Starlight (15 page)

“You once reminded me that we are two adults,” she began shakily, gathering her resolve, “and that we should be able to handle things in an adult manner.”

Rand nodded curtly.

“I can only apologize for my father’s behavior. I don’t know why he would do something so underhanded …”

“Karen …” Rand’s voice rose threateningly.

Despondently, Karen realized Rand thought she was placing the blame entirely on Matthew’s head.

“Please, let me finish,” she asked, her voice stiff, polite. “I can only hope that someday you’ll find it in your heart to forgive Dad … and to think kindly of me.” She slipped the exquisite diamond from her long, slender finger and watched it slide off with a sadness she had never known. The ring had been on her finger for only a few hours, and Karen thought she’d rather have lost her finger than part with this symbol of their love. “I’m … I’m giving you the wedding ring back. I’ll begin annulment proceedings the first thing Monday morning.”

Rand smiled stiffly as he accepted the diamond. “Maybe an annulment would be best.”

“I’ll have my things moved out before you return from New York,” she said weakly, fighting back the first shock waves.

Rand’s look became intent. “Where will you go?”

She turned away from him, tilting her head back and blinking wildly to keep the tears from spilling. “I … I don’t know yet, but it won’t matter. Once the annulment is final …” She left the rest unsaid, the words stuck in her throat.

Rand slouched forward, running his fingers through his hair. “You don’t need to leave immediately. I’ll be gone for the next three days. We both need time to think, to decide what we’re going to do. By the time I return, I’ll have the situation in perspective and a better grip on my emotions. I think you should do the same thing. We’ll talk then.
Is that agreeable?”

“All right,” she murmured tightly. “I’ll stay here for now and let my family assume I’ve left for New York with you. Maybe while you’re gone, I’ll come up with a solution to this mess.”

“Until we decide, I’d like for you to keep the ring.”

Miserably, Karen shook her head. “No … I don’t think I should. Marriage is something very binding as far as I’m concerned. My parents were married for twenty-seven years, and if I place a wedding ring on my finger, I think my intention should be for a lifetime … not a three-day weekend.”

Rand frowned slightly. “Whether we stay married or not, the ring is yours.”

“I’d prefer it if you kept it for now.” The ring would become very much like the bracelet he’d given her. Unless they stayed married, it could be only a painful reminder of what could have been.

Carl drove Rand to the airport an hour later. If he was surprised that Karen was staying behind, he didn’t show it. Sadly, Karen stood in the open doorway as the car drove into the distance, watching until the lights faded and the car turned onto the main road. Rand’s farewell had been cool, but the open hostility was gone. For that, at least, Karen could be grateful. Rand’s face was drawn and tired as he stepped into the car, and Karen yearned to go to him and erase the finely strung tension between them. But she stayed where she was, watching him go.

Her suitcase remained in the master bedroom, a room indelibly marked by Rand’s presence, and Karen avoided it as long as possible. Instead, she sat in the sunken living room, feeling lost and very much alone. Suddenly, she remembered this was her wedding night and could have wept with bitterness and disappointment.

Shortly after midnight, it began to rain, a steady torrent with mounting fury that pounded sheets of rain against the windows. Thunder rolled closer and closer; lightning flashed in jagged arcs across the sky. How quickly the storm had come; only a few hours before, Karen had been staring at clear skies and brilliant stars. The storm was like the day. It had begun with such promise; she had entered Rand’s home as his wife, determined to do her best. Now, only a few hours later, her marriage was threatened, her life in turmoil.

When the phone rang, Karen was surprised. “Hello,” she answered hesitantly. Surely Rand didn’t receive many calls after midnight. More than likely it was a prank call.

“Miss Karen?”

The voice was familiar, and Karen recognized it immediately. “Yes, Carl, it’s
me.”

He sounded awkward, as if he didn’t often use the telephone. “I was phoning to see if you are all right … the storm and all.”

“I’m fine, thank you. I’m not frightened by thunder and lightning. Did … did Rand get off okay?”

“I assume he and Miss Dibner were not delayed. I didn’t stay to see the flight off.”

Cora was with Rand
. A sick feeling came over Karen’s stomach. She had endured so much this day, the whole gauntlet of emotions from utter happiness to abject misery. Knowing Cora was traveling with Rand was almost more than she could bear.

“No, of course you wouldn’t wait to see him off,” Karen murmured, the lump in her throat building. “Thank you for your concern, Carl, but I’m fine.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” he offered soberly.

“I will.” Her voice suddenly sounded frail and wobbly.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Good night, then.”

“Good night.” She replaced the receiver, looking around her helplessly. Rand and Cora. The picture of them traveling together when it was her and Rand’s wedding night was almost more than she could bear. When the sobs came, she roughly jerked her hand across her face. If this was what love does, Karen decided, she wanted no part of it.

Stiffening her back, she turned out the living-room lights and walked determinedly into the master bedroom. Ignoring Rand’s dominating presence, marked in every corner, she lifted her suitcase onto the king-size bed and took out her nightgown. It was a lovely full-length satin of pale blue that Judy had given her before the wedding. Karen took one look at it, stuffed it back inside the suitcase, and slammed the lid closed. Randall Prescott could fly across the country with another woman on their wedding night, but she … but she … The anger drained as quickly as it had flared.

Karen sat on the bed and lightly ran her fingers along the pattern of the multi-brown-colored bedspread. For an instant, she’d been ready to run, to surrender without so much as a confrontation. She couldn’t stay, yet she couldn’t leave. Releasing her breath slowly, Karen wandered from the room and found two other large-size bedrooms and a den that Rand obviously used as an office. She moved her suitcase into one of the other bedrooms; sleeping in the master bedroom was an agony she couldn’t bear tonight.

Karen woke early the next morning, her heart heavy. She sat up, deciding to get away from the house for a while and sort through her thoughts. Evidence of the night’s storm littered the yard; short branches of fir and pine from the trees that surrounded the property were scattered everywhere. Karen kicked them aside, her irritation so strong she
failed to appreciate the freshness of the early-morning air. Heavy gray clouds continued to darken the sky, rain ready to pelt the earth at any time. Yet Karen noticed none of this.

“Just wait till I get my hands on you, Dad,” she said aloud, letting the branches receive the brunt of her anger.

Did her father realize the impossible position he had put her in? What could he possibly have been thinking? Blackmailing Rand was an underhanded trick that went against the very core of honesty she had always known from her father. Karen wanted to shout at him every rotten name she knew. How could he have possibly done anything so unscrupulous? Rand had every reason to detest the backhanded methods Matthew had used to get them married. And yet as much as she disagreed with her father’s schemes, she could understand why he did it. Against the flint hardness of his will, against his better judgment, Rand loved her. But that love was doomed almost from the beginning. Without Matthew’s intervention, there would never have been a marriage. Now it was up to Karen to see that they remained married. With a new resolve, she walked back to the house.

A movement out of the corner of her eyes caught her attention, and she found Carl watching her from the kitchen of his home. Impulsively, she gave him a friendly wave and watched the smile grow on his face before he returned her greeting.

“Miss Karen.”

She turned to find Carl’s long strides eliminating the space between them. The calico kitten James and Carter had given Rand was under his arm.

“Hello, Number Nine,” she greeted the kitten softly. She was more cat than kitten, and Karen was surprised how much she had grown. “I wondered what had become of you.”

“Mr. Rand asked the missus and me to keep the kitty while he was away, but …”

“I’ll take her,” Karen offered, interrupting him to avoid explanations of why she was here and Rand in New York.

Carl handed her the cat. “With Mr. Rand gone so much of the time, the kitty seems to think of my place as home. The missus has tried to discourage her, but she stands outside the kitchen door and cries until we let her inside. My missus has a soft heart,” he added.

Karen concealed a smile. No doubt Dorothy was a warmhearted soul, but it didn’t take Karen long to realize Carl had a soft touch where animals were concerned. She’d found hay, food, and a salt block by the creek and knew he’d hauled it down the narrow path to feed the wild creatures in the woods.

“Now that I’m here, Number Nine will know her home,” Karen said, her voice
conveying the confidence of her newly formed resolve. “She’s had her shots and everything?” Rand was sure to want her spayed as soon as possible.

“Oh, yes. First thing Mr. Rand had me do was take her to the vet.”

“Thank you, Carl.” The older man was fast becoming both ally and friend. Karen was grateful for both.

Without hesitation, Karen entered her new home, walking straight to the master bedroom. The cat followed her, jumped on the king-size bed, and curled into a little ball as if that were exactly where she belonged. I’ll do the same, Karen decided.

One side of Rand’s walk-in closet had been cleared for her things, and Karen spent the rest of the morning unpacking. She found herself singing, her confidence building. As she placed her things around the room, a sense of rightness replaced her insecurities. If her father could convince her mother to marry him, certainly she should be able to persuade Rand, who she knew loved her, that they should stay married. She’d face him with that quiet, unshakable McAlister resolve, she decided. Feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her, Karen slept in the master bedroom that night, finding courage in the fact that she was acting like a wife, waiting for her husband’s return.

Rand’s flight was due late Sunday afternoon. Karen waited impatiently as each minute passed with an incredible slowness. After pacing the floor innumerable times and checking the dinner she’d cooked, Karen decided she needed to vent some of her anxiety by walking.

She followed the same path she’d discovered the day before, a winding trail that led into tall trees alive with a natural beauty. When she returned, strolling leisurely into the clearing beside the house, she saw Carl’s car had returned and was parked in front. Her footsteps hastened, her long strides filled with purpose.

“Hello, Carl,” she called happily.

He gave her a frown that confused her and stepped into the entryway carrying Rand’s suitcase. “I’ll be heading home to
my missus
,” Carl quipped, his tone showing obvious displeasure.

He tipped his cap to Karen, his eyes avoiding hers. As Karen watched him go, her eyes clouded with confusion. Stopping to take a deep breath, she entered the house, but the welcoming smile died on her lips as soon as she moved through the door.

“Darling,” Cora purred, her arms entwined around Rand’s neck. “She must have left.”

“But I haven’t,” Karen interrupted, fighting to keep her voice even and to hide her shock.

Gripping Cora’s wrists, Rand forcefully removed her hands, which continued to cling to him. “Karen, I …” He sounded unsure and disconcerted.

“You must be exhausted from the flight, Cora,” Karen interrupted again. If Rand wanted to give her an explanation, he could do it later, privately. “I’ll have Carl drive you home.” She returned Cora’s cold glare with one of her own. Cora may have found encouragement in the fact that Rand had left her on their wedding night, but the woman had yet to discover the lengths Karen was willing to go to keep her husband.

Carl must have been waiting outside, because the minute his name was mentioned, he entered the house. “I’m ready to leave, Miss Dibner.” He gave Karen a conspiratorial wink that did little to please Cora.

“Rand,” she purred, giving the impression her feelings had been crushed by such a lack of welcome. But if she’d hoped for his support, she was again disappointed.

“As Karen says, you must be tired from the flight. I know I am.”

“You will phone me?” Cora’s attitude immediately changed from a feline on the prowl to the businesswoman she was. Professionally, Cora was Rand’s equal, her list of credentials as impressive as Rand’s. The look she flashed Karen let her know she had yet to concede the battle.

“I’ll contact you in the morning,” Rand murmured without enthusiasm.

Her eyes filled with resentment; she gave Karen an almost imperceptible nod.

Karen returned with a slight dip of her head. “We’ll meet again. Good-bye, Cora.”

With a cool sophistication Karen envied, Cora gave her a meaningful sidelong glare on her way out the door. “You can count on it,” she murmured for Karen’s ears alone.

As soon as the door was closed, Rand crossed the living room and poured himself a stiff drink from the whiskey decanter. “I didn’t mean for that to happen,” he began, but his voice contained no apology, his posture defensive.

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Karen murmured.

“Where were you?” he demanded. “I walked in the door expecting you to be here.”

For the first time since his arrival, Karen began to relax. “I went for a walk in the woods out back. I wasn’t exactly sure what time you planned on being here.”

His face showed fatigue. “Did you discover the creek?” he questioned, then took a sip of his drink.