Free Force of Fire (The Kane Legacy) by Rosa Turner Boschen Page A

her piled
mane framed a flawless complexion. Her eyes, dark and troubled, revealed the
shadows of a full life.
    She smiled slightly as her lips
met the narrow rim of the glass.
    Oh Albert, if only you had
lived to see this. Your daughters now women. Emalita a
mother. And Ana, so proud, just like you.
    Isabel straightened. No, today
she would not lament. Past was past and he was gone. But the memories, at
least, were hers to cling to.
    When she first met him, he was
a lean, former army officer coming out of service in the Caribbean. They met on
a double date arranged by her roommate Peggy.
    Peggy had been seeing a fine
ex-lieutenant who was prepping himself for the Foreign Service exam. Peggy's
Tom was tall and refined. Well-bred, they called it in those days. He had such
manners, and those deep-set emerald eyes that sparkled with a mischief in
defiance of his outward reserve.
    One day, Peggy had come back to
the dorm all alive with excitement.
    'Isabel,' she said, her
freckled face aglow with inspiration, 'have I got the fellow for you!'
    In an instant, redheaded Peggy
had filled their small quarters with stomach-twirling animation.
    'But you must come, Isa. You
know my Tommy thinks the world of you. He'll be so
disappointed if you at least don't give it a go.'
    It was hard to resist her in
these moods. So, despite her reservations, Isabel agreed to join Peggy, Tom and
Tom's mysterious friend, Albert Kane, for a drink at a side-street piano bar
later that evening.
    She never really liked
venturing into the bustle and hullabaloo of Georgetown after dark. It was all
so – hedonistic. Young men and girls, dancing, smoking, tying one on,
when they really would have been better off back in the library accomplishing
what their parents had sent them to school for.
    Oh well, she thought, painting
her lips fire engine red, maybe Peggy's right. Maybe I do spend too much time
with my nose in a book.
    With that, she and Peggy had
stepped into their nylons and A- line skirts and set out to meet two frisky
young men in want of company.
    Albert Kane had taken Isabel by
surprise. He wasn't a tall man, but at five foot nine, he stood a good five
inches above his inquisitive Spanish date. Though she hated to admit it, she
found herself intrigued by his ambiguous hazel eyes. Somehow his look seemed
humble, as if he assumed nothing of anyone, least of all himself. Yet, deep
within those gold-encrusted irises, there was a hint of something valiant, a
silent sense of command.
    They had been in the bar a
while but the conversation was having trouble getting off the ground. She asked
him endlessly about himself, in part because she was interested, in part
because her mother had taught her it was the best way to flatter a man. He
answered her politely, but the connection she felt between them couldn’t seem to
work its way into words.
    'So, Lieutenant,' she began
anew.
    He interrupted her with a
smile. 'Please, Miss Delgado. I’m no longer in uniform. I’d be very happy if
you’d call me Albert.'
    She felt the warmth in her
cheeks. There was something in the way he looked at her. 'Only if you’ll call
me Isabel.'
    'I’d be honored,' he said,
taking her hand and giving it a light kiss.
    Peggy and Tom were nursing
their drinks across the table, pretending to listen to the music, but Isabel
knew otherwise.
    Suddenly the room was stifling.
'I think I’d like to get some air.'
    'Of course,' Albert said,
getting up and helping her with her chair.
    'We’re game!' Peggy shouted
over the tumbling play of the piano.
    This wasn’t exactly what Isabel
had in mind, but perhaps it was for the best. There was safety in numbers.
Albert was practically a stranger. Oddly, though, she trusted him.
    She liked the way he held the
door and linked his arm through hers when they stepped onto the street. He
walked appropriately to her left, defending her Saturday night
clothes from the unseemly splatter of automobiles. It occurred to her
they looked like a couple,