Lisa glanced down at her wrist, realizing she hadn’t taken off the bracelet since she had put it on in the hospital room. “Why?”
“Because you will then know where to go and what to do.” Carmela waved them toward the door with her cane. “The robin will help you, too.”
“Great.” Lisa retrieved her purse from the coffee table. “Follow the little bird and rub the magic bracelet. Now we just need to find the yellow brick road.”
“Don’t piss off the magic, Lisa,” Nick said with a smile as he followed her to the door. “We may need all the help we can get.”
Maggie stretched out her legs in the cramped front seat of their compact rental car. They’d been driving most of the morning and were only a few minutes north of Santa Barbara. With any luck, she’d have her hand around Keith’s neck within the hour.
Jeremy glanced at her and smiled, a warm, knowing smile, the kind a man gives a woman he’s made love to. They’d had an incredible night together. She’d done things that made her blush now. Things she’d never known were possible. Jeremy was an inventive lover. But then he was a fantasy. In a few hours, he’d be history.
Unless, of course, their wild-goose chase went in another direction and they were forced to hop a plane for Barbados or something crazy like that. Not that she could. She’d left her children for far too long. And as her mother had reminded her a few hours earlier, she was not a kid. She couldn’t just run away from her life.
But she had done just that, and as Jeremy said, they’d had a great adventure. It was almost over. A wave of depression swept through her. Maggie couldn’t imagine never seeing him again, never touching him or tasting his lips. It was more than just physical attraction; she felt a strong connection to him both mentally and emotionally. In other words, she’d gone and fallen head over heels in love with a man she’d probably never see again after today.
“What’s wrong?” Jeremy asked.
He read her mind so easily. “Nothing.”
“Thinking about saying goodbye, aren’t you?”
“You have to get back to work. I have to get back to reality.”
He didn’t say anything for a long minute. “What if I asked you to stay in Los Angeles? What would you say?”
She gave him a sad smile. “I’d say no.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes. I mean, no. I mean that’s it,” she said, rambling on nervously. “I have other commitments.”
“I see.” His clipped answer left them sitting in awkward silence.
Tell him, a little voice inside ordered her. Tell him about the kids and the dog and the car pools and the baseball games and the hormone-driven teenagers hanging around your house. No, she couldn’t. Not yet. Maybe never. She wanted to leave with the fantasy intact. She didn’t want to see the desire in his eyes replaced by disappointment, by rejection.
Jeremy pulled off the freeway as they entered the city of Santa Barbara. He seemed to know the streets and headed toward the beach without asking for directions or checking the map the rental car agency had given them.
“Have you been here before?” she asked tentatively, not sure if he was angry with her or not.
“Yes. Many times.”
“You’ve been to the Miramar?”
He nodded.
Silence fell between them again.
“It’s him,” Jeremy said finally. “You still want him.”
“Keith?”
“Of course, Keith, the man we’ve been chasing all over hell and back.”
Did she want Keith back? He was her husband. He was the father of her children. They could use two parents. But Keith had gone to such elaborate lengths to disappear; she doubted he even wanted to come back. How could she compete with Serena?
It was a question she had asked herself dozens of times in the past few days, so utterly convinced that Serena beat her in every category—looks, body, brains, sex. That’s why Keith had wanted out of his marriage to her, because Serena was his ultimate woman—his fantasy.
But last night had taught Maggie some new things about herself. Maybe it wasn’t her fault that Keith had wanted out. Maybe it was his fault. Maybe he was the problem, not her. She sat a little straighter in the car.
“You haven’t answered my question, Maggie,” Jeremy said tightly.
She knew she hadn’t. Because while she didn’t know if she could ever forgive Keith and take him back into her heart and into her body, he was still the father of her children. If he wanted to come back for them, would she still have the courage to say no? Could she deny them the chance to have their father back?
“It’s complicated,” she said.
“I don’t think so. You either want him back or you don’t.”
“All I want right now are answers,” Maggie replied. “I’m sorry, but I can’t answer your question until I know what really happened to my marriage.”
Jeremy turned a corner and pulled to an abrupt stop in front of the Miramar Beach Inn. “Looks like we’re about to find out.”
Maggie took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. Jeremy came around to her side, and they entered the lobby together. Jeremy walked directly to the courtesy phone in the lobby and dialed Serena’s room. Maggie held her breath, hoping the story they’d plotted on the way down the coast would work.
“Serena, it’s Jeremy.” His eyes lit up with excitement as he looked at Maggie and mouthed the words “It’s her.” “I brought your things because Wanda had something to do, and frankly, I needed a long drive to clear my head. What room are you in?” He listened for a moment, then nodded. “406. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
He hung up the phone and turned to Maggie. “Got it.”
“I can’t do this,” Maggie said in sudden panic.
“Yes, you can. Whatever happens, I’ll be right behind you.”
Maggie sucked in a breath, then let it out. “Okay. I’m ready. Let’s find my husband.” ^r
Chapter 25
Nick pulled up in front of the Miramar Beach Inn and turned off the ignition. Lisa let out a sigh of relief that they’d actually made it to Santa Barbara in one piece. She didn’t know if Nick was trying to avoid conversation or if he was simply in a hurry to find Maggie. He hadn’t said. In fact, he hadn’t spoken more than a few words during the four-hour trip.
She’d tried to sleep but couldn’t. Although she was tired, every time she closed her eyes she saw Nick’s face and his body and remembered every excruciatingly wonderful detail of their lovemaking the night before. The first time had been passionate and stormy and rushed, years of pent-up desire driving them on in a fast fury. The second time had been tender and loving, between two longtime friends who’d found each other again, and the third time had been an adventure, a discovery, a way of making love they’d never shared before.
Three times. She’d made love with him three times. If the night had been any longer, it probably would have been four. How could she go back to L.A. and marry Raymond? How could she stay in San Diego with Nick? Two impossible choices.
“Are you getting out?” Nick demanded impatiently, his door already open. “We’re here, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I’m waiting for my stomach to catch up with us,” Lisa said sharply. “I think it’s back on that last curve you took at a hundred miles an hour.”
Nick shrugged off her sarcasm. “You never used to be such a wimp in the car.”
“You never used to drive like you were on the last lap at the Indy 500.”
“I just want to find Maggie. Are you coming or not?”
“I’m coming.” Lisa stepped out of the car and took a moment to stretch. Across the street was a long expanse of beach, the waves breaking just a few hundred yards away. It was a beautiful spring day, blue sky, blue ocean, children laughing, birds singing. Birds! She looked around somewhat warily, but there was no sign of a robin.
“Lisa, let’s go,” Nick said impatiently.
“I was just admiring the view. It’s nice here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” He paused. “We talked about moving once, remember, starting out fresh, just the two of us, no family, no friends.”
“Then I got pregnant, and the rest is history.”
“You could always move here, Lisa.”
“I don’t know anyone here.”
“Neither do I.”
Lisa saw the speculation dawning in his eyes. “That would be crazy. You have a very good business in San Diego, and I have a wonderful job in L.A.”
Nick shook his head, a fond but frustrated smile crossing his lips. “You can read my mind, but you still can’t give me the answer I want. Damn you.”
Lisa turned toward the hotel. “Let’s find Maggie. That’s why we’re here.”
Nick followed her across the parking lot and through the double doors that led into the lobby of the hotel. Of Spanish style design, the floors were tiled, the walls covered with stucco. There were plants everywhere in the atrium-like lobby, and a fountain in the middle of the building sent up a spume of mist with its bubbling stream of water.
“Nice place,” Nick commented as they looked around. “I don’t see Maggie. “
” I doubt she would be hanging around in the lobby. Why don’t you check and see if she’s registered?”
Nick walked over to the registration desk and had a brief conversation with the clerk. When he returned, his face was grim. “She’s not registered,” he said in disgust, planting his hands on his hips.
“She has to be here,” Lisa said somewhat desperately. They couldn’t have driven all this way for nothing. Then she heard a familiar chirp, and both she and Nick turned around at the same time.
Lisa smiled as a robin flew into the lobby and lit on the edge of the fountain, chirping impatiently at them. She glanced at Nick. “I think Maggie is here.”
Nick stared in wonder at the bird. “How did he get here?”
“Magic!”
“You don’t believe in magic.”
“I didn’t used to,” she said with a hopeless sigh. She held out her right arm. “There’s something else. My wrist is getting hot.”
Nick followed her gaze to the bracelet. “It’s almost glowing.”
Lisa moved her arm out to the side, then back in front of her. The warm sensation increased and decreased with her motion. When she moved it back toward the right, she felt as if her arm were on fire. That’s when she realized she was pointing to the elevators.
“I think we have to go that way,” she said, somewhat bemused by the energy flowing through her arm. She almost felt disconnected from herself, a mere appendage to the bracelet.
“Go which way?” Nick asked. “Did you suddenly see the beginning of the yellow brick road?”
“We don’t need a yellow brick road. We’re simply going to follow the bracelet. You’re the one who said not to piss off the magic, so shut up.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “Fine. After you.” He glanced over at the bird. “You stay here.”
Lisa laughed. “You’re talking to a bird. “”For some reason, I think he understands me.”
“For some reason, I think you’re right.”
The elevator doors opened before they even punched the button. “Wow, that bracelet is good,” Nick commented as they stepped inside. He stared at the rows of buttons. “What now?”
“I don’t know.” Lisa pointed her fingers at each button, trying to tell if the bracelet grew warmer or colder. “Four,” she decided. “Definitely four.”
“You know we’ll probably wind up knocking on some stranger’s door and have to explain that your bracelet sent us there.”
“No, we’re going to find Maggie,” Lisa said confidently. “Magic bracelet or not, I have the definite feeling she’s not too far away.”
“You’re stalling,” Jeremy said, watching Maggie with his dark, piercing eyes. “Serena is on the other side of this door. All you have to do is knock.”
“I know it sounds simple.” Maggie swallowed a lump of anxiety. She had nothing to fear. She was in the right. They were in the wrong. A little self-righteous indignation would be good, she told herself firmly. Get mad. He cheated on you. He lied. He betrayed you.
Maggie thrust back her shoulders and rapped sharply on the door. She heard a woman’s voice call out that she would get it, a patter of footsteps, the clicking of the double locks. Then the door slowly opened.
A woman stood on the threshold, slender and curvy in hot pink shorts and a white midriff top. Her long blond hair drifted down her back. She was a man’s fantasy, long legs, big breasts, great hair.
Maggie put a hand to her stomach, feeling suddenly sick. How could she compete with this?
Jeremy’s hand touched her back, a subtle reminder that she couldn’t run away. She had to go forward.
“Jeremy?” Serena asked curiously, looking from Jeremyto Maggie. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing someone with you.”
“This is Maggie Scott,” Jeremy said.
Serena looked at Maggie, the name obviously meaning nothing to her. Keith hadn’t told Serena her name. The anger rolled through Maggie like a runaway truck.
“Your lover’s wife,” Maggie said forcefully.
Serena looked taken aback. “Oh, shit! You’re that woman who was calling our room in San Francisco.” She tried to shut the door, but Maggie stuck her foot out.
“Not so fast—” Maggie stopped, struck by the sound of a man’s voice coming from behind Serena. It called to her like a ghost from the past. Keith was here, in this room, with this woman.
“You have to leave,” Serena said. “Jeremy, how could you do this to me?”
“She needs to talk to her husband, Serena. Let her in.”
“No. I won’t. He left you. He’s mine now.”
“Let me in,” Maggie yelled. “I want to see my lying, cheating, son-of-a-bitch husband right now, and you’re not going to stop me.” Before she could move, she heard someone call her name.
“Maggie,” Lisa shouted as she and Nick dashed down the corridor.
Maggie sent them a blank look. What on earth were they doing here?
“What’s going on?” Nick asked. “Maggie, please, whatever you’re thinking of doing—”
“Go away,” Maggie said. “You can’t stop me.”
“Who are these people?” Serena asked, as she folded her arms across her chest.
“I’m her brother,” Nick said.
“And I’m her best friend,” Lisa added.
“Great. Then you can all have coffee. I’m closing the door now.”
“No, you’re not,” Maggie said, putting her hand on the door. She turned to Nick. “If you want to watch, you can watch. My husband is in this room—with his lover—and I’m not leaving until I see him.
Now, all of you get out of my way.”
Maggie practically knocked Serena over as she stormed into the room. The bedroom was empty, but she heard whistling coming from the bathroom. She caught her breath at the familiar sound. The whistling stopped. The doorknob slowly turned.
Maggie felt like she was about to explode. “Open the damn door, you bastard.”
“Maggie—”
She shook off Nick’s attempt to calm her with an angry shake of her head. She would not be stopped, not now, not when she was so close.
The door finally opened, and a man stepped out wearing khaki shorts and a navy blue polo shirt. Her heart stopped.
He was the same height, the same build. His hair was the same color; his face the same shape. Maggie forced herself to look into his eyes, to find the truth.
His eyes were blue, not brown. Blue! That was wrong. And his nose was short and broad, not long and pointed. That was wrong, too. She began to shake.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
Maggie shook her head back and forth in utter confusion. “You’re not Keith. You’re not Keith.” She put a hand to her mouth, feeling suddenly nauseated. He wasn’t Keith. This man was not her husband. She’d been following a stranger. A stranger!
Maggie felt Jeremy move behind her. His hands came around her waist, and she leaned against him, grateful for the support. “It’s not him,” she whispered.
Jeremy bent his head. “Are you all right?”
“No.”
“What the fuck is going on?” the man demanded as Serena walked over to him.
“She said she was your wife, Mitch,” Serena said.
“That woman is not my wife.”
Serena looked at Maggie. “Who are you, then?” she asked in complete bewilderment.”I’m Maggie Scott.” Maggie said the words slowly, finding comfort in the security of her name. At the moment, it was the only thing that seemed real.
“Am I supposed to know you?” Serena asked again. “Jeremy, could you explain, please?”
“Maggie.” Jeremy squeezed her waist. “Do you want to tell her?”
“Yes.” Maggie took a deep breath. “You wrote a letter to my husband, Keith Scott, about a month ago.”
“I don’t remember the name …”
“You said you missed seeing him on his weekends in L.A. You wanted to know if he’d ever found the courage to tell his wife or if he’d simply changed his mind about the whole thing. You signed it with love, Serena.”
Serena’s confusion slowly turned into understanding. “Oh, that letter. Keith. Yes, I remember him.”
“I should hope so. You were having an affair with him,” Maggie said, still trying to put the pieces together, only they didn’t seem to fit anymore.
“I wasn’t having an affair with Keith Scott,” Serena said, rolling her eyes as if she found the idea utterly ridiculous. “Is that what he told you?”
“He didn’t tell me anything.” Maggie put a hand to her mouth as the bile of reality rose in her throat. “Oh, my God, he’s dead. He’s really dead.” Her eyes blurred with tears. “He’s not here. He’s not alive. It wasn’t a game. It was real. The fire was real.” She turned to Jeremy in desperation. “My husband is really dead.”
Jeremy stared at her with compassion. “I’m sorry.”
“He’s dead?” Serena asked, once again looking bewildered. “I don’t understand.”
“Do you want to finish it, Maggie?” Jeremy asked quietly.
“Who the hell are you?” Nick demanded.
“Someone who cares about your sister,” Jeremy replied.
Maggie ignored both of them, her attention focused solely on Serena. “You didn’t know he was dead, did you?”
Serena shook her head. “I wouldn’t have written him if I did, although I guess that explains why he never got back to me. I was surprised, because he was so taken with the ring.” She paused. “Did he tell you about the ring?”
“What ring?”
“The ring he wanted to buy.”
“He never said anything about you or a ring,” Maggie replied. “When I got your letter, I couldn’t help wondering who you were. There was perfume on your stationery. Your words sounded so personal, intimate. You mentioned weekends in L.A. with Keith, weekends when he was supposed to be on business, weekends when I couldn’t call him; he could only call me.”
“I didn’t mean to imply—”
“The day before he died, he withdrew eight thousand dollars in cash,”
Maggie said, cutting her off. She needed to tell Serena everything, to get rid of every last doubt. “The withdrawal and your letter seemed tied together. I decided to find you, so I could ask you if he’d given you the money. But when I heard you’d gone to San Francisco with a man you’d once thought was dead, and then we saw you getting into the cab…” Her voice drifted away as she once again looked at the man standing next to Serena. “You look like my husband. When I saw you, I started thinking maybe he hadn’t died. Maybe he’d taken out extra life insurance as an attempt to ease his guilt on running off with Serena.”
“I think I can answer one of your questions,” Serena said. “The eight thousand dollars was the price of a diamond ring I showed your husband. I sell jewelry, Mrs. Scott. Your husband came in to the Beverly Hills store where I work several times last year. He fell in love with a ring that he wanted to give you for your anniversary. He told me that you’d married young and didn’t have a proper ring.”
Maggie stared down at her empty finger. She’d taken off the ring to sleep with Jeremy. Now, she felt like a traitor to Keith.
“Your husband was a nice guy,” Serena continued. “Although he never could quite get the courage to buy you that ring. He said he’d been brought up to be sensible, and you’d probably rather have a new car than a new ring.” Serena smiled. “I told him he was crazy. Any woman would want a ring over a car.”