A Question of Honor (17 page)
He hugged her, sweeping her off her feet and into his arms. She kissed him passionately, lovingly.
She drew back, whispered, “My one and only love.” Her smile was brilliant and he matched it with his own.
“And now for one last thing,” he said. “Faith, reach into my shirt pocket if you can.”
Faith put her fingers in the pocket and found the memory stone. Her eyes were wide with surprise.
“I had this in my hand when the car went into the ditch, and it was gone after everything stopped. I thought it was lost forever.” She kissed him quickly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered between each kiss.
“I told you, I need to keep finding stuff for you,” he said, teasing. “I love your way of saying thank-you.”
They were silent for a long while, the kiss they shared an affirmation of all the trust and love two people could have.
“I love you, Adam, but I have to get back to Chicago, talk to Baron and turn myself in. I’ve got to get through all of this and settle it once and for all. Then we can figure out where we’re going.”
“Lady, at first I was willing to let you go do what you had to do in Chicago and trust you’d come back to me when the snow was gone.” He kissed her quickly, then said, “But I found out I’m not that noble. And whether the snow is falling or not, I want you with me.”
“But it’s not just me. It’s my dad, and I’ve broken the law. I’ll probably be in real trouble when I go back. I don’t know what’s going to happen to any of us.”
Adam could feel her hurt and frustration with respect to her father, her fear for the future for both of them, but mostly, he couldn’t stand to think that she thought she had to go through all of that alone. Still...it wasn’t all about him, not anymore. “Listen, if you need to do this on your own, I’ll wait in Wolf Lake for you,” he offered, the hardest thing he’d ever said to anyone in his life.
“Really?”
“Really. But you have to know one thing.”
She stood very still in front of him. “What?” she asked.
“Nothing counts in this world without you. I came back home, and for the first time in my life, I feel as if I want to stay in Wolf Lake. But not without you.”
She didn’t move, but her eyes closed and fresh tears trailed down her face. “Oh, shoot,” she breathed.
“What?”
“I can’t just go and leave you back here,” she said, as if that made her annoyed. “And if you go, I don’t know how you’ll cope, how I’ll cope.”
“Together,” he said. “I’ve never been to Chicago and I want to be there with you. I love you, Faith Sizemore, and I’ve never said that to any other woman in my life.” He reached for her, pulled her to him, and she held on to him fiercely.
“Did you hear me? Do you understand that this is once in a lifetime for me?”
“Yes. Yes.” A smile started on her lips and spread to her still-damp eyes. “Now, hear me—I love you, Adam Carson, and I very selfishly want you to be with me no matter what’s happening.”
“Yes,” he said, ready to do the honorable thing, but so thankful she didn’t take him up on his offer to do it all alone.
Faith stayed in his arms as the wind and snow howled outside, while inside, promises were given and plans were made. Adam kissed her, then drew back and smiled down at her. She touched the dimple with the tip of her finger as she said, “Merry Christmas, Adam,” and he knew that he was home and that this was going to be the best Christmas ever.
EPILOGUE
Chicago, Illinois
T
HE
DAY
BEFORE
New Year’s Eve, the city was hit with the biggest snowstorm of the season. Chicago streets were framed with drifts of snow almost as high as car roofs. The streets were eventually cleared and the sun was shining from a late-afternoon sky.
Two people stepped out of a cab in front of a beautifully restored town house a block from the lake. They held hands as they made their way off of the slippery street, through a gap in the snow piles and onto the walkway that was still covered by a dusting of snow. Adam, in jeans, boots and a thigh-length leather trench coat, held on to Faith. He could feel the hesitancy in her now that they were almost back to where her journey had begun.
Thankfully, the combination of the unprecedented snowfall and the coming New Year had combined to rid the front entrance of all but two media people. Those two were sitting in an idling van parked about twenty feet from the house. But when they saw a tall stranger heading for the place with a short, curly-haired woman also dressed in jeans, boots and a rough denim jacket, they shouted at them to get their attention. After they took a photo, they settled back into the relative comfort of their van.
As Faith and Adam got to the front gate, a security man who seemed to come out of nowhere met them, unlocked the heavy door and pulled it forward. He didn’t speak, just nodded to Faith as she passed by still holding on to Adam. The door to the house wasn’t locked and so in they went. Faith tried to take it all in, and Adam followed her.
No one was there to greet them, so after they got out of their heavy jackets, Faith took Adam’s hand and led him upstairs. The library door was partially ajar and she pushed it farther back until it thudded softly against the wall. This time she didn’t surprise her father. He’d been waiting for hours while their flight had been rerouted because of the storm.
They’d talked and talked on the phone during the journey, and she’d gone over everything with Baron, who was sitting by the desk.
Her dad stood when she walked in, and Faith ached at the tension she could see in him. Without a word, she let go of Adam to step into her father’s outstretched arms. “Angel,” he murmured. She could feel the relief and regret in his embrace as he held her to him. “I am so sorry. I never knew that you heard us that night.” He drew back, his face tight with pain. “It’s such a mess. I can’t begin to explain what I did, except that I didn’t have an option.”
Faith tried to smile. “It’s all true,” she said. She turned to Adam and could see that he ached for her. “We shouldn’t have come back,” she told him nervously.
Baron lifted his bulk out of the chair he’d been sitting in, stood and faced her and Adam. “Oh, yes, you should have,” he said with conviction. “You’re the one person who might help mitigate your father’s complicity in this wreckage.” He frowned at her. “I wish I’d known much earlier about you hearing that confrontation. It could have changed everything.”
“Why? If I testify about the meeting, I’ll seal my dad’s fate. It will prove he knew all about Kenner and actively participated in it. I never should have come back at all.”
* * *
A
DAM
KEPT
HIMSELF
from reaching for Faith, to hold her and give her support. But as he watched, he knew how strong she really was, no matter what happened. “What do you mean?” he asked Baron.
The big man addressed him. “Simply put, Faith is a witness to the coercion her father’s partner used to get him to fix the Kenner bungle, to—” he formed air quotes with his fingers “—take care of it. And that if what had been supposedly done came out, they would all turn on him. Also, there was the not-so-implied threat when he spoke to Raymond about Ray’s own complicity in the matter and his not surviving close scrutiny without paying for everything. That goes a long way to prove that coercion was used.” Baron looked at Faith. “And, you, my dear, you will testify to that on the stand at the trial. You’ll be deposed first, put it on the record for discovery, and the prosecutor will arrange the rest.”
Faith cast Adam a quizzical glance, and he asked Baron directly, “What does that mean for Raymond?”
“Anything from a conviction and jail time to a plea bargain to minimize the sentence, or some charges being thrown out, all the way down to probation and public service. Our preferred option, of course, would be a dismissal, but that’s not going to happen.”
Faith held her hand out to Adam. He went to her side, clasping her hand with his. She said, “I ran because I thought what I knew would hurt Dad, and all the time...”
Her voice broke and Adam took her into his arms. “You did what you thought was right, and even so, you’re the hero in this piece.”
Baron nodded. “Absolutely,” he said.
Faith’s dad approached her with a satisfied expression on his face. “I am glad this is over for you. I am ashamed of what I’ve done in the past, and I will do what I have to do now to make it right.” To Adam, he said, “I’m sorry you were caught up in this. Though I’m very thankful my daughter has you in her life.”
“She always will,” Adam murmured and felt Faith squeeze his hand tightly.
Raymond nodded. “Faith tells me that she loves you and that you’re trustworthy, honorable, brilliant and you can make a lake appear from a sea of grass.”
Adam winked at Faith; he loved the way she could blush. “I get confused with a Good Samaritan all the time, sir, and she still hasn’t seen the lake, but soon, very soon, when the snow’s gone, she will.”
* * *
A
S
THE
MEN
SPOKE
,
Faith relaxed. With her dad and Adam, she was standing between the two most important people in her world and knew her father had been right about finding that one true love that only a few people in the world were lucky enough to find. She’d found hers.
“Sit down and get comfortable,” her dad suggested, gesturing for all of them to take a seat. “We have a lot to discuss. I’m going to forgo any more apologies and get right to the core of the issue at hand. I will accept whatever punishment I’m given for my complicity in the matter.”
“What about Faith?” Adam asked Baron. “What’s she facing?”
“Since she came back and will offer to testify about the meeting she overheard, I don’t believe they will press any charges against her for taking off as she did.”
Faith felt a load lift from her shoulders. She glanced around, grateful that she was back here in her favorite room in the house. So often she’d thought that would never be possible. She touched the pendant she wore nestled to her heart, the tiny turquoise teardrop Adam had set in antique silver for her belated Christmas present. Her bracelet with the charm on it tinkled softly with the movement of her hand. As she looked at Adam, she smiled again. The memories were growing every day they were together, such wonderful memories.
Adam must have felt her looking at him, because he turned right then, saw her hand on the pendant, and he smiled. The single dimple showed up, and Faith knew that he’d been right. Together they could get through anything.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460324882
A QUESTION OF HONOR
Copyright © 2014 by Mary Anne Wilson
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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