An Irresistible Temptation (21 page)

Riley laughed. “Well, it’s rather a long
name, but I think I can work on it. It’s a great idea.” He stood up
and took her hand. “I’m going to miss having you in my life,
Eliza.”

“I know.”

And the next day, with a kiss on his cheek
and a wave of her gloved hand, she was gone, her furniture all
covered in cloth and a housekeeper to tend to the rest.

“Wherever she’s gone,” Doc said, “she’ll do
all right. Don’t you think?”

Riley shrugged. He had more respect for Eliza
than he’d ever had before, and he hoped she found happiness. But
she was not the woman uppermost in his mind. He was eager to get
back to San Francisco and claim Sophie, and maybe punch Philip if
he could think of any possible reason for doing so—like because the
man was breathing.

“What about you?” Doc asked.

“What
about
me?” Riley was glad Doc
couldn’t read his mind.

“I’m not getting any younger.” Doc shook his
head. “I can’t believe I just said that.” He scratched his chin. “I
love what I do, but I can’t do it forever.”

Riley felt everything in him tighten. Eliza’s
freedom to jump on a train bound for anywhere was something he
envied. He had a feeling his path was narrowing right back to
Spring. And that, in itself, might cost him the woman he loved. For
love Sophie Malloy he did, and now, at last, he could tell her. But
drag her back to Spring City? That didn’t sit well.

“You only have a few months left, right?” Doc
already knew the answer.

“Yup,” Riley agreed and sipped his coffee
again. Less than that and he’d be a doctor.

“And then your plans are . . . ?”

Doc was going to make him say it.

“I’m going to come back here and work with
you until you’re ready to retire.” The words were hardly out of his
mouth and Riley felt regret, tinged with fear that his destiny was
not one that Sophie would want to be a part of.

Doc exhaled a big breath. “I have to admit I
was hoping you were headin’ in that direction. Sarah wants to
travel a bit, you know, before we get too old. And I would be
sorely pained to leave my patients in the wrong hands.”

“You brought a lot of them into this
world.”

“They’re like family, like you are.”

Riley managed a thin smile though his gut was
churning. “Then we’re settled.”

*****

He was an absolutely unattached free man for
the first time in nearly three years, and all Riley wanted was to
attach himself immediately to Sophie. However, as he arrived back
in San Francisco, his head and his heart were conflicted. Dropping
off his bag at home, he stopped to wash up and dress in his good
clothes; Riley was determined to put his best foot forward,
considering his abominable behavior when he left Sophie weeks
earlier.

Though his mind had gone back a million times
to making love to Sophie, causing his body to react powerfully each
time to the memory, he knew it had been disgraceful to take her
innocence and then leave her. If any other man had treated her
such, he’d have taken his head off. But he loved her. He could
admit it now. Better yet, he could tell her—without any sense of
guilt or wrongdoing.
Except . . . what if his loving her was not
what was best for her?

He entered The Grand on quick feet and went
up the stairs, two at a time. But a knock at her door brought no
answer. He pulled out his pocket watch. Where would she be at three
in the afternoon?

A few minutes later he was at the concierge
desk at The Palace.

“Mr. Hull, may I see Carling Rilkers,
please?”

Egbert smiled but it faltered and then
disappeared entirely as he realized with whom he was speaking.

“Ah, Miss Rilkers. She’s here and about
somewhere. With a guest, I expect.”

“Can you find her? I need her help. I’m
looking for Sophie Malloy.”

Egbert looked pained. “Right. Miss Malloy.
Well, Carling would know that for certain.” He shifted from one
foot to the other. “So, you’re back.”

Riley nodded then said, “Obviously.”

“And your fiancée?” Egbert looked past Riley
as if he thought she’d pop up any moment.

Riley’s placid face clouded over. “Look, I
need to find Sophie and I’d like to do it sooner rather than—”

“Riley Dalcourt,” Carling’s voice rang out
across the lobby. Riley turned. Finally, he’d get some answers. But
instead of her usual cheeky and welcoming smile, she looked
thunderous as she stalked across the carpeted floor toward him.

“So there you are, sniffing about here after
over a fortnight’s absence.” She crossed her arms.

“Carling, can you tell me where Sophie is,
please?”

“Why? Haven’t you caused her enough
heartache?”

He blanched. Had Sophie told Carling about
their tryst in her room? The women were good friends, but he
somehow hadn’t thought Sophie was the type to want to disclose her
business, particularly when it didn’t reflect well on either of
them.

“Speechless now, eh?” Carling continued.

“Carling, please,” Egbert broke in. “Perhaps
you should tell Mr. Dalcourt here—”

“Oh, I’ll tell him all right. She’s gone. My
good friend has up and left San Francisco.”

“Gone?” He felt his heart start to hammer.
“Gone where?”

“Off on her
engagement
tour.” Carling
had a sour look on her face.

“Her engagement . . .” He trailed off. Shit!
How could it be? He’d just assumed she would be here, especially
after what they’d shared. But of course, . . . she wouldn’t be
waiting for him. He had given her no reason to wait and many
reasons not to. He looked away from Carling’s hostile gaze and ran
his hand through his hair. Then he shook his head.

“It won’t do you any good. You can’t shake it
off,” Carling said. “That ship has sailed.”

“When did she leave?”

“Yesterday.”

Christ! That was like another punch in the
gut. “You’re joking!” Had he really been so close to catching her?
He could barely breathe.

“Nah, I wish I was. Easy as you please, since
The Overland’s ticket office is right here in this hotel. Still,
she’s in good hands,” Carling added. “That Mr. Wainright was
smitten and ready to make her his wife.”

Riley was reeling, as though he was on a
runaway coach with no one holding the reins. He turned on his heel
and started to walk away. He heard Carling make a clucking sound
behind him. He stopped and swore under his breath before facing
Carling and Egbert again.

“Where did they go?”

Carling’s eyes narrowed. “Why would I tell
you?”

“I need to talk to her.”

“Talk to her,” Carling spat out. “Why don’t
you talk to your fiancée? Go on with you. Leave Sophie alone.”

Riley did not want to get into his personal
feelings in the middle of the lobby of The Palace, but it seemed he
had no choice.

“I . . . care for Sophie.”

Carling expelled her breath in a big puff.
“Too late,” she muttered.

“She’s engaged now,” Egbert pointed out. “And
she seemed very happy to go home.”

Carling glared at Egbert.

“Home? They went back to Boston?”

“She has a diamond ring on her finger and
all,” Carling said.

“Carling,” Egbert warned.

“Well, she will when she gets back to
Boston.”

“It seems I missed a lot.” Riley paused,
letting it sink in as he stared at the tiled floor. “I’m too late.”
He was back in San Francisco and Sophie was lost to him.

“You won’t do anything rash now, will you,
chum?” Egbert asked.

Riley knew what the man was thinking. That he
might jump on the next train and go after her, or simply jump off
the nearest bridge. But she’d made a choice. Her old love who’d
broken her heart had come back and redeemed himself, reclaiming
her, removing the pain and humiliation, and apparently she’d fallen
for him again.

And, perhaps, when Sophie had let Riley make
love to her, it had exorcised for her the tempting what-ifs that
had been hanging between them since their first meeting in Spring
City. Maybe their encounter hadn’t been for her as incredible as it
had been for him. By now, she might have already experienced the
same with Philip.

Riley would never know. He’d made it clear to
her that she was none of his business. Now, he’d have to live with
it.

Sophie could not ignore the little voice
inside of her one minute longer. Right after they pulled out of
Chicago’s Union Depot, she jumped up, made her excuses to Philip,
and fairly ran the length of the train. Ignoring people’s stares,
she continued her flight until she opened the caboose door and
stepped onto the metal platform. It was cold and windy and she
leaned back against the door, clutching her mantle around her. The
clackety-clack was so loud she could scream if she wanted and not
hear her own voice.

She looked at the track stretching out behind
her, all the way to San Francisco. How she loved that city! Only
months earlier, she’d fled Spring and welcomed her new start. Now,
it was over and she was headed home. Not exactly triumphant,
either. She’d managed to be no more than a piano player in a bar,
but at least she’d done it on her own. Freddie Vern, dear Freddie,
had seen something in her. She’d hated telling him she was leaving
for good.

She tried not to think of Riley at all. He
was never hers to begin with and should have no influence on
whether she renewed her relationship with Philip. Still, he was in
her heart all the same. And he
had
influenced everything.
She knew how wonderful the intimate act could be. It had been brief
but soul shattering. What if it wasn’t that way with Philip? Would
it have been better not to know how perfect it could be?

A year ago, she would have
gladly—ignorantly—married Philip. Then she’d seen Charlotte and
Reed. Despite the pain over her own broken relationship, she’d been
aware of their passion. All her brother had to do was look at
Charlotte with his dark cerulean eyes so like Sophie’s, and
Charlotte was transfixed. Some unspoken message would pass between
them. At Charlotte’s touch on Reed’s arm, he’d suck in his breath
as though burned. That was how she felt with Riley.

I’ve made a mistake.
The thought came
to her as though she’d said it out loud, as though her truer self
were finally speaking to her. She could not have Riley, but that
didn’t mean she had to start over with Philip. Despite weeks of his
courting her, she had to acknowledge, at least to herself, that she
didn’t love him anymore. He didn’t make her tingle when he stood
close. He never had. He’d been her comfortable, familiar friend who
she’d assumed would become her husband.

The track continued to unravel behind her,
taking her farther and farther from where she wanted to be. She had
to tell Philip. Taking a fortifying breath of the frigid air, she
went back inside.

*****

Phillip was looking out the window as she
plopped herself down beside him.

“Sophie, are you all right? I went looking
for you.”

She was wind-blown and red-nosed from the
cold, knowing she looked a fright, but she felt more certain than
she had in weeks.

“Philip, I don’t want to go with you to
Boston.”

His mouth opened and remained so for a full
five seconds before he closed it. Then he said, “The train is
headed to Boston, dearest. I can’t do anything about that.” He
tried to make light of her words, but she saw the apprehension
flare in his eyes. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ve made a mistake.” Her voice sounded just
the way it had in her head. Positively certain. “I don’t want to
give up on San Francisco.”

“Give up on it? What a queer way to put it!
We don’t have to live in Boston. In fact, we won’t. We’ll be in
Cambridge. It’s lovely there.”

It
was
lovely there, but that wasn’t
what she wanted. “I don’t want to live in Cambridge.”

“But we talked all this out, many times.” He
took her hand. “You’re simply getting a case of the nerves, going
home where everyone will be waiting to see you.”

He patted her hand and turned it over,
raising the palm to his lips. He kissed it. She felt nothing but
the small satisfaction of having a man who loved her kiss her. It
was not the tingle of a woman who loved her man’s kiss.

“After we’re home,” he continued, “it’ll be
like you never left.”

That’s what she most didn’t like about going
home. She snatched her hand out of his grasp. Then she stopped and
looked down at both her hands. They looked totally normal again,
but she had resisted playing, even after the last bandage came
off.

After Riley left, she’d been feeling bruised
by life and hadn’t wanted to know if she’d lost any mobility.
Without Riley to tell her she would heal just fine, she’d felt
doubtful and cowardly and hadn’t dared to try playing again. What
if she put her fingers to the keys only to find that she couldn’t
play properly, not ever again? Coming on the heels of his abrupt
departure and imminent marriage to Eliza, such an outcome had been
too much to bear.

Suddenly, though, she couldn’t wait to play
and see if her life could go on as it had before. She leaned her
head back against the head rest. She would seek her brother’s
counsel. There was no point in talking anymore to Philip. He would
philosophize away her reticence and attempt persuasive reasons why
she should accept that her life had come full circle.

*****

Within minutes of entering her mother’s home,
Sophie escaped to the conservatory. The housekeeper was making tea,
Philip was speaking in hushed tones to her family as though she
were a delicate invalid, and Sophie was plain exhausted. At the
sight of her piano, however, with its fanciful inlaid walnut
marquetry of flowers and leaves, she smiled and felt the tight band
on her heart loosen.