Substitute Bride (Special Edition)

by Alexander, Trisha

  Quickly stripping off his clothes and tossing them in the direction of the hamper, he headed for the bathroom. When he emerged a few minutes later, she had turned off her bedside lamp. Picking his way carefully in the darkened room, he walked to his side of the bed and climbed in beside her. He groaned, feeling the tension of the day in every cramped and aching muscle.

  “You okay?” she said.

  Suddenly he didn’t even have the strength to answer, let alone move, even though all he had been able to think of during the drive home was being with her, holding her and drawing strength from the knowledge that she loved him and would be there for him no matter what.

  She caressed his cheek. And then, as if she knew exactly what he needed, she put her arms around him and cradled his head against her soft breasts. He closed his eyes, warmth and peace seeping through him. The last thing he was conscious of before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep was her soft voice whispering, “I love you, David.”

  Rachel held him for a long time. Her heart ached with a pain she knew would never go away. There was no justification for what she had done to David. She could tell herself she had simply seized her chance for happiness, but what she’d really done had been monumentally selfish.

  She had taken what she’d wanted at his expense.

  She could see that clearly now.

  In this past week they had forged a bond, and he had come to depend on her. Now, when he found out the truth, he was going to be hurt so much more than he would’ve been hurt by Roxanne’s initial defection.

  And somehow, in the lonely years ahead, she would have to learn to live with that.

  Chapter Ten

  Rachel kept David company most of the following day. She tried not to think about the work she was neglecting and the possible career disaster she was courting. She tried not to think about what Phillip Blythe would say or do if she didn’t fulfill her promise to him.

  She wondered if she should call him, tell him that there’d been a family crisis, and she would have to wait until next year for the promised show.

  That was probably the sensible thing to do, but the thought of doing it was depressing. Phillip Blythe might change his mind about her and her work if she canceled the show now. Maybe he was the kind of person who believed art should come first and that a true artist would continue to work no matter what else was going on in his life.

  I can’t lose this opportunity. Not on top of losing David. Somehow, after this time with David is over, the work will get done, even if I have to work twenty-four hours a day.

  So she did nothing about Phillip Blythe and the impending show. Instead, she sat with David and gave him what moral support she could.

  It turned out to be an encouraging day, because his grandmother showed steady improvement. David visited her several times and, a little after five o’clock that afternoon, Rachel was told she could go in with him during the next visiting period.

  Although David had told her what to expect, she was still shocked to see the changes wrought by Georgina’s heart attack. Oh, God, she was so pale. She looked ten years older than the last time Rachel had seen her. With a heavy heart, Rachel forced a smile to her lips and tried hard not to show how dismayed she was by the older woman’s altered appearance.

  “Hello, Mrs. Hanson,” she said brightly. “You certainly gave us a scare.” She leaned over to kiss the older woman’s cheek. Its papery thinness was another reminder of Georgina’s age and frailty.

  Georgina gave her a weak smile. “I’m sorry you didn’t have a better homecoming, my dear.” Even her voice sounded older, with a threadiness that hadn’t been there before.

  “Now, Gran, don’t you worry about that,” David said, taking his grandmother’s hand. “All we care about is that you get better.”

  “I’m trying,” she whispered.

  They didn’t stay long. It was obvious it took too much effort for David’s grandmother to carry on a conversation, so after a few more soothing remarks about how well she was doing, they left.

  “Oh, David, she looks so frail,” Rachel said as they walked out of the CCU.

  He nodded sadly. “I know.”

  Rachel was immediately sorry for what she’d said, and would have given anything if she could have taken her words back. What a nitwit she was! Why hadn’t she said something to ease the strain he was under instead of pointing out things better left unsaid?

  She put her arm around his waist. “But she’ll get stronger. She’s a fighter.”

  “That’s what I keep telling myself.”

  At six o’clock David tried to persuade Rachel to go home, but she insisted on staying and having dinner with him. There was no way she could go to the town house and paint, not tonight, and that was the only thing she cared about doing other than being with David.

  They headed for the cafeteria, because he hated to be too far away from the hospital, just in case things should take a turn for the worse.

  “I’ve been so worried about my grandmother, I haven’t even asked you about Rachel,” David said once they’d gotten their food and found a table. “Did you talk to her yesterday?”

  “Yes,” Rachel said, ignoring the twinge of guilt she always felt when they discussed this subject. “She sent her love and asked me to tell you she was praying for your grandmother.”

  “Those two always got along well.” He took a bite of mashed potatoes.

  “Yes,” Rachel said. “I—I know she loves your grandmother. Very much.” She reached for the pepper and shook some onto her salad.

  He smiled. “You want to know something funny? I think my grandmother always secretly hoped Rachel and I would get together.”

  Rachel was so startled, she nearly spilled her water.

  “Oh, not that she doesn’t like you,” he hastened to add, “because she does. It’s just that she always thought Rachel and I were more alike.” He began to butter his roll.

  Before Rachel could think how to answer this unexpected disclosure, he gave her a teasing smile. “But if she could have seen us on our honeymoon, she would’ve known how compatible we really are.”

  Rachel could feel herself blushing.

  David laughed. “I never guessed you’d be the kind to get embarrassed.”

  “I don’t usually,” Rachel said. She could have kicked herself. She was doing a terrible job of being Roxanne.

  “Hey, I like it.” David reached under the table and stroked her knee. His voice fell. “I like everything about my wife.”

  Rachel swallowed. “David,” she said weakly.

  His smile was slow and tender. “I know. Not the time or the place.” Removing his hand, he said briskly. “Well? Were we right? Are Rachel and Carlos married?”

  Rachel nodded, relieved at the change in subject. She told him everything Roxanne had said. “She seems really happy, David. And contented. More so than I’ve ever seen her before.” This was better. Now she was telling him the truth. Well, she corrected herself, almost the truth.

  “Good. I’m glad. Rachel deserves to be happy. How about your father? Did you tell him you’d talked to her?”

  “No, not yet.”

  He cut a piece of his chicken fried steak and lifted it to his mouth. “Why not?”

  “I really haven’t had a chance,” she hedged.

  He gave her a thoughtful look. “Yeah, well, I don’t blame you for putting it off. It won’t be pleasant.”

  After that, he dropped this subject, too, and Rachel was thankful. Even though, in her mind, she substituted Roxanne’s name for hers, it was still very difficult to talk to him about any of this. She was constantly afraid of saying something she shouldn’t.

  For a while they silently ate their dinner. When they were almost finished, he said, “Did Rachel say anything about coming home?”

  “No. She said they’re waiting to see where Carlos’s next assignment would be. I imagine they won’t make any plans until they know where they’ll be living and when he has to report.”


  David nodded. “Did she have any idea where he might go next?”

  “I don’t think so. She didn’t say.”

  “Maybe they’ll have time to come to Houston in between.”

  “Maybe.” Rachel guessed this would depend on how her father took the news of which twin had really gone to Mexico.

  “If they don’t,” David mused, “maybe we could visit them. I still have vacation time coming and, technically, I should use it before the end of the year.”

  “We’ll see,” Rachel said noncommittally.

  “’Cause I’d like to meet him, make sure he’s good enough for her.”

  Rachel could hardly meet his eyes.

  “Of course, we can’t make any plans until we know how Gran’s gonna do.”

  Rachel nodded. She fervently hoped David’s grandmother got better soon, not only because she loved the older woman, but because she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this pretense going. Lying to people you loved was too hard, and she was feeling worse and worse about it with each passing day.

  On Thursday morning, three days after Georgina’s heart attack, Dr. Burnside announced that David’s grandmother was out of the woods. “For now, anyway,” he cautioned. But then he smiled. “I’m optimistic, though. She’s a fighter, and that’s half the battle.”

  “How much longer will she have to stay in the CCU?” David asked.

  Rachel knew leaving the CCU was the true test of whether or not her doctors considered David’s grandmother to be out of danger.

  “We’re moving her to a private room later today.”

  Rachel and David grinned at each other.

  “I think this calls for a celebration,” David said once the doctor had gone.

  Rachel agreed, so they went to his favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch.

  “I don’t know what I would have done without you the past few days,” he said after their waitress had taken their order and served them a basket of warm chips and a bowl of salsa.

  The expression in his eyes, so filled with love, pierced Rachel’s heart.

  “I kept thinking, even if the worst should happen, I wouldn’t be alone, I’d have you.”

  Oh, David… “I—I’m glad I could help.”

  His smile made her want to cry.

  “Have I told you lately how much I love you, Mrs. Hanson?” he said softly.

  Rachel was too choked up to reply. She hurriedly excused herself, saying she needed to go to the ladies’ room. David’s expression was tender and indulgent. She knew he thought she was simply embarrassed by his comments instead of devastated by the knowledge that he felt safe opening his soul to her and that she was betraying him in a way no one should ever be betrayed..

  How was it she had never thought about how he would feel while she was seizing the day? Her only hesitation had been that there would be consequences to her act, but she’d never once thought that she wouldn’t be the only one paying them. In her zeal to protect David from humiliation at .Roxanne’s hands, she, Rachel, had done something far worse.

  It was with a heavy heart that she finally rejoined him at the table. And throughout the rest of the meal, no matter how she tried not to, she couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d said and how he’d said it, and she knew, if she lived to be one hundred, she would never forgive herself for the pain she was going to cause him.

  When they returned to the hospital, Georgina was just getting settled into her room. A little while later they were told they could go in.

  This time, Rachel felt encouraged by the way David’s grandmother looked. Her color was back, and she was propped up in bed and wearing a pretty pink robe.

  “Hey, Granny, you’re looking better,” David said, a teasing twinkle in his eye..

  “Virginia brought me some of my own clothes,” Georgina said. “But I wish I could do something about this hair. It hasn’t been fixed in days, and it looks terrible. I know I’m going to be getting a lot of visitors, and I don’t want them to see me looking like this.”

  Rachel figured Georgina was right, if the amount of flowers and cards that had been sent were any indication. “Do you want me to see what I can do with your hair?” she offered.

  Georgina’s eyes lit up. “Yes, please, my dear. And maybe you could help me put on some makeup, too.”

  “You must be feeling better,” David said, laughing, “if you’re ready for primping. Tell you what. I’ll let you two girls do your thing, and I’ll go outside. Call me when you’re done.”

  So Rachel proceeded to do what she could to make Georgina look better. While she worked on her hair and makeup, Georgina watched her out of those eyes that were so eerily like David’s.

  “I guess I don’t have to ask if you’re happy,” Georgina said. “I can see how you feel about David every time you look at him.”

  Rachel composed herself before meeting the older woman’s gaze. “Yes, I’m happy,” she said softly. “David is a wonderful man.”

  Georgina nodded. “Yes, he is.” She smiled. “And I’d say that even if he weren’t my grandson.”

  Rachel smiled, too. “Of course you would. After all, you’re not prejudiced.”

  “Not in the least.” She looked at herself in the mirror Rachel held up. “By the way, have you talked with, um, Rachel since you got home?”

  Was that a slight hesitation before she’d said “Rachel”? Or was Rachel feeling so guilty she was seeing and hearing things that weren’t there at all? “Yes. I’ve spoken to her twice. She’s been worried about you, and called yesterday to find out how you were doing.”

  “And how is she doing?”

  “She’s doing just fine. She and Carlos were married last week, and she seems very much in love.”

  Georgina nodded thoughtfully.

  Rachel looked away. David’s grandmother was far too astute, and there was something about the speculative look in her eyes that disturbed Rachel. Could she possibly suspect something? No. How could she? It was just Rachel’s guilty conscience at work.

  “And your father?” Georgina said. “Has he talked with her yet?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Is he still angry?”

  “I’m sure he is.”

  Georgina chuckled. “I certainly would like to be a little mouse and hear that conversation. Bet it’ll burn up the wires between here and Mexico.”

  Rachel made a noncommittal sound. She had no such desire, because she knew once her father and Roxanne did talk, her charade would be over.

  And that conversation would take place very soon, because now that David’s grandmother was so much better Rachel could no longer avoid the inevitable.

  It was time to tell David the truth.

  The word spread fast.

  By three o’clock Georgina had several visitors and two more bouquets of flowers.

  “Place smells like a mortuary,” she said, but Rachel could tell she was pleased by the attention.

  David grinned. In an aside to Rachel, he said, “I think we can leave, don’t you?”

  Rachel nodded gratefully. She was worn out with pretending to be Roxanne to all these newcomers.

  They kissed Georgina goodbye, promised to come back in the morning and made their escape.

  “I should go into the office,” David said, pressing the button for the elevator. “When I talked to Carole earlier, she said the place was in chaos.”

  “Something go wrong with the move?”

  “No, they got moved okay. It’s just another ordinary, everyday crisis.”

  Rachel heard the note of weariness, and guilt attacked her afresh. She’d been so consumed with her own problems, she had forgotten that David had problems of his own. And you’re going to be adding to them. “If you need to go in, go,” she said hurriedly, trying not to think about what lay ahead of her. “I have things I should do, too.”

  “You sure you don’t mind?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  The elevator pinged
and the doors slid open.

  “I’ll try to get home early,” he said as they walked inside.

  “Okay.”

  When they reached the ground floor, they walked outside together. Halfway across the crosswalk that connected the hospital to the parking area, they met Rachel’s father. He had a large, gift-wrapped box in his hand.

  “You’re not leaving?” he said to Rachel, his disappointment obvious.

  “I was planning to. I’ve been here since early this morning, and David’s grandmother has other visitors now.”

  Wylie nodded. “Come have a cup of coffee with me first. I’ve hardly seen you since you got back.”

  Rachel didn’t want to. But how could she refuse? Roxanne wouldn’t have.

  “All right,” she said reluctantly.

  After saying goodbye to David, she and her father headed for the cafeteria.

  Once they were settled with their coffee, he said bluntly, “Have you talked to your sister?”

  Rachel’s heart gave a painful lurch. “Y-yes,” she stammered. She was immediately furious with herself. Why was it her father always had this effect on her?

  “When?”

  “I, um, talked to her Monday night and again yesterday.”

  Her father’s mouth tightened. “Where is she?”

  “At the home of Carlos’s parents in Veracruz.”

  Wylie stirred his coffee, and it was a few moments before he spoke again. “Are they married?”

  “Yes.”

  He pondered this disclosure for another long moment. Finally he looked up. “Why hasn’t she called me?”

  Rachel shrugged, picking her words carefully. She wanted to be as truthful as possible. “Maybe she’s been afraid to call you.”

  “That’s typical,” he said bitterly. “She’s just like your mother. Scared of her own shadow.”

  “That’s not fair, Daddy. And…and it really bothers me to hear you talk like that.”

  Rachel was as surprised as he looked. Even Roxanne rarely contradicted their father.

  “Mother was a wonderful person, gentle and kind,” she continued, “and completely unselfish. People loved her. I loved her.”