Cutter Mountain Rendezvous (19 page)

“You’re leaving?”

“You told me to. I’m packed. I’ll be out of your hair after Lindsay leaves.” He moved into the kitchen.

“Is Sasha waiting in Knoxville to bid you a safe trip?” Colton stopped in his tracks in her peripheral vision. She bit her lip. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” Kate pulled the tea pitcher from the refrigerator while he reached for a tray she kept on top. She put snickerdoodles on a large red plate. Colton opened the cupboard to remove glasses. She couldn’t help but notice they worked together no matter they were at odds with each other.

“You want a glass for your ex? Not that he deserves any.”

Kate stared blank at him and shook her head as if to clear the cobwebs. He hadn’t denied Sasha would be waiting. The omission made her stomach turn. “Sure. He won’t drink any but the least we can do is look hospitable.”

Four glasses were filled with ice and set on the tray with the pitcher. Napkins were added before he took hold of the tray and headed for the front porch. Kate was left to trail in his wake. “Fine. Leave. Go to her,” she mumbled, thinking they were far enough apart to miss her comment.

“Can’t hear you,” he said and let the screen door slam in her face.

Kate stood there shocked for a moment. The act did wonders to get her emotions under control. In exactly ten minutes Trey would arrive and she would have enough bad temper steaming beneath the surface to get her through the trauma of Lindsay leaving—then Colton.

A car pulled in the driveway, and Lindsay flew off the porch. “Grandma. Grandpa.”

Kate closed her eyes a second. She was losing it. How could she forget her parents were coming to see Lindsay off? She turned around and went back into the kitchen for more glasses. By the time she joined the expanding group on the porch, Lindsay was opening a present from her grandparents: an American Girl doll Lindsay wanted for Christmas and didn’t get. The kid was having a grand time being showered with gifts from everyone except her own mother. She began to feel like a heel. She’d bought Lindsay new outfits and shoes, but nothing fun.

“Mom, Dad.” Kate smiled and the screen door snapped shut. She heard Colton tell her dad, “Spring’s too tight. Needs to be adjusted.”

“Here, let me help.” Eva came to her daughter’s aid with sympathetic eyes. “You look dreadful, honey. It’s only a month. Remember that.”

“Don’t be nice, Mom, or I’m going to lose it.”

Lively conversation filled the porch as the time quickly passed. Kate smiled and talked but she felt like she was in a vacuum. Her watch was poised in such a way she could watch every second. Trey was ten minutes late. The tea her mom poured her sat sweating on a napkin next to an uneaten cookie.

By the time the limo pulled into the drive, Kate was buzzing from one unneeded task to another.

Everyone went quiet as the gleaming black limo rolled to a stop. Lindsay didn’t fly off the porch to greet Trey as she had Colton. The limo driver rushed around to the side door and opened it for a conservative young woman with long brown hair pulled back sleek and clipped at the nape of her neck like Kate’s. “Hi. I’m Terri Vance, the nanny who will accompany Lindsay to California,” she said with a nervous smile. “Trey sends his apologies, but he was called into emergency surgery and was unable to make it.”

“Lindsay isn’t going anywhere without her father,” Kate said with firm authority. The nanny looked all of eighteen.

Miss Vance straightened her back. “Trey’s going to be very upset if we miss our plane,” she said, red-faced.

It was Carter Crockett who stepped forward. “Did Trey tell you about this, Kate?”

“No.” Kate looked into her mom’s worried eyes as her cool fingers slipped around her shoulders. The other of Eva’s hands held onto Lindsay. “I’ve not heard a thing other than the e-mail confirming he’d be here to get her.”

Carter walked up to the young nanny. “Like Kate says, Lindsay goes nowhere until we reach her father.”

“We’ll miss our plane,” Miss Vance protested a little less forcefully, twisting her fingers around the strap of her purse.

“Then you’ll have to get another,” Kate told her. “I’ll go inside and try to reach him. Help yourself to sweet tea and cookies while we get this sorted out.”

Eva stayed behind and tried to explain to Lindsay what was going on, while Carter talked to the nanny. Kate heard him ask to see what documentation she might be carrying to prove she was who she claimed.

Colton followed Kate inside. “Tell the bastard to pick her up personally just like you did the nanny.”

Kate ignored him and dialed Trey’s personal cell number and hung up when his voice mail kicked in. Next she tried his office, where a receptionist informed her he was in surgery. “You tell Trey this is Kate and that his daughter is going to miss her plane, if he doesn’t call me immediately. Yes. Kate Crockett, Trey’s former wife. Yes. Thank you.”

“You need to lay off the sweet tea. That was downright too nice.”

“Why should a receptionist be punished because Trey’s the jerk?” Kate stood at the sink and clutched the edges of the cold, unyielding stone counter until her fingers ached. Colton came up behind her to place his hands on her shoulders, kneading the knots from her muscles with his thumbs. His warm skin smelled masculine and fresh as she relaxed into the hard planes of his chest, forgetting they were at odds with each other. His large, solid form behind her made her feel safe and small. She closed her eyes. “What’s he up to, Colton? He’s done this on purpose.”

“It’s a power move.”

“You’re right. He’s showing me he can still have his way almost three thousand miles apart.” She yanked the clip from her hair and dug her fingers into her scalp to loosen her hair from the style that matched Miss Vance’s.

“For the moment, give the guy the benefit of the doubt. It’s possible he had emergency surgery. Maybe some broad’s boob burst or her ass slipped down to her ankles.”

She chuckled in spite of herself. His lame attempt at humor eased the tension between them. Kate felt good to have Colton on her side, along with her parents. For once, she didn’t have to go it alone like so many times in Nashville. Her phone jingled. “This is Trey’s personal number. No way is he in surgery.” She gave Colton a triumphant smirk and jabbed the talk button. “Did you really think I’d let Lindsay take off with a stranger?”

Colton rested his hip against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. It appeared Trey had grabbed hold of the conversation while Kate tried to jump in from time to time with a protest. “No—I don’t care—it’s in our divorce agreement. You have to accompany her in person. We both agreed. What? No. She goes nowhere—”

Enough was enough. As Kate paced past him he made a grab for the phone. “Trey, this is Colton Gray. A friend of Kate’s. You’ve exactly thirty minutes to call back with new arrangements. Got it?”

Judging by the silence on the other end of the phone, Colton figured Trey was not only shocked by the change of voice but the manner in which he had been spoken to. It didn’t take him long to regroup and give Colton an earful. Never wavering under the barrage of threats, Colton said, “That tirade cost you five minutes. And every day you’re late picking up your daughter in person comes off her visit. Call Kate the minute your plans are in place.”

He hung up to see Kate’s mouth pressed into a grim line with her green eyes blazing a path of destruction his way. “That’s how you handle an asshole,” he said and stalked from the room.

“It doesn’t work with you,” she called after him.

He couldn’t hold back the grin that threatened to sweeten the sour mood he’d been trying to sustain. He did intend to leave, but at least he and Kate might be able to part on better terms with the delay.
What a jerk
. He winced remembering the term had been applied to him more than once.

Outside, he explained the situation to Carter. The nanny was off walking away from the group and having trouble getting a cell connection. Colton didn’t bother to tell her if she walked to the clearing near the barn she’d be able to make a call. As he strode over to where Eva was entertaining Lindsay, the limo driver sat, detached, behind the wheel reading a book. “Why don’t you go inside and give Kate a hand. I’ll take Lindsay for a walk.”

“Thank you.” Eva made a light touch to his forearm. “She’s about to jump out of her skin. A walk will do her good.”

“No problem. Come on, Half-Pint. I’ll show you where the dock broke and dumped me in the drink.”

“You were a drink?”

“No, that’s an expression for water. The lake was the drink, like water.”

“What’s an expression?”

Eva laughed. “Good luck with that one.”

“Come on. I’ll show you the dock and explain it.” When Lindsay hesitated and looked over at the nanny, Colton squeezed her shoulder. “Everything’s okay.”

“Where’s Daddy?”

“He’s coming. I promise. He’s late. By the time we get back from our walk, everything will be squared away. Just prepare yourself. You might not be going to California until tomorrow because Daddy may not be able to make the plane on time. But that’s cool. You and I will find plenty to keep us busy. Okay?”

“Okay.”

When she slipped her hand into his, he had to swallow the lump in his throat. Hell, he was a goner. Half-Pint had captured his heart faster than any woman, except Kate. The thought sent a rush of blood to his head. As much as he wanted to deny the feelings stirring for Kate, they were there in his subconscious ready to attack at his most unguarded moments.

“Will I fall in the drink?”

“No. I’ll make sure you’re safe so we stay nice and dry.” He looked into her round blue orbs of adoration. There was a bow on top her head holding a tuft of hair off her angelic face. Usually, Lindsay wore a ponytail like her mother. It would be a full-time job keeping the boys at bay once the half-pint was a full-sized quart.

Their chatter melted away into the sounds of nature around them. Underbrush crunched beneath their feet. The lake glistened in sight.

Colton had distracted Lindsay for the thirty minutes that allowed Trey to come up with a new plan, when he suggested they return to the house.

Fury did a slow burn through his veins when he learned Dr. Tremont Benson was a snake of the worst kind.

Chapter Sixteen

“Trey’s sitting at the Knoxville airport. Said he thought it would be easier on Kate if they didn’t see each other,” Carter related with anger burning in his eyes. “I never trusted the sneaky bastard, but Kate’s never been able to see it.”

“I’d have to disagree. She divorced him.”

The show of manipulation proved a poor choice when everyone piled into Carter’s SUV to follow the limo holding the nanny back to Knoxville.

The airport greeting held enough palpable tension to create a bar room brawl, until the Half-Pint flung her arms around her father. “Daddy.”

Instant dislike permeated every bone in Colton’s body. How had Kate fallen for this guy? Short and trim in expensive slacks and shirt, his dark blond hair was the color of Lindsay’s, but his blue eyes were pale and calculating and hardened his fine features.

Colton held back from the greeting scene to see Kate’s jaw tense. Eva fought tears while Carter stood next to her as erect as a board with his hands in his pockets. He wondered if Carter’s fists were balled like his own and itching to bloody and break the nose of the pretty-faced plastic surgeon, who smirked at him after his daughter let loose of his neck. Then he recalled no one knew of Trey’s physical brutality toward Kate other than him and Trace Patton.

Opportunity knocked for Colton and Trey to have a moment out of earshot of the group. Trey sneered with a sharp assessment of his features. “I hear your pitching days are over. You might want to consider getting that jaw refined should Hollywood call. If anyone will have you,” he hissed.

“Yah? Remember this.” Colton stuck his hands in his pockets to keep them off Trey’s neck and edged up closer. “If you ever lay a finger on Kate or Lindsay, you’re a dead man.” Fury the likes of which Colton seldom felt blazed through the words.

Colored drained from Trey’s face. He took a step back and found the wall. “Is that a threat?”

“It’s an oath.”

Carter, ever vigilant to trouble brewing, stepped into the scene and took control. Colton walked away and joined the group near the security entrance.

By the time Carter was done, Trey’s pale skin was a bright crimson that made the nanny shift on her feet and rush to his side, taking hold of his hand. The three made their way into the line funneling through security. Lindsay’s pink backpack was easy to spot as they snaked through the line.

Trey kept his back to the group, who watched helpless and solemn, while he busied himself on his cell phone. Lindsay turned to wave before going through the scanner. Kate, Colton and her parents put on happy faces and waved vigorously.

Grim faced and silent, they headed back to Carter’s SUV.

“What did you two tell Trey?” Kate asked once they were out on open highway.

Colton shifted in his seat. “I told him he was a dead man if he ever tried to pull another stunt like he did with Lindsay. What about you, Carter?”