DESTINY'S EMBRACE

by Suzanne Elizabeth

  For the sake of his future and the memory of his father he had to put the copper-haired beauty out of his mind. He would focus his undivided attention on Amanda. Once the bank had the money back, and his job was once again secure, he’d ask her to marry him. He had no doubt she’d say yes.

  Then Lacey Guarder could take her tawny eyes, flashing smiles, and unending challenges, and go back to wherever she came from and leave him to his quiet, respectable life.

  Chapter 14

  Lacey woke to the sound of voices in the entryway. She wasn't sure how long she’d slept, but the fire was burning low, it was dark outside, and she had a kink in her neck from her awkward position in the leather chair.

  She recognized the timbre of Matthew Brady's deep voice and quickly smoothed down her hair. As the voices drew nearer, she folded over the top edge of the blanket in her lap and straightened the front of her red dress. With her eyes glued on the fire, she pretended she hadn't heard anyone arrive.

  "Lacey, honey? You awake?"

  Lacey turned at the sound of Hazel's voice, being sure to look properly sleepy, but when her eyes landed on the young woman at Matthew Brady side, it was impossible to hide her shock. Amanda Simmons wasn’t just beautiful, she was stunning. Tall, graceful, blond-haired, blue-eyed, with the perfect features and rosy complexion of a European model. Matthew Brady was dating a Barbie doll.

  "Amanda Simmons," Hazel said, "meet Lacey Guarder. Lacey's been stayin' with us since the storm."

  Sky-blue eyes met Lacey’s and she wasn’t sure what to expect. Then a warm smile formed on a set of lips so perfectly pink they were impossible.

  "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Lacey,” the woman said, “I’ve heard so much about you from Hazel and Nettie."

  Lacey arched her brows. Hazel and Nettie was one thing. But what had Matthew told his girlfriend about her. After that morning in the cave, he certainly had the most to share.

  Amanda Simmons came forward with her hand outstretched and Lacey rose from her chair to accept the gesture. The woman towered over Lacey by at least five inches, making Lacey feel very small and insignificant, not to mention very stupid that she'd ever entertained the idea that Matthew Brady might be attracted to her. What a joke, when he had this waiting for him in the wings.

  "I understand you're helping Matthew recover the money for the town," the woman said.

  Could her voice be any more lilting?

  “That's so selfless of you,” Amanda continued. “Not many women have the courage to spend an hour alone with the Rawlins brothers. In a cell or otherwise."

  Lacey found herself searching desperately for just a tiny ounce of spite in the school teacher's tone, just a smidgen of female rancor that would justify a full frontal attack on her part. But there wasn't a trace. Amanda Simmons was just as perfect on the inside as she seemed to be on the out. So Lacey turned her anger and frustration on the man at Amanda's side.

  “Marshal, how does Lorraine Rawlins like her new home?" Matthew had seemed a little guarded since walking into the room, and Lacey had a feeling she knew why.

  "What new home is that?" he asked.

  "Her cell in your jailhouse, of course. Was she happy to be reunited with her brothers? I hope they weren't too hard on her for being captured. But then who could possibly blame her for being unable to elude such a competent lawman such as yourself?"

  A muscle at the back of the marshal’s jaw twitched, and Lacey had her answer: his trip to Fairhaven had been a total bust. She only hoped he and his bungling deputies hadn't scared Lorraine Rawlins away for good.

  "Unfortunately,” Amanda Simmons spoke up, “Matthew and his men were unsuccessful. But I have no doubt that they will prevail eventually."

  And now Lacey could add supportive to the woman's long list of positive attributes. She thought she might be sick.

  "I'll fetch the coffee," Hazel said. "Oh, Amanda, honey, could you come along and help me carry the cups?"

  "Certainly, Hazel. You know, I've been meaning to compliment you on your restaurant's apple pie…”

  Amanda's soft voice trailed off as the young woman followed Hazel from the room. Lacey's gaze snapped back to Matthew Brady. "I told you to take me with you,” she hissed.

  "Don't start with me.”

  "If you'd taken me with you, you'd have that money back and I’d be on my way to Cali—” She caught herself, but not in time.

  He narrowed his eyes. “What’s in California?”

  Lacey turned to the hearth and made a show of warming her hands. “Your girlfriend is very pretty."

  “Amanda’s a good person.”

  “Isn’t she a bit…proper for you?”

  "What man wouldn't want a respectable woman?"

  That remark hurt more than it should have. She turned to glare at him. “So you’re actually buying her Polly Purebred act? The perfect woman doesn't exist, you know. The truth will show its ugly head eventually—usually after a hefty mortgage and two cars.”

  "Two what?"

  “Just marry her, already,” Lacey snapped. “The two of you deserve each other." She couldn't believe how worked up she was getting. Why should she care who the man dated? What did it matter to her if Amanda Simmons was Snow White or the evil queen?

  "Here we are," Hazel announced.

  She ambled back into the room holding a coffee pot. Amanda Simmons glided in after her, carrying a tray of coffee mugs. The woman glided…like a swan skimming over a crystal lake.

  The school teacher smiled warmly at Lacey and set the tray of mugs on the coffee table. Lacey found herself hoping the woman would mess-up: trip, say something rude, drop a mug—something! To the best of Lacey’s knowledge perfect didn't exist, but Amanda Simmons came pretty close.

  They all sat for coffee, Lacey in the chair, and Hazel, Matthew, and Amanda Simmons on the sofa. Rather than taking part, Lacey just listened to the conversation. With each passing moment her self-confidence wavered more. Every time the woman touched Matthew’s arm, hand, or shoulder, Lacey's throat tightened, until she doubted she'd be able to swallow any of the roast Hazel had cooked for dinner. She even considered pleading a headache and hiding in her room for the rest of the night, but sitting in her room imagining them together would have been far worse than witnessing it first hand.

  She had to be out of her mind. What other reason could there be for her to feel this way? She felt panicked and dizzy, clammy, almost numb. But her mind was racing so fast she could barely keep up with the conversation going on around her. She had the distinct urge to jump to her feet and scream at the top of her lungs.

  "Lacey? Lacey, honey, are ya all right?"

  Lacey's attention snapped back into focus when she realized Hazel was talking to her.

  "Amanda was wonderin' where you're from," Hazel said.

  Lacey glanced at the marshal, at his intense jade eyes. She knew he expected her to refuse to answer the question, to embarrass herself in front of his girlfriend, but she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction.

  “I’m from California," she replied.

  The marshal's expression instantly hardened.

  "Really?” Amanda said breathlessly. "Matthew is from California."

  "Really?" Lacey gave him a tight smile. “I’m sure he'll read plenty into that little coincidence."

  "He's from San Francisco," Hazel supplied.

  Lacey nodded and sipped her coffee. "Nice town."

  "Then you've been there,” Matthew demanded more than asked.

  "A time or two."

  "A time or two in the past few years?" he persisted.

  “I suppose."

  "Then that explains it," he stated.

  "Explains what?" Amanda asked.

  "Where I've met her before."

  "You two have met before?" Hazel looked at Lacey in astonishment.

  Lacey shrugged. "Don't look at me." He was obviously still trying to find an answer to the sense of recognition he felt with her. The same one she felt with him
but had yet to admit out loud.

  “Your visit didn't involve a gun and a pair of handcuffs, did it?" he inquired.

  “Oh, Matthew.” Amanda laughed softly at what she apparently thought was a joke.

  Lacey knew he wasn't kidding, though. He was thinking he knew her because she'd been arrested in San Francisco. And if she hadn't been living in the twenty-first century at the time, his theory might have had some merit.

  “Do a lot of the women you know get arrested?” Lacey asked too sweetly.

  “The two of you probably met at one of those flashy galas they're always holding in the big cities," Amanda said. "I can see it now, the two of you dressed in all your finery, dancing to a waltz in the middle of a marble floor."

  Matthew nodded slowly over the rim of his coffee cup, but Lacey could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't believe that theory for a moment.

  She heard the front door open. “I’m home!” George called out.

  Everyone moved into the entryway to greet him, and Lacey was very conscious of the fact that Matthew had his hand resting in the small of Amanda Simmons's back.

  They all migrated into the kitchen for dinner, and settled into series of amicable discussions. Amicable, that is, until Lacey got sick of watching Matthew fawn all over his girlfriend. He touched her hand, and played with her hair. He even tugged the woman’s earlobe at one point. When Matthew reached up with his napkin to wipe a dab of gravy from Amanda’s chin, Lacey just about lost her mind.

  "Just exactly how did you two meet?" she blurted. The entire table quieted and looked her way. "I mean," she added, laughing a little, "you're not exactly a matched set."

  Matthew narrowed his eyes.

  “Well, this is a very small town," Amanda answered. “It’s difficult not to know everyone.”

  "So you settled for whatever you could get?”

  Amanda blinked and flushed.

  "That's not what she meant,” Matthew broke in.

  "But I can imagine the choices you must have had, Amanda. The marshal, or one of those big, smelly lumberjacks. Personally, I would have chosen—"

  “Nobody cares what your choice would have been, Miss Guarder," the marshal stated.

  "Matthew,” Amanda whispered. “Don't be rude.”

  “Oh,” Lacey interjected, “but he is rude. And that's my point. The two of you go together about as well as a white dress and a mud hole.” She looked at the marshal. “You being the mud hole, of course.”

  Hazel cleared her throat. "Lacey, honey—"

  "Hazel was telling me just the other day how sweet and gentle you are, Amanda,” Lacey continued. “And this man is about as pleasant as a sharp poke in the eye."

  "That’s enough," the marshal growled.

  Lacey didn’t agree. She was so full of bitterness she felt she might explode if she didn't get it out. "There must be some other single man in town who's better suited to your disposition. Hey, how about Reginald Sterling? He's seems rather…immaculate.”

  Matthew slammed his hands down onto the table, making the dinnerware jump, and causing Amanda to let out a little squeak. He surged up from the table. "That is enough!"

  Mindless of the other people at the table, Lacey lurched up from her own chair. “You should have taken me with you!" she shouted. “Now you’ve ruined everything!”

  “So you could fall into another lake?!” he bellowed.

  Without thinking, she picked up her dinner roll and threw it at his face. The others around the table gasped. “I could have helped you get that money back, and we’d be done with all this!”

  His nostrils flared. “If you had just told me what the Rawlins said to you then—”

  "I wouldn't tell you what they said if you demanded it with your last dying breath!"

  "You'd be the last thing on my mind during my dying breath!"

  "Unless I was the one killing you!"

  "I wouldn't put it past you to stick a knife between a man's shoulder blades!"

  “Oh, I’d go straight for the heart, baby," she seethed.

  Hazel rose from her chair. "That is enough out of the both of ya!” she stated angrily. "I've never seen such a display around a dinner table. Just look at Amanda. Poor girl’s about to fall outta her chair."

  Amanda Simmons looked as pale as a white-haired rabbit. "Matthew," she said softly, "I'm suddenly not feeling very well. I’d…I’d like to be taken home."

  The marshal threw an accusing glare at Lacey. She lifted her chin, but knew she’d stepped over the line. She’d been unable to help herself. Amanda was close to tears, and Lacey felt like she'd just drop-kicked a puppy.

  Matthew helped the school teacher from her chair. He thanked the Martins, apologized for his behavior, then escorted his girlfriend out of the kitchen.

  Lacey stood frozen at the table as the Martins showed the couple to the door. She felt hot with shame. She wanted to run, but seemed rooted to the floor.

  George and Hazel came back into the room. Lacey took one look at their disappointed faces and burst into tears.

  Mathew didn’t even know what to say to Amanda on the ride back to her house. She was quiet and withdrawn, leaving him to guess at what she might be thinking. As they pulled up to her house, he couldn’t stand the silence any longer. He set the reins over his knee and turned to her. "I'd appreciate it if you'd talk to me, Amanda."

  She glanced over at him, but only for a moment. "I'm sorry, Matthew. I guess I-I’m a bit overwhelmed by tonight.”

  "Lacey Guarder tends to have that effect on people,” he growled.

  "I've never seen you quite so angry."

  He let out a heavy sigh. "The woman's a menace. She baits me every chance she gets and doesn't stop ’til the blade’s driven home."

  "I've never known you to be so easily provoked."

  "I'm sorry I lost my temper."

  "Do you do that often with Miss Guarder?"

  He nodded reluctantly. “Unfortunately."

  "There…there certainly seems to be a lot of emotion between the two of you."

  “None of it good, believe me."

  "Maybe you're not looking hard enough."

  He gave her a startled glance.

  "I've read that there's a very fine line between love and hate."

  “What are you saying?"

  “That I believe there's a spark between you and Miss Guarder."

  "A spark of what?" he asked incredulously.

  She touched his arm. “I think you need to find that out. If you ignore it, you could be letting something precious slip through your fingers."

  Matthew couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was she actually telling him to pursue another woman? He took hold of her hand. “But I thought what we had was precious."

  She smiled gently at him. "What we have is convenience, Matthew. Just like Lacey said."

  “Lacey doesn’t know when to shut her mouth,” he stated. "I refuse to let her ruin what we have."

  “What do we have, Matthew? Besides companionship, I mean? You were there during that kiss we shared last night. What I felt were the emotions of a warm gesture between friends. Can you honestly say you felt something more?"

  He couldn't. And that's what was eating him up inside. “But maybe, with just a little more time—”

  “I’m not in love with you, Matthew. And you’re not in love with me.”

  Her words should have cut him to the bone, but they didn't. Because she was right; he didn't love her. Not like that.

  "Please don't be angry with me," she said, squeezing his hand.

  "I'm not angry with you, Amanda. Now, Lacey…her, I’m gonna strangle.”

  Amanda laughed softly. "Someday I hope to affect a man as passionately as she's affected you."

  He shook his head, laughing ruefully. "You have no idea what you're wishing for.”

  "Oh, Matthew," she said, a warmth of sympathy in her eyes. "These past few days have been so hard on you, haven’t they?”

  “I feel like I
’m fightin’ to keep my head above water.”

  "Don't fight the current of the river. It'll only tire you out and drown you eventually."

  “And you think Lacey is the current?”

  She shrugged. “It sounds like she doesn’t plan to be in town long. Maybe you should take advantage of the time you have to look deeper into your feelings for her. Otherwise you might regret it for the rest of your life."

  “I hope this doesn’t mean an end to our friendship.”

  “Never.” She smiled warmly. "Will you see me into the house?"

  He climbed down and helped her up the snow-covered walk to her front door. She turned and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I'll see you at church tomorrow.”

  "Without me sitting beside you, you might have Reginald as a hymn partner."

  She laughed. "I'll survive. And so will you. Good night, Matthew."

  She turned and went into her house, leaving him to stare at her front door and wonder what had just happened. Lacey, that's what had happened. Lacey Guarder and her scheming, interfering, high-handed ways.

  He cursed under his breath and headed back to the buggy. After he retrieved his horse from the livery, he started to ride in the direction of his house, the house that represented his dreams for a stable, respectable life. He felt like that world had just been yanked out from underneath his feet.

  Lacey Guarder had ruined everything.

  Amanda wanted him to explore his feelings for her. It didn't take a genius to know he was infuriated, undone, and unnerved by her. Even when he'd been in the company of the woman he thought he was going to marry, Lacey had insinuated herself into his thoughts.

  The memory of their time together in the cave returned to him in full force. This time, instead of driving the thoughts away, he closed his eyes and let the sensations fill him. Maybe he could twist them into something ugly that he could despise and drive away. He could still feel the sensation of her silken skin against his, smell the spicy scent that always clung to her hair. He imagined kissing her, her lips sliding beneath his, his hands gliding over her bare body….