style="font-size:15px;"> “I’m sure he will,” she said. But she wasn’t sure at all. No one had seen him jump into the smoke and flames the way she had. No one had seen him since. No one but she knew exactly what Jack was capable of or would admit that even he was vulnerable. He was human, after all.
She’d pleaded with the captain of the fishing boat that picked them up to go back to the sinking ferry to look for him. But he refused, saying they were full but other boats were still out there looking for survivors. And not to worry about her husband. Easy for him to say.
She was sick of worrying about Jack, sick of watching him risk his life. If they weren’t married, she’d finally be able to break this bond between them and stop worrying, stop thinking about him and stop wondering what he was doing or if he was alive.
She couldn’t sit there another minute while she pictured Jack at the bottom of the sea or fighting off sharks. Was it her imagination or were the others looking at her, thinking she should be out searching for him, or at least down at the dock watching for the next boat?
Too nervous to stay there while everyone talked and laughed and ate and drank as if it was a normal dinner, she jumped up from the table and edged her way across the noisy, crowded dining room. She’d almost reached the door when Jack walked in. His face was caked with grime, he was wearing somebody else’s white T-shirt and dirty overalls, as well as his usual cocky grin. She gasped and grabbed a fistful of his grimy shirt.
“Where have you been?” she demanded.
“Oh, just out for a swim. Miss me?” he asked.
“No.” She dropped her hands. “Yes.”
“Sorry I’m late.” He acted as if he’d just arrived at a faculty cocktail party. “Save dinner for me?”
Olivia choked back a storm of tears and clenched her jaw to keep from exploding in angry frustration. “Why didn’t you come with us?” she demanded. “What’s wrong with you? Did you have to wait for every last passenger to get off? Don’t you realize that this group depends on you?”
“Me? Come on, Olivia, it’s Dr. Robbins who is the head of this dig.”
Olivia looked over her shoulder at the man he was talking about. Dr. Robbins was enjoying a glass of wine at a table in the corner as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Dr. Robbins might be renowned in his field, but he’s all but retired,” she muttered. “He’s no help at all in a crisis. This whole expedition would be lost without…” She shook her head. “Never mind.” What good did it do to rant and rave? Jack would do what he had to do. He always did, he always would. She’d run out of steam and words.
“Calm down,” Jack said, taking her hands in his.
“Calm down?” she sputtered. “That’s easy for you to say. You knew where you were. We didn’t. We thought you were at the bottom of the sea. Isn’t it time you thought about someone besides yourself?”
“I was. I was thinking about you nonstop. I was thinking if I didn’t make it, you’d have to uncover that tomb by yourself. You’d get first crack at the coins and the jewelry and take all the credit. Then you’d write all the articles, get your name in National Geographic, give papers at the conferences. You think I’d let that happen?” he asked with a half smile. “Not a chance.
“Nope, I got picked up by a very nice fisherman in a trawler who supplied me with the dry clothes I’m wearing. Before that I thought I might have to swim to shore. Every time I saw a shark or a wave hit me in the face, I thought about you and what you’d do if I didn’t show up. You might say the thought of you finding those artifacts and discovering who was buried there without me motivated me.”
Olivia swallowed hard and pulled her hands away. So he’d thought about her. She’d motivated him to stay alive. Yes, that’s what he always said. But she couldn’t go through this again, watching him risk his life for someone or something else. She hadn’t known if he was alive or dead. She’d feared the worst, but he was making jokes. Good thing he didn’t know how devastated she would have been if he hadn’t made it or how racked with worry she’d been.
“I should have known what kept you going—it was your usual naked ambition, and your supercompetitive nature,” she said. “It’s you against nature or it’s you against the elements, the dust storm, the flood, the rain, whatever. So far you’ve always won. But someday, Jack, someday…” She choked. Someday he wasn’t going to make it and she was not going to be around when it happened. She’d had enough. No more heroics. No more Jack.
“Enough about me, Olivia,” he said. “What happened to you?” A small worry line crossed his forehead. “I thought you’d make it, but…I wasn’t sure.” His gaze held hers for a long moment. Just briefly she thought he might feel the same intense connection she did, that invisible thread that had joined them once. It was so strong they thought it would last forever. Now she knew that nothing lasts forever.
He scanned the room and the thread snapped. “Everyone else got here okay?”
“Yes, yes. Everyone’s fine. It’s just…I…You were the only one missing. People worry. People care about you.” The truth was no one else was as worried as she was. No, because they weren’t his wife.
“That’s good to know. You know me so well. I’m never late for dinner. Unless the boat goes down. Otherwise I wouldn’t miss the souvlaki or moussaka. I’m starving. Where’re you sitting?”
She pointed to the table in the corner just as the word went around that Jack was there. Before he got to the table, everyone got up to hug him, pat him on the back and congratulate him on escaping the burning ferry boat. Not that they’d had any doubts. Jack was a superhero. He was tough and he was charming. It was up to her to resist that charm…all summer long.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him deep in conversation with Dr. Robbins, who looked vastly relieved to see him. Perhaps he had realized he was getting too old for this kind of adventure.
The rest of the evening progressed as if the boat sinking and their rescue were just the first glitch in the summer program. There would be others, but once you’ve been on a dig, you almost expect them, and you cope. Olivia knew that. She just didn’t know how to cope with Jack at the bottom of the Aegean. Not anymore.
The food kept coming, the bouzouki music began and the dancing started. Olivia managed to relax enough to nibble on a crisp spinach-stuffed spanikopita, and make conversation while Jack made the rounds of the room to speak to everyone in the group as well as some other tourists who’d apparently heard he’d been missing. She was once again struck by his boundless energy, his ease in handling a crowd and his confidence no matter what got in his way. Confidence or not, if he thought he was going to talk her out of a divorce, he was mistaken.
It would be better for her determination to end the marriage, to forget his attributes and focus on his flaws. Like his single-minded pursuit of his career. So single-minded he’d left her behind as soon as he’d gotten the offer from California to be department head. And, of course, there were her flaws, which Jack had enumerated for her in no uncertain terms.
A few of the older group members, like Robbins, were going off to the quiet stone bungalows tucked behind the pines and olive trees. Exhausted and emotionally drained, Olivia sneaked away right after them and checked at the front desk of the hotel to find out where her room was.
“Ah, Mrs. Oakley,” Elena, the young woman
