"Great." I sat. My mind was buzzing. "Does Gage know?"

Churchill nodded. "He followed me one day when I drove to meet Diana for lunch at the St. Regis."

"You met her at a hotel and you never—" I stopped at the scowl he gave me. "Okay, okay. I believe you."

"Gage saw us having lunch." Churchill continued, "and he confronted me later. He was mad as hell even after I swore I hadn't cheated on Ava. But he agreed to keep it secret. He didn't want Ava to be hurt."

My mind went back to the day I had moved to River Oaks.

"Gage recognized my mother from the picture in my room upstairs." I said.

"Yes. We had words about it."

"I'll bet you did." I gazed into the fire. "Why'd you start coming to the salon?"

"I wanted to know you. I was proud as hell of you for keeping Carrington and raising her on your own, and working your tail off. I already loved you and Carrington because you were all that was left of Diana. But after I met you, I loved you for yourselves."

I could barely see him through the glitter in my eyes. "I love you too; you high-handed interfering old jackass."

Churchill held out his arm, gesturing for me to come closer. And I did. I leaned against him, into the comforting fatherly smell of aftershave and leather and starched cotton.

"My mother could never let go of Daddy," I said absently. "And you could never let go of her." I sat back and looked at him. "I've always thought it was about finding the right person. But it's about choosing the right person, isn't it1?...Making a real choice and giving your whole heart to it."

"Easier said than done."

Not for me. Not anymore. "I need to see Gage," I said. "Of all times for him to be gone. this has got to be the worst."

"Sugar." Churchill wore the beginnings of a frown. "Did Gage happen to mention why he was going on this last-minute trip?"

I didn't like the sound of that. "He told me he was going to Dallas and then to Research Triangle. But no, he didn't say why."

"He wouldn't want me to tell you," Churchill said. "But I think you need to know. There have been some last-minute problems on the Medina deal."

"Oh. no," I said in concern, knowing how important it was to Gage's company. "What happened?"

"Security leak in the negotiations process. No one was supposed to know the deal was going on—in fact, everyone at the table had signed a nondisclosure agreement. But somehow your friend Hardy Gates found out what was in the works. He took the information to Medina's biggest supplier, Victory Petroleum, who is now putting pressure on Medina to kill the whole deal."

All the air seemed to leave my lungs at once. I couldn't believe it. "My God, it was me," I said numbly. "I mentioned the negotiations to Hardy. I didn't know it was top secret. I had no idea he'd do something like this. I've got to call Gage and tell him what I did. that I didn't mean to—"

"He's already figured it out, sugar."

"Gage knows I'm the leak? But—" I broke off, turning cold with panic. Gage must have known last night. And yet he hadn't said anything. I felt nauseous. I buried my face in my hands, my voice filtering through the cage of my stiff fingers. "What can I do? How can I

make this right?"

"Gage is taking care of damage control," Churchill said. "He's cooling things down at Medina this morning, and later today he'll pull his team at Research Triangle together to deal with the issues that were raised about the biofuel. Don't worry, sugar. It'll all work out."

"I need to do something. I...Churchill, will you help me?"

"Always," he said without hesitation. "You name it."

CHAPTER 25

The sensible thing would have been to wait for Gage to come back to Texas. But in light of the fact that he'd tolerated more than a few blows to his pride and an even bigger blow to an important business deal, all for my sake, I knew it was no time to be sensible. As Churchill says, sometimes grand gestures are called for.

I made one stop on the way to the airport, at Hardy's downtown office. It was located on Fannin in a towering aluminum and glass building with two halves that locked together like two giant puzzle pieces. The receptionist was a predictably attractive blond woman with a smoky voice and great legs. She showed me in to Hardy's office as soon as I arrived.

He was dressed in a dark Brooks Brothers suit and a vivid blue tie the exact shade of his eyes. He looked confident, sharp, a man who was going places.

I told Hardy about my conversation with Churchill, and what I'd learned about his part in trying to ruin the Medina deal. "I don't understand how you could have done such a

thing," I said. "I would never have expected it from you."

He looked unrepentant. "It's just business, honey. Sometimes you have to get a little dirt on your hands."

Some dirt doesn 't wash off I thought of saying. But I knew he would have to find that out for himself someday. "You used me to hurt him. You figured it would break us up, and on top of that, it would put Victory Petroleum in the position of owing you a favor. You'd do just about anything to succeed, wouldn't you?"

"I'll do what has to be done," he said, his face smooth. "I'll be damned if I'll apologize for wanting to get ahead."