“I don't think I can explain it. You just need to know that you are the absolute best man I've ever met.”
“In bed,” Douglas clarified.
“And out,” she said meeting his gaze.
“Well, if that's true, then you'd be a fool to leave me because I want you to stay. I hadn't realized how lonely I'd been until you came and I didn't feel that way anymore.”
She tried to swallow over the lump in her throat “I don't want to go, but I think it's the right thing to do.”
“For whom? Your father.”
She fought a deep scratchy irritation that bubbled deep below her skin. “It's not about pleasing my father. It's about avoiding his nasty temper.”
Douglas went perfectly still. “He wouldn't dare try to lift a finger to you.”
She shook her head and smiled sadly. “No, but I don't like thinking about what he'd do to you.”
Douglas frowned at her in confusion. “I can take care of myself. Do you really think I'm so weak that your father could do anything to damage me?”
Wilhemina felt her smile abruptly flatten. “You don't “know my father.”
Douglas stared at her for a long moment, then rose from the bed. “I think this is a bunch of bullshit,” he said, pulling on the jeans he'd left abandoned on the floor.
Wilhemina sat up. “Oh, please, don't be that way. Please,” she pleaded. “You are everything I could ever want in a man.”
“Except for the fact that I'm a hog farmer.”
“I don't mind that you're a hog farmer at all.”
“Hmm,” he said shortly, his voice brimming with disbelief. “This sounds like a convenient excuse, Wilhemina. You didn't even trust me enough to tell me your real last name. I may be a hick, but I'm not an idiot. I was your good time in Texas. Well, thanks for being such an easy lay. Don't let the door hit you on the way out”
“Douglas!” Wilhemina called out as he snatched his shirt and stomped from the room. She jerked the sheet around herself and stumbled after him, watching the screen door slam just as she rounded the corner. She shoved it back open and called out, “I love you, Douglas.”
Already down the steps, he paused. “Would that be Wilhemina Smith or Wilhemina Rasmussen?” he asked without looking at her. Then he continued to walk.
“Wilhemina forever,” she whispered to herself. “I wonder if you'll ever figure it out.”
Michael and Katie picked up Wilhemina, dropped off the Cadillac at the nearest rental car facility, then headed for the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The four-and-a-half-hour drive was interminable. Wilhemina's sniffles were punctuated by Chantal's mews from her kennel in the backseat. Gut of deference to Wilhemina's state, Michael turned the radio station from hard rock to country. That worked for a few songs until a love-gone-wrong tune filled the car. Wilhemina sobbed and Katie changed the station to pop. Before long, however, Enrique Iglesias invaded the small space with his sensual song “Escape.” Enrique's words and voice emanated heat and need, reminding Katie of how hot Michael had made her when he'd kissed her by the pond yesterday in the sun.
Her fingers had burned to get that condom from her purse and take it to Michael and ask him to take care of the achy need he was causing in her.
Hearing another sob from Wilhemina, Katie switched the station again, this time to seventies disco.
Michael threw her a look of horror. “Disco,” he said in disgust.
Katie leaned across the console and pressed her mouth against his ear. “She needs a distraction. She doesn't need to be reminded of her feelings for Douglas.”
He tossed her a dark glance. “But do we need to make her sick to her stomach?”
“It's not that much longer. Look, there's a sign for the airport,” she said, pointing ahead.
Traffic slowed to a crawl, and Michael took a detour. After several miles, however, it appeared that they were headed away from the airport instead of toward it. Katie hated to question Mr. GPS, but she wanted to get on the earliest flight possible.
“I don't remember this route,” she mused.
“We're making a quick stop,” he said, his gaze inscrutable.
His voice held something full and heavy in it, something she couldn't read, but she sat back for a few minutes until the streets became vaguely familiar. The houses grew more grand, the lawns more lush, the driveways protected by ornate iron gates. Her chest tightened in suspicion. “We're not going—” She broke off when he took another turn to the street where her sister lived. “What are you doing? We don't have time for this.” She shook her head. “We don't—”
He pulled to a stop in front of the house. “Her car's in the driveway. Bet that means she's there.”
Katie looked at him in dismay. “So what am I supposed to do? Bang on the door and say give your long-lost sissy a hug?”
He shrugged. “You can say whatever yon want, but we're not leaving until you say something to her.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because you want to talk to her.”
He was right. And wrong. She shook her head. “Not in this situation. Not this way.”
“Why are we stopped?” Wilhemina asked between sniffs.
“Katie just needs to say hello to her sister.”
“Sister? You have a sister?”
Katie frowned at Michael. “Yes,” she reluctantly said. “We haven't seen each other in a while.”
“How long?” Wilhemina asked, craning forward to look at Lori's yard.
“I can't go knock on the door,” Katie told Michael as she began to sweat. “I'm sure the housekeeper has been told to turn me away.”
Michael shrugged. “It's been a long time.”
“How long?” Wilhemina asked.
“Twelve years,” Katie muttered.
“Twelve years! Why?”
“Long story,” Michael interjected for her. “Looks like you won't have to knock. She just came out the door.”
Katie looked at her sister and her heart stopped. Fear gripped her. What if Lori snubbed her? She would rather remember her as her sweet adoring sister. Panic twisted inside her. “I can't do this.”
“Either you do it, or I will,” Michael told her, unlocking the car doors.
Anger and fear bucked through her. “Damn you,” she said. “Damn you for interfering. I won't forgive you for this.”
Undeterred, he opened his door. Seeing him slide his foot outside the car galvanized her into action. She whipped open her car door, and stood there with her heart beating in her throat. “Lori!” she called, then took a breath. “Lori!”
Her sister paused in the act of opening her car door and glanced toward the gate. “Pardon me,” she said. “Were you calling me?”
“Yes,” Katie said, her palms damp with nerves. “I-uh-happened to be driving by. You probably don't recognize me.
Lori flipped her long hair behind her diamond-enhanced ears and cautiously stepped closer to the gate. “Who—who—” She broke off and her eyes rounded. “Priss! Priss!” She began to run and unhooked the gate. She threw herself into Katie's arms and Katie bit her lip with relief.
Lori pulled back. “I can't believe it. My father wouldn't let me call. No matter how much I cried and begged, he wouldn't let me. I couldn't stop thinking about you and Mama. Here, I was living the high life and you were stack—”
She broke off and tears streamed down her beautiful face. “I just turned eighteen last month.”
“I know,” Katie said. “Belated happy birthday.”
Lori laughed, but shook her head. “I've been trying to find you, but you disappeared. Where did you—” She peered through the shrubs to the rental car. “Who—”
Katie waved her hand. “I'm in Philadelphia. Long story. You know Mama died two years ago, don't you?”
Lori's darkened with sadness. “Yeah. My father told me that much.”
“Have you seen Dee?”
Lori shook her head. “My father pretty much cut me off. I think he wanted me to forget the first six years of my life.” She smiled. “But I didn't. Maybe you and I could go somewhere and talk. I would invite you inside, but if Daddy found out, he would freak.”
Katie shook her head. “I really can't stay. I've got to catch a plane. I almost didn't stop, but Michael forced the issue.”
Lori's face fell. “But we haven't talked in so long. I really missed you;”
Katie felt her eyes water. “I really missed you too.” She felt her throat tighten and swallowed hard. “Listen, if you have a pen, I'll write down my number for you and you can give me yours.”
Lori pulled some scrap paper out; of her tiny purse and they traded numbers. She looked at Katie and touched her hair. “I feel like I've missed half your life. You're a woman now. What do you do?”
“I'm a private assistant to a CEO in Philadelphia. I've been in Texas on a special assignment.”
Wild goose chase.
“Oh.” Lori glanced at the car. “Is that man a coworker or your husband?’
“Coworker,” Katie quickly said. “I'm not married.”
“He's hot,” she said, giving Katie a smile that probably made her father lose sleep.
“I need to go,” Katie said, ignoring the comment about Michael. She knew exactly how hot the man was. “Before I go, I hate to drop a bomb, but did you know that you have a half brother?”
Lori blinked and dipped her head. “Pardon me? I thought Mama had died. I wouldn't think even she could reproduce after that.”
Katie chuckled. “She had Jeremy before she died. He's—” She took in her sister's stunned expression and decided the rest of the story could wait. “He's up in Pennsylvania. I can tell you more about him later. He's ten and terrific.”
“My father must have known,” Lori said, a dangerous glint of anger flashing in her eyes. “He must have known and not told me.”
“He wanted to cut all ties,” Katie said.
“He succeeded,” she said bitterly, then met Katie's gaze. “For a while. If you don't call me, I'll call you.”
Warmth suffused her at her sister's determination. “Good.” She hesitated a second, then embraced her, inhaling her sister's designer perfume. “You don't smell like puppies anymore.”
“Horses, Priss,” Lori said. “I'll smell like horses in a little while.”
“You always wanted a pony.”
“And you got it for me.”
Katie pulled back. “I'm surprised you remember.”
Lori's eyes changed in an instant, revealing a deep grief. “I had a lot of time to remember.”
Katie nodded. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too, Priss. And thank the hottie for making you stop to see me.”
Katie ran to the ear, slid into the seat, and waved at Lori as Michael pulled away. Wilhemina immediately began to pound her with questions.
“She looks just like you with a makeover,” Wilhemina said.
Katie swallowed a chuckle and slid a sideways glance at Michael. He didn't say a word, but his lips were twitching.
“Why haven't you seen her in such a long time?”
“We have different fathers and her father wanted to distance her from the influence of my mother.”
Wilhemina sat quietly for a moment. “That's terrible.”
It had been. Assaulted by grief from all the lost years and the joy at seeing Lori again, Katie dug her fingernails into her palms to keep from crying. She was so overwhelmed she could hardly breathe. She closed her eyes.
Wilhemina continued to exclaim and speculate. When Katie didn't respond, Ivan's daughter continued to carry on her one-sided conversation as if she had no clue that Katie was silently falling apart in the front passenger seat. That was fine with Katie. She closed her eyes as the tears leaked out. Michael said nothing, thank goodness.
Katie might have decided she had succeeded in becoming invisible if Michael hadn't pulled his sunglasses off and handed them to her. Her stomach dipped at the protective, intuitive gesture. He knew way too much about her and the knowledge that he knew so much made her feel as if she were on a roller coaster. Exhilaration and fear. He could hurt her.
Her heart and head were too full for talking when they arrived at the airport. Michael dropped them at the curb, then returned the rental car. Katie approached a ticket agent and secured seats for the three of them along with Chantal on the next flight. Wilhemina became increasingly subdued as they went through security and got to their appointed gate. Feeling Michael's gaze on her, Katie tried not to look at him. She feared that if she did she would beg him to hold her. Stiffening her spine, she told herself she needed to stop thinking about everything that had happened in Texas and start planning how to get to Jeremy before the day was gone. His gift was at her apartment, but she needed to pick up a cake. And Gummi Worms. And she had no car. Glancing at her watch, she worried. She couldn't disappoint him. She absolutely couldn't disappoint him. Looking at Wilhemina, she saw the lost expression on her face and squeezed her shoulder. Wilhemina began to sniffle again.
She paced the waiting area next to Wilhemina as the ticketing agent made an announcement. “Passengers waiting for Flight 67 to Philadelphia, your flight is delayed due to mechanical problems. We apologize for the inconvenience…”
Amid a chorus of groans from other passengers, Wilhemina stood. “I should have stayed with Douglas,” she wailed. Chantal began to mew.
Her heart sinking to the floor, Katie whipped around and something inside her snapped. Michael was already striding to the counter. She ran after him with Wilhemina carrying Chantal as she brought up the rear.
“I can't be late,” Katie said on the edge of hysteria as she tugged at his shirtsleeve. “I absolutely positively have to get back. I can't be late.”
“I knew it was a mistake to leave Douglas,” Wilhemina said, her lower lip quivering.
Michael looked at the two human females and one feline female all voicing their shrilling demands and ground his teeth. “Sit down and take that cat out of my hearing range.”
“I can't be late,” Katie said. “I have to—”
“If you don't get that cat away from here, I'm going to tie its mouth shut. I'll handle this,” he said through gritted teeth.
The unholy light in his eyes gave her pause and she grabbed the kennel. “Let's go get a Coke, Wilhemina.”
Herding Wilhemina to a fast-food restaurant down the concourse and ordering sodas, Katie tried to put the words together in her mind to explain her delay to Jeremy, but all she could see were his disappointed eyes. Her stomach began to twist and turn. She couldn't stand the idea of not showings. Jeremy had enough to overcome without having an unreliable guardian. Unreliable. Oversexed. She was turning into her worst nightmare. Her mother.