by Lisa Jackson
Nor had he ever in all of his thirty-seven years invited a woman to share the holidays with him. He’d considered it a time or two, but never had extended an invitation, always figuring the woman would see it as a sign of some kind of commitment or intent to commit. He’d also never accepted an invitation to be a part of some woman’s family celebrations, either. Yet, even with the trouble between the McCaffertys and Dillingers, he’d be willing to take that step. And he’d make it right with Kelly’s family. Somehow. Yep, this time it was different.
He took one final scalding swallow and forced his mind to other issues. Randi was coming home this morning, going to meet her son for the very first time. He’d have to concentrate on that reunion, of getting Randi into the house. Some of the staff at St. James weren’t happy that she was being released, but she’d been adamant and chomping at the bit. Since Nicole was living on the ranch, all the release papers were being signed by the appropriate docs. The empty guest room on the main floor was being converted to Randi’s bedroom, and a hospital bed was being transferred this morning before the guest of honor arrived.
Hopefully then, she’d be safe and get well. At least being close to the baby should help her peace of mind, maybe even jog her memory…if in fact she was telling the truth about her amnesia. Matt wasn’t so sure. Randi had been John Randall’s favorite child, the only one conceived with his second wife, Penelope, and the only girl to boot. Though she’d been raised in part as a tomboy, probably more because of the fact that she lived with three older half brothers than anything else, she’d also been pampered, the “princess,” as John Randall had often referred to her. She’d grown up believing she could do anything she damned well wanted and that everyone in the world would treat her with the same regard and adoration as her father.
And she’d been proved wrong. Whatever had happened between her and little J.R.’s father couldn’t have been good. Not good at all. That was the trouble with relationships—even with the right intentions, they usually went sour. His father had had two marriages and two divorces to prove Matt’s point.
Headlights reflected against the side of the barn and shortly thereafter Juanita’s station wagon slowed to a stop near the garage. Within minutes she hurried into the house. Blowing on her hands, she shivered, then unwound the scarf covering her head.
“You are up early,” she said, and poured a cup of coffee.
“Big day.”
Her smile was wide. “Señorita Randi will come home.”
“That’s the plan.” He stretched from his chair. “I guess I’d better start moving some of the furniture out of the guest room to make room for some of the other stuff.”
“And then, once she is home, we can have the wedding.” Her dark eyes shone at the thought of the first McCafferty nuptials. “Sí?”
“Sí.” Matt nodded. “You bet.”
“And you, perhaps you will be next.”
“To what? Get married?” He shook his head quickly, by habit, as he always did when anyone brought up the subject of him getting married. “I don’t think so.”
Juanita didn’t comment as she hung up her coat, but he didn’t miss the smile that played upon her lips and the knowing glimmer in her eyes. In her mind, he was only one step away from the altar. Was it so obvious?
He thought of Kelly. God, he wanted her. Ached for her, but he couldn’t imagine that she would ever want to be a rancher’s wife, marry and settle down so far away…no, he concluded for the dozenth time, it just wouldn’t work.
He heard the sound of a baby crying and made his way to the nursery where J.R. was starting to wind up, his little voice making coughing-hiccuping noises. “Hey, big fella,” Matt said, picking up the baby and holding him to his shoulder. “What’s wrong, hmm? Hungry, are ya?” While the baby stared up at him, Matt carefully placed him on the changing table and, with more dexterity than he ever thought possible, unsnapped the tiny pajamas, removed the wet diaper, cleaned the baby and fastened a clean diaper in place. J.R. kicked while Matt refastened the pajamas and carried him downstairs where Juanita was heating a bottle. She handed it to Matt and he carried the baby into the living room, plopped down in the old rocker and sat by the banked fire in the old stone grate. J.R., eyes bright, suckled hungrily as Matt stared down at this little wonder. “Mama’s coming home today,” he whispered, and the baby moved one tiny fist beside the bottle. “And then watch out. She’s gonna take one look at you and melt.” But that wasn’t all, he decided, keeping his thoughts to himself. When Randi returned home, he was certain all hell would break loose. “You and I, we’ll have to take care of her, won’t we?”
He leaned back in the chair and rocked, wondering if he’d ever do the same for his own infant. Thinking of Kelly, he imagined a baby—maybe a girl—with bright red hair and wide, curious brown eyes.
Surprisingly the thought wasn’t frightening at all. If anything, it was downright seductive.
* * *
“Listen, I’ve told you and Roberto Espinoza everything I remember,” Randi McCafferty insisted. Her hospital bed was propped up and she was no longer attached to an IV. Wearing a jogging suit, peach lipstick and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude, she skewered Kelly in her stare. “I’m going home and meeting my son for the first time, tomorrow my family’s celebrating a belated Thanksgiving, and right now I’d like to forget all this for a little while, okay? I know you’re just trying to do your job, but give me a break.”
“Detective Espinoza and I are just trying to help,” Kelly said, unswayed. “Trying to protect you and your baby.”
“I know it. Really. But please, don’t give me any lectures about taking care of myself or my baby or my safety, okay? Believe me, I’ve heard all the reasons I should stay in the hospital, comply with the police and live my life a virtual prisoner until whoever it is that’s taking potshots at me is caught, a million times over from my brothers. But that’s not going to happen.” She stopped suddenly, sighed and jabbed stiff fingers through her short locks. “Look, I don’t mean to come off ungrateful, or like some kind of bitch. I do appreciate what you’re trying to do.” She let her hands drop into her lap. “It’s just that I want to see my son. I’m going crazy sitting here. I haven’t had the chance to be a mother yet and he’s over a month old. I think the most important thing for me to do is bond with my baby.” The honesty in her dark eyes got to Kelly. “Would it be too much of a hassle for you to drop by the ranch in a few hours, after I’ve settled in and he and I have…well, you know, started to get used to each other?”
Kelly wasn’t immune to what Randi was feeling. Espinoza wouldn’t like it, but Kelly wasn’t feeling particularly interested in keeping on his good side. She was still stung by his insinuations about her love life the other day.
Not a love life, she reminded herself. Don’t kid yourself. You had a good time the other night, but it was sex, nothing more. At least to Matt.
She’d just finished the thought when he strode through the door, larger than life, bringing with him the scents of leather, musk and memories that she should best forget. His dark eyes found hers, and for a second she felt the same heat, the intensity that she had before. Her stomach tightened and she swept her gaze in Randi’s direction again. “I understand. I’ll drop by later. After dinner.”
“Thanks,” Randi said. “I’m sure my brothers will take care of me until then.”
“We’ll try,” Matt drawled, then offered Kelly a smile that silently reminded her of the passion they’d shared. Ridiculously, she felt her cheeks stain. She was a cop, for crying out loud, she couldn’t let some macho cowboy make her act like a silly schoolgirl. “How’re you doin’?”
“I’m fine. I just want to get the heck out of here…oh, you weren’t talking to me,” Randi said.
“I was talking to both of you.”
“I’m fine,” Kelly replied. “I’ll be in the hall, and I’ll see that she gets to the car without any problems with the press.”
“We can handle it.
Slade’s making sure all the discharge papers are ready and we’ve parked near a rear entrance.”
“All right.” She gave Randi a professional smile. “I’ll be over about seven tonight, will that be okay?”
“Yes. And thanks.”
Kelly walked out of the room stiffly. Why did she feel so awkward around Matt? So she’d spent a night with him. So they’d made love. So what? This was the twenty-first century, for heaven’s sake. She was thirty-two years old, had graduated from college years ago and was a detective. She had every right to do whatever she wanted, sexually or otherwise, and yet she’d never been promiscuous, hadn’t believed in sex for sex’s sake, hadn’t let herself have “flings” without any emotional attachment. In fact, other than a boyfriend in high school, another in college and one man since, she’d never been emotionally involved. While her sister had fallen in love a dozen times and been married twice, Kelly had been cautious and had lived her life by using her head instead of listening to her heart.
Until now.
Until Matt, damn him, McCafferty.
He caught up with her before she could leave. “I just wanted to double-check. We’re planning a belated Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow and you’re invited. Six o’clock.”
“I don’t get off until five, but, yes, I’d love to come.”
“Good. And then…” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Saturday night’s the wedding. Thorne and Nicole are going to tie the knot. I thought you might want to be my date.”
“You did, did you?” she teased.
“Unless you have other plans.”
She laughed. What was it about this man? One minute she was tongue-tied and felt awkward around him, the next she was flirting as she’d never done in her life. “I’ll cancel them,” she joked, and started to walk off, before he caught her by the arm, spun her around and kissed her until she couldn’t breathe.
“Do that,” he whispered, and turned on his heel to disappear into Randi’s room. Kelly cleared her throat, saw two nurses look quickly away, pretending they hadn’t seen the open display, then caught sight of Dr. Nicole Stevenson striding down the hallway.
“Arrogant S.O.B., isn’t he?” Nicole said as Kelly tried to regain some of her professional integrity.
“The worst.”
“Like his brothers,” Nicole said, and then managed a smile. “I know that I’ve come on a little strong sometimes, especially when it comes to my patients. I hope you understand it’s nothing personal.”
“I do.”
“And I hope you’ll come to the wedding. I know it’s short notice, but Thorne and I wanted to wait until Randi could attend. It’s this Saturday night.”
“I’ll be there,” Kelly promised, and refused to second-guess herself.
She returned to the office and holed up, closing the door and the blinds so that she could plow her way through some paperwork on various cases, but as usual ended up flipping through Randi McCafferty’s file. The same old names leaped out at her—friends and family, college roommates, peers and associates, but none leaped off the page as potential enemies. Aside from her half brothers she had an aunt, Bonnie Lancer, on her mother’s side, and one cousin, Nora, who was Bonnie’s daughter. Her friends were a small group who stayed in touch primarily through e-mail and an occasional phone call. Kelly had talked to everyone who had called or e-mailed Randi in the three months prior to her accident and had come up dry. The maroon Ford product that was thought to have been used to force her car off the road had so far proved to be a bust, and she couldn’t figure out how Randi’s book could possibly come into play. What had she written that would make someone angry enough to try to kill her?
She was about ready to call it a day when Stella buzzed. “Detective Dillinger…Kelly, there’s someone here to… Oh, no, don’t you do it again—” She had a visitor just as the door to her office burst open and Matt strode in.
“You really have to stop doing this,” Kelly admonished, ignoring her elevating pulse as Stella, once again sheepish, filled the doorway and lifted her palms. “It’s all right,” Kelly said to the receptionist before the poor girl had a chance to apologize, and Stella hurried back to her desk.
“This is the sheriff’s department, you can’t just keep barging in here,” she said, centering her gaze on the cowboy who in his sheepskin jacket, snow-dusted Stetson and faded jeans seemed to fill up the entire office. “I mean, you’re giving poor Stella fits.”
“We need to talk.”
Her throat constricted. “I assume this is business.”
His nostrils flared a little. “Partly.”
“I’m at work,” she reminded him as she leaned back in her chair, and waved him into a seat on the other side of her desk. “It’s got to be all business. A hundred percent.”
“Does it?” he challenged, and she saw the glint of a dare in his dark eyes. Her heart nearly stopped and she knew in an instant that he was remembering the night they’d been together. Her throat went dry at the memory of his hot skin, fevered touch, deep groans.
“Yes, well, I think that would be best.” She cleared her throat, tossed an errant lock of hair over her shoulder and flipped open Randi’s file. “What can I do for you?”
The man had the audacity to smile. Slowly. One side of his mouth lifting into a crooked and decidedly wicked smile. “Now, that’s a loaded question.”
“I assume you have a reason, and it had better be a good one, for barging in here, bullying Stella and taking up my time,” she said.
Leaning against the file cabinet, he said, “I heard you say that you were coming out to the house.”
“Later. Around seven.”
“How about now?”
“Why?”
“It’s Randi. She’s not cooperating.”
“Meaning?” Kelly prodded.
“She doesn’t seem to be taking the attacks on her seriously. She’s refused to have a bodyguard and has been snapping everyone’s head off. She claims we’re all paranoid and that everything’s just hunky-dory.”
“Even though someone forced her off the road and then slipped insulin into her IV?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, probably just that damned McCafferty stubborn streak, but I thought maybe you could talk some sense into her. She seemed to listen to you at the hospital.”
“Not much, she didn’t.”
“She’s always been headstrong, but I thought a woman might be able to get through to her. Nicole’s at the hospital, Jenny’s watching the twins, but she’s too young, really a kid herself, so…how about it?”
“Give me ten minutes. I’ll follow you.”
“Fine.” He started for the door, and not knowing what got into her, she caught the crook of his elbow, spun him around and, standing on her tiptoes, kissed him hard on the lips. He gasped and she took advantage, slipping her tongue between his teeth for just the briefest of seconds. His arms tightened around her.
“You’re asking for trouble,” he warned as he kissed her.
She pulled back and skewered him with a vampish look. “And who’s gonna give it to me?”
“Just watch.”
“Slow down. I was only giving you a little of your own back,” she said. To her surprise, he laughed, a deep warm sound that rippled through the offices.
“Don’t lose that thought.” With a tip of his hat and a low, mocking bow, he exited. “I’ll see you at the ranch.”
That you will, cowboy, she thought, and reached for the phone and flipped through her notes until she found Kurt Striker’s number. She needed to get in touch with the P.I., just in case he’d come across any new information. She dialed his motel, waited and left a message when he didn’t answer.
She’d get back to him later, she decided, hanging up and reaching for her jacket and gloves. As she left her office she ran into Roberto Espinoza striding through the front doors of the building. The scent of cigarette smoke clung to him an
d snow covered the shoulders of his down jacket. “Don’t tell me, you’re on your way to the Flying M, right?” His lips were compressed, his eyes dark, and his gaze landed like a ton of bricks on Kelly.
“Randi McCafferty was released from the hospital today and now she’s not cooperating with her doctors, her brothers or anyone.”
“And lover-boy thought you could talk some sense into her, right?”
Kelly bristled. “I need to question her again.”
Espinoza looked about to spit nails. His dark eyes flashed and he sighed loudly. “As long as it’s business.”
“And what if it isn’t?” she said. Who the hell did Espinoza think he was? “I am a professional, Bob.”
“I know, it’s just that…” Whatever it was he was thinking, he let the idea drift away. Frowning, he took off his hat, hung it on an ancient hook and raked stiff fingers through his hair. “It’s your funeral, I guess.”
“I’ll remember that.” Fuming, she held on to her temper. Blowing up now would only make things worse. For the moment, she had to maintain her composure, meet with Randi McCafferty and try to figure out how much the woman honestly didn’t remember, because Kelly had a gut feeling that Randi knew a lot more than she was saying.
It was Kelly’s job to find out just what it was and she was damned well going to do it.
Chapter 12
“I told you, I don’t remember,” Randi insisted, but Kelly wasn’t buying it. Propped up in a hospital bed in the guest room of the ranch, her baby cradled in her arms, Randi McCafferty was lying through her teeth. And she wasn’t particularly good at it. Then again, Randi wasn’t interested in anything but her son. Cradling and cooing to her baby, Randi couldn’t have cared less who had tried to kill her. She probably wouldn’t have paid any attention if the world stopped spinning.
As Kelly stood near the bed, Matt filled the doorway, leaning a broad shoulder against the frame. He sent Kelly an I-told-you-so look as Harold sauntered in and circled a few times before lying on the rug at the foot of the bed.