A Great Kisser

by Donna Kauffman

  Jake glanced at RJ, then ducked his gaze for a moment. This was the part he’d been dreading.

  “Jake?” Lauren asked. “What is it?”

  RJ leaned forward and put her hand on his knee, but spoke to Lauren. “I have no idea what he might have cooking with the Covingtons. I do know that he stays in contact with people in San Francisco, still has some business there though I’m not really involved in any of that. But I know he communicates out there regularly. He has connections in Denver and in Washington. He’s also formed some bonds with other town mayors, most of them mayors of much larger towns than ours. He’s politically very savvy for a man who has been buried in the wilds of the Rockies for so long. So, while it’s not probable that he’s got the kind of deep pockets he needs, it’s not impossible, either.”

  Both women turned to him expectantly. “What else do you know?” Lauren finally asked.

  He swore silently. “Remember, we don’t know what the situation is between your mother and Arlen, as far as running in this race goes, and we’ve already jumped to enough conclusions.”

  Lauren’s expression fell. “It’s my mother,” she said quietly, resignedly. “That’s his connection, isn’t it? My mother’s name, her father’s name, my dad’s name, all of her lifelong contacts.” She held his gaze. “I’m guessing her money, along with whoever she can get on his bandwagon?”

  “Your mom, yes. And…you.”

  Lauren’s eyes widened, clearly surprised. “Me? Seriously?”

  “Maybe that was the reason behind the calls to D.C.,” Ruby Jean said. “To confirm that you were really gone, and possibly to confirm that you hadn’t already accepted another position, or if you had, what the position was. Would make sense then, to use the headhunter guise. Determine you really are a free agent with no attachments, then your name can be casually dropped with those to whom it would matter, without risking having egg on your face later if it came to light that you were already dedicated to some other campaign or politician.”

  “What is being said, regarding me?” Lauren wanted to know.

  “Just that he has not only Charlene’s widespread and very well connected support, but that you would be throwing your significant weight, given your very dedicated reputation, and very direct contacts, behind him as well.”

  Lauren sank back in her chair. “I…don’t know what to say to that. Other than I know my mother wouldn’t have sanctioned that, not without making sure I was really on board. And she knows, given our conversations as recently as yesterday, that while I am far more at peace now than I was before I got here…that I still have some major reservations about Arlen. She’d have to know that I wouldn’t vocally throw any support in his direction, when I haven’t even done it privately as yet.”

  “You don’t think she knows about any of it,” Ruby Jean said.

  Lauren stood abruptly and paced, saying nothing, and both Jake and Ruby Jean let her have a few moments to think. She finally stopped by the office door and looked at them both. “But there is one way to find out.” She looked at Ruby Jean. “I could just ask her.”

  Chapter 24

  Lauren steered Jake’s Jeep into the parking lot of the motel. Jake was pulling an all-nighter working with Paddy’s cronies on Betty Sue, so she’d opted to come back to her motel room. She had wanted to go out and meet the guys, but after the conversation in the office, she’d been pretty scattered emotionally and wanted some time to sort things out. Another time would make for a better hello.

  But another time was not what she’d wanted with Jake. It wasn’t just about wanting to spend the night with him, but needing to. Not for the physical intimacy, in this case, but because she was so scattered and uncertain about what to do next. And she knew that he’d have helped her regain her focus and sort things out. They’d have figured it out together, she knew that. It surprised her how definitively she already knew that. She also completely understood his need to focus on the race, so she wasn’t upset. He’d even asked her if she’d rather stay up at his house. But she’d ended up deciding that maybe she needed to completely step away from all of it in order to figure out how to handle the next step.

  Ruby Jean had offered to drop her off, but Jake had told her to take the Jeep. His sister left first, but Lauren had ended up with only a few scant minutes alone with Jake before someone named Scooter was touching down on the runway and Jake had to go off and oversee the off loading of the parts and pieces that would help get Betty Sue race-worthy.

  Lauren turned off the ignition, but didn’t go right up to her room. They hadn’t made any decisions on whether she should talk to her mom, and had finally decided to think on the whole mess for a bit before making any moves at all. After all, the race for governor hadn’t even been declared yet. There was no hurry. And better to approach things in a way that wouldn’t damage future fragile bridges being built in her family, and with the McKennas, by making hasty accusations or causing strife in her mother’s new marriage where none might actually exist.

  But Lauren knew. She knew in her heart that it did exist. Jake had confirmed it with that call from Roger. Confirmed it enough for her. For the first time, that knot in her gut felt like it was there for a reason. Instead of wondering if it was just her, if she was overreacting, she finally felt like she’d figured it out. Or started to.

  Which so entirely sucked. Because while the puzzle pieces were starting to line up right, the resultant picture was oh so very wrong.

  She climbed out of the Jeep, wishing the door was made of something more substantial than tarp and plastic so she could snap it shut. She was in her room, shutting the door, when she remembered that she’d never followed up to see if Debbie was back. The whole bicycle mystery seemed so very distant and unimportant at that moment. She slung her computer bag on the bed, then paused. “Or, is it…”

  She started to pick up the room phone, then decided it would be better done in person, and left her room to head to the little front registration office. She pushed through the doors to find Jennifer there, not Debbie.

  “Hey, good evening,” Jennifer said, bright smile and welcome expression.

  “Hey, Jennifer. By any chance did Debbie get back in town?”

  “Her son made the finals, so they won’t be back for a few days, but she called me from the hotel phone where they’re staying. And I did remember to ask her about the bicycle.” Her smile fell. “I’m really sorry to tell you this, too, but she has no idea about it.”

  That had Lauren pausing. She’d been so sure she was going to get some answers. “Really? Nothing?”

  Jennifer shook her head. “She said that other than Melissa stopping by earlier that afternoon to drop those papers off for you, there wasn’t any activity that she knew about regarding you or your room. I asked the other guys on the maintenance staff, but no go there, either. I really don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Well, if it was left outside my room, I’d just cross it off to someone being a Good Samaritan, finding it and knowing it was mine, dropping it off. But it was in my room. Wait—” Lauren straightened. “What did she say about Melissa?” Her mind had been so discombobulated by the bombs dropped this afternoon that at first, when Jennifer had mentioned Melissa dropping by, Lauren had mentally checked it off as the welcome basket visit. But that had happened earlier in her stay. “What papers did Melissa deliver? I didn’t get anything from her that day.”

  Jennifer looked completely defeated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think to ask Debbie that. I just assumed it wasn’t related. I really am sorry about this. If you’d like to move to another room, I’d be glad to comp you an upgrade, or…whatever you feel is right. We’ve never had anything like this happen before.”

  Lauren started to take her up on the room change, then thought better of it. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m going to be checking out soon, anyway.”

  “Oh, I hope it’s not because—”

  “No, no, that’s not it,” Lauren assured her, though it ce
rtainly made changing her plans a bit easier. “If you do hear from Debbie again, ask her for more details on the Melissa visit. And if anyone escorted her to my room, or…just ask her to tell you everything she remembers.”

  “I sure will. And I’m really, really sorry about the trouble.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” She smiled and left a sad looking Jennifer at the desk. For all that she had privately had her fun with the town’s overwhelmingly upbeat attitude, as it turned out, there was no fun at all in seeing one of the happy, shiny people get her balloon pierced.

  She climbed the stairs to her room…and thought about Jake’s invitation. He’d asked her to think about staying up at his place. He was going to be really tied to Betty Sue and keeping his lessons going, and if she was up there, they’d be able to at least spend some time together. She’d begged off for tonight, wanting some time to think through all the revelations. But now that she was back in her motel room, she realized this was the last place she wanted to be.

  She grabbed her computer bag, then put it down again. And packed up all of her stuff instead. She hadn’t been particularly fearful of staying in her room since the bike incident, but then she hadn’t spent the night alone since then, either. “And I don’t plan to tonight, either.” At the very least, Hank would keep her company. And Jake would only be a shout away. She stowed her suitcase and computer bag in the back of the Jeep, but didn’t officially check out. Jennifer felt low enough at the moment and she just couldn’t bring herself to make her feel any worse.

  As Lauren drove back out to the school, she worked at this latest piece in the puzzle. Melissa had come to see her at some point on the same day her bike was taken. But Lauren had been with Jake at the barbecue, then later, up at his house. She had no idea exactly when her bike was taken, or when it was put in her room, so there was no way to establish a specific timeline. “For God’s sake,” she muttered. “I sound like I’m on some cop show now. Timelines.” But as she rolled through town, her thoughts turned to the facts, and the facts were that, according to Jake’s sources, who had no stake in the matter one way or the other, Arlen was using her mother, and her, as props to get himself positioned for a serious run at the governor’s office. How could that be going on and no one in Cedar Springs knew about it?

  Lauren could only assume that the flipside of living somewhere where everyone knew everything about you is they also assumed they knew everything about you. It probably had never occurred to anyone in Cedar Springs that their mayor was still dreaming of a bigger political future, much less taking action about it. It’s hard to see what you don’t even suspect. Which possibly extended all the way to her mother.

  The all-too-familiar knot tugged more tightly in her gut. She wanted—badly—to call her mom, not just to tell her, but to talk it out with her, too. It had been a very long, difficult six months, losing not only a mom, but one of her closest confidantes. Now things were supposedly better, but she still couldn’t go to her. Not yet. Lauren honestly had no idea what her mom would do with the information, or how she would react. Lauren couldn’t risk Ruby Jean’s career by blurting things out before they’d thought them through very carefully.

  Of course, looking at both sides, she supposed it was possible that her mother did know but was keeping mum, even from her own daughter, because it suited Arlen’s needs best at the moment for the word not to get out. Lauren seriously doubted her mother had gone along with both their names being used to further his chances, but he might have taken a little license there. And Lauren honestly couldn’t see her mother giving up her newfound bliss in Cedar Springs to step back into the spotlight, either. Especially a far more glaring one than she’d ever had before, even given her old life, as the First Lady of the state. Prior to coming out here, Lauren might have believed it. If Arlen had been more her type, and it had been a more traditional courtship, she could have seen her mother—the one from the East Coast—making that decision.

  But not now. Not the woman she’d spent the past few days with. Then another lightbulb went off. Maybe her mother did know, and maybe she was fine with it because she planned to stay right here in Cedar Springs while Arlen ran things from the capital. Business was a little different out here in the West, and so perhaps it would be less controversial if the governor’s wife wasn’t largely present in the capital, but spending the majority of her time back in their hometown. It would explain why her mother was so at peace with her less-than-passionate marriage. Maybe it was more a marriage of convenience than her mother was prepared to admit, whether to Lauren or possibly even herself. But if it got her a ticket to a new, more fulfilling life and Arlen a ticket to the governor’s mansion, then…people had united for stranger reasons.

  So much to process, so much to think about. And Lauren hadn’t even begun to think about what she wanted for herself in all this. Where she saw herself after the dust settled regarding everything swirling around her mom and Arlen. It was one thing to acknowledge that she wanted Jake. Another entirely to figure out what in the hell she was going to do with herself if she decided to stick around Cedar Springs and keep him.

  Her mind was spinning with all the possibilities, with the decisions that needed to be made, the talk she’d eventually have to have with her mother.

  Which was probably why she didn’t see the car pull out of a side street directly into her path—until it was too late.

  Chapter 25

  Jake stretched, arched his back, then rubbed his hand over his face. The combination of the stress of the past few weeks, nailing down funding for the race, and the sudden new relationship in his life, combined with the attendant drama there, had all apparently caught up with him. It wasn’t even that late, but he was fighting the fatigue already.

  “It’s bad when the old farts are perkier than the young buck,” Oscar commented off-handedly as he continued to work on modifications to the manifold Jake had spent the better part of two days earlier in the week trying to repair. In fact, it’s what he’d been working on when he’d left to go pick up Lauren for the first time. It was almost impossible to believe everything that had happened since. It had all evolved so quickly. If anyone had told him he’d not only be willingly involving himself with someone this close to race time, not to mention her family drama, too, but actually looking forward and excitedly anticipating whatever came next, he’d have never believed it. And yet, here he was.

  “Earth to Jake.”

  He looked up to find Ace staring at him, holding a diagram he’d just finished on a proposed engine modification. Everyone else chuckled as he pulled his head out of the clouds.

  “You want to take a look at this? Then go call your girlfriend. Better yet, have her come up here, go take a break for about an hour, then come back when you can use the head on your shoulders again.”

  He smiled a bit sheepishly and endured the good-natured ribbing that followed. He’d earned that and more. “Might not be a bad idea.” He checked over Ace’s schematic, then ducked out of the hangar and pulled his cell phone out as he strolled toward the parking lot, looking up at the full moon. It was crazy how much he missed her, and she’d only been gone an hour or two. He grinned as he punched her number. But it was a crazy he didn’t want a cure for.

  Her phone rang a few times and his grin started to fade when she didn’t pick up. Maybe she was in the shower. He doubted she’d gone to bed. Then another thought hit him, but he immediately rejected it. Or tried to. She wouldn’t have gone out to talk to Charlene. They’d agreed to sleep on it and get together again in the morning to discuss the smartest way to proceed. Her voice mail picked up and he left a quick message telling her he missed her and to call him whenever she got his message.

  He flipped his phone shut, but wasn’t ready to head back inside just yet. He thought about going to the front office and looking through the articles again. Lauren had printed off everything she’d scanned and made copies of the rest, so he had the same file she did now. So did RJ. He smiled again, b
riefly, thinking about how happy it had made him, seeing the two of them hit it off so naturally. He couldn’t have asked for more.

  There was a siren in the distance, down in town, and it drew his attention from his thoughts. He’d been walking toward the front office door but detoured around the building to where the road leading to the school cut in toward the parking lot. The vantage point there was a good one, and he could see all the way down into town. Sirens weren’t a common sound in Cedar Springs, so he was curious to see what was up. The flashing lights belonged to a police car, judging by the color, and an ambulance. Car accident, he was guessing. He hoped it was nothing serious. He stood there and watched for a few minutes, but his thoughts were already straying back to Lauren and the situation with Arlen.

  His cell phone rang and he grinned, popping it open without even looking at the incoming number. He loved the little rush he got whenever they made contact. He hoped it took a long, long time before that little thrill faded. “Please tell me you were naked in the shower when—”

  “Jake? Jake McKenna? This is Sergeant O’Hara—”

  “What’s going on, Darryl?” he asked, surprised, then froze, his gaze tracking back to the flashing light below. A sick dread filled his gut.

  “Well, it looks like your Jeep was involved in some kind of accident. Where are you?”

  He had brief flashbacks to the day they’d come to tell him about his parents, but he shoved those brutal memories ruthlessly aside. “What happened? Is Lauren okay?”