All The King's Horses: A Tale Of Eternal Love (17 page)

It made her heart heavy to think she would have to give up her plans of giving Kent a son. It would be too risky getting pregnant if the cancer wasn’t completely vanquished. She owed it to her small family to play it safe. She should be grateful she was blessed with a happy healthy daughter, and must be enough to satisfy her now.

♥

Kent took the Bonnie Lass out on a charter the next day, but his mind wasn’t on the job. He felt sorry for his clients but for the first time ever he merely went through the motions instead of going the extra mile as he usually did. All he could think about was his beautiful wife and what she must be going through.

Her dream of having another baby was gone, and just when they had both been on the verge of celebrating the defeat of the leukemia she was dealt this blow.

How he hated big business. The drug companies, the oil companies, all those giant conglomerates who played God with the lives of the little people of the world. If only they could get off their bums and slide out from behind their corporate desks and see the misery they caused, then maybe they might find the tiniest seed of compassion in those stony hearts of theirs.

Christy had decided to tell Jack today, and Kent knew the poor old feller would take it very hard. Christy and Talitha were all he lived for now. It was only the other day he was excitedly talking about what the family was going to do when Christy was cured, and all the fun he would have with them before his time on earth was through. He might have to moderate a lot of those plans now. In fact, he would probably have to cancel a fair few of them altogether.

Kent gave some thought to Christy’s options. Conventional treatment hadn’t killed the cancer; it had merely sent it into remission for a while. But that may have happened anyway. He knew a few people who had never gone through any treatment go into remission.

There were the various types of alternative treatments but did any of these really work? Or were they just wishful thinking? Or worse still some elaborate scam set up to fleece desperate people of their life savings?

Oh if only he knew what to do, who to turn to now. He felt completely helpless. He wanted to protect his wife but couldn’t, and that made him feel like a failure.

As he chugged back towards the marina that evening the inky blackness of the water was no rival to the darkness of his mood. He was no closer to a solution than when he set out this morning. He was fighting an enemy he could not see, an enemy he could not touch, and so an enemy he could not defeat.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Do you realize that’s the third ice cream you’ve bought for Talitha today?” Kent shook his head disapprovingly as the little girl tucked into a double scoop of chocolate dipped ice cream.

“Yes, I am,” Christy said calmly.

“You don’t think that’s spoiling her a bit?”

“No I don’t.”

“Why is it every time we go out somewhere you buy her several ice creams?” It had been puzzling him for a while now. Christy was normally the one who was careful not to give their daughter everything she wanted. He and Jack were the ones who were a little remiss in that regard. But when it came to ice creams Christy just kept them coming. And today was proving to be no different. They had driven three and a half hours south to take Talitha to the Auckland zoo, but her interest in ice creams was beginning to outweigh her interest in the animals.

“Does it matter why I buy her ice creams?”

“I think it does. She’s going to get incredibly fat if you keep doing that. It reinforces the wrong values.”

“What have values got to do with me giving my daughter ice cream, Kent?”

“It’s not teaching her self control, Christy.”

Christy looked at Talitha to make sure she was occupied. A chimpanzee seemed to be holding her attention at the moment so she pulled Kent to one side so the little girl wouldn’t hear what she was about to say.

“Do you want to know the real reason I buy her so many ice creams?”

“Yes, I would actually.” He folded his arms and gave her his full attention.

“So she’ll remember me if I die.”

Kent’s eyebrows came down. “I don’t follow you.”

“There’s a good chance I’ll be dead before that little girl turns five, Kent. If that happens there’s a good chance she won’t remember me when she’s older. That upsets me. That would upset any mother.”

“Of course,” he said, instantly softening towards her. “So how do the ice creams fit into it?”

“Between now and then I’m going to buy her as many ice creams as her little tummy can hold. Every time she wants an ice cream I’ll be with her, buying it for her.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that. But want I want to know is why?”

“When I’m gone, and whenever someone buys her an ice cream, she will think of me. She will think of me because it was her mummy who always bought her ice creams.”

His shoulders drooped. He got it at last.

“For the rest of her life she will remember me, Kent, because ice cream will be there to remind her. So please don’t take that away from her, or me.”

“I’m sorry, Christy,” he said sincerely. “I have no idea what you were doing. I promise you I’ll never mention it again.”

She went up on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips. “I love you, Kent London, even though you might be a little slow on the uptake sometimes.”

Talitha had looked back in time to see the kiss, “Mummy kissing Daddy?”

“Mummy loves Daddy,” Christy said.

Talitha looked at Kent. “Daddy loves Mummy?”

“Yes, Sweetheart,” Kent answered, “Daddy loves Mummy very much.”

♥

Six months after Christy used up the last of FK14B her body’s immune system was still holding the cancer at bay. The cell count hadn’t decreased but it hadn’t gone up either. It gave her hope that her body just might conquer this thing after all. The experimental drug had sent the leukemia running for cover and now it was up to her body to do the rest.

Talitha was growing rapidly and the bond between mother and daughter strengthening daily. But through it all the biggest slice of her heart still belonged to Kent. His love, his patience, his kindness and gentleness made her so desperately in love with him.

When they had started out she had thought things would change in time. That those early stirrings she had felt for him would gradually settle down like they had between her and Mike. A mutual love and respect without the early intensity that had driven her heart to a heightened state of desire.

But that in love phase had not worn off for. Three years had passed by since Kent had risked his life to save hers, and she was more in love with him now than she was in the beginning.

She told herself every morning that it was impossible. A love like theirs should only exist in fairy tales. But every morning, as he told her that he loved her, and she felt the warmth of his lips pressed against hers she knew that it was true. He was still just as much in love with her as she was with him.

They hated to be apart. When he went off on a charter a part of her went with him and she didn’t retrieve it until he came back again. She knew he felt the same. It was as if every moment together was prized, and every moment they were apart precious time they would never recover.

She hadn’t thought a relationship like theirs was possible. Human nature wouldn’t allow it. But he always placed her first he had right from the beginning. Maybe that had been God’s original intention for marriage. Because when Kent placed her first she wanted to surrender to him completely, and when she did he placed her above his needs all the more. It was a symbiotic relationship, and it was impossible to imagine one without the other now. They had become so interwoven that they had almost become one.

Christy wondered how Kent and Jack would cope if she were to die. Talitha was so dependant, and even though Kent was patient and loving with her he rarely had to have sole charge of her for more than a few hours. How would he handle it if he had to care for her twenty-four hours of every day?

Even though Jack had been a wonderful father with her she doubted if he would cope with the demands of such a little girl. Maybe the two of them could muddle through together, but what Talitha really needed was a mother. Kent must remarry if she died. He must do it for their daughter’s sake.

Christy hated the thought of Kent holding another woman in his arms the way he held her. She hated the thought of her husband making love to another woman even more. But what she hated most of all was the thought that he would be lonely for the rest of his life, mourning for her and their lost love. Another woman would cure him of that, and so she would give some thought to a suitable candidate if or when the cancer got a hold of her again. There were plenty of attractive and eligible young women in town who would be only too happy to link up with a man as desirable as Kent, even though he did have a little daughter in tow.

Kent’s business was doing well too. So well in fact that he was thinking about buying another boat and hiring Bob Thomas as skipper. With two charter boats out on the water he would nearly double his income. Yes, Kent London was a very good catch indeed.

She wanted someone who would not only be right for Kent but she must be a good step mother too. That would rule quite a few women out. But there were half a dozen or so she could think of that might just fit the bill.

She mustn’t let Kent know what she was up to. It would upset him to discover she was planning a future for him that didn’t include her. But that was the reality of the situation. His future just might not include her.

♥

“I still think that at two and a half she’s too young for a pony, Kent,” Christy said, as she watched her husband lead Talitha and her mount around the small paddock. “I’ve heard such horror stories of children being seriously injured or even killed by their ponies.”

“That would be unsupervised children,” Christy,” Kent insisted. “I’m going to hold the horse’s head the entire time she’s in the saddle.” He jerked a thumb in Talitha’s direction. “Besides, she’s a born natural. Just look at the way she sits in the saddle.”

“Look at me Mummy, I riding my pony.”

“Yes, I can see that, Sweetheart.”

“I wouldn’t put her in harm’s way,” Kent called out, seconds before pony and rider disappeared behind a large oak tree. “I always put her safety first,” he added, when they had come back into view.

“I know, but it’s my job to worry. She’s my little girl and I need to know she’s going to be safe.”

Leading the pony over to where Christy sat on a blanket he lifted Talitha off the ponies back and placed her beside her mother.

“What do you say to Daddy?” Christy asked her.

“Thank you for taking me pony ride, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome, Princess.”

Kent sat down beside his wife and took the sandwich she handed to him. “It’s days like these that make life worth living.”

“It’s a shame we don’t get to do this more often as a family,” Christy said. “You’re working such long hours these days.”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

She handed him a glass of lemonade. “That sounds ominous.”

“How would you like it if we did a bit of traveling?”

“What about your charter business?”

“I think its progressed to the stage where I can take a less hands on approach to it now. Bob’s doing well on his boat and I thought I might hire a new skipper for the Bonnie Lass.”

“So money isn’t a problem?”

“Hasn’t been since I bought the second boat, in fact, things are looking very good for in the financial department.”

“Oh, Kent,” Christy felt a warm wave of happiness roll over her. “it would be wonderful to have you home with us every day.”

“That will be great,” he agreed, “but I was thinking more along the lines of doing some overseas travel.”

“Where did you have in mind?”

“I thought we’d start with Disneyland.”

She nodded knowingly, “only the convertible to go?”

He looked at her blankly until her meaning came to him. “I’d forgotten about that conversation,” he admitted. “I thought we’d all enjoy a trip to Disneyland. I just hope jack agrees to come along.”

“Oh, you won’t be able to stop him. He’s always wanted to go to Disneyland.”

“How about you, Pumpkin?” Kent ruffled Talitha’s long dark hair. “Do you want to go to Disneyland to see Mickey Mouse?”

“Yes.” She looked up at him with the eyes she had inherited from her mother. “I love Mickey Mouse, Daddy.”

Christy leaned back on her elbow. “She doesn’t need to go to Disneyland to see Mickey Mouse, Kent?”

He raised an eyebrow. “She doesn’t?”

“I seem to remember you do Mickey Mouse impersonations.”

“No you don’t,” he said quickly. “You’re not suckering me into that one again.”

Christy turned to their daughter. “You’d like to see Daddy pretend to be Mickey wouldn’t you?”

Talitha looked excitedly at her father. “Yes, Daddy,” she said, clapping her hands with delight, “do Mickey for me.”

“No,” he said desperately, “Mummy’s just teasing. Daddy can’t do Mickey Mouse.” He lowered his eyebrows at Christy in warning.

“Yes, he can, Darling,” Christy said mischievously, “I’ve heard him do Mickey before.”

Talitha’s attention returned to her father. “Please do Mickey for me, Daddy,” she pleaded.

Kent scowled at Christy. “You witch I’ll get you for this.”

“Come on, Kent, don’t keep your audience waiting bring out the mouse.”

Kent nervously cleared his throat. “Come on, Pluto Boy,” he said, in what he hoped was a squeaky voice but came out as a cracked masculine one, “let’s go home.”

Talitha stared at her father for a moment. “That was dumb, Daddy,” she said in disgust. “Mickey doesn’t sound like that.” She turned to Christy. “Daddy sounded dumb, Mummy.”

Christy started to giggle.

“Oh, you’re really going to get it now,” Kent said, shaking his head at her. “Setting me up in front of my daughter like that.” Lunging forward he pinned his giggling wife to the blanket.

“Not in front of the child, Mr. London,” Christy managed between giggles.

He began to kiss her neck, targeting the spot just below her ear where he knew she was the most ticklish.

Christy’s giggling intensified. “Stop it, Kent. You know I can’t stand that.”

Talitha started to laugh, “Daddy tickling Mummy.”

“Kent…no…”

“Are you ever going to rib me about Mickey Mouse again?”

“No.”

“What? I can’t hear you.” He started kissing that spot again.

Christy was giggling uncontrollably now, her body twisting and writhing under Kent’s onslaught. “No,” she managed, “I won’t. Kent, I promise.”

Stopping, Kent looked his wife in the eyes. “You better not be lying to me Christy London or the tickle monster will return.”

Talitha was chuckling for all she was worth. She loved every second of it.

“Oh, Sir Wally, you are so cruel,” Christy said in her most practiced English accent. “If I weren’t so in love with you I’d send you to the tower.”

His face suddenly lost all levity. “Are you still in love with me? I mean really in love with me?”

She placed her hand against her cheek. “Oh, Kent, how could you doubt it?” She gazed into his soft brown eyes. “I have never loved anyone the way I love you. I could never love anyone the way I love you.”

As his lips come down on hers she surrendered her mouth to him. Kent had always been a good kisser and this time was no exception. If anything, there was a little extra fire in his passion that sent her usually steady pulse racing.