“Bingo. Something else nobody can trace back to Mary Perkins, but I’d lay odds that that’s how she got him to get those photographs. We just can’t prove it.”
Derek rose and spilled his coffee into the sink, then ran water to rinse it away.
She stood and walked quietly to his side, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Do you really expect me to sit back and do nothing while she tries to stop me from doing the thing in life that gives me peace? She’s not going to take my writing away any more than she’s going to take my life. And she sure as hell isn’t going to dictate what my subjects are!”
“So you’ll write your book, my feelings be damned? Even at the expense of my daughter?”
Gabrielle stepped back, shocked by his words. “What are you talking about?”
“Marlene wasn’t pleased that her daughter was displaced so I could protect you. She wasn’t happy that I knowingly brought danger to her daughter’s doorstep, and you know what?” He ran a hand through his hair. “She’s right. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her sue me for sole custody on the grounds of the danger that’s surrounding you.”
Gabrielle’s stomach cramped and she eased herself into the nearest seat. “She threatened to do that?”
Derek treated her to a curt nod.
“I had no idea.”
“And now that you do?”
Gabrielle swallowed hard. “I’ll cancel the television crew, of course.” With shaking hands, she fished for her cell phone, and a few minutes later, she was speaking to Kayla Lawson, a friend she’d met from a prior interview for an older book.
Gabrielle made her request and listened to her friend’s reply. “I understand, but—”
A few minutes later, she hung up and faced Derek. “It’s too late. Kayla’s producer thinks this is a solid story. The money’s allocated, the time’s booked, nobody will pull the plug now.” She stepped forward. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m out of here.”
Nausea rushed over her. “Where are you going?”
“To see a lawyer in case Marlene goes through with her threat,” he muttered, storming past her.
Alone, Gabrielle settled back into her seat and exhaled a long breath. She’d have done anything to keep Derek with his daughter, even sacrifice her book. Now that retreat was no longer an option, the logical part of Gabrielle was glad. Because Mary Perkins had to be stopped.
But the emotional side of Gabrielle was torn in two. She’d unintentionally hurt the one person she loved most in the world and she’d do anything to make it right.
If only she knew how.
SHARON’S EYES GLAZED OVER the library budget. Each time she tried to focus enough on cutting back where appropriate, she ended up lost in thought, someplace else.
Gabrielle snapped her fingers in front of Sharon’s face as she’d done at least half a dozen times in the past few minutes.
“Okay, so I see Richard’s campaign has kicked into high gear,” Gabrielle said.
Sharon glanced up, paying attention this time. “He’s consumed by it.” And not by me, Sharon thought.
“And not by you?”
Sharon put down her pen and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“You read my mind.”
“Isn’t that what friends are for?”
Sharon nodded. “They are and I’m so glad I have you.”
“You know it’ll all be fine once this Mary Perkins thing is over. It’s really stressful,” Gabrielle said, her voice tight.
Sharon met her friend’s gaze. “For everyone, not just me, right?” No matter how overwhelmed she was by her own problems, Sharon couldn’t forget Gabrielle was equally affected.
“Well, yes, I have my share of problems, but that isn’t what I meant. We’re focused on you right now. You’re worried Richard coddles you and thinks you’re too fragile? I say you show your fiancé the real you.”
Sharon raised her gaze. “You mean…?”
“Buy a teddy, strip for him, show him you aren’t as fragile as he thinks.” Gabrielle shimmied her top half and laughed.
“He might keel over,” Sharon said, imagining the look on Richard’s face.
Gabrielle shrugged. “Or he might be relieved. One way or another, you’ll know. Then you’ll be able to focus again on your relationship and not your differences.”
“Or the past?” Sharon asked. The photograph and the incident that still hovered between her and her fiancé.
Gabrielle waved a hand through the air. “It’ll stay where it belongs—”
“Once this Mary Perkins thing is over,” they said at the same time, and laughed.
“What do you say we forget the budget, forget the writing, and let’s go shopping.” Gabrielle jumped up from her seat, decision made.
Sharon gathered her papers. “Now, that sounds like a plan. Victoria’s Secret?” she asked, knowing that was Gabrielle’s favorite store.
Gabrielle nodded.
“You have this determined look on your face. Why is it I think this trip has less to do with me than with you?” Sharon asked her friend.
Gabrielle let out a long sigh. “I think I’ve brought more aggravation to Derek’s life than joy.” She wiped her hands over her eyes.
Was she crying? Gabrielle was an emotional person, but she rarely fell apart.
“What’s going on?” Sharon asked.
“Derek’s ex-wife is threatening to file for sole custody because he exposed Holly to danger. Because of me. And with the film crew coming, the situation is only going to get worse, not better. I know a stupid negligee isn’t going to make any of that go away, but it’s the only apology I can think of at the moment.”
Sharon sucked in a sharp breath. “I told you I shouldn’t be worried only about myself.” She pulled her friend into a hug. “Derek knows it isn’t your fault. Isn’t that what you keep telling me to believe about Richard?”
“There’s one difference. I knowingly invited that film crew here. I escalated the danger. For a man who believes bad things are destined to happen when he falls in love.” Gabrielle cleared her throat. “Now I’m going to have to live with the consequences.”
There was nothing Sharon could say to help her friend or herself because Gabrielle was right. They’d both just have to let things play out and see what the future held.
DEREK HAD LIED TO Gabrielle. His divorce lawyer was in Manhattan, where he’d been living at the time, not in Stewart. But he’d needed some time and space to cool off, away from Gabrielle and his feelings for her, which were so tangled up they didn’t let him breathe, let alone make a rational decision.
While driving around letting off steam, he had called his attorney, a friend of his who assured him that Marlene didn’t have a leg to stand on if she took this to court. Leaving his child for three nights at his father’s house didn’t make Derek a bad parent, just a cautious one. He could counter Marlene’s accusation with the fact that she left the country and her daughter for a selfish month-long honeymoon. That wouldn’t win him sole custody, either but he at least could threaten Marlene back. His lawyer had also assured him they could legally force Marlene to stick to the agreed-upon visitation schedule if she tried to make his time with Holly more difficult to come by.
Derek groaned. He hated the thought of being one of those parents who fought and made their children’s lives hell. He hoped Marlene would get over her snit quickly and let things go back to what they were.
Though his lawyer had reassured him that he wasn’t going to lose his daughter, Derek couldn’t shake the nagging discomfort Marlene’s threats had caused. History hadn’t been kind to Derek, and he wasn’t about to trust in the attorney’s platitudes.
He’d spent the day out, picking up tools he needed to do work around the house and clearing his head. Hours later, he arrived home to see Gabrielle’s car in the driveway. Was she there? He didn’t know, as he hadn’t touched base with her all day.
Though he was still irri
tated, he had calmed down since their last conversation. He wasn’t fine with her choices, but they were hers to make.
He let himself inside. It was dark downstairs, but a small light glowed from above in the loft. He dropped his keys on the counter in the front hall and headed upstairs.
He found Gabrielle watching television in his bed. “Hey there.”
“Hi.” She lifted her hand in a halfhearted wave.
Obviously she wasn’t any happier than he was at the moment.
He walked over and sat beside her. “What did you do today?”
“I went shopping with Sharon.” She gestured to a pink Victoria’s Secret shopping bag sitting across the floor.
“I’m glad to see the day wasn’t a lost cause.” He tried to keep things light.
“Wasn’t it?” She glanced down at her fingers as she toyed with the comforter. “I was stupid enough to think buying something sexy would solve all our problems. That I could apologize for risking everything you love with sex. But life doesn’t work that way.”
“It could.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek, loving the feel of her soft skin. “An apology is just that. An apology and I accept it, if you’ll accept mine.” He owed her one for blowing up at her earlier.
They’d both helped make the mess they were in.
“Do you mean that?” she asked.
He took her hand. “I’m not doing a tap dance that you’re antagonizing Mary Perkins, but you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t handle things out in the open. It isn’t your fault I have an ex-wife who will use any excuse to pull my daughter away from me. I’m upset with a lot of things and I took it all out on you. I’m sorry.”
She smiled a little. “It’s okay. What if Marlene does sue for custody?”
His stomach churned at the thought. “I’ll just have to deal with it. My lawyer said Marlene doesn’t have a leg to stand on.” He spread his hands out in front of him. “I can’t say I’m trusting that at face value, though.”
She nodded slowly. “I understand.”
“I’m actually glad Holly’s with her mother right now, though. That means I can focus on keeping you safe without worrying about her. If this television crew is going to be around, you’re going to need me to make sure Mary Perkins isn’t.”
He rose and started to walk across the room.
“Where are you going?”
“To get this.” He picked up the shopping bag and pulled out something wrapped in pink tissue paper, which he easily discarded. A red lace garment hung from his fingertips, looking skimpier than ever thanks to his large hands. “Think you can put this on for me?” He barely recognized his own rough voice.
His desire and need for this woman only seemed to grow rather than diminish. For as long as she was in his house, she was his.
And when the threat was over?
He refused to think about it now, burying his face in the warm skin of her neck, just as he’d soon bury himself in her willing body.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THE DAY OF FILMING arrived. Gabrielle and Derek stopped for breakfast in town. They’d just finished eating and were going to meet her friend Kayla and the camera crew at the Wave, the chosen place to begin “The Day in the Life” segment.
Derek paid at the register while Gabrielle waited.
Her cell phone rang and she picked it up on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Darling, guess where I am.”
“Maman!”
“Of course it’s me. Turn around.”
Gabrielle pivoted toward the window facing the street and saw her mother waving at her from the sidewalk. Gabrielle flipped her phone closed at the same time she ran outside.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised to see her mother in town.
“Is that any way to greet me?” Her mother cupped Gabrielle’s face in her hands and leaned in to kiss first one cheek, then the next before pulling her into a warm hug.
It didn’t matter if Gabrielle saw her mother a week ago or a few hours, her mother always greeted her the same exuberant way.
“Your friend Kayla called to tell me about your television segment and she asked if she could interview me and your papa. He has summer classes, but I was free, so voilà! Here I am.”
Derek walked out of the restaurant and joined them on the street. “Hello, ladies.”
Gabrielle smiled. “Derek, do you remember my mother, Juliette Donovan?”
“Of course I do.” He extended his hand. “May I say you haven’t changed a bit?” He kissed the back of her hand in the French manner.
Gabrielle bit the inside of her cheek and wondered where he’d come up with that bit of chivalry and whether it was enough to soften her mother’s feelings about—”
“Derek Corwin, the man who broke my daughter’s heart,” Juliette said bluntly.
“Maman!” Gabrielle said, appalled that her mother would go directly for the jugular.
Derek smiled grimly. “That’s okay. I understand how your mother feels. I’d feel the same way about any man who Holly got involved with…” As he spoke, his eyes darkened and his expression closed.
As if he’d just gotten a new, enlightening perspective on his relationship with Gabrielle.
Merde.
“I think we have to be at the Wave,” Gabrielle said, pulling on Derek’s arm. “Kayla, the interviewer, called my mother and asked her to participate in the segment,” she explained quickly, hoping to split the two people she loved apart before her mother gave Derek more motivation to pull away from her.
Since Holly’s departure, Derek hadn’t been the same. Although he’d apologized, Gabrielle sensed he was holding himself back from her, and she didn’t think it was only because she’d jeopardized his custody. In her heart, Gabrielle believed that with his renewed fear of losing Holly, came the reminder of the curse and all the loss he and his family had suffered. He wasn’t about to let himself love—and lose—Gabrielle, too. He didn’t have to spell out his feelings for her to understand them. They were too deeply ingrained for her not to comprehend.
“We’ll leave in a moment,” her mother said. “Derek, I’m so glad you can be honest with me and with yourself. It’s the mark of an honorable man. So can you assure me you won’t hurt my daughter again?”
Gabrielle shook her head, her heart pounding hard in her chest as Derek faced Juliette.
“I can assure you Gabrielle is well aware of my feelings and the situation we’re in,” he said, his explanation vague to her mother.
But crystal clear to Gabrielle.
THE GOOD PEOPLE OF STEWART and Perkins heard that a film crew was in town and turned out in droves for their chance to be on television, even if it was simply local TV and the only people who might see the segment were other locals. Gabrielle was a celebrity and everyone wanted their fifteen minutes of fame, too.
Even Derek’s father showed up for his opportunity.
“Think we should remind him he was one of the people who wanted me gone?” Gabrielle asked, laughing.
Derek shook his head. “It won’t do any good. My father has a shorter memory than his old dog’s.”
Gabrielle chuckled. “At least Kayla won’t have a difficult time weeding out who she can use in the documentary. I gave her a list of people who knew me, in the past and in the present.”
“So Hank just might be in luck after all.”
Gabrielle was certain Derek was right. His father was a prime candidate to talk about Gabrielle’s past in Stewart and the curse as it pertained to her book. Ironically, she was the one who wasn’t in the mood to discuss the damn curse. Her mother, in asking Derek to promise he wouldn’t hurt Gabrielle again, had brought up Gabrielle’s greatest fear. And Derek’s answer—or rather his nonanswer—said it all.
As soon as Gabrielle was safe from Mary Perkins, Derek planned to walk away.
Again.
Unless she could convince him that by eliminating Mary Perkins as a threat, the curse, or rather the p
erception of the curse, would disappear with her.
One way or another, Gabrielle would know whether she was successful soon enough.
“Okay, folks, here’s the story.” Kayla’s voice interrupted Gabrielle’s thoughts.
For the past half hour, Kayla had walked around the Wave, surveying the bar and the people. She was all business, and she struck a commanding presence just as she intended. With her straightened strawberry-blond hair and white pantsuit, she stood out in the crowd.
When she barked orders, people listened. Most of the crowd stood in silence, waiting for her to continue. “As far as the camera crew is concerned, we’re concentrating on scenery for today. I want you to shoot footage of local hangouts, this place included. While you’re at it, get Gabrielle interacting with the locals. Tomorrow when we’re all fresh, we’ll move onto specific interviews. I want to work on the local flavor first.”
Billy, her head cameraman, nodded and began directing his crew.
Kayla was a pro at handling people. Gabrielle wasn’t bad herself, but she’d always admired her friend’s ability to deal with a situation by reading the people involved. Watching her work was a treat.
“Gabrielle, you go about your day, business as usual. Juliette, we won’t get to you today, but we can shoot you first thing tomorrow if that works. Otherwise you name the time and I’ll work around you. I’m sorry I made you come out here for no reason today. I never know what I’m going to want to do first until I get the lay of the land.”
Gabrielle’s mother, who’d taken a seat at the bar and was chatting with George, didn’t seem to mind that she’d driven out here for nothing. A people person, Juliette was enjoying herself immensely.
“How the hell are you going to go about your business with camera crews everywhere?” Derek asked.
Gabrielle shrugged. “Good question. I guess I’ll just do the best I can. I’ve seen Kayla work miracles with harder subjects than me. I’ll just try to ignore them.” She pulled out her laptop and was about to flip it open when she caught sight of the woman she’d come to think of as public enemy number one. “Look. Mary Perkins just walked in,” Gabrielle whispered to Derek.
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