by Sherry Lewis
“Don’t you think that’s up to DJ to decide?”
Galloway snorted in derision. “No. She’s too softhearted. She’ll take anything in.”
Irritated beyond words, Adam let his gaze travel slowly over the other man. “Obviously.”
Galloway’s face froze in an expression of pure hatred. “I don’t want you lying to her.”
The words stopped Adam cold. Did that mean Galloway knew who Adam was or that he was bluffing? Adam didn’t respond. He didn’t want to tip his hand.
Galloway’s eyes narrowed. “And you’d better not even think about hurting her.”
Funny. Adam had been about to warn Galloway about the very same thing. This time, he answered. “I have no intention of hurting her.”
“Right.” Galloway snorted again and climbed partway down the stack. “If you even try to take advantage of her, you’ll have to answer to me.”
Adam couldn’t tell whether he heard a threat in those words or a father’s concern for his daughter’s heart But he couldn’t honestly imagine Galloway being concerned for anyone but himself. “I won’t take advantage of her.”
Galloway’s expression didn’t soften. “You’d better not.” He jumped the rest of the way to the floor and pulled another bag from a lower stack. He tossed the bag onto the cart and raised another cloud of chemical dust. “Well, I’m trying to do my job, so maybe you can ‘check things out’ somewhere else.” Tugging the cart around behind him, he pushed past Adam and went on out the door, disappearing around the corner.
Arguing silently with himself, Adam followed Galloway’s trail out of the fertilizer shed and through the greenhouse toward the nursery. Had he been wrong about Galloway? Maybe Galloway did want to change his life and mend his ways. Maybe he did want nothing more than to settle near his daughter and make up for lost time. Maybe he intended to give DJ exactly what she wanted—a father.
Maybe.
Instinct told him not to believe it. Galloway had spent his life living by his wits. He knew exactly what to say and when to say it to get what he wanted. He was smart enough to pick up on Adam’s distrust and play off it.
Slowing his pace a little, he thought back over the events of the past two weeks. He didn’t believe the fatherly concern. And the idea of Galloway questioning Adam’s intentions toward DJ made him laugh.
He slowed his pace even further and stared at the ground, then snorted at the turn his thoughts had taken. Intentions? Sure, he found DJ attractive and he’d even indulged in a fantasy or two—but he had no intentions. That word implied change. Permanent change. And he’d never once thought of DJ as a permanent fixture in his life.
He stopped walking altogether and scowled down at a row of prickly red bushes with orange berries and realized that he’d thought about “permanent” once. Maybe twice. But he hadn’t been serious.
Had he?
He lifted his head and stared at the rows of plants stretching away from him to meet the Jordan River. The breeze tugged at his hair and rustled the leaves in the trees overhead. The chemical-scented air carried with it the faint fragrance of roses. Somewhere nearby, a sprinkler ticked its rhythm as it sent water across a section of DJ’s inventory.
Adam studied it all and wondered silently just what he wanted in his future. He’d grown used to all this in a very short time, but could he spend the rest of his days here?
He pictured DJ in the distance, lifting a tree onto a cart. He could almost see her dark hair gleaming in the sun, could almost smell her scent and feel the touch of her hand on his.
He imagined Marissa dancing around his feet and tugging on his hand to urge him to run in a direction he hadn’t ever thought of going. He even saw the dog, Holly, scampering toward him and wriggling as if he were the most important person in her furry black life.
Closing his eyes, he held the moment for as long as he could. And he knew he couldn’t lie to himself any longer. He wanted all this. This life. This place. This woman. This child. He loved it here. He loved Marissa.
And most of all, he loved DJ.
A chill ran down his spine and forced his eyes open again. And he knew, in that moment, he’d been asking himself the wrong question all along. He didn’t need to know whether he could spend the rest of his days here, but whether he could survive if he left.
But would DJ want him to stay? Could she love him? Could she forgive him for lying about his reasons for being here?
For less than a heartbeat, he considered the possibility that she might never need to find out. He could spend the rest of his life pretending to be a writer who never wrote. He could keep her from ever meeting his family and friends.
He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to face reality. Even if he tried living a lie, he’d worry every day that DJ would find out. He’d spend weeks, months or years agonizing about her reaction, fearing rejection and dreading the inevitable.
No. The only way he could have the life he wanted with DJ would be by telling her the truth—just as soon as he could. Telling her the truth would be the hardest thing he’d ever done—he’d be taking the chance of losing her forever. But every day he waited would only make the truth harder for her to hear—and harder for him to tell.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FOR THE THIRD time in as many hours, DJ checked her watch and tried to calculate how long it would take Laura and Bob to drive from Lake Powell back to American Fork. The crisis at the store had only fueled her determination to find out all there was to know about Larry. She needed Laura’s calming influence, her soothing voice and her stability.
Laura had always been her rock. Her port in the storm. And Laura had often had to serve as gobetween for DJ and Christina. As a young girl, DJ had idolized Laura, and had longed to go everywhere and do everything Laura did. But with a twelve-year difference in their ages, they’d been from separate generations.
While DJ had been playing with dolls and learning to roller-skate, Laura had been experimenting with makeup and agonizing over boys. While Laura had been adjusting to marriage and her first pregnancy, DJ had been selling Girl Scout cookies.
After DJ left college to marry Jeff, the years between them had suddenly evaporated, and they’d been best friends ever since. And DJ turned to Laura with her problems almost as often as she’d turned to her mother. If her mother couldn’t—or, more accurately, wouldn’t—tell her the truth now, Laura would.
She glanced at her watch again and cursed herself for letting precious minutes go to waste. After scanning the store quickly for unattended customers or potential trouble spots, she slipped inside the office and locked the door.
She walked to the desk and punched in Laura’s home number. Almost the instant she finished dialing, her courage faltered.
She closed her eyes and waited through four endless rings before Laura answered. She sounded breathless and slightly harried, and DJ could picture her rushing down the stairs and leaning over the banister to grab the wall phone in the kitchen.
“Laura? Thank God you’re there.”
“DJ? Is that you?”
“Yes.”
“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is Marissa okay?”
“She’s fine,” DJ said quickly. “So am I—I guess.”
“What do you mean, you guess? Something is wrong. I can hear it in your voice. What is it?”
DJ tried to remember what she’d decided to say. But her mind was a blank and she could only manage to ask, “Have you talked to Mom yet?”
“Not since before we left,” Laura said. “Why?”
“There’ve been some odd things happening around here lately, and I need to ask you some questions. I need you to promise you’ll tell me the truth.”
A hint of wariness crept into Laura’s tone. “What kinds of questions?”
“All I want is the truth, Laura. Do you promise?”
Laura let out an exasperated sigh. “When have I ever lied to you?”
DJ laughed, but even she heard the anger and bitterness behind it. “I ne
ed your promise, Laura, or I’m hanging up.”
“All right,” Laura said quickly. “I promise. What’s wrong?”
“I need you to tell me everything you know about Larry Galloway.”
Laura sucked in a quick breath. “Where did you hear that name?”
“He showed up on my doorstep the other day.”
“Larry Galloway did? My God. Are you sure it was him?”
“Positive.”
“Dammit.” The word sounded soft and faraway. Laura must have moved the receiver away from her mouth. Almost immediately, she put it back in place. “How did he find you? What does he want?” No denials. No questions. No confusion.
“He wants to get to know me. He wants to be a grandfather to Marissa.”
“A grandfather—? Listen to me, DJ. Don’t let him anywhere near Marissa.”
Laura’s reaction frightened her. “Why?”
“Would you, for once in your life, just do what somebody else tells you without asking a hundred questions?”
DJ shook her head as if Laura could see her. “Tell me why I should keep him away from Marissa.”
Laura paused for a long time before she answered. “I can’t. I promised Mom I wouldn’t tell you.”
DJ closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. “Mom knows he’s here.”
“She does?” Laura couldn’t even hide her surprise. “When is she coming home?”
“She’s not.”
“Are you serious?” Laura demanded. “What did she say when you told her?”
The words still felt like rocks in DJ’s stomach, but Laura would clam up if DJ let her anger and hurt come through in her voice. “She admitted everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes,” DJ lied. “She told me he’s my father, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Don’t call him that,” Laura snapped. “He doesn’t deserve to be called that.” DJ heard footsteps through the line and knew Laura had started pacing. She always paced when something upset her. “What does he want?”
“I told you. He wants a family. He wants to make up for all the years I didn’t even know about him. He wants—”
“Money,” Laura interrupted angrily. “Has he asked you for a loan yet? Has he asked you for a place to stay?”
“No,” DJ said, and forced herself to ignore the niggling reminder of Larry asking for a job and showing up for meals without invitation.
“Well, he will,” Laura said. “Don’t give him anything.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll never get rid of him if you do. How long has he been there?”
“A little over a week.”
“A week?” Laura muttered something under her breath. “When did he get out?”
DJ stared at the receiver in her hand and repeated, “Out?”
“Out of prison?”
DJ’s stomach knotted and her heart skipped a beat Larry had been in prison? She shoved the fingers of one hand through her hair and struggled to pull her scattered thoughts together.
Laura halted whatever she’d been doing and a stony silence fell between them. “I thought you said you’d talked to Mom.” The words sounded more like an accusation than a question.
“I did.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to believe me,” DJ said angrily. “I talked to her the day he arrived.”
“Tell me exactly what she told you.”
DJ answered truthfully this time. “Not much. I had no idea he’d been in prison. Why didn’t she tell me? What was he convicted of?”
“Several counts of assault with a deadly weapon.”
“Assault—?” DJ broke off and stared at the wall in front of her desk and tried to tell herself it wasn’t true. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “What did he do?”
“What he always does,” Laura said. “He got angry and decided to teach somebody a lesson.”
DJ couldn’t have mistaken the note of hatred in Laura’s voice if she’d tried. She lowered her trembling fingers to her desk and gripped a pencil. “Is that why she lied to me about him all these years?”
“Not entirely.”
“Tell me the rest.”
“I can’t.”
“You can,” DJ insisted. “You just don’t want to.”
“No, I can’t I promised Mom.”
DJ’s patience reached its limit. “I don’t care what you promised Mom. She’s been lying to me my whole life. Everything I’ve ever known—everything I’ve believed about myself—has been a lie.”
Laura didn’t respond.
“Put yourself in my place,” DJ said. “How would you feel if you suddenly discovered you had a father you never knew about? And that the two people you trusted most had been lying to you as long as you could remember?”
Laura still didn’t respond, but DJ could hear her breathing. “You’ve got to get rid of him,” she said at last. “Send him away. Don’t let him worm his way into your family. Don’t let him get close to Marissa—she’s the same way you were as a child.”
“What way?”
“Stubborn. Full of life.” Laura paused again, then asked, “Where is he now?”
“He’s stocking weed killer for a sale I’m running tomorrow.”
“You mean he’s working there? My God, DJ. What are you thinking?”
DJ tried not to resent the question and the implication behind it, but she could hear the anger in her voice when she spoke again. “He’s my father and he needed a job. What do you expect me to do?”
Laura sighed heavily. “Is he actually working? Or is he just collecting a paycheck?”
“He’s working.”
Laura laughed through her nose. “I’ll bet he is. He’s still on his best behavior.”
“You don’t like him at all, do you?”
Laura laughed bitterly. “Like him? God, no. I hate him.”
“Why? What did he do?”
“What didn’t he do. He’s a dangerous man. He’ll hurt you and he’ll hurt Marissa. Is that what you want?”
“No, of course not”
“Then get rid of him.”
“I can’t”
“Why not?” Laura’s voice rose to a near shout
“Tell me why I should.”
“I can’t, DJ. I promised Mom—”
“If that’s all you’re going to say, then drop it.”
“DJ—”
“I mean it, Laura. If that’s your answer, I don’t want to hear it again, because I’m already so angry with Mom, I can’t stand it. I don’t want to talk to her, and I certainly don’t want to see her.”
Laura sighed heavily. “That’s not fair. You have no idea what Mom went through with Larry.”
“You’re right,” DJ retorted. She could hear the hysteria building in her voice, but she couldn’t seem to stop it. “I don’t. But I’d love to understand, so tell me.”
“I can’t,” Laura said once more.
This time, DJ couldn’t even begin to hide her irritation. “You can. You can play this game all you want, Laura, but I am not going to send him away unless you give me a better reason than you’ve given me so far.”
“All right!” Laura shouted. “Fine. Have it your way. Let him stay until he ends up hurting someone.”
“How can you be so certain he will?”
“I know him. But if you insist on being so damned stubborn, at least find someone to stay at the house with you. I’ll feel better knowing you’re not alone.”
DJ pushed the hair from her eyes and rested her elbow on the desk. “Adam’s already staying in the basement.”
“Adam?” Laura’s voice rose again. “Who’s Adam?”
“He’s a friend of Mom’s. She promised him a place to stay while he researches a book, and guess whose place that was.”
“She didn’t”
“She did.”
“So some old friend of Mom’s is staying in your basement while L
arry Galloway’s hanging around?” Laura paused for a few seconds. “Tell me about him. Could he be of any help if Larry becomes dangerous?”
DJ couldn’t help but smile at the image of Adam that formed in her mind. Broad-shouldered. Narrowwaisted. Long-legged. And arms that felt like bands of steel when he wrapped them around her. “Yes,” she said. “I think he would be.”
Laura groaned. “I can’t believe this. What’s Mom been doing, teaching writing classes again? I hate it when she does that and all those people start hanging around as if she’s going to give them a free ride to the top.”
“She likes to help. Adam needed a place to stay, I needed the money and he’s here.”
Laura indulged in another long sigh, and DJ could almost see her rolling her eyes with exasperation. “I suppose I should be glad of it this time. Just keep him there with you. And keep Larry Galloway away from the house.”
“I can’t make any promises,” DJ said.
“Maybe you should tell this Adam guy about Larry so he’s aware of what to watch for.”
“They’ve met,” DJ admitted.
“That’s good. What does he think of Larry?”
“He hasn’t said.” It was the truth, even though his expressions and his actions left no doubt that he felt much the same as Laura and her mother.
“I wish you’d change your mind.” Laura’s voice rose a note, almost as if she’d asked a question, but DJ couldn’t respond.
“Keep me posted,” Laura said at last. “And please be careful.”
“I will,” DJ replied. She could promise that much.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be busy all day. We’ve got a shipment of weed killer coming in the morning.”
“I don’t care,” Laura warned. “I’ll call you, anyway.” But she sounded more like herself, and DJ smiled.
“I’m sure you will.”
“Call me if anything happens.”
“I will,” DJ said. “I’m hanging up now before you drag this out another half hour.”
“Brat,” Laura snarled, but DJ could hear a note of affection in her voice.
“I’m hanging up,” DJ said with a laugh. But after she replaced the receiver, her smile faded and she stared at the top of her desk and let the conversation replay in her mind.