Each Time We Love (60 page)

"But where is it?" Savanna demanded, puzzled. "If it is hidden
here, he didn't leave me any instructions or clues, or anything! And
it's not in the house." She swung her arm wide, encompassing the
oak-dotted area some distance from the house where they were walking.
"And if it's hidden out here or in the cane fields, we'll never find
it!"

Suddenly there was an arrested expression on Jason's handsome
face. The emerald eyes narrowed. "I could be dead wrong, but it's worth
a try…"

"What the devil do you mean?" Adam asked, aware of Jason's
rising excitement.

"I mean," Jason admitted slowly, "that when we were boys,
Davalos and I roamed over these lands together—we knew every tree,
every bush, every bayou. We had our secret places and we had places
where we would hide our private treasures—and it just occurred to me
that I might have known all these years where Davalos put Nolan's
armband!"

Startling them all, he suddenly set off at a brisk pace, the
others following quickly behind him. He hadn't gone far before he
stopped in front of a massive oak, its thick, heavy branches liberally
strewn with gray-green Spanish moss. At first glance, it didn't look
any different from a dozen other oaks in the same vicinity, but when
one looked closely, there was something that differentiated it from its
neighbors. A few feet above the ground, in the trunk of the tree, there
was a small, irregular-shaped hole where a branch had rotted off years
ago.

While the others crowded around, Jason picked up a fallen limb
from the ground and rather cautiously probed around inside the hole. At
first there was nothing, and as he gradually dragged out half-rotted
matter and the signs that at some time various animals had used the
hole for nesting, his certainty faded slightly. He was on the point of
giving up when from deep inside the trunk came the unmistakable clink
of metal.

Everyone was instantly electrified and with bated breath
watched a few minutes later as Jason, almost reverently, pulled a tin
box from the bowels of the tree. Despite its weight, there was a note
of caution in his voice as he handed it to Savanna. "There may be
nothing in it, you know." He pulled a wry face. "Or just some boy's
memento."

Savanna smiled at him. "I know, but still it's exciting, isn't
it? To think that we may have found it?"

The box felt heavy in her hands and with fingers that trembled
slightly, she fumbled at the catch. Adam's hands were resting warmly on
her shoulders and when the rusty metal suddenly gave, she glanced back
him. It was, in many ways, a precious moment to them, not because of
the wealth the golden armband represented, but because, in some odd
way, it had become a symbol of their love for each other.

The lid flipped open and Savanna sucked in her breath as she
stared at the contents. There was only one object in the tin box, an
object that had been carefully wrapped in oilskin. She lifted it out,
the box falling to the ground. From the shape and weight of it, they
all knew that it had to be Nolan's armband, and yet, when the oilskin
fell away and the late afternoon sunlight caressed the bright golden
band, the emeralds twinkling in the golden rays, there was a moment of
stunned silence as they stared at the exact twin to the band Jason
always wore.

It was Catherine who spoke first. "I'm afraid that over the
years I have grown so used to seeing the one on Jason's arm that I've
forgotten what a glorious object it is!" Her face twisted slightly and
her eyes clung to Jason's. "Or what," she said huskily, "its mere
existence has cost us."

They were both thinking of the child Catherine had lost all
the years before, and gently Jason drew her into his arms. Softly he
murmured against her hair, "Don't grieve. It's in the past." He looked
at Adam and Savanna. "I think we'll leave you two alone for a while."

Silently Adam, his hands still on Savanna's shoulders, and
Savanna, the golden armband resting in the palms of her hands, watched
them walk away. It was only when the other couple had disappeared from
view that Savanna turned to Adam. Her heart in her eyes, she offered
the golden armband to him.

He shook his head. "I think," he said thickly, "that it
rightfully belongs to our firstborn son." He pulled her into his arms,
the golden armband crushed between them as he kissed her deeply.
Lifting his head, he stared down into her bemused face and murmured,
"What need have I of gold and emeralds, when I have you?"

Choked with emotion, Savanna couldn't speak; she could only
smile tremulously up into his beloved face. He kissed her again and it
was several long moments later before they became aware of where they
were. Ruffling her hair, Adam admitted bluntly, "Unless you want to
shock everyone by having me make love to you in plain sight of the
house, in broad daylight, I think we had better rejoin the others."

Her mouth still tingling from his passionate kisses, Savanna
moved reluctantly out of his embrace. Looking down at the golden
armband clasped tightly in her hand, she murmured, "It's strange, isn't
it? How one simple object could cause such misery and violence?"

His fingers lightly tracing its rim, Adam said, "It wasn't the
object that set those terrible events in motion, sweetheart, but the
lust
for it."

Together they stared at it, the emeralds gleaming darkly in
the bright gold of the band, both of them thinking of all the savage
and ugly deeds that had been wrought because of it. And yet, in the
end, the golden armband had been the catalyst that had united them, the
catalyst that had allowed them to find each other and, having found
each other, to find love.

Secure in her husband's love, their child growing strong
beneath her breast, Savanna felt her eyes fill with tears of happiness
as she traced the beauty of the golden armband. How odd, she thought,
that in the end, the golden armband which had been the cause of so much
wretchedness had ultimately given her the greatest gift of all—love.

Savanna glanced up once more into Adam's face, her gaze moving
over those dearly loved features, the love that was in her eyes
reflecting back from his. Yes, the golden armband had brought her love,
she thought dizzily, a love as rich and precious, as enduring and
lasting as the gold and emeralds themselves…

SHIRLEE
BUSBEE

The daughter of
a career naval officer,

SHIRLEE
BUSBEE
was born in California and
attended high school in Morocco. 

After graduating from business school,
she was employed as a legal secretary 

by Solano County, California,
where she met Rosemary Rogers, who encouraged her

to write. The result
was GYPSY LADY, published by Avon Books in 1977, Busbee's

first novel
and first best seller. Busbee began writing full-time in 1979. 

Her
second novel, LADY VIXEN (1980) was also a national best seller,

as
were all the titles that followed:

WHILE PASSION
SLEEPS (1983)

DECEIVE NOT MY
HEART (1984)

THE TIGER LILY
(1985)

THE SPANISH
ROSE (1986)

MIDNIGHT
MASQUERADE (1988)

WHISPER TO ME
OF LOVE (1991)

A recipient of
the Silver Pen Award (1985) and

Bronze Pen
Award (1989) from
Affaire de Coeur,

Busbee is now
at work on her tenth novel for Avon. 

She lives
in California with her husband,

Howard Leon
Busbee.