Snowbound Heart (22 page)

“Oh?” There was something in his tone that made Clare acutely uncomfortable.

“He confided to me that he was about to take Janine on a nice long cruise to the Bahamas, and while they were gone they were going to straighten out their marriage, one way or another, though he had hopes that away from the country, and away from outside influence, they could salvage something of their relationship. I wished him luck — though for which solution to his problem with Janine, I carefully didn’t say.”

“I can imagine,” Clare said dryly.

“His problems were not the only subject of discussion. Marvin had some pointed observations to make concerning a conversation he had with you. It seems he somehow got the idea that you had a special reason for being interested in my script, and in how I might have felt toward Janine.”

“He didn’t — “

“Yes, I am afraid he did. He told me you had admitted to him that you were in love with me.”

Clare was still. There was nothing she could say, though the lashes shielding her eyes trembled slightly.

“I don’t think Marvin would have mentioned it,” Logan went on in a reflective tone, “if I hadn’t said something which brought it to his mind. He appeared to think I had a right to know about it when I told him I meant to clear you of blame because I loved you.”

“You what?” Her lashes swept up to reveal her startled gaze.

“Don’t tell me you never guessed, my darling Clare, not after the lengths I went to, the things I put up with, to keep you with me. You didn’t really think I needed to be protected from Janine, did you? Oh, I will admit the engagement was convenient, but it was never really necessary. It came about in the first place because I didn’t like the way Marvin looked at you when he thought you had been my playmate while I was in hiding; it just went against the grain. Everything else followed when I discovered how much I would hate to part company with you. With Marvin and Janine and the business concerning the screenplay occupying my time, I knew there would be little left for my personal life. As your future husband, even in pretense, I could arrange to have you near me. I still wasn’t sure that you hadn’t dropped in on me for your own ends, but I was willing to overlook that, even to use it, so long as it allowed me to come to know you better.”

“The thought occurred to me once or twice that you were extraordinarily patient with Janine for someone who was supposed to dislike her.”

“Jealous, were you? No, why wouldn’t I be patient with her? If she stopped hounding me, you might have decided I didn’t need you around any longer and gone on your way — with your promised interview.”

“A bribe,” she said, smoothing one finger over the nylon of his coat

“It worked.”

“Did it? I would have stayed without it, though it was nice to have you supply me with a reason for being with you.”

“That bit of honesty deserves some recognition,” he said softly, and pressed a kiss of gentle passion to her parted lips.

When he raised his head, Clare, a shadow in her eyes, said in an unsteady voice, “Janine knew how I felt — I suppose because she felt the same. That is why she went to so much trouble to be rid of me.”

“That is the one thing I have regretted most about involving you in this,” he said, the pressure of his arms increasing. “If I had not kept you with me, you would never have been hurt. I died a thousand times before I could get back to you that day on the ski slope.”

Clare drew a deep breath. “I made use of what Janine did to me, though. I think I should tell you that is spite of everything I have tried to do to convince you of my innocence, I have a scheming nature.”

“Hobbs told me about your try at blackmail. He thought Janine was being suspiciously nice to him, and when he tackled her about it after the newspaper incident, the truth came out. He didn’t blame you. He seemed to think you were driven to it for the sake of something you believed in, the screenplay and — just possibly — the man who wrote it. For some reason I am inclined to take the same lenient view.”

“Even if it means I am not quite the material pioneer women were made of?”

“Does that still rankle?”

“Not really, since I might never have known you had ever thought so highly of me if it hadn’t come out when you were angry.”

“I would have told you sometime; I will tell you now that it is truer this minute than it ever was. You not only have the qualities I mentioned before, you have shown that you are willing to fight for what you believe in. That is something any pioneer woman worth her salt would certainly have needed. There is only one other virtue I wish you had.”

Clare tilted her head, a steady inquiry in her gray eyes. “What is that?”

“The generosity to go on loving, despite the hurt I have given you.”

“Oh, Logan,” she said, a catch in her voice as she met his eyes, seeing in their dark blue depths the reflection of his remorse and the promise of a recompense of love. “I do love you.”

He caught her close once more, the breath swelling in his chest. “Don’t ever leave me again,” he said. “Stay with me always, as my wife.”

Clare closed her eyes, letting her head rest on his shoulder. “The publicity will be terrible,” she murmured, a trace of real horror in her voice.

“I can stand it, if you can.”

“I suppose I will have to.”

His arms tightened and he smoothed the soft silk of her hair that spilled down her back. “Of course, if you would prefer to write your own, I still might be persuaded to grant that interview.”

Clare drew back to look at him. “Would you really let me do that?”

“If it is what you want.”

There was a radiant smile in her eyes as she lifted her hands to clasp them behind his neck. “I think,” she said slowly, “that there are other benefits to being your wife that I would enjoy more. All in all, I would rather live our life together than write about it”

The look in his eyes was warm with love. His reply, though unspoken, was more than satisfactory. As they stood close together under the trees, the winter sun dropped lower, tinting the clouds in the west with rose and shedding a soft pink light over the blue-shadowed snow. They did not see it.