Heartbreaker (12 page)

She nodded.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, finally stepping back. “Can you lift your arms above shoulder level?”

“Yes.”

“Show me.”

So there on the porch, she performed the exercise routine she'd devised to keep her in shape. He nodded and approved each one and extolled her determination to get past the pain of the surgery. When she finished, he swiped a finger across her forehead.

“You didn't even break a sweat,” he complimented. His eyes roamed her face. “You're my miracle patient, the one I hold up as an example for others to emulate.”

“I don't feel like a good example. It's taking forever to get back to where I was—”

She stopped in surprise when he burst into laughter.

“You don't know,” he chided huskily. “You haven't a clue. It takes a full year for most people to get back to where they were before any surgery, much less the one you had. You expect to be there in what, not quite five weeks? It's amazing that you can lift each arm to shoulder height and above.”

“I won't be an invalid,” she told him.

His smile softened. “Even if you were in a wheelchair, you wouldn't be an invalid. You're a fighter,
one of the bravest I've ever met. Ah, here's my niece.”

Janis bounded out of the house.

“Susan tells me you're headstrong and willful. I explained you were merely spoiled,” he teased.

“I'm sure you misunderstood. She told
me
I was talented and creative,” the girl retorted.

Susan laughed at their play as she waved them off. Watching Michael with his relative that week, she'd realized what a good man he was and what a wonderful father he would make. Thinking of Darla's adorable children, she thought of the children Michael would someday have.

He was ready for a home and family. His buying the house was proof, according to her mother and grandmother. They'd advised her to snap him up.

Pressing a hand to her chest to contain the sudden tumult of feeling there, she wondered what kind of life she could really live. Perhaps she should check the Internet and see what other transplant patients said.

 

Janis pressed a hand to her stomach. “I'm so nervous,” she confided. “I can't remember anything.”

Michael patted her shoulder. “Once you're on the stage, the music will guide you.” He hoped that was true.

Susan came backstage. “Okay, we're ready. Re
member, keep those lifts high and effortless. Focus on that.”

“Right. Lifts high.”

“Go,” Susan ordered.

Janis walked out and stood before the blinding footlights. She struck a pose. The music began.

“I'm more nervous than she is,” Susan admitted. “Being a teacher is harder than one would suppose.”

Michael clasped her hand and found it was cold. He brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss on each finger. “She'll do fine. Wow,” he said as Janis made her first leap.

“Now, glissade, glissade,” Susan whispered. “Oh, very good. Perfect jeté.”

He was content to hold Susan's hand and watch his niece perform her piece. He had flown the three of them to Houston that morning. They would spend the night in town, then fly back tomorrow for the Harvest Moon Ball.

If the audition didn't work out, Janis had already called the university about transferring her credits and starting classes next quarter. She'd decided to be a dance teacher if she couldn't be a prima ballerina.

Susan clapped and rushed forward when the music ended. She gave Janis a hug and told her to wait backstage while she talked to the director and choreographer. In a few minutes she returned, her eyes sparkling.

“They agreed with my assessment.” She turned
to Janis. “If you're willing to work very, very hard, they're willing to sign you on.”

“You mean…will I dance in the chorus?” Janis asked, her cheeks aflame with excitement.

Susan laughed and shook her head. “You'll start in small parts, of course, but you'll be groomed for prima.”

Janis clutched her chest. “I think I'm having a heart attack, Uncle Michael.”

He linked an arm through hers and Susan's arms. “Come on. Let's go home. We all need to relax.”

At the penthouse, they settled on the balcony overlooking the city and discussed the younger woman's possible career. He was content to listen.

Life seemed sweet at the moment. His two girls were happy. That was all that mattered to him. He looked from Janis to Susan. A fierce protective pride rose in him, a feeling like none other that he had ever experienced.

His girls?

Yes, in all the ways that counted.

When the phone rang, he went to answer. A man asked for Janis. “I'll get her. Is this Rafe?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Janis sucked in a surprised breath when he told her who was on the line, then her expression changed, becoming thoughtful. “That seems so long ago. Another time, another place. Rafe is the past,” she told Michael.

“I suggest you tell him that.”

When she went to her room to take the call, he settled in his chair with a worried frown.

“She'll be okay,” Susan said.

“Rafe has been around a long time. I've never understood the attraction myself, but Janis seems pretty loyal to him.”

“Maybe he was part of a rebellion against her parents. Free of that, she'll be free of him. She's on the right track now.”

He heaved a breath of relief. “You've been good to her. Have I told you how much I appreciate it?”

“She's been a joy to work with.” She gazed into the distance, a slight smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

His heart contracted in a painful spasm. He'd never felt this way around a woman, aroused yet content.

“Remind me to take my tux for the ball tomorrow night,” he requested.

“I've been wondering if I should go.”

He gave her a lazily threatening glare. “I'll come out and dress you myself if you try to welsh on the deal. Come to think of it, that sounds like an excellent idea.”

She returned his grin, but her eyes were thoughtful. For a moment he wondered if his plans for tomorrow night would come to fruition. Quite simply, he planned to seduce the willful ballerina.

Janis returned and took her seat. “That was Rafe,” she said. “He wants me to come home.” She burst into tears.

Michael cursed silently, not sure what to do.

Susan moved over to Janis. With a hand, she gestured for him to leave them alone.

Feeling every bit the coward that he was, he beat a hasty retreat to the study. Some matters of the heart were better left to other experts.

S
usan looked over the few formal outfits she kept at the ranch. Nothing seemed exactly right. She wanted something new and different, something no one had ever seen. Something that would be special for M—for the evening.

Irritated with her indecision, she grabbed a sea-green chiffon silk that floated around her ankles. The matching jacket had bugle beads sparkling all over it. This would do just fine.

Slipping into the silk underdress, she paused and looked at herself in the full-length mirror. The scar started just below the hollow of her throat and flowed down to the end of her breastbone. An orderly row of dots from the stitches punctuated each side of it.

Most of the fiery redness was gone. The stitches were already fading. Michael had said they would go away with time and the long scar would become a faint white line.

Thinking of his caresses there, she realized the scar didn't bother him at all. It hadn't lessened his desire for her. His kisses were still as hot, as pas
sionate as before. The imperfection didn't bother her, either. She didn't feel ugly or any less a woman.

Because of him.

Well, not entirely. But it was no big thing to him, just a fact of life, and so she looked at herself the same way. The surgery had been necessary. A few scars were part of the cure. Life was like that.

She inhaled deeply, letting the truth flow into that place where hopes and dreams dwelled.

Suddenly the future lay before her like the magical yellow brick road to Oz. The dizziness, shortness of breath and chest pains were entirely gone. The explosive ticking of her undersized heart had ended, replaced by the steady beat of a young, healthy heart. Tears blurred her vision.

Thank you for this chance,
she said to the young woman who, in death, had given of herself so that others might live. Michael would know the girl's name.

“If I have a child,” she whispered, bowing her head, “it'll be for you, for this gift of life.”

Quickly, with time running short, she slipped into the light green silk, then applied makeup, adding a golden shine to her eyelids and cheeks. Tonight, she felt like a golden girl.

After fastening a gold chain around her neck and dangly earrings in her ears, she slipped into the jacket and headed for the door just as she heard Michael's car in the driveway.

“You look beautiful,” her father said, meeting her at the door to welcome Michael.

“And you look handsome enough to be a prince,” she told Archy.

He did look nice in his tux, the silver of his hair shining like treasure. Her green eyes, as well as Justin's, came from him while Rose had her mother's violet-blue eyes. Love rushed over her all at once, and she gave him a fierce hug, feeling the loneliness in him.

“Are you picking up Mother?” she asked.

“No. I offered, but she had to go in early. She's on the decorating committee.”

The doorbell rang.

Taking a deep breath, Susan opened the door to Michael…and caught her breath.

“Wow,” she murmured. “I'm not sure my heart can handle the two handsomest men in the world at the same time.”

“Flattery will get you anywhere you want to go,” Michael said with a sexy laugh.

“Good to see you, Michael,” Archy greeted him and shook hands with him.

“Would you like a lift to the club?” Michael asked. “My niece is with me, but we have room for one more.”

“No, no. You young people run along. I'll be there soon.”

After they were out the door, Susan said softly, “I think he's lonely. I wish he and Mother…”

“Would get back together?” Michael finished for her.

“Yes.” She sighed. “I'm in an odd mood, nostalgic and wishful and happy and sad. Does that make sense?”

“It doesn't have to,” he assured her, opening the door and helping her into the seat.

She said hello to Janis, sitting in the back.

“You look gorgeous,” the younger woman said. “Uncle Michael took me shopping this afternoon. I found a nice dress, but nothing as lovely as yours.”

Susan still found it difficult to be the center of hero worship. “The black outfit goes beautifully with your hair. Your eyes are a knockout.”

“I'm a lucky man,” Michael boasted. “Two beautiful women and both with me.”

“We're lucky too,” Janis added. “The tux makes you look older and very distinguished.”

“Older, huh?” Michael winked at Susan. “I don't know whether I've been insulted or not.”

“Not at all. Your arrogance would never allow it.”

“Now I
know
I've been insulted.”

Susan smiled while uncle and niece continued their raillery. The odd mixture of emotion rolled over her again. Tonight she wanted something different. She glanced at her escort. Him. She wanted him.

“Who is that?” Janis demanded when they arrived at the country club entrance.

The doorman helped the ladies out while Michael gave the keys to the valet. Susan followed Janis's wide-eyed gaze. She studied the unsmiling man who, while dressed formally, looked as untamed as a wolf.

“Hawk Wainwright,” she said.

“He's kin to you? Can you introduce us?” Janis asked.

Susan looked at Michael, who shrugged. She wasn't sure if she should put an innocent like Janis in the company of a loner like Hawk. “Yes,” she finally said, “but a prima doesn't have time for relationships, not while she's getting established.”

Janis sighed. “I know, but he's so gorgeous. Oh, he's looking this way. Maybe he'll ask me to dance later.”

Susan smiled at Hawk, a man she thought was her half brother, although her father had never admitted it.

He nodded politely, but without smiling back, although he didn't frown, either. The man would be great at playing poker, she thought.

Once inside, they went up the elevator to the ballroom and through the receiving line, which was headed by Susan's mother, then they joined Rose and Matt, Josie and Flynt at a table. Susan was surprised at how natural it felt to be with the Carson brothers. She even smiled at Fiona and Cara Carson,
who were at a nearby table, although a tiny flash of something like jealousy did dart through her. The twins were lovely.

Glancing at Michael, she experienced an increasing glow inside. Tonight, she promised her buoyant spirits, tonight she was going to be with him.

“Hey, I'm glad I caught you guys,” a man she didn't know said, coming to their table.

Flynt jumped to his feet. “Ben, good to see you. Join us. We have an extra chair.”

“I'm circulating,” the other man said.

Flynt introduced the stranger. “This is Ben Ashton. He's investigating Lena's background for us. Have you found out anything about her parents?”

The private investigator grimaced. “I know Tyler isn't the father. His DNA doesn't come close to the baby's.”

“That leaves Luke,” Flynt said with a frown. “Where the heck is he?”

The other two golfing buddies arrived and heard this last remark. “Probably some tropical island with his latest conquest,” Tyler suggested irritably.

Spence spoke up. “This time ol' Luke must be smitten. He's been gone for months.”

“And probably has had a different girl for each one of them,” Tyler added.

Flynt laughed. “Tyler's jealous. He was in love with Haley Mercado when we were kids. She only had eyes for Luke.”

Tyler was good-natured about the teasing. “Yeah, but you were half in love with her, too.”

“A mere boyhood crush,” Flynt assured his friend.

Susan, watching the play among the men, thought Flynt Carson had never looked more relaxed. There was a quiet happiness about him and Josie, also between Rose and Matt, that spoke of promises made and kept.

Emotion grabbed at her heart and wouldn't let go. She wanted what they had.

“Shall we dance?” Michael asked.

She realized the music had started. But no one was on the dance floor yet, which sent a nervous tremor through her.

“Come,” he urged, standing and holding out his hand.

She was aware of other eyes on her. Reluctantly she let herself be escorted to the center of the ballroom floor. Her breath keep snagging in her throat, filling it with a lump of dread. She hadn't danced in front of anyone since her collapse onstage. She wasn't sure she could.

Michael took her hand. She laid the other on his shoulder. As he moved, she felt the strength in him. His warmth surrounded her in a net of safety.

Looking into his eyes, she found she could breathe after all. And dance.

They swayed and dipped to the beautiful strains
of the waltz, their steps perfectly matched. The room faded, and they were alone, surrounded by the glow of a thousand candles and a magical enchantment all their own.

Tonight, her heart sang. She would share passion with him tonight and not worry about what tomorrow would bring.

She gazed into his eyes and couldn't look away. When the dance ended, silence surrounded them, then sound reached her ears, soft at first, then louder and louder.

Startled, Susan peered around the huge room. School chums, friends, people she'd known all her life stood and applauded, their faces wreathed in smiles. She saw her father pull his handkerchief from his pocket and hand it to her mother, who hastily wiped her eyes.

“Take a bow, vixen,” Michael said softly.

Her own eyes filling with tears, Susan dropped into a deep curtsy, her hand still securely in his. With her other hand, she blew kisses to each corner of the ballroom, feeling the love and wealth of good wishes that accompanied the salute. Then Michael escorted her to the table.

“You two were magnificent!” Janis exclaimed. “You could make it on the ballroom dancing professional circuit.”

“No, thanks. Dancing is harder than heart surgery,” Michael said with obvious sincerity.

That drew a laugh from the others and started tales among the men of their first terrifying dancing experiences.

At the side of the room, Susan spied Hawk standing in solitary splendor, his eyes taking in everything, giving away nothing. She couldn't bear for anyone to be left out tonight. “Go ask him to dance,” she whispered to Janis.

Janis bit her lip as she stared at the dark, silent outsider. “Do I dare?”

Susan nodded. “A flirtation only,” she warned. “No serious involvement for five years. Invite him to join us. He can have the extra chair.”

Michael raised his eyebrows at this suggestion, but kept silent. His eyes conveyed his trust in Susan's judgment.

“He must always feel left out,” Janis murmured.

“Be careful that he doesn't see your pity. He wouldn't like it,” Michael whispered back, then watched his niece thread her way across the room.

Susan held her breath as Janis stopped in front of Hawk and hoped he wouldn't hurt the young woman's feelings. However, he appeared to be listening in his grave way, then he shook hands with her. Janis glanced toward the dance floor, then back to Hawk.

Susan clutched Michael's hand.

Hawk took Janis's elbow and led the way to the
dance floor. They joined the other couples who swayed to a slow, dreamy love song.

Susan sighed in relief.

“Tender heart,” Michael accused.

“Hey, there's Frank Del Brio,” Matt said, nodding toward the door.

“Johnny and Ricky Mercado are with him. Who's the woman with Ricky?” Flynt wanted to know.

“I don't know her,” Susan said. She watched the foursome join two other couples at a table. “They don't like each other, Ricky and Frank. They're as stiff as two cats about to have a fight.”

“One of them will take Carmine's place,” Michael observed. “Which one?”

“My bet's on Frank,” Flynt said, laying a five on the table.

“You're covered,” Matt declared, taking a five out of his wallet. “Ricky won't take orders from a punk like Frank. He's too independent.”

Michael laid his money on the table. “My bet is on Spence. He'll shut down their operations within the year.”

Flynt swept up the three bills. “Here, Josie, hold the bets. At the New Year's ball, we'll see who wins.”

“And who loses,” Michael said.

All eyes were on the three men who were now the tentative leaders of the Texas Mafia: Johnny Mercado, eldest and brother to the late don; Ricky Mer
cado, nephew and chosen heir; Frank Del Brio, rumored to be ruthless and powerful and determined to be the new don.

Susan shivered as a sense of evil wafted around her. Michael, sensitive to her moods, laid an arm around her shoulders as if to protect her.

“Tonight,” she murmured, basking in his strong presence that drove out all other thought.

He gave her a startled glance, then his eyes warmed as flames leaped in them. “Tonight,” he echoed.

She didn't know what they had agreed to, but she was going to take whatever fate offered.

Tonight, tonight, her heart sang in its own rendition of
West Side Story.

When Hawk brought the beaming Janis back to the table, Susan asked him to join them. Rose gave her a startled glance, then seconded the invitation.

Hawk looked them over gravely, smiled, then took the empty chair next to Janis. “It looks as if everyone in the county is here tonight, doesn't it?”

Susan followed his glance to where her father stood, talking to the mayor and Spence Harrison. A bit farther along the room, her mother was chatting to another member of the committee who had planned the ball and its elaborate display of fall flowers. Pity ate at her. She wanted everyone to share the magic tonight.

“It isn't your fault,” Michael said for her ears only.

“I know, but—”

“Come on,” he said suddenly. “Let's get out of here.”

Too startled to protest, she rose when he did.

“Would you see Janis home?” he asked Hawk.