by SUE FINEMAN
“It’s too much house for one person, and I don’t know anyone here except Anne, Edwin, Joe, and Bay’s attorney. They’re all expecting to retire soon, so who does that leave?”
“Olivia the Whiner?” Chance teased, and Baylee hit him with a throw pillow.
Greg sprawled in his chair. “We need to make plans. Mom and the kids can stay with us or out at the ranch, but what about you, Baylee? What are you and Chance going to do?”
“I have a house on a lake north of Houston. Chance and your mother and the kids can stay there.”
Chance shook his head. “There’s another month left of school. Steven is playing Little League, and he won’t want to leave.”
“Then leave him with Bo and Callie,” said Neen. “He’s out at the ranch all the time anyway, and he adores Brady. He won’t give them any trouble. We’ll take the girls if you want, or you can get Sarah’s schoolwork and take them with you.”
“We’ll take Mom,” said Greg. “If you and Baylee want to stay with us, that’s fine.”
Baylee shook her head. “That’s not necessary. I’ll be all right here. You can use the lake house if you want, Chance. There’s plenty of room there. Edwin said it has four bedrooms plus a maid’s apartment, but there’s no maid right now. Just a cleaning service once a week.”
“I’ll stay with Greg in Caledonia. Do you want to come with us?”
“No, I need to take care of things here. One of these days, I need to go to Tacoma to get my mail, pay my bills, quit my job—”
“You’re giving up your job?” said Neen.
“I can’t work as a journalist for a Tacoma paper when I’m living here, and I can’t live in Tacoma right now. It isn’t safe there. I’m not sure I’m safe anywhere.”
Chance rubbed her hand. “You don’t have to work at all if you don’t want to.”
“What am I supposed to do with my time?”
“Write,” said Neen. “You’re a journalist. Have you tried fiction?”
Baylee sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She’d spent most of her childhood with imaginary friends. She could write about them. “Like children’s books?”
“Or novels, short stories, or whatever.”
She shrugged. “I suppose it’s worth a try. I brought my laptop with me. I don’t have a printer, but I could buy one.”
Chance leaned his head back. “Honey, you can buy anything you want.”
“No, I can’t.” She couldn’t buy a family, and she definitely couldn’t buy Chance. He was a successful attorney in Tacoma, and he’d soon be making good money again. He didn’t need her or her money.
Greg and Neen excused themselves to take a swim, and Chance stayed with Baylee. He gazed into her eyes and asked, “Something you want to talk about?”
She shook her head. Her throat was too full to speak. She’d buried her mother today, and tomorrow she’d lose Chance. They’d come on this journey together, but their journey must end. He needed to be with his family.
First thing Monday, she’d call Mr. Glaser and have him draw up a will. With wealth came responsibility. Bay’s charities needed on-going support, and she wanted to give a chunk of money to the shelter in Tacoma and to the underground system that helped women and kids escape dangerous situations. It would take time to get it all down on paper, and she wasn’t sure how much time she had before Jack Blackburn found her. Her will would have to be written before Bay’s estate was settled. Probate took a lot of time, especially with an estate this size, and she wasn’t sure she’d live that long.
As soon as practical, she’d start selling some of the assets. She didn’t need an apartment in New York or a private airplane. She’d put those up for sale first, then check out the lake house and the estate in the Bahamas. Living rich, as Neen called it, was not for her. It would be great to have enough money to live comfortably and enough to share with the less fortunate, but she didn’t want to live in a mansion, and she didn’t want to stay in Houston forever.
It was a nice city, but it wasn’t home.
Greg and Neen came in from the pool and decided to watch a movie. This might be the last night Baylee could spend with Chance, and she didn’t want to spend it sitting in front of a movie screen. Besides, the way Greg and Neen gazed at each other, they wanted to be alone.
“Chance, would you like to go for a swim before bed?”
His dark eyes caught her gaze and held it. He obviously wanted more than a swim, and so did she.
She wanted a memory to hold onto in the long, lonely nights ahead.
Chapter Ten
Chance followed Baylee down the spiral staircase from the balcony to the pool deck below. This time they left their swimsuits upstairs and wore only towels. The lights were off in Edwin’s and Joe’s apartments over the garage, and Greg would be busy with Neen the rest of the night, so there was no one around to see them skinny dip in the pool.
Baylee dropped her towel by the deep end of the pool and dove in. Chance jumped in right beside her. She bobbed to the surface and brushed her wet hair off her face. The creamy globes of her breasts floated just beneath the surface, and their legs tangled together as he brought her closer for a kiss. Their wet lips touched and their bodies slid together as his erection rubbed against the triangle of curls at the bottom of her belly.
“Chance,” she whispered between kisses. “Love me, Chance.”
He knew she wanted more than sex, but if he told her he was falling in love, she’d expect a commitment he wasn’t free to make.
Tomorrow he’d leave here, and he might never see her again, but just for tonight, they’d love each other as if tomorrow didn’t matter.
Just for tonight.
She reached down to stroke his erection. “I’m sure I’ve never seen one of these on Superman.”
He chuckled and pulled her naked body tightly against him. “I wish—”
“Don’t, Chance. No wishes and no promises. You have enough to worry about.”
“It’s not the way I want it to be, honey.”
“I know, but it’s the way it is.”
He held her and she clutched him as if she never wanted to let him go. “It’s all right, Chance. I understand.”
A voice from the house called, “Hey, we didn’t get to skinny dip.”
“Bug off, Greg,” Chance yelled at his brother. “You had your turn.”
“He’s picking on me, Baylee. He always picks on me.”
Baylee giggled. “I think Neen has her hands full.”
“Yeah, that’s what Mom says. Greg has always been a handful, always in trouble for one thing or another. Mia used to think it was funny, Bo bailed him out all the time, and I just tried to stay out of the crossfire. Mom still chews him out now and then.”
Neen came out on the balcony and snagged Greg. “Come on, big boy. Leave them alone.” She pushed him inside and closed the balcony doors.
Turning back to Baylee, Chance said, “Now, where were we?”
“Right about here, Superman,” she whispered, kissing his cheek.
“Seems like a girl reporter could hit the target better than that, Lois.”
She kissed his chin, then his other cheek, and then he grabbed her, wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her passionately and thoroughly. By the time he finished, he knew he wasn’t falling in love.
He’d already fallen. Hard.
Baylee dove under the waterfall and came up on the other side. Chance followed, his body sleek and strong. He wasn’t heavily muscled like Greg, and he didn’t have Greg’s cocky attitude. Chance was a handsome gentleman with a buff body, a respected attorney who caught the eye of everyone in the courtroom, a hunk who made women turn back for a second look.
He was dignified, yet so passionate she wanted him in her bed every night. Gentle, yet so strong and compelling she could think of no one else. Thoughtful, yet outspoken about things he believed in. A father who loved his children enough to give up a woman’s love rather than upset them. Someday, when the time was
right, he might find room in his life for a woman.
Would he have forgotten her by then?
Tomorrow she’d have to tell him goodbye, and she’d spend the rest of her life dreaming about what might have been if circumstances had been different. If the timing had been right. If only… But they had tonight.
Only tonight.
He sat on the ledge with the water flowing around him and over his erection. The head poked above the water, and she gently rubbed her finger over the cleft. Chance groaned, leaned over, and lifted her out of the water and onto his lap. She’d always felt like a moose because she was taller than most of her friends, yet he lifted her as if she weighed nothing.
Leaning her back over his arm, he nuzzled into her breasts and pulled an aroused nipple into his mouth. She ran her hands over his neck and shoulders, feeling the strength bunched in those muscles. He eased her down on the ledge and with the water flowing over her, ran his hands down her body, making her body sing with desire, and then his fingers threaded through her nest of curls. One touch and she was ready for him. Ready to love him tonight and forever.
She rubbed his stomach by the base of his erection and writhed under him, until he moaned, “Baylee. God, what you do to me.” One smooth move and he pushed inside her, filling her like no man ever had, like no other man ever could. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over. Why couldn’t she have what Bay and Cody had? Why couldn’t she have the man she loved for the rest of their lives?
After Chance brought her to a mind-blowing climax, she held onto him tightly, afraid if she let go, he’d fly away like Superman.
Although they’d never married, Bay and Cody stayed together because they loved each other. She’d settle for that with Chance. She’d settle for anything to keep him in her life. She’d wait until his kids were grown if necessary. She’d wait forever for this man.
Chance stroked her cheek. “What’s wrong, honey?”
Baylee tried to shrug off the tears. She had no claim on him, no right to ask him to love her, no right to ask him for a commitment.
Why did love have to hurt so much?
After a few laps in the pool, they walked upstairs and Chance washed the chlorine out of Baylee’s hair. She sat on the floor in front of him and he ran the blow dryer and brushed her hair out. The touch of his hands in her hair excited her as if they hadn’t just made love in the pool, and when she leaned back between his legs, she felt his erection pushing on her shoulder. He wanted her, too, but instead of taking her to bed, he said, “Cheesecake time.”
Baylee went down to the kitchen with Chance. The refrigerator was stuffed full of food from the funeral reception. She spotted the cheesecake with chocolate syrup drizzled over it and pulled it out.
Chance handed her a fork, and she put a single piece on a small plate. Tonight, she’d feed it to him.
He pulled a chair out at the breakfast table and pulled her into his lap. She fed him one bite and then ate a bite herself. “Mmm, this is good, but not as good as the chocolate brownie cheesecake at the hotel.”
“That was a special night.”
“Yes it was.” She gave him another bite. “And so is tonight.”
The sadness in his eyes tore at her heart. She looked away and ate another bite of cheesecake, hoping she could swallow the lump in her throat with it.
“Are you going to move to the lake house, Baylee?”
“Don’t worry about me, Chance. What about you? Do you want to use the lake house? Edwin tells me there’s a ski boat there and a pool. The kids might like it.”
“I’ll stay with Greg. Steven has baseball and the kids are all in school. I don’t want to pull them away from that.”
“But if you need a place to hide—”
“If we do, I’ll call you.”
No, he wouldn’t call. Once he left this house, he’d cut his ties and she’d never hear from him again.
She stood and pushed the plate of cheesecake into his hand. “You finish it, Chance. I’ve had enough.”
If she stayed on his lap any longer, she’d end up crying, and she didn’t want to send him away feeling guilty. They were adults, and they would accept the situation.
They had no future together.
<>
Early Saturday morning, Chance made a pot of coffee. The kitchen in Bay’s house was a beauty, with cherry cabinets and granite countertops. It was built in a U-shape, with a breakfast bay out the open side. A walk-in pantry nearly as big as the kitchen held little-used dishes and enough food to feed a zillion people.
This kitchen had everything a cook could ever want, which reminded him he had nothing, no dishes or pots and no kitchen to keep them in. When he moved out of his apartment, he stored his kitchen things in the back of the garage at Emma’s house, the house Jack Blackburn blew up nearly three months later.
His insurance would cover his car and the house and some of the contents, but not everything. All the baby things Emma had saved were gone. The furniture they’d picked out for the kids, toys, Sarah’s princess sheets, Steven’s sleeping bag, and Susie’s stuffed animals. Bikes, gym equipment, and the painting he’d bought Emma for a wedding present. All gone. Some things could be replaced and some couldn’t. It would take time and money to buy everything he’d need to set up housekeeping again.
Greg came downstairs and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I don’t suppose there’s a gym in this place.”
“In the basement.” He pointed to the steps on the back side of the family room fireplace.
“You’re looking good these days. Working out?”
Chance nodded. He’d started working out the day after his divorce became final, the day after he and Baylee met in the Twilight Zone. At first, he exercised to work off his frustration, and then it became a habit. He felt stronger and knew he looked better, although he’d never have arms as big as Greg’s. But Greg used muscle in his work, and Chance used words. Big difference.
Greg sipped his coffee. “Neen really likes Baylee. The rest of the family will, too.”
Chance shook his head. “It’s over, Greg. I have things to do, kids to take care of, and she’s staying here.”
“Why?”
“Because… What difference does it make? Finish your coffee and go work out. Is Neen up?”
“No, it takes a crying baby to wake her up.” He sipped from his cup. “Did she tell you the news? She’s pregnant again.”
“Hey, congratulations, Greg. I know you want a big family.”
“What about you? Do you want more kids?”
Chance shook his head. “Don’t want more and can’t have more. That’s why Emma divorced me. She couldn’t understand why I didn’t want the same thing our mother wanted. Hell, I can’t listen to my own kids crying without hearing the babies crying in the orphanage.”
“You remember that?”
“Yeah, I remember that. I was there a long time. Seemed like forever.”
“I thought you were only two when Mom brought you home.”
“I did a little research when I was in college. The people in that orphanage falsified records to make some of the kids appear younger so someone would adopt them. I was around four when I came to this country, and my mother gave me up before I could walk. She didn’t want a mixed race baby.”
“Doesn’t matter to me what race you are,” said Greg. “You’re my brother, same as Bo.”
“I know.” Greg, Bo, and Mia had always tried to include him when they were kids, but Chance had never felt like a real brother until after Emma disappeared. Bo flew out to Tacoma the next day. Greg brought the rest of the family two days later, after Emma’s body was found. His family wrapped him and the kids in love, and he realized then that they’d always been there for him. He just didn’t know how to accept their love.
Now he did.
Baylee came downstairs in her robe. She greeted Greg and kissed Chance.
“I’ll see if I can find some tea,” said Chance. “Greg is on his way to the
gym, although if he spots the pool table in the game room, he might not make it to the gym.”
“A pool table? I always wanted one of those.” Greg, still carrying his coffee mug, walked downstairs, leaving Chance alone with Baylee.
He didn’t ask if she wanted coffee. He put the kettle on for tea and dug through the kitchen until he found tea bags.
She pointed out the breakfast room window. “Oh, look at the butterflies.”
He leaned in close. “Where?”
She nuzzled into his neck. “Right here,” she whispered and then planted a kiss on his neck. “And here,” she whispered, licking his earlobe. “And here.” She kissed his cheek and he turned his head to capture her lips.
The kettle sang in a pillow of steam, pulling Chance away from her.
<>
Two hours later, after a leisurely breakfast, Greg and Neen said goodbye to Baylee and walked out to Chance’s car. Chance lingered with Baylee, but he couldn’t tell her goodbye. He kissed her and hugged her. “Call if you need me.”
“I’ll be all right.”
“Will you at least hire a guard until Blackburn is caught?”
She hesitated for a few seconds before saying, “I’ll think about it.”
“Meaning you don’t need a guard?”
“He doesn’t know I’m here. He probably thinks I came for the funeral and went back to Tacoma. If he comes to Texas, he’ll be looking for you, not me. If you want to use the lake house or take the kids to the Bahamas or to New York, call me.”
They walked out to the car together. “Baylee, I—”
She put her finger over his lips and blinked back tears. “Don’t say it.”
After another tight hug, he slid into the front passenger seat of the car and closed the door. “Go,” he told Greg. He didn’t turn to wave goodbye, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to leave her.
They’d been together for such a short time, but he loved her more deeply than he’d ever dreamed possible.
“I can’t believe you’re walking away from her,” said Neen.
Greg turned onto the main road and headed for the highway. “I can’t either.”