Jane's Gift

by Abby Gaines

  A knock on the café door had her groaning. “Can’t people read? Tell the schmuck to go away.”

  Kyle stuck his head around the booth to look. “The schmuck is my brother. With Daisy.”

  “We’ll take Daisy, send Gabe away.”

  Kyle went to open the door.

  As it turned out, Gabe was here just to pick up a sandwich for Daisy.

  “I didn’t have so much as a loaf of bread in the house,” he said. “I’d have asked Dad to feed her, but he’s at that retired cop convention.”

  That was the excuse Charles had fabricated to explain his absence. The fact that Jane knew where Charles was and who he was with pricked her conscience.

  Micki’s my friend, she reminded herself.

  “I’ll get you some food,” Kyle said. He was just returning with an egg salad sandwich and a chicken wrap when there was another knock on the door.

  This time, it was Cat.

  Jane let her in. “About time—” she began. Then stopped. “What happened to you?”

  Her sister’s left eye and cheek were swollen and red, the eye half shut. Another few hours and it would be black.

  “The guy I hitched a ride with back to Pinyon Ridge braked suddenly,” Cat said. “I was thrown forward into the dash.”

  “You weren’t wearing a seat belt?” Jane demanded at the same time as Kyle said, “You were hitchhiking?”

  “No to Jane, yes to Kyle,” Cat said. “No big deal, folks, I just won’t be winning beauty contests for a week or two.”

  “We need to get you to a doctor,” Kyle said. “You could have a concussion.

  Cat grimaced. “I do have a killer headache.”

  “I can’t leave here,” Jane said. “Kyle, could you—”

  “I’ll take her,” Gabe offered.

  Cat glared at him. “It’s okay, I can wait until Jane’s ready.”

  Gabe rolled his eyes. “Don’t disobey a man of the cloth. And do plan on wearing a seat belt in my car.”

  “I didn’t know you cared,” she taunted.

  “Daisy will be with us, so behave yourself.”

  Jane winced on her sister’s behalf. Weird how Cat could bring out the worst in Gabe.

  He fished his keys from his pocket. “Are you steady on your feet, or do you want take my arm?”

  “I’m steady,” Cat said through gritted teeth.

  He gestured toward the door. “After you. Come on, Daisy.”

  “Bye, Daisy,” Kyle said. “Love you.”

  She glanced back over her shoulder at him, but didn’t reply. Kyle had been making an effort to say it every so often—Jane just hoped he didn’t get discouraged by Daisy’s lack of response.

  “Do you think Gabe likes Cat?” she asked to distract him.

  “Are you crazy?” Kyle said. “It’s obvious he can’t stand her.”

  “You men are such simple creatures,” she said.

  He rolled his eyes. “I’ll concede they have some unfinished history, which might make things a bit more complicated.”

  She wondered if that was how he saw her and him, too.

  “Cat isn’t typical pastor’s girlfriend material,” Kyle said.

  “That’s for sure. Your dad would have kittens.”

  “He’d have something to say,” Kyle agreed. “The trick with Dad is to listen to what he has to say, which always comes out of his love for us, then make up your own mind.”

  Jane supposed Charles’s interference might be tolerable, maybe even welcome, if the recipient knew it was grounded in love.

  “Plus, Dad is always honest,” Kyle said. “You can trust what he says, no hidden agenda.”

  She should tell him about Micki and his dad. If—when—Kyle learned the truth, he’d be hopping mad to discover Jane had known all along and not told him.

  “About your father,” she said.

  “We’d better take that sign off the door,” Kyle said. “It’s gone twelve, the hordes will be here any second.”

  She checked her watch. “It’s just—”

  “Don’t look so worried,” he said. “Lunch will be a lot easier than breakfast, I swear.”

  “You’ve been a huge help,” she said. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “That cuts both ways,” he said. “We make a pretty good team.”

  “I— Yes. We do.” She flipped the sign on the door. Through the glass she saw diners converging. “You may be wrong about lunch versus breakfast. Those people look hungry.”

  “No problem,” he said. “We’ll get through. I’ll be here with you.”

  I’ll be here with you. Five simple words that combined to form a powerful promise.

  He means for lunch, Jane reminded herself. That’s all.

  But what if that promise could be more than lunch? A whole lot more? A lifetime’s worth?

  In a moment of startling clarity, Jane realized that was what she wanted.

  I love him.

  She loved Kyle, wanted him to be with her for always.

  “Jane?” Kyle called. “I’ll sell chili and sandwiches, if you’ll make the coffee.”

  “Good idea.” On autopilot, she pulled cups down from the top of the machine and started setting up for coffee. I love Kyle.

  What was she supposed to do with that?

  A brief attempt to convince herself he wasn’t worth loving failed entirely.

  Kyle Everson was a man of honor, a determined and devoted dad. He cared about the people around him and had a big-picture view of life’s possibilities. He was loyal, generous and made Jane laugh. Why wouldn’t she love him?

  The tougher question was, could he love her?

  * * *

  JANE HALF EXPECTED Micki and Charles to drive into town in convoy on Sunday evening, and tell the world they were an item. Instead, they returned as they’d left, completely separate, an hour apart.

  Jane knew this because Micki called and invited her over for a debrief.

  “So how did it go?” Jane asked, kicking her shoes off and curling her legs beneath her on the couch. Since the moment she’d realized she was in love with Kyle, she’d thought of nothing else. She needed a distraction.

  Micki beamed. “I just had the best weekend of my life.”

  “Nice campsite, huh?” Jane teased.

  “That, too.” Micki’s smile turned cat-got-the-cream. “You’re talking to a woman who’s officially in love.”

  “Wow.” It was logical, given the length and strength of her attraction to Charles, but still Jane struggled to get her head around it.

  “Charles feels the same,” Micki said smugly.

  “That’s fantastic.” Jane got up to hug her. “So you’ll tell Kyle now? And Gabe?”

  “Soon,” Micki said. “We need a few more days to settle into this. Now, tell me how things have been here. Any excitement? Did people love your breakfasts?”

  “Let’s just say no one died,” Jane said. And hopefully, no hearts were set to be broken.

  * * *

  “HOW WAS THE CONVENTION?” Kyle asked his dad on Monday. Charles had stopped by to view the latest progress on the house, of which there’d been quite a bit. Cat had turned out to be very handy. Right now, she was installing shelves in the linen closet.

  Charles rubbed the back of his neck. “Fine. Good.”

  “So what do retired cops do for entertainment?” Kyle asked. To his surprise, his father colored. “Dad, what di
d you get up to at that conference?”

  “Nothing to concern you,” Charles said quellingly.

  “Which is not the same as nothing at all,” Kyle pointed out.

  Cat came in to borrow the electric drill. She had a real shiner on that eye, but she’d insisted on coming in to work.

  “Did you meet someone?” Kyle asked his father. “A retired lady cop?”

  Charles sputtered; Cat glanced curiously in their direction.

  Kyle’s cell phone buzzed. He didn’t recognize the number on the display. His thumb pressed to open the message.

  I know the truth about Daisy’s mother

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  WHAT THE HELL? Instinct had Kyle deleting the message, which he realized right away was a mistake. He felt the weight of his father’s scrutiny as he stared down at the phone in shock.

  Maybe the message didn’t mean what he thought it meant. Maybe someone knew something else about Lissa. Which wasn’t good, obviously, but so long as they didn’t know the real truth...

  His phone buzzed again. He didn’t want to look. He looked anyway.

  If you don’t want the world to know Jane Slater is Daisy’s mother, I’ll need $5,000

  Blackmail?

  “I need to go pick up some...stuff,” Kyle said, the words staccato and completely unnatural. “I’ll see you later.”

  “See you, son.” His dad looked relieved—it took a few seconds for Kyle to remember he’d been about to interrogate Charles about his love life. Hell, the last thing he cared about right now was his dad flirting with some old lady cop.

  “You okay to carry on here?” he asked Cat.

  “Sure. Unless you need some help with your errand?” She was looking at him with concern; he needed to get out of here before everyone realized he had a major problem.

  “I’m fine.” He rammed the phone into the back pocket of his jeans.

  He drove a little way down the road and stopped. He pulled out his phone and called the number back.

  No answer—no surprise. The phone clicked through to a generic voice-mail system, no personal message recorded. Kyle waited for the beep.

  “Forget it,” he said into the phone. “You’re not getting a penny.” He hung up.

  Had he done the right thing? Would the rumors be flying by dinner time?

  He needed to talk to Jane. Right now.

  * * *

  “BLACKMAIL?” JANE STARED AT the screen of Kyle’s phone. He hadn’t deleted the second message. “But who on earth would know—” She stopped. Frowned. Shook her head. “Who would know what Lissa and I did?”

  He took the phone from her and set it down on the console between them. Jane had been in the supermarket when he called her; he’d asked her to meet him in his car in the parking lot. “Maybe Lissa told someone. A supposed friend who, now that she’s gone, is happy to use the information for gain.”

  “Blackmail’s a serious crime,” Jane said. “No one would do it lightly.” She meant proper blackmail, of course, not the kind she’d used on him. “You need to tell the police.”

  “Yeah. Maybe.”

  “You are going to tell them, right?”

  Kyle raked a hand through his hair. “I know I should—Dad always had zero patience for people who thought they could deal with this kind of thing themselves.”

  “Quite right.”

  “But my father’s the retired police chief,” Kyle reminded her. “If I involve the cops, there’s simply no way Dad won’t find out. Besides, this person might have no real intention of blabbing.”

  “I know what’s at stake if the whole world finds out,” Jane said. “Barb and Hal would be hurt, someone might be cruel enough to tell Daisy....”

  “Don’t forget the election,” he said. “Another mess-up in my personal life, plus a connection with the Slaters—it’ll be the end of my campaign.”

  She tried not to take that last remark personally. “Whereas if you tell the police, they might catch the guy. In which case the worst thing that’ll happen is your dad will find out. Is that so bad?”

  “It’ll change everything,” he said. “I don’t want Daisy to feel like a second-class citizen with him.”

  “Surely, he wouldn’t...”

  “How does he make you feel?” Kyle demanded.

  “Like a second-class citizen,” she admitted.

  “Exactly.”

  “So what’s next?” she asked.

  “I left a message refusing to pay.” He grimaced at her gasp. “Yeah, I know it was hasty. But if this guy’s serious, he’ll come back to me.”

  “Or she,” Jane said. “If it’s a friend of Lissa’s, it’s more likely to be a woman. Do you know who Lissa’s confidantes were?”

  “I think so.” He named several women she’d never heard of. Jane didn’t feel the expected twist of jealousy that Lissa had replaced her with these people.

  She tilted her chair back onto two legs. “Any of those women could have told a boyfriend or another friend. And maybe it wasn’t a friend. Maybe someone who worked at the clinic...” It was possible, but unlikely after all this time. “There’s also a chance,” she said slowly, “that this person is just guessing.”

  “Even if that were true, once the word got out, I’d have to prove it wrong, which I can’t,” Kyle said. “Besides, how would anyone guess something so outlandish?”

  “Everyone knows Lissa had fertility problems.” Jane puffed out an anxious breath. “Maybe someone noticed a resemblance between me and her.”

  “I worried about that at first,” he admitted. “But in reality, I don’t think the resemblance is so great that just anyone would pick up on it.”

  “Cat noticed.”

  His head snapped up. “You told her?”

  Jane bristled at the accusation. “She saw the resemblance and jumped to the conclusion that Lissa had slept with Darren, our brother. I had to tell her the truth to set the record straight.”

  “She’s the blackmailer,” he said on a note of revelation.

  Jane’s chair clattered back onto all four legs. “It’s not Cat. I admit, she’s the first person I thought of when you told me, but it’s not her. It can’t be.”

  “Of course it is,” he said. “Come on, Jane, it makes sense. Your sister has a history of con artistry, according to Gabe. You said yourself she only shows up when she needs money. And it’s not like anyone in your family is a stranger to blackmail.”

  It was as if he’d knifed her in the ribs. Pain, sharp and deep, radiated through her chest.

  “Cat’s turned her life around,” Jane said. “You said yourself what a hard worker she is. She’s not perfect, but she’s earning an honest dollar, and she wouldn’t do something like this. Not now.” She drew a breath. “Besides, didn’t you say she was in the room with you when the first text message arrived?”

  He nodded. “I believe it’s possible to schedule text messages in advance.”

  She snorted. Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “It’s easy,” he said, “for people to fall back into their old ways when the going gets tough.” He reached across the table for Jane’s hand.

  She batted him away. “You mean once a Slater, always a Slater.” She opened her door. “Isn’t this exactly what I said would happen? Something goes wrong and you want to blame the Slater DNA.”

  “I’m not blaming you,” he said. “Not at all. I’m saying Cat—”

&nbs
p; “You have no evidence. Do you realize how much it’ll hurt her to be accused of this?”

  “I’m sorry,” he said with flat finality.

  “You’re not sorry,” Jane proclaimed. “You’ve been looking for an excuse not to feel anything serious for me and now you have it.”

  He flinched, but didn’t deny it.

  “I thought you were honorable and decent. I thought you respected me. But you’re just like all those people who think the Slaters are trash.”

  “This isn’t about you,” he insisted. “I do respect you, and if you’d just think logically about this...”

  “If you care about me at all,” she said, “you’ll drop this accusation against Cat.”

  “Next you’ll be saying I should go ahead and pay her the five thousand,” he snapped.

  “I’m asking you to believe,” she said. “Believe in the power of people to change. I’m asking you to set aside the past.”

  He had to know she wasn’t just talking about Cat.

  For what seemed a long time, he stared at the cell phone containing that vile threat, but obviously not focusing on it.

  He lifted his eyes to Jane. “I’m sorry, Jane.”

  He didn’t believe. He never would, which meant she could never risk giving him her heart.

  Too late.

  Jane blinked rapidly. “I—uh—it’s time to collect Daisy from school,” she said hoarsely.

  She was up and out of there, heading for her own car, before he could protest. Not that he tried.

  * * *

  CHARLES ACCEPTED THE BOTTLE of Sonoma cabernet that Kyle had brought to dinner.

  “Looks good,” he said. He was of the I-don’t-know-much-about-it-but-I-know-what-I-like school when it came to wine, but this label looked familiar.

  He opened the drawer in the sideboard that sat along the wall between the kitchen and living room, and fumbled for a corkscrew. He was nervous as heck. “Shall I open it now? Where’s Jane?”