Larger than Life (17 page)

“No,” he corrected gently. “Just not strong.”

“Failures. I … I couldn’t deal with that. So I ran. I didn’t want Matt to know how upset I was; I decided to create the fiction of a vacation, and call him when I got there.”

“Where?”

“New Zealand.”

“Where you crashed?”

Saber nodded. “I was feeling a bit reckless. I knew one of Matt’s jets made a weekly run to New Zealand, so I sneaked aboard and convinced the pilots—both of whom I knew—to let me hitch a ride. They were longtime employees of Matt’s, and they knew who I was. So they kept quiet about a passenger, and took off on their regular run.”

“He must have gone out of his mind when you disappeared.”

“I—Yes, he did. And the worst part for him was that he had to search quietly and secretly. He didn’t dare publicize my disappearance for fear that I’d become even more of a target. When the report of the crash came in, and the pilots’ bodies were found, no one could have guessed I’d been on
board. There was no clue to my whereabouts. He had to carry on as if nothing were wrong, while he mobilized a secret army to find me.”

“Did they find you?”

“Oh, yes. Without thinking, I used a credit card to buy some clothes and a backpack. Alex was waiting for me at the airport in Auckland.”

“You hadn’t called your father?”

“Funny—Alex made some comment about that. No, I hadn’t called him. Cruel of me, I know.” She looked at Travis steadily. “You know what I went through after the crash. I felt like I was a different person. I think a part of me knew Matt would grieve for the girl I could never be again. It was a second loss I was to blame for. I turned away from the life he wanted to give me, and then I destroyed the gentle girl that reminded him so much of my mother.”

“You grew,” Travis argued softly. “You changed. It was inevitable, Saber. He must have known that.”

“Yes. But it didn’t make things easier.”

“Was he the one who was unnerved by the lightning?”

She smiled a little and nodded. “I could see that it bothered him. And it seemed to bother other people, too.”

“So you hid it, except onstage.”

Saber nodded again, watching him with an expression torn between hope and dread.

Travis smiled slowly at her. “Was all this supposed to make a difference to me, darling?”

“It … it very well could have. Travis. I don’t want the empire my father built. But it could be mine one day. I hope not, but it’s possible. Unless and until that happens, I won’t be acknowledged as Matt’s daughter and heir. He won’t make me a target. But you must realize that could change. Somewhere down the road, we could find ourselves the focus of a worldwide spotlight.”

“I assume,” he said dryly, “you expected me to take to my heels?”

She couldn’t help but smile at his expression. “Well, not recently. But I have thought that maybe …”

Travis gazed at her for a long moment. “Tell me something, love. Why didn’t you read your father’s report?”

Saber was surprised. “Because I love you, and trust you. Whatever it said wouldn’t—” She broke off abruptly.

“Change how you felt?”

She nodded.

“Yet you thought your past might change how I felt?”

“Well …”

“I should turn you over my knee,” he said severely.

“I was afraid,” she admitted.

His green eyes sparkled as he laughed at her; then, without warning, he sobered. “I love you, Saber. And right now my major emotion is relief because Matt Preston is your father rather than the rival who’s been haunting my nightmares.”

“I thought you might have been considering something along those lines,” she murmured.

“You did, did you?”

“It was rather obvious. I
told
you I wasn’t in love with him.”

“And then immediately said that you loved him.”

“I couldn’t explain, Travis.”

“I knew that, darling. And then a little later, I overheard you talking to your father.”

Saber looked at him blankly, then nodded. “In front of the cottage. Just before you—”

“That straw broke the camel,” he murmured.

“You were afraid I’d been Matt’s mistress?”

Travis thought about it. “Earlier it had crossed my mind—when I first met him out by the pool. Later, I was certain that wasn’t the relationship, but I knew he was important to you, a part of your past.”

“You never guessed he could have been my father?”

“Not until today. All my fine analytical instincts were on holiday as far as you were concerned. Moments before I realized Preston knew you, my brain had drawn its own logical conclusion as to his missing ‘son.’”

“And that was?”

“Mark.”

After a startled moment, Saber giggled.
“Mark?”

“Well, dammit, it could have fit. He’s the right age, and he and your father both have blue eyes. In addition to that, I decided that it was possible Preston was still concealing his son’s identity
because
that son was Mark; he certainly wouldn’t fit into the business world. It seemed logical that Preston would keep quiet to allow Mark a life of his own.”

Saber laughed quietly. “I can see how you might have jumped to that conclusion. We’ve both known Mark about eight years—since he started coming up here from time to time. He fascinates Matt; all that talent wrapped in a blanket of vagueness, but with flashes of shrewdness. I doubt if Mark has even realized that Matt could be the world’s best patron for a young artist: he just enjoys their conversations and loves to paint Matt. He says Matt has a face like Charlemagne.”

“You mean the face of a king?”

“It’s what Mark means, I gather.”

“He’s right.”

She laughed again. “How ridiculous it all is! I couldn’t tell you anything; since you’d slated Mark for Matt’s son, it never occurred to you until today that
I
could be that ‘son’; Matt was worried about a journalistic writer interested in my past—”

“Was that what bothered him the most?” Travis nodded as he thought it through. “Yes, I could see how it would.”

“That’s why he came up here,” she murmured.

Startled, he said,
“Why
he came? You mean he expected to find me here?”

“Not exactly.” Saber smiled slightly. “Matt’s been keeping a very close eye on me, Travis. You went through my manager to arrange a meeting with me. Now, I don’t know who it is, but somebody on Phil’s staff is Matt’s employee—there for the express purpose of keeping Matt informed of possible problems. Such as … curious journalistic writers.”

“I see.”

“Yes. Well, Matt was tipped that you were interested
in doing a biography on me. He knew I’d refuse, but he also knew your work and reputation. He called the hotel—remember?—to find out for sure where I’d be going on vacation. Then he arranged to spend a few days up here, intending to discuss with me just how much of a threat you might be.”

Travis grimaced. “And promptly met me by the pool.”

“Uh-huh.”

“He has quite a poker face,” Travis noted admiringly. “He was so charming I never guessed I might have been a threat to him.”

Saber giggled a little. “Yes, well—like another tiger I know, his charm is one of his most dangerous assets.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I thought you would.”

“I’m going to ignore that,” Travis informed her regally. “Go on with the story, please, ma’am.”

“Well, Matt instantly requested his people to gather a report on you. He decided that if you were
serious enough to follow me up here, you were quite definitely a threat.”

Travis frowned a little, thinking. “I see that. But … I remember now that when he asked Cory if she’d told you he was here, he seemed almost to expect that his arrival would anger you.”

“Was that when you wondered if I were his mistress?” she asked, interested.

“It crossed my mind, and can we drop that, please?”

She giggled. “Certainly. Well, to answer your implied question: Yes, Matt expected me to be angry, because his presence here proved he had a spy on Phil’s staff and was therefore keeping a closer eye on me than I liked. He knew I’d be mad, and I was.”

Travis nodded, amazed at how a fleeting expression on a man’s face could be so innocent and understandable with the right explanation, where before it had been a threat. “So what he was worried about was my exposing your identity.”

“Right. He didn’t realize then that there was any … personal involvement.”

Curious, Travis asked, “If there hadn’t been, and I’d been interested only in a story, determined to find out who you were, what would he have done?”

“Thrown dust in your face,” she answered promptly. “He wouldn’t have tried to buy you off or—in spite of some colorful accusations from the supermarket rags—have you killed. He simply would have laid a false trail for you to follow.”

“And I would have followed it?”

Saber smiled. “No slur on your abilities intended, darling, but Matt’s been hiding me for twenty-six years, and some pretty tough investigators have given the problem their all. He could have provided me with an innocent, foolproof identity that you would never have suspected was fabricated.”

“I suspected the Saber Duncan ‘life,’” he pointed out.

“Yes, but that was never intended to stand up to close scrutiny. Matt’s a magician, but false trails take time. Even as you were digging into my fictional background, Matt’s people were working to
fill in the gaps; nobody expected me to succeed as quickly as I did, and we were all caught off balance by the sudden interest in me.”

“But he has the false trail ready now?”

“Nearly ready. Saber Duncan will soon have an identity even the most suspicious will be unable to disprove.”

“Won’t that make it impossible for you to claim your inheritance if you have to?”

“No. Everything I need to prove I’m Matt’s daughter is hidden away in a bank vault that rivals Fort Knox for security. And if, by chance, something happens to that information, three of Matt’s most trusted friends have duplicate information hidden away with equal security. All are under orders to find me instantly if anything happens to Matt.”

Suddenly Travis chuckled. “Forgive me, darling, but it sounds like something out of a spy novel!”

Seeing the humor of her situation, Saber laughed as well. “I know. Isn’t it ridiculous? As you can see, Matt is
very
careful!”

“Just protecting the gem of his life,” Travis said. “I can understand that—now.”

“I understand it, too. But it’s hard sometimes. On me and on him.”

Thoughtful now, Travis said, “You’ve been everything to him. All that was left of his wife …. I gather he adored her?”

Saber’s face softened. “Yes,” she said quietly. “Yes, he did. She was a frail woman physically, and the tragedies of losing her first two children nearly broke her. The doctors had warned her against getting pregnant again so soon, but—but she wanted a child so badly. She
needed
a child.” Saber sighed, then smiled slightly. “Matt never blamed me for her death. I was told later—by Alex, who was there—that Matt went berserk when my mother died. When he picked up his child, even the doctor was afraid for me. But Alex said he held me for hours: he said everyone who knew was convinced that if I had died, too, Matt would have gone insane.”

Travis reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. Seeking to ease her sadness, he said quietly, “So
you were everything to him. No wonder it hit him so hard to come up here and find—”

“And find me in love with a journalistic writer,” she finished, eyes lightening a bit.

“A double threat.”

“Yes. Matt’s a good judge of character, and he formed a favorable impression of you when you met. But he still couldn’t help considering the possibility that you might be determined to expose a twenty-six-year-old secret.”

“And … you loved me,” Travis added.

“And I loved you. He’s known for some time that I couldn’t live his life, that I hated security and secrecy. But I was still his child. And he was still the only man in my life. Until you.”

Travis nodded slowly. “That’s hard for any father to accept. A strange man in his daughter’s life, in her heart. Even worse for him. Any man could wreck your life with a careless word, and your father knew it. He had to protect you as far as he could, and cope with his own sense of loss.”

“He said that he heard me sing the song. Did you see him?”

“I saw him.” Travis smiled at the memory. “I wanted to hate him, Saber. When I first saw him there, listening, I wanted to hate him. It seemed to me that he was intruding. But then I saw the grief and resignation on his face. The loss. I didn’t think of a father losing his daughter to another man, but of a man losing a dream to another man. And I couldn’t hate him because … because I knew how I’d feel if I lost you. And because he was accepting his loss with more grace than I’ll ever have.”

Saber held his hand tightly. “Don’t be too sure about that,” she said. “You have more grace than you realize.”

Travis shook his head but said nothing. “I hope your father and I can be friends one day.”

“You will be.”

“Does he realize I want to marry you?”

A demure smile curved Saber’s lips. “Well, he asked me about that, but since you’d never
said
in so many words …”

“I never said?” He was astonished.

“Never,” she said firmly.

“We talked about children.”

“Yes.”

“And a house with a white picket fence.”

“We did.”

“And sharing our dream.”

“I remember.”

He furrowed his brow in a mock frown. “But not marriage?”

“Never marriage.”

“Not a word?”

“Not a single word.” Saber frowned back at him. “And it’d be a bit much for you to take me away from Matt only to turn me into a kept woman. He wouldn’t like that at all.”

“I imagine he wouldn’t.” Travis said feelingly.

She smothered a giggle. “But of course, since you’ve never
asked
…”

Travis caught her suddenly in his arms, eyes laughing but intense. “Then I will. My beautiful bottled lightning, will you marry me?”

Saber, too, was abruptly serious. “It really doesn’t bother you, Travis? Who I am, I mean?”