Sweet Caroline's Keeper

by Beverly Barton

  Gavin Robbins, who never owned up to the fact that his overzealous behavior at the Mt. Hope sanatorium had wreaked havoc with Wolfe and Ellison Perm's plans, had visited Caroline when she'd spent several days in the hospital after her nearly fatal ordeal at the hands of the Loyalists Coalition. Although he had made himself available to answer any and all questions regarding Preston Shaw's death and the Loyalists Coalition, he had also taken the opportunity to re­mind her that he was one of the good guys, a Peacekeepers agent dedicated to the cause of freedom. And he didn't hes­itate to also remind her that David Wolfe, aka Aidan Colbert, had been her stepfather's executioner.

  After learning the truth about Preston Shaw, Caroline had spent the past five months, as had Fletch, trying to reconcile her memories of a kind, good man with reality, with the fact that Preston had been a traitor to his country, an assassin and a member of the Loyalists Coalition.

  "Ms. McGuire, may I speak to you?" Ellison asked.

  She nodded. "Please, come inside. I'll fix coffee."

  He followed her onto the porch and into her home, then waited in the living room. After tossing her coat onto a kitchen chair and kicking off her canary-yellow heels, Car­oline prepared the coffeemaker. As she removed two cups and saucers from the cupboard, she allowed herself to con­sider the reasons why Ellison Penn might be paying her a visit An update on the trials of several prominent D.C. cit­izens that was sure to end in convictions? Word of another suicide attempt by Barry Vanderpool, who was awaiting his own trial? Perhaps news about Eileen and Brooke, something she could share with Fletch? Or would he actually share in­formation about David Wolfe?

  When she brought the cups out on a small serving tray, Ellison stood, took the tray from her and set it on the table in front of the sofa. She sat beside him, then lifted her coffee from the tray.

  "Did Lyle and Roz have a nice wedding?" he asked.

  "Lovely. A perfect November afternoon, with bright sun­shine and clear skies. A church filled with friends, relatives and well-wishers. And a bride and groom deeply in love. Who could ask for more?"

  "Indeed." Ellison inhaled deeply, then exhaled and looked directly at Caroline. "I suppose you wonder why I've come to see you."

  "Yes, I am wondering what brought you to my doorstep."

  "I'm retiring from Peacekeepers," he said. "Gavin will be taking my place, at least temporarily. I don't see him keeping the top job for long. He's not suited to it." Ellison cleared his throat. "I'm flying out tomorrow for London to join Eileen and Brooke. They've been living in my London town house for the past five months. Both Brooke and her mother have needed time to adjust and to recover from the shock they suffered when they found out what kind of man Oliver truly was. At first Brooke didn't want to see anyone, not even Fletcher. And of course, she had her hands full taking care of Eileen. But they're both recovering now. Slowly but surely."

  "May I tell Fletch where he can find Brooke?" Caroline sipped her coffee, then set the cup and saucer down on the tray. "Do you think she's ready to see him, now?"

  "In my telephone conversation with Brooke only this morning I asked her that very question." Ellison smiled. "I intend to speak to Fletcher tonight and see if he'd like to fly to London with me tomorrow."

  Caroline smiled. "Two happy endings. I like that."

  "Would you like to know where you can find David Wolfe?"

  Caroline's heart skipped a beat. "Don't you mean Aidan Colbert?"

  "He followed orders. He did his duty like any good sol­dier. Preston Shaw was an enemy, a rogue agent who had to be eliminated." Ellison reached out and laid his hand on Caroline's shoulder. "You weren't supposed to be there that night. We would never have sent in an agent to kill a man in front of his child."

  Caroline pulled away from Ellison's grasp. "When I found the key and my life was threatened, why did you call in David Wolfe to guard me, knowing as you did who he really was?"

  "There's something you have a right to know, need to know. Something more about David. You see, after that night when Preston was executed, Aidan Colbert had a difficult time dealing with the fact that you had found Preston's body and had seen his killer. He was a man with a soft spot in his heart for children. He cared very much what happened to you. I think in the beginning, you reminded him of his little brother."

  "Brendan."

  Ellison nodded. "I sent Aidan to London, to keep him out of the way until we were sure you couldn't identify him. And during the years he spent there, I sent him reports on you. Pictures, too. And it was while he was in London that he arranged, through a lawyer, to begin taking care of you fi­nancially. He was appalled that your mother had abandoned you. I believe he spoke to your aunt Dixie only once and all other transactions were taken care of by the lawyer I arranged for him. Money was provided to take care of your psychia­trist's bills, to pay for your medical and dental bills, as well as clothes and items for school. And of course, there were the birthday and Christmas presents.

  "And later on college tuition and a bank loan so that you could open your own studio. Whatever you needed, he made sure you had. He took care of you, became your keeper, but always from afar. So, who else would care more about pro­tecting you from the Loyalists Coalition, who else had a big­ger stake in your life than Aidan Colbert, the man you only knew as David."

  Caroline rose from the sofa, her heartbeat thundering in­side her head, drowning out all other sounds. "Are you trying to tell me that Aidan Colbert was my benefactor? That David Wolfe and my David are one and the same?"

  "Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

  Caroline paced the floor as she tried to assimilate the in­formation. A part of her wanted to deny the possibility, but in her heart she knew it was true. Hadn't she, on a subcon­scious level, always known? The moment she saw David Wolfe for the first time, her soul had recognized his. She had responded to him as she'd never responded to another man, been swept off her feet by her own unbridled passion for a man who was little more than a stranger. But he hadn't been a stranger. He had been her David. The man who had been her guardian angel for fifteen years.

  But her beloved David was also Preston Shaw's killer!

  "David lives in Tennessee, in a log cabin in the Smoky Mountains." Ellison reached inside his coat pocket and with­drew an envelope. "Here's the directions, along with his ad­dress and phone number. But I would suggest you surprise him, otherwise he might bolt and run."

  "You seem awfully sure that I'll go to him," Caroline said.

  "Not sure, just hopeful." Ellison rose to his feet. "If ever a man needed to be forgiven, your David does."

  For hours after Ellison Penn departed, Caroline sat alone in her living room looking at the pictures she had taken of David Wolfe the night he'd made love to her for the first time. She had been so desperately in love with this man. And from studying the look on his face in the photographs, she saw the truth—he had been in love with her, too. The sun set and the moon came up and still she sat, as her heart and mind fought a battle. And in the end her soul triumphed.

  Wolfe brought in a load of wood and dumped it into the bin by the fireplace. The weatherman was predicting a light snowfall tonight. He had always loved the snow up here in the mountains, but even now, after fifteen years, a light snow­fall brought back memories of a December night in Balti­more. Don't think, he told himself. Put the past out of your mind. And forget about Caroline McGuire. She is no longer a part of your life. Not in any way. If Ellison had done as he requested, then Caroline would receive a letter from David's lawyer this week, informing her of her benefactor's death. Once that deed was done, then the last connection between them would be severed.

  He had quit the Dundee agency, sublet his Atlanta apart­ment and moved to the mountains five months ago, hoping to escape from the memories of Caroline. But unfortunately those memories followed him, tormented him, plagued him. More than once he had been tempted to call Ellison to ask about her. But somehow he'd found the strength to resist.
r />   Wolfe sniffed, savoring the smell of the homemade veg­etable soup he'd put on to cook earlier in the day. After his long hike, he'd read for a while and then gone out to bring in more firewood, and during all this activity, he'd forgotten lunch. He pulled a big bowl off the open rack, then lifted the lid from the soup pot and ladled up the vegetable concoction. He carried the bowl, along with a handful of crackers, over to the kitchen table and sat down to eat. When he had fin­ished three-quarters of the soup, he heard a car pull into the gravel driveway. Who the hell? he wondered. Somebody lost, no doubt. He wasn't expecting anyone and his was the only cabin on this road. He heard a car door slam. Damn. Now he'd have to go out into the cold evening to give some lost tourist directions on how to get to Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg.

  The moment he opened the front door, he recognized his guest, but he couldn't believe his eyes. He must have fallen asleep after dinner and was now dozing in front of the fire. Dreaming.

  "Caroline?"

  She lifted her hand and waved, then walked toward him. She was even lovelier in this dream than he remembered. She wore a red wool coat, a black-and-red plaid scarf and a matching cap.

  "May I come in?" she asked.

  "Yes, please," he replied.

  Please, come into my dreams, sweet Caroline, and stay here with me forever.

  When she entered the cabin, he followed her. She removed her coat, gloves, scarf and hat to reveal a pair of black slacks and a red sweater. She handed him the discarded items and when she did, their hands brushed lightly against each other.

  If this was a dream, then it was a damn realistic dream, Wolfe thought He laid the coat and other items on a nearby chair, then turned back to Caroline. Her hair shimmered a lustrous blue-black in the firelight. She stared at him, tears in her blue-violet eyes.

  "I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked. "You're really here, aren't you?"

  "Yes, Wolfe, I'm really here."

  "How? Why?"

  "Ellison Penn told me where you were and gave me di­rections to find this place." She glanced around inside the cabin. "Nice home. But it's terribly isolated. I lost my way several times before getting here. I thought I'd never find you."

  I have been lost without you, he wanted to tell her. Lost and alone and afraid that my life was over. "Why did you come here?"

  "I know everything," she said. "Ellison told me."

  "Everything?"

  "I know that Aidan Colbert was my benefactor, David," she said. "I think my heart and soul recognized you the mo­ment we met."

  He couldn't bear for her to be kind to him, to be grateful, when what he wanted—all that he wanted—was for her to love him. "Aidan Colbert killed your—"

  She rushed to him and placed her fingers over his lips. "I know who Aidan Colbert was and what he did." The touch of her flesh against his, the nearness of her body, the smell of her delicate perfume aroused him. If only he could take her into his arms. If only. . .

  "Despite how kind and good Preston Shaw was to me, he was a man capable of doing some very bad things. And he was a member of an evil organization. I understand that you acted under orders to eliminate an enemy of Peacekeepers and a traitor to your country. It's taken me five months, but I have finally come to accept the truth about my stepfather. And about you. Even before Ellison told me that you were my David, I had already forgiven you."

  "You've forgiven me?" Was it possible? Dare he believe what he was hearing?

  "I've come here because I want to help you learn how to forgive yourself." She reached out and took both of his hands into hers. "Not just for executing Preston, but for kill­ing your father."

  Caroline had not come to him because she loved him and wanted to be with him. She had come to help him find re­demption. But didn't she realize that without her love, there could be no atonement, no salvation?

  "Thank you for coming to see me to tell me that you've forgiven me," he said. "But I think you should go now. Leave before the snow sets in."

  "I'm afraid you don't understand." She lifted his hands and pulled his arms around her waist. "I've come here to stay with you."

  "For how long?" Did she think he needed daily therapy, with her as his nursemaid?

  "For the rest of my life," she said. "What?"

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Of course, I'll expect you to marry me, eventually. Before we have chil­dren."

  "Caroline?"

  "Hmm-mmm?" She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. "If you're doing this because you're grateful—"

  "But I am grateful," she said.

  "I don't want your gratitude."

  "What do you want?"

  "What the hell do you think I want?" He jerked free, turned his back on her and walked away.

  She came up behind him, close enough to touch him, but she allowed a hairbreadth to remain between her chest and his back. "I think you want exactly what I do. To put the past behind us and accept what can never be changed. And to love each other with all our hearts, to get married and have babies and grow old together."

  He closed his eyes as tears clouded his vision. Was it pos­sible? Was she really offering him his heart's desire? "Are you telling me that my dream and your fantasy can become a reality, despite the past?"

  "That's exactly what I'm telling you. Oh, Wolfe—my dar­ling David—don't you know how much I love you?"

  He spun around to face her and without shame allowed her to see the tears trickling down his cheeks. "And I love you, my sweet Caroline. I always have. With all my heart and soul."

  Epilogue

  They're here." Caroline rose slowly from the overstuffed chair by the fireplace and waddled toward the front door. David hurried up from the basement where he'd spent the past two hours puttering in his carpentry shop while Caroline napped.

  They spent their weekends and holidays here in David's mountain cabin and weekdays at their house in Maryville, where Caroline had opened her photography studio. David had taken up a new hobby that quickly turned into a new profession—carpentry. He had only a month ago opened his own handcrafted furniture shop.

  David rushed to Caroline's side just as she opened the front door. "You stay in here," he ordered. "It's too cold outside for you and—" he patted her protruding tummy "—little Brendan. I'll go help Lyle and Roz with the babies and their suitcases."

  Caroline sighed. She loved the way David had become even more protective of her during her pregnancy, but some­times she wanted to scream at the way he kept her from doing anything these days, to tell him that she wasn't an invalid. But she never said anything, realizing how happy it made him to take care of her.

  Roz, decked out in a fake leopard-skin coat and matching hat, came scurrying up the steps, one of the twins in her arms. Lyle followed closely behind with the other twin. Since they were bundled up so securely, Caroline couldn't tell the babies apart.

  David brought the two suitcases inside and their guests placed the infant carriers on the sofa while they shucked off their winter coats. Caroline removed the blankets from the babies and cooed to them. Instantly she recognized Dixie as the placid infant on the right and Betsy as the squalling babe on the left. The two redheaded darlings had been named in honor of their deceased grandmothers.

  "So, how are you doing?" Roz asked. "You look great, but my God, you're twice as big as you were Thanksgiving when you two came to Maryland."

  "I feel wonderful and the doctor says I'm fine," Caroline replied. "And I'll have you know that even though I'm in my seventh month, I've gained only twenty pounds. Not like someone else I know who had gained fifty-five pounds by her third trimester."

  "Yes, but I had an excuse. I was expecting twins."

  "Both of whom are now awake and hungry," Lyle said. "Three months old and all these girls do is eat, sleep, cry and then eat some more."

  "Don't forget diaper changes," Roz said. "Daddy doesn't like changing the dirty ones, but I make him do them, any­way. While we're here, we'll let Uncle David change a few. It'll be go
od practice for him."

  David wrapped his arm around Caroline's shoulders and she snuggled against him. "I'll change every diaper, wet ones and dirty ones. And if Caroline didn't plan to breast-feed, I'd be more than happy to take care of all the feedings, too."

  "Boy, do you have him trained right." Roz laughed. "Hey, Lyle, get those bottles warmed up and we'll let Uncle David and Aunt Caroline feed the girls while we change into our bathing suits and hit the hot tub out on the deck."

  Thirty minutes later, Caroline and David sat side by side on the sofa, Dixie in David's arms and Betsy in Caroline's. Both girls slept peacefully. In unison David and Caroline rose from the sofa, took the babies into the guest bedroom and placed them in matching bassinets. When they returned to the living room, they heard Lyle's and Roz's laughter coming from the deck outside. David flipped the wall switch and turned off the rustic overhead chandelier, leaving the room bathed only in a sparkling glow from the twinkling white lights on the Christmas tree.

  He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. "Merry Christmas Eve, Mrs. Wolfe."

  Caroline sighed. "Life is good, isn't it? Fletch and Brooke called from London to tell us that they've planning a double wedding with Ellison and Eileen for next spring and want us all to fly over there for the big event. Roz and Lyle are happily married and the parents of two perfect little girls." Caroline laid her arms over David's, where they crisscrossed her big belly. "And you and I have everything. Each other and now a baby on the way. Oh, David, I'm so happy."

  "And that's exactly how I plan to keep you for the rest of your life, my sweet Caroline."

  She turned in his arms and they shared a kiss. Baby Bren­dan drew back a foot and kicked his father. Caroline and David laughed, then kissed again, the love growing stronger every day, their lives complete.

  * * * * *