Three Brides, No Groom (18 page)

He responded with a hearty laugh. “OK, we’re on. I’ve got to
get going, or I’ll be late for the academy. I’ll see you tonight at six.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” Not so much the dinner, because she
knew she was going to be poked and prodded with questions, but being with
Brent.

* * *

The workday was over before Maddie knew it. She was
never quite sure why the large downtown insurance agency had hired a history
major. She suspected Uncle Alfie had something to do with it. He had his
connections and didn’t hesitate to use them. But she was happy to have the job
and worked hard to prove herself.

At five o’clock, spirits high, she breezed out of the office
and was back at her apartment in plenty of time to be ready when Brent
arrived.

He was prompt. When she opened her door to him, he took one
look at her and his eyes widened with appreciation. “Hi,” he said, and whistled
softly. She had chosen to wear a short-sleeve ankle-length summer dress in a
pastel floral print. It was one of the most demure outfits she owned.

“Hi.” She had never been shy around men, but she felt shy now.
Her eyelashes fell, fanning her cheekbones.

“Have you thought about me as much as I have you?” he asked,
his words low and raw.

She wouldn’t have admitted it if he hadn’t spoken first. All
day Brent had been on her mind and in her heart. Earlier, too. From the moment
he’d found her in the church, he’d dominated almost her every waking thought and
ventured into her dreams, as well.

“I’ve thought about you, too,” she admitted, afraid to let him
know how much and so saying too little. She didn’t want to discount their
attraction, nor did she want to build it out of proportion. This was all
happening so fast.

He slowly expelled his breath, reached for her and pulled her
into his arms. It didn’t take him long to claim her mouth with his own. The kiss
was infinitely tender and prolonged, as if this was a reward he’d been waiting
to collect all day and he refused to be cheated by his own impatience.

Her heart was spilling over with joy. Once more she experienced
that incredible urge to weep, but she fought it. Tears made you weak. Tears made
you vulnerable and were to be avoided at all costs.

“Mom and Dad are eager to get to know you,” he said as he
escorted her outside.

“If you’re telling me this to make me feel less nervous, try
something else, all right?”

He chuckled. “It’s the first time I’ve ever brought a woman to
meet my parents.”

“Knowing that doesn’t help, either, Brent,” she told him, her
teeth clenched.

He chuckled again. “At one time you infuriated me more than any
woman I’ve ever known,” he said as he eased the car into the heavy flow of
traffic.

“That I can deal with,” she announced, then relaxed and smiled
at him. “I’m accustomed to irritating others. I guess that’s why I’m so good at
it.”

“Mom found your picture in the yearbook.”

Her spine went ramrod straight. Not the yearbook! Anything but
the yearbook! She’d dressed in the most outrageous way possible when she’d posed
for her senior photo. And then there were the candids….

Remembering, she groaned. “Please don’t tell me your mother
found the picture of me streaking at the football game last October.”

“That’s the one she liked best.”

She groaned more loudly.

“You had on flesh-colored underwear beneath the trench coat.”
It was true, despite the rumors that she’d been in the buff.

“Take me home. Just turn around and take me home.” No one
needed to tell her how this evening would go. No mother would want her son to
date someone like her—the someone she’d once been.

Her demand appeared to amuse him.

“Brent, I’m serious.”

“I know you are,” he returned calmly. “But there’s no reason to
worry.”

She didn’t believe that for a moment.

“My mother looked at the photo, and after her initial shock,
she told me…” He paused.

“Told you you’re a fool to so much as talk to me.”

“No,” he returned forcefully. “She laughed and confessed to
appreciating your individuality and grit. She knew about the incident.”

“So you told her about me way back last fall.”

“Just what you’d done. As I recall, I was rather put out about
it myself. I thought it was just plain stupid.”

“It was.” She would be the first one to admit that now.

“My mother said anyone who would do something that bold
is…”

“Nuts,” Maddie supplied.

“Brave, I believe was her word.”

“But not the type of girl a mother is anxious to have her son
date.”

He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “On the contrary. My
mother is a very special woman. It didn’t take her long to see past that
bad-girl act of yours.”

“Brent, I’m nervous.” The woman who’d raced across a football
field in front of the marching band wearing little more than a trench coat was
afraid of meeting a preacher’s wife.

“Don’t be.”

* * *

As it turned out, he was right. The dinner, the evening,
everything was perfect. Brent’s parents were gracious and warm. In retrospect,
it made sense that they would be. They were the ones who’d shaped him into the
person he was, weren’t they? Brent Holliday was by far the most amazing man
she’d ever known. Honorable, kind and good.

After dinner he took her to his apartment, which was above the
garage. They sat at the kitchen table while their coffee was brewing, and at his
insistence she worked through the quadratic quandary on a piece of paper. He
watched and declared her brilliant. Then they sat side by side on the sofa,
drinking espresso and listening to a Beatles CD, holding hands and frequently
kissing. She couldn’t remember spending a more enjoyable evening.

“Are you free tomorrow night?” he asked when he dropped her off
at her apartment. Before she could tell him she was available
every
night, he kissed her, and then kissed her
again.

“I’m free,” she whispered, her eyes closed, her lips moist and
slightly swollen from his kisses.

“What about the night after that?”

“Free.”

“Good.” He eased away from her with a reluctance that made her
heart sing. “I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Please.” She smiled and leaned against her open apartment door
as he walked backward, taking small unwilling steps.

She blew him a kiss, and he grinned and did the same. She
didn’t close the door until he was completely out of sight. Then she raced to
the window and stared down on the street, watching till his car turned the
corner and was gone. Never had she felt so giddy or so young. Like being fifteen
all over again. In love, truly in love, for the first time in her life.

She walked around her apartment as if in a dream. None of this
seemed possible. Only a few days earlier she’d been in a pit of despair, certain
life had done her wrong. Now she was so happy it was almost frightening.

The test that proved she’d solved the quadratic quandary didn’t
seem important any longer. John Theda was a fraud, and sooner or later others
would learn that, too. Still, she fully intended on setting the record straight.
If he got away with doing this to her, he might try it again with another
student. He might use another unsuspecting female student the way he had her,
and she couldn’t allow that to happen.

First thing in the morning she would contact Dean Williams.
Brent had talked it over with her that evening and was in full agreement. He
felt strongly that now that she had the proof she needed, she should use it.

She smiled as she recalled his reaction to her showing him the
solution to the quandratic quandary. Not only had he claimed she was brilliant,
but he’d talked about her future and all the things she could do, growing more
excited and animated by the moment. She had laughed off his praise, embarrassed
by it. The only way to stop him had been to kiss him, and so she had, again and
again, loving him for believing in her, for encouraging her to be all she could
be.

The phone rang, and she looked at it, hesitating. It couldn’t
be Brent—he wouldn’t be home yet. She hadn’t told him about John’s call earlier
in the day. It would have alarmed him, and anyway, she could handle John.

“Hello,” she said, her voice cool and even.

“That was a touching little scene.”

She squared her shoulders, though it made her shudder to think
that he’d been out there watching her with Brent. “What do you want, John?”

“You mean you haven’t figured it out?”

“I told you this morning and I’ll say it again—don’t contact
me. It won’t do you any good. I’m having my phone number changed first thing in
the morning.”

He laughed, and the sound was cold and heartless, sending
chills down her spine. “You’re a fool. Don’t try to play games with me, Maddie.
I’m the master, and you’ll only end up getting hurt.”

“Goodbye, John.” She wasn’t waiting to listen to any more of
his threats. She had the test in a safe place, and she wasn’t going to allow him
to intimidate her.

Almost as soon as she replaced the receiver, the phone rang
again. This time she let the answering machine take it.

“You didn’t give me a chance to mention something important,”
John said. “Something you should know.” A pause. “I talked with Mrs. Johnson
this morning. You remember Mrs. Johnson, don’t you? She lives next door.” He
paused again, as if to give his words time to sink in.

“It seems that Mrs. Johnson saw something rather unusual the
other night. It’s actually rather humorous.” He chuckled. “Apparently I was just
pulling into the driveway when a young man—a former student of mine, she
guessed—launched himself over her fence and all but broke the land-speed record
in an effort to get into my home. When the back door turned out to be locked, he
hauled himself through my bathroom window. No easy task, I would guess.

“Being the concerned neighbor she is, Mrs. Johnson went out to
the street and wrote down his license-plate number.”

Maddie’s blood went cold.

“I had a friend run the number, and it seems the car belongs to
Brent Holliday. He’s a good friend of yours, I’ve noticed. A very good friend. I
imagine the police academy would be interested in knowing about young Holliday’s
nighttime activities, don’t you?”

“No!” Maddie cried, although there was no one to hear her.

“Pick up the receiver, Maddie,” John ordered. “We have
something important to discuss.”

She hesitated.

“Now!” he shouted, then, more calmly, “Before you force me to
do something you and your boyfriend would find very…uncomfortable.”

She flinched and with a trembling hand did as he requested.

Chapter 5

“I
don’t understand,” Brent said, studying
her. “I thought we’d already talked this out.” They were sitting at the kitchen
table in his apartment drinking tall glasses of iced tea. All Maddie had wanted
to do was explain that she’d changed her mind about reporting John to Dean
Williams and then be on her way, but he had refused to let her leave.

She felt his disappointment as keenly as her own. This wasn’t
what she wanted, but she had no choice. John hadn’t given her any alternative.
But Brent didn’t know that and never would.

“I’ve changed my mind,” she said in what she hoped was a
convincing tone. She downed the last of her tea and set the empty glass on the
tabletop, signaling that now she really had to go. “I’ve already canceled my
appointment with Dean Williams.”

“Why?” His eyes narrowed.

She had known it wouldn’t be easy to fool him with this
apparent change of heart, but she’d hoped she could pull it off and leave him
thinking she’d come to a decision that was best for everyone involved. A nearly
impossible task when she had trouble believing it herself.

“Why’d you cancel the appointment?” he pressed a second
time.

“Dean Williams won’t believe me.” She tried to make it sound as
simple as that. “The date on the top of the test is May sixth. Unfortunately I
write dates in the European style—the day first—so it could just as easily be
read as June fifth.”

“But it was a midterm test, and it says so. Dean Williams knows
when midterms were given. You shouldn’t have to prove a thing. It’s all there in
black and white for him to read. That sounds like a convenient excuse to me.
Come on, Maddie, what’s up?”

She’d been afraid of this. Afraid that Brent would use logic
against her. In reality she had no reason for canceling the appointment other
than to keep John from reporting the burglary. He had more than enough evidence
to have Brent and her arrested. If she’d acted alone, she would have willingly
called his bluff, but she refused to drag Brent’s name through the mud. Nor
would she allow John to destroy Brent’s future. Not when it was within her power
to prevent it.

“Nothing’s up,” she insisted. “I thought everything over and
decided it didn’t matter what John claimed. I know who solved the quadratic
quandary, and that’s all that really matters. Setting the record straight,
embarrassing him…well, it isn’t worth the hassle.”

Brent’s eyes told her that he didn’t believe her. He went very
still. “What happened?”

“What makes you think something happened?”

“You.” His face tightened until his mouth formed a pinched
line. “You’re different.”

“How could I be different?” she said, attempting to make a joke
of it. “I’m the same person I was a couple of days ago. Just remember, what you
see is what you get.”

“That wasn’t the way it always was.”

His words suggested something she didn’t like. “What do you
mean by that?”

“Just what I said. You wore a facade for years. It’s back,
Maddie, and something’s happened that you’re not telling me about. I know you,
and I want to know you better, but I can’t do that when you put up a steel gate
locking me out.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Am I?”

She needed something, anything, to distract him. “Is this what
you’re going to say every time we have a disagreement?” she demanded. “Accuse me
of blocking you out? Dredge up the past and throw it in my face?”

“I want the truth.”

“You got it.” She stood and walked over to the kitchen sink
with her glass. She’d downed the cold drink so fast she’d developed a headache.
Dear heaven, how she hated deception. But she had no choice.

“I have to go,” she whispered.

“Where are you headed?” he asked with more than a hint of
accusation.

“You think a few kisses give you the right to demand my
whereabouts twenty-four hours a day?”

Looking ashamed, Brent buried his hands in his pockets. “I
apologize. I had no right to ask you that.”

“True, but I’ll tell you anyway. I’m meeting a friend.”

The question all but burned from his eyes, but he wouldn’t ask,
and because she wanted them to part on good terms, Maddie sighed and hugged him.
“OK, if you must know, I’m having lunch with Susan Cabot. We grew up together.
Now stop, please. What I do or don’t do about that test paper is my
decision.”

He said nothing, but she felt his disapproval as keenly as if
he’d spoken. He followed her outside to where she’d parked her bicycle in the
driveway. “The person you’re cheating is yourself, Maddie. That’s what bothers
me most.”

“It’s my decision, Brent,” she reminded him again.

“You’re giving Theda a license to hurt someone else. By not
reporting him, you’re giving him the impression he can get away with fraud.”

“He won’t need me to prove anything. John will do it to
himself. His type always does. Haven’t you ever heard the expression ‘Time
wounds all heels’? John’s a first-class heel, and in time it will catch up with
him.” When it did, she would love to be around to witness it. The man was a
major jerk and deserved everything he had coming to him.

“Fine,” Brent said resignedly. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” The words nearly stuck in her throat. As hard as she’d
argued, as hard as she’d worked to convince him this was the best way, she
didn’t believe it for a minute. But she couldn’t, wouldn’t, hurt Brent, not when
all she really wanted was revenge. The trade-off was fair. In exchange for
serenity, she would give the file back to John and nothing would be said either
way.

Brent kissed her lightly and stepped back while she climbed on
her bike.

“You’ll call me?” she asked, needing to know he wouldn’t allow
this to stand between them.

He hesitated, smiled briefly and then nodded. “Sure. You want
to catch a movie later?”

Her relief was palpable and she smiled back, loving him so much
it was all she could do not to throw her arms around him and explain everything.
Instead, she said calmly, “That’d be great.” Her heart swelled with emotion. He
was disappointed in her, but he would work his way through it. By inviting her
to a movie, he was telling her that, despite this, the two of them would
continue as a couple. He hadn’t liked what she’d had to say, but he’d accepted
it.

Early in her dating career Maddie had discovered that a man’s
pride was often wrapped around his advice, and if she refused to do as he
suggested, it deflated his fragile ego. Brent’s sense of self was strong.

“I’ve got to return a book to the library this afternoon,” he
said, “and I’ll give you a call when I’m back. How does that sound?”

“Come here,” she instructed, holding on to the bike’s
handlebars.

“Come here?” he questioned as he advanced.

She looped her arms around his neck and, standing on tiptoe,
the bike balanced between her legs, kissed him. When she pulled away, his
breathing was ragged and so was hers.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” He seemed to have a problem finding his tongue.

“Just because.”

He grinned, his look almost boyish. “You can thank me again
later, all right?”

“Anytime you want.”

He chuckled, then watched her ride down the driveway, waving
when she entered the street. She smiled and waved back. But her smile faded as
she rounded the corner. She had never really hated John Theda. He’d hurt and
disappointed her, broken her heart and used her, but she’d never hated him. She
was close to doing so now, however. How she could have been so blind before, she
didn’t know.

* * *

Maddie hadn’t lied to Brent about her appointment. She
was having lunch with Susan Cabot, all right, but afterward she was meeting
John. It wasn’t a confrontation she looked forward to, but it was necessary. One
last meeting, and then it would be over once and for all.

Her lunch with her childhood friend went well. “You’ve
changed,” Susan said almost immediately. “What happened to my friend the
rebel?”

“I fell in love with a man who turned out to be a rat,” Maddie
explained sheepishly. “And the rebel in me died. I discovered I didn’t like the
woman I’d become and decided it was in my power to change that.”

“You look terrific.” Susan’s enthusiastic smile revealed her
approval. “Now tell me about Uncle Alfie. Is he still a darling?”

They spent the better part of two hours reminiscing, and the
dark cloud that had hung over Maddie’s head seemed less threatening by the time
they finished lunch.

After she left the restaurant, Maddie checked her watch. Her
meeting with John was scheduled for three-thirty at the fountain in the center
of the Queen Anne campus. In exchange for the file—including her test paper, of
course—John had promised to forget the entire incident and not report the
break-in to the police.

She thought of how long and often Brent had spoken of working
in law enforcement. He loved his work, loved the challenge, and the mental and
physical demands. He would be a good police officer and touch many lives for the
better. It helped to remember that as she biked toward campus.

Her sacrifice was small compared to what she had to gain, she
decided. John could accept all the credit he wanted; she didn’t care, as long as
he stayed out of Brent’s life and, for that matter, hers.

She arrived on time and was left twiddling her thumbs and
worrying. It was just like John to let her stew before he bothered to show.
Fifteen minutes after their agreed time, she saw him walking toward her.

Perspective being what it was, she took one look at him and
wondered how she could have been attracted to such a man. At the time she’d
thought of him as a modern-day Adonis. Now she could see he wasn’t anywhere near
as handsome.

“Hello, Maddie,” he said when he joined her. He eyed her with
undisguised approval. “You’re looking good, real good.”

“Sorry I can’t say the same for you.”

He laughed. “That’s what I always liked about you. A smart
comeback for everything.”

“Let’s get this over with,” she suggested, eager to be on her
way.

“Fine.” He held out his hand, expecting her to surrender the
file.

“Not so fast,” she said, and snickered softly. Could he really
believe that she would be so naive? He’d taught her well about mistrust, and she
wasn’t about to give him anything without a signed assurance. “I’ll need your
signature to our agreement.”

“You mean you don’t trust me?” His hurt-little-boy look was
almost laughable.

“Exactly.”

He scowled. “All right, all right. What exactly do you
want?”

“Other than your signature, I’d settle for a quart of your
blood.”

He laughed. “I do miss that wit of yours. You’ll always be the
same ol’ Maddie, won’t you?”

She didn’t bother to answer. Knowing John had changed her. A
part of her innocence had been forever destroyed. His treachery had tarnished a
piece of her soul. It had taken her a long time to fight back, but she’d won
that battle, thanks in part to Brent. For that she owed him far more than she
could ever repay.

From her backpack she removed the agreement she’d written up.
It was in an envelope, and she handed it to him to open and read. Since he
refused to admit in writing that she’d been the one to solve the quadratic
quandary, she’d listed some rather unsavory details about his personal life, and
his signature gave her permission to use these facts against him if he made
trouble for either Brent or her.

John set his briefcase on the cement rim of the fountain. He
read and signed the agreement grudgingly, then placed it back in the envelope
and gave it to Maddie. In exchange she handed him the test file.

“I won’t say it’s been a pleasure,” she said, reaching for her
bike. “I hope I never see you again, John.”

“Let me assure you, the feeling is mutual,” he said, and turned
away.

She climbed on her bike and rode off, eager to make her escape.
She biked down the narrow cement pathway toward the parking lot. Only a few cars
were there; when classes started up in a couple of weeks, it would be full
again.

Not until she was close to the street did she spy Brent’s car,
or at least she thought it was his. Her feet went slack on the pedals, and she
coasted several feet as she took a closer look.

It
was
Brent’s car, and he was
sitting inside. When he glanced up and saw her, he climbed out.

“Brent,” she said, shocked to see him, “what are you doing
here?”

“The library book, remember?” His words were charged with
anger.

He hadn’t told her he was returning the book to the
college
library, and now she wondered how much he’d
seen and how she could explain.

“You sold out, didn’t you?” he demanded.

“Sold out?”

“You sold Theda that test file. Blackmailed him. How much did
you get, Maddie? Forget justice, forget what’s right. Forget anyone else he’ll
cheat and hurt in the future, right? I hope he made it worth your while.”

The words to explain and defend herself stuck in her throat.
“Matters aren’t always what they seem.”

“Yeah, right. I saw the exchange. He handed you an envelope and
you gave him the file. I saw everything I needed to.”

She considered showing Brent the contents of the envelope, but
didn’t, because then he would know she’d surrendered the test file to protect
him.

“I’m asking you to trust me, Brent,” she said.

He stared at her for a long moment. “Show me the envelope.”

Briefly she closed her eyes. “I…I can’t.”

His look hardened, and she knew he was steeling himself against
her. “That says it all, doesn’t it?” He climbed back into the car. “I don’t
think it would be a good idea if we saw each other again, Maddie.”

“Brent—” She broke off before she could add “please.”