"I came home. It was important that I get back."
"I know we haven’t known each other long, but we agreed to be friends, I can tell you’re not telling me the whole truth."
Robyn’s head snapped up.
"I promise not to tell David or Grant anything you say," she continued. "Speak freely. Did you two have a fight?"
"No," Robyn said.
"Then what happened? At the party, you two couldn’t keep your eyes off each other. Then, suddenly, Grant wouldn’t even mention your name. And every time we mention his, you cringe. Now, he’s off flying until he is too exhausted to do anything but sleep."
"Susan, he isn’t doing anything dangerous, is he?"
"Grant knows the rules. He won’t endanger himself or any passengers."
Robyn released the breath she’d held.
"You are in love with him. Don’t deny it," Susan said when Robyn opened her mouth to protest.
"Yes, I’m in love with him," she admitted.
"Then what’s standing in your way?"
"It’s not that easy, Susan. There are things he doesn’t know about me. Things I can’t explain. Believe me, it’s best if Grant and I don’t see each other again."
"Brooke, there are few things in this world two people can’t settle if they talk about it."
"Not this." Robyn was shaking her head. "It happened a long time ago."
"Nobody expects you to be a saint. Believe me Grant’s not a saint either."
"It’s not that. I can’t go into it. Just leave it."
Susan sipped her champagne. "I don’t believe you for a moment. I’ve never seen Grant as happy as he has been in the past few months. Then suddenly you two won’t even say each other’s name."
You promised things would work out between you.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t control Grant.”
“It’s Robyn, isn’t it?”
“Robyn?”
“He’s thinking you’re too much like her.”
“I don’t know. He’s never said that.” At least not in so many words, she added silently.
"I didn’t mean for this to happen, but it’s between us. Please, let’s talk about something else,” she pleaded. “Tell me about the store?"
"We have two of them. . ." Susan began talking after a long silence, and although Robyn was interested, she couldn’t keep her mind on what her friend was saying. Grant couldn’t say her name, and she’d tried desperately to forget she’d ever seen him. But it was impossible. He was always in her thoughts.
"Well, it’s all arranged," David said, slipping back into his seat.
"What’s arranged?" Robyn asked.
"We’ll stay at the Sheraton downtown and tomorrow visit Niagara Falls, then fly home tomorrow night."
"You can just flat out cancel the hotel," Robyn ordered. "You’ll stay at my house. I have a guest room that’s dying for visitors."
"But—"
"No buts," Robyn cut David off. "I won’t go to Niagara Falls. It’s good for honeymooners, but I’ll see you get to the airport tomorrow night."
"That won’t be—"
"That’s a wonderful idea," Susan cut in.
Robyn lifted her champagne glass and toasted the couple. She sipped the dry wine. Her eyes went down when she lifted the glass to her mouth. Otherwise, she’d have seen the looked that passed between her best friend and her new husband.
***
The day was unusually warm for the second week in September. Usually, the sky was overcast. The days began to get gray in anticipation of the harsh Buffalo winter. But this Saturday morning dawned like a beautiful summer day, clear and warm.
Robyn and Kari had a wonderful breakfast of strawberry crepes and sausages with Susan and David. Will surprised them by coming in for coffee. Then, he and Kari joined the newlyweds for their trip to the falls. Robyn was enjoying a brief rest in the late afternoon sun on her patio. Susan and David were due back by six. Their flight was scheduled to leave at eight, and Robyn wanted to take them to the airport.
That must be them now, she thought, hearing sounds inside the house. "I’m out here," she called. Seconds passed, and Kari didn’t come to find her. No one came out. "Kari," she called, standing up.
Suddenly, her hand went to her throat. She recognized the flight jacket and cap immediately. Grant stepped from the darkened kitchen to the sunlight of the patio. Her knees went weak, and her heart beat so loudly it drowned out all other sound. She caught hold of the back of the patio chair to support herself.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered.
He looked her up and down. She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, but under Grant’s gaze she felt naked.
"I went to the Sheraton. There was a message saying David and Susan were at this address. Neither he nor Susan answered their cells. And the phone number he left has been conveniently—busy," he spat the word.
"What?" Robyn hadn’t been on the phone since she’d come in from rehearsal. In fact, the phone hadn’t rung either. She found the strength to move. Going into the kitchen, she lifted the receiver of the wall phone. Silence greeted her. The line was dead. The kind of dead you hear when a phone has been off the hook for a long time. It had passed the point where the recorded messages cease, and the high-pitched whine was long gone.
"There’s a phone off the hook somewhere," she explained, replacing the receiver. "Excuse me." Going through the living room, she went upstairs. In the guest room, the phone was only slightly ajar as if it had not been properly replaced. She touched it slightly, and it fell into the cradle. A second later, she lifted it and was greeted with a dial tone.
Robyn replaced the receiver. It could have been accidentally jarred. For a moment, she wondered if Susan had done it on purpose, then rejected the idea. Suddenly, she remembered the way her friend had cut David off when he started to say something about going to the airport. He must have called Grant and said they were flying home with him.
She found Grant still in the kitchen when she came down the stairs. "Are you here to fly Susan and David back?"
Grant turned from the patio door to face her. The light silhouetted him. "David called me last night."
"They went to Niagara Falls. I expect them back any moment now. David put their luggage by the front door." She sounded extremely polite as if the man standing a few feet away was not the man she’d spent a lifetime loving.
"I’ll wait outside," he turned away as if he couldn’t bear the sight of her.
"Would you like a drink?"
"I’m flying."
"Iced tea, orange juice, cola."
"Iced tea will be fine," he said and went through the door. Robyn’s movements were stilted, and her thoughts were numb. She took down a glass and filled it with ice. Then, she poured tea into it from the pitcher in the refrigerator.
Outside, Grant sat on the edge of a lawn chair. When she handed him the glass, their fingers touched. She felt the electricity and snatched her hand back so fast she nearly dropped the glass. Grant placed it on the small table next to him.
Robyn walked to the other side of the patio. "Would it matter if I said I was sorry."
"No!" The monosyllable exploded in the still air like an electric bulb bursting. He was on his feet, his back to her.
She came up behind him, wanting to reach out and touch him, but was afraid. A wall of granite separated her from him. "I am sorry, Grant."
"Who was he?" He turned on her. His hands grabbed her upper arms like steel shackles. "After the night we spent together and me finding you’d just disappeared. All you have to say is you’re sorry?"
"I can’t explain, Grant." She swallowed tears, wanting to cry but refusing to give in. He dropped his hands and presented her with his back again. "I do want you to understand."
"Then, tell me." He swung around glaring at her. Robyn dropped her head like a four-year-old. "Make me understand how you could spend the night in my arms, making me feel like I was the only
man in the world and then leave without a word."
"Oh, God, don’t, Grant. I had to leave." She looked at him, spreading her hands, pleading for understanding.
"Why? What was so hellfire important here that you couldn’t wait for me to bring you home?"
"Grant, please. I had no control of the. . ." she stopped.
"Go on. Who had control? The man at the top of the stairs in the black kimono?"
Robyn winced. "It happened a long time ago."
"What, Brooke. What happened a long time ago."
Robyn turned away. "I can’t tell you."
"Can’t? Or didn’t you think of a good enough excuse yet? You’ve had weeks to do it."
"Please, Grant." She turned away from his dark anger. "Just trust me."
He took her arms and swung her around to face him. "Trust you, trust you!"
"Grant, I love you." Robyn felt the tremor run through his body. Then everything went still. "I love you," she repeated.
Grant’s eyes bore into hers. There was fear there. She was afraid he wouldn’t believe her. In his eyes was anger warring with some other emotion. His hands tightened on her arms. She felt like crying out but couldn’t.
Then his mouth was on hers, and he was crushing her to him. "Why did you have to say that?" he asked against her lips. "Why do you have to be so beautiful?" His hands threaded through her hair as his mouth rained kisses over every peak and valley of her face. When his mouth came back to hers, it was drug-like in its intensity. He plundered her mouth, his tongue dipping deeply into her vessel and extracting all the passionate emotion she had to give. He held her to himself, controlling the movement of her head, refusing to allow her to break contact even if she wanted to.
Robyn didn’t want to stop. She wound her arms inside his jacket and around his waist, pulling his body into closer contact with hers. The shudder that quaked her was both violent and explosive. At last, they collapsed against each other, each supporting the other. Robyn’s legs were so weak she was sure she couldn’t remain standing if he moved.
Grant clung to her, holding her tightly against him. Breath came in ragged gasps. Robyn’s body was damp, and she could feel the moisture through the material of his shirt.
"Grant," she said after a long while. "You have to go."
He was motionless for a long moment. Then, he pushed her away from him. His eyes were depths of deep hurt. Robyn didn’t think she would be able to go on. She moved away from him, giving herself room to speak. She wanted to turn away so as not to have to look into the hurt that she knew her words would produce. But she kept her gaze steady. He must believe her.
"I can’t tell you the whole truth. But please trust me when I say, lives are at stake. If you don’t leave and never come back, it could be dangerous for me and Kari."
"Damn, Brooke." He took a step toward her and stopped. "You can’t make a statement like that and stop. What the hell is going on?"
"Grant, I can’t tell you." She turned away. "I should never have given Doctor Elliott your name." She turned back. "Please, please," she begged. "Leave us alone.”
"How can you ask such a thing? You’ve just said you love me, and I love you."
"It isn’t enough," she cried. "Grant, it happened five years ago. I can’t tell you anything more. Just that your continued presence could cause people to find me whom I don’t want to know I’m alive."
He came to her, taking her shoulders. Robyn stepped away, swinging around to face him. His touch was like a fire in her blood. It would be her undoing if she let him get close to her. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"
"Yes, the worst kind. And I’ve said more than I should. I know it’s intriguing, and I know you want me to tell you everything, but I can’t. It’s too dangerous. All I ask is that you not come back."
Robyn heard a car door close. "Will must be back. Promise me you won’t come back?"
"No!" His hand came out to grab her arm. Robyn moved away.
"You have to." Her voice was a whisper as if her guests were standing nearby. "Susan and David will be here in a moment. This is no joke, Grant. Don’t come back!"
Robyn left him then. She went into the living room and through it to the foyer. When Susan and David came in with Will and Kari, she was composed enough to greet them as if nothing had happened. They talked for a brief while, promising to visit each other again and extracting a promise from Robyn to visit whenever she was in Washington. Grant joined them but remained quiet. Robyn almost sizzled under the stare he gave her. He lifted Kari into his arms and nuzzled her close. She laughed her usual high-pitched sound, and clasped her arms tightly around his neck when he held her.
When he set her on the floor, Grant took one of the suitcases sitting in the foyer and started for the car. David followed him. Everyone hugged each other good-bye. Robyn had an excuse for the tears that curved down her cheeks. She held Kari’s hand as she waved good-bye. Grant reversed out of the driveway without a backward glance.
Will left shortly afterward, and Kari and Robyn went into the house. Kari happily chatted away about her day at Niagara Falls. She told Robyn about playing in the arcade and how she had beaten everybody on the Video Monster machine. After a long tirade, Kari said she was thirsty. Robyn went to the kitchen to get her a drink. On the counter, she noticed the empty glass of tea she’d given Grant. The ice had melted, leaving an amber liquid graduated in intensity at the bottom of the glass. Next to it was a piece of paper. Robyn went to the counter and lifted it. The paper fell from her fingers as if it were fire. It floated to the floor, crossing the fine line that kept the present and past separated. At her feet was the recipe for apple spiced iced tea:
2 Regular Tea Bags
1 Apple Spiced Tea Bag
Pinch of Baking Soda
Sugar
Pitcher of Cold Water
Drop tea bags in boiling water. Boil for three minutes. Add pinch of baking soda (as much as can be held between two fingers) and remove from heat. Pour hot liquid into pitcher of cold water. Sugar to taste. Serve over ice cubes. Makes 1/2 Gallon.
He knows.
Chapter 16
Grant’s office was a tiny cubbyhole at the back of a private terminal at Reagan National. As the air service had grown, he’d remained walled up in the small room with only a dinky window looking out over the planes. He never seemed to catch up on the paperwork. Adam Carpenter had urged him to hire an office manager. He was right. They needed someone to keep the records in order. Grant had time. For the past ten days, he’d had nothing but time.
He leaned his elbows on the desk and rested his head on the steeple of his hands. Ten days he thought, ten miserable days without Brooke. Since he’d flown away from her, he was still as confused. Was she or wasn’t she? But how could she be? Robyn was dead. All he wanted was to be as far away from Brooke Johnson as was humanly possible. Yet, there were so many similarities. Beginning with the hair color and the eyes and the photographs of Kari. It was Robyn’s style. She flew his plane with the same sureness he’d taught Robyn. She knew the fair winds signal and the song. His and Robyn’s song had brought tears to Brooke’s eyes. But the worst had been the times when they’d made love. The sounds were Robyn’s sounds. Then the crowning blow—the tea, apple spiced tea. It wasn’t unusual for people to drink it hot, but not iced! It was a recipe only Robyn had been able to duplicate. David and Susan had both tried making it. Even he had tried, but Robyn’s tasted best. She had a patent on the formula. Just ten days ago when she’d left him alone on the patio and he’d lifted the innocent glass to his lips, he’d sampled that patent. It was all the damning evidence he needed.
He had been too angry to talk. David and Susan must have thought his rage was directed toward them for tricking him into coming to Brooke’s house. As it was, he was too confused to speak. What could he say. I just drank a glass of iced tea Robyn made. Surely, they would think he’d lost his mind. And he wasn’t sure he didn’t agree with them.
Th
ey couldn’t be the same person. Why would Robyn leave him? How could her features be so drastically changed? And why? And, then, there was Kari. She had Brooke’s hair color, but her other features were nothing like her mother’s. If Brooke was Robyn, then Kari was his daughter. She’d be the right age. He compared the happy child’s features to Robyn’s as if he held two photographs. He couldn’t see her in Kari. But that was a minor point. Adults bear only a resemblance to themselves as children. There were too many unknowns, too much circumstance.
Brooke had told him life and death were related to their continued association. What was going on? All he knew was that she was scared. He could see that in her eyes. They had a fear he’d never seen before and one he couldn’t erase no matter how much he tried.
Could she be alive? He doubted the truth as he knew it. David had told him the body was too badly burned for viewing. He wanted to spare Grant the ordeal of seeing the charred remains of the woman who had filled his life and whom he had lived for during the long months of his captivity. She’d been identified by dental charts. But he’d never seen her. Could they have made a mistake? His head snapped up as if a puppeteer had pulled his strings. A metal shelf holding books and an odd assortment of fighter plane replicas stood directly in front of him. He didn’t see it. His mind was somewhere in the past.
If there had been a mistake, and Robyn was alive, why hadn’t she called him? She’d told him his seeing her could put her and Kari in danger. What kind of danger? Who was after her and why?
He had to go back. He had to find out if Brooke Johnson and Robyn Richards were in fact the same woman. He stood quickly, galvanized for action. He came around the desk and pushed his arms into his jacket. Reaching for the door, his hand poised in air.
What if she was?
***
"Who the hell are you?" Grant snarled, upon seeing a strange man step into the cabin of his aircraft. Grant was a man of action, and he’d made a decision to see Brooke again. The fates and his plane conspired against him. Maintenance was being done to the plane he needed. The others were scheduled, and Adam convinced him not to throw the schedule off unless the reason was paramount to the operation. Logic and Adam’s expression penetrated his brain, and Grant agreed to wait for the mechanics to complete their work.
Under the Sheets (Capitol Chronicles Book 1) Page 22