They got into the truck and Adam drove slowly down the street still slick with the snow and ice. He picked up their conversation from the stairs. “You were pretty young when your mom died?”
“Yes, I barely remember her, or maybe I just think I remember her because my dad has never stopped talking about her.”
Adam exhaled. “My brother Jack’s like that. He married the love of his life, and when Robyn died, I thought Jack’s life was over. He’s had a hard time with his grief.”
Faith fingered her wallet. “And you came back for him?”
“Yes, but to be totally honest, after years of heading away from here, I think I needed to come back for me, as well.”
“I felt that way when I went to college. I was so grateful to go home when I finished my degree.”
“I thought about college for a hot second, but knew that I wanted to be a cop. I went through the academy, then eventually left for greener pastures. I told you I’m in Dallas now, but I’m thinking of making another change.”
She looked around the town, wondering why he’d choose to leave this. “Wolf Lake wasn’t where you wanted to be?”
“No, I didn’t want to be here,” he said, and she could have sworn he looked surprised to admit that. “I’ve always wanted to be someplace else. I mean, I love it here, I had a great childhood, but for some reason I wanted to see what was beyond all this.”
“And now you’ve seen it?”
“Yes, I have.” He drove in silence, stopping for a group of shoppers to make their way across the road, then he kept going.
“And?”
He glanced at her, then at the road. “And I came back.” He turned into Dent’s parking area and stopped. “At least for now.”
Faith noticed Dent by the gas pump, talking to a tall, lean man, who apparently owned a huge truck with mismatched fenders. When he spotted Adam’s truck, Dent said goodbye to the other man and came over to them. He saw Faith in the cab and went to her side. As the window buzzed down, he grabbed the door frame and pulled himself up to lean into the cab to talk to her. “Good news, darling, your car’s going to be done later on today.”
Faith knew she should be thrilled, but for some reason it was hard for her to smile. “Thank you,” she said.
He looked past her to Adam and then back. He added hastily, “At least, it should be. Tomorrow at the very latest,” he said slowly. “Uh, tomorrow by day’s end. Before Christmas. I’ll call you at Mallory’s when it’s ready.”
Faith wasn’t sure what had just happened, but her car was going to be finished. That was all that should matter. “I really appreciate it. How much will I owe you?”
He glanced past her again. The figure he named was half of what he’d estimated before. “Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes, I had some parts here already. I forgot. And the labor cost the most. But it’s all going to be fixed just fine. Should take you on your journey without any more trouble.” He jumped back down and waved to her. “I’ll call you.”
The window went up, and Faith looked over at Adam. He shrugged. “I told you Dent could do it.”
“Yes, you did,” she said.
“Where are you going now?”
She grabbed the handle and opened the door. “I need to do a few things.” Holding her wallet, she climbed out and turned to look back up at Adam. “Thank you,” she said and meant it.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Although she wasn’t sure what he was asking.
“Okay, I’ll pick you up around seven for dinner.”
She’d forgotten all about Lark’s invitation. “I don’t want to intrude, and your dad’s been sick.”
“Mom wants you there. Seven,” he said.
She swung the door shut and stood back when Adam slowly drove off the lot and out onto the street. She watched the big black truck for only a moment before heading back the way she’d come with Adam. She stopped at the coffee shop, picked up a few things, then went straight to the inn to wait for Dent’s call.
Once in her room, she glanced at the computer. After her last experience at the computer, she’d thought of not looking through the rest of the documents. She knew enough to know where she stood. Actually, the idea of another migraine coming was a good excuse to not go anywhere near the computer for now. She knew the real reason was the fear that she’d find more things that could be used against her dad.
She moved around the room, looked out the window at the garden covered in snow, then headed downstairs. Willie G. was there, sitting behind the desk, reading a book on learning French. “Hi,” she said and he looked up.
“Hey, missy. How’re you doing?”
“Well, I’m waiting for a call from Dent at the garage.”
“Oh, yeah, that car of yours. Heard it’s almost done.”
He heard everything, she guessed. “That’s the word.” She glanced at his book. “You’re learning French?”
He nodded. “A man can’t get too educated, and after all, French is the language of love.” He smiled slyly. “Never too old for that, huh?”
“I guess not,” she agreed. “Could you let me know if Dent calls?”
“Sure, and when Mallory gets back, I’ll pass it on to her.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t rightly know.” He closed his book and laid it on the desk. Turning to put both elbows on the polished wood, he rested his chin in his hands. “She said she had to go out, and since I was staying until the roads are cleared south of town, she asked me to watch the place.”
“I’ll be in my room.”
“I can call you when Adam comes to get you, if I’m still here.”
She stared at him. He knew Adam would be coming to pick her up later on? “Where did you hear about that?”
“Let’s see,” he said, scrunching up his face in concentration as if trying to remember. “I saw Oscar when I went over to get Mallory some cream, and he said that he’d talked to Moses and he said that Mrs. Carson had mentioned to him that you were going to dinner at their place.” He snapped his fingers. “And that’s who said that Adam was going to drive you out to the ranch.”
She laughed despite her circumstances. The man was a human gossip chain and she kind of liked that; it showed people cared. “Yes, call me down when Adam gets here.”
He gave a little salute, picked up his French vocabulary book and said, “Au revoir, missy.”
She nodded. “Very nice.” When she was upstairs in her room again, she laughed some more. Nothing was private in Wolf Lake, she thought, not when you had a grapevine that covered just about every resident and visitor. Good thing there weren’t any national-security secrets around here, and she laughed so hard her stomach started to hurt.
As the laughter subsided, she felt a sense of loss replace it. An almost staggering sense of loss. This would be but a memory tomorrow. Just a memory.
* * *
A
DAM
DROVE
TO
the hospital on the newly cleared roads and smiled about Dent. The man knew cars, but being subtle hadn’t ever been his strong suit. Though he’d caught on pretty quickly when Adam had held up a hand that Faith couldn’t see and mouthed
No
when he’d been ready to promise to have the car done today. He’d segued to tomorrow, and a thumbs-up from Adam urged him to tell her absolutely before Christmas. Adam had mimed holding a phone to his ear, and Dent had caught on right away, promising to call her when it was ready. Probably his scowl had stopped Dent from giving her a figure for the job that would have caused her to choke.
He pulled into the hospital parking lot and went inside to find out how soon his father would be released. As he walked through the doors, his cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. Dent. He answered it. “Hey, there.”
“Yeah, and now tell me why you acted like that when you were here with the lady?”
“I just wanted her to be around a bit longer,” he said.
“So you had to act it out. Why didn’t you just tell her you wanted her to stick around instead of making me lie to her?”
“Is her car done right now?”
“No, of course it isn’t.”
“Then you didn’t lie.”
“How does that work for you, rationalizing stuff like that when you’re a cop?”
He cringed at the question, but knew that keeping Faith around a bit longer wasn’t just to get her story from her. He didn’t want her to leave for personal reasons. He cleared his throat, and it occurred to him that he was very close to maybe loving the woman. A woman who had lied to him from the start and had kept lying. “I’m not a cop right now,” he said, a weak explanation at best.
“I’d say you weren’t, brother.”
“Agreed. I was just hoping you could drag this out until tomorrow. Don’t call her until around four, okay?”
“Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. I don’t plan on being here past two or so.”
“Try for four.”
“Okay, but I still think you should just tell her to stay put for a while.”
He wished it was that easy, but suddenly nothing was easy about Faith or him. Now he really needed her to trust him, way beyond telling him her side of the story. “Thanks, I owe you,” he said. ”And I do owe you the rest of the bill.”
“You do,” he said and he hung up.
Adam put his phone away, then headed to the fourth floor. He’d take his dad home, get him settled, then head back to town to get Faith. He had his answers about Faith, and now he had to make a decision about what to do. He didn’t want to be a cop and confront her. He just wanted her to trust him enough to tell him, and he had to make that happen before four in the afternoon the next day.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
F
AITH
HAD
HOPED
for a reprieve from going to the Carson family dinner, but none came. Dent had called, but only to tell her that the car wouldn’t be done until the next day and probably not until around four o’clock. Part of her wanted to be with Adam again, but being with him was just plain dangerous and would end up being painful. He touched her on some level that she couldn’t explain and wouldn’t explore. The less she understood about her reactions to the man, the better off she’d be.
Right at seven o’clock, she heard the chime ring downstairs and took one last look at herself. Her red blouse and the dark pants she’d worn to the dance were the closest things she had with her that could be considered dressy. She slipped on her simple black flats. She almost longed for heels, anything to minimize the way Adam towered over her.
Her makeup was just lipstick and a touch of eye shadow. Her curls were their own master, and she would have loved to have had her long hair again, to tame it into a low chignon.
She leaned closer to the mirror; looking into her own eyes, she could see the uneasiness about going to this dinner. Adam’s parents. Friends of the family. She had no right being there at all. She paced the room until she heard muffled voices below.
Quickly, she grabbed her purse, pushed her wallet into it, then picked up her jacket and put it on. She’d wait there until Mallory came up to tell her Adam had arrived. By the time there was a knock on her door, she was more than ready to get it over with. But when she opened the door and found Adam standing there instead of Mallory, she was hit by a truth that she’d pushed away one too many times. And now it was there with a vengeance.
Adam Carson only had to show up to become the center of her world. She barely fought back a gasp as she acknowledged the thought and knew it would never go away again.
Adam ran his gaze over her with excruciating slowness, and by the time his eyes met hers, she could almost taste the tension. The center of her world? He was very close to being her world. But what a world she had. Certainly not one that he’d ever want to share with her. “Ready to go?” he asked.
She wanted to hold on to him and never let him go. “Ready,” she managed.
He stood back and she went out, pulling the door shut behind her, then she hurried to the stairs, keeping ahead of him until they got to the front door in the deserted reception area. Adam came up behind her, then reached past her to grab the handle and pull the door back. She ducked past, trying to ignore the scent of aftershave and maleness as she headed for the truck.
As they drove away from the inn, Adam spoke, and when he did, his question confused Faith. “So does it bother you that I’m with the police?”
This was not a good way to start the evening. “Everyone has a job, at least, most do.”
“You know what the motto is of most police forces, don’t you?”
“What?” She had no idea where this was going. A rising fear was growing inside her. She should have refused to do this and remained at the inn. She was only one day away from making her escape.
“Protect and Serve. It’s a standard. Some have others, such as in London, it’s Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity. In Scotland, it’s Semper Vigilo, translated, Always Vigilant, but here, as I said, it’s Protect and Serve.”
She still didn’t get it. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I just wanted you to know,” he said.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“Yes, what did you expect?”
“I don’t know, maybe another Willie G. joke.”
He chuckled at that. As they neared the outskirts of town, the road narrowed to only being wide enough to allow for two lanes given snow piled high on both sides. “I’ve missed Willie G. and his horrible jokes. I think I’ve missed a lot in the past few years.”
“Being in Dallas has to be a lot different than being here.”
“It is.” His expression seemed unreadable to her. “Lately, I’ve been thinking of making some changes in my life.”
“Isn’t that what life’s all about, changes?”
“You sound as if you know all about changes,” he said, his focus still on the road.
Her life had turned upside down. “Doesn’t everyone?”
“Some more than others.”
Faith felt a tug at her heart. She’d once thought the most jarring change in her life had come when the federal agents stormed the firm’s offices. Yet she realized that a big change in her life had occurred when she’d run into Adam the first night she was in Wolf Lake. And another one was coming tomorrow.
“Everyone I know seems to be going through some sort of change in their lives, some minor, some very major,” he said.
She heard him exhale, and instead of looking over at him, she turned to the side window and the night outside.
He continued, “Jack and Mallory have endured huge changes and their lives will never be the same.”
She was uneasy with the conversation. She didn’t want to think about the way lives were altered forever in a second. She was living through that horror. Her hands were aching where they clutched at her purse, and she forced her fingers to loosen. “We don’t have choices in things like that,” she said softly.
“True, but I still wish Jack would talk to me about what’s happening with him. He’s so closed and handling it on his own. That’s no good for anyone.”
“It’s the way he has to deal with things,” she said, knowing she had no choice about her actions. She’d had to leave, to keep moving and stay low. She’d never dreamed she’d end up in a truck in a small town with a cop and not be under arrest.
That last thought made her want to laugh and scream; she wasn’t sure which one was the right reaction. “Everyone has to do what they have to do.”
“Can I write that down?” he asked, a tinge of humor coloring his words, and miraculously, she almost smiled.
“Be my guest,” she said, wanting to change the conversation, to forget about the past and tomorrow. Tonight was all there was, and she found that she desperately wanted it that way. “You know, I never got to see the lake.”
“What?”
“Wolf Lake. I never got to see the lake that the town was named after.”
For some reason, that made Adam chuckle. “I’m not sure how to put this, but there is no lake. Not a lake anywhere around here.”
“But someone said that I needed to go see the lake. I remember that, I think.”
“You’re right. I’m sure someone suggested you should visit the lake. It’s just the word
lake
isn’t exactly right.”
She turned to him as he spoke and she didn’t miss the touch of humor playing at the corners of his lips. “What word would be exactly right?”
“Hmm, if you get on a horse and ride toward the high country where my mother’s people first settled, you’ll go past a formation that was probably carved out by water aeons ago. It’s a half circle, bowl-like on a high plateau, with a jutting ledge that overlooks everything below. The half circle, maybe a half a mile across, has some good soil and a certain grass grows there in the spring. It’s thick and tall, and it’s got this odd shimmering effect to it.”
He slowed and she glanced ahead. The glow in the distance changed into lit iron lanterns sitting on heavy stone posts. “How does that get called a lake?”
He slowed more as he spoke. “When there’s a perfect full moon and a breeze kicking up at night, the grass moves with the wind. It looks just like a body of water with waves rippling across it.”
“That’s Wolf Lake?”
“It is, but I suspect the name Wolf Lake came from a wish that there was a lake somewhere nearby. It certainly sounded better than Wolf Desert, or Wolf Barrens, or even Wolfville.”
Adam steered the truck through the entrance to the ranch, the same route she and Mallory had taken when they’d come for the party. But this time they turned away from the huge barn and went up a small rise to the main house. The two-story adobe hacienda sat in the night, lights blazing on both floors and about a dozen cars and trucks parked at a circle at the top of a cobbled driveway.
Holly and berries were strung around the porch and over the door, and when Adam pushed on the carved wooden barrier, laughter and music splashed out into the night. The main room went from the front of the house to the back wall that was all windows, except for an impressive stone fireplace in the middle.
Heavy leather furniture decorated the space. The ceiling soared above two stories. Christmas details dominated, from a tree standing in the raised entry where they stepped inside, with gifts piled under it, to garlands along the staircase railing. There were a lot of people, everyone in animated conversations.
“Merry, merry Christmas,” Adam’s mother called to them as she broke away from two couples near the fireplace. She was dressed in a pretty green velvet dress that set off her skin and eyes. She hugged Adam, then turned to Faith, who expected a handshake at the most, but found herself being hugged, too.
Lark stood back, looking from one to the other, and motioned to the party behind her. “Have a bit to eat, but not too much because dinner will be ready soon.”
“Where’s Dad?” Adam asked.
“Upstairs lying down for a minute. He might come down for dinner, but I told him he didn’t have to.”
“He’s okay?”
“Yes, except for Moses telling him what he can or can’t do for a while.” She smiled at Faith. “Herbert is so stubborn.”
Faith didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded, hoping it was okay to agree with her. “Thank you for inviting me,” she said.
“Oh, dear, I should thank you for coming.” She patted Faith on the arm. “I’ll send R.J. over for your jackets,” she said, and with that she was heading across the room toward a man carrying a tray of drinks. He came over to Faith and Adam.
“Your jackets?” he asked, his hand extended.
“How did she talk you into this?” Adam asked, shrugging out of his leather coat, handing it to him.
R.J. was as tall as Adam, probably around twenty or so and never stopped smiling. “Honestly, money. Your parents are very generous with the help.” He turned to take Faith’s jacket. “Have a great time,” he said and disappeared.
“R.J.’s Dent’s nephew,” he explained to Faith.
“The guests are family friends?” she asked, looking over the party of women in casual clothes and men mostly in jeans and loose shirts. Every one of the men seemed to be wearing cowboy boots.
“Mostly family,” Adam said, and for the next half hour or so, he hugged the ladies and shook hands with the men, all the time explaining to Faith who everyone was and how they were all connected.
She met aunts and uncles, godfathers, cousins, second cousins and plenty of folks to whom he referred to as “our people.” He meant the Wolf family—some were from the reservation, others from town and still others from farther away. She was overwhelmed, but Adam didn’t miss a beat. And by the time dinner was announced, she couldn’t remember who was who or how they were related. Thank goodness no one gave her a test. She would have failed miserably.
The dining room was large enough to hold a massive table that, from her calculations, held twenty-eight people for dinner, plus the two of them to make thirty. Lark sat at the foot of the table, but the chair at the head of the table was empty when Adam’s father didn’t come down for the meal.
Jack was still gone, and Adam’s younger brother, Gage, wasn’t there, either. “I never know where he is,” Adam told her as the first course was being served. “Gage travels all over for business. Last I heard he couldn’t even think of coming home until next month.”
“Adam,” Lark said, raising her voice for her son to hear her. “Gage will be here when he can be, and Jack will be, too.”
Her tone was firm and Adam didn’t argue. As they ate, Adam explained the food to Faith. The meal was a traditional one in the Wolf family. There were favorites of the boys—the tamales, the corn bread, a salsa that held more heat in a drop than most hot sauces did in a bottle. Faith’s eyes watered and Adam gave her a plain flour tortilla to eat to absorb most of the heat. The main course was “Our version of pheasant,” Adam explained. But she still didn’t know what it was called, because the name he gave it had no translation from their native tongue to English.
By the time dessert was serve—a small jar of honey provided to each diner and chunks of what looked like pound cake drizzled with a berry sauce—Faith had stopped asking for labels. She just enjoyed it, and if she couldn’t pronounce the names, she was okay with that.
When they adjourned to the living room again, Faith sat by Adam on a deep comfortable couch. She fought the urge to just lean into him and relax. She gazed around the room, at people who meant a lot to each other, an extended family that gave new meaning to the word
extended,
and she felt sad that both she and Adam had walked away from family. They had to be fools.
Lark stood up and got everyone’s attention. “Present time,” she declared and motioned to a couple of guests to help her. One by one gifts were taken from under the tree and given to each guest, accompanied by a kiss from Lark. The distribution was done so each person eventually had a gift in their lap, then Lark turned, motioned Adam to the tree. He got up, removed an ornament off a middle branch, then went to give it to his mother. He handed her what looked like a small blue foil box, then Lark crossed to Faith and handed it to her. “Merry Christmas,” the woman said softly, stooped and kissed Faith on the cheek. She then smiled, her arms outstretched to the room. “Everyone open your present.”
Faith stared at the small box in her palm, and Adam settled back by her. She met his gaze, hoping he couldn’t see the tears that were starting to form. “What is this?” she asked, hearing the tightness in her own voice.
“Open it,” he said softly, and his arm went around her shoulders. She undid the ribbon on the box with unsteady fingers, murmuring, “I didn’t get anyone anything.”
“You came. That’s present enough,” Adam said close to her ear, and the threat of tears increased.
She wished he wasn’t so close or so kind, and she wished she had never come. Wrong was wrong, and she’d really been wrong. Refusing the invitation would have been better than sitting here close to crying, wishing she could burrow into Adam’s hold and never leave.