Lindsay McKenna - The Heart Beneath

Morgan chuckled. He didn’t have such a sensitive or appreciative pallet for champagne or wine. “John said this was his best champagne since he’s opened the vineyard ten years ago. He sent us two bottles here, to the Hoyt, as a New Year’s gift.”

“Wonderful,” Laura said, sipping the champagne with enthusiasm. “John’s wine goes for hundreds of dollars a bottle. I feel so lucky!”

As he stood near the huge Hawaiian flower arrangement, watching Laura appreciate every sip of her favorite champagne, Morgan’s heart nearly burst with happiness. His wife deserved something special like this, and he didn’t give it to her often enough. His work kept him on the move twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Although his offices were only three miles from their home, he often was so immersed in work he didn’t see her much during the day. As a result, she had borne the brunt of raising their four children.

He tried to come home for lunch every day to be with her and the children. Their oldest, Jason, was now at Annapolis, the U.S. Naval Academy. Katy was seventeen and getting ready to leave for college next year. The fraternal twins, Peter and Kelly were now twelve, a wonderful age, and Morgan was trying to be home with them more often.

He frowned, knowing he’d been working too much. Jason and Katherine especially had grown up without him being there much of the time. He’d been a shadow father in their lives. Because of the mounting problems with Jason, who didn’t have an easy time of it at school, and Katherine’s distance from him, Morgan was trying to correct that problem. Laura was much happier that he was taking weekends off, and sending his second-in-command, Mike Houston, around the world on many Perseus missions in his place. The twins, at least, were much happier and well adjusted as a result.

Guilt ate at Morgan as he stood there sipping champagne with Laura. Nothing mattered more to him than his family. They were a close, tight-knit family. Silently, he promised Laura that he would continue to be there for their children and for her. His life wasn’t all about military objectives and missions. He realized now it was about being around for his family, supporting Laura and helping her to raise their kids.

Laura eased her sensible black shoes off her feet and dug her nylon-clad toes into the plush carpet. Turning, she walked back to the window. The sun was setting.

“Look at the strange color of this sunset, Morgan. Have you ever seen anything like it?” she asked, turning as he came up behind her.

Morgan stared out the huge window toward central Los Angeles, at the needlelike buildings that seemed to be clawing the sky. “Hmm. No, it looks yellow-green, or a dirty yellow color. It is unusual…”

Wrinkling her nose as she sipped the wine, Laura leaned once more against Morgan’s tall, steady frame. His arm came around her waist to keep her solidly in place. “Dirty yellow is a good description. It really is a strange, rather ugly color. We’ve been out to California many times in the past and I can never remember the sky looking like this.” A chill went through her. She felt Morgan’s arm tighten around her reassuringly.

“Cold?” he murmured near her ear.

Shaking her head, she said, “No…just, well, a strange chill just shot through me.” Twisting to look up at him, she said, “Isn’t that odd? Here we are at the top of the world, literally speaking, in a terribly expensive penthouse suite, drinking some of the best champagne on the face of the earth, and I get this awful feeling….”

“About what?” Morgan knew Laura was highly intuitive. With the children, she’d often get a premonition when one of them was in some kind of danger, and it always turned out that she was correct. Morgan didn’t take Laura’s intuition lightly. Frowning, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I…don’t know, Morgan. Boy, this is strange, you know?” She forced a smile she didn’t feel. “Maybe we should call home and check with the baby-sitter to see if the twins are okay.”

Releasing her, he nodded. “Sure, go ahead….” And he stepped aside so she could go to the flowery couch and sit down near the ornate, antique-style phone there.

Turning to gaze out at the lurid yellow sunset, he listened as Laura dialed home. The cloud of pollution hung like a dirty brown ribbon across the sky. Stretching for a good fifty miles from north to south and roughly thirty miles from east to west, the Los Angeles basin contained millions of people. This was one of the most congested, overpopulated spots in the U.S.A. Everyone wanted California sunshine, the good life, and perfect weather conditions without snow or ice. Morgan couldn’t blame any of them for moving out here, for the Los Angeles area was a powerful draw. And having Hollywood here was just another plus. Disneyland was nearby, and so was Knotsberry Farm. Los Angeles, the City of Angels, had many attractions that drew families.

As he listened to Laura talking to their baby-sitter, Julie Kingston, he didn’t hear any consternation or worry in her voice. Sipping the champagne as he stood there, Morgan slid his free hand into the pocket of his chinos. The sky was a deepening yellow now, one of the oddest colors he’d ever seen. Searching his memory, he could not find a clue to this unusual meteorological event.

“Well,” Laura sighed as she came back to stand with him, “everyone’s okay, thank goodness. Julie said the twins are fine.”

Morgan glanced at her and saw the relief in her eyes. Laura loved her children with the fierceness of a lioness and she was a wonderful mother to them.

“Good,” he murmured. “Because I want you to enjoy the vacation.” Pulling his hand from his pocket, he slid his arm across Laura’s slim, proud shoulders and drew her close. She came without resistance, that soft look in her blue eyes once again, replacing the worry.

“Oh, you know me, Morgan. I’m such a worrywart when it comes to the kids. That’s part of being a parent. You and I both know that.”

Nodding, he stood with his wife in his arms, enjoying the warmth of her body against his. “I know,” he whispered huskily, and placed a kiss on her silky hair. “Maybe when we go to dinner tonight, our waitress might know what this dirty yellow sky means.”

Laughter burbled up in Laura’s throat. “Oh, let’s not ask! She’ll probably think we’re backwoods hicks from Montana, and get a good laugh out of it. Let’s not embarrass ourselves that way, okay?”

Smiling good-naturedly, Morgan murmured, “Fair enough, woman of my heart. Now, let’s enjoy the rest of this bottle, laze around a little and enjoy life one minute at a time with one another.”

A glint came to Laura’s eyes as she met her husband’s warm gray gaze, which burned with desire for her. Her lips parted in an elfin smile. “I’d love to take that champagne bottle over to the huge, four-poster Louis XIV bed, lie beneath that incredible burgundy-and-gold canopy, and enjoy it with you.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow. “I like your idea, Mrs. Trayhern. You’re forever creative about such things…”

Giggling, Laura felt the chill and worry leave her. Slipping out from beneath Morgan’s arm, she skipped across the room and slid the champagne from the silver bucket. Bottle in hand, she moved to the king-size bed and leaped onto it like a gleeful child, her laughter tinkling.

“I have a few more creative ideas we can explore together,” she challenged wickedly.

December 31: 2150

“That sunset was an ugly yellow, wasn’t it, Dusty? I always wonder what’s going to happen when it’s that color. It’s so unusual…” Lieutenant Callie Evans squatted down in front of the cyclone-fenced kennel that housed her golden retriever, a dog specially trained for rescue missions. There were twenty-two such animals in the facility. Overhead, the pale amber glare of a sodium lamp cast deep, running shadows across the enclosed area that housed dogs of various breeds.