“No, you’re not.” He reached over and touched her cheek, lifting her face so she had to look into his brilliant eyes. “I doubt you could describe the inside of the place to me now.”
“It’s…clean.”
Her grandfather laughed. “Yes, it was clean.”
Shaking her uneasiness away, Jen glanced at her brother and father. “They seemed to like the place.”
“It’s a nice place.”
She didn’t want to agree with him. But she did. “I did notice some positive things about it.”
“And yet you still don’t want me to move?”
“I love you, Granddad.” Tears slid down her face, falling to the curve of her slumped shoulder. “I feel like things are going to get bad for me soon. I sense Kimberley.”
“She’s your sister,” her grandfather said. “Of course you sense her. Maybe it’s time the two of you talked things out. It’s been six years.”
“If sixty years had gone by,” Jen said between her tears, “it would be too soon for me to talk to her.”
“You have a bond.”
“A bond she only uses to hurt me.”
Her brother’s outrageous laughter burst through the air and she glanced over to see him give their father a playful shove on the shoulder. “I don’t believe you, Dad.”
Her father’s answering gruff-sounding laughter surprised her. Rarely did her father allow her to see his merry side. Another set of tears threatened to flow from her eyes.
“Kimberley always bonded with Mom, like those two bonded with each other.” Pointing to the two joking men, Jen added, “I never fit in this family well. I only had you.”
“And you’ll still have me.” Her grandfather touched a loose strand of her hair and pushed it behind her ear. Something he’d done to her for as long as she could remember. “Just because I want to move to this place, doesn’t mean I plan to forget you.”
“But you will.”
“I’ve got Alzheimer’s,” he said somberly. “And eventually I’m going to forget everything. I’m already feeling confused about so many things. I need to move here now, while I still have part of my memories intact.”
“Granddad, I don’t want to hear this now.”
He cradled her chin, forcing her tear-filled eyes up to face him. “It’s going to happen, Jen. I’ve accepted it. Why don’t you? I don’t want you seeing me sick.”
“I’m not ready for you to leave yet.” She pushed his hands away and turned toward the car, frowning at her clowning brother and oh-so-serious father. “I’m not ready to let you go. There is so much I need to know from you still, about Winter Creek, about Grace.”
“Everything I know about Winter Creek—” His grin spread wide on his warm face. “—and your saloon girl ghost, I have written down in my notebooks. You have all of those papers.”
She didn’t comment.
“I’m not asking your permission.” His voice hardened, causing her to jerk her head upward. “I would like for you to be happy for me, but I’ve made up my mind. Next month, when the other resident moves in with her daughter, I’m taking her old apartment.”
“No.”
“My mind is made up.” He turned around and walked away from her, leaving her breathless and tearful. And aware she would never be able to change his mind. “Are you coming with us? Or do you have another ride back to the school?”
“I’m going to Winter Creek.”
He sighed. “I used to go there too when I had a problem to think through.”
“Yes, I know, Granddad.” She quickly glanced in his direction before easing her body around and leading him to the two now quiet men. “How do you think I got in the habit of spending so much time there?”
“You’re the child of my heart, granddaughter.”
Another tear threatened to fall from her eyes, but she forced it back to the frozen depths of her heart.
Time enough for tears later. Now she needed to concentrate on Winter Creek.
Chapter 15
A hint of unrest greeted Jen when she entered the wide opened front gate of Winter Creek around six, filling her with the image of her sister.
Kimberley had been here, Jen knew it.
She still felt her presence in the air breezing cold around her shoulders, flipping her hair like a whip about her head. And the closer she moved to Adam and his brother, to Barb and Wyatt, the more aware she became of her sister. She’d been here, standing not too far from that group of people.
Adam had already met her.
“Jen, you’re here.” Barb glanced at her, eyes wide in her flushed face. “How’s your grandfather?”
“He’s fine.” She didn’t want to talk about her grandfather now. “It looks like you have everything under control here.”
“I told you,” Barb said with a tight grin, “you didn’t need to worry about anything.”
“And Carrie is okay?”
“She’s fine.”
Her friend’s hand settled lightly on her arm, stopping her directly in front of the group. Jen didn’t look at Adam, didn’t want to spy the beginning of the end of their relationship yet in his eyes. Because since high school it had always been this way between her and her sister, when it came to the men she dated. Kimberley sensed if she liked someone, and she’d always taken him away from Jen. “I’m glad to hear that. Jack must have been frantic with worry.”
“You should’ve seen him, Jen. I’ve never seen him so out of control.” Warmth sounded in Barb’s voice, along with a hint of disbelief.
“His daughter got hurt.” This comment came from Adam standing behind her. “How did you expect him to act?”
“You don’t know Jack very well,” Barb said. “He’s usually so with it.”
“If anything ever happened to Jamie—” Wyatt glanced at Barb. “I don’t think I’d be with it either.”
Barb only huffed out a breath.
“What?” Wyatt’s anger burned deep in his word. “You don’t think I care about my daughter?”
Adam pressed his hand to the riled cowboy’s shoulder as he moved to stand in front of Jen. She turned her head away, dropping her gaze to the snow-covered ground at his feet. A part of her wanted to look at him with such a fiery need it hurt her heart, yet it would hurt her heart even more to look into his eyes and see lust for the beautiful Kimberley. Her psychic mind would drag her in, and she didn’t need the pain now.
She’d already begun losing her grandfather.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with that woman, Adam.”
Jen jerked her head up to look at the complaining cowboy, but then realized that Wyatt was complaining about Barb’s attitude and not her silence.
“Let it go for now, Wyatt.”
“But boss…” His glare burned through Jen into the woman standing beside her. “She thinks I’m a bad dad.”
Barb straightened up and glared at Wyatt. “You are—”
“Barb?” Jen faced her friend. “I think you and I had better set up an emergency meeting. We need to discuss what happened here today.”
“We’re not changing our minds about herding the cattle through town,” Adam said.
“I never thought you would.” Jen allowed her gaze to linger on Adam’s mouth for a moment before looking back toward Barb. “Could you let the others know I’ve called an emergency meeting for…about an hour from now, around seven?”
“Sure, I can do that.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ll get on it right now.”
“What can we do to help?” Mark glanced at his brother before turning his gaze on her. “Professor, I hope this doesn’t change your mind about the trail drive.”
She didn’t answer him. “You should get the kids together and have them email all the other WCHA members, Barb. Everyone should know what’s going on here.”
“My brother asked you a question.” Adam’s tone showed his annoyance. “And I would like to have an answer too.”
“Everything is already under control,
Adam.” Jen stared at a confused Barb as she said this, attempting to ignore the men. “We can take care of the rest ourselves.”
“Jen, what’s going…”
She looked at Barb. “You’ll need to notify everyone soon, Barb. I’ll be at the bank.”
Barb opened her mouth then slammed it shut before shaking her head and turning away from the small group. Wyatt trailed her, a hint of his earlier anger stiffening the lopsided gait of his walk. He placed his hand on his right shoulder and rubbed it as he followed a few feet behind Barb. Jen grinned slowly at his demeanor, feeling the tip-off of her special ability speaking the mutual regard developing between the two fuming people.
And a secret hidden so deep in Barb’s mind even Jen couldn’t quite see it.
Her mouth formed into a full grin at the thought.
“Well,” Adam said with a hint of sarcasm, “I’m glad to see you can still smile.”
Her lips dropped downward at his statement.
“I guess that bit of warmth wasn’t meant for me.” He reached his hand toward her, stopping her from moving away. Heat raced through her system. “Are you going to tell me what’s got you so pissed off?”
“I’m not pissed.”
“Like hell,” he said. “Look, lady, for your information the cows that got away from the cowboys were spooked. Someone shot a rifle in the air near them, and the fence,” he said, pointing toward the vague round shape of the corral above the town, “was tampered with. Someone cut the barb wire.”
She glanced up at him then. “Are you telling me someone stampeded your herd on purpose?” Kimberley, she thought with sudden clarity. But why would her sister want to hurt the people of Winter Creek? Why would she want to damage the town? “I can’t believe—” Jen stopped her whispered comment before speaking her sister’s name. “You’ll be at the meeting, right?”
“If you’re sure you want me there,” he said, a bite of animosity sharpening his voice. “I’ll be there, Jen. But don’t expect me to change my mind about the trail drive. Or you.”
“You don’t need to worry about those damned cows of yours.” Upset by his attitude, she turned quickly away and walked toward the bank building. “Everyone wants to see your trail drive.”
Or you, Jen suddenly heard his words. Adam’s not going to change his mind about me.
* * * *
The further away the woman moved from him, the warmer the air seemed to get. Something unpleasant had just happened between the two of them, and Adam had no idea what. Jen seemed to have changed overnight from the heated woman who’d spent time in his embrace in the attic of his parents’ house only a day ago to this cold witch. She’d become almost as frosty as the woman from the hotel who’d just left the town proper five minutes before Jen’s arrival.
He wasn’t having any of it.
“Well,” Mark said with a grin. “What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything.” He’d forgotten his brother stood near him. For such a big guy, he was amazingly quiet. “Believe me, the last time we were together, she didn’t have that frosty attitude.”
Mark’s mouth lifted higher.
“And you better wipe that stupid grin off your face,” he said, “before I do it for you.”
“Yeah.” Mark laughed roughly. “That’ll be the day.”
Adam didn’t need this now. “We’ve got more to worry about than Jen’s attitude toward me, like finding out who caused those cows to stampede.”
“And who cut that fence,” his brother added, with a serious look on his face. “Thank God no one was seriously injured.”
Adam nodded.
“I’ll get Wyatt on it as soon as I talk to the sheriff.” Mark turned toward the group of cowboys standing around the uniformed man. “I guess I should go talk to him now, maybe he’s found out something.”
“I’m going to attend the emergency meeting later. But for now I need to check out the corral and see what other damage was done to it.” Adam started to walk away before jerking around and saying, “Did anyone notify Dad? He might want to give the WCHA members his opinion too.”
“I’ll do that.”
As Adam watched Mark walk toward the sheriff, confusing emotions swirled inside him. Why would someone want to cause a stampede? Didn’t that person know how dangerous that could be?
He looked toward the stairs leading up to the back room of the bank. Jen’s voice penetrated the chilly winter air, burning in his heart and warming up his body as he stood still at the bottom of the steep set of steps.
Damn, but her voice touched him. Even when he was pissed off at her, the simple sound of her voice left him aching. Why he should still want to throw her onto the nearest soft surface and love her he would never understand.
He needed to get away from this town, from the woman.
Taking one last look at the stairs, he forced his frozen limbs to move toward the corral.
An hour later, Adam still had no answers to his questions as he stepped up to the bank and stopped. Early evening darkness seemed to swallow up the large building. He was looking forward to hearing what the members of WCHA had to say, if they’d found out anything new. He’d searched the entire area around the corral but had found no proof of any wrong-doing. Other than the shotgun shell and the area of destroyed fence, nothing else unusual or dangerous was found.
A familiar voice flowed down the steps. Jen didn’t sound quite as pissed off and cold as she did earlier, but he heard something else now. The certainty he’d always heard in her voice was gone, replaced by doubt. Did those damn people at the college say something to her? That David guy?
Or was it him? He’d pushed her into breaking her promise to her grandfather. Was that why she was acting so unsure about things? “Stop,” he whispered.
“Stop what?”
He turned to face the approaching women, one dark-haired and outrageous, the other blonde and quiet. Barb looked over at Rose with a secret smile before moving her knowing gaze back to his flushed face.
“Going to the meeting?” she said, the grin deepening the lines around her mouth. “It should be starting soon. Most of Winter Creek’s people are up there already.”
“I’m not going to change my mind about the trail drive, Barb.”
“You won’t need to,” Rose said softly. “It’s too late to change it anyway. Jack and William already notified the papers and television studios in the area.”
The same ones here tonight, he thought. “Then it’s still a go tomorrow.”
“Yes.” Rose studied him, much like Jen always seemed to be doing. “Well, I guess we should get inside.”
Relief filled him when her opened gaze dropped from him.
He suddenly realized that his hat was not sitting on top of his head.
Where the hell did it go?
And how could he not have realized it was missing until now?
Was that why Jen seemed so cold toward him the last time they met? Could she so easily read his expression without the barrier of his Stetson? “Damn!”
“What’s wrong with you now?” Barb said.
“Nothing.” Jen was going to drive him crazy if he wasn’t careful. She cannot read my thoughts. “Lead the way.”
Or could she?
So many things he experienced while near her could be explained if she saw into his head, read his thoughts.
So many things.
Thankfully when he entered the bank’s upper office, one of the ranch’s cowboys placed his missing hat on the chair beside him. He grabbed it quickly and angled it over his eyes, slouching in a seat near the back of the small room. Jen glared at him, yet he didn’t remove it. Rude? Yes, it was, but he suddenly felt so naked without it.
“So you’re telling us,” William was saying, “you think we should get 24/7 roving security for outside the town. I’m not sure WCHA has the budget to cover that, Jen.”
“Well, we’re going to have to find the money somewhere.”
A loud
booming voice spoke up at the rear of the small room, jerking Adam out of his tense pose. “I can pay for it.”
“No, Mr. Thornton, we can’t have you doing that.” The accountant looked beyond Adam’s form to the large man. “This is the historical society’s problem.”
“Of which,” Mr. Thornton said with ease, “my family is now a part of. I’ll pay for the roving patrols.”
“Roving patrol?” Adam turned and looked at him. “I don’t think we need to pay anyone to drive around the town during the night, Frank. My dad knows the sheriff, and I’m sure he can work something out with the sheriff’s department.”
“No.” Jen rose with a jerk from her chair, sending the wooden object flying onto its back. “We don’t need any help from you, your dad, or from you, Mr. Thornton.”
“Jen,” William said. “It’s a good offer. If Mr. Thornton and Adam want to help us out, I say we should let them do it.”
“I don’t want—”
A rush of feeling slammed into Adam’s stomach, smoldering the inner lining with a fiery grip. “Why the hell won’t you accept my help?”
“I just don’t think it’ll be a good idea.”
“Oh.” He stood and stepped toward her, stopping a mere five feet from her. “Why is that?”
“Adam?”
“Yeah, Jen.” Barb moved to stand beside them, concentrated awareness shining in her wide eyes. “What’s going on with you anyway?”
“Why do you think something is going on with me?” She turned on her friend, a fierce heated anger fuming in her voice. “I just think we’re relying on our sponsors for too much.”
“It’s our choice, Jen.” Adam leaned into her, tracing a finger along the edge of her clamped hand. “Neither one of us plans on changing our minds about Winter Creek, nor about anyone living in Winter Creek, so relax.”
He didn’t need to be a mind reader to see what was going on inside her head. Her thoughts read loud and clear in her widening eyes and pinched lips, in the way her shoulders stiffened up under her loose top. It thrilled him to know he could still get such a heated reaction from the frosty woman.
“What security company are you using, William?”
Forgotten Memories Page 18