The Candidate's Wife (22 page)

That's when she heard it.

"Mom!"

It was Danny's voice, faint but real, and not too far away.

Julia met Adam's eyes and saw her relief reflected in his face. Her knees suddenly gave way. Only Adam's quick thinking saved her from falling. He caught her arm and propped her up.

"Danny, we're coming!" she called, ignoring the pain in her throat.

She heard his familiar, beloved voice again, in response. She pulled her arm from Adam's grasp and forced her numb legs forward, dodging clumps of odiferous skunk cabbage and willowy salmon-berry bushes to emerge in a small clearing shadowed by an enormous pine tree. There she let out a half-groan, half-sob of thankful relief.

Time had turned the rickety shed's plywood silver-gray, and a huge tree limb had fallen on the fiberglass roof, but in the doorway stood a grimy child with dark hair, blue eyes, an elfin, pointed face, and a huge grin. He started forward, then stopped short with a pained grimace.

Julia gasped when she saw the reason why Danny could not leave his makeshift shelter. Adam muttered several choice
curses
under his breath.

Frank had handcuffed the boy. One manacle trapped Danny's wrist, while the other circled a thin wooden rafter crossing from one wall of the shed to the other.

Julia ran to hold her son. She dropped to her knees in the grass and buried her face in his hair. Now, knowing he was safe, she began to sob in earnest. After a moment, though, she was also laughing through her tears as Danny squirmed in her embrace.

"Mom, come on," he said, with an embarrassed glance at Adam. "You're embarrassing me."

Adam grinned. "Give your mother a break, Danny. She missed you."

Julia allowed herself another minute to hold her son before she finally let him go. Then she mopped at her eyes with the sleeve of Adam's wool coat. "Hey, buddy," she said softly. "Let's get you out of here, okay?"

Danny tugged at the handcuffs. He looked shamefaced. "I tried and tried to pick the lock, but it's a heck of a lot harder than it looks on TV."

Over the lump in her throat, Julia laughed again. "Yeah, I'll bet."

"Let me get that for you." Adam's expression was dark and intense as he reached into the shed, took hold of the beam, and gave it a yank obviously fueled by his anger at Frank. It broke with a crack that sent Danny tumbling into his mother's arms and also brought the shed crashing down. They all leapt back.

"Wow," Danny said, his mouth gaping open in admiration. "That was cool. Like Superman or something."

Julia smiled and touched the cuffs still dangling from Danny left wrist. "We'll still need to get a hold of Dylan's universal handcuff key, though."

Adam chuckled. "First, I think we'd better call off the search." He pulled his cellular phone from his front shirt pocket and flipped it open. "Julia, what's your mother's number? I'll call her first, then she can get in touch with Dylan."

Julia gave him the number. While he made the call, she hugged Danny again, and said a quick, thankful prayer as she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to his. Then she took both of his hands in hers and searched his face. "Are you sure you're okay, buddy? Frank didn't hurt you?"

He shook his head solemnly, his eyes wide. For the first time, he seemed to realize the seriousness of what had happened. "He didn't hurt me, but he left me here all alone, and I got hungry for lunch, and I didn't know if you were going to find me or not. Is that guy really my dad?"

Again, tears brimmed in Julia's eyes. She felt like a leaky faucet as she blinked them away. She knew she had to tell her son the truth, but it was difficult to find the right words. She squeezed his hands. "Danny, Frank was your father, but he had some pretty serious problems that made him act the way he did."

Danny squinted up his face the way he always did when he was worried. "Is he going to come back, Mom?"

Slowly, she shook her head. "No, honey. A little more than an hour ago, he had an accident. A bad accident."

Danny's eyes widened. "Is he dead?"

Julia nodded.

Danny let out a deep breath. "Oh. Okay."

Julia watched his expression go from uncertainty to a look of stoic acceptance. "Do you want to talk about this some more, buddy?" she asked. Danny shook his head. "Okay, but I want you to promise me something," Julia said.

"That I won't sneak out Mike's fire escape any more?"

Julia laughed shakily and tried to look stern. "That, too, but mostly I want you to promise that when you want to talk about this, you'll tell me. You know, if you have any bad dreams, or have questions about your dad."

"Okay, Mom." Danny rolled his eyes, but Julia suspected it wasn't a genuine, that's-enough-Mom kind of eye roll. She would make sure she repeated the offer until Danny understood that it was all right
to talk about his experience. She wished she could take all of his pain and confusion on her own shoulders, but she knew that was impossible.

She smiled to cover up the almost unbearable ache in her heart. "Okay. One more hug."

Adam, who had just finished his call, cleared his throat. "Mind if I join you?"

Julia and Danny both shook their heads shyly. Adam's long arms wrapped around the two of them, squeezing them tight. For a moment, there on the creek bank, in the shadow of a tall pine, Julia stood with her arms around her son, in the embrace of her husband, and she felt happy and safe and utterly whole.

In the confusion that followed, however, Julia's feeling of completeness somehow got lost in the shuffle. First, they took Danny home to Julia's mother's house, where he got a bath and was fed and fussed over. Julia's mother baked blackberry pie. Dylan, Matt, and Sean arrived and added to the confusion and the festive air. But Julia's euphoria quickly drained away, leaving her exhausted, and after a while she crept upstairs to her old bedroom.

For several minutes, she stared out the window at the growing crowd of reporters, photographers, and television crews. Earlier in the afternoon, Dylan had gone outside to make a statement. Later, Phil and Tom had arrived in the back of Adam's Mercedes, and Tom, too, made a statement.

Julia collapsed onto the bed and pulled her afghan up over her legs. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally drained.

"Julia?" Adam knocked softly on the doorframe,
then
stepped through her open door. "Are you all right?"

Still curled on her side, she managed a strained smile. "I'm fine. Just tired."

As he gazed down at her, his mouth curved into a sympathetic smile. "It's been one hell of a long day, hasn't it?"

Julia nodded. "How's Danny?"

"Great. He's eaten too much pie with whipped cream, but otherwise he's great. He's a tough kid, Julia. He'll be fine."

"I know." She let out a shaky sigh. "But he's been through so much in the past 24 hours. More than any kid should have to experience."

"True, but he's got a pretty incredible mom to get him through it. Plus, he's got me, if there's anything I can do to help."

"You've helped already." Julia rubbed her eyes and yawned. "What happens now? Do you want to get back to the city? The election. . . ."

"Can wait a few more hours," Adam said firmly. "You take a nap, and we'll let your family spend some time with Danny before we head back to the city. I do have to hold a strategy session tonight, but we'll drop you and Danny off at the apartment first." He hesitated, then frowned. "Also, at some point, we need to talk."

Fear left a sudden, bitter taste in Julia's mouth. "We do?"

"You know we do. But it can wait until tomorrow. Actually, maybe it should wait until tomorrow. Why don't you get some sleep?"

It struck Julia then, as she stared at Adam in horror, that she might know what Adam wanted to discuss. She remembered their first meeting. What had he said? Once November 4th rolls around, we'll have a little talk . . . Once I'm governor, we can always decide to live separate lives. Of course we'll have to be discreet about it. . . .

And, if he lost the election, Adam would want a divorce. It made sense. He'd have no further need of a wife, a wife he didn't love, someone he had married only to strengthen his campaign.

A month ago, Julia had made a business deal with Adam. Then she'd gone and fallen in love with him, and that had changed everything. She closed her eyes as a wave of fresh pain swept over her. How could she have let this happen? How could she have been such a perfect little idiot?

"Julia?" She opened her eyes. Adam was staring at her, worried lines creasing his brow. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she said , but it came out sounding as false as the smile she added for effect. Adam eyed her, a puzzled frown creasing his forehead. Sunlight filtered through the curtains glinted off the hard planes of his face and turned his hair an even deeper shade of gold. Julia wished, not for the first time, that he were even a fraction less attractive. Up close, his spectacular male beauty robbed her of breath and strength. It gave him an unfair advantage. He couldn't get much better looking, she decided, and still remain human. The only time he'd looked more delicious was -- well, stark naked.

That's when he looked his absolute best. Stark naked and gleaming all over, his taut muscles moving under his skin, the hair on his chest crisp under her fingers. . . . She swallowed hard, sat up on the bed, and derailed that naughty train of thought.

Adam scanned her face again. "Is it that you're worried about Danny?"

Julia steeled herself to tell the truth. It would never get any easier, and she knew it. She took a deep breath. "No. I'm worried about us, Adam. You and me."

"Oh? Why is that?" He crossed his arms. A muscle twitched in his jaw, but he stood waiting for her response.

"Because --" Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back. "Because it's all over, isn't it? You and me, I mean. You're bored with me already."

Astonishment transformed Adam's face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Julia rushed on. "Of course, I'll honor our agreement. We'll work something out. Separate lives, you said. Well, it's better than a loveless marriage --"

At this point in her speech, Adam stepped forward and clamped his hand tightly over her mouth.

She glared at him, and he glared right back.

"All right, Julia," he said. "That's just about enough. I know I promised to hear you out, that day in the living room. I know I promised not to interrupt again. But this is too much. This time, you're the one jumping to conclusions."

To Julia's surprise, he began to laugh, a low, arousing sound that sent ripples of desire through her body. He took his hand from her mouth and shook his head. Julia stared at him.

Then Adam's hard, sensuous mouth curved into a sexy smile. "Who said anything about a loveless marriage, Julia? That's not what I want either. It's not what we've got here, is it?"

Julia was sure she had misunderstood. "What do you mean?" she whispered. "What are you trying to say?"

"I love you, Julia. With all my heart, I love you." His eyes gleamed with tenderness. He knelt down before her, bringing his face even with hers. "Oh, sweetheart, I love everything about you. Your innocence, your brilliant political mind, your loyalty and integrity. . . ." He used his index finger to trace her dark brows and the curve of her cheekbone. Gently, he wiped the moisture from below her eyes. She hadn't even realized she was crying. "Your spirit, your body, your face. . . ." His finger touched the plump silken pillow of her lower lip. "Your sweet, sweet mouth --"

He took her in his arms. Julia felt his warm breath on her lips, then somehow her hands cupped his face and guided his mouth to hers. She parted his lips so that their tongues could touch. The kiss deepened slowly, luxuriously, as if they had all the time in the world, and then Adam was pressing his body to hers and the twin flames of love and desire ignited in Julia's heart. With an enormous effort, she pulled away from Adam and stared into his fevered eyes.

"Why didn't you ever say so?" she demanded. "Why did you torture all day? You never kissed me after last night, not once, and I thought -- I thought you didn't want me any more, that once was enough."

He gazed at her with dawning horror. "Oh, hell, Julia. Danny was missing. You had other things on your mind. That's why I kept my distance. Of course I want you. I want you every time I look at you. Don't you know that?" His voice broke as he drew her back into his arms. "But it's more than physical attraction. Much more. I want to be a real husband to you, and a father to Danny. Not just in public, or in the bedroom, but in every single way." He searched her face, suddenly uncertain. He was trembling, too. "What about you, Julia? Do you want that? If you don't --"

Joy surged through Julia's veins, effervescent as fine champagne. Her eyes brimmed with new tears, happy tears. Her heart, too, was full. "Yes," she whispered. "That's what I want. I love you, too."

He kissed her again, harder this time, then trailed burning kisses down her throat. Her heart hammered so hard she was sure Adam could feel it. She wanted to stay in his embrace forever, to feel his arms around her always, and now she knew her dreams were about to come true.