Stolen Secrets (22 page)

The voice changed abruptly, ringing with relief. "Oh, it's you. Thank goodness. Ryan has been looking all over for you. Where are you?"

"At a store. Is he there?"

"He's at his lawyer's right now, but he said to get hold of him, anytime, if you called."

"Tell him I'm coming back."

The woman remained concerned. "Promise you won't disappear again?"

"I won't. I'll go straight to the houseboats and wait for him at Grandma Miller's. He can finish at the lawyer's first."

"Very well. I'll see he gets the message."

Angie hung up the phone, took two steps, then stopped. Ryan could be looking for her because he loved her. Or to throw her in jail. The woman hadn’t said why he wanted her.

What should she do now?

Feeling compelled to go to the houseboats, Angie took a bus to a stop not far from them. She walked down the hill and along the lane, her speed gradually slowing until she came to a standstill a few yards from the end of the dock.

Was she being wise or foolish? She should’ve spoken to Ryan over the phone and found out how he felt. She glanced uneasily around, uncertain whether to proceed or not.

Grandma Miller would tell her. If it wasn’t good news, she would at least grab some of her clothes and her medal before she left.

A car came speeding up the lane. She looked back to see... Ryan! He slid sideways, effectively cutting off escape. He threw open his door and jumped out almost before the car had fully stopped.

“Angie!” His outstretched arms spoke for him.

Exultant, she ran to him and was caught up in his powerful grip as he kissed her, searched her face with keen hunger and then kissed her some more. She returned his kisses with a similar desperation, not able to get enough to satisfy.

"Never leave me. Please, please never ever leave again. Promise!" he begged. His hands plucked at her coat as if he needed assurance she was actually there.

"I'll never leave you," she confirmed, emphasizing each word. “I love you."

"And I love you. Oh, Angie! Why did you stay away?”

“I was afraid of what Scott said. You could’ve had me arrested.”

"I hope not." This time he kissed her so long, she grew dizzy. "That wouldn't have worked very well. I wouldn’t want my wife in jail."

"Are you sure?"

"When I'm with you, I'm on top of the mountains."

"And you take me with you."

"Angie... will you marry me?" His voice was strained.

"Yes."

"When?"

"Today, tomorrow... as soon as we can." After talking to Barbara, she certainly wasn't going to wait long.

"Then let's go see if George has his store open. I’m getting a ring on your finger as soon as I can.”

“What about Vince? And Scott? What happened?”

“I’ll fill you in on the way. But Vince is gone and I’m buying Scott out of the business.” He motioned toward the houseboats. “We need to tell Grandma Miller you’re back. She’s been worried sick. As have I. And Tag.”

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to do.”

“Just don’t ever leave again. We’ll work through anything. Together.”

George greeted them at his shop and helped them select a wedding set. Angie kept trying to find something small, while Ryan wanted the largest one he could get.

“Stop that,” she said, laughing at him. “My finger’s little. I’m little. I want a small stone. Like this one.”

She pointed to a solitary diamond set she liked the best. She didn’t know the price, as Ryan had told George to hide the tags.

“Excellent choice,” George said. “She’s got good taste,” he added to Ryan.

“Then we’ll take it.”

Ryan slipped the diamond solitaire on Angie’s finger after placing the wedding band in his wallet. Seeing a silver bracelet carefully carved to depict entwined leaves, he got that for her, too.

Once they were outside, he handed her a necklace and earring set he had purchased while she was looking at the rings.

She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "You must stop buying me things," she protested.

He shrugged. "I like doing it. I want to."

"But I can't give you anything."

"Yes, you can."

"What?"

He looked at her steadily for a moment before answering. "Yourself."

Her breath caught at the idea, a fire kindled within her. This man had the power to make her extremely happy, just by what he said. "Oh, yes."

"It's something you do, all the time. You have a knack of giving yourself. I'll show you." He held out his hand and she put hers into it, her head cocked sideways. What was he doing?

"See that? I hold out my hand and you give me yours. You're a giving person— you don't ask for return."

He placed her hand with his into his coat pocket, their fingers entwined. It was a singular gesture of comfort and possession, of respect and liking. "Most women hold back something— some part of them. You don't."

"Oh, I don't think I'm any different." The pocket felt warm from the heat of his body and his hand held hers firmly. Angie had never experienced a more intimate moment— and they were standing in the middle of the sidewalk with people passing around them.

"What wouldn't you give a man, if you loved him?" he demanded fiercely.

"Why— " She drew a blank. What wouldn't she give? Would she deny him anything? More to the point, would she ever want to deny Ryan anything? Of course not. She shook her head.

His eyes blazed back. "I want all the love you have to give. So you see, you must take my little presents. My gifts are less than yours."

With no more explanation he removed their hands and they continued walking to the car. Angie treasured the warmth of his love. All that she had to give. The thought made her glow.

* * *

When Angie notified her college friends about her wedding, they changed their ski vacation plans to fit around it. They all wanted to be bridesmaids, happy to be in touch with her again.

That morning, Perri, Ellen and Stormy joined Angie’s flower girl, Selina, in the upstairs bedroom at Grandma Miller’s.

“Just think, Angie, we voted you the last to get married because you’re so independent,” Perri said with a toss of her long blond curls. “Only Jennel and Ellen beat you to the altar. And Jennel already has a baby girl.”

“When the right man comes, you don’t wait,” said Ellen, holding up her rings proudly.

Angie looked at them and smiled. Soon she would be wearing hers. “I didn’t meet Jennel until after I got here. I had only heard about her.”

“She was only a Hokie for two years. When she got her business started, she left. It was just before I arrived. How about you two?” Ellen looked at Stormy and Perri. “Any future husbands hanging around?”

“Not me,” Perri said with a wave of her hand. “I’ve got a job with a department store, as one of their buyers. I’ll be traveling all over the world, and no man would like that. So I’ll hold off for a few years. At least five.”

Angie looked at Stormy. “And you?”

Stormy shook her head. “Hal’s a boxer. No one wants to take a chance dating his sister. He’d have to be able to defend himself if Hal ever got mad at him. Besides....”

“Uh, huh?”

“Isn’t your step-brother still available, Perri? I might take a look at him.”

“Help yourself. Owen travels a lot, though. It’s hard to catch him home. Anyone know why Jo couldn’t make it?”

“She stayed on an extra year to get her bachelor’s degree in meteorology,” Angie explained. “She’s in the middle of some project, but sent her love.”

“She needs to join our Facebook group.”

Perri held up Angie’s dress, examining the tiny waistline with awe. “It’s unreal to be so thin, Angie. Doesn’t Ryan feed you?”

“Of course. I’m just never hungry. And the pressure of these past months has been intense.”

“They never caught your thief, did they?”

“No. He disappeared.”

“Probably in Brazil or somewhere by now.”

“Probably. But not living off MXOIL’s money. Ryan got it all back for them.”

Perri held the dress up so that Angie could slip into it. “I’d like to have seen his face when he found out. Do you think he’ll try to get revenge?”

“No. Besides, I’ve got a watch dog.” Angie motioned toward Tag, who had appropriated Angie’s bed as a vantage point.

Stormy laughed. “That little pup?”

“Yes.”

“What can she do?”

“Nothing now— we can’t even get her to bark at strangers— but just wait till she grows older.”

Angie wondered what to do with Tag. She knew Tag would follow her down the stairs, right up to the front door where the ceremony would take place. “Selina, call Thaddaeus. Have him put her outside until the wedding is over.”

“Will do.” Selina ran over, opened the door, and called her brother. “Take Tag outside. Through the kitchen.”

“Okay.” The boy scooped a reluctant Tag into his arms, and carried her away.

“Sit still,” demanded Stormy, as she bent down to button the back of Angie’s dress. “You wiggle worse than Selina.” She winked at Selina and the girl laughed.

“Did your dad come, Angie?” Stormy asked.

“No. He said he wasn’t coming if Mom was going to be here.”

“But she isn’t.”

“No. She’s having another baby, and her doctor said she couldn’t travel.”

“Then why— ”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just... them. I refuse to let it bother me.” When she was little, she had thought she caused the arguments. She often considered running away, but would’ve had to give up gymnastics, and she wasn’t willing to do that.

Now she realized her parents had destroyed their own marriage. The same problems were probably just as much in effect in their new families. “I’m marrying into a family that cares, and that’s what’s important. Ryan’s father jumped at the chance to walk me down the aisle.”

“Super.”

“Well, you’ve got us,” said Perri as she pinned the veil in Angie’s hair. “We’ll ‘mom’ you— at least for today.”

They all stepped back to admire their handiwork. “Devastating,” Perri pronounced. “You’ll knock his eyes out.”

A knock on the door made them all look that way.

“You about ready, Angie? It’s time.” Angie recognized the voice as that of Ryan’s father.

“We’re coming.” Angie took the flowers Stormy handed her and gave them all a delighted nod. “Let’s get on with it. I can’t wait.”

Ellen opened the door to let Mr. Duvall in while the others grabbed their bouquets and formed a line. In his dark suit, he looked a lot like Ryan and Angie’s heart glowed. Ryan had the same half-smile when he looked at her. Already she felt connected to his parents. At the end of their honeymoon, they planned to visit Ryan’s brothers and his other sister, who couldn’t make it on such short notice.

Mr. Duvall gave a wave to Robyn standing at the foot of the stairs. She turned on the music to signal the start of the procession.

Selina went first, carefully dropping rose petals from her basket, then Stormy, Perri, and Ellen. Angie took Ryan’s father’s arm, glad of his support, and started down the stairs. Near the bottom, she looked over the crowd, spotting Jennel with her baby, then Mary and Alison. They hadn’t asked very many people, but it looked like all had come. Even the children from the area who climbed the wall were there, dressed so neatly she almost couldn’t recognize them.

Eric Hayes was there, with two policemen in uniform, so they must’ve taken off their lunch break. Grandma Miller was seated next to Ryan’s mother. And Ryan, his face beaming, stood near Grandma’s front door next to his best man, Jennel’s husband, Zack Waylan. It had seemed strange that Zack and Ryan had already known each other.

They reached the front and Ryan’s father put her hand in Ryan’s. Dry cold— it reminded Angie of how his hand had felt at Warren’s funeral. But he said his vows without faltering as they followed the words practiced... “till death do us part.”

Tag’s shrill bark broke everyone’s concentration. Embarrassed, Angie glanced outside to see—

A tall man with a long, flat nose, gun in hand, his face distorted by rage, trying to shake Tag off his leg. It was the man she had almost run into before colliding with Scott. Vince.

She screamed. “No!”

* * *

Ryan spun, saw Vince, and knocked Angie to the floor as Vince fired through the window next to the door, shattering the glass. As the murderer fired again, causing the crowd to scatter, Ryan charged.

That shot didn’t miss. Ryan felt the blow to his side, staggering him, as he threw open the door. Tag had sunk her teeth deep in Vince’s leg and the killer was trying to shake her off and shoot at the same time.

One blow— Ryan chopped down with his hand— reminding himself at the last moment not to kill the guy. He didn’t know how Angie would react and didn’t want to spend the first part of his marriage going through the court system.

Eric pushed through the crowd, the two policemen right behind him. They had their guns pulled, but put them away and slapped a set of handcuffs on Vince, who was now on the deck, moaning.

“You’ve been hit.” Eric pointed at the front of Ryan’s white shirt, now covered in blood, but Ryan ignored him.

“Angie?” His voice sounded strained, urgent. “You okay?”

She nodded, brushing off her gown as she sat on the floor.

“Anyone hurt?”

“Only you,” Eric said. “The first bullet hit over by the stairs, thanks to your dog.”

“Make it let go!” Vince yelled, jerking his leg so that Tag flew around in the air. In spite of this, Tag stayed firmly attached.

“Good dog,” Ryan said. He was going to have to buy Tag a steak for this. He recognized Vince now as the lawyer Kathleen had with her at the club.

Eric tried to pry her jaws open, but Tag knew her duty. Her teeth were clamped where they should be.

“Tag,” Angie called. “Come here.” Releasing Vince, Tag ran to her and jumped in her lap, licking her face. “I guess you can join the wedding after all,” she said, hugging the dog to her.

Robyn held up her cell phone. “I’ve called an ambulance. You’d better lie down, Ry, and let someone bandage you.”

Ryan put his hand over the wound and applied pressure. An ambulance and hospital were not in his plans. “In a minute. This bum is not going to delay the most important moment of my life. Give me the ring, Zack.”

Zack handed him the ring, and he motioned the preacher and Angie over to the door. She stood beside him as the minister cut the service short. They finished saying “I do” and Ryan put the ring on her finger.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

There. That was what he wanted. Nothing else mattered. Joy filled him as he smiled down at her, Tag sitting importantly at her side.

Now for a kiss, before the world went black.

* * *

Ryan didn’t finish the kiss, collapsing in Angie’s arms. “Oh!” She eased him down to the floor, frightened.

One of the policemen had a first aid kit in his hand— he must have run to his car and retrieved it— and he quickly bandaged Ryan.