Chapter 16

 

Travis followed Kali into the bedroom, watching her rub her wet body dry and pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Her movements were uncoordinated and jerky, indicating that she was still angry with him. He had a pretty good idea this was the kind of anger he couldn't tease her out of.

"I knew how badly you wanted to find Cheryl, and I figured if there was something I could do to help speed the process up, you wouldn't mind." He preferred getting it all out in the open. "I'd sure like to know how you found out."

She spun around to face him. "Malcolm called me today. He isn't at all happy that you've stuck your nose into this business."

Only the tightening of his jaw indicated he was impatient. "Kali, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Now, I figure that gives me a few rights in your life, including helping you find your daughter," he said quietly.

For the first time she was speechless. That was the last thing she'd expected to hear from him.

He stepped forward and grasped her shoulders firmly. "How many times have I told you how much I love you?" he demanded. "How many times have I proved it? That's what gives me the right to try to help you when you need someone. I love you more than life itself, and I'll protect you and yours with whatever it takes. I love you so much, I can't see life without you. I'm even willing to compromise by living a few months of the year in Virginia if you're willing to live here with me. And just to make it all very clear, I'm talking about marriage, not just a long-term relationship." Travis lowered his head. "It won't be easy for us. We're both too stubborn for our own good," he said softly, "but if I'm willing to give it a chance, why can't you?"

Kali thought back over the many days they had spent together at the cabin. He had given her so much, and what had she given him? Had she given as much to him emotionally as he had to her? That answer was very apparent, and she felt ashamed.

"I do love you," she said finally. "I've been afraid because I didn't want to get hurt, even though I knew you'd be the last person to hurt me. I'd like to try living here, and perhaps we could keep the cabin as a vacation home." She raised her face to look up at him, her eyes glistening, her lips parted. "And I cannot think of anything more fulfilling than to be your wife."

For the first time she saw a faint glimmer of hope in his eyes. "You're not mad that I've been trying to find Cheryl for you?" She shook her head. "Then I suggest we crack open a bottle of wine and plan a wedding to end all weddings. If you're a good girl, I'll give you a month to plan it but no more, because I don't intend to lose you again."

She laughed, unable to take it all in. The last thing she'd expected when she was yelling at him ten minutes ago was a marriage proposal!

"One month," she agreed. "Just be prepared for one very special wedding."

He bent and kissed her swiftly. "Good, because it will be one to last forever and a day."

Where did the month go? Kali wondered as she dressed in the rose-pink suit she had chosen to wear for the ceremony. There had been so many details to take care of, and she often felt she needed more time than thirty days. Most importantly, where had Travis gone? He'd told her four days ago that he needed to take a quick trip but would be back in plenty of time for the wedding. Well, the wedding was now a little under two hours off, and there still hadn't been word from the groom.

"Here's your something borrowed." Jenny entered the room with the handkerchief she had carried in her own wedding.

"Have you heard from Travis?" Kali demanded, spinning around.

"He called from the airport a little while ago.

Don't worry, Kali. He said he'd be here in time, and he will be."

She clenched her hands together. "If he isn't, I swear I'll kill him."

Jenny chuckled. "Don't worry, he'll be here."

Kali was still worrying all the way up to twenty minutes before the ceremony. She had vivid thoughts of being abandoned at the altar. She paced the chapel's anteroom, thinking up dire ways to get even if Travis didn't make it in time.

"Kali!" Jenny shouted from outside. "Come here, quickly!"

"Oh, no, he's hurt," she said with a moan, rushing out of the room. When she reached the steps of the church, she caught sight of a weary Travis standing beside a taxicab. Standing beside him was a small girl who held tightly onto his hand. She was looking around curiously. At last her eyes came to rest upon Kali, who stood frozen at the doorway.

Kali's hands flew to her heart, and she gasped. Standing before her was her mirror image, a child unmistakably her own.

"Oh, my God," she breathed, walking slowly forward. "Cheryl?" Tears filled her eyes. She had grown so much! Where was the little girl she had known? Her heart ached with the knowledge that she had lost so many years. Yet here she was. Kali longed to touch her, make sure that this child would not turn out to be a dream. But would Cheryl remember her?

"Mommy?" Her voice was timid, and she looked anxious. But as she gazed up at the woman before her, recognition flooded over her. This was the woman in the photograph her father had given her to keep by her bedside! How many nights had the little girl hugged that picture, wondering why her mommy was gone, crying for her to comfort her? In the beginning she had asked her father to take her to her mother, but after his cold threats, she'd never asked again. But she'd never forgotten her mother. And when this tall man named Travis had come to talk to her father and later explained to her that he would be bringing her home to her mother, she'd left with him gladly. Now she glanced up at him and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"That's your mommy, Cheryl," he murmured. He let his eyes take in the beautiful picture Kali made. "I'm sorry I'm late, but I had to pick up your wedding gift," he murmured, his voice husky. He knew he would carry with him the image of his future wife's joy for the rest of his life.

She looked up, her face filled with overflowing love for the man who had moved heaven and earth to bring back her child. "How did you find her?"

"We can go into that later," he told her. "Right now I think we have a wedding to attend."

Kali hesitantly held out her hands to Cheryl, fearful that the girl might be reluctant to come to her. Her heart sang when Cheryl ran into her outstretched arms.

"You've brought me something so special that I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you," Kali cried, gazing up at Travis with tears in her eyes.

"The look on your face is enough," he assured her as the trio walked into the chapel amid the many well-wishers present to view the reunion of mother and daughter, and later the wedding that was all the more poignant because of the deep love between the bride and groom.

It couldn't have been a more perfect day. In less than twelve hours Kali had regained her daughter and gained a husband. Knowing how loath she was to be parted from Cheryl for even a short time, Travis suggested they put off their honeymoon for a while so they could have time together as a family, and Kali loved him for it.

The wedding reception was now long over, and an exhausted Cheryl was put to bed in the guest room while Travis and Kali shared some time alone in the master bedroom. A champagne bottle sat in an ice-filled bucket near the bed while they lay under the covers in each other's arms. Travis moved away long enough to set his glass on the nightstand.

"Now, I think it's time to get this marriage consummated," he growled, pulling her on top of him.

She placed one hand on his chest and pushed away.

"My darling, this marriage was consummated many times before the fact," she informed him with a sultry smile.

"Yeah, but I'm a henpecked husband now. Hey!" He flinched when she socked him in the arm and jumped out of bed.

"You will not put me off, Travis Yates. All these years I have gone crazy trying to get Cheryl back, and you accomplished it in a short period of time. How?"

He shrugged. "I sent some friends of mine a description of her. They found her and called me, and I flew over. Say, Paris is some city. We'll have to go there sometime."

"Travis!" she wailed.

He took pity on her then. "Some old friends of mine are living over in Europe now, and I contacted them about Cheryl and Blayne. Using what many would call unorthodox methods, they were able to track the two of them down and get word to me before he disappeared again." He made it sound much simpler than it had really been.

"Why didn't you tell me when you first heard?" Kali demanded, dropping down to sit on the end of the bed.

His dark eyes softened with love. "I didn't know if I could get there before they disappeared again, and I didn't want to get your hopes up if nothing came of it. You've been hurt enough, love," he told her, leaning forward to take her hand.

Kali would have dropped into his arms right then if she hadn't wanted to hear the entire story so badly. "I'm surprised Cheryl went with you so readily."

He grinned. "I had a little help. I stopped off in Virginia first and picked up her teddy bear, dragon, and a picture of our wedding announcement. She definitely remembered the stuffed animals, remembered you, and after we talked for a while she was glad to return to the States as long as I threw in a trip to Disneyland as a bonus."

"What happened in Paris?" she wanted to know. "Where did you find her? At least she's been eating well. Blayne could never even boil water, so who took care of her?"

"She was staying at a house belonging to a friend of your ex-husband's."

Kali's eyes narrowed. His casual answer sounded much too pat. Why did she feel as if there were a great deal more to the story? "A girlfriend?" she pressed.

Travis stretched his body, his hands braced behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. "Sort of."

"Sort of? Either she was or she wasn't, Travis." She rolled over onto her side, placing her head in her hand. "Which was it?"

Travis mumbled something.

Kali angled her head forward. She wasn't sure he'd heard correctly, and she sincerely hoped she was wrong.

"Travis, tell me now or consider yourself celibate until the year 2000."

He turned his head and grinned lazily at her. Angling himself up, he leaned over her and rested his hand against a full breast, the nipple immediately peaking against his palm.

"Wanna bet as to who can hold out the longest?"

A tiny groan left her lips before she could call it back. "What is his friend who took care of my daughter?"

He took a deep breath, already anticipating her reaction. "A hooker."

"A hooker?" she screeched, then quickly lowered her voice. "Are you saying you found my little girl living with a hooker? With God knows what kind of men around?"

Travis sighed. This kind of conversation wasn't what he had planned for his wedding night. In fact, he hadn't planned any at all.

"She's a very nice woman. She told me she didn't entertain her—uh—clients when Cheryl was around." He decided he would be better off not telling Kali how beautiful Marie Bouchet was, or how she had offered the tall dark American a freebie.

Kali thought of a little girl who had grown up too quickly due to her years in Europe and from probably spending so much time with adults instead of playing with children her own age. She wanted to think of Cheryl playing with her dolls and wearing play clothes, not watching orgies or whatever they did over there. Her imagination ran wild at all sorts of perverted activities her daughter may have observed.

Travis grabbed her hand and pulled her back against him, rubbing his hips suggestively against hers.

"Stop thinking the worst," he chided. "She seems to be a pretty together kid, and with us as parents she'll do even better. First thing tomorrow I'm calling my lawyer to draw up adoption papers if it's all right with you."

She stared into his dark eyes. "Blayne gave up all rights to Cheryl?"

"Let's just say I persuaded him to."

Kali's lips quivered in a smile. "Oh, Travis, did you do what I think you did?"

He nuzzled her throat. "Let's just say he won't be playing any more pretty-boy parts for a while." His voice hardened. "I had to, Kali. I took one look at his smirking face when he found out we were getting married"—he would never tell her the exact words Blayne had used about Kali because they were too obscene—"and I knew I had to do something. He signed readily enough and gave me his promise that he would stay in Europe."

Kali hugged him tightly. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?" she whispered, blinking to keep her tears back.

He leaned down to kiss away the salty tears. "Many times, but I'll never tire of hearing it."

Kali moved closer to Travis, whispering over and over that she loved him, and promising to show him how much before the night was over.