“That’s ridiculous,” Erin returned, shaking her head. “Gary said he thought Reed was attracted to you, and I absolutely agree. I saw the look in his eye right before the wedding ceremony. When a man looks at a woman like that, there’s interest. In my opinion, Clare Gilroy, you should fan those flames.”
“Trust me, Erin, they’ve been fanned.”
“And?” Erin leaned forward expectantly.
“You don’t want to know.” Her friend was looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. Clare didn’t want to drag her back to earth with the sad litany of her own problems.
“Of course I want to know. I thought something was wrong,” Erin said suspiciously, then stood and walked over to where Clare was lying down. Pressing the back of her hand against Clare’s forehead, she asked, “This is a whole lot more than a flu bug, isn’t it?”
“Not exactly, although it’s much too soon to know if I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” Erin repeated in a weak whisper.
“Don’t look so startled…you don’t need to worry—I’m married. Well, sort of married. No,” she said, changing her mind once more. “If I’m married enough to get pregnant then I’m more than sort of married.” Clare didn’t know if her friend could make sense of her words or not.
Erin flopped into her chair. “Who? When…I did hear you right, didn’t I?”
“You heard me just fine.” Although she was feeling dreadful, Clare sat upright. “I’m just not sure you’re going to find all this believable.” She held out her left hand. “The ring belongs to Reed. He gave it to me in lieu of a wedding band. We…we were married a few hours after you and Gary, although it’s going to be one of the shortest marriages in Nevada history. Reed’s already arranged for a divorce.”
Reed straightened and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his forearm. His muscles ached; the low-grade throb in the small of his back seemed to be growing more intense. Nevertheless he continued working. He welcomed the discomfort, because the physical pain balanced out what he was feeling emotionally.
It’d been three days since he’d last seen Clare. The temptation to drive into town and check on her had been nearly overwhelming. He was disciplined in every area of his life, by choice and by necessity. For both their sakes, he’d decided not to see Clare again until it was unavoidable. Until he could steel himself enough to hide his pain and ignore hers.
Clare was a survivor. She was hurting now, but that would pass, the same way his own pain would ease. Over time, prompted by pride.
They’d both needed to deal with several emotional issues, but knowing Clare, Reed was confident she’d find whatever good there’d been between them and cling to that. It was a trait he admired about her.
In the beginning he’d been amused by her Pollyanna attitude, but later he’d come to respect it as being a very special part of this woman he loved. She continually expected the best from others, and because she expected it, she often received it.
Their marriage was the exception, and that troubled Reed. She’d trusted him, believed him and given unselfishly of herself to him. His only comfort was that in the next few months, Clare would uncover something beneficial from their experience.
Reed had to believe that, had to trust in the strength of Clare’s character or go insane knowing he’d hurt the one person he truly loved.
A sound of an approaching car caught his ear and he straightened, setting aside the chisel and hammer.
Coming out of his workshop, he noticed the blue sedan pulling into the parking space next to his house.
Gary Spencer.
He spied Reed about the same time, and an automatic smile lit up Gary’s face. “Reed, it’s good to see you.”
“You, too.” Marriage agreed with Gary, Reed realized immediately. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks.”
“Come inside and have something cold to drink.” Reed led the way into cabin, then pulled out a chair at the table for Gary to sit. “When did you get back?”
“A few days ago.”
Reed opened the refrigerator and took out two cold cans of soda, tossing the first to Gary. “How’s Erin?” he asked, straddling a chair himself.
“Busy, much too busy to suit me. I surprised her with some new furniture, which I’ll tell you right now was a big mistake.”
“How’s that?”
Gary grinned. “Now she thinks the living room walls look dingy and insists we paint the room. The last few days of our honeymoon are going to be spent in the living room instead of the bedroom—the way I planned.”
Reed pretended amusement. His own bride…he paused, forcefully pushing the memory of Clare sleeping in his arms from his mind. He had to carefully guard his thoughts when it came to his last evening with Clare. Indulgence came with a heavy price tag. He dared not remember the way she’d opened herself to him with generosity and love, or he’d find it impossible to stay away from her. Giving her time to heal and himself time to forget was essential for them both.
“I have to admit Erin was a good sport about it. She offered to do it herself, said she’d invite Clare Gilroy over to help. Apparently she helped Clare paint her kitchen sometime back and was going to ask her to return the favor. Unfortunately Clare’s been sick, so it looks like I’m going to get stuck with the task.” Gary raised the aluminum can to his lips and took a deep swallow.
Clare sick. Reed’s mind raced. “Anything serious?” he asked, not wanting to reveal his immediate concern.
“I wouldn’t know. From what Erin said it’s some kind of flu bug. It’s wiped her out.”
“Has she seen a doctor?”
Gary shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
Reed relaxed, then tensed. He’d heard of women who suffered flulike symptoms throughout their pregnancies. His mind raced with fear and doubt. Maybe it was possible Clare was pregnant, but how possible, he didn’t know. He’d hoped Clare would have the presence of mind to contact him, but in his heart he knew she wouldn’t. If he wanted answers he’d have to ask.
Reed returned his attention to Gary, who was staring at him as though seeing him for the first time. His friend’s shoulders sagged as he shook his head. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
“What’s true?”
Gary hesitated, as if he were stunned and having trouble talking. “Erin came back from visiting Clare with this incredible story of the two of you marrying. Frankly, I didn’t believe it.”
Reed frowned. So Clare had told Erin. He wished she hadn’t, but there was no help for it now.
“I don’t know Clare that well,” Gary continued, “but I know she’s been under a lot of emotional stress over breaking up with Kingston. I thought she might have made the whole thing up.”
“It’s true,” Reed said, standing. He walked over to the sink and looked out the window, blind to the lush green forest just beyond the house.
“The two of you were married in Las Vegas a few hours after Erin and me?”
“I said it was true.” Reed’s words were clipped and hard. Gary had waded into a subject Reed didn’t intend to discuss.
“Why?” Gary asked incredulously.
The question angered Reed so much he stormed around to face his friend, hands clenched into fists at his side. He didn’t understand how other men could be so unconscious of Clare’s beauty. She was a woman of strength and courage. Generous and loving. Was the whole world blind to the obvious?
Realizing he’d traipsed onto forbidden ground, Gary swiftly changed the subject. “I heard what happened between you and Kingston. I take it he got the worst of the beating. I don’t know if you heard, but he has a busted jaw. His mouth had to be wired shut.”
A fitting penalty after the things he’d called Clare. Reed had taken delight in making him retract each and every one. “He’ll survive.”
“That was one way of making sure he doesn’t go near her again. What I don’t understand,” Gary continued, pausing long enough to take another drink of
his soda, “is if you don’t want her yourself, why you’d go out of your way to cause trouble with Kingston? From what I understand he intended to marry her until you got your hands on him.”
“He isn’t good enough for Clare,” Reed muttered. He wanted to change the subject to something more pleasant, but he discovered a certain comfort in hearing about Clare and knowing Kingston wouldn’t be around to bother her again.
“If you care for her, and you clearly do,” Gary said with a hint of impatience, “then why are you so quick to divorce her?”
“That’s my own business,” Reed said harshly.
“If there’s an ironic side to this situation,” Gary continued, “it’s that Erin and I had talked about getting the two of you together. Neither one of us is much of a matchmaker, but there was such a strong chemistry between you two. We both felt it.”
“She didn’t know what she was doing when she married me,” Reed said, his words low and regretful.
“She was drunk?”
Reed shook his head. “She crossed some medication with alcohol.”
Gary’s eyebrows folded together as he collected this latest bit of information. “That could explain what prompted Clare,” Gary murmured thoughtfully, “although I have a hard time picturing her doing something so out of character.”
“She was caught up in the heat of the moment,” Reed explained, excusing her actions.
“Maybe that’s why Clare agreed to go through with the wedding. But you were stone sober, weren’t you?”
Reluctantly, Reed nodded.
A satisfied gleam entered Gary’s eyes. “Then tell me, what prompted you to agree to the marriage?”
Reed knew he wasn’t going to be able to stay away from Clare any longer. Knowing she was ill, suspecting she was pregnant had hounded him ever since Gary’s visit earlier in the afternoon. He should be more patient, bide his time, give Clare the necessary space before he went to her.
He couldn’t now. He’d nearly worn a path on the kitchen linoleum worrying about her from the moment Gary mentioned she was sick. His friend was a clever character, Reed realized. He should have known Gary had an ulterior motive, dragging Clare into the conversation. He’d casually brought up Clare’s name, then waited for Reed’s reaction before questioning him about the marriage.
The fact Gary was able to read him so easily told Reed his feelings for Clare remained close to the surface. If he wasn’t able to hide them from Gary, then it would be next to impossible to conceal them from her.
An internal debate had warred inside him the rest of the afternoon. It wasn’t until he sat down for dinner, with no appetite, that he accepted the inevitable.
He would go to her.
The need, the urgency that drove him was an additional source of concern. He wondered how long his love for her would dictate his actions, drive him to do the very things he promised himself he wouldn’t. The need to protect her, to look after her remained strong, and he couldn’t imagine it changing.
Not now. Not ever.
Clare guessed this was more than a simple flu bug the second day she couldn’t keep anything in her stomach. She would have called her doctor to make an appointment, but didn’t for the simple reason that she was too sick to go into his office.
She felt dreadful, but blamed it on a combination of ailments. Her sinus headache, not surprisingly, was back, and she was suffering from all the symptoms of an especially potent form of flu. On top of everything else the man she loved was determined to divorce her.
It was enough to put a truck driver flat on his back.
When the doorbell chimed, Clare raised her head from her pillow and groaned. She wasn’t in the mood for company; she especially didn’t want to be mothered, coddled or bothered.
The temptation to ignore the summons was strong, but she realized her not answering would likely cause more problems.
Heaven help her if it was Erin again, dishing up chicken soup Clare couldn’t keep down, along with aspirin and plenty of juice. Erin seemed especially worried about her, but Clare wished her friend would devote her attention to Gary and leave her in peace.
The doorbell chimed again and Clare groaned. There was no help for it; she had to get up. It surprised her how weak she was, how the room refused to hold still and how much effort it took to accomplish the simplest of tasks.
She reached for her robe while her feet groped for her slippers, then paused in the doorway, afraid for a moment she was about to faint. There was a good possibility she might get over this bug if people would kindly leave her alone.
“Who is it?” she asked, her hand on the dead-bolt lock.
“Reed” came the gruff reply.
Clare closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the door. It felt cool against her skin and oddly soothing. “Would it be possible for you to come back another time?” she asked without unlatching the door.
“No.”
Somehow she guessed that. With a good deal of reluctance she turned the knob and opened the door. If he hadn’t already made up his mind about the divorce, seeing her now would erase all doubt.
Clare didn’t need a mirror to know she looked dreadful. Her hair hung in limp strands about her face. She was pale and sickly, hadn’t brushed her teeth, and she smelled like curdled milk.
“If you need me to sign some papers from your attorney, just leave them with me and I’ll see to it later,” she said. Her defenses were down and she didn’t have the strength to fight him.
Clare wasn’t sure what she expected from Reed. A lecture, a tirade, anger or love—she was beyond guessing anymore. But having him mutter curses under his breath, then lift her into his arms and carry her back into the bedroom certainly came as a surprise.
“How long have you been sick?” he demanded, gently placing her in the center of her bed.
“I don’t know that it’s any of your concern,” she returned with as much dignity as she could marshal, which unfortunately wasn’t much.
He picked up the bottle of pills on her nightstand and read the label. “Another sinus infection?”
“No…I don’t know why you’re here, but if it’s because I’m sick, let me assure you—”
“What did the doctor have to say?” he asked, not allowing her to finish.
“Who told you I was sick anyway?” She had a few demands of her own, and one of those included privacy. “Don’t answer that, I already know. It could only have been Erin.”
“It wasn’t. Now for the last time what did the doctor say?”
Clare remained stubbornly silent. She closed her eyes to block him out, hoping he’d take the hint and leave. When he did walk away, she opened her eyes and blinked back tears of disappointment.
Not until she heard his voice coming from her kitchen did she realize he hadn’t left her after all. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried as best she could to listen in on the telephone conversation, but Reed’s voice was too low for her to hear much. She couldn’t figure out who he’d called or why.
He returned looking like someone from Special Forces on a secret mission. Methodically he opened and shut her closet doors, left and then returned a couple of minutes later with her suitcase.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to sit up. If the room would stop spinning like a toy top she might have been able to pull it off.
Reed didn’t answer her. Instead he opened several drawers, took out a number of personal items, not stopping until her suitcase was filled.
“Reed?” she pleaded.
“I’m packing.”
That much was obvious. “Where am I going?” she insisted, then softly shook her head. “More important, why am I going?”
“You’re too sick to be alone” came his brusque response. “I’ll be taking you to your parents’ house.”
“You can’t.”
Reed turned cool black eyes toward her. “Why not?”
“They’re on a camping trip.”
“All right, I’l
l take you to Erin and Gary’s.”
Clare groaned inwardly. “Don’t be ridiculous. I certainly don’t want to pass on this germ to them, and furthermore, I’m not keen on sleeping in the bedroom next to a couple of newlyweds.”
For the first time since he had arrived, Reed hesitated. She prayed to heaven he was listening, because she didn’t have the strength to reason with him.
Unfortunately, he didn’t pause long. Reaching up to the top shelf of her closet, he brought down a blanket. He laid it over her, then picked her and the blanket up in one swift, easy motion.
“Reed, please don’t do this.”
He ignored her as he had so often.
“I’m much better really…I want to stay in my own home, my own bed. Please.”
He didn’t hesitate, and the frustration beat down on her like war drums. She wanted to pound his chest and scream at him. He’d made it perfectly clear he wanted out of her life. Perfectly clear he regretted their marriage.
Clare didn’t know what to believe any longer. She didn’t know how he could hold and love her one night and casually mention divorce the next. He bewildered her, frustrated her.
At the moment, Clare’s options were exceptionally limited. Despite her protests, Reed carried her outside, opened his car door and carefully deposited her in the passenger side. Before she could complain further, he went back to the house and returned with the suitcase and her purse.
“Will you kindly tell me where you’re taking me?” she asked, her voice pitifully weak. He refused to answer her, his jaw as hard as granite. She might as well be reasoning with a statue for all the response he gave her.
“Reed…please tell me where you’re taking me.”
“Doc Brown’s.”
“His office has been closed for hours,” she told him.
“I know. We’re stopping off at his house.”
“His house?” Clare couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You can’t take me there. Reed, please, you just can’t do that.” Once again he acted as if he hadn’t heard her. If she wasn’t so weak, she would have cried.
“He’s waiting for us.”