A New Day (72 page)

Read A New Day Online

Authors: Nancy Hopper

    
By the time he'd had his sleep out and was ready to join the living in Salt Lake, though, she was definitely ready for him to wake up.

    
She found him in her hot tub, late the following afternoon.  She gave him a wicked smile, and disappeared into her dressing room.  When she came out, she was wearing a strapless bikini that made him wish with all his heart that the wedding was behind them.

     
With a smile curving her lips, she stepped down into the tub and snuggled into his arms.  "I thought you'd never wake up."  She pouted, rubbing her hands over his shoulders and kissing his throat.

     
"You're going to make me pay, aren't you?" he asked with a despondent sigh.

    
"Pay for what?" she asked innocently.

    
"For sleeping so long.  For not being married yet.  You name it, I'm paying for it."

    
She laughed.  "Timothy, don't be so grumpy."

    
"I can't help it." He protested.  "My blood turns to liquid fire every time you come walking toward me in some sadistic creation specifically designed to drive me out of my mind."

    
Tasha laughed.  "It does serve you right."  She sighed, easing back into the bubbling water.

    
"Tasha, honey.  Seriously, we've got to make it soon.  I'm losing all reason." He pleaded.  "Set a date."

     
She rolled her eyes.  "Is it that bad, darling?"

     
"Yes."  He assured her immediately.  The way his eyes darkened and the husky note in his voice, took her a little bit by surprise.  "I want you, and I want you now!  I'm quickly losing my desire to wait for the social conventions.  Give me a break, and let's get on with it."

    
She laughed at him.  "Oh, Timothy.  Come on, now!  You know we have to observe all the conventions.  What would the press do with it, if we were to elope?  Besides, I don't think your parents would probably appreciate it.  You
are
their only son, I believe?"

      “
Stop talking sense, Tasha, it aggravates me.  Set a date."

    
"Why don't
you
set it?  Make it just as soon as you want."

     
He looked at her suspiciously.  "Really?"

     
"Sure.  Daddy and I can handle just about anything you throw at us."

    
"All right.  I'll go talk to him, as soon as we're done here."

    
Tim quickly showered and dressed, and made a beeline for Brent's office.  He went in, when Brent snarled in response to his knock, and stopped short at the sight of himself on television.  The setting was the airport, and Pattie Danniels was groveling at his feet.

    
"Wow.  Perfect timing."  Tim snorted derisively.  He closed the door behind him, and sat in a chair opposite Brent's wide desk.

    
"Well, check out the latest spectacle."  Brent growled.  "You're a lot of fun to have around, my friend."  He congratulated Tim.

    
"Well, at least I put an end to it."  Tim pleaded.  "You know, all I ever wanted was to love Tasha.  Things just keep getting complicated, somehow."

    
"I know.  That ... Smith creature is threatening to sue me."  He grumbled.

    
"With his bribe hanging out there?  Wouldn't be very smart, would it?"  Tim snorted.  "If he's gonna sue anybody, it seems like it should be Pattie, or her magazine.  They're the ones that went public wit it."

    
"That would make too much sense."  Brent denied.  "But my lawyer's working on it.  I suppose I've got this coming, for ever taking his stinking money."

    
"Why did you, Brent?  Why didn't you just let the police handle it?" Tim asked carefully.

    
Brent shrugged.  "He threatened to ruin me financially.  And he could have, at the time.  I figured what was done, was done.  It was the only way to end the thing, and keep him away from my daughter without a legal battle."

    
Tim looked at his hands, and said a silent prayer before he lifted his eyes.  "Brent, I want to marry Tasha."

    
"What are you telling me for?" Brent snapped.

    
Tim looked up at him with clear, earnest eyes.  "Because you're her father.  I want your blessing."

    
Brent chewed on the end of his cigar and considered the young man before him.  "Well, that's an old-fashioned notion.  Besides, I already gave her away, in a manner of speaking."

    
Tim nodded.  "But she's back in your household, and she's still your daughter."

    
Brent squinted his eyes, and tossed his head toward the television screen.  "Do you think you shut her filthy mouth up?"

    
Tim shrugged.  "I believe so.  The Lord only knows, when it comes to Pattie.  I did my very best to get her back on the straight and narrow."

    
"Huh.  Well, Timothy, marry Tasha.  It'll help all this blow over.  If you want my blessing, you've got it." He added gruffly.

    
Tim grinned.  "Thanks, Brent.  I am sorry for all the upset, and I appreciate your blessing more than I can say."

    
Brent stared at him thoughtfully.  "What are you going to do about the kids?"  he asked hesitantly.

    
Tim shrugged.  "Take good care of them." He answered, unsure what was bothering Brent.  "Gary was one of my best friends.  Every time I look at those kids, I remember him; and I love them even more.  Don't worry about them."

    
"Oh, I know you'll take good care of them, it's just that I'm concerned about their ability to adapt.  It'll take some time for them to get used to the idea, you know?  Maybe they'd do better if you took things a little bit slow."

    
Tim's heart plummeted.  "Brent, if things go any slower, I'll die."  he protested with a meaningful look.

    
Brent chuckled.  "I don't mean postponing the wedding, Tim.  I mean -- well, what if you all lived here for a while?  Let them get used to you and Tasha being together.  Maybe you could just live here, part of the time every year.  You know, you're welcome to the house in Idaho, anytime you want.  Or the flat in New York.  There's plenty of room for you.  Do you have to live in Wyoming?"

    
Tim shrugged.  It was hard to answer.  "Plane fare could get pretty rough."  He laughed uneasily. 

    
"Timothy, sit down and listen to me."  Brent ordered.  "I want you to get this through your thick head.  I've got enough money to fly you wherever you want to go, every day for the rest of your life.  And I wouldn't even miss it.  I've got nothing better to do with my money.  You're marrying into my family.  Set up an office in Seattle, if you want to.  I don't care.  What I
do
care about is seeing my daughter and my grandchildren.”

    
He leveled a steely look at Tim.  "I'll be honest with you.  I really don't want you yanking them out of here and dragging them off to Wyoming, unless you feel you have to.  I won't interfere, but I'm telling you how I feel."

    
Tim looked at Brent with dawning comprehension, and compassion.  "Well, I'll tell you what, Brent.  I promised both of them a pony, and a kitten, and Lucas is pretty set on seeing them pigs.  And, my heart is in that ranch.  My dad can’t run it alone anymore, he saves a good deal of the heavier work for me.” 

    
"But, I don't see a problem with us being wherever you are, a good deal of the time.  You know, you could build a house on the ranch, too.  You're welcome to be with us there, anytime.  I don't want you to worry about it.  I'm not going to take them away from you any more than I have to.  There's nothing we can't work out.”

    
"But, I do feel that they’ll accept me more readily if we become one household in Jackson, right after the wedding. "You’d be welcome as our guest, though, for as long as you want to stay.  My house is fairly large.  You could even live there if you want.  We could expand it to give you a suite and office.  Whatever will make you happy."

     
Looking at Brent, as he absorbed Tim's answer, Tim began to see his lonely, aching, fearful heart.  He could see that the man was deeply touched.

    
"You know, this time with Tasha and the kids has been the only thing that's really ever worked for me.  I ... I really hate to see them go." He admitted to Tim, keeping his eyes averted.  "I'd be grateful if you could learn to be part of us.  At least part of the time.  But I can see the wisdom of your going to Jackson for awhile.  I’ll think about coming down weekends when I can.  If you really mean it, maybe I’ll build a place there, with you."

    
Tim smiled at him.  "No problem.  I like being around you.  But Brent, have you ever considered getting married again?" he asked curiously.

    
Brent frowned.  "Naw.  It wouldn't be right to do that to a woman."

    
"What do you mean?" Tim asked, laughing.  The man perplexed him.

     
Brent shrugged.  "I trash women out, Timothy.  I ruin them.  Somehow, I always end up blowing it.  I get the hots for someone else, I'm always looking for a new thrill.  One time, Tasha caught me with a fifteen year-old girl, and told me what she thought of me.  I busted her nose, and I lost her for a number of years.  But as time went by, I began to realize that she was right.  What I was doing was ludicrous.  So for the past five years or so, I've pretty much stayed away from the marriageable kind of women.  I have numbers I can call for safe and very expensive company when I need it." He said cockily, wondering if it would shock this young preacher man.

     
Tim watched him calmly, his face betraying no shock, no disgust, or contempt.  "Is this the way you want it to be?  What happened to cause it, Brent?  I guess what I'm saying is, you had to be innocent at one time?  You married with the intention of making it last, didn't you?"

    
Brent shrugged.  "My Aunt Jane taught me the joy of sex when I was thirteen.  By the time I got married, I'm not sure that I cared, anymore.”

    
He chuckled.  “You know, there is only one woman I wish I would have married.  Maybe, if I'd been smart enough to do that then, things would be different.  But now, there's no going back."

    
"The root of the problem for you then, is your Aunt Jane.  It's a generational thing, Brent.  It can be broken.  You can go back to being a man who can have a wife, if you want it."

    
"Not possible."  Brent denied with a sneer.

    
"Entirely possible.  But it's up to you."  Tim argued gently.

    
"How?"  Brent asked darkly.

     “
We'll break the spiritual bondage that began for you in your relationship with your aunt.  I'll bet someone treated her the same way she treated you."

    
"And I suppose you heard this from God."  Brent taunted.

    
"Uh, huh." Tim confirmed as his prophetic gift started flowing.  "Your Aunt Jane was twenty when she seduced you.  And her brother Raymond was watching.  If you don't think so, ask her and watch her come unglued.  Your great uncle Jimmy seduced your Aunt Jane.  And he was later shot by the father of a twelve year-old girl he ruined.  Shot through the neck.  Killed him on the spot."

    
Brent's cigar fell out of his mouth.  He quickly bent over to pick it up off the floor.  He carefully put it in an ashtray.  "How did you hear about that?  Tasha knows nothing about it."

    
"I know, and I don't plan to tell her, Brent.  Your first wife was named Emilie.  She was Tasha's mother, and you never loved her.  You loved a woman named ... Elena.  Still, you wish you hadn't discarded Tasha's mother, for the child's sake.  But now, she is married and she lives in Europe."

     “
Cut it out!  Who told you this crap?  What else do you know?"

    
Tim shrugged.  "I know that you've tried everything once.  Brent, I am seeing a lot of stuff.  Do you really want me to tell you all of it?"

    
"No!  No, stop."  Brent paled.

    
"Brent, this brings me no pleasure.  Believe me;  I see it all and I can tell you details nobody else knows.  Things no living person could tell."

    
"Why?" Brent shouted at him, looking wild-eyed.

    
"So that you will know and believe that He is Lord God Almighty.  He wants you to know."

    
"No way.  Tim, you can't make me believe in your God!  Come on, now, be reasonable."

    
"There was a boy named Willie."  Tim went on resolutely.

    
"Stop!  Stop it, now."  Brent begged.  There was sweat beading on his brow.  "You can't ... you can't talk about that.  It will get me killed.  You can't possibly know about that."

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