A sinking feeling hit the pit of her stomach. “Christa and I passed it today on our lunch hour. We saw lots of police around the place, but we weren’t able to find out what happened.”
“Good. Maybe the general public won’t hear the whole account. They’ll just hear that it was a case of simple vandalism.”
Kerry gripped the phone and turned to face the door which led out to the backyard. Through the window, she could see Peggy and Enola in the vegetable garden picking tomatoes. This morning at the breakfast table, her daughter had still been chattering away about Jared and their visit to his house. Kerry had half expected her mother to try to shush the child, but instead Enola had remained painfully silent.
“What do you mean? Was this—something to do with your family?” Kerry asked.
Jared sighed. “The perpetrator was looking for certain things,” he answered bleakly. “The same things he was after in the courthouse.”
Kerry felt as if someone plunged a fist into her midsection. “Jared, I’ve been trying to tell myself that no one was really out to harm us. That the fire was just a coincidence, but now—after this I guess I’d be deluding myself, wouldn’t I?”
“I’m sorry, honey, but you would. I understand it’s hard for someone like you, who wouldn’t hurt a fly, to think of anyone being so malicious, but we’ve got to face facts. That’s why I need your help tonight.”
“Help?”
“Yeah. Bram has asked us to go through Granddad’s old papers and photos. He’s hoping we’ll find some sort of lead.”
“What about George?” Kerry wanted to know. “What will he think about us looking at his private papers?”
“He’s already told Bram for us to have at it. Besides,” he added with husky pleasure, “George isn’t going to be there.”
She should have told him a big fat no, Kerry thought, as moments later she dug through the closet for something to wear. The minute she’d heard George WhiteBear wasn’t going to be home, she should have put on the brakes. Spending the evening alone with Jared would do nothing to help her clear her mind of the man. And she had to clear it, she told herself firmly. Because she could see a heartache coming.
He said he loved her. But did he really? she asked herself as she stepped into a gauzy white skirt printed with green leaves. He was a man who’d had many women down through the years. It might be that all he really wanted was her body and once he got his fill of that he’d be finished with her. Just as Damon had been finished with her.
Kerry stared at herself in the mirror as she tied the drawstring at her waist. She wasn’t a glamour queen by any means. She was a simple Indian girl. She’d always considered her looks forgettable. She couldn’t see why Jared would be so taken with her. Especially for a lifetime.
But he says he loves you. He says he wants to marry you.
Groaning at the little voice in her head, she walked over to a chest of drawers and picked up the tiny framed photo of her mother and father when they were young. It was the only photo she had of the two of them and if Enola had her way it would be thrust out of sight.
Wistfully, she touched a finger to her father’s grainy image. She’d loved him and wanted his attention so badly, but she’d never really gotten it. After a while he’d become disinterested in his family and drifted away.
If she married Jared, would he do the same thing? she wondered.
Don’t think about it now, Kerry. Just think about tonight. Because tomorrow would come soon enough.
“Kerry, I didn’t think you could look any more beautiful than you did last night. But you do.”
The two of them were sitting side by side on the bedroom floor. In front of them were piles of old photos, letters and an odd jumble of yellowed receipts. For the past two hours she and Jared had pored over every snapshot and every word, each sales slip and other correspondence George had made in the past. Which were precious few considering some of the papers dated back seventy or eighty years.
Still, they’d not seen anything to make them pause and wonder. And they’d especially not seen anything that would make someone set fire to the courthouse or ransack the newspaper office.
“Jared, your attention is wandering,” she warned as he leaned even closer and trailed a finger down her bare arm.
“It’s been wandering for the past two hours,” he whispered. “Wearing that green, you look like a blossom in a field of grass. Do you think I want to look at these dusty old papers, or you?”
Her lips tilted to an impish smile. “I’m not sure.”
“Then I’d better make you sure,” he said before he dipped his head and covered her lips with his.
In order to keep from toppling over, Kerry was forced to sling her arm around his neck and hang on. When he finally tore his mouth away, his eyes were sparked with fire and his breathing was heavy.
“Do you have any idea how good you taste to me?” he asked.
The desire on his face and in his voice set her heart to a fast drumbeat against her breasts. “You’re a wicked charmer, Jared Colton.”
With one hand supporting her back, the fingers of the other traced a gentle, seductive path over her forehead, cheeks, nose, then back to her lips.
“No, I’m a man in love,” he disagreed. “And I am in love with you, Kerry. Madly. Completely.”
Being in his arms, feeling the warmth of his skin and seeing his eyes smiling down at hers made it impossible for her not to believe him.
“Jared,” she breathed his name, “I love you, too. But—”
He interrupted, “There are no buts, Kerry. I’m not going to let anything come between us. Not anything. Understand?”
She didn’t. But she wasn’t up to arguing with him tonight. It felt too good to just feel, to simply be Jared’s woman.
For an answer, she lifted her mouth to his. He clutched her close and kissed her for several moments until the need to have more of her drove his tongue between her teeth and a moan deep in his throat signaled the desire boiling up inside him.
The room began to spin around Kerry’s head and her hands clung in helpless surrender to his shoulders. By the time he lifted his mouth from hers and spoke, she was trembling from head to foot.
“I think—we need to forget—about these papers,” Jared said between snatches of breath.
Not waiting for her response, he pulled her to her feet along with himself, then guided her backwards until they were standing beside an old bed with a scrolled iron head and footboard. A white knobby chenille bedspread covered the mattress.
As his hands worked at the buttons on her green blouse, Kerry glanced over her shoulder at the ancient bed. “Jared, is this your great-grandfather’s bed?”
“Yes.”
“Uh—” she looked back at him as he began to untie the drawstring at her waist “—we can’t make love here.”
The chuckle that slipped past his lips was as sensual as the hand cupping her breast. “Why not?”
She couldn’t stop the blush seeping into her cheeks. “Because—if we use the bed—he’ll know.”
He smiled gently down at her as he pushed the thin blouse off her shoulders. “Yes, he’ll know. And he’ll be very happy.”
Happy. It was a word she couldn’t help feeling as he switched off the lamp then lay her gently back on the bed.
Much, much later, Kerry was cuddled in the crook of Jared’s arm, her head resting on his bronze chest as he stroked her damp hair and smiled into the darkness.
“You know,” he said with lazy contentment, “I’ve been wasting years of my life.”
She tilted her head in a way so that she could study his face. “Wasting your life? You seem like you’ve had a pretty successful one to me.”
“Well yes, if you’re talking about my career. But I’m talking about all the other things that go on inside a man.”
Curious now, she raised up and rested her head on a bent elbow. “I thought women were the ones who got philosophical after they made love.”
He grinned wryly. “I think you just made my point when you said made love. I didn’t know what this was all about. In fact, I thought I was the one with the good life. Unattached sex and free to do as I please. But all I was doing was nibbling at the icing. I didn’t know how good it was to actually eat the cake, too.”
Smiling, she slid her hand across his chest. “Oh. So now I’m just a piece of cake.”
For punishment he twisted her onto her back, then with his face hovered over hers, he said, “You’re the whole cake, my beauty. You’re all the things I never realized I wanted or needed, until I came back to Black Arrow this time and saw your face.”
Her heart thudded with both love and dread as she voiced her next question. “But you’re going to be leaving Black Arrow. You haven’t changed your mind about that, have you?”
A rueful expression filled his face. “No. But we don’t need Black Arrow to be happy, Kerry. We just need each other.”
She wanted to tell him that it wasn’t Black Arrow they needed, but just a spot of their own, a place to call home, not just for today or a month from now, but for always.
“How—much longer do you have on this job?”
“It’ll be wrapped up in a day or two. But that’s nothing to worry your pretty little head about.”
“Jared, you don’t understand. I—”
“Kerry,” he interrupted, “this time tonight is too precious for us to waste it arguing. Don’t you agree?”
It was precious all right, Kerry thought desperately. Because it might be the last time they were together. Like this or any other way.
“All right,” she conceded. “I won’t say another cross word.”
Chuckling, he brought his lips down to hers. “And I’m going to make sure of it.”
Chapter Thirteen
The next evening Jared was sitting in his truck, waiting in the Liberty National parking lot for Kerry to get off work, when his cell phone rang.
Expecting it to be one of his crew, he was surprised to hear Bram’s voice. “Hey brother,” he said, “what’s going on now?”
“Nothing at the moment, thank God. I was just wondering if you and Kerry found out anything at Granddad’s last night.”
He’d found out he loved Kerry more than he thought humanly possible, Jared thought. Aloud, he said, “We went through stacks of papers and photos, but we didn’t see anything that looked odd or suspicious or that might have involved some strange person we didn’t know. It was all just simple receipts where he’d bought things at stores here in Black Arrow. Some old photos of our parents and the rest of the family.”
“What about Gran? Did you find any of her taken with anyone you didn’t know?”
“No. In fact, there were very few photos of her. Which Kerry considered odd since she’s George’s only child. But I told her that I expect Gran has most of them in her apartment over the feed store.”
“That’s probably true,” he said, then sighed. “I wish we could see them, but I hate like hell to ask her.”
Jared paused thoughtfully, then asked, “So you still haven’t said anything to her about all of this?”
“No. And I doubt I will. Willow finally managed to persuade her to go to the doctor. Her blood pressure was sky high and he doesn’t want her under any sort of added stress. We can’t worry her with some maniac digging into the private lives of our family.”
“You’re right. Making Gran ill wouldn’t be worth any sort of clues she might give us. We’ll have to get them some other way,” Jared said as he quickly reached for the door handle. “Uh—I gotta go, Bram. I’m here in the bank parking lot and Kerry’s just come out of the building. I’ll talk to you about this later.”
He clicked off the phone and quickly slid out of the truck. As he trotted across the parking lot toward Kerry, she spotted him and waved. Even though Jared’s heart was thumping with dread, he gave her his best grin.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with an eager smile. Although he was dressed in work clothes and boots, she could see he was clean. Apparently the pipes and trenches no longer required his hands-on scrutiny, she thought.
“Taking you out for a cup of coffee,” he said while scooping his arm around the back of her waist.
“Coffee! Jared, it’s five in the evening. It’s nearly suppertime. And Mom and Peggy will be expecting me home in about ten minutes.”
“Okay. We’ll eat with the coffee,” he said. “And you can call your mother on my cell phone and tell her you’ll be late.”
“I was late last night,” she countered with an impish smile. “We can’t have a repeat.”
“As much as I’d like a repeat, honey, I have something to talk to you about. I won’t keep you out long,” he promised.
“Talk? About what?” she asked as he guided her toward his truck.
“Not now. Call your mother first.”
Kerry did as he asked, then the two of them walked across the street to a little café that was reminiscent of Woody’s, where she’d worked and tried to avoid Jared’s flirty advances eight years ago.
In a back booth, they both ordered hamburgers and onion rings then sat back to sip fresh coffee while they waited for their food to be prepared.
“When are you going to tell me what this is all about? Did Bram find the arsonist?”
He reached across the table for her hand. “No. This has nothing to do with any of that.”
She watched a frown pull his dark brows together and felt her heart sink. Jared was always happy and upbeat. Even the night of the fire he hadn’t looked this somber. Something had happened and she wasn’t altogether sure she wanted to hear it.
“Then—what does it have to do with? It must be important for you to cart me away from work before I have a chance to drive home.”
“That’s because I wanted to talk to you in private.”
The last time he’d told her that, he’d confessed that he was in love with her. She couldn’t imagine anything more shocking than that.
“Okay. Go on,” she urged.
He drew in a deep breath and let it out. “First of all, let me say the site is finished. The boys are smoothing out the last excavation as we speak.”
“That’s good. I’m sure you’re proud to have it finished. And thank God no other innocent child will be endangered by that mess again.”
He squeezed her hand. “No. Peggy or any other innocent child can’t find trouble there anymore.”
Her brown eyes continued to scan his face. “If that’s your first news, what’s the second?”
He took a sip from his coffee then set the cup back on its saucer. “I’ve gotten a job offer. A good one.”
The heavy weight of dread that had been lounging around in her stomach fell all the way to her feet. “Oh.”
His brows arched. “That’s all you have to say? Oh?”
She shrugged and found she had to look away from him, otherwise, he might see the tears already burning at the back of her eyes. “I don’t know what you expect me to say. Except congratulations.”
He glanced around the small café at the diners sitting a few feet away, then leaned forward so that his words were only for her ears.
“Aren’t you even interested in where and what it is?”
She blinked and continued to stare at her coffee cup. “Maybe I’m afraid to hear what you have to say,” she said in a low voice.
“Afraid?” he repeated in disbelief, then with a frustrated sound he reached for her other hand and pressed them both tightly between his. “Kerry, there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a job.”
That brought her eyes up to his face. “Is it close?”
He shook his head. “West Texas.”
A rush of breath passed her lips. “Well,” she said in a tight voice, “I knew I’d have to tell you goodbye sooner or later. I guess this just means it will be sooner.”
His eyes widened. “Goodbye! There isn’t going to be any goodbye, Kerry. You’re
coming with me. You and Peggy.”
She might have known where this was headed, but she had to make it clear here and now where she stood. Otherwise, he’d be forever leading her around from place to place.
“How long will this job last?”
Seeing her question as a sign that she was relenting, his face brightened with excitement. “Six to eight months. A major gas company is going to reroute more than a hundred miles of old pipeline and they want me to head up the engineering on the thing.”
Her eyes misted over as she tried her best to smile at him. “I’m impressed, Jared. I truly am. And I’m very proud of you. I just wish—”
“I understand that you want a permanent home, Kerry. But that isn’t possible now. And as far as I’m concerned, the most important thing is that we have a home. Together.”
Kerry wished she could agree. She wished she could shout with joy and tell him she’d follow him anywhere, but something was holding her back, some fear that she couldn’t explain or reason, even to herself.
“I’ve told you before, Jared, I’m not leaving Black Arrow. Not to become a nomad.”
“Kerry—”
“What do you expect of me?” she interrupted. “I have a job, too. I’ve been working hard these past three years, putting in far more time than is expected of me, so that I can eventually step up the ladder. Do you want me to just throw all that away?”
His head shook helplessly back and forth. “Kerry, I can take care of your financial security. You won’t even have to work.”
“Look, Jared, I went through years of schooling, just like you did. If I go with you to west Texas, I might as well kiss any sort of high-level job goodbye. As far as that goes, who would hire me when I’m only going to be in town for six or eight months? No one, that’s who. I’d do well to get a job as a fry cook!”
He frowned at her. “You’re being a little bit over-dramatic here, aren’t you?”
“No!” she shot back at him. “I’m being realistic. Something you’re—incapable of!”
He started to make a reply, but the waitress appeared with their burgers and he was forced to release Kerry’s hand and lean back in his seat. But once she’d served them and went on her way, he said, “You might look at it as an opportunity to spend more time with Peggy. And with me,” he said gently.
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