Forever After (42 page)

“I’m n—not!” Sammy cried. “Please, Heef, don’t go ’way. Stay with me and my mommy. Please? I want you to be my daddy!”

Meredith stood with her fists knotted at her sides. The anguish she saw in Heath’s eyes made her want to collapse and weep right along with her daughter. Oh, God, this hurt. It was like having her heart carved from her chest with a dull knife.

“Hey…hey…” Heath rubbed the child’s back, jostling her against him. “Listen to me, sweetcakes. You listening?”

She buried her face against his neck. “’Kay. I’m listenin’.”

“I
am
your daddy. Got it? You have to go with your mommy for right now so you can keep her company and take care of her. But the minute she’s done testifying, Goliath and I are going to be waiting for both of you. We’ll have a brand-new house, and we’ll all live there together. How does that sound?”

“Do you promise?”

Heath locked gazes with Meredith. His dark face had grown taut, the cast of his skin tinged with gray. “I promise, sweetcakes. Have I ever broken a promise to you?”

“No.”

“Well, then.” He looked deeply into Meredith’s eyes. “God willing, I won’t break this one. I’ll be there. Goliath will be there. There’s no reason for you to feel so sad.”

The message Heath flashed to Meredith was as clear as if he’d spoken it aloud.
God willing
. He wanted her to remember and explain to Sammy that he’d qualified the promise, just in case he wasn’t waiting for them.

Somehow Meredith held herself together. She had to, for Sammy’s sake. Standing off to one side, she smiled as if her heart wasn’t breaking while the child told Heath and Goliath a final good-bye.

Ian took Sammy from the room to allow Heath and Mer
edith a few last seconds together. The moment the door closed, Meredith knelt to put her arms around Goliath. From the first, this silly dog had been the unbreakable link between her and Heath. In the end, Goliath’s love and devotion to Sammy had been instrumental in saving Meredith’s life. He wasn’t just a dog to her, but one of the best friends she’d ever had, loyal to the end. Knowing him had taught her a great deal—about giving and receiving love, and about commitment. Goliath’s was complete, and without condition.

Then the inevitable moment came. Barely managing not to break down, Meredith ran into Heath’s arms for one final embrace. Then before she burst into sobs in front of him, she raced from the room.

Men were waiting just inside the front door to take her and Sammy into custody. After nudging her daughter out onto the front porch, Meredith hesitated on the threshold to look back down the hall. Heath stood there, his body taut, as if braced for a blow. Tears filled her eyes, but she forced a smile, for that was how she wanted him to remember her. Then she turned and walked out.

It was the longest walk of her life, but for Sammy’s sake, Meredith forced one foot in front of the other. Four men flanked her and her daughter, guiding them to a nondescript, white sedan parked on the circular driveway. She and Sammy were hustled into the backseat, two of the agents sitting up front. The other two men climbed in a separate vehicle, their plan evidently to ride shotgun behind the sedan.

As the car executed the loop and eased down the driveway, Meredith craned her neck to look back at the ranch house. She saw Heath standing on the porch, one hand lifted in farewell. In those last heart-wrenching moments, she remembered the fairy tale he’d made up especially for her, about his carrying her off into the Oregon sunset and devoting the rest of his life to keeping her and Sammy safe.

He had kept his promise. She and Sammy would be pro
tected now. But what about the “happily ever after” part of the story?

Knowing in her heart that she would never see Heath Masters again, she pressed her tear-streaked face against the window glass, her gaze clinging to him until, at last, he faded completely from sight.

Somewhere, USA
Eighteen months later

The thud and
clanking of landing gear resounded through the cabin of the small, government-owned jet as it circled and nosed down into its final descent. Through the small window, Meredith could see the airport that lay below them, a tiny municipal with only two hangars, an office building, and a dime-sized parking area. Like a satin ribbon, the gray-black stretch of runway shone with wetness, probably melted snow. Judging by the drifts that lay over the fields around the airport, there would be a lot of snowfall here in the winter. But for now, as if in welcome, all forms of precipitation had given way to the relentless gloom of a November afternoon.

Meredith was exhausted, and she felt sure Sammy was as well. Though the flight itself had been slightly less than five hours, their emotions were running high, and neither of them had slept soundly last night. After a quick breakfast at dawn, they had been transported under armed guard to a similar small airport in upper state New York. This plane had been awaiting them there.

At long last, it was over. Meredith was finished testifying, and now, even though two of the trials weren’t yet concluded, the nightmare for her and her daughter had
reached an end. Glen Calendri was now serving a life sentence without parole in a federal prison. A few of his chums were serving equally long sentences.

Now, Meredith and Sammy could enter the Witness Protection Program.

As the plane landed, Meredith peered over Sammy’s blond head at the landscape whizzing past the window, seeking some clue as to where they might be. The snow was too deep for her to tell much about the terrain. This was
awful
, she thought, and if it was difficult for her to handle, how must it be for Sammy? They had no idea where they were, or even what their new last name would be, only that a house had been procured for them in a rural area outside an unknown city. The government had also secured Meredith a position of employment in computer programming, if she chose to take it. As if she had a choice? She would supposedly be allotted enough money to make a fresh start, but once that ran out, she and Sammy had to make it on their own.

Though it had been a seeming eternity since Meredith had last seen Heath, she still thought of him as the plane coasted to a jerking halt on the wet tarmac. Months ago, she’d received word through a U.S. marshal that Heath had been absolved of all criminal charges right after she left Oregon and that he had resumed his duties as the sheriff of Wynema County. Goliath’s death sentence had also been rescinded, given the fact that the man he’d bitten had been a dangerous criminal.

Meredith knew Sammy was thinking of Heath as well. In one hand, the little girl clutched a bouquet of paper roses she’d made, a gift she insisted was for Heath when she saw him again. Meredith had tried to explain to Sammy that Heath might not be able to keep his promise, that she shouldn’t count too strongly on his being there when they got off the plane, but her daughter refused to listen. Heath had promised, and for eighteen months, Sammy had clung to that hope like a lifeline.

Oh, how Meredith wished Heath were here, even if it
were only for a moment. She so wanted him to see Sammy. In eighteen months, the child had sprouted up a foot. She was six now, almost seven—a gangly little hoyden with a tangle of golden curls, big blue eyes, and more length of leg than she could easily coordinate while in motion.
Definitely
an accident waiting to happen. Meredith smiled and smoothed her hair.

“Mommy, don’t!” she said crankily, shrugging away from Meredith’s touch. “I fixed it special for Heath!”

I’ll be there waiting
.

Meredith’s heart caught as she watched Sammy press her nose to the window. “It’s been snowing,” the child said firmly. “He’s waiting for us in that building, I bet.”

Meredith sighed. “Sammy, love? Remember, I told you, don’t get your hopes up too high. Heath said he would be here if God was willing. Sometimes, God answers our prayers by saying no.”

“Not this time, Mommy. He’s my daddy! He said. And he’ll be here. You just wait. You’ll see! And I’m going to tell him you didn’t think he’d keep his promise. He’ll be mad at you.”

As they were ushered from the plane and down the steps, Meredith had to catch Sammy from tripping and pitching headfirst to the tarmac. The child was too busy searching for Heath to watch where she was going. Meredith even found herself glancing everywhere, her heart in her throat, her stomach twisting. She would have given anything to see a tall, dark-haired man in faded jeans and riding boots standing near one of the buildings. He would shout and wave, then come running toward them. And they’d fairly bound down the remaining steps, straight into his strong arms.

Only he wasn’t there….

Once on the tarmac, Sammy stumbled to a stop. She had insisted on wearing a pretty dress, a pink, frothy creation with a layered skirt, the hem of which rode a bit too high above her bony knees. Below the edge of her gray wool coat, the ruffles billowed out like the edge of a fluted bowl.
She stood in a puddle of water, her black patent leather shoes and lacy white ankle socks getting soaked.

“He’s not here,” she said hollowly. “He promised me! And he’s not here! He
lied
!”

“Oh, Sammy, no!”

In a fit of anger, Sammy threw down the bouquet of paper roses and leaped on one to grind it under her shoe. “He lied. He tricked me so I wouldn’t cry! I
hate
him.”

Meredith bent to rescue the other flowers. As she straightened, she grabbed her daughter by the arm and gave her a slight shake. “Shame on you! Don’t you
ever
say that, Sammy. I won’t have it. Heath
loves
you. He would walk every step of the way in his bare feet to be here with us. You know that. And you can bet his heart is breaking because he couldn’t come.”

Sammy sobbed and threw herself into Meredith’s arms. The shoulder strap of Meredith’s purse slid down the sleeve of her coat, the bag plopping on the wet tarmac. For the moment, Meredith didn’t care. She just held her daughter close and let her cry.

After the storm had passed, Meredith bent low to look Sammy in the eyes. “Sammy, love, we have each other. Everything’s going to be all right.” She tucked the damp paper roses into the child’s hand. “You save these. I may be able to send them to Heath for you, through our agency contact.”

Sammy wiped away her tears, forced a tremulous smile, and tightened her fingers around the flower stems. “You know what, Mommy? I bet he’s waiting at our new house! That makes sense. Right? Maybe dogs can’t come to airports.”

Meredith’s heart squeezed, but she managed to smile. “Maybe so, sweetkins. But don’t get your hopes up too high. All right?”

Two men in trench coats escorted Meredith and Sammy to an awaiting yellow cab. Behind them, another pair of men hobbled along, carrying their luggage. As the cabby assisted to stow the suitcases in the trunk, Meredith was
presented with a large, sealed manilla envelope by one of her escorts. Inside, she would find all the necessary documents and identification papers for her and Sammy to begin their new life.

After climbing into the cab after her daughter, Meredith gazed at the four U.S. marshals as they returned to the plane. Once it was refueled, they would make their return trip to New York, never knowing for certain where they had landed to drop her and Sammy off. Only the pilot had that information, and he hadn’t been told who Meredith was.

The cabby waited impatiently for Meredith to tell him her destination. With shaking hands, she opened the envelope and withdrew a sheaf of papers, the uppermost of which bore her new address. “2437 East Shriver Road,” she told him.

The driver grunted and set the car into motion. Meredith settled back in the seat with her daughter.

“Where is Shriver Road, Mommy? Did they send a picture of our house? Is my school near there? I’m gonna have my own bedroom, right? What city is this?”

Meredith could only answer one of the questions. “We’re in a place called Trad, Wyoming. It’s a small ranching community. The town is only about thirty thousand.”

Meredith would have greatly preferred being relocated near a large metropolis, but she guessed beggars couldn’t be choosers. Still, didn’t Wyoming get lots of snow, even blizzards? Why on earth had they settled her and Sammy so far from a large city? Gazing out the windows at the largely rural landscape, she decided Nowheresville, Wyoming, had probably been the government’s safest choice. If anyone ever found out where she was, which was highly unlikely, they’d probably have to dig their way through a snow bank to get to her. Most thugs were city boys and unaccustomed to the rigors of undeveloped terrain.

As the car wove along the winding rural roads, Meredith glanced up from the paperwork occasionally to look out the
window at the countryside. Though it was a dreary day, with deep drifts of snow in many places, she could imagine how lovely the wooded hillsides and rolling stretches of grassland would be in the spring and summer.

“Oh, Sammy!” she said, trying to put some enthusiasm into her voice. “Aren’t we going to
love
it here? We’ll go for picnics and go swimming. Won’t that be fun?”

Sammy gazed forlornly out the window. “I hate it.”

Realizing that it was going to take far more than a note of enthusiasm in her voice to make Sammy feel better, Meredith quickly went through the remaining documents. Her new name was Meredith Middler. It made her think of the singer, Bette Middler, and with that thought, she recalled the song about the stubborn rose that springs to life under the deep winter snow. Meredith just hoped she and Sammy could be as resilient.

Once again, she thought of Heath. If only he’d been able to keep his promise, she thought wistfully. With him beside her, she wouldn’t have felt so alone, or so frightened. But he wasn’t here. She and Sammy had to face that, and accept it. And somehow they had to pick up the pieces of their lives.

She imagined Heath back in Wynema Falls, driving around in the white Bronco with Goliath in the bucket seat beside him. The picture was oddly comforting, something for her to hang onto in the midst of so much unfamiliarity. She wished she could write to him, but any contact with people from her past was strictly forbidden.

“Yuck, Mommy! It’s way out in the fields and trees here!”

Meredith wasn’t pleased at the distance they had come from town, either. It was going to cost a fortune for gas going back and forth to her job.
Men
. They should have had a woman choose the house. In the winter, the roads would be covered with snow and ice. She’d never driven on ice in her life and would undoubtedly half kill herself learning how.

Miles farther from town, the cab slowed, turned sharply
right, and drove under an impressive brick archway. It looked like the entrance to a large-scale ranch of some sort. In the distance, Meredith could see cattle eating from mounds of hay in the snow-covered fields. In another pasture, she spotted horses.

“Did they get us horses, too?” Sammy asked excitedly.

“No, sweetie. Of course not. I can’t afford to feed horses.”

At just that moment, the cab drew up before a huge, rambling brick ranch house.

“This is it!” the cabby told them as he opened his door and climbed out.

“Wow, Mommy! We’re rich!”

“No, Sammy, we’re not rich. This can’t be right.” Meredith rechecked the address in the envelope, and it matched the numbers on the house. When the driver opened their door, she called, “Are you sure this is
East
Shriver Road? I did specifically say east.”

“This is it, lady,” he assured her, then went around to open the trunk.

Meredith peered out the window at the house again. “There must be a bungalow on the property somewhere.” On the way in, she’d seen a number of buildings, including the large red barn slightly to the right and rear of the house. There could be a smaller house behind it. “That must be it, a bungalow. I could never afford the heat in a place that size, let alone the mortgage payment. And I’m sure they didn’t just
buy
it for us.”

Bewildered, Meredith climbed from the cab, stuffed the envelope in her purse, and then looked around while the driver unloaded their baggage and set it on the grass beside the drive. A cattle ranch? She took Sammy’s hand, half afraid the little girl might wander off and get trampled. Anger laced up Meredith’s spine in a hot zigzag. Of all the crazy moves, locating a woman and child clear out here in the back of beyond?

Sammy’s fingers felt rigid and cold against Meredith’s palm.
Nervousness
. Meredith knew the feeling. Should they
knock on the front door? Or go traipsing through the mud and slush, and possibly through the snow, to see if anyone was working outside who might direct them? From where Meredith stood, she could see one half of the barn’s front doors. She thought she glimpsed movement. Hopefully, someone had seen the cab and was coming out to meet them. She was wearing two-inch pumps, for pity’s sake, not exactly the thing for wading through snow. Her stockings would be ruined, not to mention her dress, and it was a nice one she hoped to wear for work.

God help them, she couldn’t quite believe this was happening. She dug in her purse to recheck the address. Then she fixed a panicked gaze on the cabby. He was closing the trunk. Any moment now, he’d drive away, and they would be stranded here. He turned from the car to regard her. “That’ll be thirty-three fifty, lady.”

Meredith gaped at him. That seemed like highway robbery to her. Nonetheless, she drew out her wallet, found three tens and a five, and handed it to him. “Keep the change as your tip.”

“Hey, thanks.”

The sound of a barking dog punctuated his words. Meredith glanced up and saw a streak of black racing toward them from the red barn. A very
large
streak. The cabby took one look and leaped for the driver’s door of the taxi. “Shit! A Rottweiler!” He leaped into the vehicle, slammed the door, and took off without looking back. Meredith and Sammy were left to face the charging dog by themselves, the receding sound of tires crunching on gravel the only sign that the car had ever been there.