Marriage of Convenience
Parts 14-15
By 'J'
The next day Michelle had some shopping to do. She spent a couple of hours in the stores, buying some personal items, and returned just after noon. She came into the kitchen and called,"Anybody home?"
Rosa entered from the hall, looking worried.
"Is Danny okay?" Michelle said.
Rosa looked more worried.
"What is it? Is he ill?"
"He's not here," Rosa said.
"Well, where is he?"
"In Jail," rosa replied, shrugging helplessly.
"In jail!" Michelle said incredulously. "He's sleeping when I leave, I'm gone for two hours, and when I come back he's in jail? What on earth happened?"
"I told him to wait for you, but he wouldn't."
"Wait for me to do what?" Michelle asked, trying to absorb it.
"The insurance adjuster came right after you left," Rosa explained. "Danny got up and went out to the stable with him. The insurance man looked at the stable roof and said the company would only pay ten thousand to replace it. Well, that's a new roof, Danny had it put on a year and a half ago for fifteen. They got into a dispute about it, and Danny wound up punching him."
Michelle rubbed her forehead. "Let me understand this. Danny wanted five thousand more than the company man said the roof was worth, so Danny handled the argument by decking the guy?"
"That's about it," Rosa said uncomfortably.
"Why am I surprised?" Michelle murmured to herself, shaking her head wearily.
"The insurance man was furious, he marched straight in here and called the police," Rosa said. "He's charging Danny with assault. The cops came and took Danny away in a squad car. He's in the municipal lockup right now."
"Oh God, I can't stand this," Michelle said. "What's his bail?"
"It wasn't set yet when I called."
Michelle sighed. "I'll go down there and try to straighten this out. Rosa, I'm sorry you had to be here for it."
"Don't' worry about me, I was just afraid somebody was going to get hurt. I wish Danny would think before he reacted so physically."
"Amen," Michelle murmured. She glanced at her watch. "I'll have to stop off at the bank and get some money. I doubt if the bail will be more than five hundred for simple assault, but I'll get some extra money just in case."
"There was nothing simple about it," rosa said darkly.
"The jail is right behind the municipal building isn't it?"
Michelle said, fishing around in her bag for her wallet, which contained her bar association card.
Rosa nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?"
Michelle shook her head. "I can handle it. I'll call you if there's any problem."
Michelle hurried to her car and drove back to town, pulling into the lot of the municipal building and walking around to the jail. A uniformed clerk looked up desultorily as she entered through the double glass doors.
"I'm here to post bail for one of your detainees," she said.
The woman jerked her head toward the rear of the room.
"See the sergeant."
The desk sergeant was seated on a raised platform from which he surveyed the world like a ruling despot on a throne. He fixed Michelle with a gimlet stare as she approached.
"Something I can do for you, young lady." he drawled.
"I'd like to post bail for Danny Santos," she announced.
The sergeant, whose name was Brady, shuffled through a pile of papers on his blotter. "Santos, Danny", he recited.
"Assault and battery, civil complaint filed by one Steven Caldwell of 10 Elmhurst St, Upton. Santos's hearing is in two weeks on the tenth, 11:00 am. Six hundred and fifty dollars, please. Cash?" Brady said.
Michelle handed the pile of franks to him. He counted it with the precision of a bank teller; he obviously loved his job.
"And you are?" he said, his ballpoint poised above a form.
"His lawyer."
"ID?" the sergeant asked.
Michelle presented her bar card and driver's license.
"These are from the USA," Brady said.
"Yes, I know," Michelle said patiently. "I've only been out here a short time and...."
Brady waited.
"Look, I don't have to be admitted to the bar here to get him out of jail," Michelle said firmly. "Can we proceed with this?"
"Your name is Michelle Bauer," Brady said, copying it precisely onto his form.
"Michelle Bauer ...Santos."
"A relative?" Brady asked, noticing her hesitation about the name.
"I'm his wife. Legally." Michelle winced inwardly after she added the last word. Why had she said that? Cops hated lawyers.
"Is there any other way?" Brady asked, raising his bushy brows. "Spiritually? Metaphysically?"
"We're married," Michelle said flatly.
"So you're his lawyer and his wife? Isn't that a--what do you call it--conflict of interest?"
"Are you writing a book, Sergeant Brady?" Michelle demanded. "You have the money right here. Just let me sign the papers now and get him out of here."
Braddy scribbled on his forms and pushed them across the desk for her signature. As she wrote, he pressed a button on the house mike at his elbow and said in a bored tone, "Bring Santos up, his bail's in."
Michelle was tucking her license back into her wallet when Danny appeared, escorted by a female officer. He looked extremely pained when he saw her.
"Personal effects," Brady said, handing Michelle an envelope containing Danny's watch and Billfold, and some other items that rattled when she shook it. Danny walked past her and stopped by the desk.
"I'm free to go?" he said.
Sergeant Brady raised his hand and made a tightfisted gesture of farewell, like a baby waving bye-bye.
"That guy thinks he's a comedian," Danny muttered as they walked to the door.
"I noticed," Michelle said. When they were outside, she turned to face him.
"All Right," he sighed. "Let me have it."
"Lets go across the street into the coffee shop," Michelle said tersely. "I don't want to make a scene in the street."
"Oh, I agree," he said, keeping pace with her. "Making a scene in a restaurant is preferable any day."
Michelle ignored that and waited until they were seated in a booth before saying, "Danny, I never want to bail you out of jail again. If this is the way you plan to handle your problems, in future I suggest you retain the services of somebody else."
"As lawyer or wife?" he countered.
"Very funny. You should work up a routine with sergeant Brady, should be good for a few laughs."
"Are you going to let me explain?"
"Rosa already told me what happened. You got a low estimate on the roof replacement and responded by decking the insurance agent."
"That's not exactly how it went."
Michelle surveyed him with exaggerated tolerance. "Are you suggesting that Rosa lied to me?"
He shook his head. "She only told you what I told her. But it wasn't the whole story."
"So?" Michelle said.
"Crisp as lettuce, aren't we?" Danny said dryly.
"I'm waiting."
"I didn't want to go into it in front of the two cops," Danny said. "They were standing there listening to me when I talked to Rosa."
"I'm still waiting."
"The guy made a crack about us, okay?" Danny said tightly.
"Us?" Michelle said uncomprehendingly.
"Us. As in you and me."
Michelle closed her eyes. "Doesn't anyone around here ever talk about anything else?"
"Apparently not. When he told me he would only give me ten grand for the roof, I said it wasn't enough. I wanted to go into the house and get the bill for the roof replacement I had done just a year ago, but he said he couldn't understand why I was worried about money. After all, I had just married you to get the ranch, and with all you were worth, a bill for the roof was a drop in the bucket. That's when I hit him."
"Oh."
"He went nuts and ran back to the house, screaming that he was calling the cops. By then I felt like a ass about it, and so I just waited for the police to show up and went along to the station."
"I didn't realize we were so famous," Michelle murmured.
Danny shrugged. "The ranchers in the valley are a closed community. I guess this guy had been hearing the gossip."
He shook his head. "I shouldn't have reacted that way, but our...uh...situation is kind of a sore subject with me."
Michelle merely looked at him.
He met her gaze and glanced away.
"Was he hurt?" Michelle asked.
"No. I didn't hit him that hard. His pride was damaged more than anything. He didn't see it coming, and it landed him in the dirt in a rather undignified position."
"How nice," Michelle said evenly. "I'm so sorry I missed it."
"So you're pretty mad at me, huh?"
"Whatever gave you that idea?"
He fiddled with the packets of sugar in the metal stand on the table. "Look, Michelle, I know you think I'm a...
"No!" she said, feigning astonished disagreement.
He held up his hand. "Let me finish. I've been trying, I really have. But can you imagine how it makes me feel when I'm reminded that everyone knows why you married me? I see the look on their faces, the tone of their voices. They might as well say that a woman like you wouldn't have me, glided, except for your fathers will. I know what they're thinking.
"Oh, Danny, we've been over this before. You're too sensitive."
"It wasn't a temper that caused me to react today," he said quietly. "That insurance agent was pretty direct."
"Cant you overlook that sort of remark?"
He dropped his eyes. "Not when it's true," he said quietly, his expression grim.
The waitress arrived to take their order. Michelle, nonplussed by his last statement, asked for coffee. Danny nodded that he would have the same. The woman left.
"Danny," Michelle said guardedly, "I don't think this is working out."
His head came up sharply. "What do you mean?"
"I seem to have brought you nothing but trouble. Maybe I should just go back to Springfield. I don't have to stay here for us to inherit the ranch. It will come to us as soon as the will is probated, and then I can file for divorce in absentia."
His face became veiled, withdrawn. "Is this what you want?" he said flatly after a long pause.
She shrugged. "We're just torturing each other this way, creating uncomfortable circumstances. Don't you agree with me?"
"Whatever you say." He wouldn't look at her.
"Do you want me to stay here?" she asked directly.
"I want you to do whatever suits you," he replied, his tone deliberate.
The coffee arrived and they stared at the cups morosely, equally miserable.
"Will you take me to the airport if I book a flight?" Michelle ventured at length in a small voice.
"I'll take you wherever you want to go," he answered, staring past her head.
"Good."
They pretended they were interested in their drinks a little longer, and then they got up and left.
Rosa was sipping tea in the kitchen as they entered by the back door. She looked up apprehensively and said to Danny,
"Are you out of jail for good?"
"I'm out on bail," he said. "I have to appear for a hearing."
The two women exchanged glanced.
"I'm glad it was no worse," Rosa said.
"It was bad enough," Michelle said darkly.
Danny walked through the kitchen and into the hall. Seconds later they heard his door close.
"I can't tell you what a wonderful time I've been having today," Michelle said dully, sliding into the chair across from Rosa.
"Danny doesn't look any happier than you do."
"I'm thinking about going back to Springfield," Michelle said bluntly.
"What?" Rosa said, sitting up straight.
"You heard me."
"So you're just going to give up on him?" Rosa demanded.
"Rosa, what can I do? You see what's happening. Today he wound up in jail because he has a bad temper.
"He'll still have a bad temper if you leave, and you know that. What's the real reason?"
"I can't stand it," Michelle whispered.
"You can't stand what?'
"Being around him all the time. Seeing him, hearing him, and knowing that it will all end. The longer I remain, the worse it will be when I finally get the divorce and have to leave."
"Who says you have to leave?"
"Do you think I would stay here and continue this....?"
Rosa put her hand on Michelle's arm. "Go to him. Talk to him."
Michelle shook her head mutely. "I still have some pride left. I'm going to gather the shreds of it around me and go home."
"Your home is where Danny is," rosa said.
Michelle shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "I hoped I could make that come true, but all I've done is cause problems."
"Michelle, I know he wants you."
Michelle nodded slowly. "I believe that now, but it's not enough. He wanted me ten years ago, but even then I brought out the worst in him. And its happening again. Can't you see that?"
"No. I see a man who's in pain because he's afraid, quite rightly, that it will not work out between you. Again."
Michelle didn't answer.
"Think about it." Rosa added. "And don't' go anywhere, don't do anything without talking to me."
"Fine, Rosa, but--"
"No buts," Rosa said firmly, putting her teacup in the sink. I'll see you tomorrow."
Danny emerged from his room as Rosa was leaving. He had changed his clothes.
"Would you like something to eat?" He nodded. "Sure. Thanks," he walked off down the hall and seemed so dispirited that Michelle looked after him.
He's just tired, she thought; he had a long, grueling day, and he wasn't well at the start.
She finished the salad and grilled a porterhouse medium rare, the way she'd heard him order steak in restaurants. She sat and waited, but twenty minutes passed with no sign of Danny.
Wondering if he had fallen asleep, she set the kettle to boil to make a cup of tea for herself and left the food on the table, going to his door.
"Danny?" she said, tapping lightly.
There was no answer
"Come on in," His voice was subdued.
Michelle pushed the door inward gently. He was seated on the edge of the bed, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. His hair was wet and droplets of moisture clung to his upper arms and torso. He was staring at the floor.
"I made dinner for you." Michelle said.
He nodded silently.
"Danny, what is it? What's wrong?" Michelle asked softly.
He lifted one shoulder. "What's right?'
He raised his eyes to hers and said, "When are you leaving?"
"Um...I don't' know," Michelle replied, startled.
"Tomorrow? The next day? I'd like to know, I'd like to be ready for it."
"Ready for what?
"The emptiness. The loneliness."
Michelle stared at him, afraid to breathe.
"For ten years I waited to see you again. I told myself that you had a life of you own and there was no place for me in it. but inside I always wondered, always hoped...."
He sighed, swallowing. "But when you leave this time, there won't be any hope left. There'll be nothing but the knowledge that it's really finally over and I have to go on living, by myself."
Michelle took a step forward. Her knees were shaking. He searched her face.
His eyes were bleak in the lavender twilight of the room; every line of his posture bespoke resignation and defeat.
"Michelle, please don't go," he said huskily. "Please."
Michelle crossed the distance between them in a second. She pulled him to her and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I love you," he murmured, his eyes closing as she cradled him against her breast. "Oh, god, I love you. I always have."
His whole body shuddered with the relief of saying it at last, and Michelle's throat closed with emotion. She clutched him tighter, and he pulled her onto to bed with him, pinning her to the mattress.
She opened her lips as he bent to kiss her. The scrap of terry cloth he wore did little to mute the impact of his muscular arms and legs, the lean strength of his body. His mouth was hot, his hands restless, in her hair, at the buttons of her blouse, the fastener of her skirt. She turned to help him, and then they both heard the piercing whistle of the teakettle as it started to boil.
"What the hell is that?" he muttered, his lips against her neck.
"The tea kettle."
He propped himself on one elbow and stared down at her.
"You chose this moment to make a cup of tea?"
"Well, I thought you were coming out to have dinner. I'd better go turn it off."
"No, your not going anywhere," he answered his arms becoming like steel bands to restrain her. "Anywhere."
"Danny, it will burn through the bottom to the heating coil. it could easily start a fire."
He groaned with real feeling and rolled off her. "Not another fire."
"I'll be right back," she whispered
"I'll come after you if you're not," he replied, watching her departure with hungry eyes.
Michelle scampered to the kitchen and turned off the current, moving the kettle to a back burner. She was turning to go back to the bedroom when she caught sight of a man standing at the back door.
He was waving to her and smiling.
The man was Bill Lewis.
---------------------------------------
In one panic-stricken instant Michelle considered several alternatives. The first was giving way to unrestrained hysterical screaming. The second was bolting like a vampire confronted by a crucifix and locking herself in with Danny. And the third was answering the door.
She decided to answer the door. Bill was very persistent and, having seen her, would knock until his fist fell off. She checked her buttons and snaps as she walked through the kitchen to let him in and found hat everything was in order.
"Bill," she said, pulling open the door and manufacturing a smile. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi!" he said, grinning as he entered the house.
"Surprised?"
"I sure am," Michelle said desperately, glancing over her shoulder.
"Well, I was missing you and I thought, I'll just take a few days off and hop on a plane, why not?"
"Why not?" Michelle echoed.
"So, this is your father's place?" he asked, looking around.
"It was, yes."
"Nice place."
"Yes. As a matter of fact, why don't we go outside right now and take a look at it?" Michelle said hastily, attempting to shove him back out the door.
But she was too late. Bill's gaze was fixed over her shoulder at a point about seven inches above her head.
"Who's that?" he said.
Please let him be wearing a towel, Michelle prayed silently. She turned to face Danny.
He was wearing a pair of pants.
"Who the hell is this?" Danny demanded, hands on narrow hips.
Michelle tried very hard to vanish, but she was neither supernatural nor Harry Houdini. She was still standing there several seconds later, with the two men glaring at each other. She finally said, "Danny, this is my colleague from the district attorney's office, Bill Lewis. Bill, this is Danny Santos.
Danny made no move to shake Bill's extended hand.
Michelle said nothing.
Bill dropped his hand.
"What are you doing here?" Danny said to him.
"Michelle just asked the same question," Bill said, smiling weakly. "Maybe I should have called first."
"Answer the question," Danny advised coldly.
Bill looked from one to the other in confusion and decided to tough it out.
"I've come to ask Michelle to marry me," he announced, stepping forward and putting his arm around her.
Michelle stared at him in horror, astonished.
"Is that right?" Danny demanded, his mouth a grim line.
"Wait, Danny," Michelle interjected, "this is a mistake....."
"I think I'm the one who made the mistake," he replied tersely, looking at her.
"There's not mistake," Bill said.
"Could be," Danny said to him flatly.
"I think you're a little late for a wedding," He turned on his heel and strode from the room without looking back.
"Danny, wait," Michelle called after him.
There was no answer.
"Michelle, what's going on here?" Bill said, examining her anguished face.
"I....it's complicated."
"It must be."
"Bill, let's get out of here. I want to explain, but it would be better if we left and talked someplace else."
They went out to Bill's rental car and he drove into the city, where they stopped at the same coffee shop Michelle had patronized with Danny. When they were seated in a booth and had ordered, Bill said, "I think you'd better start from the beginning and tell me all of it."
Michelle folded her hands on the table in front of her. " I wasn't entirely frank with you about the reasons for my trip out here."
"Somehow I sensed that."
"I told you that I was going to Europe to settle my late father's estate."
"Right."
"I didn't tell you that his will required me to marry my stepbrother in order for us to inherit the ranch."
"Danny? The guy back at your house?"
She nodded bleakly.
"You married your stepbrother?"
"As soon as I got here."
"Michelle, why? You know a piece of Victoriana like that will would never stand up in a court today. You could have contested it easily."
"I know, but contesting it would have taken a long time, and the ranch is Danny's home. I didn't want to tie it up in a long legal, wrangle that would have left him unsettled indefinitely."
"Or maybe you really wanted to marry the guy," Bill said, watching her expression.
"Not at first," she said slowly.
"But now?"
"Now, I..." She gestured helplessly, leaving the sentence unfinished.
Bill stared at her. "Michelle, I came out her to propose. I have a ring in my pocket. Now you tell me you've married somebody else because of some antiquated will and, even crazier, that you want to keep it that way?"
"I know it all sounds....odd," she said weakly.
"It's clear I jumped to a conclusion here."
"Bill," Michelle said gently, "I'm sorry if you mistook my feelings, but I don't recall doing or saying anything that would have led you to believe I was ready to marry you."
"No," he admitted.
"What then? What brought this on?"
He shrugged. "I guess it was impulsive. i want to get married. I want to have children, and we've always gotten along...."
"Do you love me?"
He looked abashed. "I guess so. I, well I don't know."
Michelle remembered the passion in Danny's husky voice as he said, "Oh God, I love you. I always have." She dropped her eyes.
"I know thats not a statement to sweep you off your feet." Bill admitted, "But I'm afraid I'm not sure what love is exactly."
"You'll be sure when it happens to you," Michelle said quietly.
"Has it happened to you?"
She nodded.
The drive home was short, and the house was dark when they pulled up in the driveway.
"Do you think he went out?" bill asked.
"His car is here."
They entered together, and Michelle snapped on the kitchen light. She was about to go into the living room when Danny entered from the hall, a half finished drink in his hand. He was wearing the same pants as before, with a loose cotton sweater.
"Well, if it isn't the happy couple," he said, toasting them with his glass. Michelle and Bill exchanged glances.
"So, when's the joyous day?" Danny asked, polishing off his drink in one gulp.
Michelle said nothing, trying to determine how to handle him.
"Cat got your tongue?" Danny said to her. "I would think that such felicitous tidings would be just bursting from your lips."
Bill moved in front of Michelle.
"I'll bet you thought that only you lawyers could talk like that," Danny added. "Speaking of the law, I have a question. Was the blushing bride going to wait until our divorce to marry, or was bigamy part of the plan?"
"There was no plan," Bill said.
"You're drunk," Michelle said.
"Couple drinks," he replied. "Just enough to help assua...assu...comfort me in my disappointment." He threw him empty glass against the wall, where it shattered noisily.
Bill took a step forward.
"Isn't this touching, Michelle?" Danny said sarcastically. "Your knight in shining armor is going to protect you."
"Somebody should protect her from you, bud," Bill said stiffly.
"Bill, don't," Michelle said, aware that such intervention would only worsen the situation.
"Listen to the lady, Bill," Danny said softly. "Otherwise I might have to rearrange your face."
It was obvious that Bill's usual good humor was dissipating rapidly. "You'll probably fall down plastered first, big man," Bill sneered.
"I'm still standing," Danny said, closing in on him.
"Oh, you're so macho," Bill taunted him, now furious himself. This is exactly what Michelle had wanted to avoid.
"You like the macho type, sweetie?" Danny said to him.
Bill's face suffused with color.
"You're all talk, Santos. Nobody witnessing this performance would believe that you've had this beautiful girl here all this time and never laid a finger on her. What's the matter, you afraid of woman?"
Danny lunged for Bill, but Michelle, expecting it, was lighter and quicker. She launched herself at Danny, whose liquor inhibited reflexes were slowed.
He stumbled against her, and she flung her arms around his neck, bringing him to an awkward stop.
"If you do anything to him, I swear I will never speak to you again as long as I live," she said vehemently, looking up into Danny's face.
Her intensity got through to him, and he backed away, shrugging off her hold. "I'm impressed," he said hoarsely. "Your instinct to shelter your beloved is as strong as his."
"Oh, for heavens sake, will you listen to how ridiculous you sound? If you'd stop hurling insults long enough for me to explain, you'd realize how foolish you're acting."
"He doesn't deserve and explanation," Bill said tersely.
"Shut up," Danny said to him.
"Bill, I think you better go, Michelle said.
"Yeah, Bill, why don't you go?" Danny said.
"I'm not leaving you alone with him," Bill announced.
"I don't know what he would do to you."
"Oh, please, let me hit him just once," Danny said, brushing past Michelle.
"Danny, stop it" Michelle barked.
He halted.
"How would you do without your little watchdog to run interference for you? Danny demanded of Bill.
"I'd love to show you."
"Bill, just go. I told you this would happen. Can't you see that you're making everything worse?"
Bill hesitated.
"I'll call you later." Michelle said quickly, observing his indecision. "Where are you staying?"
"At the Palm Court, in town."
"Go, I'll be fine."
"You promise you'll call me?"
"I promise."
"Over my dead body," Danny said.
"That can be arranged," Bill replied.
"Danny, do you want him to leave or not?" Michelle demanded.
Danny didn't answer.
"If you don't stop antagonizing him, he'll go."
"Dont' talk about me as if I weren't here," Bill said angrily."And don't count on my leaving."
Michelle was ready to cry. She felt as if she were keeping two hungry lions from fighting over a piece of meat.
And she was the sirloin.
"Bill, I'm begging you," she said, and the incipient tears were evident in her voice. "I can handle this if you would just leave it alone. He's not going to hurt me."
Danny looked at her and turned away.
"If you're sure," Bill said, not wanting her to break down.
"I'm sure."
He threw Danny one more challenging glance before he strode purposefully out the door.
"I'm seriously afraid your boyfriend is a sissy," Danny said, watching him go.
"He's not my boyfriend and he's certainly not a sissy.," Michelle replied angrily. "But you definitely are and idiot."
"Yeah, well, lets not discuss what you are right now."
"What is that suppose to mean?" Michelle demanded.
"I have to hand it to you, " He said, leaning back against the kitchen counter and surveying her dispassionately. "It gives me a whole new respect for the workings of the legal mind."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Danny."
"I thought you had planned the perfect revenge by dangling the threat of the developers over my head, but this is better. this is perfect. You worked on me just long enough to get me to admit it, didn't you, and then up pops the fiance, right on cue."
"Admit what?"
"That I love you," he said as if the words were torn from his soul.
"It must have been such fun, listening to me begging you to stay with me, when all along you knew you were getting engaged to him." He jerked his head in the direction of Bill's departure.
"I'm not engaged to him!" she shouted, shaking her fists.
"Oh, right, I guess not. Since you're married to me."
The tears were very close to the surface now and Michelle's hands trembled as she pulled out a chair.
"Danny, Please sit down. I have to talk to you, and I'm asking you to listen."
"Have I ever denied you anything?' Danny asked archly.
Michelle pulled out a chair for herself and sat, waiting.
"I may need another drink for this, " he said.
"No more drinks," Michelle warned.
He sat across from her, watching her warily.
"You've gotten the wrong impression about Bill and Me" She began.
"Oh, I see. He's a perfect stranger who wandered in here under a spell?"
"Could you cut the sarcasm and let me talk?"
Danny was silent.
"I work with Bill in the D.A.'s office.
"He's a colleague."
"Thats right."
"A colleague who took it upon himself to fly thousands of miles out here and propose to you."
"Essentially, that's correct."
"What does essentially mean?"
"Oh, what is this? A quiz show?"
"Answer the question," Danny said humorlessly.
"I've been dating him," Michelle admitted.
"Dating?"
"Yes."
"That's all?"
"Thats all," she replied, emphasizing the second word.
"For how long?"
"About six months."
"You've been keeping this guy on a string for six months?"
"I haven't been keeping him on a string, as you put it. I just couldn't make the commitment that he wanted."
"So you re telling me he came out here to make a grand gesture and impress you into marrying him?"
"I guess that's abotu the size of it."
"So he didn't know about us?"
"I didn't tell him."
"You thought you could come out here and marry me, get the ranch and then shed me like a skin before returning to his waiting arms?"
Michelle put her face in her hands. "I had no intention of marrying him, Danny. I didn't know what was going to happen when I got here. It was a sticky situation and I just didn't want to go into it with him. Can you blame me for that?"
"You mean you wanted to keep him hanging around, since our previous encounter had been less than successful."
"That is not what I mean."
"No?"
"You dont' believe me," Michelle said miserably.
"I believe that I dont stack up much next to a fellow lawyer."
"Oh, please, not that again. Danny, I was about to make love with you when Bill showed up at the door. Do you think I would have done that If I were expecting him to come here?"
"I don't know, would you?" he said, eying her levelly.
There was a shocked silence. Then, "You dont' think very much of me do you?" Michelle asked, stung.
"I thought a lot of the girl I use to know." His voice dropped an octave. "She loved me."
"Yes, she did," Michelle whispered.
"But you're not that girl anymore."
"Thank God. You treated her like dirt," Michelle said bitterly.
"I never meant to," he said quietly.
"Thanks alot. That helps a bunch. Do you know what it was like to lie awake night after night, wanting you, needing you so much I could taste it?"
"Yes," he said quietly, "Michelle," Danny said hoarsely, his hands gripping the edge of the table.
But Michelle wasn't listening. "I wanted to lick every drop of sweat from your body and kiss the place where it had been. I could imagine the taste of your skin, the smell." Michelle said.
"Michelle," Danny said wildly, kicking back his chair and standing, reaching for her.
She held up her hand. "And when I went to you in the guesthouse," she continued, "I was not disappointed. you were everything i imagined, and more. But of course you know how that ended."
Danny stopped moving.
"that has haunted me for ten years Michelle said slowly.
"I've only been with one man in my life, a student I planned to marry when we were both in school. The experience of sleeping with him was so pale by comparison with just the memory of the preliminaries with you that I couldn't go through with it."
Danny swallowed hard, his dark luminous eyes fixed on her face.
"That was his only problem, you know," Michelle said quietly. "His and Bill's. Neither one of them was you."
He put his fingers over hers on the table. She snatched her hand back. "And now you're going to tell me that I was taking advantage of you, leading you on while I was keeping Bill on the back burner? Bill never had a chance, and thanks to you, Danny Santos, neither do I."
She stood clumsily, blinded by tears, and he caught her against his chest.
"Let me go," she said, struggling weakly.
"Why?" he said, kissing her face, her neck. "Didn't you just say you love me?"
"I love you, all right, you creep, for all the good it's ever done me. You've made me more miserable than anybody else in my lie.
He scooped her up in his arms.
"Then dont' you think we've wasted enough time?" he asked quietly.
"Danny," she whispered.
"You're my wife, Michelle," he added, silencing her with his mouth.
She closed her eyes as he carried her into the bedroom.