Jen gave her a distracted look then seemed to sharpen her focus on her child. “Right. The door is locked. I’ll get it for you.”
She turned back to Wyatt. “Thank you,” she said again. “I’ll get you that picture.”
“That’s the best thing you can do right now.”
“I’m glad I told you. Rosa was right.”
She gave Rosa a look he couldn’t quite interpret, but one that left him feeling as if he had missed something significant, and then Jen grabbed her daughter’s hand and hurried for the house.
After she left, Wyatt turned to Rosa and found her looking at him with that same expression of warmth and approval.
“What were you right about?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I told her she could trust you. That you would help her if you could.”
If she believed that, why wouldn’t she trust him herself?
He could not ask. “I don’t know how much I can do. I hope she’s right, that he has lost interest.”
“But you do not think so.”
He couldn’t lie. “If the man was willing to break the law to hack into her emails and completely disrupt her life to that extent, I can’t see him giving up easily. I think he will keep searching until he finds her.”
“What can we do?”
“Not a great deal unless he does something overt. I’m sorry.”
“I feel so helpless.”
“I know. It’s a terrible feeling. I’ll do a little internet sleuthing and see what I can dig up on the guy without coming right out and contacting his department. I don’t want to run the risk of him getting wind that a detective in Oregon is looking into him, or that will certainly clue him in that she’s here. Meanwhile, I’ll circulate the picture around here when she gives me one and we will keep our eyes open.”
It didn’t sound like much, even to Wyatt. He hated that he couldn’t do more. If this Aaron Barker was obsessed enough about Jenna and Addie, he would figure out a way to find them.
“Why can’t some men take no for an answer?” she asked quietly.
He gave her a searching look but she quickly shifted her gaze away.
“It usually has to do with power and control. And some men just can’t accept rejection.”
“She has already been through so much, losing the man she loved with all her heart. It is not fair.”
“No. It’s not. I hate when any man hurts or threatens a woman, but I especially hate when he’s in law enforcement.”
“Thank you for believing her. That was the most important thing. Everyone else she told thought she was making it up to get attention or to get this man in trouble.”
“You believed her.”
“I know fear when I see it,” Rosa said simply. “She is afraid or she would not have taken her daughter away from her family and her friends.”
Something told him Rosa knew plenty about fear, as well. He wanted to press her to tell him but held his tongue.
“Have you had dinner?” he asked instead. “We were about to order takeout from the Thai place in town. Buying you dinner is the least I can do for your help last night.”
She looked shocked by the invitation. For a moment, he thought she was about to say yes. She looked at Logan, who was now digging in the dirt nearby, with a softness in her eyes that touched him deeply.
After a moment, she looked back at Wyatt, her expression shielded again.
“No, thank you.”
He wasn’t expecting the outright rejection and didn’t know what to say for a few seconds. “If you don’t like Thai food, there’s a good Indian place with fabulous curry that just opened on the other side of town. I’ve heard they deliver, too. Or we can hit up the trusty taco truck down the beach.”
“I like Thai food,” she said, her voice low.
He gazed at her, confused. Was it him she didn’t like? “Have you already eaten, then?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m not really hungry and I have much work to do tonight.”
“We can help you after we grab dinner,” he suggested.
After a moment, she sighed, looking distressed again. “I...think it is best if we do not spend a great deal of time together.”
“Why not?” He was either being particularly dense or she was being obtuse. “I thought we were friends. That’s what you said last night.”
“Yes. And then you kissed me and I forgot about being friends and...wanted more.”
He felt his face heat up. He could be such an idiot sometimes. Did he really think they could go back to a casual friendship after he had basically had a breakdown in her arms the night before, and then kissed her with all the pent-up loneliness and need inside him?
“Neither of us is looking for romance right now,” Rosa went on, deliberately looking away from him. “I know this. But when you kiss me, I forget.”
He did, too. When he kissed her, when he felt her arms around him and her soft mouth under his and the curves he longed to explore, Wyatt wanted to forget everything and get lost in the wonder and magic of holding her.
Rosa was right. Neither of them was looking for romance. The more time they spent together, the harder it was becoming for him to remember that.
It would be better to keep their distance until his house was fixed, when he and Logan would move out. Once things were back to normal and he didn’t run the risk of bumping into her every time he came home, they would be able to go back to their regular lives.
No more moonlit kisses on the stairway, no more quiet talks on the front porch of Brambleberry House.
Just him and his son and his work.
The future seemed to stretch out ahead of him, gray as a January day.
What if he was beginning to want more?
Chapter Twelve
A week later, he stood at his sister’s kitchen sink, helping Carrie thread vegetables onto skewers for the grill.
“Thanks for having us for dinner. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had much time to cook and I think Logan is getting a little tired of the taco truck for dinner.”
Carrie laughed. “Surely not. Who could be tired of that?”
He impaled a yellow squash on the metal skewer, followed by a mushroom and then a slice of onion. “I feel like I haven’t seen you since the Fourth. Tell me all about your trip.”
After taking Bella to the concert in Portland a week earlier, Joe and Carrie had driven down to San Francisco for a few days with her.
“It was fun. We did all the touristy things. Alcatraz, riding a cable car, going to Fisherman’s Wharf. And, of course, shopping. You can’t visit San Francisco without spending too much money. We bought some cute school clothes for the new year.”
He needed to start thinking about the new school year. Logan would be starting second grade. Wyatt still had a hard time believing he was that old.
He was finishing the last of the skewers while Carrie did some shrimp and some chicken when the doorbell rang.
“Are you expecting someone else?”
His sister somehow managed to look coy. “Sounds like Bella is getting it. That will be Rosa.”
He nearly impaled his finger instead of a mushroom. “Rosa is coming to dinner, as well?”
He had been trying to stay away from her the past week, at her request. How the hell was he supposed to do that when his sister invited them both over for dinner?
“Yes. I happened to drop into her store today and mentioned Joe was going to grill tonight, and we had plenty. She seemed a little down and I thought it might cheer her up a bit. I hope you don’t mind.”
Why was she down? He wanted to rush out and ask if she was all right but made himself stay put.
“And you didn’t think to tell me until now that she was coming?”
“Does it matter?”
Yes. Most cer
tainly. He would have refused Carrie’s last-minute invitation if he had known the dinner party included a woman who had specifically told him they should avoid spending more time together.
“I just wish you had told me.”
Carrie made a face. “I’m sorry. I just thought one more person for dinner wouldn’t make a difference.”
He frowned. This was the second time in only a few weeks that Carrie had invited them both over for a meal at the same time. That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? She had already mentioned she thought he should think about dating her friend.
Did his sister suspect he was beginning to have feelings for Rosa?
If Carrie had any idea about the attraction that simmered between them, Wyatt knew she wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever she could to push them together as much as possible. She wouldn’t be subtle about it, either.
He wanted to say something but before he could, Rosa and Bella came into the kitchen, Bella chattering a mile a minute about their trip.
Rosa didn’t seem to notice him at first. She was listening intently to Bella’s story about the ghost tour they went on, and smiling at the girl’s animation.
The two of them shared similar coloring. The same dark hair and dark eyes. With their heads together like that, they looked as if they could be sisters, catching up after a long time away.
He frowned suddenly as a crazy thought flitted across his brain. No. Impossible. He pushed it away just as Rosa lifted her head and caught sight of him.
Her eyes widened with shock. “Oh. Wyatt. Hello. I did not know you would be here.”
If she had known, he had a feeling she would have refused his sister’s invitation. Well, they were both here. Might as well make the best of it.
“Hi,” he answered, just as Logan came in from the family room, where he had been playing a video game with Joe.
He, at least, looked thrilled about the other dinner guest.
“Rosa! Hi, Rosa!” he exclaimed. He rushed to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as if he hadn’t seen her for months.
It had only been a few nights ago when he had gone up to her apartment for another Spanish lesson and had come back down naming every single kind of fruit they had in their house in Spanish.
“Buenas,” she said to him. “How are you tonight?”
“I’m good. Guess what? We’re having piña and fresas tonight.”
“Delicious. Pineapple and strawberries. My favorite.”
“I didn’t know strawberries were fresas. I don’t think I learned that in Spanish class last year. How did you know?” Bella asked.
“Rosa’s teaching me Spanish so I can talk better to my friend Carlos.”
Carrie beamed at them and gave Wyatt a significant look. Yeah. She was definitely matchmaking, despite the way he had basically told her to stand down the last time.
He was going to have to do whatever he could to deflect any of Carrie’s efforts in that department.
To his relief, his sister was not overtly obvious over dinner, though she did suggest he and Rosa take a look at how her climbing roses were growing, something they both managed to avoid by changing the subject.
Having his sister and her family there, along with Logan, helped make things a little less awkward between them, but he still couldn’t help remembering his hurt when she had told him they should avoid being together.
The food was good, at least. Carrie had a great marinade he always enjoyed and Joe was a whiz at the grill. Really, any time Wyatt didn’t have to cook, he was happy.
Rosa was too busy talking to Bella and Logan to seem bothered by his presence.
After they ate, Rosa was the first to stand up. “Thank you for dinner, but things were so chaotic as I was leaving work that I am afraid I was not thinking. I just remembered I left some invoices I need to pay tonight on my desk. I would not want to leave them there overnight. Will you excuse me?”
Carrie made a face. “You’re not staying for dessert? It’s homemade vanilla ice cream that Bella helped me make this afternoon.”
Rosa gave a vague smile. “It sounds very good but I really do need to go. Thank you, though.”
She hugged both females and Logan, then waved to Wyatt and Joe before hurrying away.
After she left, some of the sparkle seemed to go out of the evening. Wyatt knew he wasn’t the only one who felt it.
She was definitely trying to avoid him. He could only hope that everyone else didn’t guess that her reasons for leaving so abruptly had anything to do with him.
“I’ll have ice cream,” Logan said.
“Same here,” Bella said. “It’s delicious.”
He had to agree. It was delicious. But all that frozen, creamy sweetness still couldn’t remove the sour taste in his mouth.
“Dinner was great,” he said after everyone had finished dessert. “Logan, let’s help with dishes.”
His son groaned a little but stood up to help clear away plates and carry them back inside the house.
When the dishwasher was loaded, Bella asked if she and Logan could take Hank for a walk before Wyatt left with the dog for home. He almost said no but was in no hurry to return to the tension of Brambleberry House.
“Sure. I can wait a little longer.”
Logan was staying the night again with his aunt and uncle because Wyatt had an early meeting.
Joe got a phone call from his parents, who lived in Arizona, and excused himself to talk to them for a few moments, leaving Wyatt alone with Carrie.
“How’s the house coming?” Carrie asked after her husband left the room.
“Almost there, I’m happy to report. We should be able to move back in another few weeks.”
“That seems fast. But living at Brambleberry House worked out well, didn’t it?”
A week ago, he would have said yes. “It’s been fine. Logan has enjoyed having his own room again. It’s a lovely old house and our apartment is roomier than our actual house.”
“I’m glad. And your neighbors are nice, both of them. I like Jen and Rosa.”
That was another area of frustration. He hadn’t been able to make much progress in Jen’s situation, other than to alert the department and do a little online sleuthing. Aaron Barker seemed to be a good cop, from what he could find out. He had no black marks on his reputation that Wyatt could find after a cursory search.
At least nothing suspicious seemed to have happened since Jen had told him about her stalker. He had been extra vigilant but hadn’t learned anything new.
“Rosa is lovely, isn’t she?” Carrie said in a casual voice that did not fool him for an instant.
He finally voiced the suspicion that had been nagging at him since he discovered Rosa had also been invited to dinner.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’re trying to push Rosa and me together, even after I told you not to, is there?”
“Me? Would I do that? Don’t be silly.” She gave him a shocked sort of look but he knew his sister well enough to see past it easily. She would do that kind of thing in a heartbeat, if she thought he might have the slightest interest in Rosa.
“Are you sure? This is the second time you’ve invited us both to dinner. Come to think of it, you seemed pretty determined that I move into her empty apartment at Brambleberry House.”
“Only because it was the perfect solution when you yourself talked about moving out! I was only trying to help. As for dinner, it just so happens she is my dear friend and you are my brother. I like spending time visiting with each of you. I can’t help it if sometimes those visits overlap.”
“Can’t you?”
“I didn’t realize it would be a problem,” she said rather stiffly. “I thought you and Rosa were friends. Logan is always talking about how she’s teaching him Spanish and how much he loves her dog and how you go out for ta
cos together.”
He frowned. “That was one time, when we bumped into each other at the taco stand. Rosa and I are friends. That’s all. Neither one of us is in the market for a relationship right now. I told you that.”
“But you two are perfect for each other!”
Wyatt felt that little tug on his heart again, remembering how Rosa had held him during his moment of despair over the ugly crime scene he had just left, generously offering him a comfort and peace he had desperately needed.
He was beginning to think Carrie was right, at least on one side of the equation. Rosa was perfect for him. Smart, sweet, kind. He loved how warm she was with Logan and how compassionate and protective she was for her friend.
None of that mattered. Not when she had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him except friendship.
“It’s not going to happen. Get it out of your head, please. I would hate for you to make things awkward between us.”
Carrie looked deeply disappointed. “It’s just that I love her, you know? I want her to be happy. I want you to be happy. Why shouldn’t you be happy together? I guess I just thought...after everything she’s been through, she deserved a wonderful guy like you.”
He frowned. “That’s the second time you’ve made reference to something in her past. What do you know? What has she been through?”
Carrie immediately looked away, but not before he saw guilt flash in her eyes. “Life can be hard for people trying to make it in a new country. She came here with nothing. She didn’t even speak the language well. How fortunate she was to find her adoptive family, Anna Galvez’s brother and his wife.”
There was something else here. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. A suspicion had begun to take root but it was one he didn’t even dare ask his sister.
What if he was wrong?
Meantime, he had to do what he could to divert Carrie’s attention and prevent her from meddling further between the two of them.
“Rosa is an extraordinary woman. I agree. But I’m not looking for anybody, no matter how extraordinary. Got that?”
She looked as if she wanted to argue, but to his relief, she finally sighed. “Fine. I won’t invite you both to dinner, unless it’s a party that includes a bunch of other people.”
A Brambleberry Summer Page 13
