What If

by Ann Ritchie Domela

  Chapter 26

  The Truth Comes Out

  Not a single word from either of them, each full of their own thoughts, fears.

  As they approached Linda Sue’s house, Duncan tried to start a conversation. “Heather, I do have something to tell you. I just don’t know how to begin.”

  “Duncan, not now. I have to get my mind in order.” They pulled up in front of the house. The lights were on, so they knew Linda Sue was home.

  “Heather, it must be now, before we go into the house. It’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you since I met you. I really didn’t mean to let it go on this long. It’s just that it never seemed the right time. And then as I got to know you more, I didn’t know how to tell you.” Before she got a chance to refuse him again, he continued. “I came here deliberately to see you, to talk to you. I followed you to Morro Bay and tried to talk to you, but I lost my nerve. I really did go into the manager’s office at Rose’s, but it was to avoid talking to you. I told him of my ideas to write about the restaurant, not to show him the finished product.”

  “Why? Why would you want to meet me and what is it you have to tell me? Was everything a deliberate plan? Why?”

  “Yes, Heather. My job is real. I am sure you know that. I was traveling to several towns in California and Oregon working on my book, when I got a letter from….”

  “Heather, Heather,” Linda Sue was running toward them.

  “What is it?”

  “You’ll never believe it.” Linda Sue began. “It’s …..” a tall figure appeared in the doorway. “No, Heather, please, stop. You need to be prepared.”

  The young woman opened the door of the car and jumped out. How could she remain calm, be prepared when she could see her fiancé, her Ian, standing in the door of the house only feet away from her?

  “Ian, Ian,” she screamed running toward him. The man stood in the doorway waiting for her.

  Linda Sue called out her name again. Heather didn’t hear or care. Ian was here, alive. She rushed into his open arms.

  “Ian, what happened to you? How are you here and alive after all this time?” she was laughing, sobbing, crying.

  The tall man held her close, “Ah, my love, my sweet wifee to be. Come inside. I’ve already told your friend what happened. Now it’s time for you to hear. But first, let me hold you in my arms. I love you so much.” He pulled her inside the living room.

  Linda Sue stayed outside next to the car with Duncan. She didn’t know what to say to him at that point. It had been obvious that he had fallen deeply in love with Heather. But it was just as obvious that he was the spitting image of the man in the house. It was one thing when he just looked similar to the memory Heather had, but there had to be more. She was sure he knew some of the answers. Opening the door, Linda Sue sat down next to Duncan. “So, what have you got to say?”

  “I promise. I was just about ready to tell her. I kept waiting for the right time.”

  “Well,” her voice was full of anger.

  “Linda Sue, I did set things up so I could meet with Heather.”

  “Why? Just tell me why?’

  “My mother asked me to,” he gulped.

  “What? Do you really expect me to believe that?”

  “No, but it’s true. Why don’t we go inside?”

  “No, not yet. I may not want you in my house or anywhere near. I think they need a chance to talk things over.”

  “But, he’s probably lying to her.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Linda Sue, I am Ian’s cousin. His mother and mine were sisters. My mother had been planning to go to the wedding. She was devastated when she received the news that Ian had been lost at sea.”

  “And..?”

  “There’s more.”

  “There had better be.”

  “She never went to Rosehearty, even for the funeral. Mom had lost her sister and then her nephew. It was difficult. Then she heard that Ian had returned after several months to the town. He said that he had been picked up by some fisherman who took him to their home on a nearby island for treatment. Ian suffered from amnesia and it was months before he regained his memory.”

  “What’s wrong with that? That’s what he told me.”

  “Mom felt there were too many holes in his story. First of all, when he returned to Rosehearty, he suddenly became a happy bachelor. He made no attempt to find Heather or let her know that he was still alive.”

  “Why didn’t anyone in town contact her?”

  “I guess it is due to the fact that she only told her family and friends that she was going to California to paint. Not much information.”

  “How did you find her and why?”

  “My mother wrote after she heard about Ian being alive. She wanted me to find Heather and let her know. It didn’t take all that much for me. I do work for some newspapers and there was that small article about your gallery selling her art. After that, I decided to get acquainted with her before I broke the news. I wasn’t sure how she would take it. It could have been too much of a shock.”

  “Just seeing you almost put her in a state of shock. Didn’t you think of that?”

  “Honestly,” he looked toward the closed door of the house, “I didn’t know how much we looked alike. Then you opened the door for me to get to know her first.”

  “My big mistake. And then what took you so long?”

  He opened up his car door and started to step outside. “I’m sorry, but I can’t wait to talk to her. We don’t know what lies he is telling her.”

  “First, tell me why you waited.” Linda Sue opened up her door as well.

  “I fell in love with her.” His answer was brief as he headed up the walkway and opened the door with Linda Sue close behind.

  As he thought, Ian was holding Heather in his arms. Tears were running down her face. Whatever he was telling her, she believed it.

  “Duncan,” she turned toward him, “This is Ian, the man I am engaged to. He’s been telling me about how he was rescued and had a memory loss for months before he got it back and returned. The people in town told him about me, our engagement and how I ran away to California.”

  “Really? Is that so?” he tried to keep his voice under control. “How nice. Why did it take so long for him to find you?”

  “I don’t know,” she turned to Ian.

  “Lass, I tried, but you were hard to find.”

  “Was that you on the dunes tonight?” Duncan asked.

  “Yes. I was trying to talk to her.”

  “So why did you take off?”

  “Duncan,” Heather said a trace of annoyance in her voice. “I don’t think you have the right to ask him anything. After all, it seems you kept a few things from me.”

  “What?”

  “You seemed to have forgotten to mention that you were related to my fiancée.”

  “I know I have a lot to explain. Yes, we are cousins. Yes, I did come here with the express intention of telling you that your so called fiancée was alive and quite well.”

  “What right do you have to say anything like that against him?”

  “I.” he hesitated. “Heather, I was going to tell you that he was alive. I tried, but it never seemed the right time.”

  “Just when do you think the right time would have been?”

  Ian stopped the argument. “It doesn’t matter, now my love. We will be leaving tonight. I want to get married right away so we can go home together. I don’t want you to stay here with Linda Sue or be near that cousin of mine for one more minute. You are to be with me. I heard that we can fly to Las Vegas and get married right away.”

  Heather stepped back away from him. “Wait. I’m not prepared to get married so quickly and go back home. I have my art.”

  “I told you before, I will allow you your hobby, but we have a family to start. I don’t trust either of them around you. They can talk you out of getting married at all. I’m sure she,” he pointed to Linda Sue, “will try t
o convince you to stay. After all, you are her meal ticket.”

  Linda glared at him, eyes ablaze with anger. How dare he say that about her? She began to speak, but was interrupted by her friend. “No, don’t you say that. Linda Sue has done nothing but help me.”

  Realizing he was antagonizing everyone, Ian apologized. “It’s just that I love you so much, my wiffee to be, I can’t wait until you are indeed my wife. I apologize, Linda Sue. You can’t blame me after all this time not knowing where my love was at. Now can you?”

  Before she could answer, Duncan spoke up. “Heather, I didn’t tell you after I got to know you because I fell in love with you. I had planned on proposing to you after telling you about Ian. I promise I will not try to get you to do anything but what you want. You won’t have to ask my permission to do anything. All I want to do is make you happy.”

  “No, Heather, don’t listen to him,” Ian demanded. “He doesn’t love you. Why wouldn’t he tell you that he knew the man you love was alive?”

  “I told you. I wanted to be sure you could handle it and then I fell in love with you. Don’t you think you were falling in love with me too? Duncan asked of Heather.

  “Shut up, just because we are slightly related doesn’t mean I won’t get rid of you. Heather is mine. We are engaged and going to be married.” Ian was firm.

  “Stop, stop just a minute.” Heather said, “Duncan, I thought I was beginning to care deeply for you. I enjoyed being with you. But I am engaged to Ian. I have to give this some time.”

  “No,” Ian almost roared. “No more time. We are leaving tonight.” He grabbed her by the arm.

  “No,” the young woman spoke back to Ian, as she had never done before as she pulled away. “Ian, it’s been a while. I’ve been making a new life for myself. I am going to stay here on the central coast for a while until I am sure of my success. That way, when I do return to Scotland, we will be able to purchase that big house and think about a family.”

  “I won’t allow that,” he grabbed at her arm again until he was causing some pain. “You are coming with me. Remember your promise that you would never love another. Don’t even take time to pack anything. You can come as you are. We will get anything you need.”

  “Heather,” Duncan spoke softly as he gently pulled her toward him and away from Ian. “Break off your engagement. Take your time. Give us both a chance to show you how much we love you. Do your art. I’m willing to wait, forever, if necessary. I will always love you.” He leaned forward and down to her face as if to kiss her.

  Ian was furious. She had no right to refuse him. They were engaged. “Get away from my fiancée. Do you think she would fall for you just because we look alike? She loves me. I know why you’re trying so hard. It’s the money. You want it all. Well, you aren’t getting it. Your share should be enough.”

  “What share?”

  “As if you didn’t know.” Ian didn’t notice the shocked look on Heather’s face. He continued. You knew that when our grandfather died, he was to leave all his money to both of us to share. Then when he thought I had died, he changed his will to leave my share to the woman who was to be my wife.”

  Duncan hung his head slightly, speaking in a low voice. “I knew grandpa had died, but I didn’t know about his will.”

  “Now you know. Did you really think I would let you take my money by getting close to my fiancée?”

  “I don’t think that is your decision.” Heather spoke up. “In fact, you have no decisions that relate to me. I have learned to be my own woman and I don’t need or want you.” Duncan gasped as he saw her turn to Ian.

  “I demand my rights. We are engaged.”

  “No, we are not. Not now, not ever. Now get out.”

  “I’ll sue. That is my money. I’ll…”

  To Linda Sue’s personal delight, she had already gotten the gist of the conversation and called some of her friends at the police station to come and escort Ian out. She would have loved to throw him out on his ear herself, but knew she couldn’t. She might think about taking some Karate lessons or something similar.

  Heather turned back to Duncan. “I believe you didn’t know anything about the inheritance. And, I believe you were really trying to do things in my best interest. And…” she hesitated. “I believe you do love me.”

  “But?” he asked.

  “But, while I do believe you want me to be happy and won’t try to interfere in any way with my dreams, I am not ready to jump into any marriage. This is going to take time. I’m in no hurry to marry anyone. Not now.”

  “Oh,” Duncan hung his head. She hadn’t said she loved him back. He didn’t mind waiting, but he had hoped for words of encouragement. “Is there any chance?”

  For a brief moment, she hesitated to answer his question. There was Ian to deal with. “And as for you, my beloved Ian, I did love you. I was so devastated when I thought you to be gone. I grieved as if I were your widow. I endured all the accusing stares and innuendos from our townspeople. Finally, when I could stand it no longer, I did come here to work and get on with my life. I didn’t anticipate meeting your cousin. I didn’t know about any inheritance, nor do I care.”

  “I don’t believe that. You both stand to inherit a great deal of money.”

  “I believe Duncan didn’t know.”

  “You believe what you want. I want my money. It’s my right. And you are my woman. I picked you out of all the women in town. You should have appreciated that.”

  “Why?”

  “I had my choice of many women.”

  “Ian, I thought I loved you. That is why I agreed to marry you. As for your inheritance, I will sign the papers to relinquish your entire share back to you. I don’t want it. I am fully capable of earning my own living as long as I live here and work at my art. I don’t need you. I don’t want you and I will never appreciate the so-called honor you gave me in offering to marry plain old me. So you can leave. The papers will be sent to the solicitor to give you your money. I wish you well, but get out of here. Leave!” she almost shouted as she pointed toward the door.

  “I’m sorry Linda Sue,” she apologized for being so dramatic. “I had to do that.”

  “Fine with me. I almost felt like applauding.”

  Heather smiled slowly. She had enjoyed asserting herself as a woman of independence. “Let’s take a walk on the beach, Duncan. I think we have something to discuss.”

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  It was like stepping back in time. Again, the lovely young Scot was lying in a luxurious bed at the Apple Farm Inn. This time it was one of the rooms she had missed in the Mill House. The room was very much similar to the maroon colored room she had been in months before, but it was all done in gold. If possible, even more opulent than the first room. There was the fireplace and two comfortable chairs on either side. The bed was so soft, so comfortable. The door across from the bed opened and a very tall handsome man stepped into the room, clad in only a blue towel, fresh from the Jacuzzi.

  “How is my beautiful bride?” he asked.

  No longer did she dream of the tall brown haired, bearded ghost. The man stood before her and there was that certain look in his eyes.

  The wedding had been spectacular. The personnel at the Apple Farm had done all they could to make it a dream wedding. Heather had even had many photos taken on the stairway leading down from the gift shop in the Mill House to the garden below. Linda Sue had been her bridesmaid. Heather had made sure she was the one to catch the bridal bouquet. Not really necessary since Richard had already proposed and Linda Sue’s answer was the same as when Heather had finally accepted the proposal from her now husband.

  Malcolm, Mari and the many Scottish friends had attended the wedding in full Scottish regalia. Even her husband had worn the traditional garb. Their room had been filled with fragrant flowers.

  The man stood before her, dropping his towel to reveal her new husband. Yes, she thought, I’m not sorry I waited. This man, this Dunca
n Noble was well worth the wait.