Nick.
“Hello?”
“Rosie?” came the deep voice. Her heart began to race. “I’m sorry it’s so late.”
To hear Nick over the phone sounding so natural and familiar made it feel as though they’d never suffered a seven-year separation.
“Are you all right?” she asked anxiously.
“I’m fine.” There was a pause. “If you’re worrying that this is something war-related, then stop.”
“Thank heaven! When I think what you’ve lived through… I wish I had a magic pill I could give you to make it all go away. I can’t—”
“Rosie—”
She was so choked up she could hardly talk. “I can’t get the things your mom told me out of my mind. Oh, Nick… Nick… When you flew off on that plane, I suffered a thousand fears, but the reality is so much worse. I wish there were something…”
By now she was sobbing.
“It’s over, Rosie,” he murmured. “The only problem facing me now is a broken thermostat on Dad’s car.”
She sniffed. “You didn’t take yours?”
“No. Dad had the Buick all packed, and he wanted to drive. You know how much he loves that car.”
“I do know.” She managed a quiet laugh. “You probably could have fixed it if you’d had a replacement.”
“True. Instead, I had to flag down a motorist with a cellular phone. Remind me to get one when I return.”
“Dad has one.”
“He left it in St. George.”
“Every time they come up here, they forget something.”
“It’s kind of touching to know they’ve stayed true to form.”
But I didn’t. I didn’t.
“Rosie, I didn’t say that to upset you.”
He could read her thoughts. He always could. “I know you didn’t. Oh, Nick… I’ve always loved you. So much. I never wanted to hurt you. I’m so sorry for what you’ve had to endure and so proud of you at the same time. I’m…I’m in awe of you, Nick. It’s such a helpless feeling to know what happened to you, and not be able to do one thing about it.”
Another silence.
“You can do something for me now.”
“What’s that? Anything.”
“Get on with the rest of your life and be happy. Don’t look back.”
Another paroxysm of tears threatened. “Where do you find the strength to say that to me?”
“In prison I discovered many things. That God lives, that life is fleeting and precious. I plan to make the most of the time I have left. That’s what you need to do, too, sweetheart.”
But you’re going to do it without me. I won’t be there. I can’t bear it.
“Mom? Is that Dad?” Cody came bounding up to her. When he saw her wet face, his crumpled, too. “What’s wrong? Has something happened to Dad?” He started to cry.
“Just a minute, Nick,” she said in a gravelly tone. “Here’s Cody.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE BLARING SOUND of the test pattern on the TV brought Rosie awake. Six in the morning. She sat up on the couch with a tension headache and cramps in her stomach. Today she had to face Zach.
When she hadn’t been able to get to sleep last night, she lay on the couch to watch TV, hoping it would relax her, get her mind off things. Cody had wandered in to say good-night again, his peace of mind restored after talking to Nick for half an hour.
Once he’d left the room, she turned on the classics channel to watch a movie. It was Random Harvest. She hadn’t seen it since she was a girl. Rosie had been too young then to really understand the story of the man who’d lost his memory and the wife who loved him so much she stayed in his life as a stranger rather than let him go.
Rosie knew she should have turned it off. Instead, she felt a compulsion to watch it. The ending, in particular, tortured her—the husband got his memory back and the wife got her husband back, while Rosie’s story…
She honestly didn’t know how her story was going to end. In the movie, the hero’s amnesia made things simpler, more straightforward. There was nothing remotely simple or straightforward about Rosie’s life.
After staggering to her feet, she left the living room, bleary-eyed, in search of Cody. He needed to get up and take a bath. She needed one, too. Long and hot.
“Cody?” She opened the door to his room. “Time to wake up, honey. I’ll start your tub.”
“I’m sick, Mom. I can’t go to school.”
Her eyes closed tightly. No, this just couldn’t be happening. Not this morning. Not to Zach. Not again.
Taking a determined breath, she marched into his room and over to his bed. He didn’t look sick. But after reading the brochure Linda Beams had given her, she realized that Cody had his own ways of dealing with grief and confusion. Psychosomatic illness was just one of the manifestations.
He’d caught her in tears last night. No doubt that had created new monsters, new fears, in his mind. She had to put them to rest, whatever they were.
She sank onto the side of the bed and smoothed the hair out of his eyes. “Where do you feel sick, honey?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t feel good. Do you have to go to work today?”
“Yes,” she lied. “For a little while. If you want, I’ll ask Mrs. Larson across the street to look in on you while I’m gone.”
“I’m not a baby, Mom. I don’t need a sitter. I just wish Dad was here.”
“I know. But since he isn’t, we’ll make the best of it. Do you just want to stay in bed?”
“I think I’ll get up.”
“You can watch TV in the living room or play video games when I go.”
“Okay. How long are you going to be gone?”
“Two hours,” she improvised.
He climbed out of bed and followed her into her bedroom. “Why were you crying last night?”
I knew it.
“I was just talking to your dad about the war.”
“He loves you, Mom.”
“I know. I love him, too.”
“But I mean he really loves you.”
She couldn’t endure another minute of this. “Honey…I have to get ready.”
He waited outside the bathroom door. “Mom?” he called.
She turned on the shower, preparing to step inside. But she couldn’t ignore him completely. “What is it, honey?”
“I know you love Zach, but do you really love him?”
Oh, Cody, my darling boy. You’ve asked the question I’ve been skirting all night. This morning I believe I know the answer.
“Let me finish my shower and then we’ll talk.”
“Okay,” he said in a grumpy tone. She heard him stomp off down the hall.
She purposely took a long time to wash and blow-dry her hair, hoping he’d be engrossed in something once she was dressed and ready to drive to Zach’s.
No such luck. He was waiting for her when she went to the kitchen to find some painkiller for her headache. The huge bowl of cereal he’d poured testified to the state of his physical health.
“You know I’m running late? I’ve got things to do at the office before I teach class.” She bent to give him a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll talk when I get home. I’ll call you in a little while and see how you’re doing. And don’t forget—you can always phone Mrs. Larson.”
“Okay. But hurry!”
“I will.”
Zach would be shocked to see her on his doorstep at eight, but there was no help for it. She waved to Cody as she backed the car down the drive. Two hours. That was all she had to give Zach. But she might not need that long when he heard what she had to tell him.
SOMEONE WAS TRYING to get him on the phone. Whoever it was had rung three separate times in succession. Zach rolled over and glanced at his clock through bloodshot eyes. Five to eight. He rolled back onto his stomach.
There was only one person he wanted to talk to, and she wouldn’t be here until nine.
The ringing started again. Damn
the phone.
He put the pillow over his head, but nothing deadened the sound. The person on the other end wasn’t about to give up.
Muttering a curse, he reached blindly for the receiver. “Yes?”
“Hello? Is this Zach?”
Zach tried sitting a little straighter. “Rosie?”
“It didn’t sound like you. I’m down in the lobby. Can I come up?”
“What do you think? Hell, Rosie, I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting you for another hour. I’m a mess.”
“I’m afraid there was an unavoidable change in plans. Cody didn’t want to go to school this morning. I’ve left him at home alone.”
He shook his head to clear it. “You know the code. I’ll leave the door open.”
He levered himself from the bed with difficulty. Last night he’d had a few too many at the Alpine Club. This morning he was paying the price.
Throwing on his robe, he hurried through to the front door. When he’d unfastened the bolt and opened it a crack, he took off for the bathroom. A quick shower and shave would help restore him. By the time he’d dressed in a clean T-shirt and jeans, he felt he could face Rosie without totally revolting her.
Normally Zach didn’t drink much. But he’d wanted everything about yesterday and last night to be obliterated from his consciousness. Unfortunately the memories were back this morning, and his heart felt so heavy he knew he couldn’t go on like this any longer.
Rosie wasn’t a drinker, either, but judging by her haggard appearance, she looked as if she needed something a lot stronger than coffee to sustain her.
With painful clarity it came to him then that they weren’t the same two people who’d danced the night away on the cruise.
Gone were the carefree lovers. Gone were the whispers in the night about a honeymoon.
Gone was all talk of the baby they were going to make together. All gone.
When she didn’t rush into his arms, he called her name.
One tear, then another, coursed down her pale cheeks. Her shoulders started to shake. “Zach?”
With that one word, a groan escaped his throat. He shook his head, sensing a burst of adrenaline that was making him feel like a crazy man.
He took several deep breaths, attempting to hold on to his sanity. “Rosie…” he began.
“Yes?”
She was facing him as bravely as she would a firing squad. His adorable Rosie, noble to the bitter end.
“Can you look me in the eye and tell me you want to live the rest of your life with me?”
The energy radiating between them could have lit up a small city.
“You know how much I adore you, Zach. You know it,” she whispered fiercely.
“That’s not the answer.” He folded his arms to keep from touching her. “I’ll ask it again a different way….
“Knowing that your husband’s alive, that you’ll be seeing him coming and going in Cody’s life, that you’ll be talking to him from time to time, consulting him on occasion, being at functions where he’ll be, standing with him in Cody’s wedding-reception line one day, seeing him at the hospital when Cody’s wife has a baby, or two or three… Knowing all that…
“Do you, Rosie Armstrong, take me, Zach Wilde, to be your lawfully wedded husband, do you promise to cling only to me, to want only me, to dream only of me, to have children with me, to forsake all others—to put Nick Armstrong completely away—until death do us part?”
I know what your answer is, Rosie. But I have to hear you say it.
“Take your time. This day had to come. This question had to be asked. I’m asking it now.”
“I know,” she whispered. “That’s why I’m here.”
The quiet grew more ominous. His mouth had gone dry. “I’ll ask it a third way. Will it tear you apart when Nick marries another woman and starts a new life in Heber?”
She buried her face in her hands.
“Will it tear you apart to think of him on a honeymoon with another woman? Making love to her as only you can imagine? Giving her a baby like the one he gave you?”
A knock-down, drag-out, bottom-line session. No holds barred.
“Will it tear you apart that he comes home to her every night, instead of to you? Will it tear you apart that he’s living out the future with someone else when it should have been your future?”
After an eternity she lifted a ravaged face. “It’s already tearing me apart that I’ve hurt you so deeply.”
“Say it, Rosie,” Zach demanded. “Get it over with. Say, ‘I’m in love with Nick.’”
He heard the sob. Then, “I’m in love with Nick.”
Zach reeled. “Thank you.”
Unable to hold back any longer, he reached for her and caught her in his arms, crushing her to him. “Rosie, Rosie…I’m dying now, but if I’d heard those words after we were married… I don’t even want to think about it.”
“If Nick hadn’t come back…”
“I know. We would have had a fantastic life together.”
She raised her head and grasped his face between her palms. “We would have. You’re the most wonderful man, Zach. I’ll always love you.”
“And I’ll always love you, my darling Rosie. But Nick’s so deep in your heart, so deep and tight, there’s no room for anyone else. That’s the kind of love I want, Rosie. So deep and tight it’s forever.”
I’m telling you these lies because you want to hear them.
“I pray to God you find it.”
I won’t. I’ve had my quota of lost loves.
“It’s time to take back my ring,” he said.
A new pain shattered him when she thrust a hand in her purse and handed the ring to him. She’d come over early to give it to him….
“I’d let you keep it, but Nick’s as possessive a man as I am. You don’t want a major fight on your hands before you’ve settled down to loving each other again.”
That won a smile from Rosie, whose drenched green eyes lit up at the very thought of her husband.
Nick’s seven-year nightmare is over. Mine’s just beginning.
“What will you do, Zach?”
“Mitch is going to be put in charge of the company here. I’m moving back to California.”
Another lie, but it’ll make you happier to think of me there….
She squeezed him hard. “I’m so thankful you have family. I know they’ll help you.”
No one will be helping me. I’m going to finish what I set out to do when I came to Utah and got sidetracked by you, Rosie. After that, it doesn’t matter.
“I’m going to miss you,” she said with an ache in her voice.
“Maybe until Nick gets back from Yellowstone.”
The tears were starting again. “If there’d been any way to know that he was still alive… You’ve spent two years of your life on me… It isn’t fair, Zach—”
“Shh. I don’t regret one single second of what we had together. I’ll treasure it all my life.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, go home to Cody. His happiness is going to make all of this worth it.”
With their arms around each other he propelled her to the door. She looked up at him, searching his eyes. “Zach, how can I leave you like this?”
He put a finger to her lips. “Make it easy for me and go.”
The second she was out the door, he dashed to the kitchen and phoned his brother. His nephew answered. Luckily Richard hadn’t gone to work yet.
“Go get your dad out of the shower for me, Richie.”
“Okay, Uncle Zach. Just a sec.”
Come on…
“Hey, Zach?”
“I confronted her, Richard. No holds barred. Now I’m a free man.”
“Zach… I’m flying to Salt Lake. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I may not be here.”
“Just stay put till I get there.”
“I thought I could handle it.”
“You’ll handle it.”
“You want to make a bet
?”
“Zach? We’ve both been through a lot together. We’ll get through this, too. For the love of God, hang tight till I get there.”
“HI, CODY. I’m home! How’re you feeling?”
“Not good.” He wandered into the kitchen still dressed in the sweats he liked to use for pajamas. They matched Nick’s. “You’ve been crying again, huh?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’ve been crying hard.” Forgive me, Zach, darling. Please, God, let him find happiness again soon. Please—
“Over Dad?”
She set her purse on the counter. “Over a lot of things. Come here.” She held out her arms and they hugged. “I think you and I could use a little cheering up about now. Are you too sick to drive down to Orem with me?”
“You mean to see R.T.? Heck, no!”
“Of course to see R.T. Who else do we know in Orem?”
“How soon can we go?”
“As soon as you get dressed.”
“Does he know we’re coming?” he called minutes later from the other part of the house.
“Yes. I just phoned him. Cynthia’s at work and he’d love the company.”
“He’s the coolest guy.”
“He is.”
When Rosie had told R.T. she needed a friend to talk to, he didn’t ask any questions. He just told her to come and stay as long as she wanted.
Forty-five minutes later, R.T. had Cody ensconced in their study, teaching him the fundamentals of a new computer game. With his quick mind, Cody didn’t take long to catch on. Soon he was too engrossed to talk to either of them.
She and R.T. shared a secret smile and left her son entertained while they made their way to the living room of the small home.
R.T. gave her a long thorough appraisal. “You’re so sad. It makes me feel guilty.”
“For you to say something like that tells me you and Cynthia must be getting along terrifically.”
His shy smile touched her heart. “To be honest I’m so happy it scares me. Only one thing could make me happier.”
“What’s that? The news that she’s pregnant?”
“Well, that, too, of course.” He grinned, then sobered. “To see you at peace.”
Rosie sat foward on the chair. “R.T., this morning Zach and I said goodbye to each other forever. He took back his ring. It’s over.”
Strangers When We Meet Page 19