The Groom's Revenge

by Susan Crosby

  There was a long moment of silence, then, “I’ve heard tha stress can ruin a person’s health.”

  He tried to make sense of her words. Was she telling hir something? Hope brought focus. “They say stress kills.”

  “Right. So, sometimes people need to get away for a while Relax. Regroup. It doesn’t even have to be far away. Sometime closer is better, because you don’t have to spend a lot of tun traveling. I know that’s my preference, anyway. Do you under stand?”

  He closed his eyes. “You have a getaway place. Mollie i there.”

  “All I’m saying is that she was very stressed. It’s not goo for her or the baby. I’m wondering just how good your compute skills are.”

  “Damn good.” He needed to get busy. “Thank you, Tasha.

  “Just set things right That’s all the thanks I need. And, Gray? We’re even, okay?”

  “More than even. ’Bye.”

  The minute he turned on the computer, he left an e-mail for Mollie in case she could check it somehow. Then he stared at the monitor, contemplating the illegal act he was about to perform. He’d only hacked into other computer systems to prove it could be done, to prove the need for security. Some codes were harder to break than others. But he needed to find his wife. He wouldn’t sleep until she was home in his arms, where she belonged. They hadn’t even made love in a week. He’d finally worked up the nerve to talk to her obstetrician, had just gotten back from there when Stuart called. The romantic evening he’d planned...

  Swallowing the ache in his throat, he put his fingers on the keyboard and did what he knew best, grateful no one else had gotten their hands on his new encryption software—and consequences be damned.

  Shortly after sunrise Gray pulled into the driveway of a small house nestled behind a thick shelter of trees and bushes, very near where they’d parked the night Mollie told him she was pregnant. At the end of the path sat her van.

  Relief surged through him, paralyzing him for about fifteen seconds. He climbed out of the car and made his way to the door. He could hear the doorbell chime inside the house. He waited. After half a minute he rang again and knocked. Then he called her name.

  Worried, he pressed his ear to the door. Nothing.

  He banged louder. Yelled louder. Afraid, he moved around the house hammering his knuckles on each window, shouting her name. When he got to the front door again he didn’t hesitate an instant. Terrified, he scooped up a planter and heaved it through the window alongside the door. Panicked, he reached inside to turn the lock, cutting himself on the jagged glass, leaving a trail of blood as he stormed from room to room.

  In the last room he found a rumpled bed. Empty.

  Fifteen

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Mollie said, staring at a imposing two-story stone structure—Stuart’s home—as he parked in the brick driveway. It was barely sunrise, yet light were on in many of the rooms, not in welcome, Mollie feared but in battle readiness.

  She’d called Stuart in the early hours of the morning, an he’d come to see her at Tasha’s vacation house. He told her that Mane now knew the whole story—or at least as much as h knew himself—and that he wanted Mollie to come home wit him. His older son, Garrett, had flown in from Wyoming wit his wife. His younger son, Jack, would drive over as soon as h was called. They would start becoming a family.

  Brothers. She had brothers. She hadn’t dared to hope—

  “Delaying it serves no purpose, Mollie.” Stuart turned off the engine and angled toward her. “Are you sure you don’t war to call Gray?”

  “Not yet.” Her fury at her husband hadn’t subsided. If an) thing, it had intensified.

  “You can’t hide from him forever.” He held up a hand a Mollie started to speak. “However, my first official act as your father will be to support you in whatever capacity you need.”

  “Are you sure your wife doesn’t mind?” I would be furious. Humiliated. Mortified

  “Dad?”

  A tall, handsome man approached the car, concern lining his face. Mollie almost burst into tears. Her brother, Garrett. Finally, officially, her brother, this rugged rancher from Wyoming. In the open doorway of the house stood a woman. Not Marie. Probably Renee, Garrett’s wife. So many lives in upheaval. And it all could have been avoided. Damn Gray, she thought, more angry at him for making her swear, even if it was only in her mind.

  Stuart opened his car door. Mollie followed suit, gathering her courage close. They were all going to hate her. She knew it. She was going to be worse off than before. She would have to run away to California—No, not there. Someplace, though, where she couldn’t embarrass the family.

  She swallowed the tears burning her throat at the silence around her. Garrett hated her. She could tell. He couldn’t even say hello. “This is a mistake. Your family shouldn’t be put through this,” she said to Stuart, reaching for the door handle. “Please take me back.”

  Garrett moved then, slowly, steadily, until he stood before her. He put out his hand. “We met before, at Mac and Kelly’s wedding. I’m Garrett.” His gaze never wavered. “You have our father’s eyes. So does Jack. Your other brother.”

  Her other brother. The words teased her composure, but she needed to stay in control. She still had to face Marie.

  Mollie greeted Renee, who smiled with genuine welcome, then they all trooped into a formal living room that had a magnificent view of the lake. Marie awaited them, seated on a chair that looked like a throne to Mollie. She felt like Dorothy being presented to the great and powerful Wizard of Oz. Her knees wobbled. Someone came up beside her and cupped her elbow. Garrett. Her champion.

  Stuart moved to stand beside Marie. “Introducing you seems ridiculous. You know each other.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Fortune.” Mollie felt Garrett’s grip tighten. She wouldn’t faint. She wouldn’t. “I wish I had something else to say. I don’t.” Her words drifted.

  Marie looked at Stuart. “I’ve had the blue room prepared. She probably needs to rest. There’s the baby to consider.”

  And if there wasn’t, would you be yelling at me? Ordering me out? Blaming me? Mollie turned away, needing to disappear. “Yes. I would like to lie down for a while.”

  In the hall outside the living room, the phone rang.

  “I’ll get it,” Renee said, hurrying out.

  “It’s probably Jack,” Stuart said. “Tell him to come over anytime.”

  “How far along are you?” Garrett asked Mollie gently.

  “Five weeks. Please,” she whispered harshly. “Can you show me to my room? I need to be alone.”

  Renee stepped back in. “Stuart, it’s someone from the police department who needs to speak to you.”

  Everyone froze in their positions until Stuart returned. He came up beside Mollie. “That was Gray, actually, calling to see if I’d heard from you. Also to say he’s been arrested.”

  Mollie felt shockproof by now. “For what?”

  “Breaking and entering.”

  “What?”

  “Apparently he tracked you down to Tasha’s place. He threw a planter through a window when he couldn’t rouse you, which triggered a silent alarm.”

  Mollie pressed her fingers to her aching temples. “I’m married to a criminal.”

  Garrett smiled slightly. “I think you’re married to a man who’s out of his mind with worry.”

  “They’re not charging him, Mollie, but I had to tell him I knew where you were, or else the police were going to get involved,” Stuart said.

  “I’m not ready to talk to him.” Mollie almost growled the words.

  “I didn’t tell him you were here, only that you were fine and that he should give you a day,” Stuart said. “Okay, here’s the plan. Mollie will go upstairs and rest We’ll call the rest of the family, say we’ve got an announcement to make and have them all gather here this afternoon.”

  “So soon?” Mollie asked weakly.

  He held her hands. “My dear, I think you’ll fin
d that the Fortunes are both resilient and staunchly loyal to their own. You’ll be accepted in short order. You’re innocent in all this.”

  Mollie glanced at Marie, who hadn’t moved an inch the entire time Mollie had been in the room. How could she possibly be accepted when she would be a living reminder of her husband’s affair?

  “Mollie’s dead on her feet,” Renee said, sweeping in and taking over. “I’ll show her to her room.”

  Mollie followed gratefully.

  As dusk darkened the sky, Gray came to a stop at the entrance to Stuart’s house. Electronic gates barred his entry. He had two choices—use the telephone at the gate to call and ask for admission, or climb the fence. He figured he had a better shot climbing the fence.

  Just then the gates opened and a car emerged. He spotted Mason Chandler speeding away, then he aimed his car for the entrance. The gates started to close.... He winced as metal scraped metal, but kept going, stopping behind a long row of cars. A party? They were having a party?

  Gray caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror. He hadn’t shaved in thirty-six hours. Or showered. Or changed clothes. But after exhausting every other possibility, he had decided to force Stuart’s hand. Gray had spent the day at the computer trying to find where Mollie could be hiding. He’d turned up plenty of information on the Fortune family but nothing that led him to his wife.

  Afraid of being barred from entry, and figuring that a trespassing arrest wouldn’t hurt him any more than the breaking and entering charge, Gray tried the handle on the front door. Unlocked. He crept in, then followed the sound of voices tumbling over each other. “I can’t believe Chloe would break off the engagement.” “Do you think she really ran away?” “Of course Mason will find her.”

  Gray stood just outside the door to the roomful of people. Had they all gathered just because Chloe Fortune had apparently broken her engagement and run off? Chloe wasn’t Stuart’s child, but Emmet’s—the other side of the family. A moment of longing passed through Gray as he wished for that kind of family support. He and Mollie would start building that—as soon as he found her and they talked this situation out.

  He peered around the doorway. Everyone was talking—except Mollie. He pulled out of sight, leaned against the wall for support. Mollie. Safe. Anger followed on the heels of relief. Stuart had lied to him, undoubtedly with Mollie’s consent.

  After a minute he looked into the room again. His wife was standing between her half brothers, Jack and Garrett, like a protected little sister. Who the hell did she need protection from, anyway? Him?

  He finger combed his hair, tucked in his shirt and stepped through the doorway. Quiet spread across the room like one domino toppling another in slow motion. Ignoring her guards, he stopped in front of his wife.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  Mollie dug her fingers into her palms. Oh, he looked awful. So unlike him. “What happened to your hand?”

  He looked at the bandage as if he’d forgotten it. “Nothing. We need to talk. Alone.”

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Garrett said to Mollie. “You choose the timetable.”

  “Stay the hell out of this, Fortune,” Gray said distinctly. “Mollie, please. We can’t hash out our personal problems in public.”

  “This is her family,” Jack said. “Not the public.”

  Mollie locked gazes with Gray. He begged her with his eyes. Begged her He had always been the epitome of patience and kindness with her, but he looked like a wild man now, unshaven and disheveled. She knew the turmoil inside herself wouldn’t settle down, either, until they had spoken.

  “Is there a room where we could speak privately?” she asked Stuart, who had joined the small group.

  “Yes, of course. Come this way.” He led them out the door and down the hall to a room Mollie figured was called a library. Books lined the walls.

  Stuart glanced from Mollie to Gray, then back again. “You’ve both been through a lot. You’re both tired. Take that into consideration here.” Then he left, his fatherly advice dispensed, his confidence in Gray indicated by the fact he shut the door behind him.

  “Are you all right?” Gray asked, taking a step toward her.

  She retreated.

  He stopped.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Mollie, please sit down. The baby—”

  “Is fine, too. And I choose to stand.” She folded her arms across her stomach. “I can’t believe you got yourself arrested.”

  “Even if I’d stopped to considered I was breaking any laws, it wouldn’t have stopped me. Your car was there. You didn’t answer the door. I yelled at every window. What else could I do? I thought you were hurt. Or unconscious. Or...worse.” He shoved his hands through his hair and walked away from her “I thought you might be losing the baby.” The words came out low and hoarse. “I was afraid.”

  The emotion was genuine and heartfelt, Mollie knew that. But it didn’t let him off the hook. “If privacy is such a big issue with you, as you told me once, how is it you knew that Stuart was my father?”

  “Ah. First things first, I guess.” He turned to face her. “The information pretty much dropped into my lap while I was researching Knight Star and how I could get it. I wasn’t looking to dig up any dirt on Stuart. I never expected there was any.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Mirroring her pose, he crossed his arms. “In the beginning I was going to. My original plan was to join forces with you against him. Expose him for the fraud he was. Then I met you, and I knew I couldn’t ask that of you. And then, I—We got married. You had me, then. You didn’t need him.” Again he took a step toward her; again she retreated. “I’m sorry you found out about him by overhearing it. I was certain Stuart had abandoned you, that he had paid your mother for her silence.”

  She shook her head, again and again.

  “Yes,” Gray insisted. “You were a symbol of his fall from grace.”

  “You’re wrong. You’re so wrong about everything. Everything.” She sought refuge at the window, needing the peace of the quiet setting, but barely aware of it. “Stuart didn’t know, but I did. I did.”

  A mantel clock ticked in the silence. “That’s impossible,” Gray said at last.

  “Why?”

  “Because you couldn’t keep something like that to yourself.”

  “Why? Because I’m young? Naive? I may be both of those, but I’m not a home wrecker.”

  “No. Because family is so important to you. You had a father. Brothers. I can’t picture you not telling them. How long have you known?”

  She rubbed her face with her hands. “Since shortly after my mother’s death. I agonized over what to do. I wanted to tell him. I desperately wanted to.” But at the baby shower Marie said she would murder her husband if she ever found out he strayed. “But I made the decision not to complicate his life. I had been welcomed into the Fortune family when Kelly married Mac, and I was working with them, but they were also becoming my friends. I thought it was enough. I had the flower shop, the shop my mother bought with Stuart’s money. My legacy.”

  “I thought you were a victim. Like me.”

  “A victim of what? I didn’t lack for anything. My mother loved me enough for two. She provided for me. I couldn’t have asked for more.” The rest of his words registered. “How were you a victim?”

  “It doesn’t matter now.” He came up beside her. They gazed out the window together, the silence thick. “Nothing matters but you and the baby. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  She rounded on him, letting loose with the bottled-up anger. “Ignorance doesn’t absolve you. What you did was unconscionable. You should have told me what you knew, discussed it with me, your wife, the mother of your unborn child. I trusted you enough to marry you without any declaration of love on your part. You didn’t trust me the tiniest bit.”

  “Seems to me that we both had secrets.”

  “I was still getting
used to the idea.” She had to sit down, after all. “Most of the time I could block it from my mind. I didn’t even know about Knight Star, because I was afraid to know too much about him. I thought that the more I knew, the more tempted I would be to tell him. Maybe that’s something you couldn’t do. But I had to. It was only hard when I was in the same room as Stuart.”

  Mollie sat in a chair, keeping a huge, formidable desk between her and Gray. “You were threatening to take over his company, which would have destroyed my relationship with the Fortunes—my family but not my family. I would have told you before I let you do that. According to my mother’s journal, Stuart is a kind, wonderful man who anguished over causing another man’s death. I didn’t need to bring more pain into his life.”

  Gray blew out a breath. “That man was—”

  “I don’t see how we can stay married,” she said, sadness flowing through her, a river of loss after having found an ocean of love. “Not without trust, and especially not without love. I trusted you a lot. A lot. And just as soon as you loved me, I would’ve trusted you completely. I had to keep something in reserve, don’t you see? I had to. And I was right to! Our relationship was fragile before this, and now it’s cracked. I don’t know how to patch it, Gray.”

  “We can fix it. Let me explain.”

  “You married me for all the wrong reasons. You don’t respect me. I’m your possession or something. I tried to be patient. I tried to make you fall in love with me. Nothing worked. We can stay married until the baby is born, then—”

  “No!” Gut punched, Gray shot forward, desperation gathering like a funnel cloud inside him. He leaned over the desk. “No divorce.”

  “I don’t see another solution.”

  “You’re not looking hard enough. You’re tired. Tomorrow you’ll feel better. We’ll talk. Everything will work out.”

  “It won’t change anything.”

  She was going to leave him. She’d said she loved him. Again and again, she’d said so. Her guarantee for life. No matter what