“Matthew,” Maggie began as he put his things back into his medical bag, “since you’re here, why don’t you take a look at Gabrielle’s birthmark. It might ease her mind to have a doctor confirm whether it’s real or not.”
He glanced questioningly at Gabrielle. “I’m perfectly satisfied with Maggie’s opinion, but if you want me to look, I will.”
Wyatt’s mistrust had affected her so deeply that she was still doubting herself. If Matthew could give her the truth, she needed to hear it. As for exposing her hip to the man, he was a doctor, and the area he had to see was small and not anywhere embarrassing.
“I would appreciate your opinion, Matthew,” she told him. “I believe Maggie is right. I’ll feel better knowing one way or the other.”
He motioned for Maggie to flip on the overhead light, and Gabrielle slipped her pajama bottom down just far enough for him to see the mark.
Leaning closer, Matthew peered at the distinctive crown on her hip. “Hmm. This is really something,” he murmured.
Fear clutched Gabrielle’s heart. Maybe Wyatt was right. Maybe she was really a gold-digging con artist. “What is it?” she asked frantically.
He glanced at her and smiled. “We’re bona fide cousins, Gabrielle.”
After the doctor and the two women left her room, a long time passed before Gabrielle truly digested the news Matthew had given her. The birthmark wasn’t ink or dye. It hadn’t been put there artificially to gain access to the Fortunes’ millions. She was a Fortune! As much as were Dallas and Matthew and Zane and all the children belonging to Cameron and Ryan. It was amazing.
Eventually the drug Matthew had given her began to dull the pain. As sleep crept closer, she wondered what Wyatt was going to think when he heard the news. He might admit he was wrong about her. But it was hardly enough to make him love her. Somehow she was going to have to make herself accept the fact that everything between them was over.
Fifteen
Wyatt was sitting on the couch in his living room, staring into the darkness, when the telephone rang. He cursed as the sound intruded on his anguished thoughts. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. He didn’t want to see anyone.
But he was the county’s sheriff. He couldn’t neglect his duties. And the call could very well be an emergency from his office. He leaned over and picked up the receiver, then grunted a greeting.
“Hello,” a woman replied. “Is this Wyatt? Wyatt Grayhawk?”
The female voice was unfamiliar and hesitant. Wyatt answered a bit warily. “Yes, this is Wyatt Grayhawk. And if you’re selling something, lady. I don’t want it.”
“Wyatt.”
She said his name again in a choked voice, and Wyatt was suddenly gripping the receiver with full attention. “Are you in trouble, lady? Don’t dally around. Tell me, dammit!”
“No. I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to say.”
Without warning his heart started to pound. He stood, then swallowed. “Who…who is this?” he asked, his voice suddenly going very quiet.
“This is…Marilyn. Your mother.”
Wyatt was certain the room was tilting around him. His throat was too tight to speak, then when he finally thought he could get a word out, he didn’t know what to say.
“Wyatt? Are you still there?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m here.” His heart was still pumping like a locomotive and his hands had started to shake. “I…how did you know—how did you get my number?”
“Information. I received a letter from Ruby Mendoza. She told me you wrote to Berle Atkins hoping he’d know how to contact me. Ruby used to work at Berle’s and she still kept in touch with me and Berle. I—I didn’t know what to think. I couldn’t believe it.”
He swallowed again. Just hearing the woman’s voice was so strange and yet somehow achingly familiar. “I wasn’t even sure you were still alive,” he admitted in an awed whisper.
“Oh, Wyatt. Oh, Wyatt. I’m so…you can’t imagine how much I’ve thought of you. How much I’ve missed you. Are you—I guess you’re all grown up now,” she said with a tearful laugh. “And I know you must be handsome. You were a gorgeous little boy.”
Like clawing hands, regret tore at him. “I’m the sheriff of Red Rock now. That’s what I do for a living.”
“Oooh! Oh, that’s…that’s wonderful,” she said, her voice full of surprise and pride. “I knew you’d be a success. I prayed you would be. And prayed that…”
She didn’t go on and Wyatt quickly prodded, “What?”
“That you wouldn’t turn out to be like Leonard,” she confessed, then followed the words with a deep sigh.
He didn’t have to ask her what she meant. He’d lived with Leonard for eighteen years, far longer than Marilyn had. As for being like his father, Wyatt could have assured her he didn’t drink heavily nor was he lazy. But was he mean and embittered? Had he allowed himself to become that much like Leonard? He couldn’t bear to admit it, even to himself.
“What are you doing? Where are you living?” he asked her.
“I’m in Kingman, Arizona. I own a little café here. It’s doing pretty well.”
He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to picture her there in the desert town. “I don’t understand…I guess the reason I wanted to contact you—” He stopped, drew in a deep breath and started again. “Why did you leave all those years ago? Why did you leave me?”
Once that last question died away, the line went quiet, and then he realized he could hear the muffled sound of sobbing. Finally she spoke, although her voice quivered badly, “I had to go, Wyatt. Your father beat me, then put a gun to my head and ordered me to pack and leave.”
He suddenly thought of Gabrielle and how close she’d come to guessing the truth. “But why? I know the bastard was mean, but—”
“Because he threatened to harm you if I didn’t leave,” she interrupted. “He knew you were the one thing I truly loved, and he used you to hurt me.”
“You never came back,” he accused.
She gasped and lowered her voice as though she were still afraid Leonard might hear her. “I didn’t dare. He promised if I ever returned to Red Rock, he would be waiting to kill me and you both. I couldn’t take that chance, Wyatt. I knew as long as I stayed away, he wouldn’t harm you. He didn’t, did he? Please tell me he didn’t beat you.”
“No. He wasn’t much of a father, but he didn’t beat me. He…he always said you didn’t want me because I was a half-breed. He said you were pregnant and had to marry him. And that you blamed him for ruining your life.”
“Oh, God, how terrible,” she said with a groan. “That couldn’t be further from the truth. I was planning to take you with me. But he found out about it,” Marilyn said. “The crazy thing was, though, he thought I was going to run off with one of the men who came into the café every morning. He was convinced I was having an affair and that was his way of hurting me—banishing me from my own son.”
Wyatt pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to tell himself it was useless to hate and blame his father now. The past had already happened. It couldn’t be changed. And he supposed in the end, Leonard had suffered more than anyone else.
“Were you having an affair?” Wyatt asked.
She gasped. “No! Though God knows I wished I had. Maybe some man could have helped me smuggle you out of there. As it was, I couldn’t defend myself against a drunk maniac.”
Wyatt could understand her fears back then. But twenty-six years had passed. She might never have contacted him if he hadn’t started to search for her. “I realize you were frightened of Leonard all those years ago. But you…never tried to get in touch with me after I was grown.”
“I couldn’t!” she cried, and then in a voice full of dismay went on, “I mean—isn’t Leonard still there in Red Rock?”
To think she was still so terrified of the man was pitiful, and proved how powerful abuse was over a woman or child. Wyatt supposed that in her mind, she pictured Leonard as he was back then, still c
apable of being a tyrant to mother and son. “No. He’s been gone for about twelve years now.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere in Oklahoma. I’m not sure. I really don’t give a damn. Do you?”
“Lord, no. But I figured he was still there. I don’t want him to know I’ve talked to you, Wyatt. He might still try to hurt you.”
It was then that he realized the true depth of her fear, and realized, too, that it was all for him. “Oh, Mother, the man can’t hurt me now. He’s gone from our lives.”
The fact that he’d called her “Mother” must have affected her, because she began to cry again. “I wish I’d known, Wyatt. I wish I’d been brave enough to come back. I loved you so. I still do,” she said brokenly.
His own voice was husky when he spoke. “I thought you’d deserted me.”
“I guess I did, Wyatt,” she said regretfully. “But not in my heart. Never in my heart.” She sniffed and drew in a calming breath. “Every day after I left I wanted to come back for you, but I couldn’t find a way. And no one really wanted to help me. All my friends were even more frightened of Leonard than I was. None of them wanted to get involved. Finally I decided there wasn’t anything I could do. And as more time began to slip away…I figured you probably already hated me. That you wouldn’t want to be with me anyway.”
“I’ve tried to hate you,” Wyatt admitted. “But I can’t. I think we both need to forget the past and try to start over again. Is there any way you might come to Red Rock for a visit? I want to see you.”
Marilyn sniffed again, but this time Wyatt could hear happiness through her tears. As for himself, a warm sort of peace he’d never felt before poured through him.
“Are you certain Leonard won’t hear about it and cause trouble?”
“I’m certain he’ll never show his face around here again. I’m the sheriff now, Mom.”
She suddenly laughed with relief and a great amount of pride. “Yes. I must remember my son is the sheriff. And I’ll find a way to get there,” she promised. “I have a friend who can run the café a few days without me. Is next week too soon?”
“I’ll send you a plane ticket by courier, and when your flight arrives at the airport in San Antonio, I’ll be waiting to pick you up. In the meantime, you have my number now. Call me if you need anything,” he told her.
The line went quiet again, and he realized she was too choked up to speak. It amazed him how much his heart went out to her, how easy it was to allow his mother back into his life.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“Yes. I just wanted to say, I don’t know who or what prompted you to hunt for me, but I thank God you did.”
He suddenly smiled. “I’ll tell you all about it when you get here.”
“Yes. Goodbye, son. And…I love you.”
Wyatt swallowed and closed his eyes. “I love you too.”
When Gabrielle woke a few hours later, the pain in her head was mercifully gone. But where was she? Totally disoriented, she leaned up on her elbow and looked around the dim shadows of the long room. This wasn’t her apartment….
Oh, dear! Oh, God! It was the Double Crown! Her memory had returned!
Ripping back the bedcover, she raced over to the dresser and switched on a lamp. For some reason she expected to look different. And she did look somewhat changed from the young woman who’d been working her way through college as a waitress.
Shoving back her tousled hair, Gabrielle peered more closely at the image in the mirror. A few hours earlier she’d gone to sleep with a fierce headache. Now she was wide awake. And she remembered! Everything! Her mother, Miranda. Her older brother, Kane. Her father—the faceless rodeo rider, Lloyd Carter, who’d abandoned the three of them even before Gabrielle had been born.
She’d come here to Texas hunting the family she’d never had, and the family her mother would never speak about. And if it had been left up to Miranda, Gabrielle would never have found them. If she hadn’t picked up the newspaper in the diner and noticed the article about Bryan Fortune being kidnapped, she would still have been in the dark about her heritage.
Gabrielle sank onto the dressing bench as she remembered back to the day she’d confronted her mother with the newspaper article. The name was Fortune—the same name she’d found on one of her mother’s old insurance policies. The family lived on a ranch in Texas, and the kidnapped child had a birthmark described as exactly the same as Gabrielle’s and her brother Kane’s.
At first Miranda had laughingly called it an odd coincidence and nothing more. But Gabrielle had felt certain there was some sort of connection to the family back in Texas. She’d pushed her mother for more direct answers, and when Miranda had refused to give any, Gabrielle had informed her mother she was going to Texas to find out the truth for herself.
Miranda’s reaction had been close to hysteria. She’d demanded Gabrielle to stay in California and forget her wild ideas. She’d warned her daughter that she would only find trouble in Texas. And when she did not to call her mother for help.
Why? Gabrielle wondered. For years, she had asked her mother about her family. But all Miranda would tell her was that she’d been raised on a ranch in Texas and hadn’t gotten along with her parents, so she’d run away to California.
Well, that part pretty much matched what Ryan had told her earlier tonight. Still, it was hard to understand why Miranda had stayed away from these people for so long. Especially when they had millions, and she’d struggled to raise two children alone, waitressing and working odd acting jobs. Sometimes she’d landed a part in a local play, or once in awhile she’d lucked out and gotten a part in a low-budget film.
Even so, money had always been a scarce commodity for the Carters. Gabrielle had never minded living modestly, but she knew her mother had always wanted to live the high social life more fitting of a movie star. Gabrielle groaned at the idea. Her mother never had been, nor would be, a movie star.
Oh, Lord, what was Wyatt going to think of all this? He’d never in a thousand years believe her! And she seriously doubted the Fortunes would. All of them would think she’d used the wreck to fake her amnesia and to gain sympathy and a foothold with the family. They might even have the idea that Miranda sent her here as a way to gain part of the Fortune millions she’d deserted so long ago! As for Wyatt, he’d probably take great pleasure in denouncing her as a gold digger.
Groaning with misery, Gabrielle dropped her head in her hands. What was she going to do? What could she do?
As far as she could see, she had two choices. One, she could go wake the family, tell them everything she’d remembered, and hope they would all believe she’d come here with sincere intentions. Or two, she could pack a few things and leave without letting anyone know.
She tried to swallow down the pain that had started in her chest and was rising up in her throat. There really was no choice, she told herself. The Fortunes were too kind to cause them any more problems. If she slipped away and never came back, they would all see she didn’t want money from them.
As for Wyatt, he didn’t want her around anyway. He’d labeled her as trouble from the start. It didn’t matter that she loved him. He would never return her feelings. The best thing she could do now was go back to the world she’d come from—and try to forget him.
A tear brimmed over her eye and slid down her cheek. She couldn’t forget Wyatt. He was in her heart to stay. She’d simply have to go through the rest of her life wondering how things might have been if she’d come here under different circumstances, and if he’d been a man who could trust her.
In less than ten minutes, she’d changed into the clothes she’d worn from California and thrown a few essentials into a denim carryall. All the nice things Maggie and the rest of the Fortunes had given her were packed away in boxes to be sent to the Red Cross. As for the money Ryan had loaned her, she put all of it—except enough for bus fare and food—into an envelope, then added a short note.
Dear Ryan and family,
Thank you for the love and kindness you showed me while I was here in your home. Perhaps someday I can explain why I had to leave this way, and hopefully you’ll understand. I promise to repay the rest of the money as soon as I can.
My love to you all,
Gabrielle
She sealed the envelope, then propped it on the base of the lamp on the nightstand. After she switched off the light, she carefully made her way to the door leading out to the courtyard.
Getting off the property without being seen by the guard was going to be tricky. But if she hung in the shadows, she thought she had a chance. Far more of a chance than Wyatt would ever give her, she thought sadly.
Wyatt was lying in bed, his mind churning, his heart aching. He didn’t know why he’d bothered to lie down. He knew sleep would not come to him tonight. There was no way he could shut down his mind after all that had happened. First with Gabrielle, and then his mother.
How ironic that he had found one woman after losing the other.
Hell, he thought with a snort. Where was he getting the idea Gabrielle had been his to lose? She’d been playing him along just as she’d been duping the Fortunes. Hadn’t she?
Groaning out loud, he slung his forearm over his aching eyes. Had she really been lying to him? he asked himself for the thousandth time. She’d seemed so genuinely confused about the pictures he’d found in the Bible, and she’d been so adamant about not wanting anything from the Fortunes. Why couldn’t he simply take her word as the truth?
Because he loved her. God help him. He didn’t know when his heart had refused to listen to his warnings or why. He only knew the feelings inside him were too strong to ignore. And that put him in an all-too-vulnerable position. If he allowed himself to believe in her, he was only bound to get hurt worse.
Dammit, he couldn’t possibly hurt any more than he was hurting now! But he didn’t know what to do about it. Or even if he could do anything to put things right between them. He’d ripped her feelings to shreds tonight. Maybe she could forgive him for that. But how was she going to view things, especially him, since she’d become a Fortune?
The Heiress and the Sheriff Page 20
