From Glowing Embers (22 page)

“When I first saw you on the plane, I thought you were Hawaiian,” he said, his fingers tangled in the long strands. “All I saw was this glorious hair. Then I saw your clothes and the shell necklaces you wore. And finally I saw your face.”

“You’d expected me to look the same after ten years?”

One corner of his mouth turned up. “I don’t know why. I don’t.”

She examined his face. There was a clarity, a strength to Gray’s features, that hadn’t been there when he was twenty-one. Everything about him was more defined, like a steel blade honed to perfection. The last decade had left its mark.

“You’ve changed, but I like the changes,” she told him, still too aware how close he was standing. “You’re a man who knows what he wants and goes after it.”

He thought she was right, to a certain extent, but he was becoming more aware that in at least one area, he wasn’t sure what he wanted at all. He finished setting her hair free, then stepped back a little to admire his handiwork and gain some perspective. “What happened to the glasses?”

“Contacts. Can’t see a thing without them.”

His eyes dropped to the rest of her. “I won’t ask about anything else.”

She laughed, and the sound was surprisingly warm and husky. “I guess I was a late bloomer.”

“It was worth waiting for.”

“It’s ready.” Holding the bowl, Jody came over to show Julianna and Gray the batter. “Can we cook ‘em now?”

“What sort of breakfast is that?” Dillon leaned against the door frame, his intelligent green eyes watching and assessing.

“Pancakes,” Jody told him, tipping the bowl so he could see.

He grimaced. “Yank tucker.”

Julianna was glad for the interruption. “No steak and eggs here, me boy. Only the best the fiftieth state has to offer.”

“How about a cuppa for a homesick man?”

She motioned to the teakettle. “Go ahead. I saw tea bags in the cupboard. But I warn you, this might be your last chance to get a real cup of coffee before you head back to the land of opal mines.”

“Have you been to Australia?” Dillon asked, stepping neatly between Julianna and Gray.

Julianna was relieved to chat with him, and, somehow, she suspected Dillon knew as much. “Sydney and the Queensland coast. I’ve been scouting more markets for my clothing there.”

“You sell your clothes in Australia?”

“Not in a big way. Not yet, anyhow. But things have been opening up lately.”

Gray set the bacon on a paper towel as Dillon and Julianna talked about her chances of breaking into the Australian fashion world. He knew she was a successful designer, but as he listened to her casually discuss that success with Dillon, he realized just how much he wanted to know. He was hungry for the details of her life. How had she become the woman he saw now? He was as fascinated by Julianna now as he had been the day he had walked into Dory’s and seen Julie Ann talking to a frightened Chihuahua.

He drained the grease and set the pan back on the burner to heat for the pancakes. Jody came to stand beside him, and when the pan was ready, he lifted her so she could pour the batter into expert circles. For just a moment he found himself pretending that the little girl in his arms was his. All he needed to make the fantasy complete was the woman leaning against the counter talking to Dillon.

Paige joined them, and they filled up on Jody’s pancakes until no one could eat another. They finished their meal with coffee and tea in the living room, where streaks of light flashed through the cracks in the boarded windows.

Julianna held up her hand to let one errant sunbeam bathe it in a wash of gold. “I know the National Weather Service says not to be optimistic, but it’s so quiet out there, and the sun’s actually shining a little.”

“I doubt we should be thinking about taking the boards off the windows yet,” Dillon said. “In fact, while we’ve got a bit of a lull here, I reckon we should trim the broken branches on that jacaranda in the front. If we get another good wind, they might come right through a window.”

Gray nodded, setting his coffee cup down as he rose to stretch. “We probably ought to pick up anything loose in the yard again, too. Want to help, shrimp?”

Jody had been draping a scarf around the neck of a stone frog doorstop, but at Gray’s words she dropped it and stood. Julianna watched them go; then she stood, too, glancing at Paige.

“I’ll wash the dishes. It’ll give me something to do.”

Paige rose. “I’ll help.”

After gathering cups and saucers, the two women deposited them in the kitchen, and Julianna ran hot water in the sink. She tried to think of a neutral topic. “Gray says you manage property all over the world. This is a lovely house. It must not be difficult to lease.”

“It’s not, but right now it’s the only property we own in Hawaii. Either we’ve got to buy more or sell this. Otherwise the time I spend checking on it isn’t economical.”

“Are you actively looking for more?”

“I might be if the weather were better.”

“Eve’s turned everyone’s life upside down.”

“Yours most of all.”

Julianna acknowledged Paige’s statement with a nod.

Paige went on. “I know you and Granger had a chance to talk this morning.”

Julianna wondered what Paige wanted her to say. Paige herself had said they needed to. “I guess it was time,” she said carefully. “Now we can stop looking back.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.” Paige picked up a towel and began to dry the dishes Julianna had set in the drainer. “In some ways, maybe it will be harder not to look back now.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are good feelings there, too. Neither of you has been able to think about them for ten years.”

Julianna realized that Paige had seen Gray kiss her. Yet she couldn’t draw attention to the kiss by trying to explain it. She couldn’t explain it, anyway.

“Gray’s going to marry you,” she said instead. “With this behind us, he won’t be thinking about good or bad or any kind of feelings for me. He’ll be thinking about you.”

“Do you know what’s crazy?” Paige forced a laugh. “You sound just like Granger. The two of you have the same blind spots. And I don’t think it’s the only thing you share.”

“This is an extraordinary conversation.”

“These are extraordinary circumstances.” Paige leaned against the counter, staring at Julianna’s profile as she continued drying dishes. “Look, I’m going to quit beating around the bush. This is really very simple. I want Granger, but not if he doesn’t want me.”

“That’s between you and Gray.”

“I wish it were. But the truth is you’re involved, too. I’ve already told Granger I’m backing off. Now I’m telling you, because he’s too much of a gentleman to believe it.”

“I don’t want Gray or any man, Paige. I’m happy by myself.”

“Whether you do or not, I want to be absolutely sure he doesn’t want you.”

“You mean it, don’t you?” Julianna realized she had finished, and she let the water out of the sink.

“Once I was married to a man who didn’t
really
want me. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Julianna tried to imagine any man not wanting Paige Duvall. “A long time ago I lived every miserable day wishing I could be you. You were born to the easy life. And now you’re telling me it hasn’t been perfect?”

Paige laughed and reached out to touch Julianna’s arm. “Do you know what’s really funny?” she asked. “A long time ago, Granger told me that if you and I ever met, we’d probably be friends. I wish I could hate you, but I’m afraid it isn’t going to be possible.”

“You give up awfully easily.”

“I make it a point not to bang my head against stone walls.”

“I always seem to seek them out.”

“So does Granger.”

“A long time ago I was one of his,” Julianna reminded her. “And look what happened.”

“Neither of you is a kid anymore.” Paige’s expression was impossible to read. “And neither am I. I’m ready to settle down, but I’m not ready to settle for a man who kisses another woman like he’s starving to death.”

Julianna could feel color rise in her cheeks. “It wasn’t what it seemed.”

“It was everything it seemed and more.” Paige handed the dish towel to Julianna to dry her hands. “You want to know something? I feel lonely when I think about Granger with you, but I don’t feel angry. Maybe that says more about what Granger and I have shared than anything else could.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Eve’s taught me something.”

“Eve?”

Paige sighed, and Julianna realized that was the most emotion she had shown during the entire conversation. “Some people say there’s a message in everything.”

“And?”

Paige’s eyes held Julianna’s without a flicker. “Don’t hover off the coast of Granger’s life trying to decide what you’re going to do,” Paige told her. “If you want him, make it quick and clean. I can handle that. What I can’t handle is the waiting.”

“I don’t want him.”

Paige ignored her words. “The waiting, or the watching, or the hoping. I’ve never been good at any of those things. On the other hand, I’ve survived enough storms to know I’ll survive this one, too.”

“I don’t want him,” Julianna repeated.

Paige nodded. “Just be sure. Because I think Granger wants you, and when he realizes it, you’ll have to live with your decision. And so will I.”

I THOUGHT THE
storm was over!” Jody sat on the edge of her bed, her lower lip wobbling. “I thought my mommy could come tomorrow.”

Julianna joined her and put her arms around Jody’s shoulders. By lunch-time the morning’s promise had turned to rain. By late afternoon the heavens were exploding with nature’s fireworks and the winds had picked up again. By dinner everyone’s optimism had vanished, even though the rain had subsided once more. “Eve’s a funny storm,” she said, trying to comfort Jody. “She just can’t make up her mind what she’s going to do.”

Jody rubbed her eyes, and Julianna silently blessed Gray for keeping the little girl so busy she was tired from a long day of activity. “Will you stay with me for a while?” Jody asked.

Julianna hugged her. “Sure. And if you wake up and I’m not here, I’ll just be out in the living room with the others. All you have to do is call.”

Jody snuggled under the covers, and Julianna tucked them around her, kissing her cheek. “Sleep tight, honey.” She turned off the lamp and settled on her own bed. The room was quiet except for the regimented ticking of a clock on Jody’s night-stand and the moaning of the wind. Julianna’s eyes drifted shut, and she relaxed in the darkness.

She had been up since before dawn, but she knew sleep would not come easily, if at all, that night. Somewhere between dawn and dusk her life had changed. Irrevocably. She had not yet begun to put it into perspective. She wasn’t sure she ever would.

A sudden stillness brought her out of her thoughts. The wind still moaned, Jody sighed and turned, obviously asleep, but something was different. Julianna realized that the clock beside the little girl’s bed was no longer ticking. She opened her eyes and saw that the room had been plunged into total darkness. There was no light from the hallway seeping under the door; no thin beams from the street lamp filtered through the uncovered corners of the window. The electricity had gone off.

Julianna rose, shaking out the long folds of her muumuu. She hadn’t thought to bring candles to their room, but now she went to search for some. Jody was so tired she probably wouldn’t wake up until morning, but Julianna wanted to be prepared, just in case.

The marble-tiled hallway, like their room, was as dark as the night sky, but as she neared the living room, a golden glow spread across the floor. She heard the sound of voices and found Dillon, Paige and Gray sipping brandy by candlelight.

“I thought you were asleep for the night.” Paige leaned forward and turned over a snifter on a silver tray on the coffee table in front of her. She held up the brandy bottle. “One inch or two?”

“Are we celebrating, or preparing ourselves for the worst?”

“We’re not sure. No one is.”

“Then half an inch, please.”

Julianna looked for a place to sit. The most obvious spot was next to Gray on an upholstered love seat. The only other choices were between Dillon and Paige on the sofa, or on a leather chair slung on a stainless-steel frame that Dillon had aptly nicknamed The Rack.

Paige passed the snifter to her after she’d settled beside Gray, and Julianna cradled it in the palms of her hands. “Why do you suppose the lights went off? The wind doesn’t seem that bad.”

“We’re getting gusts over fifty miles an hour. You’re just getting used to it,” Gray said.

Julianna snorted. “Hah!”

“You should see what wind does out in the bush,” Dillon reminisced. “In Coober Pedy we have dust storms as thick as the rain falling out there. There’s nothing much to stop the wind, either. Just a bit of scrub.”

“Why do you call it the bush if there aren’t any bushes there?” Paige held up the bottle, and Dillon nodded, offering his glass for more.

“We’ve got other names for it, but I shouldn’t like to repeat them to a lady.”

“How do you exist in a place like that? It must be like living in the Sahara.”

“The terrain’s not the same. Coober Pedy’s hilly, but the hills are made out of rock. Sandstone and gypsum, mostly. We tunnel into them and live underground.”

Julianna let the brandy’s warmth spread through her. They were chatting like old friends, as if there was no drama to their situation. They were bound by the most fragile of bonds, and yet they could sit across from each other and talk about their lives as if they could all go back to them, unchanged, when Eve finally made her decision. She made a silent toast to the human spirit.

“How can you stand living in a cave?” Paige seemed fascinated.

“Not too many years ago we couldn’t stand not to,” Dillon explained. “We didn’t have the power we needed to heat or air-condition our homes. A dugout stays comfortable year in and out.”

“They must be damp and dark.” Julianna smiled at the expression on Dillon’s face. “I’m wrong?”