Passions of Chelsea Kane Part 25

Fern's voice answered. "You have reached the Plum Granite Company. We are unable to take your call at the present time ... " Strange, she mused, and for a minute stood with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Leaving the tin hut, she sought out the site foreman, but he hadn't seen Hunter since early that morning. With an eye on her watch, she got back into the Pathfinder and drove to Moss Ridge. Judd was there. If anyone knew what was going on, he would. She related Margaret's message. He ran a forearm across his brow, leaving a smudge of dust in the dampness he'd meant to erase. "He was here a little while ago, but he got a phone call and took off. Didn't say anything about going to the ravine." "Strange," she mused. "I'm sure that was what Margaret said. Maybe she was confused." Leaving Judd to keep an eye out for Hunter while he finished up at Moss Ridge, she drove back into town, parked behind the office, and went to retrieve Abby. Liz was right where Chelsea had left her on the green, but Abby's carriage was nowhere in sight. Liz was surprised to see her. "Hunter was just here. He said you wanted Abby back at Boulderbrook." Chelsea felt a ripple of unease. "I didn't speak 533 Delhisky with Hunter. I haven't been able to find him." Liz frowned and sought the nods of the two other mothers by way of corroboration. "He was driving Judd's car. He put the baby in the car seat, folded up the carriage, and took off." She grew uneasy herself. "I didn't have any reason to question what he was doing. You and he are so close." Chelsea forced a smile. "No problem, Liz. I'm sure there's an explanation. I'll take a ride home and see what Hunter's up to." She couldn't get home fast enough. Where Abby was concerned, she didn't like strange things happening, and she didn't care if it was Hunter. If this was his idea of a joke, he was in for a piece of her mind. There was no sign of the Blazer at Boulderbrook. She ran inside, ran from room to room, ran back outside and around the house. The Blazer wasn't there.

Hunter wasn't there. Abby wasn't there. Running back inside, she phoned Judd at Moss Ridge and, doing her best to talk slowly and calmly, explained what had happened. Only at the end did her emotions break through in the higher-than-normal pitch of her voice. "I want to know where he's taken my daughter!" Judd swore but was otherwise calm. "Don't worry. Abby's fine. Hunter wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"Where's he taken her?" Chelsea asked. She felt as though a chunk of her insides had been suddenly removed, and much as she told herself that it was part of motherhood, that there were bound to be times when she didn't know Abby's whereabouts, that she'd better toughen up a little, it didn't help. Abby was a baby. She was totally helpless, totally 534 The Pa.s.sions Of Cikehwla vulnerable. She would be wanting to eat soon.

Chelsea could feel the milk gathering in her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "You stay there," Judd instructed. "Murphy'll check all the sites. I'll take a ride to Hunter's place-" "I'll go there," Chelsea . "I'll leave a sign here in case he comes, but I can't sit still."

"I'll make some calls. If you don't have any luck at Hunter's, go back home. I'll meet you there in half an hour." Chelsea flew out the door. She flew over the roads to Hunter's place, flew home when she didn't find him there. But Boulderbrook was silent. Tucking her hands under her arms, as much to staunch the flow of milk as to comfort herself, she paced the front porch. She was oblivious now to the sun, or the scent of spring in the air, or the neverending songs of the birds. She wanted Abby. 535 twenty-four at THE TIME WHEN ABBY SHOULD HAVE BEEN suckling contentedly at Chelsea's breast, Chelsea was pacing the floor at Boulderbrook in a panic. Judd was there, making phone calls in search of Hunter. Nolan and his deputy were doing their part on the road. Shortly after one, Donna arrived. "They'll find her," she signed. "Hunter would never let her be hurt. He loves her, too."

"I thought so," Chelsea said shakily, "but this doesn't make sense. He knows I'm nursing her. She must be starved by now. She must be soaking wet. She must be screaming. Why hasn't he brought her back? Why did he take her in the first place? And in the Blazer? It'd be just like Hunter to take her for a ride on the cycle-except that it's at Moss Ridge, he doesn't know how to strap her onto his back, and he hates holding her. So what was he doing?" She barely paused for a breath. "What if there was an accident?" The highway department was out looking for that. "They'll show up," Donna signed, with determination this time. 536 The Paswom of chebew [email protected] It struck Chelsea then that there was a new strength in Donna. She supposed it had been building for a while, in increments too small to be noticed until now. Gone was the meek woman who scurried about to the tune of Matthew's commands. This woman stood straighter, dressed more stylishly, wore her hair loose and wavy, and although a haunted cast remained in her eyes, she was a comfort to Chelsea. "How did you get away from the store?" Chelsea asked a bit more calmly. Donna grinned. Her hands had a defiant lilt to them when she signed, "I told Matthew I was leaving."

"Did he give you trouble?"

"I left anyway."

"He'll be angry."

"I don't care. I want to be here with you." Chelsea was grateful, more and more so as the minutes pa.s.sed and there was sign of neither Hunter nor Abby. By midafternoon half the town was out looking. Quarrymen left work early to help, going in one direction while their wives went in another. Chelsea stayed close by the phone in case Hunter tried to reach her. No one called it a kidnapping. No one wanted to believe Hunter capable of that.

As'the afternoon wore on, though, there were grumblings that Nolan, who returned to the farmhouse to brainstorm with Chelsea and Judd, couldn't ignore. "He could've done most of those other things," he pointed out.

They were in the kitchen with Donna, away from the crowd of well-meaning friends in the living room. "Don't get me wrong. I like Hunter a lot.

537 Barbam Deunsky But the fact is that he's missing, and so's your baby."

"That doesn't mean he intended anything evil," Chelsea argued.

Her fingers were entwined with Judd's. She took what silent strength from him she could. "This has to be an innocent mix-up." Nolan ticked off the case against innocence. "You were nearly run off the road by a company truckhe drives company trucks all the time. Your phone lines were cut-he knows about wiring, and he wears d.a.m.n near a size twelve boot. Your silver key was stolen with no sign of breaking and enteringhe has a key to your house. Your barn went up in smoke-he's an expert on fires."

"No. He only set one." She looked pleadingly at Judd. "There's no motive here. There's no logical reason why he would have called Margaret and sent me on a wild goose chase. There's no logical reason why he would have abducted Abby. Something's screwed up." To Nolan she said, "What does Margaret say?"

"Nothing yet. She's in Peterborough visiting a friend. Won't be back for another hour, Oliver says." Chelsea made an anguished sound. She didn't want to be without Abby for another hour. "Something's happened, I know it has. There's no logical reason why Hunter would keep Abby away this long." Nolan had one. "There's a history of madness in his family." Donna waved a frantic hand in the negative at the same time that Chelsea cried, "Hunter isn't mad."

"He heard children's voices in this place."

"He imagined them. Those children were his play-7 mates. The townspeople were the ones who took a 538 The Pa.s.sions of andwa xam five-year-old's stories and made them real. He just didn't deny it." Close to tears, she turned to Judd.

"Where are they?" He took her face in gentle hands and said, "She'll be all right."

"I want her."

"I know."

"If anything happens, I'll die."

"She'll be all right."

"I'll die, Judd. She means so much to me." His eyes were dark and worried, and although she might have wished he could put on a confident face for her sake, the fact that he couldn't said something about his feelings for Abby. He was as distraught as Chelsea was. "Why doesn't he call? He must know I'm frantic. Is he playing a game?" She pressed one arm over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which were heavy and aching, and pushed a hand into her hair. She racked her brain as she'd been doing for hours, it seemed, trying to think of something Hunter might have said when she'had seen him early that morning, something she might have said to him. She didn't think she had offended him. She didn't remember his being angry. They had been getting along well. She couldn't think of a single logical reason why he would have lied to Margaret, lied to Liz Willis, then vanished with Abby. "That boy's no good," Oliver announced from the door. Chelsea glared. "Oh, stop saying that."

"I did my best with him. G.o.d knows it. Gave him's much as any man in my position could give." Short on patience, she lashed out. "Maybe he 539 Barbam Deunsky needed affection. Or encouragement. Maybe he needed an affirmation of who he is." She turned away. Judd reached out to stay her, but she couldn't bear Oliver's self-serving rhetoric. "I have to walk around," she said, expelling a tense breath. She went through the living room, up the stairs, then from room to room on the second floor.

She kept thinking she would open a door and find Hunter and Abby playing. The nursery was devastatingly empty. So were the other rooms.

She even checked the pa.s.sageway from the closet down, behind the fireplace, to the living room, but it was empty and silent, which made perfect sense, Chelsea knew. If Abby were anywhere in the house, she'd have long since let her presence be heard. But Chelsea had to do something. She couldn't stand idly by while her baby was hungry and wet and tired and very possibly hurt or in danger. Knowing it was foolish, but lacking anything better to do, she checked the second secret spot Hunter had found, the sto'rage room behind the kitchen pantry. When it proved to be as empty as the fireplace pa.s.sage had been, she went down to the bas.e.m.e.nt, flipping lights on along the way, and opened the trapdoor in the wall that led to the underground tunnel. For as far as she could see, it, too, was empty-empty, dark, depressing. With a helpless cry, she sat down on its lip and covered her eyes with her hands. "Where are you, baby? Where are you?" Her voice echoed in the tunnel, growing more and more distant, but when it should have been gone, it went on. She raised her head and peered into the tunnel again.

There were voices. She heard them. She was sure. 540 nm Paswons of Cbehum Ame Heart pounding, she came to her feet. Voices. Not her own echo. Other voices. She ducked into the tunnel. There were two voices, one high, one low, one female, one male. She crept in on all fours. The voices were muted, but not even the distance they came could mask the ill will between the parties involved. She held her breath and listened.

"What in the f.u.c.king h.e.l.l did you expect-"

"'Twasn't supposed to happen-"

"-tunnel, for Christ's sake, which is why it's been closed off all these years -" '@-supposed to be outside-"

"-loony old lady-"

"-not my fault-" '@-been you all [email protected]" Chelsea was trembling, unable to go forward, unable to go back, paralyzed by the voices until another sound came. A cry. A baby's cry. It was Abby. She would recognize Abby's cry anywhere. Galvanized, she crawled backward, fairly tumbling out of the tunnel. She scrambled to her feet and was on the run and screaming Judd's name before she even reached the stairs. She was just shy of the top when he came. Grabbing his hands, she pulled him down. "There are voices, Judd. I heard voices." He descended only enough to wrap a restraining arm around her. "There aren't any voices, Chels. That was Hunter's imagination." She freed herself, caught his hand again, and tugged. "I heard them! You will, too! You have to come!" She was pulling so hard on his hand, he had to either go with her or fall down the stairs. "They aren't in the tunnel, but they're somewhere." Without mercy she dragged him on. "I heard Abby 541 Barbam Degnalky cry. It was her. I know it." She stopped tugging only when they reached the trapdoor. "Crawl in," she whispered. "" She scrambled along the dirt floor out of his reach, then sat with her arms around her knees and listened. "Come on, sweetheart," Judd coaxed, but he was following, just as she had known he would. "Sit," she whispered, and crushed his hand to her heart. "Listen." The baby's cry was distant, so distant. Its sound tore at her. She bit her lip to keep from crying out herself. "Get away from her," the far-off male voice yelled. "Don't you put one hand on her." Over Abby's cries, the female voice wailed, "'Twasn't supposed to be like this."

"I'll take care of her. You stand over there where I can see you. Don't come near us again." The baby stopped crying. Chelsea gasped. "'Twasn't supposed to be like this."

"Yeah. It was supposed to be just me and her in here."

"You'd have gotten out fine. I packed everything you needed to stay alive."

"But you were gonna bolt us in.

You're nuts! Who in town would believe that I'd kidnap the baby and seal us both off from the world? How could I physically do it? How could I ask for ransom if I was stuck in here?"

"'Twasn't supposed to be like this." Judd turned to Chelsea. She could feel the emotion vibrating through him. "Hunter and Margaret?"

"Where are they?" He brought her hands to his mouth and, there in 542 nm Pa.s.sions of Chchwa JLM W the dark, pressed her knuckles to his teeth while the faraway voices went on. "How'll they find us?" Margaret asked more meekly. "d.a.m.n good question," Hunter responded, "since you covered your tracks. I gotta hand it to you. You gave her a message, you gave me a message, you manipulated us perfectly because no one suspected you were capable of this. How'd you ever know about this tunnel?"

"Old newspapers."

"Where in the heu did you get the gun?"

"I meant no harm."

"No harm? What are you thinking, old lady? Kidnapping is harm! You kidnapped two people whose lives are now in danger because the G.o.dd.a.m.ned tunnel collapsed."

Collapsed. The tunnel collapsed. They were alive but trapped. Chelsea tried to think of what tunnel he meant. There were three secret pa.s.sages. Only three. She began to whimper. Judd held her hands tighter.

She welcomed the pain. "I packed supplies," came Margaret's defensive voice. Hunter's was filled with scorn. "Baby food and Pampers won't be much good without oxygen, ' that's what we're gonna be needing before long." "Jesus," Judd said, then even louder, "Jesus."

Frantically, Chelsea looked overhead and to the sides. "Where are they?"

Judd started backing out of the tunnel, pulling her along with him.

Excitedly he said, "Remember last time he was drunk? When I had to go get him at Crocker's? He was talking about Katie Love, about how she used to put him in a hole." 543 Bwtm" DCHMWW "Not a hole. A closet." "A hole, he said. He said it was dark and long and made of dirt. There's another tunnel. If Katie Love put him in it, it must have an entrance in the old shack."

"But the shack's gone," Chelsea cried. "Not the flooring," Judd said as he made for the stairs, then he stopped, turned back, and grasped Chelsea's shoulders. "Stay here. I'll take a crew over while Nolan rounds up equipment. The first order of business is getting oxygen in there. Then we'll sh.o.r.e up the tunnel and start digging through."

"From which direction?"

"Won't know that until we get a look at what the other end looks like.

You stay here, okay? I want you safe."

"I want Abby safe," Chelsea cried, because she suddenly envisioned worms and old bones and dirt all over the sweetest little baby on earth.

"She'll be safe," Judd a.s.sured her. "We know where she is. We know she has food. We know she has Hunter. We'll get them out." He kissed her on the mouth and gave her a rib-bruising hug before climbing the stairs two at a time. He had barely gone through the door when Chelsea returned to the tunnel. She crawled in, rocked back and forth on her haunches, and listened. "I know what you got against me," Hunter was saying. "You always wanted to have a son, and you couldn't."

"I miscarried the boys!

They wouldn't live!"

"So Katie had me, and I did live, and that made you mad." "He said he made arrangements! He said she was giving the baby away, only he didn't know there 544 The Pa.s.sions of Chelmn KMW were two of you! She gave up the one, the girl, and kept the boyl" Chelsea's heart stopped. She pressed a hand to it. It started back up, beating double time. There was an indistinct murmur, then silence. She put her hands to her ears, thinking for an absurd moment that she'd gone deaf.

When she did hear a sound, it wasn't that of a distant voice, but of human movement immediately to her right. She jumped. Silhouetted by the bas.e.m.e.nt light, Oliver's lean frame and spa.r.s.e head of hair were quickly recognizable. He made his painstaking way into the tunnel and, with a grunt, eased himself back against the dirt wall no more than a foot from her. "Did you hear what she said?" Chelsea asked in a high, wavery voice. "I heard," he said. "Is it true?", "I s'pose." She pressed her hand harder to her heart, anything, to get it to slow down. It was beating erratically, bouncing around wildly, like her thoughts. She was trying to take in what she'd heard. "Katie Love had two babies?"

"No one knew it. Midwife left with the first, she had the second all by herself.

Five years later we found Hunter walkin' down the road, found Katie dead, found the diary she kept and the pictures she drew, and we knew."

"Who knew?"

"Me. My lawyer. The midwife. We knew there'd been a girl born and given away, b'cause we'd seen her. Then we saw Hunter, and we knew there'd been twins." 545 ZWbmra Deff "Sw Twins. She and Hunter. She began to cry. "Margaret fell apart," Oliver went on. "Katie Love's pregnancy had been bad for her. She thought it'd end with the birth.

Then Hunter showed up, and I couldn't ignore him, he was my own boy, but I couldn't tell the world that, it woulda killed her. She's never been the same since. I've tried to make it up to her, but it didn't seem to work. I swear, I never thought she'd do anythin' like this." Chelsea wept softly, rocking on her heels with her arms wrapped tightly around her calves. "Right off, when you called on the phone to see me, I knew who you were," Oliver said. "I knew you'd been taken in by a family named Kane and that they named you Chelsea. Not many people in the world named that, and not many of those'd ever find their way to Norwich Notch. Then when I saw you I doubly knew. You got the same expressions.

The nose is a little off, and the chin, but the eyes're the same, and the mouth." Chelsea remembered first coming to town and wondering if she would be recognized on the street. "Why didn't other people see?"

"They weren't looking like I was." He made a disgruntled sound. "Don't know why Katie ever married that lout Henry Love. He didn't do nothin' for her all those years. She was better off without him."

"Better ':361' off?"

Chelsea cried brokenly. "You made her pregnant, then abandoned her. You let the town make an outcast of her."

"Had no choice. Had no choice a-tall. I loved Katie, but Margaret was my wife. I had her to think about, and my daughters."

"And your position in town." 546 The PARWons of Cbeamw Ame "That, too, and don't go ridiculing it, missy, Wcause things like that matter."

"But if you knew who I was, Why did let me come here? Why did you let me get involved with the company?"

"Had no choice there, either. Company was failing. No one else was offering to help put it back on its-feet."

"Oh, G.o.d," Chelsea breathed. She put her fists to her temples. Too much was coming at her too fast. She heard a wailing through the wall of dirt, a gutwrenching sound, and cried out in return. At nearly the same time, a commotion came from the bas.e.m.e.nt.

Nolan and his men had arrived. "Get out of there, Oliver," Nolan ordered. He held out a hand. "Come on, Chelsea. We have to drill in some air. Judd's at the other end. They're starting with shovels." Chelsea took his hand and emerged into the light of the bas.e.m.e.nt. She brushed at the tears that streaked her cheeks, temporarily pus.h.i.+ng aside all she'd learned. The only thing that mattered at that moment was saving her baby. And saving Hunter. Her twin. Her eyes filled again. Worriedly she said, "One end of the tunnel has already collapsed. What if the whole thing goes?"

"It won't. Once we get an air pipe through, we'll keep Hunter and the baby at this end while they work at that end. They'll be shoring it up as they go. Trust them, Chelsea. They know what they're doing." Judd certainly did. Chelsea knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to the baby. She guessed that he would sacrifice himself first-not that that thought brought her 547 EMU" hing happened to him relief. If anyt , would die as surely as she would if anything happened to Abby, she loved him that much. Yes, she did. She hadn't come looking for love when she'd come to the Notch, but she'd found it in Judd. Once she might have chalked up her feelings to an exquisite s.e.xual compatability, but there was so much more now. She liked the way he handled the quarrymen, liked the way he handled the buyers, liked the way he hooked Abby in the crook of his elbow and spooned pureed applesauce into her mouth, liked the way he lay in bed at night with his arm around Chelsea, his breath in her hair, and his ear hers for the bending. No vacant hunk, Judd Streeter. He was competent and intelligent, sensitive and kind. He was everything she had ever want- ed in a man. Everything. An arm slipped around her. It was Donna offering comfort-Donna, with whom Chelsea had clicked right from the start-Donna, the sister she had always wanted but never known-Donna, who, like Judd, was a precious find. byes on the tunthey stood together with their e nel. When Nolan joined them, Chelsea asked, "Do they know we're here?"

"Hunter knows. Margaret's babbling. He's trying to get her to shut up." He slipped an apologetic hand around Donna's neck. "I think she's lost it.- Donna clasped his hand. In a voice that was distorted with emotion, she said, "She needs help. She has for a while." For Chelsea, so many things were suddenly starting to make sense. Margaret could have made late night phone calls to her. She could have set the barn on fire. She knew how to drive the company 548 The Pa.s.slom of chelpim Mwe truck and had easy access to one without ever going near Moss Ridge. Likewise she had access to Oliver's size twelve boots and tools that would cut a phone line, and Chelsea suspected she had the know-how. Margaret was one tough coolde when it came to hatred. Then it struck her. "My tea. She put something in my tea. She spilled it, she gave me a new cup, she must have put something in it. That's why I was so sick." Another thought hit. "I was pregnant then. The baby could have been hurt. How could she?" But she could. She was driven by demons that had probably been stalking her for years, which didn't make Chelsea feel any better where the present predicament was concerned. "What's taking them so long?" she asked Nolan. "They're being careful. The earth's been stable for a long time, but given what happened at the other end, they're not taking chances."

"How thick is the wall they're drilling through?"

"Five, maybe six feet."

"Is there a chance that the two tunnels aren't connected?"

"Not much. Runaway slaves were trying to avoid the law. They would want a way of leaving the house without getting caught. It makes sense that they'd go underground from here to the shack, then off through the woods." It was few minutes before a shout came from the tunnel, saying that the pipe had made it. The idea that Hunter and Abby wouldn't suffocate gave Chelsea a small measure of relief, but she was desperate to know what was happening. Trembling, she climbed into the tunnel. She steadied herself by 549 Raqwwo Deunaw grasping an arm, a shoulder, a hand of whoever she crawled past. At the end, which was lit now with a portable flood, she yelled into the pipe, "Hunter?"

"I hear you," Hunter called back. "She's okay, Chelsea. She's okay. She didn't like the bottled stuff much, but when she got hungry enough she took it. She's asleep on my shoulder." Chelsea didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Putting the back of her hand to her forehead, she did a little of each. Nolan crawled up. "What's Margaret doing?" he called to Hunter. Hunter's voice hardened. "She's here. Christ, she set me up for kidnapping, she wanted me out of the way so bad. It was a half-baked scheme, but she figured the town would think the worst of me and go for it. She figured I'd go to jail, and Chelsea would be so traumatized she'd run back to Baltimore for good." Chelsea leaned toward the pipe. "Why didn't you tell me, Hunter? You've known about me, about us, for a while, haven't you?" That finally made sense, too-his disappearance after he'd seen her license, his showing her Katie's drawings, his hanging around so much, especially after Abby was born.

And the key-she wondered what he knew of the key that he wasn't saying.

She was about to ask when he shouted, "I can hear picks at the other end."

"Stay where you are," Nolan told him. "Wait ' they make It safe." Chelsea had no intention of waiting, at least not there. Her arms were aching to hold Abby. She wanted to do it the instant the baby saw light. it was dusk when she and Donna ran through the 550 "M pa.s.sions Of cheafto Kam meadow behind the farmhouse. They pa.s.sed the spot where the old barn had stood, pa.s.sed through the pine grove, and crossed the field to where men and vehicles were gathered. What had remained of the flooring of the old shack had been torn up to reveal a large earthen pit, one end of which narrowed into a tunnel. Floodlights were aimed in that direction, but Chelsea couldn't see a thing. She slid into the pit.

Murphy stopped her at the tunnel entrance. "It's not safe in there.

Don't give him something else to worry about."

"I want to see her," Chelsea pleaded. "He'll have her out sooner if he's not distracted." So she waited. She bit her lip, then her thumbnail. She leaned forward to see what was happening, then stepped back. She folded her arms over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to stem the flow of milk. She leaned against Donna, who was more than willing to let her. She was about to scream in frustration when she heard Buck's bark, then shouts from inside the tunnel. She went as far as Murphy would allow and covered her mouth when Abby's cries came, but they kept coming, closer and more clearly, and then Judd appeared, holding her safely in his arms. With a triumphant smile, very white in a dirt-smudged face, he pa.s.sed her to Chelsea, who hugged her, and kissed her, and hugged her again. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles, her playsuit was snapped wrong, she was very wet and very dirty, but warm and alive. Chelsea felt she'd been born again. ' woke up and was frightened by all the fuss," Judd explained, but the crying had already stopped, on Abby's part, at least. Chelsea wasn't as resilient. She cried and hugged Judd, cried and hugged an indulgent Hunter, cried and hugged Donna, and 551 RMIMM Demasky between each she cried and hugged Abby, who, now that she was in her mother's arms, was observing the goings-on with a look of wide-eyed curiosity. Somewhere between the crying and hugging, Chelsea was aware of Margaret being led from the hole. Oliver had her arm. Donna joined them. Looking at the woman over Abby's dirty little head, Chelsea tried to feel hatred but couldn't.

Margaret was old and defeated. She needed help. Hunter went to his place to shower, but only after promising Chelsea he'd be back, and although Judd would have preferred to be alone with his women, he could understand Chelsea's need. She had just learned that she had a brother-a twin brother. It was slightly mind-boggling. They took Abby to the farmhouse, where she was greeted by a round of applause and dozens of eager arms. There were relieved high-fives, triumphant smiles, and abundant thanks, then, at last, departures and a sweet silence. They went up to the master bathroom, to the tub that Hunter, bless his contrary hide, had given Chelsea grief about putting in, filled it with water, and, leaving filthy clothing in a pile, climbed in, all three together. It wasn't the first time they'd done it, but it was the first time since Abby had been born, and there, with the dirt washed down the drain and a tubful of clean warm water soothing away the last of their tension, Judd settled Chelsea comfortably against him while she put the baby to her breast. She gave a long, contented sigh. Judd felt the same contentment she did, felt it 552 The Pa.s.s1009 Of chwom Am. C deeper than, ever. It was almost as though at the height of their fear for Abby, some membrane inside him had broken, letting feelings in to touch places that had never been touched before. He had known then that he had what he wanted in life. He wouldn't be any happier it he was in Denver, or San Francisco, or Honolulu, and he wouldn't, couldn 1. be any happier with any other woman. He sensed Chelsea knew it. More important, he sensed she returned the feeling, which meant that she wouldn't leave him the way Emma had left Leo-and as for comparisons to Janine, there wasn't a one to make. He fingered damp strands of hair away from her cheek and neck, then brushed her breast. Abby's eyes were half-closed, her tiny fingers opening and closing on the swollen flesh. At the slightest touch, she took hold of Judd's finger. "Isn't she beautiful?" Chelsea whispered. Judd kissed Chelsea's temple. She tipped her head back and met his gaze. "She's beautiful, you're beautiful, this is beautiful. I don't want it to end. Not ever. I don't ever want to lose you, any more than I ever want to lose her. I'm not leaving, Judd. Regardless of what happens next month, I'm not leaving. Do you hear me?" He grinned. "Can't help but hear. You're screaming."

"Are you leaving?"

"Can't. There's too much to do here."

"The work doesn't bore you?"

"The work is good."

"You don't want to live somewhere else?" He pretended to consider that, then shrugged. "I could spend a little time in Baltimore. Maybe a little in Newport. But I don't know if life would be the 553 Rwbwa Defingky same if I didn't have this place to come back to." She kissed him then, and when it was done, when they sat nestled together looking down over adult flesh and baby flesh, curves and hollows, dimples, freckles, and hair that distinguished one from the other, Judd knew that he wouldn't be satisfied until his women had his name. Chelsea Kane Streeter. Abigail Kane Streeter. Oh, he'd give Chelsea time to say yes, but she would say yes, and if she balked, he could call in the troops. Donna would push it. Hunter would push it. Every man on the Plum Granite payroll who valued his job would push it. Even, Judd would wager, Kevin would push it. So. That was decided. He was pleased. It was after eleven when Hunter returned. Donna was with him. Neither of them was bothered by the hour, any more than Judd and Chelsea were. Donna refused to sit, though.'She wasn't staying long. "I'm moving into the big house," she signed. "Dad is taking Mother away for treatment. He agreed that Jos.h.i.+e and I should live there while they're gone."

"With Matthew?" Chelsea asked. "Without." Chelsea thought of Nolan and let out a breath. "At last." Donna nodded. She put her arms around Chelsea, and something in the way she held her said she had learned that they were related by blood. There was so much to say, but for another time. "Come for breakfast tomorrow morning?" Chelsea signed. Donna nodded. Then she turned to Hunter and 554 Ike ragskms of awl "M AMC said aloud, "I've been as wrong as my mother. I knew who you were. I should have said something." But Hunter shook his head and, by way of forgiveness, said, "You couldn't. Not living with them." She touched his arm and smiled her thanks. Hunter watched her leave, and while he did that, Chelsea watched him. He fascinated her. The way he dressed in black, with his chestnut hair and his gold earring, fascinated her. The idea of his being her brother fascinated her. From the start she had liked ', liked his unconventionality and his daring. She thought of the nine months they'd spent together, thought of the times when, growing up, she had felt a sense of loss, and wondered if one had to do with the other. When he caught her studying him, she smiled. "Twins. Never in my wildest dreams did I guess it. So hard to believe." "Not so h '," Judd said, folding himself onto a kitchen chair. "You two are alike in lots of ways."

"But why didn't I see it?"

"You were looking for something else." She came to him, folding a hand over the neck of his sweats.h.i.+rt in search of the warmth of his skin, but it was Hunter she addressed. "Did Katie actually tell you you were a twin?"

"No. She had secrets. I was one, but there were others. She often talked about a girl child. I thought there was an older sister. It wasn't until you gave me the pieces-your being born here on the same day I was, then adopted-that I clued in. Then there was the key." Chelsea took it from beneath her T-s.h.i.+rt and fingered the silver swirls. "Was it yours?"

"It belonged to a music box that belonged to 555 Barbara Delhishy Katie.

She got it from Oliver, who got it from Zee, who brought it from Italy."