Nathan's Vow (12 page)

"Everybody talks funny."

Gillian didn't want to pump Dana
for information.  She just wanted the little girl to know if she wanted to
talk, there was someone who would listen.  "What do you build with your
blocks?"

"Everything.  Wanna build a
zoo?"

"I'd like that.  Tell me what
you'd like to do and we can help you do it."

Maddie grinned at Gillian , glad to
be included.

At some point while they were
building, Collette slipped out of the room.  As Gillian and Dana and Maddie
were placing small plastic animals in their appropriate sections of the zoo,
she returned.

"Do we have to take a nap
today?" Dana asked.  "Can't we play with Gillian?"

Collette responded,
"Mademoiselle Moore has had a long journey.  She would probably like some
lunch and a rest herself.  Remember, if you rest now, you can stay up later
tonight."

"Where's Mommy?"

"She's still speaking with
your father."

Dana frowned.

Collette turned to Gillian. 
"I can show you to the kitchen.  Jacqueline has prepared salad and
sandwiches."

"Thank you.  If you could show
me where I can freshen up--"

"We'll show you the bathroom,"
Dana offered.  "C'mon."

The girls went to their rooms while
Jacqueline served Gillian in the formal dining room.  She felt silly sitting at
the long table by herself.  After a sorbet for dessert, she settled in a small
sitting room off the foyer.  Long casement windows flooded the room with
afternoon sun on two sides.  The yellow, white and green flowered sofa invited
her to curl up and relax.

What were Leona and Nathan talking
about?  What plans were they making?  Were they simply talking?  Gillian
shouldn't care, but she did.  Too much.  She yawned, feeling the fatigue of the
time change.  Laying her head against a pillow, she knew she was too tired to
tell herself she shouldn't care.

#

"Gillian?"

She awakened at the sound of
Nathan's voice close to her.  When she opened her eyes, he towered over her. 
"What time is it?"

"Almost four."

So many questions flooded her mind,
but she asked the most practical, the least risky.  "Did you get
lunch?"

"I just grabbed a sandwich. 
The girls will be down soon and I want to talk with them.  I think Leona and I
have everything straightened out."

Gillian had a sudden vision of
Nathan and Leona embracing.  Was that from the past?  The present?  The
future?  She swallowed hard.  "What are you going to do?"

"If the girls agree, they're
going to go home with me.  I believe Leona was afraid, impulsively took the
girls, but then was even more fearful of the consequences of coming back.  I
assured her that I have no intention of cutting her off from Dana and Maddie, that
I only want joint custody and a say in their lives."

"Nathan, would you like a
martini?"  As Leona stood in the doorway, she saw Nathan sitting beside
Gillian.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to interrupt."

Gillian was quick to assure her. 
"You're not."

Leona came forward and extended her
hand.  "We really haven't met.  I know you helped find us for
Nathan."

Gillian gave Leona's hand a brief
shake, then started to rise from the sofa.  Nathan stilled her by placing his
hand on her thigh.  She might not have felt anything when she shook Leona's
hand, but Nathan's touch on her leg created a jumble of thoughts and sensations
that were too difficult to sort.

"Leona, your father gave
Gillian some information I'd like you to straighten out."  Nathan's voice
was firm.

His ex-wife looked almost fearful
for a moment.  "What kind of information?"

"I think you know."

"Nathan, I had to give him a
good reason.  Otherwise he would have blamed the failure of our marriage on
me."

The lines along Nathan's mouth
creased deep with his frown.  "Why?  He's never liked me."

"Maybe not.  But he respects
you.  He's never respected me.  You know that.  He doesn't listen to what I
say.  He tries to control my life."

"But it was your idea to run
with the girls."

"Yes.  He went along with it
because of what I told him about you."

"Which was..."

Gillian knew what Nathan was
doing.  He wanted her to hear the truth and believe it.  "Nathan, you
don't have to--"

"Yes, I do.  Leona, what did
you tell him?"

Leona squared her shoulders and met
her ex-husband's hard stare.  "I told him you were unfaithful.  I was
wrong to do that, too.  Nathan, I'm sorry.  I know I have a lot to make up
for."

Nathan's voice held quiet
certainty.  "You have to stand up to your father sometime.  You can't go
through life trying to please him.  I want you to set him straight. 
Understand?"

She sighed.  "Yes.  I know
it's what I have to do.  Soon."  At the doorway, she turned back to them. 
"You will stay here, won't you?  We have plenty of room.  I know you want
to spend the evening with the girls and tuck them in."

Nathan squeezed Gillian's knee with
his fingers.  "Is that all right with you?"

"I don't want to impose.  I
can stay in a hotel in Chinon."

Leona shook her head. 
"Nonsense.  Collette has readied rooms for both you and Nathan. 
Unless..."  Her voice trailed off, suggesting they might want one room.

"That'll be fine," Nathan
responded.

Leona gave them a speculative look
and left the room.

"You didn't have to do
that," Gillian murmured.

"I wanted the facts clear."

Gillian tried to shrug off the
feeling that he was still hurt she hadn't believed in him.  "Leona seems
very...nice." 
Does she want you back?
a small voice cried.

But of course he didn't hear it. 
"Leona usually is nice.  She's always tried to please everyone.  And
that's impossible.  I think she's changed a lot in the past six months.  Maybe
it was being away from Arthur, maybe it was having full responsibility for the
girls."

"They're wonderful children,
Nathan."

A grin eased the serious lines from
his forehead.  "I think so."  He took her chin in his hand, and his
grin slipped away.  "Thank you for finding them."

Nathan's adrenaline was still
pumping, chasing away the fatigue and tension of the past six months. 
Gillian's doubt about his fidelity had niggled at him since she'd raised the
question.  He wasn't sure why it bothered him so.  Showing her the truth had
been all-important.  But now, even that faded into the background as he gazed
into her brown eyes.

Gillian was such a giving woman, so
confident in who she was.  The softness of her lips, the tilt of her head, the
expression in her eyes, pulled him toward her until his lips found hers.  She
warmed him.  Each time he kissed her, the chill left his heart, and her giving
response filled him with a pleasure that made him ache with wanting.  As he
deepened the kiss, all he wanted was to feel her surround him.

As before, she responded with a
tentative innocence that made him wonder about her romantic past.  She was a
sensual, caring woman.  Had her "gift" kept her isolated?  More than
once she'd hinted that had been the case.  He wanted to erase that isolation as
much as he wanted to appease his desire.

He stroked her mouth, nibbled on
her lip, cradled her head in his hands, needing to bring her closer--

Gillian tore away, putting a few
inches between them on the sofa.  "I can't do this."  Her hand
trembled as she lowered it to her lap.  "Maddie, Dana, Leona..."

Something happened when he was
around Gillian--something unfamiliar, almost uncomfortable.  Rational thought
fled, and he got caught up in...her.  "Maybe I should have told Leona we
only need one room."

Looking astonished, Gillian hopped
up from the sofa.  "I never gave you any indication that I was
willing--"

"What was that kiss about,
Gillian, if not willingness?"

"It was...it was...I don't
know.  We've been thrown into this situation together.  That doesn't mean I
want to go to bed with you.  And even if I did, it would be totally
inappropriate...here.  In fact, I wonder how you could even consider it.  Do
you have something to prove to Leona?"

As far as he was concerned, Leona
didn't enter into this.  "I don't have anything to prove.  You and I both
know there's an amazing chemistry between us."

"Chemistry soon fizzles out,
Nathan.  Or do you and Leona still have chemistry working between you?"

"Leona and I have the girls
between us.  That's all."

"And a history," Gillian
reminded him with a frown.

"A history I'd rather
forget."  When his marriage broke up, he'd looked at his relationship with
Leona.  They really had never had anything in common--not their goals, their
vision of their future, or their dreams.  He'd married her thinking she'd
separate from her father.  But she hadn't.  And Nathan's goal to succeed for
them both had driven them apart.  They'd made mistakes.  Essentially they'd
been wrong for each other from the beginning.  Leona still believed material
wealth was a sign of prestige.  Nathan had learned differently--integrity and a
bond with his daughters was much more important than either wealth or prestige.

Gillian brushed her bangs to the
side, a gesture he'd noticed she used when she was nervous.  "I'm going to
find Collette and see which room she'd like me to use.  I'd like to bathe or
shower."

The idea of her doing either caused
a tangible increase of his pulse.  But she'd made herself clear.  Kissing him
was one thing.  More than that was out of the question.  Here, anyway.  What
would happen when they got back to L.A.?  Would she go back to her life as a
manicurist?  Or would she go back to Indiana?

Did it really matter?  His focus
had to be Dana and Maddie.  After all, he had his daughters back now.  Why
should he be concerned about anything else?

#

Gillian laid the e-reader she's
brought along on the table beside the sofa, unable to concentrate.

Right now, Nathan, Leona, Dana and
Maddie were discussing...something.  And Gillian felt shut out.  Of course she
was shut out.  She didn't belong in their plans.

Dinner had been strained, although
they'd all tried to carry the conversation.  During a moment when Leona had
touched Nathan's hand to make a point, Gillian had realized with startling
clarity that she was jealous.  Tumbling over that realization came the
stunner--she was falling in love with Nathan Bradley.

She'd denied it, analyzed it, and
told herself she had to put distance between them.  That would be easy once
they returned to L.A.  Until then, she'd keep to herself and stay away from
him.  How difficult could that be?

Hurried footsteps sounded on the
floor in the hall.  Nathan appeared in the doorway, a worried expression on his
face.  "Have you seen Dana?"

Her heart hammered.  "No. 
What's wrong?"

"Collette came down to tell us
the girls were ready for bed.  But when I went to Dana's room, she was
gone."

Leona appeared next to him. 
"I can't find her anywhere.  She knows she's not supposed to go outside by
herself anytime, let alone at night.  The river isn't that far away."

"Gillian?"  Nathan was
looking at her expectantly.  "Can you help us?"

Leona broke the silence between
them.  "How can she help?"

Gillian didn't think twice about
picturing the dark-haired four-year-old.  Dana had been quiet during dinner,
watching Nathan but not reaching out to him.  Now as Gillian thought about
Nathan's older daughter, she had the strong sensation that Dana was outside,
but not in any danger.

"Ask Collette to check the
house once more.  You and Leona cover the front yard and I'll take the
back."

Leona looked indignant.  "Why
should we do what you say?"

Nathan kept silent.  It was
Gillian's choice what she wanted to tell Leona.

Gillian sighed.  She was tired of
keeping her "gift" under wraps.  "I'm a psychic, Leona.  That's
why."

Chapter
Seven

Gillian brushed through the
branches of an immense willow letting her instinct guide her as well as the
light of the flashlight.  After her announcement, Leona had looked at Gillian
as if she were crazy.  Not an unusual reaction.

But Nathan had jumped in quickly,
telling his ex-wife, "Gillian led me here to the girls.  I have no doubt
she can find Dana now."

Leona had studied Gillian closely,
then said, "I'll talk to Collette."

Gillian appreciated Nathan's faith
in her--it was satisfying.  But it also frightened her.  What if she couldn't
find Dana?

For a moment all of her inner radar
seemed to jam.  Taking a few deep breaths of night air, she consciously relaxed
and started walking again, stopping when she came to a border of trees along
the river.  They looked centuries old.  She couldn't make out what kind they
were in the dark.

An inner leading guided her to
swing her flashlight in a huge arc.  She saw Dana's profile as the child
perched in the V of a tree about two feet off the ground.  It reminded Gillian
of Dana's special place in Nathan's backyard.  She laid her flashlight at the
base of the trunk so Nathan could see it, then following her instincts rather
than logic that told her she should call Nathan and get the little girl inside
out of the dark night, she leaned against the tree beside Dana.

Facing the same direction as the
four-year-old, Gillian silently studied the river illuminated only by a slip of
a moon.

Dana shifted restlessly in her
perch.  "I don't wanna go in."

"Your mommy and daddy are
worried about you."  Gillian let silence lay between them again.

"I wanna go home, but I'll
miss Mommy."

Gillian moved a little closer so
her shoulder brushed Dana's, creating the physical contact Gillian sensed the
child needed.  "Your mommy and daddy love you a lot."