Read Stormy Haven for Free Online Page B

’ t get too heated up over your first affair the bump when it ’ s finished won ’ t hurt much. ”
    She laughed. “ You ’ re being nasty about Ramon. I think he ’ s charming, such a change from cold-blooded Englishmen. And I ’ m not in the least danger. Elfrida told you that I ’ m not geared for high-powered romance. ”
    “ I never have believed that any one woman knows the more vital details about another. To Elfrida you ’ re the young and docile companion. To Ramon, on the other hand, your fair skin and all-too-apparent innocence present a challenge. ”
    “ But that is wonderful, ” she exclaimed, and added mischievously, “ What am I to you, Stephen? ”
    “ A nuisance, ” he said laconically, “ like a recurring toothache. And don ’ t ask me why, because I ’ m not too certain myself. I only know that since the day I saw you surrounded by the mob in Aden you ’ ve irritated me. ”
    “ That ’ s rather a pity, ” she said, a little dashed. “ Would you like me to keep out of the way when you ’ re with Elfrida? ”
    He looked at her with exasperation, and turned on the ignition. “ Let ’ s find the coral reef, ” he said.
    They slid around to the end of the drive, and he parked under a casuarina. He dropped down to the beach and reached up to lend her a hand. She landed beside him, bent and scooped up a handful of sand.
    “ What queer stuff. Is it powdered coral? ”
    “ Coral and shells. You get some of the same sand on the eastern coast of Madagascar. In the hurricane season the houses are full of it, in spite of the shutters. ”
    “ When is the hurricane season? ”
    “ December to April. The cyclones don ’ t occur more than once or twice a year, and there may not be any at all. I shall have left Mindoa before Christmas, and I daresay you will, too. ”
    She trod cave rn ously on the yielding beach, mounted with him to the grass from which the palms leaned. December was four months away. She didn ’ t want to think about it.
    They climbed a short incline and found opening before them a new and beautiful stretch of coastline. Tiny inlets and soft green promontories, a hushed blue sea upon which lay a curved chain of rose pink and pure white.
    “ Coral islands, ” she breathed. “ All misty and shining. They ’ re enchanting. ”
    “ And like most enchanting things they ’ re dangerous, ” he said.
    “ You ’ re such a mocking person, Stephen! ” She twisted to look up at him. “ Even when you ’ re a sport you have to be overbearing and sarcastic about it. Anyone would take you to be forty and entirely warped. ” She stopped, then inquired interestedly, “ Why have you never married? ”
    “ Because I ’ ve never wanted to. ”
    “ You mean you ’ ve never been in love? ”
    “ No, ” he said with tantalizing calm. “ I mean I ’ ve never w anted to get married. ”
    “ Aren ’ t you ever going to? ”
    “ I couldn ’ t say, my child. Maybe one day I ’ ll relinquish my freedom, but at the moment it ’ s as inviolate as it ever was. ” Fleetingly Melanie thought of Elfrida; but it occurred to her that if Stephen was weakening toward her cousin he would be the last man to reveal it before he was ready. What a strange experience to be in love with Stephen Brent, to be loved by him! Hastily, before she could mention anything to make him angry, she said, “ What are you going to do on the island—what sort of work? ”
    He shrugged, and leaned back against the rubbed gray trunk of a palm with his hands in his pockets. “ For me the next three or four months are in the nature of a vacation—a busman ’ s holiday. The Development Corporation—I ’ m their technical adviser—owns lands and plantations throughout Africa and the East. We have a tract on Mindoa that has never been assayed, so I ’ m here to take deflections and made a report. ”
    “ Deflections? Does that mean you bore and extract samples? ”
    “ Quite right. What else do you