Romance in Color

by Synithia Williams

  Marybeth hugged her. “Thanks for bringing me business. I’m sorry I don’t have any toys or extra food for you to take. I think it’d be fun if I created a pet store here, too. We have a bit of food to give the owners to tide them over, and the grocery stores have the commercialized food, but stocking this place with food, crates, and toys would be great.”

  “But I thought you said you were considering putting some of the animals down. How can you even consider adding more debt and bills?”

  “Oh.” She eyeballed Jake, who was outside holding the door open for Amy and helping her into his truck. “That man of yours just donated a quarter of a million dollars to the shelter and said he wanted to talk to me later about becoming partner in a small business. He’s the one who suggested stocking more items, and said he’d donate more if necessary. But I won’t become one of those stores who breed and sell. Still, it’d be nice to supply the owners with more choices for their pets when they do adopt. And better facilities for the pets. We need more room.”

  “Jake?” Winona asked, shocked.

  “Yep. That tall, handsome triathlete out there.”

  Winona watched him out the window as he loaded Amy into his truck and set the box with the cat on her lap. “Okay. We’ll talk about this later.” They hugged again and Winona walked out the door, slowly heading for the man of her dreams.

  Her head spun. He stood beside the open passenger door, waiting for her, with his eyes sparkly, relaxed shoulders, beautiful smile. Her throat thickened, her chest expanded. She walked into his arms and nuzzled his chest. She smelled the remnants of the animals on his shirt, like they’d become a part of him.

  “You are an amazing man.”

  “Why, thanks.”

  She stepped away and looked at him. “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?”

  “She told you about that, huh?”

  “How?”

  “How what?”

  “How can you just give away that kind of money?”

  “I make a lot of money. I invest a lot of money. I inherited a lot of money. Besides my triathlons and my sponsors, I do commercials and am being considered for a role in a movie. I take care of my assets. I had to put things on hold for a while after what happened to Amy and Brandon, but I’m always looking for new investments. If this isn’t one, I consider it charity. As long as the woman doesn’t take the money and run, and after talking to her, I don’t think she will.”

  “Thank you,” she said, all the while hearing unspoken words. He would be leaving soon. Amy was safe, he had responsibilities, and he would leave. They were probably all just charity to him.

  Her energy slumped. She kissed him on the cheek and got into the truck. The excitement of a new cat and Jake’s donation dissipated into dread.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Winona took Snowbound home. Amy favored Reagan’s new kittens, so when Winona invited them to her place and Amy chose to stay with Reagan and the kittens, hurt struck her like a pervading stench of goo. She felt dumb and selfish for her emotions.

  She spent the evening at home. Restlessness and loneliness pursued her no matter what activity she chose.

  She decided to turn on the TV and drown herself in Johnny Depp’s brown-eyed gaze, hoping to dispel the lingering image of Jake’s captivating blues. Snowbound purred in her lap, but not even Johnny could enrapture the cat. Snowbound jumped at every sound until Winona turned the television down, then off.

  She lay on the couch and stared into space until the phone rang, startling her.

  Recognizing Jake’s ring, she let pipe another ring-tone before answering. She considered ignoring it. Let him wonder what she was doing tonight. She knew he was at home with a little girl, but didn’t mean he shouldn’t worry about what she might be doing.

  Feeling selfish for thinking such thoughts, she snatched the phone and punched answer. “Hello?”

  “Hey, beautiful.” His words slid under her skin, in her hair, lighting her scalp with fire.

  “Hey yourself, handsome.”

  “I missed you tonight.”

  “I missed you, too.”

  “You could have stayed for dinner.”

  “I didn’t want to leave Snowbound alone on her first night in her new home.”

  “I know.”

  “You could have come for dinner here,” she said, trying to keep the accusations out of her voice. She didn’t want to feel jealous of a seven-year-old child.

  “I know. I told Amy she could play with the kittens later, but she was having so much fun. Then Chayton and Naomi came over.”

  “Oh.” Sounded like everyone had a great big party without her.

  “Naomi said she texted you.”

  “I never got a text.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and glanced to see she had missed a couple of texts. She didn’t bother mentioning it to him. She was busy. She wasn’t sitting at home, alone, waiting for a man to call.

  “Sorry I didn’t call sooner. Been busy with Amy, and I only get this small window of time with her so I want to make the most of it.”

  “Of course you do, Jake. Don’t worry about it.” Her heart filled with pain and regret for feeling anger, spite, and jealousy, and for making him feel the obvious guilt he felt.

  “I thought you might be mad at me.”

  “Of course I’m not mad, Jake.” She tried to keep the tears out of her voice, and bit down on the emotion welling in her chest. Snowbound continued to purr in her lap, her paws soft against her legs.

  “Well, look, Amy and I have a couple of activities planned for the next few days. She wants to go shopping, and to the museum, and swimming again. Even said she wants to go fishing as long as she doesn’t have to touch the worms.”

  Winona laughed, coaxing the melancholy out of her heart. She didn’t know if this was Jake’s way of telling her to stay out and let them do their activities together, or if he just wanted her to know where they’d be throughout the next few days. And she didn’t want to make him feel like he should invite her. This was his time with Amy, and as much as she enjoyed spending it with them, she didn’t want to impede their connection and be a third wheel.

  “She wants to go bowling. I’m not the best bowler in the world.”

  “You? Not a good bowler? I thought you were good at all sports.” Winona moved Snowbound so she could curl her feet under her. The cat adjusted, settling her head onto Winona’s calf.

  “I’m not good at all sports. And I hardly call bowling a sport. It’s like golf.”

  “Golf is a sport.”

  “But it’s not a sport I’m good at.”

  “How about miniature golf?”

  “Ugh. How does anyone get those little balls into those little holes?”

  Winona settled her head on the couch cushion and closed her eyes. “Hmm, I don’t know.”

  “You sound sleepy.”

  “I am, a bit.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  “I hope you’ll go bowling with us.”

  • • •

  Winona hadn’t realized bowling could be so incredibly exciting and satisfying. Spending time with Amy, watching her learn the tricks of bowling, and watching Jake teach her. There was something spiritual about it and she briefly imagined having Jake’s child, a miniature Jake throwing a ball while Jake taught the maneuvers. Her chest tightened at the thought. Thank God that ache soothed as she tossed the ball down the alley and threw her third strike.

  Afterward, Amy wanted pizza and a movie, and the paparazzi bombarded them when they emerged from the theater.

  Cameras flashed, microphones buzzed, and crowds hovered. Amy huddled behind Jake’s legs as he frowned at them and shoved them out of the way.

  “Take Amy home,” Winona told him. “I’ll deal with the media.”

  She stopped in front of the media as Jake took Amy to the car. All eyes turned to her, microphones thrusting in her direction with questions.

  �
��What is your relationship with Jake?”

  “Are you the special someone he mentioned?”

  “What do you know about Jake’s relationship with Amy and her mother, Lillian?”

  “Did Jake hire you to find Amy?”

  Questions were fired at her. She held up a hand to silence them. “I can’t answer all your questions at once. Please, one at a time.”

  “What is your relationship with Jake?”

  “Jake is a good friend of mine. We met when he came to Tanyon to talk to me about helping search for Amy. Fortunately, she was found before my help was needed. Jake cares deeply for Amy as she is his goddaughter, the daughter of his cousin and manager, Brandon Inman.”

  “Are you that special someone Jake mentioned?”

  Winona’s throat tightened. She wasn’t sure how to answer this question without appearing cold and indifferent, or overly needy and emotional. “I care deeply for Jake, and I believe he cares deeply for me. Jake has been through a lot these past few months, and I feel like we should give him and Amy the time they need to grieve, out of the spotlight.”

  More questions were fired at her, and she repressed the urge to clench her teeth. No doubt the media would go over her interview with a fine-toothed comb to cite disturbances in her equilibrium. She hoped to appear calm and unaffected. As a private investigator, it wasn’t her first battle with the media.

  She held up another hand, “Like I said, Jake and Amy need their time to grieve. He’s already granted interviews, and I feel it’s only fair the media will now give him the time he needs. Amy will be starting school soon, and this will be their last opportunity to spend time together for a while.”

  “Matthew Carter keeps professing his innocence. Do you believe he is guilty of murdering Brandon Inman?”

  “I believe the police had enough evidence to arrest him, but I don’t believe it’s my right to say whether or not he’s guilty.”

  • • •

  “Who are those people, Jake?” Amy, eyes wide, looked out the truck at the newshounds. Jake counted six of them, so there weren’t as many as he’d originally thought, but it was enough to piss him off.

  Winona had wanted Jake to take Amy home, but Jake didn’t feel right leaving her to deal with this alone. He at least needed to wait and drive her home so she didn’t have to walk, but he wasn’t about to leave Amy alone in the truck.

  “They’re news people, Amy.”

  “The news?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mommy—I mean, Lilly says the news is bad.”

  Jake shrugged. He wasn’t going to insult any profession, but he didn’t like how this particular news crowd dealt with his situation. Then he realized what Amy had said. “Lilly?” he repeated. “Is that what you call your mother?”

  “Mom gets mad when I call her Mom. She says it makes her feel old.”

  Jake hadn’t thought it possible to hate Lillian more than he already did.

  “What are they doing to Winona?” Amy asked.

  “Asking her questions.”

  “About what?”

  “Just … nothing that should concern you, okay, babe?” Jake’s phone belted Garret’s tune, and Amy jumped. He patted her on the leg. “Why don’t you climb to the backseat now and put on your seatbelt so we can go, okay? I need to answer this. It’s Garret. Hello?” he said into the phone.

  “Jake? A friend called me to tell me you and Amy and Winona are being assaulted by news media.”

  “I wouldn’t say assaulted. But yes, we were met outside the movie theater. Winona is talking to them now.” He admired her for not batting an eye at the questions they threw at her, and he felt like a jackass for leaving her out there to deal with it by herself.

  “Do you need me to do anything?”

  “Like what?”

  “I can get the cops to go break them up. Make them leave you alone.”

  “That’s not good PR.”

  Garret’s harsh chuckle reverberated through the phone. “Okay, so we should play their game and let them keep bothering you?”

  “It’s the first time they’ve bothered us. Winona is walking to the truck now.” He didn’t mention that three of the media continued to follow her, practically at her heels as they snapped out more questions.

  “Jake.”

  “We’re fine, Garret.”

  • • •

  “Fucking newshounds.” Jake sat outside with a glass of Amy’s lemonade. Amy had finally gone to sleep after everyone had promised what happened today wasn’t a bad thing. They sat on the porch, under the stars, the sliding door open in case Amy woke.

  Winona’s stomach knotted as she sat beside Reagan and listened to her read an article on the Internet. She saw pictures of them all at the bowling alley today and a picture of him standing outside with Air Dog in the background, with a caption suggesting Jake might have gone on a bender.

  Jake cut Reagan off as she read, but Winona continued to read the article over Reagan’s shoulder.

  “I don’t want to hear their lies,” Jake said. “They’ve obviously been following us. Snapping pictures. Fuck, we haven’t even been to Air Dog since my first night here.”

  “Well, and the day Amy was found,” Winona reminded him.

  “You could threaten them with a lawsuit,” Garret said.

  “No. That’ll only make it worse. I’m sorry you had to deal with that today.” He took her hand and squeezed, then brought her fingers up to his lips before drawing them into his lap.

  “It’s okay,” Winona assured him, still feeling cold from her ordeal with them.

  “I wanted to go tell them all to go to hell, but I wasn’t about to leave Amy alone.”

  “It’s okay. It’s not my first experience.”

  “My cop friend told them we were trying to keep Amy safe, and they’d be arrested for stalking if they didn’t leave you alone,” Garret said.

  “What?” Jake exclaimed.

  “Sorry.”

  “I told you to stay out of it.”

  “It wasn’t my doing. A lot of people saw what happened today. Most of the people leaving the theater at the same time you were leaving stuck around and saw everything. Someone called the cops. This town stands together, for the most part, and they didn’t like what they saw. What would you have them do? Let the news continue to follow you?”

  Jake dropped Winona’s hand and stood. “No. I don’t want anyone to have more reason to pursue us. Sometimes stating the obvious draws more interest than just letting the interest die.”

  “You don’t have time to wait for the interest to die,” Garret said.

  “I don’t have time to get caught up in any of this. I damn sure don’t have time to have my reputation questioned because some cops got in the middle of this ordeal. I can handle this bullshit. I have before.”

  “You just said you wanted to tell them all to go to hell.”

  “But I didn’t.”

  “Because you didn’t want to leave Amy in the truck. The cops didn’t do it to protect you. They did it to protect their town.”

  “I don’t need you or the cops or anyone else worrying about your town any longer. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

  “Why are you leaving tomorrow?” Garret asked. “You think that’s going to help things?”

  Winona’s stomach clenched, hurt swelling into her toes and erupting in her chest. He was leaving, and this was how he planned to tell her? God, no wonder her little brother had acted so mean when Naomi had up and left him many months ago before their relationship blossomed.

  “I have to take Amy back, and I thought I’d use the rest of this week to drive up there, slowly. Make some stops along the way, visit a few spots. Take her to some state and national parks or something. There’s a lot to do between here and there.”

  They discussed things a bit longer, but Winona could no longer keep up. She caught Reagan’s eye several times through the dark shadows of the night, and sensed Reagan’s compassion.

 
; She stood. “Look, it’s time for me to call it a night. I’ve got to get home, check on Snowbound.”

  “Why don’t you stay here tonight?” Reagan asked. “It’s late.”

  “I need to check on the cat. Do you mind if I take your Jeep home for the night?” she asked Garret. Jake had picked her up today, but she wasn’t about to ask Jake to drive her home.

  “I’ll take you,” Jake said.

  “No, that’s okay. Stay here.”

  “I’ll take you.”

  “Stay here. Amy needs you right now.”

  Jake looked at Reagan. “Do you mind if I stay with Winona for the night, and leave Amy here? I promise to be back before she wakes up.”

  • • •

  No media followed or awaited them as Jake drove Winona home. She didn’t speak to him on the short drive and swallowed the arguments she wanted to throw at him. Words like, you’d better not think you can just drive me home and get some before leaving tomorrow. And, is that why’re you’re insistent you drive me home and stay with me tonight? One last lay before you take off with Amy and I never see you again?

  Instead, he cuddled with her on the bed and made everything worse for her. It’d be easier to hate him, let him go, if he was a jerk.

  “I’m sorry,” Jake said. “Sorry you had to deal with that, and sorry you thought I would leave tomorrow without saying goodbye.”

  Her heart thumped thumped thumped hard in her chest. Her eyes burned. Thank God her back was to him.

  “Well, I hope I get to tell Amy bye before you leave.”

  “I hoped you would come with us.”

  Her pulse dropped, ears rang. “Come with you?”

  “I was going to ask you if you’d take the road trip with us.”

  “I can’t leave Snowbound.”

  “Reagan would watch her. It’s only a week. I want you to come with us.”

  She clenched her eyes shut, thankful for the dark. Another week to spend with Jake and Amy before Jake left Tanyon for good? What kind of punishment was she willing to put herself through?

  “I’d love to,” she whispered before turning to him.

  • • •

  Jake and Winona made it to Reagan’s before Amy woke, and they sat outside to talk and drink coffee with Garret and Reagan. Reagan agreed to watch Snowbound and they discussed their arrangements. Last night, Winona and Jake had discussed their idea, but made no solid plans for their road trip. They’d stop when they were ready. They only knew when they had to have Amy home, but didn’t know what they’d do between now and then, only knew a few sights they wanted to stop at along the way.