Surrender to Love (18 page)

S
hortly before midnight, Julia slipped into the Georgia Inn, feeling as though she were walking on clouds. It was the best she’d felt in years. Respectful of the late hour, she made sure she moved quietly throughout the house, but no sooner had she reached the staircase than the light clicked on in the foyer.

She glanced up, surprised to see Lilly frowning sternly at her.

“I’m sorry.” Julia blushed. “I thought I was being quiet.”

“You were. In fact, I was afraid that I’d already missed you.”

Julia had never seen Lilly look so grave. Afraid something had happened to Robin, she put her hand over her heart. “Has something happened?”

“I guess you can say that. I need to talk to you.”

“Robin…” Julia barely choked the name from her throat.

“Robin is fine. She’s upstairs asleep.”

Relief, fast and intense, weakened Julia’s knees. When her mind cleared, she was still faced with a very solemn-looking Lilly.

“Can I talk to you in the study?” she inquired.

“Of course,” Julia replied, still clueless as to what could be so urgent and grave as to transform the usually vibrant Lilly.

Julia followed Lilly’s long, quick strides down to the private study. Once there, she was instructed to close the door behind her.

Obediently, Julia did as she was told, then looked questioning at Lilly. “Now can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Funny. That was exactly what I was going to ask you.”

Julia had the unnerving feeling that she’d just crossed over into the twilight zone. Was she supposed to know what Lilly was talking about? “I’m afraid that I don’t follow you,” she said.

Lilly promptly jerked open a drawer to the secretary that stood between them and placed a gun on the desktop.

Julia’s eyes fell to the .357 Magnum and her mouth instantly went dry. It was her gun. “How?”

“It was unusually drafty upstairs tonight. I went into your room to grab a blanket for Robin. Imagine the heart attack I nearly had when I reached up on the top shelf of your closet.”

Julia had no problem picturing the scene Lilly had just described. She also had no problem imagining the number of gossiping buddies Lilly must have called. She glanced back up at Lilly and decided to play it cool. “I’m sorry if it scared you.”

“Never mind that. Why is this hidden in your room?”

“Why else? For protection.” Julia forced a smile. “Surely I’m not the only woman you know who carries a firearm.”

“As a matter of fact, you are—this kind of weapon, anyway. Most people out here carry rifles, and that’s for hunting. This is not used for hunting.”

“Of course not. Look, it’s a registered weapon. Where I’m from women can never be too careful, that’s all.”

“And where is that exactly?” Lilly crossed her arms as if preparing for an interrogation.

Julia took the defensive. “Look, I apologize if the gun frightened you, but I’m well within my rights to carry a gun for protection.”

Lilly simply stared at her.

“Look.” Lilly jabbed her fists against the sides of her hips. “I like you, Julia. But I’m well aware that I don’t know much about you or where you’re from.”

Julia remained quiet.

“I just want to make it clear that I don’t want any trouble here. Do we understand each other?”

“Perfectly.”

The silence that hovered between the women was deafening. Lilly’s intense gaze probed Julia’s; then finally she nodded with satisfaction. “All right. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

With a tight smile, Julia nodded and retrieved her gun before leaving the study. She managed to stifle the alarm bells ringing in her head while she climbed the stairs to her room. Her secret longing for Moreland to be her and Robin’s new home crashed and burned before her eyes.

She should have known this would happen. Everything was just too perfect. Her eyes blurred at the thought of leaving the quaint town, but her heart broke at the thought of leaving Carson.

Frankie swore he’d never seen a storm quite like this one. In fact, he was quite amazed that he’d managed to keep his car on the road.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Nicholas inquired, twiddling with the temperature and defrost buttons.

“You’re more than welcome to drive,” Frankie snapped. “And stop playing with those. You’ve got the windshield all foggy.”

“Whatever, man,” Nicholas barked back. “I was just trying to help.”

“Yeah. Well, don’t.”

The jet of air blasting through the vents muffled Nicholas’s retort. It was just as well, Frankie decided. The last thing he wanted to do was start an argument.

After a long pause, Nicholas perked up again. “You know, for the life of me, I don’t know why my father brought you back into the organization.”

Frankie stiffened. It had been a question that had floated through his mind, but he had chosen to ignore it. His last job had been more than four years ago. It had been a job some of the Montellos had considered a failure, but to this day Frankie didn’t.

“I don’t kill children,” he stated flatly.

“Children are witnesses. Children grow up.” Nicholas matched his tone.

“A man must have his boundaries. Uncle Vinny understands that.”

Nicholas snorted with a half laugh. “A man’s boundaries are his weaknesses.”

This time Frankie laughed. “You’re young and wet behind the ears. This business is nothing but a game to you. Your father says knock this guy or that guy off and you’re stupid enough to get addicted to the adrenaline rush.”

“Whatever, man.” Nicholas kept his gaze focused on what little road they were able to make out in front of them.

“Sooner or late you’ll search for ways to steal back that soul you’ve sold to the devil.” Frankie no longer knew whether he was talking to Nicholas or himself.

“Sounds like you regret coming back,” Nicholas said.

Suddenly the motivation behind Nicholas’s questioning became crystal clear. So this was why Vinny had pushed his son on him. He wanted to know whether Frankie was still trustworthy.

“I’m good at what I do,” he answered, and refused to expound.

“That hardly answers the question, now, does it?”

Frankie risked pulling his eyes from the road. “It answers the question perfectly.”

Nicholas shrugged, but held a smile. “I’m sure we’ll see once we get to Moreland.” His hand caressed the lining of his gun. “We’ll see.”

Robin woke, smiling, at the crack of dawn. Today was the day she and Bobbi had agreed to a rematch with Stanley and the boys, and she couldn’t wait. She sprang from the bed with a jolt of energy, then stopped short when she saw her mother packing at the foot of the bed.

Her heart sank.

“W-what are you doing?” she finally found her voice to ask. Her mother hardly glanced in her direction.

“We have to leave,” she said flatly.

“But why?” she asked. When her mother didn’t answer, Robin’s vision blurred. “B-but what if I don’t want to go?”

Her mother sighed with slumped shoulders. “Please don’t make this harder than it already is.” She looked at Robin. “It’s just time for us to go.”

Tears trickled from Robin’s eyes. “B-but I like it here. You said that you liked it here. Why do we have to go?” She knew she was behaving like a baby, but it didn’t matter. She had to convince her mother to stay. She loved Moreland. She loved Lilly, Rick, Bobbi and Carson. She and Bobbi had hoped to become sisters. They dreamed about it and talked of little else.

“We’re not going back to him, are we?”

Julia stopped what she was doing and gave her a pained look. For a moment she thought her mother would burst out crying, too, but instead their eyes met and held for a long time before her mother spoke.

“I understand that you’re disappointed, Robin. And I’m sorry.”

Robin’s bottom lip quivered and she struggled to do the right thing and not throw a fit. Those things had never worked with her mother, anyway.

“I laid some clothes out in the bathroom. Please hurry and get dressed.”

Wordlessly she stomped past her mother, well aware that such an act was just as bad as talking back to her. When she reached the bathroom door a thought occurred to her. “Has Mr. Webber fixed the car yet?”

“No,” her mother said. “We’re just going to have to get bus tickets.”

Robin frowned. “To where?”

Julia jerked toward her. “I’m not in the mood for twenty questions. Will you just go do what you were told?”

Shocked, Robin could do no more than stare at her mother. She’d never snapped at her like this before. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if she’d had a fight with Mr. Webber, but then she thought better of it.

“Yes, ma’am,” she mumbled under her breath as more tears spilled over her lashes.

Carson arrived at work earlier than usual. He’d hoped to knock out as much of his work as possible so he could get over to the inn to see Julia. However, it was almost impossible to concentrate on anything with his thoughts drifting back to last night.

His smile broadened whenever he pictured her face. Even now he could hear the way she spoke his name. Such things were addictive.

“Mrs. Julia Webber,” he said, then nodded. He liked that. It had a nice ring to it. Of course, that was wishful thinking. He shrugged. What was wrong with dreaming? “Mrs. Julia Webber,” he repeated, and laughed at his own behavior.

Carson picked up the small stack of boxes by the rear door
of the shop and saw that Julia’s alternator had come in. Of course, he hadn’t placed the order until two days ago. He should be ashamed of how he’d tricked her into staying in Moreland, but he wasn’t.

One day, preferably after their third child, he’d tell her the truth about what he’d done. Maybe by then she’d be amused by the story. He laughed again.

An hour later, he placed the 1962 Chevy Impala up on the car lift and proceeded to replace the alternator. It wasn’t long before he realized that something else was wrong with the vehicle.

Puzzled, Carson rechecked his work but still had the same results.

Absorbed in what he was doing, Carson didn’t hear the footsteps approaching.

“How’s it coming along?”

He jumped and pivoted toward the voice. “Julia.” He smiled. “What are you doing here?” He moved from beneath the car and reached for a nearby rag to wipe his hands.

“I came to see about the car,” she said matter-of-factly.

Carson got the distinct feeling that something was wrong. “Everything is coming along fine,” he fibbed.

“Really?” she questioned with a slight rise of her eyebrow.

“Let’s just say that I’m determined to get the job done.”

“That’s no answer.”

Had he detected irritation in her voice? He shifted uncomfortably. “What’s the big rush? You’re not thinking about leaving us, are you?”

He’d expected her to answer with a quick “no” or “of course not,” but instead she hesitated, then said, “I can’t stay here forever.”

“Of course you can,” he assured her, but she didn’t appear to be swayed. “I don’t want you to go.”

For a long, heartbreaking pause, she said nothing.

“You don’t want to go either,” he added.

Her eyes deserted his, and he knew the simple act meant she’d made up her mind.

“But I thought that after last night—”

“Last night was wonderful,” she said in a small voice. “I will never forget it…but I can’t stay.”

His hurt paved the way for disappointment; then anger steamrolled everything in its path. For a brief moment he believed she’d purposely led him on—that she’d intentionally made him feel things he’d been determined to bury with Karen.

“If you’re unable to fix the car today, I’ve asked Pierce to drive me and Robin into Columbus. We can grab a bus from there.”

His anger drained out of him as he stared at her in shock. “You’re leaving today?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Carson didn’t know how he remained standing while she ripped out his heart. At this moment he didn’t know a lot of things.

“What if I told you I’m in love with you? Would you stay?”

She flinched, but she refused to lift her eyes. “Don’t do this,” she pleaded.

He swallowed the painful lump in his throat, convinced it was his pride. “Don’t go.”

“I have to,” she whispered.

Carson nodded, then lowered his own gaze. “I’ll make sure that I have the car fixed by this afternoon.”

“Thank you.” She turned and left the shop without so much as a backward glance.

Carson sucked in his breath, but thought the air was too thick for his lungs to filter. That had to explain the unbearable pain in his chest, but he had no such explanation for the rush of water that flooded his eyes.

R
obin picked at her breakfast and tried to give her mother pitiful glances. For the most part, Julia ignored her. She’d hoped when her mother went to see Carson at his shop that he would have been able to change her mind about leaving.

When the prayer went unanswered, Robin confronted her mother with reasons why they should stay, but she might as well have been talking to a brick wall for all the good it did.

Julia had made it clear to everyone at the inn that today was their last day in Moreland, and Robin’s desperation grew with each tick of the clock.

“Finish eating your breakfast,” her mother instructed without looking at her.

Robin’s gaze fell to her plate, and she didn’t think that she could eat another bite. “Can I at least play one more game of touch football with Bobbi and Stanley?” she asked in a near whine.

Julia stopped setting the table and drew in a deep breath.
Robin watched as she counted to ten under her breath, and had the sinking feeling that her mother was going to tell her no.

“Robin, we’ve already been through this.”

“But Carson—”

“Mr. Webber,” Julia corrected.

“Mr. Webber is still working on the car. Can I go play until he’s done, or until we leave with Pierce?”

“Mr. Taylor.”

“Until we leave with Mr. Taylor.”

Sighing, her mother finally looked up at her, and Robin mouthed the word
please.

They looked at each other for a long time, and Robin instinctively knew that her mother was reconsidering.

“How long is this game supposed to be?”

Robin tried not to jump for joy. After all, she hadn’t said yes just yet.

“No more than a couple of hours.”

Julia continued to hold her gaze before finally saying, “All right.”

Robin sprang from her seat. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Hold up, young lady. You come back here and finish your breakfast first.”

Rushing back to her chair, Robin shoveled the rest of her flapjacks into her mouth.

“Slowly,” Julia reprimanded, but the corners of her mouth tilted up into a smile.

Robin reluctantly slowed down.

A few minutes later, the other guests filtered into the breakfast area. Robin’s and Julia’s solemn faces stood out from the others’ jubilant ones, and they struggled through inquiries as to what was wrong from everyone except for Lilly.

Julia did her best to ignore the woman, but no matter where she went in the room, she felt Lilly’s heavy gaze on her.

Robin forked the last of her pancakes into her mouth, jumped from her chair, and gave Julia a quick peck on the cheek before dashing out of the inn to go play with her friends.

“No running,” she and Lilly commanded in unison.

They glanced at each other, and Julia regretted it. Had Lilly been crying? Other than the large, puffy bags under her eyes, it was hard to tell.

Their gazes slid away from each other.

Lilly regretted her confrontation with Julia last night. With today’s announcement of Julia and Robin’s departure, it was clear to Lilly that her new friend and potential sister-in-law was in some kind of trouble. She should have thought of that and should have approached her with support and offers of help instead of her tactless badgering.

Though she’d known Julia for only a short time, she was more likely to believe that Julia was running away from trouble as opposed to causing it.

Now she waited for the chance to get Julia alone so she could assure her there was no need to leave town. But each time she’d made eye contact, Julia had averted her gaze.

Yesterday she and Julia were the best of friends. Today they were oceans apart.

Frankie and Nicholas rode past the Moreland City Limits sign and were amazed at what was laid out before them.

“What a backward-looking town,” Nicholas mumbled under his breath.

“I’ll say. I didn’t think towns like this still existed.”

“That’s makes two of us.” Nicholas shuddered. “Place gives me the creeps.”

Frankie only nodded while his acute gaze swept over the small crowd of people milling about the center of town. “But
this place is nearly perfect for someone who wants to disappear.”

Nicholas laughed. “Nobody can get away from the Montellos. If you don’t believe me, just ask David Mercer and his goofball brother.”

“I don’t know, Nick. Those goofballs managed to shake the Montellos for a few years.”

“But we got them, didn’t we?”

Frankie frowned and looked over at him. “I thought this Dr. Kelley knocked her husband off.”

“Not hardly.” Nicholas laughed. “Our guy at the Bureau took care of that two-bit thief. That’s how we know the good doctor has our merchandise. Our guy was able to get David to talk before finishing him off.”

Suddenly the holes were filled in for Frankie, and new ones formed in his head. “Why didn’t Uncle Vinny tell me all of this before?”

“You know my father. He operates on a need-to-know basis. And the only thing you needed to know was to find the doctor.”

Frankie’s discomfort grew. In all the years he’d worked for the Montellos, he’d never been treated as though he were some flunky they couldn’t trust with information. Then again, his family had never sent more than one guy to a job before.

“So let me get this straight. Vinny had one of our guys do in the brothers, then send me to find the girl, and brought you in…to do what?”

Nicholas’s answer was a wicked smile.

Frankie shouldn’t have been surprised, but a part of him was. What if the girl truly didn’t have their merchandise? It was possible, wasn’t it? A man whose life was in danger was liable to say anything that would save his neck.

Hell, Frankie thought, why should he care? Nicholas was right. He should only be concerned about his part of the job
and nothing else. So what if this turned out to be another job that ended with murder? It wouldn’t be the first time.

“So how do you want to play this?” he inquired. His attention was still on the people walking about the small town.

“We need to stop and ask someone where this Georgia Inn is located.”

“I don’t know. We don’t exactly blend in with the tapestry. If we go around asking questions, people are going to remember our faces.”

Nicholas shrugged, then retrieved his cell phone from his hip pocket. “Then let’s just give Information a call.” He looked down at the gadget and his snide grin quickly slid downward.

“What’s wrong?”

“No service. We must be out of range.”

“How come that doesn’t surprise me?”

Nicholas mumbled under his breath. “This woman had better have our merchandise. She’s starting to be one pain in my backside.”

Frankie said nothing as he pulled his car to a stop in front of a small building with a rickety sign that said Nick’s Drug Emporium.

“I thought you said that we couldn’t go around asking people questions?”

“We’re not going to. We’re just going to use that pay phone.” He nodded to an old-fashioned phone booth near the side of the building.

“You think that thing works?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Frankie said, disengaging his seat belt, but he froze before reaching for the door handle.

“What is it?” Nicholas asked.

Frankie didn’t respond. He was too busy trying to get a better view of one of the little girls that had stepped out of Nick’s Drug Emporium.

Another group of children playfully tossing a football between them joined the two girls.

The girl with the cat-shaped eyes glanced in his direction, and Frankie smiled at Robin Kelley. “Well, well, well. Look what we have here.”