Kitabı oku: «Undercover Christmas», sayfa 4

Chapter Four

Long after Chase left, Marni lay on the big log bed, her arm protectively around Sam as she stared up at the ceiling and mentally kicked herself. What had she hoped to accomplish by coming here? When was she going to learn that she couldn’t solve everyone’s problems?

As for the kiss…

She tried to excuse it. It was only a test and a test kiss didn’t amount to anything. She shouldn’t feel guilty. Really, if she was going to pretend to be Elise, these things were bound to happen. Men kissed El unexpectedly, passionately, soundly.

Not that Marni would let it happen again. One test kiss per sister’s boyfriend, thank you. But if it should—

Marni groaned. Why was she agonizing over one silly little kiss? Instead she should be worrying about how El was going to take the bad news. She’d tried to call her sister before climbing into bed but the phone line was dead. Probably the storm.

She stopped a moment to listen, almost sure she’d heard footsteps out in the hallway again. As she drew the covers up around her shoulders, she assured herself the house didn’t feel exceptionally imposing or hostile and that all those grunts and groans, creaks and crackings were just from the storm outside. This was Chase’s doing. Him and his “you and your baby aren’t safe here.”

Only silence came from the adjoining room. Chase had no doubt gone to bed and was sound asleep by now. So much for his guilty conscience keeping him awake.

She’d really believed that once she had him alone, she could get him to admit his part in Elise’s pregnancy. At least she would have accomplished that much. Not that he planned to do anything about it. But instead, he wouldn’t even consider she might be part of his lost memory. If indeed he suffered from such a convenient affliction.

Marni squeezed her eyes closed and searched for sleep, wishing she’d grabbed a book from the library. Nothing could distract her mind faster than a book.

Her stomach growled. How could she be hungry when she’d devoured such a large meal just hours ago?

She tried to ignore the hunger pangs and the mental picture that kept flashing in her brain. Cake. A moist white cake, rich with buttery frosting.

Her stomach rumbled loudly. She opened her eyes. It would be incredibly rude to raid the refrigerator. Not for a woman who was eating for two, she argued, as she slid her legs over the side of the bed.

The embers had burned down in the fireplace and the storm’s icy chill settled in along with Chase’s warning. He didn’t know her very well if he thought he could scare her that easily.

She reminded herself that he didn’t know her at all. He knew Elise. And the truth was, Elise probably wouldn’t have budged from her bed until morning.

Marni opened her bedroom door cautiously and peered out. The hallway was empty. And dark except for a light at the far end beyond the stairs. The house seemed to hunker in silence as if waiting for something. For her, the voice of reason warned. But a piece of cake, rich with frosting, was calling. The cake won. She stepped out and, quietly closing the door behind her, tiptoed down the hall.

A cold draft crawled over her bare feet. She pulled Chase’s robe around her. The robe was thick and warm and like the shirt, smelled faintly of its owner, a scent that was both disarming and comforting.

When Marni reached the stairs, she trod down them carefully, her near accident still too fresh in her memory for comfort.

Someone had left a light on and Marni wondered if she was the only one up raiding the fridge. The thought of running into Vanessa almost changed her mind. Marni tiptoed across the foyer, peeked into the dining room, then headed for what she figured would be the kitchen.

The kitchen was spacious like the house. But unlike the house, it had a warm, almost homey feel to it. Marni guessed it was probably because Vanessa never set foot in it It was the first room that Marni could say she actually liked. And it was blessedly empty.

She found the cake without having to raid the fridge, cut herself a large slice and sat down at the table. The cake was delicious. She licked the frosting from her lips as she eyed another piece. Oh, what would it hurt?

As she was scraping her plate to get the last of the crumbs, she marveled at her increased appetite. Was it just nerves? Or was her body somehow kidding itself into believing she really was eating for two?

Whatever it was, she had to quit or she’d gain a ton.

A short while later, she made her way toward the library. The house groaned and moaned around her. Snow piled up at the windows and cold crept along the bare wooden floors like snow snakes.

Marni had started down the hall when she heard something that made her freeze in midstep.

Crying. At first she thought it was the baby again. Then realized it wasn’t the same sound she’d heard earlier coming up through the heat vent. The heart-wrenching sobs pulled at her and she found herself trailing the sound past the library toward the back of the house.

A faint light shone from a far corner of what appeared to be the living room. The thick, dark curtains along the bank of windows were open to the night. The darkness outside blurred in a thick lattice of falling snow.

Lilly Calloway sat slumped in a large log rocker, in a golden circle of light from a floor lamp beside the chair. She clutched something in her arms and rocked, Marni noticed with a start. Beside the rocker on the floor sat a half-empty wine bottle. The room smelled faintly of gardenias.

Marni reminded herself again that this was none of her business. She should backtrack and go up to bed. But the woman’s wail tore at her heart.

“Lilly?” she asked softly, half expecting the woman to rebuff any attempts to console her. After all, Marni was a stranger. And no one in this house had been what she would call friendly.

Neither the crying nor the rocking stopped.

Marni stepped around in front of the woman. “’Lilly?”

Lilly slowly raised her head, her rocking motion slowed. The storm outside lit her pale heart-shaped face and Marni saw what the woman clutched in her arms. A rag doll, its face worn and grayed, its yarn hair matted with age. Lilly glanced down at the doll crushed in her arms. For a moment, she made no sound. Then her eyes swam with tears and great, huge sobs racked her body.

Marni knelt and opened her arms to the woman. The rag doll tumbled to the floor as Lilly fell into Marni’s embrace. ‘There, there,”’ Marni whispered, sympathizing with the woman’s pain. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like losing a child. “It’s all right.”

As the crying subsided, Marni heard the scrape of a boot sole on the wooden floor. She looked up with a start, not sure who she expected to see.

Even in shadow and even if he hadn’t had the crutches, she would have known Chase Calloway. He filled a doorway. Not only with his body but with his anger.

He stood, watching her, suspicion in every line of his body. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her as surely as she could feel the reproach in that gaze. She glanced down at Lilly, wondering what made Chase so angry with her, that he thought she was pregnant or that he thought she was trying to trap him? When she glanced up again, he was gone.

Marni didn’t know how long she held Lilly. The crying had stopped, but the slim arms still held her tightly, as if Marni were Lilly’s only anchor in some blizzard far worse than the one outside this room.

After a while, Marni looked down to find Lilly had dropped off to sleep on her shoulder. Carefully, Marni laid her back into the rocker and covered her with a knitted afghan from the couch. Lilly whimpered softly but continued to sleep the sleep of the dead. Or the inebriated.

Marni switched off the lamp and left her in front of the bank of windows and the storm, hoping Lilly slept off the wine before she attempted the stairs.

On the way to her room, Marni stopped at the library and quickly found Pride and Prejudice. As she turned out the light and headed for the stairs, she told herself she was ready at last for some sleep of her own.

But back in bed, Marni lay, listening, waiting for Chase to come storming in to admonish her for interfering in family business. After a while, when she heard no sound, she opened the soft, worn volume to chapter one, realizing it had been years since she’d read this book.

The first line jumped off the page at her. Marni groaned as she thought of Chase Calloway. Who was this impossible single man in possession of a good fortune her twin had fallen in love with? Certainly not a man in want of a wife—or a baby, as Elise had been led to believe. That was one truth at least Marni acknowledged.

A few pages into the book, she heard Chase return to his room, heard the clomp of the crutches as he approached the door adjoining their rooms. She held her breath. Then she heard him lock his side of the door. Instead of relief, Marni felt a wave of anger. Did Chase think he had to lock his door to protect himself from her? Did he really think she’d come to his room tonight and throw herself at him? The man couldn’t be that big a fool, could he?

Tossing the book on the night table, she threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, set on sharing a few choice words with Mr. Chase Calloway, even if it meant through a three-inch-thick door.

The lights flickered, and before her feet could touch the floor, went out. Marni held her breath, waiting for them to come back on. They didn’t. And she had a feeling they wouldn’t. As Vanessa had reminded her earlier, the electricity often went out during snowstorms in Montana. This far from civilization, it could be out for hours. Even days. Great. And just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse.

A thud came from the adjoining room and Chase swore loudly after stumbling into what sounded like a piece of good-size furniture. She smiled, ashamed but no less amused. Served him right for being such a jerk.

Content, she slipped back under the covers. The embers in the fireplace cast a pale patina over the room. If she had been anywhere else, she might have thought it cozy. Outside, the snow fell in a dense suffocating silence. Marni watched it for a few moments, trying not to think about the other people in this house. The night seemed colder, Marni thought, or maybe it was just knowing the electricity had gone off. She felt alone and far from home. At least Elise and the baby were fine, she assured herself. Then she closed her eyes, hoping for the oblivion of sleep.

Chapter Five

December 21

Morning came like a blessing. But unfortunately, Marni’s nightmares followed her into the daylight. One dream in particular haunted her: Chase standing over her, his blue eyes dark with evil as he told her she would never have the baby. Then something in his hands. An ax? Marni shivered and looked toward the window.

If the remnants of her bad dreams weren’t enough, she found herself still trapped by the snowstorm raging outside. Wind plastered snow to the windowpanes and sent icy gusts hammering at the glass.

With a curse, Marni threw off the covers and lumbered from the bed, keenly aware of Sam. She hurriedly dressed, hoping to speak to Chase before he went down to breakfast. But when she tapped softly at their adjoining door, she received no response. She tried the door. It wasn’t locked. When had he unlocked it? She thought about him standing over her in the dream. The dying firelight in his eyes. The ax in his large calloused hands.

“Chase?” She stepped into his room. What surprised her was the open suitcase lying in the bottom of the empty closet. Marni frowned as she surveyed her surroundings. The room was exactly like the one she’d spent the night in. A guest room. Chase didn’t live here. She shook her head, continuously amazed at how little her twin knew about the man she’d fallen so desperately in love with. The man who’d fathered her child.

The bed didn’t look as if it had been slept in and Marni guessed it probably hadn’t, judging from the appearance of the chair pulled up in front of the fire. The cushions were crushed as if he’d battled them in the night searching for comfort and sleep. Marni smiled, taking some pleasure in the thought that Chase might not have slept as soundly as she’d suspected.

As she headed downstairs, she found herself keeping a firm grip on the railing. Her near accident the night before had proved to her just how uncoordinated she’d become thanks to Sam. She couldn’t even see her toes.

None of the family appeared to be up yet, although it was nearing time for breakfast. She could hear someone in the kitchen banging pots and pans, and smell the rich scent of coffee. Coffee sounded wonderful, although she wasn’t sure a pregnant woman should be drinking caffeine. Marni peeked into the dining room, hoping to sneak a cup anyway.

“Mr. Calloway and his son are in the library,” a voice announced behind Marni, making her jump.

She swung around to find Hilda looking harried and flushed. “There’s coffee and juice in the library. Mr. Calloway said you’d be joining him.”

He did, did he? She wondered which son was with him and hoped it was Chase.

Without a word, Hilda hurried away and Marni headed down the hall toward the library. The sound of angry voices drifted out, making her hesitate long before she reached the library door. She recognized the two male voices at once, confirming what she’d hoped, that Chase was in there with his father. In the cold light of morning, Marni was more determined than ever to get things settled between them—one way or another.

She stepped through the open library door and stopped abruptly at the sound of Chase’s angry words.

“You’re going to get Elise and her baby killed if you don’t do something about this mess.”

Chase stood, hunched over his crutches, in front of the blazing fire. His father stood next to him, a hand on the thick-timbered fireplace mantel as if he needed the support. Both had their backs to her.

“Why do you have to be so damned stubborn about this?” Chase demanded. “Isn’t it enough that someone tried to kill you?”

Marni slipped behind the end of the bookcase, aware she planned to spy on the pair shamelessly. But if Elise and the baby really were in danger—She told herself not even to try to justify her actions. Silent as a mouse, Marni peeked around the edge of the bookcase.

“Ridiculous,” Jabe snapped, pushing himself away from the fireplace. “It was just some fool in a pickup going too fast. Didn’t see us until it was too late, if he saw us at all.” Jabe dropped into a chair in front of the fireplace and reached to pour himself more coffee from the pot on the end table. “Probably some drunk driver.”

“Like hell,” Chase said, turning on his father. “A drunk driver tried to run you down only minutes before you were threatening to change your will? Not even you can believe that. You just don’t want to admit you made a mistake in the first place with this first grandchild foolishness. Or is it that you can’t face that it has to be someone in this family or someone closely connected to this family that’s trying to kill you now?”

Jabe raised his head to look at his son. “Is that the reason you’ve been staying here? You think my life is in danger?” He sounded touched that Chase would try to protect him.

Marni was touched as well by this side of Chase Calloway, and surprised.

“You saved my life that night,” Jabe said. “I owe you, son, but—”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Chase snapped. “It was a reflex action, one if I’d given some thought to, I would probably have done differently.’”

Jabe clearly didn’t buy that any more than Marni did. No matter what Chase said, he cared about his father. And it seemed he’d saved Jabe’s life in some heroic feat that had left him with a broken leg and memory loss. Marni almost felt guilty for still doubting Chase’s memory loss. Almost.

“I just don’t want you to concern yourself with my welfare,” Jabe said.

“It’s not only your fool neck on the line anymore,” Chase retorted. “What about this woman and her baby? What about Felicia’s baby? Are you willing to jeopardize all their lives, as well?”

“Why would anyone want to harm my grandchildren?” He sounded shocked that Chase should even think such a thing.

Chase dragged a hand through his dark locks in obvious frustration. “Because of that damned will of yours.”

“Have either Elise or Felicia been threatened in any way?” Jabe asked reasonably.

Chase let out a curse. “By the time that happens it could be too late.”

Jabe shook his head. “I’m not going back on my decision when I don’t believe for a moment that my grand-children or their mothers are in any danger.”

Chase sliced a hand through the air between them. “I’ve never been able to reason with you. I thought you’d finally come to your senses that night in November right before the hit-and-run, I thought you realized how foolish this first grandchild thing was. Why don’t you be honest with yourself for once. The only person you care about is yourself and what you want. That’s the way it’s always been.” He turned and hobbled toward the door.

Marni ducked back behind the corner of the bookcase and tried to flatten herself to the wall, suddenly aware how ludicrous that notion was. Sam stuck out like the prow of a ship. Marni groaned silently. The last thing she wanted was to get caught in this compromising position by Chase Calloway.

“By the way,” Chase said, the sound of his crutches halting, “I saw the face of the person driving that truck right before it hit me.”

A tense silence filled the room.

“I’m going to remember and then I’ll know who in this family hates you more than I do.”

Marni held her breath as Chase stormed out, slamming the door behind him. It took her a moment to digest everything she’d overheard and to realize Chase Calloway had trapped her in the library by closing the door and sealing off any surreptitious escape. She was cursing her inquisitive nature when she heard Jabe get up from his chair.

“You can come out now,” he said wearily.

Marni grimaced as she stepped from behind the bookcase. How long had Jabe known she was there? Shamefaced, she brushed imaginary lint from the front of her maternity top, trying to think of something appropriate to say. Jabe saved her the effort.

“Chase is confused,” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of prescription pills. She watched him shake two into his hand and toss them down with the last of his coffee.

“When Chase’s memory comes back he’ll realize that he was mistaken about a lot of things,” Jabe said with conviction. His gaze settled on Marni and seemed to soften at the sight of her pregnant form. “My son is very stubborn. Go after him. Try to make him see.”

Marni stood for a moment, wondering what she could make Chase Calloway see. “Where—”

“He’ll go to the horse barn,” Jabe said as he turned back to the fire.

Dismissed, Marni slipped out of the library, took her coat from the front closet where Jabe had put it the night before and trailed Chase out into the snowstorm. Through the swirling snow, she saw him hobbling toward the largest of two barns set back in the pines.

Marni came in through the barn door to find herself on an upper level overlooking an empty arena. The air smelled of horses and leather. She took the stairs and wound her way toward the back of the barn, passing tack rooms and what looked like an office. Both were empty.

She found Chase leaning on his crutches next to a stall containing the most beautiful horse she’d ever seen. The name on the stall door read Wind Chaser. Marni remembered Elise telling her that the Calloways had investments in a little of everything, real estate, all kinds of businesses and horses. Not just horses, El. Wind Chaser had to be one of the top quarter horses in the country.

Marni shuddered to think what a horse like that would be worth. She was starting to realize how high the stakes were in this family intrigue. She wondered how much money Jabe Calloway had saddled his first grandchild with. Enough that Chase thought it was dangerous for El and the baby.

Marni stood for a moment, just inside the doorway, watching Chase. He crooned to Wind Chaser, his voice low and soft, his manner both gentle and strong as he stroked the horse’s sleek neck. The animal responded with soft nickers, obviously enjoying Chase’s touch. And Marni could see how a woman might respond to this side of Chase, as well. She imagined that soft gentleness in his touch, the feel of his fingertips on her cheek, brushing across her lips, trailing down her neck…

He must have sensed her behind him. He turned, the kind look on his face disappearing instantly. “You,” he said in disgust.

She stepped closer. The horse in the stall stomped, throwing its head and snorting as if it felt the same way about her.

“I’d keep your distance if I were you,” Chase said softly, calming the horse both with his tone and the stroking motion of his hand along its neck. “Wind Chaser can be dangerous when he’s upset.”

Marni wondered if it was the horse he was worried about or himself. But she didn’t go any closer. Nor did she turn and leave. Was it only her imagination or was Chase Calloway still trying to scare her?

When he turned around again, Chase almost seemed surprised to see her still standing there. “What?” he asked with obvious irritation.

She bristled, especially after the argument he’d just made on her behalf with his father. How could he keep contending that he didn’t know her, didn’t care anything about her or the baby?

“You certainly have a lot of hostility toward a woman you’ve never laid eyes on before,” Marni noted. “Are you angry with me because you think I’m lying or because I’m not?”

“Understand something.” He sounded almost patient “I’ve never wanted children of my own, never planned to have any and when Jabe—”

“But I thought—” So it had been a line when he told Elise he wanted children. Just as Marni had suspected. She glared at him angrily.

“What?” he demanded, looking defensive.

“You told me that finding a woman to love and having children were all that was missing from your life.”

He looked horrified, then burst out laughing. “You couldn’t force those words out of me at gunpoint.”

The gunpoint part appealed to her. “I guess your usual seduction lines must be one of those holes in your memory.

He growled and moved away from the horse, which snorted and stomped as if their conversation agitated him. Marni knew that feeling as Chase advanced on her and she found herself backstepping away not only from his anger but also the memory of what had happened last night.

“I might have lost some of my memory, but I haven’t lost my mind,” Chase snapped. “I’ve never wanted children and I’ve never made that a secret to anyone.”

Marni bumped into the solid wall of the stable and realized he’d backed her into a corner. Again. He was so close his warm breath caressed her cheek, she could feel the heat of him, a powerful male energy that hummed in the air between them. A smile played at his lips; he thought he’d trapped her. The only way out would be to go over the top of Chase Calloway. It was an option she was keeping open.

“Last summer when Jabe told me he planned to change his will if I didn’t agree to come into the business, I tried to talk him out of it,” Chase said quietly as if he was glad to have her undivided attention at last. “When that failed, I distanced myself from the whole mess. Then you come along claiming to be carrying my child. Very suspicious, if you ask me.”

She looked down at Sam. “Is that why you can’t admit this is your baby, because it will make it look like you’re after the money?”

Chase let out a curse. “If you really knew me, you’d know I don’t want the money. I don’t want anything from my father. I never have.” He fixed a look on her that made her squirm. “Doesn’t it amaze you how little you know about me? It sure amazes me.”

“I couldn’t help but overhear you and your father in the library,” Marni said, quickly changing the subject.

“I’ll bet,” Chase said. “You always make a habit of eavesdropping?”

She started to inform him that if he didn’t want his arguments overheard he should tone them down, but saved her breath. The truth was, she was guilty of far worse than simple eavesdropping.

“You really believe—” She had to catch herself. “My baby is in danger?”

Chase shot her a look. “I told you that last night. Did you think I was joking?”

“I thought you were only trying to scare me.”

“You should be scared.” He shook his head at her in irritation. “I saw you last night with Lilly. Look, do yourself a favor. Don’t get involved with this family. Especially Lilly.”

“Lilly needed someone last night. I was just being kind.”

He let out a curse. “Kind could get you killed.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to protect you.”

“And why is that? You say you don’t know an Elise McCumber and you couldn’t be the father of her baby. So what do you care?”

He gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. Or your baby. And if you care about this baby, the best thing you can do is admit that you and I were never lovers and that the baby isn’t mine.”

“And if I don’t?” she asked. Earlier, Marni had almost found something she could like about Chase. A man who would save his father at personal risk to himself. A man who would argue for the safety of pregnant women and their unborn children. That was a man she could like. There was nothing likable about the man standing in front of her now, however.

“How much money do you want?” He tugged his checkbook from the hip pocket of his jeans. “Name your price. I’ll pay you double what my father is paying you.”

“I don’t want your money,” she told him. “Nor did your father pay me to say I’m having your baby.”

His look said he didn’t believe her. “You think you can pass this kid off as the first grandchild and get more?” Chase shook his head. “I’ll fight you,” he said, anger making his voice crackle. “As soon as that baby is born, I’ll prove it isn’t mine and you won’t get a dime. I can’t imagine what my father hopes to gain by this.”

She fought to contain her temper. “I don’t want your money or your father’s. I didn’t even know about your father’s stupid will until Lilly told me last night.”

He glared suspiciously at her. “You probably hadn’t heard about my accident either or my memory loss, right?”

“As a matter of fact—”

“How convenient,” he said.

“My thought exactly.”

He raked a hand through his dark curls. “You don’t get it, do you?” he said as he leaned closer.

Reminded of last night and the disastrous test kiss, Marni flattened herself against the wall.

He looked at her, amusement dancing in all that blue, then moved back just enough to give her breathing room. She got the impression that he wasn’t going to let her go untill he was through with her.

“If someone tried to kill my father to keep him from changing his will,” Chase said, biting off each word, “then imagine what that person would do to keep your baby from inheriting all that Calloway money.”

Marni thought about Vanessa dropping her scarf on the stairs and wondered if there was any truth in what he said or if this was like everything else, an attempt to frighten her away?

“Let’s get back to this memory loss of yours….”

He glared at her a moment, her distrustful tone obviously not lost on him. “I have what they call selective memory loss.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Selective memory loss?” Give me a break!

“My memory’s coming back,” he assured her quickly. “I remember most everything. There’s just a few…holes.”

Right. Marni studied him, unable to get past the selective part of his memory loss and the hole Elise and the baby had supposedly fallen in. “How do you know that…I’m not one of those holes?”

“I know. I don’t have to prove it to you or anyone else.”

Why did he sound so defensive if he was so positive? Because he isn’t sure, Marni thought. Maybe his memory loss was more severe than he wanted to admit. But that still didn’t explain why he wouldn’t even consider Elise might be part of those lost memories, did it?

“This—” she had trouble even saying the word “—selective memory loss of yours, did the doctors say all of your memory will come back?” Marni thought about what she’d heard in the library. If Chase had really gotten a glimpse of the driver of that truck right before the accident, he might have seen the attempted murderer. Even knowing Chase for as short a time as she did, she knew trying to remember that must be driving him crazy. Possibly it explained why he was so angry at her, she’d added to his frustration by being another one of those holes in his memory.

“It’s only a matter of time before I remember everything,” he said, the threat clear in his voice.

She wanted to say something smart to wipe the smugness from his face. Wouldn’t he feel foolish when he remembered Elise? “What about the accident itself?” she asked instead. “Will you be able to remember it?”

“The doctors say I won’t but they don’t know me.”

Jabe was right about Chase’s stubbornness, she decided. But while Jabe saw the quality as a flaw in his son’s character, Marni saw it as a strength.

But what if he never remembered the face of the truck driver? “If you’re right about the driver deliberately trying to run your father down, your life might be in danger, as well. The driver is probably worried you’ll remember.”