Rebecca Winters - Manhattan Merger

“You don’t ever need to worry about stumbling on to your life, Rainey Bennett. It lives inside you and infects everyone you meet.”

Her eyes filmed over. “That’s the nicest compliment anyone’s ever paid me. For what it’s worth, I meant what I said to Diane. You’re a hero in every sense of the word. The next time I read a Red Rose Romance, I’ll think of you, but I promise to control the urge to paint you.”

The rotors whipped the air. It was time.

“Be happy,” she whispered. Her kiss felt like the brush of a butterfly’s wing against his jaw.

He closed the door and stepped away from the chopper. The noise it made rising in the air covered the groan coming from the deepest recesses of his soul.

When it was out of sight he broke into a run and headed for the beach. After a half hour’s workout he went back to the house to shower and pack a bag.

Downstairs he found his housekeeper in the kitchen.

“Betty? There’s been a change in plans. Rainey has decided to go home to Colorado. I’m leaving now and won’t be back from Paris with Diane until next Saturday. Call me if there are any problems.”

He phoned Andy to bring the limo around. Soon John and Mac had joined them for the ride to Payne’s sister’s house. He wanted to say goodbye to his niece in person.

Nyla happened to meet him in the hall and told him Catherine had gone over to the grandparents for Sunday dinner.

“Can I give her a message?”

“That’s all right. I’ll phone her over there. While I’m here, will you get me those paintings of Rainey’s?”

“You bet. Just a minute.”

While Payne waited, he called Catherine’s cell phone.

“Hi, Uncle Payne!”

“Hi, sweetheart. I’m glad I caught you.”

“Me too. I guess I left that romance at your house, but when I called Betty, she said she hadn’t seen it. Do you have any idea where it might be?”

He frowned. “I remember Diane asking you to hand it to her. Maybe she still has it. If she does, I’ll make sure it gets back to you.”

“Thanks. How’s everything going?” she whispered.

He swallowed hard. “Better than expected.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m taking Diane to Paris with me in the morning.”

“She’s actually going to go on your jet with you?”

“That’s right.”

“Maybe this means-”

“Whatever it means, it’s progress,” he broke in. “Because of it, Rainey has decided not to work for me after all. She left to go back to Colorado a couple of hours ago.”

A long silence ensued. “She was going to draw Linda’s portrait on Tuesday.”

Payne didn’t know about that. “Tell Linda that Rainey would have done it if she could have.”

“I will,” she said in a quiet voice. “Uncle Payne? Are you all right?”

Don’t ask me that, sweetheart. “I couldn’t be better. If Diane can take this step, who knows where it will lead?”

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I love you. Thanks for taking such good care of me.”

Thank God for his niece. “I love you too. What do you want from Paris?”

“For you to be happy.”

Someone else he loved had told him the same thing two hours ago.

“Ditto, sweetheart. Give everyone my love. Tell mom and dad I’ll be by to see them next weekend.”

“I will.”

“Here you go,” Nyla said as he put his phone back in his pocket.

Payne took the paintings from her. “Thanks for everything. My sister’s lucky to have you.” He gave her a hug before leaving the house with a precious treasure.

After he got to the office he would leave a note for his secretary to mail them to Rainey. They were her creation. She had the only right to them. If she decided to get rid of them, he didn’t want to know about it.

“Andy? Take me to the Wylies’.”

Payne intended to follow Rainey’s advice to the letter. He’d lost faith in his own instincts, but he believed in hers. She was the one gifted with second sight. Maybe she knew something he didn’t.

Two days later he wrapped up a conference early with some of his engineers and returned to his apartment near the Place Vendôme. Thanks to the time Rainey had spent with him on the Paris map, he’d been able to give the men enough work to put them ahead of schedule.

“Diane? I’m back and ready to take you shopping for your wedding dress.”

“I’d rather stay in so we can talk.”

Payne frowned. Since Sunday when he’d surprised her, she’d been in better spirits than he’d seen her since the shooting. He didn’t think he could handle it if she told him she wanted to go home. It would mean she’d slipped back into that immobilizing depression he dreaded.

He put down his briefcase. “You don’t sound like you’re feeling well.”

When he walked in her bedroom, he found her seated in her wheelchair wearing a new two-toned pink suit.

“I like your outfit. You look very attractive.”

“I believe you actually meant that. Thank you.”

“I’ve never lied to you about your appearance,” he said as he sat down in one of the chairs next to her. “You were a pretty teenager who turned into a beautiful woman.”

She eyed him directly. “I realize you’ve never lied to me. I’m afraid I’m the one who takes the honors in that department.”

Her comment shocked him.

“When I told you I wanted to come to Paris with you, it was motivated by the lie I told myself about wanting to show an interest in your work. I’ve told myself a lot of lies, but that’s all over.”

“What’s going on, Diane?”

“This.” She held up Manhattan Merger.

Surprised he said, “Catherine was looking for it. She asked me if I would find out if you’d seen it.”

“I put it in my purse when she wasn’t looking because I wanted to read it.”

Amazing. “Were you able to get through it?”

“Don’t make a joke of this, Payne.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

He reached for her hand. “I’m not. It’s just that I know you prefer more meaty types of reading material.”

“I do, but my curiosity was piqued. Little did I know the contents of this book would force me to see myself as I really am. It was a horrifying experience,” she said in a tortured whisper. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“For what?” Payne was dumbfounded.

“For saying yes to your proposal. I placed you in an impossible situation. Ever since I read the last page of this book I’ve been waiting for you to come back to the apartment so I could do this.”

She took off the diamond ring he’d given her and folded it in his palm. “I’ve robbed you of six months of your life. What’s worse, you’re such a good man, you were willing to sacrifice the rest of your life for a woman you’ve never loved and never could love. Not the way I want to be loved.

“The whole time I was reading this novel, I kept confusing the story line with our lives, Payne. Yours and mine and Rainey’s.”

He lowered his head.

“The look in your eyes when you introduced her to me… And then Sunday morning when the love for you came pouring out of hers…

“I could see both of you in the story, wanting each other, yet denying each other because Logan Townsend had a fiancée, and he was an honorable man.

“The only difference between that story and our lives is that I came to my senses first, and could release you from a commitment I should never have let you make. I know why you did it. The sin is on my head for lying to myself that it would all work out in the end.”

“Diane-”

“Before you say anything, you need to know I’ve called my parents and told them the wedding is off. I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear mother say she was relieved. They’re going to fly to Paris tomorrow and take me to that clinic in Zurich.

“This book has made me realize that whether I ever walk again or not, I want a man to fall in love with me the way you fell in love with Rainey. The way Logan Townsend fell in love with the doctor who saved his life.

“If I hadn’t tried to force something from you that wasn’t there, I would never have been shot.

“My obsession over you was sick and wrong. In the end it cost us both unnecessary grief. It’s humiliating to have to admit it, but you deserve to know that I recognize what I’ve done.

“Rainey knew a hero when she saw one in that group photo. She said the judge called it destiny. I know that’s what it was.

“What if she hadn’t painted you, Payne? It started a sequence of events that has freed you and me to live the lives we’re supposed to live. Tell her I’m so glad she did it!”

For the first time since the shooting, Payne wrapped his arms around her because he wanted to. “I know you’re going to walk again, Diane.”

“I have to believe that too. I won’t believe anything else.” She hugged him hard, then pushed him away.

“What are you standing there for?” She smiled. “Pack your bags. I’m kicking you out of your own apartment because I happen to know there’s a woman in Colorado who’s dying with love for you. Go to her quickly. And please, please be happy.”

“RAINEY?”

“Yes?”

She heard the zip open on her two man tent. “Are you asleep?”

“Not now,” she muttered as Craig crawled inside.

“Liar. I heard you crying.”

“Then I guess everybody else did too,” she lamented.

“Don’t worry about it.”

He closed the zip, then sat down cross-legged on the floor in the semidarkness next to her sleeping bag. Now that the sun had gone down, it was cooling off fast. With the screened windows left open, it would be cold inside by morning.

“People are still being flown in. The ones already here are too excited for tomorrow’s run to go to bed yet. Besides, I purposely placed your tent away from the others to give you some privacy. Are you ready to talk about Mr. Megabucks yet?”