Oh, David, I’ll miss you so….
The strident ring of the telephone startled her. She raced to get it, praying it wasn’t David saying he would be later than he’d thought. “Hello?”
“Rach?”
“Roxanne?”
“Yes. Oh, Rach, something awful’s happened.”
Rachel’s heart stopped.
“You didn’t talk to David this morning, did you?”
“No, I couldn’t. We overslept and he had a meeting and had to race out. I called the Terraza house and left you a message. Didn’t you get it?”
“No, I didn’t Carlos and I are still in Mexico City. We’re staying overnight.”
Rachel held her breath, terrified of what Roxanne would say next.
“Rachel, I’m so sorry, but I called Daddy. And the worst part is, David was there.”
“David was there!”
“Yes. He was in Daddy’s office when I called. I didn’t know it, but Daddy put me on the speakerphone, and David heard the conversation.”
David was there.
David knew.
“I’m so sorry,” Roxanne said again. “I feel rotten about this, but Rach, you told me it would be okay to call him tonight.”
Rachel’s mind churned. David knew. He knew! At this very moment he was probably on his way home …and he knew.
“Rach? Are you still there?”
“Yes, I—I’m still here.”
“Are you okay?”
I’ll never be okay again. “Y-yes.”
“Sweetie, I’m sorry.”
“W-what did he say?”
“David?”
“Yes, David,” Rachel whispered.
Roxanne sighed. “Not much. He was obviously stunned. I tried to talk to him, but he cut me off, said he’d talk to me later. Said he had other business to take care of. Then he left.”
Rachel’s heart pounded. “Oh, God. He’s on his way home. I know it. He’ll probably be here any minute. I—I’ve got to go.”
“Wait, Rach. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I can’t talk now, Roxanne!”
“All right, sweetie, but call me later, okay?” Roxanne said in an agonized voice.
Rachel’s hands were trembling so hard, she could barely get the phone back in its cradle. Dear God. Why? Why had this had to happen this way?
How David must hate her.
If only she’d had a chance to break the news gently. To say the things she had wanted to say before actually telling him who she was.
But now…now it was too late.
Now he knew.
What must he be thinking?
The minutes crawled by as her thoughts spun in wild circles. Suddenly she could stand it no longer. She knew it was cowardly, but she just couldn’t face David. Not like this. Not now that he knew.
Grabbing the notepad from the kitchen counter, she scribbled a hasty note.
Dear David, I am so sorry you found out the truth the way you did. I tried to tell you last night and again this morning. Please believe me when I say I intended to tell you tonight, no matter what. I know how you must hate me, so I’ll make it easy for you by leaving.
She stared at what she had written. It seemed so inadequate. But what else could she say? She thought about ending the note with “I love you,” but decided against it. She was sure David didn’t care. Besides, he probably wouldn’t believe her. After all, she had been lying to him and everyone else for weeks. In fact, the entire note was probably a waste of time. He would probably wad it up and throw it away without believing a single word.
Sick at heart, she simply said she was sorry again and signed her name. After anchoring the note with the saltshaker in the middle of the kitchen table where he’d be sure to see it first thing, she grabbed her purse and hurried out to the driveway.
She nearly flooded the car trying to get it started. But finally the ignition caught and she backed out, narrowly missing a car parked in front of the house next door. She drove down the street as fast as she dared.
A few minutes later, as she waited at the corner for oncoming traffic to clear so she could turn right onto Buffalo Speedway, she saw David pull in to the left turning lane in preparation for entering the neighborhood. He was looking up at the light and didn’t see her. For a moment she stared at his beloved face.
Then, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she accelerated, pulled out into traffic and drove away.
David’s head whipped around.
That looked like Roxanne’s car!
But by the time he realized it, he’d already turned onto his street and Rachel—if that’s who it had been— was gone. A few minutes later he pulled in to his driveway. Sure enough, Roxanne’s Mercedes wasn’t there.
He had calmed down a lot since leaving the office, because it hadn’t taken him long to realize that the Rachel he had known for most of his life could not have done what she’d done without a damned good reason. She certainly would never intentionally do anything to hurt anyone. But he still couldn’t figure out why she’d done it.
He had to talk to her.
He had to find out why.
Frustrated by her absence, he looked up the street. Why had she left? She knew he would be home soon.
Maybe she knows about Roxanne’s phone call
No. How could she?
Maybe Roxanne called her.
Damn. He hoped not. He hoped the reason Rachel was gone was an errand she’d forgotten to take care of. That was it, he assured himself. She was running an errand and would probably be back in a few minutes.
But then he walked into the kitchen and saw the note, and he knew she hadn’t just gone out to run a last-minute errand. With a sinking feeling, he picked up the note and read it.
Gone.
She was gone.
The note slipped from his fingers. He stared into space. Thought about what she’d said…and what she hadn’t said.
It was only then that he realized the truth. No wonder be. hadn’t felt hurt by Roxanne’s defection. He didn’t love Roxanne. Maybe he never really had.
He loved Rachel.
And he didn’t want to lose her.
Rachel cried all the way to her town house. She cried the whole time she unloaded Roxanne’s belongings and put them away. She cried as she loaded her own clothing and painting equipment into her minivan. She was still crying fifteen minutes later when she entered the on-ramp to Interstate 10 west.
She wasn’t sure she would ever stop.
Where had she gone?
David could think of only two possible places. The town house. Or her father’s house. He would try the town house first.
Driving faster than was sensible, he pulled up in front of her town house a scant fifteen minutes later. Because the garage was in the back and contained no windows, there was no point in his going around to see if either of the cars was there. Instead, he walked up the front walk and rang the doorbell. No one answered. He rang again. Still no answer. He pounded on the door. “Rachel,” he called, “open up if you’re in there.”
When he got no response, he walked across the lawn to the front window and peered inside. There were no lights on and no movement.
She wasn’t there.
David walked back to his car and got out his cell phone. First he called the office to see if Wylie was still there. The night security guard answered the phone.
“Sorry, Mr. Hanson, they’ve all gone home.”
“Thanks, Marty.”
Next David punched in the number of the Carlton house. It rang several times before Josie, the housekeeper, answered. “I’m sorry, Mr. David. Mr. Carlton isn’t home yet.”
“Oh, okay. Uh, Josie? Is…um, Roxanne there by any chance?” David had almost said “Rachel,” then realized that Josie would not know what he was talking about if he did.
“No, Mr. David, she’s not. Is she supposed to be?”
“No, I just thought she might have stopped there. Lis
ten, Josie, if she does happen to come, would you call me?”
“Well, sure,” she said, sounding confused. “But wouldn’t you rather just have me tell her to call you?”
“Well, we, uh, kind of had a fight, and I’m not sure she would call me.”
Josie chuckled. “I see. A lovers’ quarrel. Okay, Mr. David, give me your number. I’ll call you if I see her.”
“You’re a doll, Josie. Thanks.”
David sat in his car for a few minutes, trying to think if there was anyone else he could try. He couldn’t imagine that Rachel would go to any of her friends’ houses. That would entail explaining everything, and he didn’t think she’d want to do that. He wondered if maybe she’d just checked in to a hotel, and even entertained the idea of calling around to try to find her. He quickly discarded it. There were hundreds of different hotels and motor hotels in Houston. And he didn’t even know if Rachel would use her own name. No, that idea wasn’t very practical.
Maybe he should just go home. That way, if she called, he would be there.
When he arrived home, Wylie’s car was parked in front of the house and Wylie was leaning against it. “I was just try in’ to decide whether to wait awhile and see if you came home or go home myself,” he said, walking down the driveway to meet David. He looked around. “Where’s Rachel?”
“I don’t know,” David said. “When I got here, she was gone.” He explained about the note. “I just went over to the town house, but she’s not there. And I called at your house, but Josie said she hasn’t seen her.”
Wylie frowned.
“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?” David asked.
Wylie shook his head. “Maybe to one of her friends’?”
David explained why he thought that was unlikely.
“You’re right,” Wylie said. His frown deepened, and his eyes were worried. “Maybe I should go home. She might try to call me.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“How about you, David? You doin’ okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
Wylie laid his hand on David’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, son. I know this was a rotten thing my girls did to you. And I told Roxanne that. She feels real bad about it.”
David nodded.
“And I’m thinkin’ Rachel feels pretty bad, too. Else why would she take off like this?”
Did she? David wondered. He wanted to think she felt bad. He wanted to think she cared about him. He wanted to think that everything she’d said and done hadn’t simply been part of the pretense.
“Well, if you talk to Rachel, you tell her to call me.”
“I will.”
Wylie left, and David walked into the house. The first thing he saw was his answering machine blinking. Rachel! he thought, his heart soaring.
But it wasn’t Rachel who had called. It was Roxanne. “Please call me, David, no matter what time you get back,” her message said.
It took a while for the call to Veracruz to get through. But finally Roxanne was on the line.
“David? Thank you for calling. I was afraid you might not.”
“Yeah, well…”
“I’m so sorry about everything. I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to talk to me again.”
He sighed heavily. “I’m not mad at you.”
“You’re not?”
“No. I was. I was mad as hell. But I’m not anymore.”
“Oh, David. You’re such a nice man. I really don’t deserve to have you not be mad.” She hesitated. “What about Rachel? Are you mad at her?”
“No,” he said slowly. “No. I just want to find her.”
“Find her? What do you mean?”
“She’s gone. She wasn’t here when I got home.”
“B-but where is she?”
“I don’t know. She left me a note.” He described its contents. “Anyway, she’s not at the town house or your father’s house and I don’t know where else to look.”
“Oh, dear. I was afraid of this. She was so upset when I called her.”
“So you did call her.”
“Yes. Well…I had to warn her, David. I mean, I thought you were furious, and I didn’t want her to be blindsided.”
“Yeah. I guess. Still, I wish you hadn’t” If Roxanne hadn’t called Rachel, maybe he and Rachel would have settled everything by now. Maybe David would know why Rachel had continued to pretend to be Roxanne. Maybe he’d know if there was hope.
“David?”
“What?”
“How…how do you feel about Rachel?”
He thought about saying it was none of Roxanne’s business. He thought about lying. He thought about how stupid he would feel if it turned out Rachel felt nothing for him. “I love her,” he said quietly.
“Oh, I’m so glad,” she said. “You and me, we were never right for each other, but you and Rachel, you’re perfect.”
“Yes,” he said. “We are.”
He only hoped he hadn’t realized it too late.
Driving nonstop, Rachel reached her father’s cabin in the countryside near Wimberley a little after ten-thirty that night When she’d finally unloaded all of her supplies, it was nearly eleven and she was so exhausted she wasn’t sure she had the strength left to undress, so she didn’t. She sank onto the couch and closed her eyes.
But two hours later she faced the fact that she wasn’t going to be able to sleep. She just couldn’t shut her mind down. She kept imagining David walking into the house and seeing her note. She pictured his face when he read it. Imagined what his thoughts were.
Finally, about two o’clock, she got up and put some water on to boil for tea. When it was ready, she fixed herself a cup and walked outside. She sat on the moonlit porch and sipped her tea and listened to the comforting sounds of crickets chirping and mockingbirds singing and small creatures rustling around in the underbrush.
She thought about everything, from the moment she’d put on Roxanne’s wedding dress to the moment she wrote David the goodbye note and left Houston. She thought about how her father had always accused her of having no backbone. Of being a coward. She thought about David and how decent he was and how much she loved him. And she thought about how, in life, we make choices and how, when we make the wrong one, we can ruin our lives.
When, at five-thirty, the first hint of pink crept into the eastern sky, she finally got up and walked inside. Her decision was made. She had run away in a panic, but she couldn’t hide out forever. Sooner or later she had to face both David and her father.
It took her only twenty minutes to carry everything she’d brought back out to her car.
By six o’clock she was on her way back home.
At exactly eight minutes after nine Rachel pulled in to the driveway of her father’s house. Telling herself she would stay calm no matter how her father ranted at her, she walked up the back steps and rapped softly on the back door.
Josie’s wide-eyed face greeted her. “Good morning, Miss Rachel.”
So Josie knew. “Good morning, Josie. Is my father here?”
“He’s in the dining room, havin’ his breakfast. You just go on in.”
Rachel nodded. Despite her earlier admonition to stay calm, her heart was beating too fast when she entered the dining room.
Her father lowered the morning paper.
Blue eyes met blue eyes.
What Rachel wanted to do was look away. What she did was inch her chin up a notch higher and meet her father’s gaze levelly.
“Well, don’t just stand there,” he finally said, his voice gruff. “Come on in and sit down.”
After first going to the antique sideboard and pouring herself a cup of coffee, Rachel did as he’d instructed. Once she was seated, he said, “I think I understand why you pretended to be Roxanne at the wedding ceremony. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just tell me and David the truth afterward.”
“I know I should have. But I couldn’t do it at the reception, and afterward
…” She explained how she’d been thwarted by the attendants hopping into the limo with them and how they’d stayed at the airport until she and David boarded the plane for Miami.
“Why didn’t you tell David then?”
If her father had yelled at her, the way she’d expected him to, it would have been harder to admit the truth. But he hadn’t. And his eyes were kind. Kind and understanding. More so than she’d ever seen them, at least when they were trained upon her.
Taking a fortifying sip of coffee, she said quietly, “I didn’t tell him because I love him, Daddy. I’ve been in love with him for years.” Once she’d admitted that, it became much easier to continue, and soon the whole story spilled out. When she’d finished, she looked at her father anxiously. What was he thinking?
And then he smiled. A big smile. “Little girl, what you did took guts. And comin’ here, tellin’ me, that took even more.”
Tears filled Rachel’s eyes. “Oh, Daddy!”
Wylie’s eyes looked suspiciously bright, too. He opened his arms. “Come here, darlin’.”
Later, after Rachel had cried a little and they’d hugged and kissed and Rachel was once more sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee and the croissant and fresh strawberries Josie had brought her, Wylie said, “So you love David, huh?”
“Yes, Daddy, I do. Very much.”
“Then why don’t you go to his house and tell him?”
“He doesn’t love me,” Rachel said sadly. “He loves Roxanne.”
“Well, he sure didn’t sound like he did when I saw him last night.”
“He didn’t?”
“Nope. In fact, he sounded pretty frantic to find you.”
“Yes, but maybe that’s just because he wants to tell me what he thinks of me.”
“I don’t think so.”
Oh, if only her father was right. Still, what did she have to lose? She had intended to go to see David, anyway, to apologize and beg his forgiveness. Why not go all the way and tell him how she really felt?
Substitute Bride (Special Edition) Page 17