From Glowing Embers (7 page)

Gray hadn’t believed she was dead. He knew her for the courageous, intelligent woman that she was. Julie Ann would survive and make a new life for herself. Her disappearance was a clear message. She wanted that life to be far away from his.

Perhaps he never would have found her if his friend Paige Duvall hadn’t gone to a fashion show last month in New Orleans and begun to put the pieces together. The clues had all been there. The young designer who was known only as Julianna was a Mississippi woman who had fallen in love with the islands and now made her home there. Paige had only glimpsed her, but her curiosity had been piqued by the vague resemblance to a picture Gray had once shown her.

The information had been one more long shot to follow up on. Through the years there had been other long shots, and Gray might not have followed up on this one if it had been difficult. But it was easy to pick up a phone, call the department store in New Orleans and request their promotional material on the Julianna Islandwear Corporation.

He had opened up the manila envelope, and there had been Julie Ann, hair drawn back from her face, a slight smile on her lips, staring back at him from a softly focused studio portrait on a brochure being distributed in better stores all over the United States.

After that, it had been simple to find out about her. And it had been equally simple to get a copy of her schedule, even to the extent of finding out the exact flight she would be taking back to Hawaii. It hadn’t been simple, however, to decide what to do with the information.

Since Gray had seen Julianna, he hadn’t once thought about the reason why he had decided to confront her personally. Now he did. Paige Duvall had a part in this, too. Paige was an old friend who had recently become something more. It was time for Gray to think about his future, time to start building something solid and sure and comfortable.

Paige would be meeting him in Honolulu tomorrow. Gray shut his eyes and wondered why he felt no pleasure. His past was sitting in the next cabin of the airplane; his future would be waiting for him tomorrow in Hawaii.

And he was suspended somewhere in the middle. Alone, just as he had been for ten long years.

JULIANNA EXPECTED GRAY
to be waiting in his seat when she passed through his cabin to exit the plane. To her relief, however, he was gone. She didn’t doubt that he would confront her again, but she was glad it wasn’t going to be here. She nodded politely to the flight attendants standing at the door before she stepped down on the jetway and followed the carpeted ramp into the airport.

The first thing she noticed was the absence of voices. The Honolulu airport was always a jumble of people, a cacophony of sound, no matter what time of day or night. This evening there were few people milling about, because no other planes were landing. The noise of tourist throngs had been replaced by the loud roar of the wind outside the glass-walled corridors. Julianna could see sheets of rain whipping against the glass. The downpour was so heavy that she couldn’t see far enough to tell if the streets were flooding, but she imagined they were. Where could the water run off to at this rate?

“This is no place to spend the night.”

Julianna nodded at Dillon, who was walking beside her toward the baggage claim. “With all this glass, it’s not safe in this kind of a storm.”

“Do
you have a place you can go?”

She had been asking herself the same question since they had landed. She wanted a room with no windows and a bed to cry on, but she hadn’t been able to think of any place at all.

“When I’m on Oahu,” she explained, “I stay in a condo near my factory. But it’s on the windward coast. I’d never get there in this.”

“Have you got friends you can ring?”

“Nobody within an easy cab ride. And nobody I’d want to call to come and get me. I think I’m going to get a hotel room.”

“If you can.”

She turned worried eyes on him. “Do you think there’ll be a problem?”

“Well, I’m no expert, but if this turns into a cyclone like the flight attendants were saying—”

“Cyclone!”

Dillon shrugged. “Cyclone. Typhoon. What do you call it? Hurricane?”

“Hurricane.” Julianna stopped. “What do you mean, hurricane?”

Dillon put his hand on her shoulder and moved her out of the stream of people coming along behind them. “One of the flight attendants told me the storm is probably going to be upgraded into a cy—hurricane. Whether it is or not, they’ll be evacuating the northern part of the island because that’s where they think the storm is heading, and no matter what they end up calling it, it’s a bad one.”

“But we don’t have hurricanes here.” The moment the words left her mouth she realized they weren’t true. “Well, rarely,” she said lamely. “There was one called Iwa, but I was on the mainland.” Julianna shut her eyes and tried to imagine living through a hurricane. It was a nightmare come true. She couldn’t face it.

“Are you all right?”

She wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to admit it. “Surprised, that’s all.” She forced herself to open her eyes.

“Good on ya.” Dillon squeezed her shoulder sympathetically. “It may get wet enough to bog a duck, but you’ll be fine.”

“If they’re evacuating the north end of the island, and if travelers are stranded, too, the hotels will be full. What are you going to do?”

“First let’s get our bags, then we can check with the airline. They’ll be able to suggest something.”

Julianna kept her eyes open for Gray as they walked along the corridor. Unless he was traveling light, he would have to go to the baggage claim area, too. She just hoped he would be concerned enough about the impending hurricane that he’d leave her alone.

When they arrived Gray was nowhere in sight. Julianna watched Dillon sling a duffel bag off the carousel and over his shoulder. “That’s it for me,” he told her.

“It doesn’t look like any of mine’s off the plane yet. I shipped most of it ahead, so I don’t have much.”

“Do you need a hand?”

She shook her head. “Thanks, but I’ll manage.”

“Then I’m going to have a go at the airline office. See if they’ve got any advice for us.” He smiled, pushing his hat up a notch as he did. “Shall I try and get you a room if I can?”

“Would you please? It would be a big help.”

Julianna watched Dillon walk away. She had become used to men wanting to help her. Despite her independence, she seemed to be a woman who inspired men’s protective instincts. She had never been sure just why.

GRAY COULD HAVE
told her. As he approached the carousel he kept his eyes on Julianna. For all her sophistication, she looked completely defenseless. Small and defenseless and infinitely huggable. With her hair falling down her back like a dark waterfall and her eyes filled with sadness, she looked like a little girl lost in a world of grown-ups.

She stirred more than his protective instincts, though. She had right from the first time he’d seen her with a Chihuahua in her arms, although it had taken him a long time to admit his very real attraction to her. There was an indefinable essence about Julianna, strength laced with vulnerability, courage laced with uncertainty. Almost from the beginning he had wanted to take anything he could, and at the same time he had wanted to give and give.

He still did. Crazy as it was, he wanted to take comfort from her, and give comfort, too. Somewhere inside he knew that was the only way either of them would ever find peace. Somewhere
else
inside him he knew he was insane to even think it was possible.

As if she sensed him watching her, Julianna turned a little to face him directly. Gray’s eyes followed the slender lines of her body from her sandal-shod feet to her eyes. The sadness he had seen was gone, replaced by a wariness that made a chilling contrast.

He was angry at the walls she had erected so quickly. Clearly she was going to fight him every step of the way. “Where’s your bodyguard?” he asked in frustration.

“He’s gone to find us accommodations somewhere, if it’s any of your business.” She paused. “Where’s your daughter? Where’s your
wife
?” She stressed the last word.

He could tell that she had no idea how farcical her questions were. He ignored them. “Did you really think you needed protection on the plane? What did you think I was going to do?”

“I didn’t want to talk to you
then
, and I don’t want to talk to you
now
.”

“It’s unlike you to avoid things.” He watched her expression grow more veiled. His grew angrier. “Or maybe it’s not. You’re the one who took off ten years ago, aren’t you? You’re the one who disappeared without a word.”

“And you were so heartbroken that you remarried immediately and sired another child.” Julianna turned to the carousel and lifted a navy-blue garment bag, then a small suitcase. She straightened. “Or did you father the child while you were waiting for the divorce to become final? How old is she? Eight? Nine?”

Gray grasped her shoulder and spun her around. “Damn it, Julie Ann, that child isn’t mine. And I’m not married to her mother. I just happen to be escorting her.”

She could feel his fingers digging into her shoulder, and something just as painful digging deep inside her. She didn’t know what to say.

“Did you really think I’d jump into another marriage after everything that happened?” he asked, loosening his grip a little.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Gray felt some of his anger leave him. She might say it didn’t matter, but he could see she was lying to both of them. It mattered very much. “Ellie was my child, too. I didn’t have anything to give anyone after we lost her.”

She stiffened. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“What do you want to talk about then? The weather? We’re about to get a hurricane, Julie... anna. And I may be one of the few people in the world who knows what that’s doing to you. You don’t have to put up a front with me. I know what you’re feeling.”

“You only think you do.” She lifted her chin a little, and her eyes were defiant. “I told you I’ve changed. You don’t know me anymore.”

“You don’t have to pretend.” His hand no longer gripped her shoulder but lay there to comfort her.

She shook it off. “Neither do you. You don’t have to pretend you care what I’m feeling. Those days are long gone. Why don’t you just say what you’ve come to say and get it over with? Give me the condensed version, Gray, and then get the hell out of my life!”

“Is this fellow bothering you again?”

Gray had been so involved with Julianna that he hadn’t noticed Dillon’s approach. He didn’t take his eyes off her face when he snapped, “Get lost, Aussie.”

Julianna edged a shoulder between the two men. “It’s all right, Dillon. He was just about to leave.”

“Not fast enough!”

“Please.” She put her hand on Dillon’s arm.

“There aren’t any rooms anywhere on the island,” Dillon said, his eyes still on Gray. “But the Travelodge not far from here will let us camp out in the lobby. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing for it.”

“That’ll be fine.”

Gray stepped toward her. “I’ve got a suite at the Prince Kuhio for tonight, Julianna. Come with me. You can have a shower and a comfortable bed, and we can have that talk.”

“You must be kidding.” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Do you really think I want to spend a night in a hotel room with you?”

She seemed to see how angry she’d made him, because he witnessed a flash of regret cross her features. It came too late.

“And just what do you think would happen?” he asked in a low voice. “Do you think I came all this way to seduce you? Now that you’re all grown-up, are you so sure you’re irresistible?”

Dillon took a step forward, but Julianna held him back. “I’m not coming with you.”

Gray rarely lost his temper. Now he felt it slipping out of his control. “Yes, you are,” he told her. His eyes challenged Dillon’s.

“Have you forgotten?” she asked angrily. “I’m not your wife anymore. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to. You have no say over my life.”

“When did you divorce me?” Gray’s gaze swept to Julianna’s face. His words were icy cold.

She stared at him.

“Can’t you remember?” he taunted.

Suddenly she was disoriented. Her fingers tightened on Dillon’s arm. “Divorce you?”

“That’s right. I never got any papers, even though you knew where to reach me. So I don’t know when, and I don’t know how. What grounds did you use? And what kangaroo court gave you a divorce without getting in touch with me?”

“You divorced
me
. On grounds of desertion.” She paused. “You must have.”

“No.”

She wanted it to be a lie. “I don’t believe you.”

“Then get your attorney to do a records search.”

“But why
wouldn’t
you?”

He turned the question around. “Why
would
I have?”

“I was gone. You wanted me gone. You must have known I was never coming back.”

“Really? How was I supposed to know? You didn’t tell me that any more than you told me you were going.”

Dillon cleared his throat. Gray’s eyes flashed back to the other man’s face. Dillon looked increasingly uncomfortable. The Australian knew he was witnessing something intensely personal, and he knew he didn’t belong there. Julianna seemed at a loss for words, so Gray addressed his next remark to Dillon. “I appreciate the excellent care you’ve taken of my
wife
.” He stressed the last word. “But I’ll be taking care of her now.”

“If she says so.” Dillon didn’t move, but he seemed to back off anyway. The inexplicable aura that warns one male of another’s dangerous intentions vanished.

“You can see we have a lot to talk over,” Gray told Julianna. “It’s way past time to settle things.”

She had been tied to this man in so many ways, by their friendship, by her love for him, by the child she had borne. To find that the ties weren’t broken, that in the eyes of the law she was still his wife, was too much for her. She swallowed a sob. “It is settled,” she said, trying not to choke on the words. “I’ll be filing for a divorce immediately.”