Garden of Dreams (42 page)

“Nina!” he shouted into the echoing interior. Shadows filled the high walls and ceilings. Someone had actually closed the blinds. “Nina!”

No reply. Fighting a sudden panic, JD entered the corridor and headed for the kitchen. If he didn't find anyone there, he'd try the greenhouse next. He'd thought she'd be inside during the heat of the day. She courted sunstroke if she was outside.

Stupid of him to assume he would find her sitting here waiting for him. Maybe she was out fishing with Hoyt or arguing about Chinese chestnuts with Howard. Worse yet, she might be out somewhere with that overgrown puppy of a landscaper.

That thought made him twitch. He should have said something to her in Vegas when he'd had the chance, given her the reassurances a woman liked to hear, but he was lousy at doing the things women liked. And he hadn't been at all certain Nina wanted to hear them. Besides, if the risks he had taken hadn't panned out, he could have been bankrupt by now. How could he face Nina as a pauper?

Another stupid thought, he supposed as he stared at the empty kitchen. Nina had lived like this her entire life, and it didn't seem to bother her. He could have made another fortune. She wouldn't have cared about the money. But she did need to hear the words. He understood that now. Nina didn't have a lot of self-confidence.

Sure, she could defy phone companies and bungle-headed computer idiots like himself, but only because she fought for someone else. Nina didn't have what it took to stand up for herself. So she had left him.

One of the conclusions he'd reached over these long weeks was that he hadn't tried hard enough. He'd blamed his bad luck and quit rather than damage his damned ego.

Another conclusion he'd reached was that Nina would never have gone to bed with him if she hadn't felt something pretty strong.

She wasn't in the kitchen. Cursing, JD strode out the back and toward the greenhouse.

To his amazement, instead of a pint-sized pixie reaching for the uppermost plants in this jungle, he found Helen Mclntyre watering the granddaddy fern.

At his appearance, she put the watering can down and gave his dust-coated, T-shirted attire a disapproving look. “Do you always make yourself at home like this?”

JD refused to be discomfited by a woman who would desert her daughter for twenty years. “I'm looking for Nina.”

She returned to her watering. “She's not here.”

For the first time since he'd embarked on this insane journey, JD felt fear. He should have kept calling until he'd reached her. He should have written. He should never have let her get on that airplane in Vegas. Damn, but he should have known better.

Gritting his teeth, JD tried again. “Where is she?”

Helen sent him a piercing look. “Why do you ask?”

“Damn it, Mrs. Mclntyre, it's scarcely any of your business after all these years, is it? Just tell me where the hell she is.” Clenching his hands into fists, JD generously refrained from jerking the watering can from the woman's hands and shaking her.

Helen slammed the can down on the table and glared at him. “Why the hell should I?” she demanded. “She's been moping around here for weeks, looking like someone had just run over her best friend. You made a few halfhearted calls and nothing else. She's been making herself sick with work, and she finally got smart and decided to take a vacation. You're too late to do anything about it now. School will start by the time she returns, and she'll forget all about a jerk like you.”

Oh, God, no. JD took a deep breath and fought anguish. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He was such a stupid ass. Why had he believed he could reach out and touch someone like Nina without destroying her?

A worse thought struck him. Making herself sick. He'd taken precautions. Surely she wasn't?...

Oh, God, he had to find her.

Tamping down his raging fears, JD faced Helen with as much calm as he could summon. “It's extremely important that I find Nina. I won't hurt her. I want to take care of her. I'll do whatever she wants me to do. But I have to find her first. Tell me where she is.”

Helen scrutinized him carefully, as if she could somehow perceive his intentions from the cut of his clothes or the sweat pouring down his face. He should have dressed for the occasion. He should have worn some expensive polo shirt or designer pants or something. Maybe he wouldn't look quite so much like a motorcycle bum. Oh, damn! What if Nina hadn't told her mother that he had money? Maybe she really did think him a no-account hood who would never be here when Nina needed him. Oh, shit.

JD started to explain. He held his hand out, but the words didn't come easily. He dropped his hand again, then shoved it through his hair. At least he'd had the sense to have it trimmed properly. It no longer required a rubber band.

As if that were the signal she wanted, Helen finally broke her silence. “I haven't been here to protect my daughter for twenty years, Mr. Marshall. It's probably too late to start now. But I'll tell you this—if you hurt her in any way, I'm coming after you. I won't have a damned thing to lose if I cut your testicles off.”

JD winced at the image, but surprise that this well-groomed epitome of Southern womanhood could use such language prevented immediate reply. “I won't hurt her,” he agreed.

She nodded and returned to watering. “She went to Los Angeles, said she had friends there.”

Exhaustion overwhelmed JD as he climbed out of the taxi and paid the fare, but a strange sense of elation buoyed him as he turned toward the empty shell of a house he'd called home these last few years. He prayed hard and heavy as he shifted the bag of ice cream and reached for the gate latch. Joy washed over him when he found it unlocked.

Stupid, he reminded himself. She should never leave locks unfastened in a high-crime area like Los Angeles. Cautiously, he locked it behind him. Now that he'd found someone worth protecting, he'd have to quit taking risks.

JD couldn't wipe the foolish grin off his face as he hurried down the walk. He was probably operating solely on nervous energy at this point and couldn't be responsible for his stupidities. He'd left Jackie with Nina's mother, caught the first flight out of Nashville heading this direction, called Jimmy from the plane, and hadn't slept a wink in thirty-six hours. His brain was blatantly fried. But Jimmy had pulled it off. He'd persuaded Nina to stay here.

Thanking all the Powers That Be for their intervention, JD strode past the rocks and potted plants that comprised his yard. The plants were supposed to survive neglect. They hadn't survived his kind of neglect. The last time he'd noticed them, even the cactus had died.

He stopped abruptly to admire a single blossom on a yucca plant he'd thought he'd killed last winter. It hadn't looked this happy in years. Of course, it hadn't had a new pot and dirt since the landscaper had installed it either. The open bag of potting soil occupying the path indicated someone had corrected his errors.

Glancing around, JD grinned. Every pot had fresh, moist soil. The bushes that had long since cracked their pots and tilted dangerously on root balls alone now proudly sported decorative clay containers and stood straight and tall again. They even looked alive for a change. Amazing what a little water could do. And someone to care.

JD hurried up the path. All Nina needed was someone who cared. He'd repeated that to himself like a mantra ever since he'd left Madrid. Maybe he was incompetent when it came to what women liked. Maybe he got along with machines better than with people. But he cared. He more than cared. Maybe that would be enough for Nina. He just had to let her know, and pray very hard. And feed her chocolate ice cream. The box he'd picked up on the way in from the airport was still nicely frozen.

He wouldn't find Nina in the kitchen, he knew that. And at this time of day, he wouldn't find her in bed, more's the pity.

He stepped onto the sun porch, uncertain what he would do but certain he would find Nina there. She wasn't. The blow struck him so forcefully, he almost staggered. She had to be here. He'd walked through the main living area and hadn't seen her anywhere.

The sun porch wasn't that big. She couldn't hide under the silly ironwork table the decorator had installed. He never sat out here. The blamed chairs were too uncomfortable. Besides, he was never home. But he'd expected Nina to appreciate the view of the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows. He'd had visions of handing her the ice cream instead of flowers, showing her he hadn't forgotten those times she'd sacrificed her treat for him. He couldn't believe he'd got it all wrong.

She had to be here. Surely she wouldn't have left the door and gate unlocked if she'd gone out. Another stupid notion. Nina thought locks were for nighttime.

Dread constricting his heart, JD returned uncertainly to the main room. The wilting plant in the front window no longer wilted. He had a cleaning service, so dust hadn't gathered in his absence, not that Nina would have taken care of it if he hadn't. A stack of papers in front of the television gave him some hope. Nina had worked in here at some time.

Not bothering with the papers, JD hurried down the hall to his personal quarters. The humming of his printer increased his step. That didn't make sense. Nina knew nothing about printers. Maybe Jimmy had locked her in one of the rooms, and he was back here messing around while waiting for his arrival. JD thought he'd hear Nina screaming curses if that were the case.

He burst into his office like a madman and stared in disbelief.

Nina glanced up from the computer and broke into a beaming smile. “You're back! Jimmy said he didn't know when you'd come in, so I've been amusing myself. I hope you don't mind.”

Mind? He'd go down on his knees and beg her to play with the damned machine if it meant she would stay. Completely undone, JD couldn't find his tongue.

She was even more gorgeous than he remembered. She'd done something soft with her hair, so it kind of curled around her face instead of sticking straight up. She didn't wear any cosmetics except a smear of lipstick she'd almost chewed off, but Nina didn't need cosmetics. Her skin glowed from within, her eyes shone with their own light, and her smile—her smile could nail a man to the wall from half a room away.

“You're here,” he said stupidly. Damn, but he should have slept on the plane.

She curled her fingers anxiously into her palm but nodded agreement. “Jimmy gave me the keys and said it was all right.” She darted him an uncertain look. When he didn't seem furious, she gathered her courage and stumbled hurriedly through her practiced speech. “I thought it kind of presumptuous myself, but I'll admit I like seeing how the other half lives. You have a lovely view.”

The view from this vantage point was even better, Nina decided as JD flexed his shoulders nervously and stared at her as if he'd just conjured a demon. She was nervous, too, but that didn't keep her from admiring the muscular forearms driving his hands into his hair. He'd had that thick mass of black trimmed into a proper style that would probably look professional if he wore a suit. She couldn't see JD wearing a suit. She liked seeing him in well-worn jeans. She liked seeing him out of those jeans. She flushed and returned her gaze to the computer.

“Jimmy told me how to find operating instructions for this spreadsheet program. I've been playing around with it. It's fascinating. I push this little button, and it adds all these columns, but if I push this one, everything disappears. I thought I could use it for the bookkeeping system I'm setting up for the garden, if I can learn it.”

“Nina.”

His voice sounded strained, and she hastily looked at him again. Did he really mind if she played with his computer? Jimmy hadn't thought so, but maybe Jimmy didn't know what he kept on here.

“I'm sorry. Shouldn't I have played with it? I've tried not to mess anything up. Jimmy assured me you backed everything up and I couldn't hurt anything.”

“Nina, would you do me a favor?”

He didn't sound any less tense, but he didn't sound angry either. Nina nodded uncertainly. “Whatever you ask, JD.” Foolish answer, but she meant it. Gad, how she meant it. She'd probably rob a bank if he asked it of her, because she knew it would be for a good cause. JD didn't know the meaning of selfish. He might not be a communicative man, but he was good through and through.

“Get up and come over here.”

That, she could do, had been dying to do since he walked through that door. But she'd used up all her reserves of courage by flying out here without warning. Silently, she stood up and crossed the room. He smelled of soap and shaving lather, and she glanced at the travel kit and sack he carried in one hand. He'd washed and shaved. Had he known she was here?

As if just realizing he still held them, he glanced down at the items in his hand and flung them on the credenza. In the same swift move, he swung his arm back to catch hers, pulling her against him until they stood toe-to-toe.

Nina's heart thudded as her breasts crushed into the unforgiving hardness of his chest. She couldn't help herself. She curled her fingers into his shirt and tilted her head back to meet his eyes.