by Joan Kilby
“Are you looking at a house to buy in Cherry Lake?” she asked.
“I’m waiting for someone. I was on my way to the café,” he said. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get going so I can get back before my friend comes out. Have a great day.”
“There’s a lovely house for sale on Sweet Street,” she called after him. “A real family home.”
He raised a hand and kept walking. Funny old biddy, poking her nose into his business….
A thought stopped him dead. Not being nosy. She’d recognized him. Or, rather, his father at his age. He didn’t think he looked much like his dad except for his coloring. He had his mother’s eyes and nose and his maternal grandfather’s jaw and as far as he could tell, his own mouth.
He looked over his shoulder. Pansy was still watching him from down the block. He turned and kept walking, his footsteps slower as he mulled this over. Something of his father must be in him. All it took was a trick of light, a particular angle. Did Linda see it? If she did, would the revelation cause problems between her and Robert? Hell, he didn’t want to cause trouble. What ripples had he unwittingly set in motion when he gave in to the impulse to come to Cherry Lake?
A bell rang over the door as he entered the Cherry Pit, an old-school diner fitted out as if it was the fifties, right down to booths with individual jukeboxes and a soda fountain with stools at the counter. A short order cook in a white paper hat was frying sausages, bacon and eggs on the grill. The smell of fresh coffee completed the appetite-stimulating aromas. He placed an order to go and perched on a stool to wait, idly flipping through a festival brochure someone had left behind at the lunch counter. Cherry pit spitting contest, seriously?
“Hello, Alex,” Robert said in a low voice without looking at him. He took the stool beside him and raised a hand to the waitress, a pretty woman in her thirties with a brown ponytail.
Seeing Robert, she came right over with a mug and a jug of coffee. “Hey, Robert. How are you doing?
“Not bad, Sherry. Yourself?” Robert gave her a smile and leaned back as she poured the coffee. “How are the kids?”
One hand planted on her hip, Sherry gave him the rundown on her young son and daughter. From what Alex could gather Sherry was a struggling single mom but she was upbeat and her easy smile was contagious. He got the impression Robert had helped her out in the past, too. When she drifted off to fill other cups, he asked, “Where’s Emma?”
“At my office, waiting for you.” Robert stirred a creamer and sugar into his coffee, still without even glancing his way. “When you weren’t in your car she guessed you might have gone for food. I said I wanted coffee and would bring you back.”
Alex wanted to talk to his father but not in a busy diner. Only one empty stool stood between him and a woman reading the morning paper over a second cup of coffee. On Robert’s other side a couple had just sat down. “This isn’t where I’d have chosen for us to meet but since we’re here…”
“It’s good to see you.”
“Really? You won’t even look at me.”
Robert’s eyes closed briefly. “I wish you’d contacted me before coming to Cherry Lake. We could have met in Polson or Grand Fork. It was a shock seeing you last night. Even though I’ve thought about you so often over the years.”
“Not enough to get in touch, however.” Alex kept his voice low but he couldn’t soften its hard edge. “How did you get my address in Seattle?”
“Your mother contacted me last year to say goodbye. I was blown away. I hadn’t heard from her in years. I asked her how you were doing. She told me all about your life.” Robert paused and his voice dropped to a lower register. “Wish I could have seen more of you growing up.”
“Sure, you do. That’s why you visited so often.” That wasn’t entirely fair. He knew his mother had been bitter about Robert, and angry that he’d left her to go back to Cherry Lake. After that she probably hadn’t encouraged his visits.
“Anya asked me to stop coming to Castlegar,” Robert said, confirming that thought. “She said it was confusing for you.”
“Was that after she found out you were married to Linda?” Robert and his mother had never married—his mom had been too much of a hippie to believe in pieces of paper—but they’d been de facto husband and wife, married in all but name only.
Robert lowered his voice still further. “Linda and I weren’t married when I was with living with your mother.”
Alex turned to look at him. Was he telling the truth? “But you were with Linda before you met my mom, right? You must have been. Will is older than me.”
“Keep your voice down, please.” Robert dragged a hand through his hair. “It’s complicated. My life at that time was …messy.”
“So tell me. I’m listening.”
“There’s too much to explain right now. Emma’s waiting. But I want you to know that even though you showing up is inconvenient I’m glad to see you and want to get to know you again. Part of the reason your mom called was to tell me she forgave me. I hope you can forgive me, too. That’s why I sent your birthday card.”
“It took you long enough to make contact. Mom died over a year ago.”
“I didn’t think I had the right to suddenly insert myself into your life. Lately I’ve had health issues.” Robert wrapped his hands around his mug and gazed into the dark liquid. “I wanted to make things right in case….”
Alex’s heart did a slow, painful thump. Was he going to finally gain a father only to lose him? “Are you in serious danger?”
“No,” Robert said quickly. “I’m fine.”
Alex wasn’t sure he believed him. “So…where do we go from here? It’s obvious your wife and children have never heard about me.”
“I’d like to keep it that way for now. I’m sorry. Please understand. I have a family. I don’t want them hurt. They know nothing about you or your mother.”
Alex’s rain-damped shirt clung to his shoulders and sent a chill all through him. He understood Robert not wanting to hurt Linda and his other children. But he was his son, too. What about the hurt Alex was feeling right now? “So no one in your family knows about me? You didn’t even tell your wife?”
“My parents knew. My dad’s still alive but my mother passed years ago. Linda doesn’t know. Like I said, it’s complicated.” Robert rubbed his forehead. His skin looked gray and the lines around his mouth deepened. “I’ll tell her soon. When the time is right.”
“You’ve had thirty years,” Alex said bitterly. “Don’t you think you’ve waited long enough?”
“I understand you’re angry and I don’t blame you. But your mother—”
“I don’t know what went on between you and my mom but you can’t blame her for the fact you—” Alex’s voice had gotten louder. Sherry gave him an odd look as she delivered his foil-wrapped sandwiches and coffee. The smells, so delicious only a moment ago, now caused his stomach to rise up his throat. He handed over a twenty to cover the bill and she went away to get his change. “…you abandoned your son.”
Struggling for control, Alex went on, his voice low and tight. “All through high school I prayed you would come back, even if just for a visit. It wasn’t like you were on the other side of the world. Castlegar is only five or six hours drive from here.”
“I can explain but not now, not here,” Robert said. “People know me in this town. Know my family.” He glanced around as if expecting to see his wife or children walk in at any moment.
“When then, and where?” Alex doubted any explanation Robert could give would exonerate him. His father was an important man in the community and clearly didn’t want anything to tarnish his standing among his peers.
“So much is going on, you don’t even realize,” Robert said. “Linda is up to her eyeballs preparing for her stall plus doing the marketing and managing the website for the orchard. Will is stressed over the rain and the picker situation, worried we might still lose the harvest. Taylor and Jodi are picking up the slack around
the house and the orchard. We don’t have time to deal with this.”
“‘This’ meaning me. I’m a person, not a problem,” Alex said sharply.
“Let’s get through the weekend. Once the festival is over and the orchard is under control we can figure something out.” He rubbed his thumb over the mug and sighed heavily. “These darn medical tests mean I’ve been a burden rather than a help lately. I won’t add to the turmoil by throwing this at them.”
Alex sighed. He felt terrible. He was so focused on himself that he kept forgetting his father’s cardiac tests. If Robert hadn’t been a very good father in the past, he wasn’t being a very good son now. “How are you?” he said, softening his tone. “What did the tests show?”
“Aortic stenosis they called it. Fancy name for hardening of the arteries. The docs wanted to put in a stent and keep me in for more tests but I would have been laid up for days more. My family needs me here.”
Alex gaped at him. “Are you telling me you didn’t have the procedure even though the doctor ordered it?”
“I’ll go back after the harvest,” Robert said defensively. “I haven’t told Linda or the kids so don’t you dare rat me out.”
Great. His father had just trusted him with a confidence. That should have made him feel wonderful. Instead Alex was complicit in his father’s coverup. “You do understand the risk you’re putting yourself at?”
“I’ve lived with this condition for God knows how long before the doctors discovered it. Another week isn’t going to make any difference.”
“If you’re crazy enough to think that, then you deserve whatever you get.” Anger, fear and worry swirled through him. He grabbed his bag of food and coffee and slid off the stool. “Emma’s waiting for me.”
“Promise you won’t say anything to Linda?”
“I haven’t yet.” He turned to go and then paused. “An older woman stopped me in the street this morning. She was having a senior’s moment or something. I think she thought I was you when you were younger.”
Robert’s gaze softened. “You look more like your mother’s side of the family but from the right angle, yeah, I could see it. It’s more the way you move, the shape of your shoulders. You’ve got my dark coloring.”
At one time this kind of sharing would have made Alex feel connected, happy. Now he was just confused.
“It’s good to see you, Alex.” Robert’s voice held a note of pleading.
Too little too late. “I’ve got to go.”
Chapter Six
‡
“Thanks! I’m starving.” Emma tore the foil wrap off the bacon and egg roll and took a huge bite. Like the coffee it was warming and delicious. “You and Robert must have had quite a chat.”
She cast him a sideways glance, wondering if he would give her any clues to what they’d talked about. Alex had driven down to the park so they could look at the lake while they ate. The water was stormy gray and choppy from the stiff breeze but the rain had stopped and patches of blue showed through the clouds.
Near the waterfront, next to the parking lot, workmen were building the temporary stage for the mayor’s speech and awards for Saturday. Their hammer blows rang out above the sound of their ghetto blaster tuned to a popular radio station.
She was still waiting for Alex’s answer. As usual when it came to Robert, Mr. BMW didn’t divulge much.
Alex swallowed a bite. “He told me about the tests he had in Billings. He says he’s fine.”
“That’s great.” Emma seized on the good news. “I was so worried. I know Linda was, too. They all depend on him.”
“Seems to me they’re all extremely competent at what they do.”
“They are. I meant in an emotional sense. He’s the first person everyone goes to when they have a problem, even before Linda. He’s always there for them.” She took another bite and chewed it down before adding. “He’s been there for me, too. Still is.”
The thwap thwap of a helicopter rotor made her peer up at the sky. “Looks like Will’s getting the trees dried again, after all. I hope this is the last of the rain.”
“What do you mean, Robert’s there for you?” Alex balled his wrapper and tucked it back in the bag.
She contemplated whether to reveal her plan or not. If it didn’t come to fruition she didn’t want a whole lot of people commiserating with her. But Alex wasn’t local. He’d be gone before she heard. “I’m buying a house but I don’t have enough money for the deposit. Well, I do, but it’s tied up in savings bonds and is earmarked for another purpose. I’d rather not break them if I don’t have to. I went to see Robert this morning to ask if he would give me a temporary loan and co-sign my mortgage. He’s going to do it.”
“That’s generous of him. He must value you a lot.”
There was that hint of bitterness in his voice again. “Robert was like a surrogate father when I was growing up. My mom and dad divorced when I was little.” She dusted the crumbs off her fingers outside the window. “Do you want to see the house? Robert gave me the key so I could look through it.”
“Doesn’t he have to be there?”
“Technically yes, but he got the okay from the owners.” She shrugged. “He’s got a million things to catch up on and if he’s going to squeeze in preparing my offer he doesn’t have time to go with me.”
“Hold on. You put in an offer before you’re viewing the house. Isn’t that backward? What if it’s in terrible shape?”
“My grandparents owned that house for forty years. I lived there on and off for the first six years of my life. I don’t care what shape it’s in. I want it.” She scraped at the foam edge of her cup. “If you don’t want to come, it’s okay. You can drop me back at the motel and I’ll pick up my car.”
“I’ll come.” He took her wrappings and empty cup and crushed them before adding them to the bag. Then he tossed the ball of garbage in a high arc into an open trash bin ten feet away.
“Impressive.” Emma nodded her approval. “Let me guess, you were on the all-star basketball team in high school.”
He twisted in his seat and gave her a dry grin. “You’ve got me all figured out.”
“Hardly.” She laughed. “You’re Mr. Mysterious.”
His smile faded and his eyes clouded over. The fingers on his hand resting on the gear shift tightened.
She touched his wrist lightly, just above his gold watch. The dark hairs were rough beneath her fingertips. “Anything you want to talk about?”
He turned his hand over and clasped hers with warm, strong fingers. “I meant to thank you for the birthday cake yesterday.”
“Linda made it. I can’t cook, remember?” The heat from his palm spread through her and his flesh molded to hers bringing complicated sensations of both comfort and arousal. Holding hands was vastly underrated.
“You must have told her it was my birthday.” His gaze dropped to her mouth.
Her lips parted and her tongue slipped out to slick along her bottom lip in an unconscious gesture. Seeing it, his eyes darkened. She wasn’t flirting, or trying to come on to him. She knew better than that. But where he was concerned she couldn’t help responding to every physical cue. It was as if he was giving off clouds of pheromones and she was a helpless winged creature fluttering ever closer.
He bent closer till she could feel his breath gusting warm on her cheek and the slide of his lips on hers, nipping gently, tasting the corners of her mouth, playfully probing. His hand slid into her hair, cupping the back of her head so he could angle her head for a better fit. Giving in to the inevitable she slipped her arms around his neck and opened to his questing tongue. He tasted like coffee and bacon and man.
She made a soft moan of pleasure. He responded with a guttural sound of satisfaction and slipped his other arm around her waist to draw her closer. The kiss was even better than the one in the lake. Warmer and drier, for a start. Deeper, because they could concentrate on kissing and not work at staying afloat. More sensual. Way more sensual.
Alex kissed with a single-minded intensity that made her head spin. When he molded his hand over her breast, electricity arced from her aching nipple to her core like a blaze of summer lightning.
A burst of children’s laughter close by made her eyes snap open. Three little girls about four years old in frilly bathing suits were running down to the lake edge not fifty feet from where they were parked, making out like teenagers at a drive-in movie. The girls’ mother or guardian followed, carrying a large tote and an inflatable raft.
Emma pushed back, tugging down her top and smoothing her hair all at once. “Forgot where we were for a second,” she said, laughing breathlessly.
Alex regarded her with an amused smile. “Wouldn’t do to let the townsfolk see their resident scientist acting like a floozy in broad daylight.”
“It’s not that.” Although it was. When Alex left, as he would, there would be pitying glances for the foolish, plain young woman who’d thought she could hold a rich, handsome city fella. “I have to see that house so I can return the key to Robert’s office.”
Alex turned on the ignition and drove out of the parking lot. “A house will offer more privacy anyway.”
Hanging onto the strap at her head, she squeaked like an alarmed mouse. “We can’t…do anything. Besides the fact that Robert trusts me, I don’t—”
“I was kidding.” Alex laughed. He stopped for the light at the intersection of Swan Street and Route 35 and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”
Not only flustered but also aroused. So much for her vow not to let him get to her. She’d practically thrown herself into his arms. If those little girls hadn’t come past she might have climbed into his lap and—Her eyes closed and she banged the back of her head against the head rest. Thinking about it wasn’t helping.
“Where are we going?” said Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected. “Straight ahead, left, right?”
“Straight up Swan Street to Main and hang a left. Then it’s down a couple of blocks and turn right. She pulled down the mirror on the sun visor. Her mouth was swollen and red and her cheeks flushed. Good thing Robert wasn’t meeting her at the house. It would be perfectly obvious to anyone with eyes in their head what she and Alex had been doing.