[Desert Roses 03] - Beneath A Harvest Sky (26 page)

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief. At least Richland was being reasonable about the matter. With his eyes narrowed, Richland studied Duncan a moment in silence, then nodded. “Go ahead and set your trap.

Approach them if you can get the museum to allow you to use real artifacts. I’ll get someone to watch them and see what they do. You send word to me as soon as you have word from them one way or another.”

“Of course,” Duncan said, getting to his feet as Mr.

Richland did likewise. “I can’t help but believe we’re on to something here. I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise.”

“I hope, for your sake, you’re right. I would hate to be made the laughingstock of New Mexico. It wouldn’t sit well with me, Mr. Hartford.”

“Nor with me.”

As soon as Richland departed, Duncan immediately went to his superiors. It took some convincing, but they finally agreed that Duncan could offer three pieces of museum art. One was an intricately detailed squash blossom necklace. Another piece was a wooden statuette of the Madonna and Child. Last was a beautifully designed silver tray. All three pieces were chosen because of their durability. Duncan knew that even if he had to go forward with some sort of exchange, the pieces would probably remain unharmed in the process.

With that matter taken care of, Duncan then began to consider how he might approach Jennetta and Phillip. He would have to handle the matter delicately. If they were to blame, then a bold approach might scare them off. But if Duncan was too subtle in the matter, they might not take the bait. It was also possible that if they were completely innocent, they might run to the legal authorities and expose the investigation, and that was the last thing he needed.

He thought of Rainy and wondered if she could get him an audience with either Jennetta or Phillip.

Surely there was a way. He pulled on his coat and hat and set out to find Rainy. With any luck at all he could avoid explaining himself and still accomplish what was needed. Once he managed to prove Rainy’s innocence, then maybe he could tell her about his feelings for her. Maybe he’d even let it be known that he’d worked hard to keep Richland from jumping to conclusions and having her arrested. If she knew how much he cared, how he’d tried to protect her from the law officials, how he’d even set aside the job he’d worked so hard to get, then maybe she’d understand how deeply he’d come to love her.

He smiled to himself. Yes, it would be best to wait until her name was cleared, and then they’d both be at liberty to reveal their true feelings.

He glanced at his watch and headed for La Fonda, knowing Rainy would probably be there checking her dudes in. If not, he’d head back to the boardinghouse and wait for her there.

The bustle of the crowd in the lobby of La Fonda made Duncan worry that he’d missed Rainy. He asked several of the couriers he knew if they had any idea where Rainy might be. No one had seen her since she’d dropped her travelers off at the registration desk nearly thirty minutes earlier.

Duncan was just about to give up when he rounded the corner to find a young couple in a tight embrace.

They were kissing rather passionately, but all at once the woman pushed the man away. Duncan quickly ducked into the shadows.

The woman was Rainy and the man was Phillip Vance.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Y
ou had no right to do that!” Rainy broke from Phillip’s embrace and headed for the hotel door.

Phillip followed and took hold of her before she could rush outside. “I only kissed you.”

Rainy nodded. “Yes, but you had no right.”

“But you’re the woman I love . . . the woman who loves me.”

“Oh, half the world loves you, Phillip Vance,” Rainy said, then stormed out of the hotel. She could hear Phillip hot on her heels. Once outside, Rainy turned around and met Phillip head on. “But I’m not one of them.”

“Not one of what?”

“I’m not one of the masses who love you.”

She could see his expression contort. It was almost as if he couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. He’d been adored for so long, Rainy figured he probably had no idea how to deal with rejection.

“But I thought you would marry me. I thought it was understood. You seemed quite happy in my company.”

Rainy sighed. How could she make it any clearer to him? “Phillip, we’ve hardly seen each other in the last two months. I presumed you’d put aside any interest in me because I didn’t have so much as a letter in that time.”

“I wanted to write, but I was busy with my work.

Surely you can understand that. You travel all the time and know there is hardly a chance for lengthy communications.”

“I think if I were of a mind to marry someone, I would have made the time for ‘lengthy communications,’ as you put it.”

Phillip’s expression contorted. “But I thought you cared for me. You seemed so happy in my company.”

Rainy wanted to roll her eyes. How ver y self-centered this man could be. Even now he seemed to have no idea that more than once she’d been miserable sharing his companionship.

“To be honest, Phillip, at first I thought you were the type of man I could love. I’ll admit I was definitely enamored by your movie-star charm and handsome features.” She smiled and reached out to touch Phillip’s arm. “But we’re too different. I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. We’re from two different worlds. You have a lifestyle I could never hope to be happy in.”

“You don’t know that,” he protested.

“Oh, but I do.” She squeezed his arm and felt her heart ache at the pleading in his voice. “At the end of August, I plan to go to Scotland with my parents.” She hated the thought of leaving New Mexico, but there didn’t seem to be a better answer.

“Please don’t say these things, Rainy. Please.”

Rainy began to walk toward the Plaza. She hoped that by doing so she might clear her mind. She hadn’t been prepared for Phillip’s emotions, and now she felt guilty for the way she’d just blurted out her thoughts.

She supposed it was because, after weeks and weeks of not seeing him, she just wanted to get the message across before he was called back unexpectedly to California.

“Rainy, you’re just afraid of the unknown,” Phillip argued as he followed behind her.

“No, it isn’t that. I can’t make you understand this, but my first allegiance, my first love, is to God. You have no desire for God in your life, and we would always be at odds over this. I thought maybe you’d come into my life so that I could share the joy I have in Jesus Christ. But you want no part of that—in fact, you scoff at such things.”

His expression grew more desperate. He took hold of her and shook her ever so gently. His blond hair fell forward, making him look more like a little boy pleading for his own way than a man in love. “But I would never deny you the right to worship your God in any fashion you desired.”

“But my faith is the foundation of who I am. Everything about me—everything you claim to love—is a product of that foundation. So long as it was just a matter of ‘my God’ versus ‘your god’—never to be ‘our God’—we couldn’t be happy.”

“But I have no god . . . so there would be no conflict.”

Rainy felt tears come to her eyes. “Oh, Phillip, you’ve made for yourself a god of fame and fortune.

You have a god, but you simply refuse to understand the hold it has on you. I’m sorry, but I know deep in my heart I could never fully love or respect any man who didn’t love and respect God first.”

“Then it’s truly over?”

Rainy smiled as a tear glistened in her eye. “It never really began, Phillip.”

Phillip cast his gaze to the ground. “Then I suppose I should go.”

“Yes,” Rainy said softly. “I’m sure that would be best.”

Phillip turned to go, then stopped. He looked around in true movie-star fashion, dropped his gaze to the ground, then slowly looked up. “I really do love you.”

Rainy had a vague recollection of this scene from a movie, but instead of rushing into his arms as the screen heroine had done, she shook her head. “Goodbye, Phillip.”

He walked away, leaving Rainy with her sorrow. She wasn’t sad for what they might have had, but rather she was grieved by the fact that Phillip cared nothing for God. She walked along the Plaza, ignoring the couples that surrounded her, wishing she could sort through her feelings.

Should I have tried harder to help him understand, Lord?

Should I have worked more diligently to bring him to an
understanding of the Bible?
The more she questioned her actions, the worse she felt. So much of her life was in turmoil, and this scene with Phillip, although necessary and overdue, was more than she wanted to deal with. Maybe he really did love her. Maybe it wasn’t just a game to him.

She sat down on one of the benches not far from the obelisk that stood in honor of the fallen dead from various battles. The memorial only served to remind Rainy that life was fleeting and the choices you made were ones that often changed the course of your life forever. Would Scotland be one of those choices? Was there a strong, God-fearing Scotsman who waited in her future? Did she even care anymore?

Putting her hands to her face, Rainy tried to fight back her tears, but it was no use.

“Rainy?”

It was Duncan, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “What do you want?”

“Are you all right?”

She wiped at her tears and steadied her voice. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine. You look like you’re crying.”

“Well, that’s because I am crying.”

Duncan sat down beside her. “Why?”

Rainy bit at her lower lip as a sob broke from her voice. “Because I’ve just hurt Phillip deeply. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I did.”

“How did you hurt him?”

She finally met his gaze. “I refused his proposal of marriage.” She broke down and cried in earnest. “I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

Duncan surprised her by pulling her into his arms.

“Just cry if it makes you feel better.”

“But it doesn’t. It doesn’t help at all,” she sobbed.

“I’m confused and frustrated and I don’t know what

God wants of me. I try to do what I’m supposed to. I pray and get a peace about things, then something comes along to wreak havoc with my life.” She cried even harder.

“Shhh, it’ll be all right—you’ll see.”

“I try to make the right decisions, Duncan, really I do. But I’m no good at it. I just keep making the wrong decisions and everyone always thinks the worst of me.”

“I don’t understand. Who thinks badly of you?”

Rainy pulled away just enough to see his face.

“Everyone. Just think of it. You yourself were concerned about whether or not I’d stolen Indian artifacts and oil paintings. When I worked at the university I was falsely accused of stealing artifacts too. It’s like a bad dream repeating itself again.

“I’ve never stolen anything in my life, but because someone put artifacts in my desk and locked my office tight, I was blamed for the theft. Now I fear it’s happening all over again and I’m being blamed for something I didn’t do. And every time I try to figure a way to clear my name, something happens to keep me from succeeding. I’m so weary. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Duncan pulled her back against him. “Just have a good cry and you’ll feel better.”

Rainy warmed to his embrace but stated, “No, I won’t. You don’t understand. I love God, but I don’t seem to be able to let go of my fears and let Him control my destiny. I’m always pushing and pulling and trying to make things go my way. Even now, even telling you all of this, in the back of my mind I’m still trying to figure out who really took the artifacts. I think Chester Driscoll had a hand in my being blamed at the university, so I can’t help but wonder if he isn’t involved in the thefts on the trip. After all, he has either accompanied us on those trips or he’s had friends who have. Then I think to myself, just forget the whole thing and move to Scotland, where no one knows you.”

She reached up and wiped her eyes, then just rested against Duncan’s shoulder. “Why can’t life be simple?”

Duncan chuckled. “I’ve asked myself that many a time. But seriously, Rainy, if you think there’s some good reason to believe Driscoll has had a hand in the thefts, you should let someone know.”

She rose up and pushed away. “No one would believe me. They’d just think I’m trying to take the focus off of myself. Until I have some real evidence or can get Chester to admit whatever role he played, I suppose I’ll just have to bear the misery. And since it’s already been three years, I doubt clues and evidence are just going to pop up for the taking. No . . . I think getting as far away from here as possible is the answer.” But her tone said otherwise, and she knew she was far from convincing.

With regret, she eased out of his arms, immediately missing their comfort. Duncan had proven himself to be quite kind and considerate, but she didn’t want to take advantage of that.

“I’m sorry for all of this. I shouldn’t have told you that stuff about the university and Chester. I’ve never told anyone outside of my family. Please promise me you’ll keep it between us.”

Duncan nodded. “Of course. I would never do anything to hurt you.”