Forever Fall (17 page)

The couch gave beside her, and she immediately felt the warmth of Luc’s thigh pressing against hers. Needing his reassuring presence, she leaned into the warmth of his body. His arm encircled her shoulders, and she sagged against him, taking comfort in his strength and nearness.

“We’ll find her. Even if I have to go out and comb every inch of Hawks Mountain and the valley.” He spoke with his lips against her hair. “I promise.”

She raised her face to look at him. “But what if we can’t find her? What if she does something stupid? How will I ever explain to Catherine that I was instrumental in ruining her granddaughter’s life?” Her voice caught on a sob.

“You haven’t ruined anything, and until we talk to Shannon, we don’t know what happened tonight. So stop jumping to conclusions.” Luc pressed her head back against his shoulder and tightened his embrace. As usual, Mandy was thinking of the girl and not the effect this would have on her project. “We’ll find her before anything like that happens.” He hooked his finger under chin and lifted her face up their gazes met.

He started to tell her to go wash her face before Catherine arrived, but the words deserted him. All he could see was the pain in her face and the fear in her eyes. All he could feel was the overwhelming urge to comfort her, to erase the fear. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers.

The touch was feather-light. She tasted of salty tears. A soft moan escaped from her as she pressed her lips more firmly against his. Luc battled to hold on to his good sense. He wanted to scoop her into his arms and carry her upstairs, to hold her through the night, to protect her from anything and everything.

She snuggled closer. His instincts told him to deepen the kiss, but his good sense told him this was neither the time nor the place. Mandy was looking for a shoulder to cry on, nothing more. First and foremost, they had to find Shannon, but after that—

“Geeze. Get a room.”

Mandy and Luc sprang apart as if they’d just been caught making out behind the bleachers. They turned toward the voice to find Shannon standing in the doorway, her clothes wrinkled, her hair in disarray and the faint telltale pink of a night of intense necking still evident around her mouth.

Luc jumped to his feet and advanced on the girl. “Where have you been? Joey’s been crying, and we’ve search the whole town for you.” Good Lord, he sounded like an irate father, but it didn’t stop him. “I think you owe us an explanation.”

Shannon pursed her lips and frowned. “I don’t have to give any explanations to you. You’re not my mother and father.” She swung around and hurried toward the stairs. When she reached the bottom stair, she stopped and whirled toward them. “And just in case you’re wondering, nothing like you’re thinking happened between Jeb and me.”

Luc started after her, determined to get answers to where the girl had been and exactly what
nothing happened
meant. She owed Mandy and him that much after all she’d put them through that night. But a hand on his arm stopped him.

“Let her go. We’re all upset, and with all our nerves on edge, this could turn into nothing more than a shouting match, and nothing would get accomplished. When Catherine gets here, I’ll ask her to wait to talk to Shannon in the morning after we’ve all had a good night’s rest and a chance to calm down. I’m just relieved that she’s back.” She walked back toward the den, paused and then glanced back at Luc. “I’m beginning to think this whole experiment was a lousy idea.”

Luc wasn’t sure which tore at is heart more, the defeat coloring Mandy’s voice or the way her shoulders sagged. He knew how much succeeding at this meant to her, and if he had the final say, she’d get the simulators into the school. Unfortunately, he didn’t have that power, and the people who did might well look upon tonight as an excuse to deny Mandy’s request. However, there was something he could do and that was to tell her about the deal that he and Asa had entered into.

Silently, he followed her into the den and guided her toward the big leather sofa. “While we wait for Catherine there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

She stared up at him. Exhaustion dimmed her eyes. It had been a long, frustrating night, and he hated to add to it, but he was determined this time to come clean and clear the air between them once and for all.

“Can’t this wait until morning?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s waited too long already.”

Luc joined Mandy on the sofa, but before he could figure out where to start, the sound of the front door opening and closing told him that once more fate was not in his corner. Any explanation would have to wait.

Seconds later, an unusually disheveled Catherine Daniels rushed into the room. “Where’s my granddaughter?”

Luc jumped to his feet. “She’s upstairs. She got home minutes after we did.”

Catherine looked from him to Mandy, her expression anxious. “Is she all right?”

Luc took her arm and led her to the chair opposite them. He waited until she’d seated herself and returned to his seat beside Mandy. “She’s gone to bed, and she’s fine. Defiant, but fine.”

“Where was she? Did she tell you?”

How Luc would have loved to just bypass that question. But he couldn’t. Catherine deserved an answer.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Mandy glance at him, then she met Catherine’s inquisition eye-to-eye. “She was with Jeb. Other than that we don’t know anything.” Quickly, she followed up with, “Everyone’s really tired, so Luc and I felt it better to wait until tomorrow, after we’ve all rested and calmed down, before we started questioning her.” Mandy shifted her position on the couch and folded her hands in her lap.

“I
 . . .
I’ve been thinking.” Mandy glanced at Luc, then back to Catherine. “I think we should call this whole thing off. It was a bad idea from the start.”

Although stunned by her announcement, Luc’s main concern then was Mandy, so he kept his gaze centered on her. She looked so fragile. Like the merest touch would shatter her into tiny pieces. He wanted to hold her, protect her and tell her everything would be okay, but he was afraid that once he held her, he’d never let her go, and there was still so much between them that had to be cleared up.

He glanced at Catherine. Her anxious expression had turned to cold anger, and strangely enough, it was directed at him. Why was she so mad at him? Was it because they’d lost track of Shannon, and her grandmother held him accountable? Was it because they hadn’t found out where she’d been all that time? Or was it—

Suddenly, a bad feeling began forming in the pit of his stomach.

“Well, this must make you happy, Luc,” Catherine said, her voice as cold and crisp as her expression.

Still at a loss for this change in the woman, Luc frowned. “I don’t—”

Catherine stood and walked toward Luc, her hand on her hip, her posture rigid, her gaze accusing. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I had a long talk with Asa Watkins today, and he told me all about the little deal you two had.”

Mandy frowned, her head turning first to Catherine then Luc. “Deal? What kind of deal? What’s she talking about, Luc?”

Luc couldn’t speak, couldn’t look at Mandy. Couldn’t stand to see what she could only interpret as his treachery mirrored in her eyes. After a few moments, he chanced a glance at her. She stared back at him, open-mouthed, her beautiful coffee-colored eyes filled with distrust.

If Catherine had only been a few minutes later arriving, he’d have been able to break this to Mandy slowly and help her understand that he’d changed his mind, and that introducing the simulators into the school held immense merit. But now, the horse was out of the barn, and he was left to explain why to a woman who looked like he had just stabbed her through the heart.

Finally, when he had offered no explanation, Mandy turned back to Catherine. “What deal?”

Catherine threw one last glare in Luc’s direction and then met Mandy’s questioning expression head-on. “It seems that Luc was supposed to make sure from the get-go that this experiment of ours failed. If Luc made sure that happened, Asa would win his bid to keep the simulators out of the school, and as a result, maintain his athletic budget. The payoff was a guarantee that Luc’s contract would be renewed by the school board.” She stiffened her back and glared at Luc. “Congratulations, Luc.” Then she turned back to Mandy. “I’m assuming that our experiment is over, so I’ll be by in the morning to pick up Shannon and take her home.” Then, without another word, she left.

Mandy waited for Luc to say something, but he didn’t. “You have nothing to say?”

He looked at her and shook his head. “Would you believe me if I did?”

“Since you’ve been lying to me all this time, no, I probably wouldn’t.”

Mandy stood and without looking at him, left the den and climbed the stairs to her room. Once there, she closed the door and sagged against its solid surface as the tears began to slide down her cheeks. Tears she’d been struggling to hold back ever since she realized that Luc had betrayed her.

How could he do this to her? He knew how important it was to her. He’d given her the impression that he was just as eager to protect the kids as she was. It had all been a lie. Even the kiss and his supposed understanding when she’d poured out the story of her childhood. All lies. What a gullible fool she’d been. All the time he’d been charming her so she wouldn’t suspect he was scheming with Asa to make sure she failed.

She dried her tears and pushed away from the door. Her mother had been right. Men couldn’t be trusted. They lie and trample over your heart. Mandy hauled her suitcase from the closet and began throwing clothes into it. She’d leave here as soon as she’d settled things with Shannon.

If her attitude tonight was anything to go by, the teen was ready to throw in the towel. Under any other circumstances, Mandy would have been celebrating her victory. But all she could feel was the pain of Luc’s betrayal gripping her heart in an iron fist. All she wanted now was to get out of this house and as far away from Luc as possible.

The next morning,
Shannon flounced into the kitchen sporting major attitude and carrying Joey by one arm. Mandy hadn’t had a chance to change Joey’s batteries, so he was not reacting to the rough treatment. The teen flopped the simulator on the table in front of Mandy.

Mandy fingered it and looked at the teenager. “What’s this mean?” She already knew that it meant Shannon’s surrender, but Mandy wanted to hear it from her.

“Luc was right.”

Mandy stiffened and set her coffee cup on the table. A ball of dread the size of Hawks Mountain settled in her stomach. She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear any more of Luc’s betrayals. Nevertheless, she forced herself to ask. “Right about what?”

“He said I should be out having fun with my friends.”

“That’s not what I said.” Luc entered the kitchen, his face contorted in a scowl. “I said I understood your frustration, and that you’d rather be out having fun with your friends, but that you should stick it out.”

And if Shannon stuck it out, Mandy would lose her bid to get the simulators into the school. The anger she’d experienced last night returned. “And if she stuck it out, you and Asa would win. Right?”

Shannon’s gaze bounced from Mandy to Luc. “Mr. Watkins? Win what? What’s he got to do with this?”

Luc ignored the question and ran his fingers through his hair. “No. That’s not why I wanted her to stick it out.”

Mandy lunged to her feet, her hands fisted at her sides. “Why then?” Last night she’d vowed not to get into a fight with Luc about this, but her anger and the intense pain of his betrayal had gotten the best of her.

“Are you going to listen if I try to explain?” Luc’s voice had gained in volume.

“Are you going to tell me the truth?” Mandy’s tone matched his.

“I’m not going to tell you anything if you’re going to listen with a closed mind.”

They glared at each other. Luc opened his mouth to say something else, but Shannon’s shrill cry stopped him.

“Stop it!” She stomped her foot. “Stop yelling at each other. You sound like my parents. You win. Okay? My parents win. I don’t want to have a baby anymore.” Her tone of voice told of the tears she was fighting to hold back. “It’s over. Done. I’m going home. My grandmother’s coming to pick me up.” She turned and fled the kitchen.

After Mandy had slipped
from the lake house, she had driven blindly, barely aware of maneuvering the car over the curving mountain roads. Though her anger at Luc had flared brightly in the kitchen, once away from the house, all that was left of it were the ashes of a dream that she’d foolishly allowed herself to believe could come true.

How could she have fallen into the very trap she’d so carefully avoided for years? Though she’d dated, she’d made certain that her heart had never become involved. The one time she’d lowered her guard and let a man slip by her defenses, she’d ended up paying the price. The one good thing that had come out of it was that she hadn’t been really stupid and fallen into bed with him and ended up like her mother, single and raising a baby on her own. Not that she wouldn’t have loved it and devoted herself to it. It was just that babies needed fathers and a mother who had time to love it and care for it. She could only offer the love and care.

Mandy was about certain that the simulators would be introduced into the school. It had come down to putting the experiment’s success before the school board and getting their vote. But the victory was hollow. In winning one battle, she’d lost Luc and any hope of a future with him.

Mandy rounded a curve in the road and stopped the car. She shifted it to
park
and looked around, dazed and confused as to why she had chosen to come here. Why was she in front of this large white farm house
 . . .
Granny Jo Hawks’ house?

Before she could shift the car into drive and leave, Granny Jo’s big, gray dog, Jake, sprang to his feet and began barking, announcing her arrival. Seconds later, the front door opened, and Granny Jo stepped onto the porch, a big smile creasing her kindly face. At that moment, Mandy realized why she’d come here. Becky had told Mandy if she ever had a problem, there was no one better at sorting than her grandmother.

“Well, child, are you going to sit there all day, or are you coming inside?” Granny called.

Mandy couldn’t very well drive away now. She turned off the engine. “Only if you have the coffee pot on,” she called back, trying to inject the happiness she didn’t feel into her voice.

“Well, if I don’t, I can soon fix that.”

Mandy climbed from the car, walked up the rose bush-lined front walk and was immediately enveloped in the warmth of Granny Jo’s loving embrace. Tears welled up in Mandy’s eyes.

“This is a nice surprise.” Granny said over Mandy’s shoulder, then held her at arm’s length and gazed deep into her eyes. A frown wrinkled her brow. “Now, now. Nothing’s that bad.” She used the corner of her apron to dry Mandy’s eyes and then wrapped her arm around her. “I just took a batch of sugar cookies out of the oven. How about we have us one or two and a hot cup of coffee and we’ll see if we can sort out whatever it is that has you upset. My Earl used to say that my sugar cookies could cure anything.”