by Ray, Francis
His expression was closed, remote, but his eyes were filled with the same pain she’d heard moments earlier in his voice. “Who hurt you?” The words just slipped out.
He flinched. “I’ll take you back,” he repeated.
She started for the car. He wasn’t going to explain himself. She’d waste her breath asking.
She stopped at the wooden door leading into the inner courtyard and looked back to where the trees would be planted, then at him. “Take care of yourself.”
His movements agitated, he unlatched the door and closed it when she passed through. Moving quickly ahead of her, he opened the car door.
“Thank you.”
As she suspected, the door slammed shut. He was angry. Well, let him be, she thought as he got inside and started the engine. Life had dealt him a cruel blow, but he didn’t get a pass because of it.
He put the car into a sharp spin and turned around. He shifted gears. The foreign sports car barreled down the road and would have made Faith’s brother, Cameron, a NASCAR driver, envious.
“If you plan to speed, let me out and I’ll call a cab.”
He didn’t say anything, but the car slowed. He kept his speed under the posted limit the rest of the way to Naomi’s apartment. As soon as he stopped in front, Fallon opened her door.
“I apologize if I frightened you. I wouldn’t do anything to harm you or our baby.” His hands were clamped around the steering wheel.
She started to just get out, leave him to whatever devils plagued him. She couldn’t. “Not intentionally perhaps, but would you have slowed down if I hadn’t asked you?”
“I’m not sure.”
She blew out a breath. “Well, you better damn well be sure. I don’t plan to be a single parent, so take your anger and frustration out someplace else other than in a car.” Getting out, she slammed the door and started for her apartment.
He caught her when she was about to enter the apartment. “I only lose my temper with you.”
“How lucky does that make me?”
He opened his mouth, then took her into his arms, held her tight. “I missed you when you left. Both times. And now you’re back and you’re leaving again and taking our baby.”
Her arms automatically lifted to hug him back. She knew what he meant, but her lips still twitched. “It’s not like you can carry the baby.”
She felt his body shake with laughter. She leaned her head back. “Thanks for the smile. I didn’t want to leave with us angry at each other.”
“Me, either.” His hands flexed. “Can I take you to the airport tomorrow?”
“Pick me up at eight. Good night, Lance.”
“Good night.” Releasing her, he stepped back. “I’m not giving up on talking you into staying until you walk through Security. Sleep well.”
Entering the apartment, Fallon leaned against the door and admitted she wasn’t sure she wanted him to give up.
Her cell phone rang. She quickly dug it out of her purse. “Couldn’t wait until tomorrow, huh?”
“Fallon?”
Fallon glanced at the readout, although she knew it was Naomi. “What are you doing calling me instead of enjoying that yummy vet of yours?”
“Checking on you, but you sound as if I wasted a call.” Laughter came through the phone.
Fallon took a seat on the sofa, her smile fading. “Lance and I are talking, but I’m still going home to Austin tomorrow.”
“Oh, Fallon. I’m so sorry. I’d hoped things would work out.”
“Me, too.” Fallon leaned her head against the cushions. “There’s something eating at him, and until he can talk about it openly to me we’ll never be able to move past it and see if we can be a couple.”
“You want that, don’t you?”
Fallon sighed. “I love the stubborn man. But he’s also kind, considerate. He was wonderful with Kayla.”
Naomi laughed. “She likes her cousin Lance as well.”
“He can grow on you,” Fallon admitted.
“Then why are you giving up?” Naomi asked. “Where would I be if Richard had given up on me? Miserable instead of in a fabulous honeymoon suite and so in love and happy I want to shout it from the rooftop.”
“Just say the word.”
Fallon heard Richard’s comment and laughed. “You both did good.”
“But it wasn’t easy,” Naomi finally said. “You and Catherine helped me get over my fears of being vulnerable again. Now it’s my turn to help you. Kayla is enjoying her new grandparents enough so that I feel we can leave on our honeymoon tomorrow. We’ll be gone until Sunday. Stay in the apartment and work things out with Lance.”
“I don’t know.” Fallon blew out a breath and came upright.
“If you leave tomorrow without giving yourself a chance, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Sometimes we don’t get a second chance.” Naomi spoke from experience.
“I’ll think about it,” Fallon said. “Go enjoy your husband and have a great time at Playa del Carmen.”
“We will. Good night.”
“Good night.” Fallon disconnected the call, then leaned back once again on the sofa and circled her waist with her arms. “What do you say, give Daddy another chance or get the hell out of Dodge before I fall even deeper for him?”
* * *
Lance had another chance, and he didn’t plan to waste it. By six the next morning he was up, dressed, and walking out of the cottage on the Yates estate. For some odd reason he hadn’t even thought of moving into the main house. He certainly had the means and the access to furnish the entire place, but he was comfortable in the guesthouse.
Lance made the first of two stops fifteen minutes later. By the time seven fifty arrived, he’d accomplished everything on his list. Parking a couple of doors down from Naomi’s apartment, he knocked on the door.
Fallon slowly opened the door. Gone was her smile. Her hair was in some kind of off-kilter ponytail. Her pale face was free of makeup. She wore a yellow knit top and khaki slacks with black house slippers.
“You sick?”
She stared at him as if she’d like to throw him out the window of a very tall building. “What was your first clue?”
Lance didn’t’ think of answering. “Let’s get you some ginger ale and crackers.”
“No time.” She started for her luggage.
“Fallon, you can’t seriously be thinking of flying when you’re ill.” He picked up the weekender and held it just out of reach of her outstretched hand.
She gave him that look again. “Pregnancy is not an illness.”
“You have your house shoes on,” he said, feeling at least that was safe to point out.
She sat in the nearest chair, closed her eyes for a moment, toed off the slippers, and didn’t move.
“Where are your shoes?”
“Bedroom, I think.”
Lance found the high-heeled sandals and returned. He started to ask if she had any flat shoes, but he wasn’t sure of her response. Instead he opened her luggage, found a pair of ballerina slippers, and exchanged them for the heels. Bending, he put the slippers on her feet. “If you’d like, I don’t mind changing your flight reservations to tomorrow or whenever you’d like.”
“We’ve decided to get the hell out of Dodge.” Fallon came unsteadily to her feet.
Lance was pretty sure she meant her and the baby. He picked up the garment and camera bag and followed her out the door and placed her things in the trunk of his car. “How will Naomi get her key back?”
“I left it on the kit—” Fallon gasped, looked back at Lance, then at the two net-covered trees on the back of a larger black truck.
The look on her face was so astonished, he knew he’d done the right thing. He curved his arm around her shoulders. “I wanted you to see them even if you couldn’t help plant them.”
“Oh, Lance.” She wiped away tears.
Lance really wished she’d stop that. He gave her his handkerchief and motioned for the two
men sitting in the truck to join them. “Fallon, you’ve already met Oskar. I’d like you to meet his father, Francisco Fuente. Francisco, this is Fallon Marshall.”
Francisco removed his straw hat. “Pleased to meet you at last, Miss Marshall. I saw you at the auction.”
“The gardens at the Yates house are beautiful,” she said.
“Thank you.” He looked at the trees. “Now, once these are planted they will be even more beautiful.”
Fallon burst into tears. The three stunned men looked at one another for help. Lance hugged her, kissed the top of her head. “Please don’t cry. I won’t give you another surprise if you keep crying.”
“I’m sorry if I upset you,” Francisco said, his hat pressed to his chest.
Fallon sniffed and shook her head. “You didn’t. What you said was just so beautiful.”
The older man smiled. “I spoke from the heart.”
Oskar laughed and placed his hand on his father’s shoulder. “Father would have been a poet if not a landscape designer.”
“Gardener and proud of it.” He jabbed a finger into his son’s chest. “You will be the landscape designer. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we better get going.”
“Thanks, Francisco. Oskar. I’ll see you in a bit.” His arm still around Fallon, Lance helped her into his car.
Fallon twisted around in the seat to see the truck head out of the parking lot. “Do they plan to plant them now?”
“Not until I get there. I want to start digging the holes. Francisco said you picked a good location.” Lance backed out of the parking space and followed the truck to the street. The Silverado went left and Lance right. “We’ll be at the airport in ten minutes.” He hoped by then he would have thought of a way to keep her with him.
* * *
“Stop the car!”
Lance threw a frightened look at Fallon, saw her holding her hand over her mouth, and sped up to pass the car on the outside lane. Flicking on his signal, he pulled into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant.
Fallon had the door open before he came to a complete stop. She barely made it to the grass before emptying her stomach. Finished, she tucked her head in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Taking her arm again, he helped her back into the car. “I’m going inside to get you some water to rinse your mouth out and something to drink.”
Her eyes closed, she leaned her head back on the headrest. “I don’t want anything.”
He closed her door. There was nothing in her stomach. If she thought she was flying, she was crazy. She could get mad all she wanted, but he was taking her to the cottage.
Lance ordered the drinks and returned to help Fallon rinse out her mouth. She took a sip of the 7UP and refused any more. Not sure if he should force her to drink it, he eased her back against the car seat and poured the liquid over the spot where she had been sick. After putting the cups in the nearby trash receptacle, he fastened her seat belt and got back inside the car.
He looked over at her, his heart turning over. He wanted his child, but he didn’t want Fallon to be ill. Starting the car, he backed out and continued to the airport.
Fallon was stubborn. He wouldn’t put it past her to call a cab if he didn’t take her. He wasn’t above pointing out to the airline officials once she’d gone through Security that she was ill and shouldn’t be allowed to fly. One look at her and she’d be booted off the plane.
He took the entrance to the airport. Of course, the tricky part would be if she’d call him to come pick her up. He might have to rethink that one. He saw the sign for parking, flicked on his signal, glancing at Fallon as he did so. She was asleep, her lips slightly parted.
Lance turned off his signal and kept going. She could be mad all she wanted, but she wouldn’t be ill and alone on an airplane.
* * *
She was wrapped securely in Lance’s arms. They were on the loggia enjoying the moonlight, their hands interlocked over her bulging stomach. “You’re all that I need,” he whispered, then angled his head to kiss her, slowly deepening the kiss.
Fallon’s moan of pleasure woke her. She stared at the lamp in her direct line of vision and knew immediately she was in the cottage. Lance. She’d kill him. She remembered just in time to slowly sit up and swing her legs over the side of the bed; when she did she saw the ice bucket with a can of ginger ale and a small plate of crackers.
Being considerate wouldn’t get him off the hook. He’d kidnapped her. She pulled the tab on the soft drink and took a sip. It tasted good. So did the crackers. She glanced at her watch and her eyes widened. She couldn’t have slept for six hours! On the heels of that was the knowledge that she was supposed to have landed in Austin an hour ago. Her mother and sister had to be worried sick.
Fallon glanced around the room for her purse, saw it and her luggage on a chair, and went to retrieve it. She had to call. She reached for her purse to get her cell phone and saw the handwritten note on a sheet of typing paper.
You were asleep when I reached the airport. I called your mother so she wouldn’t worry. I called the airline. I postponed digging the hole in case you wanted to help. Go back to sleep if you can, and call when you want to eat. Carmen fixed chicken and potato soup.
L
Taking the note, she got back in bed, noting she was wearing a sleeveless blue nightgown, no bra, and her panties. She could be angry or look at it as faith’s way of giving them both a chance to get to know each other better. A movement in the open doorway caught her eye.
“Lance.”
He stepped inside the room, a bed tray in his hands. “I thought I heard you get up. Hungry?”
She eyed him and held up the sheet of paper. “What did you tell my mother?”
He placed the tray over her lap and handed her a warm, damp washcloth. “After I introduced myself, I told her that you weren’t feeling well and that a friend thought you should postpone your flight, and that you’d call her later today when you felt better.”
Fallon ran the cloth over her face, her hands. “Smooth, and what did she say?”
“That if I hurt you again to look for her on my doorstep.”
“That’s my mother.” Fallon picked up her spoon. “Good thing Megan didn’t answer the phone.”
His mouth tightened. “When your mother mentioned my name Megan got on the phone. Your sister has an inventive way of talking.”
Fallon grinned and took a bite of potato soup. “She knows people.”
“So she said.” He folded his arms. “And something about bodies never being found. That’s when your mother took the phone and said they expected to hear from you before the day was over.”
“We’re close.”
“I gathered as much.”
“What about your family?” she asked, and watched his face close. She placed her spoon on the tray. “We talk and get to know each other or I call a cab and catch the next plane out of here.”
His gaze narrowed. “The last flight for Dallas left ten minutes ago.”
She smiled sweetly. “Here, but not the Albuquerque airport.”
He walked to the window. “There’s nothing to talk about. You met Richard’s parents and my mother and stepfather at the wedding rehearsals.”
“Your aunt introduced them to everyone,” she said. “I never saw you talk to them.”
“You were probably busy.” He picked up her tray. “You want anything else?”
“Besides a straight answer? No.”
He turned away, then turned back. “Some things aren’t easy for me.”
“I gather.” She got out of bed and retrieved her cell phone.
His hands tightened on the tray. “My mother and I haven’t gotten along since she remarried when I was ten, the same month my father had died.”
“What happened?” Fallon asked.
Lance’s eyes chilled. “Nothing. She just preferred him over me.” He left the room.
Fallon followed him into
the kitchen. She didn’t know what to say. He thought his mother had rejected him, then the woman he loved had rejected his unborn child. He’d been through a lot, and she wasn’t sure he was telling it all. No wonder he shied away from commitments.
“I don’t know about then, but at the rehearsal and reception a couple of times I saw her watching you. She had this wistful look in her eyes,” Fallon told him. “Once she even reached out to touch you.”
“You’re mistaken,” he clipped out.
She wasn’t. He’d deny it to the end, but the strained relationship between him and his mother still hurt. “I’m going to call Mama and Megan to tell them I’ll be staying in Santa Fe for the time being.”
He faced her, the shadows fading from his eyes.
A lump formed in her throat. He expected her to desert him like he thought his mother had. “It seems afternoons are better for me. You think Francisco and Oskar are around so we can plant the trees?”
“I’ll call.” He pulled out his cell phone.
“I better get dressed.” She started from the room.
“Fallon.”
“Yes?” She stopped at the door.
“Thank you.”
She smiled. He was getting there. “I shouldn’t be long.”
Chapter 12
The two trees were already at the site ready to be planted when Lance and Fallon arrived. So was a hole digger and two husky men Lance had seen around the estate.
Francisco introduced the men to her and Lance, gave them gloves and a shovel. “You start and we’ll finish.”
“First, I want to take a picture.” Fallon took the shots with hands that weren’t quite steady, making sure she got one of Lance. They would be included with the first notation in the journal. She hadn’t felt like it last night. Finished, she handed the camera to Oskar. “Could you please hold this for me?”
“My pleasure.” Oskar held the camera with both hands.
Lance leaned the shovel against his leg, pulled on the gloves, and looked at Fallon, surprised to find a lump in his throat. “We’re doing this together. Ready?”
