Stormy Passion (33 page)

“
Brenna,” Taylor's whisper
caught her off guard as he reached for her hand.

Tentatively, she moved her fingers to his. It
wouldn't hurt to touch him this once. Why had he appeared when she
thought she was finally over him? Brenna shivered. His warm touch
stole her breath from her. Taylor tightened his hold and drew her
toward him. Her traitorous body responded.

My God, h--he was going to kiss her.

Chapter Three

The back door opened and jarred them to their
senses.

“
My goodness, you're up
bright and early,” Geraldine said as she slipped off her boots,
using the bootjack by the back door. “What's wrong? Couldn't
sleep?” she continued as she hung her coat on the peg without
looking at Brenna.

Startled, Brenna jerked back, then
straightened at the sound of Geraldine's no-nonsense voice coming
through the door. Brenna shut her eyes for a moment as she tried to
forget her uncontrollable actions. Did she have no character at
all? Taylor belonged to someone else, she thought shamefully. She
felt much like a child who had just been caught doing something she
wasn't supposed to be doing ... which, of course, she wasn't. If
Geraldine had been one minute later, Brenna would have been in
Taylor's arms, and then she would have been in a big mess. She
didn't know whether to hug the woman or hit her.

“
What's wrong, cat got your
tongue?” Geraldine asked as she walked into the main part of the
kitchen. “Oh,” she gave a little gasp. “I see you have
company.”

“
Yes ... I ... good ...
damn!” Brenna frowned at her inability to utter more than a single
word. How embarrassing. She didn't dare glance at Taylor. She knew
her face had to be crimson. Was he also embarrassed? Or was he
laughing at what a fool she'd been? He wasn't touching her anymore,
but she felt his presence.

Brenna cleared her throat. “Maybe I should
start again. Good morning, Geraldine. This is one of our guests,
Mr. Rothschild.” Brenna gestured toward him. “It seems he had an
accident this morning, and I have just finished bandaging his
hand.”

“
Let me see.” Geraldine
took his hand and examined the handiwork thoroughly. “Mmm.” She
grunted and nodded. “I couldn't have done better myself.” She
looked up at Taylor and smiled. “See, it's still bleedin' though.
Must have been a nasty cut. How'd ya do it?”

“
Well ... I ... It.” Now it
was Taylor's turn to stutter. Had he been out of his mind? He
wasn't even sure he had a brain anymore. It seemed to have turned
into mush ever since he stepped foot into this house. Hadn't he
been about to kiss Brenna after he swore he wanted nothing more to
do with her? He glanced at how rigid she held herself. She had
changed completely from the willing participant she'd been a few
minutes ago. The expression in her eyes was now remote and distant.
What a little witch she was. She evidently regretted her actions as
much as he did.

He felt very much like a lit match and Brenna
was gasoline and when the two came in contact the results were one
big explosion. He’d been more than ready to throw caution to the
wind. So much for self control.

“
Well now, seems like ya
both havin' a hell of a time talkin' this mornin'.” Geraldine
reached out to shake Taylor's hand. “I'm Geraldine, the cook here,
and I'm mighty glad to meet ya.”

“
Thank you,” Taylor said
with a smile in his voice as he took her hand. “And when I'm not
tripping over my words, I'm Taylor Rothschild.” Sliding off the
stool, he stood up to leave. “I guess I better get out of your way
so you both can get some work done.” He looked at Brenna not
knowing what to say. “Thanks for taking care of me. I'm going to
try to find another place to stay.”

“
Why? Ya don't like my
cookin'?” Geraldine propped her hands on her hips.

“
Oh, no.” Taylor held up
his hand. “I just think it's best if I find somewhere else to
st--.” Before Taylor could finish, the back door again flew
open.

“
I'm ho--.” Lisa stopped in
mid-sentence as her eyes focused on Taylor. Brenna saw the
recognition enter her sister's eyes as she squealed with delight
and ran to him.

“
I'm so glad you're here!”
Lisa threw her arms around his neck. “I knew one day you would
come. I just knew it.”

“
Let me see you.” Grinning,
Taylor held the child away from him. “You sure have grown. You're
almost as pretty as your sister.”

Lisa twirled around. “Do you really think
so?”

“
I've never lied to you
before, and look at you--you're walking without a limp. But I
thought--” He stared at Brenna.

Brenna felt the color drain from her face.
“We found a very good doctor who could fix her problem.” Taylor
continued to stare at her a little longer than she cared for. Did
he remember that the doctors said her sister had little hope of
walking? Could he tell that she was hiding something?

“
Well, I'm glad you did.”
He knitted his brows as he studied her another minute. Then he
continued. “I worried about Lisa for a long time after you ... Well
... never mind.”

Lisa tugged on his arm. “I wanted to write to
you, but Brenna said it wasn't a good idea.”

“
I bet she did,” Taylor
said acidly as he cut his accusing eyes at Brenna. Did she hate him
so much that she'd turn her own sister against him? “But your
sister has been wrong once or twice in her life.”

Lisa stared up at Taylor with adoration. “I
told her you'd come for us.”

“
Wait a minute, Lisa,”
Brenna interjected. “You've got this all wrong. Taylor didn't come
here to see us. He's here with his fiancée.”

The child's grin immediately disappeared.
“You didn't come to see us?”

“
No, muffin.” Taylor
squeezed her arm to reassure her. “I didn't know where to find
you.” He wanted to add after your sister skipped town with another
man, but he refrained from that comment. After all, Lisa was
innocent. “But I'm glad I've bumped into you. Now we can catch up
on old times.”

“
But I thought you were
leavin',” Geraldine abruptly reminded him.

Taylor frowned at the outspoken cook. She
reminded him of Joe, the mechanic. Something told him she knew
exactly who he was to Brenna. Or should he say, what he'd been?
“That's right. But I can still save some time for Lisa, that is, if
your sister doesn't mind.”

Brenna just shrugged. Everything was
happening much too fast. She couldn't forbid the child to talk to
Taylor. However, Lisa didn't know anything about the deal with
Taylor's mother, so she wouldn't be able to tell him anything if he
asked. “I don’t mind.”

“
Well, I’d better be
going,” Taylor said. This time he made it to the door before Lisa
stopped him.

“
Will I see you later?” she
called.

“
You've got a date,
muffin.”

After he was gone, Lisa turned to her sister.
“Aren't you glad he's here?”

“
I don't know,” Brenna said
before she thought. As soon as she realized she was about to reveal
her innermost thoughts she started again. “You don't understand,
Lisa. Taylor didn't come to see us, and he
is
going to marry
someone else.”

“
But he was supposed to
marry you.”

“
That, young lady, was a
long time ago.” Brenna packed the bandages back into the first aid
kit. “Taylor doesn't love me anymore.” She tried to sound casual
even though her chest grew tight at the sound of her words. “He
loves someone else.”

Lisa picked up the overnight bag from where
she'd left it crumpled by the door. “I never understood why we left
without telling him.”

Geraldine had been standing in the
background, but now she moved up and put an arm around Lisa. “I'm
sure your sister had a mighty good reason, but maybe now ain't the
time to talk about such. Brenna had a dang busy day yesterday
'cause we were short-handed. Run along now and put ya things up. I
can use ya help later.”

“
All right, but I still
don't understand.” Lisa's shoulders slumped for just a minute, and
then she brightened. “Well, at least I get to see Taylor now.” Lisa
said before she closed the door.

“
Thanks.” Brenna looked at
Geraldine with relief.

“
I thought ya could use a
little help.” Geraldine took Brenna's face in her hand. “Just look
at those dark circles under ya eyes.”

“
I didn't get a lot of
sleep last night,” Brenna replied in a weary voice.

“
Why didn't ya tell him
there ain't no rooms to be had in town?”

“
He wouldn't have believed
me.” She shrugged. “Taylor would probably think I was trying to
keep him close to me. And, heaven knows, nothing could be further
from the truth.”

“
Yeah, ya right.” Geraldine
agreed, then walked over to the sink. “But for someone who said
they were goin' to stay far away from him... ya were mighty close
when I came in here.”

Brenna’s cheeks grew warm at the mention of
what she had been thinking of doing, but she'd never confess that
to Geraldine. “Well, I couldn't just let him bleed to death.”

“
Really?” Geraldine said,
knowingly as she cut her eyes to Brenna. “So that's what ya were
doin'.”

After Brenna went upstairs, she dressed in a
pair of black flannel slacks and her favorite lavender turtleneck
sweater, hoping it would help brighten her pale cheeks and her
attitude.

Then she went back downstairs to start the
day again. The right way ... without Taylor.

She decided she wasn't getting anything done
by remembering all her troubled yesterdays, so she went to her
office to take care of her daily paperwork, otherwise known as
bills. She started sifting through the papers putting the most
important on the top. That was when she saw an envelope stamped
past due
in bold red letters.

“
Damn,” she swore as she
tore open the envelope. It was from the bank. She read the letter
quickly and she felt just a little queasy by the time she'd
finished the last line. Three months behind on her house payment,
how had she let that happen?

She knew the answer to that one--a new roof.
Maybe with the next week and her income tax return, she would be
able to catch up. She read the notice again. She had thirty days to
pay the delinquent amount. The ski season would pull them through,
Brenna thought and then for good measure she prayed for a little
help from somewhere.

She'd been working for over an hour when a
sharp knock sounded on the door.

She stretched her neck and laid her pen down
on the sturdy oak desk before calling, “Come in.”

Carol stuck her head in the door. “Am I
interrupting?” She smiled. “I was hoping we could talk.”

Brenna hesitated. What in the world did they
have to talk about? Surely, Taylor hadn't told her anything.
“Talk?”

“
If you don't mind.” Carol
inched her way into the room.

Having no other choice, Brenna waved her
hand. “Have a seat.”

Carol closed the door behind her, then went
over to one of the two tan-colored chairs facing the desk. “Tell me
a little about Taylor,” she said as she took a seat.

Brenna tried to keep the disbelief out of her
eyes. She hesitated as she wondered what Carol really wanted.
“Surely, you know Taylor pretty well. What can I tell you about the
man you're going to marry?”

“
That's the problem. I
don't know him very well at all.” Carol folded her hands and laid
them primly in her lap. “I've only known him for three months, but
I've often wondered what he was like growing up. And since you've
apparently known Taylor a lot longer than I have, I thought maybe
you could tell me something--anything--about him.”

This is all I need
, Brenna thought, to
be bosom buddies with Taylor's future bride. She really didn't want
to discuss the man she was trying so hard not to think about, but
she couldn't see any graceful way out of it.

“
Taylor was always a good
student.” Brenna almost laughed. She sounded like she was reading
from a child’s book. She had to tell Carol something, so she
started again. “Everything came easy for Taylor while I had to
struggle.” Brenna thought back to those carefree days as she spoke.
Unfortunately, their days were not so carefree any more. She'd seen
changes in Taylor: some unfamiliar to her, some she didn't
understand.

“
All the girls fell in love
with Taylor's blue eyes. They all wanted to date him, but then I'm
sure you know that.”

“
Not really.” Carol shook
her head. “He never talks about the past and always avoids my
questions. It's almost as if he's trying to forget about something
painful. He's so remote.” She sighed, before asking, “Did he have a
girlfriend back then?”

Brenna's mouth suddenly went dry, and she
reached for a glass of water. How in the devil was she going to
answer this one? Perhaps she would just breeze over the topic.
“I--I believe there was someone.” She decided to change the subject
quickly and divert Carol's attention off this very dangerous flow
of conversation. “When are you getting married?”

“
We haven't made any
plans.” Carol straightened in the chair and shook her head almost
as if she were uncertain about the marriage. “You know, it's
strange, I wanted to wait a couple of years before I got married.
But when Taylor asked, I was so flattered that I jumped at the
chance.”