And that was it. Couldn’t speak or think. All he could do was watch the stunning spectacle of Ronnie Moss, moving over him. First slow, graceful, a sensual spectacle. Then it got more intense as she sought her own pleasure. Riding him, all the way to blinding completion. When the delicious clutching flutters around his penis eased, he rolled her onto her back, and lost himself inside her. Wild, wonderful, deep...then the explosion, wiping away his fear and dread. At least for that sweet, blinding instant.

  They lay there, damp and panting. Relaxing as the sweat dried, and their galloping heartbeats slowed. And the dread crept in. It would not leave him alone.

  Some time later, Ronnie disengaged herself, and disappeared into the bathroom. She came out moments later, winding her hair up into a knot, fastening it with a clip. She slid open the door at the patio. Puffs of steam rose from the pool and into the moonlit air.

  “I’m going to soak in this pool and look at the moon,” she said. “Join me?”

  There was only one possible answer to that question. He followed her immediately, hypnotized by the beauty of her elegant, sinuous nude body as she paced around the hot pool, every line, every curve, painted by moonlight and shadow.

  She stepped into the pool, descending to her waist. The sound of the water sloshing and trickling sounded incredibly sensual. She sank onto the bench with a sigh.

  He followed her in, sinking down, drifting over to float right in front of her.

  He was giving himself one more night of perfection. Tomorrow morning, he would tell her everything, and they would face reality together. No matter what happened.

  He pulled her into his arms. This might be all he ever got of the shining miracle that was Ronnie Moss. He damn well better make this night count.

  * * *

  Wes ran as fast as he could along rocky, uneven ground. Pounding feet, heart in his mouth, life-or-death urgency, either toward something or away from something. A chasm yawned in front of him, immeasurably deep. He reeled, teetering. Couldn’t stop. His momentum had pitched him over the edge, and he couldn’t even see the bottom, it was so far below, lost in the mist. Rocks and dirt pitched off with him. He yelled—

  A strong hand caught his wrist and pulled him up. Easily, as if he were only ten years old. It was his dad. His eyes looked worried as he set Wes onto his feet.

  Wes lunged to grab him...but the light was pressing on his eyelids. When he opened his eyes, they were wet with tears.

  He pressed his face to the pillow and looked around. The room was bright. The sun was well up. They had gotten to sleep late.

  Ronnie wasn’t in the bed. He sat up, looking around, and saw her cross-legged on the floor, sitting in a square of sunshine from the window. She wore a white, fluffy hotel bathrobe over her sexy teddy nightgown. Her hair streamed over her shoulders. Her mother’s baby box was open in front of her. Small objects were arrayed before her, on a clean towel that she’d spread out onto the carpet.

  She was holding up a tiny, multicolored knit baby jumper. A pair of miniscule pink socks. A hairband, with silk flowers on it. A black velvet baby coat. Tiny pink hair clips.

  Wes got up, shrugging on his own robe, and went over to kneel next to her.

  Ronnie gave him a smile, but her eyes were wet. “Hey there,” she said, her voice husky with tears. “Don’t mind me. I’m just over here, yanking on my own heartstrings.”

  “I hope it’s a good feeling,” he said.

  “Yes,” she assured him. “It aches, but it also makes me feel loved.” She held an object up to him. “Look at this. From the day I was born.”

  Wes examined it. It was two plastic ratchet-closed hospital bracelets, linked to each other. The big one had Naomi Moss printed on it, the little one Veronica Moss. Wes cradled it in his hand, as if it were alive.

  “Beautiful,” he said. “An artifact of love.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes, exactly.” She reached for a tissue, in the pocket of her robe, and blew her nose noisily. “I would never have found these, if not for you. And despite all the ugliness with Dad, it’s just so healing.”

  Wes looked into her eyes, and it came into focus, in a blinding moment of realization. This was it. This was his moment. He would never have a better time to redress his mistakes. Never a moment when her heart was softer, her mind more open and disposed to forgive his transgressions. Never a better time to beg for mercy.

  He had to man up and do this thing.

  Right. Freaking. Now.

  He went to the bag where he’d stowed the pearl ring, then crossed over to Ronnie with the box in his hand. He sat next to her on the floor.

  “Ronnie,” he said. “These last few days since I met you have been the best days I’ve ever had. In my entire life.”

  Ronnie dabbed at her eyes, smiling at him. “Me too.”

  “I know we’re already married, so we skipped over the part where I try to convince you that I’m the man who should stand by you for the rest of your life. To make a family with. Grow old with. The whole thing. The real deal.”

  Ronnie blinked at him. “Wes...are you...um...?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m proposing to you. Sort of. Insofar as an already married man can propose to his wife. I want you with me forever. And I want you to have...this.”

  He flipped open the ring box and held it up, holding his breath.

  Ronnie gasped. “Oh, Wes.”

  “Will you wear it?”

  She nodded. He took the ring out and slid it onto her finger, nestling it up to the wedding band. The two rings together looked great on her.

  “It’s so beautiful,” she said. “Pearls. You sneaky bastard.”

  “It looks perfect on you,” he said. “But if you wanted to look at some other designs, I’m sure that the jeweler could swap it out with—”

  “Not a chance. It’s the most gorgeous ring I’ve ever seen. Look no further.”

  Wes let out a sigh of relief, and then took a fresh deep breath. “I’m so glad,” he said. “Because there’s another thing I need to talk to you about. An important thing.”

  “Yeah? So? Let’s have it.”

  “Yeah. It’s kind of hard to say. I’m nervous about how you’re going to take it. And it’s hard to find a place to start that makes sense,” he said haltingly.

  She grabbed his hand, squeezed it. “We have time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  God, he hoped that generous attitude would continue when he finally got to the point. “Thanks,” he said, swallowing hard. “It’s about my dad. How he—”

  Rat—tat—tat—tat. A brisk knock sounded on the door, making them jump.

  Goddammit. Wes’s teeth ground. “Did I really forget to put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door?” he muttered.

  Ronnie rolled her eyes and got up, pulling her robe closed and tying the sash as she went to the door. “Who is it?” she called.

  “Ms. Moss and Mr. Brody?” It was a male voice behind the door. “I’m very sorry to disturb you, but I have a smartphone that one of you left in the dining room last night. The cleaning crew found it this morning. I thought you might want it.”

  “I believe that must be mine,” Ronnie said, opening the door. She took the phone, murmuring her thanks to the hotel employee. She looked down at it as she closed the door.

  “That explains that,” she said. “I was feeling both grateful and puzzled that no one was bugging me today while I had my sentimental moment with the baby box. So I’ll just switch this thing off, and you can tell me what you were going to...”

  Ronnie’s voice trailed off. She froze in place, staring at the phone screen.

  Wes felt the energy in the air change, and a chill gripped the pit of his stomach.

  “What?” he asked. “Is something wrong?”

  “Six missed calls from my dad, five from Maddie, four from Lizette. Something’s happened. None from Aunt Elaine. She always calls when there’s a crisis. Not this time.”

  “Which suggests that Elaine herself is the crisis,” he said.

  “Yes. Excuse me, but I have to get back to them.” She tapped the screen, sitting on the bed. “Lizette? It’s... Yeah. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner... Oh God. When?” She pressed her fingers to her mouth, her slim shoulders hunched. “Yes, I understand. I’m glad they’re on their way. Which hospital? Of course. It should take us two and a half, three hours tops, to get back to the city... Yes, of course. We’ll come right away. Thanks, Lizette. I’m so glad you were with her.”

  Ronnie let the phone drop. She met his eyes. “Heart attack,” she said, her voice strangled. “After dinner last night. They tried and tried to call me. She’s at the University of Washington Medical Center. Having surgery. Right now.”

  She clapped her hand to her mouth, leaped up and bolted into the bathroom. He heard retching sounds. Then running water, as she splashed her face in the sink.

  She came out, and plugged her phone in. “I’ll get as much charge onto this thing as I can while I’m packing.” She knelt, swiftly stowing all the baby artifacts into the wooden box. She gave him an impatient look as she jerked on her hiking pants and wound her hair into a quick braid. “Wes?” she said. “Please? Move!”

  That jolted him out of his dismayed paralysis. “Of course. Right away.”

  He got dressed in record time, ashamed of himself. Feeling put-upon about his confession being interrupted when Ronnie’s aunt was fighting for her life. But dear God, the timing. He couldn’t tell her now. Her mind was consumed with worry for her aunt. Which was just as it should be. He’d waited too long.

  All he could do now was grit his teeth and wait for another chance.

  * * *

  Ronnie spotted Maddie in the waiting room of the surgery ward. Her cousin met her with a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here,” Maddie whispered. “The boys are on their way home as fast as they can get here, and Jack’s been here for me. And Jerome, of course,” she added, a hint of irony in her voice. “But I wanted you.”

  “How is she?” Ronnie asked.

  “Still on the table,” Maddie said. “It’s bad. Evidently her doctors have been planning this bypass surgery for a while, but she neglected to tell us about it. They’re doing quadruple bypass and a valve replacement. Gran is as tough as nails, though. We just have to grit our teeth and hope.”

  “Sorry I didn’t call,” Ronnie said. “I left my phone in the resort restaurant.”

  “Resort, huh? Sounds festive. I’m glad you were having fun, at least, before all this happened. I’m so sorry to have interrupted the honeymoon.”

  “Are you kidding? Aunt Elaine is everything to me. We can honeymoon for as long as we like later on.”

  “Yeah, absolutely,” Maddie agreed. “Jack and I decided that if it’s a girl, she’ll be Elaine. We’ll call her Lainie. I’ll tell her as soon as she wakes up. We were waiting for the ultrasound, but I’m not waiting for anything, ever again.”

  Maddie dissolved into tears, and they hugged again. Then she glimpsed her father approaching, over Maddie’s heaving shoulder. Her belly clenched, bracing for whatever.

  Wes moved closer, too. Instinctively protective. How sweet of him.

  “Aww. How touching,” her dad drawled. “Twelve hours of radio silence, entirely ignoring all our frantic calls, and you finally deign to come to your ailing aunt’s side.”

  “I didn’t get the messages until today,” she said.

  Ronnie let them catch her up on all the details that the surgeon had shared so far. They took turns as the hours ground by, taking breaks for air, coffee, sandwiches from time to time. At one point, Wes accompanied her to the hospital cafeteria, but instead of getting in line at the bar, he took her arm and led her through the lobby and outside, into the chilly evening air, under the big porticos.

  Wes squeezed her shoulders gently with both hands. “Ronnie, I know this is a bad time,” he said. “But remember this morning? I was about to tell you some things that I think you should know about me.”

  “Oh, Wes. I’m fried and distracted right now. Let’s just stick with the present emergency and save the reflections about the past for later. When I can give you the focused attention that you deserve. Forgive me for putting you off, okay?”

  “I understand how you feel, but please.” Wes’s voice vibrated with tension. “I think it’s important, to say this to you now. Even in the face of Elaine’s emergency. Maybe especially in the face of it.”

  Ronnie sighed and nodded. “Okay. If it’s that important, then let’s hear it.”

  “I’ll be quick.” He grabbed her hands and kissed them. “Thank you. So, like I was saying this morning, this is about my dad. Twenty-three years ago, he was in—”

  “Wes Brody?” They jerked their heads around, at the loud, accusing tone behind them. “What the hell? Get your hands off my cousin!”

  Caleb and Tilda Moss stood there, staring at them.

  Seventeen

  So. This was the way it had to be. Wes let out a sigh as the certainty of his doom settled into his guts. He squeezed Ronnie’s hands one last time, just in case it was the last time she permitted him to touch her and turned to face Caleb and Tilda. “Hello, Caleb,” he said grimly. “Tilda.”

  “Wait.” Ronnie’s eyes were bewildered as she looked at them. “You guys know each other?”

  “You could say that,” Wes said.

  “Yeah, I know this scheming son of a bitch,” Caleb said. “He has no business touching you, Ron. He tried to attack MossTech with a faked file that implicated our family in a crime from years ago. Grandpa Bertram, Gran, Jerome. Even your mother.”

  Ronnie turned to Wes, horrified. “That can’t be true,” she said. “Is that true?”

  Wes tried to swallow, but there was a burning lump in his throat. “It’s complicated,” he said. “It’s true, I had a fact-finding agenda at the beginning. But as soon as I started getting to know you, that changed, and I started to—”

  “No. No, stop it right there. I don’t want to hear another word.”

  “Ronnie, please. I was trying to tell you. I tried this morning, before you made the call to Lizette. I tried again, just now.”

  “So that’s why you encouraged me to find my mother’s things,” she whispered. “Not for the healing love, and her hand reaching out across time to caress me. It was so that you could snoop and pry in our family’s private documents.”

  “Ronnie—”

  “Oh God.” She backed up a step. “All those tender moments. Completely faked.”

  “I never faked anything,” he protested. “Not for one second.”

  “And the other day, you didn’t go back to that storage unit to get your bag. You took my key, and you snooped through my mother’s boxes. To hurt me.”

  “No,” he said. “I would never hurt you.”

  “Bullshit! Every damn thing you’ve ever said to me was a lie.”

  “That’s not true.” He reached out, but Ronnie slapped his hand away. “I had to see if the papers were there,” he said desperately. “I was looking for the documents that would exonerate my dad.”

  “Exonerate who? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “The toxic-mold disaster,” Wes said. “The one in the file Caleb mentioned. It happened. People died. Someone tried to cover it up, and they blamed everything on my dad, who had died in the bombing. Along with your mom.”

  Ronnie’s face was blank. “But I don’t remember hearing about anyone named Brody,” she said. “The name of the man who died with her was John Padraig.”

  “He was my stepdad.”

  “Stepdad?” Ronnie’s tone was accusing. “What stepdad?”

  “He was the only father I ever knew. I called him Dad. I was a baby when my mother met him. I was a mistake made when she was nineteen. Then she met my dad, and they fell in love. They intended to get married eventually, and he intended to adopt me and give me his name, but he never got around to it. Then time ran out for him. He died in that blast, and the whole mess got pinned on him. It broke my mom’s heart.”

  “I see.” Ronnie’s mouth shook. “So you decided to break mine to make it even?”

  “Absolutely not,” he said forcefully. “Never.”

  “I understand wanting the truth,” she said. “Ironic, though, that you sought the truth by lying to me. Continually. Even while we were making love.”

  Caleb and Tilda exchanged shocked glances. “What the hell is going on?” Caleb demanded. “And where is Jareth?”

  “Jareth is history. He bailed on me. I married Wes instead. God help me.”

  “Oh, dear God,” Tilda said, her voice small.

  “Yes. Jareth and Dad planned it out, for him to choke at the last minute and make me miss the deadline. I thought it was all over.” She gestured at Wes. “Then he happened along, seemingly by chance. He offered himself up to help me fulfill the mandate. So generous, right? All he wanted was the entertainment value and the pleasure of my company. You are a world-class liar, Wes. And I am an empty-headed fool.”

  “I wasn’t lying,” he said. “I knew I was screwed when you turned out to be the woman of my dreams.”

  “Oh, stop it. You’re just doing your bullshit blather out of habit. It’s not necessary to keep up the pretense anymore, so stop.”

  “Please, Ronnie,” he said. “Try to imagine being in my position. If someone had accused your mother of horrible crimes, wouldn’t you do anything to find the truth?”

  “Don’t speak of my mother again,” she said. “You were digging for dirt in her private papers, to throw at her memory. Now you’re asking for understanding?”

  “I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone,” he insisted. “I just had to see if what was in my dad’s journal was true. She told him that she’d copied her documentation and sent it home with her things, in case anything happened to her. Dad thought she was being overdramatic. That last journal entry was dated the day they both died.”

 

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