******053:

We rented a van in St. John and followed the signs out to Truck Bay in Virgin Islands National Park. The beach was one of the loveliest I'd ever seen. The water was deep turquoise with puffy pristine white clouds over the brilliant green and white of foliage and sand. To top it off—as we got out of the van and got our kids out and situated on the beach an older gentleman came up to us and stood there, examining our retinue.

Rafe had decided he wanted to teach Virgil to snorkel and then do the easy underwater trail around Trunk Cay Island. The wind was non-existent today. It would be safe. But here was this man, staring us down.

Abbie gave me the sign several times: quirked brows, discreet pointer finger--- till I finally looked up and asked what I could do for him.

"They ain't your kids." He said with this pretty decent New York accent. I looked further up his rather portly physique, noted the eighties blue and yellow flowered swimming trunks, the loose Hard Rock Café T-shirt and the very thinning what once must have been black hair on top. His eyes were dark brown though and intriguing. He looked very familiar--- in an I should know you--- sort of way.

"They are my children." I answered easily, smoothing sunscreen over Felicity's back as she held her braid out.

"Not your biological children."

I shrugged. "They are mine, legally, if that is what you're referring to, Mister...?"

I scooted over to Rein who was playing with his little car and a bucket we'd bought in California for just this purpose. Rafe was oblivious.

"Carter Mangeniello."

Okay.

I looked up again, this time intently. Even Abbie's mouth dropped open in surprise.

Yes. Yes, he really was Carter Mangeniello. I could totally see it. He was much older than I remembered, and had gained quite a bit of stuffing, but he was the man---- the piano man.

He took the match he'd been chewing out of his mouth and pointed it at me. "And you're one of the Mann Girls. And that man over there is Rafe Stryker. I'm still up on current music industry talent. I know your mother."

"Yes, I remember that you've been to Rosewood." I stood up and wiped my sunscreen-y hands on my blue bathing suit skirt and stepped up for the hug. He'd been a main-house guest, that made him huggable. He returned my careful squeeze pragmatically.

"Are you two together?" He asked in that blunt way older celebrities sometimes did. I sat back down as Rein started to crawl into the sand. Our beach umbrella was not shading us at the moment. I reached for it and the bag we carried towels and mats in.

"Yes, we married last July. This is my niece, Abbie, she's our travel nanny this trip and these are our adopted family, Reinaldo, who is two and Felicity who is four. Rafe is teaching Virgil how to snorkel today, and over there----." I indicated some rocks and tide pools kind of far away, with a lot of people between us, but obviously having a heart to heart, "That is my niece Hannah and Jeremy Gunn."

Carter squinted at the two in question and then popped the match back between his teeth and reached for one of our canvas fold up chairs. He snapped it open and sat himself down, relaxing in the beautiful eighty-degree sunshine. "You make a lovely couple."

"Thank you." I said as Felicity dumped sand on the towel bag and then managed to look surprised, like four-year-olds do when they know what they did was naughty. "What brings you out to the Virgin Islands?"

He frowned and then pursed his lips--- I noticed they were quite full lips---- I must have a thing for lips. The last time I'd been checking out lips I'd wanted to kiss them--- not so now.

"I'm doing a short gig on a cruise." He jerked his head back in the general direction of St. John's.

I told him what cruise line we were on and ascertained we were not on the same one. I had turned and was looking to Rafe, who I thought might catch my eye and come join us, seeing a man was now with us. But he was intently focused on teaching Virgil. Jeremy and Hannah were quite a ways off, and also completely intent.

"The last time I checked the Mann family was still the leading LDS family in the industry. Have you defected, Miss Mann?"

"Defected." I blurted, completely caught off guard. "Why would you say such a thing?"

He grunted and pointed his matchstick. "You're with the lead singer of Axis, and you say you've married him. I can only surmise one of you has changed your M.O."

"He did." I made light of it.

Carter grunted again, his eyes narrowed at Rafe, and then he shook his head and snorted.

"It can't be that hard to believe." I returned, a little annoyed. He was being judgy. "There are a lot of LDS people in the entertainment field. "You would know that more and more LDS talent has found its way into the market. There are LDS actors, and singers, instrumentalists, and dancers, in all walks of the industry."

"I'm aware that there are."

"Aubrey." I prompted. "My name is Aubrey Stryker, and I'm the youngest of the Mann children."

"Aubrey." He repeated with a wink. "And many of them are not active churchgoers. Many of them forsake their religion for the glamour and glitz of Hollywood."

I shrugged. "Of course, that does happen."

"But not to the Mann's. Is that right?"

"We are not better than anyone else, Carter, we are simply a very large and very well known entertainment field family."

He snorted again. "I had these discussions with your mother Aubrey, and I fail to see how any of you girls have managed to stay active and practicing members of your church marrying the men you have. Richard Mann, for instance, and I am very familiar with him and know him to be a changed person because of your mother's influence. But what has always confused and concerned me about it, is that I don't know if these very wild and very naughty bad boys who marry into the family do it for the church or for the women."

My mouth was working, and I did feel somewhat affronted. But his question had just enough simple curiosity to keep me from becoming defensive.

However, he went on. "Melia Mann is another one. She married first bad boy emerging star Ryan Patrick, and then divorced him, which given her own rep was not entirely unexpected. I think Melia had gone through some less than faithful times as well...." He twirled his mustache and stared thoughtfully at the sea, and I chanced a glance at Abbie, whose mother was Melia, and her eyes were narrowed. I knew Hannah and Abbie to be fairly mild tempered until it came to their parentage. But Carter was oblivious. "Then she married an even crazier reputation-ed actor, Robert DeMarco, who supposedly joined the church and became more mainstream."  He held up his hand as Abbie geared up to join the conversation. "That doesn't explain Matthew Lawrence-- terrible early rep, Tecca Allen was always fairly decent as is Ian what's his name the country singer-- but the granddaddy who hasn't changed a bit-- Kell Stevak. How can any of you claim to be practicing Mormons with these characters holding you down?"

I let out my breath and held up a hand to ward Abbie off.

"Mr. Mangeniello, I find your judgy remarks to be borderline offensive since you don't know our family as well as you think you do." Now I held up my hand to stop his next retort. "Give me a chance here, since you started it."

He snorted and sat forward.

"Number one: my father has been an upstanding member of the Mormon church for decades. His youthful escapades are well known and talked about in some circles, but he gave them up and changed his life, yes-- for my mother, and yes-- for himself and his beliefs. He came by his own beliefs legitimately, as have all of the men in my family. Second of all: your facts are incorrect, and I hope you don't feel free to spout them in other company. If you've enjoyed my mother's hospitality, then you should know she wouldn't appreciate you giving others half truths about her or her children."

"If I have spouted half-truths young Aubrey, I apologize, but I think I have my facts straight. I am a faithful follower of the media talent and their proclivities. It's a hobby of mine. I use established sources and verify facts, so I believe I have the facts straight. But you may do your best to set me straight, if you wish."

I could tell this was just what he wanted. To hear it from the horse's mouth so to speak. My feathers were ruffled, and I thought about doing just that, taking each and every member of my family and defending their testimony and honor-- and right as I was about to do that-- I felt constrained.

Yes, completely constrained.

Don't do it.

I shut my mouth and concentrated. Nope. That had definitely been a warning voice.

I smiled as serenely as I could.

"Carter." I said his first name as kindly as I was able. "My family doesn't need defending. Our religion and how we practice it is open to all who care to investigate and missionaries are easily and readily available to share our beliefs with you. My husband is down at the water teaching our son how to snorkel, and we are planning to --." I held up my hand as Aidan and Keeva appeared, having rented their own vehicle, and come a little later than us. Aidan's eyes were round and startled at my company. I nodded that everything was okay, and he perched with his chair and gear just a few yards away. "We are planning to swim the underwater trail around Trunk Cay Island this afternoon. If you chance to see Rafe not doing those things, you are welcome to come over and discuss his conversion with you. I'm sure he'd be happy to."

Carter Mangeniello sat forward again, easing his bulk closer to the edge of the folding chair. His eyes on mine were challenging. I had thwarted his plan to get the scoop-- and then gossip about it. I may be coming across a little bit cool, but if that was all he had to report of me, I didn't care.

"I may take you up on that offer, Aubrey. It's been delightful talking with you and your niece." He said this last very skeptically, and I filed that away, wondering if he'd report that Abbie and I were somehow indiscreet on the beach. I looked up at the spot he'd vacated, and found a woman with her camera trained in our direction.

I didn't get up as he toddled back the way he'd come, and Aidan and Keeva dropped to their knees on my second matt near the umbrella.

"What was that all about?" Aidan asked plainly, eyeing the back of the piano man retreating now back to the bar.

Yes, this beach sported a snack area and a bar. Waiters came out onto the sand periodically and asked if people wanted anything.

"Carter Mangeniello. He's playing another cruise line as we travel, and happened to spot us on the beach. He came over for a chat."

Abbie quickly drew in her breath. "He attacked our family's beliefs, Aubrey, how can you be so calm? I mean, you deflected him nicely, but it kind of pissed him off too. I bet he will write some blog about it and color you not so nice after all."

"I don't care, Abbie. It is none of his business and we really don't need defending. Lots of LDS artists are quite famous and people either accept that they are famous and religious or they don't. If Rafe wants to tell his conversion story to--." I was about to disparage Mr. Mangeniello's own talent by saying something like: this washed up old keyboardist-- which would have been very rude-- and reveal my initial ire. But I stopped. "If Rafe wants to tell his story, he can. It's always best to hear a conversion story from the converted, don't you think?"

Abbie turned and faced away from me, her lower lip trembled a bit, and I thought I needed to continue absorbing her shock-- but Rafe and Virgil came up from the water grinning like Cheshire Cats, and ready to snorkel the island.

I stood up and patted the sand off my suit. Rafe had a towel around his neck, but was dripping and sandy. He eyed me appreciatively. "Baby, when are you gonna stop the whole go-go girl outfit for swimming and try on a gold and black bikini? I really want to see you in a gold and black bikini."

I curtsied in my turquoise and white and blue and multicolored one-piece with a skirt.

Rafe slapped his forehead and groaned. "Never." He laughed and scooped me up against him, running out to the surf, he dumped me into the warm water, the brilliant sand and splashing waves further out claiming us as we fell.

"Who was that man?" He came up, slicking back his hair.

"Just a man." I couldn't help be playful. I loved his jealousy.

"Really. Did you know him? Or was he from the cruise?"

"Not our cruise."

"You've arranged to meet guys from other cruises here?"

"It's way more challenging to try and rendezvous from opposing cruise lines, don't you know?"

He scooped me up against him and wrapped me in his arms. His eyes were light and shining-- catching the incredible clarity of reflected sky and sea. "Who is he?"

"Carter Mangeniello, the piano player. Had his peak in the nineties, or thereabouts, he's doing a gig on another cruise line. He happened to spot us and came over to chat."

Rafe squinted back the way we'd come. "He happened to spot you?"

"Apparently he spotted you and then wondered something about me."

"You look a lot like your mother." His thoughtful intensity as he stared at the shore was revealing.

"Maybe I should cut my hair? I could dye it red or something, and ----."

"Honey, if you dyed it purple you would still catch every man's attention on the beach." He growled into my neck as he tickled and kissed me, falling again into the slight surf.

We came up laughing together. It felt good. It felt really good. The sun behind him silhouetted his spiky hair, and his clear, fresh clean grin, those foxy teeth, the white of his skin, and the dark of his facial hair. Oh. My. I do love this man!

I glanced at the shore. The kids were snacking with Abbie, who was guarded by Aidan and Keeva reassuringly. I pulled Rafe close and molded myself to him.

"I don't know if I've ever told you how totally hot you are." I cupped his face and peered intently into his incredibly blue eyes. We were in water up to our waists, and the gentle sway of surf moved us together like silk rushing around our bodies. I pulled his lips down to mine and opened them to accommodate my sudden ardor.

There were people around---- it was a public beach, right?--- and I knew some of them were watching us. Not just because Rafe was---- Rafe--- but because we were kissing.... And that was all right.

I forgot about other people, I forgot about Carter Mangeniello, and any disagreements Rafe and I may have had. I even forgot he might still be sick. And I kissed him thoroughly, shamelessly, and with the exuberance I felt knowing he was mine. And he was--- all mine.

That could have been it--- the end of this episode. My thoughts had all cleared, and the only thing that mattered was Rafe.

But I was exquisitely aware of his hands on my sides, tantalizing me--- teasing me. I was acutely aware of his instant need--- pressing against me in monumental ways. I was exuberantly aware of his leg locked around mine, and his hand now roaming, his other arm tightening around my back and holding me.

"I want you." He growled against my lips. "Now."

I could only nod, and Rafe pulled us further out into the shimmering silky swaying water. I shuddered as he unerringly found sensitive spots I couldn't ignore, and my fingers also slid over spots on him that made him weak in the knees.

Were we still standing? It didn't matter.

Were others watching? Were we needed?

We shivered into the clouds--- unaware.

*****