Beverly Barton - The Outcast

Kenny glared at Reece. "Well, I can certainly blame you for taking Tracy away from me. You just couldn't leave her alone, could you? What did you do to persuade her to divorce me? Did you promise to marry her?"

"I didn't promise Tracy anything," Reece said. "She knows I'm not interested in her. All I did was drive her to the airport to catch a flight to Reno."

"Humph!" Kenny picked up his briefcase from the edge of B.K.'s desk. "I suppose if I had befriended you the way Chris did, you'd have handed the company over to me, but because I refused to accept you as my brother, you're willing to ruin the company our father spent his life building into a small empire."

Reece chuckled. God, why had he ever thought he wanted to be like Kenny? Why had he ever envied the man his life? Reece realized that he'd been blinded by the glitter of a world forbidden to him. Now that that world lay at his feet, he discovered he didn't want it as much as he'd thought he did.

"If you and I were like this-" Reece wrapped his index and middle fingers together "-I would still want Chris in charge of Stanton Industries. I didn't vote in her favor as an act of revenge against you. I did it because she's the best person for the job."

"I suppose you two think I'll just tuck my tail between my legs and crawl out of here," Kenny said.

"No one would ever think that." Chris whirled around one last time in her chair, then stuck out her foot under the desk to stop her spin. "There's a place at Stanton Industries for you, but it isn't in administration. It's in sales. You're the best salesman I know, Kenny. You inherited that from Mother. My goodness, we both know how persuasive she always was collecting thousands of dollars for her charities. You have that same special way with people."

"What position are you offering me?" Standing in front of his sister's desk, Kenny laid down his briefcase.

"You two work out an agreement suitable to both of you," Reece said. "If you need me for anything, you know where I'll be, Chris. And if you don't need me, then I'll see y'all at the next board meeting."

When he walked out the door, he heard Kenny ask Christina where Reece was going.

"He's going to find happiness," Chris said.

Elizabeth delved her glove-covered hands into the warm clumps of earth, crushing the small clods and sprinkling the soft dirt back to the ground. April showers were long overdue, forecast for tomorrow. She wanted to get the new plants set out so that they could soak up the rainwater that would nourish them.

Margaret McPhearson stood at the edge of the porch, shaking her head as she watched her niece. "Just look at you, Elizabeth Sequana. You're getting dirty, and after I persuaded you to fancy up a bit."

Elizabeth packed the earth around the last plant, then got up and removed her gloves, tossing them onto the steps. "I didn't get dirty. See." She held up her hands, then glanced down at the denim skirt and red silk blouse she wore. "But I can't just sit still waiting for Reece to arrive."

"I don't see why you can't sit down and take it easy. Just because you've been blessed with a total lack of morning sickness doesn't mean you shouldn't take good care of yourself." Margaret walked down the steps and out into the front yard.

"I almost wish you hadn't told me that Reece is coming here today. I've been waiting nearly six weeks. I'd begun to doubt he'd ever-"

"Nonsense. You knew, deep down here-" Margaret thumped her fist over her heart "-that he'd find his way back to you."

"I have to admit that I did try to contact him mentally a couple of times, to let him know that I loved him and I was waiting."

"Maybe you should have used the telephone instead of trying to break through that shield he keeps in place in his mind." Margaret put her arm around Elizabeth's shoulders. "It wasn't easy for me to break through, not at first, but in the last week or so.. .well, I'd say that, in time, you'll be able to read Reece Landry like a book."

"I wish I had the courage to let you tell me what sort of future you see for Reece and me." Elizabeth turned into her aunt's arms, hugging her.

Margaret patted her niece on the back, then stepped away from her, looking her squarely in the eye. "I wouldn't tell you, even if you asked. You've got the power. If you want to know, look for yourself."

When the front door of the cabin opened, MacDatho bounded outside, O'Grady following at a slower pace. "You 'bout ready to head for home, Margaret?" O'Grady asked.

"Not yet. I want to stay and meet this Landry fellow."

"Are you sure he's coming today?" O'Grady sat down in one of the large wooden rockers that Elizabeth had stationed across her front and back porches. "Seems he'd have called and let Elizabeth know he was coming."

"I'd say he assumes she already knows, which she does because I told her so." Holding on to the side railing, Margaret walked up the steps and sat in a rocker beside O'Grady. "She could've picked up on it herself if she wasn't so all-fired afraid that if she reads his mind, she'll discover he doesn't love her."

"Why don't you two go on home to Dover's Mill?" Elizabeth gazed up at them, the overhead noonday sun almost blinding her. "It may be April and a fairly warm day to­day, but that wind's chilly and I wouldn't want either of you catching cold."

"We're both healthy as horses," Margaret said. "Besides, we're not going anywhere till we meet your young man."

Elizabeth groaned, knowing when to admit defeat. She wasn't sure she would have gotten through the past six weeks without Aunt Margaret. Leaving Reece had been the most difficult thing she'd ever done, but it had been the right thing to do. If she had made things too easy for Reece, he might never have realized what was important in this life. He might have gone on wrapped up in the past and unable to give or accept love.

"He's coming up the road." Margaret stood, motioning for O'Grady to do the same. "You introduce us, Elizabeth, and then we'll be on our way. Now, you remember what I told you. You take him down to Mama's honeymoon cottage. I've got a surprise waiting there for y'all."

"All right," Elizabeth said. "If he stays, I'll take him to the cottage."

Elizabeth heard the approaching car, then turned to see a new, sleek, dark green Jeep Cherokee pull up and stop in front of the cabin. Reece Landry emerged, big and tall and incredibly handsome in his navy blue cotton slacks and his cream-colored pullover sweater.

"Lizzie." Reece stood at the side of the Jeep, taking in every inch of the woman who'd never been far from his mind these past six weeks. Everything he'd done to put his life together had been for her. And now, free at last from the emotions that had bound him to his past, he had come to her, hat in hand, so to speak, hoping she wouldn't send him away.

"Reece." Elizabeth had to restrain herself from running to him, but she would wait for him to come to her. Only a few feet separated them, but they were his distance to cross, not hers.

"So this is the infamous Reece Landry." Margaret McPhearson, her dimpled chin held high, the sun gleaming through the strands of her white hair, took hold of the railing and began walking down the steps.

"You must be Aunt Margaret." Reece looked at the old woman making her way slowly down the steps. An elderly man followed closely behind her.

MacDatho raced around the corner of the house, pouncing on Reece. Reece scratched his ears. "Hey, Mac, how are you, boy? Have you decided to be friends?"

Elizabeth didn't take her eyes off Reece. She felt her aunt's presence when Margaret walked over and stood beside her, O'Grady taking his place on her other side. "Aunt Margaret, O'Grady, this is Reece Landry."

"We already know that." Margaret waved her hand in dismissal. "What I want to know is why it took you six weeks to get here?"