The Eagle and the Sun

by James, Dana

  A little while later Cass heard Derek, Teresa and her mother coming upstairs, busy making plans for the following day. After repeatedly wishing each other a goodnight they separated to their rooms.

  An hour after that she heard Miguel and Don Diego. They paused for a moment on the landing. Her fingers curled on the chair arms and she held her breath. There was a murmur of voices, then doors closed and there was silence.

  Cass waited another hour before rising stiffly from the chair. Tying a scarf over her head to hide her hair, she picked up her boots and her suitcase and stole silently out of the house.

  Keeping to the well-lit streets, she made her way

  to the railway station. The ticket office was empty and locked. She would have to pay on the train. Two Indian women, bundled in several layers of clothing, squatted by a wall. An official in a shabby uniform and cap hauled a squeaking trolley loaded with wooden crates into the middle of the platform, then ambled away.

  The first grey streaks of dawn were beginning to brighten the darkness when the train arrived. As it clattered and swayed through the mountains and valleys the sun rose and a new day was born. Cass closed her eyes, unable to look.

  Exhaustion took over and she must have dozed for it was with a start that she woke and realised they had reached Queretaro. Her head ached and her throat was parched. Clutching her case she stumbled down on to the platform and joined the crush heading for the exit. There was a small hiatus while she fumbled for money to pay her fare, and was jostled and pushed by others waiting to get past. Then she was out of the station.

  Hailing a taxi, she gave the address of Miguel's office. As they drove through the crowded streets Cass glanced at her watch. The maid would be taking her breakfast up any moment now. Soon Miguel would know she had gone. Would he be angry that she had left in such a manner? Surely he would understand that she could no longer face the combined forces of the Morelos family plus Derek?

  It was foolish to pretend Miguel had no knowledge of her feelings for him. They had been too strong to deny and too powerful to contain. But surely he must see that by leaving she was sparing

  them both further shame or embarrassment. Not that she was ashamed of her love for him. But to have remained in his house, hoping for a few crumbs in the form of a stolen kiss or precious moments alone with him, while preparations were being made for his marriage to Teresa, would have degraded them both. She had had to leave.

  Perhaps he would understand and be grateful. What she had to do next would tax the ability of a professional actress. As the cab drew up outside the building, Cass swallowed hard and stretched her mouth into some semblance of a smile. Taking a deep breath she walked into the reception area. Luisa smiled.

  'Good morning, Mees Elliott.'

  'Good morning. May I speak to Benito Suarez, please?'

  'Benito?' Luisa repeated, sounding surprised. 'Yes. Is he not in yet? Oh,' Cass suddenly

  remembered, 'everything is all right, isn't it? His wife, I mean. The baby—'

  'Yes, yes all is well. There is still some time to go,' Luisa reassured her and smiled again, 'Benito has difficult pregnancies,' she said wryly. 'One moment, I will get him for you.' She flicked some switches on the telephone console and spoke rapidly into the receiver. Cass wondered briefly why she hadn't simply paged Benito on the intercom, but her head was beginning to throb and all that mattered was persuading Benito to take her to the hacienda to collect the rest of her things, and then to the airport.

  Luisa replaced the receiver and pressed the switch which unlocked the security door. Benito

  hurried out, his round face alight if slightly pink.

  'Is very great pleasure to see you.' He pumped her hand and she felt his friendliness warm her like spring sunshine after a cold hard winter. He picked up her suitcase and indicated the open door. 'Please you come.'

  'I'm sorry to descend on you like this without warning,' Cass apologised. 'It—well—plans were changed rather suddenly.'

  'No trouble. Is OK, I promise. You like some coffee?' He opened the door into his office and dropping her case, indicated a chair beside the filing cabinet. 'You sit, make comfortable. I fetch coffee?' He started out again.

  'Benito,' Cass made to follow him, her anxiety growing. 'Please don't bother.' Sooner or later Miguel would reason that Benito was her only other contact in Mexico. She had to be gone by then. It wasn't fair to complicate Benito's life with her problems.

  'Is no bother. I go quick. Back very soon. Please you sit. We talk later. Lots of time.' He closed the door firmly.

  Cass stood in the middle of the room, assailed by doubts. She closed her eyes, rubbing her temples against the nagging ache. How kind Benito was, inviting her in as though he had nothing else to do. She was suddenly still. He had not been surprised to see her. Nor had Luisa. They had expected her.

  Which could only mean…

  'Oh, no,' she whispered, and running to the door, snatched it open. 'Ben—' she started to call but the word choked off as she collided with a tall, black-

  haired figure clad in denim jeans and a pale blue roll-neck sweater of fine wool.

  'No!' she gasped and turned to flee but one strong brown hand snaked out, thrust her back into Benito's office and slammed the door shut.

  In one brief second of coherent thought Cass prayed for strength. Her pride was all she had left and she clung to it like a shield. But before she could utter a word he grasped her shoulders, glaring at her, his face a mask of cold fury.

  'How dare you sneak from my house like a thief in the night!' She had never heard him so angry.

  She had to swallow before she could speak. 'What difference does it make? Under the circumstances I could not stay.'

  'Who said you could not stay? It is my house, Did I ask you to leave?' he shot back.

  'No.' Cass shook her head wearily. 'I know it was perhaps less than polite to slip away as I did, but for pity's sake, Miguel,' she raised pain-filled eyes to his, 'can't you see, I simply couldn't take any more.' She forced a wry smile that suddenly faltered. 'Put it down to a clash of personalities.'

  'You will not leave me,' his tone was ominous. 'I will not let you go.'

  Ice water trickled down her spine but she held her voice steady. 'You have no choice, Miguel.' Surely he must see that. Why was he making it so hard for them both? 'I came to ask Benito to take me to the hacienda to collect the rest of my things, and then to the airport.'

  'No,' he said flatly.

  'In God's name, Miguel,' Cass cried in anguish,

  'what more do you want of me?'

  'I told you,' he said softly, 'everything.' Cass was filled with an incoherent rage. 'Go to hell, Miguel Ibarra! I am not a novelty you can play with then toss aside for a more familiar toy. You are going to marry Teresa. I wish you both well but I have other things to do.'

  A fleeting expression crossed his face, then the deep frown lines that had trenched his forehead disappeared and a gleam appeared in his eyes. 'Who said I am going to marry Teresa?' he enquired pleasantly.

  'That is not very amusing, Miguel,' Cass snapped. 'I heard you—we all heard—last night. You and Don Diego—'

  He rested his hands on his hips. 'You heard me say that it was time the matter was settled. It is settled. I am not going to marry Teresa.'

  Cass was stunned. 'But she thought—everyone thought—'

  He made an impatient gesture. 'I should not have permitted the charade to continue for so long. The betrothal was arranged between our families when Teresa was eighteen. It suited me to have a permanent partner for social occasions.'

  Cass stared at him. 'Was that all it meant to you?' He shrugged. 'It was useful for extricating myself from affairs which became too demanding.' His cold arrogance shook her but she recognised his total

  honesty.

  'And Teresa? What about her?'

  His smile was grim and humourless. 'Teresa cares for no one but Teresa. She was a spoilt child.

  She is now, despite
considerable effort on my part to broaden her outlook, a selfish, petulant woman. When she grows up, if she ever does, she will make some wealthy man very happy, provided he seeks neither intellectual stimulation nor emotional support. She and Prentice deserve one another.'

  Cass's eyes widened.

  'I am not blind, Cassandra,' he said softly. 'And Prentice is not the first.' He looked deep into her eyes and her heart began to thump unevenly. She moistened her lips.

  'Does she know yet?'

  He nodded, his expression grim. 'It was not a scene I would wish to repeat. However, Don Diego proved most helpful.'

  'Helpful?' Cass was bewildered. 'Feeling as he does about his daughter I'd have thought, he'd be furious, threatening breach of promise and swearing vengeance.'

  Miguel's dark brows slanted and one corner of his mouth lifted cynically. 'Ah, but feeling as he does about his business, gratitude overcame indignation.'

  Totally nonplussed, Cass shook her head. 'What are you talking about?'

  'I've bought his company,' Miguel replied.

  'You have?' Cass gasped. 'But why? What do you want with a textile company?'

  'Nothing.' He thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans. 'But that was the price of my freedom.' His mouth twisted ironically. 'As soon as he heard that I would keep him on the board, Diego accepted the deal without argument or reservation.' He stared

  down at her, deep lines bracketing his mouth. 'Had I not met you I would probably have married Teresa. One of us would have been happy. She and her family were prepared to overlook my mixed ancestry in view of my wealth and position.' Beneath the dry irony, Cass sensed a thread of bitterness, and anger flared at the stupidity of people who were too insular and petty to recognise that it was the potent mixture of genes, his links with the past, that made him the man he was. But he was not seeking her sympathy, nor would he appreciate it, proud devil that he was, so she bit her lip and kept silent.

  'But after you had ridden with me into the hills and we watched the sun rise together, I knew marriage to Teresa was impossible.' He took a step forward and caught her shoulders, his expression almost angry. 'You were the woman I wanted.'

  Cass's eyes flew wide and her breath caught in a tiny hiss. His voice was rough and harsh. 'We knew each other, you and I. So much said, recognised, without words. I was afraid to believe in you. You could not be all you seemed. I had to probe, to test. I hurt you, I despised myself.'

  Recalling his remark about Mexicans rarely divulging their true feelings, Cass began to realise just how difficult it was for him to reveal his confusion. All the love she had fought so hard to control welled up and overflowed, filling her with such joy she could hardly breathe.

  'Oh, Miguel,' she whispered, reaching up with infinite tenderness to caress the blunt, square line of his jaw. He had not shaved and her fingers rasped

  against the dark stubble. 'Do I mean so much to you?' A thousand tiny flames flickered along her nerve ends as his hands, hard and possessive, slid down her back to draw her close.

  'You are life to me,' he rasped. 'I could say nothing of my feelings while I was still betrothed to Teresa. And it was wrong of me to make love to you but,' his arms tightened and she felt, in the tense hardness of his body, his need for her, 'Dios, I am flesh and blood, not stone!' He threaded his fingers through her hair and tugged gently, forcing her head back, exploring her face with a hunger that made her dizzy.

  'H-how did you know I'd come here?' Cass could scarcely believe what she was hearing. It was a mirror image of all she had been through.

  'How else could you get back to the hacienda?' He smiled. 'The helicopter has never flown so fast. I arrived here only minutes before you.' He lifted one hand, imprisoning her chin between his fingers and thumbs.

  'I came to your room early, as soon as I had spoken with Teresa. I wanted to tell you I was free, to ask you to fly to Texas with me to meet my parents. But you had gone, leaving that cruel note.'

  'Cruel?' Cass repeated, shaken. 'All it said was that I wished you well.'

  His mouth tightened. 'How could you wish me well and yet run away?' he demanded harshly. 'You knew how I felt about you.'

  'No.' She shook her head, wrenching her chin free. 'I knew how I felt and I could not stay and watch you marry someone else.'

  'But I had no intention of marrying anyone else.' His voice rose in frustration.

  'I didn't know that,' Cass cried. 'You hadn't seen fit to tell me!'

  'Do you love me?' he demanded. His dark gaze pierced her very soul.

  'Do you need to ask?' she whispered.

  His eyes were suddenly vulnerable. 'I need to be told,' he said quietly.

  Cass smoothed the thick, springy hair back from his temples, glorying in its texture, in the warmth of his bronze skin. 'I love you, Miguel. I loved you almost from that first moment, though I did not recognise it, and I will love you until I die.' She would have said more but his mouth stopped her.

  It started as a gentle kiss, tender and cherishing, a solemn pledge to their future together. But after a few moments as his breathing quickened, his mouth grew more demanding. His hand caressed her hair, her throat, then moved down to cup her breast. Cass clung to him, giving as he gave, taking as he took, engulfed by the swirling torrent of passion.

  At last he broke free, holding her, limp and trembling, away from him. His breathing was ragged, his eyes aflame. 'We will marry soon, very soon,' he announced. 'Do you have any family you wish to be present? I will fly them out.'

  Cass shook her head. 'My parents are both dead. I have some distant cousins, but no one close.' She felt a momentary pang.

  Miguel put his arm around her. 'Then my family will be yours. They will love and cherish you as I do.' Touched by his gentleness and understanding,

  Cass's eyes filled with tears. 'Come,' he drew her towards him, 'let us go home.'

  She glanced up at him, the question in her eyes. 'The hacienda is my home,' he smiled. 'The house

  at San Miguel belongs to my parents. We visit each other quite often. My father likes to keep his finger on the pulse of our small empire.' He grimaced and Cass recognised the love and respect beneath his gentle mockery. She sighed softly.

  'What is it, querida? Are you tired?'

  'A little, but it's not that. I was just thinking about Derek.'

  Miguel's features hardened, becoming all planes and angles. 'What about him?'

  'Don't look like that.' She smiled up at him. 'Miguel, what are you going to do about the contract?'

  'What contract?'

  'The deal Derek said he came out here to arrange.

  The purchase of gemstones from Ibarra mines.' 'There will be no contract,' Miguel said coldly,

  looking down his nose at her. 'I will have no business dealings with thieves.'

  'But he didn't—' Cass began.

  'He tried to,' Miguel interrupted. 'You know it and I know it.' Cass lowered her eyes as he went on. 'The safe has electric eyes and sensor beams which I must deactivate every time I reach into it. Prentice did not know that.'

  Cass's face mirrored her shock. 'Then it wasn't an accident.'

  Miguel shook his head with slow deliberation. 'But why?' she whispered. ‘Why would he do

  such a thing? It doesn't make sense.'

  Miguel shrugged. 'Like Teresa, Prentice is a spoilt child who never grew up. His drinking is a measure of his immaturity. He sensed something between you and me and was jealous. He wanted to hit back. To steal from me would have given him a sense of power. He is not a man, querida. He has cunning but little intelligence. He has grand ideas but no integrity. Naturally you will resign from the Prentice company.'

  'That won't be necessary.' She pulled a wry face. 'He's already sacked me. It doesn't matter,' she touched his arm as his expression darkened. 'I'm just so sorry for his father. Matthew Prentice was very good to me.'

  He stared at her thoughtfully. 'Then for that reason alone I will not press charges against him. He may s
tay on at San Miguel with the Morelos family until we return from Texas.' A smile softened his haughty features. 'The doctors say my father is making good progress. He is demanding to come home.'

  Cass put her arms around him. 'Oh, Miguel, that's marvellous. If you have to come back for business, perhaps I can stay on with your mother just for a day or two. She may be glad of my company. The last few days must have been a terrible strain for her.'

  Miguel crushed her to him.'Dios, but I love you so much.' He released her suddenly and lifting her left hand, kissed her third finger. 'One moment.' He fumbled in his pocket then slid a ring on to her finger. 'Perfect.' There was a satisfied smile in his

  voice.

  Cass blinked and gasped. The magnificent fire opal blazed from a frame of tiny blue-white diamonds, their brilliance a perfect setting for the crimson stone with its shimmering fiery heart 'Oh! It's beautiful. But how? You said—'

  '—I knew the owner and that no amount of money would persuade him to sell.' He raised her hand and touched his lips to the ring. ‘The stone was mine, querida, and now it is yours, as I am.'

  Her face was luminous. 'Let's go home, Miguel,' she whispered.

  As Benito and Luisa drank a toast in cold coffee and the helicopter flew eastward, high above the rolling hills an eagle dipped and soared, spiralling slowly skyward and out of sight.