Her very independence, her need to be self-reliant, her refusal to cave in when the odds were against her, were all qualities Tim found endearing. He loved her strength of character and her integrity. He loved all the qualities that made up the package so delectably and attractively known as Elisabeth Barringer Walker.
Unable to resist being close to her, he moved until his body was only inches away from hers. She lay on her side, facing him. With trembling fingers he smoothed a strand of hair away from her cheek.
She stirred, murmuring something that sounded like, "Tim?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't intend to wake you," he whispered.
She shifted her leg, grazing him, and her lashes fluttered. ''What time is it?"
At least that's what he assumed she mumbled. He smiled, drawing her closer against him and nuzzling her neck.
"Late. Very late."
"Mmm," she replied, burrowing deeper into his embrace. "You okay?" she said after a moment. He heard the concern in her voice, something she wouldn't allow herself when she was fully awake. Now she was operating on instinct, without her guard in place.
He followed the curve of her back and hips with his hand, pressing her body more intimately against his. "Now I am." He nibbled at her ear. "I've missed you."
"Mmm." She sleepily pressed her lips against his cheek in response.
"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" he whispered, trailing kisses across her jaw and down her neck.
She touched the back of his head with her hand and slowly caressed the thick hair there, but made no response.
"I want to marry you, Elisabeth. I want you to know how much I want you in my life. I don't want there ever to be any mistake about that." He raised his head and kissed her on the lips, and she responded by wrapping her arms tighter around him.
"Will you marry me?''
He felt her body jolt as though she'd just received a shock, as though she was finally awake for the first time since he'd come to bed. She stiffened and pulled away so she could see his face. Touching his cheek worriedly, she asked, "Tim, are you all right?"
He smiled, "I'm fine. Why?"
"Has your memory gone again?"
"No."
"Why would you ask me to marry you?" she asked, concerned.
"Because you seem in such a hurry to end our present relationship. I wanted to make it clear that I still want to be a part of your life."
He could feel her relax against him once more as though she found his words reassuring on some deep level. Tim slid his hand under her knee and pulled it over his thigh.
"Tim?"
"Yes, love."
"What are you doing?"
He smiled at the lack of concern in her voice. She was still more than half asleep. "Making love to you."
"I don't think that's a very good idea."
He kissed her, then said, "I think it's an excellent idea. I think it's the best idea I've had in hours... possibly days."
"Tim?"
"Hmm?"
"Have you been drinking?"
"A little brandy, that's all.''
He kissed her again. She responded, which encouraged him immensely.
"I don't want to love you, you know," she said, her voice as soft as a young child's.
Since she was running her hands across his shoulders and back, her body pressed provocatively against him and was returning his kisses, he wasn't unduly alarmed by her comment.
''Why not?" he asked lazily, shifting so that he could open the front of her gown and caress her breasts with his mouth and tongue.
"I'm afraid," she admitted softly.
"Of me?"
"Of being hurt, of being alone, of caring too much to survive without you."
He straightened and kissed her again—slowly and with gentle thoroughness. "You don't have to be alone, sweetheart. Don't you know that yet? I'm here. I'll be here for as long as you want me." Tim lay propped above her, resting on his forearms, which he placed on either side of her head.
The light caught the glitter of her eyes, and he leaned over her and kissed each eyelid softly, reverently. "I love you, Elisabeth," he whispered.
"Oh, Tim, please don't say that. I can't bear it. Not now. It's too soon."
"Too soon to know or too soon to admit it?"
She shook her head, and moisture slid from beneath her closed eyelids. He kissed each tear away.
"Don't be afraid, love. Don't let fear rule your life. Don't push me away."
There were no more words between them. He showed her his love in physical form, reverently expressing all that he was feeling. At one point she sat up and helped him remove her gown, then turned toward him once again.
It was almost dawn before they fell asleep, exhausted, in each other's arms. Even as his eyes closed Tim realized that Elisabeth had never given him the answer he wanted from her.
❧
Tim felt as though he'd only been asleep for a few minutes when the phone rang. This time he was closest to it. Fumbling for the receiver he snagged it with two fingers and brought it to his ear.
"H'lo?"
"Mr. Walker, this is Sam. We've got company."
"Thanks. I'll be right there."
He was out of bed by the time he'd returned the phone to its resting place.
"Who was that?" Elisabeth murmured.
"Sam. I asked him to call me early this morning. I'd forgotten when I came to bed last night."
She raised her head and looked at him. "Why?"
''I wanted to get an early start. There are some things I wanted to check out that can only be done in the early hours."
"Oh.''
"Go back to sleep, love."
"You didn't get much sleep, either,'' she pointed out.
He grinned. "It was worth it. Believe me." He leaned over and gave her a hard, swift kiss, then backed away before he lost his will to resist.
This was the signal he'd been waiting for, gearing up for. Now things would begin to move, and he could get on with his efforts to woo Elisabeth to his way of thinking.
A few minutes later he tapped on Greg's door and opened it. "We've got company, Greg. I knew they'd show up."
Greg sat up and stretched. "They picked a hell of an hour to come visiting," he grumbled, coming to his feet.
Tim laughed. He could feel the adrenaline moving through him. "I don't think they intended to disturb us."
Greg was already dressing, his movements economical. "Thoughtful of them."
"Without a doubt. Also very considerate. I hope they'll have the information that would have taken us several months to obtain."
He went out the door with Greg close on his heels. Tim turned on a pocket flashlight so Greg could see the stairs, but kept it on only long enough for them to make it down the stairs before switching it off. He didn't want to alert anyone who might be watching the house that people were stirring.
❧
The sky was still black and filled with stars when they stepped outside. Because of the altitude and the early hour they could see their breath when they breathed.
Tim saw a movement in the shadows, then Sam stepped away from his Jeep. The men joined him without a word. They rode for several minutes in silence before Tim asked, "Did you see how many there were?''
"Jess counted four before he sent one of the men to get me up. Jess knows not to let himself be known to them unless they try to leave before we get there."
They parked the Jeep a fair distance from the entrance of the mine, making allowances for the way the night air carried sounds. They moved swiftly and silently through the night, all three men trained in stalking. When they were within shouting distance of the mine, Jess stepped out from behind a group of boulders to meet them.
Only then did Tim realize that he could see the surrounding area. The sky had begun to lighten in the east. It wouldn't be long before dawn.
"They haven't made any real effort to be quiet, Sam," Jess pointed out. 'They brought in a couple of trucks and
some kind of equipment and disappeared into the mine."
Sam looked at Tim, waiting for instructions.
"How many men do you have here with you, Jess?" Tim asked.
''Six."
"Armed?"
He nodded. "Rifles."
"Fine. Have them stay out of sight of the mine entrance, but make sure it's surrounded. When I give the signal I want all of them to show themselves. There won't be any shooting, if I've read the situation correctly. These are engineers, hired to do a job. I'm just using you guys to impress on them and the man who hired them that I mean business."
Sam and Jess nodded and melted into the shadows around them.
''Now what?" Greg placed his hands at his waist and leaned back, stretching. He sounded as though he could fall asleep. Obviously he wasn't being affected by an adrenaline high, Tim thought with a smile. Either that, or he wasn't going to admit it.
"We wait. You can always go curl up in the Jeep if you want to get some more sleep."
The brief flash of a smile answered him. "Oh, I think I can manage to stay awake if you can."
Thinking back over the past few hours, Tim acknowledged that he probably hadn't had much more than an hour's sleep. But it had been worth the lack of sleep to find Elisabeth so responsive in his arms. Her feelings ran deep, he knew, much deeper than she was willing to admit. But surely after last night she could no longer ignore the intangible tie that bound them so strongly together.
Tim lost track of time as they waited. Neither man spoke but were content to share the early morning view of the mountains. They watched a doe with her fawns tiptoe through the meadow nearby on their way to an unseen stream that could be heard in the stillness. Other wildlife went on with their morning routines, ignorant of the human eyes watching them.
The sound of men's voices and boots scrambling over rocks was an unwelcome intrusion in the pastoral quiet. Tim moved closer to the entrance, waiting in the shadows of the sentinel-like pines that stood nearby.
Several men walked along in single file, talking and making notes. None of them had looked up. When Tim spoke they glanced around, startled.
"Good morning, gentlemen. Looks like the weather's holding nicely, wouldn't you say?"
"What the—?"
"Who the hell—?"
"Say, what's—"
''Perhaps you aren't aware of it, but you're trespassing on private property. Some people get a little touchy about their gold mines even when the mines aren't operational."
One of the men stepped forward, pulling his hard hat off his head. ''There's obviously some mistake here. We have written instructions from the owner giving us permission to be here. We've been in and out of here several times in the past few weeks. Nobody's said anything."
"And just who gave you this permission?"
The man flipped open a metal-bound notebook and shuffled through the papers. He lifted one, squinting at the signature. "Jason Barringer," he read.
"Mr. Barringer has never owned this property and has no authority to give anyone permission to be here."
''Now wait a minute. I don't know what's going on here but I have my instructions." The man glanced at the others and they moved over so they stood in a V. "I don't know who you are, mister, but you aren't going to start handing out any orders around here."
Tim turned his head slightly, his gaze resting on Sam, who stood out of sight of the other men. Tim nodded. The small group standing in front of the mine looked astonished as several men carrying rifles materialized around them.
Pleasantly, Tim said, "I'm sure the sheriff would like to have the opportunity to meet with all of you and have a little chat. He's been having some problems in the area lately with unauthorized entry, stolen cattle, that sort of thing. No doubt he'd be interested in discussing the matter with you."
The men with the hard hats looked at each other, then at their spokesman and, without waiting for instructions, headed toward their trucks.
''Look, I don't want any trouble," the man began.
"Neither do we. If you'll come with us, I think we can get this matter settled to the satisfaction of all concerned."
Sam pulled up at that moment in the Jeep. Tim motioned for the man to get in next to Sam. Then Tim and Greg got in behind him.
They began the trek to town. "I don't understand what's going on," the engineer said, shaking his head in bewilderment.
Tim replied, "That's all right. You will soon enough."
❧
Elisabeth came awake with a sudden jerk, then realized she had only been dreaming. The bedroom was filled with bright morning sunshine, and she knew she must have overslept.
She rolled over and stared at the place where Tim had been earlier, remembering what had happened the night before. She groaned and buried her head in the pillow. That man had the power to turn her brain into mush by doing no more than holding her. Every time he kissed her, her body turned to gelatin.
Her first mistake had been to think she could continue to sleep beside him after lying to him about the nature of their marriage. Just because he didn't remember those two weeks didn't mean that she could ignore what had taken place between them. But when the unexpected chance to gain some control over the situation had come her way, she grabbed it. What she hadn't taken into account was that she would betray herself.
Elisabeth crawled out of bed and padded into the shower. How could she possibly hope to think clearly as long as she was in his presence daily and shared his bed every night? Why was she so weak that she couldn't find the self-discipline to move her things into another room, insist that the marriage had served its purpose and get on with her life?
Her love for her husband had captured her as surely as if he'd wrapped her in thick bonds that could not be loosened.
After she dressed, Elisabeth wandered down to the kitchen and made some toast, poured a cup of coffee and stood there munching on her breakfast while daydreaming about Tim.
She would never forget their wedding day.
Her grandfather had been so pleased. Tim had been laughing, teasing the nurses, thanking the judge, and she had stood there watching the scene, convinced she was out of her mind.
Ever since she'd first seen Tim, she had been acting out of character. When had she ever been so biddable, so agreeable... so enamored?
Because they hadn't wanted to be gone far from the hospital, Tim suggested they take a ride, maybe find a decent-looking restaurant and have something to eat, then go back to the homestead.
Once again she had allowed him to take control of the situation. He'd acted so relaxed, as though getting married was nothing new to him.
Elisabeth glanced around the kitchen, disoriented for a moment because she'd been so caught up in her memories. Rinsing her cup, she decided to go upstairs to write in hopes of getting her mind off Tim.
She no sooner sat down in her chair when her memories resumed...
"I suppose we should tell Mrs. Brodie," Tim had said as he held the car door open for her to step out. "Otherwise, she might have an attack of some sort when I follow you into your bedroom tonight."
Elisabeth could feel herself blushing and hated the ridiculous betrayal of nerves. His grin became a chuckle when he saw the look on her face.
''Uh, look, Tim. We should think about this before doing anything hasty."
"WeIl, you know her heart better than I do. If you think she can handle the shock ..." He left the sentence hanging, took her hand and began to draw her to the front steps.
"No, about sleeping in my bedroom," she blurted out.
He stopped in his tracks. Turning her to face him, he said, ''There's surely no question about that, is there?"
She stood looking at him, unable to respond.
''Wait a minute. Are you under some kind of crazy impression that I married you because of Charlie?"
"It's just that we don't know each other very well and—"
"Exactly. But we have the rest of our lives to get acquainted, and I
want to do it sleeping next to you every night."
Why was she protesting, she wondered. Who did she think she was kidding? She hadn't been able to sleep the night before, just knowing that he was down the hallway from her. The kiss they had shared that first evening had awakened something inside her that refused to go back to sleep.
He had never given any intimation that he would treat the marriage as one without conjugal rights.
Whether to tell Mrs. Brodie or not was not tested because she wasn't in evidence when they went in. Tim quietly followed Elisabeth into her room. He looked around with an interested gaze, then walked over to the bed that took up almost one entire wall of the room.
"My God. What's this?"
She laughed. She couldn't help it. ''My grandfather found that somewhere and carried it home to surprise me one year right after I went away to school. The original hangings were rotten so he had new ones made with matching covers. He said it's several hundred years old and was brought to America from somewhere in Europe." She walked over and touched one of the drapes. ''He's convinced some king slept in it."
Tim walked around it, eyeing the platform on which it stood. There were steps on either side to get up to it.
"It's big enough to hold a dozen kings. Don't you get lost in it?"
She smiled. "I've grown used to it. He had a mattress custom made. It's very comfortable." She leaned against one of the four posters and watched as he wandered around the room, picking up ornaments and studying them, then replacing them. It suddenly occurred to her that he was nervous. Perhaps as nervous as she was. Not that that was possible. No doubt he had shared a bed before, while she had always slept alone.
Elisabeth wished she had more experience. She had always been aloof from boys her own age, wary of becoming too friendly. Her mother had cautioned her about encouraging someone if she weren't careful. So she had been very careful. She would scarcely exchange a word with a boy.
Her classmates would laugh to see her now. She had been the young woman in college who never dated, who spent all her time studying or writing, who knew so little about men. And she had married a man she had just met.
Max 2 - A Love Remembered Page 11