Sawyer, Meryl (56 page)

A short while later she heard, "Royce."

The sound was so faint, she thought she'd imagined it, because
Mitch's eyes were still closed. She watched his lips closely. Nothing. Then his
lips parted and her name came out like a whisper on the wind. The sweet sound
brought tears to her eyes.
Thank you, God.

She clutched his hand tightly. "I'm right here,
darling." She leaned close to his good ear. "I'm never going to leave
you."

His fingers lifted, searching for her hand. She slipped her hand
into his and interlocked their fingers. Slowly, as if weighed down by sandbags,
his eyelids fluttered open. His pupils were dilated from the drugs and had a
slightly unfocused appearance. But she didn't care. They were the same deep
marine-blue that she'd fallen in love with that day on the rock years ago.

She had to lean close to him to catch what he was saying.
"Are you... all... right?"

"I'm fine." She kissed his cheek, so thrilled to hear
his voice that tears sprang to her eyes. "Don't talk. Save your
strength."

For once in the entire time she'd known Mitch, he did as he was
told. It wasn't until several hours later that he opened his eyes and spoke
again.

"Tell me what happened."

"It's my fault. I should have shot Brent when I had the
chance. Then he wouldn't have turned on you."

Mitch's eyes were glazed, his voice only a notch above a whisper.
"I remember the look on his face...."

"Now we know what the devil looks like." She tried to
sound upbeat.

"Is Brent..."

"I killed him the second I realized he'd stabbed you."

"Good." Mitch tried to smile. "You saved the
taxpayers a bundle. Do you know what a murder trial costs these days?"

Royce laughed—or tried to. "Same old Mitch—a wiseguy. Now I
know you're getting better."

"No way. I'm a goner unless you tell me you love me."

"Don't joke, Mitch, not now, not after all we've been
through." She kissed his cheek and touched his thick hair where it brushed
the pillow. "You know I love you. I'll always love you."

"I love you too. I want you to marry me as soon as I get out
of here."

She inhaled sharply, not wanting to break the spell, but needing
to tell him. "I'm sorry about your mother. I—"

"There's nothing to be sorry for. When I thought Brent was going
to kill you, I blamed myself. If I hadn't been so stubborn, you would have been
with me—where you belonged—and Brent couldn't have caught you alone. If I'd
lost you—"

"But you didn't. We have the rest of our lives to spend
together."

"Royce, I'll love you forever." He tugged on her arm
until she brought her head down to his lips. She kissed him, too aware of how
cool his lips were, a chilling reminder of how close she'd come to losing him
forever.

Their lips parted and he whispered, "Never underestimate the
power of love."

Eighteen Months Later

Royce walked down the hallway of the old Victorian home nestled in
the gently undulating hills of the Napa Valley outside San Francisco. At the
end of a secluded country lane between vineyards, the Grayson Clinic appeared
to be a large private home, not the residential care facility it actually was.
Dr. Reynolds Grayson and his staff took pride in making the patients feel as if
they were living in their own home.

Pausing outside the parlor where Lolly Jenkins was waiting, Royce
recalled the first time she'd visited Mitch's mother more than a year ago.
Royce had been accompanied by the psychiatrist on that visit, and she had been
extremely nervous, unsure of what to expect or what to say, but she had to show
Lolly someone cared about her. And loved her. Since Mitch couldn't do it, Royce
was doing it for him.

During that initial visit Lolly had been quiet, wary. Gradually,
with weekly visits, Royce had won Lolly's trust. But now it had been five weeks
since Royce had last visited Lolly.

Royce had explained many times she was having a baby and wouldn't
be able to visit for a few weeks. But had the message gotten through? Despite
Lolly's psychological improvement she was often confused about the passage of
time. How would Lolly feel about the weeks Royce hadn't been able to visit?

Royce cradled her son to her bosom and walked into the sunny room
with a smile. Lolly looked up, her clear blue eyes complemented by white hair
softly framing her face.

"Lolly, it's me, Royce. Remember?"

"Of course, but what—" She pointed to the blue blanket
covering Matthew Jenkins Durant.

"I had the baby." She held up her month old son.
"Lolly, this is Matthew."

Matthew chose that moment to have a gas attack and he smiled, his captivating
blue eyes looking just like his daddy's.

"So-o-o cute. Your baby. My, my, how beautiful he is."

Royce sat on the sofa beside Lolly. The older woman gazed fondly
at the baby and Royce struggled to maintain her smile. Her thoughts veered to
all Lolly had missed—a lifetime of happy memories. A loving family—what Royce
now held so dear. Royce forced herself to focus on the present: Lolly was
slowly improving.

Royce and Mitch hadn't deluded themselves into believing Lolly
would ever be completely normal. She'd probably needed psychological help from
the night of the auto accident that claimed both her parents when she'd been a
mere child. Most certainly, she'd been denied the necessary counseling after
the gang rape.

But she had improved. The psychiatrist treating Lolly agreed with
Royce that Lolly would continue to progress with the support of a loving
family.

Never underestimate the power of love.

Today would be the test of the cornerstone of Royce's plan, and
she was just as nervous as she had been the first time she'd visited Lolly. As
Mitch's mother gazed at the infant she didn't realize was her grandson, Royce
prayed her idea would work—not just for Lolly, but for Mitch. She loved him so
much, it actually hurt sometimes. She'd do anything on earth to make him happy.
Oh, he swore he was happy, but Royce knew how much he longed to see his mother.

Was there anything more powerful than a mother's love? No, Royce
decided, as she cuddled Matthew. A mother's love was sacred.

"Would you like to hold him?" she asked Lolly.

"Oh, yes." Lolly held out her arms.

Now comes the hard part.
Royce waited a few minutes
to be certain Lolly and Matt were comfortable with each other. Lolly had the
baby resting in her arms and was cooing to him. "Matthew's father is waiting
outside. He'd like to meet you."

"Me?" Lolly asked in that faraway voice that meant she
wasn't really concentrating. "Me? Someone wants to meet me?"

A spasm of doubt shook Royce. Was Lolly ready to see her son
again? Was it too soon?

"Your husband, right?" Now Lolly's gaze was clear,
totally lucid.

"Yes. He's just outside."

"Have him come in." Lolly smiled down at Matt. "I'm
going to meet your daddy."

Mitch managed a smile when Royce came to the door and told him to
come in. He loved her more than he could express, more than he'd thought
possible. And together they'd created a miracle—a son.

He walked behind Royce into the parlor and saw his mother for the
first time in over twenty years. The last time he'd seen her, she'd come after
him with a garden trowel, nearly blinding him. She'd aged, her hair now white,
but her face, a delicate oval with expressive eyes, remained the same. She didn't
seem aware of them; she was too busy cooing to his son.

He whispered to Royce, "Thank you. This means the world to
me—just seeing my mother with Matt."

Lolly kissed the baby's head where a single tuft of black hair
grazed his forehead. Royce tugged on Mitch's hand, silently urging him forward.

"Lolly, this is Matthew's father, Mitchell Durant."

Mitch quickly sat in the chair the psychiatrist had positioned
opposite the sofa, insisting tall men were less threatening when seated. Lolly
clutched the baby, regarding Mitch without a flicker of recognition.

"Hello." Mitch suppressed a sigh of relief. Royce's plan
had worked. With his phony mustache and his gray wig and thick glasses, he
scarcely recognized himself. For damn sure he didn't look a thing like his father.

"Hullo," Lolly responded tentatively, eyeing him with
suspicion and cradling the baby to her generous bosom as if she expected Mitch
to snatch up the infant and toss him out the window. She turned to Royce, who'd
sat beside her, and spoke as if Mitch weren't there. "Isn't he too old for
you?"

Royce smiled at Mitch, silently telegraphing the first hurdle was
over. "He's younger than he looks."

Mitch didn't say anything. The psychiatrist had cautioned them to
take small steps. For today his mother's acceptance of him in the same room was
enough to make him happy. Once he could never have conceived of having all the
people he loved so much in the same room. Smiling. Happy.

Was it any wonder he'd fallen so deeply in love with Royce? This
miracle had been her idea. She'd worked hard for over a year to make his dream
come true.

"Mitch is a judge," Royce informed Lolly.

"That so?" Lolly gazed at him curiously. "Like
Judge Wapner?"

"Something like that," Mitch answered, pleased his
mother had directed the question to him. She'd spent so much of her life away
from the world that her image of reality had been honed by television. No doubt
her concept of a trial was the arguments that normally would have been settled
in small claims courts but had been pumped up into soap-opera proportions for
Judge Wapner on
The People's Court.

"What was your most exciting case?" Lolly asked.

Mitch hesitated. In his short time on the bench he'd heard the
usually depressing array of drug cases, a murder too gruesome to think about,
and a child molestation case he couldn't possibly discuss.

Royce rescued him. "Mitch once saved a cougar."

"Really? What happened?"

As his son slept in his grandmother's arms, Mitch told Lolly about
the cougar who'd attacked the turkey hunter. He slowly explained the case,
keeping it exciting, but let his mother become accustomed to his face, his
voice.

"That so?" Lolly cried, clapping her hands. "The
cougar's still free. My, my."

Mitch had never viewed the cougar as one of his best cases, but
what the hell? Justice was in the eye of the beholder.

Too soon a nurse dressed casually in jeans in the noninstitutional
attire all of the staff wore, called his mother in to lunch. The doctor had
insisted Mitch's first visit be short, but this was too short. Still, he
couldn't complain. They'd gotten much further with Lolly than any of them had
thought possible.

"Good-bye," Mitch said.

Lolly clutched Royce's arm. "When are you coming back?"

"Would you like me to bring Mitch and the baby next
week?"

Lolly looked shyly at Mitch. "Yes. I like those funny
stories."

"We'll come next Saturday," Mitch promised. He stood,
his arm around Royce, as his mother left, saying good-bye.

Thanks," Mitch said quietly as Lolly disappeared.

"It's going to be all right," Royce said. "You'll
see. This is only the beginning."

"I've waited so long for this day. I can't tell you how much
I appreciate what you've done except to say, I love you." He kissed her
lightly on the cheek, then patted his son's little bottom. "I love you
both—more than I can say."

"I love—" Royce stopped.

Mitch turned, his arm still around Royce, and saw his mother
rushing back into the room.

"Royce, wait," she said. "I forgot to tell you
something."

Lolly stopped before them, her eyes on Matthew. He was fussing a
little, reminding Royce it was time to nurse. The mewling cries sidetracked
Lolly. She cooed to the baby and brushed a kiss across his plump cheek.

"Lolly," Royce prompted, "what did you want to tell
me?"

Lolly looked first at Royce, then at Mitch, and finally back at
the baby. "Once, a long, long time ago in a place far away, I had a
baby." Tears pooled in Lolly's eyes. It was all Mitch could do not to take
her into his arms and hug her.

"But they took my darling little boy away from me. Said I
wasn't a fit mother. It wasn't true. Believe me, I loved Bobby. I've never
forgotten him. He is the most precious thing in the world to me."

Critically acclaimed author, Meryl Sawyer won the Romantic Times
award as best new contemporary author. She is a world traveler who has visited
exotic places from North Africa to China. Meryl is presently working on her
next contemporary romance for Dell.