Breathless Innocence

by Lisa Jackson

  Turner was on his feet in an instant. He kicked back his chair and grabbed Fitzpatrick by his fancy silk tie. It was his turn to pull the rope and he’d strangle the old man if he had to. “Where’d you hear all this—”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Like hell it doesn’t! Now, if you don’t want to tangle with me any further, you’d better spill it, Fitzpatrick.”

  Beads of sweat dotted Thomas’s brow and trickled down his temples. “You can’t—”

  “Tell me!”

  “You have no right—”

  Turner’s cold smile moved from one side of his face to the other. “You’re on my property, now, Fitzpatrick. Leastwise it’s still mine until I sign your damned papers. So, while you’re here, you’re going to play by my rules. Who told you?” To add emphasis to his question, he jerked on the tie. Thomas came forward, falling onto the scarred table, sending documents scattering to the floor.

  “Ellen Little,” he finally said. “Ellen Tremont Little.”

  Deceit seemed to run in the family. Turner dropped the tie and Fitzpatrick fell back into his chair. “Heather’s mother,” he snarled. So Heather had run to Mama and told her everything and Ellen had seen fit to give Thomas the information he wanted. Turner’s guts twisted into hard little knots and he could barely see beyond his fury.

  Recovering somewhat, Thomas offered Turner a grin as icy as his own. “Ellen works for me now. Seems to think she owes me something for giving her a pathetic little job.”

  “You bastard!” Turner lunged for the man, but Fitzpatrick was out of his chair in an instant. He moved as quick as a sidewinder to the back door.

  “Think about the offer. Believe me, it’s the best one you’re gonna get.” He was gone as quickly as he’d come, and Turner looked at the scattered papers on the floor. Unfortunately some of what Fitzpatrick had said made sense. Heather had plenty of money from her divorce from Leonetti and she would use every dime she had to keep her child—his child—their child. His lungs felt tight and he could barely breathe. There was the chance that Adam would need more extremely expensive medical care—Turner’s insurance company wouldn’t touch a child already diagnosed with leukemia.

  All he had was this ranch, and Fitzpatrick was offering him a fortune for it.

  Bile rising in his throat, he grabbed up all the papers and without thinking too hard, started signing the documents wherever they were marked. With Fitzpatrick’s dirty money, he could fight for custody of his boy and his unborn child; then he’d figure out how he’d spend the rest of his life.

  * * *

  “YOU’RE A FOOL!” NADINE scrubbed the stove as if her very life depended on it. “You let that woman go? Couldn’t you see that she loved you, that she wanted to have your children, that she would’ve done anything… Oh, for crying out loud, why am I talking to you?” Still polishing the damned stainless steel, she hazarded a quick glare in his direction. “Men!”

  Turner wasn’t going to let Nadine rattle him. He wouldn’t have confided in her at all except she already knew half the story and when she’d come here and found Heather gone, she’d guessed the rest. He grabbed a bottle of beer from the refrigerator, plopped himself down at the table and twisted open the cap.

  “What about your son?” Nadine asked. “What’re you going to do about him?”

  “Probably sue for custody.”

  “Oh, great! Just wonderful!” Nadine didn’t even attempt to hide her scorn. “Really confuse the kid.” She threw her dirty rag into a pail and put her rubber-glove-encased hands on her slim hips. “First the man he thought was his father rejected him, and now the guy claiming to be his real dad is getting into a bloody legal battle with his mom. And he’s the prize. ’Course he’ll be pushed and pulled and put through a damned emotional wringer before it’s all settled! Think, Turner! Use that brain of yours if you can find it! What’s going to happen to Adam and, as far as that goes, not that it really matters, mind you, think what’s going to happen to you!”

  “I’m—”

  “Miserable.” Nadine yanked off her gloves, and her anger was suddenly replaced with a deeper emotion. She took in a long breath and said in a voice that was surprisingly even given the state of her emotions, “Look, Turner, believe me, I, of all people, wouldn’t steer you into a relationship you didn’t want. But for the past week or two, you’ve been different—a changed man. Whether you know it or not, Heather Leonetti got under your skin so deep, you’ll never be able to shed yourself of her. So you’d better stop being a coward and face up to the fact.” She made a quick motion to the bottle of beer he cradled, untouched, between his hands. “And that’s not going to help. Your father was proof enough of that.”

  To gall her as much as anything, he took a long swallow. The beer tasted sour, and he hated to admit it but she was right, damn it. He missed Heather. He missed waking up with her; he missed hearing her sing; he missed the scent of her perfume on his pillow and the lilt of her laughter. He missed making love to her at night.

  And that didn’t even begin to compare to how empty he felt without Adam. Since the boy had been gone, Turner felt as if a hole had been torn from his heart.

  “Don’t let your pride be your downfall,” Nadine said as she reached for the pile of papers he was about to throw out. “You know where you can find her.” With a flip of her wrist, she sailed the wedding invitation for Rachelle Tremont and Jackson Moore onto the table. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

  Thank God she didn’t know he planned to sell the ranch to Fitzpatrick.

  He watched as she strode out the door in a cloud of self-righteous fury. She was right, damn it, Turner thought, picking up the invitation. Heather would be there. At the wedding.

  Oh, to hell with it! He crushed the engraved sheet of paper in his fist and finished his beer. Then he picked up the phone and placed a long-distance call to the Lazy K Ranch. If Zeke wasn’t there, he’d track him down all across the damned country, and Mazie was going to help him. He needed answers. Answers he should have had six years before!

  * * *

  “SOMETHING’S WRONG. I FEEL IT,” Rachelle said as she eyed her reflection in a free-standing full-length mirror in the back room of the tiny chapel by the lake.

  “You worry too much. Everything’s perfect.” Heather adjusted her sister’s veil and sighed. Rachelle looked beautiful. Her long auburn hair, trained into loose curls that fell to the middle of her back, shimmered beneath the beaded veil and her dress, off-white with a nipped waist, lace and pearl bodice and billowing skirt, fit her exquisitely.

  “Heather’s right. You’re always borrowing trouble,” Carlie agreed. With sleek black hair and blue-green eyes, she smiled at her friend. What a fiasco Carlie’s arrival had caused just a few days before the wedding. Rachelle had insisted Carlie become part of the wedding party. Somehow the seamstress had made the gown, another usher, a cousin of Jackson’s, was fitted with a tuxedo and here she was, an encouraging smile in place.

  “I don’t know.” Rachelle’s forehead was lined as she looked from her best friend to her sister. “I did something I shouldn’t have.”

  “You invited Thomas Fitzpatrick,” Heather said.

  “You knew?” Rachelle asked.

  “It doesn’t take an investigative reporter, Rachelle. You gave me the invitations to mail.”

  “Didn’t you tell Jackson?” Carlie asked.

  “Not until last night.”

  “And?”

  “Let’s just say he didn’t jump for joy,” Rachelle said, though she laughed.

  “That takes a lot of nerve.” Carlie tugged at her zipper, then smoothed her skirts.

  “Or no brains,” Rachelle joked.

  “Or both.” Heather tried to join in the fun. She wasn’t going to ruin Rachelle’s big day.
She wasn’t! And yet she had trouble thinking of anything other than Turner.

  “Okay, so I’ve bared my soul,” her sister said, eyes narrowing on Heather. “Now out with it. Something’s bothering you.”

  “Nothing—really.”

  “Adam’s okay?”

  Heather managed a smile. “Adam’s great! Now he thinks he’s a cowboy.”

  “Because of Turner.” Rachelle fiddled with the fasteners at her back. “Something’s not right. Can you get that—?” She held her hair and veil out of the way.

  “Here. No problem.” Quickly Carlie took charge, hooking the fastener at Rachelle’s nape into place. “These are always a pain,” she said.

  “You know about wedding dresses? Come on, Carlie. Were you married?”

  For a second Carlie blanched but she recovered. “While I was modeling, I did a lot of bridal stuff.”

  “I’ll just be glad when this is over.” Rachelle let her hair fall down her back again. She sent her sister a sidelong glance. “So tell me about Turner.”

  “I don’t know if he’ll show up,” Heather hedged.

  “Don’t tell me you broke up.” The dismay on Rachelle’s face cut Heather to the bone. Carlie, who’d caught up with the Tremont girls’ lives in the past three days knew most of the story.

  “Don’t worry about Turner. We just had a little argument,” Heather lied, and hated the fact that, once again, because of Turner Brooks, she was stretching the truth. Her mother, bless her soul, had been right: one lie did beget another. She shrugged. “Really, that’s all.”

  “It had better be,” Rachelle said, her lips tightening a bit.

  With a sharp rap, the door flew open and Ellen stormed inside. “I can’t believe it! What was he thinking! That father of yours brought—”

  “I know, Mom, I invited her,” Rachelle admitted, wincing a little at the hurt in her mother’s eyes. “She’s his wife, whether you like it or not.”

  For a second, Heather thought their mother might break down and cry, but Ellen, made of stronger stuff, squared her shoulders. Her hair was freshly done and she was wearing a gold suit. “You look great, Mom,” Heather told her, and kissed her cheek.

  “Thanks, honey.” Ellen’s eyes glistened with pride as she looked at her two daughters.

  “Places, everyone,” the minister’s wife called through the partially opened door.

  Impulsively Rachelle hugged her younger sister. “You and Turner will work things out, I just know it.” The sound of music drifted into the little room, and Rachelle took a deep breath. “I guess this is it.”

  “Good luck!” Heather said. She squeezed Rachelle’s hand.

  They emerged from the small room near the back of the crowded little chapel. Near the altar, backdropped by long white candles, Jackson Moore fidgeted in his black tuxedo as he waited for his bride. His hair was shiny and black, his eyes anxious, and if he saw Thomas Fitzpatrick sitting in the fifth row, he didn’t show any sign of emotion other than love for the woman who planned to spend the rest of her life with him.

  Heather’s throat was in knots. Taking the arm of Boothe Reece, Jackson’s partner in his New York law firm, she began her hesitation step to the music. Soon Rachelle would be starting her new life with Jackson, and Heather would have to begin again, as well—a life without Turner, a life with a new baby, a life of sharing her children with an absent father. Heather forced a smile, and the tears that shimmered in her eyes were tears of happiness for her sister. Nothing more. Or so she tried to convince herself.

  * * *

  STRAINS OF ROMANTIC MUSIC drifted on the air, and the breeze, smelling of the fresh water of the lake, was cool against Heather’s face. The sun had dropped beneath the ridge of westerly mountains and the sky was ribboned with brilliant splashes of magenta and pink.

  Twilight was coming. That time of night—dusk really—when her thoughts would always stray to Turner. Stars were beginning to wink, and the ghost of a crescent moon was rising. She wrapped her arms around herself and began walking along the sparsely graveled path toward the lake, the very same lake she’d sipped from only a few weeks earlier. Drat that darned legend! She’d been a fool to think there was any hint of truth in the Indian lore.

  With a rustle, the wind picked up and the chilly breath of autumn touched her bare neck. Still wearing her raspberry-hued gown, she picked her way along the ferns and stones.

  She’d stayed at the wedding and reception as long as she could, watched Jackson and Rachelle exchange vows, witnessed them place rings upon each other’s fingers, smiled as they toasted their new life together and laughed when they’d cut the cake and force-fed each other. All the old traditions. New again.

  She’d even watched as Rachelle had tossed her bouquet into the crowd and a surprised Carlie Surrett had caught the nosegay of white ribbons, carnations and baby pink roses only to drop the bouquet as if it was as hot and searing as a branding iron. Rachelle, good-naturedly, had laughed and tossed the bouquet over her shoulder again and to everyone’s joy their mother, Ellen, had ended up with the flowers.

  “Can you believe this?” she’d said. “Well, maybe the third time’s the charm!”

  The big moment, when Thomas Fitzpatrick had shaken his bastard son’s hand and wished him well, had come afterward. Thomas had seemed sincere, and Jackson, his face stony, hadn’t made a scene. He’d even accepted the envelope Thomas had given him and had said a curt “thanks.” It hadn’t been a joyous father-son reunion, but it hadn’t turned into the worst disaster since the Titanic, either.

  Now, as she glanced back over her shoulder, Heather noticed that a crowd had joined Rachelle and Jackson on the portable dance floor they’d had constructed for the ceremony. Tucked in the tall pine trees, with torches and colorful lanterns adding illumination, the old camp was a cozy site for a wedding. A great way to start their lives together.

  Heather had her own set of plans. Tomorrow she’d return to San Francisco, the city she loved, and start her life over. Without Turner. Her heart wrenched and her throat thickened. Tears burned behind her eyes. Why couldn’t she find any comfort in the thought that she was going home? Why couldn’t she find any consolation that she wouldn’t have to move back to Gold Creek? Why wasn’t she happy? The answer was simple: Turner Brooks.

  Gathering her skirts, she followed the path until the trees gave way to a stretch of rocky beach. The wedding was far behind her now, the music fading, the laughter no louder than the sound of crickets singing in the dusk.

  Twilight had descended, and the stars reflected in the purple depths of the lake. “Oh, Turner,” she whispered, kicking a stone toward the water and watching as it rolled lazily into the ebb and flow of the lake.

  Again she felt a tickle of a breeze lifting the hairs at her nape. She looked to the west and her breath caught in her throat, for there, just as he’d been six years earlier, was the lone rider, a tall cowboy on horseback, his rangy stallion sauntering slowly in her direction.

  Her heart turned over and she wanted to hate him, to tell him to stay out of her life, but she couldn’t. Staring up at his rugged features, her heart tumbled and she knew she was destined to love him for the rest of her life.

  She waited, unmoving, the wind billowing her skirts until he was close enough that she could see the features of his face. Strong and proud, he’d never change. Her throat closed in on itself, and it was all she could do not to let out a strangled sob.

  She thought for a moment that he was coming for her, but she knew differently. He’d known where she would be and was probably here to tell her that he’d talked with a lawyer and was going to sue her for custody of their children. Oh, Lord, how had it come to this? Her fingers twisted in the fabric of her skirt and she wished she could hate him, could fight him tooth and nail for her children, but a stubborn part
of her wouldn’t give up on the silly, irrational fact that she loved him. As much as she had six years ago.

  His jaw was set and hard, but his eyes were dark with an inner torment. Heather braced herself, refused to break down. He slid from the saddle and, without a word, wrapped strong arms around her. Pressing his face into the crook of her neck, he held her, and the smells of leather and horse, sweat and musk, brought back each glorious memory she’d ever shared with him.

  She clung to him because she had no choice, and tears filled her eyes to run down her cheeks and streak the rough suede of his jacket. Her heart ached, and she wondered if she would ever get over him.

  As the night whispered over the lake, Turner’s voice was low and thick with emotion. “I love you,” he said simply.

  Heather’s heart shredded. “Y-you don’t have to—”

  “Shh, darlin’. Don’t you know I’ve always loved you? I was just too much a fool to admit it.”

  “Please, Turner, don’t—” she cried, unable to stand the pain.

  He pulled back and placed a finger to her lips. Staring straight into her eyes, with the ghosts of Whitefire Lake as his witnesses, Turner repeated, “I love you. Believe me.”

  “But—”

  “Don’t fight it.”

  Tears slid down her cheeks. Could it be true? She hardly dared believe him, and yet the gaze touching hers—caressing hers—claimed that she was and always had been his whole life. “Oh, God,” she whispered, and threw her arms around him. “I love you, too, Turner. I always have.”

  “Then marry me,” he said simply. “Let’s not wait. It’s time we gave our son a family and time we built a life for our new little one.”

  “But—”

  “Now, marry me.”

  Things were going so fast. Heather’s mind was spinning. “Now?” she repeated as he kissed away her tears.

  “Isn’t there a preacher over there?” He cocked his head toward the old summer camp and the lights flickering through the trees.