To Tell the Truth by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page B

began writing the things that she hadn't been given the chance to tell him. Time was critical if she wanted to be sure he received her note before he left, but Andrea was careful not to leave anything out in her haste.
    A frightening amount of time passed before the letter was completed and sealed in an envelope. Racing up the stairs to the bedroom loft, she dressed swiftly and dashed back down the steps and out the door, the precious envelope clutched tightly in her hand.
    Short of the lobby, Andrea slowed her pace, dredging deep in her reserves for some measure of poise before approaching the desk. Unconsciously, she held her breath as she walked in, her eyes automatically searching for Tell. He wasn't among the people in the lobby, which meant he had either not returned or had already left the resort.With fingers crossed, she walked to the front desk.
    "Has Mr. Stafford checked out yet?" The brightness of her simple question sounded unnaturally brittle.
    "Not yet, miss," was the reply.
    With false nonchalance, she placed the envelope on the desk counter, the face bearing Tell's name turned toward the clerk. "When he does, would you see that he gets this note?"
    "Be glad to," the man nodded.
    The smile on his face indicated that he guessed it was a love letter. He wasn't too far wrong, Andrea thought to herself as she turned away. It did contain her heart. It was all there, unprotected and exposed for Tells examination.
    Leaving the lobby, Andrea didn't return to her room, but found a strategic spot where she could watch the people in the lobby without being seen. The anxiety of waiting was nearly unbearable: her legs shaking, her hands clasped unknowingly in prayer. When the tension had built to a screaming pitch, Tell's familiar lean figure walked through the outer doors toward the front desk.
    Hardly daring to breathe, Andrea watched him check out. Fear trembled through her that the clerk would forget her note, but at the very last moment, he handed it to him. The polite smile faded from Tell's face, changing his facade into lines of uncompromising hardness, which were too severe to be handsome.
    She waited; waited for the moment when he would open the envelope and read her note, waited for that instant when the light of understanding would melt the coldness of his expression. Then, she would let herself be seen.
    None of that happened. Instead, he tore it in two. With freezing indifference on his face, he tore those pieces into halves again and discarded them all in a wastebasket.
    Her hand automatically checked the cry of pain that bubbled to her lips. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stumbled down the hall to her room. She had handed Tell her heart and he had torn it into pieces and thrown it away. Drowning her pillow with tears, Andrea cried long and hard until only dry, heaving sobs racked her body. Finally, even those stopped.
    Leaden feet carried her hollow shell down the loft steps to the telephone. Staring sightlessly into space, she waited for the front desk to answer.
    "This is Andrea Grant." The identification was made in a hoarse voice. "I would like you to call the airport and make arrangements for me for a chartered flight to Medford, Oregon, this afternoon, and then have my bill drawn up."
    "Certainly. We'll take care of it right away, Miss Grant."
    "It's Mrs. Grant," she corrected coldly. "Mrs. John Grant."
    "Yes, Mrs. Grant," the puzzled voice on the other end acknowledged.
     

 
    Chapter Four
     
    "SET THE LUGGAGE inside the door," Andrea instructed, replacing the housekey in her purse and extracting the taxi fare to hand to the driver.
    "Thank you, miss."
    Hesitating, Andrea let her gaze sweep over the familiar, large white structure with its mock tower on one side. Home. But home is where the heart is, she thought bitterly, and her heart wasn't here. Inhaling deeply, she reminded herself that she was the only one to blame for that. If she had been honest with Tell in the beginning, he might