by Peggy Webb
His lips lingered on her hand. She was warmed by the nearness of him, warmed and comforted.
Abruptly he let go. Her eyes snapped open, and he walked quickly to the opposite side of his desk
"I shouldn't have run away," she said.
"Anyone would have run away under those circumstances. What my father said about you was cruel and unconscionable."
"Fathers worry about their children."
"Jenny ... Jenny ..." Daniel began to pace the room. "You're too good ... too kind ... too generous."
He rammed his hands into his pockets, for that was the only way he could keep from touching her. When he reached the mantel, he saw the magnificent portrait she'd done of his children. Every line, every brush stroke, was filled with love. Gazing up at the portrait, Daniel remembered the day Jenny had started painting it. She'd been so innocent, so full of joy ... so safe.
And now look at her. She was beleaguered on every side. And all because of him.
"Your gift never ceases to amaze me." He leaned against the mantel, facing her. "You're an extraordinarily talented artist, and no one can take that away."
Fear climbed in Jenny's chest, and she pressed her hand over her heart. Daniel was so remote that he might as well have been in another country.
"I had a lot of time to think while I was driving around Florence, Jenny. What I've done to you can't be undone, but it doesn't have to continue."
Daniel didn't want her anymore. She felt a terrible cry welling up in her throat, and she bit down on her lip to keep from making it. By running away, she'd destroyed everything. Daniel needed a woman, not an irresponsible child.
Slowly Jenny removed her engagement ring. Daniel's grandmother's ring. How she had loved it.
It stuck on her knuckle, and she had to twist hard to get it off. Daniel's eyes were terrible as he watched her. Why didn't he say something?
I love you, Daniel. I love you. Oh, she longed to say the words, but it would seem like begging. He was giving her a graceful way out. The best thing she could do was take it.
She held the ring tightly in her palm for a moment, memorizing its precious weight. Then she laid it on the table.
Daniel couldn't move. He felt as if a concrete slab were pressed against his chest. She was taking the opening he offered. Who could blame her? Love should be a beautiful dream, not the peril-filled nightmare he'd given her.
I love you, Jenny.
To say the words aloud would be cruel. He couldn't bind her to him with love words and love sighs, then continue to expose her to the thoughtless cruelty of his high-pressure world. He had to let her go.
His Jenny. His angel. His life.
Before she turned to go, she regarded him with her solemn blue eyes. He fell into their center, tumbled through the brightness until he was drowning in love.
Fingernails bit into flesh as he squeezed his hands into fists. To feel her lips upon his once more, to touch her satin skin, to feel her close around him in sweet, torturous clenches—that would be heaven.
His heaven and her hell.
"Good-bye, Daniel." Even her pronounced limp could not destroy her dignity and grace. At the door she turned. "Please tell the children I will always love them."
Oh, God. His children. How could he ever tell his children they'd lost Jenny?
"I will, Jenny."
In the doorway she hesitated. He couldn't bear to tell her good-bye.
Walk away, Jenny. Walk away. Quickly while I can still let you go.
The door closed softly behind her. He picked up the ring and held it in his fist.
"I love you, Jenny," he whispered. "I'll always love you."
He pressed the ring to his lips, then he sat in Jenny's chair and stared, dry-eyed, at the portrait.
Outside his study Jenny leaned her head against the door. "I will always love you, Daniel," she whispered.
Gathering her courage, Jenny walked away, past the kitchen where they'd baked cookies with the children, past the dining room where they'd shared so many happy meals.
She glanced up the winding staircase. Daniel's bedroom was up there somewhere. She'd never even had a chance to see it. Never had a chance to share his bed.
When she reached the hall and saw her wedding gown, she reached out and her hands sank into the cool satin folds. How happy her dreams had been ... and how foolish. The gown slipped from her fingers, and she left it hanging carelessly across the chair. She wouldn't be needing it anymore.
The front door felt so heavy, she could barely push it open. Her entire body felt broken, shattered into a million tiny pieces.
Outside, a sudden summer storm caught Jenny by surprise. She stood on the front doorstep with the wind whipping her hair and the rain lashing her body. Driving home was going to be difficult. She'd have to be careful, that was all.
o0o
"Jenny!"
Daniel's voice slashed through her like a knife, and her heart lay bleeding in her chest . Slowly she turned back. The lights from the house poured over him as he ran toward her.
"Jenny, wait"
Had he come to tell her everything was all right? Had he come to give back her dream?
"You can't drive in this storm."
"I'll be careful."
He was beside her now. Gently he took her arm.
"Please, Jenny. Stay."
She wanted to stay more than anything in the world. She wanted to stay forever.
"I'll stay," she said. "At least until the storm is over."
Holding on to her elbow, he led her back inside. Neither of them looked at the wedding gown abandoned in the hallway.
"You're soaked," Daniel said as he escorted her back to his study.
"I'm just a little wet."
"You'll get sick"
"It's summer. The rain is warm."
"I'll get you some dry clothes."
"I don't want any."
They didn't look at each other when they talked. Neither of them could bear the pain. The study door clicked shut behind them, and at last Daniel turned toward Jenny. Her rain-soaked clothes clung to her body in delicious ways, and he almost reeled with desire. Clenching his jaw hard against the passion that rocked him, he poured her a brandy.
"Drink this." Her fingertips burned his where they touched. He hurried toward the door.
"Daniel... where are you going?"
"To get you some dry clothes."
Left alone in the study, she took a large drink of brandy. It sent little trails of fire shooting along her nerve endings, but it did absolutely nothing to dull her pain.
The house was quiet except for the rain beating against the windowpanes and the massive clock that ticked off the hours. Everybody would be in bed, dreaming their peaceful dreams.
Jenny remembered the brave words she'd said to Gwendolyn the day she'd met Daniel.
"Dreaming won't hurt," she whispered. Her voice echoed in the empty study.
She'd been wrong. She'd forgotten who she was and what she was. She'd been foolish and unrealistic, dreaming dreams that never had a chance of coming true.
But if she had it to do all over again, she'd do the same thing. Her memories were worth the pain.
The door opened, and Daniel came through carrying a large man's robe and man's shirt in his hands.
"I hope these will do."
"Thank you." The wonderful scent that was uniquely his clung to the fibers.
"While I was upstairs, I turned down the guest bed for you."
"I'm not staying."
"It's too late to drive home, even if the rain stops."
"I don't need you to take care of me." Liar, liar, pants on fire.
"I know you can take care of yourself. You were doing it very well before I came along."
She hated the way he looked, bone-tired and defeated.
"I'll stay, Daniel."
"I promise you, Jenny... no harm will come to you."
Chapter Thirteen
Daniel's guest bedroom lo
oked as if it had never been used. Furnished with heavy antiques, it was austere and uninviting. Jenny lay in the big bed, hugging Daniel's shirt to her body. She would have taken down the heavy draperies and put a huge green plant by the window. If she'd married Daniel, she'd have put bright pillows on the bed and chairs, and simple oils on the wall.
She heard Daniel's footsteps in the hallway. He paused briefly outside her door, then hurried on.
I promise you, Jenny. No harm will come to you.
Oh, Daniel. She turned her face into the pillow. Their love had been so beautiful. How could it vanish in such a short time?
Somewhere down the hallway she heard a door open and shut. Daniel was in his bedroom now ... alone.
Jenny tossed and turned, bunching his shirt under her in an uncomfortable wad. She sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.
She straightened the shirt, then snapped off the light and lay back down. Exhaustion caught up with her, and she dozed.
Rain beat a steady rhythm against her windows. Lightning streaked the sky and thunder rumbled. Jenny came awake suddenly, filled with a sense of urgency so overwhelming, she could barely breathe.
She put on Daniel's robe and went in search of him.
Daniel sat in the dark, staring in the direction of the portrait. The door to his study eased open, and he started from his chair.
"Daniel?"
Jenny was hardly more than a shadow in the doorway. Dwarfed by his robe, she glided toward him, her bare feet soundless on the hardwood floors.
"Jenny, what are you doing up?"
"I forgot something, Daniel. Something very important."
She was standing so close that he could reach out and touch her. Daniel prayed for strength to resist.
"What is it, Jenny?"
"I forgot to tell you that I love you." Silent screams ripped through him. "I'm not trying to win you back, Daniel. I know it's over. But I want you to know that I'll always love you."
The stillness in the room was complete. Above the folds of the dark robe, her face and eyes were luminous. Jenny. His angel in disguise.
Prickles danced along the back of his neck, and muscles bunched in tight cords along his shoulder blades. He held tight to the arms of his chair, afraid he'd reach out to her if he weren't anchored.
Silently she turned to leave. His robe trailed behind her, swooshing softly on the polished floor.
"Jenny..."
She stopped, made a half turn. The rain had stopped, and the moon had broken through the clouds. His oversized clothes had slid from one shoulder, and a pale sliver of moonlight illuminated her skin.
Daniel's hands tightened on the chair arms.
"I had to release you, Jenny, not because I don't love you, but because I love you too much."
"You still love me, Daniel?" Keeping her distance, she faced him.
"I never stopped loving you. But you've been hurt because of me. You've been insulted and ridiculed. I couldn't let that happen to you anymore."
"You didn't stop wanting me, Daniel?"
"Is that what you thought? That I didn't want you anymore?"
With her hands clasped tightly in front of her, she nodded.
Daniel's control broke. He bolted from his chair and folded Jenny in his arms.
"I'll never stop wanting you, Jenny. Never." They held on to each other, swaying. "This afternoon when I discovered you'd overheard the conversation in my office, I thought I might never see you again."
"I meant to leave Florence."
"What stopped you?"
"The thought of you and the children. I couldn't leave you, Daniel."
He'd been a fool to let her go.
"Don't ever leave me again, Jenny."
His lips descended on hers, and he kissed with the intensity of a soldier returning from war. He couldn't get enough of her. If he lived to be a hundred, he would never get enough of Jenny.
When they drew apart for breath, he led her to the wing chair, then took her hand and knelt at her feet.
"Jenny, the last time around I didn't propose to you properly. I'm on my knees begging your forgiveness for being a blind fool." He kissed her hand. "Will you marry me, Jenny?"
"I will, Daniel."
"Will you wear my ring and never take it off?"
"I'll be proud to wear your ring."
He slipped it on her finger, then lifted her into his arms and sat back in the chair with her cuddled against his chest.
Jenny was back where she belonged, but she'd learned a very hard lesson. She was no longer in the protected environment created by Jake Townsend; she was in the real world, a world that dished out equal portions of bad and good, a world that could be as thoughtless and cruel as it could be beautiful and kind. Holding on to her dream was not going to be easy.
"I'm afraid, Daniel. Not for myself but for the children."
"Don't be afraid, Jenny. We're together now. No matter what happens, we'll find a way to make everything work." He pressed his cheek against her soft hair. "I promise you."
He carried her upstairs to his room and laid her on his bed. With her bright hair spread over the pillow, she looked like a fallen flower. He undressed her slowly, stripping away the clothes that were too big and unveiling the perfection that was Jenny.
There was no need for words between them. She lifted her arms and he wrapped himself in her sweet embrace. Beneath his hard body she felt fragile, but he knew better. There was strength and power and fire in Jenny. And he wanted to claim it all.
She cupped her hands under her breasts and offered them up to him. His mouth closed over her rosy nipple, and she sighed.
Daniel was home where he belonged.
o0o
Claire had waited all summer to have her day in court. The hearing was finally set for September 15. She'd chosen her clothes carefully, and she knew she looked good—demure, understated, sincere. Her suit was wool crepe, navy blue with an innocent white blouse. She looked as sincere as sin.
Daniel was sitting across from her, handsomer than she remembered. If he'd been half as interested in her as she'd been in him, she'd never have left him. His fiancée was with him. Claire wondered what he saw in her. She was the quiet, mousy type. Beautiful, she'd grant that. Daniel always could pick a pretty woman. But why in the name of heaven would he want a retarded woman?
Not that Claire was complaining. It made her job easier. No judge in the country was going to let him keep custody of the children and put them in the hands of a woman who probably couldn't spell her own name.
Claire's name was being called. She took the stand. Her lawyer was good. They went over everything they'd rehearsed. Claire even cried on cue.
Her conscience didn't hurt her the least bit. She did want her children back. She'd missed them.
Daniel's lawyer wasn't so easy on her.
"Did you leave your children three years ago?"
"It wasn't like that. Daniel was never home and I—"
"Answer the question. Yes or no. Did you leave your children?"
"Yes."
"Where did you go?"
"In town. Atlanta."
"Specifically."
"To a motel."
"And was someone else there to meet you?"
"Well, Daniel was never there ..."
"I don't want to know about Daniel. We know who he was with: the children. What I want to know is who you were with."
"Jimmy Gratz."
"Jimmy Gratz. You left your husband and your children to be with Jimmy Gratz."
"You make it sound like something awful. It wasn't... it was ..." Claire covered her hands and burst into tears. Real ones this time. She dug around in her purse, pulled out a tissue, and wiped her eyes. It came back black. Her mascara was running, but she didn't care. She was going to lose her children for good.
"I'm not a bad mother; I just made a mistake. I love my children. I love them!"
Claire's performance moved Jenny to tears, but Daniel remained unconvinced. Wh
y now? After three years of silence, why did she suddenly proclaim to love the children?
o0o
Jenny's name was being called. He squeezed her hand.
"Don't worry, Jenny. You'll do great."
"I'm not worried."
Jenny took the stand. The fate of his children rested with her.
Daniel's lawyer, Lawrence Blakestone, had said he would ask her only one question. Jenny knew what it was going to be, but she wasn't certain what she would say. She'd practiced with Gwendolyn over and over, but nothing had come out right. She'd ended up sounding like a simpleton and making herself nervous.
"Claire's lawyer will try to discredit you, Jenny," Mr. Blakestone had said. "Forgive me for being blunt, but he'll try to make you look as if you don't have enough sense to take care of two children. He'll even try to prove that you're a danger to them. But remember this, Jenny. The burden of proof is on them. You are not presumed to be unfit merely because you were born special. Your response to my question should dispel any doubts the judge might have."
Jenny folded her hands in her lap and forced herself to remain calm as she waited for Mr. Blakestone's question.
"Jenny, I want you to tell the court in your own words what kind of mother you will be to Daniel's two children."
Jake and Sarah slipped quietly into the back of the courtroom, and suddenly Jenny knew what she would say.
"When I was four years old, I didn't have a father, because mine ran away. But a wonderful man named Jake came into my mother's life and changed all that. He was there to pick me up when I fell down and to hug me when I cried. He sat by my bed all night when I had chicken pox and sang silly songs so I would forget about itching. He taught me to ride a tricycle and tried to teach me to play ball. I was too slow and too clumsy, but Jake loved me anyhow.
"He couldn't give me his bloodlines, but he gave me his heart.
"I will be the kind of parent to Megan and Patrick that Daddy has been to me. I will give them my heart."
Daniel could have shouted for joy. Jenny was magnificent. Nothing Claire's lawyer could say would counteract her eloquent pledge of love.
o0o
Daniel and Jenny stood in a cluster with Jake and Sarah outside the courtroom.