Warrior's Embrace (8 page)

Virginia knew from the look on her daughter’s
face that nothing she said was going to do any good. Rather than
get into a futile argument, she headed toward the door.

“All right,” she said. “I’ll spare you.”

“You embarrassed me in front of my
friends.”

“Embarrassed you?” Two spots of color on her
cheeks were the only signs of Virginia’s anger. “In case you
haven’t noticed, I’m a divorced woman who danced with an available
bachelor. I fail to see how that was an embarrassment to you,
Candace.”

“Good grief, Mother. You were all over
him.”

“It’s called slow dancing.”

“It’s called making out in public.”

Was she that obvious? As always, when she was
with Bolton, Virginia lost all perspective.

“I’m sorry if we embarrassed you, Candace.
That was certainly not my intent, and I know it wasn’t Bolton’s. We
were merely enjoying each other’s company.”

“In public... on the dance floor... for all
my friends to see.” Candace scrubbed vigorously at the stains on
her jeans.

“Spare me the morality sermon, Candace. I
happen to know that Jake’s mother is dating and so is Kim’s mother.
I fail to see the difference.”

“The difference is this...” Candace drew back
and threw the wet paper towels into the garbage can. “My friends’
mothers don’t go out with somebody young enough to be their
son.”

Virginia stiffened as if she’d been slapped.
Just when she’d begun to relax about the age issue, her own
daughter brought it brutally back to life.

“I’m hardly old enough to be Bolton’s
mother.”

“Thirteen years. I can count.”

“Good for you.”

Virginia turned on her heel and walked out
the door. It was a brave exit, but one that she couldn’t sustain
for long. She ducked around the corner to a small hallway, caught
hold of the fountain, and lowered her face to the cool rush of
water. It dripped onto her collar and the front of her denim
blouse, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was getting out of
the place where she’d made a fool of herself in front of her own
daughter.

“Virginia...” It was Bolton, striding down
the hall toward her, concern clearly written on his face.

He was the last person in the world she
wanted to see. She swiped at the water on her face with the back of
her hand, but there was nothing she could do about the wet spots on
the front of her blouse.

“Here. Let me.” Bolton pulled a handkerchief
out of his pocket and began to dry her face.

“I don’t need your help. You’ve already done
enough damage.”

She swatted at his hand, but she might as
well have been a gnat swatting at a buffalo. His expression didn’t
change as he continued his firm but gentle ministrations.

“I take it things didn’t go well between you
and Candace.”

“Bravo, Bolton. You’ve just mastered
understatement.”

Silence screamed around them, and Virginia
thrust out her chin, daring him to contradict her. Things would be
simple if he’d just go away. Then she could bury herself in her
work and get over her broken heart, and Candace would eventually
forgive her.

“It won’t work, Virginia.”

“What won’t work?”

“You can’t scare me off. I don’t scare.” His
smile was one of those quicksilver flashes full of steel and
determination. And it was far, far more dangerous than all the
threats in the world.

Virginia shivered, then wrapped her arms
around herself.

“Cold?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m scared.” She lifted
tragic eyes to his. “I scare easily, Bolton.”

“Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and
held her there, her head pressed against his chest. “What happened
tonight was a temporary setback. Once Candace gets used to the idea
of me, she’ll come around.”

Virginia knew she should keep her mouth shut
and get through the rest of the evening. But she’d never been one
to leave well enough alone.

“The idea of you as what? My lover?”

“No.” This time his smile was the quick
brilliance of sun breaking through clouds. “As your husband.”

Always, when he’d referred to his role in her
future, she’d thought he meant as a live-in lover. Never in
Virginia’s wildest dreams had she considered that Bolton wanted to
marry her. She was filled with terror at the idea... and with a
sense of wonder that wouldn’t be tamped down, no matter how hard
she tried.

“My husband?” she said.

“Yes, Virginia.”

Before she could think of a way to skirt this
new issue, she saw Candace striding down the hall toward them, her
face a thundercloud. Had she heard?

“Mother.” There was enough ice in Candace’s
voice to form glaciers. “If you are through making out in the hall,
Marge and I are ready to go home.”

Virginia formed a hot retort, but Bolton shot
her a warning glance. Funny how their roles had reversed. Tonight
he was acting the mature, responsible, levelheaded parent, and she
was acting the inexperienced young girl.

“If you’d like, Virginia and I can take a cab
and leave the car for you and Marge,” he said.

“That’s a great idea,” Virginia added,
whipping up some bogus enthusiasm. “Or if you want to, we can take
you back to the house and you can get your car. We don’t want to
spoil your fun.”

“It’s a little too late for that,” Candace
snapped.

“Candace, don’t push me. I won’t tolerate
rudeness.”

“Please...” Candace said. “Can we just go
home?”

It was the longest five miles Virginia ever
traveled. She and Bolton attempted a bit of light conversation, but
for the most part it fell on deaf ears. Finally they settled into
uncomfortable silence.

At home, Candace bailed out of the car with
Marge trailing behind.

“Look, Bolton. I don’t think it’s a good idea
if I come to you tonight.”

“I won’t be selfish. Do what you need to do,
Virginia.” He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “If I could change
things for you by coming inside and talking to Candace, I would,
but I think my presence would only make matters worse.”

“Thanks, Bolton.”

“And Virginia, whatever happens, remember
this: I love you.”

He kissed her once more, not in the slow,
lingering way of lovers who have all the time in the world, but in
the swift, hungry way of lovers caught in the eye of a
hurricane.

Virginia fought the urge to hang on, fought
the need to cling to him. But she had to let go. She was a parent,
and good parents didn’t abdicate responsibilities, they didn’t turn
tail and run at the first sign of trouble.

She made it as far as the front door before
she turned around. He had finished parking the car and was on the
path that curved around the house and led to the guest cottage. The
moon was full and impossibly bright, hanging so low, it looked as
if she could reach out and touch it. In the moonlight Bolton looked
like something she had dreamed, someone who had suddenly appeared
in her life and who would disappear just as suddenly.

Virginia put her hand over her mouth to keep
from calling him back. The connection between them was so strong
that he didn’t need words to know her thoughts. He turned around,
her magnificent Apache warrior burnished in silver.

“Virginia...”

“No...” She held up her hand. “Please,
Bolton. Don’t come back.”

“You need me.”

“If you come back now, I’ll do something
foolish like march into the house and tell Candace that what I do
with my life is none of her business.”

“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea. You’re
both adults. She has her life, you have yours.”

“No, Bolton. Candace and I have a life
together here in Mississippi... and you have one in Arizona.”

He held her with a single glance, and a lump
the size of Texas came into her throat. She thought she was going
to sink onto the front porch and dissolve into a puddle of tears, a
messy middle-aged woman, totally out of control.

If he had come to her then, she could no more
have stopped him than she could have stopped the sun from rising.
But he merely held her transfixed with a look more powerful than
words.

She held her breath. She was still holding it
when he turned and vanished down the path, her beautiful young
lover, swallowed up by the moonlight.

Inside she leaned against the door until she
could stop shaking. Virginia had never been a weak woman, and she
wasn’t about to start now. Taking a deep breath, she went down the
long hallway to Candace’s room.

The door was locked.

“Candace.” She knocked, but there was no
answer. “Candace, let me in.”

There was nothing but stubborn silence from
the other side of the door. Virginia didn’t knock again; she wasn’t
about to sink to her daughter’s level.

“I’m coming in whether you want me to or not.
It will be easier for both of us if you open the door.”

For a while she thought Candace was going to
refuse. Virginia had just turned to get the master set of keys,
when the door swung open.

There were blotches under Candace’s eyes
where her mascara had run. Virginia couldn’t stand the thought of
her daughter’s tears. More than that, she couldn’t endure the
thought of being the cause.

She made a move to put her arms around her
daughter, but Candace ducked out of reach and went to the far side
of the room.

“I’m glad you let me in, Candace.”

“It’s your house.”

“No, Candace. It’s
our
house. It
always has been and it always will be.”

“Spare me that
two against the world
routine, Mother. I’m not a little kid anymore; I’m an adult.”

Virginia studied her daughter. With her chin
thrust out and her back stiff, Candace was every bit as stubborn as
Virginia. In fact, she looked so much like her mother that Virginia
wondered when her child had become a woman. It had happened
overnight. Just yesterday Candace had been a chubby little girl in
pigtails, and suddenly she was a lovely young woman just beginning
to taste the fruits of love and romance.

With an empathy given to all writers,
Virginia understood the confusion Candace had felt when she’d seen
her own mother ignoring convention. She had challenged everything
Candace thought was true, everything she’d seen in movies and read
in novels about boy meeting girl, falling in love, picking out
china patterns, getting married, buying a house and a dog and
raising two point five kids. More than that, Virginia had shaken
Candace’s ideas about what a mother should be.

Virginia felt daunted. It was a feeling so
rare to her that she bought time by rearranging the fresh roses in
the cut crystal vase on Candace’s dressing table. Her daughter
watched her in silence.

“Where’s Marge?” Virginia finally said, still
buying time.

“In the guest room, working on a paper for
lit class, she said.”

“I’ll see her in the morning, then.”

“You can apologize to her,” Candace said.

“Apologize?”

“For making her feel like the other woman in
a love triangle.”

“Did she say that?”

“She didn’t have to say anything. It was
obvious.”

Virginia sat in the blue silk damask chair
near the window. The top of the guest cottage was visible, silvery
and mystical in the moonlight. What was Bolton doing now? Was he
thinking of her?

Candace flounced to the bed and jerked back
the covers.

“You can’t even talk to me without looking
out the window for him.”

“Candace, I’m not going to apologize to
Marge, and I’m not going to apologize to you. I’ve done nothing
wrong.”

“Nothing wrong! For Pete’s sake, Mother. Do
you think you’re exempt from the rules just because you’re a famous
novelist?”

“Whose rules, Candace?”

Candace’s quick retort died on her lips. She
was intelligent and independent. Virginia had nurtured the
intelligence and encouraged the independence.

“Touche’, Mother.”

“This is not a game, Candace. It’s a
discussion of great importance to both of us.”

“No. It’s not a discussion; it’s a
lecture.”

“Call it what you want. I’m going to have my
say.”

“You always do.”

“So do you... thank goodness.” Virginia
smiled.

An answering ghost of a smile played around
Candace’s lips. Besides intelligence and independence, Virginia
counted on her humor and her love to help them over this
misunderstanding.

“All right, Mother. I overreacted.” Candace
sat in the middle of her bed cross legged. “One time making a fool
of yourself in public doesn’t mean the end of the world. I can live
with that. What I couldn’t live with is if you told me you’d fallen
in love with him and planned to marry him.” She studied Virginia.
“You aren’t going to tell me that, are you, Mother?”

Was she so transparent? Virginia had been so
carried away by the way Bolton made her feel that she had forgotten
how such an unconventional match would look to her own daughter...
and to the rest of the world.

Virginia was not the kind of woman who did
things halfway. Once she gave herself permission to begin a
relationship with a man, she’d opened the floodgates and let all
her emotions come pouring out.

Falling in love was one thing, though, and
marriage quite another. It had never been a part of the picture for
Virginia.

“Are you?” Candace repeated.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Candace. Yes,
I’m in love with Bolton Gray Wolf....” Candace groaned. “But that’s
all there is to it. I may be a fool, but I’m not that big of a
fool.”

“Good. He’s only after your money,
Mother.”

“That’s not true! I won’t have you talk that
way about a man you hardly even know.”

“Do you know him, Mother?... Other than the
obvious, of course.”

“Clearly you’re mature enough to have figured
things out, and part of this misunderstanding is my fault for not
being up front with you about my relationship with Bolton. But,
Candace, I don’t owe you the details. As you pointed out you’re an
adult; you’re old enough to know that my libido didn’t die the
minute I got my first wrinkle. And neither will yours.”