by Brenda Mott
“No problem.” Connor gripped the wheel. “I’ve got it.”
They rolled along, Kara pressing the pedal just enough to keep the Ford moving. “You’ve got a baler coming up,” she said unnecessarily. The piece of farm machinery sat parked on the edge of the field, just inside the fence.
“Duh,” Connor said. But he smiled.
Intent on the baler, Kara didn’t notice a dip in the field until the Ford rolled into it. The dip was just deep enough to keep the pickup from continuing under its own momentum.
“Crap,” Connor said. “We’re stuck.”
“Naw. We got hung up a bit, that’s all.” Kara moved to press down on the accelerator again, but a sudden cramp in her thigh caused her leg to spasm. Her foot slipped, and she hit the gas.
The truck lurched forward, straight into the baler chute. The forklike apparatus punctured the pickup’s radiator, and the pungent smell of antifreeze drifted into the air as Kara finally found the brake.
“Put it in Park!” Kara said.
Eyes wide, Connor fumbled with the gearshift, and managed to do as she said. Kara turned off the key, killing the engine. The silence was broken only by the radiator’s hissing. Kara and Connor exchanged glances, then burst into hysterical laughter.
“Damn—dang, Kara, I’m really sorry.”
“I’m the one who stomped on the gas.”
“Man, my dad’s gonna kill me.” He clapped one hand to his forehead.
Kara slid across the seat to the passenger side, then got out to assess the damage. A fist-sized hole in the truck’s radiator gaped like a wound where the chute had gone through the grill.
Evan would have been livid.
Kara bit her lip as tears slid down her cheeks. What had she done? She’d ruined the grill…put a dent in the bumper. Not to mention she’d let Connor drive—a decision that wasn’t hers to make.
“Kara?” Connor called through the open driver’s window. “Aw, man, don’t cry. I’m really, really sorry.”
Kara wiped her cheeks. Sniffing, she forced a smile. “I told you, it wasn’t your fault.” She walked around to his side of the truck. “I’m the one who’s sorry.” She shook her head. “It’s me your dad’s going to kill.”
DERRICK GRABBED THE KEYS to his pickup, unable to wait for Kara to come back. He was eager to see his son and his mother together, with him, for the first time in years.
“Come on, Mom,” Derrick said. “We’ll drive out to Kara’s stable. You can meet her, then we’ll all go grab a Coke.”
“That sounds lovely, son.” Carolyn reached out to stroke his hair. “You don’t know how much better I feel, getting everything out in the open.”
“Me, too.”
When they reached the boarding stable, Derrick frowned. “That’s odd. Kara’s truck’s not here.”
“Maybe they already left,” Carolyn said.
Derrick shook his head. “We would’ve passed them on the way out.” Unless Kara had driven to God’s Little Acre. “I think I know where they might be.”
Derrick made a three-point turn in front of the barn, then headed out onto the road.
But as he passed a hayfield, he spotted Kara’s pickup, nosed up against a baler. What the…?
“That’s Kara’s truck.” Derrick slowed the S-10, checked his mirrors and backed up. The gate to the hayfield stood open, so he drove through.
And just about swallowed his teeth when he saw Connor sitting behind the wheel of Kara’s Ford.
Derrick let out an expletive that made Carolyn cringe. “Sorry, Mom. But what the hell is Kara doing?” He wrenched the door of his own truck open, and practically flew out.
“Derrick.” Kara looked as guilty as a kid caught shoplifting. “Let me explain. I—”
“Explain?” He gestured angrily toward the Ford. “You let Conner drive? Kara, what the hell were you thinking?”
Her gaze darted over his shoulder to Carolyn, then back. “We just wanted to do something fun.” Kara lowered her voice. “Something to help boost his confidence.”
Derrick let out a bitter laugh. “And crashing your truck into a baler is going to accomplish that, how?”
“Derrick, I’m sorry. Things didn’t turn out quite like I’d planned.”
“That’s just it, Kara! Things never turn out the way we plan. Which is why I—”
“It’s not her fault, so don’t yell at her!” Connor craned his neck through the window. “Somebody get me out of here.”
Derrick got the wheelchair out of the pickup bed, then held it steady while his son maneuvered into it. Belatedly, the boy noticed Carolyn, standing a few feet away.
“Grandma. What are you doing here?” Connor stared at Derrick, the implications of his grandmother’s presence finally registering.
Carolyn smiled. “I decided it was high time I came to see my son.” She placed her hand on Derrick’s shoulder, then bent and brushed a kiss against Connor’s forehead. “How’s my favorite grandson?”
“I’m your only grandson.” But the teen couldn’t quite manage a smile.
Carolyn held her hand out to Kara. “I’m Derrick’s mother, Carolyn Mertz.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kara Tillman.” She shook Carolyn’s hand, raising her eyes to Derrick.
But he was too mad for niceties. He glared at her, then Connor. “Do one of you want to tell me how this happened?”
“It was my fault—”
“Don’t blame Kara—”
The words came out simultaneously, and Kara and Connor looked at each other as though they shared an inside joke.
“You think this is funny?” Derrick placed his hands on his hips.
“I’m sorry.” Kara bit her lip. “It’s not funny, it’s just that…” She laced her fingers together. “I know I acted irresponsibly, Derrick. I had no right to take your son driving, and I apologize. It won’t happen again.”
“Damned right it won’t.” It would be a cold day in hell before he trusted her with Connor again.
“Derrick,” Carolyn said, “give Kara a chance to explain.” She took hold of Connor’s wheelchair. “Come on. Let’s you and me go on back to the truck.” She looked at Derrick. “I can drive him home, if you’d like, then come back for you and Kara in my car.”
“That’s fine,” Derrick said, “since it looks like her pickup isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
Kara scowled at him. “I don’t need a ride, thank you, Mrs. Mertz. I’ll call a tow truck and arrange for a friend to come get me.”
“Whatever you want to do.” Carolyn pushed the wheelchair, barely able to move it across the rough surface of the hayfield.
“Let me help you,” Derrick said. “I’ll be back.”
Connor gave him a dark look, then craned his neck around to mouth “bye” to Kara. Carolyn walked beside his chair.
“So, what are you doing here, Grandma? I thought you and Dad…”
“I’ll explain on the way back to your place,” she said, laying her hand on Connor’s shoulder.
Once the teen was settled in the Chevy, Derrick walked around to the driver’s door. “Thanks, Mom.” He leaned in through the window to kiss her cheek. “For everything.”
“No problem. See you in a bit.” She drove away.
Kara was on her cell phone when Derrick returned, talking to someone at the local garage about sending a tow truck. She flipped the phone shut and slipped it into her pocket.
For a moment, they stared at each other. Then Kara pulled the truck’s tailgate open and sat on the edge of it. “Have a seat.”
Derrick didn’t want to sit. He wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled. He pressed both hands against the crown of his cowboy hat in frustration.
“Kara, exactly what the hell happened here?”
She sighed. “I told you. I wanted to do something for Connor to help boost his confidence. He suffers from low self-esteem—did you know that?”
“Of course I know that. I’m his father, aren’t I?�
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“I know you’re his father,” Kara said, “and I also know that I had no right to let him drive—”
“Damned right, you didn’t! He could’ve been hurt—you could’ve gotten hurt.”
“But,” she went on, glaring at him, “I had another reason for doing it, if you’ll let me explain.”
Derrick folded his arms, standing with feet his spread apart. “I’m all ears.”
“Before coming out here, we drove past God’s Little Acre….”
Derrick listened as she told him about the conversation she’d had with Connor, and how his interest seemed to peak when she’d mentioned calf-roping.
“I thought it might help encourage him to learn to ride—at Melanie’s.”
“Kara, get real. Connor may be able to ride, but he won’t be able to calf-rope.”
“Why not? Who says he has to go fast? And who says he has to use a real calf? A roping dummy can be a lot of fun.”
Derrick was momentarily at a loss for words. “I’m sorry, I still don’t see the relevance of letting Connor drive.”
“Because.” She held her hands out, fingers spread. “I figured if Connor saw he could actually do something he’d never thought possible—like drive—then surely he’d realize he can ride a horse!”
Derrick’s anger disappeared. Almost.
“I thought it would be perfectly safe for him to steer my truck around the hayfield.”
“But you forgot Connor can’t work the brake.”
“No.” She sighed impatiently. “I’m strawberry-blond, Derrick, not blond. I was sitting next to him, so I could brake for him.”
“Oh, then that makes it perfectly fine!”
“I wouldn’t have tried it anyplace dangerous.”
“Connor wrecked your truck.”
“Connor didn’t wreck it—I did. I hit the gas instead of the brake.” She folded her own arms, mirroring him. “So if you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at me. It wasn’t Connor’s fault, or his idea, either.”
Derrick expelled his breath on a long sigh. Kara’s expression was a combination of defiance and contrition.
He wanted to shake her and kiss her.
“What am I going to do with you?” Derrick sat on the tailgate beside her.
“I am sorry, Derrick,” Kara repeated. “You trusted me with your son, and I—”
“Shh.” He touched a finger to her lips. “I still trust you, Kara.” He brushed his knuckles against her cheek.
“You’re not mad?”
“I didn’t say that.”
She gave him a half smile. “So yell at me already and get it over with.”
“I don’t want to yell at you.” He inched closer. “I want to kiss you.”
“Derrick.” She pushed away, as though he’d lost his mind. But something else was in her expression, something that made him lean toward her.
“Don’t talk,” Derrick said. “Just kiss me.” He cradled her face in his hands.
She tensed. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” He brushed his lips across hers. Softly. Slowly.
“Derrick…”
He kissed away her protests, and hesitantly, she finally kissed him back. He laced his hands through her hair and slipped his tongue between her lips. Kara moaned, still rigid in his arms. But as he continued to kiss her, she began to relax. Eyes closed, she stroked her tongue against his. Derrick shut his own eyes and lost himself in the moment. For the span of several seconds, there was nothing but the way Kara tasted and felt beneath his touch. Then he felt moisture between their cheeks, and he pulled back to see tears on her face.
“Kara?”
She pressed her knuckles against her mouth. “Derrick, Evan hasn’t even been gone a year yet.” Her eyes conveyed her confusion and sorrow. “I really…like you, but…I just can’t—”
“It’s okay, Kara. You don’t have to explain.” He got up from the tailgate. “I understand.”
He was competing with a ghost. A fight he damned well didn’t know how to win.
Kara brushed the tears from her eyes. “It’s too soon, Derrick. That’s all.”
He nodded and slipped his hands into his back pockets to keep from reaching for her again.
“Here comes the tow truck.” Kara stood, and flagged the driver down.
Derrick kicked a clod of dirt with the toe of his boot, sending it sailing.
In the span of one evening, he’d gained a mother, lost ground with his son and screwed things up with Kara.
He should’ve waited, and let her come to him when she was ready.
KARA RODE HOME in Danita’s car, only half listening to what her friend was saying. She was too busy reliving the kisses she’d shared with Derrick. They’d felt wrong, yet so right. She had to get ahold of herself. Maybe she would call Liz this week, and invite her to lunch or supper.
“I can’t believe you let Connor drive,” Danita said for the umpteenth time. “Kara, you’re lucky the man doesn’t sue you!”
“Sue me? I’m the one with the busted radiator.” She’d wrecked Evan’s truck, then sat on the tailgate and kissed another man.
“Yes, but you’re also the one who put Derrick’s son at risk.” Danita spoke in her motherly voice. “That was really stupid, mi hija.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Danita rolled her eyes. “Boy, have I had my share of those moments.”
“Do you think Derrick will invite me to hear his band play tonight?” Kara deepened her voice. “‘This next song is dedicated to the brain-dead woman, who let my handicapped son drive her truck. It’s called ‘Pull Your Head Out of Your Butt, Little Darlin’.’”
Danita laughed. “Okay, we’ve beat you up enough. You made a mistake, but your intentions were good.”
“You know what they say about the road to hell.”
“Speaking of hell,” Danita said, “I gave Phillip some yesterday.”
“Really? What happened?”
“I hired Mathew Drake as my attorney, and he put a restraining order on Phillip after that last phone call. The dumb ass left a message on my answering machine telling me he’d see me dead before he’d see me living in a house he’d paid for. How do you like that?”
Kara snorted. “As if you haven’t worked your butt off building your cleaning business. You’ve put more than your share into that house.”
“Tell me about it. And all that time, he was off with that slut, and God knows who else. The son of a bitch.”
“I’m telling you, success is the sweetest form of revenge,” Kara said. “You keep growing your client list, and you’ll soon have assistants working for you, not with you. Then you’ll fall in love with some good-looking guy—possibly a fireman whose name we won’t mention—and Phillip will eventually get bored with his bimbo, and realize he gave up the best thing in his life when he lost you. Plus, I hear Mathew Drake is a pitbull in the courtroom.”
“He is.” Danita grinned slyly. “By the time he’s done with Phillip, he’ll wish he’d never crossed me.”
They pulled up in front of Kara’s house. Derrick’s truck was there, but Kara saw no sign of a car that might belong to Carolyn Mertz. “Thanks for the ride,” she said to Danita.
“No problem, mi hija. Call me. I can give you a lift to work on Monday.”
Inside the living room, Kara welcomed Lady’s enthusiastic greeting, then took her to the backyard. She sat in a lawn chair while Lady trotted purposefully across the grass, nose to the ground. The collie crouched, shifting one hind leg slightly, and cast a very humanlike stare over her shoulder. Don’t look at me. I’m peeing.
Kara laughed, glad of the small distraction from reliving what had happened between her and Derrick.
She was glad his mother hadn’t caught them kissing, or Danita, who’d arrived shortly after the tow truck driver. She was curious, though, what Derrick’s mom was doing here. Kara hoped everything was all right.
Maybe Carolyn Mertz’s
presence meant things were changing. If Derrick could make peace with his mom and dad, he might get past Connor’s accident. It might help him move forward, which in turn should help Connor. Lord knew her own good intentions hadn’t helped much. Danita was right, she was lucky Derrick hadn’t been more upset with her.
A car’s engine, slowing as it passed her house, jarred Kara from her thoughts. A neighbor coming home? Or Derrick? Unable to resist, she went to look over the fence. In the fading, evening light, she saw a white Buick park in Derrick’s driveway next to his pickup. Carolyn got out of the driver’s side, while Derrick went around to the trunk for Connor’s wheelchair. He glanced her way, and Kara quickly ducked back out of sight.
Had he seen her? Would he think she was being nosy, spying on him?
Well, wasn’t she?
Kara hurried back around the house. Lady eyed her, curious. “Ready to go in? Come on, girl.” Kara patted her thigh, and the dog followed.
She’d go to bed early. Curl up with a good book.
And bring an end to this crazy day.
But the phone rang not long after and Kara answered without bothering to check the caller ID.
“Hello?”
For a moment, no one spoke.
“Kara, it’s Derrick. I heard what you said earlier about not being ready to move on. But I can’t quit thinking about you.”
Ditto.
She groped for neutral ground. “Is everything okay? Connor’s all right?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. My mom is staying over the weekend.”
“That’s nice.”
“My dad didn’t think so.”
“Oh?”
“It’s a long story. Anyway, Mom’s a little stressed, and I thought it might do her some good to get out for a while. My band’s playing at the Spur tonight, and Mom hasn’t heard me pick a guitar in years.”
Was he trying to ask her to join them?
“Connor doesn’t feel like going with us, and the only time I leave him alone is when I go to work. Connor’s too old to need a babysitter, but…”
Kara hid her disappointment. He was calling her because of Connor.