Another Love, page 24
He sighed. He still couldn’t believe the chemistry that made him want Erin more each time than he had the last. Hell, he had trouble accepting that his cock, throbbing against his zipper now after less than twenty-four hours’ denial, was the same one that had placidly waited out long periods of celibacy in years gone by.
His breathing turned ragged. The walls felt like they were closing in. He had to get the hell out of here. Bolting off the daybed, he started to go to Erin, then stopped. He had to honor the damn agreement she’d insisted on earlier. Frustrated, he jerked around and headed outside.
A burst of cold air greeted him, but he welcomed the discomfort. By the time he reached the stable, the throbbing in his balls had simmered down to a dull ache, but the turmoil in his mind raged on. Absentmindedly, he went to Renegade’s stall and stroked his glossy black neck.
He loved Glenna. For years she’d been his friend…wife…lover. Leaning against the cool, smooth stall door that still smelled of fresh paint, Blake closed his eyes. He saw Glenna’s smiling face the way it had been the day he’d brought her home as his bride. She’d been so alive, so thrilled at the prospect of putting her mark on their home.
Renegade bumped his head against Blake’s hand, reminding him he was still there, wanting attention. And that for years he’d forgone his animals because they’d frightened Glenna almost to the point of hysteria. “I’m not the kind of wife you need,” she’d said when they’d watched the van pulling out of the drive with his four horses and Beau. God, how he’d missed that mixed-breed mutt once he was gone.
“She was wrong. She gave me everything I needed.”
Renegade’s ears pricked, as if the colt understood his words. Suddenly another picture filled Blake’s mind. As crystal clear as day, he saw Erin, riding beside him and laughing as she’d done one day last week. He’d wanted to reach over, drag her off her mare, and fuck with her in the shade of a venerable oak tree near the bridle path.
Who was he kidding? His cock was always in overdrive around Erin. He always craved her hot, honest sexual response. But he’d had trouble keeping his hands off Glenna. Hadn’t he? Funny, that wasn’t what he remembered most…
Sure, he’d wanted her. They’d been sixteen, friends who’d suddenly discovered the rush of sexual attraction. God, they’d been a couple of green virgins until that awkward, quick encounter in the back of the Bronco he’d gotten for his birthday. Glenna’s teasing that they’d practice ‘til they got it right had saved him from complete humiliation when he shot his load the minute he rammed his cock inside her.
They had gotten it right. His technique had improved, and Glenna seemed to delight in learning new, titillating tricks to turn him on. Hell, he couldn’t fault their sex life, but he’d never been obsessed with fucking her night and day, the way he was with Erin. Blake waited for the gut-wrenching shame and guilt he expected, but it flickered then floated away on the gust of cold, crisp air that suddenly roared through the stable.
Instead, memories assailed him, of his smiling playmate…his best friend and confidant…his lover and the soulmate with whom he had expected to share the rest of his life. Glenna had been his promise of love and family, his anchor against his own nearly rootless beginnings. They’d clung together, the boy from new Texas money and the girl who sprang from old Dallas aristocracy. Glenna had been the breath of fresh, pure optimism he’d needed.
Remembering didn’t hurt as much as he’d feared. Each spring she’d found some new horizon for them to explore, giving him joy and laughter and a bit of her zest for life. And when the leaves began to turn in the fall, she’d been there with the promise of a new, more brilliant year than the one just passed.
Glenna had made him see lush, verdant beauty in tropical forests and stark majesty in deserts and snow-capped mountains. While he’d trekked through those forests, explored the deserts and climbed the mountains, she’d gifted him with appreciating them for themselves instead of seeing mere obstacles put there for him to conquer. She’d been an observer, his Glenna, and he saw now he’d molded his life to mesh with hers.
Blake stroked Renegade’s velvety nose. It wasn’t just the animals she’d feared. When he’d climbed mountains, she’d cheered from the valley below. She’d hunkered down under a beach umbrella and read, refusing to watch him surf the wild waves off Maui. And she’d tamed him. Usually by his own volition because he wanted to be with her, but not always. When he recalled how she’d put her dainty foot down when he’d wanted to ride a bronc at an amateur rodeo in Wyoming, he had to smile. She’d controlled him well, using no more ammo than his love.
He’d loved Glenna, would always cherish the memories they made together. They’d shared their seasons, some triumphant, others not. But now it was time to let her go. In his grief, he’d let what had been healthy love mutate to almost obsessive worship. As he headed back toward the house, he saw things in a different light.
He’d married Erin to give Glenna’s son a mother. She’d married him so she could keep Jamie and get help for Tim. Fate had brought them together. But he’d be damned if he didn’t love Erin now with an intensity he’d never felt for Glenna.
It wasn’t only the mind-boggling sex or the way she loved to ride and fish and hike in the woods. Blake loved her fierce way of caring, her strength and protectiveness over those she loved. He loved seeing her face light up with joy at his smallest considerate gesture.
“Goodbye, Glenna,” he whispered, saying farewell to the muted warmth of spring and fall with their soft promises. Back inside now, Blake began preparing to seduce the woman he knew now was his destiny.
For Erin was his future, his reality. Loving Glenna had prepared him for this vivid woman, who gave him the heat of the fieriest summer days, the frost of the coldest winter nights. He’d felt Erin’s love when he hadn’t been ready to accept it. And, like a blind, dumb fool, he’d damn near thrown it away.
As he made hurried phone calls to formalize his plans, Blake vowed he’d do whatever it took to earn Erin’s love.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Glenna’s Ghost
Finally, Blake, you’ve seen the light. I hope your talents for persuasion don’t let you down—and that you don’t put your big foot back in your mouth by telling Erin all about your stroll down memory lane.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, darling. You had to look back before you could see your future. I wish you hadn’t, in a way, because you won’t remember me as kindly.
But maybe you will. You loved me, faults and all, and I believe we made each other happy. Maybe someday, somewhere, we’ll meet again. It will be kind of sad if we do, because what you’re going to have with Erin is going to make what we had pale by comparison.
From her perch on an oak limb outside Blake’s window, she saw him flipping through an address book, making calls. She grinned. Her determined, methodical Blake would follow through and make Erin forgive—and forget—his tardy realization that their falling in love had been destined from the start. At least, Glenna hoped she and Blake hadn’t already made such a tangled mess that Erin would never open up her heart again.
No matter. If she balks, I’ll be there.
And as Glenna faded slowly away into the pink of dawn’s first light, she let out a huge sigh of relief that rustled the old oak tree’s branches like a sudden gust of wind.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
What a gorgeous day for a wedding!
The sun had come up bright in a cold, cloudless sky this Sunday in late November, and Erin was glad. Sandy and Greg would have a beautiful wedding day. According to a saying her mother had repeated the day Erin had married Bill, good weather for a wedding bode well for a good marriage.
A chilly breeze caught the fur in her collar, and the soft strands tickled Erin’s chin as she got out of the car. Everything was set for Sandy’s wedding, just as Blake had assured her it would be. Still, she’d needed to drive over to The Manse and see for herself that nothing had been forgotten.
His car was here, so he’d finished whatever it was that had taken him away most of the day. Where, she had no idea. While he had no obligation to keep her informed about his comings and goings, she’d expected he’d have the common courtesy to stick around today in case she needed help with something before the wedding. After all, it was Sunday and he ordinarily stuck to her and the kids like glue.
She and Blake were going to have to have a talk. Erin’s moods swung like a pendulum between fury and hurt, and she had no intention of spending much more time in this limbo of emotion. Closing the door to her rooms a bit harder than was necessary, she slid off her jacket and kicked off shoes in favor of fuzzy slippers Theresa must have set by the door.
“Erin?”
Blake stood in the doorway to her room, looking hesitant about his welcome. Well he should. She tried hard to tell herself she didn’t want his strong, gentle arms around her now. “Where were you?”
“I had to go downtown. Look, Erin, something’s come up and I’m going to have to fly to Jackson Hole tonight after the reception.”
She hoped her expression didn’t reflect the disappointment that slammed into her. “Really?”
“Yes. Something came up with a client. I hate to spring this on you at the last minute like this, but you’re coming, too. He’s bringing his wife, and she’ll need someone to keep her company while we conduct our business.”
“But what about Timmy? And Jamie?”
“Mary and Theresa can handle them. And Michelle has agreed to live in while we’re gone. It will only be for a few days.”
Erin didn’t know what to do. She should be here for Timmy and the baby. But a small voice urged her to go, to try once more, away from this house and all its memories, to make their marriage work. Responsibility finally won out over desire. “I can’t.”
“Think about it, at least. I already had Theresa pack your bags.”
Hours later, as she dressed for the wedding, Erin still hadn’t decided about the impromptu trip. She had talked to Michelle, who’d suggested Timmy might do better with his first lessons in using his new prosthesis if his doting parents weren’t around.
But she’d risked her heart and gotten it battered. Why should she do it again, just to please her husband whose heart belonged to someone else?
“I wouldn’t go if I were you!”
Erin set down a tube of concealer and looked around for the ghost who hovered near the ceiling in a corner of the dressing room.
“I thought I told you to mind your own business.”
“I couldn’t help but hear him. He’s got one awful nerve, asking you to do him a favor after what he said to you.”
“Why should you care?”
“I’ve decided I want his love all for myself. I can wait for him to join me, out there somewhere.”
Suddenly Erin wanted to scratch Glenna’s eyes out. “You can’t have him. You’re not even alive. In fact, all I think you are is an apparition sent from hell to make me pay for planning to give away my baby.”
“I gave you your chance. You failed.”
“We’ll see about that. I’m going to go with Blake, and there’s not a thing you can do to stop me!” With that, Erin stepped out of the dressing room and waited for the damn ghost to disappear.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Glenna’s Ghost
Glenna hovered just outside the house and chuckled, delighted with the success of her desperate ploy. She should have tried reverse psychology before.
The parting look Erin had shot her way could have frozen ice cubes on a July day in Dallas. That was good. She’d begun to wonder whether Erin had a temper.
Blake needed a strong woman as well as one who loved him, to drag him into the future she, Glenna, hadn’t been meant to share. Erin was that woman, and she’d know it as soon as Blake managed to convince her of his love. Glenna chuckled. She’d give anything to see him eat the words he used to get her to marry him.
But she had to leave Erin to Blake now. She’d done all she could, even tricked Erin into making this trip she’d lay odds had nothing to do with any of Blake’s clients.
Blake would do all right. Glenna hoped he’d remember he wasn’t in a courtroom, though. Erin needed to hear him talking from his heart. Satisfied for the moment, she floated away to haunt the beautiful Victorian mansion where in less than two hours, her friend Greg would marry Erin’s pretty young sister. That, she didn’t intend to miss.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Feeling decadent in an ebony mink jacket Blake had pulled from a huge Saks box and draped across her shoulders moments earlier, Erin watched him stash their bags in the trunk with trepidation. And excitement.
He’d raked her with his gaze when he came into her room, making her feel as if her royal blue, floor-length velvet sheath covered no more of her than the sheerest of negligees. Then, his touch as gentle as the breeze, he’d wrapped her in the soft, dense fur.
“You’ll need this in Wyoming. Are you ready?”
“For the wedding? Yes.” Erin doubted she was ready for three nights alone with Blake in some undoubtedly romantic ski lodge in Jackson Hole.
“They were lucky to get The Manse on such short notice.” His comment broke an uneasy silence as they drove along streets where, like Blake’s, large homes generally sat well back away from the view of passers-by.
“They’d had a cancellation for tonight.”
“Change of plans?”
Erin smiled. “The other couple’s parents decided to hold the wedding at a temple, instead.”
“That was good for Sandy and Greg.” He pulled into a discreetly marked drive and stopped the cart at the front of the hundred-year-old mansion an enterprising young couple had renovated into an upscale wedding chapel. “Here we are.” He got out of the car and tossed the keys to the uniformed attendant who had just opened Erin’s door.
Sandy had fallen in love with the old-world charm of this place, and Erin was glad. While Blake’s home could easily have accommodated the wedding, she’d hesitated to suggest that after he told her he wasn’t ready for mass gaiety there. While Blake handed his topcoat and her jacket to a butler, she peeked into the ballroom.
Blake rested his hands at her waist. “I told you Caitlyn’s would take care of everything.”
“And they have. Oh, Blake, look! The florist managed to find blue columbines. Sandy will be thrilled.” She leaned down to sniff one of the small topiaries that topped each snowy-white covered round table, pleased at the effect of fragrant herbs and pert, blue wildflowers that the florist had tucked in among miniature gardenias and pastel roses.
“They look like little replicas of those.” He strode over and inspected four giant arrangements that marked off the corners of a raised, polished dance floor, then settled his gaze on her as she came to join him. “Erin, you look beautiful tonight.”
“Thank you.”
He took her left hand and lifted it to his lips. “I should have bought you diamonds.” For a moment, he traced the swirly design on her wedding band with one finger, a half-smile on his lips. What was going through his mind behind that enigmatic smile?
Sandy’s attendants had her well in hand, Caitlyn’s had the food ready and all the candles lit. A photographer and video crew waited to capture the wedding on film. Erin had nothing to do but wait until one of Greg’s cousins—Scott—came to escort her to her seat.
Did Blake think she was going to bolt and run away? He’d never hovered before, but tonight he stuck to her like glue. Restless, she circulated among the nooks and crannies off the big ballroom. Blake followed. She felt his pulse; his body heat warmed her, and the subtle cologne he wore kept reminding her he was there.
“Blake. Good to see you,” Scott said when he joined them by the door. “Erin, are you ready to get this show going?”
“Is it time?” She smiled at Scott, then turned to Blake.
“Just about. They’re signing the marriage contract now. May I?” He extended his arm.
The melodious sounds of an organ wafted softly through a ballroom lit by thousands of tiny white gaslights in three magnificent chandeliers. Scott seated her at a table larger than the rest.
Mom would have loved this! Erin swept that sad thought away. Today was a day for joy, not fretting about what should have been. Shana was heading toward the table on the arm of Greg’s best man.
“Take care, little Shana,” Jake said in a teasing tone as he held her chair.
“Little Shana?” Erin couldn’t believe the incongruous nickname.
“Jake’s sister is Big Shana. She couldn’t come because she and her husband live in Kuwait,” Shana said matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t let anybody but Jake call me ‘little,’ though.”
Erin just realized she hadn’t seen Jake’s wife tonight. As she was about to ask Shana about that, the piped-in stereo music stopped and a live combo began to play a lilting, romantic piece. The guests quieted down, and Judge Adkins took his place in the center of the raised dance floor.
Erin watched the attendants, young women who’d spent many hours around the kitchen table at her house when Sandy was in high school. Tonight they looked like Victorian ladies in their sapphire velvet gowns. A tuxedoed groomsman escorted each bridesmaid. Katy came last, wearing a gown identical to the others except for its lighter blue color, on the arm of Greg’s cousin Jake. Erin smiled. Everything, from the gowns to nosegay bouquets that featured the same flowers in the table decorations, had turned out just the way Sandy planned.
Greg followed Jake and Katy, escorted by his mother and uncle. Erin sighed. He looked ecstatic. The music faded, then rose again. Tears came to Erin’s eyes when Sandy appeared, looking radiant in their mom’s simple velvet gown and the pearl-encrusted tiara with its floor-length veil of gossamer silk illusion. Her flowers were perfect, blue columbines and tiny rosemary sprigs surrounding several perfect, white poinsettias.
