Troubled Waters (16 page)

“I do,” he said simply, and let go of her shoe.

“No, you don’t!” she insisted, coming at him with both fists, thumping his ribs until she sagged against him, weak and out of breath.

He supported her arms and looked her full in the face. “I love you.”

“No, you don’t.” She twisted free and swept one leg behind him, knocking him down on one knee.

He looked up at her but didn’t move to stand. “Have you finally got me where you want me?”

With a disgusted grumble, Tracie turned and stomped away.

Heath stood and trotted after her. “I brought you something.”

She ignored him and kept walking toward the front doors.

“It’s out here.” Heath tugged at her arm.

She followed quietly at a distance, hardly believing he’d really come back, completely unsure how to respond to his claims of love after all the emotional upheaval she’d been through.

He stepped outside, where the gentle snow fell in swirling crystalline array, coating the street and the sidewalk like so many diamonds. He strode to his truck. She was surprised to see it was the same vehicle he’d driven while undercover. Perhaps not everything she’d known about him had been false. He pulled a large silver case from the passenger side and popped it open.

“Behold, the newest line of tools in the Gerlach family—the diamond series.”

She looked down and blinked at the sparkling tools, each studded with diamonds above the grips on the handles.

He extended the open case toward her. “It’s for you.”

Though she wished she could pretend to be ambivalent toward him, her curiosity got the better of her. She reached out a tentative hand. “Are these,” she ran one finger along a line of gems, “are these what I think they are?”

“They’re synthetic diamonds of the highest quality, chemically, optically and in all other ways identical to the real thing, except that these little buggers were grown in a lab.”

“Where did you get them?”

“Government auction.” He grinned at her. “It seems the FBI confiscated two tons of these little guys. They didn’t need them all as evidence, and you’d be surprised what a deal I got on them since they aren’t really real. Of course, I had to sign a letter of intent stating that I wouldn’t try to pass them off as the real thing. No one seemed to know what to do with them since they couldn’t be sold as natural diamonds, but I’d been thinking about how I was going to start my new job at Gerlach Tools, and it seemed launching a new product line would be a fitting way to begin.”

She pulled her hand away slowly, her memories of Trevor’s gala catching up to her. “So they’re blue diamonds?”

“No,” Heath assured her, popping out a light, which he flicked on. “These are from the new violet line that Trevor never got around to announcing.”

As he waved the black light across their surface, the diamonds phosphoresced with a faint purple glow. Tracie smiled slowly.

“Do you like them?” Heath asked in a soft voice.

Unsure what to say, Tracie looked into his face. “Is this what you’ve been up to for the last two weeks?”

“That and fighting pneumonia.”

“You had pneumonia?” Immediately Tracie felt guilty. She hadn’t even known. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why? What would you have done?”

Her mouth fell open and she tried to process an answer, but none seemed to fit. She wouldn’t have gone to visit him, would she? “How bad was it?” she asked.

Heath laughed, but his laughter quickly morphed into a fit of coughing. “After everything I’d been through—” he coughed again, his blue eyes melting into hers “—pretty bad.”

“I thought you were invincible.” She couldn’t keep the concern from her voice.

“Turns out I’m not after all.”

Her heart wrenched at his admission, and she gave up trying to stifle her curiosity about what had happened to him. “So, you’re not at the FBI anymore?”

“No.” Heath looked at her levelly. “I thought I’d lose my job after bucking the order to come in, but since Jonas Goodman is behind bars now, none of his orders stand. Turns out the Bureau was pretty glad I stepped in and picked up the slack. They offered me my boss’s job.”

“I’m confused,” Tracie admitted, not sure what he was trying to tell her.

“I didn’t take it.” Heath looked down at the diamond-studded tools he held, and his voice sounded hoarse as he explained, “I had a lot of fun working for the FBI, but I realized I’d been running from my family for too long. I resented not really knowing my parents growing up, but by refusing to forgive them, I denied myself the opportunity to get to know them.” Heath shifted the tools to one hand and reached for her, “I want to settle down, to raise a family, to carry on the family business for another generation.”

Tracie’s throat swelled, and she didn’t trust herself to
speak. Maybe the Heath she’d fallen in love with hadn’t been a cover after all. Maybe she’d fallen in love with the real man.

Heath started to close the tool case, but then paused, looked at her, looked down at the tools, and then opened the case again. “Not all of these are violet diamonds.” He reached toward a large gem that sat in the center of the display. “This one here wasn’t grown in a lab. God made it.” He held up a diamond solitaire ring. “And I’d like you to have it, but only—” He paused, his voice so husky she could barely make out his words. He set the rest of the tool kit behind him.

Lowering himself down on one knee, he took her hand. “Only if you’ll marry me.”

Tracie looked at him, and all the anger and disappointment she’d felt at his betrayal suddenly felt like far too heavy a burden to bear. She didn’t want to stay mad at him. The last thing she wanted to do was to deny herself the opportunity to love him by refusing to forgive him. No, she wanted to love him forever and always. It was all she could do to nod and reach for the ring.

Heath stood and slid it onto her finger, then kissed her.

She kissed him back, and finally felt as though all the uncertainties of the future before her had found their answer. When he pulled back, she looked at the brilliant ring. “It fits perfectly. How did you know my size?”

“Jake ratted you out.”

Tracie had heard that line before. She laughed and kissed him again, unmindful of the thick snow that had begun to fall and stick to them.

“Oh, sure, they’re just partners, she says.” The purple-suited figure stopped behind them, blew out an exasperated
breath, and walked on to her car. “Young people these days!”

“He’s not my partner anymore,” Tracie called after her. “He’s my fiancé!” Then she threw back her head and laughed with Heath until he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.

Dear Reader,

I’ve had so much fun revisiting my Devil’s Island characters and helping Tracie Crandall find her happily ever after with Heath. Tracie has learned to be a tough, no-nonsense kind of girl, but once Heath breaks through her defenses, he finds a frightened woman in need of a friend. Heath has put up his own walls—blocking his family, and keeping out God. As they learn to trust one another, their love blossoms.

Tracie and Heath were very enjoyable characters for me to work with, because I was able to emphasize strongly with each of them. In fact, I think many of us have put up emotional barriers in our lives from time to time, pushing people away so we can’t be hurt again. These walls aren’t necessarily a bad thing—sometimes we just need time to heal. But if we cower for too long behind our defenses, we can miss out on the good gifts God is trying to give us, just as Heath and Tracie almost missed out on the their love for each other.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Heath and Tracie! I have more romantic adventures in the works. Check out my Web site at www.rachellemccalla.com for news about upcoming new releases, as well as fun background articles on the people and places in my books! And feel free to drop a comment in my blog—I love hearing from readers!

Rachelle

1. Because of his investigation, Heath wasn’t allowed to tell Tracie who he really worked for. How do you feel about his deception? Do you believe he made the right choice? Why or why not?
   
2. Tracie is initially very cold toward Heath because of her previous experiences with Trevor. Do you believe her behavior is justifiable? Does it make you respect her more or less?
   
3. Does anyone in your life make an exaggerated effort to keep you at arm’s length as Tracie did with Heath? Do you treat anyone this way? What are the benefits and costs of this kind of behavior?
   
4. At the start of the story, Tracie has few friends or family members she is close to. How does this make her more vulnerable? What would you have done differently in her shoes?
   
5. When Heath shows up at her house with pizza, Tracie lets him in, in spite of her personal policy against fraternizing with her coworkers. Do you think she made the right choice? Why or why not?
   
6. As Heath begins to care for Tracie, he realizes he’s lost his ability to objectively evaluate her as a suspect—in other words, his feelings for her make him more likely to overlook indications that she might be guilty. Have you ever experienced something similar? Do you tend to favor the people you are close to over
   others? In what ways is that a good thing? In what ways might it be bad?
   
7. As Heath and Tracie make their dive, Heath observes that Tracie’s smaller, more nimble shape is better suited to diving, whereas his strength is an advantage on land. What other differing gifts did you observe between them? How does this strengthen them as a team? What challenges does it present?
   
8. Heath insisted on working even though he was wounded. Do you think he made the right choice? Why or why not?
   
9. Tracie begins to trust Heath in part because her dog, Gunnar, likes him. Do you think this is a solid basis for her trust? How would you have behaved in the same situation?
   
10. When Heath risks his life to rescue Gunnar, Tracie realizes she shouldn’t have asked him to endanger himself for her dog. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
    
11. Heath resents the fact that his parents weren’t available to him as a child. Have you ever had similar feelings toward a significant person in your life? How does Heath overcome his resentment? Do you agree with Heath’s decision to go back home and run the family business?
    
12. Tracie says that God can take things other people meant for evil, and turn the into something good (see
    Romans
    8:28). Do you believe this is true? In
    what ways has God taken negative experiences in your life and made them turn out for good?
    
13. Heath imagines that God is too busy for him because his parents were too busy for him growing up. In what ways has your relationship or lack of relationship with your parents influenced your attitude toward God? In what ways has this been good? In what ways bad?
    
14. Tracie’s faith is the foundation of her life. Because of this, she has determined she can’t be in an intimate relationship with a man who doesn’t have a relationship with God—which means she initially can’t date Heath. Do you agree with her decision? What are the benefits and costs of her decision? What would you do differently?
    
15. Tracie has learned self-defense to protect herself, and uses her moves at various points throughout the book. Do you feel this is appropriate for a Christian woman in her position? How might you have behaved differently?