Part 19 (1/2)
”That was crazy,” Maeve said. ”When I heard about that wedding I just couldn't fathom your father marrying Kiley.”
”Kiley is insane,” Amanda said. She looked at me. ”Sterling still wants to cast her in Mom's role in The Lady's Regret?”
”He can't put Kiley in that role,” I said. ”I know he'll lose the script if he doesn't, but he'll lose so much more if he does.”
”I don't know,” Amanda said. ”He seems pretty d.a.m.ned determined to do this his way no matter who Kiley will upset. I told him I don't want the film made with Kiley in that role, but he won't listen. Dad will completely cut Sterling out of his life if he casts Kiley. The film will end up a mess. Sterling is so stubborn.”
”No kidding,” Maeve said. She reached for her gla.s.s of wine and tilted it to her lips. ”He's worse than Papa.”
”Have you spoken to Sterling?” Amanda asked.
My heart fluttered. ”You mentioned that stubborn streak?” I said.
Amanda's smiled the tiniest bit. ”You know, he's always at his best when he's with you. I don't know if he knows that yet, but he is. He is happiest and calmest, and kindest. You seem happier with him, too.”
A flush burst up over my skin. ”I love him,” I said. ”I've loved him since I was a girl. Nothing will change that. Not even him being angry with me for reasons that I can't control and don't completely understand. I suppose I'll always love him.”
The feelings in my chest rolled through my body. A tightness unwound by simply saying the truth-that I loved Sterling.
”Her next series is an homage to your brother,” Maeve said.
”Stop,” I said. ”It's two paintings, not a series and it's no homage, it's just what I need to paint.”
”Can I see them?” Amanda asked.
I took a long breath. I wouldn't have shown the paintings to Maeve if we weren't both staying at Mama's and she took it upon herself to come in and out of the guest house whenever she pleased.
”I suppose,” I said. I didn't want to show Amanda. But how could I not? She was my childhood friend, almost a sister, and the paintings were of a man that we both dearly loved.
”Come on,” I said and stood from the lounger on Mama's back deck. ”Let's go look at them now.”
Chapter 25.
Sterling ”If you've come back to beg for the rights to The Lady's Regret, you might as well save yourself the heartache,” Tom said.
I looked around the living room of Gayle's house, the place that had been a safe haven for me and Amanda. I looked from Gayle, who sat on the sofa with a book in her hand, to Tom, who stood just inside the front door. Their lives hadn't turned out as they'd expected.
”No,” I said. My gaze went from Tom to Gayle. ”I've come to say thank you.”
Gayle leaned forward and settled her book over the arm of the couch. Tom's stiffness deflated with my words. He took two steps back and his shoulders drooped as though he didn't know how to react without his anger to hold him upright.
”Sterling? Is everything okay?”
A smile opened wide on my face. A smile from deep inside me that replaced my anger and my loss and burst out with the simple pleasure of acknowledging the sacrifices Gayle had made for me.
”Everything is fine.” I settled on the chair across from Gayle. Tom stood to my left, unwilling or unable to get closer. I wasn't sure but, right now, it didn't matter. Right now I was here for Gayle.
”I don't know how you did it,” I said. ”I don't know if I could have done what you did for me and Amanda. You sent your girls away and took care of us. And after what happened with my mother-”
Gayle reached out her hand and clasped mine. ”That was no fault of yours. You two were the children of my best friend. My love for you and Amanda”-her glance went from me to Tom-”and for my own family never changed.” A small smile trickled across her face. ”Time can heal most wounds, but time alone doesn't raise children.” She patted my knee. ”I did what I needed to do and I did it not only for you and Amanda, I also did it for me.”
”I never knew,” I said. ”Everything that happened that summer. I didn't understand. I blamed Rhiannon and you and everyone for her leaving. Now-” I looked up and met her gaze. ”Now I see what you did, the sacrifice you made, and I need to say thank you.”
”Oh, Sterling, life gives us such difficult choices to make.” The corners of her lips pulled down though her eyes remained soft with empathy. ”We do the best that we can and forgive any transgressions from the ones that we love.”
I nodded. I turned to Tom. He stared at Gayle. Confusion and pain and remorse careened across his face. He'd made choices, he and my mother, that were selfish and unkind. I doubted, if he could go back in time, to the yellow house in Montecito, that he'd make the same choices now. I stood. ”I need to apologize to Rhiannon,” I said.
Gayle's eyes flickered from me to Tom.
”She's not here.”
My pulse quickened. How could I lose what I desperately wanted now that I was finally ready to give the love in my heart?
”Did she ...?” My eyes flicked from Tom to Gayle. ”Did she go back to Paris? Where is she?” I tried to keep my voice calm, but a panic edged through my gut. Had I lost Rhiannon again?
”Haven't you and your family done enough?”
I turned to Tom. His words came out bitter, edged with anger. His eyes were once again dark and his body filled with a righteous rage.
”My family? Do you mean my mother and my father? And even you?”
He squinted and his hands fisted by his sides. ”I'll not have you involved with Rhiannon. Do you understand me, Sterling Legend? I'll not have my daughter caught up with the likes of you.”
”Tom,” I said and stepped closer. My eyes focused on Rhiannon's father, the man who, with my mother's help, shattered two families. ”I will always respect you because you're Rhiannon's father and I know you love her and she loves you, but who Rhiannon is involved with isn't your choice. I intend to find her, and if I am lucky enough, keep her, and never let her go.” My voice was calm and my gaze didn't waiver. ”I won't pay for my parents' sins, nor do I expect Rhiannon to pay for yours.” I looked back to Gayle and my heart hammered in my chest. I needn't waste my reasons on Rhiannon's father. I needed to find Rhiannon.
”Where is she, Gayle?” I asked. ”Where can I find Rhiannon?”
Rhiannon The sun warmed my skin. I closed my eyes to the view that I would remember forever. A breeze whispered over my eyes and my lips, the most delicate of touches. A broken heart would mend with time and care. But the love I felt for Sterling, I realized, would remain forever. I might, one day, find someone, a person to love, but my heart would forever be his. Emotion thickened my throat. How could I survive this loss? What had it been like for Sterling when I'd left him? If his pain had been half as bad as mine, I could barely stand the idea that I had been the cause of his heartbreak. That I had been the reason that he had to protect his heart. I clasped my hand over my mouth and stifled a sob that threatened to break free. I might want to stay here, but I wouldn't. This place, this spot, would always be linked to Sterling and now, now the pain was too fresh.
”I love you, Rhiannon Bliss.”
The air s.h.i.+fted around me, the scents of soap and the outdoors and something else caused me to stop breathing and my eyes to fly open.
Sterling.
My heart beat fast in my chest. Did he just sit beside me on the overlook, under the tree, at the very spot I held most dear to my heart? His hand gentled under my chin and tilted my lips up to his.
”Did you hear me, beautiful? I love you. Do you think that you can love me?” His eyes held a wounded ache, the desire for an answer to his question, a hope that we could be together, finally and for always.
”I will love you forever.”
His lips were on mine in a world-ending kiss. Soft and gentle and filled with the haphazard fears from the past and the promises of the future. His hand wove through my hair and he pulled me closer.