Midnight Sons Volume 1 (23 page)

“You hate my grandmother, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Charles didn’t hesitate. “My mother made plenty of mistakes over the years, but she didn’t deserve that.

“She’d done nothing wrong except fall in love with a man who loved someone else. I’ll never understand why they got married at all. Although, I guess people often behave very differently in wartime than they otherwise would.”

“Your father allowed Catherine to taunt Ellen?”

Charles didn’t answer her question. “Catherine wasn’t content with making Ellen miserable. She did whatever she could to hurt my father, as well. Remember the old saying ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’? I swear Catherine Fletcher was the bitterest woman there ever was.

“My father betrayed my mother with his affair, and then Catherine humiliated her. I can’t hurt her again. I can’t get involved with someone who’ll be a constant reminder of the woman who brought so much pain into her life.”

Lanni jerked herself free of Charles’s embrace. She moved off the sofa, backing away from him. “What about
my
grandmother? Don’t you think
she
deserved better? Twice your father used her. Twice he cast her aside. Can you blame her? Can you honestly blame her? You claim he loved her. I doubt it. He did nothing but use her!”

Charles didn’t answer, not that she expected him to. With trembling hands, Lanni brushed aside the hair that had fallen in her face.

“You say my grandmother ruined your father’s marriage and his life. I wonder.” She inhaled deeply. “I wonder if you’ve considered what he did to her. She married shortly after he
returned from the war with Ellen—his bride—but that marriage didn’t last more than two years.

“She gave up custody of her only child so she could stay close to David. Catherine is a stranger to my mother. A stranger to me. All because of your father.”

Leaning forward, Charles braced his elbows on his knees and hung his head. “Now you know why there can never be anything between us,” he whispered.

Lanni stood rigidly beside him. “I’m sorry, Charles, for the pain my family caused yours. And the pain yours has caused mine.”

“I’m sorry, too. For all of it.”

“But it doesn’t change anything.”

He shook his head. “Your leaving is for the best.”

She fought to keep her voice even. “I’m not going to make the mistakes my grandmother did,” she told him, her voice quavering despite her efforts. “I’m not going to spend the rest of my life pining away for you.”

“I wouldn’t want that.”

“I’m going home to Anchorage and I’ll do my absolute best to forget I ever met you.” Using one hand, she swiped at the tears running down her face.

He gave a brief nod.

“I’m not coming back to Hard Luck.” She swiped at her face again, hating the weakness that let the tears fall. Slowly she backed even farther away.

Charles stood up, raking his hand through his hair. “I thought you should know,” he said.

She lowered her head. “It helps. Now that I’ve been properly informed, everything’s evened out. I can hate your family, too.”

He turned and, shoulders hunched, walked out of her life.

This time, she knew, it was forever.

Sawyer sat up in bed with Abbey leaning against him as they listened to the surf. The lanai door was open and a tropical breeze rustled through the palm trees just outside.

“Eventually we’re going to have to leave this room,” Abbey murmured.

Sawyer stroked her hair. “Why?”

She moved her head to look into her husband’s clear gray-blue eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, paradise is right outside.”

“Paradise is being right here with you.”

Not for the first time, Abbey marveled at her husband’s romantic heart. This side of Sawyer had come as a pleasant surprise—along with what she’d learned about his sensual nature. Marriage to Sawyer was going to be a wonderful adventure.

The first night of their honeymoon, in Fairbanks, they’d made love again and again before falling asleep in each other’s arms. The next morning, they were on a flight to Hawaii.

When they arrived, all Abbey wanted was a feather pillow and a bed. Sawyer was interested in a bed, too, but not for the purpose of sleep. This man she’d married, Abbey soon discovered, was inexhaustible. Their dinner had been delivered to the room, followed by a late breakfast some hours later. Still they lingered in bed.

“I’d like to play tourist for a while,” she said. “Would you mind?”

Sawyer ran his hand down her bare back. He released a slow,
long-suffering sigh. “I suppose I could drag myself out of bed, but only if you promise one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“We’ll play a different kind of game first…”

“Now?” What she really meant was, “Again?”

“No time like the present.” He slanted his mouth over hers, and Abbey groaned, sliding toward him.

“Sawyer,” she protested without any real fervor, “it’s already ten-thirty and—”

“You’re right,” he said. “It’s much too late to get started today. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to explore the island.”

Abbey giggled. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

His tongue slid across her lips.

“Then again…” she said breathlessly, “you might be right.”

“I thought you’d see the error of your ways.”

Hours later they did leave the room. Abbey even managed to convince Sawyer to buy them matching shirts and straw hats in the hotel gift shop.

“I look like I’m wearing a pineapple,” he complained, studying himself in the shop mirror.

Abbey laughed, feeling lighthearted and very much in love.

Sawyer rented a car and they drove to the north shore of Oahu, stopping at an outdoor café for lunch. They discovered a deserted beach and lay there soaking up the sunshine. Abbey asked him to spread suntan lotion on her back.

“Do you need any help with the front?” he asked.

“No.” She squeezed the lotion onto her arms and rubbed it vigorously into her pale skin. She paused when she found Sawyer watching her every move.

“Will you quit that?” she said.

“Quit what?”

“Looking at me like that.”

His expression was one of complete innocence. “Like what?”

Abbey rolled her eyes. “Like you’re going to ravish me the first chance you get.”

He lowered his sunglasses, his eyes dancing. “That’s exactly what I intend.”

Abbey smiled. Although she’d been married before, she’d never felt this loved or cherished. And she’d never felt this sexy. “It’d serve you right if I got pregnant during the honeymoon,” she told him absently, snapping the lid on the bottle of suntan lotion.

Sawyer went still. “Is there a chance?”

She glanced at him, fearing his reaction. They hadn’t talked about birth control. They should have, but…“Yes,” she whispered. “There wasn’t time to start on the pill, and we…we haven’t stopped long enough for any precautions.”

Sawyer let out a shout of sheer delight and sent his hat flying toward the cloudless blue sky. “Hot damn, woman, if I’d known that, we’d
never
have left the hotel room.”

“You mean to say you wouldn’t object?”

“Object? If you were to get pregnant on this trip it would be the second-best thing that ever happened to me.”

“What’s the first?”

He seemed surprised she didn’t know. “Meeting you, Abbey. What else?”

She leapt up from the beach towel and stuffed it in her bag. Once that was done, she shoved in everything else she’d so carefully unpacked.

“Come on,” she said to her husband.

He looked at her as if he wasn’t sure what to make of her abrupt movements. “Where are we going?”

“Back to the hotel room of course!”

Lanni stopped at the Hard Luck Café on her way to the airfield early the next morning.

“Hi, Ben,” she said, slipping the backpack off her shoulders and setting it aside.

“Morning.” He eyed her bags. “Looks to me like you’re getting ready to head out of here.”

She smiled sadly. “I thought I’d come in for one last coffee and to tell you goodbye.” She held out her hand to him.

He shook it, his hand firmly clasping hers.

“We’re going to miss you around here,” Ben said.

“I’m going to miss you, too.”

“Miss me? My guess is I’m not the one you’re gonna miss when you’re back home.”

She bent her head, refusing to react to his comment. “Well, I have to say it’s been interesting.”

“Yup, I suppose it has.”

He poured her a cup of coffee and she reached for her purse.

Ben shook his head. “On the house.”

“Thanks.” She sipped the coffee, needing it. She hadn’t slept much and hoped the caffeine would revive her enough to see her through the morning.

“It’s too bad about you and Charles.”

She shrugged as if their relationship mattered little. “You win some, you lose some.”

“You fit in this town a lot better than some of those women Christian hired. One of ’em didn’t stay long enough to give it a chance. Another woman—a teacher—wouldn’t even get off the plane.”

“You’re joking!”

“It’s true,” he said, leaning both hands on the counter. “Ask anyone.”

“I believe you.”

“Pity you have to go back.”

She didn’t contradict him.

“Who’s flying you into Fairbanks?”

“Ralph,” she answered. He wasn’t one of the pilots she’d gotten to know. She checked her watch. “I’d better get on over to the office before they take off without me.”

“We’re gonna miss you, Lanni,” Ben said again as she collected her bags.

Blinking fiercely to force back the tears, she raised her hand in farewell and hurried out the door.

Charles’s truck, loaded with camping equipment, was parked in front of the mobile office. She waited there, reluctant to go in, until she recognized Ralph, who stood just inside the door. He looked up from his clipboard and smiled when he saw her.

“I’m almost ready,” he called. “Go ahead and get on the plane.”

The office door opened then and Charles walked out. He stopped abruptly when he saw her.

Lanni looked longingly at the plane. They’d said their farewells; there was nothing more to say.

“Bye, Charles,” she said, holding out her hand in a businesslike manner.

He stared at it for a moment, then his fingers closed convulsively over hers. “Goodbye, Lanni.”

She offered him a proud smile and turned away. Climbing into the plane, she took her seat and snapped the belt into place.

With tears burning her eyes, she gazed out the small window to see Charles standing next to his truck, watching her. He didn’t move.

Ralph put her luggage aboard and climbed in. He reviewed the safety instructions with her, although she wasn’t really listening, then started the engine.

Lanni kept her eyes trained on Charles. Her face was pressed to the window as the engine roared to life.

The plane taxied down the runway.

Lanni craned her neck as far as possible in order to see Charles.

He stepped forward a few paces, then came to a halt. She stared out the window until he disappeared from view.

August 1995

“Hello, Grammy, it’s me. Lanni.” Catherine Fletcher gave Lanni an odd look, as though she didn’t recognize her.

Catherine was in her early seventies, but she appeared older. There were deeply etched lines of bitterness around her mouth and eyes. “I know who you are. Where’s Kate?”

“Mom’s coming.”

“Your mother hasn’t been to see me all week. If my daughter’s going to shuffle me off to die, the least she can do is come and visit.”

Lanni knew her mother had been to the nursing home practically every day. The burden of these daily visits had taken their toll on her. Yet Kate remained faithful, doing whatever she could to make Catherine as comfortable as possible.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Catherine said sourly. “Bring me my robe. I want out of this bed.”

For all her bluster, Lanni’s grandmother was as fragile as a spider’s web. She was thinner than Lanni remembered and terribly frail.

“Mother, you know you can’t get out of bed without a nurse.” Kate stood in the doorway, her voice filled with concern and frustration. “And there’s no reason to snap at Lanni.”

Lanni was greatly relieved her mother had chosen that moment to arrive.

Catherine looked away sheepishly.

“I thought we’d wash and dry your hair this afternoon,” Kate said, her tone gentler. Catherine’s hair was tied at the back, but the frizzy sides stuck out in every direction. “We’ve let it go for several days now.”

Catherine pinched her lips in disapproval.

“I wish you’d let someone cut it,” Kate went on.

“No,” came Catherine’s sharp retort. “No one’s touching my hair but me.”

“Whatever you say, Mother.”

Lanni marveled at her mother’s patience.

An hour later she accompanied Kate out of the nursing home. “How do you do it?” she asked, impressed by her mother’s tender care for a woman who seemed so mean-spirited.

“She’s my mother,” Kate explained simply. “She wasn’t the best mother in the world, but I suppose she wasn’t the worst, either. Adjusting to life in the nursing home is difficult for her. We need to remember how independent Catherine was for all those years.”

“But she’s so…”

“Ungrateful?” Kate supplied.

“Yes.”

“She doesn’t mean to be,” Kate said. “Mother’s miserable. I don’t think she’s had much happiness in her life. Her health is failing, and I’m afraid we won’t have her much longer. I don’t want any regrets when the time comes to bury her.”

Lanni understood what her mother meant about regrets. She felt trapped in a mire of her own might-have-beens. Not a minute passed that she didn’t think about Charles. Since her return to Anchorage, Lanni was constantly on the verge of tears.

“Are you ready for lunch?” Kate asked, linking her arm through Lanni’s.

Lanni nodded, managing a smile.

“Good.”

Kate took Lanni to her favorite seafood place. Generally Lanni was treated to this particular restaurant only on special occasions like her birthday.

They were seated in a comfortable upholstered booth; it was situated in front of a window overlooking Turnagain Arm, an elongated waterway that extended from Cook Inlet. If Lanni remembered her history correctly, Turnagain Arm had been discovered by Captain James Cook on his third and final voyage in 1778 while he was searching for the Northwest Passage. The name came from the fact that Cook and his crew had had to turn back yet again.

“Are we celebrating something?” Lanni asked, surprised by her mother’s choice of restaurant.

“You’re home.”

“I’ve been back almost a month.” Twenty-seven days to be exact. Every minute of those days had felt like a year to Lanni. It astonished her that she could have known Charles so briefly and yet loved him so intently. Every day without him was a struggle; her appetite was nonexistent, and she wasn’t sleeping well.

“Something happened while you were in Hard Luck,” her mother said quietly, studying Lanni over the top of her menu. “You haven’t said anything, but it’s obvious to your father and me that you’re unhappy.”

“It’s nothing, Mom. I’m fine.”

“You’ve lost weight, and Lanni…Oh, sweetheart, I want you to know there isn’t
anything
you can’t tell me. I’m your mother, and if I can’t help you, I’ll find someone who can. Please tell me what’s troubling you.”

Lanni had always been close to her mother, but never more than at that moment. She’d watched her deal effectively with her own mother’s bitterness and was aware of what a good daughter she was. Now Kate was proving once again that she was an equally good mother.

“It’s almost embarrassing to say,” Lanni began, crumpling her napkin in one fist. “I fell in love. Unfortunately the man I fell in love with is…Charles O’Halloran.”

Her mother’s eyes closed. “David O’Halloran’s son?”

“Yes,” Lanni whispered. “You told me some of what went on between David and Grammy, and Charles filled in the rest.”

“Perhaps one day you can tell me what you learned. There’s a lot I’ve never heard. But not now. What I want to know now
is what happened with you and Charles. What hurt you so much?”

“He didn’t know I was related to Catherine. I…purposely hid it from him. Once he found out he wanted nothing more to do with me.”

Kate frowned. “Then the man’s a fool.”

Lanni grinned; it was a relief to smile again. “If I ever see him, which is doubtful, I’ll tell him you said so.”

Kate’s features relaxed. “Do you want to talk about him?”

Surprisingly Lanni discovered she did. She told her mother about the instant attraction she’d felt toward him, the bond they seemed to share. She described what had happened at the wedding ceremony—and afterward, when Charles had learned the painful truth about her family.

The wetness on her face shocked Lanni. She hadn’t realized she was crying. Her mother’s hand gripped hers tightly. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’d give anything to have spared you this.”

“But you know, Mom, the funny part is I don’t regret loving Charles. Someday I’ll look back and I’ll see how knowing him, loving him, changed my life. At the moment, it’s still too raw, too painful, to see what good could possibly come of all this.” Her voice shook but she continued despite that. “It’s difficult, but I’m trusting that we were never meant to be together—just the way his father and Grammy were never meant to marry.”

Kate wiped a tear from her own eye. “You astonish me,” her mother said softly. “When did you grow up to be so wise?”

Lanni laughed and dabbed at her eyes with the napkin. “I don’t feel wise at all—the only thing I feel is empty.”

“That will change,” Kate assured her.

Lanni knew that a time of peace and acceptance would come, but it would still take a while.

All at once her mother’s face grew thoughtful. “Speaking of Charles O’Halloran, I seem to remember Matt saying something about him recently.”

“Matt wants the O’Hallorans to sell him the lodge in Hard Luck,” Lanni explained. She’d had several other conversations with him regarding the purchase of the lodge.

“Your brother’s on another of his kicks, isn’t he?” Kate gave an exaggerated sigh.

Lanni couldn’t help laughing. “This time might be different,” she said with a shrug. “I think he could do a great job with it.”

“Remember when he went to cooking school?”

“How could I forget?” Lanni asked. Matt had hoped to make his fortune with the most absurd assortment of recipes—all of which he insisted his family sample. Somehow his concoctions, teriyaki moose being his favorite, just hadn’t been the success he’d expected.

“He was a fisherman for a while, too,” her mother reminded her.

“Was that before or after he studied to be an accountant? You know, Mom, maybe—just maybe—he’ll pull this off. He
is
serious about wanting the lodge.”

“I only wish he’d done something earlier, before…”

Kate left the rest unsaid, but Lanni knew what her mother was thinking. If Matt had thought of buying the lodge sooner, he might have been able to save his marriage.

“I’m meeting him for dinner tomorrow evening,” Lanni said.
“I’ll try to find out how his plans are going.” The real trick, she mused, would be to find out what she could about Charles without being obvious.

No, she decided abruptly, she wouldn’t ask. Charles was part of her past. He was someone she’d always love, but she wouldn’t look back.

Charles stood outside Matt Caldwell’s apartment building. He wasn’t quite sure why this meeting was necessary. Matt had phoned and said there were papers they needed to review; since Charles was already in Anchorage, he couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.

It didn’t surprise him to discover he liked Matt. Under different circumstances he would’ve been happy to call Lanni’s older brother his friend. But selling the lodge to a member of Catherine’s family was more than a gesture of goodwill. It was his own way of telling Lanni he’d always love her.

Convincing Sawyer and Christian to go along with him hadn’t been nearly as difficult as he’d assumed. Both his brothers were relieved that someone was going to do something about the lodge their father had built. They weren’t any more interested than Charles was, but it seemed a shame to tear it down. The three of them had set a reasonable price, with excellent terms.

He checked the slip of paper for the apartment number and walked into the low-rise building. After locating the apartment, he rang the doorbell and waited.

Lanni answered.

Charles felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him.

Speechless, they stared at each other.

Shock widened her eyes, and he noticed the way her fingers tightened around the doorknob. “Charles.”

“Lanni.” He’d forgotten how soft her voice was, soft and melodic. Stupidly, he glanced down at the slip of paper, frowning at the apartment number.

She stepped aside, obviously realizing she was blocking the door. “Come in, please.”

It was all he could do to look away from her. She was thinner and a bit pale, but he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.

“Is Matt here?” he asked.

“Matt?” Once again her eyes betrayed her surprise.

“He gave me this address. Apparently there are some papers regarding the sale of the lodge that he wanted me to read over.”

“I see.” She closed her eyes.

“What is it?”

“It seems we’ve both been tricked.” She sank onto the couch. “This is my place. Matt was supposed to pick me up for dinner.”

“Perhaps he intended to meet us both.”

“Perhaps,” she agreed uncertainly. “If you’ll wait here, I’ll give him a call.” She stepped out of the room and returned a moment later, paler than before.

“I apologize, Charles. My brother left a message for me on his answering machine. He purposely arranged for the two of us to meet this evening,” she said, her voice trembling. “He sent you here on a wild-goose chase and then made sure I’d be home when you arrived.”

Charles nodded. He wasn’t sorry, but he didn’t tell her that.
Lanni had haunted him from the morning she’d flown out of Hard Luck. He couldn’t sleep or eat or think for want of her. No other woman had ever affected him this way.

“How are you?” he asked, his voice uncharacteristically gruff.

“Fine,” she said quietly, “and you?”

He sat on the chair across from her. “Fine. Sawyer and Abbey are back from their honeymoon, and Pearl Inman’s getting ready to move in with her daughter.”

She lowered her gaze to her hands. “I understand Matt’s negotiations with you are going well.”

Charles raised a shoulder in acknowledgment. “The fact that he’s taking over the lodge helps us all.” He couldn’t very well admit that Lanni was the real reason he’d agreed to go ahead with the sale.

“How’s Ben?” she asked.

“Cantankerous as ever.”

Lanni smiled, and the knots inside him grew even tighter.

“How’s the new secretary doing?”

“Mariah Douglas?” Charles’s smile was involuntary. “I don’t think she’s had much office experience. Last I heard, Christian had to show her how to change the paper in the photocopier.”

“But she’s stayed.”

Charles nodded. “She seems determined to make a go of it. She insists on living in one of the old cabins, without electricity, because she wants those twenty acres my brothers promised her.”

“Good for Mariah.”

Several minutes of silence came next, but for some reason, it didn’t bother him.

“Do you like Anchorage?” she asked.

Charles hoped she was looking for ways to continue the conversation, because he didn’t want to leave, but he had no excuse to stay. “Anchorage? As far as I’m concerned it’s about half an hour away from Alaska.”

Lanni smiled and stared down at her hands, which were clenched in her lap.

Charles had never met another woman he felt as comfortable with as Lanni. Their conversation had been a little awkward at first, but once they’d both relaxed, it flowed smoothly. Had it been like this with his father and Catherine? Had David found his soul mate in one woman while married to another?

Lanni was
his
soul mate; Charles had realized that with complete certainty after she left Hard Luck. The loneliness had closed in around him. Until he’d met her, Charles had preferred his own company; in the past few weeks it felt as if a part of him was missing.

Countless times he reviewed their situation. But he’d seen the pain in Ellen’s eyes when she discovered Lanni was related to Catherine. Charles couldn’t bear to inflict that pain on Ellen again. Not when she was happy for perhaps the first time in her life.

Charles told himself to leave, but he couldn’t seem to stand up and walk away.

“I have coffee on,” she said. “Would you like a cup?” Her dark, luminous eyes were pleading.

He shouldn’t stay. Every minute he lingered made it more difficult to go. “All right,” he said, agreeing quickly before he could change his mind.

He followed her into the kitchen. She opened the cupboard to reach for a mug, but his hand on her forearm stopped her.

“It isn’t coffee I want,” he told her. His eyes boldly met hers.