“I told him what you already know.”
“That’s double talk. You don’t need to drag me to Tiny’s to say what I already know.”
“I need to tell you about my trip to Knoxville.”
Kate saw the muscle jump in his jaw. They slowed behind a big bus. “How can it possibly be any worse than at this very moment?” She squinted to study the bus’s rear end. “That bus looks familiar. Can you get around it?”
“I’m trying. We keep dipping up and down. Damned if I can see what’s coming over the hill before another pops up. Hang on.” He hit the gas. “Eh, hah, ya gotta love a V-8.”
The truck darted out from behind the bus and made a seamless shift into overdrive. Kate gasped when they got alongside the bus. “That’s Trace Patton’s bus.”
Colton saw TRACE PATTON and the Kentucky Rebel Rouser Band streak before his eyes. Disembodied heads of the band members floated above the words.
She straightened in her seat. “I wonder what he’s doing down here. He lives in Nashville.”
“Since that’s a tour bus, I’m guessing on tour.” He pulled off the road into Tiny’s large gravel parking lot. There were a handful of trucks and several cars out front of the low wood structure with more neon than personality. By the time Colton opened the door for Kate, he saw the big bus slow. The blinker indicated it was pulling into the lot. Damn. He quickly steered Kate inside to a back booth in hopes she wouldn’t see her relative and the whole night be shot with Trace Patton and his boys talking about the good old days.
“What’s the big rush?” she complained, when he hurried her into the booth and slid in next to her. Their backs were to the door.
Colton looked around the booth’s partition to see five road-weary band members file into Tiny’s and belly up to the bar. The Rascal Flats tune blasting from the jukebox helped drown the commotion caused by the band’s presence. He watched Kate weave her fingers into a clasp and rest her arms on the table before her. “So? What’s so important you had to drag me to a noisy bar to get the guts to tell me over a beer?”
A waitress in tight jeans and pink T-shirt came to their table with a bar tray filled with drinks. TINY TIM’S was emblazed across her ample chest. “Hey, Colton. Where yawl been? Haven’t seen you around in weeks.”
“Hey, Tanya. Been with Kate here over in Bear Creek. Could you get us a couple of burger baskets? Give Kate a cola, and I’ll have whatever’s light on tap. Watching my waistline.” He grinned with a wink.
“Sure, baby. That would be a Bud Light.” She slanted a look at Kate from beneath twenty coats of mascara. “Oh, hey, Kate. Thought that might be you, but wasn’t sure until Colton said your name. Haven’t seen you around these parts in a long time.”
“Hey, Tanya.” Kate’s enthusiasm lacked that of Colton’s. “Could you make that cola a light draft like Colton’s?”
“Sure. Did you see Trace’s band just walked in?” Colton did a mental groan as Tanya cracked her gum. She jerked her head in the direction of the bar where a wave of laughter erupted. “I’ll tell him yawl’s over here. I’m sure he’d like to come by and meet Colton.”
“I’ll catch up with him when we leave,” Kate said sweetly. “Colton and I are here to talk business.”
“Tanya,” some guy called out. “While yer standin’ there flappin’ yer jaw, our beers are gettin’ warm.”
“Shut up yer pie hole, Billie Ray. I’m coming.”
Kate slid a sideways glance at Colton. “We should have gone back to my place where the town color was less local. I think you’d better tell me quick what you have on your mind before Trace gets wind the almighty Col-Train’s in the house.”
“Hell, I’m just going to spit it out. You know when I left for a few days and went to Knoxville—”
“If it’s not my kissin’ cousin, Kate,” Trace said in the deep, full voice that was his signature both in person and song. He slid in the booth opposite them. “I thought that was you craning your neck to see in the bus. I had Merv pull in so I could see for myself. How you been?”
“Great. You?”
“Never better. You ready to hand over that song we talked about a couple of years ago?” His dark eyes made casual notice of Colton. “Been writing my own stuff but you’ve got that bluesy sound I like.”
“You look like road kill, Trace. How long you been out?”
“Two months. We’re headed home. We plan to take a break before we finish the tour. It’s going to be non-stop clear through the holidays.” He eyed Colton again. “Who’s your bodyguard? I thought Trey moved to California.”
“Hush up, Trace. This here’s Colton Gray. The ballplayer.”
“Oh, sorry man. Didn’t recognize you out of uniform. Whatcha doin’ in these parts.”
“Vacationing.” Colton took a long drink from the glass of beer before him. “So, why does Kate need a bodyguard?” His gaze darted between the cousins.
“Uh...” Kate was blazing daggers at Trace who chuckled.
“Just jivin’ man. You’re big enough to be a bodyguard.”
“Kate, let’s get out of here.” Colton stood.
“But our food—”
“Lost my appetite.” He threw a couple of twenties on the table and drank down half the beer.
Trace rested his back against the booth. “Hey, man. Didn’t mean to upset your little party here. Hey Tiny,” he called from where he sat. “Give Colton the Sinners CD I just gave you. I’ll get you another from the bus.” Trace slid out of the booth and extended his hand. “No hard feelin’s, right?”
“No hard feelings.” They shook and Colton took the CD from Tiny. “Just forgot there was somewhere I needed to be. Give Kate a call. She’ll dig up that song for you. Thanks for the CD. Come on, Kate.”
Kate remained at the table taking in the exchange and pounded her fist on the table. “Colton Gray, you need to butt out of my business this instant.”
“Call her.” Colton shot a finger at Trace and clasped her upper arm to help her from the booth.
Kate tried to break loose from Colton’s grip in the parking lot. Impossible. “Y-you...big baffoon. Let go of my arm.”
“I’m not hurting you, but I’ve no intention of letting you run off. Get in.” He opened the driver’s side and helped her. “Don’t bolt out the other side. I can run faster than you.”
“You are a nightmare. Everyone in Bear Creek will be wagging about what happened back there.” She took the CD he handed her and slammed it into his glove box.
“Don’t give a damned what people say. Tell me why Trace would think you need protection from Trey? The truth, Kate. I mean it because I’m not sticking the key into the ignition until you tell me. Oh man—don’t start crying,” he whined with a grimace. “Just tell me why.”
She stuck up her chin and swiped away the tears. “It’s none of your business. How many times do I have to say it? Trace was kidding.”
“There was truth in his jest and you know it. Trey picks Lindsay up on Monday for a month’s stay in California. I want to know she’ll be safe.”
“She’s not your daughter. She mine.”
“We don’t leave this parking lot until you tell me what we’re dealing with in Trey.”
“We’re not dealing with anything. I’m dealing with it. It’s the law, Colton. Trey’s entitled to time with his daughter. He’d get a lot more if he wanted it. What does that say about her father? It doesn’t matter he hit me. He’s never laid a hand on Lindsay, and I doubt he ever would. It’s me he hates.”
“He hit you?” Colton grit his teeth. “Then why’d you marry him?”
“I don’t know anymore. Trace should have kept his big mouth shut. No one knows the whole story about the carjacking but him.”
“There’s more to the carjacking than you told me?”
The tension building between them made Kate realize he was serious. He intended to wait her out. She lowered her head. “Trey hit me with his fists over the carjacking incident.” Her voice began to shake.
The words came out muffled against her chest. “I wound up in the hospital. He broke my nose and gave me a concussion. There. You happy?”
“Happy!” His nostrils flared. “I’d like to twist his head off. A broken nose and concussion because you entrusted your daughter to a sitter he approved of? Since when can’t a married woman meet up with a few friends?”
“Friend.” She felt calmer with the truth out. She was also learning Colton could be riled up and red faced and not hit with his fists. “I’d been contemplating divorce and wanted to talk. Trace called me looking for another drinking man’s song. I had one written and agreed to meet him. We were talking about my mess of a marriage, when Lindsay was involved in the carjacking. Trace helped me through it until Trey could fly back from New York. This infuriated Trey. He went ape that I’d involved Trace.
“Trey lost control and I wound up in the hospital. Stepping on a toy and falling down some stairs was the excuse. Trey pulled off being a hero in the eyes of his peers at the hospital acting upset and insisting he fix my nose personally. No one had a clue. Trace stayed close to the situation and made sure I filed for divorce.”
“Do your folks know what happened?”
“They know about the carjacking but not the hospital visit. Only Trace knows. I begged him not to tell my parents. They weren’t happy I married Trey, especially Dad. He’s never liked Trey and made no bones to hide the fact. Marrying without Dad’s blessing seemed to push us farther apart.”
“But you’re good now, right?”
“We’re okay. We’re getting there.”
Colton threw his hand over the steering wheel. “Ah, hell, Kate. What kind of senseless bonehead did you get hooked up with? I thought Trey was intelligent.”
She made a mocking laugh. “Intelligent enough to hide a mean streak and protect his practice. Maybe it’s why he married so late in life. I thought it was because he was too busy. Others might have dated him long enough for his true nature to surface. We married four months after we met, which is the main reason Dad didn’t approve.”
“Were you pregnant?”
“No. I was stupid.”
“You were deceived. I ever get my hands on the SOB he’ll need a plastic surgeon. Were the police involved?”
“No. Go back to Chicago. Please.”
“Can’t. Not now.” Colton massaged the back of her neck and kissed her temple. “Come on. Pull yourself together. We need to pick up Lindsay.” He shook his head. “I have to tell you I’m uneasy knowing Trey picks her up Monday.”
“It’s my problem. I don’t know how to communicate that to you anymore other than ask you to leave and go back to Chicago and get your own life in order.”
“I’ve another week before I have to check in with the Bullets. I’m not leaving so get over it. For now you have to get a lawyer, since you won’t let anyone help move Monday’s meeting, so I’d say you need to get hopping.”
“Does this mean you’re relinquishing control? Why?”
“Because I don’t like you thinking I’m a controlling jerk. I’m not you’re ex. You can trust me on that one. I’ll call my lawyer to get out of it.” He stuck the key in the ignition and the new truck turned over like a charm. After a road trip with Bessie, it surprised him every time.
By the time Kate blew her nose and fixed her makeup, the bridge over Bear Creek was in view. She went quiet as she stared straight ahead. Colton knew her confession knocked the wind out of her. It had been a struggle not to touch her. Comfort her. He didn’t dare. Their kiss seemed like weeks ago, when it had only been that morning. Still, it burned a path straight to his groin. He hated going back to Chicago, leaving her with a truckload of problems. It was easy to see he was allowing himself to get too close to Kate.
Feelings were stirring he didn’t know how to handle. Didn’t want to handle. In his not so distant past, he would have taken Kate to bed and gotten over any curiosity she caused him. Deep down, he knew sleeping with her would only complicate matters. Iron will was needed to keep from kissing away her tears back in Tiny’s parking lot. He blew out a loud sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, like your agent. Nothing. You should know nothing is always something.”
She faced him as she spoke. He couldn’t see the color of her eyes in the dark, but he saw them in his mind. Two prized marbles—large and green. They were his favorite as a kid. Frustration he couldn’t erase her past twisted in his gut. He ran a finger along her jawline. “I’m hungry, how about you?”
“Starved. Mom always has leftovers. I’ll see what we can find.” She sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t have told Trace I’d dig up that song. I’ve no idea where to look since the move.”
“Then I suggest you search it out. If you can’t find it, I’m sure the guitar in my bedroom will help bring the tune back. But there’s a hitch.”
“What kind of hitch?” She twisted to face him.
“You have to ask for it back. Maybe even say please or please, Colton, can I have back the guitar I threw in your face. Something nice like that.”
“What if I say I’ll ask nice if you tell me what you were really doing in Knoxville? The version that needed a beer to get it out.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Colton had intended to tell Kate about Sasha. Then Trace showed up with his accidental slip about Trey. Sasha’s story could wait. Bottom line, his need to help Kate had backfired and became the meddling she accused him of more than once.
“I’d like to know,” she prodded.
“I met my lawyer in Knoxville. I said I’d pull him out of it and I will. You have my word.”
“What’s your lawyer’s name?”
“Seth. Seth Silberstein.”
“That’s it?”
“You don’t believe me?”
“No. I don’t. That hardly required a beer to tell me.”
“How’s this. I fired my agent.”
“You fired the Piranha? But there’s something you’re not telling me, which is pretty hypocritical when you forced me to tell you about Trey. I think you wanted to see Tanya’s Tiny Tim’s in her tight pink tee before you returned to Chicago,” she teased.
He was glad to see her rally. “Right. Just my type.”
“What is your type?”
“Damned if I know.”
Chapter Fourteen
The two bits of information received on the short drive to Kate’s parents did little to lift her dreary mood. Not only did Colton consider her an unappealing woman, he lied about his lawyer being male. The blond seen driving him through Bear Creek would not be named Seth Silberstein.
Mentally wrung out from the events of the day, she filed into her parents’ kitchen, glad the day was almost over. Immediate joy filled her heart when Lindsay ran to throw her arms around her with a tight squeeze. Kate looked up at her mom. “Thanks for getting Lindsay. Hi, Dad.”
“How about some good news for a change?”
“After today, good news is more than welcome.”
“I made a phone call to Bennett Field’s lawyer and changed the appearance date to next Friday. It was the least I could do with so much on your plate right now.”
“Thanks.” Kate blew out a soft breath of resignation and gave him a hug. No sense in telling her dad his interference was as annoying as Colton’s when he presented it in such a positive light. She did have too much on her plate. “Mom, do you have any leftovers from dinner? We ran into Trace and didn’t get a chance to eat.”
“Trace? How nice.” She glanced over Kate’s shoulder to give Colton a broad smile. “How does warmed up lasagna sound?”
“Better than a burger. How can I help?” he asked.
Kate’s dad pulled a business card from his breast pocket and tapped it against her arm. “Give Dan Devers a call. He’s a good lawyer. If you want your mother and I to go with you to Knoxville, just say the word.”
“Thanks.” She took the business card and noticed the “if
” in his offer. Had both Colton and her father decided she was a grown-up in one afternoon?
Kate sat at the kitchen table in a fog as everyone talked around her. Trace this. Jeff that. The hair salon had a new nail technician. Did you hear about the flooding down south? She nodded but didn’t add to the conversation while eating small forkfuls of lasagna.
“Lindsay, are you excited to be going to California?” Kate barely heard her mom’s upbeat question or Lindsay’s excited reply. But she knew it made her both happy and anxious.
She lifted her head and caught Colton staring at her. Her face heated when he held the gaze. Why must he look at her that way? The short sizzling second left her squirming in her seat. She pushed away from the table to get a glass of water aware his questioning eyes followed her every move.
“I’m fine,” she mouthed before standing at the kitchen sink with her back to everyone. “Anyone want water?”
The chorus of “no” meant she was the only hot person in the room. Colton’s need to watch over her like a brother was a spur of irritation when her thoughts fantasized about running her hands over his hard, muscled body and kissing away the hurt in his scars. Most of all, she wanted him to react in a way that was anything but brotherly at Tiny’s. Maybe even kiss her senseless when she finally told him of her marriage’s darkest moment. Then how could he, when his heart was in Knoxville with a lover not a he lawyer as claimed.
“For Pete’s sake, Kate. Don’t let the water run down the drain. If you want cold water, there’s a pitcher in the refrigerator,” her mom snapped.
“Sorry.” She turned off the faucet and drank down the entire glass of cool well water.
****
During the next few days, Kate mulled over Colton’s concern about Lindsay being in California. How was it she never considered the issue? Possibly, it was because Trey never hit or treated Lindsay badly in any way. Before their marriage went sour, and when Lindsay was small, his method of punishment always consisted of an acceptable timeout on the naughty seat. That being the bottom step of the upstairs staircase.
The timeouts never lasted more than a minute before he retrieved her for a short talk on his lap about right and wrong. The lesson was always followed up with a kiss and hug. At the time Kate thought it appropriate and endearing.
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