Trouble in Tourmaline (Silhouette Special Edition) (11 page)

She turned her head to look him straight in the eye. “Moon love isn’t real love, is it? Moon love is something brought on by chemistry plus a romantic situation.”

He digested this as he trimmed the sails a bit. “So you’re saying last night was moon love,” he said when he was done.

“Wasn’t it?”

What the hell kind of answer did she expect from him? Even using the word
love
made him uncomfortable. Love, the way she used it—real love—meant forever, at least that’s what he understood it to mean. Forever wasn’t something he could deal with. Hell, he hadn’t even made up his mind what to do for a living or, actually, where he wanted to live more or less permanently. Forever was so far off in the future it was out of sight. Last night was chemistry, yes. Romantic, yes. Real love—no. Moon love? He shook his head, not liking the words applied to last night, though he couldn’t explain why.

“Call it what you want,” he muttered.

For the rest of the crossing, no comments were ex
changed other than about the great weather, the beauty of the surroundings, or requests from him to help with the boat. Once docked in Haskell’s marina slip, they worked together returning the sailboat to the way they found it.

“I wonder if I should clean out the refrigerator?” she said when they were finished, then answered her own question. “No, his housekeeper must take care of that.”

David nodded. “I left a note thanking Mr. Haskell for the use of the
Frivolous.
Ready?”

On the drive down the mountain to her brother’s ranch, Amy either dozed or pretended to. Once there, they collected Sarah, he told the Simons how grateful he was they’d taken care of his daughter overnight, and the three of them piled into the pickup. Sarah hung out the window to tell Elias she was going to invite him to ride a camel with her some time and then they were off.

Fortunately Sarah chattered all the way home about the fun she’d had at the ranch, because he had the feeling Amy and he would have had little to say to each other. How had things deteriorated so much from last night’s high?

It seemed a real anticlimax to pull into Tourmaline and, at the same time, a relief. Amy would go to her own apartment and Sarah would be eager to play with her kitten, leaving him the time he needed to himself to sort through his mind’s confusion.

The sight of the white Mercedes in the parking lot didn’t register, not until Sarah cried, “That’s
his
car,” and burst into tears.

He parked the pickup and tried to calm Sarah down, but she sobbed harder. Finally Amy said, “Why don’t I bring her with me while you talk to them?”

Since Sarah immediately began to cling to Amy, David decided to go along with that plan. He saw the two of them to Amy’s door and then went back down the steps to deal with Iris and Murdock, who were now walking toward him.

“I know we should have phoned ahead,” Iris told him, “since we originally weren’t going to be here for another week.” She laid a hand on Murdock’s arm. “He’s such a naughty boy, he drives way too fast and we forgot to call.”

“That Mercedes,” Murdock said. “Just can’t keep her throttled down.”

“Sarah’s upset that you didn’t let us know,” David said bluntly. “She started crying so hard that Amy took her upstairs to get her calmed down.”

Iris raised her eyebrows. “Well, she knew we’d be back sometime.”

“Why don’t we go to my apartment,” he said.

Iris glanced at Murdock. “We’ll go get a bite to eat somewhere,” he told David. “That’ll give you a chance to get the girl’s things together.”

“What a good idea,” Iris said. “Say an hour or so?”

Watching them walk away, David clenched his fists as Murdock’s “the girl’s things” echoed in his head. Couldn’t the creep even call Sarah by name?

Turning, he ran up the steps to Amy’s apartment. As soon as Amy let him in, Sarah flew into his arms.
“Daddy, don’t make me go with him,” she begged, fresh tears starting. “He’s going to send me away to someplace he calls a boarding school. I heard him talking to Mommy about it and she said it was a good idea. I want to stay with you and Amy.”

David looked over Sarah’s head at Amy, who seemed as appalled as he was, to judge by her expression.

“No,” he muttered.

Sarah pulled away to stare up at him piteously. “You mean I can’t stay here?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he assured her. His no had been an involuntary exclamation, meaning Sarah would be sent off to boarding school over his dead body.

“Your father is going to talk to your mother and stepfather before you go anywhere,” Amy said.

His heart lifted just a little as he realized Amy knew how he felt.

“Mommy says I can’t hate
him
because hating is bad. But I do.”

“Hating hurts the one who hates,” Amy told her.

“I don’t have to like him.” Sarah’s voice was defiant.

“No, you don’t,” David told her. The way he felt about Murdock, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her she should try to like him.

“Is he out there?” Sarah asked.

“He and your mother went to eat at a restaurant.”

“He’s coming back, though, isn’t he?” Sarah’s lip began to quiver.

“How about some coffee for us and chocolate milk
for Sarah while we wait?” Amy asked. “I’ll make the coffee and Sarah can stir the chocolate syrup into her milk.”

“Go ahead,” he told Amy. “I’m going to make a phone call.”

Taking Amy’s phone into the living room, he called Gert and explained the problem. “You’re an old friend of Judge Maguire’s,” he said. “Considering it’s Sunday, what are the chances he’d take it in stride if you called him at home right now?”

He listened, nodding. “Good.” He explained the problem ending with, “I want you to ask him if I can get a temporary injunction tomorrow to keep Sarah here since I believe—and it’s also Amy’s professional opinion—that it would do my daughter real harm to be shipped off to boarding school while she’s in therapy for emotional problems.”

When he returned to the kitchen, the coffee was brewing and Sarah was concentrating on pouring the right amount of syrup into a glass of milk. He waited until she’d finished and was stirring the mixture with a spoon.

“You won’t be going anywhere tonight, Sarah, except home to sleep in your own bed.”

Her face brightened. “You mean I can stay with you?”

“Tonight for sure. What happens after that hasn’t been settled yet.”

“Oh.” She sighed.

“Your father is going to do his best for you,” Amy said.

“You mean it’s like maybe?”

When Amy nodded, Sarah smiled. “When Daddy says maybe he usually means yes.”

When he finished his coffee, David left Sarah with Amy and went to his own apartment. Hobo greeted him by twining between his ankles and he had to look down to be sure he didn’t step on any of the kittens.

He gathered all of them up and shut them, with their mother, in his bedroom. No way did he intend to have anyone distracted by kittens climbing all over them. While he waited for Iris and Murdock, he marshaled his thoughts, setting them in clear order as though for a court case. Which it well might turn out to be.

By the time the Murdocks showed up at his door, David’s anger had cooled from white-hot rage to a cold determination. He invited them to be seated, but brushed off any small talk. “I want you both to understand that I am not going to allow my daughter to be sent away to a boarding school,” he said.

“Not allow?” Iris cried. “Since when have you taken any interest in her schooling?”

“I haven’t interfered until now,” he continued, ignoring her remarks, “because I supposed Sarah was better off with her mother. I discovered I was mistaken.”

Iris glared at him. “Are you accusing me of—?”

He interrupted her. “I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m stating that, as her father, I believe sending Sarah to boarding school would be harmful to her improvement. She is receiving required therapy, you know.”

“Is that so?” Murdock huffed. “Required for what?”

David wasn’t giving an inch. “You’ll have to speak to her psychologist if you need to know about Sarah’s progress. We can settle this here and now or you can wait for me to get a temporary restraining order from Judge Maguire in the morning, ordering you to refrain from moving my daughter until the court determines the state of her mental health.”

Iris stood up. “Where is Sarah? I demand to see her right now.” She glanced at Murdock. “Brent, make him let me talk to her.”

“You certainly can see Sarah, Iris,” David said. “But not until we settle this problem.”

“I demand—” she began, her voice rising.

“Be quiet, Iris,” Murdock snapped. “If you can’t stay calm, go sit in the car and let me handle things.”

She glared at him, but shut up and sat down.

Focusing on Murdock, David said, “At present, Iris and I have joint custody. I was shocked to discover, when you dropped her off here with me, that Sarah was so desperately insecure I had to arrange for psychological counseling. Now I find you intend to ship this insecure little girl off to a boarding school. What other recourse do I have but to sue for full custody?”

“You wouldn’t dare do that,” Iris said. “Not after what happened in Albuquerque. A judge would never—”

“Iris, I told you to keep quiet or leave us.” Murdock’s voice was as cold as David had ever heard it.

“I don’t mind digging up the past,” David said. “I don’t believe I ever told you about the letter I got
from that juror who changed his story. After I moved here, he also sent me a clipping from the
Journal
about your wedding.” He stared straight at Murdock. “If I have to resurrect the entire dirty mess, I will, make no mistake.”

Murdock blinked, making David aware he’d gotten to him. “Naturally,” he added, “Sarah could visit you two whenever it’s convenient for all concerned. I assume you intend to travel a lot or you wouldn’t have considered boarding school.”

Iris’s gaze flicked from Murdock to David and back, but she said nothing.

Looking at Iris, but speaking, David knew, to him, Murdock said, “My dear, you must admit David has a point here. Perhaps Sarah would be better off with him having full custody. He’s willing to allow her to visit and that can be written into the agreement. I really dislike the idea of disrupting the child’s therapy. We’d be at fault if anything went wrong.”

David decided this was the moment to leave them alone to settle things between them. “Fine. I’m glad we agree this should be resolved amicably. I’ll bring Sarah home now so that she’ll have a chance to see her mother.” Without waiting for a reply, he rose, crossed to the door and went out.

Outside, he released a long breath of relief. As soon as he’d realized Murdock called the shots, not Iris, he’d been pretty sure a not-so-veiled threat would avoid any wrangling in court over custody. The last thing Murdock would want was any probing into that juror affair. His bluff had worked.

When he ushered Sarah into his apartment after as
suring her she’d be staying with him, she clung tightly to his hand, not even letting go when Iris flung herself to her knees beside Sarah and hugged her.

“Are you sure you want to stay with your father?” Iris asked her.

Sarah nodded.

“You can come home with Mommy, if you want to.”

“No,” Sarah said, loud and clear.

Iris pulled away from her and rose to her feet, looking distressed.

“I’ll come and visit you sometime, Mommy,” Sarah said, her words easing her mother’s stricken look.

Iris looked at David, “See that she does.”

“Definitely,” he told her. “When it’s convenient all around.”

Sarah hadn’t so much as glanced at Murdock. When he came up to stand beside her mother, he said, “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to me?”

“Bye,” Sarah said, still not looking at him.

Iris bent and kissed her. “Goodbye, my darling,” she said.

“Bye, Mommy.” She didn’t let go of David’s hand until the door closed behind them.

“I might miss Mommy, sometimes,” she admitted then, “but I won’t miss
him.
You won’t ever send me to boarding school, will you, Daddy?”

“Never.”

“Now we have to go tell Amy. She’ll be happy I get to stay with you, ’cause she likes me.” Sarah
paused a moment. “I like her a whole lot. You like Amy, too, don’t you?”

“You bet,” he told his daughter. Among other things, he added to himself. The problem was some of those other things scared the hell out of him.

A
my could hardly wait to get home on Monday afternoon. Though David had told her Sarah was going to stay with him, she was eager to find out the details. She found the two of them in the play area of the complex, David throwing a ball for Sarah to bat. Amy tried to ignore the flutter in her stomach at the sight of David.

“I’m learning to play baseball,” Sarah informed her.

“So I see. My brother taught me when I was a girl, but I never was a good batter.”

“Daddy says I’m improving.” As usual when she’d just learned a new word, Sarah pronounced it carefully. “It means I’m getting better.” She put down her bat. “I wish I had a brother.”

David raised his eyebrows. “You’ll have to be satisfied with your kitten, punkin.”

“That’s
calabaza,
” Sarah informed him with a giggle. “My violin teacher taught us to count in Spanish, so I asked her if she knew how to say pumpkin in Spanish and she did.”

Sarah turned to Amy. “Betty’s having a birthday party and I’m invited. Betty’s mother’s taking me and two other girls to McDonald’s. I got Betty a toy kitten ’cause she likes Sheba so much, but she can’t have any pets where she lives. Pretty soon it’ll be my birthday and I’m going to have a party, too. You’re invited.”

Amy smiled at her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

A honk caught Sarah’s attention. “That’s Betty’s mother.” She grabbed a colorful bag from the nearby picnic table, said a hasty goodbye and ran toward the van.

“When is her birthday?” Amy asked David.

“This Friday, but we’re going to wait until Saturday so you and Gert can come.”

“To McDonald’s?”

“Not. Gert offered her backyard so this’ll be an outdoor affair.”

“Al fresco. Sounds like fun.”

“I’m relying on you to help me make it a little girl’s party. The ones I went to as a kid were mostly the boy kind.”

“Sure.” Amy did her best to hide her pleasure. “I’m so glad you persuaded the Murdocks to leave
Sarah here with you. I’ve never seen her so frightened.”

David scowled. “
Threatened
Murdock comes closer to the mark. I filed for sole custody of Sarah today.”

“You did? Wonderful. Do you think they’ll fight it?”

He shook his head. “He agreed after I told him I meant to fight dirty if I had to. Iris—” he paused. “We agreed Sarah will be able to visit her mother whenever it’s convenient for everyone.”

Amy couldn’t imagine herself agreeing to give up a child to the extent Iris would be giving up Sarah. Not that she planned on having children. Though a single parent could raise a well-adjusted child, children profited by having both a mother and a father raising them. Marriage was the best arrangement for that, but she didn’t have any intention of tying herself to any man and allowing him to control her.

She was pleased for David, though—he really loved his daughter. Amy thought it significant that he’d so quickly used the law to protect Sarah. It persuaded her she’d been right all along. He’d been in denial, refusing to face the fact that being a lawyer was what he really wanted to do, despite what had happened in New Mexico. She opened her mouth to say something of the sort, but he spoke first.

“Your place or mine?”

Her breath caught. Looking at him from under her lashes, she said, “For dinner, you mean?”

“That, too.”

The glow deep in those blue, blue eyes of his speeded her pulse. “Leftovers,” she managed to say.

“Not enough.”

She slanted him a look. “I guess you must be hungry.”

“Understatement of the year. If we don’t get under cover fast, you can’t hold me accountable.” He grabbed her hand, pulling her with him. “Your place is closer.”

By the time they reached the top of the stairs she was breathless, and not from the climb. He hadn’t yet kissed her, but already anticipatory heat pooled low inside her.

As soon as David kicked the door shut behind them, he reached for Amy, holding her away from him for a moment, seeing his own need reflected in her eyes. “We’re never going to make it to the bedroom,” he murmured, pulling her close and slanting his mouth over hers.

He breathed in her arousing floral scent, the taste of her more intoxicating than wine. She returned his kiss with passion, letting him know she wanted more. Like he did. Would he ever have enough of Amy?

Her hair, soft and silken, brushed his cheek, reminding him that her skin under all those clothes was even softer. It seemed forever since they’d lain together flesh to flesh; he couldn’t wait to hold her that way again.

Shedding clothes as they paused en route to the bedroom for just one more kiss, then another and another, they finally reached the bed naked. With more control than he’d known he possessed, he resisted the
urge to plunge into her warm, welcoming depths. Sex with Amy was more than scratching an itch, he wanted to savor every second along the way. Actually, sex wasn’t the right word. Lovemaking?

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered in her ear as he caressed her breasts before nibbling at them. And she was, every part of her.

“So are you,” she murmured, holding him close.

No one had ever called him beautiful before. He didn’t believe he was, but it touched his heart that she thought so. A feeling of tenderness swept through him, different from the heat of desire rising with every pulse beat. He needed Amy in a way he’d never needed any other woman.

Her gasping moans, her pleas of “Now, now,” drove him wild until he lost control and joined with her, everything a blur except sensation. Even in his daze of passion, though, he knew she was with him all the way to the top and over. Afterward he was reluctant to let her go. Only the possibility that Sarah might return kept him from beginning all over again. Once was far from enough.

“You’re addictive,” he murmured.

“I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

“Who was it advised moderation in all things?”

“Some holy man, maybe.”

He nodded. “Easy for them to say when they weren’t holding the sexiest woman in the world in their arms.”

Her smile was lazy, satisfied. Because of him. Because of the fire that blazed out of control when they touched each other. He wanted to tell her—what? He
couldn’t find words that expressed what he meant. He wasn’t even sure he knew what it was. He finally said, “That was no rewarmed leftover. I’d call it prime gourmet.”

“Still hungry?”

He bent to kiss her, murmuring, “What do you think?”

She responded with interest, but after several moments pulled away. “When is Sarah due back?”

He sighed. “I figure it’s time to shift base to my apartment.” As they collected their strewn clothes, he asked, “Back to leftovers. What kind?”

“We’re talking food now, right? Some deli roast beef, a few slices of cheese, baby carrots, maybe a tomato. Yogurt.”

“Combined with my half loaf of rye, some aging lettuce, grapes and Popsicles, we have the makings of a gourmet feast.”

“You like Popsicles?”

“Never got over them.”

“Me, neither. You go ahead. I’ll bring my stuff to your place in a bit.”

Amy watched David leave, admiring the easy way he moved, basking in the intimate smile he gave her on the way out. She shook her head. If she didn’t watch herself, she was apt to turn into a David groupie and that would never do.

You are an independent woman,
she told herself firmly. Never lose sight of that. Otherwise it’ll be all too easy to find yourself being controlled by a man once again.

She grimaced. As a psychologist, she understood
she was stereotyping all men as controlling—which was wrong. But as a woman, she found it difficult not to. Physician, heal thyself? Not that easy.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy making love with David, she just had to remember it was only chemistry. Except
only
was too wimpy a word to describe what happened between them when he kissed her.

And imagine that—a man who not only liked Popsicles, but admitted he did. Who’d have thought it? Her favorite flavor was grape. She wondered what his might be. Before she knew it she’d slipped into a reverie about sharing a grape Popsicle with him while they made love. With an effort she snapped back into reality and headed for the refrigerator to gather her leftovers.

Saturday Amy headed over to Gert’s early to help her get ready for Sarah’s birthday party. Betty’s mother, Cary, had offered to pitch in, too, but then had called to say she was ill and couldn’t. She’d sounded so bad that Amy stopped by to see her on the way.

“I’ll be okay,” a pale and shaky Cary told her. “It’s just my darn gallbladder acting up again. I hope I won’t need surgery. Especially since—” She broke off, then added, “I suppose it’s never a good time to have surgery, is it?”

“I’ll pick up Betty for Sarah’s party and bring her back,” Amy said. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Cary sighed. “Thanks. I’ll manage.”

As she drove away, Amy hoped Cary was right about being able to manage. Perhaps when she picked up Betty she’d ask if the girl could spend the night with Sarah. At her place, since she was sure David had no idea how much little girls could giggle at a slumber party.

Gert thought it was a good idea. “It’ll be an extra present for Sarah, plus helping out Betty’s mother. Weren’t you and David planning to take Sarah on Sunday to see the moving stones at the Carson Sink? You might want to take in the Fallon Air Show as well. Betty could go, too.”

“I’ll mention that to Cary.”

The party, with two other girls from the violin class besides Betty, was a smashing success. “The best one I ever had,” Sarah told Amy and David later on the front porch. “Mostly Mommy took me out for lunch on my birthday and then we went shopping. This was more fun.”

David winced inwardly, aware he hadn’t paid much attention to Sarah’s birthdays for the past few years other than buying her a present. “I hear the fun’s not over yet,” he said. “You and Betty and Amy are having a slumber party.”

“I’m sorry you can’t come, Daddy, but boys aren’t allowed.” Sarah turned to Betty. “Come on, we’ll go in and ask Great-aunt Gert if I can show you that ballerina music box I told you about.”

As the two little girls disappeared inside, David and Amy looked at each other, shaking their heads. Remembering how upset Sarah had been when she first
saw the music box, he said, “She’s changed a lot—all good. Thanks to you.”

“I just gave advice—you took it. That’s what’s made the change.”

“Not all of it. We—” He paused. Had he been about to say the three of them were like a family? Some truth to that, but better left unsaid.

Amy raised an eyebrow when he didn’t continue, finally shrugging. “Gert mentioned the air show at Fallon tomorrow. Are you up for it?” she asked.

He leaned close and murmured, “Want to guess what I’d rather be up for?”

To his delight, Amy blushed.

“Good grief, you’d think I was sixteen,” she muttered.

He leaned closer still, his lips brushing hers, when he heard a truck pull into the drive. Damn.

The truck stopped. “Don’t let me disturb you,” Grandfather said as he climbed down from the pickup.

“There you are.” Gert’s voice came from the vestibule leading to the porch. She pushed open the screen and waved at Grandfather. “Care for some limeade before we go?”

He nodded as he climbed the stairs, and she waved him to a seat. “Sarah’s party over?” he asked, holding up a hide bag drawn together with a thong. “I brought her a talisman.”

“I’ll tell her you’re here,” Gert said, and went in.

Grandfather looked from Amy to David and back, his dark eyes gleaming. “Hawks mate for life.”

Jolted, David involuntarily glanced at Amy. She looked as surprised as he felt.

“Just so you know,” Grandfather added with a grin.

Before either of them recovered enough to say anything, Sarah burst through the screen door, Betty behind her. “Hi, Grandfather,” Sarah said. “This is my friend Betty.”

“Friends are good to have,” he said, motioning Sarah closer. “I brought you something for your seventh birthday.”

He reached into the drawstring bag and lifted out a small carving made of a glossy brown wood. “Shane carved it for me and I carried it here in my medicine bag to give it power.”

“What kind of power?” Sarah asked.

“Good medicine.” He placed the carving in her hand.

Sarah gazed at it intently for long moments. Finally she smiled. “I think I can sort of feel the good medicine.” She bent and kissed the old man on the cheek. “Thank you.”

Betty, looking at the carving, murmured, “Awesome.”

“See, Daddy,” Sarah said, crossing to him.

He studied the intricate carving. Two hawks, each feather carefully delineated, perched on the limb of a tree, one with wings outspread as though just landing, the other with closed wings.

Amy leaned toward him to peer at the hawks.

“Together,” Grandfather said. “I dream true.”

A silence fell. From somewhere in the distance,
David heard the faint cry of a hunting hawk. He searched the sky but didn’t see the bird. Probably his imagination. Grandfather had a way of unsettling people.

Gert came out onto the porch with the limeade pitcher and glasses and the moment dissipated.

“Look what Grandfather gave me,” Sarah said to Gert. “Sage’s father made it.”

“Beautiful work,” Gert told her. “A wonderful talisman. That word means it brings good fortune, Sarah.”

“Like good luck?” Betty asked.

“Exactly.”

Betty sighed. “I wish—” She broke off, lowering her head, but not before David saw guilt shadow her face.

Amy put an arm around Betty’s shoulders, murmuring, “We all wish for good luck.”

Her response to Betty warmed him. Sure, she was a psychologist, but he knew her well enough by now to understand it was Amy consoling the girl, not Dr. Simon.

“If no one else wants limeade,” Gert said, “I’m going to put away the pitcher and get ready to go to Walker Lake.”

Sarah smiled at her. “Have fun,” she said.

Gert nodded. “Fun is a good thing to look forward to. We all need to remember that.”