That Summer (26 page)

“He went home. He lives near Washington.”

“This is a nightmare,” I said.

“Tell me about it,” Liam said.

“Michael Bates told me that the only evidence they have in the case is the medal. Liam, why did you tell them that the medal was yours? No one could have proved that it was if you'd denied it.”

He said steadily, “It was mine. I don't know how it got there, but the medal was mine.”

I turned to Kevin. “Do you understand him?”

He said to Liam, “You really did make it easy for them, you know.”

Liam shrugged. “I don't think they can convict me on a medal.”

Kevin said somberly, “Stranger things have happened.”

We were all silent. Then I said, “What does being out on bail mean?”

“It means that if I flee the country, Dad will lose the house.”

“Oh my.”

Kevin said, “What kind of an attorney is Gil Moran? Is he a criminal attorney?”

“No. He's a corporate lawyer, actually.”

“If this case goes to trial, we're hiring you the best criminal attorney in the business. Don't worry about the money. I'll pay.”

A muscle jumped in the corner of Liam's jaw. For a long moment he didn't reply. Then he said gruffly, “Thank you.”

Kevin nodded then looked down. It was the first time I realized that I was clutching Liam's hand. Kevin said lightly, “I can see that three's a crowd right now, so I'll go out for dinner. Should I call when I'm ready to come back?”

“Do that,” Liam said.

We stood hand in hand in the family room waiting for the sound of the front door to close. When it did, Liam turned to me and said, “Let's go upstairs.”

CHAPTER 23

L
iam's room was furnished with a lovely old four-poster bed. Liam led me by the hand over to the bed, then turned to look down at me. “I'm sorry, Annie. I'm sorry I have to put you through this police business.”

It was an odd thing to say, but at the moment its odd-ness didn't strike me. All I knew was that I was about to get what I had wanted for such a long time.

“I love you,” I said. “I have always loved you.”

“And I love you.”

He bent his head and kissed me. I opened my mouth and took him in. We clung together, our bodies pressed against each other, our tongues intimately touching. He lifted his head. “Annie.” It sounded like a groan. “Let's get out of these clothes.”

Tight jeans are not the easiest of clothes to shed, but we managed.

“God,” he said. “You are so beautiful.” He lifted me up and laid me on top of his white chenille bedspread. Then he lay down next to me. I ran my finger over a faint scar on his collarbone. “I remember when you got that,” I said.

“I fell out of a tree.”

I kissed the scar.

He shuddered. “I want you so much. Do you know what I thought when I was waiting in the police station?”

“What?”

“I was thinking, what if they lock me up and I've never had a chance to make love to Annie?”

“Oh, Liam.”

He traced his finger along my jaw. Then he bent and gently kissed each of my breasts. “This is heaven,” he murmured.

I buried my hands in his hair and his mouth began to move all over me, stirring up passion everywhere it went.

“Liam,” I said. “Oh Liam.”

I arched up against his hands and his mouth, answering to the powerful thrill of their touch. My own hands were sliding up and down his shoulders and arms, feeling the strong muscles and smooth skin.

He began to kiss me, again and again and deep inside me the sweet sensation of surrender began to throb. This went on for quite a while.

Finally, “Annie?”

“Yes. Oh yes.” I opened myself wide even as I held him tight, arching myself up to receive him. He plunged into me, right into the heart of me, and his coming felt so right, so good. I closed around him, locking my legs around his waist, and we rocked together on the chenille bedspread in the ancient rhythm of love.

I could feel myself softening, could feel the delicious sensation spreading out inside of me, and I lifted my hips to encourage him, holding onto him as I came closer and closer to that moment when an orgasm would roll all through me. .. .

“Annie,” he said and I spread to take him even farther in, my legs high about his waist. And then it came, the shattering moment when we were one in ecstasy, clinging to each other as if nothing else mattered in all the world.

I didn't realize that I was crying until Liam said, “Annie, don't,” and kissed the tears on my face.

“I don't know why I'm crying when I'm so happy,” I said.

“Annie, I love you. However you want me to love you, I do.”

I didn't reply.

“You believe me, don't you?”

“Yes, I believe you, Liam. I think I'm crying because I'm afraid.”

“It's not that bad. You heard Kevin. He's going to get me a good lawyer.”

“Michael Skakel had a good lawyer, and look what happened to him.”

“Maybe he was guilty. I'm not.”

“Liam, you can't be so naïve that you believe your innocence will get you off.”

“That's why we have the high-priced attorney. Besides, it may never even go to trial.”

I looked steadily into his face. “Tell me honestly, did you lose your medal?”

He barely hesitated before he replied, “Yes, I did.”

I didn't believe him.

I said, “I couldn't bear it if you went to prison.”

He gathered me even closer. “That won't happen, love. I promise. Everything is going to work out okay.”

I pressed my cheek into his bare shoulder. “I love you so much.”

“It's a miracle, Annie. Having you is like a miracle. I can face anything if I know I have you.”

“You'll always have me.”

His arms tightened.

The telephone rang.

We both jumped.

“Christ,” Liam said. “That will be Kevin.”

He went to pick up the phone.

“Hello Kevin. Yes, you can come home now. Annie and I appreciate your tact. Okay. Yeah. See you soon.” He hung up.

I said, “I want to leave before Kevin gets here.” The thought of facing Kevin's knowing gaze was too much all of a sudden.

“Okay. He's going to be at least fifteen minutes. You have time.”

We both got dressed and Liam walked me out to my car. “I hate to say goodbye to you,” he said.

“I know.”

“When all of this is over we'll get married.”

“Okay.”

He bent his head and gave me a quick kiss. “Get going or you'll run into Kevin.”

“Goodnight,” I said, got into my car and drove away.

I didn't say much to Mom. I told her that Liam had been arrested, that he was out on bail, that I had a headache and was going to bed. She didn't try to detain me.

I sat on my bed, the same bed I had had since I was three years old, and stared at the picture of Liam on his pony that adorned the wall. His hair was too long and it fell over his forehead; even at age ten, his nose had been arrogant.

He had been too big for the pony, but he adored her and had refused to give her up until his feet almost touched the ground.

I knew him inside and out, the way he knew me. That's how I knew he was lying about the medal. But I didn't know why.

/
should look at the medal myself.

But could I tell it apart from any other medal? After all, a miraculous medal was a miraculous medal, wasn't it? I had never looked that closely at Liam's. There had never been any reason to.

Maybe Liam was right. Maybe the district attorney would think there wasn't enough evidence for a trial.

I sat there for an hour, my mind going around and around, sometimes going over the intense lovemaking between Liam and me and sometimes going over the police case against Liam. Finally I decided to call it a night, took a shower and went to bed.

I had a nightmare that I was walking through the woods with Liam, and I lost him. I could hear him calling my name, but I couldn't find him. I screamed his name, “Liam, I'm here! I'm here!” but no one answered.
This is a bad dream,
I thought, forced my eyes open and found with profound relief that I was in my own bed.

Thank God.
I was trembling and my heart was pounding. I wanted to call him on the phone and hear his voice, but when I looked at the clock and saw that it was three-thirty in the morning I knew I couldn't do that.

When we’re married, he’ll always be here,
I thought.

For the first time I let myself think about what it would be like to be married to Liam. We would start a new farm, either here or in Kentucky. It would be hard work, starting from scratch, but it would be fun. I could work as a local vet and bring money in that way.

I smiled into the dark as I pictured such a life in my mind. We would have a big family. Mom would love having grandchildren.

What would we call our children?
Peter,
I thought.
We’ll name our first boy Peter.

My cell phone rang. I jumped about six feet. I picked it up and said “Hello?”

“It's me,” Liam said. “I just got a call from John. Buster is colicking. I'm driving up to New York. Do you want to come?”

“Yes,” I said.

“I'll pick you up in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay.”

I threw cold water on my face, pulled my hair into a pony tail and put on jeans and a striped LL Bean shirt. I went in to tell Mom where I was going and why. I was standing in the doorway when Liam's Lexus rolled up. I ran to the passenger side, opened the door and got in.

“How bad is it?” I asked as we pulled away.

“John said it's mild. The vet gave him Banamine, tubed him with mineral oil, and put him on intravenous fluids. John said he's been pretty quiet since he got the Banamine.”

“Did the vet think it was an impaction?”

“That was the likelihood. The problem with a damn colic is you never know for sure.”

“Well, the vet did all the right things.”

We drove in silence while possible treatments for colic ran through my head, ranging from the relatively benign treatment administered to Someday Soon all the way up to surgery to remove the blockage.

Liam said, “This may mean he can't run in the Bel-mont.”

“It may or it may not. If this is just a minor colic he should recover in time to run. Don't think the worst yet, Liam.”

We arrived at Belmont at eleven-thirty in the morning and found a very weary-looking John Ford sitting in a chair outside Someday Soon's stall.

“How is he?” Liam asked tensely.

“He seems to be doing well,” John said. “He finished the fluids and the vet didn't put him on new ones.”

Liam said, “Let's have Annie take a look at him.”

“Sure,” John said.

I opened the stall door and went inside. “Have you given him anything to eat?” I asked John.

“The vet said he could have a bran mash, so we gave him that.”

“How are you, fella?” I said softly to Buster. “Had a rough night, huh?” I looked at his gums and pinched his skin to check his hydration, which was good.

“When was the last time he had Banamine?”

“Three in the morning.”

“And he's gone to the bathroom?”

“This morning at eight.”

“What did it look like?”

“It looked pretty loose, but he had that mineral oil in him”

“That's okay. Is he drinking?”

“Just a few sips from his bucket.”

“Well, he's had the intravenous fluids, so he's not that thirsty.”

I put my head against Buster's side and listened. “I can hear some gut sounds,” I said.

“Thank God,” Liam said fervently.

“Let me take his temperature just to be certain.”

John handed me the thermometer and Liam held Buster's tail aside so I could insert it into his rectum. We waited. When I pulled it out, it was 100 degrees. “It's fine,” I announced.

“Looks like you didn't need to make that long trip, Liam,” John said.

“I'm glad I came. I feel better now that I've seen him.”

Buster was nosing around in his bedding, looking for food. I said, “You could give him a little wet hay, John. Then wait until he goes to the bathroom again.”

“Okay,” John said.

I had a second thought. “Better check with your vet first. I don't want to do anything he might not approve of.”

“Okay, I'll give him a call.”

John took out his cell phone and stepped away to make the call. Liam and I stood in front of Someday Soon's stall and watched him.

“Do you really think he's going to be okay?” Liam asked.

“Yes. He had a mild colic but he appears to be over it. He's not looking at his stomach, or pawing the ground. He appears to be perfectly comfortable.”

At that moment, Buster lifted his tail. Liam and I stopped breathing. A load of manure came cascading out to land in a pile in the stall. We turned to each other and smiled radiantly.

“Good boy,” I said to Buster.

I went over to where John was still on the phone. “He went to the bathroom,” I mouthed.

John grinned and spoke into the phone. When he hung up he came to rejoin us in front of the stall. “Great. Two good loads. The vet says wet hay is definitely okay, so I'm going to find Henry and tell him to start soaking a flake.”

“Good,” I said.

Two reporters came up to us carrying notebooks. “We hear that Someday Soon colicked last night. Was it bad?”

“No, he seems to be fine this morning,” Liam answered evenly.

“Will this affect his start in the Belmont?”

“I don't think so.”

They had a dozen more questions and Liam answered them all as patiently as possible. None of the question involved Liam's arrest; apparently that piece of news had not yet reached Belmont.

Liam and I hung around the barn until Someday Soon was fed. Then we watched him eat his wet hay. We waited until he went to the bathroom again, this time with manure that was nearly normal. Then Liam said, “We should find a hotel. I'm going to need some sleep before I make the drive back to Virginia.”

I said, “I've been thinking. You should call the police station in Midville and let them know where you are. They might think you've left the country.”

He scowled.

“I mean it Liam. I think you should call them.”