by Dixie Cash
He wiped his hands against his jeans, opened the gate and stepped out of the corral, smiling like a nut as he anticipated seeing Sophia. Then his mood plummeted when John Patrick’s Porsche came into view. Damn.
Not only did he not want to explain to his womanizing brother-in-law who Sophia was and how he, Justin, had come to know her, he didn’t want John Patrick to even meet her. Besides an urge to protect Sophia from an unabashed wolf, there was her warning about a short man. If that had any validity, Justin didn’t know, but ever since he had heard it, he hadn’t been able to avoid feeling guarded about his brother-in-law.
He walked over to the SUV’s driver’s door. The power window slid down. John Patrick was holding a beer bottle by the neck. A bouquet of yellow roses tied with a green ribbon lay on the passenger seat. What was that, a good-will gift for Felicia? Justin surmised that some things were better left unknown and didn’t even ask about the roses.
John Patrick raised the beer bottle in greeting. “What’s up, bro? Thought you’d be at work.”
Then why did you come here? Justin wondered, but he managed a wan smile. “Normally I would be, but I took a few days off. I’ve got too much vacation time on the books. You know how it is.”
“Thankfully, I don’t know how it is. I’ve never had a job, you know? At least not one where I worked for wages.” He chortled as if he thought that fact was funny. “But you know me. I’m always out here somehow making money, spending money and trying to figure out how to get everyone else’s money.” After he finished enjoying his own joke, he gestured to the barn. “You’ve got both horses saddled. Plan on doing some trick riding?”
“I’ve been doing some riding. And enjoying it. The horses like it, too. I invited a friend out and we’re going for a ride and a picnic.”
John Patrick’s brow arched. “A friend? Would this be a female friend, I’m guessing?”
“Matter of fact, it is,” Justin said, looking his brother-in-law in the eye, hoping the direct look and the abrupt answer would discourage more questions.
John Patrick laughed again. “Why, you ol’ dog. It’s about time you got out and about. Anybody I know?”
“No. She’s not from here.”
“Ah. An out-of-town squeeze. Cool. Where’d you meet her?”
Justin deliberately didn’t answer the question. “You coming in?”
He started toward his front porch. When he didn’t hear the Cayenne’s door open, he stopped and looked back. John Patrick sat there, his expression grim.
Even from a few feet away, Justin could see a sheen of sweat showing on his brother-in-law’s forehead. Was he sick again? Or was he shaken by the prospect of entering his deceased sister’s former home? In the years Justin had known John Patrick he had seen little that fazed him—not a fed-up wife, not pissed-off in-laws, not the irate husband of a married lover. “You feel all right? You’re not getting sick again, are you? Hell, you look like you just saw a ghost.”
John Patrick gave a jittery heh-heh-heh. “No, I’m fine. Listen, I’m gonna run on—”
His sentence was stopped by the sound of another approaching vehicle. Justin’s stomach dropped as he saw Sophia’s little white Aero coming up his driveway. John Patrick looked back and saw it, too. Shit. Now, forward was the only direction to go.
“Well, whadda you know?” John Patrick said, appearing to have fully recovered. “Looks like I stayed around just long enough.”
Sophia’s car came to a stop behind John Patrick’s SUV. A beaming Sophia emerged. Though wearing jeans and clearly dressed for comfort, she looked like something out of a hot Trace Adkins video. If she could somehow move in slow motion the look would have been complete.
Her long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail that swung when she moved. A plain white T-shirt was stuffed into the beltless waistband of her jeans, which were well-worn and hugged her legs, displaying definition in her thighs and butt not visible earlier when she had been wearing a skirt. God, she was a knockout.
“Hi Justin,” she said. “I’m so glad you invited me to go riding. I hope I don’t embarrass myself.”
Justin laughed. “You can’t embarrass yourself in front of me on a horse. If you’ll remember, I just started this horse-riding business yesterday myself.”
Sophia grinned. “Uh-oh. If I’m the more experienced between the two of us, then we’ve got a problem.”
Justin was set to reluctantly introduce her to his brother-in-law when, grinning like a monkey, John Patrick introduced himself. “But my friends call me J. P.,” the guy added with a lascivious grin.
Sophia bent forward and looked into car, returning his smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Sophia.” She extended her right hand.
John Patrick took her hand and held it longer than a mere introduction warranted. She quickly lifted her hand from his and placed it behind her. Justin was certain he saw a change in her demeanor.
“Justin tells me you’re not from around here,” John Patrick said, undeterred.
She stepped backward a couple of steps. “Yes, I’m from El Paso.”
“Ah, El Paso.” John Patrick looked her up and down. The guy was practically drooling. Justin felt an unfamiliar anxiety. His philandering in-law was enjoying the moment too much and a weird urge to drag Sophia away from the Porche’s door coursed through Justin.
“I’ve always had a good time in El Paso,” John Patrick said. “Too bad I never ran into you there.”
Sophia shot a glance at Justin that he couldn’t read. Something was going on, but Justin didn’t know what. He desperately wanted John Patrick to just leave. “Uh, Sophia, I’ve got the horses saddled. Why don’t you check them out and decide which one you want to ride.”
She moved back from the car door and gave Justin her attention. “You mean I should try to figure out which one I’m the least likely to fall off of?” She followed that statement with a small tinkling laugh that filled Justin with pure joy and he felt that silly grin form on his mouth again. “Yep,” he answered.
Sophia turned and walked toward the corral, but stopped once and glanced back at John Patrick, who assessed her with another leer. Justin sensed Sophia wanted to say something, but instead she gave him a quick look, turned and continued toward the corral.
They watched her open the gate into the corral. Finally John Patrick said, “Damn, Justin, my man. I thought she was a show stopper from a distance, but she’s better-looking up close than—”
“Excuse me?” A cold anger inched up Justin’s spine and he glared at his brother-in-law.
John Patrick looked as if someone had planted a fist in his gut, but he recovered quickly with a self-conscious snicker. “Hey, don’t get pissed off. I’m just saying…”
“Yeah, well, listen, J. P., I hate to leave good company, but I…”
“Oh, yeah. No problem. I need to run too. Have a good time riding horses.” He sneered, placing unnecessary emphasis on the last two words. “I’ll be seeing you, buddy.” His dark-tinted window glided upward.
John Patrick’s visit as well as his odd reaction to the invitation into the house earlier still puzzled Justin, but for now, he was more interested in Sophia. He stood a few extra moments and watched the Cayenne’s departure, then stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked toward the corral.
Sophia apparently didn’t hear him approach. She was preoccupied whispering to one of the horses. He could hear the tone of her voice, low and soothing. “Is that the one you’ve chosen?” he asked.
Her head jerked up and she looked at Justin in surprise, as if she had been completely unaware of him before now. He was close enough to see her facial features and sadness in her eyes. He had no doubt she was near tears. He quickened his steps to the gate. “What happened?” Was she trying to show a brave front to a pain-inflicting injury? “Did you get kicked?
He had barely entered the corral and closed the gate when Sophia came toward him, the look in her eye somehow different. He could swear he had seen it befor
e. “These horses wouldn’t kick me,” she said. “They know me. They love me.”
Whoa! What the hell did that mean? “Uh, they do?”
Sophia came closer, placed her palm on his chest and slid it up to his neck. The next thing he knew, her mouth had found his in a crushing, tongue-thrusting kiss and the weight of her body had pressed him back and against the fence.
Justin wanted to push her away, but the only thought in his mind was how good she felt and tasted and how long it had been since he enjoyed this basic human need. He returned her kiss with the same unbridled heat. He trailed his mouth down her neck, nibbling at her fragrant golden skin. Pressing her lips to his ear, she made a small moan and whispered, “I’ve missed you so much, my marathon man.”
“What?”
Justin shoved her away with such force she landed on her back in a bed of fresh hay. “Marathon man” was the name Rachel had tagged him with on their honeymoon, after they had made love four times in one night. The name had returned at times during other private moments. No one—no one living, that is—knew that intimate, private joke except Rachel and him.
He looked with disbelief at the body of Sophia sprawled in front of him. Rachel? Was he looking at Rachel? Then it dawned on him that whoever she was, she was still female and he had knocked her flat. He moved to her and offered her his hand. “Rach? Babe?” he asked softly. “Are you okay? Let me help you up.”
Sophia levered to one elbow, looking around as if in a daze. “What—what happened? What just happened?”
He heard fear in her voice and his heart sank. Sophia. He had lost Rachel again. He was so confused and shaken he wanted to turn and run, but then, Sophia sounded as if she too was confused and shaken. And she was an innocent party in all of this.
Bending to one knee he took her in his arms and rocked to and fro murmuring soothingly, “It’s okay. It’s okay. Are you all right?”
“I think so,” she said.
He held her at arm’s length and looked into her face searchingly. Though Sophia and Rachel shared no physical resemblance, he still wasn’t one hundred percent sure just who he was facing.
“How did I get down here?” Sophia asked. “Did one of the horses throw me? I don’t remember even—”
“You don’t remember what just happened? You don’t remember kissing me?”
Sophia gasped and drew back. “I did what? Why would I do that?” Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes grew wide.
“It was Rachel. Rachel was here, wasn’t she?”
Tears rimmed Sophia’s eyes and she grabbed Justin’s arm.
“I’m so sorry. How painful that must have been for you. Please forgive me, I’m so—”
“Don’t say that,” he whispered.
Her sincerity touched his heart and he covered her words and mouth with a single kiss.
Turning onto the county road, John Patrick struck the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. Fuck. He had been given the perfect opportunity to get more information on the mysterious out-of-town visitor, but here he was leaving, and he still didn’t know any more now than he had known before. She was Sophia, she was from El Paso and she was a total hottie. Had Justin taken time off work to spend with this lovely Sophia?
John Patrick glanced at the bouquet of yellow roses lying on the passenger seat. His plan had been to leave it on the seat of one of the rocking chairs on the front porch. The very idea of Justin seeing the roses there the second he came to a stop in front of his house had been tantalizing. Well, that idea has just gone down the toilet. JP U R Ashole. After seeing that message on the refrigerator door, He doubted he would ever enter Justin’s house again.
He reached over and grabbed the bouquet, pressed it against his nose. They smelled as sweet as Sophia had looked. He supposed he could take them home to his wife. She was still pissed about missing the charity event with her parents.
Fuck that!
He buzzed down the window and tossed the roses out to die on the dirt road.
twenty-one
Debbie Sue moved her cell phone to her opposite ear as she walked through her house and out the back door. “You do?…Justin, are you sure?” She waved at Buddy, trying to draw his attention. “It’s kind of odd you’d want to do this, because my husband was bugging me about it earlier.”
Buddy killed the power to the drill and came toward her, wiping his hands against a towel he had stuffed into the back pocket of his jeans. He lifted his chin inquiringly. “What’s up?”
Debbie Sue held up her index finger and continued, “Let me talk to him and I’ll call you right back.” Snapping the phone shut, she turned her full attention to her husband.
“What’s going on, Flash? Who was that?”
“Justin. He’s suddenly anxious to do the séance tonight. I think he’d do it this very minute if I agreed.” Debbie Sue pulled the towel from Buddy’s pocket and wiped a smear of dirt from his cheek.
“But I thought you told him—”
“I did. I told him Sunday was our time together.”
“That’s right.”
“He wants to know if you’d like to come too.” She stepped away from him and began busying herself with gathering nails and returning them to their box.
Buddy slapped his thigh and let out a whoop. “Are you kidding me? Man, this is great! Did he include Vic in the invitation?”
“Yes. He wants Ed to bring Vic, too. That is, if he wants to come.”
Buddy chuckled wickedly. “Oh, he’ll want to be there. I can almost guarantee it.”
Debbie Sue looked at him, unable to believe what she had heard. “You can’t mean you want to go? I didn’t think you were serious. You really want to participate in a seance?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I’ve spent the better part of my adult life solving crimes shrouded in mystery for the most part. This is another method I’ve never been exposed to or explored.”
Debbie Sue felt her scalp tingle. Buddy had never been present when she was in command…or as he would put it, “taking the lead in an investigation.” She didn’t want to be scrutinized or judged or criticized by him, no matter how well-meaning he might be. For some reason criticism from a loved one just didn’t set well. She supposed it was the fervent desire to please, only to feel that on some level you had failed or fallen short. “Buddy, I don’t know if it would be such a good idea for you and Vic to be present.”
“Why?”
“This is a serious matter and if you only want to be there so you can make fun…”
Grasping her upper arm, he turned her to him and spoke in earnest. “Flash, I would never go just to poke fun or make light of another person’s grief. You know me better than that.”
“I know. I know you’d never do that.”
“Then why don’t you want me there?”
“I’ll be self-conscious, Buddy. I’ll feel like a little kid when his parents visit the classroom.”
Clasping her shoulders, Buddy bent his knees until his eyes were level with hers. “I’m not going so that I can judge you, darlin’. I’m going purely as a spectator. Besides, I’d think the lady from El Paso would be directing the whole thing. I mean, what the hell do the rest of us know? Right?”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She mustered a smile. “Sorry I misjudged you, sugarfoot.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He straightened and kissed the top of her head. “Now, help me finish up here. Do I wear my own turban or will the psychic be handing out some of hers?”
“Aarrgh!” Debbie Sue reached to grab his fleeing behind.
“Buddy Overstreet, you’re an asshole!”
From a safe distance he called back, chuckling. “No, I’m not. I just know how to yank your chain.”
Muttering cuss words under her breath, Debbie Sue dug her cell phone from her pocket, flipped it open and speed-dialed Edwina’s number.
After four burrs, Edwina picked up. “Hey, Dippity-Do. What’s happening?”
In less than a minute Debbie
Sue delivered the message that Justin wanted the séance tonight and if it meant bringing significant others, then bring them.
“Oh, crap,” Edwina said. “Vic will be all over this. When I told him earlier he couldn’t go, I thought I was gonna have to give him a time out for pouting. Is Buddy going?”
“’Fraid so. I can’t remember the last time I saw him this eager to do something. He considers it an opportunity to learn a new investigative technique.”
“Vic just thinks it sounds like a good time,” Edwina said.
“I guess it couldn’t do any harm having them there. If they don’t start laughing, that is. I’m gonna threaten Buddy within an inch of his life if he does.”
“I wish that was all I had to worry about,” Edwina said in a near whisper. “You know, um, I’ve already told Vic all he needs to know about my past. He hasn’t asked me many questions, but I’ve tried to answer truthfully to every one of them.”
“Then what’s the problem? I don’t get it.”
“Um, well, uh…you know, it might come out that I, uh…oh, never mind.”
Debbie Sue had never heard Edwina stutter and stammer so. “That you what, Ed?”
“Nothing. But what if something should happen—”
“Ed, forgodsake,” Debbie Sue said, now lowering her voice to match Edwina’s, “what could be so terrible that Vic doesn’t know? Or that I don’t know?”
“Dammit, Debbie Sue, I was arrested once. For prostitution. It was over twenty years ago, but…Just get to Justin’s a little early. I’ll tell you all about it.”
Edwina disconnected and Debbie Sue stood there, staring at her cell phone. Good God almighty, what in the hell were they stepping into?
Justin dropped his cell phone back into his shirt pocket and turned to Sophia, who sat demurely on the sofa. After the occurrence in the horse pen he had no intention of letting another day go by without tackling the situation head-on. Enough pussyfooting around. Time for action. Without her agreement, he couldn’t proceed with the séance. He sat down on the ottoman opposite her and told her everything.