Why didnt you tell us the truth about who you are, Mrs. Laine?
He knew.
Susannah took a breath, trying to think, trying to organize some sort of response. What could she possibly say to Nathan that would make sense of her actions?
Im sorry about your husbands death, Nathan said after a moment. The accident was a terrible thing. His eyes were filled with sympathy. But it wasnt necessary to hide your identity from us. We wouldnt intrude on your grief. Nathans deep voice had gone very soft. He put his hand on her shoulder.
Warmth. Comfort. Hot tears stung her eyes. Susannah had an almost uncontrollable urge to step forward, lean against his strong shoulder and let her tears soak his shirt.
She took a deep breath and nodded, trying to swallow tears.
She couldnt give in to that longing to lean on him. She couldnt.
MARTA PERRY
has written everything from Sunday school curriculum to travel articles to magazine stories in twenty years of writing, but she feels shes found her writing home in the stories she writes for Love Inspired.
Marta lives in rural Pennsylvania, but she and her husband spend part of each year at their second home in South Carolina. When shes not writing, shes probably visiting her children and her beautiful grandchildren, traveling or relaxing with a good book. She loves hearing from readers and will be glad to send a signed bookplate on request. She can be reached c/o Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279, or visit her on the Web at www.martaperry.com.
True Devotion
Marta Perry
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
I John 4:7
This story is dedicated to my dear sister, Patricia,
her husband, Ed, and her beautiful family,
with much love.
And, as always, to Brian.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Letter to Reader
Chapter One
Most people wouldnt throw a pregnant woman out into the cold. But the October sun was warm, and Nathan Sloane wasnt most people. The discovery that his unwanted renter was pregnant just made him more eager to be rid of her.
Nathan stood on the porch of the lakeside cottage, realizing hed been staring for too long at the auburn-haired woman whod opened the door to him. He glanced at the registration card in his hand.
Ms. Morgan?
She hesitated momentarily. Yes.
He tried to smile, but the tension that rode him probably made it look more like a grimace. Im Nathan Sloane. My father, Daniel, owns Sloane Lodge.
She gave a brief nod, edging the door toward him slightly, as if ready to close it in his face. Is something wrong, Mr. Sloane?
Im afraid so. Besides the fact that just being near the cottage rubbed his nerves raw. My stepsister made an error when she rented the cottage to you.
The woman opened the door a bit wider, letting the autumn sunlight hit her face. It turned her hair to bronze and caught the gold flecks in eyes as deeply green as the hemlocks on the hillside across the lake.
It also showed the purple circles under those eyes, marring her fair skin. She looked like someone whod been fighting a losing battle with insomnia.
I dont understand, she said, frowning as if hed just told her that her credit card had been rejected. What sort of an error?
Again he tried the smile. Were getting ready to winterize the cottages. In fact, my father will be closing the lodge for the season before long. He hoped. So you see, Ill have to ask you to make other arrangements.
The person who checked me in earlier didnt say anything about that. She didnt look particularly impressed by the explanation hed rehearsed.
He spared an irritated thought for his stepsister. Apparently Jennifer didnt understand. The cottage is not available to rent at all. And certainly not for an entire month at this time of the year.
Her lips tightened. Thats impossible. Ive already rented it.
He didnt seem to be getting very far. Perhaps youd like to move into the main lodge for a few days until you find something else. Or wed be glad to call around for alternative accommodations for you.
The womans fingers were white where they clutched the edge of the door. She released it abruptly. Youd better come inside.
She walked away from the door, giving him no choice but to follow her. If he clenched his jaw any tighter, it would shatter.
Im sorry for the inconvenience he began.
Its more than inconvenient.
The woman stood turned away from him, staring out the windows of the small living room that fronted on the lake. She was so slender that from this angle she didnt even appear to be expecting. Irrationally, he found that made it easier to deal with her.
I do apologize. He tried to express a warmth he didnt feel.
Get the woman outthat was what he had to do right now. No others were rented. Then he could shut the cottages and persuade his father to close the lodge early for the winter. Maybe by spring hed have been able to convince his stubborn father that a man whod narrowly survived one heart attack shouldnt court another by refusing to retire.
Ms. Morgan turned toward him, and for a moment her figure was silhouetted against the windows, her hands pressed against her stomach.
The image hit him like a blow. He saw Linda standing in front of those same windows, head thrown back in laughter as she pressed her hands to her swelling belly.
No. He fought the grief that threatened to overwhelm him. This woman was nothing like Linda. Linda had been gentleness and warmth. This woman was all chilly, sharp edges. He wouldnt let her remind him.
He forced himself to concentrate on her words, shutting out everything else.
As I said, its not a question of inconvenience. We have an agreement. Even her smile had an edge to it. I dont intend to leave.
An agreement? He lifted his brows. I dont recall signing a lease with you, Ms. Morgan.
She didnt look intimidated.
Theres no need for a formal lease in this situation. The person who was operating as your agent checked me in and gave me the keys to this cottage. In my opinion, we have a legally binding agreement.
He suspected his eyebrows went even higher. Youre an attorney.
She wasnt just a nuisance. She was an intelligent nuisance who wouldnt let him gain the slightest advantage.
As a matter of fact, I am.
He glanced at the address on the registration card in his hand.
Whats a Philadelphia lawyer doing in a place like Lakemont in October?
Pregnant. And alone, obviously, in spite of the gold band and large matching diamond on her left hand.
Im sure Sloane Lodge gets its share of tourists who come to admire the autumn leaves, doesnt it? She put that hand up to push back a lock of auburn hair that had strayed onto her cheek.
Leaf peepers generally come on the weekends. And if youll forgive my saying so, you dont look the type.
She certainly didnt fit his idea of the kind of person whod settle down in a rustic cottage on a smallish lake in the Pocono Mountains to watch the leaves change colors. Every inch of her, from the burnished auburn hair to the black outfit to the expensive and impractical shoes, shrieked urban professional.
She shrugged. Lets say Im looking for quiet and let it go at that.
Too bad he couldnt import a few bulldozers to increase the decibel level.
Look, Ms. Morgan, surely we can resolve this in a way that suits both of us.
As far as Im concerned, this is resolved.
He tried not to look around at the cottage that was only too familiar to himliving room and kitchen downstairs, with a deck over the lake. Two bedrooms and a bath up the narrow stairs, still decorated in the casual country charm Linda had insisted upon.
And hed certainly better not think about the master bedroom, with its quilt-covered king-size bed situated to give a view out over the lake immediately on waking.
This place is too isolated for a pregnant woman alone. The words were like poison on his tongue, and a fierce anger rose in him that shed pushed him into saying them. You ought to have someone around.
Her face tightened, the skin drawing bleakly against her high cheekbones. Frankly, whether Im alone or not is none of your business. And if you try to evict me because Im pregnant, youll be borrowing more trouble than youll know what to do with.
Hed gone too far, obviously. He tried to tamp down his emotions. Im not saying anything of the kind. Im just asking that you be reasonable.
Reasonable? Lightning seemed to spark from her eyes.
His choice of words had been a mistake. He raised his hands, palms outward. Sorry. I shouldnt have said that. Id just like to persuade you that youd be more comfortable elsewhere.
Im perfectly comfortable. She rubbed her arms on the sleeves of the loose black sweater she wore, as if chilled, then nodded toward the still-open door. I am, however, a little tired of this conversation. So if you dont mind
Short of removing the woman bodily, he didnt have many options. It was clearly time to beat a strategic retreat. He nodded with as much grace as he could muster and went to the door.
He paused once he reached the porch. Well talk again later.
I wont have changed my mind. The door snapped shut behind him.
He took the two steps off the porch and started down the lane toward the lodge. At least he could breathe again, once he was away from the cottage.
Ms. Susannah Morgan clearly thought shed won that round. He grimaced. Well, maybe she had.
But that didnt mean he was giving up. For a lot of reasons, he wouldnt be satisfied until hed convinced Susannah Morgan that she didnt belong here.
Several hours had passed, and Susannah still wasnt sure why shed reacted so vehemently to Nathan Sloanes presence earlier. She closed the cottage door and stood on the porch for a moment, struggling to zip her jacket.
Youre getting bigger, little one. She smoothed her hand over the rounded bulge. I just wish
What did she wish? That shed taken Sloanes offer and moved into the lodge, putting off an argument until another day?
There was no real reason she couldnt move into the main building. Her reason for being here required that she stay at Sloane Lodge, but not necessarily in the cottage.
Still, when shed walked into the cottage, tired and stressed from the trip, a sense of peace had come over her. Shed moved slowly around the small rooms, letting the feeling seep into her very bones, feeling a comfort she hadnt felt in a long time. She didnt want to give that up for Nathan Sloanes arbitrary decision.
She touched the porch railing, noticing the window boxes on the windows and the ladder-back rockers on the tiny porch. Someone had taken a lot of trouble with the cottage. It was a happy place. A place where perhaps, in spite of the disturbing situation that had brought her to Sloane Lodge, she could find the peace that had eluded her for months.
She started up the lane toward the lodge. In spite of Nathans comments about the cottage being isolated, it really wasnt that farcertainly not more than a quarter of a mile. It would be pleasant to walk on this brisk evening, and the doctor had told her to walk.
Trees spangled with russet and golden leaves lined the lane, but the rounded mountain ridge on the far side of the lake hadnt given up its deep green color yet. Still, the season was turning. What had once seemed like an endless year moved inexorably on. In a month and a half their baby would arrive, another milestone of life without Trevor.
Why did you do it? The question shed asked so often burst out of hiding again. Why, Trevor? I know our marriage wasnt perfect, but I did think we were honest with each other. Why did you lie to me about where you were going? Why did you come to this place?
Any answers Trevor might have given had died with him in the car accident. If she were to find out what had brought Trevor to Sloane Lodge in Lakemont, instead of to the business conference in Boston hed told her he was attending, shed have to do it herself.
And shed have to do it here. If the answers were anywhere, they were at Sloane Lodge.
Only one month. That was all she had before her obstetrician insisted she not travel. One month in which to learn the truth.
The trees gave way to a thick clump of rhododendrons, their glossy leaves hiding the foundation of the lodge. She rounded the building, heading for the door shed used when shed gone inside to register. Maybe there was a back entrance from the cottages, but she didnt feel inclined to search for it in the gathering dusk.
The sprawling frame-and-shingle building stretched a wide porch across its front, and welcoming light spilled from the many-paned windows.
She thought again of Nathan Sloanes reaction to her presence. That had been anything but welcoming.
Shed probably see him again at dinner. Bracing herself for the idea of conflict, she mounted the steps and entered the lodge.
Once she was inside the wide front hallway with its bentwood coat racks and curly maple bench, the registration desk lured her. Access to the lodges records would tell her exactly how long Trevor had stayed before he died and whether that had been his only trip to the lodge. Barren information, probably, but more than she knew now.
But there was no chance to explore. Even now, someone approached from the shadowy rear of the hall.
You must be Ms. Morgan.
For an instant, before the man stepped into the pool of light from the hall chandelier, she thought the tall figure was Nathan. But this was a much older man, presumably his father. The two men had the same lean, square-jawed face, the same high forehead, the same piercing dark eyes and level brows.