Accidental Family (18 page)
As a line began to form at the cake table, Rowena glanced at her new husband and found him looking at her with unconditional love shining in his eyes. The baby moved inside her, and she marveled at the way fate had brought the two of them together.
A mistake at the Orr Fertility Clinic had turned out to be a miracle.
And the best part of all was that Rowena knew the miracles in their life together were just beginning.
EPILOGUE
C
LINT
AND
M
AUREEN
cleared the last of the dishes off the buffet as the clock chimed midnight. Only a few slices of wedding cake remained, since so many of Cooper's Corner's residents had stopped in to congratulate the newlyweds and share in the celebration. A few stragglers remained, gathered around the fireplace as Dr. Dorn entertained them with stories about the early years of his medical practice.
“What a day,” Maureen exclaimed, slumping against the kitchen counter. “I'm exhausted, but it was a beautiful reception. Don't Rowena and Alan make the perfect couple?”
“Looks like Cupid hit the mark with those two,” Clint agreed, wiping his hands on a dish towel. “I'm just glad this weekend is finally over. All the guests have checked out, and the rooms are empty. So we're on our own for at least a little while.”
“Let's enjoy it while we can,” Maureen suggested, “and leave all these dishes until the morning.”
“Good idea.” He grabbed the coffeepot as they walked out of the kitchen. “I checked on the kids a few minutes ago. They're all sacked out in sleeping bags on the floor of your room. They made some kind of tent out of blankets.”
Maureen smiled. “The girls were so excited when Keegan suggested an indoor camp out. I wonder if he realizes he's their hero.”
“He's just a sucker for a pretty face.” Clint grinned. “Just like his old man.”
Maureen arched a speculative brow at her brother. “Any pretty face in particular appeal to you lately?”
He shrugged, then cocked his ear toward the gathering room. “Hey, I think Dr. Dorn is telling that great gallbladder story again.”
“Very smooth,” she teased. “Next time you want me to change the subject, just say so.”
“All right,” he said with a wink. “I will. Now I'd better go refill some cups.”
She nodded as she moved toward the staircase. “I'll join you there in a few minutes. I want to check the guest rooms upstairs first and make sure all the lights are out.”
The sound of familiar voices, now joined by Clint's deep laughter, drifted from the gathering room as she made her way up the stairs. It warmed her inside and out to know that they'd found a home here. Friends they could count on. Alan Rand was rightâCooper's Corner was the perfect place to raise a child.
Maureen switched on the hallway light when she reached the top of the stairs. The silence seemed almost eerie after the rush of guests they'd had this last month. She slowed her step as she walked by the door of the south bedroom. It was slightly ajar, which was strange. She usually kept the rooms locked when they were empty. Pushing the door open, she was surprised to see the bed she'd just made up this morning torn apart, the sheets and quilt in a tangled heap on top of the mattress.
Then she took a step closer and realized there was someone
in
the bed.
“Excuse me,” she said, then cleared her throat. The body didn't move.
She stepped closer until she was able to see the pale face of a young woman half buried under one of the goose-down pillows.
“Hey,” Maureen called more loudly, her cop's instincts kicking in. Something was very wrong here. She reached out to shake the woman's shoulder. “Wake up.”
The woman didn't even twitch. Maureen shook her harder, practically yelling. “Are you all right?”
The woman's head lolled to one side, her body quivering unnaturally for a few moments. Then she stilled again, not once opening her eyes.
Maureen leaned down to pry one eyelid open, the stubby lashes thick with black mascara. The pupil was rolled back, which told her the woman must be unconscious.
Then she glanced over at the nightstand and saw the empty prescription bottle. She picked it up and read the label. Tamazepam. Sleeping pills.
She hurried from the room and called out for Dr. Dorn to join her upstairs. By the time he got there, the young woman had regained consciousness enough to empty her stomach into the wastebasket that Maureen held for her.
Dr. Felix Dorn was eighty-four years old, his narrow shoulders slightly stooped on his tall frame. As he sat down on the bed beside the woman, his perceptive blue eyes gleamed with concern.
“How are you feeling?”
The woman swallowed as she leaned weakly against the pillows. “A little better.”
Dr. Dorn nodded, then picked up her slender wrist in his hand. “Your pulse is a little fast, but strong.”
“Should I call the ambulance?” Maureen asked, tempted to call state trooper Scott Hunter as well.
“I don't think that will be necessary,” Dr. Dorn replied as he checked the rest of her vital signs.
Maureen sensed her brother's presence behind her.
“Who is she?” Clint asked in a low voice.
Maureen shook her head. “I've never seen her before. I don't know who she is or how she ended up in one of our rooms.”
The house had been filled with people all evening, some even going upstairs to tour the guest rooms. But no one had mentioned seeing an unconscious woman in one of the beds.
“Where am I?” the woman asked hoarsely, looking around the room with wary brown eyes.
“You're at the Twin Oaks Bed and Breakfast in Cooper's Corner, Massachusetts,” Clint told her. “Do you remember how you got here?”
She shook her head. “I don't remember much. And I'm not sure if I dreamed it or if it was real.”
Maureen took a step toward the bed. “What's your name?”
The young woman hesitated, as if she couldn't quite remember. “It's Trudi. Trudi Karr.”
Dr. Dorn checked her pulse again, then patted her arm. “How old are you, Trudi?”
“Eighteen.” Her voice was thready and her dark eyes huge in her face. She looked terrified. And so very young.
Something about her reminded Maureen of her daughters. “Where are you from?” she asked, wondering if the girl had a mother somewhere who was worried about her.
“New York.” Trudi's gaze moved from her to Dr. Dorn. “What happened to me?”
“Don't you remember?” the doctor asked kindly.
She shook her head. “Everything feels...fuzzy.”
Dr. Dorn held up the empty prescription bottle. “You took too many of these sleeping pills. If Maureen hadn't found you up here, you might not have made it.”
Trudi struggled to sit up in the bed, but didn't have the strength. She slumped against the pillows. “No, I'd never do anything like that. I don't want to die.”
“Then what happened?” Clint asked.
“I don't know,” the young woman mused, rubbing the base of her throat with her fingers. “I left my home in Brooklyn because I was tired of my stepfather hitting me. I wanted to go to Buffalo, where my aunt lives.”
“How did you plan to get there?” Maureen asked, knowing it was quite a distance. “A train? A bus?”
Trudi pushed back her short, limp brown hair. “No, I didn't have any money, so I decided to hitchhike. A guy picked me up in his truck. He seemed really nice.”
Maureen suppressed a shiver at the teen's naiveté. She'd seen too many cases of runaways while on the police force in New York City. Runaways who fell victim to unscrupulous criminals who loved to prey on the young.
“Did this man hurt you in any way, Trudi?” Dr. Dorn asked, obviously sharing Maureen's concern.
“No,” Trudi replied. “I was hungry, and he promised to buy me some food the next time he stopped for gas. We drank coffee out of his thermos and talked for a while.” She looked at them, a frown wrinkling her brow. “My mind is so fuzzy. What could have happened?”
Clint's gaze flicked to his sister. “We're not sure.”
“Do you know this man's name?” Maureen asked her. “Maybe we can track him down and find out the rest of the story.”
“I only know his first name,” Trudi replied. “He told me to call him Owen.”
Maureen's heart thundered in her chest. “Owen?”
She saw Clint's jaw tense. “Can you describe him?”
Trudi thought about it for a moment. “He's about your height,” she said, nodding toward the elderly doctor, “but younger. With dark hair that's thinning on top and dark eyes. That's all I really remember.”
It was enough. Maureen's knees gave out, and she sagged onto the end of the bed. Owen Nevil had found her.
Clint walked over to her, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He knew about Owen's vow to hunt her down. Knew the man was obsessed with wreaking revenge on the woman who had sent his brother to jail.
“I still don't understand why I'm here,” Trudi said, unaware of the bomb she'd just dropped.
But Maureen knew why. Owen Nevil had finally found her, and he wanted her to know it. He'd left Trudi here as his calling card, almost killing the poor girl.
Just like he wanted to kill her.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460317556
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
For Carolyn Greene, great author and dear friend.
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