Call It Destiny (22 page)

Heather lifted her chin. „I’ve been known to disappoint people in the past. No one should be terribly surprised if I do it again.“

„I won’t allow it,“ he raged tightly.

„You need me. You can’t run that hotel successfully without me and you know it!“ she challenged.

„You’re being totally irrational about this!“ Jake blazed.

„Take it or leave it. It’s my final offer.“

„You’re not in a bargaining position, lady.“

„You can’t force me to the altar.“

„What the hell do you expect to accomplish?“ He ran his fingers impatiently through his dark hair.

„I’m going to convince you that I love you and I’m going to teach you to learn to love me. I think that’s the whole problem, Jake,“ she went on with intuitive certainty. „I don’t think it’s my emotional development that’s been stymied. It just took a while for both sides of my nature to join properly. You’re the one who missed something along the way. I know what love is because I grew up surrounded by it. Even when I was in full rebellion against my father I never doubted that he loved me or that my parents knew what love was. They’ve always been in love. I grew up with plenty of examples of the
emotion so I can recognize it in myself. But you didn’t have all those examples, did you?“
 

„Growing up in a series of foster homes was an excellent example of just how unreliable love can be,“ he shot back savagely. „Do you have any idea how often someone has told me she loves me? My mother told me that. All those women who ran the homes used to tell me that, and so did the woman I married. Since then I’ve heard those words from a few other women. I’m willing to bet they all meant it at the time, but whatever emotion they were experiencing sure didn’t last long.“
 

„You liked hearing the words from me. You said so!“

„Of course I like hearing them. They’re very pleasant to listen to. Especially from you when I’ve just made you surrender completely,“ he stormed. „But no one but a fool would trust them. I prefer to put my trust in other kinds of bonds. Those other bonds exist between us, Heather. They form the real basis on which a marriage between us can work.“

„Before I realized I love you, I thought they could too. But now I’ve changed my mind. We can have a terrific working relationship based on those bonds. We can even have an affair based on them. But I will not allow them to be the basis of any marriage between you and me. I won’t settle for anything less than love.“

„You want words? What’s to prevent me from just saying them?“ he charged. „You won’t. Not unless you mean them.“

„What makes you so sure? I’ve misled you before.“

„I think you’ll be very careful how you use the words ‘I love you,’“ Heather said quietly. „I think you’ve heard them misused too often. I’m hoping that it will be a matter of pride with you not to use them to lie to me.“

„Pride is the key factor here, I think,“ Jake pounced, stepping forward and catching hold of her. „Your pride is riding high because I didn’t return your passionate little declaration of love this morning.“
 

„I’m too proud to marry you for any other reason than love, if that’s what you mean,“ she agreed boldly. „If we’re to have this great working partnership going between us it will have to be based on honesty. I’m being totally honest and I expect the same from you. Will you promise me that much, at least, in return?“

„Yes,“ he replied shortly.

She smiled very brilliantly. „That’s a start, I suppose. We’ll take it from there. Don’t worry, Jake. It won’t be so bad. I think you already are half in love with me. I have great hopes for the future.“
 

He stared at her in bewilderment. „You think it’s going to be a nice simple evolutionary process? That I’m going to wake up one morning and realize I’m deeply in love?“

„Why not? That’s the way it happened to me.“

He ignored that. „And in the meantime you’re prepared to give me everything I want?“

„People in love tend to be generous,“ she assured him kindly.

„The hell they are,“ he growled softly. „You’re not being generous at all. You’re willing to make the offer because you know I can’t accept.“
 

Heather’s assurance faltered. „Can’t accept?“

„I have a reputation to consider, even if you don’t. I refuse to risk offending your parents by having you move in with me. They would never understand that the whole idea was yours and not mine!“

„Oh, that. Don’t worry about my parents. They’re accustomed to my unpredictable behavior.“

„Not anymore, they’re not. I told your father that when I brought you back this time, everything would be under control.“

„Ah, I see. Told my parents you’d bring me home in chains, is that it?“ Heather mocked gently. „That was very foolish of you, Jake. No one has ever succeeded in managing me. I live my life in my own way. On my
own terms.“ Too late she remembered how arrogant that sounded.
 

Jake reacted to the challenge with cold assessment. „So you keep saying. But sooner or later everyone meets his or her Waterloo, honey. You’re stubborn, willful and constitutionally inclined to rebel against authority, but in me you’ve met your match. We’re not going to have an affair, Heather Strand. You’re going to marry me. On my terms.“

10

The road back to Tucson
was virtually devoid of traffic. It stretched ahead of Heather and Jake, an endless strip of blacktop that was relatively unremarkable when one was in a car. On foot, it looked like the highway to eternity.
 

„It’s really just a few miles,“ Heather pointed out bracingly. „And at least it’s stopped raining. I’ll try out my old hitchhiking skills on the first car that comes along.“

„I’m sure you’ll charm it to a stop, just like you charm everyone and everything else when you want to,“ Jake grumbled.

„Everyone except you, hmm?“

That brought a reluctant smile from him. „Oh, I’m as much under your spell as everyone else. I’ve told you that.“

„Always nice to hear.“

„The only difference with me is that I can handle you on the occasions when you decide not to be charming.“
 

„I love it when you talk so masterfully. Listen! I hear something.“
 

Jake swung around to glance back over his shoulder. „We’re in luck. A truck. Now if we can just get him to stop.“

„He’ll stop,“ Heather promised, moving out into the road and waving her arms in a hopeful manner.

„Heather, cut that out. Let me handle this, will you?“ Irritably, Jake yanked her back onto the shoulder of the road. „There’s no need to flaunt yourself. After this
kind of storm I’m sure the driver will realize we really do need a ride without you flinging yourself onto the hood of the truck.“
 

„I just hope he hasn’t already picked up a couple of other hitchhikers,“ Heather muttered meaningfully.
 

„Monroe and his pal? Not likely. If they made it through last night they’ll probably be driving one of the jeeps out of the canyon. We’ve got to notify the cops as soon as possible. Chances are they’re headed for the border.“

There had been no sign of any life on the opposite side of the canyon that morning when Jake and Heather had hiked out. They were too far downstream to be able to tell if the jeeps were still parked near the Strands’ cabin or even if the cabin itself had survived.
 

As Jake had predicted, the driver of the pickup stopped willingly enough, regaling them with stories of storm-caused damages he’d seen that morning. Heather climbed gratefully onto the worn seat and sat between the driver and Jake who gave a somewhat edited account of their own adventures.

„Not too smart to go up into these canyons when a thunderstorm’s brewin’,“ the thin aging rancher advised with a sidelong glance at Jake.
 

„It wasn’t my idea,“ Jake retorted dryly.

Heather endured the accusing glances of both men with equanimity. „Actually, I’m a runaway bride,“ she said chattily. „I left Jake standing at the altar the other day and he came after me.“
 

The weatherbeaten rancher looked disconcerted and cast a questioning look at Jake.
 

„It’s true,“ Jake sighed, sinking more deeply in the seat. „Unfortunately. I had visions of spending my honeymoon in Santa Fe, not that blasted canyon.“
 

„It wasn’t a honeymoon because we never did get married,“ Heather pointed out carefully. „We may never get married. Jake has decided he doesn’t love me,“ she confided.

„Shut up, Heather.“

„He’s very bossy at times,“ Heather went on cheerfully.
 

„Heather….“

„You hear that warning tone in his voice? He sounds that way just before he lays down the law,“ she explained to the confused rancher.

„Heather, if you don’t close your mouth I will do it for you.“

Heather smiled devastatingly and said nothing for the remainder of the trip.

By the time the authorities
had been notified of the activities of Monroe and his pal, Joe, it was midafternoon. A phone call earlier had assured Ruth and Paul Strand that everyone was safe, but Jake had made the call and Heather didn’t actually have to face her parents or talk to them until late in the afternoon. As Jake parked the rental car in the private parking area of the hotel, much of her earlier breezy assurance faded.
 

„Oh, Jake. What am I going to say to them?“ she groaned.

„Just tell them to reschedule the wedding for two weeks from today. The day before they leave on their cruise,“ Jake pointed out
heartlessly as he opened the car door.
 

„I’m serious, Jake.“

„So am I. That’s what I’m going to tell them.“

„To reschedule everything for two weeks from today? You’d better not unless you want to find yourself standing alone at the altar again!“
 

He turned to look at her as she remained sitting in the front seat of the car. The cool gray eyes were level and utterly unyielding. „You’ll be there this time, Heather. Believe me.“ He straightened, slammed the door and came around to her side of the car. Without a word they walked toward her parents’ home.

Ruth Strand appeared in the doorway, an anxious expression on her face as she watched Jake and Heather walking toward her. „Oh, Heather, darling. We were so worried. That storm was so violent and those canyons can be so treacherous!“

„I’m fine, mom.“ Tears sprang into Heather’s eyes as she ran toward her mother. „I’m fine. Oh, mom, I’m so sorry for that awful scene the other day. It was stupid, childish and…and….“ She hugged Ruth as she ran out of words.
 

„And you had every right to be absolutely furious,“ Ruth Strand said quite firmly. „I was myself. Come on inside, you two. You need some hot coffee.“

„Heather!“ Paul Strand came hurrying in from the terrace. „Are you and Jake okay? I was really worried about the two of you up in that canyon last night.“ He glanced at Jake.

„The storm proved the least of our worries,“ Jake told the older man wryly. „Leave it to Heather to do everything with a bit of flair.“

By the time he had told the Strands the whole story, Ruth and Paul had virtually forgotten the embarrassing event of the wedding. As she listened to his account of the tale, it occurred to Heather that Jake was going into the story in such detail precisely because he was trying to deflect the Strands’ focus to it rather than to the wedding scene.

„I wouldn’t have believed she had such stubborn strength in her,“ Jake said at one point, his gaze roving over Heather’s figure as she sat sipping coffee at the kitchen table. „I told her to let go and, as usual, she just ignored instructions. There wasn’t anything else I could do except climb out of that stream. It was obvious she wasn’t going to give up.“

„You should have seen Jake in the middle of a full-scale brawl,“
Heather put in quickly, uncomfortable under the cool admiration in his eyes. „Honestly, you
would never have believed that in real life he’s a mild-mannered hotel financier! I have a hunch they don’t teach that sort of thing in accounting classes.“
 

„Don’t you believe it,“ Jake said calmly.

Paul and Ruth looked stunned by the whole tale. „Incredible. After all these years that punk Monroe showed up again,“ Paul murmured.
 

„I don’t know for certain what he was using the cabin for but it sounded like it was a rendezvous point for his drug deals. Last night he kept saying he was going to be worth a fortune. We told the police everything we could and they’re going to watch the border. Rick kept saying he was going to head for Mexico.“
 

„And take you with him.“ Ruth shuddered in horror.

„Jake put a stop to that,“ Heather observed gently.

„And had to abandon your car in the process, Ruth.“ Jake sounded apologetic. „Tomorrow morning we’ll drive back up that canyon and see what’s left of the Mercedes and your sports car.“

„Just as long as the two of you are okay, that’s all that matters,“ Ruth assured him in heartfelt tones.

There was a moment of silence as everyone considered that. It was Paul who broke it with the one remaining unanswered question. Calmly he glanced from Jake’s face to Heather’s.

„Well? What are you two going to do now?“

„Go to work,“ Heather said with a calm that equaled her father’s. „Jake and I are going to run the Hacienda, aren’t we, Jake?“

„We work very well together,“ Jake agreed coolly. „We found that out for certain last night. So well, in fact, that we’re going to go ahead and reschedule the wedding. I thought two weeks from today would do nicely.“ He watched Heather over the rim of his coffee cup, daring her to contradict him.

„Jake knows the conditions under which I’ll marry him. If he’s met those conditions by two weeks from today, we’ll be married.“ She smiled blandly but her pulse was picking up uncomfortably. She had made herself into a challenge for him and intuition warned her that it was a foolish move on her part. Heather wasn’t at all certain she could win in a deadly serious contest of wills with this man. Not when her own willpower was going to be undermined by the fact that she loved him with all her heart.