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'Til There Was You

An Ennoble Line Romance

by Joyce and Jim Lavene

Published by Awe-Struck E-Books, Inc.

ISBN: 1-58749-079-X

'Til There was You

There were bells on the hill,
But I never heard them ringing,
No, I never heard them at all,
'Til there was you.

-- with apologies to Meredith Wilson

Chapter One   Chapter Two   Chapter Three

Chapter One

"Hi." Robbie Jo smiled at him. "You're from the conference, right?"

"Right." He smiled back at her and checked her short skirt and pretty face. "Are you here for the conference, too? I'm here to pick up Dr. Smolka, but we could fit one more. I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing the car with you."

"I'm with Regal Hotel management. There's been some kind of screw up. They need you back there."

"Come on! Why?"

"Another assignment." She shrugged. "I don't know. I just follow instructions like you." She smiled at him again but he didn't smile back.

"That's stupid! I'm already here! I've been here for half an hour! If I leave now, I don't get a tip for the fare."

"Hey, don't tell me. I just go where they send me. Besides, I heard these foreign doctors are pretty tight when it comes to tipping." She held out her hand for the all-important welcome sign. "Dr. Smolka, you say?"

"Yeah." He glanced around. "I'm not taking this crap from them. You stand here. I'm going to call the hotel. They can't just push us around like this!"

"You tell 'em! I won't let Dr. Smolka get away."

He handed her the sign and stalked off, looking for a pay phone.

Robbie Jo Connor marshaled her forces as carefully as any general before a major battle. She knew what time Dr. Smolka's New York plane was landing at the Atlanta airport. She had his picture in her pocket in case she couldn't identify him. She was standing at the exit where he would have to get off and was holding a sign with his name on it.

The plane had already landed and passengers were beginning to straggle off the wide body jet. She glanced around nervously, hoping the other driver had plenty to say to the person at the other end of the phone before he realized his mistake. Hurry! She urged her prey, looking at the people's faces as they disembarked. His face, when she spotted him, was just like the pictures from the magazine articles.

Dr. Alexei Smolka had a thick dark hair that he wore a little longer than was fashionable, and an arresting angular face. He was tall and had broad shoulders, even though he was very thin. He looked a little frail, but it was probably just his height with that thin frame. His face was pale and his vivid blue eyes were keen. She suffered a momentary twinge of guilt for what she was about to do, but it passed quickly. She wasn't about to abandon her plan.

Robbie Jo watched him remove his wire-rimmed glasses and put them in his pocket. His magazine photos hadn't done him justice, she decided. Or she hadn't really noticed. He was a very handsome man. He had the look of a brooding, dark prince who came from some Carpathian castle. Without his white coat and the clinical background, he could almost be a cover model for a romance book.

She shook her head at the fantasy, but it had already lodged in her brain somewhere and refused to leave. He carried a travel bag across his shoulder and held a book in one hand. She could tell from the way he refocused his gaze that he had been absorbed in it on the plane. He had begun to search the waiting crowd for his ride. Robbie Jo took a deep breath, straightened her short skirt and walked boldly toward him.

"Dr. Smolka?" she inquired politely with what she hoped was a dazzling, trustworthy smile.

He looked at her, equally polite, but his smile was a little less forthcoming. "I am Alexei Smolka. Are you from the conference?" he asked in heavily accented English.

Robbie's smile became bigger. "That's right. Do you have any other luggage?"

"Just one bag," he replied quietly. He followed her as she started moving through the crowd. "Shall I pick it up now or will it be sent to the hotel?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the angry face of the driver she'd sent away. Beside him were two, large security guards. They were all standing at the side of the crowd coming from the plane, searching their faces as they walked by. She knew that they were looking for her. Damn! Robbie took Dr. Smolka's arm to hurry him through the gate area.

"We're running a little late, Doctor," she explained, stepping up the pace. "If you could walk a little faster?"

Alexei looked down at her hand on his arm. "The conference doesn't start until tomorrow. How late can we be?"

"We're not late for the conference, of course," she said without slowing. "We're late -- with the car. The conference has to send a car out for other visitors."

"Of course," he agreed, shifting his bag to accommodate their near running mode. "I'm grateful that they could meet me at all."

"This way, Doctor." She tugged at his arm, veering them away from the driver and security guards who spotted them and begun to pursue.

"Wait!" the real driver yelled, seeing them. "Dr. Smolka!"

"Did someone call my name?" Alexei asked, starting to look around them.

"No," she replied, tugging at him harder. They were almost at the outside doors, just a few more steps. Robbie was double parked in a loading zone. She knew she'd be ticketed, but she wouldn't have to go out into the parking lot and look for her car.

"I believe those men are pursuing us," Alexei told her, noticing the three running after them. He stopped and turned to face them.

"No way," she reassured him breathlessly, tugging at his arm to get him going again. "They're probably chasing a purse snatcher. Or a bomb suspect. I heard there was a bomb here earlier."

"A bomb?" he asked incredulously. "Why haven't they evacuated the airport?" he demanded as they reached the doors.

"They're trying, but the crowd is going to go wild. Panic, you know. That's why we have to get out before it happens."

"And my bag?" he asked.

"The hotel will pick it up later. When the bomb threat is over," she said, hoping her lungs wouldn't burst before they got away. "Please hurry!"

"They have excellent service," he commented. "I hope the bomb doesn't explode."

Robbie pointed to the left. "There we are, Doctor. Just another minute and we'll be on our way."

Alexei frowned when he saw the vehicle. It was a nearly demolished red pickup truck with a stone hole in the front window and a KISS sticker on the side. "This is what the conference sent for me?"

Robbie took his bag and pushed it on the seat. "There are so many people attending the conference," she lied smoothly. "They had to do the best they could."

He continued to frown at the decrepit truck. He was noticing the length of rope and the scattered pieces of shingle in the bed. Robbie looked back and saw that the real driver and the two security guards had made it through the doors and were looking for them.

"What is this piece of paper?" Alexei asked, picking up the parking ticket that he found on the window under the wiper.

"They...uh...give me that to park here," she told him, looking at the three men still standing by the doors. "Doctor, please! I'm going to lose my job if we're late."

He smiled at her and nodded. "Of course. I'm sorry to be a bother." He pushed himself into the pickup and closed the door. "It was kind of the conference to send what they had for me."

Robbie climbed in and slammed the door shut. The sound caught the attention of the three men at the exit. They turned and pointed, then ran toward the truck, shouting after them.

"There are those men again," Alexei said, staring at them as Robbie started the engine and pulled smoothly into traffic.

"They're too late," Robbie told him triumphantly.

"Too late?" he wondered.

Robbie smiled at him. "They lost the purse snatcher, I'm afraid. I hope they do a better job finding the bomb. Sit back, Doctor. It's a long ride to the hotel."

Robbie knew she was lucky that Dr. Smolka had been in the U.S. for only a few weeks. He didn't know a lot about American ways yet. Certainly no American doctor would have gone along with getting into a ten-year-old pick up truck with three men chasing him. He might have asked for her ID. She'd been prepared for that. She'd even been prepared to pretend that she was carrying a gun in her pocket, if necessary. One way or another, Dr. Smolka was going with her!

She knew a few personal things about Alexei Smolka. He was from Croatia, they had written those things in the magazine articles. She knew that he'd perfected a new surgical technique back home, but that the U.S. government was sponsoring trials for it. The technique actually restored the hearing of children who were born deaf.

"We seem to be heading out of the city," Dr. Smolka observed as they left behind the tall buildings and city congestion.

Robbie turned the truck on the Interstate. "It's a ways out, Doctor. They thought you might like the fresh air and green grass."

Alexei Smolka studied the woman who sat behind the wheel. She drove like a demon, her eyes constantly going to the rearview mirror. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew that she was lying. "What is your name?"

She glanced at him. "Robbie Jo. Robbie is fine."

"I am Alexei. Where are we going?"

Robbie's smile never wavered. "To the hotel."

"What hotel?"

The one you're staying at," she responded carefully.

"And the name?"

"The Regal. Relax, Doctor. I know where I'm going."

Alexei nodded. "I am certain that you do. But I think you should take me to the hotel."

Robbie's smile faded. She held her hands tightly on the steering wheel and put her foot down harder on the accelerator. She'd been hoping this wouldn't happen for a little while longer. They weren't even to the state line yet. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I can't do that."

Alexei frowned, not sure if he should be alarmed or not. It seemed difficult to believe that this slip of a girl was kidnapping him. Yet hadn't he known women in his own country who had been dedicated enough to a cause to do whatever was necessary to further it? During the war, there had been as many women as men participating in the bloodshed. It was old-fashioned of him to think that a woman was incapable of violence just because she was a woman.

He studied Robbie, the lovely young woman who had just kidnapped him. Years of living through war and dealing with unusual circumstances to stay alive held him in good stead now. He didn't panic. He didn't try to push her. Instead, he watched and waited for the right moment.

"Where are you taking me, Robbie?"

She didn't look at him. "I'm taking you home with me."

Alexei smiled. "It's a novel approach, but surely we could have had coffee first?"

She smiled and looked at him. "You're very good looking, Dr. Smolka. I'm sure you know that. But I'm taking you home for Rickey, not for me."

"Rickey?" He puzzled over the name. If this woman was dedicated to a cause and in the thrall of some man, she was doubly dangerous. But what could they want from him?

"I apologize for doing it this way, but I tried to get to see you and I could tell that wasn't going to work."

"You tried to see me in New York?"

"No, I tried to get an appointment to see you while you were in Atlanta. Your secretary said you weren't seeing anyone while you were at the conference."

"That's true," he agreed. "I'm here to teach, not to be a celebrity."

Robbie urged the truck past a car on the road. They were only a few miles from the state line. She checked the rear mirror for police or speeding security forces closing in on her. There was only a tanker truck and a Cadillac convertible.

"I only need you to meet Rickey and hear our story and then if you decide you won't help," she shrugged, "you won't help."

"And you'll take me to the hotel?"

She nodded. "I'll take you to the hotel."

He nodded. "All right. Then I'm listening."

She shook her head. "I'd rather not tell you until you meet Rickey. I could have explained the whole thing to you in Atlanta, but I wanted you to meet him first."

"Why not bring him with you?"

"Because I wasn't sure how this would turn out and I didn't want him to be here if it went bad. We're only about a hundred miles from Atlanta, two hours by car. It shouldn't take long for you to get there and get back. You said it yourself, the conference doesn't start until tomorrow."

A mistake on his part, Alexei decided. Soft living in luxury hotels with drivers and attendants had made him give too much away. Robbie seemed innocuous enough, but she had kidnapped him and planned to elude the police without her lover Rickey getting the blame for any of it. He would not do or say anything to help her again.

"That's true, but there are people who will be looking for me when I'm not delivered at the hotel."

"Actually," she began with a wry smile, "they're already looking for you. I sent the driver who was supposed to pick you up on a wild goose chase. Those three men who were yelling and running us will have called the police by now. We may not make it back to Flattsboro."

"That's where Rickey is?" he questioned. "In Flattsboro?"

"Yes."

"Wouldn't it have been simpler to have him meet us somewhere closer to Atlanta?"

"It might have been," she agreed. "But I didn't want anyone else to know about this. That way, if I am caught or if you decide to press charges against me, there's only me to blame."

"You've thought it out very carefully," he conceded. "And you're right, there will be consequences to pay for this action. I hope it's worth it to you. Perhaps you shouldn't have let Rickey influence you so much."

Robbie took an exit off the Interstate. "You don't understand."

"Just so," he admitted. "You have kidnapped me and purposely not told me why."

Robbie pulled the truck off on a two-lane, back country road. Trees grew thickly along the sides and the road was free of traffic. It was easy for Alexei to understand that she thought the back roads would be safer. They would be harder for the police to track. He realized that it also gave him an opportunity that might not come again.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I couldn't figure out any other way to do it. And when you meet Rickey, you'll understand."

"I don't think I will understand your desire to please this man who could lead you to prison."

"Man?" Robbie asked with a short laugh. "But Rickey is just -- "

When she looked away from him and pressed on the brake to avoid hitting a squirrel that ran across the road, Alexei made his move. He leaned close to her and put his hands on the steering wheel.

"You're going to kill us both!" she yelled, trying to keep the truck on the road. Her foot slipped across the gas pedal and the truck leapt forward. "Let go!"

"Did you think I'd just sit here and let you take me to your lover?"

"Lover?" she squealed. She looked into his face so close to hers. "Rickey's my son!"

"Your son?"

The truck hit the thick gravel at the side of the road and the wheels flew off the pavement. They tried to bring the truck back on the road but it was no use. It careened off into the swamp and hit a tree. The engine died and the front wheels spun above the ground, but at least they had stopped.

Robbie had hit her head against the dash and it hurt like hell. She looked at Alexei, prepared to lash out at him for making them wreck her truck, but he was unconscious against the seat. When she looked at his white face and the trace of blood on his head, she groaned and cursed out loud. Then she passed out next to him.

When she awakened sometime later, it was dark. She glanced down at the lighted face on her watch, but it was cracked. It had stopped at three thirty. She looked out at the moon in the black sky and knew it was well into the night.

Alexei still lay slumped on the seat next to her. Her head throbbed painfully, but she managed to rummage under the seat and find her flashlight. She looked at her reflection in the cracked rearview mirror and saw that her head had been bleeding. The blood was dry. She touched it gingerly, but it didn't start bleeding and it didn't look like she would need stitches. She wasn't sure about Doctor Smolka.

"You've done it this time, Robbie," she muttered under her breath, releasing the seatbelt. "Of all the damn fool things to do!"

What if she had killed him? She had a feeling that any judge or jury would find guilty. He had been trying to escape because she was trying to kidnap him! He thought she was taking him to her lover, for some reason. She knew some of what he'd been through in Croatia. She shuddered to consider what he'd been thinking.

"Should've thought of that a little sooner," she chastised herself.

She shined the flashlight into his face. His eyes were still closed, but the cut on his head had stopped bleeding. She felt for the pulse in his neck and gasped when she didn't feel anything. He was dead.

"The pulse is here," he told her, taking her hand in his and holding it to his neck.

"Oh." She felt his blood course through his vein. His neck was warm beneath her fingers. He kept his hand on hers against his throat. "I'm so glad you're not dead."

He sat up, groaned and put his hand to his head. "I'm so happy to please you."

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Of course it hurts," he replied angrily. "Let me have that flashlight."

She gave it to him and he shined the light into his face, examining his head in the mirror. The cut was superficial, but he probably had a slight concussion and he had been unconscious for some time.

"Where are we?" he asked her.

"I'm not sure. Probably about three miles from my home."

"Flattsville?"

"Flattsboro," she corrected him.

"Whatever." He shone the light at her. "You're injured?"

"My head hurts."

"Good!" he told her calmly, shutting off the light. "You deserve far worse than that for this insane act!"

Robbie watched as he leaned back and kicked the crushed door open. He jumped down from the truck, then reached back for his bag.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"Away from you. You're a mad woman!"

"I am not a mad woman," she defended hotly, pushing over to his side and jumped out after him. "I'm just...oh, I...I'm -- "

She passed out at his feet. Alexei looked down at her and started to walk away. She was a mad woman, no matter what she said. She had kidnapped him and almost killed him. He certainly didn't owe her anything. But years of saving lives and caring for others took their toll on his conscience. He couldn't walk away from her, no matter what she'd done. What was it she had said to him before they hit the tree?

He knelt down beside her on the dark, damp ground and felt her pulse. It was strong and even. He had glimpsed her injury in the truck. It hadn't looked much worse than his, but head injuries were the devil to diagnose. She had probably just fainted when she jumped down. She moaned softly and started to move, proving the validity of his diagnosis.

"What happened?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"You fainted."

"Fainted? I've never fainted in my life."

"It was probably stress along with the head trauma," he told her. "How many men have you kidnapped before?"

"None," she admitted sheepishly. "Oh God! And I've wasted my time! I've ruined my life and it's already too late! I've ruined Rickey's life, too! For nothing!" She burst into tears.

"Come now." Alexei helped her to her feet and stood with her a moment while she swayed a little. "You'll feel better in a moment."

"How can I feel better?" she demanded, barely able to speak through the sobs that shook her. "I've screwed the whole thing up!"

Alexei had heard women cry. He'd had five sisters and a mother who had cried if the dog didn't sleep in its bed by the fire. He'd lived through a war where thousands had died around him and mothers and wives had wailed at their loss. Yet he didn't think he had ever heard a woman cry so loudly and pathetically as this one. It seemed only natural to drop his bag and take her in his arms. He could almost wrap his long arms double around her slender body. She was not much bigger than a child herself. It was then that he recalled what she'd said to him. Rickey was her son!

"So, Rickey is not your lover but your son?" he asked, hoping to do anything to distract her. The front of his shirt was soaked with her tears. Between the blood and the tears, he had a feeling his suit was ruined. And still he didn't understand why he was there!

"That's right," she sniffed. "I'm sorry. I should've explained."

"When would you have done so?" he queried, glad that she could speak again without sobbing. "You've been trying to abduct me."

"That's true," she admitted, her voice still thick with tears. "I know some things about your background. I should've known you wouldn't just let me kidnap you."

"And how do you know these things?"

"I read the Time Magazine article about you coming to this country to conduct trials of your new surgical technique. They mentioned a few things about your life."

He nodded and released her. "Yes, they did. They had no right to do so. They asked me to talk about my successes then they added what they wanted."

"Welcome to America," Robbie said with a grin. "Free press and women kidnapping innocent doctors. What a country!"

The mist was rising from the swamp. It was cool and damp and felt like it could seep through even the sturdiest of clothes and shoes.

"Perhaps we should go," Alexei said. "I hope you know where we are, because otherwise we're lost." He looked around the dark trees and soggy ground.

"No problem, Doctor," she assured him. "I've spent my whole life here. I know my way through these swamps without looking."

He gazed down at her. "We could follow the road and find our way."

"We don't need the road! This way is shorter."

Robbie was already trudging through the soaked ground and the hanging moss. The moon made ghostly shadows filtering through the trees. An owl called through the branches over their heads.

"I think the road would've been simpler," he called out as she slapped him in the face with another tree branch.

"But not as fast," she explained. "Two hundred years ago, there was a man named Andrew Jackson. They called him the swamp fox. He's one of our heroes of the Revolutionary war. He and his men lived in these swamps and popped out to raid the British garrisons and trick the soldiers. He helped win the war."

"Living in these swamps?" Alexei asked doubtfully.

"Exactly. He knew that travel was faster and harder to detect when they stayed in the swamp instead of on the road."

"And who would follow them?" he wondered sarcastically.

"That's right," she announced cheerfully. "No one wanted to be in the swamp."

"I think I can appreciate their sentiments."

The swamp became deeper and murkier. The trees and moss were so thick that the moon couldn't even penetrate some spots. Alexei clung to his bag and refused to wonder what it was that had squished into his shoes. A bird flew out at him and something else hissed. He kept his eyes on Robbie's back as she kept up the pace.

Robbie refused to think that she had ruined his suit and shoes and probably given him a concussion. She would buy him a new suit and a new pair of shoes. He'd get over the concussion. Once she got home, it was all going to work out. She knew it was going to be okay.

"You've told me a part of your history and you've told me that Rickey is your son, but you haven't told me why I'm here," Alexei reminded her.

"You're right," she said, feeling a little foolish. "I had wanted to save it for when you meet Rickey, but under the circumstances, I know you deserve to hear the truth."

"I think that and a hot cup of coffee would be nice," he replied.

"Don't worry," she told him, stopping to rest her hand on his shoulder. "When we get home, I'll take care of everything. You'll only lose a little time."

"All right," he agreed, anything to distract him from where they were and the mosquitoes working on his neck and face. "What is the truth?"

"Rickey is my son. He's four years old and he was born deaf."

His quiet, "Ahh," made her realize that he understood at once.

"It's not the way it seems." She hurried forward to keep him from drawing the wrong conclusion. "I know that a lot of people want to be part of your camp where you'll select the applicants who'll have the surgery. I'm sure you get this all the time."

"None quite so inventive."

She swallowed hard on the trace of sarcasm in his voice. "Well, anyway. Rickey needs the surgery and I read that the trials only let you operate on ten children this year then not again for five years while they're evaluated."

"That's right. You're very well informed for someone who lives in a swamp."

"But that's part of the problem. Rickey is only four instead of five, like the regulations say he has to be. But when the new surgery takes place, he'll be too old for the new trials since they have to take place between the ages of five and ten."

"Your AMA seems to think that is the right age to begin the surgery," he answered. "I have nothing to do with making the rules."

"I realize that," she replied. "But you could bend the rules a little."

"For Rickey?"

"Exactly."

He nodded. "I do understand now."

"Not really. You can't understand, really understand, until you meet Rickey! He isn't your typical four-year old. I've been working with him. He's very mature and he could fit into the program. I know he could."

"I know this is a hardship for you," he said carefully. "But your son is too young for the program. Maybe in a few years, the trials will be over and he can have the surgery."

"But he'll be too old. He'll be five this fall. The AMA might not approve the surgery. You'll go back to Croatia and Rickey still won't be able to hear!"

She turned to face him. He took a step back. His foot slid in a patch of deep mud and he sank down to his knees in it.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed. "Alexei!"

He struggled to hold on to his case, finally releasing it to the swamp just to be able to get himself out of the mud. It was sucking at him, dragging him down. He had no intention of dying in the cursed swamp with this woman!

Robbie tried to help him, pulling on his arms to get him up before he sank any further. She slipped in the mud and came down hard on her backside. It was a satisfying sound for him, who was steadily losing his sense of humor to the situation. He was covered with mosquito bites, full of oozing, smelly mud and his head hurt. On top of that, when the mud finally released him, it felt as though one of his ankles might be injured and he had lost one shoe.

"Are you all right?" she asked, looking into his eyes, the moonlight showing the mud that covered her face.

"I'm fine," he answered, feeling around for his bag. He swept his hands in a circle, but the bag was gone. He started to take a step back and thought better of it. His book, even his papers, weren't worth falling back into the mud.

"Thank goodness," she replied with heartfelt relief. "Try to stay right behind me. I know where to walk to avoid the mud traps."

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak for fear that he would do this woman violence. He walked immediately in her footsteps, never more than one step behind. One minute she was there before him, albeit a foot below him. The next she dropped down with nothing more than a slight oops! and disappeared.

"Robbie?" he called her. "Robbie?"

Robbie surfaced in the deep mud pit that she knew was a lot like quicksand. If you fell in you had to stay very quiet until help came or it would pull you under. Fortunately, he hadn't been close enough to follow her into the mud. He looked down at her. She was covered in mud. The moonlight broke through the trees as a faint breeze started to rise. She looked like some primitive swamp demon rising.

"Could you help me?" she asked, wiping as much of the mud as she could from her face with dirty hands.

"Could I help you?" he returned, considering the question. "Let me see, you've kidnapped me, almost killed me in your truck, dragged me through the mud and the swamp. My clothes are ruined except for what is lost. I think I will have malaria from the mosquito bites and I have lost one shoe. I believe the question should be, why would I help you?"

Robbie smiled at him a little shakily. "Because you're a decent human being."

He smiled at her wickedly, white teeth flashing against his dark face. "Try again."

"Because you could still get lost here without me."

"And that would be worse than being lost with you?" He wished he could pace, but found himself restricted by the fear that he would fall into the slimy mud, too. "You are truly outrageous!"

Robbie could see that he was really angry. She supposed that she couldn't blame him, but they weren't going to get anywhere like that. She purposely pushed her face down a little more in the mud. "Alexei!" She spit out some mud and tried to sound pathetic. "I can't last long in here. This is like quicksand. It sucks you under and drown."

He stared at her. It was dark and the moonlight was behind him. He knew she couldn't see the expression on his face. He couldn't let her drown, as much as she might deserve it. He reached for her and waited while she grasped his hand. Even with the mud clawing at her, she was light. Her body made a sucking noise as the mud released her.

"There! You're free. Can we go?"

"I'm sorry. I know this has been bad for you." She pushed as much mud as she could from her neck and chest, then stamped her feet to get it off her legs. "I know this hasn't turned out right. But it was done with the best of intentions."

"Intentions, young woman, don't make it right," he told her flatly. "Where do we go from here?"

Robbie looked around at the silvered, moonlight-painted swamp and shivered convulsively. "Alexei, someday, you will look back on this and laugh."

"But not for some years, I think," he assured her. "Which way?"

She bowed her head, wishing that she wasn't such a mess, but it was her own fault. "I don't know."

"What?"

She cleared her throat and looked at him. "I don't know. I think we're lost."

Chapter Two

"Lost?" Alexei asked, sure that he couldn't have understood her. "How can we be lost?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. But I marked the tree over there." She showed him the scarf she'd tied on it. "We already walked by it once."

He laughed. "This must mean something different in your country than in mine. To be lost in my country means the person doesn't know their way. You assured me that you did know your way."

"Maybe it's my head. It really hurts. Or it could be because it's nighttime. I'm not usually out here at night."

"So, we're lost in the middle of miles of swamp that your swamp dog used against the British?"

She drew herself up to her full imposing height that barely reached his shoulder. "Swamp fox. And all we have to do is wait until morning and we'll be able to get home."

He swatted at a mosquito that had already left a welt on his jaw. "What little there will be left of us for them to find."

"No one will have to find us," she reassured him. "I can find my one way home in the light."

Alexei looked around. There was a spot that looked dry under the wide spreading branches of an old oak a few meters from them. "I'll wait for help. Anything else might be suicide." He walked carefully to the tree and sat with his back against the big trunk. Moss dripped mist to the grass around him. He pulled up his collar against the cool, damp night and closed his eyes.

Robbie frowned at Alexei. He seemed to have found a spot that wasn't just mud and slime. She drew in a deep breath and sat beside him. She hadn't anticipated being out in the swamp at night. Her black skirt and matching jacket were thin and soaked wet. She shivered and stared into the night.

"I wonder what time it is?" she asked finally, wanting to hear the sound of his voice.

"You mean you can't tell from the moon or the sound of the frogs?"

"There's no reason to be nasty about it. I was just wondering."

"I don't wear a watch."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

"How do you know what time it is?"

"I ask other people," he said. "I'm trying to sleep."

Robbie tucked her legs under her to conserve warmth. "You could look at this as an adventure."

"And you could look at this as twenty years in prison. In Croatia, it would be life."

Robbie glanced at him, but he hadn't moved or opened his eyes. "A jury in this country would never convict a mother who was trying to save her child's life."

"Is that what you were trying to do? I thought you were trying to convince me that I should allow him into the clinical trials."

"All right," she said, grinding her teeth. This man was truly obnoxious. He made everything sound worse than it was. "Then no jury would convict a mother who was trying to help her child have a better life!"

"A sane mother."

She turned on him. "Are you saying that I'm not sane?"

He opened one eye and looked at her. Even in the moonlight with mud caked on her face, she was a very pretty woman. Her features were delicate and her eyes were alive with the fire of life. He rebuked himself for noticing what she looked like in the moonlight. But this wasn't a romantic interlude. "I'm saying that not everyone would consider it sane to kidnap a man and drag him through the swamp."

"It was partially your fault, you know."

"What?" He sat up and opening his eyes in surprise. "How was this my fault?"

Robbie tried not to feel intimidated. She didn't move her body because she didn't want to alarm him. But she started feeling along the ground for a rock or a stick, something to defend herself if it got ugly. "You grabbed the steering wheel and made us wreck the car."

"Because I was trying to escape from you kidnapping me!"

"If you would've waited, you wouldn't have been hurt." She sniffed. "Neither would I."

Alexei stared at her. He'd never met a more illogical woman in his life. She was infuriating! He leaned against the tree. There was no use arguing with her. She wasn't rational. He would conserve his strength to take her to court. He hit another mosquito that bit him in the neck.

"Perhaps you should sue me since I caused all of this."

"Not all," she said in a small voice. "And I'm sorry. I didn't plan it this way."

"I know. You just planned to kidnap me and take me home to meet your son. Nice and neat."

"I said I was sorry." She looked up at the starry sky that she could glimpse between the branches. "I just wanted Rickey to have his chance. I wanted him to be able to live like other children. Is that so terrible?"

He opened his eyes, but didn't move. He studied her profile in the moonlight. There was no way to sleep in this godforsaken spot. He might as well hear it all. Not that it would persuade him to help her. Nothing could do that after everything he'd been through.

"Tell me about Rickey."

She glanced at him, seeing his eyes gleaming, but the shadows prevented her from reading his thoughts. He might be just humoring her. Or he might really be interested. Either way, no one had to ask her twice to brag about Rickey. And she didn't want to miss an opportunity to sway Alexei's mind.

She nodded. "All right."

Alexei listened as she described her son in a glowing mother's voice filled with pride and love. He had to concede that this woman was devoted to her son. He really didn't believe she was insane, just misguided. Where was her husband or some other family member who might have reasoned with her?

"So, that's why I decided that you had to meet him. The letter we got said that he was too young for the clinical trials, but it's only a difference of six months. Six months! Rickey is very mature for his age. I read that this was going to happen two years ago and we started working towards it. If you leave him out now, he'll be almost ten before he has a chance again, and that's too old."

"Only in this country," he said. "The United States is the only country that has decided to restrict the surgery to children."

"I know." She shivered. "But we live in the United States! I read that you had hearing loss and had the technique done to you. Do you have full hearing now?"

"Yes," he replied carefully. "I was fortunate, though. Rickey might not have complete hearing. Not everyone gains complete function."

"But just think what partial hearing would mean to him! He has everything to gain and nothing to lose. I want him to be able to hear music and laughter. I want to be able to call him and have him answer me."

He understood her dilemma, but he didn't make the rules. This was an opportunity that he had worked hard for the past two years. He wanted to introduce his technique to the world. With U.S. support, he could accomplish that. He had to follow the guidelines the government had set up.

"What does his father think? Surely he would not have allowed you to carry out this crazy scheme?"

Robbie surprised him by laughing. It was a clear, soft sound in a night full of mosquitoes buzzing, owls hooting and frogs croaking. "Troy doesn't know. He probably wouldn't have approved, but it's hard to tell with Troy. It doesn't matter, anyway. Troy and I have been divorced for three years."

"Ahh."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "It means, ahh. I understand."

"It must be nice to be so condescending. I suppose you think I wouldn't have come for you if Troy and I had still been married?"

"Perhaps not. But your life would probably be different."

"I would still love Rickey and I would still want him to have this chance. What would you do if he were your son?"

He considered her words. They drove into him painfully and lodged in his soul. "I think we should try to sleep now. I have a feeling that you will have to lead us out of here when morning comes, because no one will be able to find us."

Robbie sat back, sorry that she had struck a nerve. Was his son deaf? She knew that he had stayed in Croatia despite the war, and that he had probably seen terrible things. The magazine article only hinted at his past. She knew that he had lost his hearing in an explosion. He was lucky to be alive, she supposed. She sat back and closed her eyes with a sigh.

She shivered violently and clamped down hard to keep her teeth from chattering. She was too wet to think that her clothes would dry. If she died out here, or later from pneumonia, and had to leave Rickey in Troy's care ... she didn't want to think about that. She'd made some bad decisions, but that didn't mean that everything was lost. Maybe Alexei was angry right now, but he hadn't met Rickey. They had come this far and she would probably be hanged for it. He was going to meet Rickey, even if she had to tie him up and throw him over her shoulder!

Alexei awakened to see the moon low in the sky. He'd slept through all of the frogs, owls and the mosquitoes. His head still hurt and his back was sore, but he was still alive. He heard a strange sound and glanced at Robbie. She appeared to be asleep, curled in the fetal position on the ground, shivering. The sound he'd heard were her teeth chattering!

He took off his jacket, not allowing himself to think that they wouldn't be here if not for her. Gently, he pulled her close beside him and brought the jacket over both of them, sharing his warmth. She was still sticky with mud. She didn't wake up, but murmured something in her sleep and snuggled close to him. Unless he was mistaken, she had whispered her ex-husband's name, Troy.

He sighed. She was probably still in love with the man. Couples divorced in Croatia, but not many. In America, they barely got to know one another before they split up. He granted that Robbie and her husband might have separated due to their baby being born with a hearing loss. He'd seen many couples break up because of their disappointments and unhappiness when a child was born less than perfect. What would you do if he were your son? Robbie had asked him. He closed his eyes and rested his head against hers, refusing to allow himself to consider that question. The pain of the answer was too sharp and too deep to contemplate.

It was morning when Robbie opened her eyes. She heard people yelling and dogs barking in the distance. She stirred against a warm body. Shafts of warm sunlight glided across Alexei's face. Dark stubble covered his chin and cheeks. His eyes were still closed, but the effect of the beard and the rumpled, muddy clothing gave him a raffish air. He didn't look quite so scholarly as he had when she'd picked him up. She wondered if she had crept up on him during the night, then realized that his jacket was covering them.

"Good morning," he said slowly, watching her watching him.

"Good morning," she replied, her face close to his. "Thanks for keeping me warm."

"The least I could do was keep you alive," he said quietly. "I didn't want to turn a corpse over to the authorities."

"I'm sorry, Alexei," she said gently. "Sometimes I tend to overreact. I didn't mean this to happen. It was supposed to be a simple snatch and run operation. We weren't supposed to get hurt and spend the night in a swamp."

"I know," he said with a rueful grin. "Promise me that your next simple snatch and run operation will be planned better, hmm?"

She smiled and he caught his breath. He could feel her heart beating close to his side. Dew dampened her face. Her lips were very pink and looked as soft as rose petals. He stood abruptly and helped her to her feet. He slipped on his jacket and ran his hands through his hair. What was he thinking?

Robbie shook herself and hoped she didn't look as bad as she felt with the dried mud and slime covering her from head to foot. For just an instant when he had looked at her, she had seen something in his eyes that had been amazing -- and arousing. She shook her head and stretched herself. The sound of dogs and people was getting closer. "I think they've come looking for us." She glanced around. "I could've found my way out now."

"Let's not tempt fate," he said quickly. "Someone found us. Perhaps it's for the best."

She nodded and wrapped her arms protectively around her chest. "They probably saw the truck and guessed we were in here."

"Do you think they know why we're here?" he asked and had the satisfaction of seeing her smile fade as the reality of the situation sank in.

The dogs and the searchers came from behind the scrub trees and cattails, entering the clearing from different directions. There were police officers and sheriff's deputies and the dogs. Robbie saw Troy and waved to him. He saw her and made some hand motions, but he didn't look pleased. When the police saw them, they rushed, barely holding their dogs in check. One of them fell into the mud pit that Robbie had fallen into. She glanced at Alexei and saw him grin at the sight. She was glad he had a sense of humor. It might be the only thing that kept Rickey in the running. No matter what happened to her, she had to find a way to get Alexei to talk to Rickey.

"Police!" One man yelled at the front of the pack. "Lay your weapons down!"

Alexei and Robbie looked at each another. He was used to the drill after years of war, put his hands behind his head and dropped to his knees.

"Are you all right, Dr. Smolka?" a deputy asked as he rushed to his side. He glared at Robbie. "Don't move! You're under arrest!"

Two officers ran toward her. She held up her hands, but they jumped on her, forcing her to the ground. They clamped handcuffs around her wrists and began to read her the rights.

"Troy, make sure Rickey gets to see him," she yelled, oblivious to them. "Make sure Rickey gets to talk to him."

"I'm fine," Alexei said in amazement, lowering his hands to his sides and getting to his feet. "What happened?"

"Airport security got her license plate number. We tracked the truck to where you had the accident. When we found it abandoned, we followed you in. She's pretty clever, all right, bringing you out here instead of walking up the road. Sorry we couldn't get here sooner, sir."

"That's all right." He stared at the two officers with their knees in Robbie's back. They had told her to be quiet and when she didn't comply, they pushed her face down into the soft ground. She was still resisting them, trying to yell at the man who wasn't in uniform. Her ex-husband?

Sometimes, he had to remind himself that he wasn't involved in the war anymore. Sometimes, he felt that it had taught him too much. He had seen too many terrible things and known that there was no way he could stop them. All he could do at those times was comply and help to heal the torn and battered bodies when it was over. He looked at Robbie again. He had sheltered this woman with his body last night. He couldn't see her treated this way in the morning.

"Don't worry about anything, sir," the officer told him. "We'll get you out of here and back to Atlanta. If you could swear out a complaint, we probably wouldn't even need you to testify."

"Let her up," he said harshly, not able to see her abused. "She did nothing wrong."

"Doctor Smolka, what are you saying? We know she took you from the airport yesterday against your will. We have laws for that."

"Hardly against my will," Alexei said. "She reminded me of an appointment that I had to see her son."

The officer looked skeptical. "That's not the way the airport security and the driver from the conference saw it."

"Then they were looking at it incorrectly. She did nothing wrong."

"So you spent the night out here on your own?"

"We were involved in an accident. We were both injured and we lost our way." Alexei glared at the man. "Let her up!"

The officer nodded. "Let her go, guys."

The two men who were holding Robbie got up and dragged her to her feet, still handcuffed. She was spitting dirt and gasping for breath. Her hair was a wild mass around her shoulders. Her clothes, already abused, were torn and twisted on her small frame.

"Doctor Smolka," the officer began again. "You could be in trouble if you lie about this."

"Release her," Alexei insisted. "I've told you, she did nothing wrong."

The deputy hesitated, but without Alexei's complaint, there was nothing he could do. "Let her go," he told the other two.

The man Alexei guessed to be Robbie's ex-husband, rushed forward and hugged her. "Thank God you're okay, honey! What were you thinking off?"

"You see, this man who claims to be her ex, says she was coming to kidnap you and force you to perform surgery on her son," the deputy explained. "Care to elaborate?"

Alexei's eyes collided with Robbie's. She looked surprised that he wasn't going to press charges. He smiled. He was surprised as well.

"She came to get me from the airport. I simply forgot to tell the conference director that I would be coming here first. I don't know this man, so I don't know why he said anything."

Troy looked affronted. "But she said --"

"Troy," Robbie silenced him. "Would you mind shutting up now?"

Troy looked around at the group. "I guess I was wrong."

The police officers took a deep breath. The one next to Alexei, who seemed to be in charge of the group, pushed his hat back. "All right. I can't arrest her if you say she didn't kidnap you, Doctor, but you better be careful."

"I know." Alexei grinned. "She looks incredibly dangerous to me. Her teeth chatter during the night."

Troy looked at him. "You spent the night with my wife?"

"Ex-wife," Robbie reminded him through clenched teeth. "Can we go now?"

Troy Connor was a massive, beefcake of a man, with a full head of strawberry blond hair and baby blue eyes. His face was a trifle dissipated from too many beers and too many disappointments since he'd been the star tackle on his high school football team. He glared at Alexei, who was as tall, but only half his size.

"Is there gonna be trouble over this now?" the deputy asked.

"No trouble, Deputy. Thank you for coming to my aid," Alexei said. "I'd like to follow you out of this place. Spending one night here was too much."

"Yeah." The deputy glanced at Robbie and Troy, then turned away. "Sure."

The cops helped their comrade out of the bog and squelched their way back to the road. Alexei could hear Robbie and Troy arguing behind him. The man seemed to be a moron. How could he have confessed what she'd done to the police? Why would he help them find her? Alexei had seen such things during the war. Politics had divided families and destroyed lives. But they were not at war here. This was a blessed land of peace and prosperity. What had possessed the man to betray her?

The way out was much shorter than it seemed going in last night. In daylight the place wasn't as intimidating. They reached the road and the crashed truck in short order. Three police cruisers were parked beside it. Troy's SUV was parked near them.

"Can I give you a lift somewhere?" one of the deputies asked. "Looks like you might use a few stitches in that cut on your head."

Alexei could feel Robbie's eyes on him. He knew what she wanted from him. But he felt that he had done his good deed for the day. He needed to get back to the conference and his otherwise sane and ordered life. He felt bad for her son, but he didn't see what good meeting the boy would do. Rules were rules. Even if he bent them for her, it was unlikely the other doctors at the camp doing the evaluation of the children would see past Rickey's age.

"Yes, thanks." He turned back to Robbie. She was glaring at him. "You should have your head examined."

"Thanks, but I'm not crazy!"

He smiled. "The cut on your head," he said, conscious of the eyes on them. "I will see you later."

Her gaze turned soft and her eyes were edged with tears. "Really? Do you mean it?"

He could hardly say that he didn't in front of the officers since he'd said that he came to see her son. "Of course. I need a shower and some clean clothes. I'll get back with you after the conference."

Robbie knew when she was being sweet-talked. She'd been married to Troy for two years. He was the king of sweet talk. She glared at Alexei, but she was also aware of the cops and her narrow escape. "Sure. Thanks, Dr. Smolka."

He nodded and ducked his head to get into the police car. She continued to look at him even when the car was a block up the road.

"Are we going, Robbie?" Troy asked, holding open the door to his car.

"Yes," she said, trying not to cry. She stomped back and got in the SUV, slamming the door after her.

"So, do you want to go to the hospital or something?"

"Who's got Rickey?"

"He's with your Dad." He pinched his nose and sniffed. "God, Robbie Jo, I'm gonna have to have this cleaned out! You smell awful!"

She sighed. "Just take me home, Troy."

She'd tried, but it hadn't worked. She'd done her best, hadn't she? She did get lost in the swamp and wrecked the truck, although that was really his fault. Dr. Alexei Smolka! His name had been bandied about their house for the past two years like he was a God or something! True, he hadn't pressed charges and that had surprised her. What had been surprising was to wake up with his arms around her. But he'd still refused to meet Rickey. He was right there in Flattsboro. How much would it take? She didn't know. Her head hurt and she did smell bad. She was exhausted and soaked. There wasn't a part of her that didn't hurt. Even her teeth ached, but she supposed that was from them chattering all night! What kind of thing was that to think?

She groaned and buried her head in her hands. Rickey's one chance and she'd blown it! Maybe she could've seduced him. She'd thought about it when she was planning the whole thing. It was a way to get an edge with a man. Something squirmed in her at the thought. He was very attractive in a thin, bookish kind of way. He had a nice way of talking and he was compassionate, despite the fact that he wouldn't see Rickey.

"Something wrong, sugar?" Troy asked.

"Rickey won't be able to have the surgery," she told him.

He shook his head. "I told you that experimental foreign stuff wasn't any good anyway. Just look at that doctor. Skinny as a rail. Probably never worked out a day in his life! Is that what you want for Rickey?"

"I want him to be able to hear, Troy. I don't want to marry the man!" she told him bluntly. "Never mind. Just get me home."

"Can do, honey bun!"

"Why did you help them, Troy? I didn't tell you when I was going but you knew why, and you told them."

He frowned and pouted. "I was afraid that doctor had made off with you, sugar. When I saw the truck and I knew you were in the swamp, I thought he was taking advantage of you."

She sighed heavily. "You are such an idiot!"

"Sorry, honey." He glanced at her. "Do you think you might have a twenty until payday, sugar? Things have been a little slow at the dealership this month."

"Sure. If I don't get fired over missing work this morning."

"I called Herb at the diner and told him you were in an accident," Troy explained brightly. "He said to take care of yourself and let him know when you can come back."

Robbie looked at him. "Well that was useful."

He preened. "I know."

She shook her head, going over the whole thing in her mind. "I wish it could've been different. If Rickey would've had a chance to go to candidate's camp, he would've shown them all."

"Well, never mind," Troy soothed, sliding his hand across her thigh. He withdrew before she could slap him away. He sniffed and frowned. "Anyway, Rickey will be fine, sugar. He just needs us to get back together."

"That's not going to happen," Robbie told him, and smiled when he took out a wet wipe to clean his hand where he had touched her muddy thigh. "Rickey knows that."

"It could make a difference to all of our lives," Troy continued. He pulled the car into her drive at the edge of a small trailer park near the edge of town. "I could come in and we could talk about it, after you've cleaned up."

"Maybe later," she said, getting out. "Thanks for the lift home. I'll talk to you later."

"The twenty?" he reminded her deftly.

She felt around in her pocket and fished out a dirty twenty-dollar bill.

He took it carefully between two fingers. "Thanks."

"See you later."

Rickey and her father met her on the porch. Rickey's eyes were worried and he didn't care about her mud-covered body. He launched himself at her and hugged her tight. Robbie closed her eyes and held him to her. She used her hand to spell 'I love you' into his hand.

Are you okay? He answered back with his little fingers.

"I will be when I've had a shower," she replied quickly, signing and speaking aloud. 'Now, you'll have to shower, too.'

He laughed and stepped back to look at her. 'You're all dirty.'

'I know. That's why I need a shower.'

'Where were you?' He wondered anxiously.

'With Dr. Smolka.'

His eyes were so like hers. The excitement grew in his round little face. 'Is he coming to see me?'

She looked at him. There was no other way to tell him. 'No, honey, he's not.'

Rickey's face fell into a mutinous expression.

"How about saying some of that out loud?" her father asked from the stairs. "Are you okay? Troy said you were in an accident and the cops were going to arrest you."

"It's a long story," she said as she signed the words to her son. Speaking and signing was a way of life to her. It actually seemed odd not to do both at the same time. "But Dr. Smolka isn't going to consider Rickey for the candidate's camp. He's probably going to go to the hotel and take a shower then head back to Atlanta."

"Well, come on in and get cleaned up and I'll make some pancakes. You can tell me all about it when you get dressed."

She held Rickey's hand as they walked up the stairs together. "Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked and signed.

'I should.' He answered with a guilty smile. 'Gramps said I didn't have to go.'

Robbie hugged him again. "I'm glad."

Robbie stripped off her clothes and threw them in the trash, tying the bag for good measure. She didn't want anything to remind her of last night, and she didn't think she could wash the smell of mud out of them. She looked at the bag thoughtfully, wondering how Alexei could stand to have her so close. Either he had no sense of smell, or he smelled so bad himself that he couldn't smell her.

She remembered being cold during the night. She didn't remember pulling herself up against him. She wouldn't have done knowingly. Not even if she had thought it would make him come and talk to Rickey. She wasn't like that, despite the fact that she'd been pregnant when she'd married Troy fresh out of high school. In those days the world had been theirs. She was the head cheerleader and he was the star football player. Everyone at Flattsboro High knew them. They were king and queen of the prom. She was the homecoming queen. Their senior year had been perfect.

The night of graduation they had sex for the first time. No one would have believed that she was a virgin and that she dated Troy Connor! It was an agreement they had while they dated. They would do it on their graduation night and then they would go to college and get married. Unfortunately, they didn't use protection and she got pregnant. She couldn't afford to go to college, even the local one. Troy's father had died and he had to go to work. They married right away, so that no one would be embarrassed or ask awkward questions. But their perfect lives were over. All that was left was real life. It was hard and dreary and not like the dreams they'd had.

When Rickey was born, it was harder, but they were both proud of their new son. Then they found out that he was deaf. Troy couldn't handle the extra burden. She had moved out of his mother's house and gone to live with her Dad. They were divorced a year later.

Robbie looked at her pink face when she got out of the shower. It was covered with mosquito bites. She wondered what Alexei thought of her. Evidently not much, she sighed, picked up the brush and ran it through her wet hair. She wasn't the head cheerleader anymore. Now she was just Rickey's Mom, who lived in a trailer park in Flattsboro, South Carolina, who worked two jobs to keep them going and in between, fought off truck drivers who wanted to take her to bed, and Troy who just needed her for various reasons.

It had been a long time since she'd danced or worn something pretty besides her jeans or her waitress uniform. Even longer since she'd felt that her world was perfect.

But it wasn't like her to feel sorry for herself. She put on clean jeans and a pink ribbed t-shirt. She'd managed to get out of working that morning, but at five, she'd still have to go to work at the Super Pick grocery store at the corner. And there were pancakes waiting on the table, and her little boy waiting to hear her tell him what it was like to spend a night in the swamp. How could life get any better?

She went into the kitchen, following the smell of her father's golden pancakes. "That smells wonderful," she told him as he scooped some on a plate.

He looked up. "Where's Rickey? Is he gonna eat again?"

She looked around. "I don't know. I thought he was with you."

Because they couldn't call him, they had to cover every inch of the trailer and the yard. Robbie looked at the woods, but he knew better than to go there. She saw a neighbor and asked her if she'd seen Rickey.

"Just a few minutes ago," Mrs. Brockmeyer told her. "He climbed into the car with Fred. He had a note that said he had permission."

"Where was he going?" Robbie asked in disbelief.

"He was going to town to run some errands. Is something wrong?" Mrs. Brockmeyer asked. But Robbie was gone.

Chapter Three

Alexei had gone to a hotel, the only one in Flattsboro, declining the offer of a hospital. He didn't think he needed stitches, just a long soak and some calamine. He got the calamine from the local pharmacy and ignored their questioning looks at his appearance.

The men's clothing shop was another story. The man in charge was so offended by the state of his clothes and the fact that he wasn't wearing shoes, that Alexei finally told him what he needed, gave him his credit card number and left the store.

He closed his eyes as he sat back in the big old tub, letting the hot water take away the aches and pains and soothe the bug bites, chiggers and his enraged sensibility. It was almost unbelievable that he had actually been kidnapped and spent the night in a swamp. Even though he knew it was true, he had a hard time believing it. His colleagues would certainly find it remarkable and possibly a bit frightening.

He hadn't been afraid, even at the start when he thought that Robbie was taking him to her lover. He smiled, thinking how outraged she had been at the thought. But then she was the kind of woman who lived on her emotions. Passionate, angry, protective, worried. Hadn't Helena been very much the same?

At that thought, a powerful anger shut down everything else. How could he compare Helena to another woman? How could he be attracted to another woman when Helena lay dead in his homeland? Yet he was attracted to Robbie. It had happened the moment he had seen her at the airport. Even when he was worried that she meant him some harm, it hadn't lessened the attraction. She looked like a woman he'd seen once in a painting. She was tiny and delicate with bright eyes and sable brown hair. He didn't know the artist. In the painting, she had been wearing a white gown and had a single pink rosebud in her hair. The painting was very old, but the impression had come back to him when he'd first seen Robbie. It was as though he had seen her before.

He didn't want to be attracted to Robbie. He despised himself for it. He loved Helena. Her memory was sacred to him. He still wore his wedding ring, even though she had been dead five years. It seemed as though she had been gone forever. Sometimes, in the night, it felt like he had been alone forever.

He had his work. It was a consuming passion. Having the medical profession acknowledge and accept a new surgical technique was a difficult and lengthy task. He reveled in it. His only sorrow was that the man who had created the process hadn't lived to see it happen. Dr. John Zabutas had been doing the surgery on war victims for two years before Alexei was injured. After having his hearing restored, Alexei worked with Dr. Zabutas to perfect the operation. Dr. Zabutas was killed in a car bombing before their technique was viewed by the outside world. His mentor's death gave a focus to Alexei's life. He knew what he had to do and how he had to do it. He worked sixteen hours a day for two years, went to hundreds of conferences and filed thousands of documents to have the chance to prove that the technique worked. His life was a rigid schedule, even after he had reached New York.

Then Robbie had to come into his life. She took him away from his routine and made him think other thoughts. In just a few short hours something had changed within him. He wanted to put it back the way it had been, but he wasn't sure that he could. Like Pandora's box the damage was already done. The light in Robbie's eyes had pushed away some of the darkness that had filled his soul. That was the real reason he had decided against going to see her son. If a few hours in the swamp could make him feel this way, what damage would be done in a few days?

There was a knock at the door and Alexei ignored it. It came again, louder and more persistent. It stopped and he closed his eyes, settling back into the tub. Then it started again, harder and louder. It reverberated through his skull until he finally had to drag himself out of the tub. He wrapped a big white towel around his midsection. His old clothes were gone and the new ones were still to be delivered. Being without clothes was disturbing. His mouth tightened. Just another in the list of experiences Robbie Jo Connor had brought his way. Knowing her for only a single day was like riding a whirlwind!

"Yes?" he called without opening the door.

There was no sound from behind the closed door.

"Yes?"

There was still no reply.

He opened the door and looked out into the hall. There was no one there. He glanced down and realized that a small boy was standing there looking up at him.

"Hello? Were you knocking at my door?"

The boy with large blue eyes and dark brown hair continued to stare at him. His baseball cap was dusty and his jeans had a tear in one knee. He didn't speak, but he did hold out his hands. He signed the words. 'Are you the doctor?'

Alexei knew in his heart that he was looking at Robbie's son. He peered down the hall, prepared to blast that devil woman for putting her son up to this last ruse to get his attention, but there was no one there. He looked at Rickey and signed. 'Where is your mother?'

Rickey smiled a little, showing a missing tooth. 'Home.'

Alexei folded his arms across his chest. Either the boy didn't understand him, or his mother was tutoring him to be a liar. He asked again. 'Where is your mother?'

Rickey repeated. 'Home.'

"Then how did you get here?" Alexei signed and asked aloud.

'I got a ride with a neighbor.' Rickey told him. 'He brought me to town. I had to see you.'

Alexei heard the elevator door open. He looked up to see a startled elderly woman going by, staring pointedly at his half naked form. "Let's go inside." He signed and spoke to Rickey.

He closed the door and looked at the little boy as he wandered around the room. He was beginning to believe that Robbie wasn't there. That meant a four- year-old deaf boy had come to look for him. He marveled at his courage and dedication. Most deaf children were afraid to go out alone.

"What can I do for you?" He asked Rickey, touching his shoulder to get his attention.

Rickey sat down in the chair, his shoes dangling off the edge. 'I want to go to candidate's camp.'

'Do you know what that is?' Alexei wondered, sitting across from him.

'Yes. It's where children go before they can have something that fixes them.'

'An operation.' Alexei supplied. 'Do you know what that is?'

Rickey looked at him as though he must be dense. 'It's where they open you up and take out the bad stuff and put in the good stuff that makes you hear the birds sing.'

Alexei smiled. 'Makes you hear the bird's sing? You are a very clever boy.'

Rickey was very mature, as his mother had stated. He was also bigger than most four-year-olds. He could easily pass for five appearance. He pulled himself back. What was he thinking?

There was another knock at the door. Alexei signed to Rickey that he should wait there. He pulled his towel a little tighter around him then went to answer the door.

It was his clothes delivery from the store. He didn't know if he had ever been so happy to see a pair of slacks and a shirt! Even during the war, he'd never been left in a strange place with nothing to wear. He signed the bill the delivery driver gave him and closed the door again.

'I'm going to get dressed.' He signed to Rickey. 'Then we are going to find your mother. I don't think she'll be happy that you're here.'

Rickey looked a little remorseful, then treated the man to a rebellious glare. 'Why won't you help me? Why don't you like me?'

'It has nothing to do with liking you.' Alexei assured him. 'There are rules. Everyone must follow them.'

'There are rules that say you can't help me?' The boy inquired.

Alexei took a deep breath. This was Robbie's fault whether she was there to answer for it or not.

'I am going to get dressed then we will get some ice cream. Okay?'

Rickey grimaced. 'Okay.'

Alexei started to walk to the bathroom when there was another knock on the door. Wondering if it was the whole town that was cursed instead of just Robbie Connor, he went back and opened the door. This time it was Robbie.

She took one look at him then caught a glimpse of her son in the hotel room behind him. Her first thought was that the doctor needed a little feeding and the second was that he wasn't wearing anything under the towel. He had long legs that ended in very large, bare feet. His hair was slicked back, still wet. It wasn't like she hadn't ever seen a naked man before. She'd been married to Troy who felt like walking around naked was his birthright. Alexei certainly wasn't Troy. He was a little taller, maybe. He was definitely thinner. His dark hair and high cheekbones were the perfect foil for his pale eyes. They were riveting, making her wonder for a moment why she was there, until she caught sight of Rickey again.

"What's going on?" she asked, walking right into the room and signing at her son as she spoke. "What made you come up here and scare me to death?"

Rickey frowned and signed back that he had to come and see the doctor.

Alexei shook his head and closed the door. He smiled at her and waved a little. Robbie and her son were signing furiously at one another. It was easy to tell the kind of rapport they possessed by the fluid movements they used. Some of the gestures had barely begun before the other picked up on what was being said. He watched them for a moment. Robbie was clearly upset and Rickey clearly was not. The boy had a purpose and he wasn't going to apologize for what he'd done. Alexei admired his spirit, even as he considered the difficulties he would have as he got older.

"I'm going to change," he said finally, both aloud and signing for Rickey's sake. "I'll be back in a moment."

He wasn't sure if either of them heard him, but standing in his hotel room in a bath towel was getting awkward. Particularly when he'd met Robbie at the door. Suddenly the large towel felt distressingly tight. He found that he could stop his brain from thinking about her, but his body refused to comply with his altruistic thoughts.

There was another knock at the door. Alexei shrugged and went to answer it. The whole thing was becoming humorous in an absurd way. This time it was the hotel manager.

"Excuse me," the man who barely reached Alexei's chest was saying, "I've had a report of some shenanigans going on around here!"

"Shenan --?" Alexei tried to wrap his tongue around the word.

"You know, we don't much cotton to foreigners around here," the little man told him. He stepped into the room and saw Rickey and Robbie. "Oh! Is this your wife and son?"

"No!" Robbie and Alexei spit out at the same time. They glared furiously at each other.

"Say, you're Robbie Connors, ain't you? You kidnapped that doctor from Atlanta."

"It was not kidnapping," Alexei tried to explain, struggling to maintain his dignity in a towel without laughing.

"What?" the manager asked. "Were you there?"

"We spent the night in the swamp," Alexei assured the man. "Nothing more."

The older woman, who'd been listening in the hallway, gave a small shriek of horror.

"We don't put up with any of that here," the manager said stiffly. "This ain't no third world nation! You'll have to pack up and find someplace else."

"Why?"

"He didn't do anything wrong," Robbie argued.

"He's standing around in a towel and the rest of what God gave him," the manager pointed out for her.

They both turned to look at Alexei, who to his surprise felt hot color come into his face. He felt like a rude schoolboy being chastised by the headmaster!

"Fine," Robbie decided for him. "He doesn't need to stay here anyway."

"I don't?" Alexei wondered.

Rickey shrugged and smiled at him.

"No, you don't," Robbie told him squarely.

"But I can't get a rental car until tomorrow," Alexei protested.

"Then you'll just have to come and stay with us until you can make other arrangements!" She walked to the door and looked at the older lady in the hall. "And I've heard there are roaches in this hotel!"

The woman in the hall screeched again. The manager's jaw dropped.

"There are no roaches here!" he assured everyone. "We are very careful about that!"

Robbie led him out the door. "I'm sure you are. But what was that I saw in the elevator on the way up?" Before he could speak, she closed the door in his face.

Alexei was amazed and disturbed. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Robbie looked at him, her gaze sparing him nothing. "Get dressed. We'll wait for you in the lobby."

Alexei had been speaking English since he was five-years-old, but at that moment command of the language nearly deserted him. "What are you doing?"

"Saving you," she explained, taking Rickey's hand to leave the room. "Again."

"Again?"

He thrust her out the door and closed it behind her. The woman was infuriating! He muttered beneath his breath as he pulled on slacks and socks. She was a nightmare! A horrific harpy sent to torment him. How could he be attracted to her? How could she have such a smart, resourceful son?

When he was dressed, he looked around the room and realized that he had paid for a bed in which he had never slept. There was nothing to leave behind because he'd lost all of his conference material in the swamp and his clothes were still at the airport. It was like a terrible dream that he couldn't seem to wake up from. He was tempted to sneak out the back of the hotel and not take a chance on what else she could do to his life, when he realized that there was nowhere else to go. This was the only place to stay in Flattsboro besides a disreputable motel called the Motor-In where a huge picture of a woman in a nightie waved at the road.

He shuddered at the thought of staying there and made his decision. Robbie owed him a good night's sleep and a meal or two. She was responsible for him being there. He'd missed most of the conference, lost his possessions and been kicked out of a hotel in Flattsboro for being disrespectful. What more could she do in a day?

"Ready?" Robbie asked.

Alexei nodded, smiling at the boy. It wasn't his fault that his mother was a terrorist. "Yes."

"Good. Let's get out of this roach trap!" she said loudly as several new visitors arrived through the front door. She smiled at the manager. He cringed.

Robbie felt her bravado begin to wind down as they approached her father's car. It was an old Chrysler with faded blue paint and a sticker from a trip they'd made to Florida when she was ten. She watched Rickey open the door for him, watched Alexei ease his lanky frame into the back seat that was still filled with newspapers from her father's paper route. She had never felt more like trailer trash in her whole life.

After all, a small voice whispered, hadn't she wanted it to work out this way? She hadn't done it on purpose, but the cards had fallen her way. Who was she to spit in the eye of destiny?

"I'm sorry," she said gently when they were headed away from Flattsboro. "I didn't know he'd get so upset."

Alexei stared at her in the rearview mirror. "That seems to be a common failing with you."

"What?"

"Not considering your actions or how others will react to them."

She frowned. "Are you a psychologist, too?"

He laughed. "If I were, I'm sure I could find some designation for you!"

She didn't like the way that sounded. She was going to have to try to get on his good side if she wanted him to like them and give Rickey a chance. "My Dad's a wonderful cook," she told him with a smile. "He'll put some weight on you."

"I don't think I'll gain weight overnight," Alexei answered. "Besides, not everyone can look like your ex-husband."

"That's true," she admitted. "Troy was all state and all district quarterback in school. He could've been a pro but he hurt his leg."

"You have a good relationship for being divorced," he remarked slowly, refusing to acknowledge that it bothered him. "I'm surprised the two of you haven't reconciled."

Robbie chuckled. "He's always after me to go back to him. But I need something more than a nice car and some muscles in my life."

They pulled off on a dirt road and Rickey signed that they were home. Alexei looked at the small plots of ground and the tiny box homes. South Winds Trailer Park, the sign said at the gate beside wilted petunias. There was a palm tree and an awful drawing of a dancing girl on the sign. Fortunately, time and weather had worn most of it away.

"Here we are," Robbie told him, pulling the car into a drive beside a pale green home. "We live with my Dad, but you'll like him."

"Oh?" Alexei couldn't help but look doubtful.

"He's a little stuffy, too," she assured him. "Come on."

He wasn't sure that he would have followed her, but Rickey took his hand and smiled at him. He was signing everything, telling him about his home so quickly that Alexei had to ask him to slow down. "I was deaf for a time, too," he signed and said aloud. "I know how frustrating it can be when you want to say something. But I'm not as fast as your mother. You'll have to go a little slower for me."

Rickey shrugged and told him that it was okay. He started again more slowly, telling Alexei about the woods behind the house and the creek where they watched tadpoles. He told him about his bicycle that his father got him, but his mother was afraid for him to ride, and the dog next door, wondering what the animal sounded like when it moved its mouth.

Robbie watched them together in the yard as Rickey took Alexei to his favorite places. Alexei seemed to forget that he didn't like her when he was talking to Rickey. She laughed as she watched Alexei try to explain what the neighbor's dog sounded like. It struck at her heart, watching them. She turned away from the sunlight and went inside to get ready for work.

"Find him?" her dad asked her.

"Yes. I brought him home with me. I brought Alexei, too."

"Alexei, huh?" Her father grinned at her.

"After getting him kicked out of the hotel, I had to do something. I didn't mean for that to happen, but it was a stroke of luck, wasn't it? Now, he'll have to talk to Rickey."

Her father shrugged. "I don't know, honey. Could be a good thing. But you might just be letting yourself in for disappointment, too. This guy has seen hundreds of smart deaf kids like Rickey. Why would he make an exception for him?"

"Because Rickey is more than just a smart deaf kid," she told him firmly. "And anybody can see that. I have to get dressed for work. Will you take care of him tonight?"

Alexei saw Robbie come out of the house. She was dressed in a short, ugly green dress and had her hair tied back against her neck.

"I have to go to work," she told him, kissing her son when Rickey registered his disappointment. "I should be home by ten." She bent down close to Rickey. "Don't give Gramps a hard time, okay?" She signed and spoke. "Show Alexei your books, take a bath and be in bed by eight. You have school tomorrow."

"What do you do?" Alexei asked when she started to turn away.

"I work at the grocery store down the street from five to ten every day. Dad will make you something to eat. I'll see you later."

Robbie drove away; waving and signing the words 'I love you to Rickey.' He waved back and stood watching her go for a long time.

'Your mother loves you very much.' Alexei signed to the boy, putting his hands on his thin shoulders. 'You are a very lucky.'

Rickey signed that he loved her, too, but he wished she didn't have to work so much. And he hated her green dress.

Alexei laughed. 'It is ugly, isn't it?'

Rickey shook his head and signed. 'Not worse than the pink one she wears to her other job.'

They laughed together then Jack called them in to get ready for supper.

Jack Donahue was a WWII veteran. It wasn't long before he and Alexei were talking about war and Europe. They were still at it when Robbie dragged in from the grocery store. She walked in carefully, slipped off her shoes and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Is Rickey in bed?" she asked with a groan.

Jack nodded. "And I took away his flashlight. He was reading in the dark again."

Robbie smiled. "I used to do the same thing."

"I know. Your mother and I used to argue over who was going to make you turn it off."

Robbie laughed then glanced at Alexei. It was strange coming home from work and finding him there. Last night was like a dream sequence from a bad movie. In some ways, it didn't seem real. Had she really gone to Atlanta and dragged him up there and then got them lost in the swamp? She sighed. No wonder he hated her.

"Are you hungry?" Jack asked.

His daughter's eyes skittered back to him. "Not really."

"You should eat. You don't eat enough, Robbie."

"All right," she agreed. "Just something small, okay?"

"Alexei and I were swapping stories about Europe and war. Between us, I think we re-fought pretty much every campaign. He is quite the scholar!"

The two men laughed. Robbie looked at the plate of pancakes her father had set before her. She didn't think she could put any of it in her mouth. At least he liked Jack. Or he was making the best of a bad situation, she reminded herself. She'd argued in her own head all night while she was working. Was it possible that in one night that she could convince him to admit Rickey to the camp? They'd had such a bad start. He seemed to like Rickey, but she hadn't made a good impression. What could she do to get him to like her?

"I'm going out to walk Butch," her father said. "I'd ask you to come along, Alexei, but you probably better stay off that ankle as much as possible." He looked at his daughter. "His ankle is swollen."

Robbie had picked up her fork and stabbed a small sliver of pancake, but it never made it to her mouth. She looked at the cuts and bites on Alexei's handsome face, realized where his injury had happened, and lost her appetite.

"I'm sorry," she began when they were alone. The words were like ashes in her mouth. "I don't know what else to say."

Alexei cleared his throat. "Do you have his medical records?"

"What?" She couldn't have heard him right. She searched his face. "What did you say?"

"Do you have a difficulty with your hearing?"

"I just -- I mean --" Intense joy and relief flooded her pretty features. "Of course! In triplicate." She rose to get the records but stopped short, throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

Alexei's face colored rapidly. He cleared his throat again. "There are no guarantees, you understand. I can only look at his records and observe him."

"Of course! I'll be right back!"

He looked at her uneasily as she ran into the next room. He didn't know what was wrong with him. She was just another mother with a child who needed his help. He had interviewed dozens of them across the country. It wouldn't do for him to lose his objectivity in this case. He had worked hard to get here. He was so close to having Dr. Zabutas' technique accepted. Yet he could still feel her arms around him and the way her hair had brushed his face. She was so alive, so vibrant. She pulled at his senses, even as his heart tugged painfully at his memories of Helena. When was the last time he had felt such naked passion for a woman? When had his heart beaten faster just because he saw a pretty face?

She returned with Rickey's medical file. "Everything is in here. I kept it all. What I didn't have, I rounded up to show you. And the other doctors. I know you aren't the only one who makes the decision. But you're the most important one."

"I suppose I should be flattered," he said, putting on his glasses as she laid the file in front of him. "By being the most important one, I was the target for your kidnapping."

Robbie sat beside him. Her blue eyes were intense. "I can't say I'm sorry in Croatian. I've said it in English. Maybe I made a mistake --"

"Maybe?"

She grinned. "Well, you're here, aren't you? Would you like another cup of coffee?"

He accepted the coffee because her capricious grin threw him off balance again. His grandmother would have called her an imp. He watched her at the counter with the coffee pot. She was a seductive imp. Alexei looked away before she turned toward him. Luckily, he didn't have to read the material aloud that was set before him. She was all he could see.

"Robbie Jo, you aren't making the man read the files, are you? I would think kidnapping him and dragging him through the swamp would be enough for a few days. He deserves some rest!"

"He asked me, Dad!"

"Well, I'm going to bed. Don't let her keep you up too late, Alexei. She loves to talk!"

"Thank you, Jack." Alexei glanced at Robbie. "I will be wary of her."

"Good man! Good night, Robbie."

"Good night, Dad!"

Robbie poured herself a cup of coffee. Her hands trembled with excitement and fear. If he rejected Rickey outright, if Rickey never got a chance to go to camp, she would have done it all for nothing. Rickey would be condemned to spending his life without ever knowing what a dog sounded like when it barked. For the past two years, she had dedicated herself to getting him into this program. They had trained as hard as any professional athletes.

She studied Alexei's profile as he read through the texts. He wasn't what she had expected. He'd looked so studious in the pictures she'd seen of him. Up close, there was a provocative gleam in his eye. He had a sense of humor that showed in the smile lines on his lips and eyes. There was sadness, too. He looked like a man who had suffered more than just the physical wounds she'd read in the article.

"I...uh...tried to keep them all in order as we got them," she told him nervously.

"Hmm."

"If there is something that should be there that you don't see, you tell me and I can find it for you."

"Hmm."

She stirred more sugar into her coffee and accidentally dropped the spoon on the green tile floor. The clamor was deafening. "Sorry."

He glanced at her. "This will take some time, Robbie. You should go to bed."

"It's all right," she answered quickly. "I'll sit down and you won't even know I'm here."

Alexei found that difficult to believe, but there was no way to tell her that he found her so attractive. When she brought her coffee and sat down beside him, he shook his head and forced himself to concentrate. It was ridiculous that he should be so drawn to this woman on so little acquaintance. It was preposterous!

For the five years since Helena had been killed, he had been celibate. He had not so much as looked at another woman. Now suddenly, Robbie had become the center of attention for some adolescent fantasy that had taken hold of him. He was tired, distracted, and beginning to feel the effects of his long enforced solitude. When he got back to New York, he would find someone to talk to about it.

In the meantime, being near her was torture. He could feel the coffee as it touched her lips. He could feel her breath as she sighed. His hands trembled with wanting to touch her silky hair, caress her tanned skin, hear her whisper his name.

"Enough!" he said suddenly, causing her to jump back and spill her coffee on both of them.

"I'm sorry," she said at once, using her napkin to wipe the excess off of his pants leg.

Her warm hand and the movements of her fingers were incredibly arousing as she tried to cure her mistake. Alexei finally put his hand over hers to stop her then stood up abruptly as though he'd been burned.

"I cannot concentrate," he said, taking off his glasses. He glanced down into her upturned face. "You are too distra -- I am exhausted! The kidnapping and the journey here have exhausted me."

"Of course," she said, getting up at once. "I'm so sorry. Let me get your room ready. You can look at these in the morning."

"Thank you."

He sat back down at the table as she left the room. It was a mistake to come here. He looked around the tiny kitchen. It was a mistake to give her any hope. Even if he accepted the boy, the chances were that he would be taken out in the first round of applicants. The rules were very specific. Even with his recommendation it would be unlikely that he would be one of the candidates for the surgery.

So why was he there?

Robbie poked her head around the corner and smiled at him. It spread through him like sunshine, warming parts of him that he didn't think would ever respond again to warmth or love. "Your room is ready."

The authors wish to acknowledge the broad interpretation of sign language used here. It was meant as a conversational device, more to understand the thoughts of the speaker, than to adhere to the true definition. Thanks!

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