Commitments (46 page)

"Sure thing, Mr. Mcgill.' Derek steered Sabrina toward the house. '

most incredible thing just happened.' ' Greer? I Vh-huh. He showed up here to rub my face in the fact that the files are lost.' ' - I He Page 171

Barbara Delinsky - Commitments

pressed a finger to her lips, then removed it to 470 .,open the farmhouse door. ' was standing out there, looking around at the mess, wondering how I was ever going to pull my life back together, when he showed up. Then he started in on me, and I thought I'd explode. I honestly, truly came close to smashing him.' They had passed through the kitchen and were nearing the bedroom. Derek had already dropped Sabrina's hand to remove his wet jacket. He hooked it on a doorknob as he passed, then started on the buttons of his shirt. ' I didn't. And I can live with it, Sabrina. I can live with the loss of those files "You don't - ' I know. I know the truth. I know what I did and what he did, and I'm the one who'll be able to sleep at night with a clean conscience.' Having tossed his shirt on the bed, he ducked into the bathroom for a towel. ', I'm angry/ he said as he emerged rubbing his hair. ''m angry that he got away with it. I'm angry that he'll win-that election, because the people of New York, the people of the country are the losers.' He dragged the damp towel over the soot on his face, then abruptly dropped the hand that held the towel and looked Sabrina in the eye. ' I can't live with the anger anymore. I'm tired of it. I have a future, we have a future, and I'll be dairmed if I'll let that anger screw it up.' With deliberate movements, he wiped the soot from the back of his hands. His eyes held conviction. ' did my best. I found those files, and if Joey Padilla is anywhere up there' he shot a glance skyward - ' knows what happened. I may have been Greer's patsy in that murder, but I paid for my part. I've had enough of the guilt. It's done.' He looked down at his hands as he worked the dirt away. ' I been a chip off the old 471 block II'd have beaten Greer to a pulp - correction, I'd be looking around now for someone to do it for me. But I'm not. I'm not my old man. I'm me.' He let out the rest of that breath, took another, let it out too. Then, raising his eyes, he said in a voice that was deep and filled with emotion, ''m free, Sabrina. Free.' Sabrina, who'd been forced to quietly listen to his speech when she realized that he wouldn't let her talk, felt such an intense surge of love and respect that tears came to her eyes. He was free. He was beautiful. He was here. And she'd thought herself a failure? How could that be? She had a warm home filled with friends and laughter, a-gratifying career at her beck and-call, a husband she adored and a new baby - yes, Nicky, a brother or sister - on the way. A failure? Not possible. For the first time in her life, she felt she truly knew who she was. No one could write quite the way she could. No one could buy farmhouses, or strip furniture or bake banana muffins quite the way she could. And no one could satisfy Derek quite the way she could. She had arrived. Crossing the room on feet that were even lighter than they'd been before, she slid her arms around his waist and pressed her tearstained cheek to his chest. ' you," she whispered on a broken breath. Then, just as Derek was about to cinch the embrace, she slid from his grasp. '.' ' ... I She was already out the door. He heard her dash up the stairs to the second-floor landing. Her footsteps receded as she ran down the hall. He heard nothing for a minute, then a crescendoing patter as she retraced her steps. When she reappeared at the bedroom door, 472 II cheeks were flushed. Eyes holding his, she

"T approached him slowly, looking pleased, if apprehensive. A foot away she held out the bundle she'd been clutching to her chest. Derek's eyes widened on the bundle. Then they flew to Sabrina's face in disbelief. ' couldn't sleep/ she explained softly and with a bit of guilt. ' night. When all was said and done, I was as excited about these as you were, so I got up, took them from the barn and sat up in the den reading, them. By the time I was tired, I didn't feel like traipsing back to the barn, so I locked them in the desk and went to bed. Then things happened so fast this moming that I didn't realize what it meant until I was on the way to the hospital with J.B. and Ann. I tried calling, but everyone must have been outside.' Derek continued to Page 172

Barbara Delinsky - Commitments

stare at her in utter amazement. '.' She shoved the files at his belly. ' them. Jhey make me nervous. When I think what Greer did

@,to try to destroy then3, I get a little ill.' Derek cleared his throat. He looked down at the ,,.files. ' them, Derek/ she pleaded. Hanging the towel over his shoulder, he took the files and tossed them onto the nearby dresser. Then he took Sabrina in his arms, which was the only taking he really wanted to do, and held her as tightly as he

'dared. She didn't seem to mind the crush. ' we write ' storyv she asked, her breath soft against his throat. His arms were trembling. it was a m inute before he spoke, and then his voice was hoarse. ',

-we call , and tell him what's happened. Then we find the .,nearest copying place and have two copies made of those files.' 4 72 ,3 '?" lone for a safe-deposit box in town I the other for David's vault." Cupping her head, he held it to his heart. ' David, you, me, and the original are going straight to Washington. I think the department of justice will be interested in what we have here.' ' what about the newspapers? I ''ll have to wait. You'll write your book, I'll get my revenge, but all in good time.' He went still, reexperiencing that incredible disbelief. ' den. You had them in the den. Christ, I can't believe it! I Sabrina could hear his smile. Seconds later, when he lifted her face to his, she saw it. ' are a remarkable woman. Lord, do I love you./ He gave her a long, deep, tongue-tangling kiss that left her lightheaded. ' wouldn't be saying that if the files had burned to a crisp in the barn after all.' ' bet I would. That was what I realized when I was with Greer. The files I can live without.' His eyes roamed her face. ' I can)t.1 A failure?, With a man like Derek saying words like that to her? He'd walked away. from Greer. Despite the hatred, the fury, the months of plotting revenge, he'd walked away. For her. How could she possibly be a failure, with a victory like that? Swallowing the emotion that threatened to rob her of speech, she said, ' it happens, you have us both.' Very gently, he kissed the tip of her nose, then her cheek, and there was something about the gentleness - or perhaps the ' both' - that directed Sabrina's thoughts. '?' He kissed her chin. ' want a girl.' 474 He went still for an instant, then, cautiously, raised his head. ' do? '.' He inhaled a long, deep breath and closed his eyes in a moment's silent thanks. Then he looked at her and said in a very soft, very caring, very Derek voice,

"You do know that it's a little late to be placing special orders. We require a full nine months' lead time on items like these.. Rooting her fingers in his hair, she grinned up at him until her eyes grew misty and her throat knotted. Then, rising on tiptoe, she coiled her arms around his neck and hung on tight. Returning her hug, Derek basked in her sun, renewed and stronger than ever as it warmed his soul. At that moment, he felt more love, both outgoing and incoming, than he'd have believed possible. And at that moment, he knew they'd made it. Page 173