Wise Folly (28 page)

“Shut up!” Noah took a step closer to her and Catherine backed off. For the first time she was afraid of him. “
You
have a foul mouth, Kitty.
I'll
see that you never sing again, anywhere, if
I
ever hear that rumor.”

“Really, Noah.
I
can’t be the only one who knows.” She gave a slight high-pitched giggle. “Probably half the town is in on your little secret”

“You don’t
know
a damn thing! Now get out of here
and don’t ever let me see you again
or you'll never make another dime
.
"
Noah stood in the center of the room as he watched Catherine
grab
her purse
and
march, head high , out the door
.
His secretary raised a brow at Noah and he gave a silent nod in communication. She left, following Catherine to make sure she was
escorted
on the elevator and out of the building.

“Dianna.”

She stared at him, seeing
the
happiness she had felt only moments ago
go
fleeing
.

“Come in and close the door,” he finally said wearily, running a hand through his hair. “We don’t have to have
the
whole office hear us.”

Like an automaton, she did as she was told, standing just inside the room and waiting in stoic silence for him to accuse her of keeping the identity of his own child a secret
.
She couldn’t keep her eyes away from him. It was like watching a giant storm brewing, knowing that destruction would follow. But she was unable to run.

“I’m sorry, Noah. I’m so sorry.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

"About Catherine or something else?"

"I didn't realize until today that you were Tabby's father."

“So you finally decided to admit it?”

“Yes.”

“I waited all this time and you never said a word”

“
Y
ou knew?” she stammered, unable to believe that Noah had pretended to be Tabby’s uncle
all
the while knowing she was really his daughter. “
W
hy didn’t you ever say anything?”

“
I knew about
Charles
being st
erile for years, Dianna. So when I learned of Tabby’s existence and found out from June that you’d never seen other men,
I
knew she was mine. What
I
couldn’t understand was your reluctance to admit it
.
At first I thought that you genuinely believed Charles was Tabby’s father. But I sensed a conflict in you—a problem that you had to resolve before you could face the truth.
But you
did know, didn’t you?’

She nodded. "
Yes.
Charles
muttered something about it that night
,
but I
tried
so hard to block out the memory of the rape that
his
words went with it
, just leaving the pain a memory I clung to.
” She sighed
,
and he allowed her hand to drop, leaving her cold and
chilled.

“
So in
stead of blocking out Charles, you blocked out
our
nights together.”

She gazed at him, tears brimming he eyes.
"
I know.
I couldn’t accep
t
my
responsibility.
I had to be pregnant as the result of the rape. If I was pregnant with your child, then I had to take responsibility for the
way my parents abandoned me for being promiscuous
. I felt as if I had done something to provoke him, but I didn't know what I had done wrong. Then, I had so much to deal with. Especially if the pr
egnancy
was my own fault.
My values wouldn’t allow me to acknowledge that I had become an unwed mother of my own free will.” S
he leaned
against the back of the desk, staring at the hands that lay so quietly in her lap.

“
You wouldn't have been. I would have married you immediately."

"And you would have been forced into marrying me.  I couldn't live with watching you hate me while you still married me. Especially..." She shook her head.  "It doesn't matter now, Noah."

But he was
persistent
.  "
Why did you leave me, Dianna?” His voice
told her he wasn't going to let this go until he had the answers he needed.

She sighed.
“Because of the phone call.”

“What phone call?”

“I overheard a phone call you made to Philip. You were arranging a house and allowance for me—sweeping me under the carpet—and I couldn’t take it
.
I had to run before I lost any more
s
elf-respect
.
I couldn’t handle
th
e fact that you had slept with me, murmured words I thought meant you loved me, and then decided to set me up in a house you could visit when
ever
the
urge hit you
.
I had fallen in love with you and thought you could never love me in return because of what Charles had done. I couldn’t stand it
, so
I left and tried to cover my tracks as quickly as I could Then, when I found out I was pregnant
,
I couldn’t face the fact that you were the cause. I had given myself to you freely and you had rejected me. I blamed it on Char
l
es.
I really believed it, Noah. I didn't know he was sterile.
”

He sighed heavily. “So that was
it
,” he murmured more to himself than to her. “I thought I had frightened you
away
. I had no idea why else you would have run away unless you hated me.”

She
closed her eyes and swallowed the
myriad of
emotion
s
that wanted to spill out. She wasn't ready to deal with
all her inadequacies at once.  Neither could she deal with the
truth and tears.

She
didn’t hear him move but s
uddenly he was at her side, sitti
ng on the same desk facing her.
“Char
l
es was the youngest in my family, spoiled by both my sister and myself. We wanted to give him everything we never had
,
When I was in high school I worked for his first bike, my sister kept hens so she could sell
the
eggs for good clothes that would make him feel as well dressed as the other kids in
school
“By the time he was fifteen, we had
created a monster.
"

Not saying a word, she touched his hand.

"
His escapades were renowned throughout the countryside. He thought all he had to do was ask for money and it would drop like manna from heaven.
But w
hen Char
l
es found out he was sterile, it was a great shock to him. First he went to
our
sister,
and then
he finally came to me. We had been discussing it the day
I
interviewed you for a job seven years ago.
I wanted you
in the building, working
close to me so I could talk you into marrying me even back then, honey. But
, that
evening, when you had a flat tire,
he talked you into
having
a quick dinner with him, but
he had other ideas.
I knew you thought he was my brother and you were safe. I know you had the same hopes for our future that I did.
But
I
think he took his frustration out on you. It doesn’t excuse him, Dianna, but
I've
often wondered just how big a part I played in what happened. He had always come to me for help and this was one time I could do nothing.”

He kissed her tender
ly
on
the
forehead before continuing.

“After the rape,
I wanted to kill him.  Instead, I sent
Char
les
to stay at the ranch with my sister, Honey. The day before you
walked out of my
life
, Honey
called to say she couldn’t find
Charles
. Naturally,
I
thought he was hiding from us because of what had happened.
I
never intended to protect him from the law. I should have known better than to expect him to have a guilty conscience. He had picked up another gir
l
, one more willing, and they spent several days together pain
t
ing the town before he had th
e
accident
that took his life. The young woman was also hospitalized and she had no hospitalization insurance. But it was our responsibility to take care of her bills
until she was well again
and then arrange for a settlement. Those were crazy days and I had more on my plate than I could juggle.
” His voice grew hoarse. “I wanted to hold on to you, but
my primary job at that time was to
first straighten out
our
family
and then Wescomp's financial
mess. That was why I
was arranging for a house you could live in. I wanted you safe until everything was back in control
. Then
I
wanted to marry you. I loved you then, Dianna, just as
I
love you now.”

“Even after Char
l
es?”

He nodded. “It didn’t make any difference to me, darling.
I knew it wasn't your fault.
In fact I loved you more because I couldn’t
stop what my own brother had done to
you.” He smiled sadly, stroking back a stray lock of her hair. “Even when you were yelling at me like a virago.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me, instead of making me believe you married me because of Tabby?”

“Because I thought I had scared you away, not the telephone ca
ll.
I thought
that
if I brought you here to live, then perhaps you’d grow to love me too.”

Very slowly, Dianna smiled.
“And I
already loved you. I was scared that you might not love me and we'd be stuck in a loveless marriage where both of us wanted something different and neither would ever be happy again -together
or
apart.
”

He nodded
, his own smile slowing peeking through
. “Despite Catherine.”

She gave a little sob. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “
So, Mr. Weston 
now
can we live happily ever after?” “

Yes.
Now
.
” he stated firmly, “
We'll
move to the ranch, where we will raise cows, and chickens, and children. And not necessarily in that order.”

“
W
hat about Wescomp?”

He grinned.
“I sold it”

“But why? I thought you loved the company.”

He gave a deep sigh.
“I
've wanted to get out for a long time.
In the beginning it was a challenge and way
my way
out
of poverty but the last five years it's been my entire life and I didn't want it to be. I wanted to be a rancher, a father and most of all, your husband." He smiled at her and she felt her heart
fill with emotion
. I'd rather take it easy while I can enjoy it, not work all my life and have none of the things that make
my life
worthwhile
. I wa
nt to bring up our children away from this rat race. I was in the process of selling the company when I married you and then Catherine’s arrest interfered. The press had already linked her to me and I didn
’t want any adverse publicity
. I
t might have kept the new corporation
's stock
to
vary too much
or
lose its worth.
”

"You kept all of this a secret?"

"No, my staff knew exactly what was going on." He smiled. "But I didn't want the press to get hold of it until we were ready to sign the papers. The press release goes out next week." He searched her gaze. "Does that disappoint you? Would you rather live here in the city?"