The Tycoon's Proposition

“Hello, Ms. Shaw. You barely missed Mr. Herrick’s family. They’re staying at the Ramada.”

“I know. I made the arrangements for them. What I didn’t realize was that you were still there.”

Uh-oh. “I was just on my way back to the hotel. Would you like to talk to Mr. Herrick?”

“Please.” She was upset.

“Just a minute. He still can’t answer yet.”

“I’m aware of that.” Her chilly attitude reminded Terri of Juanita’s.

“Here he is.”

When she went to put the phone to his ear, he pushed it away with his left hand. Terri wished she’d never bothered to answer it in the first place.

“Ms. Shaw? I-I’m afraid Mr. Herrick is in too much pain to deal with a phone call right now.”

There was a click. The line had gone dead.

She hung up the phone. “Ms. Shaw was obviously disappointed. I would imagine she’ll try again tomorrow. Now I have to go.”

This was one time Ben didn’t feel he had the right to call her back. He knew for himself she was no longer in love with her ex-husband. But he was also aware that once upon a time she’d loved him enough to marry him.

Certain memories would never go away. Right now she needed some time to herself to deal with the fact that he had died.

But when she left the room, it was as if she’d taken all the light with her. He felt empty and dissatisfied. Terri Jeppson was to blame for his emotional state. She was without a doubt the most remarkable, unique woman he’d ever met. He found himself craving her company more and more. When she’d told him about her miscarriages, he’d wanted to hold her in his arms and take the pain away.

Terri hurried down the hall and found Sister Angelica. After asking her to look in on their patient, she left the hospital.

When she finally reached her hotel room, the first thing she did was phone Captain Ortiz. To her chagrin he’d turned on his voice mail. She gave him what information she had, then she called her mother.

“Terri, honey? I’m so glad to hear from you. Did you find Richard?”

“Oh, Mom—” After breaking down, she told her mother everything she knew to this point in time. Except for the part about Juanita.

“I’m going to fly down there, honey. You shouldn’t have to be alone to deal with everything.”

“Much as I appreciate the thought, Mom, you can’t come. You don’t have a passport.”

“That’s right—I forgot.”

“Which is entirely understandable,” Terri murmured. “The only reason I was allowed to enter the country was because they thought I was married to Richard, therefore they granted me that special family emergency visa.”

“How can I help you, honey?”

“Whether they find his body or not, I’ll fly home tomorrow. Once I get there, we can put our heads together about whether we should hold a memorial service for him in Spearfish or Lead.”

“I’m glad you’re coming home, but what I meant was, what can I do to ease your heartache?”

“I did my grieving a long time ago, Mom. What I’m feeling now is sadness that his life was cut short. I don’t think Richard ever found happiness.” But maybe Terri was wrong. Maybe Juanita had been able to accomplish what no other woman had. Oh, poor Juanita.

“Well, we know he’s happy where he is now, don’t we.”

“Yes. That brings me the greatest comfort.” She sniffed. “Will you tell Beth? Right now I’ve got something I have to do. I’ll call you back in the morning and let you know when my flight will be in.”

“We’ll be waiting to hear from you. God bless you, honey.”

After Terri hung up, she glanced at her watch. Ten after three. If she left for Richard’s apartment now, she could beat the late-afternoon traffic.