Love, Come to Me(96)

Holding her closer, he buried his face in the fragrant softness of her hair. Sweet Lucy, prim, practical, and passionate, still so unaware of how tempting she was, and how much he needed her. His hand moved possessively over her body, and he found reassurance in the familiar feel of her.

Lucy rolled over and stretched, wriggling in the thrall of contentment that had begun the moment she had discovered where she was. She had only vague memories of the night before, of falling asleep downstairs, and Heath carrying her up here. If only he hadn’t left this morning before she had woken up! But she was here, back in the right bed, with the recollection of her husband’s tenderness fresh in her memory. She had no doubt that tonight their physical relationship would begin again. Flushing, she turned on her stomach and smiled into the pillow, imagining the things they would do to make up for the long period of abstinence. She wanted to do everything, everything with him. The only question was what they would begin with. Shameless thoughts. She lay there for several minutes more, breathing in the masculine scent of his pillow, wishing that tonight were already here.

The first half of her day went by at a leisurely pace. She had an odd feeling, however, that something out of the ordinary was going to happen, and the sense of anticipation—almost like dread—would not leave her, even though it had no rational basis. Why was it that everything seemed a little bit different today? Lucy’s uneasiness was justified a little after noon, when Bess came rushing into the parlor to tell her that Heath had just set foot on the front steps. She set down her needlework and flew to the door, knowing that Heath would not be home at this hour unless some kind of emergency had arisen.

“Cin, I just got a telegram at the office,” he said without preamble. “I don’t have much time to explain things . . . I have to leave in a few minutes.”

“Leave? Leave for where?”

“Virginia.” He cast a harried glance around the hallway and took her arm, urging her upstairs. “Let’s go to the bedroom—you can help me pack while we talk.”

“Why? What’s happened?” Lucy asked breathlessly, fighting to keep up with his long strides as they went up the steps.

“Things are in a god-awful mess down there. My half brother Clay . . . well, yesterday he finally . . . he’s gone.”

“Oh, Heath . . . I’m sorry. When is the funeral going to be held?”

“It’s already been held this morning.”

“So quickly? That’s hardly enough time to make the proper arrangements.”

“I imagine they didn’t arrange much of a ceremony,” Heath said darkly, letting go of her arm as they went into the bedroom. “Dammit, where do we keep the brown traveling bag?”

Lucy hurried to the door and called to Bess. “Bess, would you find the brown leather bag with Mr. Rayne’s initials on it? It’s under the stairs with the trunks.” She turned to Heath. “No, don’t fold your shirts that way—they’ll be all wrinkled. Let me. And please stop swearing. Goodness, how many shirts are you taking? You aren’t planning on staying there for very long, are you?”

“I don’t know how long,” Heath replied, sounding grim as he sorted through his neckties. “The telegram was from my half sister Amy. It seems that Victoria, my stepmother, has decided to dump everything in her lap and leave for England immediately.”

“The day after her son dies? Leaving without her daughter? That hardly sounds rational.”

“Exactly. There you have Victoria, in a nutshell. She’s never been rational. And she never has given a d—She never has cared anything about anyone, even her own daughter. The only one she ever cared about was Clay, and now that he’s gone, there’s nothing to keep her here. Her family’s in England, and they’ll probably take her in.” His mouth twisted wryly. “No need to worry about Victoria. She’ll always land on her feet. In the meanwhile, Amy’s alone, with a broken-down plantation to sell and a hundred decisions that need to be made.”

“Alone? What about Raine?”

Heath froze, and there was complete silence in the room. He stared at her, his gaze penetrating and sharp, as if he were trying to see past the guileless hazel of her eyes. Bess bustled into the room, lugging the brown suit bag with both hands.

“Put it down on the bed, please,” Lucy said very softly, meeting Heath’s gaze without flinching, knowing that he was trying to figure out how much she might be aware of.

“What do you know about Raine?” Heath asked bluntly, when Bess had left the room. Apparently he didn’t have the time for subtlety.

“You mentioned her in your sleep a time or two.” How can you? How can you try to keep what was between the two of you a secret from me? she wanted to scream at him, suddenly furious. Why aren’t you being honest with me? She could hardly believe that was her voice she heard, so calm and mildly curious. “I gather she is your sister-in-law? Or is that some deep, dark secret you don’t want to disclose?”

“She is my sister-in-law,” Heath replied curtly, redirecting his attention to the neckties.

“What about my question? Isn’t she with Amy now?”

“Probably. Here, would you fold these trousers? Yes, Raine’s with Amy, but most likely she’ll go to live with whatever kin she has left in the country. So it’s just Amy that we have to worry about.”