You Can Run... (42 page)

By now she was shaking violently and sweating so much from the pain of her gunshot wound, the gun was slipping from her hand. The room seemed to spin around her and she kept blinking, trying to clear her vision, which she did enough to see Blake aiming at her. With the last of her strength, Diana pushed Willow sideways and closed her eyes just before she heard the sound of a gunshot. She felt nothing, and a second later she opened her eyes to see Blake weaving. Still, he aimed again at Diana. She looked beyond Blake. In the front entrance to the library stood Tyler Raines holding his gun.

“Stop Wentworth,” Tyler said fiercely.

Blake’s next shot was quickly followed by Tyler’s. Blake jerked but managed to remain standing, ready to squeeze off another round.

“I said
stop
!” Tyler yelled.

Blake laughed raggedly. “Not on your life, Mr. Raines.”

He pointed the gun at Willow. Diana closed her eyes, and her breath stopped as the sound of another shot crashed through the room. She opened her eyes to see Blake suddenly standing perfectly still and smiling. Then, slowly, his smile twisted, his beautiful ebony eyes went blank, he spun halfway around, and crashed facedown on the polished hardwood floor.

December Twentieth

“Well, I never thought my house catching on fire could lead to
this
!”

“Is this where I say God works in mysterious ways?” Diana said, as she tucked a wisp of Clarice’s silver hair into her French twist then inserted a comb edged with iridescent amethyst-colored beads. “Perfect! Do you want to see?”

Diana gave Clarice a hand mirror, and the woman stood up and looked at the back of her hair in the vanity mirror. “You did a beautiful job, Diana! At the beauty shop they pull my hair so tight I feel like my mouth is stretched into a hideous grin!”

Diana laughed. “Maybe I missed my calling. I should have become a hairstylist.”

“Don’t let Simon hear you say that, particularly after your last gallery showing in New York. No more tourist center pamphlets for you!”

“Just as well. That spiffy head of the tourism board with the bow tie said my pictures weren’t ‘up to snuff.’ ”

“He’s a fool, as Simon would say.” Clarice laid down the hand mirror and turned in front of Diana. “How do I look? And be honest.”

Clarice wore an amethyst-colored satin sheath dress
with long sleeves and a boat neck. A twenty-two-inch strand of pearls hung from her neck, and pearls dangled from her ears, all belonging to Simon’s mother, and his gift to Clarice along with an antique-styled diamond engagement ring. Clarice had allowed Diana to emphasize her violet eyes with some pink and violet eye shadow, a bit of eyeliner, and mascara. She wore dyed purple pumps with two-inch heels and had no need for a walker today.

“Clarice, you look absolutely beautiful. No wonder a seventy-five-year-old confirmed bachelor proposed to you.”

Clarice smiled and blushed. “I was
so
surprised.”

“I wasn’t. I think I’ve expected it since the first week you spent here.”

Clarice’s smile dimmed slightly. “What a week that was! Every day something awful happened, and yet just four months later, look how happy we are. Especially little Willow. I cannot believe how that child is blossoming.”

Frankly, neither could Diana. After the horrendous scene with Blake in this very house, they had all learned not only how Jeffrey Cavanaugh had been treated as a child by his father, but how Blake had set out to ruin the rest of Jeff’s life.
Blake
had murdered Morgan.
Blake
had murdered Yvette.
Blake
had pushed Penny into deserting a man she believed was a killer, only to die at the hands of the only man besides Tyler that she trusted.

At first Jeffrey had been so stunned to learn the truth about Blake, that he had no wish to take Willow away from Simon and Diana. She still feared him, and he said he feared himself, particularly his bad judgment, which had resulted in the murders of his two wives. Even his sister had not been what he’d believed. He’d gone back to New York and dived into psychotherapy. Meanwhile Simon and Diana had seen to it that Willow also got the psychological help she needed.

Then slowly, father and daughter had begun to come together. At first Jeffrey made a few weekend trips to Huntington. Then Diana had taken Willow to New York for short visits. Jeffrey spent Thanksgiving with Simon,
Clarice, and Diana, and after Christmas, Willow would be going to New York for a week’s stay with her father, while Diana would happily spend time with Tyler, whom Jeffrey had promised could always be part of Willow’s life—although the two men would probably never be more than polite to each other. They all hoped that by early summer, Willow would once again be living with her father full time.

Smiling, Diana left the downstairs bedroom where Clarice had spent her first week with them and went into the kitchen, checking to make certain the caterers had everything under control. Tyler stood by the counter, dressed in his tuxedo, his longish hair combed back. “You look devilishly handsome,” she said.

“And you look gorgeous,” he replied, gazing at her green velvet dress. “Sure you’re not upset about not being a bridesmaid?”

“Heavens, no. Clarice has a daughter and two granddaughters for that job. Simon, however, didn’t let you off so easily. Best man! How impressive!”

“My first time.” He paused. “Oh, gosh, I hope I didn’t lose the ring!” Tyler looked genuinely alarmed, and Diana began patting down his pockets before he pulled out the diamond-studded wedding band. “Well, here it is after all, but you’re welcome to keep searching.”

Diana made a face at him. “We’re supposed to be greeting guests.”

They walked into the flower-filled library. Diana could almost forget what had happened in there back in August when Blake had stood with a gun pointed at her and Willow. Later, after the paramedics had come to her aid once again, she’d learned that Simon had expected Blake to return to the hospital with the Porsche. When he hadn’t, he and Tyler had asked Simon’s lawyer to give them a ride back to the Van Etton house. Simon tried to call her. No answer, then the abrupt loss of service when Blake shot the phone told them something was very wrong.

Urging the lawyer to drive faster than he ever had up the winding roads of Ritter Park, they reached the Van Etton grounds to find the surveillance patrol officer dead in his car. Simon had told the story a hundred times of how his lawyer stood blithering at the patrol car, while Simon and Tyler had jumped in the man’s car, Tyler flooring it until they pulled up behind the Porsche, where Tyler jumped out and dashed into the house, gun drawn, and heroically saved the day. “He’ll be telling that story for the rest of his life,” Diana had told Tyler. “It’s exactly what he always pictured himself doing.”

All of the furniture had been removed from the library, and a carpeted aisle ran between chairs up to a small altar where the minister of Clarice’s church would perform the service. People had gathered—more on the groom’s side than on the bride’s, but Diana knew Clarice didn’t mind. Her daughter looked lovely in a dove-gray dress and her own imitation pearls. Clarice’s youngest granddaughter, Sue, kept mostly to herself, admiring her bouquet and smiling shyly. The thirteen-year-old, Katy, kept fussing with her hair, which, as Willow had claimed, looked like a bird nest.

Finally Jeffrey Cavanaugh arrived. He had lost at least twenty pounds since Penny’s death, and the perpetually angry, frustrated expression had left his face. Even his eyes looked gentler, their color dulled to soft pewter from glittering silver. “Hello, Diana. Tyler,” he said with a slightly hesitant smile. He still wasn’t confident that all was understood and forgiven. That would come, Diana thought, because she and Simon had no intention of cutting Jeffrey from their lives, and not just for the sake of Willow.

“How’s Lenore?” Diana whispered.

“Much better. She’ll be out of the convalescent home by the first of the year. I’m having a nurse stay with her for a couple of months, but she’ll come out of this depression. She’s already come a long way. My sister is a strong girl.” He looked down. “And so is my daughter.”

Willow had appeared at the door looking angelic in
dark-blue velvet with a matching ribbon holding back her hair. She’d completely lost the tight, gray, haunted look of the weeks after her mother’s death. Her blue eyes twinkled, and her cheeks bore a rosy glow no makeup could copy.

“Hi . . . Daddy.” Jeffrey blinked. She had not called him Daddy until today. “You look very nice.”

“Well, thank you,” Jeffrey said uncertainly. “You look beautiful.”

Willow smiled. “Are we still havin’ the big New Year’s Eve party like you promised?”

“It might not be as big as you think, but we’re definitely having a party,” Jeffrey said. “The invitations have all ready been mailed.”

“I know ’cause Diana got one.” She looked up at them. “You’re comin’ with Tyler, aren’t you?”

“I certainly am,” Diana said. “Clarice and Simon will still be on their honeymoon. I sure can’t stay around here and be bored to tears. And I’ll bring along Tyler because he assures me he’s fun at parties.”

“You want to be
anywhere
with Tyler,” Willow said impishly, then looked at her father. “Diana’s movin’ to New York real soon,” Willow told him.

“I know. You’ll get to see her all the time even when you come live with me.”

“Yeah, and she and Tyler are gonna get married.” She looked at Diana. “You
are
getting married, aren’t you?”

“If he behaves himself until May,” Diana said solemnly.

“Oh, he will ’cause he wants to marry you a whole lot and I want to be in the wedding like you said I could, so he’d better not mess it up for me. Besides, once Mommy told me a real big secret. She said she wished Diana and Badge would get married.” Willow beamed. “She’d be
so
happy her wish is comin’ true.”

No one knew quite the right thing to say after Willow’s pronouncement. Diana could have jumped for joy when, unbeknownst to any of them, Christabel and Romeo—winding their way through the obstacle course of feet—arrived unharmed to greet Willow. Diana had just noticed
them before Romeo let out a boisterous
“Quack!”
People turned in their chairs to look in surprise, but Willow burst into giggles, stooped down, and kissed each cat on the head.

“Don’t they look beautiful, Daddy? They’re all dressed up!”

Jeffrey looked down at the two cats wearing large, white satin bows around their necks and broke into laughter. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen cats in formal wear,” he said.

The organist started to play and, with a wink at Diana, Willow led her father to seats on Clarice’s side. She leaned over and whispered something to Jeffrey, who bent his head and kissed her cheek.

Tyler pulled Diana against him. “Do you remember the day after the explosion when I told you miracles exist and you asked me what was Penny’s miracle?” he whispered in her ear. She nodded, and he looked at Willow and Jeffrey holding hands. “
That
is Penny’s miracle—her extraordinary daughter holding hands with a good and loving father.”