Silver Linings

life in general. He just longed to go home and devote himself to his fledgling charter business.
    As he had packed his bag and phoned for a cab to the airport to catch his six o'clock flight, Hugh had tried to ease his way out the door by thanking Mattie for her hospitality. That was when she had made her plea, a plea that had echoed in his ears nearly every night since that last one in Seattle.
    “ Take me with you, Hugh. I love you so much. Please take me with you. I'll follow you anywhere. I'll make you a good wife. I swear it. Please, Hugh .”
    Hugh had fled after first making a further mess of the matter by trying to explain to Mattie that she was not really his type.
    He had not been gone more than a couple of months before he had finally admitted to himself that he had picked the wrong sister the first time around. Trying to rectify his error was proving far more complicated than he would have initially believed possible.
    “Had Cormier lived here on Purgatory for a long time?” Mattie asked after a long silence.
    “He settled here a few years ago. I think he liked the irony of the name.”
    “Purgatory? Why is it called that?”
    “It's part of the Brimstone Chain. A few of the islands in the group have active volcanos. Guess they made the original settlers think of fire and brimstone. Purgatory's the biggest one in the string. It's been independent since right after World War Two. None of the bigger countries wanted to own it.”
    “Why not?”
    “No commercial or military value. Not even any tourism to speak of.”
    “Apparently someone's willing to fight for it.”
    Hugh thought about that. “Yeah. Funny that Paul didn't pick up on that. He usually had an instinct for trouble. He always claimed Purgatory was paradise simply because it wasn't worth fighting over.” Paul had long ago grown weary of battle. Just as Hugh had. “Why don't you try to get some sleep, Mattie?”
    “I couldn't possibly sleep tonight.” There was a shudder in her voice.
    Hugh made a decision. He got up, walked over, and sat down right next to her, aware of the tension radiating from her. Deliberately he put an arm around her shoulders. She tried to pull away. He ignored the small, ineffectual movement and gently pushed her head onto his shoulder. Her body was taut and warm alongside his.
    “Close your eyes, Mattie.”
    “I told you, I can't.” She stiffened. “Hugh, I wish you wouldn't do this.”
    “Close your eyes and imagine you're dozing off in front of your living room window.”
    She said nothing more but she did not try to pull away from his grasp. Hugh waited, absently rubbing her shoulder.
    Fifteen minutes later he realized she was asleep.
    For a long time Hugh sat there enjoying the feel of holding Mattie at long last after all these months. He wondered what Cormier would have advised at this juncture.
    “ Patience, Hugh. You've already pissed in your chili once, as our dear friend Mr. Taggert is fond of saying. Don't screw up again .”
    The problem, Hugh thought, was that he'd already been patient for months. He was not sure how much patience he had left. He was forty and he was alone.
    And over the past year he had gotten very tired of being alone.

    Mattie awoke the next morning to the scent of flowers. Exotic flowers. Rich, lush, vibrant flowers. Their perfume was a heavenly cloud that seemed to envelop her.
    She opened her eyes and saw the massive bouquet lying on the floor of the cave directly in front of her face. It was a huge collection of vividly colored blossoms. There were dozens and dozens of flowers—orange, pink, and white lilies, spectacular bird of paradise, red torch ginger, heliconia, and myriad orchids. They were heaped in beautiful disarray. A veritable mountain of gorgeous blooms. Mattie knew that a mass of orchids and other exotics such as this would have cost two or three hundred dollars back in the States.
    She smiled and reached out to touch a crimson petal. It was like velvet under her fingertips. Hugh must have gone out very early to collect such a wealth of flora.
    Hugh . Of course this tower of flowers was his doing.
    Mattie snatched her fingers back quickly and scowled at the huge assortment. It was really quite ludicrous. There were far too many flowers. A single perfect orchid or one golden yellow hibiscus bloom would have been far more tasteful than this colorful, confused heap.
    It was no surprise that Hugh was as heavy-handed in presenting flowers as he was in