A Most Shocking Revelation
Page 18
Before Valerie could even move, Gavin was there standing over the prostrate Ms. Halifax, gun pointed at her head. “Don’t move an inch, Gretchen, or I swear to God I’ll kill you right now and save the taxpayers a lot of money.”
“You’ll pay for this,” Gretchen muttered but failed to move.
“You’ll all pay.”
Valerie decided that Gretchen’s clichés indicated she spent way too much time watching old murder mysteries. But at least she hadn’t gotten away with murder.
Suddenly a swarm of other men holding lanterns gathered around. Obviously the whole town. Obviously the whole county—maybe even several counties—had come in search of her.
“Good job, Valerie, making her eat dirt.”
Valerie glanced past Gavin to Connor Thorne. “All in a day’s work for Wonder Waitress,” she said without any amusement in her tone.
With the adrenaline gone, Valerie collapsed onto the limb where Gretchen had been briefly seated a short time ago and rested her forehead on bent knees. Her mind whirled. Her head hurt—and so did her heart. Definitely her heart.
When she heard Gavin say, “Cuff her, Armstrong, and read her her rights,” she lifted her head and held out her arms in front of her, wrists turned up. “I’m ready.”
Gavin dropped down beside her, keeping a safe distance between them. “You’re not under arrest. She is.” He nodded toward a deputy guiding a handcuffed, raving Gretchen away into the darkness.
Valerie was glad that he finally believed her, yet hated that he hadn’t all along. “You’re not going to take me in, even for questioning?”
“No. I heard Gretchen’s confession, all of it. And I don’t know what to say to you other than I’m sorry.”
Valerie was simply too weary to argue. “You were just doing your job.” But that didn’t change the fact he’d assumed the worst, like so many others in her life.
He took her hand in his. “Let’s get you in the car so you can warm up.”
Working her way from his hold, Valerie stood and tightened her jacket—his jacket—around her. “If I’m not under arrest, then I don’t want to leave until I find what I’ve been searching for. You can have the gold. I only want answers.”
He came to his feet. “Tomorrow. I’ll personally see to it.”
“I plan to leave tomorrow, so I want to do it tonight.”
In his gaze she saw a flicker of sorrow that melted into resignation. “Okay. I’ll start digging.”
“I can do it.”
Gavin caught her wrist and turned her palms up. “Your hands are raw. I’ll take care of it. You sit by the fire and stay warm.”
He grabbed the shovel from the ground and began to dig while Valerie sat by the waning fire feeling as if she might never be warm again. A few moments later, Connor came to his side and said, “I’ll be glad to relieve you so you can see to Valerie.”
Gavin handed him the shovel. “Thanks.” He came back to her then and sat down, arms draped on bent knees as he stared off in the distance.
They remained that way for a time, silent, as if neither knew what to say or where to start.
“I should have let you talk last night,” he finally said. “I knew something was seriously wrong. I just didn’t want to hear it.”
And she hadn’t wanted him to hear it. “We can’t change anything now, Gavin. It’s done.”
“But I should have known when I heard you say some things when you were sick. Things about not meaning to do it, that someone was hurting you.” He leveled his gaze on her. “Who hurt you, Val?”
She’d had no idea he’d been privy to the fear that had come out in her dreams. “They were pretty rough when they arrested me. I remember the handcuffs biting into my wrists, the humiliation.” She shuddered just thinking about it. “But I had a very nice, understanding judge who let me do community service at a shelter to work off my debt. That’s why I decided I want to change my life and help others change theirs. I got a job waiting tables after that so I could work my way through college.”
A slight smile curled the corners of his mouth. “That must be why you’re so good at it.”
“I’ve had a lot of experience.” But not with anything like this. She’d never loved anyone this much and she’d never felt so helpless in her life, even when she’d had to worry over her grandmother’s failing health and where the next meal would come from.
Another span of silence passed before the sound of approaching voices caught Valerie’s attention. Several men emerged from the darkness holding shovels and lanterns and containers of coffee.
Gavin rose and greeted the first with a handshake. “Thanks for coming, Jake.”
“Not a problem,” the mayor said. “We’ve been in this together from the beginning. Might as well see it through now.”
Jake took his place by Connor, his twin, at the site of the dig and they exchanged a few barbs not uncommon between brothers. Then Tom Devlin and even Logan Voss appeared—amazing since the man should be on a honeymoon or at the very least at home with his new wife.
Gavin turned and stared down on her. “We need to talk, but right now I need to help them so we can get this over with.”
Valerie wasn’t sure if he’d meant unearthing the treasure or ending their relationship once and for all. Whatever his intentions, she had no choice but to wait it out until they found the gold.
“Looks like you could use some of this.”
She looked up to see Mark Hartman standing above her, holding out a cup of coffee, his brown skin bronzed by the glow of the fire. With his wide shoulders and solid build, he looked imposing, yet his smile was soft and sympathetic.
“Thanks,” she told him as she accepted the coffee, grateful to have something warm to combat the cold, both outside and in.
He slipped his hands in his jacket pockets, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “Alli told me we were all wrong about you.”
Dear, sweet Alli. “She’s a very nice woman. You’re lucky to have her.”
“Yeah, she is. And if it’s any consolation, Gavin never believed you were guilty. He argued with us about it. Guess we should have listened to him.”
That was a great relief to Valerie, but she still wasn’t sure if they could ever get past what had happened—his doubts, her deception. “It’s okay, Mark. I understand why you would have thought the worst about me.”
“But Gavin never really did,” he insisted. “He loves you a lot. Just remember that.” Following that comment, Mark grabbed a shovel and joined the others.
While the few remaining deputies stood back, together Gavin and his colleagues worked in sync, side by side, a band of broad-shouldered, honorable men, all members of the mysterious Texas Cattleman’s Club.
Valerie marveled over their bond and wondered what it would be like to have such good friends. She’d had so few, had never known such camaraderie—until she’d met Gavin. He had been the best of friends, the best of lovers. She couldn’t stand the thought that it might really be over between them, but she couldn’t allow herself to hope, either.
“I’ve hit something,” Mark said after a while. “Could be a rock.”
Jake turned and signaled one of the deputies. “Bring a couple of lanterns over here.”
Valerie bolted from the limb and stood behind the group while Gavin knelt by the man-made crater. “It’s definitely not a rock,” he said. “Keep going.”
She held her breath as they continued to toss aside dirt at a breakneck speed.
“There it is,” Logan said when the top of a brown leather trunk came into view.
After they lifted the chest from the ground and set it outside the fissure, Gavin turned to Valerie. “You should open it.”
One of the deputies stepped forward, although he looked more boy than man. “Excuse me, sir, but should we disturb it since it’s part of a crime scene?”
“It’s hers, dammit!” Gavin hissed, causing the deputy to shrink back into the shadows. “Open it, Val.”
Her gaze immediately snapped to Gavin. “It’s empty.”
“I’ll be damned,” Jake said. “Guess the gold was all a hoax after all.”
Now Valerie would never have the answers she’d been searching for, and that made Gavin furious. All of this had been for nothing, all of her goals and dreams of piecing together her past. No good had come of it—except he had met her, a woman he would love for a lifetime. If she could forgive him.
Just to be sure nothing was hidden in the trunk, Gavin shone a flashlight into the interior and caught a glimpse of something in the corner. He knelt and retrieved a brown leather pouch and offered it to Val. “I think this is what you’ve been looking for.”
Without speaking, she took the pouch and headed back to the fire, taking a seat on the branch. Gavin maintained his distance, like the rest of the men, while she opened it and withdrew some kind of document. Then she sat in silence for a few moments, scanning the text aided by a lantern—before she started to laugh.
Gavin immediately came to her side. “What’s so damn funny?”
She rested a hand over her mouth, her blue eyes shining with tears. “They gave it all away.”
Gavin frowned. “Who gave it away?”
“Jess and Brad. The sheriff she supposedly murdered. Brad Webster was my great-great-grandfather.”
The guys gathered around and listened to Valerie explain how Brad had killed Edgar Halifax’s men in defense of Jess. How they had returned years later, dug up the gold Halifax had stolen to frame Jess, had the marked bars melted into coins and then left them anonymously at orphanages all over the country. How they had married and changed their names before settling in St. Louis to build a new life, believing that the citizens of Royal would never have bought their story.
Valerie glanced up at Gavin before reading the last of the letter. “‘I hope that whoever is reading this has learned a lesson from my experiences. Always remember, the real treasure in life is true love.’”
For a solid two minutes no one uttered a word. They all just stood there, toeing the ground and staring at the fire, until Connor said, “Guess everyone had Jess Golden pegged wrong. Just goes to show it’s best not to jump to conclusions.”
Gavin knew that all too well. His wrong conclusions might have cost him the best thing he’d ever had.
“Since we’re obviously done here, let’s all go home now,” Jake said before patting Gavin on the back. “You two have a good night.”
Gavin thanked them all one by one, then turned and offered his hand to Valerie. “We definitely need to go home.”
Without taking his hand, Valerie stood. “My home’s in St. Louis, Gavin, not here. Now that I know the truth, I can get on with my life.”
Gavin hadn’t experienced such pain since his parents’ deaths. He sure as hell had never felt so worthless. “You mean get on with your life without me.”
She folded the letter and slipped it into her pocket without looking at him. “I can’t spend my life with someone who doesn’t believe in me, Gavin. And I can’t expect you to forgive me for lying to you.”
Dammit, he refused to let her go that easily. “You can’t live with someone who loves you more than he’s ever loved anything or anyone? Someone who does believe in you wholeheartedly even if he screwed up?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “You say this now, but what about later? What happens after everyone in Royal learns I’m the daughter of a murderer? That I have a criminal record myself? What then?”
“I don’t give a damn what everyone thinks, Val.” He heard the desperation in his voice and he didn’t give a damn about that either. “I only care about you. And I’m willing to defend you for the rest of my life, if I have to.”
She turned away from him toward the fire that was nothing more than a few embers. He walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. “Look, people around here aren’t as judgmental as you might think. They already accept you, and once they learn how you handled Gretchen all by yourself, you’ll be a hero.”
“I don’t want to be a hero,” she said quietly. “I just want…”
He turned her into his arms. “What do you want, sweetheart? I swear to God, I’ll give it to you, whatever it is.”
A stream of tears trailed down her cheeks. “I want you to love me for who I am. I don’t want you to be ashamed of me or somewhere down the road decide you can never trust me. I want your respect.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” He thumbed a tear away from her chin. “I have never met anyone I respected more. You’ve shown me that I don’t have to be a hard-ass to be a good sheriff. And God knows you’ve shown me what it feels like to love someone so much that it hurts.” He tipped his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “And if you leave now, I’ll never open myself up again to anyone like I have with you. Never.”
When she didn’t respond, he knew she wasn’t convinced. He knew he had lost her, probably for good.
Although it was by far the hardest thing he’d ever done, Gavin let her go and turned his back to her. “You can stay at the house tonight. I promise I won’t say anything else or beg you or touch you. You can leave in the morning.”
Skirting the hollowed-out spot that had once contained the legendary treasure, Gavin reached for the lantern resting below the tree and caught sight of the etchings—reminders of a love story that had gone right in spite of the odds. Even though it probably wouldn’t matter, he withdrew his pocketknife and beneath the knothole, carved his initials, then Val’s, divided by a heart.
Gavin rested his forehead against the trunk, one arm braced above, feeling as if he was about to lose it. He’d worked so long and so hard to protect his emotions, he’d actually convinced himself he couldn’t cry. Then where the hell did the unexpected tears come from? Silent tears but no less real, no less painful. He didn’t want her to know how badly he needed her, but some unknown force compelled him to take the knife again and begin to shape a jagged line—right down the middle of the heart he had carved.
Before he could finish, a hand came to rest on his shoulder. “Gavin, don’t.”
He pocketed the knife and swiped a forearm over his face. “That’s pretty much how I’m feeling right now, Val. Like someone sliced my heart right open.”
“I know.”
He turned to her and saw her tears, but unlike him, she didn’t bother to wipe them away. And with those tears went the last of his pride. “I can’t stand the thought of you leaving me, Val. If you want me to beg you to stay, I swear I’ll do it.”
She released a ragged breath. “You don’t have to beg. I’ll stay.”
Gavin had never heard more welcome words, had never experienced such undeniable relief. He tugged her to him, kissed her thoroughly and held her as if she might disappear. Reluctantly he pulled back and asked, “Are you sure?”
“I am now.” She sighed. “I realize I was wrong not to trust you. But when I came here, no one knew where I’d come from, and I liked that. I could pretend to be just an average person and I didn’t have to explain my past. I worried that if you knew about my mother and what I’d done, you wouldn’t see me in the same way.”
He pushed her hair away from her face and kissed her cheek. “Honestly I don’t know how I would have felt if you’d told me in the beginning. After I got to know the real you, nothing you’ve done would have changed that. But I understand why you didn’t trust me, and that’s okay, as long as you trust me now.”
“I do trust you, Gavin. And I love you with all of my heart.” Her eyes went wide as her hand went to her throat. “Speaking of hearts, Gretchen tore off my pendant and threw it somewhere. I have to find it.”
“I’ll find it when I have some daylight. I promise you’ll have your heart back.”
She sent him a soft smile. “Probably not, because I’ve given it
to you.”
She definitely had his. “Then you’ll stay here with me, no more talk of going back to St. Louis?”
“I need to go back for a few days. I have to say goodbye to several people. Actually kids I used to work with.”
He was taking a chance, but he had to do it. “I want to go with you.”
“I want you to go with me,” she said, taking him by surprise.
“I’d like the kids to meet you so they realize that not everyone in law enforcement is an enemy.”
“I’d be glad to do it.” And now for the ultimate question. “I want you to marry me, Val. We can do it after we come back—or before, if you want.”
Indecision called out from her eyes. “We need some time, Gavin. We need the opportunity to get to know each other better before we take that step.”
“But that’s not exactly a no, right?” Hell, he sounded like a kid. An impatient one.
Her sudden smile eased Gavin’s fear. “No, it’s not a no. It’s an ‘I’ll seriously consider it,’ on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
Her smile expanded into a grin. “You stop sneaking up on me from behind.”
He pulled her to him as close as he could, right against his heart that was fortunately still intact. “Is that in all cases or just when you’re wielding something heavier than a feather duster?”
Her laughter echoed across the pasture. “Okay, maybe not all the time.”
Gavin kissed the tip of her chilly nose. “Tell you what, I can’t promise I’ll never be behind you, but I do promise to warn you first. I don’t want to end up kissing the ground, like Gretchen.”
“And I promise not to smack you under any circumstance with anything more than my lips.”
This time he laughed, but it died quickly when he looked into her eyes and saw concern there. “What’s wrong?”
“We have a long way to go, you and me.”
“As long as we go it together.” He pushed her hair away from her face. “If you decide to see your mother somewhere down the road, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said. “But in all honesty, I know she doesn’t want to see me and I’m okay with that. Or I will be, as long as I have you.”