Drive and Determination (30 page)

*~*~*

            When she finally walked into the Garners’ home, the door slammed a little harder and her steps were more strident than usual. She walked into the living room where her aunt was reading to her children.
            Maddy recognized instantly the look of distress on Elyssa’s face. She stood up and placed the children on the floor with the book and told Frederick to turn the pages for Lillian.
            Walking over to her niece, she asked, “What is it, Elyssa? What’s wrong?” Putting her arm around her, she exclaimed, “You’ve been crying!”
            “I need to sit down.”
            Maddy walked Elyssa into the dining room, away from the children.           
            “Tell me what has happened.”
            In a shaky voice, Elyssa told her what had happened when Will’s aunt came by and what she found out from her.
            “My word, Elyssa! Will owns the house?”
            Elyssa nodded slowly.
            “And you’re upset?”
            “Of course I’m upset! He didn’t even have the decency to tell me!”
            Maddy patted her arm. “I’m sure that he was planning to, Elyssa.” Shaking her head firmly, she added, “I don’t think Will kept it a secret to deceive you. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, here.”
            “He conveniently lied to bring me here. He knows all too well what I think of manipulation!”
            Maddy took Elyssa’s hand. “My dear, perhaps it’s not as bad as it seems.”
            Taking a few deep breaths, Elyssa looked up into her aunt’s eyes. “I feel so confused right now. I think I hurt more than anything. I hurt because he didn’t feel as though he could be forthright with me. I hurt because I thought we had something special between us. I’m angry, though, too. I’m angry that he brought me here through deception and I’m angry because I felt like a fool in front of his aunt who in no uncertain terms denounced my work!”
            “Elyssa,” her aunt said her name tenderly, “I know this is difficult for you, but don’t judge Will too harshly until you hear his side of the story. I can’t believe he would have intentionally done anything that would cause you pain.”
            Elyssa lowered her head into her hands. “You know, a couple of months ago I would have expected this from him.”
            “But you don’t now, do you? The two of you have come so far.”
            “I think it would be easier to be angry at him. It’s not as…” she looked up to her aunt. “It’s not as painful.”
            “I think, young lady,
that
is because you have fallen in love with him.”
            Elyssa was silent for a while as she looked down at her fingers knitting together.
            “And if I may be so bold, Elyssa, I believe he may be in love with you. Love does propel us to do all kinds of things.”
            “Like hire someone to decorate your home and neglect to tell them you own it?”
            Maddy gave her niece a crooked smile and nodded.
            “Oh!” Elyssa pounded her fists down on the table. “Is love always this confusing?”
            “Sometimes.”
            Maddy stretched out her arm and placed it over Elyssa’s shoulder. “Is there any chance I can see that smile of yours again?”
            Elyssa obliged her aunt and gave her a small smile.
            “Now, when you talk to him again, will you promise me you will allow him to defend himself before you thrash him with accusations? Will you try to forgive him? I mean, look at the job opportunity he provided you with!”
            Elyssa’s face drained of all color as she looked at her aunt with eyes widened. “This wonderful job opportunity to further my career as an interior designer has been nothing but a fraud!”
            “Now, Elyssa…”
            With eyes narrowing, and a sudden realization of the full implications of Will’s deceit, she said, “All along I thought I had been chosen to decorate this beautiful home because of my talent; that I had been chosen from a small group of designers on the basis of the designs I submitted, but it wasn’t based on my ability at all!”
            Maddy reached out her hand and gently covered Elyssa’s hand. “I’m sure that he truly appreciates your gift for design.”
            Elyssa shook her head and looked down. “How am I to know that for certain?” She slowly lifted her head. “Without my knowing it, he’s been paying me to stay here! Even though the checks have been signed by Emily, he’s the one behind every one of those most generous paychecks!” Tears filled Elyssa’s eyes. “Do you know how that makes me feel?”
            For the first time in her life, Maddy didn’t know how to answer her niece.
            As they sat there, Elyssa’s cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and looked at the readout. “It’s Will.”
            As she put it back in her purse, Maddy asked, “Aren’t you going to answer it? Give him the chance to answer your questions.”
            “No. I can’t talk to him now,” Elyssa said as she shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “I assume he has heard from his aunt so he knows I know the truth. I’ve suffered enough pain. I think I’ll let him suffer just a little before I talk to him.”
            She looked down as the phone’s muffled ring continued from inside her purse. “If I do mean anything to him, let him squirm a little as he wonders what I’m thinking right now. Let him go through just a little fear and trepidation about what his actions may have cost him!”
            Maddy cocked her head at her niece. “Now don’t go and do anything that will ruin things, Elyssa. I think you should answer the phone.”
            “When I’m ready to talk to him, Aunt, I’ll answer.”

Chapter 29

            If Elyssa had any regrets not answering Will’s call, she didn’t show it. She patiently waited a few minutes before listening to the message he left on her cell phone. As she listened, she could tell that he wasn’t quite sure whether or not she knew the truth.
           
Hello, Elyssa? This is Will. I… uh… I just… How are you? I was wondering how you were and would like you to call me. I’ve got my phone, so call me back on this number. I need to talk to you. It doesn’t matter how late it is, I need to talk to you.
 
            There was a long pause and a breathy huff.
Call me, Elyssa. Please. Bye.
            An hour later, Will called again. Elyssa reached for the phone and her thumb hovered over the button half tempted to answer it. She abruptly shook her head of any such notion, reminding herself that the secret he kept from her hurt her immeasurably. She waited a few moments before listening to his message.
            As she played back that message, Elyssa could readily detect that he was quite a bit more concerned.
           
Elyssa, this is Will again. All right, I guess now you know. My cousin just called a few minutes ago. Our aunt paid him an unexpected visit and he told me he was fairly certain you know that I own the house and not him -- not Richard Fitzpatrick. Earlier when I called, I had just received a call from my aunt who was very angry and quite incoherent. All I could gather from my conversation with her was that she went to the house and was infuriated with the designer. I’m sorry, Elyssa. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for not telling you and I’m sorry for everything she said. Knowing her as I do, I can only imagine her words. Please call me. I need to talk to you. I was going to tell you about the house after the picnic. Honestly I was. I just hope… I hope you’re not angry, but I’m getting a little concerned that you haven’t called me back. It doesn’t matter what time it is. I’ll wait up. Goodbye.
            Elyssa turned off the phone in case he called any more that night and she went to bed wondering if she truly knew the real Will.

*~*~*

            Will was in a small village with two other men from Pemberleo as they assessed the damage to a farmer’s crop. A thin layer of topsoil had washed down the mountain as the rains pelted the region. Fortunately, this farmer had not suffered much damage.
            He received the call from his aunt while ankle deep in mud. He glanced down at his phone when it rang and when he saw who it was he recoiled with distress. She was the last person he was in the mood to talk to. He plucked his feet out of the mud and walked away from the other men before answering, knowing that she was the one person who could cause him to lose his temper. It didn’t matter how many times he told her something, if she had her mind set elsewhere, she would rarely let it go.
            Girding himself for whatever she was calling about, he answered the phone.
            “This is William Denton.” He rolled his eyes as he answered this way, but hoped it would pacify his aunt somewhat that he was a successful businessman and not a young, immature boy who needed her counsel.
            “William! What have you done?”
            Taking a deep breath and contemplating what it was she was angry about this time, he asked, “What do you mean?”
            “I mean about this girl who claims to be a designer! You know she can’t be experienced! Why was she hired when all along Anne was supposed to get that job? I insist upon knowing!”
            Will’s jaw dropped as he realized the import of her words. Making a vain attempt to calm himself, he asked very pointedly, “You went out to my house?”
            “I most certainly did and you must know how gravely upset I was to see the travesty of this decorating job! You must get rid of that girl!”
            “Did you speak…”
            “What was this she kept saying about Richard? She made no sense at all.”
            Letting out a frustrated huff, he clenched his jaw and whispered harshly, “You
did
speak to her!”
            Speaking directly into the phone, he asked, “What did you say to her?” He wanted answers and he wanted them fast.
            “I told her what you should have told her -- that I was extremely dissatisfied with the work she had done! How could you, William! How could you hire this nobody and give no notice to little Anne, your very own cousin?”
            “Did you…”
            “You must release her from any further work,” Catherine interrupted again. “I told her not to do another thing. I hope she has the sense to leave. Let her go back to California! I can have Anne here in a week or two. She’ll make all the improvements you need and fix what that impostor has done. I’m sure Anne won’t charge you much at all and you’ll get the most superior decorating!”
            His aunt spoke so fast and considering her anger as she spoke and his anger as he tried to listen, he wasn’t sure he caught all of her words.
            Will’s hands shook with so much fury that he could barely hold the phone still. “Did you say anything about me?”
            “About you? Of course, I did, nephew! I told her that you were out of your mind hiring her! But why did she keep mentioning Richard? I swear, William, that girl didn’t seem to know what she was talking about!”
            Will was beside himself as she continued to rant and he was finally able to end the call by telling her someone needed to talk to him. He dug his fingers across his scalp as he considered what Elyssa probably went through when his aunt stopped by the house and hurled her accusations against her. He was sure Elyssa endured a scathing assault and wondered if the subject of who owned the house had come up.
            Will immediately called Elyssa, not knowing whether or not she had been told by his aunt about him owning the house. He figured he would know once he heard her voice. When she didn’t answer the phone, he hoped it was only because she was busy, and he left a friendly, but urgent, request for her to call him back.
            When she hadn’t returned his call about an hour later, he began to get concerned. When his phone rang and it was his cousin Richard, he quickly answered it.
            “Hi, Richard. What can I do for you?”
            “You can save me from our aunt!”
            “Sorry, no one can do that. You’ve talked to her?”
            “Yeah, and… well, you better do some quick thinking here, man. You need to know that she went to the house and talked to Elyssa!”
            Will looked at the ground and scuffed his shoe into the mud. “Unfortunately, I gathered that from a conversation I just had with her. Do you think Elyssa knows?”
            “I don’t
think
she knows, I
know
she knows!
            A tightening of his chest made it difficult to breathe as he heard his cousin’s words. “What did Catherine say?” he demanded, taking several deep breaths.
            “She said Elyssa kept mentioning
my
name and Catherine didn’t understand what I had to do with hiring her. She was upset about everything -- the stores that Elyssa shopped in, the things she bought, the colors she used -- everything! She was even upset that the picture of Pemberleigh Manor was hung too high and our most diplomatic aunt told her so.”
            Will closed his eyes as he listened to his cousin. “Do you know exactly what she said to Elyssa?”
            “Not exactly, but she said something to the effect that she couldn’t believe this girl didn’t seem to know anything about Pemberleigh and the Denton family!”
            Will let out a frustrated groan. “So she knows.”
            “Yep, she knows. I hate to say I told you so…”
            “Yeah, thanks, Richard. Look, we’re heading out to another village in the morning. I’ll keep in touch with you. Right now, though, I’ve got to try and call Elyssa again and hopefully make things right with her.”
            When Will called Elyssa and got her voice mail again, he decided to tell all, although it wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to do it. Doing it this way was not going to win him any points -- not that
any
way would have won him points. He decided to be honest with her and hope for the best.
            He and the other two men returned to the small pension they had checked into earlier. It was more primitive than anything he had ever stayed in and having to share a bathroom down the hall did nothing to facilitate the removal of the mud that caked his body. There were several waiting in line to shower and Will decided to do the best he could to clean up with the slow dripping sink in his room. After a while he decided that the water coming from it only spread the mud around and barely removed it.
            As he looked at himself in the dingy mirror, he suddenly had a picture of what Elyssa probably thought he was on the inside. Bracing his arms against the sink, he lowered his head and the thought crossed his mind that he didn’t deserve her. He wouldn’t be surprised if he found out she had returned home, forever grateful to be out of his presence.
            He suddenly had a memory of his father telling him he was like a coffee bean. Will shook his head with a mock laugh as he remembered his father admonishing him to take care and not treat his personal life as he would his business. His father used to praise him for his business savvy, but told him he had a lot to learn on a personal level.
           
 “You will not be content with what comes easy to you, William. You must be like the coffee bean that is plucked from its vine, dried, roasted, and ground up in order to be at its best. You will find there are some things not easily won, but well worth the sacrifice fighting for.”
            Will had been fighting from the very beginning to secure Elyssa’s affections. He felt very strongly that Elyssa was worth any sacrifice, but perhaps he had gone about it all wrong. He wondered if his actions had just cost him everything.
            Will was grateful he had his own room in the pension because he was too agitated to sleep. He listened as the rain began to fall and thought to himself that nothing was going right. The last thing this place needed was more rain and the only thing he needed was to get through to Elyssa. He tried calling her one more time just after midnight, but his call went straight to her voice mail. She had most likely turned off the phone and his only hope now was that she would listen to his message as he poured his heart out to her.
            At five the next morning, when he still could get little sleep, he decided to get up and call one more time. They were leaving for the small village shortly and he wanted to let her know. He didn’t know whether she even cared, but he called and told her of his plans all the same.

*~*~*

            A restless night afforded little slumber for Elyssa as her body and mind continued to toss and turn relentlessly. Will’s deceptive actions and his silence had stunned and hurt her. She couldn’t help but consider all the implications and ramifications of the fact that Will owned the house she had been decorating. She also couldn’t push aside his aunt’s tirade. While she didn’t doubt her designing ability and was quite satisfied with what she had done with the house, the woman’s words had hurt just as much as Will’s silence had.
            When she awoke the next morning after just a couple hours of sleep, she snatched up her phone and saw that Will had called two more times after that last call. He had called a little after midnight and at five in the morning. A sly smile indicated Elyssa’s satisfaction that he had not slept well, either.
            She listened to the third message.
           
Ok, Elyssa. I know that you must be angry since you’re not calling me back and I don’t blame you. But you must believe me when I say that this whole thing was done because I care for you. No, it’s more than just caring. I… I love you. I think I’ve loved you from the moment you lashed out at me at the wedding rehearsal dinner when I announced I was sending Chad and Janet to Guatemala. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. When we were in Guatemala, I savored each day with you -- even when you were ruthlessly angry with me! Elyssa, I couldn’t think of any other way to bring us back together. More than anything else, I wanted you here and I wasn’t sure you would come if I just outright asked you. Please believe me and I beg you to forgive me, Elyssa. Please call.
            Elyssa could barely move as she listened to his words. Her heart pounded with increased measure as he expressed his feelings for her. A tinge of guilt swept over her as she listened to his pleading voice and his heartfelt confession.
            “He loves me!” she said softly with a smile and quickly hit the key to listen to his final message.
           
Hi, Elyssa. I know you’re probably sleeping, but I can’t. It’s begun to rain here in the village again, which isn’t good, because the land and hillsides are saturated. I’m going to be leaving with two others soon to travel to a village that had some of the worse flooding in the area to see if we can help in any way with the rescues and recovery.
 Will paused and Elyssa could hear him take a deep breath.
I love you.
            Again Elyssa smiled at his words of love, but this time she felt a little concern. He didn’t speak at all in this last message about the house. She suddenly realized his voice had an urgency to it; almost as if he was going to be putting himself at risk.
            Elyssa listened to his last two messages several more times. His words -- his very voice, in fact -- soothed her aggrieved heart and helped bolster her confidence that he had done it all because he loved her. His justification for his actions didn’t necessarily make them right, but they certainly did help ease her critical mindset. She sat down on her bed, looking down at her phone, feeling a bit sheepish for the way she felt and acted last night. She was grateful she hadn’t called him, however, for she may have said some things that she would have later regretted.
            Maddy had also told her the night before that she believed Will loved her, but coming from her aunt had not been as reassuring. Even with all of the indications that Will cared, from his helping her in Guatemala to renting the theater for just the two of them, Elyssa realized she had a difficult time believing
she
was the one he loved.
           
Why me?
 she asked herself.
            She was interrupted from her speculations by a tapping on her door.
            “Yes?”
            Maddy peered in. “Edward is watching the morning world news in the other room. He said there’s a special news report from Guatemala on next!”
            Elyssa threw on a robe and quickly came into the living room, her aunt following on her heels. They waited while several tedious commercials played before their eyes. When the news returned, the picture on the television was like an arrow piercing through Elyssa’s heart as she saw people wading through mud. The newscaster’s voice was ominous.
            “Heavy rains overnight have caused several areas in the remote villages around Lake Atitlan to suffer landslides as the ground had already become heavily saturated from rains last week. Numerous rescue teams have set out for one small village that seems to be hardest hit. We have a breaking news report about a team of three Americans who set out for one of the villages early this morning and are presently missing. It is believed that a road may have been washed away and their whereabouts are uncertain. The names have not been released and everything is being done to find them as well as aid those who have lost homes and property. We will keep you updated.”
            Elyssa couldn’t move as she stared at the television screen. A cold fear spread throughout her body as she imagined the worse. Maddy immediately went to her niece as she noticed Elyssa’s face grow extremely pale.
            In barely a whisper, Elyssa said, “Will left me a message at five this morning saying that he and two others were setting out for a village that had suffered a lot of damage from the flooding.”
            Putting an arm around her for support, Maddy encouraged her with, “We have no reason to believe it’s Will.”
            She slowly turned and looked at her aunt. Tears filled her eyes as she said, “But what if it is him? I’ll never be able to forgive myself!”
            Elyssa ran out of the room and her aunt and uncle looked at each other. They knew it was highly unlikely that Will was one of the ones missing, but as long as they didn’t know for certain, Elyssa would be beside herself.
            Elyssa closed the door to her room and dialed Will’s number. It began ringing and with each ring, she said a prayer that he would answer. She had no idea what she would say. She no longer cared that he hadn’t told her about owning the house. She only wanted to make sure he was all right.
            She finally heard a click and her heart leapt with relief when she heard him say, “This is William Denton.”
            “Hi, Will. This is…”
            “I am sorry that I missed your call. Please leave your name and number and I will return your call as soon as possible.”
            Elyssa’s heart sank as she realized her call had gone to his voice mail.
            When she heard the beep to leave her message, she desperately searched her mind for the right words to say. “Will, this is Elyssa. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back last night. Please call me and let me know you’re all right. We heard news this morning about flooding and landslides down there. I won’t have any peace of mind until I know you’re all right. Please call me as soon as you are able!”
            Elyssa sat for a few moments with her eyes watching the phone intently as if willing it to ring. She lifted her shaking hand and raked it through her tousled hair. Her heart beat thunderously as she considered how foolish she had been last evening in not answering his call. She could have at least given him a chance to explain. Now what if… Elyssa couldn’t even bring herself to think of what she would do if Will was one of those missing.