Edwin reached out to pull the necklace from Rachel’s body. Sam’s hand clamped around his father’s wrist in an instant. For a moment, their strengths collided but Sam’s easily won out, fueled by his promise to his mother and his protection of Rachel.
“Don’t, Dad,” he warned him, pushing his hand away from Rachel. Despite Edwin McCoy’s height, Sam easily towered over him. “Mom gave it to her and told me she wanted Rachel to have it. You will
not
take it from her.”
It took every bit of effort for Rachel not to shrink back in fear at the cold hatred that faced her. Pulling strength from deep within her, she stood tall and proud, meeting Edwin McCoy’s cold gaze without flinching.
“You will regret your interference, Ms. Williams,” he told her angrily.
Sam pulled Rachel back toward him and stepped in front of her as if to shield her from his father. “Don’t you dare threaten my wife,” he told his father angrily.
“I’m not threatening,” his father said calmly, his cold eyes never leaving Rachel’s face. “I’m promising.”
Sam stepped aside and took Rachel’s hand firmly, leading her away from the table. “I knew this was a mistake to come here,” he told her angrily. “He’ll never change.”
As they walked the great distance to the doorway of the banquet room, Rachel could hear Sam’s father being introduced to the more than two hundred or so people that were in attendance. They were almost out of the room when Rachel pulled at Sam’s hand.
“Sam,” she stopped him. He turned to face her, and she saw how he was fighting to calm the anger he was feeling. “I left my purse on the table.”
Sam hesitated and rubbed his neck tiredly. When he made a move to walk back to the table, Rachel reached out to stop him.
“No, I’ll get it,” she told him firmly. “I’ll meet you at the door.”
She didn’t give him a chance to protest. She walked back to the table quickly and retrieved her purse, ignoring the hatred that dripped from Allison’s gaze when she saw the diamonds on Rachel’s ring flash as she reached for her purse.
“He only needs you as a brood mare,” Allison nearly hissed at her. “He wants a child so desperately that he’ll settle for any warm body that’s willing.”
Rachel straightened and faced her, unable to keep the shock from her face. Allison looked at her calmly and shrugged indifferently. It amazed Rachel that a woman that beautiful could be so ugly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Allison said finally. “After you’ve given him the child that he wants, he’ll be back to the life that he deserves. That means he’ll come back to me. You aren’t good enough to give him what he needs. He’ll be back. You’ll see.” She turned smugly, determined not to give any more of her time on such an insignificant creature.
Rachel was shaken by Allison’s words. She stood straight and tall and walked with every ounce of confidence and pride that she could muster. The walk from the table to the doorway seemed endless. She forced herself to walk slowly, smile, and nod to people as she passed them. The doorway was her target, and she concentrated on that destination. Despite the panic that was welling up inside of her, she looked the epitome of elegance and culture as she traveled the short distance to freedom, all the while her brain screamed inside her head that she had to get out of there. Once she was with Sam everything would be fine. She had to depend that his honesty would soothe her nerves and her fears. He would tell her the truth.
As she made her way to the doorway, she was aware of Edwin McCoy’s voice droning on behind her in a speech as he stood at the head table with a microphone in hand. His words didn’t make sense but that was probably because she was concentrating too much on what Allison had said to make much sense out of anything else.
She saw Sam standing in the doorway waiting for her and realized that he looked so at ease in his tuxedo at this elegant affair. Allison was right. He had been born to luxury and privilege. He
did
deserve the kind of life that living in Denver and socializing with the upper crust could offer.
“I would like to thank all of you for coming out tonight and honoring me at this wonderful dinner,” Edwin McCoy’s voice continued, his words finally permeating her thoughts. “I would like to share my thanks with you and my happiness at the decision that my son Dr. Samuel McCoy has just shared with me.”
Rachel froze in her spot. She watched Sam’s face as he looked across the great hall at his father in shock.
“My son will be returning to Denver Memorial in September to head up the wing for Pediatric Medicine that I have donated in his name.”
The burst of applause was instantaneous, but Rachel was barely aware of the commotion. She looked at Sam and saw the anger that was consuming him. His attention jerked away from his father and focused on her. There was such hatred in his eyes. Even though she knew that his anger wasn’t directed at her, she couldn’t help but draw back in fear.
“Let’s go,” he hissed, grabbing for her hand and walking quickly toward the exit.
She had to run to keep up with him and found herself winded and unable to go on because of the weakness in her injured ankle. “Sam, please stop,” she called to him, pulling her hand free from his grasp as they stood in front of the elegant venue.
He turned to face her. “I have to get out of here,” he told her angrily, desperation obvious in his voice.
“I know,” she said quietly, reaching up to touch his face gently.
Her tenderness undid him. He reached out and pulled her to him, crushing her in an embrace that spoke of years of frustration and loneliness, and a childhood filled with the distance and uncaring of a cold father.
“It doesn’t matter what he told everyone, Sam,” she whispered to him as she laid her cheek against his gently. “You still have a choice about what you’re going to do. He’s the one who will look like a fool. You won’t have to explain anything to anyone. Just live your life the way you want to.” She kissed his cheek tenderly as he held her and found herself stroking his back in an effort to comfort him.
“I can’t believe he threatened you, Kay, and Roy,” Sam said angrily, hugging her tightly to him.
“And you, too,” she reminded him.
“That doesn’t matter,” he dismissed it. He pulled back from her to look down at her. “You should have told me.”
“Maybe,” Rachel admitted slowly, “but I really had no way to protect you or Roy or Aunt Kay back then. I was only twenty.” She touched his cheek gently with her hand, tenderly brushing her fingertips along his jawline. “It’s okay.”
“No. It’s not okay,” he told her angrily, holding on to her tightly. He tried to concentrate on the woman before him, taking calming breaths and taking in the feminine scent of her. It was a while before he was finally able to get his emotions under control.
“Sam, don’t let your father take up any more of your thoughts or waste any more of our time when we could be together,” she whispered, rubbing his chest lightly as she looked up at him. When he looked down at her, the anger in his eyes slowly ebbed and she found herself looking into eyes that held pain and sadness.
“You’ve suffered for years because of him, Rachel. I’m so sorry,” he told her quietly as he touched her face gently.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” she stopped him. “You can’t accept any blame for what your father has done to anyone, including me. You’re your mother’s son, Sam. You’re everything that is kind—just like she was.”
Sam’s eyes closed as he fought to control his emotions. He took a deep breath and looked down at the beautiful woman before him, smiling at the natural way that she leaned into him, touching him gently. He could get lost in her.
“You have a way of calming me, Rachel,” he told her, his anger slowly easing as she tenderly caressed him. “Thank you.”
Rachel smiled and nodded. The lights of the parking area shone down on them, and she saw the ring that he had given her sparkle as her hand rested gently on his shoulder. She pulled away from him and looked down at her hand.
“This is a beautiful ring,” she told him quietly. “Are you sure you want me to have it?”
Sam smiled and took her hand in his to bring in to his chest and cover it with his own. He finally felt at peace and knew that Rachel’s tenderness was the reason.
“Yes, I want you to have it,” he told her quietly. “I got it for you this afternoon while you were shopping. I wanted to surprise you with it tonight, but my father and Allison forced my hand a little early. I’m sorry it wasn’t given to you in a more romantic setting. I wanted to ask you if you would accept me. I wanted to get down on my knees and ask for your hand, sweetheart.”
Rachel looked at her hand, seeing the ring sparkle between his fingers, and knew that she had to ask him something very important. Allison’s words had pierced through to her weaknesses.
She pulled her hands free to embrace him, reveling at the feeling of his strong shoulders beneath her hands. She closed her eyes in pure joy as his arms automatically encircled her body and held her close. She could feel his heartbeat against her chest and leaned into his neck to breathe in the scent of him and kiss the area below his ear gently. She wished she could stay there in his arms forever, but she had to ask him the question that she most feared the answer to.
“Sam,” she began hesitantly. “Why do you want to marry me?”
“Because your body drives me crazy,” he teased.
“No. I’m serious,” she stopped him, stepping back to break the embrace. She looked at him with wide, searching eyes. “Why?”
Sam looked down at her and hesitated only briefly.
“Because you make me laugh, you talk to me, you care about me, you’re gentle and caring, you’re strong and independent, and a million other reasons I’ll spend the rest of my life telling you,” he told her quietly. “Besides, I can’t think of anyone else I would want to be the mother of my children.”
Rachel was quiet during the ride back to Sam’s apartment. Sam stole occasional glances at her but remained silent. He could tell that she was doing some heavy-duty thinking.
“It’s a shame to waste such a beautiful dress,” he said quietly as he turned his truck onto his street and pulled into the apartment parking lot to park in his designated spot. “We can always go somewhere else. I’d enjoy dancing with you some more.”
“That’s okay,” Rachel said absently. “I don’t mind. I’m a little tired anyway and my ankle is starting to throb. It’s been a long day.”
Sam looked at her for a moment, then reached forward to turn off the engine and removed the key from the ignition. Before he could get out and open Rachel’s door for her, she had already unbuckled her seat belt and had opened her own door to step out into the darkness of the night.
She walked slowly toward the apartment house entrance, stepping back to allow Sam to key in the security code to open the foyer door. He followed her inside and pushed the button for the elevator.
“Are you okay?” he asked her quietly, holding the open elevator door until she passed by him and following her inside. He pushed the button for the third floor, still watching her.
She turned to face him and made a halfhearted attempt to smile. He was a little concerned at her paleness. She looked tired but more than that, she looked defeated. He saw none of the usual strength and vitality that was normally so much a part of her character.
“I’m fine,” she told him quietly, her voice soft. “I just need some rest.”
Sam stepped back and held the doors to allow her to walk out of the elevator then followed her down the corridor to his apartment door. He noticed that she was walking slowly and was limping slightly.
He unlocked the door to his apartment then reached in to turn on the light for her. She went in silently and stood just inside the doorway, waiting for him to enter and lead the way. He stepped inside and closed the door behind them, locking it securely. He took off his tuxedo coat and threw it across the back of one of the couches then turned to face her.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Rachel looked up at him silently for a moment. “Not now,” she told him finally. “I need to work it out in my own head first.”
“Rachel, if you don’t tell me what you’re thinking I can’t help you get through it.”
“I don’t want to talk now. I’m too tired. I don’t want to say anything until I think it through and I’m sure of what I want to say.”
Sam hesitated a moment then nodded. He could tell that whatever it was that she was thinking about wasn’t good, and he had a sick feeling that things between them were falling apart. He didn’t want to lose Rachel because of something he couldn’t even figure out or understand.
“You’d better get some sleep,” he told her finally, concerned. “I’m going to stay up for a while.”
Rachel nodded and walked toward the bedroom. Entering the adjoining bathroom, she pulled off her party clothes and scrubbed her face clean of the makeup. When she finished up in the bathroom, she listened to make sure that Sam was not in the bedroom before going in and putting on her new nightgown and sitting down on the bed tiredly. She lay down on the soft pillow and closed her eyes.
The apartment was quiet. All she could hear was the sound of her own breathing and the hum of the air conditioner. She turned onto her right side and tucked her hands under her cheek, opening her eyes at the contact of the ring against her skin. She looked down at her finger and smiled sadly at the exquisitely beautiful diamond wedding band. The moonlight that peeked through the bedroom curtains made it twinkle magically, and the sight of its beauty made her throat constrict with pain.