Ride the Tiger (16 page)

Reaching over, she slung the straw purse over her shoulder. Evening had fallen as she left the house and walked to the white Citroën. She might not be able to control what happened to her home, Dany thought, but it was within her control to at least apologize in person to Gib. That was something she could change. There was so much she wanted to say to him, share with him. Was it too late? Would he even see her, much less forgive her? She would call Marble Mountain security, and get permission to go on board to see Gib under the pretense of official business.

* * *

Gib sat in his tent, working on a new batch of requisitions to order spare parts for his helicopter squadron. His head jerked up as a light knock sounded at the door. It was 2000, dark, and he couldn't see who it was. Frowning, he moved from the desk, his boots thudding hollowly on the plywood floor. When he opened the door, his eyes narrowed.

“Dany.” He saw the terrible uncertainty in her eyes, in every tense line of her body.

“I—Gib, I had to see you. I need to apologize for what I said—did—to you today.”

The terrible weariness flew from him. “Shh, honey, apology isn't necessary,” he reassured her. “Your home, your way of life is threatened. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably barricade the place up and hold them off at gunpoint.”

Dany stood there, stunned once again by Gib's understanding.

He smiled slightly—a smile filled with exhaustion. “Come in. I'm afraid all I can offer you is a cup of powdered coffee from an aluminum mug.”

She gripped the straw purse, her heart beating triple time. “I—I'd like that.”

Just watching Dany glide into his tent was like getting his first breath of air after a long period of suffocation. Gib closed the door quietly behind her and brought his chair out from behind his desk for her to sit on. He could see how tense she was.

“Relax,” he coaxed, “I don't bite, contrary to popular opinion. You still want that coffee?”

Dany sat down and looked up into his harsh, shadowed features—at first glance a warrior's mask. But when she clung to his gaze, she saw nothing but warmth and felt his intense protection embracing her. “I—no, not really. My stomach's tied in knots.”

Gib sat down on the cot opposite her. He folded his hands between his legs, his elbows resting on his thighs. Trying to give her a smile that would ease her nervousness, Gib drawled, “Yeah, mine's been feeling like there's a war being waged in there.”

“Since our fight?”

“Yeah.” He smiled more deeply. “You look a hell of a lot better for our argument than I do.” In fact, Dany looked breathtakingly beautiful, he thought, the ivory and apricot colors she wore bringing out the flushed rosiness of her cheeks. Her fingers continued to work nervously at her straw purse.

Dany felt the shame well up in her under his kind gaze. “I've never hit anyone before in my whole life, Gib,” she quavered. “I'm sorry. Just because the messenger brings bad news doesn't mean he should be punished for it.”

“No one has ever tried taking your home away from you, either,” he reminded her gently.

She held his understanding gaze. “I don't believe you're involved in this scheme to steal my land. I have no reason not to trust you.”

Relief, sweet and hot, coursed through Gib. “Thank God,” he rasped. “Honey, I tried to fight city hall on this. My colonel would merely have given the assignment to another officer if I refused it.” Wryly, he held her surprised expression. “I didn't want that to happen, Dany, so I told him I'd take it.”

“I didn't know,” Dany whispered.

“We really didn't get past first base with one another on the details Dany.” With a shrug, Gib added gently, “Hell, I would've been just as mad.” He smiled into her huge, tear-filled eyes.

“I forgave you already, Dany. Now, forgive yourself and let's talk about some things I've had a chance to look at a little more closely since this afternoon.”

Dany nodded. It was all she could do not to get up and throw her arms around Gib's broad shoulders. He forgave her—already. “I've been such a fool—about so many things.”

“Never a fool,” Gib said huskily. “Just a woman who's fighting to hold on to what she loves.”

Dany fumbled in her purse for the file Gib had given her earlier. “You said they'd take my plantation even if I didn't agree to sell it to them?”

With a nod, Gib said, “I tried talking to General Hunter down in Saigon late this afternoon to find out if he wouldn't be happy with a bordering piece of property, but he said the plan was already in motion and couldn't be changed.”

Her heart fell as she studied the legal forms in her trembling hands. “But how could they force me?” she asked, then muttered, “Never mind, I know how. They'll bribe the Vietnamese officials to cancel the property deed in my name, transfer it to the government, then sell the land to your government.” Bitterly, she added, “I know how they work, the bastards.”

Gib couldn't recall ever feeling so helpless, even when his helicopter was being shot at by ground fire. “Maybe we can find a way for you to keep your home.”

Dany gasped. How could she ever have doubted Gib's loyalty to her? She trusted him now—with her life, if necessary. “How?”

“What if you hired an attorney from Saigon to fight your case?”

She grimaced. “Any lawyer in Vietnam can be bought, Gib. I'd have to have a sizeable amount to bribe not only him but the court system to find in my favor, too. I'm sure your government could more than match any amount I gave these men.”

Unhappily, Gib saw her point. “What about the French embassy? What if you went and talked to those officials? You're a French citizen.”

Dany leaned back, her mind and heart in utter chaos. “I don't know. I've been so upset at hurting you, I haven't really thought about those kinds of things.”

Gib straightened. “It's worth a try, isn't it?”

“Maybe,” Dany conceded softly, thinking about Gib's idea. “I'd have to get an appointment with the French embassy and fly down to Saigon.”

“Then call and make that appointment, Dany.”

She gave him a pained look. “My world's caving in around me, Gib. I'm having a hard time separating truth from lies.”

Gib leaned forward. “Honey, you and I have something special, something that not even the war can touch.” He held her shimmering gaze. In a soft, strained tone he said, “Let me prove myself to you by my actions. Fair enough?”

His touch was galvanizing, and it steadied her tautly strung nerves. “Wh-what do you mean?”

With a twist of his mouth, Gib said, “How would you like to fly down to Saigon with me? I can get a C-130 scheduled from here to take us down. If I tell Colonel Parsons you want to talk further with General Hunter about your property, he'll approve the flight. Maybe if you get Hunter to realize you were born here, realize what this land means to you, he'll rescind the order.” Gib shrugged. “And if he won't, we still have the option of going to the French embassy and asking them for help.” Gib ached to hold her again, to kiss away the hurt reflected in the line of her lips, but he stopped himself.

Dany nodded her agreement.

“Good,” he whispered. “Let me get things set in motion. I'll call you as soon as I get the colonel's approval. I'll tentatively set up a flight for day after tomorrow.” He held her gaze, now filled with genuine hope. In a whisper he said, “That's another thing I like about you, Dany—you never give up.”

She shook her head and looked down at the file in her hands. “How can I give up part of me, Gib? I don't have any choice but to fight.”

“Well,” he said, rising, “you've got me at your side. We'll fight this together.”

Rallying, Dany said, “Through thick and thin?”

“Yeah, honey. Through thick and thin.” A wild, keening ache filled Gib. Staring down at Dany's drawn features, he realized just how much the information had exhausted her. “You'd better get going,” he said gently. “It's been a hell of a day for you. I'll be in touch.”

* * *

Ma Ling was with Dany in the drawing room the next morning when Gib's call came. Dany turned to her nanny after she'd finished speaking to him. Taking Ma Ling's thin but strong hand, she said, “It's set. Tomorrow morning Gib wants me to drive over to Marble Mountain and meet him. The C-130 pilot will fly us down to Saigon.”

“This is a two-day trip, my daughter.” Ma Ling tilted her small, gray head. “We must sit and talk.”

Wearily, Dany nodded and took a seat next to Ma Ling on the blue silk couch. It struck her how different her foster mother was in comparison to her real mother. Ma Ling seemed to know that she needed to be touched and reassured, to have her hand held. Amy Lou had never reached out or hugged Dany when she'd needed it the most. Now Ma Ling's expressive brown eyes searched hers in the gathering silence.

“We must talk of this man, Gib Ramsey. Since you have met him, I have never seen you happier—or sadder. He touches your heart, my daughter?”

Dany closed her eyes and took an unsteady breath. “Yes, he does.”

“And what of this business of wanting our home? Do you feel he has tricked you?”

Opening her eyes, Dany held Ma Ling's tender gaze. Her nanny's hands cupped her own, as if in silent support. “I don't want to believe Gib set me up. When I look in his eyes, I don't see trickery or deceit. I never have, since I met him.”

“What do you see then?”

She smiled painfully. “Care. Concern...”

“Love?”

Dany sat very still beneath Ma Ling's patient inspection. “I—I don't know,” she said, stumbling over the words. “I haven't known Gib that long. It's too soon to tell.”

“He's an American, a man of war. He's someone who will leave and go home to America.”

“Believe me,” Dany said in a trembling voice, “I know that.”

“And yet, you open your arms, your heart to him?”

She nodded and chewed on her lower lip. “I'm afraid to call it love for all those reasons, Ma Ling. There's just this feeling I have that Gib's loyal to me. Last night he promised to stand by me no matter what happens. I believe him. My head screams at me he's like every other GI I've seen over here. When his tour's up, he'll leave me—leave my heart, my feelings for him behind, as if they really didn't count, after all.”

Patting her hand gently, Ma Ling nodded. “Time is the wisdom of the heart, my daughter. Time will yield all the answers you need to decide about this man and his intentions.”

“He's like me,” Dany went on in a whisper. “He loves the land, and he's family-oriented. He's sensitive about my needs and doesn't try and tear me down like other men have. He respects my way of life, what I want to do with it. Gib supports me.”

“Your heart is open to him,” Ma Ling said, worry wrinkling her brow. “For so long you have been without a man to love you as you are. I wish he was Vietnamese, not an American GI. Maybe then things could work out.”

Dany couldn't disagree with Ma Ling's insight. She knew her foster mother was showing her concern for her. Ma Ling was always there for her if she needed a pep talk, a hug or words of wisdom. It was unbearable to think what might happen if the plantation was stolen out from beneath them. What would happen to the fifty families who had been a part of the Villard way of life since the 1930s? The mere thought brought on the worst kind of pain Dany had ever felt in her life.

“I have to trust Gib on this. In my heart, I believe he's on our side.”

Ma Ling smiled and gave Dany's hand one last squeeze before she stiffly rose to her feet. “Ever since you were born I have wished for only one thing for you, my daughter. I have wished that you would know true happiness, because you've always done so much for all of us without thought or regard for your own needs.”

Dany sat alone in the drawing room after Ma Ling left, her hands folded in the lap of her dark blue pajamas. She hung her head, overwhelmed with fear, anxiety and worry. Yet, through it all, she clung to the memory of Gib's face. Tomorrow couldn't come too soon. Perhaps Dany could convince General Hunter to change his mind. Perhaps.

* * *

Gib stood when he saw Dany come out of General Hunter's richly appointed office at the end of the hall. Since this was official business, he had changed out of his comfortable dark green flight suit after landing at Tan Son Nhut air base, and into his summer uniform. The short-sleeved tan shirt and tan pants were crisply starched. He gripped his utility cap tightly, seeing even at a distance the look on Dany's face.

Despite her disappointed expression, she looked fresh and lovely in a sleeveless white dress with an Empire waistline that complimented her height and slenderness. Dark blue piping around the throat and down the center of the dress made it look more businesslike, and Dany had accented it with navy blue heels and a small leather handbag of the same color. The earrings she wore were of lapis lazuli surrounded with gold. Even her hair had been carefully arranged into a French roll, the wispy bangs barely touching her brows. Gib had had one hell of a time keeping his eyes off Dany throughout their flight and drive here. Now, as she walked out of the office, other passing marines gave her appreciative looks, and Dany blushed furiously. Gib wished mightily that their two days in Saigon weren't business, but pleasure.

The spacious hall of the Logistics HQ building was laid with dark green and ivory floor tile. Gib walked forward, meeting Dany halfway. He gave her a slight smile of welcome and settled the hat on his head as they continued slowly on their way.

“How did it go?” he asked, although her expression foretold her response.

She grimaced. There were too many marines around, and she didn't want her comments to be overheard. “I'll tell you in a few minutes.”