Crestfallen, the boy unfastened his jacket and wriggled out of it.
“What did he want?”
“To talk to me about something,” Gabriel answered.
“What?”
“He said he had some good news for me. Guess I’ll call him and find out what it is.”
“Do you think Madelyn left Buddy in the cottage?”
No longer interested in the contents of the note, Brian looked at Gabriel expectantly.
“Why don’t I go see?”
Given a good excuse, he set the note aside, took the spare key to the cottage from one of the drawers under the counter and headed back outside.
He didn’t really expect to find the dog in the cottage. However, neither did he anticipate the sense of abandonment he felt as he crossed the threshold and switched on a light. For several moments, he looked around, sure that something was missing.
Had the place not been as neat and tidy as usual, he would have sworn a burglary had been committed. Or that Madelyn had moved out—
Frowning, Gabriel stepped forward and closed the door. Most of her things were still in place—rugs on the floor, comforter on the bed, afghan on the sofa, candles and silk flowers on the end tables. Still...
The framed photographs weren’t there. Nor were her schoolbooks and papers.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Gabriel crossed to the closet and opened the door. Empty. He moved on to the dresser and chest, pulling the drawers open. Empty, too. Her clothes, her cameras, books, papers, photographs, the dog—all that she would have considered her most important possessions—all gone, along with her.
“Oh, hell,” he muttered, sitting down on the bed and staring at the sole photograph remaining atop the nightstand—the photograph Brian had taken of the two of them together.
Where had she gone? And, more important, why? Because he had asked her to marry him? That didn’t seem like a good reason to run away. Not if she loved him as she’d said, and he loved her—
Loved her? But he didn’t—
Drawing in a ragged breath, Gabriel closed his eyes as realization washed over him. The realization that he did love her, more than he had ever thought possible. Yet he had never told her. He’d been too damned busy denying it to himself.
Still, wouldn’t the fact that he’d asked her to many him—?
Again he swore softly, remembering just how unemotionally he had done that. The words he’d used, the practical tone of his voice. He must have sounded as though he was negotiating a business deal, a business deal he couldn’t blame her for finding completely untenable.
She had offered him her truest love, and he’d offered her an opportunity to service his every need.
“Maddy, I am so sorry,” he whispered into the silence surrounding him.
Too little, he knew. And obviously, much, much too late.
Although...
He couldn’t believe she was gone for good. She had left too much of value behind here in the cottage, and she had signed a contract with the school district to teach until the end of the year. A contract he was almost positive she would honor.
Which meant she was still somewhere here in Santa Fe.
Somehow he was going to find a way to track her down, and then he was going to tell her how he really felt. He was going to say what he should have said weeks ago. He was going to say that he loved her, and mean it with all his heart and soul, then beg her to give him a second chance.
Somewhat heartened, Gabriel locked up the cottage and returned to the house. Brian greeted him at the door, a worried look on his face.
“What’s wrong, son?” he asked.
“You were gone so long, I was afraid something happened to you.”
“I’m just fine.” He bent and hugged the boy.
“I guess Buddy wasn’t there.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Well, I’m gonna watch television for a while.” Dejectedly, he left the kitchen.
Relieved that he wouldn’t have to answer any questions about Madelyn just yet, Gabriel let him go.
He wasn’t hungry, but he knew Brian would be wanting dinner in an hour or so. As he stood at the counter, trying to decide what to fix, Cullen’s note caught his attention. Gabriel couldn’t imagine what kind of good news the lawyer had for him. Unless it had something to do with Madelyn.
He crossed to the telephone, looked up Cullen’s home number in the book and punched it into the keypad. Cullen answered after only two rings.
“I got your note,” Gabriel said, too anxious to bother with a greeting. “Does this have anything to do with Madelyn?”
“Funny you should ask that—” Cullen began.
“You mentioned good news,” Gabriel cut in. “What is it?”
“Well, I’d rather tell you in person. Unless you have something else to do, I can come over right now.”
“I’ll be here,” Gabriel replied and hung up.
He paced in the kitchen, aware that minutes did pass like hours when you were waiting for someone, especially someone who might be able to help you rectify a serious wrong.
When the doorbell finally rang, Brian beat him to the entryway. Gabriel heard him call out “Who is it?” in a hopeful tone, then saw him turn away unhappily when Cullen, not Madelyn, replied.
“For you, Dad. Mr. Birney.”
“Thanks, son.”
Gabriel let Cullen in, then led him back to the kitchen where they could talk in private. As the lawyer took off his coat and sat at the table, he poured mugs of coffee for both of them, then joined him there.
“All right, tell me the good news as it pertains to Madelyn,” he insisted, having taken care of the necessary niceties.
“She called me early this morning and asked if I would meet her at my office. Said she had some urgent business to take care of,” Cullen, stated, then paused to take a drink of his coffee.
“What kind of urgent business?” Gabriel prompted impatiently.
Cullen eyed him consideringly for several moments.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“Damn it, Cullen, if I knew, why would I be asking you?”
“You’ve got a point there,” the lawyer agreed, then went on. “As I was saying, she called, and I offered to meet with her at ten o’clock. She was right on time, but I have to admit, I was concerned by her appearance. She was neatly dressed and her hair was combed, but she had a wounded look about her. As if someone had kicked her when she was down. I could tell she’d been crying, too.”
“Aw, hell,” Gabriel muttered, clenching his hands around his mug.
“I take it you do know something about that,” Cullen said.
“Yes, I know something about that,” Gabriel admitted.
“Then maybe the rest won’t come as a surprise to you.”
“The rest?”
Cullen opened his briefcase and took out several sheets of paper.
“She had me draw up a document for her to sign. In it, she gives up her claim to half the value of your property. I have your copy of it here.” Cullen handed Gabriel the papers, then sat back in his chair, took another drink of his coffee and added, “I don’t know how you managed it, but it looks like you’re off the hook. I was assuming that would be good news—”
“I managed it by acting like a Class A bastard,” Gabriel replied as he scanned the pages.
“That doesn’t sound like you, Gabe.”
“Believe me, I did.” He tossed the document aside and rubbed a hand over his face. “Not that it’s any of my business, but did she happen to mention why she decided to do this?”
“From what you’ve been saying, I thought you knew.” .
“I have a pretty good idea, but I’d like to be sure.”
“She said she finally realized how important the house is to you. That she knew you’d do anything to hang on to it, but what you had in mind wouldn’t be necessary, after all,” Cullen said, then eyed him quizzically. “So, wha
t were you going to do? Rob a bank?”
“No.”
“Then what precipitated all this?”
“I asked her to marry me.”
“You did what?”
“Oh, it wasn’t the hearts-and-flowers proposal she deserved. I didn’t want any part of falling of love. I wanted a nice, safe business deal. What I didn’t realize until a little while ago is that I do love her. But apparently she’s gone, and I don’t have the faintest idea how to find her, much less how to win her back if I do.”
“I know where she is,” Cullen stated, smiling slyly over his coffee mug. “I got her to tell me where she was staying just in case I had to contact her regarding Ethan’s estate. And since it seems to me that you’d like to discuss related business with her...”
“Tell me where she is, Cullen. Now.”
Cullen obligingly gave him the name of her hotel.
“But I don’t have her room number,” he added.
“I’ll find a way to get it,” Gabriel assured him.
“Let me know what happens.”
“I will.”
“You know, I’ve been wondering...” Cullen mused as he put on his coat and picked up his briefcase.
“What?” Gabriel asked.
“Do you think maybe this is what Ethan had in mind when he left his half of the house to her?”
“I really don’t know. Ethan lived by a code of his own. A couple of things I am sure of, though. He must have cared for her quite a bit, and he must have expected me to treat her better than I did, or he never would have sent her here.”
“I’d never have guessed you two would end up together. Not the way you sniped at each other that first night.”
“Well, thanks to my pigheadedness, we haven’t ended up together yet, and maybe we never will.”
“Oh, I think there’s hope,” Cullen said. “But when you see her again, go for the hearts-and-flowers routine, okay?”
“Okay.”
After Gabriel saw Cullen to the door, he called Carol Murphy, and pleading a minor emergency, asked if Brian could spend another night at her house. She readily agreed, and within minutes he had his surprised and reasonably pleased son bundled into the truck.
The boy was still concerned about Madelyn’s continued absence, but Gabriel told him not to worry, that Mr. Bimey had seen her earlier in the day, and she was all right.
“Are you gonna see her now?” Brian asked as they pulled out of the driveway.
“Yes, I am,” Gabriel replied, trying to bolster his flagging confidence.
He had no idea how to approach her, but after dropping Brian off at the Murphys’ house, he drove on to the hotel where she was staying.
Getting her room number proved to be impossible. He was informed that yes, Madelyn St. James was a guest at the hotel, but they were not allowed to give out any other information about her. However, if he wished to leave a message for her, they would see that she got it. Or he could call her, via the operator, on the hotel telephone in the lobby.
Gabriel considered his limited options, finally deciding to call her. At least then he would know whether or not she was currently in her room.
She answered after three rings, and he quickly hung up with a satisfied nod. He now knew where she was. He also knew that, as per his own schedule, sometime between nine and ten o’clock that night her blessed little mutt would ask to go outside so he could answer one last call of nature.
All Gabriel had to do was find an inconspicuous place to wait for them. When they got off the elevator and went out the lobby door, he would follow them. And hope to heaven she didn’t have him arrested before he had a chance to tell her just how much she really meant to him.
“Oh, all right. We can go out,” Madelyn grumbled, flicking off the television with the remote control, then rolling off the bed as Buddy wriggled around excitedly by the door of her hotel room.
Had anyone asked, she couldn’t have said what she’d been watching on TV. She hadn’t been paying any attention at all. She’d been too busy crying again.
A glance in the bathroom mirror made her wince. She really was a mess, and not proud of it. Quickly, so as not to keep the dog waiting longer than absolutely necessary, she washed her face, brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her tangled hair. Then she grabbed her jacket, clipped Buddy’s leash to his collar, made sure she had her room key and headed for the elevators.
In the lobby, she hurried toward the door, keeping her head down so no one could get a good look at her puffy eyes and red nose.
Thinking of Buddy’s needs, she walked along Sandoval Street toward the little park area that ran along the Santa Fe River at De Vargos Street. Since it was just after nine o’clock, a few people were out and about. Still, she hoped the dog wouldn’t tarry too long.
Occasionally, aging hippie types or groups of teenage boys gathered in the park. While she hadn’t heard any reports of anyone being accosted, she didn’t want to risk running into trouble. Buddy was a tough little guy, but he wouldn’t be much of a match against someone set on doing her serious harm.
As if tuned in to her thoughts, the dog glanced over his shoulder, growling low in his throat. Madelyn’s heartbeat quickened at the sound of footsteps behind her, but she didn’t turn around. Instead, she picked up her pace, now all but dragging the dog along. The dog who suddenly seemed much too interested in whoever was closing in on them. He was now yipping joyfully, as if he actually knew the person.
Finally she risked a glance back, then swiftly turned away again.
Gabriel How had he managed to find her? Probably through Cullen, she thought. She should have never told him where she was staying.
But why was he following her? He had everything he really wanted now. Didn’t he?
“Madelyn, wait. Please,” he said, catching up to her and taking her by the arm.
“Let me alone,” she snapped as she tried, unsuccessfully, to pull away from him.
“Not until you hear what I have to say.”
He halted under a street lamp, and turned her to face him. Looking up at him for a moment, she saw anguish in his eyes. An anguish that sent a stab of fear shooting through her.
“What is it? Has something happened to Brian?” she asked, sure that only his son could stir such emotion in him.
“Brian’s fine. He’s at Donny Murphy’s house. What I have to say concerns us.”
“There is no us, Gabriel.” She ducked her head. “There doesn’t have to be. Surely Cullen explained that to you.” When he didn’t respond, she glanced at him again. “You’ve seen Cullen, haven’t you? And he did give you a copy of the papers I signed—?”
“Yes, but the house wasn’t what I was after when I asked you to marry me, Maddy. I realize that I made it sound that way, and I’m sorry, truly sorry, I did. I was afraid to say what was really in my heart. But I’m not afraid anymore.”
Taking her by the hand, he led her to a bench and sat her down. She stared at him stupidly, trying to make sense of what he’d been saying.
“Gabriel, I don’t understand. The house is all yours. You don’t have to—”
“Hush,” he said, his voice gruff.
Bending, he brushed his lips over hers. Then he went down on one knee in front of her and took both her hands in his.
As if following Gabriel’s lead, Buddy sidled up beside him, sat on his haunches and, cocking his head to one side, gazed up at her, too.
Madelyn looked from one of them to the other, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“You two—”
“I said hush,” Gabriel repeated.
Raising her hands to his lips, he pressed a kiss onto each palm, then solemnly looked her in the eye.
“I love you, Madelyn St. James. More than I’ve ever loved any woman. I want you to be my wife, but more than that, I need you, Maddy. I need you to be a part of my life for always. So I’m asking you, here and now, to do me the honor of accepting my proposal. Marry me, Maddy. Ple
ase...”
Madelyn looked into his eyes as a fragile silence stretched between them, and knew, without the shadow of a doubt, that what he had said was true. He did love her. Truly, deeply and completety—
“Go ahead, lady. Make his day,” someone among the groups of people standing somewhere on the sidelines instructed.
That was all the prompting she needed.
“Yes, Gabriel, I will marry you.”
Standing again, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her with a thoroughness that stole her breath away. Around them, a smattering of applause broke out and the dog began to bark. But for Madelyn, at that moment, there was no one else in the world except the man she loved. Gabriel. Her Gabriel...
Her dreams were going to come true, after all. What had seemed a sad ending only an hour ago had suddenly become the happiest of new beginnings. The beginning of their life together.
Epilogue
On a brilliant day in mid-June, Gabriel walked with his wife and son along a pristine beach on the island of Roatán just off the coast of Honduras.
When he had suggested they make this trip together, in lieu of a more traditional honeymoon, Madelyn had been surprised, then very, very pleased. They hadn’t talked much about why coming here was important to them. But now, as they paused under a palm tree and looked out at the crystal blue water lapping against the sand, he knew she had wanted to come here for much the same reason he had.
In this beautiful place, a very special man had spent his last days. A man who had caused them both sorrow, yet had, in the end, brought them together with what Gabriel now believed had been a legacy of love.
Gabriel and Madelyn had been married in a small, private ceremony a week after she accepted his revised proposal. Within days after that, as if it were the most natural thing for him to do, Brian had begun calling her Mom. Both Gabriel and Madelyn had been delighted.
At Easter, they had traveled north to St. Louis so she could introduce him and Brian to her parents, her brothers and their families. Though not overly friendly, the St. James clan had tried to be gracious about Madelyn’s change in circumstances, and for her, Gabriel had kept his opinion of them to himself.
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