Double Life Page 6

  Emma was so caught up in the memories that she failed to hear the approaching car until it was too late. She turned just as headlights rounded a sharp curve in the lane and headed straight toward her.

  The glare froze her for a split second before she lunged out of the way. Her foot slipped on a rock and she landed with a hard thud on her bottom. The misstep saved her because when she hit the ground she rolled a few feet down into a shallow ditch carpeted with dried pine needles.

  The driver hit the brakes and the car came to a stop as a shower of gravel pelted the road like buckshot. The door opened and slammed, and then a voice said anxiously from the dark, “Are you okay? Did I hit you?”

  The headlights were still on, but from where Emma lay she could only see his silhouette. She rose shakily to her knees, trying to determine whether or not she was hurt. When she decided she wasn’t, she sprang to her feet in anger. “Are you crazy driving like that? You could have killed me!”

  “I didn’t expect anyone to be standing in the middle of the road after dark,” he said defensively. “And dressed all in black, at that.”

  Emma brushed off her skirt. “It’s navy. And I wasn’t standing, I was walking.”

  “You were still in the middle of the road.”

  “For your information, this is a private drive. I have every right to be in the middle of the road…or anywhere else I choose.”

  “So do I.”

  The subtle, imperious tone stopped Emma cold and her breath seemed to hover somewhere in her throat.

  He’d sounded so different at first that she hadn’t recognized his voice. He looked taller than she remembered, too.

  “Ash.” She said his name before she could stop herself and she heard him inhale sharply.

  Then he gave a little laugh. “I was wondering if you’d recognize me.”

  She moved toward him then, barely aware of the hitch in the ankle she’d just twisted. He still stood beside the car and when he moved his head, she got a better look at him in the glow of the headlights.

  David Tobias was right, she thought. The years and the accident had changed him.

  His mouth was the same, though, and his eyes…she wished she could see them better. The way he held his head made it impossible for Emma to look directly into his gaze.

  “You look different,” he said, taking the words right out of her mouth.

  “Do I?” She fingered the razored strands of hair at her nape. “It’s been a long time.”

  “Yeah, it has.”

  Was that regret she heard in his voice? Or was she merely projecting her own emotions on to Ash?

  Awareness fluttered like a whisper along her nerve endings.

  “You don’t seem surprised to see me.” He cocked his head and suddenly he looked exactly the way Emma remembered him.

  Tears sprang to her eyes and she had to take a moment to compose her emotions. It was just a memory, she told herself. A brief glimpse into the past. Ash was different. He wasn’t the same person he’d been twelve years ago and neither was she.

  “Your grandmother told me you were back.” Emma was relieved that her voice sounded so normal. A little breathless, perhaps, but she doubted Ash even noticed. “She’s not expecting you tonight, though.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t feel like waiting. Besides, there’s nothing like catching someone by surprise to find out how they really feel about you.”

  “You don’t think she’ll be thrilled to see you?” Emma asked. “You were always her favorite.”

  “I’m not so much worried about her as I am…certain others.”

  Emma’s heart started to pound in agitation. She moistened her lips as she stared up at him in the dark. “Like who?”

  He leaned against the car and folded his arms. “When you take off the way I did, you leave a lot of unfinished business behind.”

  “Yes, I suppose that’s true.” Emma was suddenly at a loss. She’d imagined this moment for so many years, had even rehearsed in her mind what she would say to him.

  How could you walk away from what we had?

  Why did you let me think all these years that you were dead? How could you be so cruel?

  Did you ever really love me?

  As all the old questions flitted through her head, she suddenly realized that the time for asking them was long past. It didn’t matter anymore. And that was why there was nothing left for them to say to each other.

  “I like your hair.”

  The compliment took her by surprise and she laughed awkwardly. “Really? You used to like it long. You once made me promise to never cut it.”

  “A promise you broke, I see.”

  Regret tightened her chest. Not because she and Ash were nothing more than strangers to each other now, but for all the wasted years. For all the lonely nights she’d spent dreaming about a man that had apparently died the night he left home.

  “I don’t want to keep you,” she said. “You’re probably anxious to see your family. They’re all at the house, by the way.”

  He grimaced. “All of them?”

  “Your grandmother called a family dinner after she found out that you were back.”

  “Great,” he said dryly. “I’d liked to have been a fly on the wall when my uncles heard that the prodigal nephew has returned to stake his claim.”

  “Is that why you came back?” Emma couldn’t help asking. “To stake your claim in Corbett Enterprises?”

  “I came back because I was tired of running.”

  His response surprised her. “Running from what?”

  A long hesitation, then he lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “Running from responsibility and familial obligations, I guess. Isn’t that why spoiled heirs always run away?” The bitterness in his voice surprised Emma yet again. Ash had been a lot of things back then, but never bitter, not even in the aftermath of his parents’ tragic deaths.

  She suddenly wondered what he’d been through these past twelve years. What his life had been like. Helen had said he’d spent some time in the army, and Emma could see the hint of a soldier in the way he carried himself. Even reclined against his car, arms folded, ankles crossed, there was something about his demeanor that was watchful and wary.

  “I won’t keep you,” she said again, anxious for this first meeting to be over and done with. Anxious to be alone so she could try and make sense of her own life. She’d come back to Jacob’s Pass to heal and to remember, but now seeing Ash, seeing only a shadow of the man she’d once loved, Emma knew that it was time for her to forget.

  “Are you on our way up to the house?” he asked.

  “Yes. I…live there now. I work for your grandmother.”

  “So I heard. Hop in. I’ll give you a ride back.”

  “Thanks, but I’d like to finish my walk.”

  “Are you sure? It’s the least I can do, considering.”

  Considering what? Emma wondered. Considering he’d almost run her down or considering he’d once broken her heart.

  She shook her head. “It’s nice out. I’d rather walk.”

  For a moment, it seemed as if he might try to change her mind, but then he shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He straightened from the car, his gaze still on her in the dark. “I guess I’ll see you around then.”

  “Yes, I’m sure you will.”

  If his meeting with Helen went well, he’d probably move into the mansion. He and Emma would be running into each on a daily basis.

  Not that it mattered anymore, she told herself again as she watched the taillights of his car fade in the distance.

  Chapter Five

  He watched in the rearview mirror until she was out of sight. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding and his palms were so sweaty that he had to tighten his grip on the steering wheel.

  Relax. It’s over. You did okay.

  Okay, but not great.

  At least the first meeting was out of the way. Maybe he hadn’t handled it as well as he should have, but each time wo
uld get easier.

  At least he hoped so because at this rate, he wasn’t sure he’d hold up under the pressure.

  Now on to the next hurdle.

  But before he faced the family, he somehow had to get a better grip on his nerves. Because once he stepped inside the mansion, he wouldn’t have darkness to shield him.

  He expelled a long, shaky breath. The worst was over. At least he was a little better prepared now. Seeing Emma Novick so unexpectedly that way—in the middle of the road, no less—had taken him by surprise. He’d damn near run her down so it was only natural that he’d been thrown off his game.

  Plus, she looked different than she had in the photograph David Tobias had shown him the other day. Obviously the camera had caught her at an unflattering angle, because in person she looked much more like the girl from the old home videos he’d been watching for weeks.

  Maybe the darkness had shielded her, too. Maybe it had softened her features, but he didn’t think that was the case. He didn’t think the darkness had anything to do with the impact Emma Novick had had on him.

  “Forget it,” he muttered, frowning at the road in concentration. David Tobias was right. He wasn’t here to start something up with Emma Novick. He had to get his head on straight—and keep in that way—before walking into that house and looking Helen Corbett in the eyes.

  If he’d known everyone would be present tonight he might have thought twice about showing up unexpectedly. Tobias would hit the roof when he found out. The first meeting with Helen Corbett had been carefully planned, but arriving unexpectedly and unannounced seemed the kind of thing Ash Corbett would do.

  So here he was. Improvising. Exactly what Tobias had told him to do.

  He stopped the car at the edge of the drive and let his gaze drift over the palatial estate. The sprawling house with its towers and domes reminded him of one of the old limestone and granite Victorian mansions along Broadway Street in Galveston.

  The place was huge, but he wasn’t worried about finding his way around. He knew the layout of the house by heart. David Tobias had made sure of that, even supplying him with a copy of the original blueprints.

  “Your room is on the third story,” Tobias had said using his index finger to trace a trail through the maze of hallways and hidden staircases. “You chose it when you first came to live with your grandmother because there’s a view of the gulf from the east windows.”

  As the memory drifted away, he sat drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Should he enter through the main hall?

  According to Tobias, the family usually parked under the portiere at the side and came in through the garden doors, but Ash had been gone for a long time and his welcome was anything but assured. Showing up here unexpectedly was one thing, but walking in through the side entrance, as if he owned the place, was another.

  No point in getting off on the wrong foot, he decided. Ringing the front bell and waiting to be escorted inside would show respect and a certain amount of contrition and uncertainty that Helen Corbett would probably appreciate.

  Three cars were parked under the portiere. Tobias had mentioned that Wesley drove a white BMW and the beige Lexus belonged to Maris. That left the Lincoln Navigator for Brad and his wife, Lynette.

  So who had been in the black Mercedes that had driven past the job site day after day? he wondered.

  Pulling around the circular driveway, he parked in front of the house and got out of the vintage Mustang that Tobias had bought for him.

  Nothing too fancy, the lawyer had explained. Ash hadn’t exactly been leading a luxurious life since he left home, but the rusted heap he’d been driving wouldn’t do, either. If he appeared too down on his luck he might arouse suspicion.

  David Tobias had thought of everything. Or so he claimed.

  Standing in front of the massive front doors, he glanced back at the car before ringing the bell. His bags were in the trunk. He wondered if he would need them tonight.

  It was entirely possible that the lawyer had misjudged the whole situation. Helen Corbett just might send her errant grandson away without bothering to hear his carefully crafted story.

  Here goes nothing.

  Drawing a quick breath, he pressed his thumb to the bell and a few seconds later, the door was opened by a young woman wearing a black-and-white uniform.

  “May I help you?” she said as she gave him a curious perusal.

  “I’m here to see Mrs. Corbett. Helen Corbett.”

  Her expression was mildly disapproving as her gaze flicked over his casual attire. He wore jeans and a soft pullover shirt that he and Tobias had ordered over the Internet from a department store. He’d been given a whole new wardrobe so he guessed that no matter what happened with Helen, he’d at least come out of this deal better dressed.

  “Is Mrs. Corbett expecting you?”

  “Yes, but not tonight. Could you please tell her that her grandson is here to see her?”

  Shock registered on the woman’s pleasant face a split second before her training kicked in. She stepped back from the door. “Please come in. Mrs. Corbett is having dinner, but I’ll inform her that you’re here. You can wait for her in the library.”

  The moment he stepped through the door, he was enveloped by the grandeur of the foyer. His gaze lifted to the crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling, then traveled up the ornate curving staircase to a second-story gallery where ancestral portraits hung on the walls.

  A large arrangement of lilies and roses had been placed on a gilded pedestal at the foot of the stairs. The cloying scent made him think of a funeral he’d gone to as a kid. He hadn’t liked the smell of hothouse flowers since then.

  As he followed the maid across the pink-and-gray granite floor, he tried not to give away his curiosity by gazing around. Instead, he kept his eyes straight ahead as the young woman led him down a wide, paneled hallway and slid back the pocket doors to the library. Her shoes were rubber-soled, he noticed. They barely made a sound on the hard surface as she stepped aside for him to enter.

  “Mrs. Corbett will be with you shortly.”

  “Thanks.”

  She gave him another curious look before sliding the doors closed behind him. And suddenly he was alone again.

  As he walked over to examine the crowded bookshelves, something else David Tobias said came back to him.

  “The library is where Helen always receives guests and entertains family,” Tobias had told him. “She and her husband—your grandfather—collected rare books. It was a shared passion and perhaps she still feels close to him in that room, although she’s never been overly sentimental. At least not on the surface.”

  He ran his finger along the leather spines as he studied the titles. When he spotted a copy of Robinson Crusoe, he couldn’t help smiling. He remembered enjoying that book as a kid. He’d like reading well enough, but where he went to school, it wasn’t always cool to admit it.

  He was still thumbing through the pages, admiring the illustrations, when he heard someone come into the room. He had his back to the entrance and didn’t look up as the doors slid open, but his heart slammed against his chest.

  This is it.

  The moment that would either make him or break him.

  Calmly shelving the book, he turned.

  He’d braced himself to come face-to-face with the cold, haughty matriarch of the family, but the woman who stood glaring at him from across the room was much younger than Helen Corbett.

  She was in her late forties, tall, attractive, with shoulder-length blond hair and eyes as piercing as a knife blade. Slowly, she walked toward him, her gaze never leaving his face.

  “So it is you,” she said softly, but her voice was edged with displeasure. “I could hardly believe it when Mother told us you were back. And then when Lucia said you were waiting for us in the library, I had to come and see for myself.”

  She walked up to him. She was a tall woman and the high heels she wore put her at eye level with him. That close, i
t was impossible not to see the anger tightening the corners of her mouth.

  He gave her a tentative smile. “Hello, Aunt Maris.”

  The anger flashed in her eyes and she lifted her chin. “Don’t ‘hello, Aunt Maris’ me, as if you’ve just been away for a week or two. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, kid.”

  And then suddenly the anger disappeared and she was smiling ruefully, shaking her head. “I still can’t believe it’s you.”

  “In the flesh.” He didn’t quite know what to say so he let her take the lead.

  “Well? Don’t I at least get a hug?”

  “Sure.” He wrapped his arms awkwardly around her thin frame and held her for a moment before drawing back. But she would have none of that. She tightened the hug and kissed his cheek before letting him go.

  Stepping back, she frowned. “Something’s different about you.”

  “Well, it has been twelve years. I’m not a kid anymore.”

  “That’s true. You’re a grown man responsible for your own actions.” She peered at him closely, as if trying to detect the scars from his surgery. Or maybe she was searching for internal scars. “You’ve a lot to account for, Ash. I wasn’t kidding about that. Mother will want some answers. I hope you have some that will satisfy her, but somehow I doubt that you do.”

  He shrugged. “All I have is the truth.”

  “Well, that’s a start, I guess.” Maris smiled and patted his arm. “Don’t look so worried. It’ll be okay. She’s so happy to have you home that she’ll accept almost anything you tell her. Although she’d never admit it, of course. You’ll need to do a bit of groveling just so she can save face.”

  “I was never all that good at groveling, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  She laughed at that. “No Corbett worth his salt is any good at groveling, but you were even more headstrong that the rest of us. I’m guessing that hasn’t changed.”

  He merely grinned.

  They shared a moment of amusement, then her expression sobered. “I don’t know what happened the night you left here, Ash. Mother would never talk about it, but I know you two had a terrible falling out. That’s all water under the bridge now. Don’t let your pride stand in the way of a reconciliation. Your homecoming could do her a world of good.” She paused. “She had a stroke last year. It very nearly killed her. It would have anyone else.”