“Whatcha doing?” Angel asked, peering up at them with obvious fascination.
“I’m preparing to kiss your mother,” Todd explained quietly, his gaze never venturing from Heather’s face.
“Okay,” Angel said agreeably.
Once again, the three widows seemed to catch their collective breath.
Todd’s thighs were pressed against hers. The telltale bulge of his arousal was cradled by the heated juncture between her legs. She might have been able to escape by making a sudden, unexpected move, but she didn’t want to. Despite their fascinated audience, she wanted to see just how daring he was inclined to be, just how far he would take this. It might turn out that a little provocation was a very good thing.
His mouth settled over hers in a kiss as gentle as a spring breeze, but then the kiss turned greedy and the storm began. His tongue invaded. His teeth raked over her lower lip.
“Oh, my,” Frannie whispered.
“I declare,” Cass murmured.
Daisy only sighed.
Heather slowly came back to earth as Todd eased away. A little provocation could definitely turn dangerous. She thought the three women had it exactly right. Oh, my, indeed.
Weeks later, Todd still wasn’t sure what had come over him that night in the Starlight. He’d all but declared his intentions toward Heather in a very passionate way in a very public place. If he didn’t make an honest woman of her after that kiss, he could think of at least three women who would likely tar and feather him. Four, if he counted Heather. Five, if he counted Henrietta. Sweet heaven, what had he been thinking?
Fortunately he didn’t have time to think about it, because someone pounded on his office door, then jerked it open without waiting for him to reply. Peggy’s husband came barreling in, looking mad enough to spit nails.
“This is your fault,” Johnny Blakely accused, hands palm down on Todd’s desk, a scowl fixed on his face.
“What?” Todd asked cautiously.
“You’re ruining my marriage, that’s what. This cockamamie scheme to make my wife into a TV star is turning my life into chaos. I want it to stop.”
Todd sighed. He’d been afraid of this. “Does Peggy know how upset you are?”
“Do you think she’ll listen to me? You and Megan have dangled this carrot in front of her and she can’t stop thinking about it. It’s all she talks about. Every time I point out that she has other responsibilities, she about takes my head off.”
Todd sympathized with the man, but he had no intention of getting caught in the middle. He reached for his phone.
“What are you doing?” Johnny demanded.
“Calling Peggy. She’s the one you need to talk to.”
Johnny’s anger deflated immediately. “Don’t call her,” he pleaded. “Things are bad enough without her knowing that I’m down here trying to get her fired.”
“Is that what you want?” Todd asked. “You want me to fire her?”
Johnny raked a hand through his hair, which had been mashed flat by his John Deere baseball cap. Now his hair stood up in spikes. His expression was a mix of frustration and misery.
“I just want my wife back, that’s all.”
“Talk to her,” Todd suggested.
“And say what?”
“The same thing you just said to me, that you want her back. Peggy loves you.”
“Then why is she doing this?”
“Because she’s good at it,” Todd said. “You should be proud of her, Johnny, not trying to derail her. Just because she has a career doesn’t mean she doesn’t want her marriage to you. She can have both, if you’ll let her. I’m not saying it won’t be difficult, that it won’t take some compromises, because it will, but Peggy’s worth it, don’t you think?”
“Well, of course she is,” Johnny replied fiercely.
Todd nodded. “Then tell her that, too.”
His door opened again and Peggy stuck her head in. When she saw her husband, some of the color drained out of her face. “I heard you were here, but I couldn’t believe it,” she said to Johnny, then turned an apologetic look on Todd. “I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem,” he said at once. “You two talk. Besides, I’ve got to get into town.”
And on the way he had to figure out how to deal with his own relationship problems. It was one thing to reach a rock-solid, logical decision when he was all alone. It was quite another to cling to it when he had to share a stage with the woman in question night after night as they rehearsed a play.
Naturally Heather was never satisfied with a dutiful peck on the cheek or even a chaste kiss on the lips. Oh, no, she threw herself into their on-stage kisses with the same passion with which she’d delivered that kiss in the diner. The woman generated enough heat to keep that drafty old barn warm during a midwinter blizzard. In mid-August they were sizzling. He left the rehearsals each night with his body aching with unfulfilled desire.
He made it a point to be the first one out the door, so he wouldn’t be alone with Heather. Resisting temptation was one thing. Sainthood was quite another.
So far, she hadn’t challenged him, but he knew the day was rapidly approaching when the questions would start flying.
“Todd,” she called out when he tried to make his escape following that night’s dress rehearsal.
So, he thought, this was it. He hesitated at the barn door, then turned back reluctantly. “Yes?”
“Could I see you for a minute?”
Refusing in front of the few lingering cast members was not an option. “Sure,” he said a little too brightly. He walked slowly back and stood by as she gave Flo some last-minute encouragement.
“I’m so nervous, I’ll probably throw up all over the stage tomorrow night,” Flo said. “I’ve never done anything like this. I don’t know what I was thinking. You talked me into it. It’ll be your fault if I ruin your play.”
“You are not going to ruin anything. There’s no need for you to be nervous,” Heather assured her. “You know your lines. You have a great voice. You’re going to be wonderful. You’ll knock Joe’s socks off.”
“It’s not his socks I’m trying to get him out of,” Flo said, then blushed furiously when she realized Todd had overheard.
“Pretend you didn’t hear that,” she begged him.
“What?” he asked, grinning at her. “By the way, I think I saw the man in question lurking outside in the shadows. Is he waiting for you?”
Flo nodded. “He’s giving me a ride home.”
“Still dropping you off at the front door?” Heather asked.
“I got him inside for coffee last night. I have real high hopes for tonight.”
Heather gave her hand a squeeze. “Don’t rush it, Flo. Let Joe set the pace. Remember the goal—long-term, not a one-night stand.”
Flo nodded. “I know. It’s just that I’ve never talked so much in my life, not to a man, anyway. I’m afraid he’s going to get bored.”
Todd chuckled at her concern. “That expression I caught on his face when you were doing your scenes tonight was definitely not boredom.”
Flo regarded him gratefully. “You really think so? I hope you’re right. He’s the most decent guy I’ve ever known. He’s real sweet to Tess, too. She told me she likes him. When the three of us are together, it makes me realize what I missed not doing things right years ago and having a real family. Not that Tex O’Rourke would have considered marrying me, but I had other chances. I guess I was just too scared to take them. I’ll shoot myself if Joe gets away.”
She glanced toward the door. “I’d better go before he gets tired of waiting.”
“Flo,” Heather said, stopping her rushed departure.
“What?”
“Slow down. You’re worth waiting for.”
A smile spread slowly across Flo’s face. “Yes, I am, aren’t I. Thanks for reminding me.”
Once again Todd was impressed by Heather’s uncanny ability to make people feel special, to instill confidence.
“You’re a good woman, Heather Reed.”
She gazed at him, clearly surprised. “You think?”
“I know it.”
Her gaze locked with his. “If you honestly believe that, then why have you been avoiding me?”
20
N
ow there was a sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, Todd thought as Heather stared at him expectantly. Why
had
he been avoiding her?
Because he was smart? Because it was the right thing to do? Because he was terrified of what would happen if he didn’t? It was all of those things and a whole lot more.
“It’s complicated,” he began.
“Well, at least you’re not denying it,” she said.
“Did you think I would?”
“To be honest, I haven’t known what to think. Ever since the night I told you I loved you, ever since you kissed me senseless in front of God and everyone at the diner, you’ve acted as if I were contagious. The only reason you get close to me on stage is because you’re too good an actor to ruin the play over something personal.”
The accurate criticism stung. “I know how important the play is to you,” he said stiffly. “I would never do anything less than my best.”
“And your best is better than most of the people winning Tony Awards.”
“Don’t go there,” he warned. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to another lecture on how foolish he’d been to abandon his art.
“Okay, right. As a topic of discussion that’s off limits. You and I are off limits, too, I suppose. That must be why you haven’t given me a straight answer yet.”
“Like I said, it’s complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
Oh, how he wished that was true. But Angel’s mere existence complicated things. He could never make Heather see that without getting into things he hated remembering, much less talking about.
“There was a time when you didn’t hide from your emotions,” she reminded him.
Ironically, she really believed that, because with her—and only her—it had been true. She would never understand how rare it had been for him to allow himself to be in touch with his real feelings, how he’d closed himself off emotionally from the moment his baby sister had died while in his care. It was as if for a couple of years, he had experienced an incredible, never-to-be-repeated freedom to truly live his life without fear.
“I wish…” His voice trailed off.
“Wish what?”
He met her gaze, then looked away. “That we could go back.”
“We can.”
He touched her cheek, the caress a wistful reminder of all he wanted to do and couldn’t because a little girl’s safety depended on stopping this here and now. Since nothing else had worked, since Heather was still very much in his life, he knew that drastic measures were called for and he intended to take them. If he couldn’t persuade her that they had no future, if he couldn’t talk her into going back to New York, then there were other ways he could make going back home seem irresistible to her. He’d already put his plan into motion. Just that morning he had made a call that he was pretty sure would change everything. He just prayed she wouldn’t hate him when she found out.
“No,” he said firmly for now. “We can’t.”
He was about to walk away, when she asked point-blank, “Todd, do you love me?”
It was the question he’d been dreading. He could have lied and made it easier for both of them, but he couldn’t seem to make himself do it. He wasn’t a good-enough actor to carry off that particular line convincingly.
“Yes,” he admitted quietly, then regarded her with genuine regret. She would never know what it cost him to add, “But it doesn’t matter.”
“It does!” she corrected him with evident frustration. “Don’t you see? It’s
all
that matters.”
“If only that were true, darlin’. If only it were true.”
Heather couldn’t shake the image of the despondent expression on Todd’s face when he’d finally said he loved her. It kept her awake all night, then nagged at her all day. The contradiction made no sense, not to her, anyway. Apparently, it made all too much sense to Todd. She spent a lot of time that day cursing him and his stubborn refusal to listen to his heart.
That meant she arrived at the barn on opening night exhausted and stressed out. She managed to communicate her own nervousness and anxiety to the entire cast, until Todd stepped in and soothed everyone by reminding them that they were doing this play for fun.
“It’s not like we’re facing a bunch of vicious critics from New York,” he told them. “We’re doing this for friends and family. If we flub a line or two or miss a note, the world is not going to come crashing down around us. We’ll all go back to our day jobs in the morning.”
The cast regarded him with grateful smiles and went off to get into their costumes with a lighter step.
“Thank you,” Heather said.
“No problem. What’s with the sudden attack of nerves? You’re usually the coolest person backstage on opening night.”
“This is different for some reason,” she said. Maybe because the burden for pulling the production together rested on her shoulders. Maybe because she wanted this play to succeed for everyone who’d helped.
“You’ve done your part. Now it’s up to them to do theirs,” Todd reminded her. “Surely you know that, don’t you?”
“Yes, but—”
He regarded her knowingly. “This isn’t opening-night jitters, is it? It’s the conversation we had last night.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she retorted. She certainly wasn’t about to admit she’d had a sleepless night. He would guess it had been because of him and not about the play at all. He’d left her, clearly satisfied that things between them were settled when the truth had been just the opposite. Since there was no time to get into all that before the curtain went up, she had to postpone that particular discussion for another time.
In the meantime, she would simply cling to his reluctant admission that he loved her. Whatever reason made him think that wasn’t enough could be dealt with later.
When she finally made her first entrance, the familiar rush of adrenaline pumped through her and she forgot everything except the play. Her scenes with Todd were some of the best she’d ever performed because every line came straight from her heart, because the simmering passion between them was real.
When the final curtain came down, the audience erupted with applause and cheers. Heather glanced first at Todd, caught his wink, then looked at Sissy, whose face was alight with excitement.
“Did you see?” she asked breathlessly. “They were giving us a standing ovation. They loved it. They really loved it.”
Heather gave her a hug. “You were wonderful, honey. Was it as much fun as you thought it would be?”
Sissy gazed at her with stars in her eyes. “It was better. I never believed I could stand up in front of a crowd of people and act, but I did it. It was totally awesome.” She spun around, searching the people who were coming backstage. “I have to find Henrietta and Will. Have you seen them?”
“No, but I’m sure they’ll be here,” Heather said. “They’ll find you. And they’ll be at the party in the lobby later.”
Sissy threw her arms around Heather. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “This is the very best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Even if she hadn’t known the whole story of Sissy’s sad life, Heather would have been touched by the comment. As it was, she felt incredibly moved, and her own eyes filled with tears. “You deserve to have good things happen for you, Sissy. Remember that.”
Before the girl could respond, they heard Henrietta calling out to her. The older woman’s gaze filled with pride when she finally spotted Sissy and rushed toward her to gather her into an embrace. The judge came along more slowly, but he looked no less proud as he tucked a finger under Sissy’s chin and said, “You were magnificent, gal. I intend to be right there when you pick up your first Tony Award in New York.”
“You were awesome!” Will declared. “I couldn’t believe you were my sister.”
“Does that mean you’ll stop making fun of me for singing in the shower?” Sissy asked.
“Nah,” Will said. “Somebody’s gotta keep your head from getting too big.”
As the four of them moved off together, Heather sighed.
“You did a nice thing for that girl,” Todd said quietly. “You gave her back her self-esteem.”
“She didn’t need me to do that. She’s a strong girl and she has Henrietta. She would have been okay, no matter what.”
“Maybe, but I still think a lot of the credit goes to you. And in case no one has thought to mention it—” he smiled “—you were pretty terrific out there tonight yourself.”
“For the first time, being on stage was actually fun,” she admitted. “The real challenge was the directing.”
“Speaking of that,” he said quietly, “there’s someone here I’d like you to meet. Come with me.”
She followed along beside him, an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. When she saw the unfamiliar, well-dressed man he was taking her to see, her uneasiness increased. This was a well-heeled businessman from back East, not some local rancher. She recognized the type.
She hung back a second. “Todd, what’s this all about?”
“You’ll see in a minute.” He grinned at the man. “Peter, this is Heather Reed, who not only starred in tonight’s show, but directed it. Heather, this is Peter O’Brien.”
The name rang some distant bell, but she couldn’t pin it down. “Mr. O’Brien,” she said, shaking his hand and accepting his congratulations on the play’s opening-night success.
“I gather you pulled this theater together from scratch,” he said. “Quite an accomplishment in just a few weeks. I’m impressed.”
“I had a lot of help.”
“Maybe so, but Todd says you were the guiding force.”
Why, she wondered, had Todd been so busy selling her talents to this man? She glanced at Todd, but his expression was blank. He kept his gaze carefully averted.
“Think you’d like to do it again?” O’Brien asked.
She stared at him and her nagging unease turned into full-scale panic. “I don’t understand.”
“I love theater, Ms. Reed. Unfortunately I have absolutely no talent either for acting or for any of the behind-the-scenes skills necessary to mount a play.”
“He’s extremely successful, however, at making money,” Todd said.
Suddenly Heather knew why she had recognized the name. Peter O’Brien was a venture capitalist. Among other things, he backed theatrical productions, usually smaller off-Broadway shows, but he had been involved in at least one or two major musical revivals.
“I was very impressed with what I saw here tonight,” O’Brien told her.
“But how did you even know about it?” she asked, her gaze on Todd, though the question was directed at O’Brien. “I assume Todd had something to do with that.”
“Absolutely,” the man said without hesitation. “We’re both in his debt. One of my companies is a primary sponsor for both Megan’s television show and for the new cooking show Todd is producing. We have quite a lot of discussions. He knows I’m always looking for new opportunities.”
Heather frowned at Todd. “Is that so?”
Peter O’Brien didn’t seem aware of the undercurrent of tension in the air. He went right on singing Todd’s praises. “He invited me to come tonight and take a look at one of the most exciting young directing talents to come along. Frankly, I thought he might be exaggerating, but I can see now that he wasn’t. If anything, he understated your abilities. If you can stage a production like this in a few weeks with amateurs in Whispering Wind, Wyoming, there’s no telling what you could do in New York, given enough time and backing.”
Heather knew she ought to be gratified by the praise, knew her pulse should be pounding at the opportunity he was hinting at offering her. Instead, she felt dead inside. Todd had obviously taken extreme measures to see to it that she left Whispering Wind and returned to New York. It was clearly a last-ditch attempt to get her out of his life, despite the love he claimed to feel for her.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said, barely managing to get the words out without a display of angry tears.
“Say you’ll consider it,” O’Brien said. “I know you have celebrating to do tonight, but I’ll stick around town. We can talk again tomorrow, hammer out the details. I don’t have to tell you, Ms. Reed, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“No, you’re right,” she said. “You don’t have to tell me that.” She backed away, desperate to escape before she embarrassed herself. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll speak to you both later. Please, Mr. O’Brien, join us for the party, won’t you?”
“I’d love to. Thank you.”
Heather slipped away without another word, losing herself in the crowd backstage before finally making her way to the tiny, makeshift dressing room, where she locked the door, then leaned against it and let the tears come.
As much as she’d wanted to remain hidden in that dressing room all night, Heather knew she couldn’t let the other members of the cast down like that. This was their night and she owed them this celebration. She figured that it would require her greatest skill as an actress to get through tonight’s party without betraying her inner turmoil. That meant steering clear of Todd for the next couple of hours. She wasn’t sure what to say to him, and anything she said right now was likely to be said in anger.
Fortunately it seemed the whole audience had stuck around for the party, so it was easy enough to lose herself in the throng, to slip away whenever Todd neared. It was only when the crowd was thinning out that he finally caught sight of her. He managed to trap her near the refreshment table that had been set up in the “lobby” they had created at the front of the barn.
“You must be walking on air,” he said. “It’s an incredible coup to have a man like Peter O’Brien make you an offer like that.”
“Yes, it is,” she said without enthusiasm.
He gave her a thoughtful look. “Then why don’t you seem happier about it?”
The anger she’d kept at bay for the past couple of hours roared back to life. Words failed her.
“Heather?”
“How could you?” she finally asked in a tense undertone, trying not to shout the way she wanted to. “How could you invite him here without telling me, without even asking me if it was what I wanted? Do you want me gone that badly?”
“It wasn’t about—” he began, then cut himself off before he could complete the obvious lie. “Okay, yes, I thought it would be for the best. And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to get your hopes up. I didn’t know if Peter would be as excited about this as I thought he’d be.”