Over the days they had been together, Roz and Cadillac had exchanged
life stories and touched upon the more private things that all lovers
reveal as their relationship deepens and grows. With his tales of past
battles and his adventures in Ne-Issan, Cadillac held the stage far
longer than Roz. But that did not matter. She was eager to listen,
and he told his story well. But although he mentioned the parts Steve
and Clearwater had played in his past life, he did not dwell upon his
feelings for them or speculate where they might be now. And Roz
suddenly realised that neither had she. It was time to put that
right.
Time to break the news ....
It took a little time to get round to it because, at the beginning, she
was waiting for the right moment. But it quickly became clear that
Cadillac was a creature of fleeting moods. Despite her supportive
presence, his emotional barometer was constantly swinging between
highs and lows. One minute he was full of confidence and optimism and
then, suddenly, his brow and eyes would darken as if a cloud had
crossed the face of the sun. The smile was replaced by a sullen,
brooding expression then, with equal suddenness, the shadows would lift
and the eyes would shine again.
Roz, by contrast, was an extremely uncomplicated person, open-hearted,
forthright, long on sympathy, short on guile even though she had
learned to tread carefully since she had been forced to work with the
people who were trying to manipulate her kin-brother.
Cadillac, she decided, was a suitable case for treatment, and the only
way to straighten him out was to be herself.
Clad in a skin tunic and wrap-around skirt, Roz sat on the edge of the
rock-pool with her bare legs in the water and watched Cadillac scrub
his top half in the waist-deep water. He was not as powerfully built
as Steve but he had strong shoulders and a slim, hard muscular body
encased in a smooth coppery skin that Roz found immensely attractive.
'There's something you ought to know. About Clearwater."
Cadillac paused in mid-scrub. 'Oh, Sweet Mother!
Don't say she's going to be permanently crippled?
'On the contrary. She'll have metal pins on her thigh for the rest of
her life, but she'll be up on her feet within a couple of months. And
if she gets some intensive physio, she'll be back to normal in another
four. It's someone else's health I'm worried about. Clearwater's
pregnant." Roz waited a second or two then tried again.
'With child."
