Harnessed Passions (33 page)

"There's more going on than you think,"
Louise said strangely, motioning for him to follow her. They walked
into the den where she closed the door and slid open the bottom
drawer of the liquor cabinet. She removed a thin black book and ran
her hand across its cover in reverence, before giving it to
Daniel.

"There were problems before Julia ever got
here, problems even you didn’t know about. Victor kept track of
them just in case he needed to prove he wasn't going insane as well
as dying. He mentioned he knew who was behind them, but refused to
tell me, or Julia. I thought he'd have written the name down, but I
couldn't find anything when I checked earlier."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before
now?" Daniel's concern and suspicions were vivid in his turquoise
eyes.

"After Julia was hit, the day of
Victor's...here at the house," she hesitated, unable to mention
that fateful day in her life. "I came down to see if the book would
give me any hint as to who may have done it, but there wasn't
anything in it. At least nothing I could find. To tell you the
truth, I'd forgotten about it with planning the wedding and then
this and worrying over Julia. I probably would have left it alone
forever if it hadn't have been for our talk the other day."

Daniel opened the book and began glancing
through the pages. He would have to read it very carefully, but the
urgent cry from Jeremy made the task seem distant and suddenly
forgotten. They hurried out to the hall and looked up at the young
man leaning over the banister calling to him. Mrs. Lester, Thompson
and Bridget all hurried into the foyer and all looked up at
Jeremy's smiling face.

"She's awake!" he gasped, as Daniel nearly
jumped across the banister and ran up the winding staircase. The
book in his hand forgotten, the concerns of the swimming hole were
no more than a long ago memory. The only thought on the man's mind
was his wife who was now awake.

The door to the room swung open and Daniel
rushed in. He tossed the small black book to the nightstand as he
knelt beside the bed. He took Julia's hand gently between his own,
just as he had so many times over the long, desperate hours. A soft
moan came from the woman next to him and he smiled.

"Julia," he whispered, bringing her a little
further awake. "Open your eyes, Princess." Julia frowned and tried
to obey, but moaned again with the effort.

"It's alright honey," Louise insisted,
putting a reassuring hand on her leg, buried beneath the stack of
covers. "Take your time." Julia tried again, this time succeeding
after a great effort. A brief second later and they closed again,
only to reopen and focus on the man next to her. Her frown deepened
and she tried to raise a hand to her head.

"Don't do that," he ordered her softly,
pulling her hand away from her wound. "You've been hurt. The doctor
said you'll be fine though, it's just a bump." Julia closed her
eyes, trying to remember what had happened.

Her frown deepened as she focused her sight
on the man sitting next to her. He looked familiar, turquoise eyes
sparkling at her, long blondish-brown hair in a mangled disarray.
He looked like Daniel, but her husband didn't wear a beard.

Daniel smiled, his heart leapt in his chest,
his hands shook with relief and deep seeded emotion. He leaned
closer and brushed a light kiss to her forehead. Her skin was cool,
not hot as it had been for so many days. Julia wrinkled her nose
causing Daniel to chuckle softly.

"It's about time you woke up, Little
Princess," he told her through whispered tones, squeezing her hand
softly with reassurance.

"Daniel?" she tried to speak, but the hours
of not talking closed in around her throat making her effort
difficult.

"Of course; do you think I'd allow anybody
else to kiss you?" he teased, bringing a smile to Julia's dry lips.
She tried to focus on her surroundings, but frowned when she
couldn't comprehend anything but the people around her.

"Where's Heather?" she asked softly, looking
around the room at the faces staring at her. Daniel and Louise both
looked at each other, than to the younger man leaning across the
foot of the bed.

"Heather?" Jeremy asked, his concern echoing
in his voice. Julia's eyes opened again, this time a little
easier.

"Am I dead?" she whispered, trying to
remember how she got out of the water.

"Of course not," Daniel insisted, squeezing
her hand. "You've just had an accident. You're going to be
fine."

"Heather," she said again. "I saw Heather.
She said it was my fault. She blames me...I should have been
there...why did she have to die?"

"Take it easy, Princess," Daniel urged
softly, running a gentle hand across her cheek as her eyes began to
fill with tears. "You've been dreaming."

"It wasn't a dream," Julia insisted, her
pulse began to race as she tried explaining what her friend had
said. "I saw her; she told me she wanted revenge. She said it was
my fault she died and she was going to make me pay." Daniel and
Louise stared at each other again, this time concerned for the
girl's sanity.

"Julia, Heather's dead. It was an accident;
you're not to blame for any of it." Louise tried to soothe her
daughter, but found her own fear and confusion lessening the
effects of her effort.

"I couldn't have dreamt it. It was so real.
She said she came back for me. She blames me for the accident. She
pulled me under the water; I swear it, she tried to drown me."

"It was just a bad dream, sis," Jeremy
insisted, gently. "Heather would never do anything to hurt you. She
loved you like a sister." Julia's head was pounding and her stomach
ached as it lurched with emotion, but she didn't have the strength
to argue with them. She turned her head towards Daniel, the pain
causing her to moan softly, as she tried to get a better look at
him.

"You look awful," she said and when he
leaned closer to give her another kiss, she wrinkled her nose again
and tried to back away. "You smell awful too." Daniel chuckled
again, laying his head next to hers on the pillow. His hair fell
across his shoulder and onto Julia's neck and cheek where she
reached a shaky hand up to touch it. The thought of her being out
of danger was overwhelming and Daniel's heart filled with a mixture
of joy, relief and love. So much emotion swelled up within him, he
nearly cried from its intensity.

Louise stepped forward and tapped him gently
on the shoulder. "I think that's your cue for a bath," she said
quietly, causing him to chuckle in such an intimate deep tone,
Julia felt the color burn her pale cheeks. Daniel had barely slept
twelve hours over the past week, but just the sight of Julia's eyes
made him feel awake and invigorated.

"If you were a man," he began, with a
pretense of irritation in his tone focusing on the young woman
lying weakly in the bed next to him, "I wouldn't bother."

"Get out of here," Louise insisted, watching
as he leaned across Julia and kissed her more endearing. "Go on, or
I'll have Jeremy and Rally haul you to the horse trough and scrub
you raw with lye." Daniel smiled at the woman, a silent warning
echoing in his turquoise eyes, telling her she'd better not even
try it. The woman laughed and went to the dresser for a clean shirt
and pair of pants for her new son.

Daniel watched with amusement as Louise
retrieved a pair of long-johns, tucking them between the other
clothes with a deep red tinting her cheeks. He didn't have the
heart to tell her he only wore those things during the winter and
always slept in the nude. One bit of news the older woman probably
wouldn't appreciate hearing.

He turned to Julia smiling happily, knowing
the danger was nearly over. He leaned down and kissed her cheek,
whispering against her ear the words he'd envisioned saying to her
since he held her lifeless body in his arms. "I love you, my Little
Princess."

When Daniel emerged from the wash closet
half an hour later, clean and shaven, Julia was asleep again.
Louise sat in the chair next to the bed and held the book she had
given to him earlier. He tossed his shirt and long-johns to the
chair next to the vanity and smiled at Julia's sleeping face. Her
breathing was even and a hint of color tinted the pale layers of
skin. He looked to Louise, who smiled knowingly at him.

"Why don't you get some rest," he offered.
"I'll stay with her until the doctor gets here."

"You need your rest too, Daniel. I think
I've had at least a good night's sleep over you, since this whole
thing began."

"But I'm not tired, you are." Reluctantly
Louise understood the man's unspoken plea to leave him alone with
his wife. She leaned across Julia's sleeping body and kissed her
softly on the cheek before turning back to the man.

"Do you think she could really have seen
Heather?" the woman asked softly. Daniel looked to Julia asleep in
the bed.

"I don't believe in ghosts or goblins Louise
and no spirit could have left those footprints by the pond, but it
might explain an awful lot."

“
What do you
mean?"

"Julia may have mistaken her attacker as
Heather. It may still prove to be a sick joke."

"Why would anybody do such a thing?"

"Revenge, sadistic humor, it's hard to say."
Daniel continued to stare at Julia's pale face.

"She said she saw her," Louise said in a
whispered tone. "She had to be fairly close in order to see her
face wouldn't you think?"

"Unless all she saw was a woman's figure,
heard a woman's voice and her mind assumed the rest," Daniel
guessed.

"Sharon looks an awful lot like Heather;
nearly her twin. Perhaps she..."

"You can't blame anybody without proof
Louise," Daniel interrupted, knowing the only crime his
mother-in-law committed was to repeat what he himself had secretly
been thinking. "We're going to have to be very careful in the
future. Julia can't get out of our sight even for a minute." Louise
looked at her daughter then back to Daniel and smiled.

"I think you're the best thing to happen
around here since....I don't know when." Daniel hugged the woman
affectionately walking her to the door and bidding her
good-night.

He sat for nearly an hour just watching his
wife sleep. She was beautiful and she was his. He felt alive with
the realization of that statement, repeating it over and over in
his mind. He was determined not to let her forget just how much she
meant to him.

Daniel watched the movement of her eyes
beneath her closed lids. He imagined the dreams floating around
inside her mind and wondered if she was dreaming of love and
passion, or death and ghosts. Did she see them together as they had
been before their argument; embraced, touching, feeling, exploring?
Was she feeling his arms around her as he had felt hers so many
times over the past torturous days? The soft moan escaping her
throat as her lips curled into a smile, making Daniel think perhaps
she was.

Julia's eyes opened to the dimness of the
room. She felt hot and wet and the blankets across her slender
frame made her feel like she was lying beneath a soft mountain. She
blinked several times before her eyes focused, meeting with
sparkling pools of turquoise.

Daniel smiled softly looking at her sleepy
confusion. His thumb brushed her cheek tenderly, helping her wake
up. Julia smiled at his touch; so strong, yet so gentle. He looked
more like her Daniel now, clean shaven and happy, his hair hanging
loose about his shoulders, his chest bare of clothing and covered
with the soft matting of hair she knew to be soft and silky to the
touch.

"Time to wake up Princess," he told her in a
hushed tone. "Dr. Stewart is here and wants to examine you." Julia
groaned at the revelation, causing Daniel to chuckle softly. She
didn't have the energy for the man's probing and poking.

The elderly form of the family doctor sat
down beside her as Daniel stepped aside, but she barely noticed
him. Her eyes were locked on Daniel as he moved to the foot of the
large four-poster bed, leaning against one of the posts. Dr.
Stewart's examination wasn't quite as torturous as Julia had
anticipated, yet it was thorough. He listened to her lungs, took
her temperature, examined her eyes, changed the bandage on her head
and closed his bag securing his cold and impersonal tools back
inside.

“
She's weak and needs
rest," he began, repeating the same words he had said so many times
over the past week. "But she's going to be fine," he added, knowing
Daniel had been waiting anxiously to hear those very
words.

"You don't know how long I've waited to hear
you say that," Daniel said, smiling at those enchanting emerald
eyes with a deep exhausted sigh.

"I'm not just a doctor, son," the older man
said with a smile as he stood and patted Daniel on the back. "I'm a
husband too. I know how you're feeling. She's not completely out of
danger, though." He walked to the door as he continued speaking.
"Her lungs are weak and there's still the risk of influenza. Make
certain she stays quiet and keep her warm. You look like you could
use some sleep yourself. I suggest you get into bed with her. I’ve
left some sleeping pills on the bedside table; give her one at
bedtime for the next few nights and it wouldn’t hurt for you to
take one tonight. Julia could use you to help stay warm, but that's
all you do, understand?" Daniel smiled at the man and nodded as he
held the door open.

"I never argue with doctors, remember?"

"I'll be back by in a couple days. This
traveling back and forth is hell on my arthritis," the old man
complained, as he headed down the stairs.

Daniel turned back to Julia leaning against
the closed door and listened to Louise’s soft voice in the foyer as
the old doctor relayed his instructions again.