HER SECRET, HIS DUTY

by Carla Cassidy

  Trey walked with her to her front door. “Can I come in?” he asked. “As I remember, there’s soup meant for the two of us waiting.”

  She smiled at him, her heart filled with both love and relief. “I think I could even rustle up a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches to go with that soup.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  It felt far too comfortable, him following her into the kitchen. “I still can’t believe she did everything she did because she thought you loved me,” Debra said as she opened the refrigerator door to get out slices of cheese.

  “I do love you.”

  She ignored the slightly faster beat of her heart as she closed the fridge door. “You love me because I’m the mother of your baby.”

  “No, I’m in love with you, Debra.” His blue eyes held her gaze. “I would be in love with you whether you were carrying my baby or not, but I know you don’t love me. When I proposed to you, you made it clear you weren’t interested in me in that way.”

  The slices of cheese slipped from Debra’s fingers and fell to the floor. “I thought you were proposing to the baby... I mean, I thought you were proposing to me because you thought it was the right thing to do and you always do the right thing.”

  “Then let me make it perfectly clear to you,” he said as he took a step closer to her, his eyes lit up with a warmth, with a promise as he reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m in love with you, Debra Prentice, and I can’t imagine living the rest of my life without you by my side.”

  “But I’m not good material to be a politician’s wife,” she protested, finding it hard to think, to concentrate as she stared up into the bottomless depths of his eyes. “I don’t know how to help you make your dreams come true. I don’t know how to dance and sometimes I can be quite clumsy...”

  His hands squeezed her shoulders with gentle pressure. “Just love me, Debra. I don’t need you to work my campaign for me. I have Chad to do that. I don’t need you to be the perfect political asset. I just need you to be my wife, to cook me special meals on Sundays and listen to everything that’s in my heart. I just need you to love me and no matter what else happens in my future, my dreams will come true.”

  Debra’s heart swelled so big in her chest she couldn’t speak. She could only nod like a bobblehead doll. He seemed to understand as he pulled her tight against his chest and captured her lips with his in a kiss that stole her breath and lifted her heart to a place it had never been before.

  Love my baby. Love me.

  “I love you, Trey,” she finally said as his lips left hers. “I’ve loved you since the moment I first met you. I don’t care if you’re a senator or you empty the garbage pails at the Senate. I just want to be your wife, to be a soft place for you to fall after a long day. I want to sit in front of a fire snuggled in your arms and watch our baby play.”

  “Babies,” he replied and took her mouth once again in a kiss that banished loneliness, healed wounds and promised a lifetime of passion and love.

  Chapter 17

  The ballroom at the Capital Hotel was magnificent, with five-story, floor to ceiling windows on three sides, and chandeliers that appeared to be sparkling stars against the deep blue high ceiling; it would have been impressive empty.

  But tonight it wasn’t empty. White-clothed tables surrounded the large polished dance floor, each table decorated with a red-and-pink floral arrangement in the center. Tiny red glittering hearts had been scattered around the arrangements, an instant reminder that it was Valentine’s Day.

  Debra felt as if it had been Valentine’s Day for the past week, ever since she had accepted Trey’s proposal. That morning she’d awakened to him serving her breakfast in bed and along with the bacon and eggs and orange juice had been a blue velvet ring box. As the server took their plates away from one of the front tables where they all sat, she admired the sparkle of the two-carat solitaire.

  “Wishing it were bigger?” Trey asked her as he leaned closer to her.

  She smiled at him, as always her heart expanding at the very sight of his handsome face. “Not at all. As it is now I have trouble lifting my hand.”

  He laughed and settled back in his chair and looked around the table with the expression of a contented man. For the past week they’d shared many long talks about their future, deciding on two children but keeping the possibility of a third open.

  He’d taken her to his house where she’d declared that she absolutely hated it and that she’d need a big budget to transform the cold, beautiful house into a warm, inviting home. He’d taken her into his arms and assured her that it would be warm and inviting as long as she was there with him.

  The plan was for her to put her townhouse on the market and within the coming weeks move into Trey’s home. She wanted to be settled and married before the birth of the baby and she knew Trey felt the same way.

  Every night of the past week he’d slept at the townhouse, snuggled with her in her bed. They’d made love each night and she wondered if she’d ever tire of the feel of his arms holding her tight, the taste of his lips against her own. He rubbed her belly each night and told the baby a ridiculous made-up bedtime story that always ended in her laughing.

  No, she would never tire of Trey Winston. They would be together through good times and bad, through thick and thin, with their mutual love for each other to shelter them from each and every storm.

  It had definitely been a magical week. Cecily was still in jail. Surprisingly, the wealthy socialite hadn’t been so wealthy after all. She’d been living on credit and had been on the verge of bankruptcy. She had been unable to make the huge bail the judge had set.

  It was obvious that Trey had not only been her dream man because he wanted to be a senator, but also because he was wealthy enough to save her from her own financial ruin.

  Debra released a sigh of happiness. They shared the table with Kate, Sam, Thad and the president of the chamber of commerce, Bob Duke, and his wife, Sherri.

  Dinner had been a pleasant affair, with everyone in the festive mood of the evening. All of the men wore tuxes and the ladies were visions in ball gowns, the prevailing colors red and white and pink.

  Debra and Trey had gone shopping for her dress, a bright pink with a fitted bodice with tiers of white and vivid pink that went from her waist to the floor. The tiers effectively hid the baby bump that was now clearly visible.

  The guest of honor for the night, Kate, was a vision in white with ruby bling in a gorgeous necklace and matching earrings to add color to the sophisticated, simple white gown.

  Dinner had been entertaining, a bit of political chatter at first, but then the conversation had changed to the weather forecasting cold and snow possibilities in the next week. Bob had shared disastrous Valentine’s Days he’d spent with his wife, Sherri, in the thirty years they had been married.

  “Men just don’t always get it right.” Sherri had laughed after Bob had tried to justify that a new garden tractor was a perfectly acceptable Valentine’s Day gift to his wife.

  There had been plenty of laughter, but Debra would have been perfectly happy if it had just been her and Trey alone in front of her fireplace.

  Trey leaned closer to her once again. “It won’t be long now and I’ll have you in my arms on the dance floor.”

  “Be afraid...be very afraid,” she replied in mock soberness.

  She got the expected result she’d wanted. He laughed, that low, rich laughter that she desired to hear every day and every night for the rest of her life.

  When the last table had been cleared, Bob turned and whispered something to Kate. She nodded and smiled around the table at all of her family as Bob got up from his seat and approached the podium at the front of the room.

  He tapped the end of the microphone, testing to make sure it was turned on and then began t
o speak. “I’d like to welcome you all to the Chamber of Commerce Valentine’s Day Charity Ball. I hope you’ve enjoyed your dinner and I also hope you’ve all had an opportunity to check out the room next door where we have a silent auction taking place. Pull out your checkbooks, men, there’s plenty of jewelry and goodies over there that the ladies will want.”

  Everyone laughed and Trey’s hand found Debra’s beneath the table, radiating his love, his happiness through their physical contact.

  “And don’t forget to stick around for the dancing,” Bob continued. “We have a terrific band standing by for your dancing pleasure. But now, it’s my great pleasure to introduce our speaker for the night, although she scarcely needs an introduction. Kate Adair Winston is one of our own who has served not only the city of Raleigh with her charitable work, but also has served the United States as former vice president and former ambassador to France. Her family business, Adair Enterprises, has brought jobs and revenue to our fair city. Kate, we welcome you.”

  Applause filled the room as Kate rose from the table and took her place behind the podium. She had no notes. Debra had helped her work on the speech over the past couple of days and she’d heard it a dozen times as Kate had practiced it over and over again so that she would have it fully memorized.

  Trey released her hand and relaxed back in his chair as Debra rubbed her lower stomach, caressing the baby who would be born into love, a child who would grow up in an intact family.

  The room was utterly silent as Kate reached the podium, an indication of the respect she commanded. She turned to thank Bob and there was a distinctive ping sound.

  “No!” Sam erupted and lunged from the table in an attempt to reach his mother.

  Everything happened at the same time. The center of Kate’s white dress exploded in red as Secret Service agent Dan Henderson reached her before Sam, took her down to the floor and covered her body with his. Two more pings resounded, followed by the crackling of glass at one of the huge windows.

  Screaming filled the ballroom, along with the sound of running feet and Secret Service swarming the area. Thad was on his phone, and then raced for the exit as Trey tugged Debra under the table.

  Gunshots, Debra thought in horror. Kate had been shot. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed as she thought of the red stain that had suddenly appeared on Kate’s stomach. Was Kate dead? Debra’s heart pounded with dreadful intensity.

  As Trey huddled next to her, his arm tightly around her shoulders, she was able to pick out familiar voices among the din. Sam sobbing and screaming in agony, somebody else shouting about a lockdown and finally the scream of sirens as emergency vehicles and local law-enforcement officials began to arrive.

  Jerry Cahill leaned down beneath the table, his eyes cold and hard. “We need to get the family out of here right now,” he said. “We’re clearing the ballroom. All the guests are being moved to other areas of the hotel, but we have a car waiting for you two and Sam to head to the hospital where your mother is being taken.”

  Trey nodded and as he pulled Debra from beneath the table, he motioned to the distraught Sam to come with them. Two ambulance stretchers had already arrived in the room and it looked like both Kate and Dan Henderson were being loaded.

  “I should have seen this coming,” Sam sobbed as Trey threw an arm around his shaking shoulders and they all followed Jerry out of the ballroom. “I should have been able to save her. There were so many I couldn’t save, but I should have saved her.” Sam appeared to be shattering, his words indicating some sort of post-traumatic stress in addition to his fear for his mother.

  Jerry led them to a back entrance of the hotel, all the while talking and listening on his radio. He stopped them at the door, appeared to get some sort of confirmation, and then with his gun in his hand, opened the door.

  Directly ahead of them was a black sedan that Debra knew probably had bulletproof windows. Sam got into the front seat and she and Trey in the back and then Jerry slammed the doors, gave the top a thump and the driver pulled away.

  The driver was Secret Service man Jeff Benton and as Sam managed to pull himself together, Jeff told them everything he knew, that from the direction that Kate had been shot, apparently the gunman had been in one of the darkened high-rise buildings on the left side of the street from the hotel ballroom and both local and federal agents were clearing those buildings now.

  He couldn’t tell them the condition of either Kate or Dan Henderson, who apparently had been shot also. He was driving them to Duke University Hospital where both Kate and Dan would be taken and were already in transport.

  It was only then that Debra’s brain began to process the horror. She leaned into Trey and began to silently weep, her heart aching for the entire Winston family. What should have been a night of triumph for Kate and her sons had become a night of sheer terror.

  The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever. Was Kate still alive? Please, don’t take Kate, Debra prayed as Trey held her tightly against his side. Sam, Thad and Trey needed their mother and Debra needed Kate, too. Her baby needed a grandmother. Please, let Kate be okay. It was a mantra that echoed over and over again in her head.

  What about Dan Henderson? Had he sacrificed his life in doing his duty tonight? Four shots. There had been four bullets. One of them had hit Kate, but had the others hit Dan?

  And where was Thad? Why wasn’t he safely in this car with them? They should all be together right now, praying that Kate wasn’t badly hurt, that nobody had been critically injured. They should all be praying that the gunman was captured and somebody could make sense of what had just happened.

  She gazed down at the glittering ring on her finger and cuddled closer to the man who would be her husband. She told herself that no matter what happened tonight, she and Trey would get through the future together.

  * * *

  By the time they reached the hospital Trey was frantic and trying hard to hide it not just from Debra but also from Sam, who appeared to be on the very edge of his sanity.

  They were led into a private waiting room with Jeff Benton stationed just outside the door. Thad was already there and he stood from the loveseat where he’d been sitting as they all entered the room. Thad looked haggard, as if the past forty-five minutes or so had sucked the very life out of him.

  “What do you know?” Trey asked.

  Thad gestured for Trey and Debra to sit on the loveseat and then he and Sam sank down into two straight-back chairs. “Nothing, other than the two victims have arrived and are with the doctors or whoever. I just got here a few minutes ago myself.” Thad sat only a moment and then jumped up to begin to pace the small confines. Thad was tightly wound, his movements jerky with tension, his jaw taut.

  Trey noted the fact that Thad had referred to their mother and Dan Henderson as the victims as if in an effort to completely divorce his emotions from the situation.

  Sam had grown silent, his eyes staring unseeingly at the wall in front of him with his hands clasped together tightly in his lap.

  As the oldest and the unofficial leader of the family, Trey felt helpless to do anything to help his brothers through this horrifying time. As he thought of that moment when his mother’s white dress had turned red and she’d fallen, his heart felt like it stopped beating.

  How could he help his brothers when he felt the open hand of utter despair attempting to grab him around the throat? The only thing keeping him partially grounded was the warmth of Debra’s body next to his, the feel of her small hand gripping his so tightly and the baby that would make them a family.

  Thad stopped pacing and stared at the doorway that they all knew somebody would eventually come through to give them an update. He looked as if he wanted to tear through the door to find some answers right now.

  “You know, Cecily never confessed to hiring a gunman to shoot at Debra at the breakfast last
week,” Trey said, trying to gain Thad’s attention.

  “And the gunman has continued to refuse to talk about who hired him,” Thad replied. “There’s no way he wasn’t a hired gun. His rap sheet shows him as a low-rent thug with charges of robbery and check fraud. He’s not bright enough to mastermind his way out of a paper bag.”

  “But, after tonight, I believe his target was Mom that day and not Debra.” Trey tightened his arm around the woman he loved, remembering how frightened he’d been for her even before he’d acknowledged the love he had in his heart for her.

  Thad turned back to stare at the doorway, as if he could will somebody to show up to give them some kind of a report as to what was happening with their mother.

  “I wonder what’s going on back at the hotel. I wonder if they’ve caught the shooter,” Sam finally spoke, his hands curled into tight fists in his lap.

  Thad looked at his brother. “I’m cut out of the loop for obvious reasons. I guess at some point we’ll get an update from the Secret Service when they have something to share with us.”

  At that moment the door opened and a nurse stepped inside. Trey immediately recognized her as the same pretty nurse who had tended to Debra after her car accident. Lucy, that was her name. Lucy Sinclair.

  “I just want to let you all know that your mother and Agent Dan Henderson are being attended to by our trauma team. Unfortunately, that’s really all I can tell you at this point,” she said sympathetically.

  Thad took a step closer to her. “Well, that’s not good enough,” he said tersely. “Do you have any idea who my mother is?”

  Lucy’s green eyes widened a bit and then narrowed. “At the moment your mother is nothing more than a patient who needs immediate medical treatment.”