“Poisoned?” Holly straightened, furrowed her brow. “But why? Who?”
With a sigh, Miranda shook her head. “We don’t know. Ryan is an important, wealthy man. It’s possible one of his business rivals or opponents might have done it for any number or reasons. The San Antonio police department has been called in.”
Holly’s hand tightened on her glass. “The police?”
“I’m afraid so. Detective Freddie Suarez will be handling the investigation.” Miranda’s eyes began to tear. “I’m so sorry that when you finally decided to come here, that this had to happen. Please don’t let this frighten you away.”
“I won’t be frightened away,” Holly said softly. She set her tea down, then reached out and covered Miranda’s hand.
“Oh, Holly.” Miranda glanced down at Holly’s hand on hers, then looked back up into her eyes. “It’s taken a long time to bring this family together. It means so much to your Uncle Ryan and myself, and everyone else, that you changed your mind and came to meet us. After what Cameron did to you and your mother, I realize how difficult it must be for you to come here. My brother was such a fool.”
Miranda’s voice quivered with emotion. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Not that I haven’t done some foolish things myself. I only pray that it’s not too late to make things right.”
Holly had the distinct feeling that “making things right” involved more than inviting her brother’s illegitimate daughter into the family. It was obvious that Miranda was dealing with demons of her own. Something was troubling the woman, Holly realized. Something deeply personal, as well as painful.
“You didn’t do anything to me,” Holly said gently. “And what Cameron did is in the past. What matters is now.”
Miranda opened her eyes and nodded, then smiled. “Will you come to the hospital with me to visit your uncle? He’s so anxious to finally meet you.”
“Of course I’ll come.” It was all happening so fast. Holly’s stomach did a flip. Would Ryan be as warm and welcoming as Miranda? What if he didn’t like her? Once again, the urge to get in the car, drive straight to the airport and fly back home overwhelmed her.
Stop that, she told herself. So what if he didn’t like her? She’d survive. She refused to turn tail and run. “We still need to check into the hotel in San Antonio. Why don’t we meet you at the hospital?”
“Hotel!” Miranda shook her head. “But you’re staying here, of course.”
Holly started to protest, but Miranda held up a hand. “Lily would never forgive me if you didn’t stay here. This house is huge. And besides, the rest of the family is coming over for dinner. Everyone’s looking forward to meeting you.”
Holly had no idea who “everyone” was, but her stomach went from flips to somersaults. She glanced at Guy, who nodded back. “Well, all right, then. Thank you.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Miranda.” The maid came back into the room. “Detective Suarez is calling for you. You can take it in Mr. Ryan’s office if you like.”
“Excuse me for a moment, please.” The worry in Miranda’s eyes that Holly had seen earlier was back now. “Louisa can show you to your rooms while I take this call, then we can drive to the hospital together.”
Rooms? Holly felt her heart sink. Considering how little time she and Guy had left together, she didn’t want to give up even one night with him. But it would be awkward at this point to explain their relationship, Holly realized. Not that she knew exactly what their relationship was.
Still, she glanced at Guy, hoped he would say something, put his arm around her and tell Miranda that they would only be needing one room. But he didn’t. He simply nodded at Miranda and thanked her.
Was he already stepping back from her? she wondered. Or was he simply afraid that he might cause her embarrassment if they slept in the same room together?
After Miranda left, the maid led the way down a long hallway to their rooms, which were across from each other.
Close enough, she thought with a smile. When Guy went back outside to get their bags, she decided that she’d be paying him a midnight visit.
Her smile widened at the anticipation of slipping into his arms once again and making love with him. She glanced at her wristwatch and began to count the hours.
“Other than that scar on your forehead, you’re looking pretty good for a man who crashed a plane in a lake.”
Guy accepted the bottle of beer Flynn had brought him out on Ryan Fortune’s patio. Inside the house, the “rest of the family” that Miranda had mentioned earlier were celebrating Holly’s arrival. All the hugging and kissing and the open, genuine affection for each other truly amazed, as well as baffled him. Though he’d been introduced to everyone, and they’d all been friendly to him, Guy preferred to watch the festivities through one of the many French doors separating the living area from the outside patio.
“Nice to see you, too, Flynn,” Guy said with a grin and meant it. Flynn had showed up an hour ago for the get-together with his new wife, Emma, who was, at the moment, feeding their newborn in one of the bedrooms. “And for your information, women like scars.”
Flynn grinned back at him, then looked through the patio doors to where Holly was laughing with her cousin Kane and his wife, Allison. “Well, it’s obvious at least one woman does. You wanna tell me what’s going on with you two?”
“There’s nothing going on.” Guy took a sip from his bottle, watched as a pretty redhead whose name he couldn’t remember came up to Holly and gave her a hug. He knew that Holly had agonized over what to wear this evening and had finally settled on black slacks, a pretty pink silk sleeveless blouse and a string of pearls. She looked beautiful, he thought, but then, she could have worn burlap and she’d still be gorgeous.
Flynn followed the direction of Guy’s attention and raised one brow. “This is Flynn you’re talking to, B.W. You want to try that again?”
“Give it a rest, Dog-Man,” Guy said smoothly. “That P.I. nose of yours is working overtime.”
“Just my eyes, pal. I’d have to be blind not to see the looks the two of you have been giving each other. If you aren’t already sleeping together, you both sure as hell are thinking damn hard about it.”
Dammit, anyway. All evening, Guy had been careful to keep his distance from Holly. She had enough to deal with meeting her family. What she didn’t need was anyone questioning her relationship with a bush pilot from Seattle. But he should have known that he wouldn’t be able to fool Flynn. They’d been through too much together, knew each other too well, for either one of them to pull one over on the other.
Guy shook his head as he stared at the beer in his hand. “It wouldn’t work, Flynn. You know me. I spend more time in the air than on the ground. Holly deserves better than that.”
“Seems to me she should be the one to make that decision,” Flynn said. “Have you talked to her about it?”
Guy shook his head. “She’s got her family now, a business of her own in Twin Pines. I can’t give her what she wants, what she needs.”
“Which is?”
He shrugged, couldn’t help but drag his attention back to Holly. The smile on her face, the flush on her cheeks as she laughed with everyone around her, made his chest ache. When she’d come home from the hospital earlier after meeting her uncle, her eyes sparkling with excitement, it was all he could do to keep his hands off her. It was all he could do to keep his hands off her right now.
“She wants what all women want,” Guy said evenly. “A wedding ring, kids, stability. Just thinking about all that makes me break into a cold sweat.” Flynn grinned at him. “Yeah, well, that’s what we all say before we take the plunge, buddy. You sure it’s not the money that’s scaring you off? It’s not every day a guy marries a girl worth ten million dollars.”
Guy froze.
Ten million dollars?
He must have heard wrong. Slowly, very slowly, he turned his head and stared at Flynn. “What did you say?”
Flynn frowned, then cu
rsed softly. “Guy, I’m sorry. I thought you knew. Obviously they haven’t told Holly yet. She’s about to inherit ten million dollars.”
Ten million dollars.
Guy felt his heart stop. He had certainly figured there would be some kind of money one day down the road, but ten million? If he’d wanted to, he couldn’t have put two words together. He simply continued to stare at Flynn.
“It takes some getting used to,” Flynn said with a grin. “Believe me, I know.”
“You mean, you—” Guy struggled to breathe “—I mean, Emma. Her, too?”
Flynn nodded. “All the heirs, Guy.”
At that moment, Kane Fortune stuck his head out the door. “Hey, Flynn, Allison wants to take a family picture and I’m in charge of rounding up the herd.”
“Be right there.” Flynn looked back at Guy and sighed heavily. “Look, Guy, I’m sorry I told you. Obviously Miranda and Ryan haven’t told her yet, but it’s no secret. Holly is about to become an extremely wealthy woman.”
Ten million dollars. Good Lord. Guy’s hand tightened around the bottle in his hand. To say “extremely wealthy” was one hell of an understatement. “I’m happy for her,” he finally managed to say. “She’s a great gal.”
“Great gal?” Flynn laughed as he shook his head. “Oh man, you do have it bad.”
“I don’t have anything bad.” Guy scowled at Flynn. “Maybe I’m a little off balance here, that’s all.”
“A little?” Chuckling, Flynn slapped Guy on the back. “Right. Keep telling yourself that, pal.”
“Ah, hah. Found you.”
Both men turned at the sound of Holly’s voice from the French doors on the other side of the patio. Smiling brightly, she moved toward them, her gaze solely on Guy.
“I wondered where you’d been hiding all night. I should have known that you—” She hesitated when both Guy and Flynn stared at her. Her smile dipped slightly, then she stopped and started to back away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“Of course you’re not intruding,” Flynn said smoothly. “I’ll take a beautiful woman’s company over this ugly mug any day.”
Holly hesitated, glanced from Flynn to Guy. The smile she forced didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’m supposed to drag you two in for pictures.”
“On my way.” Flynn raised his bottle to Guy. “See you inside, buddy.”
It didn’t take a genius to see that the two men had been in a serious discussion, Holly thought as she watched Flynn go back into the house. And based on the way Guy was looking at her, it was easy to guess that the subject of their conversation was herself.
The fact that the evening was hot didn’t seem to matter. Holly suddenly felt a chill shiver up her spine.
“I’m sorry if I interrupted.” She carefully held her smile in place. “I’m sure you and Flynn have a lot to catch up on.”
“We were caught up before dinner. Besides—” he nodded toward the French doors where inside, Flynn had joined Emma “—the only thing on his mind these days is that new wife and baby of his.”
Flynn’s wife, Emma, had been introduced to Holly as her cousin. There were more cousins, plus half sisters and half brothers she hadn’t met yet, and her mind reeled just trying to keep everyone straight.
Since meeting her uncle Ryan at the hospital, the entire day had been a whirlwind. Her Aunt Miranda had been wonderful, and everyone she’d met so far had welcomed her with open arms. They were all warm, loving, accepting people. Every fear she’d had about meeting this family had completely dissipated.
She only had one fear now. A fear that twisted her stomach into knots and made her chest tighten until she could barely breathe.
It didn’t take a genius to read the look in his eyes or the firm set of his jaw. He’d kept his distance from her all evening, carefully avoided her. And the way he’d stiffened when she’d walked out onto the patio just now only confirmed her fear: He was leaving.
He had done his duty, hadn’t he? Brought her here to meet her family? What reason would he have to stick around?
None at all.
She wouldn’t panic. She wouldn’t run. She wouldn’t put it off. To wait would only make it worse. Whatever it was, she’d deal with it right now. Right here.
“You weren’t talking about Flynn’s wife and baby just now, were you, Guy?” She leveled her gaze with his. “You were talking about me.”
She saw the truth in his eyes. She’d been holding onto a tiny shred of hope, but the split second he looked away, she saw it and she knew. The chill she’d felt only a moment before now turned to cold dread.
“Holly, I should have told you before,” he began, then looked away from her. “I’m sorry I didn’t…you were busy with—”
“Just say it,” she said tightly.
He pressed his lips together in a thin line. “I’ve got to get back to Seattle. I got a call today from Pelican. I’ve been offered a two-week position to fill in for another pilot and use one of their planes. I have to leave in an hour to catch the red-eye.”
An hour? He was leaving in an hour, and this was the first she’d heard about it? The cold she felt turned to numbness. “I see.”
He’d never promised her anything. No rings, no picket fences, certainly no happily-ever-happy. She had told herself she would settle for whatever time they’d spent together and be grateful for it, but the pathetic fact was she didn’t want to settle and she wasn’t grateful. In her heart, in her soul, she now knew that she’d been fooling herself. She wanted it all. She wanted him. Not just for a few days or a few weeks. Dammit, she’d wanted forever.
“Holly,” he said gently. “I thought it would be easier to just say goodbye now. You’re with your family, that’s why you came. You don’t need me.”
Didn’t need him? How could she possibly respond to that? She had to swallow back the scream that threatened to burst forth. Maybe she didn’t need him. No more than air to breathe, she supposed. Or sleep. Or food.
But he wanted to let her down easy, she could see that. The gentle tone of his voice, the pain in his eyes. He cared for her, she was certain of that much. But not enough. Not nearly enough.
At this moment, she thought she hated him as much as she loved him.
She made herself smile. Not too wide; that would certainly be obvious. Not too little; that would look pitiful. Just an easy, soft smile that she might give him if he’d simply said hello or touched her arm.
“Relax, Blackwolf,” she said smoothly. “I’m not going to fall apart on you, if that’s what has you looking like you just stepped on a nail. Can I give you a lift to the airport?”
His lips pressed tightly together, and for one foolish moment, she thought maybe, that just maybe, he might reach for her. That he might tell her he couldn’t go. Not without her.
But that moment slid like sand through her fingers and he shook his head. “Thanks, but the guest of honor can’t very well just pick up and leave her own party. Flynn’s got it covered. I’ll call you when I get back to Seattle.”
That was a lie. They both knew it. “Okay.”
“Holly—” he took a step toward her “—I just—”
“I’ve got to get back inside,” she said quickly, knowing that if she stayed out here with him one minute longer she’d shatter into thousands of tiny pieces. It took every last ounce of strength she possessed to lean forward and press her lips lightly to his, then smile as she pulled away.
“See you around, Blackwolf,” she said with a calm that shocked herself. “Next time you decide to drop in, give me warning. I just might surprise you and bake a cake.”
He started to say something, but she didn’t—couldn’t—give him a chance. She turned, walked away and refused to look back.
Eleven
It felt good to lie under the scorching July sun on a blue-striped chaise lounge beside her Aunt Miranda’s pool and sip iced tea. To dip her feet in the cool water every few minutes and leisurely watch the time pass slowly by.
Every hour. Every minute. Every second.
The past seven days had slipped by at the same snail’s pace. There had been several trips to the hospital to visit her uncle and she’d had lunch a few times in the town of Red Rock with her aunt, but the rest of Holly’s time had mostly been spent staring at endless blue sky.
Since Guy had left seven days, twelve hours and—she glanced at her wristwatch—sixteen minutes ago, she’d been exactly what she’d vowed she’d never be: weepy, maudlin and pathetic.
Just like the old Linda Ronstadt song, “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me.”
She’d get over him. She would. Hearts were broken all the time. People survived. They even fell in love again. A little time, a little distance. She’d forget all about him.
In a hundred years or so.
Damn you, Blackwolf.
For the first time in her life, she understood the pain her mother had gone through at Cameron’s rejection. But where her mother had chosen a bottle and withdrawal, Holly knew that Guy’s leaving would only make her stronger. She would always love him, but she refused to let that love defeat her.
She would have gone home, had told herself that she was anxious to get back to Alaska, but her aunt had asked her to come stay at her house in San Antonio until her uncle got out of the hospital in a few days and Holly hadn’t the heart to refuse her. And besides, with Bob and Nicholas covering the store for her, there truly hadn’t been a rush to go back.
But in her heart, she knew she was procrastinating, that in some ways, she dreaded going back. There were too many memories of Guy there. Already, she could imagine him sitting at her kitchen table, his baseball cap backward while he ate a slice of pizza, on her sofa watching that silly soap opera, standing at her stove in that frilly apron. Even now, she smiled at that image.
Her smile faded at the image of him lying in her bed beside her, holding her in his arms, making love to her.
The nights would be the hardest, she knew. They would be long and lonely. Empty.
Once again, she cursed him, this time out loud.
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