“It’s three houses ahead on the right.”
Nate slowed down and pulled into the driveway of a two-story colonial. They’d arrived at their destination sooner than he’d anticipated. Sooner than he would’ve liked…
To him, it felt good to talk about Spade, but he didn’t know if Laurel felt the same way. She’d been quiet on the short drive from the restaurant. After what he’d put her through in the last few days, she had every right to hope she’d seen the last of him.
He came to a stop and shut off the wipers but kept the motor running so she’d stay warm.
“Laurel—before I leave, I need to apologize. There are no words to describe how I feel for my appalling behavior toward you.
“The truth is, I saw you in the elevator with someone before dinner. You kissed him. I assumed he was the other man—the baby’s father. Later, when the two of you approached me on the dance floor, I’m afraid I lost it.”
She turned her head in his direction. “There’s nothing to forgive. If your position and Scott’s had been reversed, I’m sure his behavior would’ve been much worse. He’d have taken one look and knocked my poor brother-in-law unconscious without even asking any questions.”
Her brother-in-law.
The sandy-haired man had to be from her side of the family, not Spade’s. “Still, I didn’t—”
“You’re to be congratulated for your restraint,” She broke in, her voice amused.
Nate shifted in the seat. “Don’t give me any credit. My brother Rick could tell you how close I came to doing real damage.”
Her chuckle was as attractive as the rest of her. “It was an honest mistake. Scott would love it if he knew how you rushed to his def—”
Nate never heard the rest of her sentence because someone had wiped the snow from his window and was tapping on the glass. He pressed the button to lower it.
“Oh!” a woman cried in surprise when she saw him at the wheel. She bore a strong resemblance to the woman seated next to him.
“It’s all right!” Laurel said. “Major Hawkins brought me home so I wouldn’t have to drive back in this storm. Nate? I know that’s your real name. Do you prefer Hawk or Nate?”
“Nate’s fine.”
“I’ll try to remember. Anyway, Nate, this is my older sister, Julie Marsden. It was her husband, Brent, you saw at the lodge with me.”
They both said hello at the same time, but her sister looked anxious.
“Forgive me for interrupting, but there’s a taxi right behind you. I thought maybe your labor had started and you needed help.”
Laurel shook her head. “Not yet.”
“I called for a cab to run me back to the restaurant,” Nate explained.
At this point he had no choice but to put his words into action. It was the last thing he wanted to do. After shutting the window, he turned off the engine and got out of the car.
Once he’d signaled the taxi driver to wait for him, he went around to Laurel’s side to help her out. It had already snowed three inches and wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon. She and her sister needed to get inside the house. He needed to leave.
She grasped his forearm. “Thank you for taking the trouble to drive me home. I appreciate it more than you know.”
“I’m grateful to you, too,” her sister added. “When the snow started, I worried about the roads icing up.”
The taxi driver laid on the horn and Laurel looked up at Nate. “He sounds like he’s in a hurry. I guess you’d better go. Goodbye and thanks again.”
“Laurel—” he began. There was a lot more he wanted to say, but he’d run out of time. He nodded to her instead before getting into the cab. He gave the driver the address of the restaurant—then had to fight with himself to look straight ahead and not back at her as he wanted to.
Her eyes had seemed strangely haunted just now. In the next few minutes, he imagined, she’d be sobbing her heart out.
Their conversation had forced her to remember the dreadful day she’d received the news that her husband had died. Talking with Nate had been too great a reminder of Spade and everything she’d lost.
Nate’s memories were different. Although she’d been Spade’s wife, she didn’t remind him of Spade, except indirectly. And during their marriage, Nate hadn’t really seen them interact as a couple.
Laurel Pierce was a strong, vital force in her own right. A person who’d taken on new stature with her ability to face death, the implacable enemy, and then forgiven Nate’s cruelty with a completeness of heart. A brave woman who was preparing to bring a child into the world alone.
He grimaced at the thought that after wanting to be a father for such a long time, Spade wouldn’t be there to experience it.
CHAPTER FIVE
LAUREL HURRIED into the living room. She peeked through the front curtain in time to see the cab disappear from view. It left her with a disturbing emptiness….
“I assume there’s been a reconciliation? Otherwise he wouldn’t have insisted on bringing you home. Want to talk about it, or would you rather be alone for a while?”
She whirled around to face her sister. Julie could read her moods better than anyone. However, this was one time Laurel didn’t know where to start when it came to sorting out her feelings.
Julie must have picked up on her ambivalence. She simply said, “Why don’t you at least get out of that wet sweater coat.”
“I must look like a drowned rat,” Laurel murmured as she walked into the hall to hang it up in the closet.
Her sister followed. “All drowned rats should look so good. By the way, I had no idea the legendary Hawk was that attractive. His nickname doesn’t suit him.”
“Not physically anyway.” Laurel shut the door. He didn’t want her to call him Hawk. She could understand. Those nicknames were reserved for the men within their own private fraternity.
“Funny,” Julie murmured. “All these years I’d been picturing someone dark and wiry with an aquiline nose.”
Laurel averted her eyes. “He’s hardly that.”
“Hardly,” her sister mocked. “He must be something in full dress uniform.”
“Don’t you know all men are supposed to look better in them?”
“Well, let’s agree Major Hawkins doesn’t need one to make a serious impact. Don’t tell Brent I said that.”
“Don’t worry. When I first met Hawk—I mean Nate—I was careful to keep my observations to myself around Scott.”
“Wise girl. It might give a husband a complex.”
“I think a lot of the guys hit the gym more often because of him.”
“Scott included?”
Their eyes met before Laurel nodded.
“Tell me what happened this morning.”
“You won’t believe it. Now that I’ve had a chance to think about it, I realize I should’ve figured it out days ago.”
“Figured out what? Don’t keep me in suspense!”
“The short version is, he thought I was pregnant with Brent’s child.”
“What?”
“That’s only part of it. If you want to hear the long version, we’ll have to go into the study where I can put my feet up. I’m starting to swell.”
“I should have suggested it, but your news made me forget everything else. Come on.”
They walked through the hall to the den. Laurel stacked some cushions to prop up her feet. After removing her shoes she lay on the couch with a sigh.
“It’s a good thing I’m about ready to deliver.” She rolled her eyes toward her sister. “You’ll be needing this couch before long.”
“Not for a while. At least I haven’t had any morning sickness this time around.”
“Lucky you.”
“All right,” Julie murmured. “Tell me what went on.”
Laurel turned on her side toward her sister, who sat in the chair opposite her, the one Brent claimed whenever there were sports on TV.
“It’s very touching really.” Without warnin
g, tears stung her eyes. “As soon as Nate realized his mistake, he apologized. I heard the sorrow in his voice. It was something I’ll never forget.”
She felt her sister’s speculative glance. “Considering he was so horrible to you, that’s quite a turnaround.”
“I won’t deny how much it hurt, but he had his reasons. In the first place, he didn’t know Scott and I were trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization. Secondly, he did the math and knew I hadn’t been with Scott for almost a year.
“Ever since he saw me on Saturday night, he’s been worried that I was unfaithful to my husband.”
“Ooh.”
Laurel sat up. “That’s not the worst. He thought that when I told Scott we were having a baby, Scott was devastated because he knew it wasn’t his child and…his plane crashed.”
“Good heavens!” her sister cried.
“Nate didn’t say that in so many words, but I read between the lines. As I told you, he and Scott were so close, I assumed he knew everything personal about our lives.
“Obviously we’ve both made some false assumptions, but everything he thought or did was out of loyalty to Scott. You can’t blame a man for that.”
“No,” her sister concurred.
“If Nate hadn’t agreed to meet me today, he would’ve gone on assuming I’d done the worst thing you could do to a spouse who was about to climb into the cockpit. And I wouldn’t have known anything about it.
“Imagine if some of the other guys were to see me right now. They’d think the same thing—that I’d betrayed Scott!”
She buried her face in her hands until she could regain control of her emotions.
“Don’t worry, Laurel. I’m sure Nate will inform everyone who matters of the true situation.”
She finally lifted her head, smoothing the tears from her cheeks. “I told him I’d send out birth announcements making it clear that Scott was the father.”
“That’s a good idea,” Julie said quietly.
“You know, when Scott died I hurt so much in the beginning I couldn’t even talk about it. Many friends called Mom and Dad’s house, including Nate, but I asked the family to tell them I couldn’t come to the phone.”
“That was only natural. If anything happened to Brent, I can’t even imagine how I’d cope.”
“Still, if I’d been a stronger person, I would have talked to them and shared the news that I was pregnant with my husband’s baby. Then none of this would’ve happened. Not until this morning did I realize how much Scott’s buddies needed a chance to mourn with me.”
“I’m sure they understood, but I wonder why Nate didn’t attend the funeral.”
“In his letter he said something unavoidable had come up, which made it impossible for him to be there.”
“It must have been fairly serious for him, of all people, not to attend.”
“I agree.” Laurel wondered about that, as well as other times when Nate had disappointed Scott by not being available to join them somewhere.
“Well, now that everything’s been resolved, you and Nate had a chance to talk about someone you both loved, and that’s a good thing.”
Laurel nodded. “I didn’t want him to go. In fact, I had the impression he would’ve liked to stay longer, but the taxi was waiting. Something tells me Nate’s leave has come to an end, which is why he agreed to meet with me today. Thank God he did!”
“You were smart to deliver that letter in person. It led to the best possible outcome….”
“Apparently I have his brother to thank for that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nate more or less said he wouldn’t have phoned me if it hadn’t been for his brother’s urging. I wish I could thank him.”
“Why can’t you? Just pick up the phone. When he understands how important his intervention was, he’ll be glad he played such a vital role.”
“I don’t know. If it was confidential…”
“Then phone him right now, before Nate returns to Copper Mountain. He’ll know whether or not to tell Nate you called.”
“That’s true.” Laurel sniffed. “I’ve got the phone numbers for the store and the house in my purse.”
“Good. Bring them into the kitchen.” Julie got to her feet. “You can call while I fix lunch. I’m starving. I’m afraid I’m going to put on more weight than usual with this baby.”
“I was constantly hungry at first, too.” Laurel followed her through the house. “It’ll be just my luck if his brother’s not home.”
“If you do reach him and all goes well, find out if Nate’s going to be in Colorado a while longer. You could invite them both to dinner. If they have wives or girlfriends, invite them too.”
“I didn’t see a ring on Nate’s finger, but you never know. I’m through making assumptions about anything.”
“It’s a lesson to all of us. Well, if he can make it, you’ll be able to have the visit you were deprived of at the funeral. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt for my husband to see another side to Scott’s friend.”
“Brent was so angry that night,” Laurel said.
“That’s why I decided to wait to tell him about the baby. The major has no idea how close my husband came to popping him one, even though he would’ve ended up on the floor.”
Few men would be a match for Nate Hawkins. “Thank goodness it didn’t come to that.” Laurel hugged her sister. “You’re too good to me, you know that? If Nate and his brother can come, I’ll prepare dinner.”
“How about we do it together?”
RICK HAD BEEN going over the books in his dad’s office when he heard the phone ring. Nina or Jim usually answered so he kept on working. In another minute Jim poked his head inside the door. “Phone’s for you.”
“I should’ve gotten it. Thanks.”
Only a handful of people knew Rick was in Colorado. If they’d tried to reach him, they would have used his cell number. It couldn’t be his father or brother, or Jim would’ve said something. Natalie knew better than to phone him again.
He picked up the receiver. “This is Rick.”
“Oh, good!” said a female voice. To his relief it didn’t sound like Natalie. “I’m glad I found you. This is Laurel Pierce.”
Rick’s gaze flicked to his watch. It was twelve-thirty. Nate was supposed to have met her at ten. She wouldn’t be calling unless the storm had prevented Nate from arriving at the restaurant. Maybe he was stuck in a snowdrift on the mountain road without his cell phone.
“Mrs. Pierce. What can I do for you?”
“I realize you’re at work so I’ll make this short. I’m calling to thank you for giving Nate my letter. This morning he indicated that if you hadn’t encouraged him to get in touch with me, our meeting would never have taken place.”
So they did make contact. “I had very little to do with it.”
“He told me otherwise,” she said with tangible warmth. “Because of you, we were able to clear up a serious misunderstanding. You don’t have any idea how grateful I am to you.”
Rick sat forward in the swivel chair. “I’m glad there was a satisfactory resolution to your problem.” He meant it. He’d never seen his brother manifest such forbidding behavior before.
“You can’t imagine what it meant to me.” There was an unmistakable tremor in her voice. It led him to believe she’d really suffered. So had Nate. “I have one more favor to ask.”
“What is it?” he asked, intrigued.
“If you’re free, I’d like to invite you and Nate to dinner this week or next. That is if his leave isn’t up yet.”
She didn’t know he’d retired? “That sounds very nice.”
“I hope it means you can come. You see, the storm got so bad Nate insisted on driving me home in my car. But the taxi he called for came the second we reached the driveway. As a result, we didn’t get a chance to finish talking.”
Nate had insisted on driving her home? What was going on with his brother?
“I’ll
tell you what. As soon as I see Nate, I’ll ask him to call you.”
“That would be wonderful. Oh, and this invitation includes your wives or girlfriends.”
His eyes widened in surprise. How was it she still knew so little after meeting with Nate? But all he said was, “I’ll pass that along, Mrs. Pierce.”
“Thank you. Now I’d better let you go. I hope to talk to you again shortly.”
“Me, too.”
No sooner had he hung up the phone than the subject of their conversation walked into the office covered in snow. His arms were loaded with food and drinks. That in itself suggested a major change in his mood.
“I thought you just had breakfast with Laurel Pierce,” he said.
“Neither of us could eat. Now I’m famished.”
That was obvious as his brother emptied everything onto the desk. Rick counted four double cheeseburgers, two orders of chicken strips, two large fries and two cheesecakes.
Incredible, considering Nate hadn’t exhibited an appetite since they’d flown in last week.
Her surprising phone call had given Rick some idea of what had happened. At this point he could sit back and patiently watch as his brother consumed two-thirds of their lunch without talking.
Nate finally lifted his head and their eyes met. “What?”
“I was about to ask you the same question,” Rick said as he munched on a fry. “But I can wait till you’re through eating. If you’re still hungry, go ahead and have my cheesecake, too.”
“You don’t want it?”
“Evidently not as much as you do.”
“Thanks.”
His lips twitched when his brother immediately helped himself to a second dessert.
“How was the weather in Denver?”
“Typical. Two or three inches. It’ll melt the minute the sun comes out.” He finished the cheesecake in a couple of bites.
“That’s odd. I heard it was so bad, a certain pregnant woman had to be driven home from a certain pancake house.”
Nate’s head shot up. “You’ve talked to Laurel?”
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