But Ryann didn’t let the tragedy, scars, or rumors get in her way. She was confident, faith filled, and fierce.
Another familiar face greeted her.
“Hi, Thomas,” she said to a good-looking man with dark, wavy hair that fell to his shoulders. He’d been friends with Robbie for as long as Keira could remember. She held out a hand, and he accepted it warmly in his. “It’s been a while.”
“Yes, it has. Nice to see you.”
Mrs. Matthews scooped into the casserole dish. When she lifted the spoon, creamy strands of golden, gooey cheese stretched a full foot before she slapped it on a plate.
Nope. Definitely not part of her diet.
She took the open seat next to Thomas. Robbie reemerged from the kitchen. He eyed the empty chair on her left. Rather than sitting in it, he nudged Ryann. The whole family chair-hopped, filling the seats around Keira. Robbie settled across the table as far from her as he could be without eating in the kitchen itself.
While they ate, she and Thomas spoke easily. More than once, she caught Robbie serving Thomas a glare so icy it could freeze the sun. Each time, Thomas would bow his head and focus on his food, until a new, seemingly safe topic arose from the group. A half hour later, once Keira had sufficiently pushed the macaroni and cheese around her plate, she stood to clear her dish.
“I’ll take that for you.” Thomas stole the plate from her hands and added it to a large stack he was gathering. Then he pushed his way through the swinging kitchen doors, with Robbie hot on his heels.
Was he jealous? Something flitted inside her. Probably the two bites of mac and cheese. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had pasta, let alone pasta that fat laden. Her digestive system was surely in full freak-out mode.
A few minutes later, Robbie reemerged. Perhaps it was the poor lighting, but his face looked red. He planted his feet on the linoleum and crossed his arms. Feeling the full weight of Robbie’s stare on her, Keira slipped her purse strap onto her shoulder. No need to make this more awkward than it already was.
Keira excused herself from the group and joined Anabelle at the back of the café to say goodbye. A dollhouse towered over Anabelle. Carefully crafted entirely from wood, it had intricate detailing inside and out. A masterpiece. Keira couldn’t stop her fingers from gliding down the walls.
“Daddy made it for me.” Anabelle sank to her knees and pushed a shoebox to the toe of Keira’s sandals.
She bent down, tucking her feet beneath her on the cool floor. Keira took one of the small wooden figures from the box. On the smooth, natural-wood sphere, someone had inked a smiley face with green eyes. Orange lines squiggled down the back of the head. The cylinder body was painted pink.
“That’s me.” Anabelle took the figure from Keira and placed it on a bed in the room with floral wallpaper.
Robbie appeared, kneeling between them. He handed Anabelle another figure, one with a gray beard.
Keira caught his eye. “This is beautiful. A little girl’s dream.”
He shrugged but said nothing. He and Anabelle set up all the figures in the house. They were all there. The entire Matthews family. All smiling. All together.
Keira rubbed a hand over her heart.
“Daddy, where did Princess Patty Cake’s mommy go?” Anabelle sat her figurine and Robbie’s on the couch in the dollhouse’s family room, careful not to let them roll off. The wooden dolls leaned against each other.
Robbie brushed a curl out of Anabelle’s eyes. “I don’t know, Kitty Kat. They’ve never said.”
A lump lodged in Keira’s throat. She’d have backed away from the conversation, but Robbie blocked her way to the main dining room. Somehow, crawling under the adjacent table and chairs didn’t seem like the most inconspicuous way to excuse herself.
Then Anabelle’s big, innocent eyes fell on hers. “My mommy loved me so much, she grew me in her tummy. Then she gave me to Daddy and went on a big, big ’venture. She sees oceans and deserts and rainbow waterfalls.”
This was more than Keira’s heart could handle. Her stomach wasn’t feeling too hot, either. All she could picture was the Momentso post she’d shared five weeks ago of Hanging Lake in Colorado, and how a cascade of colors shimmered across it. A rainbow waterfall.
Robbie shifted uneasily. “Ready for cake and your other presents?”
With a “Yesssss!” Anabelle jumped off the floor and dashed to the big table.
Keira expected him to offer his hand and help her up. He did not. Just stared at her until she stood, dusting off her dress.
“I should head out.”
He didn’t argue. Chuck, however, did. Not with words, but with two hands on her shoulders. It was the same way her own father used to hold her in place. But Chuck’s hands were soft and steadying, not threatening at all. They sent waves of peace through her, not fear. Slowly, with his encouragement, she turned her back to the front door and faced the dining room.
Ryann handed her a sliver of cake. Vanilla with buttercream frosting and fresh huckleberry filling that Keira couldn’t turn down. At least not a small bite. The only thing sweeter was watching Anabelle open her presents. Her face lit up with such joy that Keira dearly wished she had something to give her. Kids loved opening presents.
Not that she’d experienced that in her home. There was the yearly Christmas gift from the counselor. A small stuffed animal or a night-light. Things that helped her feel safe when the dark closed in. It wasn’t until she’d moved in with the Matthewses that she’d ever received a birthday present.
A flurry of wrapping paper later, Anabelle held up a Barbie doll with blond hair and a turquoise dress. “I’m going to name this one Keira.” Immediately, she carried the doll to the dollhouse and placed her in the family room.
Minutes later, after a series of goodbyes that included way too many comments like Don’t be a stranger and Our home is your home, Keira rushed to her car. After wrenching the door open, she flung her purse onto the seat, then uncoiled her scarf from her neck. Still, breath didn’t come. She steadied herself against the car.
“Don’t go.”
She didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know who stood behind her. Robbie’s voice was as familiar as the Montana sky to her. How good would it feel to sink back against his chest as if all the hurts and betrayals hadn’t happened? Yet they had. She stared over the top of the car to where wildflowers were beginning to shield themselves for the chilly night ahead.
“Don’t go. Not yet. There’s something I need to ask you. Something I need to know.”
Here it comes. Why did you leave? It was the question in his eyes every second she was around him. She’d tried and failed to answer that question herself many times. What would she say now?
“Are you all right?”
That’s what made him chase her out here? She exhaled her deep breath slowly. No need to show her hand now. “I’m fine. Just tired after a long day of teaching.”
“I meant after everything that happened with John. You guys have been dating for a long time. Couldn’t have been easy to turn down his proposal.”
Nope, not easy. And it had only gotten more awkward ever since. Maybe because she wasn’t sure what she was trying to save. Yes, a part of her loved John. But when she’d been with Robbie, her whole heart, soul, and mind had loved him more than she thought was possible. He’d been the very air she breathed. Leaving him had been devastating. As tonight proved, its consequences were still rippling.
She shuffled her feet on the gravel in a slow circle until her pedicured, sandaled toes met his worn work boots. She took in the faded blue of his jeans, up past the ridiculously large Montanan belt buckle to the fitted green T-shirt with a smudge of pink frosting dried on his left pectoral muscle. His neck, always clean-shaven and totally kissable, was thick beneath his chiseled jaw. Up to his perfect, full lips. Oh, those lips, which could n
ot only say the perfect words to make a woman feel honored and cherished . . . but the touch and taste of them? Mesmerizing.
She let the shiver up her spine chase that memory away before finding his eyes, which still lingered on her mouth. A dreamy expression flickered across his face. If she had to guess, he found his way to the same memory, but he set up a picnic there.
“Are you two still together?”
“I don’t really know. He treats me well. He’s got a good future ahead of him.” She leaned her hip against the car’s doorframe.
“I bet he’s your parents’ dream come true.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he rocked back and forth on the soles of his boots. Toe to heel, heel to toe. “You’ve reconciled with them, I see.”
She shrugged, feeling the lump return to her throat. “They’re the only family I’ve got.”
“Not true.” He looked back over his shoulder at the café.
A little smile broke through her mask despite her efforts.
“Ah, there it is. I knew I could still make you smile.”
She needed to leave. Now. After climbing in the car and putting the door between them, she pulled a U-turn, a cloud of dust encircling him as she drove away.
Gripping and regripping the steering wheel, she steadied her breath. She stopped at the sign and waited.
A sports car slowed as it neared the River’s Edge drive. The driver had chestnut hair, cut bluntly at the shoulder. She turned to Keira, and her brown eyes widened.
It couldn’t be. Could it?
The woman pulled onto the drive, her Mercedes barely missing Keira’s 4Runner.
Keira twisted as much as her seat would allow.
Then Vivian, Anabelle’s mother, climbed out of the car and greeted Robbie with a hug.
CHAPTER SIX
Viv.” The rest of her name caught in his throat. If her presence had surprised him, her hug might as well have knocked him dead.
“Robbie.” Vivian pulled back. Turning her toes inward, she balanced between coy and anxious. She bent her finger backward from her wrist the same way she had in college while she flirted with him when Keira wasn’t around. And sometimes when she was.
He coughed, hoping to clear his throat, but not so loud to alert attention. He didn’t want the last hour of Anabelle’s birthday devoted to explaining who the brunette was to his daughter.
“I figured I’d stop by and see how you two were doing. Was that Keira I passed?” She looked back at the road, where the 4Runner had finally driven off. Why did Robbie wish that it remained? And after all these years on his own, why on earth did he suddenly feel so alone without Keira by his side?
“You thought you’d stop by?” Robbie took several breaths, but with each one, his collar got hotter. “After almost four years.”
“I’m still her mother, Robbie. It’s my right to know how my little girl is doing.” A coldness in her eyes chilled Robbie. Vivian wasn’t a good person to have on your bad side. She could manipulate the best of them.
Ignoring the glare, Robbie swept his gaze across the Mercedes. It was a newer model. Someone had paid a pretty penny for it. Considering Vivian had the work ethic of a sloth, he doubted it was her. She was dressed nicely, in a pair of slacks and a sleeveless blouse. Even her hair looked rich. It was shinier. She hadn’t exactly come from money. Then he caught sight of the ring.
The rock was big. Large enough to signal airplanes from here. She must’ve seen him gawking, because she held up her hand.
“I did it. I got married. Can you believe it? His name is Eric. He and his brother own the law firm Cartwright and Cartwright in Bozeman.”
Robbie had seen their commercials. Ambulance chasers, he’d heard them called. No wonder Eric could afford that ring. “Congratulations.” He tried showing some emotion, but nothing came.
Vivian looked over Robbie’s shoulder. “I always think of her on her birthday.”
That’s it? Only on her birthday?
“Can I see her?”
“Vivian, we need to talk about this. She’s a little girl. I can’t spring this on her. If you want a relationship—”
“It’s not like that. I don’t have to talk to her. I only want to see her. For a minute. Come on, Robbie, I drove more than an hour to get here.”
A hundred flares blazed inside him. He paced a few steps. “You just want to see her?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
It seemed innocent enough. “Okay, I’ll have my sister bring her outside by the river. You can watch her from the café. Wait a minute, okay?”
Robbie snuck into the café, making sure to silence the clanging bells on the door. One day he’d rip them out altogether. He found Ryann in the kitchen. “I need your help, Ry. Vivian’s here.”
Ryann’s eyes went dead. She lowered her head like a bull ready to charge a matador. “Where is she? I have a few things I’d like to say to her.”
“Not the time, sis. She wants to see Annie. Not meet her, just get a glimpse. Will you take Anabelle and everyone else out by the river? Please? I’m hoping if we go along with this, it will all blow over.”
“Yeah, blow over like a tornado,” she scoffed.
Robbie tried a smile. None came.
“I’m only going along with this so it doesn’t ruin Anabelle’s birthday.” She sighed and put a hand on her brother’s back. “You okay?”
“I will be.”
Ryann kissed his cheek, then drew back. “These women will be the death of you if you aren’t careful. You know that, don’t you?”
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Yes, yes, I do.”
Robbie found Vivian on the phone. She quickly cut the call. “Are we good?”
“Yeah. Come in the café with me.” He led her in then switched off the fluorescents, so only the blue light of evening washed in through the windows. Back by the dollhouse, they stood, looking out over the Madison River. On the bank, Anabelle twirled, with the occasional flash of a firefly sparking nearby.
Vivian gasped. Her manicured nails covered her mouth. “She’s beautiful, Robbie.” Her eyes glossed over, and he could see Anabelle’s dancing reflection in them. “But she . . . she doesn’t look like me at all.”
Robbie’s anger took a back seat to an overwhelming pity. Vivian’s selfishness had made her miss so much of their daughter’s life. What a fool she’d been.
“Does she still cry a lot?”
“Uh, no. She grew out of that a few months after you . . .” Finishing that sentence might turn this a different direction. Which one, Robbie wasn’t sure, but he knew he was too exhausted to deal with it today.
Vivian was back. That alone was enough to undo him.
But also watching his family slaughter the fattened calf for Keira? Witnessing Thomas flirting with Keira throughout dinner? Thomas knew better. Keira was out-of-bounds.
With a hand, Robbie massaged the back of his neck, remembering how Keira’s nearness still affected him. Lord, help me. The way his skin warmed around her? It was as if he’d been buried in an avalanche for five years and she was a fire in a hearth. And that dress she wore should be outlawed.
He couldn’t erase the image of her and Anabelle sitting by the dollhouse. Keira had been so good with her. For the thousandth time, Robbie had the thought that Anabelle should have been hers. Then again, maybe she still would have left. Just like Vivian. At least he knew his type: the leaving kind.
Vivian watched another couple of minutes in silence. The longer she stayed, the faster Robbie’s heart raced. What was happening behind those glassy eyes of hers? Finally, after releasing a breath so deep she must have pulled it from her feet, she dug a hand in her purse. It reappeared holding a small gift, decked in silver paper and tied with a perfect pink ribbon. She placed it on the table next to the dollhouse. “Could you give this to her? I don’t care who you say it�
��s from.”
Robbie forced a smile. He could promise that much. Maybe in the span of time since Vivian had been gone, she’d cast off her cunning ways. Anabelle could grow up knowing both her parents. She could have two families to shower her with love, working together to give her the best upbringing a kid could have.
Vivian’s head tilted a touch. The corner of her precisely painted lips crept up.
Then again, maybe not.
* * *
* * *
Later that night, Robbie went on Momentso to see if Wanderfull was online.
KAT WANDERFULL: I kind of picture you living in your parents’ basement, eating whole cans of Pringles and looking like Jabba the Hutt.
MRCUSTOM: LOL. I do love Pringles, but I live down the road from my parents. If they had a basement, I’d consider it.
KAT WANDERFULL: You must be close to your parents if you’re willing to live down the road from them.
MRCUSTOM: Yeah. Not sure what I did to deserve them. Family’s a big part of my life. You?
KAT WANDERFULL: No family. Just me.
MRCUSTOM: I’m sorry.
KAT WANDERFULL: Why? I’m not. It gives me the freedom to live however I want, go wherever I please. The open road, the big sky, the miles of pines . . . that’s my family.
MRCUSTOM: It doesn’t bother you? Not having a place to call home?
KAT WANDERFULL: Home is a dirty word for some of us.
MRCUSTOM: What about holidays? Where do you go? Who do you spend them with?
KAT WANDERFULL: Anywhere I want and no one. Not anymore. As a child, I had enough scolding around the Thanksgiving table and getting punished on Christmas morning. All for crying that I didn’t get a present.
MRCUSTOM: Man . . . if I was in the same room right now, I’d wipe the Pringles crumbs off my hands and give you a hug. How does that boyfriend of yours fit into all that? He can’t possibly be okay with your lifestyle.
This Wandering Heart Page 5