Vince said nothing.
“Back off.” Click.
Vince stared at the receiver long after the dial tone began. Then he looked out at the darkness and felt bleak certainty claw its way up from his belly.
It can get worse.
Though he didn’t know how, he never doubted it would.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“CHLOE…” Her mother stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the marble entry, her posture, for a change, not so regal or commanding.
Chloe managed a smile born of honest sympathy. Her father’s illness and the revelation of her adoption had taken their toll on her mother. “It will be all right, Mother. I promise.” Then she did something out of character for the two of them. She retraced her steps across the porch and hugged her mother.
And Dolores St. Claire, for once in her life, clung. If Chloe had needed proof of how afraid her mother was of losing her, she didn’t anymore.
She drew back to a safer distance but grasped her mother’s hand in hers. “I want to meet them. I want very much to know them.” How much that was true betrayed itself in her voice. There was a hunger growing within Chloe by the day to find these lost traces of who she really was. “I try to understand why you lied to me about my past and not feel so angry—” Chloe clutched in her hand the piece of paper on which her father had jotted her middle sister’s phone number, glancing away until her voice was once again under control. Then she continued in a careful tone, “I want to forgive you. I just—” She was forced to pause a second time.
But instead of calming, her agitation increased. The sense of betrayal overwhelmed her. “I’m sorry, it’s too soon.”
Before she could say something she’d regret, Chloe dropped her mother’s hand and fled.
FIRST, she sat at the graceful Queen Anne writing desk, ankles crossed, back straight, and picked up the phone to dial.
She got through six digits, but her hands were shaking so much she missed a number. With a quick stab, she hit the Off button and dropped the phone to the desktop. She sagged against the back of the chair, breathing too hard.
Ivy’s name was Galloway now—she’d married a wealthy man named Linc Galloway and had a baby, the investigator had said. A little girl named Amelia Caroline Galloway, for her other sister.
Not after me, Chloe thought. But why should she be? Ivy didn’t know Chloe. Maybe she’d even forgotten her younger sister existed.
Please. Please want me. Chloe stared at the phone. It would be so much easier to take her father up on his offer to make the first approach. Then she could know without having to face any rejection firsthand.
I never took you for a coward, Doc. Vince’s smiling challenge rose in her mind.
I’m scared, Vince. Really scared. Chloe bent over, sucking great gasps of air in and blowing them out, seeking a calm that had never felt more distant.
Do it now. You have to know, either way.
She jumped up from the desk and grabbed the phone, heading for the safety of the chair in which Vince had held her while she cried. Clasping the bedraggled scrap of paper in her finger, she huddled against the cushions and wished they were Vince’s comforting embrace. Before she could let herself think too hard, she punched in the numbers and listened to the phone ring, gripping the receiver in her hand.
A man’s deep voice answered. “Hello?”
Chloe could hear a baby’s gurgling laughter.
“Ow,” the man yelped. “Let go of Daddy’s ear, Amelia, honey.” He exhaled as if in relief. “Hello?”
Amelia. The baby was real. Her niece.
“Is anyone there?” His voice grew impatient.
Linc. His name was Linc. Chloe sat frozen.
Then a woman’s voice sounded in the background. “Who is it? Want me to take her?”
Ivy. Was that Ivy?
“It’s no one,” he answered, his voice fading, as though he was about to hang up.
“Wait,” Chloe said softly, then louder. “Wait, please—hello?”
“Hello?” he said again. “Who is this?”
“It’s—” Chloe’s throat closed up tight.
“Forget it,” he growled. “Prank call someone else.”
“No, wait, it’s—I’m Chloe. I’m—” How could she explain to this stranger she’d angered?
“Chloe?” He sounded dumbfounded. A long pause ensued. “My God. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
It was her turn to be stunned. Words wouldn’t come.
“Hello?”
“I—” She cleared her throat. “Do you mean it?”
A soft chuckle emerged. “Ivy has been frantic to find you. She’ll be—” A woman’s voice sounded in the background. “Sweetheart, it’s your sister. It’s Chloe.”
Chloe strained to hear her sister’s voice. She chewed at her lip, barely daring to breathe.
“Hold on. For the first time since I met her, Ivy is speechless.” Amusement rang in his tone. “Wait—here, love, let me take Amelia—” His voice faded.
But Chloe was still trying to absorb what he’d said. We’ve been looking everywhere for you.
“Chloe?” The woman’s voice came on the phone now, sweet and tremulous. “Is—is it really you?”
Chloe swallowed. “Yes, it’s—” Her throat closed up again.
“How did you find me—oh, Chloe, I’ve missed you so much. My word, Caroline will be pea green with envy. We have to come see—where are you—oh, Linc, it’s her, it’s—”
Then she laughed, but Chloe could hear tears, too. “I’m sorry. I’m babbling. I’m just so thrilled….” She paused. “Are you still there?”
“I—” Chloe could barely speak past her own tears. “You—you wanted to find me? You didn’t…forget me?” She clapped one hand over her mouth, stifling the sob trying to break free.
“Forget you? Never—oh, where are you, sweetie? Where have you been? It was as if you’d vanished from the earth.”
“I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I—I only was told two days ago that I had sisters, that I was adopted.”
“Oh, my word. You poor thing. Caroline and I were separated, too. We only found each other recently.” Ivy paused. “I’ve thought about you every day. I tried to stop them from taking you, but they said that I was selfish for keeping you from a family who’d shower you with everything Caroline and I could never provide. Maybe I should have run away with you, but I was only thirteen and they wouldn’t—there hasn’t been a day since then that I haven’t regretted not finding a way to—” Ivy’s voice broke.
Ivy wanted her. Had always wanted her. The enormity of that had Chloe reeling. “I’m sorry,” she said, tears flooding. “Sorry I—I forgot you. I don’t know how that could have happened. I always wanted a sister, and all along I—” Her throat became too full to continue.
“Oh, honey.” Ivy’s voice was all tenderness and no rebuke. “You were so little. You can’t be expected to remember things that happened then. I should have been able to find you—”
“No. You couldn’t have,” Chloe said. “My…parents made certain of that.”
“Why would they—” Ivy broke off. “I apologize. Of course they had the right and it’s not my—”
“Pride,” Chloe said, aching. “He couldn’t father children and didn’t want anyone to know. My mother did it to protect him.”
“So many years…” Ivy trailed off, and once again they were silent, pondering.
“Are they good to you, Chloe?” Her voice was strained. “Was your life—”
Chloe thought of what Ivy had said about letting her go so that she’d have a better lot and knew that whatever her reservations, she couldn’t let them show. “I’ve been sheltered and given every luxury. I’ve had so much—too much, really.” Except my family. My past.
“Oh, I hope they’ve treated you like a princess. You were such a beautiful little girl, always so sweet and serious.”
Chloe tried to absorb the idea that here was someo
ne who knew her before she remembered herself.
“I’ve got a million questions. Where are you? What’s your last name? I want to know everything that’s happened over these years, and I want to see you—oh, my goodness, Caroline’s going to be so amazed—”
Chloe smiled as Ivy’s enthusiasm bubbled over again. “My last name is St. Claire, and I’m a psychologist with the Austin Police Department.”
Ivy gasped. “I lived in Austin for five years. How could I have been in the same town and never—oh, Chloe…”
“We’re not far apart now, just a couple of hours away. Where is Caroline? I want to see you both.”
“Caroline’s…well, some of the time she and Diego are in Dallas and sometimes in a little village in far West Texas called La Paloma. She’s a doctor.”
“Diego’s her—”
“Husband. He’s an amazing man. Once he was a Special Forces medic, but he’s also into alternative-healing methods. She was in an accident, and when she met him, he was taking care of the poor people in La Paloma, while she was a high-powered cardiac surgeon at Mercy Hospital in Dallas. They’ve joined forces now and have clinics in both places. He’s so good for her.”
“I’m glad. What about you? Linc sounds wonderful.”
“He is. He’s, well, he’s just…everything. I can’t wait to introduce you. Oh, Chloe, when can I see you?” Without waiting for an answer, Ivy rolled on. “I’m going to call Caroline and then I’ll pack up my family and we’ll be on the road—” She stopped suddenly. “That is, if it’s okay.” She sounded as uncertain as Chloe had felt.
“You can’t know how much I want that, but—”
“It’s all right,” Ivy filled in quickly. “Maybe it’s too soon.”
“No, Ivy, I desperately want to see you. It’s just that things are…complicated right now. My… parents…and there’s this man, and he’s in trouble—”
“I’m sorry.” Ivy’s voice held both tears and laughter. “Of course you have a whole life without us and naturally your…parents must be considered.”
“I want to know you, Ivy. So badly.”
Ivy’s tone was warm and comforting. “I believe you, and we’ll be there just as soon as you’re ready, or you can come here if you’d prefer. You decide what’s best for you.”
“I can’t begin to convey what it means to me that—” Chloe’s voice broke. “I have a sister. You’re real, not imaginary,” she whispered.
“Oh, honey, you have a whole family now. Two sisters, two handsome new brothers and a little girl who looks a lot like you did as a baby.”
“Really?” Chloe’s eyes overflowed then.
“Truly. I love that about her. What do you look like now? I know your eyes are brown, but is your hair still blond? How tall are you?” Ivy was picking up steam again, when a shriek sounded behind her. “Oh, dear. Amelia thinks that her needs take precedence. I have to nurse her, Chloe. I don’t want to stop talking, but she’ll never settle down if I’m on the phone and so excited.”
“Go ahead,” Chloe urged. “I could visit with you all night, but she has to come first. Hand the phone to Linc, and I’ll give him my phone number. I want to see you, Ivy, all of you, as soon as possible. In the meantime, call me at any hour.”
Ivy laughed. “I’ll try my best not to call you in the middle of the night, but I’m not sure how much sleep I’m going to get after this. Thank you so much for finding me. I’ve missed you like the dickens.” Her voice thickened. “Oh, dear, here I go again. You get some sleep, sweetie, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you, Chloe.” Then she was gone.
I love you. Chloe bowed her head and let the tears fall.
“Chloe?” Linc’s deep voice was kind and gentle now. “You all right?”
She sniffed and wished for a tissue. “I’ve never been so happy in my life.”
He laughed, and she thought she was really going to like this man who was now part of her family. Her family. “Ivy’s over the moon,” he said. “She’s wanted this for so very long. Family is everything to her. I’d be one lonely, bitter man if I hadn’t met her. Instead, I’m rich because I have Ivy and Amelia, and now our circle can be complete.”
“Oh, Linc, I can’t wait to meet all of you. I was so afraid—”
“You never have to fear Ivy. She’s got enough love for the whole world. Your heart will be in good hands.”
Somehow Chloe believed that. She and Linc spoke a little longer and exchanged phone numbers, office, home and cell, before she reluctantly let him go.
She curled up in the chair, cradling the phone to her chest as if it held her new family in it. Her heart was so full she felt it might explode. Overflow with the riches of knowing that soon so many questions would be answered. She sat there for long moments, alternately smiling and crying, trying to make herself go to bed and rest up so that she could tackle figuring out how to carve time in her caseload so that she’d be free to meet her sisters.
Sisters.
She couldn’t go to bed yet. She craved lights and people, not the too-quiet walls of her house.
She was going to get that dog and name him Charlie. She needed a companion.
Even in her present state, Chloe could smile at the idea. She didn’t really have time for a dog, but she wanted somewhere to expend this love that had been buried inside her so long that she’d thought it dried to dust.
Then it hit her. She had sisters to love now, and a niece. Two brothers-in-law. Chloe swiped at her cheeks, wishing she had someone she could talk to about this new and terrible longing that threatened to eat her alive.
And suddenly she knew exactly where she was going.
Even if it was too late at night. And he might be entertaining a female companion. Given that he was a walking female fantasy, it was entirely likely.
At the thought, Chloe almost turned back. She could wind up humiliated.
But for once she was going to take a risk.
In minutes, Chloe was in her car, nearly to Vince’s house, telling herself that she’d just drive by. If the lights were off, she’d keep going. If the lights were blazing…
Maybe. Maybe she’d stop.
Only one faint light glowed. No convenient signs left by fate as an inescapable decision.
Chloe pulled to the curb but didn’t cut off her engine. For the first time in years, she chewed at a fingernail, pondering the idiocy of going any further.
Do you always choose safety?
After ripping the nail away, Chloe turned the key and let the silence swell and overtake her. Knuckles white on the handle, she opened the car door and stepped out. Before she could lose her nerve, she hurried up the walk, concentrating on the concrete sidewalk beneath her feet, then the porch steps. She lifted her hand to knock—
A hand closed over her mouth. She was bodily lifted from her feet and torn from light into darkness.
A scream clawed its way up from her throat.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Vince whispered harshly.
She tried to speak, but he trapped her between his body and the house, his hand still over her mouth as he scanned the area.
“Don’t say anything,” he warned. He continued to scrutinize the lawn and the street. “Someone broke into my house.”
Chloe gasped.
Then he pinned her with those laser eyes. “We have to be quiet.” His seriousness rubbed off on her.
She nodded her understanding.
His hand dropped, but he didn’t move away. He listened to the night sounds.
After a few moments, the tension drained from his frame. “I’m pretty sure they’re gone. I just—” He focused on her. “Sorry. Did I scare you?”
“It’s all right. I know you’d never hurt me.”
Vince’s eyes widened. A different tension invaded him as they regarded each other in the moonlight.
New sensations took over: his muscled chest against her breasts…the unyielding wall behind her…his erection against her belly…
Chloe saw his pupils darken as his gaze dropped to her lips. Her body softened, her pelvis tilting slightly in welcome.
“Don’t,” he warned. But it came out a groan.
“Kiss me,” she said.
“No.” He licked his lips.
She stared, fascinated, at his tongue, then tried to lift herself to his mouth. His hands imprisoned her upper arms, holding her in place. “Why not?” she demanded, amazed at her daring.
His features went still, but his eyes burned. He didn’t answer.
She shoved at him. Like a boulder, he couldn’t be moved.
“No.” His eyes locked on hers.
“No what?” She glanced away, already regretting her impulsiveness. “If you don’t want me, just say so and get out of my way.”
His shoulders began to shake, and a rough laugh rumbled up from his throat. He pressed his groin against her, and it was the most erotic and glorious sensation she could imagine. “Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
“I’m female. You’re male. You can’t help a simple physical reaction.”
“Christ, Chloe, I’ve been hard so much of the time since we met that the damn thing should have broken off by now.” He clasped her chin and turned her face up to him. “I want you so bad it’s making me crazy.”
“Then why—” She couldn’t finish.
“Because you’re—”
Then she got it. “Because I’m a virgin? You jerk. You impossible, arrogant jerk. You think that because I haven’t had sex with anyone at my advanced age that somehow I need to be treated like some fragile little flower?” She smacked at his chest and pushed again. “Let me go. I’m leaving.”
But he didn’t budge. Instead, he clasped her wrists and trapped them above her shoulders. “What the hell do you expect, Chloe? A woman’s first time should be special. It should be romantic, with flowers and wine and candles and—”
“Maybe I don’t need those. Maybe I don’t want gentle.”
Fury sparked. “So that’s why you’re here? To let the mongrel teach you to do the nasty?” He thrust away from her.
The Good Daughter Page 17