Her Galahad (31 page)

"Is there anything to connect Keith Earldon to it all?" he interrupted tersely, seeing Tess had gone stark white, knowing who it was on the phone, and what he must be saying.

"Nothing. If he was in on this, we can't find it."

"So neither of the Earldons will be prosecuted." He nodded and smiled at Tess; but jealously clawed at his throat, watching Tess sag in relief at the lawyer's confirmation that her family wouldn't be hauled to prison. He got out, and strode to the park on the left, overlooking Middle Harbour.

Tess soon followed him, her face anxious.

A crack of lightning hit the water south of Middle Harbour. "Seems Beller fooled Earldon into believing the bigamy and your imprisonment was the only way to stop you mining Tessa's life," Rod was saying. "Beller saved Earldon from drowning when he was fifteen, risking his own life and giving him CPR. Earldon felt he could never repay him for that. Beller could tell him the sun was green and he'd try to believe it."

"Then why the sudden turnaround?"

"I think his conscience started working. But even when he turned Evidence, he honestly expected to find nothing except the bigamy and perjury. When he opened the safe, he found a real stash. He nearly fainted when he saw the extent of Beller's high jinks to further his political aspirations—the bribes given, the types of people he's accepted money from."

He paced the park, feeling Tess hovering behind. "What about the marriage wipeout? Any clues on how they did that?"

"Oh, yeah." Rod laughed again. "The police found the source within half an hour of turning up at the Register. When they started questioning staff, one assistant manager was quiet—too quiet. They took her aside, and she broke down in tears. It seems Beller seduced her, making the usual promises, got her to wipe your marriage—then blackmailed her to do the death certificates by threatening to expose her. She's been waiting for the ax to fall for years over this. She seemed almost relieved it was all over. I said I'd represent her. I'm going to try to get her off with community service."

"Good for you, Rod," he said softly. "Will Earldon get off?"

"I don't think so," Rod replied dryly. "He'll probably avoid sentencing, and get community service, but he'll be disbarred, for sure. Perjury and conspiracy to commit felony and bigamy isn't looked on with indulgence by the legal powers that be."

He didn't know whether to feel glad or cheated Duncan had cut a deal. For Tess's sake, he tried to be glad. "And Beller?"

"Six to ten years minimum. He's looking down the barrel of fifteen charges. We can only find three against Earldon, and they were under duress. Beller's going down, Jirrah. With all the Royal Commission investigations against dirty dishes in the legal system in the past decade, no one would dare let him off."

His head fell back as fat plops of rain fell on his face, drowning in the sweetest relief he'd ever know. His face broke into an enormous, openmouthed smile, and, like a warrior going into battle, gave a blood-curdling scream. "Waaaaaa-hooooooooo!"

The phone fell to the ground as he spun on his heel, bumping into Tess. He steadied her with his hands at her waist; then carried the momentum, whirling her around and around as he laughed, pulling her down for a long, deep, sensuous kiss. "Waaaaaa-hooooooooo!" he yelled again, finally letting her go.

"What?" she gasped, laughing. "What? I couldn't hear the conversation. What are we celebrating?"

"Six to ten years inside!"

Her face drained of its sweet flush in seconds. "Duncan?"

"No," he reassured her. "Likely he'll get off with being disbarred. Beller won't be so lucky." He filled her in with all the news; then, with another whoop, he kissed her again.

She broke it off to pant eagerly, "It's over, then? They have him?" Her eyes were shining. "He's in custody?"

"Not yet."

The sparkling fire quenched. "We'd better get to Tani, then, before he does." She strode back to the car.

He saw his future in the relentless purpose of her stride and ached heart and soul for the precious tenderness forever lost.

Unless—

With a start, he realized how much had changed in five days. Her family, while losing their prestige, wouldn't go to prison. They'd found their daughter. And, though he'd shown her in every possible way that his initial feelings about her had changed—changed the moment he knew she hadn't given Tani away—he'd never said a word to her of how he now felt about her. All she knew about his feelings was the telling words he'd spoken their first night together last week. Words he'd believed then, words she probably still believed were true.

A woman I'd once loved.

It seemed Tess wasn't the only one of them that had been lying to themselves. He'd been denying his love for her for six years, denying it to himself, and her. Now she believed it.

Was it too late now to right the wrong?

He strode to the car, climbing into the driver's seat; but he drove out of the Sydney metropolitan area, through and past the thunderstorm, and was well onto the northwestern highway before he spoke. "Tess, we need to talk. So many things have changed since last week, and—"

"Yes." Her face broke into a tender smile. "We found her. Tani's a lovely name, isn't it? Since she can't be Emily—"

"Yeah," he replied, diverted despite his resolution by the mention of their daughter. "It's a pretty name. She's a real cutie, too. I've seen her at the school."

She turned her face, eager and shy. "Isn't she gorgeous? She looks a lot like you."

"I noticed that." His eyes were warm on her face. "She adores you, doesn't she?"

She nodded, her face heart-wrenching in its tender love for their daughter. "We had a bond from the first day. I think part of me must have recognized her. She's so much like you—her father's daughter, inside and out. She likes sports and art and craft things. She's always up trees, making tree houses from bits and scraps of wood. She's fascinated with how things are made or built—just like you."

A lump of pride filled his heart and throat. He'd helped create that beautiful child, bright and cute and affectionate—and she was just like him. "I don't know about that," he said gruffly. "She's loving, just like her mother. I've seen how she is with you, with the other kids."

"Yes. They all love her. She hugs and kisses everyone. Even most of the boys like it, though they pretend not to." She bit her lip. "I remember watching her so many times, thinking, Emily would be just her age now. She might even look like her. I—" She gulped. "I want to see my baby, Jirrah. I want to see her, hold her again—" her eyes misted over "—but this time as her mother."

Looking at her radiant face, the love shining in her eyes, he choked back the words he was aching to say to her. She looked so beautiful now—so happy. If his love wiped the smile of joy from her face, he didn't think he'd be able to handle it.

He listened to her raptures over Tani all through the drive north, then west, heading for the Outback. He drank in all he could hear about the bright, sweet daughter he thought he'd never find, feeling deep emotion and aching pride.

Though he knew he had to burst the bubble, he waited until the sun fell low in the vivid patchwork sky. Not until they were within ten miles of Lynch Hill did he put the shadows in her heart, questions she had to answer for them both. "How will her grandparents react to us? You've met them, haven't you?"

"Yes." Tessa blinked, her lush crooked mouth falling open. "Vincent and Esther are a bit reserved, but they're completely devoted to Tani. Tani's adoptive parents, their son and daughter-in-law, died on the way to Sydney to pick up their second child. The child was given to another couple. Tani's all they have now. Their other son died of leukemia nine years ago."

A cold chill hit him, a premonition of the reception to come. "So maybe our announcement won't go down so well."

She chewed on a thumbnail. "I honestly don't know. Neither of them are very well—Esther has diabetes and Vincent has mild emphysema. Tani's an active little girl, bright and always up to mischief. They can barely keep up with her. That's why I created the kinder gym and art lessons three afternoons a week for her and Jarred, the other kindergartener, and dropped them home at Linton after. I wanted to help." She looked at him, with the stricken eyes of a wounded deer. "Do you think they'll believe I knew Tani was mine all along, and tried to worm my way in?"

His heart cracked and bled, thinking that his beautiful Tess's open heart and typical generosity of spirit could lead to Vincent and Esther Jones shutting the door in their faces. "I'm sure they won't," he lied valiantly. "You did the athletics training for the other boy, as well, ran the art class and Neighborhood Watch. It's just the way you are, to see a need and fill it if you can."

But she saw straight through him, just as she always had. "Yeah, right," she retorted. "It looks like I was sneaking in the back door. And if they tell her that, she'll hate me."

With a flash of insight based on his knowledge of her, he asked, "But I bet you did all these things for the kids you taught in the city, right? And they could easily check on that."

She nodded, looking out the window. "Until Cameron had me sacked for mental incompetence, yes, I did." She lifted up a hand as hot words rose to his lips. "No. He's not worth it. Let's talk about Tani. How can I convince them it wasn't how it looks?"

With difficulty, he swallowed the furious words. "They might not even think of it, so let's not borrow trouble. Cross the bridge if we hit it, okay?" He turned left toward Lynch Hill. "Tani could love us, and her grandparents might be willing for us to be a part of her life."

"But what if—"

"No, mulgu. Don't." He picked up the hand that fluttered over her forehead with each painful question, holding it in his lap. Looking straight ahead, he took the plunge. "The best way we can convince them we'd be good parents for Tani is to be focused—to have a clear purpose. Right?"

"Right Tani—"

"So we need to know where we're going," he interrupted inexorably. "Right?"

"Okay." She turned a frowning gaze on him. "Where are you heading with this?"

"Tess, we need to talk about us. Our future."

"We have no future. You know that."

"No, I don't," he replied strongly, pulling off at the side of the road across from the old pub.

"The turnoff to Linton is—"

"Tessa, stop it," he growled. "I want to see Tani, too. But it's almost eight, she's only five and most likely asleep by now, and we've both been awake half the night. We'll stay in the pub tonight and head straight out in the morning. It's time to talk."

With a tug, she pulled her hand free and snapped, "There's nothing to talk about except what we'll say to Tani!"

"Okay," he retorted, "so what do we say when she asks if we're married like other mummies and daddies, or if we love each other? And you can bet your boots she'll ask. I have four nieces. Little girls are romantic. They want to know about love and marriage and things like that." She turned to look at him, stricken, and he nodded. "Exactly. So let's go inside, get a room and talk this over." He stalked inside the pub, got a room for them, and ordered room service. They'd need privacy for the things he was about to say—for the pain he was about to put them both through.

Chapter 18

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J
irrah didn't notice the peculiar quality of Tessa's silence until they were alone in their room. "We'll have to wait until the stores open tomorrow to go to see Tani. We'll need another change of clothes."