CHAPTER TWELVE

 

SOMETIME DURING THE NIGHT, he must have slept because Garrett awoke to a bleak, gray morning in his cold bedroom. He snuggled down into the covers, but couldn't return to that unfeeling level of sleep that would allow him to ignore the cold. He threw the covers back and raced for his clothing.

The snow continued all that day. Garrett told Bella about his years growing up in Arizona. She could see the young, vulnerable Garrett when he laughed uncontrollably at the tale of panning for gold in the mountain stream and of his first skiing adventures near Flagstaff.

They talked, drank hot chocolate and, kept a safe distance from each other with the help of the Scrabble game. They didn't violate their unspoken agreement not to discuss their budding love.

After a dinner of burritos, his with yogurt and Bella's with sour cream that she'd hidden in the bottom of the grocery cart along with the cake, she cleaned the kitchen alone while Garrett disappeared into another part of the house.

She entered the dark living room only illuminated by leaping flames of the fireplace and reached out to turn on the desk lamp.

"Don't do that. You'll ruin my surprise."

"Oh! You spooked me. I didn't know where you were." She jerked her hand away from the lamp.

"Walk toward the fireplace."

She walked across the room to stand in the firelight.

"Turn around," Garrett ordered.

"Oh, my gosh," she laughed aloud, throwing her hands over her mouth to suppress a rash of giggles. She stared in disbelief at the scene before her. Garrett had placed the ash bucket, filled with snow, on the coffee table. In the middle of the snow was a bottle of champagne.

"You aren't the only one that hid surprises for this trip. I didn't want you to know what I was doing, so..." He picked-up the glasses he'd confiscated from the bathroom and filled them with the effervescent liquid. He handed her a glass and she brought it to her lips. "Do you like it?"

"Umm. It's wonderful and so are you." She took another sip. "I love your surprise."

He pulled her down beside him. "You're the wonderful one." He reached out tracing her lips with his fingers then replaced his fingers with his lips. Her soft, yielding body fit against his hard demanding frame as easily as two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Longing caused her heart to jolt and her pulse to pound.

Bella pulled out of the kiss whispering, "Tell me I don't know what I'm doing."

"You don't know what you're doing," he repeated easily and stole another sweet kiss from her lips.

She tipped her head back feeling a dizzying sensation that rolled her eyes back into her head. "Yes I do. I'm going to make love with you." She ran her tongue across her lips savoring his husky flavor and the sweet tinge of champagne.

Garrett sat up a bit straighter at her words, reaching out; he poured more champagne for her and a touch more for himself. Sipping the wine, she gazed longingly over the edge of the glass. Instead of cooling her, the bubbly liquid increased the fire that burned in the center of her being. The hot desire cracked the frozen ice around her heart. Bella leaned over, set her glass on the table, then took Garrett's glass from his hand and placed it beside hers.

"What are you doing?" He questioned hoarsely, lust filling his voice. He tilted his head and looked at her suspiciously.

"I'm doing exactly what I told you I planned to do a moment ago. Make love to you," she murmured tartly, impatient to feel the familiar sensations of physical love.

Slowly, she stretched her arms toward his shoulder, pushing him down on the large sofa. With feline movements, she stretched her long body across his length.

He grasped her hips and pulled her tighter against him. Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his curly black hair. The light from the fire flashed a red and yellow glow on the spirals. She could feel the dampness of his hair from the heat of his passion. She lowered her lips onto his; the kiss filled her with a feeling of deep longing that only Garrett could wipe away.

He reached his hand under her bulky sweater and lightly followed the path of the lace against her breast. Bella shuddered, amazed at the power such a faint touch held. He'd unlocked her heart and soul. She felt his heart pounding against her own as they struggled to become one.

"I love you," she whispered. The words caused a delightful shiver of wanting to run through her, splintering her mind into fragments.

Facing each other, she pulled Garrett's sweater over his head. "Kiss me." There was nothing she wanted more than his lips heating her own. His hands slid under her sweater and he flipped it over her head. The cool air feathered over her body. "Here?" he asked, then kissed the swell of one breast then the other.

"That'll do," she whispered.

The flames from the fire reflected in his eyes as he gazed at her body. He licked his lips and they glistened in the firelight.

She cleared her throat, pretending not to be affected by his energy and power that undeniably attracted her. "I want you so badly," she whispered. Her voice was low-pitched as it echoed deeply from her passion-tightened throat.

Garrett guided his fingers to the waist of her jeans finding the buttons that guarded the way to her sweetness. Pushing the material together, the metallic row slid freely from the buttonholes. Pushing the thick material over her hips was easy as she rose to help him. Down they slid over the firm swell of her derriere and onto her slim legs. She kicked them to the floor. "Hey. I'm the one seducing you…" Bella said.

"Oh, you think so, huh?" Garrett captured her lips and dragged her into the kiss.

Bella and Garrett became lost in their world of delight and sensation. The blizzard raged outside, but inside the house, nothing impeded the progress of the lovers toward their pinnacle of bliss.

He softly touched her cheek, turning her head toward him, then pressed his lips against her hair, then her forehead and then her lips. The kiss sent her stomach into a wild swirl.

He moved his head away. "Look at me," he groaned.

She met his gaze, feeling a tug of sexual desire pull at her as if her body began to awaken from the years of frozen pain. Desire rose within her, battling back the apprehension as he fluttered kisses over her lips, her cheeks, her eyes and back to her lips. His hands moved seductively across her stomach in maddening circles that caused her to arch her body toward his hands. He did not attempt to hide the fact that he was watching her, and it filled her with a strange inner excitement. Ever so slowly, he moved his hands up her sides, lingering at the full sweep of her breasts, causing her to cry aloud, then reached around her and unclasped her bra.

This feeling was so different from anything she'd experienced with Scott. Stronger, more consuming. She took a deep breath. Garrett's gaze dragged in her taut, aroused nipples. Invisible fingers clutched at her heart.

He deepened the kiss and when their tongues met, liquid fire flooded her body, melting the remaining swords of ice that held her heart hostage for so many years and swept away the pain-filled memories of the past. Parting her lips even more, he traced tight circles against them.

The love making that had started so slowly intensified to a fevered pitch. She moved her body off his and lay by his side. His skin glistened in the firelight and she touched his rippled stomach, circling lower and lower until she came across the metal button at his waistband. In seconds, she had the fastening open and her hand continued toward her destination.

Bella's heart pounded in her chest and the fast staccato weakened her resistance. She stroked him, finding him hard and hungry for her liquid fire and gripping ecstasy. Garrett groaned deeply in his chest and turned to face her. He buried his face into the valley between her breasts and the fleshy buds scraped against his beard. Cupping them, he lavished the succulent peaks with wet kisses. Bella's fingers dug into his back drawing him closer. Her ardor increased with each kiss.

Twisting her body, she slid out from beneath him. She wanted to taste him...just one taste of that silky, rigid skin that sprang against her hand. Bella was aching and burning. She lowered her head, fitting her upper body over his. Her lips contacted the satiny skin. Garrett moaned softly. The pleasure was pure and explosive and he wound his fingers through the silkiness of her hair and pulled her down against him. The dormant sexuality of her body had awakened.

Raising her head to look at him, she asked, smiling at him, "Will you make love to me now?"

Garrett looked down at her through lust-filled eyes. "Here?"

"Yes."

Garrett kicked out of his clothing, his downy body touched hers causing Bella to shudder. He reached up, running both of his hands through her tousled hair. With a quick movement lay her back against the sofa cushions.

Bella slipped her arms around his neck, her whole being flooded with desire. His savage kisses, so desperate and reckless sent raw flame shooting through her veins. She'd never guessed that anything could be as wonderful as the feel of their bodies straining for fulfillment.

She struggled beneath him. Her nipples hardened against the downy curls on his chest. His hands reached under her and cupped the swell of her buttocks, pulling her against his throbbing arousal. She panted with a passion that throbbed painfully through her body as Garrett parted her thighs.

His gaze swept over her. "I've fantasized about you looking like this under me, trembling with lust."

She blinked back her surprise. "Now, Garrett. Now--"

He groaned out, "No. Not yet. You have to feel more--be consumed by the need." Garrett reached between them and trailed his fingers across her drenched flesh causing a sensation like the reverberation of a plucked guitar string to echo through her body. "Garrett!"

"Relax," he whispered. Taking her hand, he wrapped her fingers around him. "You do it when you're ready. I've waited for this moment for weeks.

Arching her back, she impaled herself on his rigid length. Sensations of lust, joy and longing filled her. When his passion split her core, brilliant fireballs exploded in her head, and his frantic movements sent her soaring into the realm between heaven and earth, she was nearly delirious when she felt him tighten and call her name as they joined the heavens.

An explosion of sound rumbled through the room and echoed for a few moments. Garrett jumped to his feet nearly knocking Bella to the floor.

"What the hell was that?" He yelled.

Bella shook her head in disbelief, pulling herself to a sitting position on the sofa. "I haven't the foggiest! I've heard of the earth moving, but I didn't really think it would happen!"

Garrett smiled at her as he tossed on his clothes and ran in the direction of the pandemonium. He zipped up his pants and took the stairs two at a time. Bella, half-dressed, struggled with her sweater as she chased Garrett up the stairs.

A cold breeze rushed from Bella's bedroom door. Log chinking covered her bed and the floor. One side of the closet sat at an awkward angle and looked nearly to topple to the floor.

"Good Lord! What's happened?" Bella cried, her voice shaking from emotion.

Garrett walked to the window and looked outside. "I'd say a big tree fell on it."

Wind-driven snow filtered into the room through the spaces left by the vacant chinking. Bella gave her head a shake, still bewildered. "What are we going to do?"

"It looks safe for now. I don't think the roof is going to fall. But we need to put something over the wall where the snow is coming in."

Bella thought for a moment. "I think there's a tarp in the storage area under the stairs. Will that work?"

"Perfectly!"

Bella raced down the stairs, rummaged around until she found the tarp, then raced back up the stairs. They tried to secure the tarp to the wall, but she didn't have a hammer and nails. Garrett tried pushing the tarp into the cracks between the logs, but the wind blew it back into the room.

"Garrett...I don't think this is working." In frustration she swept the chinking of the bed and dropped down on it. He sat beside her and stared at the problem. Unless they stacked the furniture against the wall to hold the tarp in place, it was useless.

"I know!" Garrett said with excitement. "The closet is nearly to collapse. Let's tear it down and use the wood to hold the tarp in place."

The project only took a few minutes to complete. They were warm from the exertion, but the room was freezing.

"Damn!" Garrett suddenly cried.

Bella twisted her head in his direction and saw him pitch forward, nearly falling. She hurried to his side and looked down at the floor. Garrett had caught his foot on a corner of a door jutting at an odd angle on the closet floor.

"What's that?" She dropped to her knees and began brushing the dust from the floor. The rubble filtered into crack made by a hidden door.

Garrett reached into his pocket and withdrew a knife. Using his thumbnail, he opened the blade and knelt beside Bella. "I'll pry the door off and we'll see what's under here. Haven't you seen this before?" He asked with serious tones.

"No. Never. Until we dismantled the closet, it was dark way in the back and we moved the shoe boxes, too." Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she watched him slide the blade of the knife into the wood and pry upward.

When he'd raised the door evenly all around, he abandoned the knife and pulled with his fingers. Once the door was level, it opened easily.

"Will you look at that?" Garrett exclaimed. "It's an old floor safe. From the looks of it, it must have been here for years. Maybe it was put in here when the old part of the house was built."

She blinked, clearly shocked. "And I didn't even know it was there." She folded her arms across her chest to quell the trembling in her body. Had Scott known about the safe, had he used it? It looked impregnable sitting there, taunting them with its combination nearly covered with dust and cobwebs.

"I don't suppose you have an old combination hiding somewhere?"

"I wish I did. I have to know what's in there."

Garrett stood and reached out a hand to pull her from the floor. "Come on. It's too cold in here to try to open it tonight. I'm nearly frozen."

She shook her head. "Do you think it would open with a key, too?"

Garrett knelt once again, sweeping off the debris to look at the safe more closely. "Yeah. Right here on the side is a keyhole. Why?"

"Hang on!" Bella ran from the room. When she returned, she had a key in her hand. "Scott had this in his jewelry chest. It's old…black; I thought it must have been a keepsake from his youth. I never knew that it really went to something."

Bella inserted the tarnished key into the lock. When it slid in with ease, she looked at Garrett, her eyes wide. Holding her breath, she turned the key and heard the deep metallic chunk as the bolt slid from its seat.

"It worked!" Garrett hollered. "I'll be damned."

Bella grasped the handle and opened the heavy door. The contents included several envelopes and a large money bag stamped Evergreen State Bank."

"Let's look at that stuff down stairs by the fire. I'm freezing," Garrett said as he shivered.

Bella took the items out and rushed out of the room ahead of Garrett.

"Don't forget to close the door," she hollered over her shoulder as she raced to the raised fireplace hearth and sat down.

She closed her eyes to gain strength to continue. She shuddered, and not from the cold when she recognized Scott's handwriting on one of the envelopes. That was all she needed to see to confirm that her suspicions were right. Scott had used the safe. Excitement flooded through her. She'd heard of things like this happening, but she hadn't thought of it happening to her.

Sorting through the envelopes, she found the elusive life insurance policy. In another, a letter to Scott. How had he thought she would find all of this if he didn't tell her about the safe? But she supposed that was not unusual. No one expected to die. Her life could have been a lot easier if she'd known about the safe, though.

She sighed deeply, releasing her air in a gush that blew the bangs from her face. "These are the documents I needed when Scott died." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She unfolded the letter and began to read.

"Why don't I go and make us some coffee? I'm sure you need your privacy for this."

Tears streamed from Bella's eyes and dripped from her chin. "Thanks Garrett. Have you ever been told that you are a super nice man?"

"I have now. Thanks." He walked into the kitchen.

Here was Scott's will and the insurance policy. How ironic. She'd finally gotten back on her feet, paid-off all the bills, and now she found everything that would have made her life so much easier.

Slowly she opened the letter. The words contained in it left no doubt, he was having an affair at the time of his death.

Garrett walked back into the room with two mugs of coffee. "Are you all right?" He asked softly. "I know you need your space, but I'm afraid to leave you alone."

She nodded her head and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She patted the sofa beside her, offering to let him join her. An hour ago they'd made love here, and now, she peered back into that life she'd tried so hard to keep in the past.

Handing the documents to Garrett to read, she took the coffee and sipped at the warming liquid. "I don't understand why he took our money out of savings. I think there was nearly one thousand dollars in the account. And now…" A sob caught in her throat.

"Honey, you can't keep wondering. Here." He extended his arms and gathered her into his embrace. She sobbed from the pain and loss. When her tears had subsided, Garrett reached for the moneybag and looked inside. "Bella...there's a lot more than a thousand dollars in here." He started removing the money and hour later; he'd totaled it to eight-hundred thousand dollars.

"I'm more confused now, than before. Where did this money come from?" Her tears began to flow in rivers again. This time, she cried herself to sleep. Garrett laid her back against the couch and covered her with a bright colored afghan. He stroked her hair, wiped the damp tracks of her tears and kissed her softly on the lips.

He felt sure this money had something to do with the problems he was finding at the care center. Lillian had been keeping him posted, but she'd found little evidence that there were problems with the staff members. They were gracious and seemed genuinely sincere in their care of the elderly. No. The problem had to be higher up than with the CNA's, housekeeping and dietary staff members. Someone wanted Bella out of the way and this money must have something to do with it.

Garrett released a frustrated sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He'd checked everything about Bella--except her dead husband. Scott Mann had some very deep secrets and Garrett was going to find out just what they were.

* * * *

Sunday dawned sunny and bright. Rays of sun poured into the living room and nudged Bella awake. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt puffy and heavy from crying. Frogeyes! Good God. How was she to face Garrett looking like this? Tossing off the blanket, she stumbled toward the bathroom to splash her face with cold water. She didn't want Garrett to see her in such a state. Just thinking of his name caused her heart to race. Their lovemaking the night before had done little to curb her desire for the man. Actually, her craving for him had grown wanton.

The muffled sound of his voice filtered through to her when she opened the bathroom door. He must be on the phone. Not wanting to eavesdrop, she walked back to the living room, but she could hear his conversation, anyway. It sounded as if he were arguing with someone.

She listened closer and could make out a few words. From what she heard, Garrett was talking to his grandmother. What could Lillian have done to make him angry?

Moments later, Garrett walked into the room. "Well, I see you're finally awake." He smiled. "Should we grab something to eat and get going back to town before it begins snowing again?"

After a breakfast of French toast and eggs, they packed their bags and drove back into town. The snow had stopped during the night, the wind had calmed to a gentle breeze, but the deep snow, and mountainous drifts caused Garrett to lock the vehicle into four-wheel drive.

Bella sat quietly huddled in the passenger seat thinking about the damage to her cabin. She had to notify her insurance carrier about the damage done and find someone to complete the repairs.

In the light of day, she was embarrassed about her actions the night before. Thank, God Garrett hadn't said anything to her about it. She tried to look out the side window, but it was steamed-over. Rubbing her gloved hand against the glass, the mist formed into droplets of water. At least she could see the towering pines and their blanket of snow. The dark green, nearly black, trees in the sea of snow looked like a child's crayon rendition of winter.

The deep snow made it difficult for Garrett to find the narrow road. He slowed the Blazer to a crawl. Finally, they reached the main highway, but it was in no better condition than the dirt road they'd just exited, but luckily, another vehicle had covered the distance before them. They could follow those tracks. Bella chewed on her bottom lip and worried. What if that vehicle had run off the road? She knew it was foolish to fret about such things. Most of the highway was lined with steel guard railing.

Bella looked over at Garrett. His had replaced his glasses with a pair of dark-tinted sunglasses. She couldn't see his eyes, but the lines in his face appeared deeper.

The only sound in the interior of the Blazer came from the fan blowing warm air against the windows. The silence between them was thick, so thick it changed the atmosphere in the room.

"Bella?"

She jumped and quickly drew in a breath. "Oh…you scar…"

"Will you marry me?" He interrupted, his voice low and thick. He turned his head back to watch the road.

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him. She loved him, but the words wouldn't come out of her tight throat. "A-are you serious?"