03 The Long Road Home Read online

  "Stop worrying Margaret. Jack won't suffer in any way. If any questions are asked, they'll be asked of Bedouin Trucking, not the drivers. My guess is that one of my men has already taken over and will get the job done for Jack."

  "How?"

  "He'll hitch a ride with another trucker going in that direction, pick up Jack's truck and complete the run."

  "You don't mind that he left his truck just like that?"

  "Why should I? It isn't every day a man can be present at the birth of his child. This baby's birth is going to make news waves over the CB radio before the night is over. We truckers stick together. I bet right now there are a great many good wishes being sent over the air for Jack and Gina."

  "Oh."

  It was a whole new concept. And had he said `we truckers'? Margaret shook her head. Her thoughts were all bouncing around in her head again, confusing her. It would take a while to sort them out.

  "What made you decide to call it Bedouin Trucking?" Margaret asked.

  She was unprepared for the way Matthew Magnum's eyes darkened. "I named my company after a man who made a very big difference in my life."

  Margaret nodded, aware he didn't want to discuss the subject further.

  "What do you plan to do now that our services are no longer required?" he asked after a small pause.

  Margaret checked her wristwatch. It was barely four o'clock. If the nurse's predictions were right, the baby wouldn't be born till six o'clock. She intended staying around till then. "I'm going upstairs to visit a friend of mine who works in administration," Margaret said. "Helen Swatchey and I went to school together. Don't wait for me. I'll get a ride home with Joe."

  "Right." His nod indicated perfect compliance with her plans.

  On the lift going up, Margaret tried to puzzle Matthew Magnum out. She had seen so many different facets of the man today. Humor, as he'd teased her and told the story of his sister, gentleness, as he'd helped Gina through her pain, understanding with her fears. Underlying it all was Matt's demand that she take a closer look at her own needs; reach out to life before it was too late. Margaret took a deep breath. Matthew Magnum was like a strong current, and she felt herself helplessly tugged along by it.

  The lift door opened, and Margaret stared blankly out at the corridor for a second, before she realized this was the floor the offices were on. Collecting her rampaging thoughts she headed for the room her friend, Helen, worked in.

  An hour and a half later, Margaret entered the waiting room and stopped short. Matthew Magnum rose from the couch where he'd been sitting, his head propped up against the wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him. "There you are," he said as if she had asked him to wait for her.

  "Yes," snapped Margaret, angered by the thrill of excitement that coursed down her spine at the sight of him. "How's Gina?"

  "It's all over, earlier than anticipated. Beautiful baby girl. Six pounds, three ounces, shows promise of great beauty already. Gina's in Room 110."

  Margaret turned away, "I'll go in and see her."

  A hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Not in this mood. What's happened? You look like a thundercloud."

  "Nothing." Margaret held herself stiffly, wishing she could grow horns on her shoulders to butt his hand away. "Why are you still here?"

  Matt wondered why she was always so tense around him.

  "I'm waiting for you," he said easily. "Joe works the night shift, so you won't be able to ride back with him till tomorrow morning."

  "I'll find my own way home," she snapped, and Matt wondered how long it had been since Margaret had allowed anyone to take care of her.

  "Go see Gina. Maybe you'll feel better after that." Matt turned her toward the door, let her go.

  Margaret knocked on the door before entering Gina's room. Gina looked exhausted, but her eyes shone with happiness. Jack sat beside her on the bed, his shoulder supporting his wife, beaming with pride.

  "Congratulations, you two."

  "Margaret, this is Jack, my husband. Jack this is Janet's niece, Margaret, whom I told you about," Gina said with all the impatience of a new mother, hurrying through what wasn't really important to what was. "Have you seen Mikela Margaret?"

  "Not yet," said Margaret, leaning forward to kiss Gina, surprised they liked her name enough to use it as the baby's middle name.

  "She's perfect," announced Jack proudly. "Six pounds, three ounces. Thank you for helping Gina."

  "I didn't do a thing," Margaret protested. "In fact, I think I was more nervous than Gina."

  "I know you were," Gina smiled, "but you did help me. The fact that you were scared but still determined to be with me, made me feel really good. I was more afraid of being alone, than of the pain."

  Jack said hesitantly, "We'd like you and Mr. Magnum to be godparents, if you don't mind."

  "It would be a privilege," Margaret said quickly, wondering if she could insert a clause into the new contract she had just accepted.

  She would gladly be the baby's godmother as long as her duties didn't include having anything to do with Matthew Magnum.

  Margaret stared at the downy soft skin, the dark crinkled hair and the perfectly beautiful jet black eyes, and her throat closed up. She sniffed.

  "Quite something isn't it?" a voice said close behind her.

  "What?" Why was Matthew Magnum calling the most darling baby in the world it?

  "The beauty of creation."

  She spun toward him, her mouth rounded in a perfect o of surprise, amazed with his apt choice of words. As their gazes meshed, she became aware of tension gathering in the pit of her stomach. The look in Matthew Magnum's eyes glinted with the same awareness. In the space of a few seconds they had become a man and a woman with an undeniable chemistry pulsing between them.

  A hand came up to cup her cheek, an unspoken message flashed between them and then he bent forward and kissed her. Casually, lightly, sweetly.

  "Congratulations godmother," Margaret heard him say softly, the wicked glint back in his eyes. "Let's leave before the hospital thinks we're permanent fixtures here, and puts us on the payroll. I hear they have vacancies for hand holders and brow moppers in Maternity, a spot after your own heart."

  She searched for words to annihilate the man with, tell him she wasn't taken in by his humor at all, or his casual kisses, but her vocal chords seemed paralyzed. The only clear memory imprinted on her brain was of a warm, firm mouth on hers, the momentary mingling of their breaths, and the fact that in that instant she had leaned toward Matthew Magnum.

  For more.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  He couldn't believe he had kissed her, Matt told himself, as he worked in his office at the truck stop late into the night. True, it was just a light friendly kiss, but it hadn't been part of the plan. Matt tried to analyze why he felt the way he did and drew a blank. A part of him said he’d used the situation to get that first kiss in…she couldn’t slap his face in front of Gina.

  Shrugging the incident off as a whim brought on by the circumstances surrounding the birth of the baby, he tried to concentrate on his computer monitor.

  Margaret came out of her room just as Timmy came out of his the next morning.

  "Hi!" said Margaret noticing the tiny shaving cut on her brother's cheek. His hair, wet from the shower, seemed darker than hers and he seemed as if he had grown another inch in the night.

  "Morning." Timmy's eyes, so like her own, reflected none of her own cheer.

  Margaret smiled. Aunt Jan and she were definitely morning people. Timmy wasn't.

  "How was work yesterday?" asked Margaret as they went downstairs.

  "Okay."

  "Would you like to go shopping today after work?" asked Margaret, ignoring the cautious note in Timmy's voice. She had noticed that Timmy's jeans looked threadbare, that his shirts exposed his thin wrists. "We could shop in the new mall in Garrison, maybe even stop off for a movie and a bite to eat."

  "Can't. Mr. Magnum's going to show me how to change a
tire on a truck tonight. See you later, sis."

  He was gone before Margaret could ask him about breakfast. She stared after him blankly as a frisson of fear snaked through her stomach. What was happening to them? Timmy had barely glanced at her.

  Going into the kitchen Margaret decided not to worry Aunt Jan with Timmy's strange behavior. Very soon she would have to have a serious talk with Timmy, make him understand why she was so afraid about his new job.

  Winning him over wouldn't be easy, Margaret knew. Not while Matthew Magnum was so firmly on Timmy's side. On her way to the hospital to visit Gina that evening, Margaret thought of everything that had happened since the first day of her vacation. She had to find some way of getting through to Timmy, in spite of Matthew Magnum.

  Gina was surprised to see Margaret. "You didn't have to come," she protested.

  "I wanted to," said Margaret. "Besides, the only alternative I had to visiting you was doing some weeding and I'd rather do that early in the day."

  Jack had stopped by the Inner Man that morning and told Aunt Jan and Margaret that Gina wouldn't be coming home today as planned. For some reason, Gina's blood pressure was on the high side, and Dr. Reddy had decided to keep her in over the weekend.

  "How are things at the restaurant?" Gina asked Margaret, smiling at her daughter who nursed vigorously at her breast.

  "Aunt Jan hired two new people yesterday, so I'm out of a job again," Margaret said lightly. "Both of the women are trucker's wives. It seems Matthew Magnum sent them. I helped her with an inventory of the dishes today, but I think she just gave me that job to make me feel needed. How have you been doing? Are you looking forward to going home?"

  A smile lit Gina's face as she nodded. "Do you know Mr. Magnum told Joe that if he let us have the downstairs apartment, Mr. Magnum would make up the extra rent? Wasn't that thoughtful of him? Said it would be safer for the baby, and less of a strain on me. Joe let that slip yesterday when he came to visit."

  Margaret nodded. Joe, she knew from experience, couldn't keep a secret if it was nailed to his chest.

  "Mr. Magnum's wonderful," Gina reflected.

  "Where's Jack?" Margaret asked quickly.

  If Inchwater had a town square, she wouldn't be surprised to see a statue of Matthew Magnum put up there, by the inhabitants. She would be the only one who wouldn't contribute to it.

  Oh, wouldn't you?

  Margaret felt the color rise in her face as she recalled the feel of Matthew Magnum's mouth on hers, the way he'd understood her fears in the labor ward yesterday.

  A small frown of worry crossed Gina's face. "Jack stopped by earlier for a little while. He's making a run to Vegas this evening and from there, he's going to Phoenix. Says the more work he gets the better right now. He'll be back the day after tomorrow. He was up all night cleaning out the apartment and moved all our things downstairs. He says if he gets another job I’m to go to my Mom’s for a few days."

  “Oh?” said Margaret, watching Gina’s face to see is she was upset by the suggestion.

  "It might be best. The baby’s room isn’t ready and I can’t take care of Mikki and get her room painted.” Regret flickered in Gina's eyes. “I meant to have everything so nice before Mikki arrived, but it didn't work out that way. I even had paint for her room picked out at Jensen's Hardware. Oh well, I guess three days with my Mom is for the best."

  “It will be and it will give your Mom a chance to bond with her granddaughter.”

  Margaret took Mikki from Gina and patted her back to burp her. Aunt Jan had told her Gina’s Mom had felt very hurt when she heard about the unexpected pregnancy. She’d done her part with the wedding bills but a coolness had developed between her and Gina.

  “Mom came in this morning and we talked more than we have in a while so it might be a good thing,” said Gina.

  As she cuddled the baby, an idea came to Margaret. She could paint Mikki's room. It would be her gift to the baby.

  "Jack's been talking to one of the drivers who have been with Bedouin Trucking since it started," said Gina. "Did you know that our Mr. Magnum is a multi-millionaire and heads the top ten list of California's most eligible bachelors? Who'd have thought he was so important? I mean, he doesn't lord it over the rest of us, or anything."

  "I didn't know he was so rich," said Margaret. "The trucking business must pay very well."

  Gina shook her head. "Jack says it does eventually if you put as much into it as Matt has. Matt’s very good at business too and that’s helped him get to where he is now."

  A half hour later, Margaret stood up. "I have to leave now. Beelzebub's acting up again, and I came in on the bus."

  "How will you get back?"

  "The same way I got here." A regular bus service from Barstow to Las Vegas stopped at Garrison and Inchwater. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  Her thoughts were on her conversation with Gina. It was hard to imagine Matthew Magnum as a millionaire.

  He didn’t fit any of the pictures she carried around in her head of that class of rich. She thought of the jeans and checked shirts he wore. His clothes, his manner, even his worn out wallet, all attested to an ordinary man.

  "Hello, Margaret!"

  She jumped and looked straight into a pair of mocking green eyes. The fact that he had appeared as she was thinking about him was the only reason, Margaret told herself, for the confusion flooding her.

  "Hi." Matthew Magnum held a huge potted plant and had apparently been waiting for the elevator she had just got out from.

  "Do you have a minute?" he asked, turning away from the elevator and falling into step beside her.

  "What is it?" asked Margaret reluctantly.

  "Janet mentioned you have nothing to do in the restaurant now she's hired two new employees. I need someone to help me with filing and light bookkeeping. Would you be interested in a temporary job?"

  Margaret came to a halt and turned to look at Matthew Magnum, "You're not serious."

  "I am. You work during the summers and I have a vacancy in the office."

  Margaret wondered why Matthew Magnum had such a hard time accepting her aversion to trucking. "Maybe you haven't realized, I want nothing to do with trucking, nothing at all," she said clearly.

  "It would give you a chance to see what goes on first hand," he persisted. "You'll soon realize there's nothing to be afraid of."

  Margaret lifted her chin. "I won't work for you and I'm not going to change my mind about trucking," she said through clenched teeth.

  Matthew Magnum looked at her and then shrugged, "Thought I'd give it a try for Janet and Timmy's sake."

  He walked away, leaving Margaret feeling like a three year old who had just thrown an unreasonable tantrum. Biting her lower lip in anger she walked out of the hospital lobby. Every time she ran into Matthew Magnum he reduced her to this level. Confused, angry, rattled.

  While he waited for the elevator, Matt realized he hadn't handled that very well. The band around his chest told him there was more to his offering Margaret Browning a job than the desire to help Timmy or Janet. For some reason he had felt she would jump at it, and she hadn't. He hadn't been left in any doubt about her reasons either.

  He had hoped she would take up the job. It would have been easier to wear away her objections to Timmy's working around trucks on a daily basis. Now he would have to think of something else.

  It wasn't going to be easy to make Margaret see why she had to let go of Timmy and lead her own life. Stubbornness had to be added to the list he'd made of her qualities. Good old-fashioned traits like honesty and saying what was on her mind headed the list. In Inchwater these traits might not be considered uncommon but in the world Matt had grown up in, these qualities were almost extinct. To Matt they set Margaret apart from all the other women he had ever known.

  Matt's mouth tightened as he thought of that aspect of his life. The determination never to follow in his father's footsteps wasn't limited to the work his father had done, or his lifestyle. It extended
to women as well. Matt had never understood why his shrewd, tough father had let the women in his life walk all over him. Once Maxmillan Magnum had told Matt it was the only way to keep them happy, but it had never worked for him. Each time a relationship disintegrated his father had been devastated, yet it had never taught him caution of any kind or prevented him from plunging into another affair as soon as possible. Only Matt and his sisters knew about their father's depressions, and the long stays at the clinic in Switzerland, while everyone thought he was vacationing in the French Riviera.

  A man came and stood beside Matt, holding a teddy bear and some books. He looked at Matt's plant and smiled. Matt nodded politely, and went back to his thoughts.

  A long time ago Matt had decided no woman was going to control him. He would never give anyone the power that accompanied trust and love.

  "Going up?"

  Matt looked at the elevator filled with people, watching him curiously as they held the door open for him. "Yes, thanks."

  He stepped into it and stared at the smooth, shiny surface of the doors as they closed. So far no woman, with the exception of his sisters, had ever gotten close to him.

  Jensen's Hardware was only three blocks away from the hospital, and Margaret was there in ten minutes. Max Jensen, the owner and a close friend of Aunt Jan's, was delighted to see her. They talked about Washington and Margaret's work for a while. Business, Mr. Jensen told her, was booming, and, of course he remembered the shade of paint Gina Wade had picked out. He had written the color down for her. Misty lavender. Margaret asked for a two gallon can to be mixed while she picked out sandpaper, rollers and other odds and ends.

  She was in one of the aisles when she heard Mr. Jensen say, "Good evening Mr. Magnum, can I help you?"

  Retreating to the rear of the store so he wouldn't see her was a reflex action. Margaret stared at a line of bathroom fixtures blankly. Why couldn't she even turn around without running into Matthew Magnum? She hadn't recovered from the encounter at the hospital and here he was again.