Dreamkeepers (23 page)

“Wait a minute, Adam,” Herb said firmly. “Let me explain things to her.”

“Explain away, Herb, but I want her to know, straight off, that I don’t want to marry her. A year, six months, a woman never lets go once she gets a legal hold on you. You could figure a way out of this for me if you would set your mind to it.”

“I tried, Adam. This will is ring tight and Charlie had the right to do as he wished with his property.”

“Charlie knew how badly I wanted to work on this project or he would have never thought up this idiotic scheme.”

“I know.” Herb spoke as patiently as if he were speaking to a child. “But in all fairness to Molly, she didn’t know of his plans.”

“I’m not so sure. Women go to great lengths these days to get a rich husband.”

“Adam, really! Why don’t you leave us and let me talk to Molly alone?”

“Not on your life! I’m staying! This concerns me and I’m going to hear every bit of it.” He turned his dark eyes on Molly. With the faintest suggestion of a sardonic smile on his face, he settled back and folded his arms, as if that was his final word.

This can’t be happening to me, this can’t be happening to me . . . the words ran through Molly’s mind over and over again.
They are talking about me as if I’m not here, as if my opinion counts for nothing. Well, I can set that man’s mind to rest. I wouldn’t marry him if he were the last man on earth. He’s the most annoying, hateful, egotistical person I’ve ever met.

Herb looked at his old friend’s daughter’s flushed face. She was a beautiful girl, twenty-five years old with the youthful look of innocence. Adam was a lucky man. She could have been ugly and dull. Herb felt a pang of compassion for her. This unsophisticated girl was no mate for the hard, experienced man sitting beside her. Almost ten years her senior, with more money than he could spend, plus his good looks, he was a prime target for designing females out on the prowl for a husband. This could account for his bitter outlook on life. Everyone that came in contact with him wanted something. Charlie Develon must have known him well and had plenty of confidence in him to trust him with his lovely daughter. A lot could happen in a year. Herb sighed and turned to the girl. He had to try and make her understand that her father had done what he thought was best for her.

“Your father came to see me about a year ago, Molly. He was disturbed about your future. His heart wasn’t in the best condition, but that wasn’t what troubled him. He desperately wanted to go on this expedition he had planned for so long. Knowing there was a certain amount of risk attached to the trip, added to the fact his heart wasn’t as sound as it should be, he wanted to find a way to make your future secure.” Herb paused and reshuffled his papers.

“The fortune he left you is considerable. Not a huge amount, but enough for you to live comfortably. What bothered him was the attachment you had formed for this house and this valley. I’m aware of your childhood and how you spent it and can understand the feeling you have for this house. Charlie was hoping he would live to see you married with children of your own.” He paused and shifted around in his chair, watching Molly with worried eyes.

Her heart contracted painfully at the thought of her father carrying this burden of concern for her and she bit her lips to stop their trembling.

Herb continued, “Charlie realized that if anything should happen to him, you wouldn’t be able to stay here alone. He didn’t want you to stay here alone. He was clear in his instructions about that.”

Molly started to protest, but Herb waved her silent and glanced at Adam.

“This is what Charlie wanted you to do, Molly.” His voice became stronger and took on a professional tone. “Charlie wanted you to marry Adam and live here in this house with him for one year. At the end of that time you can divorce Adam if you wish, and I can turn your money over to you and you can do as you want. You can live here alone or you can hire someone to live with you. You may wish to build some cabins around the lake, and turn this beautiful area into a hunting and fishing lodge, or you may want to sell it and go to the city.” Herb took a deep breath. “Let me finish. I need to tell you what to expect if you do not choose to marry Adam. In case you and Adam do not marry . . . ,” he looked nervously at Adam, who was looking intently at the kitchen range, “your Aunt Dora will have the control of your money for five years.”

The expression on Molly’s face might have been amusing had the circumstances been otherwise. She looked positively stunned. She stared at Herb as if he were a man from outer space, and seemed totally incapable of speech.

“Why? Why did he do this to me?” She was surprised to hear that her voice was so calm and even . . . and then not surprised, because a kind of cold numbing chill was gripping her heart, killing all feeling. “Why, Herb? Why did he want me to marry this . . . stranger, and why does this stranger feel he is being forced to marry me?”

“In the first place, Molly,” Herb said after a pause, “Adam was no stranger to Charlie, and Charlie didn’t plan to leave you so soon. His intentions were to have Adam come out here to help him with his work and for you two to get acquainted. Now, in answer to your second question. Adam is a biologist and is working on the adaptation of living things to hostile environments and there are few environments as hostile as the Alaskan tundra. It would set Adam’s research ahead five years if he had access to your father’s files. Charlie knew this and planned to bring Adam in to work with him, but knowing his time might be cut short he made these . . . other arrangements. His plan was for you and Adam to marry and live here for a year. You would be in the home you love and Adam would have his files to carry on his studies.”

Adam’s chair scraped the floor and he let out a snort of disgust. Herb gave him a slightly displeased look.

“I want to finish, if you don’t mind, Adam. You know the rest, but Molly does not, so please be patient a little longer. Molly, your father has arranged for me to have the files destroyed if Adam refuses to marry you.”

The words fell like a bombshell against Molly’s ears. It was incredible to her that her father would consider destroying his files, his life’s work. He always said his files were his contribution to society.

Herb was talking again and Molly brought herself back with an effort to hear what he was saying.

“I’m going to leave you two alone so you can decide what to do. You know the alternatives. Keep in mind the fact that Charlie knew you both very well and spent many hours carefully planning each detail of his will. I have a personal letter from him to give each of you. Think about what you want and what you have to lose if you decide to refuse the terms of the will. When you’ve made your decision, call me. I’ll be on the porch.” He took two sealed envelopes from his briefcase and handed the first one to Molly, the second to Adam. Then he left them.

Molly looked at the letter in her hand. Tears flooded her eyes so she could hardly see her name on the envelope. She stood up, but kept her face averted from Adam. With trembling lips and with as much dignity as she could muster, she said, “Excuse me for a few minutes.”

He got to his feet. “Certainly.”

With head up and back straight she walked to her bedroom door on shaky legs. In the privacy of her room she allowed the tears to course down her cheeks unchecked. She cried softly, as a deer cries when wounded, or a very small animal when caught in a trap. Her tears splashed down on the envelope she still held tightly in her hand. The awareness of the loss of her father was more acute now than any time since the accident. Horrified at her lack of control, she took a tissue from her bedside table and wiped her eyes and blew her nose. After a few minutes she was composed enough to open the envelope. With trembling fingers she unfolded the single sheet and began to read.

My Darling Molly,

Herb will have told you of my plan for you before he gave you this letter. I hope, with all my heart, that you will marry Adam. He is a good man. He needs a girl like you and you need a strong man like him. I know him well and trust him. He is the type of man who will appreciate a home such as you and I have enjoyed these past years. He will take care of you for a year and at the end of that time you will be able to decide for yourself the direction your life will take. Don’t be angry with me, my Molly. Trust me. I am trying to grab some happiness for you.

Your loving Dad

Molly reread the letter several times, returned it to the envelope, and slipped it into the drawer of her nightstand. She didn’t understand the last sentence. “Grab some happiness” . . . Did he think she would be happy with that man out there? Poor Dad. He didn’t leave her much choice. She had never known her father to make a hasty judgment or an uncalculated decision. In spite of her dislike for the man she would marry him, if he agreed. A year wasn’t really so long, considering the alternative.

CHAPTER THREE

A
CALM AND
composed girl went back into the living room. Adam had moved from the chair by the table to the couch by the fireplace and lounged there, his head resting against the back, seemingly lost in thought. He stood up when Molly came into the room. She didn’t see any sign of the letter Herb had given him from her father. Somehow she had expected to see it in his hand. He waited for her to sit down and indicated the chair opposite the couch, but Molly wanted to be standing on her feet when she told him what she had to say. She tilted her head so she could look him straight in the eye.

“Mr. Reneau.” Her voice was calm and controlled. “I’m sorry you’ve been put in this uncomfortable position. If I had the authority, I would turn my father’s files over to you so you could finish your research, but as you know, I can’t do that. It would break my heart to see his life’s work destroyed. I’m willing to marry you, for a year, if it’s agreeable with you.”

By the time she had finished her speech she was almost breathless from the effort of trying to maintain her calm, and her last words almost faded away as they left her trembling lips.

“It didn’t take you long to decide. Are you sure you are willing to marry this . . . stranger? Can it be you have discovered I am a wealthy man and that’s the reason for your change of mind?” His voice was edged with a sneer and his hard black eyes probed hers.

“Think what you like. It may be hard for you to believe this, but there are some things more important than money . . . and if you are suggesting—”

“Hadn’t it occurred to you?” he broke in rudely.

“No, it had not occurred to me.” Her anger made her voice louder and sharper than she had intended. “And—and I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Reneau. If we agree to this . . . er . . . arrangement, I’ll ask Herb to draw up a contract to the effect you’ll have no financial responsibility for me . . . ever! I’ll insist on this!”

She was amazed at her temerity to say such a thing, but she was glad. It might be just as well to show him from the beginning that she had no intention of allowing him to bully her, especially since this marriage was just as advantageous to him as it was to her.

Adam raised his dark brows. “Shall we sit down, Miss Develon?”

Molly sat in the rocking chair and Adam returned to the couch. There was a brief pause of silence before he spoke.

“You realize, of course, if we agree to this contract, it will be an impersonal relationship and at the end of the year we will get the marriage annulled, which is much simpler than a divorce. It will only hinge on the results of a doctor’s examination . . . of you. You are a virgin?”

He felt a sharp stab of pleasure as the color came up and flooded her face, then a tinge of regret, for he knew this girl had not the cosmopolitan veneer of the women he usually associated with. The thought crossed his mind that it had been quite a while since he had seen a woman blush.

Determined not to let him put her down, Molly tilted her head and looked straight into his amused eyes.

“Of course,” she said matter-of-factly, then added; “I wouldn’t even consider anything but an impersonal relationship . . . with you, Mr. Reneau.”

Adam laughed out loud as the blush burned brightly in her cheeks. “You think not?” he said softly, perfectly aware of the fury that was making her speechless. He lounged back against the couch, his arms crossed over his chest, a speculative gleam in his dark eyes.

Unable to continue staring at his mocking face without losing her temper, Molly dropped her gaze and watched her fingers intently for a moment as they aimlessly pleated the material of her skirt. The silence became heavy. The only sounds being the voices coming faintly from the porch as Jim talked with Herb. Adam continued to observe her, quietly and openly.

Molly squirmed inwardly. She felt a desperate desire to get this business over and settled. She hesitated, biting her lips in spite of her self-control.

“Well . . . have you decided . . . ?”

“Have I decided to marry you?” He finally spoke, although he waited so long Molly was not sure he was going to answer. “Yes, I decided to marry you as soon as I read Charlie’s will.” His dark eyes raked her face searchingly, while remaining inscrutable themselves. “If you had been fat, bald, and with a mustache, I still would marry you. The fact that you’re young, beautiful, and obviously a good cook, is a bonus I didn’t expect.”

Molly was conscious of that dark, unreadable scrutiny and an icy chill crept through her body.

“You are that desperate to use my father’s files.” It was a stated fact.

“Yes,” he said, not taking his eyes from hers.

“I see.” Molly resisted the absurd desire to giggle childishly. “People will have to know that this marriage between us is a business arrangement.”

“I have no wish, myself, that it should become public knowledge. At the present only Herb and myself are aware of the conditions of the will—besides yourself, of course. The Robinsons will guess, and have to be told, but we can trust their discretion, I’m sure.”

Molly stiffened. The idea of any kind of pretended marriage affinity between herself and Adam Reneau was ridiculous. Surely he wasn’t suggesting such a thing.