Stormy Passion (50 page)

Brenna hobbled up the stairs while she called
out to her sister. Not receiving an answer, she continued on to
Lisa's room.

At first glance, the room appeared normal,
the bed was made, games and shoes were scattered across the floor.
It appeared as messy as it usually did. Brenna frowned, puzzled, as
she turned to leave. That's when she saw a piece of paper propped
against a picture.

She snatched up the letter after seeing her
name sprawled across the front. Unfolding the paper, Brenna's eyes
scanned the childish writing.

“
Omigod!” Brenna scrambled
to the stairs. “Geraldine! Geraldine!”

“
Take it easy before ya
tumble down the stairs,” Geraldine said nonchalantly, propping her
arms across the banister. “What ya so dang excited about? And
what's that in ya hand?”

“
It's a note from Lisa.
She--she's run away from home. We've got to hurry!”

“
Hurry where?” Geraldine
handed Brenna her crutches just as she touched the last step. “Run
away? My Lisa?”

“
Come on. I can't drive.
You'll have to take me.”

“
Ya not making a bit of
sense,” Geraldine mumbled as she followed behind her. “Take ya
where? And why would Lisa run away? It don't make no sense at
all.”

Brenna grabbed her coat off the peg in the
kitchen. “Nell, please take over for tonight. We need to go out.”
Brenna turned her head. “Come on, Geraldine. We've got to get
moving.”

“
I ain't budging till ya
tell me what in hell's got into ya.”

Brenna grabbed Geraldine's hand and pulled
her out the door. “It seems Lisa overheard us talking this morning.
She feels guilty and has gone to tell Taylor the truth.”

“
What!” Geraldine said as
she pulled out of the driveway. “Where we goin'?”

“
To the bus station. Maybe
it has several stops before getting to River Run.”

They drove as fast as the snowy road
permitted. The snow would stay until the middle of April and it
would be good for late skiers, but at the moment, Brenna wished it
were spring and the roads were clear so they could make faster
time. Without warning they hit a patch of ice and the jeep started
to spin. Brenna gasped as she pictured the jeep wrapped around the
tree in front of them. But as usual, the ever-calm Geraldine took
control as a wagon master would a runaway team of horses and
quickly turned the steering wheel until the jeep was once again
heading in the right direction. Brenna said a small prayer of
thanks there hadn't been any traffic around them.

Just as Brenna suspected, the bus would make
five stops along the route and it had a couple with long layovers.
If they were lucky, they would catch up with Lisa's bus at one of
the cities.

When they stopped at Ruby Mountain, the clerk
informed them that the bus had left two hours ago.

“
Did you see a small girl
with curly brown hair?” Brenna asked anxiously. Seeing the clerk
nod, they were off to the next stop.

At Blowing Rock, they missed the bus by an
hour. If they hurried they could catch it in Miller City, the last
layover before River Run.

It was long past dark by the time they
reached the small city. They drove down Main Street, which
consisted mostly of one-story, drab, brown buildings. The bus depot
was on the far side of town and not in the best part of the
city.

Geraldine whipped the jeep into the parking
lot, and Brenna gaped at the seedy looking men with brow bags
clutched tightly in their hands, sitting on the sidewalk. “I don't
like the looks of this place.” Brenna whispered as Geraldine held
the crutches while Brenna slid out of the jeep. “I sure hope Lisa
hasn't ventured outside. If something has happened to her, I'll
never forgive myself.”

Entering the ugly brown building, Brenna
immediately recognized her sister; back to the door, shoulders
slumped, staring out the window. Brenna took a deep breath of
relief. At least her sister was safe--maybe stupid for running
away, but safe. Brenna shut her eyes and mumbled her thanks. She
moved up behind Lisa and asked, “What do you think you're doing,
young lady?”

Lisa jumped and swung around. “I--I'm going
to see Taylor.” She burst into tears. “It's all my fault he's gone.
I'm sorry, Brenna. I know you're miserable, and it's all because of
me.”

“
No, sweetheart.” Brenna
leaned on her crutches. Her shoulders ached with the burden she'd
carried around all these years. “None of this is your fault. Come
on, I'll explain in the car.”

Since Brenna couldn't maneuver around the
chairs easily, Geraldine rushed around to Lisa's side. “Youngin,
don't ya go scaring us again. Here, let me help ya with your
stuff.”

Once they were settled in the jeep and on
their way back home, Brenna turned so she could speak to her
sniffing sister. She looked down at her lap and Brenna could see
the confusion that surrounded Lisa.

“
The next time you feel you
have a problem, I would appreciate it if you spoke to me first,”
Brenna gently reprimanded. “Do you realize someone could have
grabbed you? There are a lot of unsavory characters in the world.
Who knows what could have happened. And I'd never get to see you
again.”

“
I--I'm sorry,” Lisa cried.
“But I was just trying to help.”

“
I know you were.” Brenna
cleared her throat and handed her sister a Kleenex. “I assume you
heard the conversations I had with Geraldine this
morning?”

Lisa bobbed her head.

“
You're not to blame for
any of this. Our parents didn't have any money, and I knew you
needed surgery, so I did a stupid thing. At the time, I was
desperate. People in River Run had begun to treat me
differently--kind of like I had a disease or something.

“
I began to feel like we
were from the wrong side of the tracks.” Brenna could shut her eyes
and still see the people who had once been her friends and
neighbors whispering behind their hands. If she knew nothing else
for sure, Brenna knew she couldn't stand to go through that
again.

“
Taylor and I never really
talked about your treatment. I kind of withdrew from life. You see,
my life had suddenly changed like yours. But I had to talk to the
police and answer question after question, and then there were the
funeral arrangements. I wasn't prepared for anything. The worse
thing was the reporters--they were everywhere trying to get all the
grizzly details of what happened. I couldn't move for someone
shoving a microphone in my face. Then the doctor told me I had to
make a decision about your treatment, and I just felt you were my
responsibility. I couldn't lay all our problems on Taylor. It
wouldn't have been fair.

“
Do you
understand?”

Lisa stopped crying and listened with
luminous eyes. She blinked violently to quell the flow of
tears.

“
Mrs. Rothschild pointed
out that I would ruin Taylor's life. And I knew she was right. He
had a bright future, and I was like a big black blotch on his
character. I felt River Run was closing in around us. We had to do
something.

“
So I had to make a
difficult choice ... to make a new start without Taylor. But we
couldn't do it without money. However getting the money didn't come
without strings. I had to sign a document stating that I would
never tell Taylor anything about the agreement or try to see him. I
couldn't even tell him goodbye.”

“
But that's not fair.” Lisa
leaned up in her seat.

Brenna sighed, closing her eyes. “Sometimes
life isn't fair, sweetheart.” She thought about Carol, and envied
her. Carol would get everything Brenna had ever wanted. But she
didn't blame Carol, how could she? Carol didn't know anything about
Brenna's relationship with Taylor. Carol was so nice that Brenna
liked her even if she didn't want to.

“
Well, I can tell him.”
Lisa broke into her thoughts. “I didn't agree to anything,” she
said stubbornly as she slid back in a huff and crossed her arms.
“He'll understand.”

“
You can't do
that.”

“
Why? I didn't sign any
agreement.” Lisa pointed out.

“
Because Taylor's mother is
vicious, and she can make our lives real miserable.” Brenna paused.
She couldn't tell Lisa the other reason she'd kept her mouth shut
all these years. Some things were better off buried. “If you
remember, Taylor loves someone else now. He is engaged to
Carol.”

“
But he loves you.” Lisa
persisted, unyielding in her belief. “And he's spent all this time
with us.”

“
I had hoped he'd stay. But
he'd never be happy running a bed and breakfast. Banking is in his
blood. And then there is another problem, which is probably why he
went home.”

“
What?”

“
Carol is
pregnant.”

“
Ya, kidding.” Geraldine
popped into the conversation. “Taylor didn't know, did
he?”

“
No. His mother said Carol
wanted to surprise him.”

“
Wait,” Geraldine said with
a frown. “Ya heard that from his ma--not Carol?”

“
Un huh.”

“
Then she could be lying,”
Geraldine suggested.

“
Yeah, Brenna. Maybe he
still loves us.”

“
I don't know, sweetheart.”
Could Vivian Rothschild have lied once again? Brenna sighed. What a
slim hope. But why did Taylor leave in such a hurry if it wasn't
for Carol?

Brenna shook her head and looked out the
window, not seeing anything in the pitch black darkness. Then she
added, “But I do know that if Taylor comes back, it has to be of
his own free will.”

Chapter
Thirteen

How could Taylor have left without so much as
a goodbye? Brenna had asked herself the same question so many
times, and she didn't like any of her answers she'd come up with.
She had assumed they'd made some real progress in their
relationship.

She had thought he loved her ...

She had thought he cared ...

So much for what she thought.

Brenna picked up the coffee mug from the side
table and sipped the hot liquid as she recalled some of the things
Taylor had said to her. He'd said he needed time to sort out his
feelings. Did that mean he stilled cared? He'd been so attentive to
her since the accident and vaguely in her memory she remembered
tears in his eyes when he found her injured on the slopes.

Had it all been a game? Had he used her and
tossed her aside when he felt his obligations were through? And
then it dawned on Brenna ... she'd done the same thing to him a few
years ago. She had left town without talking to Taylor. Had he
experienced the same gut sick feeling she'd had all week? Her chest
tightened. What a sleazy thing to do to someone you love. But she
had at least written him a note.

She realized she'd start crying again if she
didn't get her anger up. She couldn't help it if Taylor had never
received her letter.

Yet, he hadn't bothered to leave her
anything. His precious Carol called, and he had flown to her side.
Wait a minute, Brenna stopped herself. Carol was a great person.
And she was going to have a baby. She didn't deserve any of the
blame. It was Taylor. This must have been his way of getting even
with her for doing the same thing to him.

She stared out the window, watching the water
drip from a huge icicle that clung stubbornly to the eaves of the
house. Somehow she couldn't believe Taylor was that vengeful. The
past few weeks had been wonderful, and he'd seemed to be happy and
content here. Maybe he would call once he thought of her.

That thought made her feel a little better
until she thought of his mother. What devious tricks would Vivian
Rothschild have up her sleeve this time? She would move heaven and
earth to keep Taylor from seeing her. She'd probably even arranged
for Carol to get pregnant.

With a sinking feeling, Brenna put down her
cup. Life moved on, and she couldn't sit here any longer especially
on a hopeless cause.

Taylor thumped his pen on the desk, lost in a
timeless void, a place he seemed to escape to when reality bothered
him. A place he seemed to visit more and more often these days.

Had it been a week and a half since he'd
buried his mother? The blur of time seemed strange. He could
vaguely remember bits and pieces: the doctor pronouncing her dead,
picking out a cold gray casket, and finally tossing a handful of
dirt in a grave. He was alone ... left behind without a family.

Over the years, he had attended other
funerals with little thought of the loss the survivors felt. Now he
knew all too well the uncertainty and helpless feelings of those
left behind. Everything around him seemed unreal.

However, the mountain of papers he'd had to
sign, the filing of the will, and sending out the death
certificates to insurance companies reminded him quickly everything
was
very
real.

Taylor leaned back in his chair and groaned.
Life went on. So here he sat, doing nothing and thinking of Brenna.
He should be working. Damn, he'd like to see her. Tenderness
drifted through him, and warmed that cold place in his chest. He
was disgusted with himself for not calling her. But everything had
happened so quickly that two days led into three, and then it had
been a week, and still he hadn't called.

Now he had time to think about her. And today
he had made some definite decisions.

Tonight, he would see Carol and tell her how
he felt about Brenna. Taylor hadn't been fair to either woman, and
he hoped Carol would understand and not think he was a complete
bastard.