by Hope Navarre
“You weren’t going to come in and swim,” he answered defensively as he realized his little joke had gone over badly.
“No, I wasn’t.” She began to slog toward the shore.
“I’m sorry,” he called after her.
“You are such a lamebrain. Ouch— Oh!” She fell backward into the water with a grimace of pain and grabbed her leg.
He moved toward her. “What’s wrong?”
“Cramp!” she bit out through clenched teeth, floundering into deeper water.
“Hold on—let me help. Don’t struggle.” His joke had really blown up in his face. He quickly reached her side.
“Okay, I won’t!” She surged out of the water and pushed his head under with both hands.
It was his turn to come up sputtering.
Her lilting laughter echoed across the water. “I can’t believe you fell for the old ‘I’ve got a cramp’ trick.”
“You little she-devil. You’re going to pay for that.” He squinted at her as he wiped his face.
“Have to catch me first,” she taunted, then dived in and stroked for the far bank.
He couldn’t catch her even when his ribs didn’t hurt. She’d always been the better swimmer. He was only halfway across when she pulled herself out of the water on the far bank. When his hand touched the edge, she dived over his head and surfaced in the middle of the pool.
“I’m still faster than you,” she shouted.
He swam to her side with leisurely strokes. “That may be, but I bet I can still hold my breath longer.”
“Ha! Just try.”
They moved to the shallow end for their age-old contest.
“We’ll go on the count of three. Agreed?” she asked.
“Agreed.” He bobbed beside her as she began to count.
“One, two, three!” She held her nose and dived under the water. A second later, her legs shot up into the air.
He stood beside her and admired the view of her shapely legs as she struggled to stay upside down. He’d always loved her legs. Come to think of it, there wasn’t much about her body that he didn’t like. A minute passed before her feet came down. He sank under the water and came up gasping for air a few seconds after her.
She frowned at him. “Okay, you still do that one better, but not by much.”
He grinned as he slicked back his hair. “No, not by much.”
A quick arch of her hand sent a spray of water over him. When he opened his eye, she was paddling away. He followed her slowly. Together they swam, splashed and floated in the pool for the next half hour.
Finally, Robyn called a halt. He followed as she pulled herself out of the water. She turned away quickly when he began to climb out. After sluicing off as much water as he could, he pulled his jeans on over his wet legs. The air was hot even in the shade of the trees. He knew it wouldn’t take long to dry off.
He lay down, stretched out in the soft grass and raised himself up on one elbow to watch her. She twisted the water from the front of her T-shirt as she frowned at the baggy material. God, he wanted to make love to her right that second.
“Oh, well, I guess I’ll drip-dry,” she muttered.
“Why don’t you put on my shirt and hang yours up? I won’t peek,” he added.
“I’ll bet you won’t,” she replied drily, but she grabbed his shirt from the limb. He craned his neck to watch her, but she stepped behind a willow clump and foiled his view.
When she came back into sight, his chambray shirt came to the middle of her thighs, but it rode higher as she stretched to hang her wet clothes on a limb.
Sitting up, he shifted his position. If this kept up, he was going to need another dip in the cold water. Did she have any idea how sexy she looked?
She glanced his way. “Is something wrong?”
He scratched his side. “Too bad we don’t have a blanket. The grass is making me itch.”
“Ask and you shall receive,” she quipped. She crossed to the saddlebags and bent to rummage in one. She held up a folded pad of material. After shaking it open, she spread a white sheet on the grass.
“A sheet? Why would you bring a sheet?”
“In case I needed to cover your dead body.”
He arched one eyebrow. “There’s a fun thought.”
“A sheet can be torn into strips for bandages or splints.”
“You’re quite the little Girl Scout, aren’t you?” Always prepared. That was Robyn.
“Disaster nurse, actually.” She anchored the corners of the sheet with stones, then stood and brushed off her hands. She surveyed him for a long moment. “I’d say you qualify as a disaster.”
“Ha-ha! I don’t suppose you packed anything really useful, like a hamper filled with fried chicken and potato salad?”
He hated to let on that her ingenuity impressed him as he moved onto the smooth cotton material. The thick grass underneath made a comfortable bed. He stretched out and folded his arms behind his head.
She went back to the saddlebag, then tossed a small red foil packet onto his stomach. “Sorry, all I have are a couple of granola bars. I didn’t have time to go grocery shopping before I rode to your rescue.”
She dropped cross-legged onto the sheet beside him and began to unwrap hers. He rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand. For a long moment, he studied her face. “I don’t believe I’ve thanked you for that.”
She looked away. “No need.”
He touched his eye patch. “Thanks, Tweety. Not just for today, but for that night, too. It helped knowing you were there.”
She continued to stare at the wrapper in her hand.
“Does it bother you?” he asked.
She shot him a puzzled look. “What?”
“You know—my face.” He lay back, crossed his arms behind his head again and waited tensely for her reply.
“Yes and no.”
“Oh, that was helpful,” he scoffed.
She stretched out beside him. “You didn’t let me finish. Do you remember when my hair was really long?”
He glanced at her. How could he forget? “It was down to your waist, and you wore it pulled back in a ponytail or a braid most of the time, but you looked stunning when you wore it loose.”
“Thanks. Do you remember the first time I had it cut?”
He smiled. “You looked like a French poodle. I never knew it was so curly.”
She nodded and turned to face him. “I swear, for the first two weeks, every time I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror, I didn’t recognize me. It was like looking at a stranger.”
Neal sobered as he gazed into her green eyes. They were filled with sympathy and understanding. Or maybe it was pity.
He lay back and stared at the branches overhead. Please, don’t let it be pity.
“You look different, Neal, but I’m getting used to it.”
“This ain’t exactly a bad haircut.” He tried to control the bitterness in his voice.
“No, it’s not,” she said quietly. “But underneath that bad haircut, I was the same girl, and underneath that eye patch, you are the same man.”
He was silent for a long time as he stared at the green canopy overhead. The branches swayed and dipped in the hot, dry breeze. A single leaf fluttered down, and his gaze followed it as it landed like a tiny boat on the surface of the pond. “I wonder if that’s true,” he said at last.
She cupped his cheek with her hand and turned his face toward her. “I know it’s true,” she insisted gently.
She was so close. He could feel the warmth of her beside him. The wind lifted the ends of her drying hair and let it curl softly at the edge of her face. God, he had missed her. Only she could make him feel whole again.
He captured the hand on his che
ek and pressed a kiss against her soft palm. She didn’t pull away. He saw her eyes widen and her lips part with surprise. He pulled her toward him until those lips touched his.
* * *
ROBYN FELT THE world spin out of focus as Neal’s mouth closed over hers. All the pent-up emotions of the day—worry, fear, the memory of the closeness they’d once shared—they all tumbled through her mind, leaving her incredibly vulnerable. Did she still love him? How was that possible?
She couldn’t seem to draw away. His arms encircled her and pulled her closer. It felt so right to lie against him. She remembered this: the taste of him and the feel of him. It had been so long.
His mouth left hers to nuzzle her neck. He nipped her earlobe gently and soothed the tiny bite with his tongue. She shuddered with pleasure.
“Oh, girl, I’ve missed you. Why did I ever let you go?” His voice, husky and deep, sent shivers down her spine as his hold on her tightened. His mouth closed over hers once more in a hard kiss that silenced any reply she could have uttered.
The long kiss ended at last, leaving them both breathless and panting. He pressed his lips to her temple and whispered, “I don’t know what went wrong between us, but give me another chance, honey. We can work it out—I know we can.”
Another chance? The words doused her passion like a bucket of ice water.
What was she doing? Had she completely lost her mind?
“Stop,” she muttered weakly. She began to struggle in his embrace.
CHAPTER SIX
“LET GO OF ME!” Robyn shoved against Neal’s chest.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” His hold slackened, but he didn’t release her.
“I can’t do this.”
“I don’t understand.”
She heard the confusion in his voice, and she knew it was her fault. How could she have let things get so far out of hand?
“Tell me what’s the matter,” he pleaded.
For an instant, she was tempted, so tempted, but she couldn’t. She called up every ounce of anger she once felt toward him and struggled harder. “I said, let go of me!”
“Not until you tell me what I did that upset you. Talk to me.”
“You don’t want to talk,” she spat. “You just want to get laid.”
He let go of her, and she tumbled backward. “Well, excuse me for the misunderstanding. Two seconds ago, you were climbing on top of me and sticking your tongue down my throat. What was I supposed to think you wanted?”
She clasped trembling arms across her middle as she rose to her feet and backed away from him. “I’m sorry. It was a mistake.”
He raked his hands through his hair, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t believe what’s happening here is a mistake,” he said calmly. “There’s still something good between us. You feel it, too.”
She turned away without answering.
He rose and caught her by the shoulders. “I know what a mistake is, Robyn. I’ve made plenty of them. The biggest one was letting you go after you walked out on me years ago. Why did you leave me?”
Jerking free of his hold, she spun to face him. Her anger surged to a boil. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
“I don’t. Tell me.”
“Do I have to spell it out?”
“Yes, I think it’s time you did.”
“I left because you were sleeping with Meredith Owens.”
The bitter truth came out in a rush. She held her breath as she waited for him to deny it. Somewhere, inside her heart, she still carried the faint hope that it hadn’t been true. She had loved him so much.
He stepped back. His arms fell to his sides. “Who told you that?”
He didn’t deny it. She closed her eyes against the pain. How could it still hurt so much?
“Meredith did,” she answered at last. She opened her eyes and faced him. “How could you? I thought you loved me.”
“You knew? All this time you knew and you never said anything?”
“What was there to say? You made your choice, and so did I. If you had given me the least inkling that you loved me, maybe we could have worked it out. Who knows? But I never heard a word from you. Not one word. What was I supposed to think? Was I supposed to crawl back to you?”
“I’m sorry.” He looked so stunned.
Even now, she wanted to reach out and ease his pain. Why couldn’t she get over him?
She hardened her heart. “Sorry you cheated on me or sorry I found out?”
He stiffened. “Does it matter?”
“Not really. I never thought much of women who went back to men who betrayed them.”
His expression turned hard. “Really? I always thought you were one who believed to err is human, to forgive is divine.”
“And I thought you were an honorable guy. Guess we were both wrong. I had to make some tough decisions on my own after I left.”
“Tough as in whether or not to marry the first guy you met? It didn’t take you long to find someone else. Two months?”
Her fury came back in full force. “And that was as bad as what you did? You jerk. You don’t get another chance. You don’t deserve the one you have. The best thing I ever did was keep him away from you.”
Robyn slapped a hand to her mouth as she realized what she’d said. Oh, God. What had she done?
A strange look came over Neal’s face. “What are you saying?”
“That I’m through talking to you.” She started to turn away, but he grabbed her arm.
“We’re not through. What did you mean? What are you trying to hide?”
Her anger evaporated. Maybe she had blurted it out because she was so very tired of hiding the truth. “You have a son. His name is Chance.”
The color drained from Neal’s face. He took a step back. “Are you serious? We took precautions.”
“No birth control is one hundred percent effective except abstinence. We didn’t use that method. I knew you didn’t want kids. You knew I did.”
He held up both hands. “Wait. Are you telling me that your kid is my biological son?”
“Yes.”
He stood silent for the longest time. What was he thinking? Finally, he asked, “Does he know?”
“He’s three years old. Of course he doesn’t know.”
“Did your husband know?” He was getting angry. She expected that.
She stared at the ground. “Colin and I didn’t have any secrets from each other.”
Neal came to stand directly in front of her. His eyes blazed with fury. “Why tell me now?”
Because I want to hurt you the way you hurt me. Because I want to kill these feelings I still have for you.
She couldn’t, wouldn’t admit those things to him.
“I don’t know. You made me angry acting like nothing had changed. A quick romp in the grass has consequences, but you didn’t even think of that, did you?”
He stepped closer. His face was only inches away. “I don’t buy that. You never were a good liar.”
“Okay.” She spun away from him. “Maybe I told you because when I thought you were going to die, I knew what I did was wrong.”
“No kidding! And now you want me to tell you it was okay. You want me to say that I don’t care that you kept this from me. I’m supposed to be fine with the idea that people believe some other man is my son’s father!” His voice rose until he was shouting.
She shouted back. “Yes! You are going to be okay with all of it.”
“The hell I am!”
“My son and I have a life that does not—and never has—included you. Until five minutes ago, you didn’t know and didn’t care that he existed. You never wanted kids, so don’t pretend that you’ve suddenly developed a parental streak.”
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His anger faded before her eyes. She was right and he knew it. “You should have told me, Robyn.”
“We can stand here all day and argue about who should have and shouldn’t have done this or that. It won’t change anything.”
“I didn’t love her. I want you to know that.”
“Frankly, that doesn’t help.”
“It’s not like we were married.”
She opened her mouth in shock, then snapped it shut. “We were together!”
He took a step back and held up both hands. “I know. That was a really stupid thing to say. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry. The whole thing was my fault. My mistake. There’s no excuse for what I did.”
She heard the sincerity in his voice and she believed him. “Very few men can put their foot in their mouth as well as you can, Neal.”
He managed a wry smile and shoved both hands in his front pockets. “It’s a gift.”
He looked so much like Chance did when he was being scolded that she had to turn away. She pushed her hair back with one hand. “We’ve both made mistakes that can’t be undone. We were great friends when we were young. When we grew up, we grew apart. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Do you want child support? I can do that much for you, can’t I?”
She closed her eyes. Don’t start being nice, Neal. I can’t stay angry with you if you’re going to be nice.
“I don’t want child support. That would hardly be fair since I don’t want you in his life at all.”
“What about my family? Doesn’t my mother have the right to know her grandson?”
“Your mother and my mother are best friends. She sees Chance all the time. She spends almost as much time with him as she does with Jake’s kids. I can’t make it right for everyone. If I say he’s your son, then Colin’s parents will have to know he isn’t their grandchild. Colin was their only son. They cherish Chance. I won’t do that to them. They have lost so much already.”
The pinto gave a loud whinny and they both turned, startled by the sound. An answering whinny came from beyond the canyon entrance. A moment later, a rider came into view. Robyn recognized Neal’s brother, Jake. He rode a stocky bay and led an Appaloosa behind him.