the earth, laden with gold and silver! If Karen understood this right, that meant the treasure wasn’t located at the bottom of some obscure cove, it was in an underground cave!

With nerves steeled and standing up really straight, she made her way along the path to Sydney’s rented beach house. She remembered Nigel jotting down the address earlier that day and had it burned into her mind. 21 Sea Horse Lane… It wasn’t going to be easy to interrupt them, considering the purpose of Nigel’s visit in the first place.

“We both know it wasn’t right, Karen, no matter how we might try to justify it.”

“I know that…” She desperately didn’t want to start blubbering in front of him, and started to pace the room. “I promise you, Nige, this isn’t going to turn into a problem. I can handle it, really. I’ve forgotten about it already, you’ll see.”

“Look, I’m not asking you to forget anything. What we shared was very special.” He followed her over to the window, looking out across the choppy waters of the bay. “Karen, you are so beautiful, and you're one of the smartest people I know. Please don't underestimate your abilities and value. I’ll always care about you, no matter what.”

She remembered how he took her hand in his and brushed a sweet kiss across her wrist. They hugged after that. It was warm and soft, and when it was time to let go, she almost didn’t.

“There is always going to be a place for you, right here,” he told her, holding her hand over his heart. She knew he meant it. Nigel didn’t give lip service. He tugged at her heart. She sighed. Yes, he did care about her, just not the same way he cared about Syd, she thought. He saw the vivacious relic hunter first. It was hard for her to even tell him to go to Sydney and fix things between them, but she knew it was the right thing to do. All she had were memories. He wasn’t hers, and he never would be. Sydney wasn’t the type of woman who could share…

Coming up the walk, she began to breathe, deeply. Each step started to get harder to take, but somehow Karen managed to put one foot in front of the other. Oh God, what was wrong with her? She had arrived, a screen door was all that stood between her and oblivion, in her opinion. No, she wouldn’t knock yet, she would just have a peek… It was so very quiet, and all sorts of things ran through her mind. Did Sydney kill him and stuff his body in the cellar, did she try to hang him from the ceiling fans, or were they in her bed making love? She shuddered at the last thought, a wistful smirk etched her face as she realised she was more okay with him being dead than in bed with Syd!

Leaning in, she spotted them right away, and what she saw made her heart flutter… There they were, Nigel was sitting with his arms around Syd, cradling her there and rocking back and forth. She knew Sydney wouldn’t be able to resist him, she thought, and that was too bad. Wringing the papers in her hands, she decided that this would have to wait. She wasn’t going to bust in there when they were just starting to connect again. She had more class than that. No, Karen may have gotten the raw end of this deal, but she wasn’t going to be a sore loser. Folding the notes into her purse, she turned to leave. She would talk to Nigel later. It wasn’t like this treasure hoard was going to get up and walk away overnight.

“Karen?”

Startled, she turned to find Nigel coming outside. “Oh, you go back to Sydney, I can talk to you later.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I just found something I thought both you and Syd should look at, only I don’t think now is a good time.” She forced a smile and tried to excuse herself with as much grace as she could muster, backing up without looking behind her. “I should l-leave!”

“Karen!” Nigel vaulted over and tried to break her fall, but in the flurry of arms and legs he ended up landing hard on his backside with her spread eagle across his lap, unscathed. Looking down at her, he forced himself to grin through the pain. “Oh… S-so… Karen, what’s so, so important?”

“Well, you know Nige, I was wondering if you and Syd wanted to go for a little drive…”

Part Twenty-Four

Not Quite Paradise

Thanks to the movie Titan A.E. for the words to theit title song

...Take the path of least resistance into the great unknown, no directory assistance...now you're on your own, if you're looking for a new world, just open up your eyes... well it's not quite paradise. Tomorrow's an illusion, yesterday's a dream, today is no solution. But you gotta let her be...and if you're looking for the answer, it's right before you're eyes...but it's not quite paradise...

Oddly, the drive out to the other side of the island wasn’t as awkward as Nigel had imagined it would be. Even though he and Sydney were now talking, things were still unsettled between them. He didn’t tell Karen that Sydney had seen them, and he had no intentions of doing so in the future. It was just as well, there was no point in embarrassing the girl any more than she already was. He would shoulder that burden for them both. It was, after all, the very least he could do. He may have loved Sydney first and foremost, but what he felt every time he looked at Karen defied explanation. In fact, he had none. Being overly fond of both women was not a healthy thing. He only hoped he could keep it all in perspective, for all of their sakes…

“A waiter? Karen, you are dragging us out here on a tip from a waiter?” Sydney’s eyes widened at the thought, and she laughed inside. Surely this was just a ploy of Karen’s to insinuate herself between her and Nigel.

“He was quite serious, and I... I believe him. I don’t know why I do, but I do!” Karen stood by her claims about there being a secret cave somewhere hidden along the rugged coastline. She wasn’t going to let this go until they at least checked it out.

“If this is such a true and well-known story, how come none of the locals have located it yet? Karen, it’s supposed to be a million dollars in gold,” Syd countered, remembering the old man who told the story to her. He could not emphasise enough how many people had looked, but always came up empty handed. It was pure romantic myth.

Karen just drove, unwilling to defend or justify her discovery to Sydney any further. Nigel knew Sydney wouldn’t even be entertaining it if he hadn’t intervened, insisting on Karen's behalf. She was less than happy at the sight of the young woman, and he feared at one point they might even start openly snapping at one another. Part of him rather enjoyed the fact that they both wanted him, that being every man’s fantasy. On the other hand, that might not be such a good thing. Lucky for Nigel, cool heads did prevail in the end as they all piled into a Land Rover Karen rented for the job. Sydney sat up front with the secretary and navigated, while he got relegated to the back seat like the family pet.

Not twenty minutes later, Karen pulled the SUV up along a grassy hillside overlooking the ocean and parked. “Here we are,” she announced, and hopped out. Nigel followed and Sydney brought up the rear, holding the charts. The wind was warm and soft on their faces, and the fragrance of numerous kinds of colourful wildflowers danced in the air.

“It says there’s supposed to be an underground water cave, but this is just a meadow. Where would the caves be?” Sydney studied the simple drawings made by her source, absolutely sure they were nothing but flights of fancy. “Wait a minute…” She started walking out towards the edge of the cliffs.

“What, did you notice something?” Nigel ran after her, and Karen wasn’t far behind. “Sydney, what is it?”

“Well, if there’s any cave, it would have to be down by the water, not up here. We should try scaling down the headland to see if there are any hidden breaks in the rock walls, if it’s not too steep,” she suggested, not particularly convinced this was the case. She glanced over the edge. It didn’t look like a difficult climb.

“I was thinking the same thing!” Karen excitedly added, and without waiting for the other two, she began to pick her way down the granite face. She couldn’t contain her excitement. “Come on, you two! What are you waiting for?”

Her shrill voice jump-started Nigel, and he too began to crawl down. Sydney was unimpressed and took her sweet time, not believing for one moment that some waiter in a café would know the secret to a long-lost hoard of gold. If he did, why hadn’t he gone and searched it out for himself? He’d never have to wait tables again. This was beginning to look more and more fishy to her the further they got.

Karen made it down about twenty-five feet when she stopped suddenly. There appeared to be a worn trail at one point, now covered well with overgrowth, and not easily spotted from a distance. That certainly wasn’t the case if you were right on top of it, as she now was. “Sydney! Oh my God, look. It’s a tunnel!” She started to pull away bits of rock and brush and didn’t notice when she accidentally cut the palm of her left hand on the sharp edges in her haste, far too rapt to care.

“Karen, stop that, and look at what you’re doing!” Nigel grabbed her wrists to make her stop, and pointed to the blood on her hands. “You’ve cut yourself!”

“Oh great!” Sydney took one look at the slice across Karen’s palm and shook her head. It wasn’t too deep, but it behaved like a dreaded paper cut, bleeding like there was no tomorrow. Exasperated, she examined the wound. “For God sake, you can’t just go wild, Karen. You’re probably going to need stitches for that!”

Karen shrugged. She was too high to feel any kind of pain. “Can’t we just wrap it for now? It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt!”

“With what?” Syd looked wistfully at her secretary. They had no first aid kit.

“With this...” Nigel reached into Karen’s hair and gently tugged the bright pink scarf from her wavy blonde tresses. “This’ll do nicely,” he happliy suggested, and went about the business of wrapping her hand up.

Soon, with Nigel and Sydney helping, they had an opening cleared large enough to scoot one of them at a time through, and what they found amazed them all.