Tracie Peterson - [Desert Roses 01] (20 page)

Luke reached out and took hold of her hand. “If he’d only fallen to the first ledge, he might have made it.”

“What could have happened?”

“I don’t know. I came upon your mother after it’d happened. She crumpled to the ground crying. She’s the only one who saw anything, and she’s not talking,” Luke replied, gazing at her with such tenderness. “I’m sorry you have to endure this. It’s never easy to lose a loved one.”

The words “loved one” slammed up against her like the time she’d stepped on the prongs of a rake, bringing the wooden handle full force against her face. She didn’t consider her father a loved one. She didn’t even mind the idea that he was gone—forever. Except . . . She shook her head. Except nothing. She didn’t care.

Shock washed through her veins, leaving her cold.
This is your father
, she chided herself.
He’s dead and you must care
. A sense of guilt crept in where the stunning news had first left her without feeling.

She tried not to think of her father, focusing instead on her mother. The poor woman had cried enough tears for both of them. Katherine Keegan now slept sedated in her suite with a ranger guarding the door outside. The canyon physician worried about her mental state and general health. There was talk, murmurings and whisperings about the accident. People were beginning to say that Katherine Keegan had killed her husband. It was all too much for Alex to take in.

“I know this is difficult for you. In spite of the way your father behaved, I know you didn’t wish him dead.”

Alex couldn’t even look at Luke, for too many times she’d wished just that. Well, maybe not that he’d be murdered. She’d wished often enough that he’d die in his sleep and free her mother from her misery. Or that he’d die on one of his many trips to the capital. Did that make her a horrible person? Was she less of a Christian because she was glad her father had died instead of her mother? She couldn’t keep from trembling.

“The rangers want to talk to you,” Luke said softly. “I told them you were too upset—that they’d have to wait. But you can’t hold them off forever.”

She looked blankly at the wall, not seeing a thing. “I understand.”

But in truth, Alex didn’t understand anything at all. Joel had threatened her mother’s life, but was this what he’d meant? Alex had feared he might kill her mother, but perhaps this was even worse. Had Joel Harper somehow arranged her father’s death and allowed the blame to rest on her mother’s shoulders? But if that were the case, if there was another person involved, then surely her mother would tell them.

Luke rubbed her hand. His warmth seemed to permeate the icy feeling that ran the full length of her body. How could it be that her father was dead? How could it be that her mother appeared to be the prime suspect?

“What’s going to happen, Luke?” She looked deep into his green eyes, praying she’d find an answer she could cope with. “Are they going to blame my mother—arrest her?”

“I don’t know. I wish I did—then I might feel more capable of helping you through this.” He continued to hold her hand, and Alex found that she liked his touch very much.

“She’s been through so much already. I don’t know how she’ll ever manage to get through this.”

“God will give you both the strength to endure it.”

She studied his face for a moment. “I need to ask you something,” she said, knowing that she would know in his expression if he lied to her.

“What is it?” “Do you think my mother killed him?”

Luke didn’t hesitate. “No. I don’t. She doesn’t seem capable of such a thing.”

“But she had plenty of motive,” Alex argued, needing to hear him dispel her fears.

“True, but she’s had motive for years. Why wait until now?” “I suppose that’s true. Nothing new has happened to make her act any differently.”

“Are you sure nothing has happened recently?” Luke questioned. “Not that I think it would result in your mother killing him, but someone has. Perhaps a business deal went bad. Or maybe it’s this whole political thing. Do you know if someone wanted to see him dead?”

Alex immediately thought of Joel Harper but dismissed the thought. Joel and her father were like-minded. They were working together. Joel hardly seemed likely to kill off a man who was happy to do his bidding in return for an appointment in the White House.

“Miss Keegan?” a ranger questioned from the door. “Yes, I’m Miss Keegan.” Alex knew a lot of the rangers, but this man was a complete stranger. Standing picture perfect in his pressed uniform, the older man held a sympathetic expression on his face.

“I know this is a difficult time, but I need to ask you a few questions,” he said rather apologetically. “It’s just routine when something like this happens.”

Alex looked to Luke once more. He nodded and Alex looked back to the ranger. “I suppose now is as good a time as any.”

Luke got to his feet. “Do you mind if I stay here with her?” “Yes, please,” Alex said. “I have no objection. This won’t take long.” The man pulled up a chair in front of Alex. “First of all, you have my sympathies. I know you must be quite taken in your grief.”

Alex looked to the floor. “I’m still so shocked.”

“I’m sure that’s true,” the ranger replied. “I understand you were working at the time of the incident.”

The incident?
Alex thought. How silly to call someone’s death an “incident.”

“Yes. I’m a Harvey employee. I work in the restaurant, and this evening I was serving at the lawn party hosted by the Winthrops.”

“I understand both your mother and father were guests of the Winthrops.”

“Yes. My father has been a part of the Winthrops’ party since they arrived. My mother only just arrived.” Alex felt as though she were sorting through facts in her mind, trying to offer them back to the ranger in order to make sense of a much bigger puzzle.

“Why did she come to the Grand Canyon?” “The Winthrops sent an invitation. She showed it to me. They were paying for her suite,” Alex said, trying to remember everything.

“It was mentioned that Mrs. Keegan came here to confront her husband.”

Alex had no intention of giving them information that they could use against her mother. “She told me she came because of the invitation.” That wasn’t a lie. She held her breath for a moment, trying to still her rapid breathing.

“Then you aren’t aware of any problems between your mother and father?”

Alex let out her breath and shifted uneasily. Glancing to Luke, Alex felt she had no choice but to admit what everyone was already talking about. “My father was a philanderer. He had . . . ah . . . many other women in his life.”

“So there were problems?” “Yes.” She bit her lower lip and prayed he wouldn’t ask her to explain the fight she’d witnessed, nor tell of her father’s threats. She wasn’t ready to divulge this information. She first needed to talk to her mother. Tears flooded Alex’s eyes and
she lowered her head. She began to rub her temples where the throbbing was becoming unbearable.

“Look, why don’t you wait to finish this up later?” Luke asked. “You can see she’s clearly distraught. She did just lose her father.”

“Yes, I understand. I suppose this can wait until morning.” The ranger got to his feet and walked to the door. “Miss Keegan, I realize this is difficult, but I’ll need to speak with you first thing tomorrow.”

Alex sniffed back her tears and nodded. “I’ll be here.” After he’d gone, Luke moved back to sit beside her on the sofa. They were in Mrs. Godfrey’s private quarters, as it seemed the only place to get away from the reporters and other busybodies.

“Alex, I’m sorry for all of this. I don’t know what I can do to help, but I feel I have to offer to try.”

“Luke, she couldn’t have done it. My mother isn’t like that. She was unhappy with my father—she has been for years. I’ve never known a time when he was faithful. Even when I was young he had his lady friends. I’ve never understood it, but Mother told me it was just the way things were. She bore it all with grace and determination. And even with all his threats . . .”

“What kind of threats?”

Alex bristled. Had she said too much? She looked to Luke and his image blurred behind her tears. How she longed to trust him with what she knew. “My father wasn’t very happy that my mother had come to El Tovar. He really wanted to gain a position in Washington and he feared she might make trouble.”

“How so? Everyone knew what he was doing,” Luke stated matter-of-factly.

Alex got to her feet and paced the small space. “I don’t know. He threatened us both.”

At this Luke got up and came to her. “He threatened you? Why didn’t you tell me?” He studied her a moment before
reaching up to push back an errant strand of wavy brown hair. “Oh, Alex, don’t you know I would have protected you? I would have talked to him at least.”

His tenderness touched something deep within her. “I . . . well . . . you were busy and then you got hurt.”

Luke gently touched her wet cheek. “Alex, don’t you understand? I’m never too busy to care about what happens to you.”

Alex could recognize the sincerity in his expression. His generally good-natured temperament had been transformed into a much more serious, more intense attitude. There was nothing casual about this cowboy. This man was all concern and . . . something else. Something Alex couldn’t quite put her finger on.

His touch sent charges of electricity down her body. His gaze, so intense—demanded an intimacy from her that Alex had never shared with anyone. When he took hold of her shoulder, Alex lost herself in the moment.

“Alex, I won’t let them hurt you, and if I can do anything about it, I won’t let them hurt your mother.”

“How did you come to be with her?” “My arm was bothering me, so I went for a walk. I’d been walking around, trying to pray through some difficult decisions. I was headed back to my cabin when I heard her scream. I was just the first one there—the closest one to the rim.”

“And you didn’t see anything? No other person?” “No. There didn’t appear to be anyone else. Your mother had collapsed to her knees in complete shock by the time I got to her.”

Alex began to cry in earnest. Her voice broke as she declared, “She couldn’t have pushed him over. She couldn’t have done it. As discouraged and betrayed as she was, she might have jumped off the ledge to take her own life, but she wouldn’t hurt my father. Even if he wouldn’t divorce her. . . .”

“She wanted a divorce? I thought you said she wouldn’t leave him.”

“I know, but . . .” Alex knew she had to tell him the truth.
At least about this. “She came here . . . to . . . to tell him she was leaving him. She’d withdrawn a great deal of money from their account and had come to tell him good-bye.”

“Alex, that doesn’t help her situation very much. Do you suppose they fought over this?”

“Of course they fought over it,” Alex replied in near hysteria. “They always fought. Father never had a civil word for Mother, and Mother had made up her mind. I’m sure they argued about it, since she had her mind set to leave.”

“You’ll have to tell the ranger tomorrow,” he said matter-of-factly.

“I can’t tell him. It would make her look bad—the wife scorned. The wife who depleted the bank account and made plans to run away and divorce her husband. None of that will help her case.”

“But you have to tell the truth.” “The truth is, my mother could never have pushed my father over the edge.”

“Be that as it may,” Luke said gently, but insistently, “you have to tell him.”

Silence fell between them as Alex tried to compose herself. The hole she’d dug herself into seemed to be collapsing around her.

“Where did she plan to go—I mean, after she left him and El Tovar?” Luke asked.

Alex drew a deep breath to steady her nerves. “We weren’t sure. I was planning on asking Mrs. Godfrey to transfer me as soon as she could.”

“You were going to leave with her—leave El Tovar? Were you planning on talking to me about this?”

“I wanted to talk to you.” Alex tried to compose herself, but her efforts weren’t amounting to much. Her world was falling apart piece by piece and now she had to confront the possibility of another woman in Luke’s life. “You were . . . were . . . busy. And Valerie Winthrop said . . .” Alex buried her face in her hands and sobbed. With his good right arm,
Luke pulled her against him and held her safe. She could feel his cast, rock solid, against her side as he tried his best to pull her closer.

“Shhh, you don’t have to go on. There’s plenty of time to talk about this later.”

Alex relished the warmth of his embrace. Luke smelled of hay and burnt wood—earthy smells that served to calm Alex’s soul. Luke was her mainstay. Luke was the one she could count on when things went bad. God would always reign supreme in her life, but Luke had come to mean more to her than any other human being. Was this love? Was this, in honesty and truth, what she had hoped existed but never dared to believe in?

He stroked her hair, then gently rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s going to be all right. You’ll see. God is bigger than this. He’ll let the truth win out.”

Alex pulled away just enough to see Luke’s face. “But, Luke, what if the truth is more than I can bear?”

He gently cupped her chin. “Alex, no matter what the truth is, God will see you through. Remember, you’ve shared those very words with me. Bad things happen, but God is still there for you. He still loves you.”

“I just don’t know what to do anymore,” she cried.

His face was only inches from hers and, looking up, Alex found herself wondering what it would be like to kiss him. She didn’t have to wonder for long. Lowering his mouth to hers, Luke kissed her long and passionately. The warmth of his touch and the depth of his kiss were enough for Alex to completely forget the moment. She put her hand up to feel the stubble on his jaw, her heart racing madly. This felt so right.

As he tightened his hold on her, Alex melted against him. They fit so well together, as if they’d always been intended for each other. If only this moment could go on forever. But like everything that offered comfort to Alex, this too had its end.

“Alex,” Luke whispered, “there’s something I need to tell you.” This time, he was the one to pull away.