by Tia Wylder
“I am not afraid of a little walking, thank you very much,” she said haughtily, turning around and grabbing her case, wishing her heart wasn’t beating so much. The effect this man was having on her was very unexpected and confusing. She had to prevent him from seeing how his presence unsettled her.
She had barely started down the road when she heard a car pull up next to her.
“You know,” Sean Perry said, leaning out of the open window. “I am the wronged party here. We had an arrangement, your sister and I, and she was the one who let me down. If anyone has a right to be aggrieved, it is me.”
“Oh really?” Jennifer said, trying to control her anger. “Why don’t you wipe your tears with a few dollar bills? Lots of those to go round, eh? Fixes everything, doesn’t it?”
He drove off in a cloud of smoke, his wheels spinning in his rush to get away. Jennifer forced herself to calm down. She didn’t know why she let Sean Perry get her worked up like this. Usually, she was the calm one, the rational one. But something about this bloody cowboy rubbed her up the wrong way. She had to admit, however, that she didn’t think he had done anything to Joanne. As annoying as he was, his words rang true. She believed him, somehow.
It took a few hours, but she arrived at the Twilight Motel after dark. A farmer gave her a lift the rest of the way. Her feet were killing her. There was a room available and she took it. Before going up to her room, she asked if her sister had booked in at the motel a month ago.
“Oh, yes, here it is,” the lady behind the counter said. She pointed at an entry in her book. “Joanne Keys, I remember her! A real beauty. Your sister you say?”
Jennifer nodded.
“Oh, she was real happy to see her beau, I remember now.”
Jennifer leaned in closer.
“Really?” she said, anxiously.
“Yes, sure, he came by to pick her up the next morning. Good lookin’ fella.”
Jennifer suddenly was wide awake.
“A blonde guy? Cowboy type?”
“Oh no,” the woman said, shaking her head. “He was, well, you know, dark skinned, like you.” She blushed but Jennifer paid no attention. “Did you happen to pick up his name? Where they were going?”
The woman shook her head. “No, but I did hear him say they were going to rent a car? I recommended a place in town, maybe they’d have a record?”
Jennifer could not sleep that night. She lay in bed, trying to make sense of what she had heard about her sister. She had no reason to question the motel receptionist’s words. But why had her sister not called them to let them know that she had changed her mind? If she didn’t want to marry Sean Perry, why did she not come home? Where was Joanne?
These questions tormented Jennifer until the early hours of the morning when she finally fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Three
Jennifer woke up the next morning with a terrible headache. She felt out of sorts and needed coffee. Dragging herself out of bed to the nearest diner, she ordered breakfast and strong coffee. She thought about the conversation she would have with her mother and she didn't know how to tell her what she had learned.
"I'd love to buy you that breakfast," someone said next to her, and when she turned, she saw Sean Perry. He looked so much better than she felt and that made her annoyed with him all over again. “As you pointed out, yesterday, I have so much money flying around, might as well treat you to some bacon and eggs,” he grinned.
“I’m sorry about saying that,” Jennifer said stiffly. “I was angry and worried and it got the better of me.”
“May I sit down?” he asked pointing at the stool next to her. She nodded and couldn’t help but breathe in the scent of him as he moved closer to her. It was a clean smell, of soap and water, but there was something spicy and exotic underneath.
Jennifer forced herself to pay attention to her food.
“I thought I might find you here, staying at the motel an’ all,” he said. “I wanted to apologize about yesterday,” Jennifer looked at him and their eyes met. She could not look away.
“I wanted to tell you that I really liked Joanne, and my intentions were honest. I really did want to marry her. But she called me that night, told me that she had changed her mind and that she was sorry. The only thing was, she didn’t sound sorry at all.”
Jennifer thought about how much she was learning about Joanne over the past two days.
“Joanne was the older sister,” she said slowly. “But I always felt like the more responsible one. She was one for following her heart, I like to think things through. I wish I knew what was going through her mind….” Jennifer shook her head.
“She’s done things like this before?” Sean asked.
Jennifer told him how Joanne had broken off her engagement to her fiancé only two months before she started talking about marrying Sean. "I told her it was too soon," she said, shaking her head. Sean shifted in his seat, his thigh brushed against Jennifer and a shock of electricity went through her. She almost jumped into the air. It completely disorientated her.
“Looks like I might have been talking to the wrong sister all along,” he said in a low, husky voice, leaning closer to her. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye and Jennifer knew he was having fun with her. She quickly got up, wiped her mouth on the napkin and grabbed her handbag.
“Thanks for breakfast,” she said with a tight smile. “I have to find out what happened to my sister.”
“Wait!” Sean grabbed her arm. “I could help you with that.”
Jennifer twisted her arm out of his grip. “No, thanks.”
"I'd like to help you," he said again, letting go of her arm, sounding sincere. "I feel sorry about what happened. I have a car, a telephone you could use. We were nearly related, for goodness' sakes?"
He had a point there, Jennifer had to admit to herself.
“I know you don’t want my help, but please, allow me?”
Jennifer didn’t know what to say. The cowboy with the voice like honey had the strangest effect on her. She found herself going to the motel to get her luggage, being driven back to the house where she was given a stunning guest bedroom on the ranch.
“It really is beautiful here,” she told Sean Perry.
"I dreamed of this place for years," Sean told her. "I made some money on the stock market, worked my backside off for years, then they got me for some bad trades." He shrugged. "I came out here to lie low for a while but found that I liked the lifestyle, breathing in real air, not recycled air-conditioning. So I bought the place. I wanted a wife to share it with, and I thought Joanne was the one."
He was standing very close to Jennifer. She didn’t know what to say. His life was completely alien to her, but his words spoke to her. She walked over to the window.
“It is very different to the city. It is so quiet, so refreshing with the lack of cars and sirens and buses. It’s the light, the colors…” her voice trailed away as she felt him come up behind her, standing close to her. She could barely breathe as she turned around and walked into his embrace, his mouth on hers, his arms folding around her, holding her close.
“Wait, no,” Jennifer pushed him away, shocked by his daring as much as by her own eagerness. Had she not been attracted to him from the beginning? She could not deny that she had wanted this to happen.
“This is wrong,” she said. “Take me back to the motel. Now.”
He picked up her bag, and they drove back to town without speaking another word. When she arrived, he turned to face her, but she shook her head and held up her hand, getting out of the door and rushing into reception.
The Keys sisters had made too many mistakes in Texas already, Jennifer thought as she booked her room again. She would not allow herself to make another one.
Chapter Four
Jennifer looked up Sean Perry on the Internet. She found that he had told her the truth. He used to work in New York at a major bank. He was a bit of a hot shot, frequently photographed
at bars and nightclubs, always with a different girl. There were pictures of a younger Sean, dressed in suits and dress shirts, his hair short and sleek. Then came the arrest for insider trading and his release from jail, apparently fancy footwork by expensive lawyers.
All of this had happened over two years ago. There was only one article after that, in which he spoke about taking it slow on the farm and enjoying the peace and quiet away from the buzz of the city. There were photographs of the farm, of him in tight jeans pointing out pasture and barns, expounding on his ideas for the ranch.
He was too handsome for his own good, thought Jennifer crossly. She could not believe that she had gotten into a situation where he had kissed her. She had kissed him back too. Had he noticed? She really hoped he hadn’t, but she had a feeling that an experienced lady’s man like Sean Perry had known exactly how much she’d fancied him.
With a deep sigh, Jennifer leaned back on the uncomfortable motel bed. There had not been many men in her life, she had been too busy with helping her mother look after her brothers, then working to bring in the extra money. Somehow, there never was any time for romance or dating. There had been a guy once, a few years ago, but he had never had the effect on her that Sean Perry did.
She needed to stay away from him, as far as possible, before she did something she would regret. She had to remind herself why she had come here and focused on finding her sister. Jennifer reminded herself that she was good at being practical and determined.
She spent the next day going to two car rental shops but had no luck here. They had rented out many cars but not to anyone named Joanne. Jennifer had no idea what her sister's mystery boyfriend was called, and once she saw how many people had rented cars, her heart sank. There was no way she would be able to call up all those people looking for her sister.
In the afternoon, she called her mother with a progress report.
“It’s harder than I thought,” she admitted to Angela. “I don’t know where to look anymore.”
“You’ll find her,” Angela said, sounding confident. “Look how much you’ve found out already.”
“Yeah,” Jennifer said, unconvinced. “I wish I knew where to start looking.”
Then she thought of something. “How did Joanne get to Bonham from the airport? Do you know?”
“It was Arthur,” Angela said. “I said I’d feel better about her going there if she at least had him to watch over her, kinda like, when she got to the farm.”
“So they were supposed to go to the farm directly from the airport?”
“As far as I know,” said Angela.
“Because she went to a motel in town instead,” Jennifer said. “So she changed her plans, why?”
But Angela didn’t know either.
Jennifer had the feeling that this part was important, that she should start looking at what happened after her sister arrived at the airport. She asked for Arthur’s number and decided to call him first thing in the morning.
She had barely ended the conversation when there was a knock on her door.
“Yes?” she called out.
“It’s Sean.”
She bit her lip and went to open the door. The first thing she saw was a huge bouquet of flowers being thrust at her.
“What the….” Jennifer didn’t know what to say. Nobody had ever given her flowers before.
“I’m really sorry about what happened at the ranch,” Sean said. He leaned forward, sounded really sincere. “It was completely out of line.”
Jennifer nodded and mumbled, “The flowers…really not necessary.”
“Please,” he said, holding them out to her. “Please take them.”
For some reason, Jennifer found it tough to say no to him. She took the flowers and put them in the washbasin.
“Have you had dinner yet?” Sean asked. “Let me take you out, treat you to a real Texan steak.”
“I’m not much of a meat eater, actually,” Jennifer said primly.
“We’ve got some great salads too,” Sean said, not missing a beat. He picked up her coat and stood at the door, waiting for her.
Jennifer really wasn’t looking forward to another night in the small motel room, so she followed him to the red sports car in the street.
“This is your car? Another car?” she asked in surprise.
“It’s a bit of a weakness of mine,” Sean said as he opened the door for her.
“Cars and girls?” Jennifer asked, raising an eyebrow.
As they drove off, Sean admitted that he used to have a different life, partying with the right people in all the right places. “I kinda lost track of myself, though,” he said thoughtfully. “It was out here where I realized what I wanted in life, how things could be. I mean, I never thought I could make it out here, but I have.”
Sean told her how he used to talk to Joanne, the lengthy emails they exchanged. “That was almost the best part,” he said wistfully. “I really thought I had a friend in her.”
They stopped outside a steakhouse in town. Sean opened the door for her, and as soon as a waiter spotted him, they were led to their own private booth at the back. He ordered them some wine and Jennifer let him convince her to try some steak after all. While they waited for the food, he said,
“I wanted to tell you something.”
Jennifer looked up at him.
“I had the feeling there was someone else,” Sean said, leaning forward, dropping his voice.
“How do you mean?” Jennifer asked.
“I don’t know,” Sean said. “But the night she called me to tell me she was no longer marrying me? I had the feeling she wasn’t alone. It was almost like he was there with her, you know, like they were laughing?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this right away!” Jennifer asked, incredulous.
“I don’t know,” Sean said, sounding contrite. “Maybe I was ashamed of her choosing someone else, making me look like a fool. Also, I didn’t know for sure.”
Jennifer thought about what he had told her.
“Why tell me now?” she asked.
“I really do want to help you,” Sean said. There was no trace of his earlier arrogance. “I think it is pretty amazing for you to come out here looking for her. Joanne is lucky to have someone who cares that much about her.”
Jennifer swallowed hard. The way Sean was looking at her, his blue eyes looking so intensely at her, she thought she would forget all her resolutions about staying away from him. Why was he so bloody nice to her? It was making it really difficult for her to keeping pushing him away.
“I’m sure there are many women who care a lot about you,” Jennifer said with a chuckle, trying to lift the mood.
Sean shook his head. "Not really, no. The party girls you are referring to? They like you as long as your money holds, once that is gone, so are they. And as for my family? My parents divorced when I was young, my mom is overseas with her third husband, in Belize, I think. Haven't heard from her in years. My father died of cancer ten years ago. So, no, I don't believe there is anyone really who gives a shit about me."
He looked directly into her eyes, and she felt a hot current of electricity run through her blood. The waiter broke the mood when he brought their food. They ate in silence, and while Jennifer had to admit it was the best steak she had eaten, she made sure not to drink too much and said she was tired and wanted to go back to the motel as soon as she could.
As he opened the car door for her, she got out and found herself standing next to him at the car.
“Thanks for dinner," she said, her voice almost breathless. He was making her so nervous! "That was a lovely dinner," she smiled, and before she knew it, they were kissing again. The force of the kiss pushed her against the car. She could not stop him. She didn't want to stop him. Jennifer melted into his arms, her tongue seeking his, she pressed her body against him and felt a hot flame of desire lighting up inside of her. There was no time to think, to wonder about what they were doing. His hands were under her top,
touching her breasts and her breath caught as he caressed her nipple.
“Sean, wait, no!” she struggled away from him, straightening her clothes.
This was simply happening too fast. She had to get away from him, as quickly as possible, as far away as she could. As soon as she was back in her room, Jennifer took a long shower, scrubbing every part of her body, trying to get rid of the way Sean had touched her, the way he had made her feel. But it was pointless. Finally, she went to bed, staring at the roof, cursing her sister. If only Joanne had not gone missing! None of this would have happened if she had only done what she was supposed to do.
As usual, Jennifer was the one having to pick up the pieces, trying to sort out the mess. But this was harder to do than usual. With Sean Perry in the middle of everything, he was everywhere she looked. She fell asleep trying not to think of him, failing miserably.
Chapter Five
The following day, Jennifer tried calling her mother’s cousin, Arthur Teddington. She knew he was a caretaker at a school in Dallas, so she got up early to call him, setting an alarm to wake her. But there was no answer at his house. She tried his cell phone and it kept going to voicemail. It was driving her mad. In despair, she called her mother.
“He probably switched if off at school,” Angela said. “You’ll have to wait until he gets home.”
Jennifer went to town, whiling away the time by looking around in the shops. She didn’t want to spend any money but in the end, decided to have her hair done at the local salon. She had a few hours to kill before she could call Arthur again and she decided to have a proper blowout.
“What’s it like in New York City?” the hairdresser, a local woman, asked, barely able to contain her curiosity. “I’ve always wanted to visit but, you know…” her voice trailed away.
Jennifer did know, though. Life had a way of throwing a spanner in one’s plans. She had plans to go to college, but here she was, spending all her money looking for Joanne. Even though something serious might have happened to her, Jennifer had a feeling it was nothing like that at all. Joanne had always been impulsive and emotional, inclined to make decisions without thinking them through. She often changed her mind, about everything from her favorite color to the kind of man she wanted to be dating.