He drew her back to his chest, tucking her head beneath his chin as the tears finally eased.
“Just rest, baby,” he said then. “Right here, in my arms. Just let me hold you…”
Night moved on, yet Jared never released her. They spoke in hushed whispers, and he listened in silence as she told him of her childhood, of her lonely years in boarding school.
He laughed with her when she told of the pranks she often pulled on the good sisters who ran the school. He hugged her tight when she related the punishments that she considered a fair trade for the fun she had managed to eke out of those years. And he rocked her tenderly when she related the horrifying event of arriving home within hours of her mother’s death.
Finally, her eyes closed wearily and sleep claimed her. And Jared still held her, watching her tenderly, his heart breaking for the loneliness she had endured even as his soul swore she would never know it again.
Jared drove her home the next morning after arranging for someone to bring her car in behind them. He held her hand through the hour-long drive, allowing her to sit in silence until they pulled into her driveway.
Kimberly stared at the little brick house, realizing that it had been more of a home to her in the past six years than Briar Cliff ever had been.
“Come in with me,” she whispered.
She didn’t want to let him go. She didn’t want to face the loneliness awaiting her.
Jared sighed wearily as he lifted her hand to his lips, placing a gentle, destructive kiss in the center of her palm.
“I don’t have that much control today, baby,” he whispered. “I don’t think either of us do.”
She turned her head, staring at his exhausted face and seeing the same needs swirling in his gaze that burned in her body.
“I’m not asking for your control, Jared,” she whispered. “I don’t want it…”
He shook his head, stopping her flow of words.
“No, Kimber,” he said tenderly. “I won’t let you make this decision while your emotions are this ragged. Go inside and rest. I’ll see you in a few nights, I promise.”
She would have argued with him, she would have pressed him for more, and she knew eventually, he would give in. But if he did, he would never be certain that the decision she had made in the deepest part of the night was made with her heart and not with her pain.
She nodded slowly. “I’ll hold you to that.”
He smiled that special smile. “You won’t be able to keep me away.”
He leaned to her, his lips touching hers, the restraint he used evident in the tense lines of his face and the darkening of his eyes.
“Soon,” she whispered, pulling back before hurrying from the car.
She had an appointment to make, and she was more than eager to finish it and to begin the life she prayed was waiting for her.
Chapter Nineteen
She faced him, her father, Senator Daniel Madison in the offices of Caruthers, Brickley and Morton, the Estate lawyers who had handled the Briar Cliff Trust from the beginning. Actually, it had been Caruthers senior who had first put together the original Trust. It was his great grandson, Caruthers IV who now faced her from the head of the antique cherry wood conference table.
Across from her sat her father and Attorney Brickley. Morton sat at the other end with a stenographer off to her side.
“Let me get this straight, Ms. Madison, you are rescinding all claim to Briar Cliff, effective immediately?” Brian Caruthers asked her sternly. “This isn’t a decision to make lightly, young lady. This is centuries of preservation we’re talking about. A heritage anyone can be proud of.”
“Proud of?” She flicked the lawyer a glance before returning her gaze to her father’s silent face. “I’ve endured a physical exam every three months to prove my eligibility to hold Briar Cliff. My life, my every move is under scrutiny. I have no pride in Briar Cliff.” There, she had said it.
She watched her father’s eyes widen marginally before they narrowed in censure.
“She has obviously broken the conditions and doesn’t want to admit it,” he finally snapped.
Kimberly smiled sadly. Somehow, she had known that would be his first defense. She reached into the briefcase she carried with her and pulled free the doctor’s report.
“I saw Dr. Morgan first thing this morning,” she said softly. “Here are the results of those tests.”