All That I Need (Grayson Friends) (18 page)

Fallon had the door open before he came to a complete stop. She barely made it to the grass before emptying her stomach. Finished, she tucked her head in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Taking her arm again, he helped her back into the car. “I’m going inside to get you some water to rinse your mouth out and something to drink.”

Her eyes closed, she leaned her head back on the headrest. “I don’t want anything.”

He closed her door. There was nothing in her stomach. If she thought she was flying, she was crazy. She could get mad all she wanted, but he was taking her to the cottage.

Lance ordered the drinks and returned to help Fallon rinse out her mouth. She took a sip of the 7UP and refused any more. Not sure if he should force her to drink it, he eased her back against the car seat and poured the liquid over the spot where she had been sick. After putting the cups in the nearby trash receptacle, he fastened her seat belt and got back inside the car.

He looked over at her, his heart turning over. He wanted his child, but he didn’t want Fallon to be ill. Starting the car, he backed out and continued to the airport.

Fallon was stubborn. He wouldn’t put it past her to call a cab if he didn’t take her. He wasn’t above pointing out to the airline officials once she’d gone through Security that she was ill and shouldn’t be allowed to fly. One look at her and she’d be booted off the plane.

He took the entrance to the airport. Of course, the tricky part would be if she’d call him to come pick her up. He might have to rethink that one. He saw the sign for parking, flicked on his signal, glancing at Fallon as he did so. She was asleep, her lips slightly parted.

Lance turned off his signal and kept going. She could be mad all she wanted, but she wouldn’t be ill and alone on an airplane.

*   *   *

She was wrapped securely in Lance’s arms. They were on the loggia enjoying the moonlight, their hands interlocked over her bulging stomach. “You’re all that I need,” he whispered, then angled his head to kiss her, slowly deepening the kiss.

Fallon’s moan of pleasure woke her. She stared at the lamp in her direct line of vision and knew immediately she was in the cottage.
Lance.
She’d kill him. She remembered just in time to slowly sit up and swing her legs over the side of the bed; when she did she saw the ice bucket with a can of ginger ale and a small plate of crackers.

Being considerate wouldn’t get him off the hook. He’d kidnapped her. She pulled the tab on the soft drink and took a sip. It tasted good. So did the crackers. She glanced at her watch and her eyes widened. She couldn’t have slept for six hours! On the heels of that was the knowledge that she was supposed to have landed in Austin an hour ago. Her mother and sister had to be worried sick.

Fallon glanced around the room for her purse, saw it and her luggage on a chair, and went to retrieve it. She had to call. She reached for her purse to get her cell phone and saw the handwritten note on a sheet of typing paper.

You were asleep when I reached the airport. I called your mother so she wouldn’t worry. I called the airline. I postponed digging the hole in case you wanted to help. Go back to sleep if you can, and call when you want to eat. Carmen fixed chicken and potato soup.

L

Taking the note, she got back in bed, noting she was wearing a sleeveless blue nightgown, no bra, and her panties. She could be angry or look at it as faith’s way of giving them both a chance to get to know each other better. A movement in the open doorway caught her eye.

“Lance.”

He stepped inside the room, a bed tray in his hands. “I thought I heard you get up. Hungry?”

She eyed him and held up the sheet of paper. “What did you tell my mother?”

He placed the tray over her lap and handed her a warm, damp washcloth. “After I introduced myself, I told her that you weren’t feeling well and that a friend thought you should postpone your flight, and that you’d call her later today when you felt better.”

Fallon ran the cloth over her face, her hands. “Smooth, and what did she say?”

“That if I hurt you again to look for her on my doorstep.”

“That’s my mother.” Fallon picked up her spoon. “Good thing Megan didn’t answer the phone.”

His mouth tightened. “When your mother mentioned my name Megan got on the phone. Your sister has an inventive way of talking.”

Fallon grinned and took a bite of potato soup. “She knows people.”

“So she said.” He folded his arms. “And something about bodies never being found. That’s when your mother took the phone and said they expected to hear from you before the day was over.”

“We’re close.”

“I gathered as much.”

“What about your family?” she asked, and watched his face close. She placed her spoon on the tray. “We talk and get to know each other or I call a cab and catch the next plane out of here.”

His gaze narrowed. “The last flight for Dallas left ten minutes ago.”

She smiled sweetly. “Here, but not the Albuquerque airport.”

He walked to the window. “There’s nothing to talk about. You met Richard’s parents and my mother and stepfather at the wedding rehearsals.”

“Your aunt introduced them to everyone,” she said. “I never saw you talk to them.”

“You were probably busy.” He picked up her tray. “You want anything else?”

“Besides a straight answer? No.”

He turned away, then turned back. “Some things aren’t easy for me.”

“I gather.” She got out of bed and retrieved her cell phone.

His hands tightened on the tray. “My mother and I haven’t gotten along since she remarried when I was ten, the same month my father had died.”

“What happened?” Fallon asked.

Lance’s eyes chilled. “Nothing. She just preferred him over me.” He left the room.

Fallon followed him into the kitchen. She didn’t know what to say. He thought his mother had rejected him, then the woman he loved had rejected his unborn child. He’d been through a lot, and she wasn’t sure he was telling it all. No wonder he shied away from commitments.

“I don’t know about then, but at the rehearsal and reception a couple of times I saw her watching you. She had this wistful look in her eyes,” Fallon told him. “Once she even reached out to touch you.”

“You’re mistaken,” he clipped out.

She wasn’t. He’d deny it to the end, but the strained relationship between him and his mother still hurt. “I’m going to call Mama and Megan to tell them I’ll be staying in Santa Fe for the time being.”

He faced her, the shadows fading from his eyes.

A lump formed in her throat. He expected her to desert him like he thought his mother had. “It seems afternoons are better for me. You think Francisco and Oskar are around so we can plant the trees?”

“I’ll call.” He pulled out his cell phone.

“I better get dressed.” She started from the room.

“Fallon.”

“Yes?” She stopped at the door.

“Thank you.”

She smiled. He was getting there. “I shouldn’t be long.”

Chapter 12

The two trees were already at the site ready to be planted when Lance and Fallon arrived. So was a hole digger and two husky men Lance had seen around the estate.

Francisco introduced the men to her and Lance, gave them gloves and a shovel. “You start and we’ll finish.”

“First, I want to take a picture.” Fallon took the shots with hands that weren’t quite steady, making sure she got one of Lance. They would be included with the first notation in the journal. She hadn’t felt like it last night. Finished, she handed the camera to Oskar. “Could you please hold this for me?”

“My pleasure.” Oskar held the camera with both hands.

Lance leaned the shovel against his leg, pulled on the gloves, and looked at Fallon, surprised to find a lump in his throat. “We’re doing this together. Ready?”

Fallon slid her hands into the small gloves that probably belonged to Carmen, nodded, swallowed, and placed her hands below his on the wooden handle. “Yes.”

Together they cut into the earth, once, twice, a third time before moving to the spot where the other tree would be planted, and repeated the motions. Lance stopped when he felt moisture drop on his hand. He glanced up to see tears sliding down Fallon’s cheeks.

He pulled her into his arms with one hand and exchanged the shovel for the camera with Oskar. “Thanks.” His arm still around her, they started back to the house.

“I’d like to watch for a bit.”

He led her to a bench tucked beneath the trees off the long path leading to the pond. He took her hand. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, then leaned her head against his shoulder. “I was thinking about the child you lost and thought it was a shame that no one ever cried for the loss except you.”

“And Richard.” Lance blinked a couple of times. “I called him and he came to Atlanta despite the torrential rains and power outages across the city.”

She lifted her head. “I’m glad he was there for you.”

“I … I never told anyone else,” he said slowly. “It was too…”

”Painful,” she said.

“That, and I felt guilty.” He glanced away. “Maybe there was something lacking in me that made her do it. Maybe I wasn’t enough.”

“Maybe she wasn’t the woman you thought she was.” Fallon took his face and turned it to her. “She was selfish. She didn’t think of you or the child, only herself. She took something from you that can never be replaced. Put the blame where it belongs. You make me want to scream, but from the short time I’ve known you I know you take your responsibilities seriously and there isn’t anything you put your mind to that you can’t accomplish.”

“You believe that?”

“I’m sitting here when I planned to be in Austin by now. I don’t bend easily, if at all.” She gestured around the landscaped yard. “Richard said you came from humble beginnings, yet you have this fantastic home and succeeded in everything you’ve ever set out to do.”

“Professionally, yes,” he said quietly.

“I admit your interpersonal skills need work, but so do mine. I tend to speak first and think later.” She looped her arm through his and looked to where the men were digging the holes for the trees. “Don’t sell yourself short. If I didn’t think you’re pretty fantastic past the good looks, I wouldn’t have gone to bed with you and I wouldn’t be here now aching for you.”

“I don’t want your pity.” He came to his feet.

“Pity?” She stood as well. “Why would I pity you? You were kicked in the gut, but so were a lot of people with much worse. You not only survived; you flourished. But you’re so busy looking at the past, you can’t be thankful for where you are or focus on the present.”

“Are you finished?”

“For now.” Picking up her camera, she stalked off toward the men planting the trees.

*   *   *

Lance sat back down on the bench. Maybe he should have let her call the cab. Even as the thought formed in his mind, he knew he couldn’t have. Somehow she had worked her way into his heart even before he knew she carried his child.

She was right about one thing: he couldn’t let go of the past. Caring meant being vulnerable. It was safer being alone, yet as he watched the first tree being lowered into the ground and saw Fallon brush away tears even as she raised the camera he had to wonder if he might be wrong. Was finding the person who made your heart glad worth the risk?

Despite her being angry with him, she still cried for the life of his child that had been lost. She was a complicated woman. She’d stayed instead of going to the house and calling a cab. On one hand, he had to admire her for holding her own, even if it would be so much easier if she were easily intimidated.

As if their argument had never happened, she stared at him across the hole in front of her and beckoned him. He honestly thought of not going.

Fallon was getting to him. He thought he could keep her compartmentalized, but he realized that wasn’t happening. She was too vibrant. She called to him on so many levels that he was finding, much to his chagrin, he wanted her heart as well as her body.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed, she propped one hand on her slim hip, the other on top of the metal handle of the shovel. Lance stood and started toward her. He was strong. He could be around her and protect his heart from being ripped from his chest again.

He honestly believed that until he reached Fallon and stared down into her eyes glistening with tears. His heart clenched.

He wanted to pull her into his arms, soothe her, and never let her go. He realized he’d miscalculated. It was too late to guard his heart. Somehow she’d already found a place there. He could accept it and convince her to marry him—something he never thought he’d do—or keep fighting a winless battle.

“I told Francisco we’d like to throw the first dirt to start filling the hole and return to finish,” she told Lance.

He’d already told Francisco as much. Lance had wanted him and Fallon to be a part of the planting at the beginning and the end. They’d had a shaky beginning and he wasn’t sure if the ending would be any different.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

Standing close to her, their bodies touching, smelling her perfume, he came to a decision—he’d do whatever it took to keep Fallon and their baby. But that didn’t mean he had to put himself at risk and let her know how much he cared.

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I don’t want to argue.”

“Neither do I.” She smiled up at him. “I think I’ll leave that part out when I write in the journal tonight.”

He found himself smiling back. “Don’t. It will show what kind of woman you are.”

“And that would be?”

“Strong, dependable, courageous, and all in a beautiful package.”

Her astonished delight showed in her face and eyes. He took pleasure that he was the cause. “We’ll make this a day to remember.”

Sure of himself and in control of his emotions once again, he took hold of the shovel she held. Together they scooped up the first turned earth and tossed it on top of the root ball.

*   *   *

Late that afternoon, in the guest bathroom of the cottage, Fallon soaked in the tub filled with scented bath salts and admitted gaining Lance’s trust was going to be one of the most difficult tasks she’d ever taken on. He could turn that cold stare on her in an instant, but he also went out of his way to take care of her.