"It's okay," he said, holding her tightly. "Everything's okay."
"It was so stupid of me," she said. "I never should have done this. Never. I'm sorry … I'm so sorry…"
"Let's get out of here."
"Braddock—"
"We'll let the cops pick him up."
Wolfe took off his coat and put it around Wendy's shoulders, then dialed 911 on his cell phone and explained the situation. Leaving Braddock squirming on the ground, he put his arm around Wendy and led her toward his car. A police car soon came down the street, followed shortly by another one. After they pulled into the parking lot, Wolfe signaled to the two officers and told them where Braddock was.
As the officers headed around the building to pick him up, Wolfe opened the car door for Wendy and she slid into the passenger seat. He put one arm along the top of the window and the other on the roof of the car and leaned in to talk to her.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
She breathed deeply. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Then Wolfe glanced across the front seat out the driver's window, and his expression turned grim. Wendy looked over to see Slade approaching the car.
"Sweetheart?" Wolfe said. "Will you excuse me for just a minute?"
"Sure."
He closed the car door, circled the front of the vehicle and walked toward Slade, who saw Wolfe coming, but froze like a deer in the headlights. Wolfe took a double handful of his coat collar, turned and slammed him up against the driver's door of the SUV. Even though the windows of the car were up, Wendy could hear every angry word he spoke.
"You little bastard! How in the hell could you let her go in there like that? How?"
"Hey, she was the one who wanted to do it!"
"While you sat out here in the parking lot without a clue what was going on? Do you know how close she came to getting hurt?"
"Hey, man, it was just one of those things, you know? I didn't—"
"Shut up," Wolfe growled, slamming him against the car again. "I don't want to see you come near Wendy again. Ever. If I do, I'm going to start pounding. And I'm not going to stop pounding until there's nothing left of you. Do you understand?"
Slade nodded. Wolfe slung him sideways. He stumbled a little, then came to his feet.
"Now, get the hell out of here!"
Slade lurched away, and Wolfe stood watching until he got into his car and disappeared out of the parking lot.
Wendy sat in the car, amazed at what she'd just seen. After all the snide comments Slade had made toward Wolfe over the years, the only thing that had made Wolfe lose his temper and go after Slade was the fact that he'd come so close to hurting her. And she loved him for it.
Wolfe got into the car beside Wendy, his face still clenched with anger. He put his hands on the steering wheel, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Wolfe," she said, "I'm so sorry about this. For dragging you out here and putting you in danger, too. And I'm sorry about the fight we had. Every single time I've needed you, you've been there." Tears filled her eyes. "I appreciate that. You don't know how much."
For a long time he just stared ahead, his fingers clenching the steering wheel. "Los Angeles…"
"No." Wendy closed her eyes. "Please don't talk about that now."
"You're still leaving."
He spoke it as a statement, not a question. But all at once, Wendy had the terrible feeling that in order to get that one thing in her life she desperately wanted, she was going to have to give up something even more precious.
She couldn't believe this. Before she'd gotten waylaid in Dallas, she never would have thought that anything could deter her from her dreams of stardom. But now…
"I don't know what I'm going to do," she told him.
He nodded, still refusing to meet her eyes. "What about tonight? Where do you want me to take you?"
Wendy didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow. She only knew where she wanted to be tonight. "I want to go home," she said softly. "With you."
Several more seconds passed. She had the most uncanny sensation of her dream fading away, until all she could think about was Wolfe taking her into his arms and telling her he wanted to make love to her, just as he'd done so many times before.
To her dismay, though, he merely nodded. Without saying another word, he started the car and headed toward his apartment.
* * *
When Wolfe and Wendy got home, she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him. For a moment he felt a rush of optimism that maybe she'd changed her mind and was going to stay. But he knew that wasn't necessarily true, and believing it would only make things more difficult later if she really did say goodbye.
This had been a mistake. He should have taken her to stay with Ramona, because if he made love to her tonight and she left him tomorrow, he wasn't sure he'd ever recover. He gently pushed her away, using up every bit of willpower he had. Consequently, when she reached for him a second time, he had no resolve left with which to fight.
Flooded by a sudden surge of passion, he groaned with resignation, tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her deeply, then swept her into his arms and took her to his bedroom. Lord, how he wanted her, even if it was for the last time.
Especially if it was for the last time.
Afterward, they lay in silence for a long time, their bodies twined together, but the more time that passed, the more restless Wolfe became. Thoughts kept pounding at his mind that wouldn't go away, and he knew that sooner or later there was something he had to do.
He tossed the covers back and rose from the bed.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I'll be back in a minute."
He went into the other room. A few moments later he came back and sat down on the bed beside her. He flipped on the lamp and handed her a piece of paper.
"What's this?" she asked.
"A check for five thousand dollars."
Wendy stared at it with disbelief. "What?"
"It's the four thousand you need, plus another thousand to make things easier."
"But … but why?"
"Because all this has made me realize just how important your dream is to you, and I want to help you make it come true."
Wendy stared at him incredulously.
"Take this money and do whatever you think you have to do with it. I mean that. But Wendy…" He bowed his head for a moment, silenced by a swell of emotion. Then he looked at her again. "I just want you to know that you'll always be beautiful to me just the way you are. I love you no matter what. And I always will."
Wendy stared at him, tears filling her eyes, then looked back down at the check. "I can't take this."
"Yes. I want you to have it."
"No. I'm not going to Los Angeles. I can't leave here if it means losing you."
Wolfe's heart skipped with hope, but just as quickly he buried the feeling, refusing to let it sway him. "No, Wendy. Don't say that. It's nothing but gratitude talking."
"No. It's not gratitude. It's love."
Love.
Wolfe wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe it so much that he almost took Wendy into his arms again so he could keep her right here with him, both of them sequestered from the rest of the world forever. But he knew he couldn't do that. Not when she wanted something so desperately that he could never hope to give her.
He smoothed his hand down her arm and took her hand in his. "Wendy, listen to me. If you don't do this, you'll spend the rest of your life wondering what might have been. And you'll hate me for being the one who kept you from it."
"It's my decision. I want to stay right here."
"No. You're going to Los Angeles. And you're going to be a big success. And in the meantime, I'm going to get subscriptions to Entertainment Weekly and People."
"Subscriptions?"
"Yeah. I want to be sure I don't miss your face on the cover."
Wendy stared at him, her expression growing shaky. She opened her mouth to speak, but t
hen her face crumpled and she began to cry. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her fiercely, feeling as if his heart was breaking. He couldn't even imagine what life was going to be like without her.
Yes, he could. It was going to be just as cold and empty as it had been before she'd come. And he couldn't bear the thought of it.
"I'm going to miss you so much," he whispered.
He held her for a long time, rocking her gently, letting her cry, cherishing every moment because there were so few of them left. Slowly her tears subsided. Then she pulled away and looked at him, and her face suddenly brightened.
"No," she said. "You're not going to miss me."
"What?"
"You're coming with me."
Wolfe blinked with surprise. "To Los Angeles?"
"Yes."
"I can't do that."
"You can't?"
"No. I can't leave here."
"Why not?"
Why not?
Wolfe opened his mouth to answer, then realized he didn't have a damned thing to say in response. Absolutely nothing. He had no life here. Wendy had been right about that. He hadn't had any life at all until she showed up.
Now she was his life.
Realization slowly crept in, making him see himself more clearly than he ever had before. For years he'd stayed holed up in this warehouse apartment, seeking solitude, hiding from the ugliness of his past, hiding from the dreams he'd always had of having a wife and a family because he saw no way of them ever coming true.
Now he saw a way.
"I can't guarantee you what it'll be like," Wendy said. "I've heard Los Angeles can be a crazy place. It's more expensive to live there, so God only knows what kind of apartment we'll be able to get. It'll probably be pure chaos until we get settled, and I know you don't like that, but—"
"When do we need to be there?"
Wendy blinked. "Did you say 'we'?"
"I said 'we.'"
"Does this mean you'll come with me?"
"I'll go anywhere on the planet, Wendy. As long as I'm with you."
"Oh, Wolfe…" She threw her arms around him, hugging him with such excitement that she practically knocked him over backward. Then she stopped short.
"But what will you do there?" she asked.
"There are criminals in every big city. Some of them even jump bail."
Wendy smiled. "I guess that's right."
"But that isn't the only option I've got. I'm thinking maybe I need to make a change. Get into another line of work. Maybe this is the way to make that happen."
Wendy took his face in her hands and kissed him, her expression positively ecstatic. "Yes," she said. "Whatever you want. And I'll help you any way I can."
He thought about what lay ahead. He thought about trading his methodical, predictable, secluded life for the unknown. Living in an unfamiliar place. Stepping out into the world. But to his surprise, he didn't feel the least bit apprehensive. Instead, excitement surged inside him.
"Now, this may be a pipe dream for me," Wendy said. "I mean, I could get there and they could decide I'm all wrong for the part. I may have to take stupid jobs for years before anybody even notices me. Or maybe I'll never make it at all. I may end up falling flat on my face, and all of this will have been for nothing."
He stared down at her, brushing a strand of that gorgeous dark hair away from her temple. "It doesn't matter if you fall," he said. "I'll be there to catch you."
Her eyes instantly filled with tears again, but they were good tears, the kind that meant he was finally going to have the kind of life he'd always dreamed about with a woman he would love forever. He'd finally come out of the darkness and into the light, and it was Wendy who'd taken him there.
* * *
Epilogue
« ^
Evening sun streaked through the windows of the warehouse loft, lighting the living room with a pale rosy glow. Wendy sat on the sofa reading a magazine, Weenie curled up next to her, his head resting against her thigh. A candle burned on the coffee table, giving off the pale scent of warm vanilla, and the relaxing sound of soft jazz drifted through the air.
She glanced at her watch. It was getting late.
She looked out the window. The summer sunset bathed the cityscape of Los Angeles in warm hues of red and orange, and beyond that, the ocean glistened like a new copper penny. It was growing too dark to read, so she reached up and flipped on the floor lamp beside the sofa, then checked her watch again.
Where was he?
Finally she heard a key in the lock. The door opened, and Wolfe came into the apartment. She rose from the sofa, dislodging Weenie's head from her leg. The cat merely rearranged himself and closed his eyes again.
Wendy laid the magazine she'd been reading on the coffee table, then slid into Wolfe's arms.
"It's about time you got home," she said. "How was your day?"
"Couldn't have been better."
"The interviews went well?"
"I hired both men. One's an ex-cop, the other ex-military. They know about weapons, evasive driving, threat assessment, and both of them have worked as bodyguards. They're just the kind of guys I'm looking for."
What had started as an inkling of an idea on their drive from Dallas a few months ago was slowly becoming a reality. In Los Angeles, there was no shortage of high-profile social events, visiting foreign dignitaries and celebrities, all of whom needed security. With the commitment Wolfe was showing toward his new business, Wendy had no doubt that within a few years, Wolfe Security Services would be the most sought-after security company in town.
She took him by the hand. "Come here. I have something to show you."
She sat him down on the sofa, then handed him the Entertainment Weekly she'd been reading, which had a cover story about a hot new series in the works starring three beautiful kick-ass private investigators.
One of them was Wendy Wolfe.
"The magazine's out already?" Wolfe said. "I didn't think it was going to be on the stands for another week."
"Subscription copies come early. It was in the mailbox when I got home. So what do you think?"
He stared at the cover, then looked up at Wendy, a warm smile lighting his face. "I think," he said softly, "that you're going to be a star."
Wendy felt a surge of pure happiness. This was it. This was the thing she'd thought about all those years in Glenover, Iowa, when she'd felt herself melting into obscurity and dreamed of the day she'd be on the cover of a magazine like this.
Then Wolfe's smile faded. "Hold on. There's a problem here."
"What's the matter?"
"One look at this photo, and every man in America is going to be lusting after you."
Wendy grinned. "Nah. My co-stars are the ones with the big boobs. They're the ones the men will be looking at."
"Not when you're the prettiest of the three."
Wendy snuggled up next to him. "They can look all they want to. You're the only one who gets to touch."
"Damn right."
Wolfe tossed the magazine to the table, then dragged her into his arms and kissed her. One thing led to another, and soon she was lying naked on the fluffy beige-and-green rug from Trinity River Thrift Store, the one she didn't have the heart to get rid of no matter how big her paycheck was now. Wolfe lay beside her, staring at her with that expression she'd grown to love so much, the one that said the very air she breathed was sacred to him.
Wendy had reached her dream. And somehow she knew that as the years passed, it was going to be everything she'd imagined it would be. But as much as she loved the spotlight, she already knew that the adoration of millions wasn't going to compare to the love she saw in this one man's eyes.
* * * * *
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TALL, DARK AND TEXAN Page 18
