“Bombs away!” Bobby shouted, then laughed as he ran the length of the diving board and leapt off the end, making as big a splash as a five-year-old could.
The sounds from the pool carried into the house. Shane stood in the den just inside the sliding door to the patio. He watched Cynthia and Bobby. It was enticing, coming home and finding the house full of laughter and play, rather than silence.
His life was busy and fulfilling. He had long ago made peace with his dual heritage and carved out his place in the world. He had established a successful career as a doctor. He found his volunteer work at the Native American Center rewarding. Twice a month he volunteered doing medical rounds on the reservation.
But no matter how much he did, how many projects he took on, it was not enough to fill the emptiness that lived inside him. It usually caught up with him late at night when he was alone, at a time when he reflected on his life choices and what it might have been like if he had made different choices. Every time he took on another cause, he thought it would be the one to drive away that emptiness, but each time the empty feeling and the loneliness that went with it worked its way back into his reality.
It had finally gotten to the point where he knew he had too many things going on in his life. There was no way he could give a full commitment to any new endeavors. And still he felt empty. Whatever doubts he had about the future were private thoughts, which he did not share with anyone. They remained hidden behind the facade of the Shane Fortune everyone thought they knew.
Now, hearing and seeing Cynthia and Bobby cavorting in his pool, a warmth invaded his uncertainties, but was quickly replaced by sadness. He may have reconciled himself to where and how he fit into the world, but he didn’t know how Cynthia would be able to straddle his dual existence now any more than he did back then. That knowledge did not keep the heated desire she’d stirred from continuing to plague him, though—desire that swept through his body like a raging fire each time he saw her.
And then there was her son. The emotion overwhelmed him and he had to turn away. The appealing family scene pulled too heavily on his heartstrings and produced uninvited thoughts of what might have been. He truly wanted to be a part of the type of closeness he’d just witnessed, but it was an area he was not yet emotionally prepared to explore.
The aroma of cooking food drew him to the kitchen. He paused to open a bottle of wine and pour himself a glass before looking in the oven. Only two baked potatoes. He checked the refrigerator and noted that she had purchased some groceries. He leaned back against the counter and took a sip of his wine. He had told her he wouldn’t be home for dinner, and she obviously wasn’t expecting him. He wasn’t sure, exactly, why he had come home. He had called his brother to see if they could have dinner together, but Riley already had other plans. He didn’t have anywhere else to go, so he came home to what had always been an empty house.
He took his glass and carried it out to the patio. Cynthia and Bobby had moved to the shallow end of the pool. Even though it was obviously play time, she was mixing it with swimming instructions. Bobby clearly loved the water and showed no fear. He was just the kind of boy any man would be proud to call his son. He wondered if that applied to Bobby’s father, too.
As for Cynthia...no woman had even come close to measuring up to her in his mind or in his heart. He had compared every woman he had ever been with to Cynthia, and all of them had come up short. He knew he wanted her back in his life, but what he didn’t know was how much he was willing or able to give. He continued to sip his wine while watching Cynthia and Bobby. He tried to put a stop to his wandering thoughts and escalating yearnings, but to no avail.
“Okay, one more time, then we need to get out of the water. Let’s see you swim to the side of the pool.” Cynthia moved away from Bobby and watched as he splashed his way through the water. The move back to Pueblo would be good for her son, just as she’d hoped. A swimming pool was definitely a must on her list when she looked for a house for the two of them.
Bobby climbed up the steps leading out of the pool. His face lit up as he glanced toward the house. “Did you see me, Shane? Did you see me swim?”
Bobby’s words brought her to a halt halfway up the steps. Cynthia turned toward the house and saw Shane standing there watching them. A nervous jitter started up, quickly combining with the trepidation that had been just below the surface from the moment she’d discovered it was Shane’s house.
He told her he would not be home until later tonight. She had thought she would be safe from his tempting presence and magnetic sex appeal. She climbed the rest of the steps out of the water, grabbed a large towel from the chair, then handed a second towel to Bobby. “Dry yourself off properly before going inside.” She glanced at Shane, then back to her son. “Be careful that you don’t drip water in the house, okay?”
He took the towel from her. “Okay, Mommy.”
He darted over to Shane, dragging the towel along the ground behind him. He grinned from ear to ear. “Did you see me swim? Did I do good?”
The little boy’s excitement was infectious. “I sure did, champ. You looked real good.”
Shane swung his gaze to Cynthia. She had one foot on the edge of the lounge chair as she patted the water from her leg. He visually caressed every curve of her body, the image of which had remained burned into his memory for six years. And you look better than good. You look absolutely delicious. He didn’t even try to censor the errant thought. He allowed it to settle inside him, touching every corner of his being with warmth and sensual longing.
As soon as Cynthia finished drying herself, she took the towel and headed after Bobby, catching up with him where he’d stopped to talk to Shane. She dried his back. “You have just enough time before dinner to take your bath and get into your pajamas.”
“Aw, Mommy...” He squirmed out of her hold. “I can’t put my pajamas on before dinner. It’s too early. That’s for babies.” He looked up at Shane, obviously seeking his support. “Isn’t that right, Shane? Only babies go to bed this early.”
Cynthia leveled a look at Shane that said his interference was not welcome. He quickly raised his hands in surrender, took a step back and let out an amused chuckle as he surveyed the expectant look on Bobby’s face. “Whoa. I can’t help you there, champ. I’m afraid you’re going to have to negotiate that one with your mother.”
She wrapped the towel around Bobby’s shoulders. “You forgot that it’s much later than we usually eat dinner. You don’t have to go to bed right away, but you’ll be ready. Now, upstairs with you.”
Bobby was not happy, but did as instructed. He hung his head, then pulled the towel from his shoulders and trailed it along the floor behind him as he headed toward the stairs.
“That’s quite a boy you have there. You’ve done a good job of raising him—” Shane paused, not sure of exactly how to phrase his comment “—all by yourself.”
It was more a question than a statement, and it left her very uneasy. The air suddenly seemed much cooler and a chill darted across her skin. Did he suspect? Was he probing for information, or was it just an innocent comment? She finally managed to mumble, “Yes, Bobby is a marvelous boy. He’s the most important thing in my life.”
Anxiety swamped her. The awkward moment left her vulnerable and very much aware that she was dressed in only a two-piece swimsuit that suddenly felt much skimp-ier than it actually was. She looked up at Shane. There was no mistaking the way his gaze raked her body. A moment later their gazes met. She could not ignore the heat that burned in the depth of his dark eyes. Nor could she ignore the incendiary desire that scorched the very depths of her existence.
“I...I need to change into some dry clothes.” She knew what she really needed to do was get away from Shane Fortune. She started for the door into the den, then paused and turned. The way he was looking at her sent a shiver of desire through her. The emotional threat struck at the very core of her life. She could not allow herself to be taken in by his considerabl
e charm and sex appeal.
She forced a businesslike attitude in an attempt to cover any emotions that might have seeped through. “You said you wouldn’t be here for dinner, so I’m afraid I only fixed enough for Bobby and me.”
“I noticed that you bought groceries,” he said. “You didn’t need to do that. There’s plenty of food here, more than enough for everyone.”
“I can afford to take care of my son and myself. I don’t want to impose on your, uh, generosity any more than we already have. It didn’t seem right for us to eat your food, especially when you said you weren’t going to be here.”
“I...” He followed her into the den. His words came out like a soft caress, exposing some of the feelings coursing through his veins. “My meeting was canceled.”
“I see.” She forced out the words, but knew it was an incredibly inadequate response. She hurried toward the stairs, afraid to look back for fear that she might expose too much of what was going on inside her.
Shane watched her until she disappeared around the corner. Once again the bands tightened across his chest and the heat settled low in his body. More than anything he wanted to touch her, to hold her.
He busied himself in the kitchen while Cynthia and Bobby were changing. By the time she returned, Shane had set the table, made a salad and put a potato in the microwave for himself.
“It looks to me as if you have enough meat loaf for all of us.” He cocked his head as he leveled a questioning gaze in her direction, paying particular attention to the obvious nervousness that covered her like a blanket. “Do you mind if I join you for dinner?”
“Of course not.” Cynthia avoided making eye contact with him, busying herself by grabbing a package of mixed vegetables from the freezer. She forced a casual tone into her words, even though it was far removed from what she felt. “After all, it is your house.” She had not anticipated a quiet little dinner for three. Her gaze darted around the kitchen as her mind searched for something to add an impersonal touch to the setting. Then she found it.
“I hope it’s not too late to catch the news.” She turned on the small television that sat at the end of the counter. The newscast was filled with local stories, chief among them the Mike Dodd murder case. The Fortune name was again prominently featured. She noticed the displeasure on Shane’s face and the way his jaw tightened as he watched the report.
“It’s bad enough that they have to keep dragging the family name through the mud, but doing all their reports as live remotes with the Children’s Hospital in the background is going too far. There’s no purpose served by constantly linking the hospital construction with the murder as if they were two halves of the same whole.”
His words were precise and his manner totally controlled, but she could read between the lines. She knew the tension that lived behind that calm facade. “Is there anything you can do to make them change the tone of their reporting?”
A hard look of determination crossed his face. “I talked to the news director today about their less-than-professional handling of this story. I offered to go to the station and do a televised interview about the hospital project, its benefit to the community and what it means for the various Native American tribes in the area, in hopes I could shift the emphasis of their broadcast. I thought I would hear back this afternoon, but so far there hasn’t been any word from him.”
She had seen his devotion to the hospital project and heard it in his voice. She knew that his stubborn nature would not allow him to abandon something once he’d made a commitment. It was the same type of passion he’d displayed when he’d told her about his determination to get Lightfoot Plateau away from the Rowan family.
The three of them sat down at the table and ate dinner. Bobby seemed oblivious to any tension in the air, but Cynthia was aware—and very concerned. Bobby was a perceptive child with a healthy curiosity. She didn’t want her son—their son—to start asking questions about Shane and her. She made an attempt to lighten the atmosphere by engaging in small talk.
“The, uh, hospital—Pueblo General—certainly took good care of my father. They even provided some day-care facilities in the afternoon where Bobby could play.” She smoothed back Bobby’s hair where it draped over his forehead in an unruly manner. A smile curved her mouth as the love she felt for her son welled up inside her. “It was really a blessing for me. I felt terrible about Bobby being cooped up in Daddy’s hospital room all day.”
She nervously cleared her throat and quickly returned to a more businesslike manner. “I was very impressed with the hospital staff. They seemed to be quite efficient.”
“You should have come by my office at the hospital. I would have been glad to keep an eye on Bobby.”
“That certainly wasn’t necessary. Besides, I’m sure you had far too much work to do...seeing patients, making rounds, things like that.” She rose from her chair and began clearing dishes from the table and placing them on the counter by the sink.
Bobby looked up from his dinner and stared at Shane for a moment. “Do you work at the hospital?”
“I sure do. I’m a doctor.”
“Did you take care of my grandpa?”
Shane saw the openness on Bobby’s face. “No, I didn’t.”
“Why? Don’t you like my grandpa?”
A sharp twinge caused Shane a moment’s discomfort. He had never been friends with Robert McCree, a fact that had been driven home when Cynthia’s father refused to tell him where she had gone. No matter what their personal relationship, however, it wouldn’t have prevented him from doing all he could as a doctor if he’d known her father was in the hospital.
He regarded Bobby, who was quietly waiting for an answer to his question. “The hospital is a very large and busy place, Bobby. I didn’t know your grandfather was there.”
He shot a quick glance at Cynthia. “If your mother had told me, I certainly would have looked in on him and made sure...” His voice trailed off. He didn’t know where he was going with his comments. He would have looked in on Robert McCree and made sure...what? That he would have gotten well? That he wouldn’t have died? Shane didn’t know exactly what to say to the little boy, so he ended up not finishing his sentence.
Cynthia stepped into the awkward lull. “Shane already had lots of patients of his own to take care of. Your grandfather had a different doctor taking care of him.”
Bobby looked at Shane, then at his mother. “Oh.”
She extended a confident smile toward Bobby. “Finish your vegetables. We have some ice cream for dessert.”
Bobby returned to his dinner while Cynthia resumed her clean-up activities by putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. A moment later Shane rearranged everything she’d put in the dishwasher. She put things away, and again he rearranged her work, putting everything in a different place.
An exasperated Cynthia had all she could stand of Shane’s silent disapproval and apparent criticism. She whirled around to confront him. “Would you prefer that I leave everything sitting out so you can put them away yourself?” She couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “That way you can make sure it’s done properly.”
She could not handle any more of the stress that had been piling up on her shoulders ever since she’d received the phone call about her father being taken to the hospital. All the pent-up anxieties and pressures of the past couple of weeks exploded inside her. She knew she had to get away from everyone before she said something she’d regret. She hurried out of the kitchen and through the den. She opened the sliding glass door, stepped out onto the patio and took a deep breath.
An almost uncontrollable tremor shivered through her body, followed by a sick churning of fear that settled in the pit of her stomach. Staying in Shane’s house was not going to work, not even for a few days—let alone a couple of weeks. She squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t keep up the pretense of indifference. She had tried, but it just wasn’t working. She had probably overreacted to Shane’s behavior in the kitchen. He ha
dn’t really done anything that was so terrible. She stared at the shimmering water in the pool and wondered what to do.
Her body stiffened. A jolt of panic raced through her, leaving her momentarily unnerved. She’d left Bobby in the kitchen with Shane—the two of them alone together. She hurried back into the house just as Shane entered the den from the hallway. She felt a wave of relief, but it was tempered by the expression on his face.
“What’s the matter with you, Cynthia?”
She heard the annoyance in his voice. It didn’t surprise her, although his expression was one of concern more than anything else. She tried to remain standoffish. She battled the nearly overwhelming need to have him touch her... hold her...kiss her. She desperately wanted the comfort and security she had at one time associated with being wrapped in his embrace. But it was not to be. She was so frightened and felt so very alone. She managed to control the butterflies flitting around in her stomach. “I...I don’t know what you mean.”
“Why did you almost snap my head off back there in the kitchen? I understand that you’re upset about your father, but I’m not the one who brought up the subject of the hospital and the time he was there.”
His words caught her by surprise. They weren’t at all what she’d expected to hear. She stared at him for a moment as she tried to collect her thoughts. He didn’t seem to have a clue what he’d done. Perhaps it wasn’t intentional and she really had overreacted. Then she saw him frown as he bent down to pick up a couple of Bobby’s blocks from under the coffee table. A jab of irritation kicked her anger into gear again.
She took the blocks from his hand. “Little boys aren’t neat and tidy, and apparently I don’t keep things in my kitchen in the same places you keep yours in your kitchen. When I agreed to stay here, it was because you said you were hardly ever home, that we wouldn’t be in each other’s way. It seems obvious to me that I’m in your way. This arrangement isn’t working out.”
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