Just Believe (14 page)

"Thank you for the advice, Doctor. But
I assure you, I'm not attracted to Dr. Riley at all," Annabelle
lied. "I just met the man."

Dr. Duncan nodded, obviously not
convinced. "Well, then, we'll just forget I said anything." She
smiled and put the chart under her arm. "Shall we?" she asked,
holding her hand out toward the door.

Annabelle allowed herself to be ejected
from Erin's room, all the while feeling there was more to the story
than Dr. Duncan had said.

"Your mother was here earlier and left
in quite a state, I'm afraid. Will you let me know if she needs
anything to help her cope? I gave her another sedative, but I'd
really like to check with her physician before prescribing more. At
any rate, she is not taking these latest developments very well."
They stopped at the elevator. "In fact, Ms. Tinker, I fear your
mother is being drawn into Erin's delusions."

Her mother wasn't the most emotionally
fit person Annabelle had ever known. She didn't doubt for an
instant the situation was weighing on her.

"I'll keep an eye on her, Doctor. Thank
you."

"Yes, Doctor. Thank you," Gaelen
echoed. He had come from nowhere to stand by Annabelle's side, and
she could have wept with relief for the support, even if that was
all she could hope for. "We'll certainly keep an eye on Mrs.
Tinker, won't we, Annabelle?"

"That is very kind, Dr. Riley.
Goodnight." Dr. Duncan turned and walked silently away.

Gaelen squeezed Annabelle's elbow and
led her into the waiting elevator.

"Come on, let's get you home, so you
can check on your mother."

"Thank you, Gaelen."

They walked silently to his car. As
though neither could bear to speak first, they rode with no words
passing between them.

When she could stand it no longer,
Annabelle finally asked, "Did you see her, Gaelen?"

"Uh--huh." He reached over and took her
hand. It was so comforting, she held on. "Don't you worry, dear.
Erin will be all right."

In the light of Dr. Duncan's
revelations, Annabelle peeked over at the tall, handsome man
holding her hand so tenderly. They had passed such a lovely
evening, and his company was so easy, so comfortable.

It occurred to her then, maybe part of
her ease with Gaelen was only because on some level, she must have
known he wasn't interested in her sexually. This knowledge, even if
it were only subconscious, removed the usual tension of a first
date and explained why she was so comfortable being with
him.

A deep sigh of disappointment escaped
her.

"Don't worry, Annabelle." Raising her
hand, he brushed his lips along the bones, tracing each one with a
butterfly touch.

A flutter of reaction blossomed
throughout her body.

Oh, it wasn't fair. How could he tease
her like this? He had to know how such a caress would affect
her?

Or maybe not. Maybe he didn't think
anything of it. Maybe it was just kindness. Whatever it was, in
spite of her unwanted reaction, his gesture did help.

Gaelen pulled into the driveway,
stopping behind Susan's wood-paneled station wagon. Annabelle
didn't even see him come around to her side, didn't hear the door
open.

"Annabelle," he said, his hand offered
to help her out of the car. He held her hand as he walked her to
the front door.

"Do you really think Erin will be all
right?" Annabelle asked, desperately needing his reassurance,
wanting someone else to say the words out loud.

"Yes. She will be. I
promise."

Why did she want to believe him? Why
did she want to believe his promise had any meaning at
all?

"I'm going to hold you to that," she
said.

"You can count on it." Gaelen leaned
forward as he tipped her head up with a gentle touch of his finger.
His lips, so warm, so gentle, touched hers. "Good night,
Annabelle."

Chapter Eight

Annabelle let herself in and softly
closed the door, Gaelen's kiss still fresh and tingling on her
lips. Admittedly, her experience with men left quite a lot to be
desired, but even so, she couldn't convince herself Gaelen's kiss
was merely a gesture of sympathy. Perhaps Dr. Duncan's powers of
diagnosis weren't what they should be.

Okay, maybe it was only wishful
thinking on her part. There couldn't be a bigger waste for
womankind than for Gaelen Riley to have no interest in women. But
Annabelle couldn't believe herself so clueless that she couldn't
tell she was being kissed by a gay man.

Still, Dr. Duncan claimed to have known
Gaelen for a long--long--time. And Gaelen supported that by his
comments, uncomplimentary as they were, about Dr.
Duncan.

"Stop it, already." Annabelle waved her
hand in impatience. "I've got enough to worry about."

Still, she decided to trust Gaelen's
prognosis. His promise. Erin would be fine.

"So, you've finally come in," a deep
male voice came from the shadows.

Annabelle jumped at the sound, her
heart hammering. As her eyes adjusted, she saw Lucas standing in
the living room on the other side of the waist-high bookcase that
formed a partition. A frown furrowed his brow, several day's growth
of beard adding to the impression of exhaustion.

"Lucas! You nearly scared me to death."
Annabelle glanced around. "Where's Mom?"

"In her room, keening like a very
banshee." He tipped his head in the direction of the bedrooms. "Do
you not hear her?"

The howl was faint, but audible, now
that Annabelle paid attention.

"So, what set her off? Do you know?"
Lucas asked, as he set his large well-formed hands on the bookcase
and leaned forward.

More than anything, Annabelle wanted to
just go fall into her bed and sleep, and forget everything for just
a bit. But, she nodded wearily and waved him to follow her into the
kitchen.

"Yes, I know. Dr. Duncan told me she
thought Mom was buying into Erin's delusion."

"You were at the hospital? Is Erin all
right?" Lucas asked, anxiously.

"I was there for a few minutes. The
doctor sedated her. She said Erin was getting paranoid. Erin was
sleeping when I was there."

Lucas slumped down at the kitchen
table. "So, where have you been all evening?" Clear accusation rang
in his tone.

"With Gaelen."

At Lucas's stare, Annabelle stopped.
"What's wrong?"

"You went out with Gaelen?"

"Yes. He asked me to dinner," Annabelle
answered, pulling off her wrap and hanging it over the back of a
chair.

"He did?" Lucas asked, his eyes wide
with disbelief. "That's a surprise. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Oh, nothing. Well, just that Gaelen's
tastes must have changed somewhat." He glanced at Annabelle. "I
didn't mean anything about you. It's just that
Gaelen..."

Lucas's pause further depressed
Annabelle with its confirmation of Dr. Duncan's diagnosis of
Gaelen's preferences. She sighed.

"Don't worry, Lucas. I didn't think he
wanted to spend time with me. Dr. Duncan filled me in
already."

"Filled you in?"

"She told me about your brother." At
Lucas's expectant expression, she explained. "She told me he's
gay."

"Gay? Gaelen?" He threw his head back
and laughed.

"Sh-h-h. Mom will hear you."

He swallowed his amusement, but the
resulting deep-throated chuckle tickled Annabelle just hearing
it.

"Why is it funny?"

"This was Linette Duncan?"

"I guess. The doctor on the psych
ward," Annabelle said.

"Linette Duncan said Gaelen was
gay?"

"Well, actually, she used the word
'fairy.' Not very politically correct, is she?"

"Clever girl," Lucas said softly,
laughing again.

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing," he answered, still
chuckling.

"Well, is he?" Annabelle
demanded.

"What? Gay?" Lucas shrugged. "I don't
know if I'd use that word, but 'tis true Gaelen has little use for
human women."

"Human women?" Visions of all sorts of
strange practices passed through her mind, with the satyric,
gorgeous body of Gaelen Riley right in the middle.

"No, no," Lucas spit out in the middle
of a gigantic guffaw, "nothing depraved! I don't know why I said it
like that. He's actually perfectly normal...for Gaelen." He eyed
Annabelle. "How did it go?"

Not exactly reassured, Annabelle
answered, "Fine. It was very nice."

Lucas nodded. "Gaelen always knew how
to show a lady a good time."

"Lucas, is he gay?"

"My dear Annabelle, Gaelen loves women
more than any other male I've ever known."

That was almost worse than thinking he
wasn't interested at all.

"What does that mean? Why would Dr.
Duncan lie?"

"Dr. Duncan was one of Gaelen's, ah,
friends."

"Dr. Duncan?"

"Oh, aye. They were not involved for
very long, however. Gaelen dislikes possessive women." Lucas
chuckled. "Possessive ones are the only ones he dislikes. Linette
holds a grudge a good long time, though. I suspect she was just
trying to get Gaelen's goat."

"So, he's not..."

"No. He's not. Straight as
I-95."

A little reassured, but still wary,
Annabelle shrugged. "Well, I'm certain it wasn't my charms that
induced the invitation anyway. I expect he only asked me so he
could find out if I knew where you are."

He set his finger under her chin and
tipped her face up to his. "I have never known Gaelen to do
anything but what he wanted to do. If he only wanted to find me, he
has other means at his disposal."

That sounded rather dire. She stared at
him.

"What does that mean?"

Lucas laid his hands on Annabelle's
shoulders and rubbed. "Dpn't worry about it right now. Why don't
you turn in? We'll go over in the morning and check on
Erin."

"All right." Annabelle turned toward
her room, but stopped and faced Lucas. "Gaelen told me not to
worry. He promised me she'd be all right."

An expression of wonder crossed Lucas's
face, followed by a soft smile. "Did he now? I expect that's as
good as gold." With a wink, Lucas disappeared through the door to
the basement rec room.

Annabelle felt her spirit rising, in
spite of everything. Should she go to her mother, whose keening
wail still echoed through the house?

And what would she say?

A man I've just met promised that Erin
would be okay. See, Mom? Nothing to worry about.

Even Mom wouldn't find any comfort in
that.

No, she'd get some sleep. She wouldn't
be able to do anything for anybody if she turned into an exhausted
wreck.

When her head hit the pillow, her
dreams were filled with Gaelen Riley.

* * * *

As he drove back to the hospital,
Gaelen wondered why he didn't just probe her mind to find out if
she knew where Lucas was. After all, it was in a good cause.
Instantly, he chided himself.

"You've lost more than wonder, boyo.
You've lost your sense of justice." Even as he spoke the words, he
knew they weren't quite true. He hadn't violated her mind. But now
he knew he was left with following her to find Lucas.

Before anything else, though, Dr.
Duncan was going to get another visit.

He didn't trust himself to even
speculate on what the pixie witch had planned for poor Erin, but
the sight of the girl in a drug-induced haze had presented a
universe of possibilities.

Parking in the underground garage,
Gaelen hid in a dark corner and squooshed. Flashing up the empty
stairwells, he arrived at the eleventh floor and gave himself a
moment to recover from reconstituting.

"Whew," he whistled, peering around the
door into the empty hallways. The Brute Squad was nowhere to be
seen.

Gaelen stepped into the hall, softly
walking toward Erin's door. He pushed it open gently and took a
quick look inside.

She lay as still as death, only the
faint movement of her breathing indicating her soul still occupied
her body.

Gaelen let the door shut
silently.

Voices echoed down the
hallway.

Reaching into his memory, Gaelen tried
to remember the form for inducing glamour--the enchantment of
making a mortal see what the fairy wanted him to see.

Right now, Gaelen wanted the mortals to
see nothing.

Stepping out into the path of the
speakers, he waited. Neither noticed him. In fact, he had to jump
out of the way so they wouldn't run into him.

"Ah, we never lose it, do we?" he
whispered.