Heart of Thunder (35 page)

As soon as they entered the dining room, she left Lorenzo’s side. She was furious. So Hank had laughed? Damn him!

Samantha sat down in a huff, but almost got up to leave when Hank took the seat on her right. The table was huge, and there were six empty seats, yet he sat next to her.

Fortunately, dinner was served the moment Sheldon took his seat at the head of the table. Samantha concentrated on her plate. It gave her the chance to gather herself, to put anger aside and consider what Hank’s presence here really meant.

The conversation around her broke into Samantha’s thoughts. Lorenzo, across from her, was describing Mexico to Jean Merimée. But it was her brother’s words to Teresa that caught Samantha’s attention.

“…and ten years passed rather quickly. This is the first visit she has made in all that time.”

“Then she was no here when you dear
abuela
die?” Teresa ventured.

“Abuela?”

“Grandmother,” she explained.

“Oh, no, Samantha was not here then.”

“A pity. She was such a fine woman, so kind.”

Samantha almost choked. For the moment, Hank was forgotten as she looked aghast at Teresa Palacio, and then turned questioningly to her brother.

“Is she talking about
our
grandmother, Sheldon?”

“Yes. Teresa tells me she met her several years ago, long before she met me.”

“She was a wonderful woman,” Teresa added, her dark brown eyes on Samantha. “It was my pleasure to know her before she die.”

“Henrietta Blackstone?”

“Sí.”

Samantha was surprised, to say the least, but decided to give Teresa the benefit of the doubt. “Sheldon, you should have written to me, to tell me that grandmother mellowed in her old age. Then I might have come back to make amends.”

Sheldon cleared his throat awkwardly. “Actually, my dear, there was no mellowing, not that I could see. Nor did she…well…she never—”

“Forgave me for going to America?” Samantha supplied with a grin.

“I wouldn’t have put it so bluntly,” Sheldon returned with a warning look.

“You never do.”

“So this is why you were disinherited?” Teresa asked pointedly.

Samantha wanted to laugh as Sheldon’s dark scowl turned from her to his blunt bride-to-be.

“How did you know?” Samantha asked. “I find it hard
to believe that my brother spoke of my being disinherited.”

“You
abuela
spoke of you to me,” Teresa explained. “Not Sheldon.”

Samantha sat back, eyeing the slightly older woman across from her. She was finding it difficult to believe what Teresa was saying. Henrietta Blackstone, a kind, wonderful woman? That description was so laughable it was ridiculous. And that her grandmother should talk about her to a stranger when she had sworn never to speak Samantha’s name again? But why would Teresa lie?

“It’s true, of course, that I was disinherited,” Samantha admitted without any inflection in her tone. “My grandmother and I never agreed on anything. She disowned me when I chose to live with my father, rather than stay with her. It’s something I have never regretted doing.”

“Then you do not regret your loss?”

“It didn’t matter to me. My father isn’t poor, Teresa. I have everything I could possibly want.”

“She also has a rich husband,” Jean put in suddenly.

Samantha turned to Hank and saw him shrug.

“My husband’s wealth is irrelevant, Monsieur Meriméer.” Samantha’s gaze was coolly disdainful. “And I do believe this subject is in rather poor taste.”

“Forgive me, Samantia,” Teresa said contritely. Her demure smile lacked even a measure of remorse. “I worry you begrudge your
hermano
his inheritance. It is no good to have envy in a family.”

Samantha was speechless. And
she
had expected to rile her brother with bluntness! He sat staring at Teresa, his mouth a tight line, his eyes furious. He must be making every effort not to show his emotions, Samantha thought.

“Your concern for my sister’s feelings is…touching, Teresa,” Sheldon commented after the uncomfortable
silence. “But you needn’t have worried. Her first-born child receives half of the Blackstone estate.”

“What?” Teresa demanded, her voice just a bit anxious.

Samantha looked at her sharply. Jean Merimée appeared disturbed, as well.

“I do not understand, Sheldon,” Jean said. “Your grandmother’s will, I handled it myself. There was no mention—”

“No, there wasn’t.” Sheldon cut him off drily. “But there wasn’t any reason for you to know about my grandfather’s will, which you did not handle. He was not as stubborn as his wife. He would not see his only granddaughter cut off completely, so he made provision for her through her children. My grandmother never knew.”

Samantha repressed her grin, wanting to applaud her brother. He had coolly ruffled a few feathers and was satisfied with releasing his anger in this way. Now he was as calm and composed as ever. How did he do it? Perhaps she could learn from her brother.

She should have been furious that she hadn’t known of this sooner, but somehow she wasn’t. Still, she couldn’t resist baiting Sheldon a little.

“Is this one of those little tidbits you like to wait until the last moment to reveal, Sheldon dear?” Samantha asked sweetly. “I’m surprised you let this one out before my firstborn arrived.”

Her taunt scored. She received a quelling look from Sheldon but ignored it. She devoted her attention to her plate once more.

“Why do you purposely anger your brother?”

She had heard that deep voice so often in her dreams. Samantha wouldn’t look at him. She steeled herself.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Look at me, little one.” Hank spoke softly in Spanish, so near she could feel his warm breath by her ear.

She couldn’t stand it. She rose stiffly, made her ex
cuses graciously, and left the room. Her condition allowed for an early exit. She wouldn’t have been able to bear hearing one more word in that soft, persuasive voice. She couldn’t talk to him, not yet. She wanted to hit him, to scream at him—to kiss him. Damn him!

Chapter 41

H
ANK opened the bedroom door without knocking, but instantly regretted the impulse to barge in. Samantha was in the process of being undressed, and the look she turned on him was murderous. The girl attending her quickly pulled Samantha’s gown back down to cover her, then stepped back, wide-eyed.

“Forgive me, Sam,” Hank offered lamely.

Of course, Samantha wasn’t having any of it. “Forgive you? After you come in here uninvited, knowing you’re not welcome? How dare you?”

“I could say I have every right to enter my wife’s bedroom,” Hank replied coldly, and Samantha drew in her breath sharply. “You start in on me about your husbandly rights, and I’ll divorce you so fast you won’t know what happened!”

“
This
is your husband?” Froilana gasped, drawing Samantha’s angry attention.

“Don’t pretend you didn’t see him earlier, Lana, when my brother invited him in. You told me yourself what happened between them.”

“But I did not actually see. I was at the top of the stairs. I only overheard them talking.
Caramba!
” Froilana exclaimed in fascination. “How can you be angry with one so handsome?”

Hank chuckled, and Samantha cringed. “Oh, Lord,” she said. “If you find him so irresistible, Lana, you can have him. Just get him the hell out of my room first!”

“I would be glad to have him,” the girl said shamelessly, “but I think it is you he wants.”

“You’re impossible! Just get out, both of you,” Samantha shouted in exasperation. “
Dejadme!
”

“Go on,
chica
,” Hank said persuasively to Froilana. “Let me have a few minutes alone with her.”

“Don’t you dare, Lana!” Samantha snapped, but the girl looked from her to Hank, then grinned and left the room, closing the door after her.

Samantha wanted to scream, to throw something, but she knew better than to exert herself. She glared venomously at Hank and his laughing gray eyes.

“I suppose you think it’s amusing that you won her over like that?”

“Considering I never had such luck with you, yes, it was very amusing.”

Emerald eyes flashed. “Well, you can just turn around and follow her out that door.”

“We will talk first.”

“No we won’t! I know exactly what you have to say, but I don’t have to listen to it. I’ll scream first. This isn’t the mountains, Hank. Someone will come.”

“You would cause a scene?”

“Yes,” she replied stonily. “I’ve been through enough. I’ll have you thrown out before I stand here and listen to you gloat.”

“Gloat?”

“Spare me the innocent look,” she said derisively. “You came here to say I told you so. There—I’ve said it for you.
Now
will you get out of here?”

Hank shook his head. “You remember too much of the past,
gatita
. You should forget the unpleasantness, as I have tried to do.”

“Forget!” Her eyes widened in amazement. “I remember everything. Everything, Hank!”

“I wish you did not.” He sighed deeply. “Ah, Samina, I hoped it would be different. I did not come here for what you suggest. I came only to ask you a question.”

She was skeptical, but he seemed so genuine, so sincere.

“What question?”

“I wish to know why you did not seek the vengeance you swore you would have. You had the chance.”

Samantha stared hard at him, bewildered. “You came all this way just to ask me
that?
”

“Yes.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Ask Lorenzo. He will tell you how this has bothered me. It was not like you to give up,” he said. “Did you pity me?”

“Pity?” she laughed, amazed. “How could I pity you? You got everything you wanted, and now you’re rich.”

“You could have had me arrested, thrown into prison,” he went on. “You could have left me to your father’s men that night. Instead you took me to a doctor. You took my side against your father. Why?”

She turned around, unable to face the very questions she had never been able to answer honestly for herself. “I was tired, Hank, tired of fighting—of the anger. I felt we had both suffered enough.”

“Truly,
querida?
” His voice was closer.

She swung around. His nearness made her weak, made her remember things best forgotten.

“I’ve answered your question,” she said as coolly as she could. “You can go back to Mexico now and leave me alone.”

His eyes caressed her face, then moved to her belly. “No. I will stay awhile, at least until the little one is born.”

Samantha’s expression turned stony. “You’re not welcome here.”

“Ah, but your brother
has
made me welcome.” Hank grinned. “He is more generous than you.”

“Only because he knows nothing about our real relationship,” she said hotly, her temper at the fore. “You’re my husband in name only. If you try changing that—”

“Stop it, Sam. Why are you fighting now? You say
you are tired of fighting, yet you bare your claws the moment you see me.”

She couldn’t meet his probing gaze. “Because of why you came here.”

“But I have told you that was not why I came,” he reminded her. “I wanted answers. However, I am not so sure that I have them all.”

“Of course you do.”

“Then why, if we have both suffered enough, do you make this meeting so difficult?”

Samantha was near tears. He was right, of course. She was being unreasonable and she didn’t even know why. Was it her condition that made her so defensive? Oh, she hadn’t wanted him to see her this way!

“There shouldn’t have been another meeting, Hank,” she said, trying to sound calm. “I never expected to see you again. I came to England so I wouldn’t have to.”

Hank looked away. His voice was but a whisper as he asked, “You still hate me that much?”

Samantha was startled. Did she? She had thought about him so often these last months. But, oddly enough, never with hate.

“I…I’m not sure what I feel anymore. I just can’t be with you now, when I’m…when I look…oh, just go away, Hank.”

Samantha looked away, but he turned her face back to meet his eyes. “What is it, Sam?” he asked softly. “Are you embarrassed for me to see you like this?”

“Certainly not!”

He grinned. “You lie,
querida
. You are embarrassed. But there is no reason. Do you not know how beautiful you are?”

Samantha tensed. “Will—you—get—out!”

“Ah, you are as stubborn as ever, and as maddening.” He sighed. “I will go, Sam. I leave this house, as well, since my presence so upsets you and that is no good at this time. I will leave an address with your brother, in
case you need me. But before I go, I will do what I wanted to do from the moment I saw you tonight.”

Before she understood, Hank scooped her gently into his arms and kissed her. His lips were like wine, a taste to be savored, so long denied. The power he always had over her when she was in his embrace was there, the same as ever. She was oblivious to everything but his kiss, the magic of it, the wonder of it.

After a long while, Hank broke away with a sigh. The look he gave her was full of longing. Yet, true to his word, he turned and left.

Samantha stared in amazement at the closed door. He could still leave her breathless and trembling. Why? Why only with him?

Chapter 42

T
HE sweat was dripping from her. “Is the doctor coming?” Samantha gasped, trying in vain to control the increasing pain, unable to stop its rise.

“
Sí, sí
, he is on his way,” Froilana assured her as she added more wood to the already blazing fire.

The labor pains had started that afternoon. At first, Samantha had thought nothing of them. There had been so many little discomforts this last month. The dull ache seemed unimportant. But Froilana had noticed the frowns crossing her face. Sure enough, the time was at hand.

Lying in her bed, Samantha wanted to cry or curse. She had never dreamed it would be so bad. She had been told it would be painful but worth every minute of the pain. Ha! Who had told her such nonsense? Lana? What did Lana know? She had never been through
this. This
was unbelievable. She was going to make it her mission in life to warn other women not to have babies.