Pumpkins, Cowboys & Guitars

by Patti Ann Colt

  Zach fit the logs into the wood pile structure. “Can’t. Office might need me.”

  “All work and no play makes Zach a dull boy.”

  Zach gave his brother the evil eye. “That’s the best you can come up with? Hiking?”

  Beau wiped his hands on his jeans and attempted a straight face. “Well, it would be an improvement at least. You work, take care of Carlee, work, take care of Carlee. I’m sensing a pattern here.”

  He’d tell them he had a date last night, that his social life wasn’t as dead and boring as they thought, but then again, last night had been boring as hell. Besides, it was always better to let Carlee blab about his goings on and this was no exception.

  Zach took off his gloves. “Go commune with the raccoons.” Both brothers laughed, but the subject was dropped.

  Zach hugged Carlee when she came back ready to go and he waved the three off, deliberately not looking at the house across the street.

  After all, he wasn’t a mooning teenager like his brothers.

  Leia shifted her beret down further and slouched in her chair. Plane delay was something she hadn’t considered happening and should have. There were enough people giving her a second glance to know she might not be able to stay incognito. She should have left last night, then she’d have been on a late flight with weary travelers not paying her any mind and in L.A. for the recording session this morning on time.

  She was going to be late. There was no help for that.

  Her flight was delayed an hour, possibly more, by bad weather in Chicago. That’s where her plane was coming from. She tapped her nail against her lips and contemplated all the excuses she could get away with, cringing at the lecture she knew was coming from Cale and Herb Cole, her record producer. Studio time cost money and just because she’d never ever been late before, it wouldn’t stop the censure.

  This time it looked like she was going to have to make up an outright lie and nothing was coming to mind. Protecting Parson Corners and her new home made her not as uncomfortable with fibbing as she should be. Cale, Herb, her band, they used to be her friends.

  Since her problems in April, she hadn’t been in sync with anyone except maybe Carlee. Scary thought when a twelve-year-old got her better than all the people around her.

  She’d seen Zach in his window this morning, sipping coffee and watching her pull away. Just the thought of his eyes on her had her burning all the way to Denver’s airport, while she parked, while she checked in, and now while she sat.

  Darn the man anyway. If she closed her eyes, she could feel him again—the tall length of him, the broad shoulders and comforting arms, the solid weight of him against her. That was only his body. His mouth was dangerous to a woman’s peace of mind and she definitely wasn’t going there in public.

  Leia looked at the television set and swore silently as the same news slid across the ticker. Freak winter storm in Chicago grounds plane traffic. Yeah, she knew that already. She’d get up and move, but she didn’t want to draw even the slightest attention to herself. She glanced over at the counter, desperate to see the sign change from delayed to a time. Not happening.

  A heavy-set blonde with black glasses and a garish red coat stood in front of the counter, animated in her conversation with the gate attendant, her posture a tad-bit familiar.

  Leia waited for the woman to turn, to move in order to figure out how she was familiar. When the woman turned, Leia froze.

  Heidi of Hollywood. Heidi Bowers, rag gossip diva, and the bane of Leia’s existence.

  Her stomach tightened, and much like rubber-necking as you bypass an accident on the freeway, she couldn’t take her eyes off the woman.

  Would she recognize her?

  She glanced away to the television, watched the young couple with the baby boy at the end of the row, turned around and checked out the coffee shop behind her.

  Maybe she should go get some coffee.

  Move away from this area and walk the terminal concourse until her flight was called. Or was she less conspicuous in the seat?

  Too late.

  The woman gaze swept the crowd and then narrowed to her row.

  Leia saw the second it clicked who she was, and then Heidi did a Marilyn Monroe saunter over to her row—an act that looked utterly ridiculous and damn near had Leia laughing out loud. Bad Leia.

  Heidi plunked down in a seat two over from her. Leia forced herself to nonchalance and remained seated, instead of running in the opposite direction.

  Heidi’s blood red lipstick made her face ghost pale and much different from the made-up, impeccably dressed anchor of her own gossip show. “Leia Shae, as I live and breathe. What brings you to Denver?”

  Leia toyed with denying who she was for a half second, then stiffened her spine. Nowhere to run.

  “Heidi Bowers, as I live and breathe. What brings you to Denver?”

  “I have cousins here.” A fake “we’re-friends” smile upturned her mouth.

  My ass she does.

  Leia gave her back an in-kind grin. “Hope you had a wonderful time.” Her nerves were twitching like she’d taken an electric shock, the strain of weighing every word battering her confidence. She was going to blow it and screw up her promise to Zach about protecting Parson Corners from the press.

  “You didn’t say why you were here, dear?”

  “No, I didn’t.” Leia crossed her arms and dared the woman to pat them, like she’d seen her do with other stars in other interviews.

  “A man.” The reporter sighed. “Just what you need.”

  Leia laughed, even though it was as fake as a three dollar bill. “No man.”

  “Leia dear, you really should indulge. A little sex is good for the skin.” She patted under her chin, preening.

  Leia stifled a give-me-the-willies shiver. She did not want to discuss this woman’s sex life. Not only would it make her lack thereof become more acute, it was just plain disgusting to have that thought placed in her brain.

  The loud speaker announced the flight from the next gate at that moment and a stampede of people got in line.

  Heidi studied her fingernails. “I thought you had a private jet?”

  “I have a service,” Leia answered. “Didn’t use it this time.”

  “I heard you were running low on cash.”

  Leia frowned. Now where had that come from?

  Leia stared the woman down, patting her purse. “Cash supply is good.”

  Heidi gave a shrill laugh. “Ah, Leia. You’re too much, darling.”

  Leia grinned. “I am, aren’t I?”

  “Sure you don’t want to tell me where you’ve been? I can put a good spin on it. Give you some positive publicity. After that mess last spring, honey, you could use some.”

  “New album coming out, public appearances everywhere. Hmm. Don’t need it. Thanks, though.” Especially not this woman’s type of spin. She’d had enough. She rose to her feet.

  “Excuse me. I think I’ll go get some coffee and stretch my legs. Nice seeing you, Heidi.”

  “Nice seeing you too, dear.” She rose also, and leaned toward Leia. “You really shouldn’t fly without some security.”

  “Who says I don’t have any security?” Leia walked away. Fortunately for her, a large man, bald and wearing a Denver Broncos jersey, rose and followed her into the coffee shop. She smiled at him and they chit chatted briefly in line.

  Let Heidi chew on that.

  It might be petty, but damn the woman irritated and as much as she’d offered to do a good spin, she’d do a bad spin in two seconds flat and had when the story suited, making stuff up as she went along.

  Unfortunately, she did have a point. One Leia would have to take up with Banning and see what he suggested. Usually, when she couldn’t take a private jet, she timed it so she got to the airport just in time to clear security and walk onto the plane. There wasn’t time for lounging in the airport waiting areas.

  For the most part, people ignored her. They didn’t expec
t to see a star in their day-to-day life, so she could fly under the radar. It was her bad luck to find Heidi here and exposing the flaw in her simple cover.

  The woman wouldn’t even have gotten close if Zach had been here. That quick her body was filled with longing and loneliness. She desperately wanted to chuck this wait and get back in her car and go home. She got her cup of coffee and wandered down the concourse, taking a pit stop in the women’s bathroom and the magazine shop. The airport was filling up with people. Everywhere she turned there was a line. Still, she preferred this to sitting and being a target for Heidi to zero in on again.

  Her phone began to vibrate. She looked at the display and didn’t even try to stifle the groan. She couldn’t dodge, as much as she wanted to. Hitting the answer key, she tightened her body, waiting for the blow, the scalding lecture.

  “Hello, Cale.”

  “Where the hell are you?”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Mark Banning picked Leia up at the curb. The set of his jaw told her he’d been berated about her whereabouts, but he kept the details to himself. He took her bag, put it in the trunk and helped her into the front seat. They were on the freeway before he spoke.

  “I don’t know how much longer you’re going to be able to keep this a secret.” His deep tenor reminded her of Zach’s minus the spine tingling, the somersaulting stomach, and the haze of lust over her thinking.

  Must be the cop speak. M.J. Banning was retired with a medical disability after being shot in the line of duty with the San Diego Police Department. He was ten years her senior and decades older in wisdom, much like Zach. At one time she could have had a thing for him, but he’d consistently given her honesty and a steady presence. It was more like having a big brother with a protection fetish, only she paid him big bucks to stick with her.

  The big man ground his teeth. “I know why you want this kept quiet, but it may not be possible much longer.”

  She turned in her seat. “Did Cale threaten your job?”

  “Please,” he said, in disgust.

  “No one can fire you but me. Are we clear on that? I have absolutely no intentions of doing so. Ever.”

  He switched lanes then glanced at her, giving her a quirky grin. “Nice to know I have job security, but no, that isn’t what I’m worried about.”

  She sighed. “I know what you’re going to say. Why keep it a secret? Why live like this?”

  “Partly,” he admitted.

  “I promised Zach, Sheriff Murphy, that his town wouldn’t get inundated with press. I like my town. It’s not part of the rock star life.”

  “There isn’t anything wrong with that. I’m just saying. Cale is sniffing a cover-up and where Cale’s sniffing, there’s sure to be others.”

  “Heidi of Hollywood,” she said under her breath.

  “God forbid.” He exited the freeway, then got a look at her face and groaned. “Please tell me not.”

  “I ran into her in the Denver airport.” Leia bit her lip.

  Banning’s mouth moved but nothing came out. Swearing under his breath probably and she couldn’t blame him.

  “How bad is it going to be?”

  “Shouldn’t be. I let her think I was on a layover there coming from someplace else. A visit to a friend.”

  “She didn’t ask you about why you didn’t use your service instead of fly commercial? Or what friend?”

  “No, she asked.”

  It was Banning’s turn to bite his lip, but Leia was sure that his reasons for doing so weren’t the same as hers.

  “I told her it was a short notice thing and the service wasn’t available. I didn’t give her the friend’s name.”

  “Peachy. That’ll get her digging.” He merged onto another freeway and switched lanes, accelerating to ten over the speed limit.

  “Is Cale still at the studio?”

  “No. They sent everyone home. He’s at his office, which is where I’m taking you.”

  Cale’s home turf.

  It was her turn to grind her teeth.

  She straightened in her seat and watched them move through the traffic. “Thank you for keeping my secret.”

  “It’s what I do to keep you and me on the same page. The secret’s not going to last, Leia. When it breaks, it’s going to go sky high. Star moves next door to sheriff that arrested her.” His hand moved to trace the headline in the air.

  She squirmed in her seat, thoughts of Zach and his reaction to that piling onto the achy feeling she got down deep inside when she thought about him. “I know,” she answered quietly. “But I need this. Want this.” Somewhere along the way, needing her life in Parson Corners was becoming about Carlee and Zach, not just a house in a small town where everyone knew her.

  “I get that. The only reason I’ve let it go this far without being right on you is that there is a sheriff right across the street. You are in a house where I personally set up the security and you have followed my rules and stayed low-key. The minute the word is out, though, I’m moving in. There isn’t another choice.”

  “Your girlfriend will hate that.”

  He was silent for a minute. “I don’t have a girlfriend. Anymore.”

  “You need a life,” she felt compelled to add, sad to hear his personal news.

  “I’ve got one. Chasing you around.” He clamped his mouth shut and focused on getting her to the battle zone with Cale much faster than she would have liked.

  She schooled her nerves, spending the last ten minutes in the car giving herself a pep talk. She felt bad about missing the studio time, but it was the first and only time this had happened to her. Stuff happened to everyone, so Cale could just suck it up and pay the bill. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the money to front a missed session at the studio. She’d stick to the story she’d made up for Heidi.

  When he stopped at the curb in front of Cale’s building, she leaned to kiss his cheek. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

  He nodded his head. “For the record, I didn’t tell Cale anything. Client confidentiality.” He grinned.

  “Must have made him angry.”

  “Oh yeah. Say as little as possible, Rock Star.” He rolled the words off his tongue, a blend of sarcasm and pride.

  “Already the plan.” She opened the door, pulled in a deep breath, and dived into the breach.

  I’m in charge. I’m the star here.

  She chanted that mantra all the way up the elevator, all the way down the hall, and into Cale’s inner sanctum. The confidence lasted until the first salvo.

  He slammed down the phone, cutting off whoever he’d been talking to. “Where the hell have you been? How dare you miss a studio session? Do you know how much money those things cost?” Cale’s charming blue eyes were storm gray.

  Anger rushed to fill the gap. “I know exactly how much they cost as I’ve been paying the tab for years. Stuff happens. Since this is the first time it’s happened to me, you can cut me some slack.”

  He leaned back in his chair, somewhat stunned by her back talk. She dropped her purse into the chair in front of his desk, refusing to sit like a truant teenager.

  He steepled his fingers and glared at her. “Where have you been?”

  She shrugged, walking to the bar and taking a bottle of water from the fridge. “Visiting an old friend. Took a commercial flight and ended up stuck on the way back in Denver. Couldn’t be helped.”

  “What friend? Why now?”

  “Why not now?”

  He counted off on his fingers. “Album for one. Two, there was a red carpet opportunity at Derek’s new movie. You should have been there. You have to keep the buzz up on your name or no one will buy your next album.”

  “Appearing on the red carpet with my ex-boyfriend allows the tabloids to rerun the smut. Not what I’m going for here.”

  Cale’s face turned red. “What’s gotten into you lately? You used to go where I told you to and trusted my judgment.”

  “That was before you started sending me to every dog
and pony show, tried to replace my band, and started keeping track of me like I was five again.”

  “You’re hiding something.”

  Her stomach shrank, a chill rushing over her. “I’m hiding nothing.”

  He tapped his lip. “No, you always get argumentative when you’re up to something. It’s a cover up.”

  “No. It’s called being fed up. Where are the financial reports you promised me weeks ago?”

  “I had to request them from accounting again. They were wrong. Don’t change the subject. Banning was close-mouthed. Really should fire that man for his insubordination.”

  “Banning is my hire. Nobody fires him.”

  “I run your people.”

  “I run Banning, my band and myself.” She sighed and finally dropped into a chair.

  “You haven’t been at your house. Where are you staying?”

  Leia grimaced. “I hate my house. Get rid of it.”

  “Then where will you stay? Do you have another house somewhere that you haven’t told me about?”

  “I love staying at the Grand in L.A. It’s my preferred hotel.”

  “There’s no status in a hotel.”

  “There’s no status in a house.” She pulled back and took a long swig of water. “Where is this getting us?”

  “Not sure, until you fess up.” He dropped his arms and leaned back in his chair. She still didn’t like the look in his eyes. “Do you really want me to start asking around?”

  It didn’t matter if he did. Banning was the only one who knew and he’d already proven he would keep his mouth shut. Still. She’d been careful, but had she been careful enough?

  She hadn’t been at the Hilton since…she couldn’t remember. If he looked at her expenditures, which he had a right to do—something she was going to have to change—he would find a bunch of withdrawals for the house and all the flights to Denver and start digging deeper. Her haven would be destroyed and her word to Zach would be shattered. She would not break her word.