Call It Destiny

can pick it up. Sorry I’m not going to be able to return it myself, but I trust the fifty I gave you will pay for the inconvenience.“
    „Miss Strand, everything’s in a mess here. Chef Richards is causing the biggest scene in the kitchen and everyone’s saying you split.“
    „Everyone’s right. Jim, listen to me. It’s very important to me that no one knows where I am just now. Do you understand?“
    „But what about my bike?“
    „I’m going to leave your bike in the parking lot of a motel. The keys will be at the front desk.“
    „What motel?“ he begged, clearly beginning to panic.
    „One out by the airport. I’ll call you later and tell you exactly which one, okay?“
    „But, Miss Strand…!“
    „I’ll leave another fifty in an envelope along with the keys. Goodbye Jim, and thanks.“ Heather replaced the phone before the teenager could argue.
    Then she threw herself back against the pillows, one booted leg drawn up heedlessly on the flower-patterned bedspread. Cod in heaven, what a mess.
    She didn’t even have the excuse of being eighteen this time. Heather covered her eyes with her arm and tried to think. All these years of taking care of herself, of growing and achieving and building a career. She had thrown all that away for the elusive promise of coming home.
    She ought to have known it just wasn’t going to be that easy.
    The hours stretched out ahead of her. Hours in which to think about the disaster. The image of her mother’s appalled hurt gaze haunted her. This was the second time Heather had been responsible for putting that look in her mother’s eyes. Jim Connors’s fears for his precious bike elicited another wave of guilt. She’d used the poor boy, no doubt about it. And then there was her father, humiliated in front of all his friends. She knew in her heart of hearts Paul Strand had honestly convinced himself he was doing what was best for Heather by manipulating her into marriage with the new owner of the Hacienda Strand. Heather realized that her father had never actually lied to her. He had never told her she was inheriting the Hacienda. But there were such things as lies by omission and implication.
    Nothing at all could excuse Jake Cavender. He had known exactly what he was doing and there had been no other motivation except sheer self-interest. He’d wanted to secure his position at the Hacienda and in the Strand family.
    Depression welled up to take over the unnatural, somewhat savage high Heather had found herself riding. And with the depression came the hot stinging tears. Heather gave in to them, seeking the odd relief they offered. And when the scalding flow finally ceased, she lay staring at the ceiling, unable to slip into the temporary oblivion of sleep.
    How long she lay that way, haunted by memories and guilt and seething anger, Heather didn’t know. Outside the afternoon thunderstorms formed, dropped their torrents of rain and slowly dissipated. In another couple of hours she would be able to call a cab to the airport.
    There was no knock on her door. It simply swung open without any warning as a key was slipped into the outside lock. Heather’s startled eyes went to the doorway, even as some feminine instinct warned her who would be standing there.
    „Jake.“
    „We almost got through it without any hitches, didn’t we? I should have realized things were going a little too smoothly.“ He pocketed the motel-room key.
    Some part of Heather’s disoriented brain insisted on noting that he was dressed in a manner quite different from his normal attire. Instead of the well-tailored slacks he usually wore, Jake had on a pair of jeans. A khaki shirt, worn leather belt and a pair of desert boots completed the outfit.
    „What are you doing here?“ Heather whispered. „How did you find me?“
    „I found you after the Connors kid began to panic over the fate of his bike. He told me he’d heard from you and that you said you’d be leaving the bike in one of the motel parking lots near the airport. That really pinned it down geographically. A few phone calls and I got lucky. The desk clerk thought you looked a bit suspicious. He didn’t hesitate at all when I asked him for the key to your room.“
    „I see. I wasn’t thinking too clearly, I guess,“ she said bitterly, sitting up slowly on the bed. „But then I haven’t really been thinking clearly for the past month or I would have realized what a fool I was. You didn’t answer my first question,