Twin of Fire

by Jude Deveraux

  Houston leaned toward her sister. “Leander may set your body on fire, but he never did anything for me. If you hadn’t been so involved with yourself lately, and could think that I do have some brains of my own, you’d have seen that I’ve fallen in love with a good, kind, thoughtful man—admittedly he’s a little rough around the edges, but then, haven’t you always complained that my edges are a little too smooth?”

  Blair sat down. “You love him? Taggert? You love Kane Taggert? But I don’t understand. You’ve always loved Leander. For as long as I can remember, you’ve loved him.”

  Some of Houston’s anger seemed to leave her and she turned away to look out the window. “True, I decided I wanted him when I was six years old. I think it became a goal to me, like climbing a mountain. I should have set my sights on Mt. Rainier. At least, once I’d climbed it, it would have been done. I never knew what I was going to do with Leander after we were married.”

  “But you do know what you’ll do with Taggert?”

  Houston looked back at her sister and smiled. “Oh, yes. I very much know what I’m going to do with him. I am going to make a home for him, a place where he’ll be safe, a place where I’ll be safe, where I can do whatever I want.”

  Blair stood and it was her turn to clench her fists. “I guess you couldn’t have bothered to take two minutes to tell me this, could you? I have been through Hades in the last weeks. I have worried about you, spent whole days crying about what I’ve done to my sister, and here you tell me that you’re in love with this King Midas.”

  “Don’t you say anything against him!” Houston shouted, then calmed. “He’s the kindest, gentlest man and very generous. And I happen to love him very much.”

  “And I have been through agony because I was worried about you. You should have told me!”

  Houston idly ran her hand along the edge of the desk that sat in the middle of the room. “I guess I was so jealous of your love match that I didn’t want to think about you.”

  “Love match?!” Blair exploded. “I think I’m Leander’s Mt. Rainier. I can’t deny that he does things to me physically, but that’s all he wants from me. We’ve spent days together in the operating room, but I feel there’s a part of Leander I don’t know. He doesn’t really let me get close to him. I know so little about him. He decided he wanted me, so he went after me, using every method he could to get me.”

  “But I see the way you look at him. I never felt inclined to look at him like that.”

  “That’s because you never saw him in an operating room. If you’d seen him in there, you would have—.”

  “Fainted, most likely,” Houston said. “Blair, I am sorry that I didn’t talk to you. I probably knew that you were in agony, but what happened hurt. I had been engaged to Leander for, it seemed to me, most of my life, yet you walked in and took him in just one night. And Lee was always calling me his ice princess, and I was so worried about being a cold woman.”

  “And you’re no longer worried about that?” Blair asked.

  The color in Houston’s cheeks heightened. “Not with Kane,” she whispered.

  “You really do love him?” Blair asked, still not able to comprehend this fact. “You don’t mind the food flying everywhere? You don’t mind his loudness or the other women?”

  Blair could have bitten out her tongue.

  “What other women?” Houston asked, eyes narrowed. “And Blair, you’d better tell me.”

  Blair took a deep breath. It would have been all right to tell Houston what she had seen before she’d married the man, but now it was too late.

  Houston advanced on her sister. “If you even consider managing my life again as you did today at the altar, I’ll never speak to you again. I am an adult, and you know something about my husband, and I want to know what it is.”

  “I saw him in the garden kissing Pamela Fenton just before the wedding,” Blair said all in one breath.

  Houston whitened a bit, but she seemed to be under control. “But he came to me anyway,” she whispered. “He saw her, kissed her, but he married me.” A brilliant smile lit her face. “Blair, you have made me the happiest woman alive today. Now, all I have to do is find my husband and tell him that I love him and hope that he will forgive me.”

  She stopped suddenly. “Oh, Blair, you don’t know him at all. He’s such a good man, generous in a very natural way, strong in a way that makes people lean on him, but he’s…” She buried her face in her hands. “But he can’t stand embarrassment of any kind, and we’ve humiliated him in front of the entire town. He’ll never forgive me. Never!”

  Blair started toward the door. “I’ll go to him and explain that it was all my fault, that you had nothing to do with it. Houston, I had no idea you really wanted to marry him. I just couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to live with someone like him.”

  “I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore, because I think he just walked out on me.”

  “But what about the guests? He can’t just leave.”

  “Should he stay and listen to people laughing about how Leander can’t decide which twin he wants? Not one person will think that Kane could have his choice of women. Kane thinks I’m still in love with Lee, you think I love Lee, and Mr. Gates thinks I’m marrying Kane for his money. I think Mother is the only person who sees that I’m in love—for the very first time in my life.”

  “What can I do to make it up to you?” Blair whispered.

  “There’s nothing you can do. He’s gone. He left me money and the house and he walked away. But what do I want with this big, empty house if he’s not in it?” She sat down. “Blair, I don’t even know where he is. He could be on a train back to New York for all I know.”

  “More than likely, he’s gone to his cabin.”

  Both women looked up to see Kane’s friend, Edan, standing in the doorway. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but when I saw what happened at the wedding, I knew he’d be in a rage.”

  Houston expertly wrapped the train of her wedding dress about her arm. “I’m going to him and explain what happened. I’m going to tell him that my sister is so in love with Leander that she thinks that I am, too.” She turned to smile at Blair. “I can’t help but resent the fact that you thought that I was low enough to marry a man for his money, but I thank you for the love that made you willing to sacrifice what has come to mean so much to you.” Quickly, she kissed her sister’s cheek.

  Blair clung to her sister for a moment. “Houston, I had no idea you felt this way. As soon as the reception is over, I’ll help you pack and—.”

  Houston pulled away with a little laugh. “No, my dear managing sister, I am leaving this house right now. My husband is more important to me than a few hundred guests. You’re going to have to stay here and answer all the questions about where Kane and I’ve gone.”

  “But Houston, I don’t know anything about receptions of this size.”

  Houston stopped at the door beside Edan. “I learned how in my ‘worthless’ education,” she said, then smiled. “Blair, it’s not all that tragic. Cheer up, maybe there’ll be an attack of food poisoning, and you’ll know how to handle that. Good luck,” she said and was out the door, leaving Blair alone to the horror of having to deal with the enormous, elaborate reception.

  “Why did I ever open my big mouth about that school Houston chose?” she mumbled, as she straightened her dress, tried to breathe inside the tight corset, and left the room.

  Chapter 18

  The reception was worse than Blair had imagined it could be. People were always running out of this or that and, the minute Houston was out of sight, no one seemed to know what to do. And then, there were what seemed to be hundreds of Lee’s relatives to meet, all of them asking questions about the unusual exchanging of twins. Opal began spreading the rumor that Houston’s husband had taken her away on a white horse (probably one with wings, Blair thought), and all the young ladies were whispering that Kane was the most romantic of men. All Blair could t
hink of was that she was certainly glad that her switch had failed and she wasn’t going to have to spend her wedding night with Taggert.

  Some man was asking Blair how he should serve what looked to be a hundred-pound wheel of cheese when she looked across the guests to see Leander watching her, and a small blush began to spread over her body. Whatever else she minded about Lee, spending the night with him was not one of them.

  He pushed his way through the crowd of people, gave a few curt directions to the man with the cheese, and pulled Blair away with him into the garden, out of sight of the people. “Thank heavens a man only has to go through this once in his life. Did you know that Mr. Gates is crying?”

  She felt good being here with him in the shade, away from the noise and the crowd, and she wished he’d kiss her. “He’s probably happy to see the last of me in his house.”

  “He told me that now he could relax, because now he knew you’d be happy. Now, you were going to do what the Lord made women for. You’d have a good man—that’s me—to take care of you, and at last you’d be fulfilled.”

  He was looking at her in a way that made her feel very warm.

  “You think you will be fulfilled with me?” he asked in a husky whisper and began to move toward her.

  “Dr. Westfield! Telegram!” came the voice of a boy, and the next minute he was standing there, shattering their aloneness.

  Leander gave the boy a nickel and told him to help himself to the food as he began to open the telegram, his eyes on Blair. But the next minute, all his attention was on the paper in front of him.

  “I’ll wring her neck,” he said under his breath, his face beginning to turn red with anger.

  Blair took the telegram from his hand.

  I HAVE JUST MARRIED ALAN HUNTER STOP WOULD YOU TELL FATHER AND BLAIR STOP I WILL RETURN IN THREE WEEKS STOP DO NOT BE TOO ANGRY STOP LOVE NINA

  “Of all the underhanded…,” Lee began. “Father and I will go after her and—.”

  Blair cut him off. “And do what? She’s already married and, besides, what’s wrong with Alan? I thought he’d make a very good husband.”

  Quickly, the anger left Leander. “I guess he will at that. But why couldn’t she have stayed here and been married in public? Why did she have to run away as if she were ashamed of him?”

  “Nina and I have been friends all our lives, and I imagine that she was afraid of me. After all, I didn’t get to marry the man I had originally planned to marry, so perhaps she thought I’d be angry about how Alan left me at the train station. No doubt he left me for Nina.”

  Leander leaned against a tree and took a cigar from his pocket. “You seem awfully cool about this. I gave you the chance to back out. You could have gone back to Pennsylvania. You had the chance.”

  Later in her life, Blair thought that that was the moment she fell in love with Leander. He’d made such a fool of himself to win her, yet here he stood like a sulky little boy, saying that she didn’t have to marry him, that he would have let her go.

  “And what would you have done if I’d boarded a train? I seem to remember your shaking me and telling me that I was going to marry you and that I had no say in the matter,” she said softly, as she moved to stand in front of him, her hand touching his collar. Around her was spread yards of the heavenly silk satin, the beading gently flashing colors in the soft light of the garden.

  He watched her for a moment, then tossed the cigar to the ground and grabbed her to him in a kiss of great passion, holding her close to him, trying to merge their bodies into one. He pulled her head to his shoulder, almost smothering her as he hugged her in a way that a mother holds a child that has almost been lost. “You did choose him, you went to the train to go with him.”

  Blair tried to untangle herself and the cascading veil from his grasp. She wanted to look at him. “That’s behind us now,” she said, as she looked into his eyes and thought about the man behind that handsome face. She remembered the many times she’d seen him working to save a life, especially the day they’d brought in an old cowboy who’d been gored by a bull, and when Lee had been unable to save him, and the man had died on the operating table, Blair was sure there’d been tears in Lee’s eyes. He’d said he’d known the old man for years, and it would hurt to know that he was gone.

  Now, she stood within his grasp, and she knew that she’d married the right man. Alan hadn’t really loved her, nor she him. Not if he could one minute demand that she choose, and a few hours later leave her standing at the train station. And she remembered how relieved she’d been when he hadn’t shown up.

  “A great deal has happened between us,” she said, as she ran her hand down his cheek. It was so nice to be able to touch him, as she’d wanted to since their first night together. He was hers from now on, totally and completely hers. “But today marks a new beginning, and I’d like to start with a clean slate. You and I work well together, and we have…other things in common,” she said, as she moved her hips just slightly against his. “I want this marriage to work. I want us to have children, and I want us to keep in practice together, and I want us to…love each other.” She said the last hesitantly, because all he’d ever said was that he desired her, and love had never entered the picture.

  “Children,” he murmured, pulling her even closer. “Especially, let’s make children.” He began to kiss her as if he were starving.

  “Here they are,” someone shouted. “Now, stop that. You have a whole lifetime for that. Now, you have to come and join the party. The cake has to be cut.”

  Reluctantly, Blair pulled away from her husband. Another few minutes of his kisses and she’d be rolling about the grass with him. She’d already proven that she had no control when it came to him.

  With a sigh, Lee took her hand in his and led her back to the mass of people gathered on one of Taggert’s too smooth, too big lawns.

  Immediately after the cake cutting, the guests separated them and several women started asking Blair hundreds of questions about where Houston had gone.

  “That man swept my daughter off her feet,” Opal said in a demure way that didn’t allow for any disbelief. “Both my daughters have married strong men who knew exactly what they wanted and went after it.”

  Two of the women in Opal’s audience looked as if they were about to swoon at the romance of the stories.

  “Mother,” Blair said, holding out a dish. “Have a slice of ham.” She leaned forward so only Opal could hear her. “Now I know where Houston and I get our acting ability.”

  Opal smiled at the women, took the dish from Blair and gave her a quick wink.

  With a laugh, Blair went away, leaving her mother to brag about her new sons-in-law.

  At sundown, there was dancing in the library, and of course Leander and Blair had to lead the dancing. Several people asked if it had been she that night at the governor’s reception and not Houston. Both Blair and Lee laughed secretly, and he swept her away in his arms again, whirling her about the polished dance floor.

  “It’s time we left these people and went home. I don’t think I can wait much longer to make you mine,” Leander whispered in her ear as he held her.

  Blair didn’t even nod, but tightened the train about her arm and quickly left the room to go upstairs to change into her going-away clothes. Her mother came to help her and Opal was silent until Blair stood ready.

  “Leander’s a good man and I know you’ve had some problems, but I think he’ll make you a good husband,” Opal said.

  “I do, too,” Blair said, looking radiant in an electric blue suit that Houston had chosen for her sister. “I think he’ll make the best of husbands.” And I know he’ll make the best of lovers, she thought, then kissed her mother quickly and ran down the stairs to meet Leander.

  Amid showers of rice so heavy that their health was threatened, they left the Taggert mansion for the pretty little house that would be their home.

  But once they were away from the crowd, Blair began to feel timid and shy. Fr
om now on, her life would be tied to this man whom she knew only in a professional way. What did she know about him personally? What had he done in his life besides study medicine?

  At the house, Lee swept her into his arms and carried her over the threshold, took one look at her white face and said, “This isn’t the woman who risked her life to keep a man’s chin clean, is it? You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

  When Blair didn’t answer, he said, “What you need is some champagne. And we both know where that will lead, don’t we?”

  He set her on the floor in the entry hall and turned right into the dining room. Blair hadn’t really seen the house, and now she went left into the parlor. Behind the parlor was a tiny bedroom for guests. The furniture was heavy and dark, but the room was still pleasant, with blue-and-white striped wallpaper and a border of pale pink roses along the top. She took a seat on a satin-covered sofa.

  Leander returned with two glasses of champagne and a bottle chilling in a silver holder on a tray. “I hope you like the place. Houston did it. I don’t think I cared much what she did.” He sat at the other end of the couch, away from her, seeming to sense her shyness.

  “I like it. I don’t know much about decorating houses, and Houston’s much better at that than I am. I would probably have asked her to do the house anyway. But now she has Taggert’s.”

  “Did you two get that straightened out?”

  The champagne was making Blair relax and Lee refilled her glass. “Houston said that she’d fallen in love with Taggert.” Blair’s face showed her disbelief. “I can’t imagine my sister with that loud, overbearing boor. Why she would prefer him over you is…” She stopped, looking embarrassed.