Games (Timeless Series) (41 page)

“I have to take care of him
.” Mrs. Tyler tried to pull out of her arms. “He’s my son. I can’t let him lie out there like that.”

At the same time Giselle noticed the lone rider galloping up fast from the road
. The elderly man stopped short, and she recognized Harold Bentley. He jumped down and ran toward her and Mrs. Tyler.

“Emma?
My God, are you all right?” He glanced around, surveying the situation.

Emma’s sobs increased
. “Oh, Harold, I’ve killed him,” she wailed in between breaths.

“Shush,” he said, taking the rifle from her grasp
. He pulled her into his arms and gently held her, letting her cry.

“I had no choice. Don’t you see?
He thought I didn’t know what he did. But I’ve kept close watch over him since then. If I hadn’t, he would have killed her too!” She tried to pull away from him. “I have to take care of him.”

“Come, my dear
. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything. But first, let’s get you inside.” Bentley led Bradford’s distraught mother toward the house. The sound of Emma Tyler’s soft weeping carried on the cold afternoon breeze.

Watching them go, Giselle turned
. Through tear-filled eyes, she saw Simon jumping off Zeus and running up to her.

“Simon?” she whispered
. He wasn’t dead. Her tears increased—as if a dam had burst inside her head. She wiped her eyes, but the tears of joy wouldn’t stop. The instant their eyes met, she picked up her skirts and ran the rest of the short distance. “You’re alive. Thank God, you’re alive,” she shouted, jumping into his open arms.

He laughed and clutched her as if he could never let her go
.

She reached up and touched his face, his head, ran her fingers through his hair, if only to make sure he was really there
.

“I felt my life was over at the thought of you dying,” she whispered, just before bringing his head lower
.

“And that’s exactly how I felt
.” Simon needed no other encouragement. His mouth smothered hers, letting her know with his lips exactly how he felt. When he lifted his head, his hold tightened. “I thought for sure I’d be too late. Thank God you’re Marcus Franklin’s daughter.”

Giselle smiled and her tears subsided at last
. Finally the ordeal became too much. She sank into his strength and said, “Take me home, Simon. I just want to go home.”

Marcus, who’d been waiting patiently while the two reunited, came up behind them and cleared his throat
. “I can see Simon has things well in hand.”

“Papa!” she gushed, surprised beyond pleasure
. “You came too?”

“Of course
. I couldn’t sit around and not do anything to help save my baby. Despite what some think, I’m not in my dotage yet.”

Simon rolled his eyes and snorted
.

“Oh
, Papa.” Giselle’s smile turned wistful. “What am I going to do without you?”

“You can’t get rid of us so easily, Giselle,” he said, chuckling
. “Your mother and I have no intention of leaving you alone for too long. After all, Alexandria, Virginia, is only but a train ride away.” At Simon’s raised eyebrows, he chuckled again and clapped him on the back. “Look at it this way, son. In getting something you want, you gain us. We promise we won’t interfere too much in your life. But you have to know we do expect grandchildren, posthaste. Sophie and I aren’t getting any younger.”

“I guess we have our work cut out for us,
chérie
,” Simon said, grinning and peering into her eyes. “Let’s get you home.”

Parker sauntered up to them just then
.

“I’ll stay here and take care of loose ends as well as the paperwork,” he said, nodding to Simon and Marcus
. “You can take care of the lady. I’ll meet you at Twin Oaks when I’m done. We can telegraph our report to Jonathan tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Parker.”

Parker chuckled and shook his head. “Now I see why you didn’t want to stay at Twin Oaks, Simon.”

Simon’s brow shot up in a questioning manner
. “Oh, and you find that amusing?”

“Yeah, I guess I do
. Better you than me.”

Simon’s grin was all knowing
. “Parker, I’m giving you the same advice someone once gave to me,” he bantered back. “Be careful! Love happens when you least expect it. When you’re not looking, someone will steal your heart.”

“No way
.” Parker laughed harder, his expression matching his words. “My heart is safe, thank you very much. I have no intention of succumbing to love. Damn, Simon, look at you. You’re pathetic. I hate reformed bachelors—they’re worse than mothers.” He snorted and turned to help Harold Bentley, who was moving toward Tyler’s dead body.

Jake moved into Giselle’s line of vision to help Harold and Parker
. “I’ll help you get him where you need him and then I’ll take care of the horses,” he said. Looking over at Simon, he added, “Why don’t you ride Hercules with Giselle back to Twin Oaks? If Marcus will ride Fortuna, the other horses can take a breather while I help out. I’ll bring them with me when I come.”

Watching Parker stalk off, Simon’s attention then focused on Jake and his words
. “I’ll get them home and make sure they’re taken care of,” he readily agreed, nodding. “Thanks, Jake.”

Giselle heaved a sigh of relief
. She was emotionally spent and the idea of riding safely in Simon’s arms during the journey home seemed like heaven.

With one arm securely around her, Simon turned to Marcus and asked, “You coming, old man?”

Marcus bit back a laugh. “Yeah, I’m right behind you.” He followed Simon, who led Giselle toward the stables, saying along the way, “Young upstarts…think they know everything.”

As they neared the building, Simon stopped and Giselle glanced at him with the question in her eyes
. He nodded toward Parker and Harold, who were talking.

“I’m really sorry for doubting you
, Harold,” she heard Parker tell the older gentleman. “But the evidence pointed your way, and I’m trained to follow the evidence. I didn’t totally believe it, but I did have doubts and questions.”

“I know
, son. You were only doing your job. If I hadn’t been so foolish, and gotten taken in by the boy, none of this would have happened.” He shook his head and sighed. “I only hope Emma can survive this. It seems she’s known for a while about Bradford’s problems. She simply couldn’t accept that he was sick in the mind, so she pretended there was nothing wrong.”

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” Giselle said in a saddened voice, hearing the torment in Bentley’s words
. “Maybe if I had ended things earlier, he wouldn’t have felt he had to do this.”

“No, it would have made no difference,” Bentley replied, meeting her gaze
. “Emma suspected him of killing his father and didn’t want to believe it, which is why she became overly protective of him. If it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else.”

“Come
, love,” Simon said, kissing her cheek and pulling her along. “Let’s get you to Twin Oaks. We can sort out all the questions and answers later.”

Marcus followed the two as they walked inside the stables, grumbling, “I can’t believe Sophie thought it would be more restful on the farm
. I need to go home and rest before you two get married.”

S
imon, Giselle, and Marcus arrived back at Twin Oaks only to find Colin and Libby in residence. Pandemonium broke out when everyone discovered, with stunned disbelief, what had happened and who’d been responsible.

Over and over again, everyone repeated the same thoughts with disbelief:
“He seemed like such a harmless fellow,” and “Who would have suspected he could be responsible for such heinous crimes?”

After Bradford Tyler’s death, the news about his misdeeds spread
. He’d been responsible for hiring the men to disrupt the building of the racetrack as well as the railway tracks to bring in the US marshals, which included Simon Harrington. They found the body of the railway worker the same afternoon Tyler died.

The deaths of the thoroughbreds seemed such a waste to both Parker and Simon
. Tyler did have a fast thoroughbred, and according to Tyler’s trainer, the horse had a good chance of winning the derby without killing off the competition.

Parker Davis came and went, but not before assuring Simon everything was taken care of and the case was officially closed
. The only task that remained—telegraphing President Grant and Jonathan Morgan. Upon leaving, he told Simon he would deal with it, as well as wishing his friend the best of luck. Since Parker was to be best man, he would see him at his wedding.

Later that afternoon, Simon, who was free of duties for the time being, had no intention of letting Giselle out of his sight
. But her family had other plans and overrode his intentions.

He and Marcus were
in the Thorpes’ library, going head-to-head over the issue of spiriting her away to Shelbyville.

“Marcus, it’s a little late to be playing the outraged father,” he lashed out, incensed at his interference.

“That may be, but I always say, better late than never,” Marcus shouted back, his face red with anger. “If I had any doubt about a marriage eventually taking place, Simon, you would be a dead man now.”

“You can’t lay all the blame for our actions on me,” Simon scoffed, becoming more irritated
. “I only have so much restraint. Your daughter was playing every bit as much as I was, more so, if you ask me. I did my best to keep from falling into her trap.”

“You have a point
.” Marcus’s anger died a tad as the words sank in. He obviously knew his daughter well enough to know Simon spoke the truth. “I wasn’t about to interfere in Giselle’s choice, but now that it’s been made, you can both damn well follow convention. I’ll guard her with my life, Simon. You know I will.”

Simon felt he was slowly losing the battle
. Still, it was hard to relinquish control. “We can follow convention here, now that Colin and Libby are back.”

Marcus snorted. “What kind of fool do you take me for?” he asked in a tone denoting his amusement
. “Giselle will not be staying here. If you want to see her before the wedding, you’re perfectly welcome to come and visit her in Shelbyville anytime in the next couple of weeks. But be warned, Simon, I’ll be watching the two of you like a hawk.”

“It’s a good thing we’re on the same side,” he
said grudgingly, hearing the finality in Marcus’s words. “I’d hate to come up on you in a deserted alley.”

Marcus’
s head went back and his bark of laughter filled the room. “My sentiments exactly, my boy!”

In the end, Simon spent the next week making the five-mile trek every morning, weather permitting, only to return to the farm in the evening
. That is, until his family—three sets of Harringtons—along with Simon’s sister, Amelia; her husband, Robert Evans; and their two children in tow—had overtaken Twin Oaks after showing up a few days before Christmas.

He’d telegraphed his parents, two brothers, and sister inviting them to his wedding the day after Bradford’s death
. Once Simon’s family arrived, they expected his undivided attention, so his trips to Shelbyville abruptly ended.

On Christmas Eve, the Thorpe household became overcrowded
. The Franklins, complete with Sophie, Marcus, Marguerite, and Giselle, made the journey to Twin Oaks, because as Giselle told Marcus and Sophie, nothing was going to keep her from spending Christmas with her beloved.

That evening
, after a festive dinner with everyone in attendance around the massive table—enlarged for the occasion—the mood was jovial, all talking a mile a minute about the upcoming wedding only two days away.

Giselle glanced up and caught
Libby’s knowing smile.

“See
, Giselle,” she said. “I knew there was more to the two of you than met the eye.”

“I feel so lucky
.” She grinned, feeling warmth rise up her face. She looked over at Simon, then back at her friend. “It seems I have wasted a lot of time on the wrong men.”

Libby shrugged
. “You know what they say—you need to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.”

“I guess that
is one way of looking at it.” Giselle laughed. She’d definitely kissed her fair share.

“She won’t be kissing anyone but me from now on,” Simon said, picking up Giselle’s hand and bestowing a kiss on it
. Then piercing her with an intense green gaze that spoke so much, he went on. “And she won’t be doing any more fishing either.”

Libby’s smile broadened
. “I’m so glad you found each other. In a way, we have Bradford’s heinous actions to thank for bringing the two of you together.”

“Oh, I think they would have found each other eventually,” Marcus said, chuckling
. “Especially since both our families have ties with the same families in Chicago. I for one am only glad it happened before I got too old to enjoy peace and quiet.” Then his chuckle erupted into full-blown laughter. He was laughing so hard; he had to hold his stomach.