by Jane Toombs
Her eyes, green at this moment as the first leaves of spring, looked into his. “You don’t make it sound as though you thought it was ideal.”
Damn, she was acute. “My dad expected perfection—that’s all. He didn’t accept mistakes. Made it hard to live up to his standards.”
“How about your mother?”
Somewhat to his surprise he found he wanted to tell her how his mother had died when he was small and that his father had remarried soon afterward. “My stepmother was always good to me,” he went on. “No complaints there.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“One half-sister. Karen lives in Nevada.” He didn’t add that he sometimes envied how she’d found happiness in her growing family.
“What’s she like?”
“I used to tease her by calling her Ms. Truth and Justice Prevails when she was in college. We all know life isn’t fair, but that doesn’t stop Karen from trying to do her best to make it as fair as she possibly can.”
Victoria smiled at him. “You sound fond of her.”
He was. He’d do anything for his sister and her extended family.
“I often wonder what Renee would be like now,” Victoria said wistfully. “She never seemed to be afraid of our father, like I was. Or of anything, really. Her hair was redder than mine, a real carrottop, and she was feisty to go with it. Nobody ever picked on her little sister.”
“Were her eyes that same green-gold as yours?” Steve asked, not wishing to upset her by asking questions about Renee’s disappearance, which is what he really wanted to do. He might be on leave, but he found it hard to get rid of the urge to investigate anything suspicious.
“No, a sort of golden-brown. She wasn’t chunky like me, either. She was tall and slim.”
“I wouldn’t call you chunky,” he said. “More like just right.” He heard his own words with dismay. Watch it, Henderson, he warned himself.
To his surprise, she flushed and looked away. Without analyzing what he meant to do, he reached and put a finger under her chin, turning her face toward him again. When their eyes met, what he saw in hers made him lose his cool completely.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close, his mouth covering hers. The kiss wasn’t meant to be comforting; he’d passed that point. Desire, pure and simple, drove him. He wanted her.
Before she realized what she was doing, Victoria melted into the kiss, and then it was too late to pull back. Or even want to. Whatever she’d expected from Steve wasn’t this violent rush of intensifying need, of being caught up in a brilliant flare of passion she couldn’t resist.
So much for sitting next to him on the couch for what she’d hoped would turn out to be a cozy chat. Willa and her damn get-him-to-open-up. What she’d done instead was to turn a tiger loose in herself as well as in him.
“Shouldn’t be doing this,” Steve whispered against her lips.
“Bad idea,” she murmured in agreement before he captured her mouth with his again.
She was floating in a sensual haze when Bevins chose that moment to try to leap onto her lap, his tiny claws hooking into her bare leg as he fell short of his goal.
“Ouch!” Victoria pulled abruptly away from Steve, reaching to pluck the kitten from her and set him on the couch. What a painful way to be brought back to reality!
“Told you it’d be a mistake to keep that cat.” The hoarseness of passion roughened Steve’s voice, settling into her bones.
“Maybe it was just as well,” she said.
“Yeah.” He rose from the couch. “Think I’ll take a stroll outside.”
She could use some fresh air herself, Victoria thought. Her head certainly needed clearing—not to mention the rest of her. That kiss had been the most potent she’d ever experienced. Like a race car—zero to well over a hundred miles an hour in nothing flat.
Deciding a cold drink of water might help cool her down, she got up to get one. No more of this touchy feely stuff if she didn’t intend to get involved with him.
On the other hand, why not? It wouldn’t be like making any kind of a long-term commitment. Her time here was limited. If she didn’t explore this fire blazing between them, it might be something she’d always regret. True, she might also regret it if she did, but at least she’d have a few hot memories to warm her later when she’d be sleeping alone again in a cold bed.
She gulped down the water, thinking the key would be to not involve her heart, just her body. Why shouldn’t two people find pleasure in one another? She no longer believed Steve was some arrogant jerk; she’d come to realize he was a pretty okay guy. A few problems, maybe, but hey, she didn’t intend to live with him the rest of her life, just enjoy a short-term relationship.
It was kind of scary since she’d never before decided to do anything quite like this. And those flames were hot. Water or not, she still hadn’t cooled down. But wasn’t that all the more reason to go ahead? So she could get it out of her system?
Steve, with Joker at his side, prowled around outside the cabin in the light of the all-but-full moon.
“So much for masterful control,” he told the dog. “I thought I knew myself, but it turns out I hadn’t a clue. Who knew what danger lurked in the depths of those green eyes of hers?”
Joker gave a companionable little woof and Steve smiled. His father had vetoed bringing a dog into the family and, though he’d longed to have one as a child, he’d never owned a dog. Obviously he’d missed something.
“Glad you’re listening, pal,” he said. “Only an idiot would get involved with her, right?”
Joker whined.
After a moment, Steve said, “You may have a point. A temporary liaison wouldn’t mean commitment. We won’t be together in the cabin forever. Once the agency gets this mess settled, we’re out of here. She goes her way, I go mine. In the meantime, though, why not take advantage of what we both want?”
He stopped and the dog paused to look up at him.
“Hey, she wanted it as much as I did. No mistaking her response.” Remembering, his groin tightened.
He resumed walking. “Look at it this way. I may be an idiot but only a short-term one. What’s wrong with that?”
Joker had no comment.
Chapter Six
The next few days passed with Victoria and Steve warily avoiding any physical contact. He even chose to take their dirty clothes to the Aylestown Laundromat alone rather than bringing her along. She wondered if he, like she, was both reluctant and eager to see their relationship change.
After he’d left for town and Victoria had fed and changed Heidi, she decided to tuck the baby into the pouch and walk over to Willa’s. Leaving the kitten in the cabin, she brought Joker with her.
The day was sunny but a brisk breeze kept it from being too warm. The breeze also carried traces of hidden blooms perfuming the morning. Strolling along the narrow trail, under the shade of the pines and maples, with the baby making contented sounds from the pouch, Victoria felt at peace with the world. She was exactly where she wanted to be at the moment, engaged in an activity she enjoyed, along with two great, if not very talkative, companions.
“Listen to the wind in the tree branches,” she murmured to Heidi. “Doesn’t it sound like it’s trying to whisper secrets to us?”
When she heard the raucous call of a jay, she told the baby how the bird was warning every animal within earshot of their presence. “Sort of like Joker would bark if a stranger came near,” she added.
The dog, recognizing the name they’d given him, looked up at her, wagging his tail. Steve had mentioned that Joker’s mere presence should be enough to discourage any dangerous wildlife from prowling around the cabin, in case she was worried about it. Actually she hadn’t been.
Joker, she’d noticed, was not given to barking at every sound or unfamiliar motion, though it was clear he noticed them all. He might look bizarre, but so far he seemed to be pretty unflappable.
By the time she reached Wil
la’s cabin, the baby was dozing, Victoria gently caressed the soft down covering Heidi’s head, pushing away any thought of when she’d no longer have the right to carry this sweet weight or touch Heidi’s silken skin. She’d ignore the future; today the baby was here.
She found Willa hoeing weeds in the tiny garden near her cabin, a garden enclosed with chicken wire attached to tall posts.
“Got to keep the critters out,” Will said after they’d exchanged greetings. “Nothing’s so enticing as forbidden fruit, be you animal or human.”
Victoria reminded herself there was no way the old woman could read her mind. In any case, Steve wasn’t exactly forbidden.
Setting aside the hoe, Willa let herself out of the enclosure and led Victoria to a shedlike structure on the other side of the trail. The door was open as were the several windows and Victoria saw cages on shelves inside. She was about to step through the door when Joker, growling, blocked her entrance. At the same time she heard an ominous rattle.
Tensing, she glanced at Willa,. “What’s that?”
“No need to fash yourself. I keep my snakes shut safely away.” She shooed Joker away from the entrance, saying to him, “They can’t hurt Victoria or the baby.”
Victoria made no move to go inside. “Rattlesnakes?”
“What the mister calls my pets. ‘Tis true I take good care of them so they’ll stay healthy enough to support me. When I need funds or when I get a request from laboratories, I milk them of their venom and ship it off. ’Tis worth a pretty penny.”
Peering in through the open door, Victoria could see maybe half a dozen cages containing snakes. She had no desire to go any closer. “Isn’t that dangerous?” she asked Willa.
“Some. Got bit a time or two before I learned to be more than careful.”
“Good grief! It’s a wonder you survived.”
“I may be old but I ain’t foolish. Put by some of that antivenin those laboratories make, just in case. Came in mighty handy.”
“Where did you get the snakes?”
“Collected ’em myself,” Willa said proudly.
Victoria shuddered. “I’m impressed. Handling snakes is something I could never do.”
Joker, who hadn’t left her side, seemed as relieved as Victoria when they turned away from the shed. He bounded ahead, tail wagging.
“So you see ’tis the mister’s little joke, calling those rattlers my pets,” Willa said, “when ’tis nothing more than an old lady’s way to keep afloat.”
“I don’t think it’s a kind joke,” Victoria said, angry with Steve.
Willa shrugged. “Any man who makes his peace with a cat he didn’t want in the first place has a good heart. Might be buried deep within, but ’tis there.”
Into Victoria’s mind flashed the image of Bevins sleeping on Steve’s knee last evening while he read his book. “The darn cat seems to prefer him to me now,” she admitted as they reached the cabin.
Willa smiled. “’Tis the way of cats to know who they need to charm. Come inside and take some tea with me.”
Later, walking back to Steve’s cabin, Victoria decided Willa was one of the most interesting women she’d ever met. A tad eccentric, maybe, but fascinating to talk to. A shame Willa lived in such an isolated spot because, once Victoria returned home, she’d probably never see the old woman again. Not that she always understood Willa’s cryptic remarks—like her parting words.
“Some of the most beautiful flowers blossom only in the full of the moon,” Willa had told her. “’Tis worth remembering.”
Which made little sense. At the moment anyway.
Victoria hoped Steve wouldn’t mind too much that she’d invited Willa to come for lunch two days from now. True, it was his cabin and, technically, she was his employee, but their relationship had advanced beyond that. Or at least she thought it had.
To be truthful, she wouldn’t object if it kept on advancing. At the moment, though, they seemed to be in stasis.
Heidi woke up and began to fuss, concentrating Victoria’s attention on her. She began to sing nonsense songs to the baby, songs she hadn’t recalled since her camp days and was surprised she still could remember. Must be the magic in the mountain air.
Steve tried to quash his stab of alarm when he found the cabin deserted except for Bevins. Joker was nowhere in sight so obviously the three of them were out for a stroll. But why hadn’t Victoria thought to leave a note?
Because she believed she’d be back before you, he told himself firmly. Nothing’s wrong.
The kitten began to climb up his pant leg and he reached down to collect it, absently petting Bevins as he peered first from the back door and then from the front.
“You must know where they went,” he said to the cat as they stood in the doorway. “Too bad you can’t talk.”
It didn’t help his increasing uneasiness to tell himself he’d gotten home sooner than she would have expected. Where were they?
Finally deciding Victoria might have taken the baby to Willa’s, he shut Bevins in the cabin and started down the trail. He hadn’t gone more than ten feet before he heard singing. Something that made no sense about them all rolling over and one falling out.
“Victoria?” he called, breaking into a run.
“Steve?” she answered.
He rounded a twist in the trail and saw Joker bounding toward him. Victoria, with Heidi in the pouch, was behind the dog, her face alight with greeting. He’d never seen a more welcome sight.
Instead of saying so, he snapped, “Next time you take off without warning, have the sense to leave me a note.”
For a moment, as her pace slowed, she looked as though he’d struck her. He was cursing himself when her chin came up and she met his gaze levelly.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a voice that would freeze water. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
Exactly as he’d told himself,.
Unable to apologize or to try to explain that his scare had made him unreasonable, he turned on his heel and marched back to the cabin. Joker, who’d been by his side, abandoned him, heading back along the trail to join Victoria again.
Steve decided it was time to split more wood. Exercise might banish what his sister used to call the evil imp sitting on his left shoulder. Next time he went into town he’d have to call Karen, just to touch base.
As he stripped off his shirt and picked up the ax, he wondered why it was so hard for him to admit he was wrong. It’d been that way as far back as he could remember. Not that he was often wrong these days. But he bad been just now, no doubt about that.
Victoria heard the chink-chunk of the ax before she reached the front door. Good. She wouldn’t have to face him for a while. If they weren’t on top of a mountain, she’d be tempted to walk out and not look back. Except she couldn’t abandon Heidi, not under any circumstances.
In a way, it was like Kim had given the baby to her to care for. A fanciful thought, but one she couldn’t shake. Would Kim have wanted her to take care of Steve, as well? Victoria shook her head. Now that was being just plain ridiculous!
Whatever had made her believe she wanted to make love with him? Willa could say he had a good heart all she wanted to, but, if he did, it was buried too deep to ever be found.
Heidi was crying in earnest by the time she entered the cabin, and Victoria lifted the baby from the pouch. Heidi was wet and probably hungry. And maybe af fected by Victoria’s own angry tenseness. Infants could be incredibly sensitive to the emotions of their caretakers.
Victoria tried to stow away her annoyance with Steve as she changed the baby, but it simmered close to the surface. It wasn’t what he’d said, but how he’d said it. Had he spoken politely, asking her to please leave a note if she planned to be out, she would have agreed without rancor and there’d be no problem.
Willa had insisted he was unhappy. Maybe so, but did that give him the right to try to make everyone around him as unhappy as he was? She was certainly glad she hadn’t gone ahead
and furthered their relationship by word or deed. They were now back to square one and, if she had anything to do with it, here they’d stay.
Once she had the baby quietly settled into the cradle Victoria began sorting and putting away the clean clothes he’d brought back from the Laundromat. That was another thing. He hadn’t asked her if she wanted to go into town with him; he’d just assumed she didn’t. No matter that he’d been right—she’d enjoyed visiting with Willa instead—he should have asked.
By the time he finally ventured through the back door, she’d abandoned her initial plan of treating him with chill silence in favor of blunt confrontation.
“Why must you be so ill-mannered?” she demanded. “I’m a person, not a thing. Treat me like one!”
Steve blinked. “I expect to be told where you are. What’s ill-mannered about that?”
“The way you behave toward me. Like I don’t deserve common courtesy.”
He frowned. “You mean I forgot to say ‘please.’”
“Among other things, yes. If you’d asked me to go into town with you in the first place, none of this would have happened.” Gripped by what she’d decided was righteous anger, Victoria was dimly aware she wasn’t quite making sense, but couldn’t stop the words from pouring out.
“Assumptions!” she cried. “You’re always making assumptions. You never ask me what I’d like to do. Why?”
His confused expression goaded her on.
“How could you kiss me that way when I don’t matter to you in the slightest? When I mean no more than—than—” To her horror, her voice broke and tears filled her eyes. She turned from him, heading for the privacy of her bedroom, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
As she passed the cradle, Heidi began to wail. Victoria paused.
“Never mind. I’ll see to her,” Steve said.
Victoria wanted to tell him to stuff it, but she had enough sense left to realize she might well upset the baby more if she tended to her right now. Unable to trust her voice enough to answer, she hurried inside her room, shut the door and flung herself onto the bed, sobbing.