STARTING OVER (28 page)

They enjoyed a happy reunion while Kate finished dinner and fed Shanna. With everyone crowded around the table, she didn't have a chance to find out any more about his adventure than what she had already heard in court.

Doug's family finally left after the meal. He walked them to the door, then returned to the kitchen. With a yawn and a stretch, he announced, "I guess it's time for bed. I'm bushed." He walked over to Kate, who was loading the dishwasher. Wrapping his arm around her hips, he let his hand slide over her buttocks in a suggestive, familiar gesture. "Have you missed me?" he asked, leaning over to nuzzle her neck.

Kate tried not to flinch, but the feel of his hands on her skin was so similar to her dream that it made her flesh crawl. "Don't," she stated firmly, and pulled away. "I think it's time we had that talk. I have a few questions I'd like you to answer . . . honestly."

"But we always had our best discussions in bed," he murmured in his most persuasive tone.

"That must be why we didn't talk much after you found out I was pregnant," she retorted, "I don't remember you finding me so attractive then."

He shrugged off her concern. "You know I didn't want you to get pregnant."

"I didn't know any such thing!"

"Yes, you did. We talked about it and decided not to have children."

"I don't remember that discussion, either. We agreed to wait, but I was thirty-five years old. I couldn't wait forever."

"Well, it's over, And you're looking good. I think your figure is better than before. I always wished your breasts were bigger."

She shook her head in dismay. "Look, I don't think we should be spending our time talking about my breasts. What I want to know is where you've been, and why did you leave'?"

He turned away, his attention suddenly focused on rearranging the salt-and-pepper shakers on the countertop. "You heard what I said in court. I was sick. I couldn't come back."

"Don't lie to me, Doug. I know you were in this house on the night of the storm. I saw you, so don't try to convince me you were suffering from amnesia. Now tell me the truth. Did you plan it?"

He glanced at her, but his eyes still refused to connect with hers. He was silent for several minutes as if trying to reach a decision.

Kate had almost concluded he wasn't going to tell her when he spoke, his voice low and tremulous.

"I did it for you."

"Come on, Doug. If you're not going to be honest with me, then . . ."

"No, really," he protested defensively. "I did do it for you. The business was about to go bankrupt. I couldn't get any new contracts. And there were so many bills. I figured if you had my insurance money, you could pay everything off and have plenty in the bank to last you. I even crashed the new helicopter so that its insurance would pay it off and you wouldn't have the payments."

He brushed the back of his hand across his eyes. "Things were so bad. I couldn't seem to do anything right. I tried everything, but there was no other solution. I didn't want to leave you, but I figured you'd be better off without me. I didn't realize they wouldn't pay off my life insurance policy right away. See," he sobbed, "I couldn't even do that right."

"Oh, Doug," she cried in exasperation. "You should have told me about the bills. I had no idea we were in such bad shape. I could have gotten a job or helped somehow."

"I wanted to spare you. I would have felt like a failure if I had admitted to you that I couldn't hold it together. I didn't want my wife to have to work."

"That's just stupid macho pride! I loved you. Together we could have done something. You didn't have to ruin our lives."

"I can beat this. Now that the business is back on its feet, we won't have to worry about money anymore."

"Don't count on that. Even if the insurance company doesn't prosecute you for fraud, they'll demand to be repaid. Unfortunately, a lot of that money went to pay all those credit card bills. Then there's the FAA. I don't think they'll treat this lightly. I wouldn't be surprised if they take your license."

"Not if you don't tell them you saw me. Without that one piece of evidence, they won't be able to prove anything. My life in Jamaica wasn't exactly a bed of roses, either. I didn't have any money, and almost the day I arrived, I came down with a severe case of dysentery. It almost killed me. I was in bed in one of the filthiest, most disgusting-hospitals you could ever imagine. And my apartment wasn't much better."

"Speaking of apartments, I heard Vicki Young was with you when you were arrested. How do you explain that?"

"Vicki? She just happened to be vacationing in Jamaica, and we bumped into each other. You know how it is to see a familiar face in a crowd of strangers."

Kate tried to be sympathetic. It was possible that, in some misguided, twisted way, he had gone to extreme measures to make her life more comfortable. And it was possible that he had bumped into Vicki accidentally.

However, at the moment, Doug's relationship with Vicki didn't bother her as much as the deception.

"Doug, I won't lie for you. If they ask me, I'll have to tell them about you coming home, then leaving again."

"But they won't ask you. I'll make sure the possibility of my being here before yesterday never comes up."

"Why were you here? Why didn't you talk to me then?"

"I had some money hidden in my desk that I had forgotten about. When I was in the middle of a fit of delirium, it suddenly came to me that it was still there. And I needed it, desperately."

"How did you think you could survive without money? What sort of job were you planning on getting down there?"

Again he hesitated. He didn't speak until he had crossed the room and was watching the sunset out of the kitchen window. "I assumed the cost of living was so low that I could live cheaply, and any kind of job would keep food on the table."

"But why didn't you say something instead of scaring me half to death? I thought you were a ghost."

"I . . . I don't know. I guess I panicked. I thought it would be better if you didn't know I really was alive. I didn't think you'd be home, so I wasn't expecting to bump into you. Why did you decide to stay through the storm, anyway? That wasn't a very smart thing to do. You should have seen what it did to Jamaica. It flattened my apartment as if it were made out of paper."

"Don't talk to me about doing smart things," Kate retorted. "I stayed because I was worried about the helicopter and the house. I couldn't afford for anything to happen to either."

"I suppose we'll have to let that pilot stay until this mess is worked out. But I'll tell him he can start looking for a job if he wants."

"No, you won't!" she snapped before she thought to temper her reaction. Schooling her voice to a calmer, more neutral tone, she added, "Rusty has some invaluable contacts. He's established a very good relationship with the oil companies, and I think it would be a mistake to let him go."

"Well, there's
not room for both of us." Doug whirled on his heel and left the room.

No one knew that better than Kate.

Chapter Fifteen

No one except Rusty.

He slouched on the chintz-covered couch in his rented mobile home and flipped through the channels on his television. "Damn, out of forty-three channels, you'd think there would be something interesting to watch!" he exclaimed, tossing the control down.

Rusty leaped to his feet and stalked to the bedroom. Even though he hadn't gotten much sleep last night, he wasn't ready to go to bed just yet. In fact, it was memories of last night that now had his temper on edge.

It was late, after midnight. Kate would be in bed by now. Kate and Doug. Would they make love? Was she lying in his arms with her back curled against his chest as she had done with Rusty? Had she told him she loved him and was very glad to have him back?

Rusty had made it a policy not to become involved with married women. There were too many gorgeous single ones out there for him to trespass onto another man's territory.

He hadn't wanted to fall in love with Kate. Even though he thought she was available, he certainly hadn't planned on getting personally involved. But he had.

If any other man had come into her life but her husband, Rusty would have stayed and fought for her. He would never have left the guy alone with her in her house. But Doug was still married to her. That made any claims Rusty might have invalid. Suddenly he was the intruder.

It hurt to keep quiet. But even though Doug was a louse, Kate would have to reach that decision on her own.

Rusty noticed the folded papers on his dresser. He had found them yesterday, buried deeply in the files. They contained written proof that Doug had been cheating on Kate for at least the past two years. Receipts for expensive clothes he would be willing to bet had never hung in Kate's
closet, and hotel room-service bills for two in cities Kate had probably never seen, including some of the most expensive Caribbean resorts. Rusty remembered hearing her say she hadn't been anywhere other than Austin or Houston in more than five years.

And he had canceled checks made out in large amounts to "cash" and others that weren't for payroll made out to Vicki Young.

He could show them to Kate and probably cause her to mistrust Doug for the rest of his life. Or she might even kick the bum out.

But Rusty hesitated, because there was a very good chance Doug might come up with some sort of logical excuse that Kate would believe. Rusty knew that people usually believe what they want to believe, and if Kate was determined to think Doug was innocent, then she would convince herself that he was.

She wasn't a foolish woman. In fact, she was more intelligent than many of the executives he worked with every day. But if she had decided to give her marriage another try, she would be able to forgive and forget a lot of indiscretions, especially if Doug vowed he had changed.

Her commitment to home, hearth and family was what had originally frightened Rusty off. But now he found it the most desirable characteristic possible.

He gave a dry, mirthless chuckle. It was ironic that he had thought his dream was to travel from place to place, experiencing life and customs around the country. But he had fallen in love with a woman who not only was very settled in one spot, but who had a husband with the same wandering streak as
Rusty's.

To make matters worse, Rusty had even grown accustomed to the idea of being Shanna's father. Not only accustomed, but delighted with the idea. He would have been the only daddy she ever knew. He had been there to see her draw her first breath. He had hoped to be there on her first day of school and to check out her boyfriend on her first date. Now the best he could hope for was an occasional picture from Kate.

Rusty sat on the edge of the bed, his face buried in the palms of his hands. In all likelihood, Shanna wouldn't even remember him. He couldn't imagine Doug sharing her love . . . especially with a man who had been through so much with his wife.

Perhaps it was time for Rusty to move on. Maybe a new horizon was just what he needed to lift his spirits. If he was to put several thousand miles between him and the two Cramer females, surely he would be able to get them out of his mind . . . and his heart.

He had promised Kate he would give her a month's notice. But, of course, that would no longer be necessary. Now that she had taken Doug back, she no longer needed an extra pilot . . . or an extra lover.

Yes, it was definitely time for him to leave.

Rusty walked to the closet and took his suitcase off the top shelf. "I think we've overstayed our welcome here, Rebel."

The dog looked up and wagged his tail in silent support of any decision his master should make.

"Pack your bones, fella. We're heading west tomorrow."

KATE TOSSED AND TURNED, almost falling off the couch as she tried to sleep. But her mind was so cluttered with the events of the past two days that she couldn't relax.

By the time she had finished cleaning up the mess from dinner, Doug was asleep. The sight of him sprawled across her bed, snoring, had brought a feeling of relief. She had no intention of sharing that bed with Doug. Not yet. Not until she could accept his reasons for leaving and his unexpected return. She wasn't completely satisfied with his explanations.

Kate almost dozed off when Shanna's cries brought her wide awake. The baby had been sleeping all night for the past three weeks, so it was unusual for her to want a two o'clock feeding. No doubt all the excitement had upset her, and she had probably sensed Kate's nervousness, which had kept the baby on edge.

Kate went to the refrigerator and got a bottle out. It took only a few seconds to warm it in the microwave, then she went to Shanna's room.

"Can't you do something to keep her quiet?" Doug called. "I'm trying to get some sleep here."

Had he always been so self-centered? Kate changed Shanna's diaper and took her to the rocking chair. While the baby played with the bottle's nipple, not really wanting food as much as she wanted to feel the security of her mother's arms, Kate began to think back on her life with Doug.