Passion's Fire
Page 28
The sheer curtain moved, again. A moment later, the cottage’s emerald door exploded open and Mavis rushed at him. “I was about to phone the police.” Mavis came to a halt in front of him, with her hands firmly planted on her hips and fury sparkling in her eyes.
“You don’t have to phone the police. I’ll leave.”
“Over my dead body.”
Link winced. “You’re my only connection to Jacqueline, and— ” He couldn’t say any more.
“And be glad I am. Now get your lazy carcass inside before I drag you in.”
Link held up his hands and shook his head.
She grabbed his hand and pushed the thumb backward. “Inside.” Link went. “I’ve been trying to phone you for hours, but kept getting a busy signal.”
“Phillip has been on the computer.” Waves of pain radiated from his hand making it difficult for Link to think.
“Get a second phone line.” Mavis huffed as she stomped up her two front steps, dragging him along. “Link Gavallan, you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
When pressure lessened on his thumb, Link was tempted to jerk free, but just then, he looked up, and saw Jacqueline’s profile in the window. He stumbled and half fell against Mavis. Mavis dropped his hand and caught the railing. Link stared at the now empty window and knew he’d stepped over the edge into madness. He covered his face with his hands and blinked back tears.
“Well, the bad penny turned up,” Mavis said. “Don’t know what you see in the likes of him, though.”
“Grandma!”
Jacqueline’s face swam into sight. He blinked three times, but still saw her clutching the door. She looked different. Most of her hair was gone and the left side of her head had been shaved to treat an ugly gash, which was held together with neat, tidy stitches.
“I’m leaving,” Mavis said.
Link couldn’t understand why Mavis sounded so pleased.
“Grandma didn’t hurt you, did she?” The apparition sounded throaty.
“Jacqueline, you’re dead.”
Her familiar warm laugh echoed across the porch. “No, the burned-off brows and eyelashes just make it look that way.”
Link tried to focus through the tears. “I saw the newscast and knew you were dead before Mavis told me.”
“I got knocked out. It’s a wonder I didn’t die, but all I got was a concussion.” It didn’t look that way. She took his uninjured hand. Her flesh felt warm. “You saved me.” He wrapped his arms around her and never wanted to let go.
Link hugged her so close he could barely breath. “I wish I could have saved you.” Obviously, Tempest had been right, he was a raving lunatic, but if he had to lose his mind to see Jacqueline one last time, it was worth going over the edge.
She snuggled close. “When I knew I was going to burn to death, I prayed to God not to let my last vision of this life be that glimpse of hell.” She squeezed his fingers. “Then you were there, smoke swirling all around you. You put your arm around my shoulders like you did that night we walked along the river you said, ‘Why don’t we take a walk?’”
“You had a hallucination.”
“Maybe. Or maybe it was an answer to my prayer. While you and I were walking out, I had a sort of revelation.”
“Which was?”
“That I expect life to go in certain ways. But sometimes it doesn’t, so I get frustrated. And sometimes I don’t realize how wonderful something is, because it seems too perfect or too soon.” Jacqueline shivered. Link’s arms trembled. She took a shuddering breath. Link stroked her spine in a reassuring way.
“There’s a reason for everything,” he said. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“It was terrifying.”
“Someone called Mavis and told her you were dead.”
“Nora is dead.”
“Nora?” Link sat down hard on the porch. Jacqueline’s weight settled on his lap, her live weight.
“My freshman year roommate. At first the meeting seemed accidental and she seemed so happy to see me.” Link touched her cheek; his hand trembled as he lightly traced her face. She turned her head and kissed his thumb. “Link, I should have listened to you. Nora was insane and she loved fire. She used it to kill people.” Jacqueline swallowed, and snuggled against him. Link wrapped her in his arms. “If you still want me-”
“Then the answer is yes?”
She nodded. “I don’t ever want to let go of you, again.”
“I wish I hadn’t been there, but it actually wasn’t the nightmare I expected.” Jacqueline frowned. “I mean it was, but it wasn’t. I learned a lot from it.” Her forehead furrowed. “You know how much I hate fire?”
He nodded.
“I didn’t panic. Adam did. All he did was scream. If he’d stayed calm, he could have gotten himself out; thrown a chair through the window or something.” Jacqueline gave him a hard hug. “Link, Adam’s death wasn’t my fault.”
“I told you that.”
Jacqueline closed her eyes, as if reliving a bad memory.
“Nora took my life so completely that she even used my folks and Grandma as people to contact in case of emergency. Can you believe it?”
“You ask me that when you’ve just risen from the dead?”
Jacqueline looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “They took me to the ER and treated me for burns, contusions and smoke inhalation, when I insisted that I was me, they admitted me to the Psychiatric Unit.”
“Why?”
“Nora worked there and the ER nurse knew her. My ID burned in the fire. Word got around that Nora had burned to death and I was burned, too. The police thought I’d killed her, and tried to steal her identity.” Link didn’t know what to say. Jacqueline’s shoulders shook. “Wasn’t that ironic?”
Link kissed her. “I love you, Jacqueline Cardew.”
“And I love you, Link Gavallan.”
“Are you two idiots through making a spectacle of yourselves on my front porch?” Mavis demanded. “The neighbors are talking.”
Jacqueline scrambled off his lap, and Link hopped to his feet, grabbed Mavis and kissed her. “I love you, too, Grandma.”