Chapter 10
“You’re out of your mind,” Noah stated emphatically. Twilight was rapidly approaching and the last thing he wanted to do was take a quick dip in an icy lake.
“Come oncit’s not that cold.”
“Save that for someone who’ll believe it, Sheila. That water is runoff from the spring melt on the Cascades. You’ve got another think coming if you think you can talk me into swimming in ice water.”
“It could be fun,” she suggested. He could see her body through the ripples in the water. The firm contours of her limbs were distorted against the darkening pool. He would catch a glimpse of one breast as she treaded in the water, and then it would be gone, covered by her arm as she kept herself afloat. Her hair was damp and tossed carelessly off her face. Dewy drops of water clung to her eyelashes and cheeks. “Come on.”
“I’ve never done anything this irrational in my life,” he admitted, testing the water and withdrawing his foot.
“Then it’s time.” She shoved her hand through the clear ripples and set a wave of cold water washing over his body. His startled look was replaced by determination as he marched into the lake. Quickly she dove under the water and swam near the bottom, to resurface behind the waterfall. Just as she took in a gulp of air, her legs were pulled out from under her by strong arms. When she came up again, she was sputtering for air. Noah’s arms encircled her waist.
“You lied,” he accused. “This lake is too cold.”
“Refreshing,” she bantered back.
“Frigid.” He captured her blue lips with his and kissed the droplets of water off her face. His hands and legs touched her intimately beneath the surface of the water; his kiss deepened and their tongues entwined. Her skin heated, but was cooled by the chilly temperature in the water.
His fingers touched her thigh, smoothing the soft skin and caressing her as they stood, waist deep in the lake. The waterfall was their flowing curtain of privacy as Noah kissed a hardened nipple and pushed her against the ledge.
“We should be going,” she pleaded.
“Not now, you little witch. You coerced me into this lake with you, and you’re going to suffer the consequences.”
“And just what consequences are you talking about?”
“I’m going to make you beg me to love you.”
“But SeancEmilyc” His hand continued its exploration, warming her internally while her skin was chilled by the water.
“They’ll wait for us.”
He kissed her again, his hand still extracting sweet promises from her. Her breasts flattened against him, and he licked the moisture from them.
Despite the temperature of the water, Sheila began to warm from the inside out. She felt her legs part and wanted more than the touch of cold lapping water on her skin. She yearned to be a part of the man she loved, ached for him to join with her. His kisses upon her neck enticed her. The dewy droplets of cold water on her breasts made her skin quiver. And his hands, God, his hands, gently stroked her, driving all thoughts from her mind other than the desire welling deep within her body.
“Oh, Noah,” she whispered as she felt the excruciating ache within her beg for release.
“Yes, love,” he whispered thickly.
“Pleasec”
“What?”
“Please love me,” she murmured against his chest, stroking her tongue against the virile male muscles, wondering if it were possible ever to get enough of him. How long would it be before her love for him would consume her?
“I do love you, Sheila. I will forever,” he vowed as he pushed her gently against the ledge beneath the water’s surface. He placed his legs between hers, and the spray from the waterfall ran in lingering rivulets down her face and neck. The water lapped lazily around her hips and thighs and Noah came to her, burying himself in her with savage strokes.
She found herself clutching him, clinging to him, surging with him over the final barrier until satiation and exhaustion took its toll on her.
“I love you,” she whispered, licking a drop of water from his temple, and the strength of his arms wrapped her more tightly to him, as if he were afraid that in releasing her he would lose her.
They shivered as they got dressed, packed their belongings and hiked down the path. Dusk began to shadow the hills in darkness, but when they were within sight of the château, they could see that no lights burned in the windows. It was obvious that Sean and Emily hadn’t returned. Sheila became uneasy.
“I thought the kids would be back by now,” she said, voicing her thoughts. “I told Emily to be home before dark.”
“She might have had trouble convincing Sean,” Noah muttered. “It’s quite a hike, and the best fly-fishing is in the evening.”
Sheila wasn’t convinced. “They should be home.”
“They will be. Don’t worry. I bet they’ll be here within the next half hour.”
“And if they’re not?”
“We’ll go looking for them. You do know where Emily was headed, don’t you?”
Sheila nodded and smiled in spite of her apprehension. “It’s the same place Dad used to take me.”
“Then let’s not worry until we have to. There’s something I want to talk about.” He settled upon a rope hammock in the yard and indicated with a gesture that he wanted her to lie next to him.
She slid into the rope swing, careful not to lose her balance. “Okay—so talk.”
“I think I should tell you about Marilyn.”
“Sean’s mother?”
Noah’s lips twisted wryly. “I don’t think of her as his mother, merely the woman who gave him birth.”
“You don’t have to explain any of this to me.” Sheila wanted to know everything about him, and yet was unwilling to know his secrets more intimately. The past was gone; what was the point in dredging up bitter memories?
“I don’t have to tell you anything, but I want to. Maybe then you’ll understand my feelings for my soncand my father.”
“Ben was involved.”
Noah’s entire body became rigid. “Oh, yes, he was involved all right—he couldn’t help himself. You don’t know my father, but if you did, you’d realize that he tries to dominate everyone or everything he touches.”
“Your father’s ill,” Sheila reminded him gently.
Noah relaxed a little and stared at the stars beginning to peek through the violet-gray dusk. “He wasn’t ill sixteen years ago,” Noah asserted as he squinted in thought. “As a matter of fact he was in his prime.”
Noah paused, conjuring up the period in his life he had tried to forget. “Marilyn was only seventeen when we first met. She came to a fraternity dance with a friend of mine. I thought at the time she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Long blond hair, clear blue eyes and a smile that could melt ice. I was captivated.
“It wasn’t long before I was dating her, and Ben told me to ‘dump her.’ In the old man’s opinion, Marilyn wasn’t quite up to par, socially speaking.” Noah shook his head at his own young foolishness.
“You know that I haven’t ever gotten along with Ben?” Sheila nodded, afraid to break the silence. “Well, Ben considered Marilyn a ‘gold digger,’ after the family fortune. Maybe she was. Hell, she was just a kid, barely seventeen. Anyway, I suppose that because my father was so hell-bent against her, it made her all the more attractive to mecat least for a while. We dated for about four months, I guess, and then we started arguing, over stupid little things. We never got along.”
Noah absently ran his hand across his chin, rubbing the beard shadow that had begun to appear. “Anyway, just as I decided to break things off with her, she turned up pregnant. She was probably scared, but she didn’t have the guts to tell me about it. I heard the news secondhand, through a friend of mine who was dating her sister.
“At first I was angry—furious that she hadn’t come to me with the news. When I found out that she intended to have an abortion, I thought I would kill her myself. I drove around for four hours, and I had no idea where I’d been, but I had managed to calm down. By the time I went to her house, I knew that I wanted my child more than anything in the world and that I was willing to pay any price to get it.
“I tried pleading with her to keep the baby, but she didn’t even want to talk about it. I told her that I would marry her, give my name to the child, whatever she wanted, if she would reconsider.”
Noah closed his eyes, as if hiding from the truth. “She finally agreed and I thought I’d won a major victory because it was pretty evident that she was more concerned about being a cheerleader to the football squad than being a mother to my unborn child. And maybe I’ve been too rough on her—she wasn’t much older than Sean is now. Just a kid. And I was just as foolish. Although we’d made one mistake, I thought we could correct it. Given time, I was sure that Marilyn would mature and learn to love the baby. I even thought she and I had a chance.”
Bitterness made his voice brittle. “But I was wrong. Dead wrong. Ben couldn’t leave it alonecand maybe it was better that he didn’tcI don’t know. Anyway, Ben was against the marriage from the first, baby or no baby, and he offered Marilyn a decent sum of money to go quietly away and give the baby up for adoption. The offer was attractive to her; she had no other means to afford college.
“I was outraged at my father’s proposal and sickened by Marilyn’s transparent interest in the money. I tried to talk her out of it and insisted that she marry me and keep the child. If she wanted to go to school, I was sure we could afford it, at least part-time. She was adamantly against any solution I provided. I didn’t understand it at the time, not until she told me what she had come up with as an alternative solution.”
Sheila was breathless as she watched the angry play of sixteen-year-old emotions contort Noah’s face in pain. “In Marilyn’s beautiful, scheming mind, she found the answer. The price was considerably higher of course, but she agreed to give the baby up for adoption to me, his father, for a discreet and large sum of money. Although Ben didn’t like the idea of being manipulated by a girl he considered socially off-limits, he seemed to almostcenjoy her sense of values.
“It was obvious that a marriage to Marilyn under the best circumstances would be a disaster for both the baby and myself, so I swallowed my pride and pleaded with my father to agree to her demands, in order that I could gain custody of Sean. Sixteen years ago fathers’ rights were virtually unheard of, and without Marilyn’s written consent, I could never have gotten custody of my son. I wanted the only decent thing I could retrieve from that relationship with Marilyn—my unborn son.
“Ben thought I was completely out of my mind, but finally agreed. In the past sixteen years, every time he and I would disagree, Ben would remind me that it was his money and his power that gave me custody of Sean.”
Noah ran an angry hand through his dark hair and uttered an oath under his breath. Sheila knew she was witnessing a rare side of him. As she watched the cruel emotions tighten his jaw, she understood that she was learning things about him that he kept hidden from the rest of the world. He was letting her become closer to him, divulging his innermost secrets. She leaned her head against his shoulder and listened to the steady beat of his heart.
“Ben even has the stubborn pride to think that he saved me from an unhappy marriagec. Maybe he did. Who can say? The point is that he’s held it over my head for sixteen years. Finally, I’ve paid him back in full.” He spat the words out with a vehemence that sent a shiver skittering down Sheila’s spine.
“Because you’ve taken over the business while he’s been recuperating in Mexico?”
“That’s right. It took me this long to get out of the old man’s debt.” Sheila could see the emotional scars of pain etched on Noah’s broad forehead; she could read the agony in his blue eyes.
Her voice caught as she began to speak. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s over.”
“It bothers you.”
“I said, it’s over.” He shifted on the hammock and seemed to notice the darkness for the first time. His eyes searched the hillside. “The kids should be home.”
Sheila, too, had been caught up in the complexity of his story. Panic began to take hold of her as she realized that night had descended and Emily was missing.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered, clasping a hand over her mouth. “Where could they be?”
“You tell me. Do you have any flashlights?”
She nodded, and was on her way to the house before he could tell her to get them. She fumbled with the light switch in the kitchen in her hurry. Within two minutes she was back outside, listening for a response to Noah’s shout. Nothing interrupted the stillness of the night.
“Damn,” Noah muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I should have listened when you wanted to search for them earlier.”
“You didn’t know they wouldn’t come home.”
“But you did.” He turned to look at her as they followed the bobbing circles of lights flashing on the ground before them. “Why were you worried—is it part of being a mother?”
“Emily’s never late,” Sheila asserted breathlessly. They were climbing the hill at a near run.
“Next time I’ll pay more attention when you begin to worry.”
“A lot of good that does us now,” Sheila snapped back. She knew she was being short with Noah and that it was unfair, but her concern for her daughter made her irritable.
Noah stopped and cupped his hands around his mouth to call Sean’s name. From somewhere in the distance they heard his answering shout. Sean’s voice sounded rough and frightened.
“Oh, my God,” Sheila whispered, listening for Emily’s voice and hearing nothing. “Something’s happened.” Fear took a stranglehold on her throat, and she started running up the path, jumping to conclusions and imagining scenarios of life without her daughter.
She stumbled once on an exposed root. Noah reached for her, but couldn’t break the fall that tore her jeans and scraped her knee. Wincing in pain, she continued to race up the hill, mindless of the blood that was oozing from the wound.
Sean’s shouts were louder, and within minutes his anxious face came into range of the flashlights. Sheila choked back a scream as she saw Emily in his arms. The child was dripping wet, her face was covered with mud and there were several scratches on her cheeks.
“Mommyc” Emily reached her arms out to her mother and tears formed in Sheila’s eyes as Emily clung, sobbing to her.
“HushcEmily, it’s all right. Mommy’s here.” Emily burrowed her nose into Sheila’s shoulder. The girl was visibly shaking and her teeth were chattering. Noah took off his shirt and placed it on Emily’s small shoulders. “Shhhc Sweetheart, are you all rightc Are you hurt?”
“It’s her ankle,” Sean interrupted. His face was ashen as he looked down at Emily.
“Let’s take a look at that.” Noah took the flashlight and illuminated Emily’s right ankle. Gently he touched the swollen joint. Emily wailed in pain.
“ShhhcEm, Noah’s just seeing how bad it is,” Sheila whispered into Emily’s bedraggled curls. Sheila’s eyes drove into Noah’s with a message that he had better be careful with her daughter.
“I don’t think it’s brokencbut I can’t really tell,” Noah said softly. “Here, Emily, let me carry you back to the house. We’ll call a doctor when we get there.”
“No! Mommy, you hold me. Please.” Emily clung to Sheila’s neck as if holding on for dear life.
“Emily,” Noah’s voice was firm as he talked to the little girl.
“Don’t, I can handle her.”
“Forget it, Sheila.” The beam of light swept from Emily’s ankle to Sheila’s torn, bloody jeans. “You’ll be doing well if you can get back to the house on your own. I’ll carry Emily.”
“Mommyc” Emily wailed.
“Really, Noah, I’m sure I can manage,” Sheila asserted, her gray eyes glinting like daggers.
“Forget itc. Sean, you carry the gear and the flashlights.” Noah carefully extracted Emily from Sheila’s arms, but still gave orders to his son. “Then you walk with Sheila; she’s cut her leg. Now let’s go. The sooner we get Emily home, the better.”
Not even Emily argued with the determination in Noah’s voice. Sheila pursed her lips together and ignored the urge to argue with him. The most important thing was Emily’s well-being, and Sheila couldn’t find fault with Noah’s logic.
“Tell me, son,” Noah said sternly, when the lights of the château were visible. “Just what happened?”
“We were fishing.”
“And?”
“Well, it was getting dark, and I guess I was in kind of a hurry,” Sean continued rapidly. “Emily kept getting behind, and when we crossed the creek, she slipped on a rock. I threw down the gear and reached for her, but the current pushed her off balance and pulled her under the water. It was lucky that the creek was shallow, and I got to her. Then she started crying and screaming about her ankle and, well, I just started carrying her down the hill as fast as I could.”
“You should have been more considerate, Sean. If you weren’t always hurrying to get where you should have been an hour ago, this might never have happened!” Noah declared gruffly.
“I didn’t thinkc”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?”
“Noah, don’t,” Sheila interjected. “It’s not Sean’s fault. Arguing isn’t going to help anything.”
It seemed an eternity to Sheila, but eventually they got Emily to the house. While she cleaned and dried the child, Noah called a local doctor who was a friend of Sheila’s. Sean paced nervously from the living room to the den and back again until Emily was propped up in bed and the doctor arrived.
Dr. Embers was a young woman who had a daughter a couple of years younger than Emily. She was prematurely gray and wore her glasses on the end of her nose as she examined the child.
“So you took a tumble, did you?” she asked brightly as she looked into Emily’s pupils. “How do you feel?”
“Okay,” Emily mumbled feebly. Her large green eyes looked sunken in her white face.
“How about this anklecdoes this hurt?”
Emily winced and uttered a little cry.
The doctor continued to examine Emily while Sheila looked anxiously at the little girl, who seemed smaller than she had earlier in the day. Lying on the white pillow, Emily seemed almost frail.
Dr. Embers straightened, smiled down at the child and gave her head an affectionate pat. “Well, I think you’ll live,” she pronounced. “But I would stay off the ankle for a while. And no more jumping in creeks for the time being, okay?”
Emily smiled feebly and nodded. Dr. Embers took Sheila into the kitchen and answered the unspoken question hanging on Sheila’s lips. “She’ll be fine, Sheila. Don’t worry.”
“Thank goodness.”
“She shouldn’t need anything stronger for the pain than aspirin, but I do want you to bring her into the clinic on Monday for X-rays.”
Alarm flashed in Sheila’s eyes. “But I thoughtc”
Donna Embers waved Sheila’s fears away with a gentle smile and a hand on her arm. “I said don’t worry. I’m sure the ankle is just a sprain, but, I want to double-check, just in case there’s a hairline fracture hiding in there.”
Sheila let out a relieved sigh. “I really appreciate the fact that you came over tonight.”
“No problem; what are friends for? Besides, you’ll get the bill.”
Sheila smiled. “Can you at least stay for a cup of coffee?”
Donna edged to the door and shook her head. “I’d love to, really, but I left Dennis with dinner and the kids, which might be just a shade too much responsibility for him.”
Sheila leaned against the kitchen door frame and laughed. The last thing she would call Donna Ember’s loyal husband was irresponsible. A feeling of warm relief washed over her as she watched the headlights of Donna’s van fade into the distance.
“Is Emily going to be all right?” Sean asked when Sheila walked back into the kitchen and began perking a pot of coffee.
“She’s fine.”
Sean swallowed and kept his eyes on the floor. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Sheila maintained.
“Dad thinks so,” Sean replied glumly.
“Well, your dad is wrong.”
Sean’s head snapped upward, and his intense blue eyes sought Sheila’s. “But I thought you liked Dad.”
“I docI like him very much,” Sheila admitted, “but that doesn’t mean he can’t be wrong some of the time.”
Sean sank into a chair near the table. “I should have been more careful.”
“Even if you had, the accident might still have occurred. Just be thankful it wasn’t any worse than it was.”
Sean’s face whitened at the thought. “I don’t think it could have been worse.”
“Oh, Sean, it could have been a dozen times worse.” Sheila took a chair near Sean and touched him lightly on the shoulder. “Emily could have struck her head, or you could have fallen down, tooca thousand different things could have happened.” Sheila fought the shudder of apprehension that took hold of her when she considered how dangerous the accident could have been. “Look, Sean, you did everything right. You got Emily out of the water and carried her to me. Thank you.”
Sean was perplexed and confused. “You’re thanking mecwhy?”
“For clear thinking, and taking care of my little girl.”
“Miss Lindstrom—”
“Sheila.”
Sean shifted uncomfortably on the chair. He was still carrying the weight of guilt for Emily’s accident and had transformed from a tough punk teenager into a frightened boy. “OkaycSheilacI’mcsorry for the way I acted last night.”
“It’s okay.”
“But I was crummy to you.”
Sheila couldn’t disagree. “You were.”
“Then why aren’t you mad at me?”
“Is that what you want?” Sheila inquired, taking a sip from her coffee.
Noah had heard the end of the conversation and stood in the door awaiting Sean’s response to Sheila’s question.
Sean looked Sheila in the eye, unaware that his father was standing less than five feet behind him. “I don’t know.” He shrugged, some of his old bravado resurfacing. “I just didn’t want to like you.”
Sheila’s eyes flicked from Sean to Noah and back again. “Because you were afraid that I might take your father from you?”
Again the blond youth shrugged.
“I would never do that, Sean. I have a daughter of my own, and I know how important it is that we have each other. No one could ever take me away from my child. I’m sure the same is true of your father.”
Sean looked at Sheila, silently appraising her. His next words shattered the friendliness between them. “My dad still cares for my mom!” His look dared her to argue with him.
“I’m sure he does, Sean,” Sheila agreed, silencing Noah with her eyes. “And I don’t intend to change that.” Knowing that Noah was about to break in on the conversation, and hoping to avoid another confrontation, Sheila changed the topic. “Emily made some brownies for you earlier, but she must have forgotten them with all of the excitement about fishing.” She rose from the table and began putting the chocolate squares on a plate. Noah entered the room, but Sheila ignored him. “Why don’t you take this into Emily—cheer her up?”
“Do you think she’ll want to see me? She might be sleeping or something.”
“She’s awake,” Noah stated. “I just left her, and believe it or not, I think she’s hungry.”
Sean grabbed the plate of brownies and, balancing them between two glasses of milk, left the kitchen in the direction of Emily’s room. Without asking if he wanted any, Sheila poured Noah a cup of coffee.
“How’s your leg?” Noah asked, eyeing Sheila skeptically.
“Never better. I cleaned it and it’s okay. A little of the skin is scraped off, that’s all.”
Noah took an experimental sip from his coffee as he looked dubiously at her white slacks. “Did Dr. Embers look at it.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I told you I cleaned it and bandaged it. Look, it’s really no big deal.”
Noah didn’t look convinced. “I’m just sorry that you and Emily had to suffer because of Sean’s neglect.”
“Noah, please. Don’t blame him. He’s just a child himself.”
“He’s sixteen and has to learn responsibility sometime. He should have been more careful.”
“He knows that—don’t reprimand him. It would be like rubbing salt into his wound. He feels badly enough as it is.”
“He should.”
“Why? Because he was careless? Noah, accidents will happen. Give the kid a break, will you?”
Noah set his cup down on the table and walked over to the sink. For a few silent moments he stared out the window into the night. “It’s not just the accident, Sheila. It’s his attitude. You were there the night he came home drunk. It wasn’t the first time.” He breathed deeply and tilted his head back while squinting his eyes shut. “He’s in trouble at school and I’ve even had to pick him up downtown. Since he’s a minor, he hasn’t been in jail, but he’s been close, damned close. He missed a couple of probation meetings, and so now he’s walking a very thin line with the law.”
“A lot of kids get into trouble.”
“I know. I should count myself lucky that he doesn’t use dope, I guess.”
Sheila approached Noah and wrapped her arms around his waist. How long had he tortured himself with guilt for his son? “Sean will be all right, Noah. I’ve seen more kids than you’d want to count in my job, some easier to deal with than Sean, others more difficult. Sean will come through this.”
He put his large hands over hers, pressing her fingertips into his abdomen. “Why did you let him lie to you?”
“About what?”
“His mother. You know how I feel about Marilyn.”
“Sean probably does, too. But he can’t admit it to me, not yet. He still considers me a threat.”
“I think you’re reading more into this than there really is.”
“Adolescence is tough, Noah, or don’t you remember? Add to that the fact that Sean knows his mother rejected him. It makes him feel inferior.”
“Lots of kids grow up without one parentceven Emily.”
“And it’s hard on her, too,” Sheila sighed against his back.
Noah turned around and faced her. One hand pushed aside her hair as he studied her face and noticed the thin lines of worry that dimmed her smile. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re a very special woman, Sheila Lindstrom, and I love you.” He traced the edge of her cheekbones with his finger. “It’s times like these that I wonder how I managed to live this long without you.”
Sheila warmed under his unguarded stare. “I guess you must have a will of iron,” she teased.
“Or maybe it’s because I’m a stubborn fool.” He draped his arm possessively over her shoulder and guided her out of the kitchen. “Let’s go check on Emily.”
“In a minutec. You go look in on her, I’ll be there shortly.” She moved out of his embrace and pushed him down the hall. “I’ve got to make a phone call.”
Noah looked at his wristwatch. “Now? To whom?”
She was ready for his question. “I think I’d better call Jeff.”
“You’re ex-husband?” Noah was incredulous. “Why?”
“He has the right to know about the accident,” Sheila attempted to explain. Before she could get any further, Noah cut her off and his mouth pulled into a contemptuous scowl. A thousand angry questions came to his mind.
“Do you think he would even care?”
“Noah, he’s Emily’s father. Of course he’ll care.”
“From what you’ve told me about him, he hasn’t shown much fatherly concern for his daughter!”
“Keep your voice down!” Sheila warned in a harsh whisper. “Jeff has to know.”
Noah’s face contorted with disgust. The skin stretched tightly over the angled planes of his features. “Are you sure the accident isn’t some handy excuse?”
Sheila’s gray eyes snapped. “I don’t need an excuse. He has to know and I can’t have him hear it through the grapevine.”
“Why not?”
“How would you feel if it were Sean?”
“That’s different. I care about my son. I would have done anything to have him with me. It was a little different with your husband, I’d venture to guess.”
“He’s still her legal father. This is a rural community, but word travels quickly. I either have to call Jeff or his mother, and I’d prefer not to worry Marian. If I call her now, she’ll be over here within a half hour.”
“And what about Coleridge? Is that what he’ll do—come racing over here to check on his daughter and his ex-wife. Is that what you’re hoping for?”
“You’re impossible!” Sheila accused. “But you’re right about one thing, I would be thrilled to pieces if Jeff came over here.”
“I thought so,” he commented dryly as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, looking as if he were both judge and jury. She, of course, was the unconvincing defendant.
“But not for the reasons you think,” she continued, trying to stem her boiling anger. “Jeff is Emily’s father, for God’s sake. She’s just been through a very traumatic experience, and I think she could use a little support from Daddy.”
“A little is all she’d get, at the very best,” Noah pointed out in a calm voice. His blue eyes looked deadly. “Jeff Coleridge is no more Emily’s father than Marilyn is Sean’s mother! I can’t believe that you’re still hanging on to ideals that were shot down years ago when he walked out on you and your kid, Sheila. You don’t have to paint the picture any rosier than it really is. It’s not good for you, and it’s not good for Emily.”
“So look who’s handing out free advice—Father of the year!” The minute her words were out, she wanted to call them back. She hadn’t meant to be cruel.
Noah’s hands clenched and then relaxed against his rib cage. “Once again, the sharp tongue cuts like a whip, Miss Lindstrom. I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m only attempting to suggest that genetics has nothing to do with being a parent. Oh, sure, Coleridge sired your child, but where was he when the chips were down? Or have you conveniently forgotten that he walked out on you and took up with another woman? A man like that doesn’t deserve to know that his child was hurt. Face it, Sheila, he just doesn’t give a damn.”
Sheila’s nerves were strung as tightly as a piano string, her voice emotionless. “Each summer Emily spends a few weeks with Jeff. He’s expecting her by the end of next week.”
“Does she want to see him?”
Sheila wavered. “She’s confused about it.”
Noah’s lips twisted wryly. “What you’re saying is that she knows he doesn’t want her, and you’re hoping that when he learned of the accident, he’ll rush to her side and reestablish himself as a paragon of virtue in her eyes. Don’t delude yourself, Sheila, and for Emily’s sake, don’t try to make your ex-husband something he’s not. Let her make up her own mind.”
“She will,” Sheila said softly, “whether I call him or not. But I am going to call, you know. It’s his right as a father.”
“He has no rights—he gave them up about four years ago, wouldn’t you say?”
For a moment they stared across the room at each other, trying to repair the damage their argument had caused, but it was impossible. “Excuse me,” Sheila said shakily, “but this is my decision.” She turned to the telephone and dialed the long-distance number to Spokane.
Noah turned on his heel, uttered a low oath, and headed down the hall toward Emily’s room. Women! Would he ever live to understand them?