AT FIRST JANE thought that she might have misheard the other woman. But when she leaned forward and looked into Marie’s cold eyes, she knew that she hadn’t.
“I’m not crippled,” Jane said proudly. “Temporarily slowed down, but not permanently disabled.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I must have misunderstood. It doesn’t matter. Whatever your problem is, Todd felt sorry for you. He’s a sucker for a hard-luck story. Amazing, isn’t it,” she added, watching Jane as she played her trump card, “that a multimillionaire, the head of an international corporation, would sacrifice his vacation to get an insignificant little horse ranch out of the red.”
Jane didn’t move, didn’t breathe, didn’t flinch. She stared at the older woman blankly. “I beg your pardon?”
Marie’s pencil-thin brows rose. “You didn’t know?” She laughed pleasantly. “Well, how incredible! He’s been featured in God knows how many business magazines. Although, I don’t suppose you read that sort of thing, do you?” she added, allowing her eyes to pause meaningfully on the latest issue of a magazine on horsemanship.
“I don’t read business magazines, no,” Jane said. She touched her throat lightly, as if she felt choked.
“Todd must have found it all so amusing, pretending to be a simple accountant,” Marie said, leaning back on the sofa elegantly. “I mean, what a comedown for him! Living like this—” she waved a careless arm “—and driving that pitiful old sedan he borrowed. Honestly, he had to have the chauffeur drive the Ferrari and the Rolls twice a week just to keep them from getting carbon on the valves.”
Rolls. Ferrari. Multimillionaire. Jane felt as if she were strangling. “But he keeps the books,” she argued, trying desperately to come to grips with what she was being told.
“He’s a wizard with figures, all right,” Marie said. “He’s an utter genius at math, and without a college education, too. He has a gift, they say.”
“But, why?” she groaned. “Why didn’t he tell me the truth?”
“I suppose he was afraid that you might fall in love with his bank account,” Marie said with a calculating glance. “So many women have, and you were a poverty case. Not only that, a disabled poverty case. You might have thought he was the end of the rainbow.”
Jane’s face went rigid. She got to her feet slowly. “I make my own way,” she said coldly. “I don’t need any handouts, or anybody’s pity.”
“Well, of course you don’t,” Marie said. “I’m sure Todd would have told you the truth, eventually.”
Jane’s hands clenched by her side. She was white.
The sound of running footsteps distracted Marie.
“Meg says she’ll bring the—Jane! What is it?” Cherry asked as she entered the room, concerned. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“Yes, you are very pale,” Marie said. She glanced worriedly at her daughter. She hadn’t counted the cost until now. Cherry was looking at her with eyes that grew steadily colder.
“What did you say, Mother?” she asked her parent.
Marie got up and clasped her hands in front of her. “I only told her the truth,” she said defensively. “She’d have found out anyway.”
“About Dad?” Cherry persisted. When Marie nodded, Cherry’s face contorted. She looked at Jane and felt the older woman’s pain and shock all the way to her feet.
Marie was feeling less confident by the second. Cherry’s eyes were hostile and so were Jane’s. “I should go, I suppose,” Marie began.
“That might be a very good idea, Mother,” Cherry said icily. “Before Dad comes home.”
Another complication Marie hadn’t considered. She gnawed her lower lip. “I never meant to...”
“Just go,” Jane snapped.
“And the sooner the better,” Cherry added.
“Don’t you talk to me that way! I’m your mother!” Marie reminded her hotly.
“I’m ashamed of that,” Cherry said harshly. “I’ve never been so ashamed of it in all my life!”
Marie’s indrawn breath was audible. Her pale eyes filled with sudden tears. “I only wanted...” she began plaintively.
Cherry turned her back. Marie hesitated only for a moment before she scooped up her purse and went quickly to the front door. The tears were raining down her cheeks by the time she reached the Mercedes.
Inside the house, Jane was still trying to subdue her rage. She sat down again, aware of Cherry’s worried gaze.
“Is what she said true? That your father owns a computer company, that he has a Ferrari and a Rolls and he’s spending his vacation getting my ranch out of debt because he feels sorry for me?” Jane asked the girl.
Cherry groaned. “Oh, it’s true, but it’s not like that! Mother’s just jealous because I talk about you so much. I guess I upset her when I made her realize how little we had in common. It’s all my fault. Oh, Jane...!”
Jane took another steadying breath and folded her hands in her lap. “I wondered,” she said absently. “I mean, with a brain like that, why would he still be working for somebody else, at his age. I’ve been a fool! He played me like a radio!”
“He didn’t do it to hurt you,” Cherry argued. “Jane, he just wanted to help. And then, after we’d been here for a while, he didn’t know how to tell you. I’m sure that’s why he hasn’t said anything. He cares for you.”
Cares. He’d said that he loved her. But you don’t keep secrets from people you love, she was thinking. He’d lied by omission. He’d let her fall in love with him, and he had to know that there was no future for them. If he’d been a simple accountant, perhaps it would have worked out. But he was a multimillionaire, a powerful businessman. What would he want with a little country girl from south Texas who only had a high school education and no social skills? She wouldn’t know what to do with herself at a society party. She wouldn’t even know what utensils to use. And she was a rancher. Her eyes closed as the reality closed in on her.
“Talk to me,” Cherry pleaded.
Jane couldn’t. She gripped her legs hard as she fought with her demons. Todd was coming back today. She’d have to face him. How would she be able to face him, with what she knew?
Then the solution occurred to her. Copper. She could invite Copper over for supper, and play up to him—if she warned Copper first that she was going to—and she could put on a good act. It had all been a mistake, she hadn’t meant what she said about loving him, she was lying...
“I don’t want your father to know that your mother told me the truth,” Jane said after a minute. Her blue eyes met Cherry’s gray ones evenly. “I’ll talk to him later.”
“Mother’s not vindictive, really,” Cherry said in her mother’s defense. “She’s just shallow, and jealous. It’s funny, really, because she doesn’t even know how to talk to me. Not like you do. Please don’t hate me because of this, Jane.”
“Cherry!” Jane was genuinely shocked. “As if I could hate you!”
The young face softened. Cherry smiled. “We’re still friends?”
“Certainly we are. None of this has anything to do with you and me.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” she said heavily.
“It’s just as well, really,” Jane continued without looking directly at Cherry, “because I’d decided that things wouldn’t work out with your father and me, anyway. He isn’t really the rancher type.”
Cherry frowned. “But he comes from ranching people in Wyoming. He grew up around horses and cattle.”
“Still, he doesn’t spend much time with them now,” Jane insisted. “If he’s the president of a company, then he lives in the fast lane. I don’t. I can’t.”
Cherry saw all her dreams coming apart. “You could get to know him better before you decide that you can’t.”
Jane smiled and shook her head. “No. You see, Dr. Coltrain and I were talking the other day. Copper’s like me, he’s from Jacobsville and his family has lived here as long as mine has. We’re suited to each other. In fact,” she lied, “I’ve invited him for supper tonight.”
“You didn’t tell me,” Cherry protested.
“I didn’t know you’d be here, did I?” she asked, and sounded so reasonable that Cherry was totally fooled. “For all I knew, your father was going to drive up to Victoria to get you tomorrow.”
“Yes, that’s so,” Cherry admitted.
“You’re welcome to have your supper with us,” Jane offered, hoping against hope that Cherry would refuse and trying not to look too relieved when she did. She was also hoping that Copper would come to supper when she invited him, or she was going to get caught lying to save face.
“I expect Dad and I will go out and get something, when he gets home, like we do most nights,” Cherry said uncomfortably.
“That will be nice.”
“Jane, don’t you care about him at all?” Cherry asked plaintively.
“I like him very much,” Jane said at once. “He’s a very nice man, and I owe him a lot.”
Cherry felt sick. She managed a wan smile and made an excuse to go over to the small house where she and her father were staying.
When she was gone, Jane let go of the tears she’d been holding back and was just mopping herself up when Meg walked in with a tray of cookies and cake and tea, smiling.
The smile faded at once when she saw Jane’s ravaged face. “Is she gone already? What in the world happened?”
Jane wiped savagely at the traces of tears. “Everything!” she raged. “That pirate! That cold-blooded, blond-headed snake!”
“Todd? Why are you mad at our accountant?”
“He’s no accountant,” Jane said viciously. “He’s the head of a computer company and he’s worth millions!”
Meg started, and then burst out laughing. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, pull the other one!”
“It’s true! He’s got a Rolls at home!”
Meg set the tray down. “There, there, they were putting you on. Why, Todd’s no millionaire!”
“He is,” Jane insisted. “Cherry didn’t want to agree with what her mother told me, but she did. Her mother might lie to me. Cherry never would.”
Meg was less certain now. She frowned. “If he’s a millionaire, why’s he down here keeping your books?”
“Because I’m a poor cripple,” Jane said huskily. “And he felt sorry for me. He’s spending his vacation getting me out of the hole.” She put her face in her hands and shook her head. “Now I don’t have to wonder why the bank let me have the loan, either. I’m sure he stood good for it. I’ll owe him my soul!”
Meg wiped her hands on her apron, hovering nervously. “Jane, you mustn’t get upset like this. Wait until Todd gets back and talk to him about it.”
“What will I tell him?”
“That you didn’t know...”
“And now that I do?” she asked openly. “I’ll tell him I know he’s rich, and then he’ll never be sure if I care for him or his wallet, will he? He might think I knew all along. His ex-wife said that he’s been featured in all the business magazines. I don’t read them, but he doesn’t know that.”
“I see what you mean.”
Jane got up from the sofa. “Well, I’m going to set his mind at ease, with a little help.”
“From whom?”
“Copper, of course,” Jane said. “He’s already said that Copper and I seemed to be an item. Why shouldn’t we be? Copper said he’d marry me in a minute if I was willing.”
“That’s no reason to get married! Copper deserves better!”
Jane stared at her housekeeper. “Of course he does, and it won’t be for real. I’m going to ask an old friend for a favor, that’s all.”
Meg relaxed. “As long as he doesn’t get hurt.”
“He won’t.” She didn’t add that she would. She’d already been hurt. But Todd wasn’t going to know. She was going to turn the tables on him and save her pride. It was the only thing she had left to protect herself with now.
AS SHE’D GUESSED, Copper was willing to help her out by coming over to supper. He was on call, though, so he brought his beeper with him. They sat down to an early supper of fried chicken and vegetables. Jane was wearing a white dress and her hair was immaculately brushed back and secured with white combs. She looked elegant and very beautiful, except for the hollow expression in her eyes.
“Does it matter so much that he’s got money?” Copper asked her over coffee.
“It would to him, if he thought it was the reason I was attracted to him,” she said.
“He’ll know better.”
“How?”
“He loves you, you idiot,” Copper said curtly. “He’ll be furious, and not at you. I don’t doubt he’ll have some choice words for his ex-wife.”
“Maybe he’ll thank her,” she returned lightly. “After all, he was in a bit of a muddle here. He’d backed himself into a corner playing the part of a working man with no prospects.”
“It probably meant more to him that you loved him in his disguise.”
“How would he know that I hadn’t been in on the secret all along?”
Copper nodded; it was a logical question. But he was smiling when he put down his napkin. “Because Cherry will tell him how shocked you were.”
“Maybe I’m a good actress. Cherry’s mother said that plenty of women had wanted him for his bank account.”
“And don’t you think he’d know the difference between a woman who wanted money and a woman who wanted him?”
“I don’t know,” Jane said honestly.
“Listen...”
The front door opened without even a knock and Todd stalked into the dining room. He was wearing a gray business suit with a spotless white shirt and a silk tie. His boots were hand-tooled leather. He was wearing a Rolex watch on his left wrist and a signet ring with a diamond that would have blinded a horse. For the first time, Jane saw him as he really was: an authority figure bristling with money and power.
He didn’t smile as he stared at her, and his gaze didn’t waver. “When Miss Emory finally got to me with Marie’s message, I canceled a meeting. I was waiting for Marie when she got back home. I’ve had her version of what she said. Let’s have yours.”
Copper cleared his throat, to make sure that Todd knew he was sitting there.
Todd glanced at him with cold gray eyes. “I haven’t missed the cozy supper scenario,” he told the doctor. “But I know why it’s being played out. Do you?”
“Oh, I have a dandy idea,” Copper replied. “Wouldn’t it have been easier all around to just tell the truth in the first place? Or were you having fun at Jane’s expense?”
Todd laughed without mirth. He stuck his hands into his slacks pockets and stared at Jane from his superior, elegant height. “Fun. I’ve got merger negotiations stacked one on another, international contracts waiting for consideration, stockholders telephoning twice a day... No, I haven’t been having fun. I’ve put my life on hold trying to get this horse ranch out of bankruptcy so that Jane would at least have a roof over her head. It was an impulse. Once I started the charade, I couldn’t find a way to stop it.”
“You could have told me the truth,” Jane said stiffly.
“What truth?” he asked pleasantly. “That I felt sorry for you, because you were hurt and such a fighter despite your injuries? And that you stood to lose everything you owned just for lack of an accountant? I couldn’t walk away.”
“Well, thanks for all you did,” Jane replied, averting her eyes. “But now that you’ve got me on my feet, I can stay there all by myself.”
“Sure you can,” he agreed. “You’ve got a licensing contract and some decent stock to breed. You’ll make it. You would have anyway, if Tim had been a little sharper in the math department. This is a first-class operation. All I did was pull the loose ends together. You’re a born rancher. You’ve got what it takes to make this place pay, with a little help from Tim and Meg.”
The praise unsettled her, even as it thrilled her. At least he didn’t think she was an idiot. That was something. But the distance between them was more apparent than ever now that she knew the truth about him.
She clasped her hands tightly out of sight in her lap. “And you?”
“I’ve got a business of my own to run,” he said. “Cherry will start back to school soon. We’d have had to leave anyway, a little later than this, perhaps. Cherry owes you a lot for what you’ve taught her. She has a chance in rodeo now.”
“Cherry is my friend. I hope she always will be.”
“Cherry. But not me?”
She looked up into his eyes. “I’m grateful for what you did. But you must surely see that we live in different worlds.” She sighed wearily. “I’m not cut out for yours, any more than you’re cut out for mine. It’s just as well that it worked out this way.”
“You haven’t tried,” he said angrily.
“I’m not going to,” was the quiet reply. “I like my life as it is. Exactly as it is. I’m very grateful for the help you gave me. I’ll repay the loan.”
His face hardened. “I never doubted that you would. I backed it. I didn’t fund it.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
His chest rose and fell heavily. He glared at Copper, because he could say none of what he wanted to say with the unwanted audience.
“Shall I leave?” Copper offered.
“Not on your life,” Jane said shortly.
“Afraid of me?” Todd murmured with a mocking smile.
“There’s nothing more to say,” she replied. “Except goodbye.”
“Cherry will be devastated,” he said.
She drew in a breath. “Yes, I know. I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt her. But, it’s the only thing to do.”
He looked unapproachable. “Perhaps we see different things. If you’ll have Tim phone me Monday morning, I’ll explain to him what I’ve done. You need a business manager, unless you want to end up in the same financial tangle you started in.”
“I know that. I’ll take care of it.”
“Then I’ll say good night.”
“I’m grateful for everything,” Jane added stiffly.
He looked at her for a long moment. “Everything?” he said in a sensuous tone.
She colored. It seemed to be the reaction he’d wanted, because he laughed coldly, nodded to Coltrain and stalked out, closing the door behind him.
Copper stared at her. “You fool. Is pride worth more than he is to you?”
“At the moment, yes,” she said icily. She was fighting tears and trying not to show it. “He’s a pompous, hateful...”
“You shouldn’t have forced this discussion on him before you had a couple of days to think about what you wanted to do,” he said gently. “Impulses are very often regretted.”
“Is that a professional opinion?” she asked angrily.
“Personal, professional, there isn’t much difference,” he replied. “You’re going to be sorry that you didn’t give him a chance to talk.”
“I did,” she said with wide, innocent eyes. “And he did.”
“He defended himself. That’s all he had time to do. With me sitting here, he hardly had the opportunity to do any real discussing.”
“It’s all for the best,” she told him quietly.
“If you want to spend the rest of your life alone, maybe it is. But money isn’t everything.”
“When you don’t have any, it is.”
He glowered at her. “Listen to me, this might be the last chance you get. He’s proud, too, you know. He won’t come crawling back, any more than I would in his place. He’s not the sort.”
She knew that, too. She put her napkin on the table and stood up. “Thanks for coming over tonight. I don’t think I’d have had the nerve to face him if you hadn’t been here.”
“What are friends for?” he asked. He stood up, too, and took her gently by the shoulders. “There’s still time to stop him. You could go over to the cabin and have it out.”
“We had it out,” she argued.
“No, you didn’t. You sat there like a polite hostess, but you sure as hell didn’t do any discussing.”
“I can take care of my own life, thank you.”
“If that’s true, what am I doing here?”
She searched his eyes. “Moral support.”
He smiled. “I asked for that.”
“I’m sorry. I really do appreciate your coming over so quickly when I asked.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you’ll do the same for me if I’m ever in a comparable situation. But all you did was postpone the problem, you know. You didn’t solve anything.”
“I saved face,” she replied. “He’ll go back to Victoria and run his company, and I’ll stay down here and breed horses and make money selling clothes.”
“You’ll be lonely.”
She looked up. “That’s nothing new. I was lonely before he came here. But people learn every day how to live with being lonely. I have a roof over my head, my books are in great shape, my body’s healing nicely and I’m going to get this ranch back on its feet. It’s what Dad would have wanted.”
“Your dad would have wanted to see you happy.”
She smiled. “Yes, but he was a realist. Todd wouldn’t have married me,” she said quietly. “You know it, too. I’m not the sort of woman rich men marry. I’ve got rustic manners and I don’t know how to dress or use six forks for one meal.”
“You could learn those things. You’re beautiful, and elegant, and you have charm and grace. No woman born with a silver spoon could do better.”
She grinned through her heartbreak. “You’re a prince.”
He sighed and checked his watch. “I’m done talking. I have to make rounds at the hospital. Call if you need me. But I wish you’d reconsider. You’re not perfect. Why expect it of other people?”
“I never lied to him,” she said pointedly. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever really lied at all.”
“You let him think we were romantically involved. That’s lying.”
“Implying,” she corrected. “The rules don’t say you can’t imply things.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll be in touch.” He bent and kissed her cheek gently. “Try not to brood too much.”
“I will.”
She watched him go. The house was suddenly emptier than ever, and when she heard a car door slam minutes later, the whole world seemed that way. She peered through the curtains just in time to watch Todd and Cherry go down the driveway for the last time. The house they’d occupied was closed up and dark, like the cold space under her own heart.