Revelation of Hearts (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #3) (34 page)

Shane stood up, and started toward Stacey, “This is not how it seems, sweetheart.”

Stacey put her hand out for him to stop, then turned to Miranda, “What are you doing in my home. No, never mind that, just get out, and take that cigarette with you.”

“I don’t know why you’re in such a huff Stacey, I merely stopped by to bring Shane coffee. That’s all we were doing, just enjoying coffee, so don’t get your knickers in a twist.” She purred like a cat about to unleash her claws.

Shane stood watching. He had never see Stacey this angry, “Miranda, I think you should leave, as I had asked you to do when you arrived.”

Stacey had had enough of this woman, “I told you to get out of my home, if you don’t start moving I’m gonna throw your sorry ass out.  I’m just tired enough and mad enough to hurt you.”

“Oh, you are such a hypocrite, Stacey. What about the secrets you and Miles share?  You think I don’t know about that, don’t you.”

Stacey turned to Shane just in time to see his eyes cloud with suspicion. Before she thought, Stacey pulled back her fist and plowed it into Miranda’s face. She felt an instant satisfaction come over her. She had wanted to punch this conniving woman for sometime.

“I don’t believe that was necessary, Stacey,” Shane said, as he reached down and helped Miranda to stand. That was when Miranda saw the blood.

“Oh my god, I’m bleeding, I’m bleeding.  I’m going to sue you, you Titan bitch. You have not heard the last of this. I’m a very wealthy woman.”

Stacey handed her a tissue, then walked to the door and opened it, “Good, go buy yourself a gigolo. Now get the hell out, unless you want me to help you out.”

Stacey slammed the door shut behind Miranda and turned to go upstairs. Shane asked, “Can we talk about this, Stacey?”

“Absolutely, but not tonight. I’m tired and wore out and mad as hell, it’s better we don’t talk now, we both might say things we don’t mean.”

When Stacey came into the girl’s room, they both were sound asleep.  “Would you like for us to stay the night?”

“No thanks, Aunt Lora.  You and Richard have been wonderful.  I’m gonna try to get some sleep while my babies are sleeping.  I’m sorry you had to hear all that, but that woman has been a thorn in my side for some time.  It felt good to finally punch her.”

Lora and Richard hugged her bye, “Get some sleep, darling.  I’ll call you tomorrow.  If you need anything, call us, okay.”

Shane waited in the bedroom, but Stacey didn’t come to bed.  He got up and looked in the nursery.  Stacey was sound asleep on the daybed.  Shane knew he had really screwed-up, this time.  Not insisting that Miranda leave was a big mistake, but he didn’t know his wife was coming home early.  Well, he couldn’t use that argument, that would put him in the doghouse farther than he already was. 

Stacey was in a deep sleep, but thought she could hear a baby crying.  All of a sudden, she jumped up to check on the twins.  They both were fussing and crying intermittently. While she was in the kitchen heating, their bottles Shane had come into the nursery.  He had both of his daughters in his arms when Stacey returned to the nursery with bottles in hand.  Without a word spoken, he took one of the bottles and one of the twins, went and sat in the rocker to feed her.  Stacey laid on the daybed and fed the other twin.  She caught herself almost dozing off while feeding the baby. Shane had never seen her this tired.  “Was it a rough flight back, sweetheart?”

“Yes, it was, but it has been a rough three weeks. My milk dried up and my babies are not happy about it.”  Stacey looked at her watch. “They have slept six full hours. I think they’re happy to be back in their own beds.”

“What about you, Stacey?  Are you happy to be back?” Shane was almost holding his breathe waiting for her answer.  He watched as she pushed her hair back and looked at him through sapphire blue eyes.

“I was, until I walked through the door last night.”

“I’m sorry as I can be about that. I promise you, nothing happened and nothing was going to happen. You do believe me? I feel wretched about the whole damn thing, and I need to hear you say, you believe me.”

“Yes, I believe you, Shane. If I didn’t, my daughters and I would be packed and gone already.”

“Your daughters? Don’t you mean our daughters?”

“Shane, I’m too tired to debate semantics with you. Further more, I fail to understand why you let that woman into our home.”

Stacey laid the sleeping babies in their cribs and turned to go downstairs. Shane stopped her in the hall and said, “I didn’t invite her, sweetheart, if that’s what you’re thinking.  She punched the doorbell until I opened the door. I was still half-asleep. I asked her to leave, but she ignored me. What else could I have done?”

“You could have gone upstairs and put some clothes on for one thing. Of course, knowing Miranda, she would have followed you upstairs, most likely.” Stacey made her way to the kitchen and fixed coffee.  She poured herself a cup and sat down.

Shane followed her protesting his innocence, “I love you Stacey. I would never betray you that way. I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you. The whole thing was an unfortunate incident.”

“An unfortunate incident, huh? Is that what you call it? Well, let’s put the shoe on the other foot. Say for example, you came home around three a.m. from a long hard night at the hospital and found me dressed only in my knickers and a loosely tied robe, with a man comfortably sitting beside me. Would you not be upset? Granted, I don’t have an old lover, but perhaps I could substitute one, say, Miles Strayhorn, for instance. I did see your eyes cloud over with suspicion when Miranda said that, ‘Miles and I have secrets.’ I knew you were upset about me and the babies staying at the ranch a few days longer, but I never dreamed you would turn to Miranda for solace.  I realize she was a part of your life before, but she is not a part of our lives now. And I resent her trying to inject herself into our lives.”

“Let’s get something straight, sweetheart. I did not go to Miranda for solace or anything else. Last night was the first time I had seen her in months.  What do you mean about her injecting herself into our lives?”  Shane sat watching Stacey. “And what did Miranda mean about you and Miles having secrets? I wasn’t aware you knew him that well.”

Stacey drank the last drop of coffee from her cup.  She took it to the sink and rinsed it.  Shane stood waiting for an answer.  Stacey turned with her eyes full of anger and disappointment, “You’re right Shane, I don’t know him very well.  He seems like a nice man, so why don’t you run right over and ask him what Miranda means about secrets.  I would really like to know too.  However, right now, I’m way too tired to discuss this sensibly.  I’m going back upstairs and take a nap while the babies are sleeping.”

“I resent this, Stacey. You’re condemning me without a fair hearing.”

“Am I really? Well, give me a little time to rest and we’ll have that fair hearing.”

“What is happening to us sweetheart, you won’t even let me hold you in my arms.  I love you and I have not been unfaithful to you in anyway.  I’m sorry about Miranda, but she means nothing to me.  I’m sorry she was a part of my past, but what was, was. I assure you, she is not in any way a part of our lives. Miranda is competitive. She feels she always has to win.”

“What’s the prize she’s competing for, you?” Stacey said sarcastically as she left the kitchen to go back upstairs.

Shane poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down. How, did I get myself into such a muddle, he asked himself: He thought, back to the first time he had met Miranda. It was at Doctor Fein and Mrs. Strayhorn’s wedding. He had noticed the pretty dark haired woman during the ceremony, then later at the reception where he made his way to introduce himself. They talked for a while about themselves. He being a doctor and her a business executive. At the time, she was an executive assistant to Miles Strayhorn of Strayhorn import-export. Miranda pointed Miles out to Shane by saying, “He’s the tall handsome chap with a beautiful woman on his arm.”

Shane smiled at her and said, “I thought I was the tall chap, with a beautiful woman on my arm.” As he offered her his arm to walk outside in the fresh air.

“Doctor McLeod, you have a tongue as smooth as silk. I must keep that in mind.”

Later in the evening, after a considerable amount of flirting, Miranda had asked, “Your place or mine, darling?”

After the first time they had always gone to her place. She had a spacious flat that overlooked the river Thames. Miranda liked to work hard and play hard. When she was in town, they would make plans to see each other. They both understood there were no strings attached. He dated other people and so did she. Miranda had introduced him to Miles. He and Miles had become casual friends. Many times, they had frequented the same clubs. Shane lived within his means, although he knew Miranda and Miles were wealthy. He had once or twice spent a holiday with a group of their friends at a villa in the south of France and in winter at a chalet’ in Austria where they skied. In all of their time, together Shane could never remember Miranda acting so possessive.  He had never thought of Miranda as a jealous or obsessed person, not until now.

Shane ran his fingers through his hair and said to the kitchen walls, “What a bloody inopportune time for Miranda to be in the flat.” This was only the second or third time she had ever been in the flat. They had always gone to her place. Damn, damn and double damn. Shane said to himself; as he hit the counter with his fist. He decided to shower and get dressed and be waiting for Stacey to wake up so they could talk. He had to make her understand that he would never jeopardize their marriage. He loved her and their baby daughters far too much to have a casual affair. Good god, he thought; How did this go so wrong.

The doorbell rang and rang. Miranda could hear it from a long distance away. Finally, she woke up enough to realize it was the doorbell.  She called for Esmeralda to answer the damn door.  After calling her a few times, she threw on her robe, grumbling, “Where the hell is that stupid woman?” as she went to answer the door.

“Miles, what the hell are you doing here?” she asked as she jerked the door open.

Miles stood looking at her in dismay, “What the hell happened to you, Miranda? Were you in an accident, love?”

At first Miranda seemed confused, then it all came tumbling back. She stepped to the mirror in the hall and started screaming, “That bitch, that bitch, that barbaric bitch. Oh, I’m going to sue her.  She is going to pay for this.”

“What happened, Miranda? Who did this to you?”

“I assure you it was all very innocent, Miles. I took Shane his favorite coffee. We were just sitting and talking when she came through the door and went ballistic. She started screaming vile vulgarities at me.  When I tried to reason with her, she struck me.  Then she threatened, if I didn’t leave the flat immediately that she would do further harm to me. I tell you, Miles, that woman is insane. I don’t know how Shane puts her with her.”

While Miranda indulged in her tirade of Stacey, Miles went to the kitchen to get a cold pack for her bruised face. “Here, put this on your face, it will help the swelling to go down. Also, you might want to see a physician in order to take precaution not to get that cut infected.” Miles watched Miranda for a few minutes, then asked, “Why did you go to Shane’s flat? You heard Donald say he and Shane had just finished a sixteen-hour operation. I know you left the Oxford house after midnight.

Don’t tell me you went to Shane’s flat at that time of the morning. You knew his wife was coming home on Sunday. I heard Donald mention it. Oh, good god, Miranda, she arrived home early and found you two together. Didn’t she?”

“I told you it was totally innocent. We were only having coffee when she burst through the door and attacked me for no reason. Well, don’t look so smug, I told her I know you two have secrets.”

“You did what? Good goda’mighty, Miranda, why did you drag my name into this?”

“Oh, just stop it Miles. I know something went on with you two. I just don’t know what, however, I’ll find out in time. Then she’ll be sorry. When I’m finished with her, she won’t look so sweet and innocent and Shane will see his little cowgirl for what she really is.”

Miles stood looking at Miranda wondering; when did his best friend turn into this cold vindictive woman. She had always been such a free spirit. Miles loved that about her, however, lately she had become obsessed about Shane and Stacey.  He had a feeling someone else was feeding the fires of jealously that was consuming Miranda.

She never acted this way when she was elsewhere. Miles remembered seeing Miranda with the wife of one of Shane’s doctor friends. He didn’t know her name, but he was going to be more vigilant.

Stacey woke before the twins did. She took a shower and dried her hair. She had just finished dressing when they woke. She gave them a bath and was taking them down to the kitchen to feed them, when Shane woke from his nap on the sofa.

“Why didn’t you wake me so I could help you with the girls,” Shane said as he removed the trays so Stacey could sit the babies in their highchairs. “Sweetheart, I know you’re angry with me at present, but please don’t shut me out. I need to be a part of this, they are my daughters too.”

“I know that, Shane. As soon as they are fed and in the playpen, we will talk. I have a lot to tell you. I never wanted to bother you with any of this, but now I think it’s time.” 

Stacey watched as Shane fed Jessie. Both of the girls had been saying, Mama for about a week. Now out of the blue Jessie said, “Dada.” Jackie chimed right in behind her and said, “Mama, Dada.” It was a game to them, but to Shane it was rapture. The look on his face was priceless. It was obvious he was emotionally moved.

“How long have they been talking?”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call that talking, but for about a week now.”

After the babies were fed and put in the playpen to play, Stacey brought in two cups and a pot of coffee. Then she went upstairs and brought down a large manila envelope and handed it to Shane. 

He opened it and was struck speechless when he saw the contents. He went through the photos shaking his head. “Where in the name of god did you get these? This is not me. Well, that’s not exactly true. The newspaper clippings of Tiffany and me are real, however, these other disgusting photos are not me. I swear to you, they are not.”