* * *
Katherine moved through the next few hours like an automaton, feeding Allison and attending to her own needs like one drugged. She clasped the baby to her and wept. She didn't fear Jace would carry out his last veiled threat, but she despaired over her thwarted love for him.
It was hopeless. She had wounded him too deeply for him ever to forgive her the suspicions she had harbored against him. She may have been wrong about his motivations, his values, his character, but one thing she did know – he was proud. That pride would keep him from ever coming back and trying to reestablish the tenuous relationship they had had before.
Pride and Lacey.
Katherine was vaguely aware of the wall of the fire engine sirens but was too absorbed in her own wretchedness to notice how many were screaming through the streets on their way out of Van Buren.
It wasn't until she heard someone thumping up the stairs that she was jarred out of her lethargy. Could it be Jace? Her heart skipped a beat, but then plunged back into gloom. She recognized the heavy footsteps to be Happy's. But the large woman was certainly moving quickly.
Katherine met her at the door.
"Katherine, poor dear. Don't get upset until we know what's happened." Happy's lower lip was quivering. Her laughing eyes were clouded with anxiety.
"What are you talking about?" Katherine asked dazedly, but a premonition of disaster was creeping up her spine and she shivered. Memories of the night Peter and Mary died flashed through her mind like a slide show.
"Dear, didn't you even hear the fire trucks?"
"Yes, but—"
"It's the oil well, Katherine. There was an explosion."
"My God!" Katherine screamed, then hurriedly covered her mouth in an effort to stem the hysterical screams she could feel bubbling into her throat.
"Now, we don't know all the details—"
"Can you keep Allison?" Katherine was already hurrying toward the bedroom to grab her purse and shove her feet into a pair of loafers.
"Katherine, you can't be thinking of going out there! Why it's still dangerous. The radio is begging people to stay away."
"I'm going. Are you going to take care of Allison or will I need to make other arrangements?" Katherine hated to be so horrid to her friend, but she could brook no arguments now. She had to see about Jace. What if—? Oh, God, no! It just couldn't be.
"Katherine, you know I'll stay with the baby. I'll take her to my house and she'll be there in good health when you pick her up, no matter when it is." Happy sounded offended, and Katherine stopped long enough to hug her quickly. Then she abruptly clasped Happy to her, desperate for Happy to imbue her with strength.
"Thank you, Happy, for— Oh, Happy! Jim?" She only now remembered that Happy's son could be in danger too.
"Today's his day off. Thank the Lord. He went to Dallas." She gave Katherine a shove. "Well, if you're going, go. Call me when you find out anything. Nothing has happened to Jace. I just know it." The landlady's eyes were strangely moist.
Tears glittered in Katherine's own eyes as she said, "I hope you're right. I couldn't stand it if—" She didn't even allow herself to vocalize what she was thinking. She ran down the stairs and out to the parked station wagon.
* * *
It became impossible to negotiate the bumpy road and, at the same time, try to tune the car's radio to a station that was giving reports on the fire. Katherine gave up in desperation. Perhaps it was better if she didn't know.
She wept and prayed and cursed herself. Jace had to be alive! Even if he were disfigured or burned or whatever, he must be alive. Such thoughts made her nauseated, and she swallowed the bile that filled her mouth.
She prayed, "God, if he hates me, that's all right. If he wants Allison, I'll give her up. Just don't let him be dead. I love him. If he must die, let me tell him that I love him first. Don't let him be in pain. Burned. Oh, God, I can't bear it."
He hadn't even planned on going to work today. He had said he wanted to stay at home. Her ugly accusations had driven him out of the house. It was her fault he was at the oil well today.
The landscape was blurred and watery through her tears. She followed the column of black smoke that boiled up over the pine forest like Moses followed the pillar of fire in the wilderness. It could be seen for miles. It was surely a grim harbinger preparing her for the devastation she would find when she reached the drilling site. She saw several news helicopters buzzing toward the fire like vultures to a carcass. She resented and cursed them. Night after night, she watched the news reports on television with graphic pictures of train wrecks and car accidents and fires. Did the families of those victims resent such invasions of their privacy? Katherine hadn't realized until now that their suffering was real. Those stories weren't for the television viewer's entertainment. They were personal, human tragedies.
She was surprised to see the top of the derrick. It wasn't the well that had exploded then. There were cars and pick-up trucks and fire-fighting vehicles parked in a semi-circle around the drilling site. She braked the station wagon and jumped to the ground, running pell mell toward the fire which she could now see was isolated to an area near the trailer!
"Hey, lady!" Strong arms grabbed her around the waist, and she fought like a wildcat to be released. "You can't go over there. You're liable to get hurt." The fireman in the bright yellow slicker cursed expansively when she bit the hand that was restraining her across the chest.
"I think you'll find she's hard to convince." The calm, deep voice penetrated Katherine's frantic mind and she suddenly collapsed in the startled fireman's arms. He would have dropped her if another pair of arms hadn't helped him support her.
"Jace," she whispered disbelievingly as she looked up into his blackened face. "Oh!" she exclaimed, alarmed by his appearance.
"No, I'm not charred, just dirty," he assured her.
"Oh, darling, darling," she buried her face in his shirt and hugged him tight around the waist. "I was so worried. I thought..." Emotion clogged her throat and she clutched him even tighter.
"Come over here and I'll explain what happened." Jace extricated himself from her pythonlike embrace. As he steered her away from the scene, she caught sight of the fireman, still nursing his injured hand.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I thought my husband was hurt and I was acting crazy. I truly am sorry."
He smiled crookedly and said grudgingly, "That's all right."
Jace led her toward her abandoned car with a firm hand under her elbow. When they reached it, Katherine looked up at him with tearful, green eyes and asked, "What happened?"
Jace wiped his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "It looks a lot worse than it is. All the trucks are here because of the surrounding forests. They're really here for prevention more than anything. But," he added grimly, "we should be thankful we weren't all blown to smithereens."
"The smoke—"
"Yeah, oil makes a helluva smoke. Something near the trailer – an electrical wire, telephone cable – something caused a spark large enough to ignite the butane tanks underneath it. It blew sky high. Several barrels had negligently been put in the wrong place. If I'd been here..." He clenched his teeth. "Anyway, they went up when the trailer did."
"Billy!" Katherine exclaimed and clutched Jace's arm.
"Luckily, he and I had just stepped out of the trailer to check on that pick-up he's been working on."
When Katherine shivered, he drew her against him. "I've got a great crew, Katherine," he said proudly. "They all dropped what they were doing and reached for fire extinguishers. Others grabbed shovels and started digging trenches around the fire. They reacted like pros."
"They have an excellent boss," she murmured against his throat.
He pulled away from her slightly and looked deeply into the moisture-laden eyes. "You certainly were in a hurry when you got here. What was the rush?" he teased, though his expression was serious.
"I had to find you," she admitted without qualm. "I had to see you, to tell you. I'm sorry, Jace. For everything. I've been such a fool." The tears ran unchecked now. "When I thought you might be... Well, nothing mattered anymore. Nothing. Not even ... what I mean is ... I love you, no matter what you—"
He didn't let her finish. He cut off her words by lowering his mouth onto hers. She was oblivious to the dirt and grime that covered every visible part of his flesh. She disregarded the acrid smell of smoke that permeated his clothes and hair. All she cared about was the warmth with which he kissed her.
The kiss lacked some of the sensuous passion of others they had shared, but this wasn't a time for passion. This was the time for commitment, and Jace's mouth, clinging to hers, formed a covenant between them.
"Katherine, Katherine, I love you. How could you ever have doubted that? Doubted me?"
"Just stupid, I guess." She smiled up at him.
He chucked her under the chin and said grimly, "As much as I'd like to continue this conversation, I've got a bitch of a job waiting for me. Go home and don't use all the hot water. I may need a bath when I get home." He grinned. "And don't wait up for me. I may be here quite a while."
"I'll be up," she whispered just before she kissed him and reluctantly climbed back into the car.
* * *
"Jace?"
"Hmm?"
"Tell me about Lacey."
Jace opened one eye and cocked it toward Katherine. They were lying on the wide bed. The mid-morning sun was filtering through the shuttered windows onto their nakedness. Jace was stretched out on his back, one knee raised. Katherine was lying on her stomach, supporting herself on her elbows as she leisurely perused her husband.
He had returned home sometime after midnight, exhausted and dirty and hungry. While he showered, she fixed him a tall sandwich which he practically swallowed whole before collapsing onto the bed and falling into a deep slumber.
Katherine had tried to pick up Allison, but Happy insisted that the couple spend the day together uninterrupted. Jace needed his rest after the trauma of the fire and didn't need to be disturbed by any of Allison's fussy spells, infrequent as they were. Katherine was delighted with the prospect of having a day to spend alone with Jace and offered no arguments to Happy's proposal that Allison stay with her.
Jace had awakened only an hour ago and hadn't disappointed her. He reached for her immediately and they had made love with tender passion.
Now he stretched both arms above his head and clasped his hands underneath it. "Lacey. Lacey," he scoffed. "I don't know where to start. She was beautiful, the boss's daughter. She came on to me, an ambitious young man who was feeling his oats, and I married her. She played it just right. There was no hanky-panky allowed during our courtship. Imagine my surprise on our wedding night to discover that others had pioneered the way for me. Maybe that's why I was so surprised to learn that my second wife was a virgin." He reached over and kissed Katherine on the nose. She immediately nuzzled it in the hair on his chest.
"Anyway, Lacey was a spoiled brat, somewhat like Peter, I suppose. She was, and still is, bent on destruction. She had one affair after another. After each one she begged my forgiveness during tearful scenes when she threatened suicide amid self-deprecations. I finally got fed up and told Willoughby that in order for me to continue working for him, I'd have to secure a divorce. He handled it. In all humility, I was too valuable for him to let go. And he knew what Lacey was like. His version of love is an inexhaustible checking account. I think deep down, he feels responsible for what he's created."
"What happened when you went to Longview?"
"Jealous?" he asked.
"Damn right," she answered.
He laughed, but became serious when he resumed. "Well, as you no doubt noticed the day you caught us in the trailer, Lacey refuses to accept the fact that we're not married. It doesn't matter to her except to the extent that I'm no longer her captive. She's got plenty of men to keep her company," he said without rancor. "And the fact of the matter is, she's a lousy lover. Her sensuality is all for show. She's to be pitied."
He shifted his weight. "On with the story," he sighed. "She went to this bar in Longview and got into trouble by trying to pick up someone else's boyfriend. When the other woman won out, she became depressed, checked into a motel, took a bottle of sleeping pills, and called me. My initial reaction was to tell her to go to hell, but I couldn't. I don't know," – he shook his head – "maybe it's my allegiance to Willoughby, but I just couldn't ignore her. It was two days before she was able to leave the hospital. I phoned Willoughby to come pick her up. He's promised to see that she gets help of some kind. Whether he will or not, I don't know. But I made it clear to him and her both, that I've had it. I have another wife now that I love dearly, and I don't intend to jeopardize that relationship under any circumstances."
"You should have called me, Jace, and explained the situation. I would have understood."
"I realize that now." He chided himself with a short laugh. "There was so much going on that it honestly never occurred to me. I've lived by and for myself for so long, that I'm not in the habit of reporting my whereabouts. I apologize. Besides," he added, "I hated the thought of dragging you into the quagmire of my former life."
Katherine hung her head shyly, "You haven't ... haven't..."
"I haven't slept with her since long before our divorce four years ago."
"And the question of children?" she asked.
He laughed harshly. "Never came up. She heard about the details of our marriage from Willoughby and couldn't wait to get her barbs in you."
"Why didn't you explain all of this before? When I first met her?"
"What?" he cried incredulously. "And deny you all that lovely sulking and drawer slamming! Sometimes I think that you actually enjoy all your insecurities. Besides," he added, "I'm too proud to have pleaded innocence when there wasn't even a crime."
"Jace." The word was mumbled as she leaned over him and claimed his lips with her own. Breathless from the kiss, she snuggled over his chest and rested her head under his chin. He stroked her back leisurely.
"What would you say to our buying some property and building a house," he surprised her by asking. She raised her head and looked at him. He went on. "I've spotted a beautiful three-acre lot for sale. It's only a mile from town, but a veritable forest of trees gives it privacy. And I don't think we'll fit into this apartment much longer. The walls are closing in."
"Jace, that sounds wonderful," she said excitedly. "But what about Sunglow? Will you be here that long?"
"We'll be drilling in the area for at least three years. After that" – he shrugged – "we'll just wait and see, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed, smiling. "A house," she sighed. "That'll be such fun to plan."
"Oh, Lord, spare me," Jace implored the ceiling.
Katherine laughed and lay her head back on his chest. "What were your plans when you first started looking for me?" she asked sleepily.
He chuckled and the hairs on his chest tickled her nose. "Well, I set out to find Miss Katherine Adams and spank her little fanny for doing such a dangerous, dumb thing. Of course, that was before I saw what a lovely little fanny it was." He couldn't resist smoothing his hand over the object of his admiration.
"Then I was going to use persuasion, reason, money, or force to get you to release Allison into my care. It wasn't that I was against you, Katherine," he explained. "I was afraid that you'd lose a legal battle with my parents and they'd get guardianship of her. I'm glad they didn't, of course." He paused significantly. "But I'm not sure we shouldn't let them see her." He spoke softly and hesitantly. "I know how you might feel about that, but maybe we should give it some thought. Perhaps I'm feeling magnanimous because of my brush with death yesterday, but they're probably suffering over everything that's happened too. And Allison might resent us years from now if we didn't provide her with an opportunity to form her own opinion of her grandparents ... and even Peter."
Katherine was still and silent for a long time. Finally she asked quietly. "Can I think about what you've said and discuss it with you later?"
"Certainly. I realize it hurts for you to remember Mary and everything that happened." He kissed her shoulder lightly. "I have a vile temper, I know. But I'm working on it. I swear I'll make you and Allison happy."
When next she spoke the lightheartedness had returned to her voice. "When you did catch up to me, what changed your mind about forcing my hand?"
"I saw something," he answered. The quality of his voice was altered too. It was husky and deep.
Katherine rose up onto her elbows and looked down at him. "What?" she asked curiously.
"Your face," he replied softly.
"Jace," she breathed.
"To say nothing of the rest of you," he continued with the same stirring inflection. His eyes went to her breasts that were pressing against his chest. He let his eyes feast on their loveliness before bending his head to plant hot kisses into the soft curves.
"I loved you from the first, Katherine. I knew after that first kiss beside Allison's crib that I didn't want her without having you too." His lips became more ardent. "Love me. Please."
Katherine hesitated only a moment before raising herself onto his body and allowed him perfect access to relieve her aching nipples with his obliging tongue.
She positioned herself on his body with an accuracy that astonished him even through this pleasure. "Have you been going to X-rated foreign movies?" he rasped.
"No, of course not." She teased the inside of his ear with her tongue.
"Then how did you learn how to make love so expertly?"
"You taught me, Jason Manning," she whispered before blending her mouth with his.