Simmer All Night (40 page)

He braced both hands on one of the tombs, leaned over, and hung his head. Never in his life had he felt this tired. "I know she's down here. I swear I can even smell her."

Jake clapped Cole's shoulder in comfort. "I think you're right, brother. We will find her. Don't you give up on her now."

"I'm not giving up. I'm not... I do." He snapped up straight. "I
do
smell her. I smell the chili. Here, bring me a light."

Jake rushed to grab a lantern as Cole hunkered down beside the tomb. "There. Look." He brushed his finger across a spot of red dust, then brought it up to his nose and sniffed. Then sneezed. "Ground chili peppers."

He looked at Jake. "Get help. We're opening this grave."

"What?" Jake said, his chin dropping. "But that lid has to weigh a couple hundred pounds. One man couldn't move it by himself."

Cole walked all around the tomb, carefully studying every carving and crease. "He could if it had an opening mechanism. We saw one in that last tunnel Welby discovered."

"That might be it," Jake said, catching Cole's enthusiasm. "A latch and lever contraption."

Moments later, five strong men surrounded the tomb as Cole wedged a crowbar into the seam between box and lid and pushed with all his might to give them fingerholds. That done, he dropped the tool and added his strength to theirs. Stone grated against stone as slowly, the heavy stone lid moved.

First a corner. Then more. Then...

"Oh, God," Jake croaked.

Chrissy!
Cole's mind screamed.

The woman he loved more than life itself lay in the tomb, still and pale as a corpse.

* * *

Cool, sweet water slid down her parched and swollen throat. A soft, gentle mattress caressed her bruised limbs, and a fluffy blanket warmed her.
Ah,
thought Chrissy,
this
must
be heaven.

Then her mother said, "This cut on her head will scar. She's lucky it's on the back of her head rather than her face. It will look ugly, I'm afraid."

A hand reached for hers, cradled it tenderly. "None of that matters," said Cole. "What matters is that she wakes up healthy."

I'm trying
, she silently told him.
I knew you'd, find me.
Then she drifted back into the mist.

* * *

The next time awareness bloomed, a gentle, soothing tug on her scalp told her someone was brushing her hair. She sighed into the sensation, too weak to open her eyes, but craving the comfort of human touch. When Cole spoke, she tried to work up a smile.

"I think her color is better, don't you, Elizabeth?"

Chrissy's mother replied, "Yes, I do. Her skin looks better, not so... sluggish. Maybe you've finally dribbled enough water down her throat."

Ah, it is Mama's hands manning the hairbrush. How many years since she last brushed my hair?

Peaceful now, Chrissy allowed herself to sleep.

* * *

Cole sat in a chair beside Chrissy's bed, his hands clasping one of hers. Periodically, he'd bring it to his mouth and press a kiss against her palm. Despite the doctor's cautious optimism, he worried she wouldn't wake up.

Elizabeth Delaney shared his concern, and she didn't mind voicing it. "What if the blow to her head damaged her brain? What if she never wakes up? What will I do then?"

"Chrissy will wake up," Cole said.

"But what if he damaged her mind? Not by the blow, necessarily, but by shutting her up in that big stone coffin. You know how she hates being confined in any way. I can see where it might drive her insane."

"Elizabeth, please," Cole protested, his patience thin. "She'll be all right. Your daughter is a very strong woman."

"Yes, I guess she is at that. Otherwise, she'd never have given her father and me so much grief over the years. She has always been so independent, so headstrong, even as a child. Remember that time not long after you came to live with us when she decided I had dismissed a housemaid unfairly? For an entire month, every time the girl opened her mouth she complained about it."

The memory managed to bring a smile to Cole's face. He quoted. "'I protest the dismissal of Miss Maria Montoya, pass the butter, please.' She convinced her father to rehire the maid, if I remember correctly."

"Yes. She always did wrap her father around her little finger. Until it came time to send her to boarding school." Smugness colored Elizabeth's tone as she said, "I won that one."

"Won?" Cole brows winged up. "I didn't realize it was a contest."

"Yes, well. Not a contest, more a war. You probably never noticed how much a distraction her behavior was for her father. At times it threatened to compromise his position as a federal judge. Of course I missed her desperately once she was gone, but I was comforted by the fact that the school we chose for her would deal with those unladylike tendencies she exhibited." She paused for a moment before adding sadly, "But she came home a flirt and a jilt."

Elizabeth sighed. "It's enough to break a mother's heart. But now, thank God, she has you. You are just who my Christina needs. You'll steer her right. You'll change her. Being your wife will change Christina into the woman I've always wanted her to be."

"No," Chrissy's voice croaked.

Cole went stiff. He jerked his head around toward the bed and joy filled his heart. "You're awake!"

Immediately he was there with a glass of cool water which Chrissy downed thirstily. His voice shook a little as he asked, "How are you feeling, honey?"

"I'm..." she shuddered. "I'm fine, I think. It's like a nightmare." Then she looked up at him, those beautiful green eyes searching his. "You saved me, didn't you?"

"We found you in the tomb."

"I knew you would. I just knew it. It made me feel... safe."

He had a lump in his throat the size of a watermelon. "I'm glad, honey."

Her smile warmed him like summer sunshine, chasing away the last of the cold that had gripped him since her disappearance. "Thank you, Cole. Thank you for saving my life."

"Oh, my baby," cried Elizabeth. She edged Cole aside and sat on the bed next to Chrissy, then slipped her arms around her and gave her a hug. "You're so lucky to have a man who loves you as much as he does. He never quit searching, never. Everything will be just fine now. A little more rest and you'll be well and we can plan your wedding."

Chrissy blinked. Her smile died. "No," she said again, her voice weary. "No we won't."

Elizabeth patted her hand. "Now, Christina, I realize you probably want to do things your way, but believe me when I say you'll need help planning a wedding here in England. Weddings are much bigger productions here than they are at home."

Her skin was as pale as the sheet she lay upon, and Cole could tell her strength was waning. She looked up at him, an unreadable message in her eyes. "We're not getting married," she said softly. "Cole and I agreed."

"Chrissy..."he began.

"Oh, poppycock," Elizabeth said with a sniff. "Of course you are getting married. Cole told us he loves you, and I know you've loved him for quite some time. Quit being difficult, Christina."

Chrissy sank back onto her bed and turned her head toward the wall. Cole's heart ached. How could he be filled with such relief and such sorrow at the same time? For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on the mantel.

Then Cole shoved his hands into his pockets and scowled at Elizabeth. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Attack her like that."

Elizabeth's shoulders squared. "What do you mean?" she questioned, her tone bristling with defensiveness. "I don't attack her."

"Yes, sometimes you do. Sadly, this is one of those instances. Chrissy isn't being difficult. Nor does she have to change." He paused and looked at her, willing her to meet his gaze. She did, and he smiled at her. "She's wonderful just as she is."

"Of course she is wonderful," Elizabeth said, scowling. "She is my daughter and I love her."

Chrissy pushed up onto her arms. "Do you, Mother?"

Elizabeth gasped and slapped a hand against her breast. "Why, Christina Delaney. Of course I love you."

"You never say it. All you ever do is berate me. Usually in a kind manner, I'll admit. After all, we must keep up appearances."

"I don't—"

"You do," Cole said, jumping back into the conversation. "I don't know why I never noticed it before, but you do. What's worse, you do it in such an agreeable way that those around you never think to question the truth of what you are saying."

He laughed without amusement, then said, "I've long wondered how the boldest woman I know could be so insecure inside, but now, finally, it is crystal clear to me. You do that to her. You're a mother hen who pecks at her chick until she's bleeding inside."

The hairbrush clattered to the floor as Elizabeth made a little wounded moan. Chrissy gazed from Cole to her mother, her mouth gaping open in shock. A mixture of anger and anguish rushed through Cole as he turned away from the woman who for so long now had been his mother.

He'd never intentionally hurt her before in his life.

Then Jake stepped forward from a corner of the room. "Now, wait just one minute, Morgan. There's no call for you to talk that way. My mother loves her daughter."

"I know she does," Cole replied, capturing Chrissy's stare. "I know she does and that's the saddest part of all." He looked at Elizabeth and asked, "How can you love her, but constantly undermine her? Why do you do it?"

"I don't undermine her." Elizabeth's voice trembled. She glanced at Chrissy. "Do I? Am I a terrible person? I only want what is best for you. That's why I chose Cole for you. He'll make you a fine husband, Christina. He's so very much like your father. He'll help you curb your... inappropriate enthusiasm."

"But what if I don't want to be curbed?" Chrissy asked. "Why can't anyone love me the way I am?"

Ah, this was the heart of the matter, and the pain in her voice damn near sliced Cole in two. He sat on the edge of her bed and stared at her intently. "I do, Lady Bug. I love you exactly as you are."

He could see in her expression that she wanted to believe. Rather desperately, he thought.

"That's not what you said, Cole. You said you wanted a lady who dresses right and acts right."

Elizabeth interjected. "But you can be that lady for him, Christina. You can be the wife he deserves."

Cole muttered a curse beneath his breath before looking at Chrissy's mother and saying, "I love you, too, Elizabeth. You are a mother to me. I love you and I respect you and I'd lay down my life for yours. But I feel those things for your daughter, also. Those and more. I think you need to hear why."

He shifted his gaze back to Chrissy and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Your daughter is like you in very many ways, Elizabeth. She is generous and loyal and strong. She is fervent in her beliefs and she is outspoken in her opinions. She'll fight against injustice. She'll protect the innocent with her life. We saw her do that with the Klebergs. Those are all qualities I see in you."

Elizabeth sniffed. "I know Christina is all those things. I'm very proud of her for that."

"I hope you are. But you should be proud of her differences, too, because they help make her the vibrant woman she is."

"You mean like her reckless behavior?"

"I mean her courage, her willingness to live life to the fullest. I mean her wit and her energy and the joy she brings other people."

He saw what he thought might be hope kindle in Chrissy's eyes. Silently, she implored him.
Do you truly mean it, Cole?

Her mother sniffed with disdain. "All that is easy for you to say, Cole, but you are not her mother. You haven't needed to worry about the consequences of her behavior. Understand this. A mother's primary duty is to ensure that her daughter is marriageable. Thank God you have been brave enough to see past the weaknesses in Christina's character, otherwise she'd never find an acceptable husband."

Chrissy's brow dipped at that. "Wait a minute," she protested weakly. "I found lots of appropriate men. I've been engaged, what, seven times?"

"Eight if you count Welby," Cole corrected.

Elizabeth dismissed the argument with the wave of a hand. "I never believed you'd marry a one of them, and I was right. You love Cole. He's the only man for you." She shot him a smite and added, "He's strong enough to subdue the outrageous side of your character."

"I don't want to subdue her," Cole snapped. "I thank God she's a Chili Queen. If not for those chili spices she'd still be down in that tomb. It shames me that it took me so long to see Chrissy for who she is. It shames me that I, too, thought she should conform more than is right for her nature. It shames me that I ever thought, even for a moment, that I might be better off with a more socially compliant woman for a wife."

He glanced at Elizabeth and said, "I love you dearly, Elizabeth, but you've been wrong about Chrissy, too. So has Jake. We haven't loved her for who she is. We wanted to love her for who we wanted her to be. Chrissy deserves better than that from us. She deserves love without strings placed upon that love, and that's what I intend to give her."

He slipped off the bed and knelt on one knee. Taking one of her hands in his, he said, "I love you, Chrissy. You. Just like you are. Chili Queen, flirt, and all. I don't want to change you or control you or do anything but love you. Can you accept that, finally? Can you accept me? Will you marry me, Christina Delaney?"

Chrissy cleared her throat. "It's my choice?"

"Yes,
yours
. Not your brother's or your mother's or mine. Your choice, Lady Bug. As long as there is no baby, I'll abide by it."

"Baby!" Jake exclaimed.

Chrissy pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "What is today?"

"Wednesday," growled her brother, glaring at Cole.

"I won't know about a baby for at least another week." Chrissy lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. "Sunday, Cole. I'll give you my answer this coming Sunday."

Well, hell.