Almost Home (27 page)
He sent her a sexy grin. "Someday
I'm going to show you just how bad I am."
Her heart was still racing
when he walked through the door, leaving her with a pile of dusty photos and a
desire to follow him home and have him make good on his promise. But she had a
job to do, and since she'd promised Zach she wouldn't quit, she might as well
get to it.
Fifteen minutes later
Justin appeared in the doorway with a Diet Coke. He set it down on the desk. "Thought
you might be thirsty. I see Zach didn't stick around too long."
"He had work to do."
"Have you found
anything?"
"Not yet." She
hesitated, then decided she
wasn't getting too
far with the photos, she might as well try something a little more direct. "There's
something I haven't told you. I'm not just looking for my mother's past, I'm
looking for my father. A few months ago I found a letter in an old chest, and
it led me to believe that my father and mother might have lived here in
he has a daughter."
Justin's expression didn't change at all. He looked
helpful, curious, but not afraid. She hated to change all that, but she had to
tell him the rest. "My mother addressed the letter to someone with the
first initial
J.
And in the chest I also found lots of cocktail napkins
and matchbooks from here, from Golden's. She must have come here a lot to see
someone."
Now the familiar wary expression entered his eyes. "Your
father's name started with a
J
,
and you think he might have come to Golden's, maybe even worked here?"
"I'm not accusing you."
"My name does start
with
J
. And I'm old enough to be your father."
"Yes. But you said you
didn't know an Evelyn Jones, and I believe you."
He nodded. "I didn't
lie about that." He paused, scratching the corner of his jaw. "Let's
see, you were asking about 1972. I was married then, you know. My wife, Karen,
and I have always been faithful to each other."
"Then it couldn't be
you," she said with a heavy heart. She wouldn't have minded having Justin
for a father. He was kind and compassionate and didn't seem to play games.
There was no reason to believe he was playing one now.
Of course, so far everyone in town claimed to have
been faithful in 1972. Either there was no adultery in
or nobody was admitting to it.
"I'll just have to keep looking. I have to admit,
I'm a little sorry. I like you. And some of my other choices aren't so hot."
His grin returned. "I like you, too, and I
suspect you'll find something here in
It may not be your father, though."
"I don't know what you mean."
He laughed. "Sure you do. Do you mind if I give
you a little bartender advice?"
"Could I stop you?"
"Sometimes when you shake an apple tree, you get
more than apples. I hope you're prepared for whatever else drops down on your
head. Because you are a living, breathing symbol of someone's sexual life,
maybe a sign of infidelity or betrayal. Some people will do anything to guard
that part of themselves. And I do mean anything."
She studied his face carefully, wondering if she'd
been mistaken about him. Was he warning her about other people or warning her
about himself? Suddenly the line between good and evil, friend and foe, didn't
seem quite so clear.
"I think I understand," she said slowly. "But
I have a burning need to know who my father is. Whether I ever see him or talk
to him or spend time with him is almost beside the point. I have to know who he
is."
"You might not want to know." Justin looked
at her, his expression somber. "You're a young woman who thinks she's
missing something, something important. Maybe it's your mother's history, maybe
it's your father's identity, or maybe it's you. A lot of folks go around
looking into other people's eyes searching for their own reflection, so they
know what to think about themselves."
"I'm not doing that," she argued, even
though she had a feeling he was far closer to the truth than she wanted to
admit. "Okay, maybe I
am
doing that. But I don't think you know
what it's like to grow up without any blood relatives."
"I might not know about that, but I do know that
you are who you are no matter who your father was or is."
"I'll try to remember that."
"Now, just don't go running to my wife with your
story about your father's name starting with the initial
J.
She'll
having me sleeping on the couch in two minutes flat."
Katherine's smile faded. Justin appeared to be
teasing, but was he really? Were his words of advice just a way of changing the
subject, refocusing her attention?
"I'm kidding," Justin said hastily. "Karen
wouldn't believe you. She knows I've been faithful. It was a joke."
"Sure, of course, a joke," she said
haltingly. "I knew that."
"I've got to get back to work."
Katherine stared at the door long after Justin had
left, wondering why it was becoming so difficult to tell the good guys from the
bad guys.
Chapter
14
Z
ach got up Tuesday morning
determined to get
back on track. The only
dreams he'd allowed himself in the last year involved Rogue. Now Katherine had
changed all that. He'd started falling to sleep with her image floating before
his eyes. He'd dreamed about making love to her, kissing her until she couldn't
breathe, feeling her melt beneath his hands, listening to her cries of
pleasure.
But he had to stay focused on his happy ending with
Rogue, not with her. With that resolve in mind, Zach spent the rest of the day
doing his job, checking each horse, reviewing their feed, their medications,
their training schedule. Once the bulk of the morning work was over, he went
into his office to follow up on phone calls, review breeding lines for
interested owners, and generally douse any small crisis that came up.
He couldn't help checking his watch off and on.
Katherine had mentioned she might spend the day gardening, and he figured she'd
probably drop by at some point, but by seven-thirty that evening, Zach realized
she wasn't going to come, and he told himself he was happy, until the door
opened and his stomach twisted into a knot.
It wasn't Katherine; it was Sam, and Zach mentally
kicked himself for wishing it were her.
Sam idled into the room with a slow, deliberate gait.
He looked tired, his sweaty hair clinging to his forehead, the lines on his
face more grooved and defined. Even his skin color seemed a bit off.
"You
look
like shit," Zach said.
"Hell of a day."
Sam rolled down the sleeves of his shirt. "I could use a beer. Make that a
pitcher. And next time you decide to leave me with the Evenson brothers, think
again."
Zach grinned. "I have
never before seen two people who think they know everything about everything
and actually know nothing."
"Yeah, well, if their
horse wasn't so beautiful, I'd tell you to get rid of 'em."
"Did they drive back
to
"I sure as hell hope
so. Did you hear from Colin today?"
"Yeah, Rogue is
settling in. As much as I hate to admit it, you were right about getting him to
the track early. He needs to be a part of that scene, although he ran like an
elephant on Sunday."
"He'll be fine. The
proof will be in the pudding, son, or in the roses as you like." Sam got
to his feet. "I'm tired, but I think I'll go get myself a Golden's burger,
see if I can rescue any pretty blondes who get accidentally splashed with
bourbon."
Zach made a face at him. "That's
not all it's cracked up to be."
"You want to come with
me?"
"No, thanks, I'm not
hungry."
"Worrying about Rogue
or worrying about that blonde?"
Zach sighed, knowing
Katherine had been on his mind all day. "Both."
"Why are you fighting so hard?"
"I'm better on my own, like you."
A frown crossed Sam's face. "You shouldn't try to
be like me."
"Why not? You're single. Married to your job.
Happy enough, right?"
"I'm very happy. But you're not me. I come from a
big family. I have six sisters and four brothers. Being the oldest, I grew up
taking care of kids. There were always too many people in my house, and I
longed to be on my own. But you're different, Zach. You've been looking for a
pack to run with, and I think it's about time you start thinking of creating
your own family."
"I thought that once before, remember?"
Sam shook his head. "
was."
Zach's jaw dropped. "Well, do you think you might
have told me? Like before the wedding."
"Would you have listened?"
"What about you?" Zach asked, purposefully
not answering the question. "Wasn't there any girl you loved enough to
marry?"
"There were lots of girls," Sam said with a
twinkle in his eye. "Still are."
"What about one special one?"
Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't remember."
"Don't or won't say?"
"I will say this. If you get a chance at love,
you should take it. Don't waste time. Don't think it will still be around when
you're ready, cuz it won't. And don't get any foolish notion in your head that
you actually get to choose the one you love. Doesn't work that way."
"That may be, but you can choose whether or not
you're going to do something about it."
"And are you going to do something about it?"
"I'm trying
not
to."
"Well, you keep trying. Me, I'm going to find
myself a nice burger, a nice beer, and a nice lady—in that order. Good night."
Sam's life seemed simple and good. It was almost
eight, and most everyone had gone home save for a few grooms who watched over
the horses at night, especially the mares that were ready to foal. Maybe he
should have gone into town with Sam. At least it would have taken his mind off
Katherine.
With a shake of his head, he stood up and strode
toward the office door. He needed to get her out of his head. And right now he
had a feeling a bottle of bourbon was his only hope. He threw open the door,
shocked when Katherine stumbled into his arms.
He caught her by the waist to steady her, and that was
all it took. He was right back where he'd been the day before, wanting her with
every breath in his body.
"Hi, Zach," she said. "I was just about
to knock." His fingers slid through the loop of her jeans as he steadied
her.
"What are you doing way out here?" he asked,
inhaling the scent of her hair, her skin. Something was off. Her hair was
mussed, and there were smudges of dirt on her face. But there was a glow about
her, a happiness shining out of her eyes that made him wish he'd been the one
to put it there.
"I've been gardening all day," she said. "I
would have kept going, but it's dark outside."
"Did you have the right tools? I thought you were
going to stop by."
"I didn't want to bother you. I just bought a few
things at the hardware store in town. It felt good to dig in all that dirt. I
needed a day off from—from everything."
"No new clues?"
"I didn't even look. I'll get back to it
tomorrow. What about you? What are you doing?"
"I was thinking about getting drunk."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Why not?"
"Do you want some company?"
He pulled her up against his chest, her soft breasts
having a hardening effect on his own body. Then he thrust her aside. "I
don't think so."