Tempting Fate, page 15
"I suppose I have. But after a few years something happened. I don't know if it was my biological clock ticking away, or if I was beginning to realize that I was never going to leave anything permanent behind, but I started thinking more and more about children."
She studied her fingernails, unwil ing to meet the curious gaze she could feel directed her way. "I began stopping by the park a few blocks from my apartment to watch the children play. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that I wanted it al —a houseful of kids, a husband and a career."
She glanced over at him cautiously. "Does that sound selfish to you?"
Donovan's smile was quick, warm and reassuring. "Not at al . In fact, to tel you the truth, I'm relieved. I've always liked the idea of being a father. But I didn't want to push you into anything."
"You're back to the crazy idea of us getting married."
"Of course." His smile remained total y guileless. "Better hold on to your seat, the going gets a little rough from here on in."
Brooke opened her mouth to inform him that in the first place, they weren't getting married. And in the second, she had become resigned to the idea that motherhood wasn't in the cards for her. It had been six years since she'd taken to watching children. In that entire time she had not met one likely prospect to complete her ideal image of a happy family.
Over the years since her divorce, she had met a handful of men who would admittedly make wonderful parents. They had been kind, understanding and incredibly patient. But she hadn't fal en in love with any of them. As she entered her thirties, more and more of the men she met were divorced, already paying support for children of previous marriages.
Those men, as a rule, were not looking to start new families.
The only pitter-patter of little feet they were interested in hearing around their high-tech furnished bachelor apartments belonged to the nubile young women they invariably dated.
She wanted to explain al this to Donovan, but as he turned onto a bumpy gravel road, riddled with potholes, Brooke found conversation difficult, if not impossible. She fel silent, content to watch the signs of civilization slowly disappear to be replaced by the peaceful serenity of high grasslands.
Heaven. She was in heaven. Or at least the closest thing a mere mortal could come to it. The warm, sun-fil ed autumn day proved to be one of the most wonderful Brooke had ever known. As she watched Gloria romp around the ranch, free of restraints, Brooke wished that the day could go on forever.
Gloria dug enthusiastical y in the soft dirt, excavating roots that she obviously found extremely tasty. She sunbathed, raided the picnic basket for fruit, and napped.
"I see what you mean," Brooke said thoughtful y as she and Donovan sat on a red-and-green-plaid blanket he had spread on the grass. Gloria was off frolicking in the trees, exactly as she might in her natural habitat. "It almost makes me want to kidnap her and set her free."
"I know the feeling." Donovan frowned as he peeled an orange. "It's damn unfortunate that her best prospect for survival should be under the protection of man. And man threatens to be the extinction of her species in the first place."
Brooke drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "I don't understand."
"You probably noticed while studying my financial report that Gloria is mine. She doesn't belong to the col ege."
Brooke nodded. 'Thanks," she said, accepting a slice of the ripe, succulent fruit. She savored the cool burst of flavor as she bit into it. "Actual y, I did find that a bit odd. After al , the other apes are al col ege inventory."
"I was working with some chimps at Cornel ," Donovan explained, "when a fel ow scientist came to give a talk on her own work with a group of Gorilla gorilla beringei in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda. That's in central Africa," he added at her questioning glance.
"Anyway, Karin had spent the last five years living with a family of goril as and was convinced that although they were inferior to the chimpanzee in their ability to fashion tools and operate mechanisms, they were far superior in other aspects of behavioral adaptation.
"Since I'd been reading reports of her work, I was admittedly intrigued. Enough so that when she invited me to go back with her, I jumped at the chance."
"I can imagine," Brooke murmured.
He looked over at her curiously. "Are you by any chance jealous?"
"It depends. How old was this Karin person?"
"Twenty-eight."
Brooke scowled. "Terrific. Tel me she looked like Mar-garet Mead, and I'l forget I even brought the subject up."
"She was tal , blond and gave the best belch vocalization I've ever heard."
Brooke laughed, as she was supposed to. "Trust you to include that last one in a woman's attributes."
Donovan's fingers curved around the back of her neck as he leaned down to give her a brief kiss. "Karin was intel igent, attractive and shared my work, which was admittedly nice for a time," he said, his expression suddenly more serious than the light conversation warranted. "But she didn't make me crazy like you do, Brooke. And I never, ever, gave any consideration to marrying her."
Brooke plucked a dandelion from the grass, absently shredding its yel ow blossom. "You were tel ing me about Gloria," she reminded him.
Anger flared briefly in his eyes. Then he sighed, turning his attention to the goril a, who had climbed down from the tree and was presently lying on her back at the bottom of the slight hil , her broad abdomen turned upward toward the sun.
"The Gorilla gorilla beringei is a rare subspecies," he continued, "found only in the Virunga Mountains. Man's continual encroachment threatens their very survival. I doubt if Gloria's family wil survive for many more generations."
"That's very sad."
"If you think that's sad, you should have seen what was left of Gloria's mother when the poachers got through with her.
We found her body, the spears stil in it, lying in the brush.
Her head and hands had been hacked off for trophies."
Donovan's own hands curled into fists at his side. Brooke could hear the anger as wel as the lingering pain in his voice and sought to banish the cause.
"It's al right," she said as she slowly uncurled his fingers to slip her hand into his. "You don't have to tel me any more if it's too painful." i He grunted. "I suppose that's when I discovered that I'm more suited for the lab than the bush. I wanted to go find the guys and kil them. Although Karin was admittedly angry, and even cried for a short time, she assured me that what I'd witnessed was nothing unusual. That such slaughter was a way of life."
"I suppose they left Gloria behind?" she asked, striving to find something pleasant about this tale.
He gave a harsh laugh, devoid of mirth. The sound sent a chil down Brooke's spine. "Not a chance. Karin insisted that we'd never find her, but I refused to believe that. I walked back to the nearest settlement and waited. Two weeks later, these jerks came into camp, carrying her in a potato basket.
She was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, her body had become dangerously emaciated and she had lost most of her hair."
A horrified gasp escaped Brooke's lips at the picture his words had created in her mind. She turned her eyes toward the happily snoozing Gloria, trying to coincide the vastly dissimilar images.
"What happened?"
His smile was grim. 'They made the mistake of offering to sel her to me for a thousand dol ars."
Brooke winced. "I'm not sure I want to know."
He took her finger and ran it down his nose. "Feel that?"
There was a definite thickening of the cartilage right be-low the bridge. "Uh-huh." Her eyes widened. "They broke your nose?"
This time his grin was broad and self-satisfied. "Yeah, but you should have seen the other guys."
'You didn't—" Brooke didn't quite know how to finish that question.
"Kil them?" Donovan shrugged his shoulders. "Nah. In the first place, even as furious as I was, I realized that I could get Karin's permit canceled if I went off half-cocked, committing murder and mayhem in her name. Also, to tel the truth, I don't think I have it in me to take another life. But,"
he added with undeniable pride, "I did beat the hel out of them before cal ing the cops."
"I'm glad," Brooke asserted firmly. "And I'm very, very glad that you weren't hurt any worse than a broken nose."
"Hey," he protested lightly, "that sucker hurt for a long, long time." His eyes smiled down at her as he traced her lips with his finger. "Are you real y glad?"
She nodded. "Very. What happened to Karin?"
"She stayed behind, continuing to chart the various families. I fil ed out innumerable papers, bribed an outrageous number of Rwandan officials, and final y returned to Cornel with Gloria."
His gaze drifted to the goril a who had begun rol ing down the grassy hil , before climbing up to the top to do it al again.
"That was five years ago. We've been together ever since."
His hands suddenly locked behind her head, his thumbs hooking under her jaw to tilt her head back, al owing him to study the depths of her tawny gold eyes. "Marry me, Brooke."
It would be so easy, Brooke mused. Al she'd have to do was lean forward the slightest bit and she would feel those firm, wonderful lips against hers again. The idea was so, so tempting.
The piquant aroma of the dark, fertile earth mingled with the sun-warmed grass, while the soft autumn breeze feathered her skin. Somewhere high in the branches of the trees migrating birds were fil ing the air with their cal s. Mother Nature had gone al out, giving them a glorious Indian summer day. It would be so easy to simply quit fighting herself and al ow nature to take its course.
"What happened to that scientific observation about us getting to know each other?" Her soft tone faltered slightly as Donovan's hand brushed lightly, teasingly, against her breast.
"We can discover everything we need to know on our honeymoon." His fingers trailed lazily up the inside of her jean-clad thigh.
Brooke closed her eyes to the tender torment. "For a scientific person, that's the most il ogical solution I've ever heard."
He pressed her against the blanket, covering her softly pliant body with his own. "I'm damn tired of being a scientist," he warned as his palms skimmed her curves. "Besides, despite al my efforts to convince you of my honorable intentions, I'm coming to the unpleasant conclusion that you don't take me seriously. It's high time I started behaving like a man."
When Donovan's fingers moved to the snap of her jeans, Brooke caught hold of his hands. "Acting like a man doesn't necessarily mean taking whatever you want."
His eyes flamed emerald fire. "I'm not taking anything you don't honestly want to give, Brooke."
As her body instinctively moved against him, Brooke admitted secretly that Donovan's sense of observation was as keen as ever. But during the past weeks she had been forced to consider the idea that she might actual y be fal ing in love with him. If she hadn't always been. And if that were the case, she wasn't about to al ow sex to stand in the way of true commitment.
Brooke opened her mouth to demand that Donovan get up when they were both suddenly treated to a shower of colorful autumn leaves. Looking up, they viewed Gloria standing over them. The goril a's broad teeth flashed yel ow in the sunshine as she laughed uproariously at her prank.
"Thank you, Gloria," Brooke said, brushing the leaves from her clothes as she stood up. "You arrived just in the nick of time to save Donovan from another lump on his nose."
Brooke gave Donovan a teasing smile, ignoring his low oath as he rose reluctantly to his feet. "You weren't kidding when you said you were bringing along a chaperon, were you?"
"Remind me to put that beast to bed without her dinner tonight," he muttered. Plucking some russet leaves from her dark hair, he returned Brooke's smile with a reluctant one of his own. "Later," he said quietly.
It could have been a promise. Or a warning. When Brooke took it to be the latter, she tilted her chin defiantly. "No."
Donovan gave her an amused look. "I know you consider it a worn-out cliche," he drawled, "but you sure are cute as the dickens when you get your back up, sweetheart."
"Come on, Gloria," Brooke said, biting down a furious response, "let's you and I go for a walk. I could use some intel igent company for a change."
Head held high, she marched off with the stil -grinning goril a toward a stand of colorful oak trees.
TEN
IF BROOKE HAD FOUND their weekend outing a blissful respite from the trials and tribulations of the everyday world, the fol owing week was to prove no different. Donovan began courting her with both words and actions that proved his intentions of wooing and winning her on al levels.
Monday, a paperweight of hand-blown glass arrived at her office via special delivery messenger. The soft blue and gray swirls echoed the hues she had surrounded herself with and each time she looked at it—which was often—Brooke couldn't resist a smile. Donovan, who had never displayed the slightest interest in decorating, had actual y remembered the colors of her office. Brooke decided it must be a first.
On Tuesday, President Chambers cal ed Brooke to his office, forcing her to break a lunch date with Donovan. She had no sooner returned to her office when he arrived with a wicker basket. While others might consider a robust Greek salad and hot fudge sundae a strange culinary combination, Brooke couldn't remember when she'd enjoyed a meal more.
Wednesday it rained. Slate-gray clouds banished the usual y bright California sunshine and as Brooke drove to the campus, she felt unreasonably out of sorts. She was wading her way through the paperwork covering her desk when the delivery boy showed up with an enormous basket of wild-flowers—cheery black-eyed Susans, perky bluebonnets, bright yel ow lupines, bril iant, purple-dotted orange Turk's Cap lilies. As the vibrant colors effectively banished the gloomy day, Brooke found the bouquet more enchanting than the most expensive of hothouse blooms.
When the miserable weather continued on Thursday, Brooke found herself waiting to see what Donovan would come up with next. She was not disappointed. The wonderful y huggable, yel ow stuffed duck, with his bright orange bil and black button eyes made her smile. When she turned the key under the duck's left wing, a music box offered up a lighthearted rendition of "You are my Sunshine." Brooke laughed delightedly.
Friday brought a carousel horse, cast in hand-painted porcelain. Brooke immediately recognized the brightly painted Mandarin horse as a replica of one from the carousel at the Santa Monica pier. The day after the fraternity mixer where they had met, Brooke and Donovan had joined a group of students seeking to enjoy the last few days of summer at the beach before settling down to their studies. There was something wonderful y romantic about sharing the Phila-delphia Toboggan horse with Donovan, his hands over hers on the gleaming brass pole, and from that day on they had laughingly considered "The Carousel Waltz" their song.
Brooke was moved that he had remembered.
On Saturday a grinning delivery boy arrived at her apartment and handed her a record album. Unwrapping the bright paper, Brooke was surprised to discover Patience, the one Gilbert and Sul ivan album she was missing from her col ection.
Prithee, pretty maiden, the accompanying note quoted from the record, will you marry me? Hey, but I'm hopeful, willow willow waly! To that, Donovan had added a post-script. No offense, love, but I still contend Gilbert needs Sullivan's music to make his lyrics palatable.
Donovan's energies were not limited to Brooke alone. It hadn't taken him long to realize that she was an incredibly busy woman, especial y with the final budget decisions only a week away. Professors higher up on the col egiate totem pole than he had steadfastly been refused entrance to her office.
He went immediately to work, plying the officious Mrs.
Harrigan with a wealth of Irish charm that soon had the woman smiling whenever he approached. Things were looking up, Donovan thought to himself the Saturday after their excursion to the ranch. While Brooke had not repeated her declaration of love, he had become an expert at reading her silences. It was only a matter of time before she'd agree to marry him.
As he dressed for dinner, Donovan did some quick calculations. The Australian Open was in five weeks. While he didn't want to wait that long to make Brooke his wife, the trip would make a dynamite honeymoon. He decided to settle things once and for al this weekend.
"You know," Brooke said as they ate dinner at Stavros's later that evening, "I've real y enjoyed the past week."
Donovan frowned as he broke off a piece of fragrant, crusty bread. "You don't have to sound so surprised."
She placed a conciliatory hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. It's just that things have been a little hectic since I arrived in Claremont."
"And I haven't helped matters." When she didn't answer immediately, Donovan managed an understanding smile.
"Hey, I'm the guy. with the stainless-steel feelings, remember? You can be honest with me, Brooke. I can take it."
As Brooke returned Donovan's smile with a soft one of her own, it occurred to her that she had been way off base about his lack of emotions. While he might not display them as easily as some people she knew, the story he had told her about Gloria had been proof that Donovan Kincaid possessed a vast store of feelings.
And she certainly couldn't deny the fact that he'd been a perfect gentleman the past week, courting her with almost an old-world charm that while pleasant, had not pressured her into anything she might not be prepared to give.
"Brooke?"
At his quiet tone, she realized her mind had been wandering. Donovan was waiting for an answer. She struggled to clear her head. "Actual y, you're a bit like that old statement about good news and bad news."
Deep furrows marred his tan brow. "I'm not certain I like that."
Brooke was forced to wait as Stavros arrived to take away the empty soup bowls. She smiled her thanks as he depos-ited a delicious-looking lamb stew in front of her.
