Mark was watching him and chuckling softly. “Sorry. If I'd known you were going to try to kiss my sister-in-law, I'd have warned you. She's not the most approachable woman in the world.”
“No kidding.” Tyler shook his head, remembering. “I don't think I'll try that again.”
“Oh, I wouldn't give up on her too soon. She's one smart lady. Once she sees you're not just stringing her along, she should come around.” He paused, studying Tyler. “I'd hate to be the guy who messes up her life, though.”
“Why? Do you think she'd deck him?”
“No,” Mark said soberly. “But I'd have to.“
It was crowded in the dining room when everyone gathered around the small, oak table for dinner.
Kara had judiciously avoided making eye contact with Tyler when he and Mark had come inside bearing their contributions to the meal, hot off the grill.
She'd already made up her mind she was not going to sit next to Tyler. Thankfully, he seemed bent on sidestepping any additional contact with her, too.
Planning ahead, Kara put her newly filled iced tea glass by the place setting between Louise's and Susan's. Then she waited for one or the other of them to try to maneuver her next to Tyler, instead. Neither did.
With a relieved sigh and prayerful thanks to her heavenly Father for the respite, she plopped into her chair, exhausted. It seemed to take a lot more energy to carry on a charade than it did to simply live one's life in a forthright manner. At least that was the way it worked for her. She wondered absently if Tyler'd felt the same weariness after he'd kissed her.
The thought of that kiss, his kiss, instantly made her heart rate speed up, her hands tremble. Kara held motionless for a moment, then chanced a look at the others. Did her embarrassing reaction to her errant thoughts show? Was she making a worse fool of herself than she already had?
Thankfully, no one was paying the least attention to her. Mark was carving the roast while he and Louise discussed the merits of rotisserie cooking. Susan was emerging from the kitchen with a bottle of barbecue sauce in answer to Mark's request for his favorite condiment. That left only Tyler.
Kara's glance rested on him for mere seconds but it was enough to make him aware of her scrutiny. He turned and stared back across the table without hesitation. His dark eyes searched hers, issued a clear challenge. Then, he slowly began to smile with satisfaction. “Yes, Kara?”
Kara felt like her whole body had melted. She was a chocolate bar left on the dash of a car; a waxy crayon liquefied by the summer sun; a wildflower, wilted by a sizzling July without rain. As Tyler's grin spread, so did her sense of befuddlement.
She couldn't speak. Couldn't think. Could hardly draw an even breath. Dear Lord, what was the matter with her? Why did everything about Tyler Corbett suddenly seem to thrill her? Why did she keep thinking about running her fingers through his thick, dark hair? Why were his eyes so beguiling? What made the sound of his voice so captivating? And that killer smile! Oh, dear.
Kara swallowed the lump in her throat. “I—I was just wondering…” What? Say something! Anything. She finally managed to stammer, “…how…Road Kill was doing.”
“Great. He gets around on three legs as well as Buster does on four. I was kind of surprised you didn't ask about him when you first got here.”
She made a pouting face. “I had other things on my mind, thanks to my sneaky sister.”
“Yeah, well…” Tyler continued to grin over at her as he rubbed his right cheek with a melodramatic flair. “Whatever you say.”
She did a quick flashback to their scene behind the barn and realized he was purposely hassling her. That helped strengthen what little was left of her self-assurance. “If you're going for the sympathy vote, Corbett, I suggest you get your facts straight. I slapped you on the other side.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Oh. Well, then…” Switching hands, he concentrated on the left side of his face. “Hey. You're right. This is the one that hurts.”
“So glad I could help,” Kara said, her words mocking.
Susan interrupted. “Okay, you two. Enough already. Let's eat, shall we?” She bowed her head and folded her hands in her lap. “Mark, would you please say grace?”
As Mark began to pray, Kara chanced a peek at Tyler through her lowered lashes.
He was looking back at her the same way.
Kara didn't think the meal would ever end. She'd picked at her food and pushed it around on her plate until it was cold, eating very little. Tyler, on the other hand, seemed famished. She watched him surreptitiously, wondering how anyone could eat when there was such an undercurrent of tension in the room. When Susan got up to clear away the dishes from the main course, she jumped to help her, just as she always had. So did Louise.
“Mark and I can handle this,” Susan said with a bright smile. “The rest of you just sit there and relax. I made fruit compotes for dessert.” She cocked her head at her husband. “Come on, dear. You can help me carry everything.”
As Mark and Susan left the room, Louise settled back down in her chair and urged Kara to do the same. “Let your sister play the hostess,” she counseled. “After all, she is entertaining her husband's boss.” She cast a motherly look of affection across the table. “Besides, I want you to tell me all about this dog you call Road Kill.”
“Tyler rescued him,” Kara said. “That's really all there is to tell.” She thought back to the rainy night she'd answered the door to the animal hospital and found the handsome Good Samaritan standing there, cradling the injured puppy inside his coat. The vision brought a temporary lump to her throat. She swallowed hard. “It was pretty terrific of him to stop to help a dog that wasn't even his.”
“He's always done things like that, even when he was little,” Louise said.
That surprised Kara. “You knew him then?”
“Oh, yes. Our families were neighbors. His mother and I were so close he sometimes forgot himself and called me mama, too.”
Touched, Kara decided not to comment.
“Tyler used to bring home all kinds of mangled creatures when he was a boy,” Louise continued. “I remember one time he found a butterfly with a torn wing in my yard and wanted me to tape the wing to make it better. When I couldn't, he cried all the way home.”
“Louise!” Tyler glowered at her.
“Well, you did.”
“I don't doubt it,” he said. “I just don't think we need to discuss what I was like as a kid.”
Kara smiled warmly at Louise and ignored Tyler's outburst. “I think it's sweet. I haven't thought of this in years, but I had a butterfly collection when I was about seven or eight. It was beautiful. Then, one day, I felt sorry about killing the butterflies. I didn't know that most of them only live a few days, anyway. So I held a private funeral and buried the whole box in the backyard.”
“And now you save animals' lives,” the older woman added. “How wonderful.”
“I try.”
“I understand your husband was also a veterinarian.”
Kara cringed internally. Obviously, Tyler hadn't told Louise about his feud with Alex. Silence hung in the room like morning mist over the Spring River. She fidgeted.
Louise reached out and touched her arm. “I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to upset you.”
“You didn't. I'm fine. Really.” She purposely changed the subject. “You should drop by Tyler's to see how cute Roady is before you leave the ranch.”
“Oh, good,” Louise said, beaming. “I'd love it. We can go together and you can give the puppy your professional attention while I fuss over him.”
Kara withdrew. “Oh, I don't think…”
“Nonsense.” Louise was patting her hand and smiling triumphantly. “I'm sure you'd like to look in on him. And if we're both there, you won't have to worry about my son-in-law getting out of line again, either.”
Eyes wide with surprise, Kara glanced over at Ty ler. The look of astonishment o
n his face was ludicrous enough to make her laugh aloud and turn back to Louise to say, “Thanks. I hadn't thought of it quite like that.”
Tyler grumbled unintelligibly.
Kara could tell he was getting so aggravated he might bolt. She didn't want Susan's dinner party to be ruined, so she leaned closer to Louise and spoke aside, pretending to share a confidence but making sure her voice was loud enough to be heard across the table. “It was a surprise when he kissed me, but it wasn't all that bad, considering.” She paused, then added, “I suppose I shouldn't have slapped him. It was just a reflex.”
Tyler broke in. “Not all that bad? Hey, thanks.”
“You're quite welcome.” Kara barely managed to keep a straight face. “I do apologize for clobbering you.”
Acting sullen, he rubbed his cheek again. “You should.”
That melodramatic act was all Kara's overloaded emotions could take, given the fact that she'd been as edgy as a lone cat at a dog show ever since he'd arrived. She lost control and burst into laughter.
As soon as she could catch her breath enough to speak, she said, “How many times do I have to tell you, Tyler? It was the other side I slapped!”
By unanimous consent, everyone had retired to the patio to enjoy the evening breeze while they shared pleasant, after-dinner conversation.
Kara noticed that Tyler couldn't seem to sit still.
Finally, he got to his feet and excused himself. “Thanks again for the fine meal, Susan, Mark. I really have to be going. Morning comes early on a ranch, even on Sunday.” He swatted at a mosquito that was homing in on his arm. “Besides, I'm about to be eaten alive.”
“Me, too,” Louise said. “Come on, Kara, dear. Let's walk him home and look in on that puppy of yours.”
“Oh, he's not mine.” She hung back.
Tyler shook his head and muttered with disdain. “You might as well give in and do what Louise says. Believe me, she's not going to be satisfied until you do. I know. I used to be married to the younger version of her. Dee was a wonderful person but she did inherit a stubborn streak.”
That was the first time Kara had heard him say anything about his late wife that was even remotely critical. Usually, he praised her as if she'd been ideal. Perhaps she had been. Deanne Corbett had already been ill the few times Kara had seen her, so there was no telling what the woman had really been like.
Deciding it was prudent to use Louise as a neutral third party, as she'd suggested earlier, Kara looked to her sister. “I'll go check the pup, then come back and help you straighten up.”
Susan's, “Fine. Take your time,” made Kara grimace. She fell into step beside Louise. More time with Tyler was not what she needed. Time away from him, however, sounded like a really good idea.
He'd started home without waiting for anyone. Watching his broad back, his athletic walk, Kara wished the night were darker so she couldn't see him; so she wouldn't have to struggle to keep from appreciating the way he looked, the way he moved.
Searching her heart, she sensed that there was more to her current perplexity than merely a superficial temptation. For some unknown reason she cared about Tyler; how he felt, how he thought, what he did. And how he hurt for his loss.
That was the crux of it. It had to be. Because they had both lost mates she was feeling unduly sympathetic toward him. Was he having the same kind of reaction to her? she wondered. Sometimes it seemed that way. At other times, well…Tyler Corbett was an enigma.
Kara huffed in self-derision. Tyler wasn't unique in that respect. All men were confusing to her. They always had been. If she'd known how to understand them in the first place, she'd never have been fooled into thinking she was in love and married Alex.
She slowed her pace to match the older woman's and watched Tyler turn the corner by the barn and disappear from their sight.
“I've been wanting to talk to you, alone,” Louise said.
They stopped walking. In the moon's light Kara could see lines of worry shadowing the older woman's face. She reached out to her. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine. It's Tyler I'm concerned about. He's practically been a recluse since my daughter's illness. When I saw him kissing you, it was like a miracle. My prayers were answered.”
“Sometimes things are not what they seem,” Kara cautioned. She thought about how hard she'd prayed that Alex would ask her to marry him. When he finally did propose, she'd been certain it was because of divine intervention. How wrong she'd been! That thought made her add, “And sometimes it's best if the Lord refuses to give us what we ask for.”
Tears glistened in Louise's eyes. “I know. The hardest part for me is always letting go and leaving it up to God to decide what's best for those I love.”
Kara took her hand. It was trembling. “I'm so sorry about your daughter.”
“She did love Tyler,” Louise whispered, “but she wouldn't have wanted him to brood. He needs to find love again. To know that God's looking out for him, guiding him to accept what's been and to look forward to what can be.” She squeezed Kara's fingers. “Give him a chance to do that?”
Once again, Kara's conscience reared up to sit atop her heart. “I'd never purposely hurt anyone,” she said sincerely. “But I can't promise you anything else.”
“That's quite enough, dear. I'm sure God will handle the rest His way, when the time is right. He always does.”
Kara knew she should stop rehashing the past and agree completely, yet she kept thinking of all the mistakes she'd made. Had the Lord actually sanctioned her marriage to Alex? Or had He merely permitted it because she'd strayed from the path she should have followed? Probably the latter, she reasoned. If she'd gone against God's will, the problems that resulted were her own fault.
So what about now? What about Tyler? Was she merely dealing logically with a frustrating situation or was she playing with fire? The smartest course would be to call off the whole charade and eliminate the danger of…
Of what? Tyler Corbett posed no threat to anyone, least of all her. He might have a grumpy side but he could also be a funny, entertaining companion. The next prospective suitor Susan dredged up for her might be far harder to deal with. He also might have a different agenda with regard to romance. At least Tyler wasn't actually courting her.
She sighed. She'd wanted a perfect way to deter her sister's matchmaking efforts and that was exactly what she'd found. A man who wasn't interested in making a serious commitment was the answer to a prayer. The ideal solution.
So why did she feel so uneasy?
Chapter Seven
Road Kill hobbled to the door, barking, when Kara and Louise stepped onto the ranch house porch.
Kara spoke to him through the screen door. “Hello, boy. Remember me?” She was instantly rewarded when he stopped yapping at her and began wriggling all over with delight.
Louise laughed. “I'd say he remembers you. Look at that! I've never seen a dog wag his tail in a circle.”
“He's just full of new tricks,” Tyler called from inside. “Let yourselves in. I'm busy picking up the trash that idiot dog scattered all over the kitchen.”
“Oh, dear.” Louise pulled open the screen door. “I suppose we'd better go help him before he boots our little friend out on his fuzzy ear.”
“Or worse.” Lifting the pup gently, Kara looked him over as she followed the older woman through the house. “Except for some mustard on his cast, he seems to be fine. I hope he didn't eat anything bad for him.”
Her eyes widened as she entered the kitchen behind Louise. There was shredded paper and assorted household trash spread from one end of the room to the other, beginning at an upended plastic receptacle that lay on its side by the end of the beige, tile-topped counter. Beneath the clutter, the floor was speckled with a delightful array of color. Unfortunately, it looked like the flooring was supposed to be plain off-white, or some similar hue.
Kara held tight to the little brown pup and stifled a giggle. Crouched in the middle of the floor,
Tyler was stuffing handfuls of paper into a black plastic trash bag. Seeing that his master had joined the game, Road Kill squirmed and whined to be put down.
“Oh, no, you don't,” Kara warned. “It wouldn't be a very good idea to try to play with your daddy right now.”
Tyler mumbled a curse. At least Kara thought he did. She decided it was best not to ask for clarification. Instead, she said, “Uh, can I help?”
He looked up at her, scowling. The frown deepened when he saw the mischievous dog in her arms. “Yes. You can take that poor excuse for a pet with you and leave me in peace.”
“I meant, can I help you clean up the mess?” She held the puppy to her and stroked the soft fur on his head. “It's not Roady's fault you didn't have sense enough to put the trash can where he couldn't get to it.” She had a further thought. “Besides, how do you know Buster didn't do this?”
“He never has before,” Tyler countered. “Why should he start now?”
“Maybe because he has a rival in the house.” Kara glanced around the room, assessing the damage. Empty food cans lay in a loosely made group beneath the round dining table; the kind of group a retriever might instinctively make. “Where is Buster, anyway? I didn't see him on the couch when we came in.” She leaned down to get a better look under the table. “Aha!”
Tyler pivoted. “Now what?”
“Oh, nothing. I just happened to notice a big yellow dog hiding over there.” She pointed. “He looks pretty guilty to me. Of course, he can't be Buster because your wonderful dog would never get into any trouble.”
“Well, I'll be.” Tyler's jaw dropped. There lay his paragon of canine virtue with an empty dog food can trapped between his paws. Telltale bits of gravy painted a stripe across the top of his nose from where he'd tried to stick his whole muzzle into the can while he licked it clean.
Amused, Kara couldn't resist adding to her earlier comments. “I told you one little dog couldn't have made this big a mess. He's not tall enough to have dumped the trash bin over by himself, either…not to mention having one leg in a cast.” She ruffled the puppy's pendulous ears and it licked at her hand. “Daddy didn't mean it, Roady. He's not mad, anymore. Honest, he's not.”
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