He hadn't stopped by or called since he'd left her yesterday morning. He'd known she'd be busy. It was no wonder he hadn't been in contact, but she couldn't help feeling irritated. She'd slept with him, for God's sake. The least he could do was call and say, "Hello, how are you? I miss you."
She smiled at her own foolishness. She was such a girl. They weren't high school kids. They weren't dating. He didn't have to call her. And she didn't have to wait by the phone.
Of course, it was easier to figure out what they weren't than what they were. Two adults having a casual relationship? No, not even close. Two people who'd always been attracted to each other, finally free to be with one another? Closer, but not quite right. Two people who had fallen in love with each other, who had a second chance to make that love work if they had the courage to take it?
Rachel shivered as the truth gave her chills. It would come down to courage. And she'd had so little of that commodity over the years. Could she find it now? Could she risk losing her safety net for the opportunity, the love of a lifetime? And could Dylan risk giving his carefully guarded heart to a woman who'd been married to someone else, who'd had that person's child, that man's love?
It would be easier to do nothing, to let Dylan finish the house and go back to the city, and for her to go on with her life. To raise Wesley the best way she knew how. It would be safer to travel that route. She knew that road. She knew how to keep things even. It was the highs and lows she wasn't so sure about.
Setting down the brochures, she walked across the room, turned off the light, then stepped outside and closed the door behind her. She could go home, but the house would still be hot. So she wandered through the garden and up the path, knowing all along where she would end up, under the branches of Lady Elaine.
They'd made love in the shadow of this tree. It had been perfect. She sat down on the grass and closed her eyes and let herself remember -- every kiss, every touch. The memories were so alive, so real. The taste of Dylan lingered on her lips, the feel of his skin on her fingers.
A small voice inside told her that it was wrong to remember Dylan in such vivid detail when Gary was becoming a faded photograph. She'd made love to Gary for nine years. Why couldn't she remember with such clarity the way he tasted, the way he felt? Was this how life was? Was it right to go on or was it wrong? Did what she feel now lessen what she'd felt before?
Opening her eyes, she looked at the tree that had stood proudly on this spot for over a hundred years. She thought about her great-great-grandmother following her heart through numerous and mountainous hardships. Elaine had had no certainty when she'd made her perilous trip. But she had done it anyway. Courage, Rachel thought again. Love took courage.
She'd never thought that before. Loving Gary had been easy. His smile, his joy in life, had washed over her like a warm summer breeze. Nothing about their love had been hard. Nothing about their love had been spectacular either. That evenness again. No ups or downs, no highs or lows. She'd been content with that. She'd thought he'd been content, too. She should have known better.
Gary had always wanted the highs and lows. He'd needed the outside stimulation. But just how far had he gone seeking what he hadn't found at home?
Who was this Laura who'd had a relationship with him? What had she offered Gary that Rachel had not?
She needed the answers to those questions, and she would have them by the end of the week, if not sooner. The festival was over. The seasons were changing. It was time to move on with her life. She reached up and pulled a ripe apple off the lowest branch. It was ready to be picked. Everything had a season.
She heard the soft crunch of feet on the grass and turned around. It was just like last time. She knew it was him even before she saw him.
Dylan stopped a few feet away from her. "I had a feeling I'd find you up here." He tipped his head toward the apple in her hand. "Who are you planning on feeding that to?"
She smiled, rolling the apple around in the palm of her hand. An idea took root and blossomed. "You?" She held it out to him.
Dylan looked at the apple, then at her. "I think I know how Adam felt. I should say no."
"You already ate one once."
"I didn't know there was magic to it then."
"And I didn't know you were the one who was getting the magic. Maybe that's why things went haywire. Do you want to try again?"
"I'm not sure."
She was disappointed in his answer, and her arm drifted down to her side. "I see."
"We've got some things to settle," he said.
"So we're back to being practical."
"I think we have to be a little practical, acknowledge that we have some things to work through."
"Like the fact that your life is in the city and mine is in the country?" That fact had been bothering her more and more with each day. Even if she could let go of Gary, could she really let go of everything else in her life?
"Partly. I do have a business there."
"And there aren't a lot of skyscrapers to build around here."
"Thank God, right?" he said with a smile. "You wouldn't want anything to ruin this valley."
"No, I wouldn't."
"But it's not just that, Rachel. It's Gary. We have to settle this once and for all. I didn't want to say anything until after the festival, but the private investigator I hired called me yesterday and gave me the address of one Laura Gardner. She lives on the south shore of Lake Tahoe."
Rachel forced herself to breathe. "That's the Laura who was calling Gary? The one I spoke to?"
"I think so. I think we should go to Tahoe, meet her face-to-face."
She started shaking her head even before he finished speaking. She couldn't go to Lake Tahoe. She couldn't confront this woman. What would she say?
"We've come this far. We can't stop now," Dylan said firmly. "Let's drive up there tomorrow. We can leave as soon as you drop Wesley off at school and be back before dinner."
"I'm scared. What if we find out Gary was in love with someone else? What if we find out he was having an affair? What if we find out that she broke it off, and he killed himself on the way home?"
Dylan grew more pale with each of her questions. But his resolve only seemed to strengthen. "We'll deal with the truth, whatever it is. I loved Gary, and so did you. Nothing will change that."
"I'm not sure that's true. I'm not sure my feelings won't change."
"All right. Then they'll change. But not knowing has to be worse than knowing. You don't want to spend the rest of your life wondering. Will you come with me tomorrow?"
She made a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret. "Yes."
"Good."
Rachel raised the apple in her hand to her lips and took a bite. The fruit was tart, juicy and delicious. She swallowed her bite and saw Dylan watching her. "If it can't bring me love, maybe it will bring me courage."
She raised the apple to her mouth once again, but this time Dylan's hand stopped hers. He gave her a long look, then surprised her by leaning over and taking a bite out of the apple.
"I thought you didn't want any," she said.
"You're not the only one who needs a little courage. As for the love part – that's not going to be a problem." He covered her mouth with his and kissed her deeply. She could taste the apple on his lips, the lingering juice on his tongue. A little zing of lust, love or maybe simply magic ran through both of them.
* * *
Travis plopped himself down on a corner of the blanket Carly had spread out on the grass near the jazz-band stage. "Hi, babe. All alone?"
"My grandparents took Wesley to get an ice cream. The band is on a break."
"Weren't you hungry?"
She looked into his eyes and smiled. "I saw you coming this way. I decided to wait for you."
His eyes darkened. "You waited for me?"
"I wanted to tell you that I selected some paintings to show your friend Roger. I thought I might drive into the city one day next week."
&
nbsp; "Sounds like a good idea."
"I was wondering if you'd like to come with me."
He stared at her. "You want me to come?"
"He is your friend, and you did get this opportunity for me." She tried to sound casual, as if she didn't care, but she found herself foolishly crossing her fingers.
"You don't need me to pull it off. Your talent will speak for itself."
She uncrossed her fingers in disappointment. "I'm not sure I'm that good."
He laughed. "That's the first modest comment that's ever come out of your mouth."
She made a face at him. "Well, it's true. My art is personal. I can't always tell if it's right."
"It's right. Have a little faith."
"I'm trying. I told Rachel about my paintings. I showed them to her, actually."
"And you're still breathing?"
"She was crazed at first, but she came around. She said she'll support whatever I do."
"Does this mean you don't have to marry Antonio?"
"That would be difficult to do. I saw him yesterday, and he told me he got engaged when he was in New York."
Travis shook his head in mock disappointment. "That's too bad."
She threw her rolled-up napkin at him. "As if you care."
He caught the napkin and threw it back at her. "I care. Too much."
And when she looked into his eyes, she saw the truth. She suddenly realized that she was falling in love as well. But how could she love this man and still have what she wanted most in life?
"Why now?" she murmured. "Why now, when everything that I ever wanted is coming true?"
"You don't have to choose."
"Don't I? You live here."
"So could you."
"I want to paint."
"You could paint from here. And when you needed to go into the city, you could go."
She shook her head. "I watched Rachel and Gary try to make that kind of relationship work, but it failed. You can't do love long distance."
"You can do whatever you need to," he said seriously. "I'm just glad you finally realize that you love me."
"I didn't say that."
He smiled. "Yes, you did."
"I don't think so."
"Then why are we talking about living together?"
"We're not. Are we?"
"Yes."
Her breath caught in her throat at the look in his eyes. "Travis, I don't know."
"That's okay. We can figure it out together. And it doesn't have to happen tomorrow. I'm not letting you go, Carly. Get used to it."
"My father couldn't hold on to my mother," she argued. "I'm like her. I have a passion that speaks to my heart in a way that a man can't."
"Your father wanted to compete with that passion. I want to embrace it. I don't want to hold you back. I want to hold you close."
She felt her eyes begin to tear. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I could fall in love with you."
"I think you already have." He leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "Now, you know what I want?"
She was confused for a moment. "What?"
He nodded toward the picnic basket. "You know."
She smiled and reached over to take a Tupperware container out of the picnic basket. "Is this what you want?"
"If it has one of those damn apples in it, it is."
Carly pulled off the lid to reveal a slice of apple cobbler. "Try it and see."
Travis picked up a plastic spoon and took a big bite of the apple dessert. He chewed lustily, then swallowed. "I'm yours forever," he proclaimed. "Let's get married."
Carly laughed so hard she thought her sides would split. Finally, she caught her breath enough to say, "There was not a bit of magic in that dessert."
"Oh, yeah, we'll see about that." He pushed her back onto the blanket and lowered his head, his mouth hovering over hers, just long enough to make her want him even more.
"Kiss me already," she demanded.
"You are such a bossy woman. Maybe I won't kiss you."
"Maybe I won't wait until you make up your mind," she said, but she didn't try all that hard to get away.
Travis grinned at her. "You're not going anywhere."
"You think you know me so well."
"I do. And you know me. You know I'm stubborn."
"And annoying," she added.
"Persistent."
"And arrogant."
"Generous."
"And generous," she agreed as his mouth came down on hers. Because he wasn't just giving her a kiss, he was giving her the dream she'd been dreaming since she was a little girl.
Chapter Twenty-Three
There was something symbolic about shutting the car door, listening to the motor come to life, watching the farm fade in the distance as Dylan drove toward the highway. Rachel didn't travel beyond the town borders very often, but today she was going far beyond the boundaries of her life.
She and Dylan were on their way to Lake Tahoe to see a woman named Laura Gardner, who was quite possibly the last person to see Gary alive. She still couldn't believe they were on their way. She'd tossed and turned most of the night, imagining every likely scenario. When those imaginings grew too frightening, she thought of excuses, reasons that she couldn't go.
But when Dylan had arrived at her door, she'd known exactly what she had to do. She had to finish what she'd started. She had to find out what had happened to her husband. She couldn't go on with her life until she did that.
Dylan's hand covered hers. She appreciated the warmth and strength of his fingers. He was a rock in her wild, chaotic sea of emotions, a rock to which she could cling. She wanted to be strong for him, too. She wasn't the only one with illusions to lose. Dylan had a faith in Gary that could be sorely tested today.
She glanced over at him. "I was thinking last night about this Laura. Did the investigator tell you anything else about her? Her age? What she looks like? I wish I could be more prepared."
"He gave me her name, her address. And as for her age, she's the same age as Gary."
"How did he find that out?"
"Copy of her driver's license."
"Did you see it?"
"No. But we'll see what she looks like soon enough." He hesitated. "Actually, Rachel, there's something else I want to talk about."
"Something else." Her heart sank down to her stomach. "What now?"
"It's just a hunch, but I think Gary may have met this woman when he traveled through Europe."
"Europe?"
"He went for the summer, right after high school. The point is, there was a girl on that trip, someone he met. He sent me a dozen postcards raving about her. But when he got back, the subject was closed. It was over, and he wouldn't tell me anything more about her."
"You think it was this Laura?"
"Carly said there was a message on the answering machine in Gary's apartment from a girl who talked about Italy and remembering what they'd been to each other."
Rachel shook her head, trying to keep up with the information. "Carly heard this on an answering machine?"
"She couldn't tell you, because—"
"I get it. I wasn't supposed to know she was in the city. Go on."
"Okay, one last thing. Don't kill me."
She shook her head, her lips set in a frown. "Do you promise this is the last thing?"
He smiled tenderly. "I promise." He reached into his pocket and drew out a small jewelry box. "Do you recognize this?"
Rachel opened the box and saw a gold chain with a heart and a pearl in its center. "No."
"It came with a note. Read it."
Rachel slowly unfolded the piece of paper and read the brief message. "Where did you get this? Gary's apartment?"
"Your grandfather found it in a box that came from the police department. The box was apparently in Gary's car."
"Why didn't I see this before?"
"Your grandfather didn't want to upset you."
"So he gave it to you?"
she asked, feeling a wave of anger.
"He thought it might be a clue, but he didn't want to worry you if it wasn't."
"He shouldn't have hidden it from me." But her anger dimmed as she thought about her grandfather. He loved her. He only wanted to protect her. She could understand that. "You're sure this is it, Dylan? No more surprises?"
"I'm sure. Whatever we find out now, we find out together."
She looked out the window at the scenery passing by. This was her valley, her beautiful, safe valley. But she was leaving it, leaving behind everything she'd known, everything she'd loved. She'd come back. Of course she would come back. And the valley would still be the same. But she had a feeling that she would be different.
* * *
Three and a half hours later, the scenery had changed considerably. Thick forests surrounded the two-lane highway that climbed to an altitude of eight thousand feet, then descended to a clear mountain lake that was awesome in its size, its clarity, and its beauty.
These were the sights Gary had seen that last weekend of his life, Rachel realized. The view was breathtaking, and when she rolled down the window she could smell the pines and feel the cool, crisp air of autumn. Soon it would be winter. The mountains would be covered with snow. The animals would hibernate, the world would change. She'd always welcomed the seasons, but this year they felt especially symbolic.
They came to a stoplight and Dylan glanced down at the address he'd jotted on a piece of paper. He made several more turns, finally stopping in front of a modest ranch-style house in a heavily wooded area.
"This is it," he said, turning off the engine.
Rachel stared at the house. There was a swing on the porch that reminded her of home. Had Gary and Laura sat on the swing with their arms around each other? Had they watched the sun go down? Had they shared an intimacy that should have belonged only to her and Gary? Rachel's stomach churned uneasily as she thought of all the possibilities.
Love Will Find a Way Page 27
