by Linda Style
His father turned and looked at him. “Is it such a hard thing to believe, that someone would actually want to be here with me?”
“No, Dad. Of course not. You have company all the time, don’t you?” No matter how hard he tried to be nice, his father made it impossible and Luke couldn’t seem to hold back his sarcasm. But then it wasn’t likely he’d hurt the old man’s feelings anyway. Nothing fazed his father. And he usually gave out more than he got.
“People never did take to me, like they did your mother,” Abe said. “And when she died, it was hard to be nice to anyone.”
Including me. But this time, Luke bit back the words. He’d come here to make amends with his father and dammit, he was going to. “I know you missed her. I did, too.”
“I still do.”
The softness in his dad’s voice might’ve made Luke think he actually meant it.
“So why are you here?” Abe eyed Luke narrowly. “I know you didn’t come just to keep an old man company.”
Luke forced his mouth into a smile. “But you’re wrong. That’s exactly why I came. I had two weeks’ vacation and I thought it a good opportunity for us to…to reconnect.”
Abe snorted, then as if he hadn’t heard a word, walked to the next post and started righting it.
Yeah. Luke sighed watching him. He’d been stupid to think he might get a different reaction. What he wanted didn’t mean squat when it came to his father. Never had. “So, getting back to Jules. I know she likes you and all that, but what’s the other reason she’s here?”
“Ask her, not me.”
“I did. She won’t tell me.”
“Shoot. If you’d kept in touch with her, you’d know why she was here.”
Keep in touch? Where had his father been all this time? Julianna didn’t want anything to do with him. It was her decision and he’d respected it.
“And if you hadn’t bailed on the marriage, she probably wouldn’t be here at all.”
Picking up the roll of wire, Luke gritted his teeth, then started attaching the end of the wire to the first post. “That was five years ago, Dad. Long enough for you to quit harping on something that’s over and done with.”
“She was the best thing that ever happened to you,” his father grumbled.
Yeah. He’d thought so, too. “Like Mom was the best thing that ever happened to you?” Sarcasm laced his words.
Slowly Abe turned, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Yes, like your mother.”
He’d hit a nerve. He’d spent a lifetime wanting to say that and trying not to. And now that he had, he didn’t feel any better. “Julianna may have been the best thing for me, but I wasn’t the best for her. I doubt she’d agree that there’d been anything good between us.”
“People don’t always say what they mean, you know,” Abe grumbled, then spat on the ground.
Yeah, he knew. He saw it in his job all the time. People lied to save their butts. But Julianna wasn’t a liar. She’d meant every last hurtful word. Every time he thought about it…he wanted to punch something. Hell, right now, dealing with both Jules and his father, he wanted to do that and then some. And his head felt about to explode.
“Things happen,” Abe said. “Good stuff, shitty stuff. It’s called life. If love is there, it’s there. People go on.”
“Dammit. It’s not there. And it’s a dead subject, Dad. Now why don’t you just tell me why she’s here and be done with it.”
Abe grabbed the roll of wire Luke held and yanked it away. “I told you. It’s not my place. Ask her yourself.”
Luke released his grip before the wire cut his hand. Then suddenly Abe spat out a string of cuss words. His face went ghost-white, his lips blue. He staggered back, grabbed his chest and sank to his knees.
Shit. Luke dropped the roll.
CHAPTER FIVE
“IT’S OKAY, MARK. I’m finishing the story and that’s that. I’m in the safest place I could be, under the circumstances.”
“But you can’t stay there forever.”
She sighed. “I know. Once the story is done—”
“What makes you think this lowlife will stop bothering you when you’re finished?”
“That’s what his threats are about. He doesn’t want me to finish, so if I do, he’s lost.”
“I think you’re wrong. It could make him even more incensed that you didn’t listen.”
That was true. So far it had. “Look, Mark, I’m not going to live my life in fear because of some jackass. No one is going to tell me what I can and can’t do when it comes to my writing.”
“Well, I can.”
She stifled a laugh. “Right.” Mark was such a cupcake. He’d given her free rein after only a month on the job. And she was careful not to abuse the confidence he had in her. “You’ll see. It’ll be business as usual after the last installment.”
“Damn, I hope you’re right. Because otherwise I’m going to feel responsible.”
“So, what else is new, Dad?” Mark wasn’t much older than her own thirty-two years, but he acted as if he was sixty sometimes.
He chuckled. Finally.
“I’ll be in touch.” As she hung up, Julianna heard something bang outside. She glanced at her watch. Luke and Abe had only left a half hour ago, it couldn’t be them.
Just as she went into the kitchen, Abe burst through the back door, Luke right behind him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing a little good sense won’t fix,” Luke said.
Abe waved him off with a hand covered with a blood-soaked cloth.
“Oh, you’re hurt!”
“Just a little cut. I’ve had worse. No big deal.”
“When did you last have a tetanus shot?” Luke asked.
Abe shrugged.
“That’s what I thought.”
“That’s enough, you two. What we need right now is a first-aid kit. Do you have one, Abe?”
“Under the sink in the bathroom,” he grumbled, then quickly added, “But I’m not going to get any shots.”
“Can you get it, Luke?” Julianna lifted Abe’s hand to see the damage. “What were you doing?”
“Nothin’ I don’t do all the time. I just got distracted.”
As Abe answered, Luke returned with the kit and handed it to Julianna. She went to work, cleaning the wound, a gash about two inches long. “You really should see a doctor. It might need stitches.”
No response.
“While you’re taking care of that, I’m going back out to finish what we started.” Luke motioned with a tip of his head that Julianna should follow him outside.
“Hold the pressure on it, and I’ll be right back, Abe.”
Outside on the porch, Luke stood with his feet apart, arms crossed over his chest. “He wasn’t distracted,” Luke said, keeping his voice low. “He looked unsteady on his feet, as if he was dizzy or something. Then he fell. But he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. Maybe while I’m gone you can find out. I think he needs to see a doctor…whether he wants to go or not.”
Julianna saw concern in Luke’s eyes. For a tough cop, he felt things intensely, though it wasn’t always easy to tell.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Just as she turned to go back inside, Luke placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You’re going to have to tell me why you’re here, because we both know it’s not just a visit. I don’t have any desire to pry into your personal life… I mean if it’s something like you’ve had a fight with your boyfriend or whatever, just say so and I’ll butt out. But if it’s something else and it involves my father, then I need to know.” He stared at her, lips pressed together. “Besides, you know I’ll find out one way or another.”
The skin on her arms prickled. “And what does that mean?”
He shrugged, but didn’t let her go. “I’m a detective.”
Oh, yes. He was that. And he’d keep picking and poking until he got answers. She pulled away. “Okay…it’s personal. It doesn’t involve your dad, so butt out.” She
stalked back inside. It wasn’t exactly a lie. It was personal…and if telling a tiny untruth meant he’d leave her alone, so be it.
After she finished cleaning Abe’s wound and bandaged it as best she could, she said, “So, how about that tetanus shot? I’ll be happy to drive you.”
“Nearest doc is in a little clinic outside Pecos.”
“Fine. Let’s go.” Before he could protest, she said, “Oh, one other thing.”
He glanced at her.
“I received a couple of voice-mail messages on my home phone. Threatening messages.”
“The bastard,” Abe spat out. “It’s a good thing you’re here then.”
“I was thinking of going somewhere else.”
“Nonsense.”
She sat on a chair next to him and clasped his good hand. “It’s not nonsense. If there’s any chance I’m in danger, then my being here puts you in danger, too.”
Abe squinted. “Why do you think you’d be any safer someplace else? No one’s going to find you here. And if they can’t find you, that keeps us both safe. Right?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I took precautions, but I can’t be sure it was enough. I couldn’t bear it if—”
He held up a hand. “I won’t hear of it,” he sputtered. “You leave, you’ll have the same problem. This is the best place and that’s the end of it.”
Smiling, Julianna gave Abe a long hug.
“So, let’s quit jawing and get that shot.”
“I’ll leave a note for Luke.”
She reached to help Abe get up, but he waved her away.
“Tell him we’re going to the grocery store. He doesn’t need to know we went to the clinic.”
“I’ll write the note however you want it.” Luke would know where they’d gone. He was a smart guy. Someone who could unravel puzzles in a flash, who understood people at a glance. And he hadn’t believed for a second she was there on vacation. But what difference did it make to him why she was there?
If he’d just finish the fence, hire someone to help Abe and then go home, she’d be fine. But she recognized the determined look she’d seen in Luke’s eyes, the one that said he’d never give up. He wasn’t going to go home any time soon, and he would hound her until he found out what he wanted to know.
CHAPTER SIX
THAT NIGHT DURING a very late dinner, Luke told Julianna and Abe about his progress with the fence. “But there’s still more to do,” he said.
Luke didn’t ask why Abe’s hand was bandaged differently and Abe didn’t offer that they’d gone to the clinic. Julianna talked about the weather, of all things, simply because she wanted to get through the meal without any further references to why she was there.
So far, so good. She brought dessert to the table, a pie that she’d picked up at the grocery store after Abe had his hand stitched and had grudgingly submitted to a tetanus shot.
“Good pie,” Luke said after wolfing down a mouthful.
“Thanks to Sara Lee.”
“Pot roast was good, too.” Luke speared another bite of pie and brought it to his lips.
Her eyes fastened there, on his mouth, the little indentation in the middle of his top lip.
“I don’t remember you cooking much before.”
Maybe that was because he was never home at dinnertime. She and Mikey had eaten alone most nights. “I learned a thing or two when I had an exchange student living with me for a while. Actually the student was doing an internship at the magazine and somehow I ended up with her at my house.”
“You have a house?” Luke looked surprised.
“A loft condo. No upkeep, and someone else does all the fixing.”
He nodded. “Not a bad idea. At my place there’s always something going wrong.” His bluer-than-blue gaze caught hers. “But then, you know that.”
Her pulse quickened. Was he still living in his grandfather’s house? The house they’d shared?
“That’s why I didn’t want that place,” Abe grumbled. “Too much fixin’.”
Both she and Luke turned to Abe. Then Luke said, “And there isn’t here?”
“It’s different,” Abe grumped. “There’s memories here.”
Julianna sighed. There were memories—both here and at the house in Venice Beach. She couldn’t believe Luke was still living there.
“The ranch has memories of all kinds,” Luke said. “Some good, some not so good.”
Abe’s chair scraped on the tiles as he abruptly rose to his feet. “I need to feed the horses, and then it’s time for me to turn in.”
When Abe was gone, she carried some dishes to the sink. “The doctor gave your father a tetanus shot and put five stitches in the cut.” Luke was right behind her with the dessert plates. Close. She moved to the side to put the dishes in the dishwasher.
“Good.” Luke scraped off a plate and handed it to her.
“He said Abe should come in for a checkup.”
Luke gave a dry laugh. “I don’t have to guess what the old coot’s response to that was, do I?”
“Right. But I think someone really needs to make sure he goes. He hasn’t seemed like himself since I got here.”
Luke leaned on the counter, watching as she finished up. Suddenly she got all sweaty, unnerved to have him so close. It seemed odd that they were talking about Abe as if they were still married.
“If you could work some of your magic to get him to agree, I’d be indebted,” he said.
The soft plea in his eyes touched her. She put the last cup into the dishwasher, added soap, pushed the button and started the machine. “I’ll see what I can do. But right now, I’ve got work to do.”
Luke’s gaze followed as Jules walked away. She’d seemed nervous—as if she couldn’t wait to get away from him. If he didn’t know better, he might think… But hell, she was probably worried that he was going to ask again why she was there. And truth was, if she hadn’t left, he would’ve.
Repeatedly asking the same question was one way to wear someone down. He did it with suspects all the time when he thought they weren’t being truthful. While Jules might not be lying, something was definitely wrong. She jumped out of her skin every time the phone rang.
Walking into the living room, he heard the kitchen door slap shut. His dad coming back inside. Abe had said he was going to bed, and though it seemed early for that, his father’d had a busy day what with the fence and the doctor and all. Unlike his dad, Luke’s exhaustion was more mental than physical.
As he reached the well-worn couch, its worst parts covered with a red-and-blue Southwestern serape blanket, he inhaled the familiar scent, a mixture of cigarettes, Old Spice and old man. He glanced around. Nothing had changed. Nothing in the house and nothing with Abe.
Coming here with the idea of smoothing out his relationship with his dad was obviously a bad idea. Abe was too set in his ways. More importantly, his dad didn’t give a rat’s ass about mending anything between them. And now, in addition to finding hired help, he had to get Abe in for a physical.
He couldn’t leave until he had those two things under his belt. Maybe finding Jules here was a good thing. She had a way with people…could get them to do things without them realizing it.
An image of Jules popped into his head. An image of how she looked today, not the one he’d carried for the past five years. She looked more mature, more comfortable in her own skin, and she was every bit as beautiful as he remembered. Just watching her had made his blood run hot through his veins…made him remember what it was like to feel something.
Something other than duty and responsibility.
And Jules was the last person he should be thinking about like that. He reached for a magazine. The Achilles’ Heel. What the hell. Reading might get his mind on something else. As he flipped it open, the title of feature article practically leaped off the page. “Missing.”
He read a couple paragraphs. Turned the page. What the—the story was about a little girl who’d been abducted fifteen y
ears ago in Los Angeles. Renata Willis. He tossed the magazine on the pile and picked up another. Another story with the same theme, but a different child.
His chest tightened as if in a vice. A violent storm burst from the dark well inside him. He shuffled through the magazines. Geezus, how long had she been doing this? A sharp, heart-stabbing pain drove into his chest.
How could she!
CHAPTER SEVEN
SOMETHING WAS WRONG. Luke had kept his distance from her all day, barely grunting when Julianna or his father asked a question. Would he like coffee? Grunt. Aren’t you going to have breakfast? At least that one had gotten a grumble that she thought was a “No thanks. Gotta get to work.”
He’d left immediately and, since he’d been gone all day, he had to have long since finished the fence. “He can’t still be working, can he?” she asked Abe as they finished up dinner. “It’s getting dark.”
“Luke can take care of himself.”
“I know he can, Abe. But for him to be gone so long, something could’ve happened. Aren’t you worried just a little? Curious maybe?”
“Nope. I learned a long time ago that Luke doesn’t need anyone to worry about him.” He glanced at her from under his brows. “And I think you seem more worried than necessary.”
Julianna stared at him in surprise. Abe never talked about anything personal. Never once had he mentioned the divorce. “I don’t know what you mean.”
As he smiled, the crevices in his face deepened and she saw a glint in his faded blue eyes. Eyes that reminded her vaguely of Luke’s. “You know what I mean.” He rose from the chair, raised his hands in the air. “But then I’m an old man and you probably think I don’t know what it’s like to be in love.”
She did a double take. “I…I’m not…there’s nothing—”
“It’s okay. No need to explain.”
Sheesh! What did Abe think? That she’d been pining away for Luke for five years?
~~~
JUST AS LUKE WAS finishing up the fence, he heard a noise behind him and turned to see Stella Hancock astride a pinto that looked as old as she was.
