Hunter's Bride and A Mother's Wish (14 page)

That was the crux of it. That was why her heart hurt so much that she pressed her hand against her chest. Luke had to know what Angel Isle meant to her. Yet his decision made one thing very clear. His career was far more important to him than she could ever be.

“I don't understand you, Chloe.” Every line of his body spoke of his determination. “Angel Isle is perfect for the new hotel. Your father will find Dalton's offer very appealing, and you can't tell me he doesn't need the money. This could mean a world of difference to your family financially.”

Fresh pain clutched her heart. This really was the old Luke speaking, the one who valued money and status above everything. He couldn't see beyond that.

And what about Daddy? If Luke made the kind of offer he was talking about, would her father refuse? Or would he feel compelled to accept whether he wanted to or not, in order to secure his children's futures? None of them would want to sacrifice their right to Angel Isle, no matter how much money was involved. But Daddy might not see it that way.

She could tell her family the truth—that there was no relationship with Luke. That this was all a lie, and Luke had come here for business purposes only. She cringed away from the hurt and disappointment she'd see in their faces.

Please, let there be another way. Please, Lord.

“Luke, please.” It was difficult to speak calmly about something so vital. “You have to understand what the island means to us. We can't let it go.”

“You wouldn't lose the cottage, Chloe. We can negotiate a deal that leaves it.”

“It wouldn't be the same.”

His eyes darkened, and he looked at her as if from a great distance. “That's up to your father to decide, isn't it? You told me he owns it.”

“Please,” she said again, grasping for the words that would open his eyes.

The cleft in his chin seemed chiseled from stone. She put her hand on his arm, and it felt like iron. Why had she ever imagined he was softening toward her? Luke was moving into deal mode. She knew what that meant. If you didn't go along with him, you could expect to be flattened. But she had to try.

“There are plenty of beautiful spots that are much more suitable. I've shown you a dozen or more.”

“Nothing as good as Angel Isle.”

“But without a bridge, every guest would have to be ferried across to the island. That's got to add to the difficulty.”

“And to the appeal,” he shot back. “People like the idea of getting away from everything to a deserted isle.”

Her deserted isle.
But that was a selfish way of looking at it. She had to concentrate instead on all the future generations of Caldwells who wouldn't have the island as a haven if this deal went through.

She tightened her grasp on his arm, looking into his eyes. “Just do this for me. Give me a few days to find a site that will work as well. Please.”

She held her breath while Luke stared at her, frowning. The seconds ticked away, punctuated by the cry of a gull. It sounded as desolate as she felt.

Finally he nodded. “All right, Chloe. If it means that much to you, I'll take a little more time. But I don't understand.”

He didn't understand. The dreams she'd harbored about their future dissolved like the ebbing tide spreading out on the sand. He didn't understand, and he never would. If she'd been looking for something to illustrate the differences between them, she couldn't have come up with anything clearer than this.

 

He'd been landed back in the real world with a painful
thump.
Luke snapped his cell phone closed and stalked to the window of his sunlit bedroom at the inn. Two hours ago, he'd told Chloe he'd give her time to find another site for the hotel. Now he didn't have any time to give.

The sound of Dalton's voice had been enough to remind him where he belonged. And Dalton's message had been perfectly clear. He wasn't interested in waiting. He didn't want to consider other possibilities. Everything was a go on the Angel Isle site; wrap it up before the locals get wind of it and prices soar. The implication was clear. If Luke couldn't close this, he wasn't vice-presidential material.

Luke stared at the small boat nosing idly into the dock. A gull swooped down and perched on its rail, looking as if it welcomed the boat home.

Fantasy. Everything about this place had the air of a fantasy. It wasn't for him. His world was back in Chicago, at corporate headquarters. He belonged there, in a plush new corner office.

And Chloe? Where did she belong?

The question came, unbidden. Even back in Chicago, Chloe had been somehow a little different. She'd always seemed to belong somewhere else.

His jaw clenched. The thought reminded him uncomfortably of the Rev's favorite sermon topic.
Always remember that this world isn't really your home. God designed you to live forever with Him.

He'd been thinking far too much about the Rev and the mission since he'd been on the island. The mission had been its own little world, too. Maybe that was why.

Not my world,
he told himself again. The future he'd envisioned all his life hinged on this deal, and he wouldn't let it slip away.

Determination hardened inside him. He'd find Chloe, he'd tell her what he had to do, and he'd wind up the deal. In a month, these days and nights on Caldwell Island would be just a memory.

He walked quickly out of the room and down the steps, fueled by determination. See Chloe, make her understand. Then he'd approach her father.

But Chloe was nowhere to be found. And when Luke stepped out onto the porch in search of her, Clayton Caldwell was coming up the steps, limping a little.

“Luke.” Clayton greeted him with considerably less suspicion than he had that first day. “How did the kayak trip go? You lose any tourists?”

“No, we brought them all back. But there was one I wouldn't have minded losing.”

Clayton smiled. “Guess there always is.” His smile faded. “I've been wanting to thank you. My boy told me what happened Saturday night. I'm grateful to you.”

“It was nothing.” Luke tried to shrug it off. “Lucky I was there, or Chloe might have started a riot. I'm glad Theo told you about it. He's a good kid.”

“Guess he's not such a kid as I thought. He went right back to the club the next day, faced down those boys. Told me a man doesn't run away from trouble.”

Luke's own words echoed back at him. “So he's okay?”

Clayton nodded. “Even got a date for Saturday night out of it.” The lines in his face deepened, and Luke knew he was thinking about his own experience. “Guess maybe attitudes have changed a little, at least.”

Clayton put his hand on Luke's shoulder, as he might with one of his own sons. “Anyway, I'm grateful to you,” he said, with such gravity that he might be making a solemn oath.

Luke cleared his throat. “You know, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about.”

“No time like the present.” Clayton leaned against the porch rail.

Chloe would think
any
other time better, but Chloe wasn't here. And he had to get this wound up before his goal slipped from his grasp.

“Chloe and I were talking about the land you own on Angel Isle. I'm interested in making a deal for a piece of it. I—”

Clayton shoved himself away from the railing, beaming. “Is that what's been on your mind? Boy, why didn't you tell me that before?”

The response startled him. “Chloe thought I should wait.”

“No point in waiting, when a man knows what he wants.”

“There'll have to be a survey. We'll look at the market value, of course.”

Chloe's father thrust out his hand. “We'll do what's fair. We both know that. My hand is my bond.”

Luke took his hand. Either he was dreaming, or this was the easiest negotiation he'd ever done. “I appreciate your confidence. Now, about the details—”

“Luke!”

He turned. Chloe stood in the doorway, eyes wide with shock and hurt.

“L
uke.” Chloe pressed her hand against the door frame. The worn wooden edge felt real. It was the only thing that did. “What's going on?”

Say something,
she demanded silently.
Tell me that what I think is happening isn't. Tell me I'm wrong, and that you didn't just betray me.

Her father smiled. “Luke and I came to an arrangement, sugar. He's buying a tract of land on Angel Isle.” He glanced at Luke. “Am I talkin' out of turn? You didn't say it was meant to be a secret.”

“No, it's not a secret.” Luke's voice flattened, giving nothing away. “Chloe knows about it.”

“I know that you promised me you'd wait.” She had to fight to keep the pain from her voice, and she probably wasn't succeeding, because it throbbed along her veins and choked her throat. “You agreed to give me time to find an alternative site.”

His face froze into his competitive mask—edgy, determined. “The situation has changed.”

“What has changed?” She pushed herself away from the door and stalked toward them, trying to concentrate on her anger so she wouldn't feel the pain. “What could possibly justify breaking your word to me?”

His jaw was clenched so hard it looked as if it might break. “This is business, Chloe. You know that. Mr. Dalton called. He wants the deal completed at once. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for you to be ready.”

That business arrogance of his—she'd seen it turned against other people. She'd never expected to see it turned against her.

“Dalton?” Her father looked from her to Luke. “Who's Dalton?”

“The head of Dalton Resorts,” Chloe said before Luke could answer. “The company we work for.”

“What's he got to do with Luke buying land so he can build a home for the two of you?”

She had thought she couldn't hurt any worse than she already did, but this stabbed her in the heart. Daddy thought Luke wanted a home with her. A
life
with her. That was why he'd agreed. This had happened because she'd lied to the people who mattered most in the world to her.

“You misunderstood.” To do him justice, Luke looked as appalled as she felt. “I wasn't making the offer for myself, Mr. Caldwell. I was making it for Dalton Resorts. We want to build a hotel on Angel Isle.”

“A hotel,” her father echoed. He frowned at her. “Chloe, does any of this make sense to you?”

“Daddy—” She went to him then, clutching his hands in hers, trying to convey her regret through her touch. “I'm sorry. This shouldn't have happened. None of this should have happened.” Shame burned deep inside.
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Forgive me.

“Chloe, you don't have to say anything.” Luke frowned at her, and his message was clear. She didn't have to expose the charade she'd carried out.

But he was wrong. She did have to.

She took a deep breath, wondering how her heart could keep on beating when it hurt so much. “Daddy, this has all been a lie. Luke and I have never been involved with each other. We're not a couple.”

Her father shook his head slowly, as if her words didn't make any sense. “Then, why did he come here?”

“I wanted to check out the area for a new Dalton Resort,” Luke said, apparently determined not to let her speak for him. “I'm sorry about the confusion, but that's all I'm interested in.”

All he was interested in. Chloe bit down hard on her lip and tried not to think about those words.

Her father didn't look at Luke, only at her. “Chloe? Child, why did you do this?”

There weren't any reasons good enough. “I'm sorry, Daddy.” She blinked back hot tears. “Gran thought we were dating, and she invited him to her birthday. And he—”

“It was business,” Luke said. “Just business. I asked Chloe to play along, to give me an excuse for being here.”

He probably thought he was helping, but he wasn't. Her father didn't so much as glance at Luke. He just stared searchingly into her eyes, and she felt very small and very ashamed.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered again. “I shouldn't have let it go this far.”

“No.” Her father's level gaze told her just how disappointed in her he was. “No, you shouldn't have.”

She tried to wrap her mind around a way to make things right. “At least you don't have to go through with this. You don't have to sell.”

He straightened. “I gave my hand, child, and I don't back down when I've given my hand.” He looked at Luke then, and his expression was almost pitying. “You'll tell me when you have the papers ready.”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and disappeared into the house.

 

Luke tried not to let the relief he felt show on his face. For a moment he'd seen the whole deal dissolving, seen his future at Dalton dissolving right along with it. Dalton wouldn't easily have forgiven his spending this much time and coming back empty-handed.

The deal was safe, but Chloe still had to be placated. “Chloe, I'm sorry.”

“You're not sorry.” The face she turned on him was the face of a stranger. “Why should you be? You're getting what you want.”

“I'm sorry for the way it happened. Sorry that it all came out that way. I certainly didn't plan that. But Dalton put pressure on me to wrap this up quickly.”

“So you put pressure on my father.”

He'd never known her golden-brown eyes could look so scornful. He beat down the little voice that said she had every right.

“I didn't pressure him. I just opened the subject, and he agreed before I had a chance to give him the details.”

“He didn't understand.” She threw the words at him. “Thanks to our playacting, he agreed to something he never would have otherwise.”

“You don't know that. When he heard what Dalton is willing to pay, he'd have jumped at it, anyway.” He would, of course he would. Anyone would.

“If you really believe that, let him off the hook.” Her words challenged him. “Start all over again and make your offer.”

She was asking the impossible. “Chloe, I can't do that, not now. You must realize that. Dalton wouldn't forgive me if I let the deal slip between my fingers at this point.”

“And that's all that matters to you.”

She was judging him again. He embraced anger. She had no right to judge him. She didn't. No one did.

“I'm doing what I was hired to do. If you don't understand that, maybe you don't belong at Dalton Resorts.”

The instant the words were out of his mouth, he was appalled. He didn't want to lose Chloe. He didn't want to think about returning to Chicago without her.

But the alternative seemed to be losing his dream, and he couldn't do that, either. He couldn't give up the goal that had sustained him all these years.

Chloe went white but her gaze never wavered. “Maybe you're right about that. Maybe I don't belong there, any more than you belong here.”

There didn't seem to be anything left to say.

“I'll pack my things.” He moved past her to the door. “It will be better if I move to a hotel on the mainland.”

She stepped aside, as if touching him might contaminate her. “Yes. That will be better.”

He yanked open the screen door. “Please tell your father I'll call him to arrange a meeting with an attorney to sign the papers.”

Something inside cried to him to say something else, to mend this with Chloe no matter what the cost. He slammed it down hard. He couldn't change now, not when he was on the verge of having everything he wanted.

Then, why did that seem so hollow?

 

By evening, her family's sympathy had become intolerable. Chloe huddled in a rocker on the porch, feet pulled up, arms wrapped around her knees. If she'd ever doubted their love, she couldn't doubt it now. The knowledge of her deception had rocked them. They had to be disappointed in her. But one and all, they'd rallied around.

Daniel had suggested taking Luke for a nice long boat ride and marooning him. David wanted to call an attorney. Miranda thought if they just explained how they felt, surely Luke would understand. Theo had been at first disbelieving, then furious. His idol had shown his feet of clay, and Theo wasn't going to find that easy to forgive.

The bottom line, though, was that Daddy wouldn't change his mind. Whatever it cost him, his path was clear. He'd given his word.

It was her fault. Chloe leaned her forehead on her knees. When she was six and had done something wrong, she'd curled up in a ball in the futile hope that she could just disappear. It hadn't worked then, and it didn't work now.

They were going to lose Angel Isle, and it was all her fault.

Daniel's truck pulled into the drive. A door slammed, and Gran marched toward her. The family had called in the big guns, she thought tiredly. But Gran was just someone else to whom she owed an apology.

“Gran, I'm sorry.” She wouldn't have thought she had any tears left to shed, but they welled in her eyes. “I deceived you. I'm so sorry.”

Gran just stood for a moment, hands folded on the front of her flower-print dress. “You are a pretty sorry sight, Chloe Elizabeth.”

Chloe planted her feet on the floor and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Yes, ma'am.”

“As for deceiving me—” Gran sat down in the rocker next to her “—looks to me like the person you most deceived was yourself.”

Gran had an uncanny knack for getting right to the thing you least wanted to talk about.

“I guess that's true,” she admitted. “I cared about Luke. I kidded myself into believing he cared about me. But he doesn't. He just cares about getting where he's always wanted to be.”

“That's him. What about you?”

The question jerked her head up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean
you,
Chloe Elizabeth Caldwell. Why are you sitting here feeling sorry for yourself? Why aren't you doing something about this?”

It was like a cold wave in her face. For a moment she just stared at Gran, and then she managed a smile. “That's what I love about you, Gran. You get right to the point.”

Gran sniffed. “No sense my reminding you I love you, is there? You already know that. What about this young man of yours? You love him?”

“I do.” She took a shaky breath. “It seems like a pretty stupid move right now, but I do.”

“Why?”

The abrupt question took her aback. “Well, I…”
I just do
wasn't a good enough answer. Gran wanted specifics. “Because he's not really like this. At least, I don't think he is, down inside. But he had a terrible life when he was young. He came up from nothing, and he had to fight for everything. He thinks getting this vice-presidency will prove he's arrived. That's been his goal for so long that he can't see past it.”

Gran gave a short nod. “'Bout what I figured. He's lost, that's what.”

“Lost?” It was a new idea, and she considered it. “I guess you could look at it that way.” Although Luke certainly didn't think he was lost.

“It's the truth.” Her expression softened. “Like you, Chloe-girl. Our Chloe was lost for a while. But then Luke brought you back, and you started to see what God wants for you, didn't you?”

For a moment, she'd thought what God wanted for her was a life with Luke. But she understood what Gran meant. If she hadn't come back to the island with Luke, she might never have looked at what God's will for her life was. She might never have seen that just having a job and a salary wasn't enough. She had to contribute—had to be needed.

“I guess so, but Luke isn't like me. I'm not even sure what he believes. He had faith once, but it seems like it got buried under all his ambition.”

“Lost,” Gran said again with certainty. “He's lost, and you've got to rescue him.”

“Me? Gran, he's not going to listen to me.”
He doesn't care,
her heart cried.

“Chloe Elizabeth, you hear me now.” Gran looked at her sternly. “If he were drowning out there in the surf, you'd risk your life to save him, wouldn't you?”

Like the first Chloe. “Yes, but—”

“No ‘buts' about it. That young man of yours is drowning, and he doesn't even know it—wanting things and success more than God's plans for him. It's up to you to straighten him out, you heah?”

There was only one answer Gran expected when she asked that. “Yes, ma'am. But it's not going to be easy.”

“If it was easy, anybody could do it. It wouldn't take Chloe Elizabeth Caldwell.”

Gran clasped her hand firmly, then stood up. “Now I got to talk to that son of mine. Make sure he's doing this because he thinks it's right, not just because he knows it's the opposite of what his brother would do.”