Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger (53 page)

Read Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger Online

Authors: Lori Copeland

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Westerns, #test

BOOK: Playing for Keeps/A Tempting Stranger
11.39Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
 
Page 177
in the end for her? The choir was telling of a perfect love now, and the thought filtered through her mind that even
that
love suffered its share of heartbreak. What gave her the right to think that she was any different from anyone elsethat she deserved nothing less than peace, harmony, and security in her life? Garrett had known very little love in his lifetime, why should he trust her to give him something he'd never possessed?
The tiny white candle flickered brightly in her hands, the rich strains of ''Silent Night" filling the old chapel. She was going to go to him tonight. She would accept his offerhis wayand hope that in the end love would win out. She had more than enough love for them both, and in the quiet sanctity of the church she resolved to give Garrett the love and devotion of a wife, whether she held the title or not. He was the center of her life, and if he were only here with her right now, her world would be complete.
A latecomer was pushing his way into the pew, mumbling low apologies as he edged between the tight pews, his large feet unconsciously stepping on the feet of the people sitting in her row. Chandra tried to concentrate on the deeply stirring solo in "O Holy Night" that one of the angelic choir boys was singing, ignoring the flurrying scuffle taking place in the pew.
A few seconds later a man squeezed in next to her, mumbling softly under his breath as he sat on her purse. Reaching over to move it, she glanced up while trying to pull the hem of her skirt out from beneath him. Her miffed eyes met with huffy blue ones.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, startled by his sudden presence.
"I want to talk to you, Chandra," Garrett muttered tensely, cupping his hand to catch the wax dripping off his candle.
"Well, I don't want to talk to you," she shot back, all previous loving thoughts of him completely deserting her now.
"Help me do something with this blasted dripping candle," he ordered roughly. "I'm going to burn the church to the ground!"
The worshipers sitting around them were beginning to stare, several insistent "Shhh's!" coming from their lips. Gertrude Bea-
 
Page 178
son, one of her neighbors, had turned completely around in her pew to stare, her beady eyes boring into them pointedly.
''Where's the piece of paper that catches the drips?" Chandra sizzled tightly, her face turning bright red from embarrassment.
"What paper?" he gritted, disgruntled.
"The one lying next to the candles, you dolt!" She smiled sweetly and gave a tiny wave to Mrs. Beason, mouthing the words, "Merry Christmas!"
"I didn't see any. Let's get out of here. I want to talk to you," he ordered.
"I will not," she said between clenched teeth. "Go awayyou're making a scene!"
Garrett grabbed for her hand sternly. "You're coming with me if I have to drag you out of here. This is no place for us to try to talk," he gritted out determinedly.
Chandra glared at him, then grabbed her purse and sprang to her feet. She made her way hurriedly out of the pew as Garrett followed, murmuring his apologies to the people whose feet he was trampling on the way out.
The large wooden doors closed quietly behind him as he ran into the small, dark foyer. Chandra was hurriedly donning her coat, trying her best to escape him. She ran for the front door of the church as Garrett jerked her to a sudden halt.
"Where have you been for the last couple of days?" he demanded belligerently, his blue eyes snapping fire. "I've been waiting for you to come around ever since you called the other night."
Chandra glowered at him sourly. "What are you talking about? I told you I wasn't coming over." She twisted around, trying to free her imprisoned wrists heatedly. "Let me go!"
"I know what you
said,
but I thought that you just
might
love me enough to at least come over and try to work out something," he grumbled irritably, stilling her squirming with one long, hard jerk. "Hold stillwe're going to talk whether you like it or not."
"If I love you! You've got your nerve. It wasn't me that treated
you
like a . . . a . . . harlot!" she accused hostilely.
 
Page 179
''A harlot! That's ridiculous!" His face was growing angrier by the minute. "You know I've never thought of you like that. We may have slept together, but you knew I loved you!" he fumed in a hoarse whisper.
"Shhhhh! People might hear you!" she whispered fiercely as she glanced uneasily at the wooden doors. "You don't love me enough to marry me. I'm nothing but a 'dippy broad' to you, Garrett Morganson." She fought the rising tears in her eyes. "Just go away. I don't want to hear anything you've got to say." She struggled ineffectually against his iron grip.
"Tough, because I'm going to say it anyway," he whispered angrily. "I know I hurt your pride when I asked you to just live with me. I'm sorry for that. That week you spent with me was the happiest week of my life"
"Yes, Garrett, you hurt my pride," she hissed stormily, managing to break his grip with one vicious jerk. "But more than that, you've broken my heart!" She broke for the door in a hard run, tears blinding her eyes. As she bounded out the front door Garrett was fight behind her in hot pursuit. Her flying feet hit the steps, making her nearly lose her balance for a moment on the thin coating of ice that clung to one of the steps. She grabbed for the rail to steady herself, then flew on down the steps.
"You'll never outrun me," Garrett predicted determinedly as he increased his large strides, gaining on her. "We're going to talk this thing outlike it or not. I'm trying to ask you a question, lady, and I'm not leaving until you give me an answer!" he bellowed, reaching the ice-covered step.
"You leave me alone, you big . . . bully! What jerk told you I was here, anyway?" she shouted, reaching the end of the steps, and looking around wildly for some means of escape.
"Your
mother
told me where you were," he panted.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mother," she pleaded silently as she broke to the left around to the back of the church.
The running battle was immediately thwarted as Garrett let out a string of oaths, ending with a defeated, "Oh, Lord! Not again!"
 
Page 180
Whirling around at the sound of his angry shouts, she saw him sitting on the bottom step of the church, a stunned glaze filming his eyes.
Skidding to a sudden halt, she backed up to peer more closely at him, trying to ascertain if it was a trick to buy him time to catch her, or if he was really hurt. She sauntered over closer, keeping a wary eye on him and curtly asked, ''What's the matter now?" Her voice indicated she was getting fed up with his injuries.
"Nothing unusual. Just another of the periodic accidents I've had since I met you," he answered aloofly, reaching down to slip off one of his brown dress boots.
Chandra stepped closer, gazing down at his swelling ankle. "The ice on the steps?" she asked in interest as he pulled up his pant leg, revealing a hair-covered, muscular calf.
Garrett was busy examining the injury, his fingers probing the rising puffiness. "Well, this should lay me up for another damn four or five days," he grunted bleakly.
"It looks like it could be broken," she mused thoughtfully, leaning over in fascination to punch the puffiness with one of her fingers. "Does that hurt?"
Garrett jerked his foot back heatedly, wincing in severe pain. "Hell yes, that hurts! Leave it alone. Are you a sadist or something?"
"I'm sure it's broken," she announced in a tone of certainty. "I'll have to take you to the hospital. Where's your car?"
"I parked it about a block over," he answered, standing up slowly to test his weight on the injured foot, grimacing in pain.
"Give me the keys. I'll go get it," she said disgruntledly.
He dug into his front pocket and extracted a set of keys, flipping them at her arrogantly. "Try to get it here in one piece."
Chandra gave him a saccharine smile. "It isn't
me
who is accident-prone," she reminded him.
Five minutes later she gunned the Trans Am up in front of the church and waited while Garrett hobbled over to the passenger side and got in.
 
Page 181
''I'll take you to the hospital but I don't intend to talk to you. Is that clear?" she instructed coolly, pulling away from the church.
"If you want to act like a two-year-old, I can't stop you," he told her, cringing when she hit the curb as she turned the tight corner onto Main Street.
"Don't you
dare
say anything," she threatened grimly. "I never drove a floor shift before!"
"Terrific," he gritted under his breath.
Chandra jerked and ground their way to the hospital in strained silence. Only an occasional muffled expletive escaped Garrett when she had trouble shifting, and the nerve-shattering grinding filled the car as she forced it into gear, her eyes
daring
him to comment. She could feel the tears welling up again as she drove down the crowded street berating herself for treating him the way she was. She didn't know what got into her when she was with him. The one person she loved the most she treated the worst. Only thirty minutes ago she had been planning on going to him and throwing herself on his mercy. Now they rode stonily together in his car, each one harboring ill thoughts of the other.
The car pulled up in front of the emergency exit, and a nurse reached for a wheelchair as she saw Garrett emerging from the car on one foot.
"I'll park the car," Chandra said as the nurse settled him comfortably in the wheelchair.
"Please do," he grunted, "while there's a piece of it left to park." He was grumbling under his breath as the nurse whisked him away through the wide set of emergency room doors.
Within minutes Chandra walked through the same doors, the antiseptic smell of the hospital assaulting her as she walked over to take a seat in the small waiting room.
It was thirty minutes before the nurse came back out, wheeling Garrett on a cart to X-ray, and another forty-five minutes before she returned with him, smiling at Chandra as she walked to her. An orderly pushed Garrett's cart back into the emergency room. "I'm afraid the ankle's broken," she said kindly. "The doctor is
 
Page 182
on his way to put a cast on it. There's no reason for Mr. Morganson to spend the night here. You can take him home after the doctor's finished.''
"Thank you," Chandra said softly. "Isis he okay?"
"He's experiencing some pain, but that's only to be expected. Can I get you some coffee?" she offered nicely.
"No, thank you. I'll just wait here until he can go home."
"He asked if you would see him now." She inserted her hands into her uniform pockets. "You're welcome to go in and be with him," she invited. "The doctor will be a while yet."
Chandra started for the door, the anger, childishness, and fight all draining out of her. She wanted to see him, tell him she loved himshe was tired of all the fighting and she only wanted to be with him now.
She entered the swinging doors and walked over to a cart Garrett was sitting on. A heavy-set, older nurse rolled up his sleeve and inserted a needle into his left arm as another nurse disappeared behind a screened partition.
He glanced up, his blue eyes meeting hers. A silent plea for a lasting truce exchanged between them as Chandra stood in the door drinking in his familiar features. A feeling of undeniable love surged through her. She walked over to him slowly and paused before him. "Hi," she said softly.
A tiny grin hovered at his mouth as he readily reached out and took one of her hands in his. "Hi," he returned gently.
She noticed his face was pale, the lines around his eyes tight from pain. "Are you all right? The nurse said you were having some pain." Chandra's knees were growing weak as she stood facing him, his hand grasping hers tightly. How could she ever have considered letting him go? He was the sun and moon for her, his very presence filled her with unspeakable joy.
"It's not badnow that you're here," he answered, his eyes looking deeply into hers.
"I'll always be here, Garrett," she finally admitted, her love for him shining in her eyes. "I want you to know, I'll come and live with you. I can't go on any longer fighting you. I love you

Other books

My Last Continent by Midge Raymond
Direct Action - 03 by Jack Murphy
The Widow and the King by John Dickinson
Flirting With Intent by Kelly Hunter
The 22 Letters by King, Clive; Kennedy, Richard;
Texas Hold 'Em by Kay David
Destined by Lanie Bross
Just the Way You Are by Lynsey James
Mirror dance by Lois McMaster Bujold