Passionate Choice

Chapter 3.6

   In her room, Selena clicked on the bedside lamp, out the chain on the door and began to undress. The unexpected meeting with Heather had ruffled her. She was convinced now, Heather had been hiding in the trees close to herself and Keith just before he had left her. She shivered with revulsion. She hated the thought of being spied on. If Heather had heard everything she and Keith had said, the woman knew now that they had met before and had an affair. A flash-in-the-pan affair, Keith had called it. He had let her know in no uncertain terms what he thought of her nine months' stay with him. It had been so short, so unimportant in his life, it wasn't worth mentioning.

   But now Heather knew about it. What she had hoped to prevent happening had happened. Heather knew and, if Ben had been with her in the shadows, he knew. Unless he had left Heather to go to bed before she and Keith had reached the end of the jetty.

   But even if Ben has gone to bed and hadn't overheard the conversation between herself and Keith, if he hadn't been with Heather, he would soon know. Heather would see to that. She would tell him everything she had overheard.

   Oh, why had she bothered to go and ask Keith to be quiet about their affair? Selena wondered miserably, as she slid into bed and settled her head on the pillow. She should have left well alone. She should have trusted Keith's natural reticence about himself instead of seeking him out to ask him to deny he had ever met her before. She should have guessed that their affair had been so unimportant to him—one of several probably in his life—that he would never refer to it or tell a stranger about it.

   He wasn't married. He hadn't married Sora. Why? Had Sora found out that he had spent nine months living in close quarters on his yacht with another woman, taken umbrage and jilted him? During the time she had wandered about the islands with him, she had discovered he had many acquaintances on the islands: divers, yachtsmen, marina owners, dockmasters, socialites, many of whom had seen her in his company and on his yacht. One of them could easily have told someone else, who had told Sora about the English woman living with Keith Walker, who was his mate, his mistress...

   If only she had known he hadn't married Sora, if only she had known. No, it was no use going off on that tack. No good could come of such conjecture. She had believed at the time he had planned to marry Sora when he returned to Nassau and she had acted accordingly. She had lacked her bags and left him and he had made no attempt to persuade her to stay because they had arranged to split at the end of nine months. He hadn't wanted her to stay on. He hadn't been in love with her. A flash-in-the-pan, their affair had been for him and nine months of her company had been enough. If only it had been like that for her.

   But she had believed she was well on the way to being cured of him until she had been kissed by him tonight. Now she was wondering how she was going to get through the next few days until John Claes came, seeing Keith every day, hearing he voice. How was she going to hide from him and from Ben and Heather, the fact that she was still in love with him? What was she going to say to Ben when she asked her if it was true what heather had told him she had overheard tonight? What was she going to do...?

   She fell asleep before she had decided what to do but woke next morning knowing exactly what she would do if Ben brought up the matter of her affair with Keith. She would tell him the truth, and if he didn't like it, he could withdraw his proposal to marry her.