by Adam (lit)
“Couple of miles out toward the mountain.”
“Closer to your work?”
“No. A house rather than an apartment.”
“Yes, I guess that would be better to have an individual house rather than an apartment. Neighbors won’t be quite as close.”
“I’ve had good neighbors here. Most of the nearby ones have lived here as long as I have. About seven years.” Such a stupid conversation between two people who have been as intimate as two people can be. What would Adam say when he found out the real reason she was moving to a house? A larger house, with a yard.
“What kind of schedule are you working this week while you’re moving?”
“I’m off till after the first of the year.”
“That’s quite a while.”
She took a bite of her sandwich and eyed him while she chewed. “Don’t worry, Adam, I won’t have to ask for assistance to pay the rent. You’ve done your part.”
“My part?”
“Yes. Remember the cashier’s check you so generously provided?”
“Garth was afraid you’d tear it up once you left him.”
“I thought about it. And then I thought: Why the hell should I tear it up? Cash the damned thing and use it. He certainly used you.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Oh. How did you mean it?”
“I was desperate to find Aaron. I knew something bad had happened.”
“And I was that bad thing.”
“I was wrong. I asked your forgiveness which you’ve refused. Just as you’ve refused the letters and telephone calls.”
“That might indicate I’m not interested in whatever you’re offering.” She’d made herself refuse his calls and letters. How many more times could she listen to offers of money to make up for what he’d done to her? Sure, she’d wished she could talk to him but, actually, it had only been wishful thinking. Rejection from Adam was something she couldn’t face. And she didn’t want his offer to pay for her trouble. Trouble?
She snorted.
“Yes, that came across rather clearly. Perhaps you should listen to my offer.”
“Look, Adam. You made it plain what you thought of me, what you wanted from me, what you got from me, and once your problem was solved, you were through with me. I accepted that. It was difficult. I didn’t have any choice but to go on, and I did. You didn’t need me, and I worked it out to where I didn’t need you.”
“You said you loved me.”
“Did I?” She put down her sandwich and wiped her fingers. “Did I ever tell you I was once married?”
His head jerked and he stared at her. “No. That was one thing you neglected to mention.”
“It wasn’t much of a marriage. At least, not as far as my husband was concerned. We were in college, both studying medicine. When we graduated, we married with the notion I’d work and help pay for the rest of his medical studies so that he could become a heart surgeon.” She leaned on the counter. “You can guess what happened. I worked and studied and paid half his tuition. When he graduated and was assigned a plum position, he left me for the head surgeon’s beautiful and rich daughter.” He watched her as though she spoke some electrifying truth. “I vowed never to place my trust in another man or give him love he couldn’t or wouldn’t return. You made me forget that vow, and I was again given the old heave ho. I paid for that mistake, too.” The results of forgetting that vow were what she lived for right now. Adam didn’t need to know, nor would he likely care.
She took the papers from his sandwich, wrapped them with hers, and threw them in the large green garbage bag sitting in the corner.
“With regrets, Adam. I don’t have any, but I’m not into masochistic relationships.” She leaned on the counter. “Now, if you’ve finished your lunch, and need to be somewhere else, feel free.” For once, her habit of distancing herself from effects thinking of Adam could bring helped her manage to keep her feelings from showing. It wouldn’t do to allow him to realize how shaky she was, how much she wished things had been different between them.
Their worlds were far apart, but they were now bound by something precious.
His mouth tightened, and she was once again staring into cold gray eyes. “I’m not going anywhere until you sit down and talk to me.”
“I’m in the midst of moving. I have to make sure everything from the apartment is aboard this truck and be certain everything is off-loaded at the new place. I don’t have time to sit and talk. Sorry.”
“I’m staying at the Ramada Inn downtown. Call me when you have some time.” He took a card from his pocket. “My cell phone number is on this. Call me.” He waited until she looked up from the card. “Please.”
“Again, I’d like to know the reason you suddenly show up after a year. When Garth delivered me back here, I thought you were finished with me. That’s the way I saw it. It was a traumatic time for both of us, and I knew you were devastated by Aaron’s death, that you’d have to deal with that your own way. You didn’t need help from me, you made that quite clear.” She stuck the card into her back jeans pocket. “And your contribution went well with what I had in mind.” She smiled at him. “It helped, so I thank you for that.”
“Perhaps it seemed an insult at the time, but I was afraid I might have cost you your job in spite of all the precautions I’d taken to cover all points. I meant only to help you out in case you needed it.”
She rocked back on her heels and nodded. “Now that we have all those embarrassing explanations out of the way, I have to get busy.”
“You’ll call?”
“Adam, look. I’m really tired, and I have two days of work left to finish today. I don’t know when I’ll have time to speak to you at any length.”
“I’ll wait.”
“How long are you going to be in Albuquerque?”
He smiled then for the first time. “Until you’ll talk to me.”
She sighed, opened her mouth to yell at him when Drake called.
“Excuse me, Ms. Sands. We’re ready for that last room. Is there any particular order you want it loaded.”
She turned. “No, Drake. I’m just interested in that room getting set up first.”
“Right. We’ll be ready to go in thirty minutes.”
“I’ll be right ahead of you.”
Adam had been watching and listening to her conversation with the man supervising the loading. “Ahead of him?”
“Yes, he doesn’t know the actual house location, so he’s going to follow me out there.”
“You don’t have phone service?”
“No. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
He would have to settle for that. She walked away from him, her rounded bottom swaying provocatively. Lyn hadn’t gained much weight, but she seemed to have filled out in all the right places. He watched until she entered the doorway where the man she’d called Drake stood. He was as unsure of Lyn Sands now as he’d been when he thought she was Kara Sands Mabry. Whoever she was, he was willing to wait in order to talk to her. He had to; her memory was driving him mad.
Chapter Twenty
He wasn’t sure when or why he decided to follow the moving van when it left Lyn’s apartment. Instead of returning to the too quiet hotel room, he rode two blocks and circled back, parking so he could see which way the van went. No more than thirty minutes later, Lyn drove around the truck to the street and waited for it to pull in behind her. Adam gave them a few blocks and let three cars get between them and his car. The moving van with the company logo prominently displayed was easy to keep in sight and still stay far enough behind them to escape their notice.
Noon time traffic was building but still not too bad on the road Lyn took. He couldn’t see the back of her car, but the left turning signal came on the truck as they approached a busy intersection. Two of the cars in front of Adam went straight and he wondered if Lyn thought to check her rearview mirror. Didn’t matter. The truck hid him from her view and there was stil
l one car between them.
A few blocks from the intersection, the landscape changed. There were more private residences, beautifully kept yards and larger homes in attractive settings. A sweeping glance told him Lyn would have a great view if she was moving to this area. The mountains were close enough to entertain one who loved them, and he’d learned that Lyn loved mountains, even if she was a prisoner.
He winced. Each time he thought of the time he held her prisoner, he ached. Memories drove him mad, but he stayed away from her long enough to allow her to heal from all the hurt he’d dealt her. He wanted her forgiveness, and more, but if her attitude was any indication, she was going to be a hard sell. Extremely hard.
He was going to make sure she heard him out before she banished him completely from her life. He couldn’t live with that; he didn’t intend to.
The moving van slowed and Lyn’s car turned right into a double driveway. He would have to go on past the house and didn’t get a good look at it as he drove on. When he came back and parked on a side street down from the house, Lyn and Drake were standing on the porch. Lyn pointed, Drake nodded, and Lyn turned to open the door.
Adam took in the setting. The house was sandstone colored stucco with red tiled roof. Sheer curtains covered the wide windows framed by deep wine shutters. There was a covered porch across the front with a wood-stained swing and two rocking chairs. Lyn had propped open a storm door, and he could see a stained glass arch in the wooden door. The front yard was landscaped with rocks, cacti and two palm trees. At the side, he could see a rock wall extending around the back. One story, but it looked like a good-sized house for one person.
His attention was drawn to the movers. They backed the truck closer to the porch. One man opened the doors and propped them back. They took tarps from the furniture inside the van and laid them on the driveway. Drake walked over to where Lyn stood, watching the action. He said something to Lyn and she smiled at him.
Adam’s eyes narrowed. Was there something between the two? They seemed awfully chummy to just be hired help and homeowner.
What is this, Adam? Jealousy? Ha. Of course not. But he continued to watch closely as the movers worked.
His attention had been concentrated on watching Lyn more than the movers until he took note of the furniture being carried. It was pale golden oak with colored figures on it, and it was small. He reached into the glove compartment, found the compact binoculars he always carried, and trained them on Lyn and the yard.
Baby furniture? She had a baby? Where was it? Whose was it? He’d heard her tell Drake she wanted that room of furniture unloaded first. She must have a small patient she had to care for. No, she isn’t working any more until after the first of the year.
As soon as the men started up the steps with what looked like a crib, Lyn went into the house ahead of them. The men came back out after a few minutes, but Lyn didn’t. Several more pieces that looked like nursery items were taken into the house.
Adam kept watch as other furniture was unloaded, but Lyn didn’t come back outside. He checked his cell phone but no calls had come through. Lyn wouldn’t call him this quickly if at all, but he was hoping she would. He hadn’t even asked if she had a cell phone, and she sure as hell hadn’t volunteered the information. He’d bet anything she had a cell phone. A busy nurse needed one these days.
He had a lot of questions he wanted answers to. And Lyn was the only one who could give him those answers. If she would. Lynette Sands was an independent woman, one he had once accused of unthinkable things, hadn’t listened to her, forced her to make love with him. After the first few times with her, Lyn had responded and had nearly drove him mad. Had he made her fall in love with him? He didn’t want her love, didn’t want anything from her except knowledge of Aaron. The Mabry brothers had built their empire by a lot of sweat and hard work and denying themselves, and they had been fair in dealing with others. The biggest mistake Adam had made was making love to Lyn – and letting her go.
Kicking her out, she said. When he learned of Aaron’s death, he was overwhelmed with grief. He could perhaps excuse his cold abandonment of Lyn for that reason. He could almost hear her scoff at that.There was no excuse, and she had left no doubt that was the way she thought of his actions.
A baby. If the baby isn’t a patient, then whose is it and where is it?
Lyn stood in the doorway of the bright room and checked it out. Perfect. Just the way she wanted it for Alexa’s welcome home. The sculpted ceiling was white, walls of very pale yellow with a border of pale orchid flowers. Drake had helped her place the furniture exactly the way she wanted it. The crib of natural wood between the two narrow windows. The matching chest, the Lane cedar chest that had been hers, the first piece of furniture she had bought for herself once she had a permanent job. The mobile of colorful birds swinging over the crib. The Teddy Bear quilt Trish had made. A stuffed Teddy Bear and donkey sat in a small rocker. A cloth doll leaned against the rocker.
A little girl’s room.
Her thoughts swung to Adam. She’d thought herself well rid of him. He was the one who had run and then ordered her to go home. Well, she’d done what he wanted her to, hadn’t she? Now, he had no business interfering in her life again.
Call him? Damned if she would. Her fingers crumpled the card in her pocket. Swearing, she turned and ran smack into Adam.
She stepped back. “Dammit, will you stop sneaking up on me? Haven’t you ever heard of anyone wanting privacy? Go away, Adam.”
“Whose baby are you caring for?” He looked over the room before turning to her. “I thought you were off duty until after New Year’s.”
“I am.”
He scowled. “Whose baby?”
“Mine, and you have no right to be here, no right to ask questions of me, no rights at all, Adam. You took what you wanted, got what you wanted, now leave me alone.”
He stepped closer and caught her arms. “When did you get married? Who did you marry?”
“Take your hands off me.” She shoved him away.
“Ms. Sands?”
She turned. “Oh, yes, Drake. Are you ready to leave? Let me get the papers and sign them.”
Drake was looking at Adam. “You want me to throw him out?”
She laughed. “Oh, yes, Drake, I’d love it, but don’t bother. He’s got more money than God and can do as he pleases. If he can’t have what he wants any other way, he’ll buy it”
“I can still throw him out.”
“I wouldn’t try it,” Adam said.
“Oh, stop it.” She turned with Drake to go over the house one last time. “Entertain yourself if you insist on staying here. I don’t have time for it.” She would have plenty of time to unpack boxes and do the other miscellaneous tasks before Christmas.
It had been her goal to be settled by Christmas, and she was well on the way to accomplishing that. If she could just get rid of Adam.
Adam looked at Lyn as she came back to the living room and plopped on the couch. Exhaustion was evident in her body language and her eyes.
“It’s four o’clock. What do you plan to eat?”
Her eyes were closed, weariness evident. “Why don’t you order Chinese? We’ll have the kitchen set up by the time you get back. The Golden China Buffet is about a mile back of us. If you’re going to eat with us, order for three.”
“The movers?”
“They’re finished except for a re-check of everything. They’ll be gone.”
“There’s just you and me, then. Unless you’re eating for two.”
“No, not now. I have a friend stopping by around five. See if you can time it so the meal’s hot.” If he insisted on sticking around, he could by golly make himself useful. And spend some of that moldy money.
And, yes sir, Mr. Mabry, you’re in for a surprise. Might even be a shock.
“Yes, Ma’am.” He glanced at his watch. It wouldn’t take over thirty or forty minutes to pick up take-out. He gave her a measuring look and left.
/> From the kitchen window, Lyn watched Adam leave. He walked with the same purposeful moves she’d admired in the mountains. As a businessman, he was probably tough and demanding. He was that way as a private person, too. She could vouch for that. Did he have a tender side? Didn’t she remember gentleness, almost affection, when he made love to her during her amnesia? Perhaps she’d been blinded by love. Or lust. Lust for Adam; love for her.
Mistakes, I’m made some. Regrets, I have a few. With regrets, Adam.
Her throat ached. She took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and turned to sign the last set of papers so Drake and his crew could get on the road.
That done, she sighed, and held out her hand. “Thanks, Drake. You and your men do a great job. I’ll recommend you for a promotion.”
Drake laughed. “You do that, Ms. Sands. My boss might even listen.” Whistling for the other two, he headed outside to the moving van.
Lyn watched it pull away just as Trish turned into her driveway.
Laughing, and with a whoop of joy, she hurried outside.
Chapter Twenty-One
Adam frowned when he saw a different car parked in Lyn’s driveway. The father of the baby who would use the nursery? It was a four-door, nothing fancy, maybe the kind they called a ‘family’ car, meaning easy for children to get in and out of the back seat. He snorted. He owned a couple like that himself, and he didn’t have any family.
He winced. Even after a year, he couldn’t get used to the idea that Aaron was gone. To keep his sanity, he’d worked himself right down to the bone after Aaron and Kara were killed. And Lyn. He had finally admitted that he wanted her permanently, not as a captive, but completely his. He had wrestled his heart and conscience over Lyn, and only now, at the insistence of his doctor, had he taken some time off from the killing pace he’d set for himself. He was going to make a pest of himself until Lyn at least listened to his side of the story.
Gathering the bags that held boxes of Chinese food, he gave the offending car one last look, and stepped up on the porch. Using his elbow, he rang the doorbell.