“No. No, I'm okay. How... how did you find Deni?”
“I thought I'd found her through a bookstore owner, but Mouse aimed me at her.”
“Yes, that's exactly what he'd do, the little...” She almost smiled. “Rat.”
“Deni says you’re not related, but she could be your mother, going on looks alone.”
“Nothing but pure coincidence, and as well as we get along it’s been a nuisance for both of us. Every time we turn up anywhere together, we face questions like yours. So we try not to schedule book signings togeth ...” Bess paused. She was rambling, and knew it, fighting the stress by letting her tongue run away with her. But she couldn’t do anything else, didn’t dare face the reality of having Geoff standing there, only inches away from her, within touching distance.
“Poor woman looks like she needs a decent night’s sleep,” Geoff said. “And you look like a good night’s sleep wouldn’t do you any harm, either. What’s the matter? This hermit’s life not agreeing with you? Or are you having problems with this epic of yours?” He glanced at the computer screen, then peered straight into her eyes. “Or are you feeling guilty about sticking the knife into your father’s back and twisting it? Really, Bess.”
“You saw my father? How did you get past Miss Dragonian?”
“My natural charm, and a bit of name-dropping.”
“Your name or mine?”
“Yours, of course. After the Tascalypt fiasco... and by the way, we need to talk about that someday when we're horizontal.”
“Horizontal? You're taking a lot for granted, Mr. Barrett!” Inexplicably, she felt her cheeks bake. “To tell the truth, I am feeling guilty about my father. I wanted to hurt him and got carried away.”
“Now there's an understatement. Exactly when is our son due, Bess? I assume he was conceived the night we—”
“Our son? I didn't say we were expecting a... Father told you about that?”
“Yup. He's obsessing over it. And here I thought you were just a pretty face, an omnivorous, arboreal, Australian marsupial known as a possum. In truth, my love, you're a Tasmanian tiger.”
“There's no baby, Geoff. My father has always pushed my buttons. That's his button, a grandchild, and I was paying him back.”
“In spades! They’re scouring Colorado Springs for you, Bess, and I’m not surprised. Your father is fading fast. Not dying,” he added quickly, “just incompetent. I think you’ll have some work ahead to sort out his empire.”
“I already have a new chief executive officer in mind. I offered the job to Mouse, but he said he didn't 'do' executive decisions, which is a bald-faced lie. He makes them all the time. Still, I don't think I, or anyone else, could pry him out of his electronic mouse hole with a ten-foot piece of cheese. Besides, he'd have the FBI and IRS cutting off his tail with a carving knife. So I plan to offer the job to Deni's son, Jon, who's as smart as Mouse, only... legit. I truly have no interest in running Father's empire, just in seeing that it’s run with some semblance of ethics.”
“That's probably the right decision, love. I suspect you’ll have other things to occupy your mind. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I...” She paused, now totally uncertain what to say. Geoff had a look in his eyes she couldn't decipher, but she thought it might mean approval, and she felt better about her New York visit. “I’m fine, thank you. How’s Lady? And Ida?”
“Lady’s being properly cared for in my absence,” Geoff said, his voice as gentle as his gaze. “And Ida... well, I think Rocky will have to change her name to Marshmallow. That bloke Rossiter seems to have found her soft spot, and she’s so soppy you wouldn’t believe it. Funny the effect you Yanks have on poor, innocent foreigners.”
“You were never innocent in your whole life, Geoffrey Barrett, and I sincerely doubt you were ever poor.”
“What say you go rustle us up a coffee? The last caffeine I had was with your little mate Deni, who makes it so strong I don’t know why she doesn’t just eat it and save the water.”
Bess took his advice and fled to the kitchen, leaving him to man the makeshift office she’d rigged in her borrowed condo. For an instant, she considered escaping through the back door, only to glance toward the window and discover that Geoff had tidily blocked the driveway. Bloody wonderful, she thought, and tried to slow the action of the coffee maker by staring at it. Eventually, however, the coffee brewed, and she went through the motions of fixing it for both of them, putting sugar and milk into Geoff’s cup as if she’d been doing it for years.
With that thought, Bess almost dropped the sugar bowl, then decided she didn’t dare risk carrying the cups in to where her computer now lived.
“Coffee’s ready,” she said in a loud enough voice for him to hear, then slid her jean-clad rump into the confines of the kitchen’s small breakfast nook. And waited. Until finally her curiosity took control and she slid out again to tiptoe cautiously over to the door-frame. From there, she could see him sitting at her computer.
What the bloody hell was he writing?
She crept up behind him, staying out of his line of vision, then peered over his shoulder, and watched his lean fingers fly across the keys, the words pouring forth in a steady, entrancing stream as he swiftly, decisively finished her book.
This time it didn’t end with a vapid whimper. This time, under his direction, it ended with a love scene that fairly scorched the computer screen.
Her main characters returned to life, and returned with a passion! The intensity of the final love scene made her Apaches, with their petty tortures, look like nothing more than chinless wonders. Her hero took the heroine on a journey that lifted her to erotic heights and kept her there, trembling, begging for satisfaction that slowly eased her nearer and nearer the edge.
Until...
Darling Bess. I know you’re reading this, and you’ve read
enough to know I’m not kidding. So just stay there, don’t
move, and keep reading.
The words were crystal clear, typed in a large, bold font. Bess was so bemused, she only half realized her body had begun to shake. She didn't want to read anymore, but her gaze seemed glued to the computer screen.
All that stuff I wrote between your hero and heroine, finishing your book, is for you too, when you’re ready.
I expect you understand that, even if you’ll deny it. But first, Bess, you have to know this...
And the fingers that had so thoroughly driven her to distraction in Tasmania now flickered across the keys with astonishing sensitivity and speed, pulling the focus to center screen and, now, capital letters as well.
I LOVE YOU BESS
I AM ALWAYS GOING TO LOVE YOU, BESS
THIS IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY
AND YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO RUN AWAY EVER AGAIN!
BECAUSE I AM GOING TO MARRY YOU AND YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE MY CHILDREN... OUR CHILDREN. IS THAT CLEAR?
I APOLOGIZE FOR THE AWFUL THINGS I SAID ABOUT YOU.
I APOLOGIZE FOR ANYTHING I HAVE EVER SAID OR DONE TO HURT YOU. BUT I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE FOR LOVING YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT I CAN LOVE, OR WANT TO LOVE, OR WILL LOVE.
IS THAT CLEAR?
PLEASE PRESS “ENTER” TO CONTINUE
Bess stood, transfixed. To press the enter key would mean reaching out, putting herself in Geoff’s hands, in Geoff’s world. She hesitated, then realized that walking away was simply unthinkable. Slowly, trying not to physically touch him, she reached forward, laid one fingertip on the key, and pressed ENTER.
Geoff didn't even turn around. His fingers flashed across the keyboard, bringing up a new message. Bess could only hover as she watched his words form on the screen.
ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO CONTINUE?
IF YOU CONTINUE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE WILL CHANGE FOREVER.
YOU WILL LIVE IN TASMANIA.
YOU WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT BEING LOVED.
PRESS “ENTER” TO CONTINUE OR “ESC” TO ESCAPE
Escape? Where was the escape key? She had a vague memory of it being on the top left-hand corner of the keyboard.
This time her hesitation was less, the result the same.
DOES THIS PLACE HAVE A BED?
PRESS “ENTER” FOR YES
As her fingertips hung suspended above the keyboard, the sound of horse hooves thundered in her head and she clearly remembered the last verse of Alfred Noyes' famous poem. Bess, the heroine of the poem, had two options. She could sacrifice herself by pulling the trigger on the gun aimed toward her and the sound of the shot would warn her highwayman away from certain death. Or she could refrain from pulling the trigger and let her highwayman ride to his death. For the poem's Bess, the choice had been both complicated and simple.
For Elizabeth Carson Bradley, the choice was no choice at all.
The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
Bess breathed deeply, savoring the scent of Geoff as her head rang with the cadence of The Highwayman. It was like moving into a dream. Geoff was here beside her, and yet she could hear the tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot as clearly in her ears as the sound of her own breath thundering in her breast. Once again, the lines of the famous poem echoed inside her head.
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!
Nearer he came and nearer. Her face was like a light.
Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath...
And Bess’s finger struck the “ENTER” key so hard the entire keyboard bounced.
~~~
If you enjoyed “Bess” you might like to try Victoria’s latest romance, WOLF IN TIGER’S STRIPES, which is also set in the author’s spiritual home, Tasmania.
Here’s what major critics had to say about it:
Publishers Weekly Review- in their 10-19-09 issue:
Wolf in Tiger's Stripes Victoria Gordon. Five Star, $25.95 (252p) ISBN 978-1-59414-844-6
“The elusive, possibly extinct Tasmanian tiger brings together an American environmental journalist and an Australian grazier in Victoria Gordon's predictable but enjoyable down-under romance (after The Horse Tamer's Challenge, written as G.K. Aalborg). Judith Bryan gets a plum assignment that requires working with Derek Innes, a backstabbing eco-journo rival who's bested her before, and Bevan Keene, a rugged Aussie stockman who's supposedly seen one of the rare Tassie tigers. Bevan leads the publisher-backed expedition to find the creature with Judith, Derek, a photographer, some conservationists and Bevan's rural friends Roberta Jardine and Ted Norton. Bevan is an appropriately macho romantic hero, a more aggressive Crocodile Dundee sans crocodile (“...don't you think I've got better things to do than bugger about in the scrub with a bunch of conservationist wankers...?”) and Judith is a too wide-eyed reporter (“What's a wanker?”). The group's problems in getting along (greenies vs. anti-greenies; steak vs. lentils and tofu) as they head into the Tarkine Wilderness, coupled with the prime duo's jittery chemistry, makes this a keeper...”
BOOKLIST Starred Review: Jan. 1, 2010 issue:
“...Gordon’s newest contemporary romance offers a superb combination of biting sociopolitical commentary, a cracking good adventure, mystery and intrigue on several levels, and finely honed sexual tension. Not to mention a remarkable facility for description of both character and setting. This tale will please readers both new and loyal to the straightforward contemporary genre as well as fans of environmental fiction and travel narratives.”
~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Victoria Gordon is the pseudonym under which author and journalist Gordon Aalborg has written women's fiction for two decades, including “FINDING BESS” and “WOLF IN TIGER’S STRIPES” for Five Star “Expressions” and twenty contemporary Harlequin/Mills & Boon romances.
Many, like “WOLF IN TIGER’S STRIPES” and “FINDING BESS,” are set in Australia, which is also the setting for Gordon's feral cat survival epic “CAT TRACKS”.
He has also written the suspense thrillers “THE SPECIALIST” and “DINING WITH DEVILS” – both Five Star Mysteries.
Most of Gordon’s novels have touched on an interest in various aspects of the arts, and outdoor activities such as gundog training and competition. He was the founding president of the Tasmanian Gundog Trial Association, and is generally credited with having brought that sport to Tasmania, where it now flourishes.
Gordon lives on Vancouver Island with his wife, mystery author Denise Dietz.
Visit his website on: www.gordonaalborg.com
OTHER BOOKS
As Victoria Gordon
Wolf in Tiger’s Stripes (Five Star/Gale/Cengage: 2010)
Finding Bess (Five Star/Gale/Cengage: 2004)
Beguiled and Bedazzled
An Irresistible Flirtation
A Magical Affair
Gift-Wrapped
A Taxing Affair
Love Thy Neighbour
Arafura Pirate
Forest Fever
Cyclone Season
Age of Consent
Bushranger's Mountain
Battle of Wills
Dinner At Wyatt's
Blind Man's Buff
Stag At Bay
Dream House
Always The Boss
The Everywhere Man
Wolf At The Door
The Sugar Dragon
as Gordon Aalborg
Cat Tracks [Delphi Books: 2002]
The Specialist [Five Star Mysteries: 2004]
Dining with Devils [Five Star Mysteries: 2009]
The Horse Tamer’s Challenge [Five Star Expressions: 2009]
Finding Bess Page 26
