Stars (The Butterfly Trilogy) (80 page)

     Charmie, still in a daze, watched them walk away, and then she felt a hand on her arm. When she turned, Ivan drew her into his arms and kissed her hard.

     "Ivan!" she said. "Oh, Ivan..."

     "You don't know difficult it's been for me," he said. "That morning in your kitchen—I thought I'd go out of my mind. You don't know what it took to stop myself, I wanted you so badly—and still do. But I'm out of a job now. I'm free." He grinned. "And I'm craving butterscotch brownies in the worst way!" Then he added more quietly, "And you..." And he kissed her again.

     Philippa put her arm through Johnny's, and he laid his hand over hers. "When I got out of prison," he said, "and the nuns told me you'd run away, I nearly went crazy searching for you. But when I did find you, you had started your own company, and you seemed so happy, I decided to let you think I was dead. You see, Dolly, even though I didn't do it—the murders, I mean, that I was sent up for—and I received a full pardon, I was still connected to the mob. I wouldn't have been good for you. I was proud to see you doing so well on your own. And I've been watching out for you ever since."

     "So when Ivan told you I was coming to Star's you decided to come too?"

     "Well, it's not exactly like that, Dolly. Yes, I knew you were coming to Star's—Ivan told me he thought he might have found your sister. In fact, I'm responsible for the fact that you got accommodations on such late notice. Ricardo Cadiz, the novelist, is a friend of mine. I knew he was coming to Star's for Christmas. I asked him to cancel his reservation. He owed me a
favor. From the minute you left Perth, I've been in constant phone contact with Ivan, who kept me apprised of your movements. But I didn't come here to be reunited with you, Dolly. I had hoped to come and then leave without you ever knowing I had been here."

     "I don't understand. Why did you come then?"

     "To make sure the board meeting was a success for you."

     She stared at him. "You know about the embezzlement?"

     "Yes. And I was afraid for your safety. You were going to expose a criminal within your organization."

     "You know who it is!"

     "Alan Scadudo."

     "My God," she murmured. "Alan."

     "I was afraid he might harm you. That was why I asked Ivan to carry a gun. He doesn't normally."

     She suddenly pictured Danny Mackay, lying dead in the bathtub.

     As if reading her thoughts, Johnny said, "I guess it's a good thing I asked Ivan to carry the gun. When he didn't see you in the ballroom last night and then saw Beverly go upstairs, looking as if something was wrong, Ivan decided to investigate. He did us all a favor, shooting Mackay."

     "Oh, Daddy," Philippa said as they walked among snow-covered pine trees, reminding her of their walks in Tiburon, long ago. The arm that supported hers felt as strong now as it had then. "What else do you know?" she asked. "Do you know about Miranda International?"

     He nodded.

     She searched his tan, lined face, still handsome after all these years. "Are
you
Miranda International?"

     "I'm behind it, and a lot of other ventures as well."

     "Then why are you trying to buy us out?"

     He laughed. "I'm not. I did it to alert you to the embezzling that was going on within your company. When Ivan told me that you had gone to Australia and were staying there, I became concerned. I was afraid that, because of your grief over Paul Marquette, you were going to drop out of life, letting go of everything you had worked for. I didn't want you to make the same mistakes I did—to run from the truth, from reality.

     "I couldn't warn you directly, because then I would have had to show myself. I wanted you to find it on your own. I knew a threatened takeover would make you go through your books to see what Miranda could possibly want. I was counting on the fact that you would find the million-dollar discrepancy."

     "Then there is no takeover?"

     He smiled. "Starlite is safe, Dolly."

     She started to cry. He took her into his arms and held her. "It's all right, Dolly," he said. "We're together again."

     "Daddy," Philippa said. "I want you to meet my sister." She took Johnny by the hand and led him to where Beverly was talking to Simon Jung at the arrival platform. When Philippa introduced Johnny to her, he took Beverly's hand between his and said in a voice filled with wonder, "You and I have already met. You were the other baby."

     He shook his head, his eyes glistening, as the memory of that highly emotional day, years ago, came flooding back. "My wife and I couldn't have children, Beverly, so we found a lawyer who made arrangements for an adoption. I remember the morning we went to the hospital. Your poor mother was so upset to have to give one of you up for adoption. She didn't want to let either of her babies go, but your parents were poor, they desperately needed the money. I promised her I would take good care of her child. My wife and I had so much to give." Johnny's eyes filled with love as he looked at Beverly. "It could have been you," he said quietly. "I had my choice. You were both such tiny, perfect dolls. I could just as easily have chosen you."

     Philippa and Beverly looked at each other then, amazed at the strange turns of fate, both realizing that, if Johnny had chosen differently, each would have lived the other's life.

     Johnny grew serious then as he said to Beverly, "I know now what you went through, how you suffered at the hands of Danny Mackay. I wish I had watched over you the way I watched over Christine. I could have spared you so much pain. But I just didn't know."

     "And now look at you," Johnny added, his smile returning, "two beautiful women."

     Beverly laughed. "But I was very homely as a child."

     "And
I
was fat," Philippa said.

     Simon Jung came up then and said, "The tram is here."

     Philippa became alarmed. "You're not leaving, Daddy, are you? I won't let you!"

     Johnny laughed and patted her hand. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving."

     As they walked toward the boarding platform, they passed Smith, who was saying to Marion Star, "Do you know, dear lady, that you were my first love?"

     "And I have admired your talent for so many years," she said in reply. "I have always wanted to meet you. And I've always wondered, why didn't a handsome rogue like you ever get married?"

     "By coincidence, my dear Miss Star, I
am
getting married. To my own doctor, in fact."

     As the tram came clanging into the docking bay and young men in parkas rushed out to steady it for the disembarking passengers, Philippa watched for Esther, who had called last night to say she and her boyfriend would be on this tram; then, thinking of Ricky, who was going to be all right, and of Beverly, who stood on one side of her, and Johnny, who stood on the other, Philippa smiled.

     She had her family at last.