Masks and Lies

by McKechnie, A C J

  Of course it had all been because of the situation. All because of the fact that she was so willing. Which at the time had been thoroughly confusing in itself. A fact that had been reinforced the next morning when she’d awoken with dread on her face at the thought that maybe she’d slept with him.

  He’d researched Kendra and knew that she’d dated, but interviews with her boyfriends about past girlfriends had shown that the woman didn’t sleep around. She didn’t sleep with anyone, in fact. When she’d opened up to him the next morning about her family he’d thought that he’d understood it all. Understood her out of character behavior.

  She’d been dealing with a whole new part of her life. A new perspective about everything that she’d been told. She’d been incredibly angry. Angry and hurt. He’d tried to help. He’d tried to listen to her and direct her towards the course that he thought best for her. He’d wanted to make things better for her, as well as do what his job demanded.

  He’d been trying to help her out, while also trying to ignore the fact that she’d been so eager in his embrace the night before. Something she hadn’t been aware of. She’d only thought that he’d been a Good Samaritan, taking someone in who’d lost all control of their mental faculties and keeping them safe. She’d had no idea that he’d enjoyed an incredibly hot make-out session with her and had had to repeatedly stop her from doing something that she’d regret.

  She’d sat there opposite him, apologizing for being an inconvenience, while crying over the fact that her whole life had been a lie. He’d been getting through to her when her cellphone had rung. With a sheepish smile she’d declared that she’d needed to answer it.

  He’d happily wandered off to the kitchen to make her some much needed food while she’d dealt with the caller. When he’d come back into his lounge though it had been empty. Kendra had disappeared and he hadn’t been able to find her since. Not until Paul’s phone call had come through about her returning to the States.

  He’d spent the last two years searching for the girl. Worried about her. Worried about being able to finish the job assigned to him. Now the opportunity to get this all settled was in front of him, and he needed to make sure that he didn’t blow it.

  “Kendra?” he asked as he continued to stare at her in bewilderment. “It’s Kendra, right?” he asked, and she blushed before clutching her arms even more tightly around herself and giving a slight nod. “Wow. What a coincidence. How have you been?” he asked and watched as she looked nervously over her shoulder.

  She’d been eager to speak to him at first, but something had changed and now she looked ready to bolt. He shouldn’t have brushed her off to start with. He’d made a mistake there, one that might cost him in all of this.

  “What brings you ‘round here?” she asked without answering any of his questions. Damn, he didn’t want the spotlight on him, he couldn’t remember if he’d given her a profession or any personal details. He didn’t want to mess up again. But he supposed that a lot could change in two years.

  She certainly had by the way she was acting now. She was more jaded, he realized. More hardened. He didn’t like that. She’d been sweet and soft when he’d first met her. Yeah, she’d had a shock, but she’d still had a wholesomeness about her. Now she seemed hardened by life. No longer blinkered, but aware of everything that life had to offer, the good and the bad. And he suspected that the bad had impacted her more than the good.

  He’d been eavesdropping on her conversation with the older woman, Elizabeth Jenkins according to his sources. At least as much as he’d been able to. She’d been travelling. But that wasn’t what had affected her. Something else was going on with her. He didn’t know what though.

  Mitchell suspected that the part of the conversation where they’d been talking too quietly to overhear would be the key to that.

  As much as Kendra seemed harder than she’d been two years before it didn’t stop Mitchell from admiring her. Yes, the wholesomeness and lightness had left her, but instead of the girl she had been, in front of him stood a woman fully capable and able. The woman Kendra was now didn’t need to be protected like she had years before, this woman could protect herself. She’d be a formidable adversary. Something which he didn’t need to deal with.

  He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get away with not answering her question again but he didn’t know what to say. Well, he’d just have to go with it. If his answer clashed with some other information he’d given her in the past, then he’d just have to bluff his way through it all.

  “I’m passing through, but I might stay for a while,” he said and watched as her eyebrows furrowed.

  “Okay then,” she said before turning to head back to the counter she’d been aiming for before noticing him.

  “What brings you here?” he asked.

  “I live here,” she said succinctly before perching herself on a stool and smiling at the elderly woman. “Thanks, Bets,” she said before focusing on her meal.

  Getting up and moving closer to her, he perched on the stool next to her and leaned back against the counter to watch her. He could see her eyeing him warily but she just continued to focus on her food.

  “You moved?” he asked interestedly.

  “Yeah,” she said, and Mitchell almost sighed at the fact that getting information out of her was so difficult.

  “Any reason?” he asked and watched as she shot a quick look up at him.

  “I guess I needed a change. My life was … complicated back home.”

  “I remember,” he said with a smile and watched as she shot a surprised glance at him before mentally kicking himself. He’d had to pretend that he didn’t remember her, and now all of a sudden he could remember it all? Talk about inconsistent.

  “Yeah, well, I travelled a bit and ended up sticking down roots here,” she said.

  “Yeah? Travel where?” he asked and watched as she shrugged while keeping her eyes averted.

  “All over really. Anyway, what brings you out this way?”

  “Been looking at small towns for my company.”

  “I thought you were involved in electronics?” she queried with a puckered brow, and Mitchell almost cringed. How the heck was he going to fit electronics into a backwater community? Maybe he shouldn’t even try.

  “Quit my job. It was too much stress. Decided that I might like to get myself out of an office every now and again.”

  “So what do you do now?” she asked.

  “I work for a tourist magazine. We like to find little out of the way places with character.”

  “Tourists?!” Elizabeth Jenkins barked from the other side of the counter, and Mitchell noticed Kendra’s lips quirk up as well. “Honey, we don’t do tourists ‘round here. This here’s a farming community. Ain’t nothing here for out-of-towners.”

  “There could be,” he declared and watched as both women started laughing whole-heartedly. The effect on Kendra was amazing. He hadn’t seen her laugh, or even smile genuinely, two years ago, and the sight was nothing short of breathtaking.

  “Oh, honey, I think maybe you need a different job if you think there’s hope for this little place,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. “Tourists,” she snorted in amusement. “If that ain’t the darnedest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Can you imagine Walter’s reaction?” Kendra asked in amusement, and Mitchell watched as the older woman almost doubled over in laughter at the comment.

  “We’d definitely end up famous, wouldn’t we?” Elizabeth finally managed to get out, and Mitchell watched as the woman flagged over the young girl who’d been waiting on him earlier. Joanie, according to her nametag. “Hey, Joanie. What do you think of turning Granville into a tourist trap? What would Walter think of that, you think?” she asked, and the young girl burst into a fit of giggles herself.

  “I think my pa would have his work cut out for him,” she said, and Mitchell just watched as the three women continued to laugh with merriment.

  “Well, we’d d
efinitely end up famous. That’s for sure,” Kendra remarked as her giggles calmed down. “Come to Granville, where you can get your ass full of buckshot the moment you cross the town boundary,” she said with her hands in the air as though imagining the sign.

  “With local famous tourist hunter Walter Humming,” Elizabeth put in.

  “And the Sheriff who keeps throwing the man in jail only to remember that the lock on the cell door is broken,” Joanie put forward with a shake of her head. “My pa really should fix that one day.”

  “Your pa ain’t ever needed it,” Elizabeth said. “Anyone who ends up in there knows your pa well enough to know that he’ll get shot at if he tries to escape.”

  “That is true,” Kendra put forward. “And your dad’s the best shot around. Nobody would dare go up against him.”

  “He should still fix it,” Joanie said with a smile. “Mark keeps offering to do it for him but I don’t think Pa trusts him,” the girl said with a sigh as she sat down on the stool next to Kendra.

  Mitchell watched as Kendra put a soft hand on the girl’s arm before answering, “He worries about you, Joanie.”

  “Mark’s supportive of me heading to college.”

  “I know, honey. But if he lets the man into his life, you might think that he approves and spend more time with him than you do. Your dad doesn’t want you to neglect your schoolwork. You’d be the first girl in your family to go to college, Joanie. He’s worried –”

  “That I’m going to end up like the rest of the girls ‘round these parts. Married with a baby on the way before I graduate.”

  “Now,” Elizabeth reprimanded, “not everyone’s like that.”

  “No. Not everyone. But those who aren’t are confirmed spinsters. Or career women who don’t have time for anything,” Joanie said.

  “Hey, Bets, looks like we’re confirmed spinsters,” Kendra said with a smile. “How come that doesn’t sound as nice as a confirmed bachelor?”

  “Talk for yourself, Kenny, I’m a career woman,” Elizabeth said as she straightened herself up and smoothed down her apron. Kendra smiled in return as Joanie blushed, and Mitchell found himself surprised at the idea that Kendra, at twenty-two, seemed to be viewed as a confirmed spinster. The woman had plenty of life and time ahead of her. And she definitely had the qualities a man would be interested in.

  “I didn’t mean –,” Joanie started but Kendra cut her off with a laugh.

  “I’m happy being single, Joanie. I don’t want or need a man in my life. Family, that’s too much for the likes of me. I’m happy as a lone wolf.”

  “You’ve been talking to Falling Eagle too much,” Joanie said with a wink, and Kendra laughed.

  “That man has a vast amount of wisdom to impart. You could learn something from him, Joanie. But no, I haven’t been talking to him. If anything, he’s probably more set on me marrying than anybody else.”

  “He still trying to get you to marry Notaku?” Joanie asked.

  “No idea. I haven’t seen him since I got back. I only got in today. Besides, I’ve been gone for a year, surely Growling Bear has found himself a wife in that time.”

  “Not that I heard of,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. “I don’t think it was just Falling Eagle desperate for you to enter the family, Kenny.”

  “He is incredibly handsome though,” Joanie said with a sigh. “You could do much worse, Kendra.”

  “I could. But he couldn’t,” she said before getting up and yawning. “I’m beat. I’ll see you both tomorrow,” she said before moving to walk away then stopping and quickly glancing over her shoulder at Mitchell. “Good to see you again, Nick. Good luck in your work. But honestly, you should just move on out of here. Granville is definitely not for tourists,” she said, and Mitchell watched her go.

  “How do you know our Kendra then?” Joanie asked as she focused on him.

  “I ran into her a couple of years ago,” he said and watched as the two women looked at him curiously.

  “Strange how you crossed paths again. Especially so far away from her home town and all,” Elizabeth said with narrowed eyes.

  “Must be fate,” he said with a smile which only resulted in the woman’s eyes narrowing even further.

  “Well, it was good to meet you, Nick,” Joanie said. “I’m heading off home now, Betsy. I’ll be in tomorrow for the early shift again. Gotta save for college and take the hours while I can. I’m glad Kendra’s back safe and sound though. I can’t wait to see all the pictures and hear all the stories,” Joanie said excitedly as she bounced to the back to ready herself for going home.

  “I guess that’s my cue to head on out as well then,” Mitchell smiled but Elizabeth didn’t reciprocate.

  “Guess it is. Have a safe journey, Nick,” she said, and Mitchell tensed. She was a shrewd woman, that was for sure.

  “Thanks for the food,” he added as he placed cash down on the counter. No way would he be able to use any cards while he was around anyone who knew Kendra. There’d be a lot of explaining to do if Mitchell Astley’s cards were used to pay for Nick Clifton’s purchases.

  Elizabeth just nodded at him before watching as he headed towards the door and exited into the night. He might have found Kendra Wilcox, but Mitchell was beginning to realize that this wouldn’t be as quick and simple as he’d first thought.

  Getting out his phone, he called his boss and updated them on the situation. After persuading them that he could do his job but would most likely require more time to settle everything, Mitchell hung up and tried to figure out where the heck he was going to stay. As well as how the heck he was going to ingratiate himself enough to Kendra to convince her to do what she needed to.

  Looked like, for the moment, Granville was going to be home.

  Chapter Three

  Kendra looked up as the bell tinkled over the door and found herself sighing at the figure that entered. She’d thought that the man would have headed off after that first night, but according to Betsy he’d been back every day since.

  Surely he was smart enough to know that there was nothing in Granville for him. When she’d first seen him she’d been excited, which had been an odd experience. But when it had been clear that he didn’t remember her she’d felt so embarrassed, clearly she’d thought more of their encounter than he had.

  Then next thing she knew he was being nice to her and she’d been left feeling wary. Maybe he thought that she’d be easy to get into bed. She probably would have been the first night they’d met, as determined as she’d been to forget everything and lose herself in any other sensations and experiences.

  Kendra knew that he hadn’t been lying at the time, that nothing had happened between them. As inexperienced as she was, she was fully aware that there would have been certain signs and indications if she’d slept with a man. There had been nothing to indicate that she’d been foolish, that she’d turned her back on her standards, and she’d been inordinately relieved at that fact.

  It had been a lesson well learned, and one which she’d remembered every time she’d gotten drunk. As much as she craved oblivion she’d always made sure that she’d never find herself waking up somewhere she didn’t recognize, with a man she didn’t know, again. So she’d instead developed her own safety net. She’d go to bars and get drunk enough to still be aware of her surroundings, then leave on her own before she made a stupid mistake again.

  She might have used her body to get herself drunk enough by flirting and coming on to the men there to save herself money, but apart from a few steamy make-out sessions she’d never gone any further with any of them. Whenever she’d felt herself starting to lose her grasp on her self-control she’d always pulled back, headed off for whichever dive she was staying in, and returned to the bottles that she had ready there.

  Then she’d proceed to drink herself into oblivion in solitude, thereby ensuring that she wouldn’t have anything to regret the next morning. It was a system that had worked well for her, one which she often cr
aved going back to. It was a routine that had such a strong pull on her that she sometimes felt almost exhausted with trying to resist it.

  Ignoring her thoughts, and the temptations running through her head, she instead focused back on her work ahead of her. She had plenty to do in the diner this morning. Almost the whole of Granville would come to Betsy’s to fill up for the day’s work ahead, and she loved this time of the day.

  She found herself surprised when Nick greeted the others around the place though. Clearly the man had been making friends while here, and Kendra wondered what was really going on with him.

  “Kendra,” a voice said, and she turned to smile at the man at the table at hand.

  “Sheriff,” she greeted with a smile. “More coffee?” she asked and held the pot out towards him. When he nodded and she topped him off, he gestured for her to sit for a moment.

  With a quick glance around at the rest of the people to make sure that there was nothing pressing, she focused back on the man. “Better make it quick, Sheriff, Betsy’ll have my ass if I start slacking this early in the day,” Kendra said with a smile.

  “Just wanted to talk to you about Joanie,” he said, and Kendra raised an eyebrow at him.

  “What about?” she asked.

  Sighing, the Sheriff looked down at his coffee and said quietly, “Mark.”

  “Sheriff, Mark’s a good boy. Wants the best for her. Joanie knows what she wants out of life, and she won’t do anything to jeopardize it. And neither will Mark. He cares for her, he really does.”

  “I just worry,” he said with a sigh, and Kendra looked about quickly before deciding to sit down and address the issue at hand.

  “Bobby, she’s a big girl now. She knows what she wants. She knows how important this year is for her. She won’t mess it up. And Mark won’t let her. The more you push against this the more likely it’ll be that she finds herself distracted by trying to find ways to get you to accept him.”