Read Online Valaquez Bride by Donna Vitek - Free Book Online

see the housekeeper lurking in a corner,
eavesdropping, Juliet lowered her voice to answer at last, "I can't see
you here but let's meet somewhere. How about the Court of the Lions at
the Alhambra? Say in twenty minutes?"
    "Fine. Don't be late," Benny answered brusquely, then hung
up without even saying good-bye.
    More than a little worried by his strange behavior, Juliet
wasted no time leaving the house again and within fifteen minutes was
driving up the narrow steeply graded road to the Alhambra. Its sturdy
clay walls and thirteen square towers gleamed golden in the sun against
the backdrop of snow-tipped Sierra Nevada mountains. Disdaining the new
parking area, Juliet parked Raul's black Esprit by the thicket of trees
that edged the road. Getting out of the car, she rushed to buy a ticket
to the castle. The sun blazed down relentlessly on her bare head as she
passed through a courtyard, showed her ticket to the gatekeeper, then
entered through a door into a cool quiet gallery. It was like taking a
step back in time and almost too bedazzling. Graceful slender columns
supported filigreed arches. Wainscoting of geometrically arranged red,
green and white tiles lined the lower walls while the upper walls and
domed ceilings were decorated with plasterwork moldings of floral
motifs, painted gold or red or blue.
    Although Juliet had visited Alhambra before, the delicate
beauty of the Moorish architecture enchanted her as much now as it
always had. She would have liked to linger in the cool gallery; there
was so much to see but this wasn't the time to explore. The Court of
the Lions was some distance away and Benny might already be waiting for
her. As she went on, past a long row of arched windows through which
sunlight streamed, her cork-heeled sandals made only faint noise on the
marble floor. The only other sound came from the splashing fountains in
the inner courtyards and from the gentle movement of the cypress trees
as a breeze occasionally drifted through them. Glancing at her
wrist-watch, Juliet quickened her pace. Two more minutes and she would
be late and judging by Benny's urgent tone, he really needed to see
her. Apprehension uncurled in her stomach so she hardly noticed the
next sun-drenched courtyard she passed through. She did catch a glimpse
of one of her favorite chambers with its domed ceiling of carved wood
inlaid with ivory and silver. Finally, after wandering through several
rooms of one of the royal residential apartments, she stepped out into
the Court of the Lions.
    She hesitated, glancing around the veranda-enclosed
courtyard. Fragile, fluted columns cast long shadows in the bright sun.
Four white marble walkways led to the sculptured fountain supported by
stylized lions, which spouted streams of water from their small round
mouths. A single column of water sprang up in the fountain's center,
creating rainbow-hued droplets that splashed back into the stone basin.
    Benny was nowhere to be seen. Juliet walked to the
fountain but as she dipped her fingers into the sparkling water, he
appeared, looking quite haggard, his boyish face drawn, his skin ashen.
"What's wrong?" she exclaimed, laying her hand on his arm. "What is it?
Where's Holly?"
    Benny raked his fingers through already rumpled reddish
hair and gave a sigh that was half a groan. "She's in the hospital."
    "Oh, no! But what's wrong? She hasn't— hasn't
had the baby prematurely?"
    "No, but she could," Benny replied thickly, then pointed
in the direction of a stone bench beside an ornamental yew tree. "Let's
go sit over there. Okay? I'm exhausted."
    After they had settled themselves on the bench and Benny
had stared morosely at his feet for several minutes without speaking
again, Juliet could stand the silence no longer. "Tell me exactly
what's wrong,
please
. Why might Holly have the
baby two months early?"
    "We had an accident in the van," Benny began dully.
"Yesterday, after we talked to you on the phone and you sounded so
lonely, we decided to