In a Heartbeat (28 page)
71
“The truth will out,” Detective Camelia said to them much later.
“It sure will,” Mel replied thankfully.
“Mom always said Mitch was a changeling.” Ed’s voice was still only a rough whisper. “She knew he was no good.”
“And she was right.” Camelia stood looking down at the man in the hospital bed. He had lost a lot of weight, but he was looking better. And at least he was in the land of the living. Thanks to that plucky Georgia peach.
He glanced at Mel, who was looking at Ed. She never took her eyes off him, as though she couldn’t believe he was sitting up and holding her hand and talking to her. And Ed was looking at her as though no one else existed. They were in their own magic place, a world only lovers knew.
Camelia sighed. It was as it should be. As for him, he would carry his own private torch for Melba Eloise Merrydew to the grave. No one would ever know how close he had come to telling her he loved her. Especially Claudia. He could never expect her to understand that what he felt for Mel was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. An insurmountable emotion that had taken him by surprise—and taken him over.
It didn’t affect his love for Claudia. He would die for her, just the way Mel would have for Ed. He would go home, hold her in his arms as she slept, and she would smell sweetly of Arpège, as she always did. He was a lucky man.
He crossed himself hastily.
This
time, thank heaven, he was.
He bent and dropped a quick kiss on Mel’s soft cheek. She smelled good. It wasn’t Arpège, but it was good.
Mel stood up to her full height. She looked into his eyes and he saw that she knew. She wrapped her arms around him, crushing him to her bosom. Tears streaked down her face.
Camelia was red with embarrassment, his face pressed against her breasts. Which, come to think of it, was exactly where he wanted to be pressed.
Mel walked out into the hallway with him to say good-bye. “Where are you going now?” she asked, still holding his hand.
“Home, I guess.”
She gave him a sideways look. “To Claudia,” she said. “Your one and only.”
“My one and only,” he agreed.
She nodded. “Thank you, Marco.”
“Thanks for what?”
“For loving me,” she said simply.
He drew a deep breath. His heart was thudding like a teenager’s. He smoothed back his thick, dark hair in the gesture that made her smile. “Ah, it’s nothin’,” he said.
“Oh yes it is.”
He waved his hand, walked away from her, down that long, shiny, hospital corridor.
“Hey,” she called.
Camelia turned to look at her one last time.
“Did anyone tell you, you look exactly like Al Pacino?” she said.
He was laughing as he left.
The elevator door slid closed behind him. He had done his job. It was over. For a split second, Camelia wondered what might have happened if Ed Vincent had died. He shook his head. Nothing. That’s what would have happened.
There’s no fool like an old fool, he reminded himself with a sigh. Mel would have gone back to California, to her daughter, to her friends, to her business. Eventually she would have found someone else, though he knew from what she had told him that it would never have been the same as with Ed. And he would have gone home to Claudia and his kids, just the way he was doing now. He shrugged. Nobody knew. Nobody had been hurt. Except himself. And maybe he could even learn something from it.
Remembering Mel’s story about Ed and the roses, on his way home that night he stopped by the florist and bought five dozen enormous red blooms. They smelled as sweet as Arpège and he knew Claudia would love them. And he loved her, too.
He thought that maybe after all, inside each man’s heart there was room for more than one woman.
72
Their eyes burned into each other’s. The rest of the world was locked out.
Ed wanted to tell her everything he had been thinking. Everything that had gone down in his life. But then he realized he didn’t need to. Zelda knew him. Knew who he really was. What he was. And she loved him. It was enough.
“Marry me, Zelda,” he said.
She sniffed back her tears. Her voice trembled as she said, “Okay, you big oaf. As long as you promise not to keep getting shot like this. I don’t think I can take it.”
“Nor can I.”
He was laughing as her lips covered his.
He had won the battle. Life was great.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ELIZABETH ADLER is the internationally acclaimed bestselling author of twelve previous novels. She lives with her family in California.
Also by Elizabeth Adler:
Indiscretions
Fleeting Images
Léonie
Peach
The Rich Shall Inherit
The Property of a Lady
Fortune Is a Woman
Legacy of Secrets
The Secret of the Villa Mimosa
Now or Never
Sooner or Later
All or Nothing
Published by
Dell Publishing
a division of
Random House, Inc.
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New York, New York 10036
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination
or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2000 by Elizabeth Adler
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without the
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permitted by law. For information address:
Delacorte Press, New York.
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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-031647
October 2001
eISBN: 978-0-307-42306-1
v3.0
