Runaway Heart
Page 23
She was asked several times by the police if she had any idea where he might have gone, but when she said she didn’t, they seemed to lose interest. When they were alone for a few moments at one point, Sam told her they weren’t really interested in finding Zach. They understood why he’d chosen to vanish temporarily.
Finally, they were let go, though she was told that she would have to appear in a special court the next day, together with Davy. Sam had brought Mary with him, and the four of them piled into Sam’s car. Mary suggested that C.Z. and Davy come to her home, but one glance at the silent recluse told C.Z. he wouldn’t want that.
She thanked Mary for her offer but said she needed to get back to Stacey’s because her clothes were there and because Stacey must be worried about her.
“She knows what’s been going on,” Sam told her. “She called me a couple of days ago and I told her. Then I called her again at school on my way out here.”
“I want to take Davy out to my friend Scott’s cabin. He’ll be more comfortable there.” She turned to the recluse, with whom she was sharing the back seat, and was rewarded with a look of gratitude.
“MY NAME’S EDGAR—Edgar Wallace.”
“Oh! I’m sorry, Edgar. I just didn’t know what else to call you.”
He smiled, though it was rather hard to see in that big, bushy beard. “This is a nice place. Is it okay with your friend?”
C.Z. explained that Scott was in Europe for a year and had turned the A-frame over to her. With an inner smile, she thought about the long letter she would have to write to him.
“So you can just stay here until we figure out something.”
“They won’t let me build out there again,” he said unhappily.
“No, they won’t,” she agreed. “We’re going to have to get you some land.” She frowned in thought. She was sure Scott had told her he owned quite a bit back here. Maybe she’d turn that letter into a phone call.
“How would you feel about building a new cabin somewhere around here?” she asked, trying to brighten his spirits. “My friend only comes here occasionally on weekends, and the same is true of the man who owns that other cabin. They might be happy to have someone around to keep an eye on their places for them.”
“I can’t afford that,” he said, though she could hear hope in his voice.
“Edgar, the man who owns this cabin and a lot of land is a good friend. And when he hears what you’ve done for Zach and me, I think he’ll be happy to give you some land.” He probably would, but she’d offer to buy it. “Then we’ll see that you get a new cabin. Zach will help you build it, if you like.”
The recluse nodded. “He told me that before he left.”
“So there you are,” she said brightly. “It’ll all work out. Now, do you think you have everything you need?” They’d stopped to buy him some clothing and some groceries. “I’ll be out tomorrow morning in any event because we both have to appear in court.”
“You’ll be with me?” he asked uneasily.
“I’ll be with you,” she promised.
“You’re a lot like your dad, you know—even if you don’t look like him.”
C.Z. SLIPPED INTO the warm, fragrant water with a sigh that was part relief and part regret. Beyond the big windows, snow was falling softly and silently in the dark velvet night.
Her relief was because it was over—for now, at least. After a long day in court, Harvey Summers and all the others, including Dave Colby, had been charged and sent to jail to await trial. The state police had towed the old pickup from the woods, and photographs of the yellow paint and the bleached rug had been shown to the judge.
Sam told her that plea bargains were in the offing for Isaac Neil and the other men Summers had hired to do his dirty work. Dave Colby might be offered a deal, though he would certainly go to prison, as would Neil.
Mary Williams, who had testified, said she’d spoken to the other commissioner and they were prepared to offer Zach his job back. Sam made some noises about a lawsuit against the county because of Summers’s and Colby’s lies, which had sent Zach to prison, and Mary said perhaps they could work something out to compensate Zach for his lost pay.
Only the local reporters had been present at the judicial proceedings, but as they left the courthouse, Sam warned her that it was likely the national media would pick up the story and descend upon them soon.
“Who knows?” he grinned. “Maybe you two will become the movie of the week.”
C.Z. tried to enjoy his humor, but she was still too close to the ordeal to see it the way he—and others—would see it. She thought, however, that he had a point. It was quite a story.
But it wasn’t over yet—and that was the reason for her regret as she soaked in the big spa tub. Sam had taken it upon himself to get the electricity turned on at Zach’s house, saying she might want a place to get away from it all. And she did.
She sighed. Sam had already begun to work on Zach’s situation, but it appeared it could take several more days before he could get the charges dropped. It helped that the warden was being sympathetic.
She had very nearly dozed off when she was jolted awake by a tapping sound at the windows behind her. Terror clawed at her spine as she swiveled around to face them.
She could barely see the face beyond the glass, but somehow, her body recognized instantly what her eyes hadn’t quite registered. Without giving a thought to her nakedness, she climbed from the tub and approached the long windows.
“I could use a bath myself,” said the familiar voice, muffled by the glass. “And I brought the champagne.”
To her astonishment, he held up a bottle. But she didn’t say a word. Instead, she wrapped herself in a big towel and ran to the door to let him in.
He was cold and wet with snow, but she didn’t complain when he swept her into his arms and carried her to the bathroom. After depositing her gently into the tub, he stripped off his dirty, wet clothes and joined her.
“Where have you been?” she demanded. “And where did you get that champagne? Did you rob a liquor store?” Her body might be eager to have him here, but her brain was a bit slower.
He shook his head. “I gave up my life of crime. I got it from Scott’s cabin. I remembered that he had some there, and besides, I figured Davy would be there and I’d check on him.”
“Edgar,” she said. “His name is Edgar Wallace.”
“I know. He told me. He also told me that you’re going to get him some land out there, and he told me what went on in court today.”
“I’m angry with you, Zach,” she said, even though her husky voice belied that. “Why didn’t you trust me enough to tell me that you had to disappear?”
“Because you would have argued with me, and there wasn’t time for that. I figured you’d understand when Sam explained it all, and you’d realize that one of us had to stay around to be sure Davy—I mean Edgar—was okay.” He leaned toward her and kissed her softly.
“It wasn’t a question of trust, Charlie girl. You know I trust you.”
C.Z. thought she really ought to maintain her righteous anger a bit longer, but that proved to be impossible as Zach’s hands slid beneath the water to seek her out.
“Can you really stay here?” she asked breathlessly, knowing she couldn’t let him go again, even for a few days.
“Uh-huh. They’ll never look for me here because they don’t really want to find me.”
“Sam said he should have everything straightened out in a few days,” she told him, ending with a moan as his fingers found the source of her growing heat.
“Good old Sam. The least I can do for him is to ask him to be best man.”
“And he seems to be working out something to get you back pay for all the time you spent in prison.”
“Even better. That means we can have a long honeymoon.”
“You’ve got your job back, too.”
“That’s nice. Are you finished?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because I’m just getting started.”
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‘HAVE I DONE something wrong?’ Angie persisted, wishing Taylor would emit a sense of camaraderie instead of holding an impenetrable reserve.
‘Not at all,’ he assured her. ‘I would say a lot of things right. You seem to be fitting into our little Outback community very well. I’ve heard only good things about you.’
‘They’re nice people,’ she said sincerely. Only the Maguire family kept her shut out of their hearts.
‘Yes,’ he agreed. ‘Though I appreciate it’s taken considerable effort from you. It is a world away from what you’re used to.’
The control Angie had been exerting over her feelings snapped. He wasn’t as blatant as his aunt in his prejudice against her but she’d felt it coming through every word he’d spoken and she didn’t deserve any of it.
‘Don’t judge me by your wife!’
His jaw jerked. A flicker of some dark emotion destroyed the steady power of his probing gaze.
‘No two people are the same. If you don’t know that, you’re a man of very limited vision. So I come from the city as your wife did! That doesn’t stop me from being an individual in my own right.’
She straightened up, proudly defiant, furiously angry with the situation. ‘I’m me. Angie Cordell. And it’s time you took the blinkers off your eyes, Taylor Maguire.’ Then she whirled away from him, too agitated by the explosive expulsion of her emotion to keep facing him.
The storm outside hadn’t yet eased. There was nowhere to go. She stopped at the window, staring blindly at the torrential rain. The thundering on the roof was almost deafening but it wasn’t as loud as the silence behind her.
‘You want me to go, don’t you? You’ve given me a month’s respite and now you want me to leave and channel my energies somewhere else.’
‘I didn’t say that, Angie.’
‘You were working your way around it.’ Bitterness at his tactics spewed the suspicion. ‘Do you have your first choice of governess waiting in the wings?’
‘No. I said I’d give you a chance.’
‘Have you?’ She swung around to face him. ‘Have you really, Taylor?’
He hadn’t moved. He didn’t move now except to make a gesture of appeasement. ‘Angie, I was merely trying to ascertain how you felt.’
‘Then let me tell you your cynicism was shining through every word.’
He frowned, shook his head. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’ The blue eyes fastened on hers with devastating sincerity. ‘I truly did not come in here to take you down or suggest you leave.’
Her heart jiggled painfully. He might be speaking the truth but the judgements were still there, the judgements that ruled his attitude towards her, that kept her shut out of his life, denied any real sharing with him, denied his confidence and trust. She didn’t know why it meant so much to her but it did. It did. And the need to fight for justice from him was as much a raging torrent inside her as the rain outside.
eISBN: 978-14592-6164-8
RUNAWAY HEART
Copyright © 1998 by Saranne Hoover
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Table of Contents
Cover Page
Excerpt
About the Author
Books by Saranne Dawson
Title Page
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Preview
Copyright