Rest Thy Head (21 page)

Peyton did not want to go there. Patrick should have believed her, but he didn’t, so she refused to let this thing go on any longer. “Mother, I’d rather just get this over with.”

“Then we’re going with you,” Eleanor declared with a nod toward Ashley.

Patrick cleared his throat. “Uh, Ashley, this doesn’t really concern you.”

Ashley’s eyes snapped. “Of course it does. Don’t act stupid.”

Patrick frowned, but he didn’t argue. All four of them trooped out of the dining room amid the whispers of the guests. Patrick had just shut the office door behind them when it flew open so fast it hit the wall before anyone could stop it.

Jake slammed it behind him, his face dark and furious. “I told you not to do this, Patrick. There’s no evidence to prove she took anything.”

Patrick looked at Ashley as if he was asking her forgiveness. “We found the jewelry in her bag. How do you think it got there if she didn’t put it there?”

“I presume someone put it her bag to make her look bad.”

Patrick threw up his hands. “But who? Trust me, I want to believe you, but everyone liked Peyton. Who’d want to hurt her?”

“I have no idea. All I know is that she isn’t a thief.”

Pity, anger, and misery flashed across Patrick’s face in rapid succession. “We’ve already had this conversation; you know we have no choice. All of the employees are upset, and some of the guests are threatening to leave if we don’t let Peyton go.”

As usual when Jake got angry, his face flushed a fiery red which made his scars look dreadful. “I have as much say so around here as you do, and I say she stays.”

Patrick reached out his hand as if he wanted to pat Jake’s shoulder, but he dropped it limply to his side. “She can’t stay, and you know it.” Why did he look so pityingly at Jake?

“Then maybe you’d like it if I left too.”

“Stop!” Peyton cried. “Both of you just stop it! I won’t be the cause of trouble between the two of you. I’ll pack my things and be out of here by this afternoon.”

Jake shot such a black look at Patrick that it startled Peyton. “You’re not going anywhere, Peyton.”

“I have to! I can’t stay here now. I’ll be fine, Jake. I thank you for caring, but don’t worry about me. I’m going home to Milford with Mother. I’ll get a job there.”

Eleanor joined the fray with the air of a duchess dealing with riff raff. “Since you have no concrete evidence against my daughter, Mr. Douglas, I assume you’ll have no reservation about giving Peyton an excellent recommendation in the event that she needs it.”

Patrick nodded his head. “No one ever needs to know.”

“Good.” Eleanor rose majestically to her feet. “Let’s go and pack, Peyton. Ashley, are you and Griffin coming with us?”

Patrick’s face turned from red to white to red again. “Ashley, I hope you’ll stay on. You’re a great asset to the inn, and…I hope you’ll stay.” Peyton saw his hands curl into fists.

“Under the circumstances you know I can’t.”

The three women left the room with their heads held high, leaving Jake to confront Patrick.

***

“I assumed I was as much a partner in the business as you are, but I guess I was wrong. I told you I wanted Peyton to stay, yet you deliberately went behind my back and told her to get out.”

“Jake…”

Jake was so angry his voice shook. “If you want to run the show it’s fine with me. You call Tom Petit down at the bank and tell him you want to buy my part of the inn.”

Patrick’s eyes bulged. “I’ll do no such thing! I can tell you’ve fallen for her, but she’s a thief! You know we can’t have a dishonest person working here.”

“Call Tom, or I will.”

Jake spun on his heel and strode from the room. He should have gone to the kitchen to start preparations for dinner; instead, he ran for the barn where his horse greeted him with little nickers of approval. He needed to go riding. Let Patrick worry about dinner.

“Let’s get out of here, boy,” he muttered.

He cinched the saddle, and the moment they hit the trail he let the horse run, a wild, out-of-control run that perfectly matched his state of mind. Eventually, the animal slowed down, giving Jake a moment to think. Had she really done it? Could she possibly have taken that awful woman’s jewelry? She didn’t make a lot of money at the inn, but she had always seemed content and didn’t ever come back from town carrying a lot of packages.

“Credit cards,” he muttered. He absently swatted at a horsefly buzzing around his head. “Maybe she was buying on credit and maxed out her cards.” Unhappily, that made sense. Peyton had only recently graduated from college. She undoubtedly had incurred expenses as a student, expenses she probably had expected her fiancé to pay after their marriage.

It didn’t matter if she was innocent or guilty; he had fallen in love with her anyway. His hands clenched the reins as self-hate and despair wracked him. If not for those scars that made him look like a freak, he’d make her fall in love with him. As it stood now, he couldn’t help her in any way. He didn’t have much money, and no woman wanted a man with a face like his. Carolyn had taught him plenty about that.

They had reached the little trout stream now. Jake dismounted and let his horse have a drink. Where would he go? Patrick would buy his share of the inn, but money from the sale wouldn’t last forever. Who’d bother to hire a man who looked like he did? He guessed he’d find out because he refused to stay at Rest Thy Head. He worked every bit as hard as Patrick and had invested every bit as much as Patrick. His brother would not dictate to him.

Mounting his horse, he turned back for home. Maybe he could bunk with Andy until he found a job and a place to live. He sighed, leaned over, and pressed his face against his horse’s neck. He’d give almost anything to look normal again.

***

Annie visited Peyton that afternoon when she went to her old room to get the rest of her things. She slammed the wardrobe door behind her and saw Annie standing near the front of the room. “Hi, Annie. Did you hear?”

“Yes.”

Peyton’s chin lifted. “I want you to know I didn’t do anything wrong. I’ve never taken a penny that didn’t belong to me. I didn’t take that woman’s jewelry either.”

Annie looked shocked. “You don’t have to defend yourself to me. I know you didn’t. I never did like that horrid, awful hag.”

A brief smile crossed Peyton’s face, but it faded almost immediately. “Me neither.”

“Are you leaving?” Annie gestured toward Peyton’s bag. “You packed your things.”

Peyton sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Patrick fired me, so yes, I’m going home. My mother’s had a change of heart and wants me and Ashley to live with her.”

“What about Jake?”

Peyton burst into tears. “I’m sorry, Annie, I don’t mean to whine, but nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Besides that, I’ve been the cause of trouble between Jake and Patrick.”

“Jake believed you?” Annie guessed.

“Yeah, he believed me.”

Annie sighed. “That explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“Peyton, you can’t leave the inn. Don’t you see that Jake’s fallen in love with you? If you leave what will become of him? Did you know Jake told Patrick he’d have to buy him out?”

Peyton gasped. In a million years she’d never have guessed Jake would leave the Inn. “Jake is selling his part of Rest Thy Head to Patrick?”

“Yes.”

“Because of me.” Peyton’s eyes blurred. “He didn’t want to let me go, but Patrick insisted.”

“Don’t you see!” Annie gestured wildly. “If you leave now what will happen to Jake? And what will happen to Ashley? Don’t you know Ashley and Patrick have fallen for each other?”

“Yes, I thought so.”

Annie shook her head and looked almost mad. “Why do people make everything so hard?”

“I…don’t know…”

Annie rolled her eyes. “I mean not only does Jake love you, but you also have feelings for him. Don’t let him get away. Both of you will be miserable if you do.”

With these words, Annie popped off her chair and glided away. Peyton watched her go, still marveling at how she moved so easily and effortlessly. Could Annie be right about Jake? Had he really fallen in love with her, and did she really love him back? She cared what he thought of her, but did that mean she loved him?

Misery washed over her and exited in the form of tears. It didn’t matter. She had to leave no matter what, but maybe she should talk to Jake before she left. Letting him lose his inheritance because of her wasn’t an option as far as she was concerned. Stuffing her last sweater into her bag, she paused for a final look around. This room was so wonderful. How could people believe it was haunted? She’d never had one moment’s trouble here.

As she finally closed the door behind her, she almost bumped into Sandra who thrust an envelope at her. “Somebody left a message for you. At the desk.”

“Thanks.”

Sandra nodded her head, but she didn’t speak or meet Peyton’s eyes. She believed Mrs. Haynes’ lies. Peyton bit her lip. She had thought Sandra was her friend. Maybe she should just open the envelope after they left Rest Thy Head. No, might as well do it now. It might be something she needed to take care of. Opening the envelope, she read,
Peyton, We have to talk.
Meet me near the little trout stream at four.
Jake

How odd. If he wanted to talk to her, why didn’t he do it right here at the inn? Guilt filled her. She had caused him so much trouble! The little stream was one of the prettiest, most tranquil places on the entire property; no wonder he wanted to meet there.

She checked her watch. Three thirty. If she hurried she could make it by four. She stashed her bag and Jake’s letter inside her room and slammed her door behind her as she ran for the stables. The note got caught in a draft as the door shut and slid under the bed, leaving her bag propped against the wall.

Chapter Fifteen

Reggie butted Peyton with her head the moment Peyton led her from her stall. Oh, she’d miss her pretty harlequin horse when she went back home to Milford. She bridled Reggie and tossed her saddle on her back, hurrying as quickly as she could. “Let’s go, girl,” she cried, and Reggie obediently left the barn at a canter.

The wind sang in Peyton’s ears as Reggie closed the gap between Rest Thy Head and the trout stream. She knew they were moving along rather quickly, but it was taking forever to get there! All she wanted to do was see Jake. He was a wonderful man, and she appreciated the sacrifice he wanted to make, but she also wanted to tell him not to do it. Loving Rest Thy Head the way he did, he couldn’t leave, not because of her.

She and Reggie finally reached the trout stream, but Peyton didn’t see Jake’s horse anywhere. Dismounting, she tied Reggie to a small tree which grew beside the stream. “Jake,” she yelled. “Where are you?”

Jake didn’t answer. “Jake! Are you here?”

No answer. “Surely he didn’t leave!” Peyton cried. She decided to walk a ways down the stream. Before she’d gone more than a few yards, a voice behind her called. “Peyton, over here.”

Peyton froze. She’d know that voice anywhere. With a scowl on her face, she whirled around to confront him. “Drew, what are you doing out here?”

“I wanted to see you. You’re…”

“We have nothing to say to each other. You said it all when I found you and Megan together.”

A guilty look crossed his face. “I wanted to explain about that.”

“If you wanted to explain, you should have come to the inn like a decent human being and asked to speak to me.” She rolled her eyes. “Signing Jake’s name to your note is ridiculous.”

He nodded. “Well, yeah, but I was afraid you wouldn’t talk to me.”

The whining note in his voice irritated Peyton even more. “You’re right about that. The day we were supposed to get married I overheard Roberta telling Miranda how you really felt about me.” She scowled. “Do you honestly think anything in the world could make me forget it?”

Drew reached for her hand, but Peyton backed away from him. “It’s over, Drew. Don’t bother me again.”

Drew smiled at her the way she’d seen him smile at Griffin, a patronizing, ‘oh I know better than you’ type of expression. “Of course it isn’t over. We love each other, honey. You got your feelings hurt and ran away, but we’re meant for each other, and you know it.”

“Drew…”

Before Peyton realized his intention he had grabbed her. “Let me go!” She tried to jerk her arm away, but Drew refused to release her.

“You’re coming with me. Once I get you away from this place and that scarred freak you’ll remember how much you love me.”

Peyton kicked and fought, but Drew’s weight and size gave him the advantage, so eventually she ran out of energy.

“I hope you won’t make things hard on yourself,” Drew panted as he used a stout cord to bind her wrists. “We belong together, and the sooner you remember it the better.”

***

Ashley closed her bag with a thump and wiped away a single tear that rolled down her cheek. “That’s it, Griffin. We’re all packed now. As soon as Grandma finds Peyton we’ll be ready to go home.”

The child’s head tilted. “Home.”

“Yes, to Grandma’s house.”

“Andma?”

“Yes, Grandma.” In spite of her bruised and aching heart Ashley smiled. The child was just adorable. A knock on the door brought her head up. “Come in.”

Patrick opened the door and poked his head inside. “Can I talk to you?”

Ashley plopped down on the edge of the bed with downcast eyes. She bit her lip. “I don’t mind talking to you, but we have nothing to say.”

“Yes, we do.” Without permission Patrick sat down beside her. “I love you, and I think you love me back. We have a lot to talk about.”

“No, we don’t. Maybe we did before you fired Peyton, but not now.”

Patrick didn’t answer, but when he took her hand, Ashley started to cry. “Please, just go. Nothing’s changed, and I’ve been hurt enough. I don’t need this.”

Patrick gently turned her head to face him. “Look at me. I think I understand why she did it, and I’m not mad at her, but she can’t stay here. The other employees know about it, and so do the guests. Unless I want the doors to close, I have to fire her.” His eyes dropped. “There’s always Jake to consider, you know. Where will he go and what will happen to him if Rest Thy Head closes? He told me I had to buy him out if I fired Peyton, but I don’t think he’ll follow through with it.”