Each Time We Love (35 page)

Rising to his feet, Bodene grinned, and crossing his arms over
his broad chest, he said, "Savanna has given you a distorted idea of
the relationship that exists between her and Adam. You didn't see the
pair of them together—they're both half in love with each other, and
I'd be willing to wager a considerable sum on the fact that once Adam
learns that he is to be a father, he'll
make
Savanna marry him! Propinquity will do the rest! If all goes as I
suspect, your daughter will soon be married to a wealthy, well-bred,
well-connected gentleman! He won't be the
ordinary
fellow you may have wished for her, but I think that you will find your
future son-in-law to be just the sort of man every woman longs for her
daughter to marry. When you meet him, you will like him very much,
Liza."

Elizabeth sent him an exasperated glance. "That's all very
well, Bodene! But tell me—how am I ever to meet him if Savanna is
unwilling to let him know of the child, and if she has made you swear
not to tell him?"

Bodene's grin widened and, a dancing light in his eyes, he
drawled, "I'm taking care of that little detail right now. Savanna made
me swear not to
say
a word to him—she didn't say
a damn thing about
writing
to him!"

Elizabeth's eyes grew round. "Oh, Bodene!" she finally said
with a soft chuckle. "You
are
a sly boots! Is
that what you are doing? Writing to Adam?"

He nodded. "Yes, and the letter will go by Isaac on one of my
fastest horses, at first light tomorrow. And if I have judged Adam
right, before another month passes, your daughter will be Mrs. St.
Clair!"

Bodene wasn't quite as optimistic as he sounded. It was
possible that, once Adam had returned to his usual friends and
surroundings, he would prefer to forget about the whole incident with
Savanna and would merely read the letter and carelessly toss it aside.
Many men in his position would; after all, what did the pregnancy of
some little backwoods baggage mean to them? They would shrug their
shoulders and go about their business, conveniently putting the matter
from their minds. Bodene didn't think Adam would treat the news of
impending fatherhood that way, but then again, what did he really know
about the man? And then there was Savanna… She was going to be furious
with both of them and she had made it blazingly clear that she had no
intention of marrying Adam St. Clair! Changing Savanna's mind when she
was set on something was such a formidable task that most men would
simply quail and walk away. Bodene grinned faintly. He didn't in the
least envy Adam the wooing of a stubborn, prideful, hot-tempered virago
like Savanna!

Adam received Bodene's letter at dusk on August
the ninth, and for a long time after he had read the blunt message, he
stared out the window of Belle Vista's elegant library at the
purple-shadowed lands across the Mississippi River, torn between
jubilation and angry despair. Bodene had made it explicitly apparent in
his letter that, in spite of her condition, Savanna was just as
adamantly opposed to marriage with him as she had been when he had
first broached the question. Adam's mouth twisted wryly. Savanna's
continual aversion to marriage with him shouldn't have surprised him,
but to a certain extent it did. Without conceit, he knew his own worth;
for years scintillating, sophisticated women from some of the finest
families in the area and beyond had been vying for his hand, and he
found it bitterly ironic that when he had finally asked a woman to
marry him, she wanted none of him—even when she was carrying his child!

The idea that he was going to become a father was unsettling
and his feelings about the child were ambivalent. He was joyful at the
news, but he admitted with brutal insight that most of his joy had to
do with the knowledge that the pregnancy gave him a weapon—enormous
social pressure would be put on Savanna to accept him in marriage. The
letter made it obvious that both Bodene and Elizabeth were firmly in
his camp as far as the necessity to have Savanna respectably married
was concerned, which gave him another, more powerful weapon—society
aside, even Savanna's loved ones were going to push his suit. He shook
his head disgustedly, wondering how he had gotten to this point—eager
to use any weapon or method he could to have Savanna in his arms.

Wandering away from the window, he poured himself a snifter of
brandy from a crystal decanter, and savoring the bouquet as he swirled
the amber liquid around, he sat down in a tufted red leather chair and
stared off into space, brooding over the irony of fate. A sardonic grin
suddenly broke across his lean cheeks. Adam St. Clair married and the
father of a child! Five months ago he would have sworn vehemently that
that was impossible… but, of course, that had been before a certain
utterly beguiling, red-haired, witch-eyed temptress named Savanna
O'Rourke had thrust herself violently into his life!

Tossing down a healthy swallow of the brandy, Adam
contemplated the past several weeks and the aching emptiness that had
been his constant companion since he had watched Savanna ride away from
him. The journey to Terre du Coeur had been uneventful. The reunion
with Catherine had been a tearful—on her part—ecstatic moment, but,
beyond being glad to be alive and safe and back amidst his own world,
Adam was bitingly aware that, for him, something vital was missing. He
discovered to his dismay and utter fury that the future suddenly seemed
very bleak and unexciting and he did not have far to look to uncover
the cause of his singularly apathetic state—Savanna! It was a galling
admission, and seeking escape from anything connected with her, hoping
desperately that a return to his home and his usual pursuits would
bring back his normal sanguine outlook, he had stayed only long enough
with Jason and Catherine to convince his sister that he had suffered no
lasting harm, before he had mounted a fresh horse and left for Belle
Vista.

Getting up from his seat, Adam poured himself a second snifter
of brandy and walked once more over to the long windows which graced
the library. Staring moodily out into the deepening shadows of night,
he conceded that several weeks of frenetic activity, of days jammed to
the brim with the many details of running an estate the size of Belle
Vista, of evenings filled with visiting and entertaining friends and
attending glittering social events, of even later nights which he had
spent in reckless abandon, drinking and gaming, had done nothing to
alleviate the painful hollowness that Savanna had left within him.

She bewitched me, he admitted reluctantly, from the first
moment I regained my senses and stared up into that unforgettable face
of hers. Bewitched me and has made my life untenable without her
presence. He walked over to where he had tossed the letter and read it
again, a grim smile curving his full mouth. From the terse quality of
Bodene's letter, it was abundantly clear that getting Savanna to marry
him was going to be a monumental undertaking, but Adam suddenly found
his spirits rising at the prospect.

Actually, the arrival of Bodene's letter made little
difference to Adam's immediate plans. Having already decided some days
ago, about the time he realized that drowning himself in liquor was
folly, that he was not going to let the situation with Savanna remain
in its current unsatisfactory, unresolved state, Adam had been busy
making plans to leave Belle Vista for New Orleans and a confrontation
with the red-haired spitfire who haunted his dreams. Bodene's letter
only brought that date closer, and doing a swift calculation of what
needed to be accomplished before he could once again leave his
plantation and affairs in the hands of his very competent overseer and
agent for an indefinite period of time, Adam concluded that he could
depart for New Orleans no later than Monday. In the meantime, after a
day of rest, he would send a letter with Isaac on a riverboat back to
Bodene, who would be awaiting a reply at The Golden Lady. Adam's mouth
twisted. How wise of Bodene to suggest that all communication between
them take place at the gaming establishment in New Orleans. At least
that way there would be no chance of Savanna getting a whiff of what
was in the wind!

Several days later, as Bodene sat in his office at
the rear of The Golden Lady, he glanced up at the sound of an
altercation just outside his door. He was on the point of rising from
his chair when the door was peremptorily pushed open and Adam strolled
in, looking every inch the wealthy, assured gentleman that he was. His
elegant appearance was quite a contrast to the grubby, hard-eyed rogue
whom Bodene had first met, and he gawked at the difference. From the
crown of his top hat to the soles of his gleaming black boots, Adam
looked to be the very picture of sartorial excellence, his dark blue
coat fitting his broad shoulders superbly, the pale-blue-striped
Marseilles waistcoat blending attractively with his gray pantaloons. As
was fashionable in New Orleans, he carried a short cane, which
concealed a small sword; strolling over to stand in front of Bodene's
ornately fashioned walnut desk, he smiled and murmured, "I'm afraid
some underling of yours wanted to announce me, but I, er, convinced him
that I needed no introduction."

Bodene laughed and, glancing at the man who bobbed in the
doorway, nursing an obviously sore jaw, said dismissingly, "There is
nothing to worry about, Jake. This gentleman is a friend of mine, and
until I tell you differently, he has free access."

Jake nodded his sandy head and, grumbling something about "the
gent being right handy with his fives," shut the door.

Making himself comfortable in one of the brass-studded leather
chairs which were scattered about the spacious room, Adam leaned back
and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Well? Has the situation changed since
I received your letter?"

Bodene shook his head disgustedly. "No! She is just as
adamantly opposed to your knowing about the baby as she ever was, and
I've had the devil's own time keeping my hands off her and beating some
sense into her."

Adam grimaced and said, "It doesn't change the outcome—she
is
going to marry me before the month has ended, but it would be pleasant
to start out life together in something less than all-out war!"

"Would you mind telling me how in hell you're going to
accomplish that fact?"

"The marriage or less than all-out war?" Adam asked with a
mocking light in his eyes.

"The marriage!"

There was suddenly an implacable cast to Adam's face. He
didn't honestly know how he was going to make Savanna marry him; he
only knew that his life would be desolate indeed without her and that
he'd either wring an agreement to marry him out of her or wring her
neck! Smiling wryly at his own thoughts, he muttered, "Blast her
stubborn hide! Why must she make this as difficult as possible?"

Bodene looked uneasy, suddenly wondering if writing to Adam
had been such a wise course after all. Bluntly he asked, "If she wasn't
pregnant, what would you do? Would you still marry her?"

"That's a damn-fool question!" Adam replied testily. "Of
course I would! I had already made arrangements to come to New Orleans
with the intention of wooing Savanna before I received your letter. The
baby only means that I'll have to move faster than I had planned." He
looked steadily at Bodene. "I'll be honest with you—she drives me half
mad—I'm either thinking of kissing her or wringing her neck, and while
I'm certain that I shall spend the rest of my life torn between those
two emotions, there is no other woman whom I want for my wife… whom
I've
ever
wanted for my wife."

Adam had not admitted that he loved Savanna, but his words
reassured Bodene that he was not consigning Savanna to a loveless
union. Of Savanna's feelings Bodene had little doubt, and after
listening to Adam, he decided that his original reading of the
situation was correct: the only people who didn't realize that they
were in love with each other were Adam and Savanna!

Satisfied, Bodene settled back in his chair. "How do you
intend to get her to agree to marry you?"

A wicked smile curved Adam's lips. "Why, charm her, of course!
Despite her avowals to the contrary, I know that she is not indifferent
to me. She came into my arms willingly once, so surely she will again.
And I
do
have much to offer her—while not meaning
to sound like a braggart, I am
not
some beggarly
ruffian!" A mocking twinkle in his blue eyes, he added teasingly, "How
can she resist me?"

Silently Bodene agreed with him. If anybody could change
Savanna's mind, it was Adam St. Clair. Thinking of the tempestuous
wooing that was going to take place caused a small smile to lurk around
his mouth. "You can count on my help! Elizabeth's too. I shall return
to Campo de Verde in the morning and alert her to what you plan."

Adam frowned slightly. "Is Elizabeth fully committed to my
marriage to Savanna? She knows nothing of me." His mouth twisted.
"Except what her daughter may have told her, and I doubt that Savanna
has anything complimentary to say about me! And certainly, considering
the circumstances…"

Bodene was quick to reassure him of Elizabeth's support and
the two men continued to talk until the late hours. They had much to
discuss—not the least of which was what they would do if Savanna did
not succumb to Adam's charms! The comradeship that had sprung up during
the journey back from Texas remained unabated, and in these more
pleasant surroundings it flourished dramatically. As the hours passed
and they conversed on a variety of subjects, each man was more and more
warmly impressed by the other, and any awkwardness that could have
attended their growing relationship was banished.

It was only as dawn was breaking that they discovered to their
astonishment that they had talked the night away. Rising from his seat
and stubbing out the remains of a long black cheroot that he had been
smoking, Adam remarked amicably, "Seldom have I spent a more enjoyable
evening. Once I am respectably married to your cousin, we must do this
again."