by Gina Wilkins
“We really got a lot done today,” Casey said after another brief pause. “A lot more than I expected when I thought it would be just me doing the work.”
“I actually enjoyed it. It was such a nice day, and it feels good to do something to help Kyle and Uncle Mack. They were so generous to let me use the cabin.”
“They were,” Casey agreed. “But it’s not as if they could rent it while it’s being worked on.”
“I know. But still…”
“I suspect your aunt and uncle would have let you use the cabin even if it was in top shape for rent,” he said, glancing down at her with a smile. The twinkling lights reflected in his eyes, mesmerizing her. “They’re obviously crazy about you.”
She cleared her throat and tried to speak coherently. “I love them, too.”
“I can tell. It’s good to have family to turn to when you need them.”
She wasn’t sure if he was delicately fishing for information, but she didn’t offer any, except to say, “It’s nice that your father and his brothers and sisters stayed so close, unlike my dad and his other siblings.”
“Actually, my dad and his twin were separated from their brothers and sisters for most of their childhood. There were seven of them altogether, and they were split up into the foster care system when their parents died. The oldest, my uncle Jared, was eleven. The youngest, Lindsey, was just a baby. My dad and his twin, Ryan, were seven. They didn’t see each other again for twenty-four years.”
Intrigued, Natalie paused to gaze up at his face in the pale light. “I hadn’t heard about that. Molly hasn’t mentioned it. Your family always sounds so close when the two of you talk about them.”
He nodded. “They were reunited more than twenty-five years ago, and they’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since. All of them except Aunt Lindsey live around Dallas. She was adopted as an infant by a family in Arkansas and she’s stayed close to them, but she comes to Texas often for Walker family gatherings.”
Natalie was fascinated by the tale. She knew of other biological families that had been reunited after years of separation, but she’d never known any of them personally, not even once removed. “Were any of the others adopted?”
“Michelle was. She’s the next youngest, just a toddler when her parents died. She was taken in by a very wealthy couple in Dallas. She was raised knowing she was adopted, but unaware that she had siblings. She found out after her adoptive mother died. She hired a private investigator, Tony D’Alessandro, to find her brothers and sisters. A few months later, she married the P.I. My uncle Tony, father of four of my cousins.”
A P.I. It might have been a good time to mention that she, herself, was utilizing the services of a private investigator, but she pushed that fleeting thought to the back of her mind, focusing instead on Casey’s story. “What about the other siblings? None of them were adopted?”
“No. Jared and Layla, the two oldest, were raised in foster homes until they were old enough to be out on their own. My dad and Ryan were placed together in a series of unsuccessful temporary homes, but they were…well, difficult, I guess you could say. They were angry about being separated from their family, naturally rebellious—”
“Imagine that,” she murmured, thinking Casey must have inherited a bit of his father’s temperament. After all, he had been one of the Walker family’s “terrible trio.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve been told I’m a bit like them. As are Aaron and Andrew. Anyway, my dad and his brother took off in their teens and bummed around on their own for years until they got wind that the sibs were looking for them. They came back to the fold on their own, before Tony and his team could locate them. They’ve been in Dallas since.”
Doing some rapid math in her head, Natalie said, “You said there were seven siblings. You’ve only mentioned the fate of six. Did they never find the other one?”
“Miles died in a car wreck, several years before the others were reunited.”
“Oh.” She imagined how heartbroken they must have all been to hear that. “That’s very sad.”
“It was a blow for all of them,” he agreed. “A few years later, though, they found out that he’d left a daughter behind. Brynn. She sort of stumbled into the family by accident, but that’s a different story. Now she’s a D’Alessandro as well as a Walker. She married Tony’s younger brother Joe.”
Natalie shook her head. “How do you keep up with all of this?”
He shrugged. “It’s my family history. We’ve all heard the stories a million times.”
“And Molly is…whose daughter?”
“Jared’s. The oldest. He has a son, Shane, from a previous marriage.”
“Families can certainly get complicated, can’t they?” she mused, thinking of her own.
“You could say that.” He glanced back toward the way they had come. “Ready to go back?”
She gave one last lingering glance to the light-bejeweled river and sighed lightly. “I suppose so.”
He leaned over to steal a kiss before they started walking again. She offered her mouth freely, even eagerly. How could she resist in such a blatantly romantic setting?
Slipping an arm around her shoulders, he matched his steps to hers as they retraced their path. Mentally blaming it on the chill in the air, even though that had little to do with it, she nestled more closely into him.
Casey parked in front of Natalie’s cabin, then turned to face her before opening the driver’s door of his truck. Though it was fully dark outside, enough light filtered in from the security lamps for her to see that he was smiling as he looked at her in the shadows. “I had a great time.”“So did I.”
“What are you going to do tomorrow?”
She gave a little shrug. “Read, maybe. Catch up on e-mail. Drive into town and pick up a few supplies.”
“Are you sure you won’t come with us?”
He had asked her during the drive back if she would like to join Molly and him the next day when they took Olivia to the amusement park. She had politely declined then, and she did so again now. “Thank you again, but I’m still going to pass. I think Olivia will enjoy having your complete attention, along with Molly’s.”
He looked as though he might argue a little more, but to her relief, he let it go. “I’ll miss having you with us” was all he said.
“That’s very nice of you.”
“I wasn’t being nice,” he muttered, leaning toward her. “I mean it. I’ll miss seeing you tomorrow.”
Her gaze captured by his, she rested a hand on his chest. “I’ll miss you, too. And I can’t help being a little worried about that.”
His mouth quirked upward into a wry smile. “Let me try to reassure you,” he murmured, then kissed her before she could roll her eyes.
She slid her hand around his neck and returned the kiss. He gathered her closer, and she thought fleetingly that this would have been much more difficult in her car with a console between them. The bench seat of the truck gave them unimpeded access to each other—and Casey took full advantage of the opportunity. He shifted so that she would have had to sit in his lap to be any closer—and that was becoming a definite temptation as the kiss lingered and deepened.
He tilted his head to a new angle and kissed her again, his tongue teasing her, his teeth nipping lightly at her lower lip. As the kisses heated, so did the embrace. Hands wandered, explored, caressed. Their breathing grew rapid and ragged, and Natalie wondered if the heartbeat she heard thundering in her ears was hers, his, or a duet of both.
He finally pulled away with a low groan, shifting his weight on the plush seat as if he had suddenly become very uncomfortable. “It’s been awhile since I’ve made out in a car,” he muttered ruefully. “I won’t lie, it’s still fun…but maybe a bit more awkward than it used to be.”
He could always make her smile, she thought as she had before—even when she shouldn’t. Her hand wasn’t quite steady when she brushed a tangle of hair away from her flushed-feeling face.
“Maybe we should go inside,” she suggested after only a momentary hesitation.
His eyes flared in the dim light, and she knew he was fully aware of what she meant. She had suddenly realized that she wasn’t eager to go into that empty cabin alone, to spend another night tossing and turning and obsessing about her problems. Casey would definitely take her mind off anything else but him. And he didn’t seem to mind being a pleasant distraction…
“I can’t,” he said with a sigh.
She blinked. “Um…you can’t?”
He shook his head, and she didn’t think she was imagining his regret, though he sounded definite. “I told Molly I would join them early. I guess I’d better get some sleep first.”
Frowning, she searched his face. “That’s a pretty lame excuse.”
He sighed. “I know. I just…well, I don’t want to rush into anything here. There are quite a few things you and I don’t know about each other yet.”
“I wasn’t proposing a long-term relationship,” she said shortly.
“I know. You’re looking for a diversion,” he said, repeating the term she had used before.
She shrugged. “That’s all I can even consider at the moment. My life’s in too much chaos right now to even think about anything more. But if you’re not interested…”
He caught her arm when she shifted toward the door. “You know better than that.”
She told herself that she would probably be relieved tomorrow that he’d declined her suggestion, but just then she was still irked. She really hated when someone made a decision on her behalf, “for her own good.” Always had.
“I’d better go.”
He trailed his fingers down her arm. “Okay if I call you tomorrow?”
Reminding herself that she was too old to pout, she nodded. “Yes, I suppose so. Don’t bother walking me to the door,” she added, when he reached for his door handle.
He dropped his hand. “Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. Sleep well, Natalie.”
Even as she closed the passenger door behind her, she suspected he knew exactly how unlikely it was that she would sleep at all well that evening. If there was any fairness in life, he would do some tossing and turning himself that night, she thought grumpily.
Chapter Eight
N atalie carried her coffee out to the deck the next morning. The air was a little cold, but she threw a jacket over her sweater and jeans and she was comfortable enough sitting in a rocker, sipping her coffee and looking out over the vista spread ahead of her. Low clouds shrouded the mountaintops, giving the illusion of gray smoke that had earned the range its name.
She had a long day ahead. She could do some research, hoping to discover something she hadn’t found before on one of the many names on her suspect list. She could go to the grocery store and pick up supplies for the next few days. She could drive into Pigeon Forge and browse through some of the outlet stores, though she didn’t need to spend a lot of money until she had another job lined up. Or…She looked thoughtfully at the ladder still propped against the side of the cabin. Casey had said he was going to wash the cabin windows next. There was no reason at all she couldn’t do that. It would take a while—the back wall of the cabin was almost all window to take advantage of the spectacular views. But it wasn’t like any of her other options were any more appealing. And she could feel useful again.
In preparation for the chore, Casey had left a bucket with a telescoping squeegee and a reeled garden hose with a spray nozzle tucked beneath the deck. She gathered a couple of bath towels, a roll of paper towels and a bottle of detergent from inside, donned the driving gloves she had been using for work gloves and propped the ladder securely in front of the first window.
She had just set her foot on the bottom rung when she realized she was not alone. Looking down, she smiled. “Hello, Buddy.”
The stray had materialized out of nowhere. Sitting only a few feet away from the ladder, he wagged his tail and gave her a doggie smile in return.
“I’ll get your food and water.”
He made a rumbly sound that was somewhere between a whine and a soft bark. It was the closest he’d come to making any noise around her, she realized.
He let her come very close to set the bowls on the ground. While she knelt nearby, he gulped down part of the kibble and lapped some water. And then he walked over to her and rested his head on her knee, gazing up at her with a soulful look that put a lump in her throat.
“You’re welcome,” she said huskily, patting his head. “You know, you could really use a bath. I don’t suppose you’d let me wash you while I’m washing windows.”
He wagged his tail against the ground and made another friendly sound that told her nothing about his openness to being bathed. Giving him another pat, she straightened. “I’m going to start washing windows now. If you decide you want me to wash you while I’m at it, let me know.”
The dog sat near the base of the ladder when she went back up. She set the bucket of soapy water on the top shelf of the ladder and got to work, swabbing the glass of the nearest window with the telescoping squeegee. She didn’t know if this was the most efficient way to do the job, but the windows would be clean when she finished.
She’d been working for well over an hour when she took her first break. Sitting on one of the steps leading up to the deck, she sipped from a bottle of water and eyed a few clouds gathering on the horizon.
“Looks like it could rain this evening,” she commented to Buddy, who sat beside her, leaning against her leg. “Where do you take shelter when it rains, Buddy? Under a tree out there? That can’t be fun.”
The dog made that funny sound again, making her smile. “You know it’s going to be winter very soon. The forecasters say this moderate weather’s going to end in a few days. They’re expecting some pretty low temperatures by the end of next week.”
Buddy yawned.
“Yes, well, that’s easy for you to say, but it gets cold here in the mountains in the winter. Snow, ice, freezing rain. Maybe you survived one season like that, but there’s no guarantee you would survive another. You need a home.”
He wagged his tail and lightly butted his head against her leg, hinting for her to rub his ears.
“I can’t take a dog,” she told him firmly. “I live in an apartment complex that only allows cats. I know that’s rather discriminatory, but that’s the way it is. So Casey’s going to find you a home, okay? With a nice family who’ll feed you and make sure you have a warm, dry place to stay when the weather turns bad.”
Curling up on the ground beside the stairs, he rested his head on her leg and closed his eyes.
Suddenly feeling a bit foolish for engaging in a conversation with a dog, Natalie stood and went back to work.
She finished the windows by mid-afternoon. Tired and a little sore, she stood back to admire her work. She prepared to roll the hose back onto the wheeled metal reel, squeezing the spray nozzle first to empty any remaining water from the hose. To her amusement, the dog dashed forward to play in the spray. He’d seemed fascinated all afternoon by the water that had shot from the hose and splashed from the windows.
She let up on the nozzle and the spray stopped. Buddy turned to look at her expectantly, almost bouncing with eagerness.
“You want to play in the water?” she asked him.
He barked.
She turned on the spigot again and squeezed the nozzle, aiming a little lower this time. Buddy leaped into the spray, biting at the water as if trying to catch it. Natalie laughed, squeezing and releasing the nozzle to add to the game.
Inspiration suddenly struck and she set down the hose. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
The dog sat and watched as she dashed into the cabin. She was back only minutes later, this time carrying a bottle of baby shampoo and some more towels. Because she was prone to sties, she cleaned her eyelashes with baby shampoo every morning during her shower. She figured if it was gentle enough for her eyes, it would
be the same for Buddy.
He was sitting right where she’d left him. She set the bath supplies near him and though he looked at them curiously, he didn’t seem bothered by the sight of them. She pushed the sleeves of her sweater higher on her arms and picked up the hose. Buddy jumped to his feet, barking excitedly again.
She couldn’t help laughing at his antics. Who’d have imagined that the skittish, elusive mutt Casey had first spotted only days earlier would turn into such a clown after a few good meals and a little attention?
The bath got her almost as wet as the dog, but he didn’t try to resist her when she sprayed him down and rubbed shampoo into his medium-length hair. He actually seemed to enjoy the process, and she decided that he must have been someone’s pet at one time. The bath process seemed familiar to him.
She should call the local animal shelter and ask if anyone had reported a lost pet matching Buddy’s description. She should have done that already, she thought with a shake of her head. She blamed her distraction with her personal problems and her growing fascination with Casey for keeping her from thinking clearly about the stray dog.
She toweled him dry briskly, and he seemed to like that, too. He emerged from the towel grinning and panting. The bath must have made him hungry. As soon as he was reasonably dry, he trotted to his food bowl and began to munch on kibble.
Natalie stood back and watched him in amazement. He looked almost like a different dog. He was mostly reddish-brown with scattered white patches that were quite visible now that he was clean. Though she knew little about dog breeds, her stepfather owned a springer spaniel he called Monty. Buddy reminded her a little of Monty, though his coat wasn’t quite as long. Maybe there was some springer spaniel in his mixed genetic makeup.
“Wait until Casey sees you,” she said as she began to gather her supplies. “He’s going to be so impressed.”
Buddy wagged his tail, which was feathery now that it was clean. He could still use a good brushing, but she didn’t own a dog brush and she had no intention of using her own good hair brushes on him. Her doggie altruism went only so far.