by Alice Sharpe
“You guys still playing poker?” Pete asked.
“I missed most the winter ’cause of the leg. Went a couple weeks ago, though. But I doubt Lonnie will have a game tonight. He was here before dinner and seemed real upset. Spooked, even,” Birch said.
Adam nodded. “I agree. I think he probably went home and locked all his doors.”
“Anyway, we need to see if Jamie got the tractor running. Let’s go, Pete.”
Echo glanced at the faces around the table. She said a quick good-night and hurried up the stairs to the sanctity of her room.
AS ADAM HELPED PAULINE CLEAR the table, he speculated about why Echo had left the table in such a hurry. Of course, watching a man die was bound to upset her.
“Poor kid,” Pauline said as she handed him a big bowl to hand dry. “I think you get a little more accustomed to life and death when you live like we do, but she’s not used to it.”
Did anyone ever get used to violent death? Adam hoped not. As soon as he wasn’t needed around the kitchen, he went upstairs where he knocked on Echo’s door. She opened it almost at once.
She was barefoot and wore pajamas printed with pink and black rolls of something. He looked closer and realized it was sushi.
“You look good enough to eat,” he said jokingly, but it was true and had nothing to do with the pajamas. “May I come in?”
She stood aside. “Of course.”
There was a half-empty suitcase on her bed, the one he’d last seen in the back of his truck. “I’m sorry about today,” he said.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s not your fault I didn’t get on that plane.”
“I bet now you wish you had.” He took a closer look at her face, but she averted her gaze. Was she acting fidgety because she was in nightwear or what is it something else? The pajamas were hardly lingerie.
He took her hand and led her to the flowered upholstered chair by the vanity. “Sit down here for a second. Is there anything I can get you? Tea, something stronger—”
“Nothing,” she said.
He sat opposite her, resting on the edge of the bed. For a second, they stared at each other and then she looked down at her hands. “Did you want something specific?” she asked. “Is something on your mind?”
The truth was a simple: You. You’re on my mind. Instead, he said, “Well, first of all, I’m sorry you were alone when Willet died. I should have stayed. If there’d been another killer, you might have been hurt.”
“But I wasn’t,” she said.
“You had to watch a man die. That’s hurt.”
She nodded, her eyes wide and dark as she glanced up at him. “Yes. I won’t forget that.”
“And second of all, I want to apologize for bringing up the university thing at the dinner table. I knew it was going to make a lot of sparks. I should have waited.”
She looked at him funny. “It’s okay, Adam. This is important and besides, this is your family, not mine.”
He stood up and came to stand in front of her. She met his gaze quickly, then peered down at her lap again.
He caught her hands in his and pulled her to her feet. “Don’t say that. This is your family, too.”
“Not the same way it is yours.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
She shook her head as though unwilling to elaborate, disengaged her hands and sidled past him. On the way toward the window, she paused to look at the grouping of framed photographs on the wall.
“That’s Cody’s wedding picture,” Adam said, gesturing at the photo of Cody and the blonde bride beside him.
“Her name is Cassie, right?”
“Yes,” he said, coming up behind her to look at the picture. He hadn’t seen it in a long time.
“She’s very pretty.”
“You’d like her.”
Echo hugged herself and looked around the room. “I feel like I know her. It’s like she’s a ghost in this house. Her and your mother, both.”
He knew what she meant. He’d felt it himself.
She turned suddenly, catching her breath when she realized how close he stood.
Her brow creased. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd that my stepfather sold his share of the ranch and moved us away after your mother left? That meant your father was stuck here with three small boys and a huge ranch to manage on his own.”
“Well, there was Pauline and Jamie—”
Her glance this time was longer, her brow still furrowed. “And what about vacations? Why didn’t you guys ever come to Frisco? Why didn’t we ever come back here? Over twenty years, even when my mother was ill, nothing except a few letters and email, an occasional picture. Why?”
“I don’t know why. No one ever asked me and I never gave it much thought. Now, of course, I wish I had.” He raised a hand and stroked her cheek, pleased when her eyelids flickered at his touch.
“What do you mean?” she whispered.
“You know what I mean.”
“No—”
“Why didn’t you leave today?”
“I told you—”
“Was it because of the way I kissed you?”
“You were just trying to annoy me.”
“Partly,” he admitted. “It may have started out that way but by the end, things had changed. Is that why you stayed?”
“You were hurt—”
“Be honest.”
“What do you want me to say? That I’m attracted to you? That you’re sexy as all get-out and I’ve entertained decidedly un-cousin-like thoughts about you?”
“Yes and yes and yes,” he said, smiling, but a second later, when her petal soft lips brushed his, the smile faded away.
He let himself go, his tongue running along her lips, tasting every nuance. He’d known her as an adult for a whopping thirty-six hours. They’d shared a dozen kisses and each one seemed to inch them along a quivering thread toward some conclusion he couldn’t foresee. He didn’t want to look too far ahead; he wanted to stay in the moment. He pressed her closer.
And she came. For once there was no pulling away by either of them. Adam wasn’t sure what fueled her response, wasn’t sure he wanted to know. She’d been edgy when he first came to her room, fidgety and distracted, but now she was like wax set close to a flame, soft and incredibly accessible. She awoke parts of him that he’d never dreamed she could touch.
He ran his hands down her back, aching to strip away her pajamas and gaze at the wonders that were so close. Her bottom was firm, the luscious feel of her ripe breasts pressed against his chest set him on fire. Every male part of him was ready to leap tall buildings if that’s what it took to bury itself in her.
“Echo,” he whispered into her hair and even her name sounded different on his lips. He sucked her tender earlobe as his hand traveled up under her pajama top. Her skin was velvet and satin but best of all, his touch sent a discernible shiver through her supple body. She drew away an inch and grasped his shoulder. Her fingers grazed the gunshot wound but he didn’t care.
“This is too fast,” she said.
“No, it’s been coming.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you.”
“I was married before. Did you know that?”
“No,” he said, kissing her throat as he unbuttoned her top. “And I don’t care.”
“Oh, what’s happening?” she murmured. Her eyes were half-closed, dark and mysterious; cheeks flushed, lips moist and full.
“We’re both finally being honest at the same time,” he said, nuzzling her neck as a second button slipped undone.
“That’s what this is—honesty?”
“Honesty wrapped in lust. I want you. I have since the moment I laid eyes on the grown-up you. I’m tired of fighting it.”
“You should go…?.”
“Come with me,” he interrupted. All the obstacles that had seemed so important just that morning now seemed insignificant. The third button slid open and his breath caught at th
e sight of her breasts. Perfect. He dipped his head to lick her left nipple. “Don’t say no,” he whispered.
“I should go to bed.”
He raised his head and stared into her eyes. “Yeah. With me.”
Her lips parting caused a sensation that went straight to his groin.
“Meet me outside in ten minutes,” he added, his voice deeper than usual. Without giving her a chance to refuse, he kissed her one last time and left the room.
Chapter Nine
Echo threw on jeans and a light sweater. She left off underwear. What was she thinking? This was nuts!
She was tired of thinking. That’s what she was thinking.
The house seemed deserted as she flew down the stairs and let herself out the front door. She expected to find Adam sitting in his truck, waiting for her.
Instead, she saw him astride Solar Flare, man and horse perfectly positioned to catch the full strength of the moonlight. Her breath caught in her throat. Suddenly shy, she approached slowly.
He rode bareback.
He lowered his hand and she took it. With an impressive show of strength, he pulled her up behind him where she circled his waist with her arms and leaned her cheek against his back.
They hadn’t spoken a word and their silence continued as Adam guided the horse down the slope and around the pond. It didn’t take Echo very long to figure out they were headed to his house, and she smiled as she had recalled telling him that he’d reminded her of a Bowerbird building an elaborate nest to attract a mate. Was that because he didn’t think he alone was enough for a woman?
Too much thinking. Turn off the brain.
Listen to the sound of hooves, feel the heat of the man in front of you, breathe deeply of mountain air tinged with the latent smell of freshly cut hay. Make a memory to take along for the rest of your life.
The lake soon appeared, dappled with moonlight, still and lovely. Adam’s dark house towered on the point near the grove of trees.
He stopped the horse way before the house, and lowered her to the ground. She landed softly on the grass. A second later he was beside her. He patted Solar Flare’s butt. The horse whinnied softly before ambling off to graze nearby.
And then she was in Adam’s arms again and this time she knew there was no going back.
He pulled her sweater over her head almost at once. When he saw she wasn’t wearing a bra, his gaze landed on hers and the moonlight revealed a smile on his lips. She pulled off his shirt carefully and ran her fingers across the sculpted muscles that hard work had defined in his chest.
“Does it hurt?” she whispered, touching his skin near the bandaged flesh.
“No,” he murmured, and sitting, tugged her to the grass beside him. Slowly, deliberately, they peeled away socks and boots and jeans. It was just the two of them, naked flesh shimmering in the moonlight as they fell onto each other.
She wasn’t a virgin. She’d been taking birth control for years, but for some reason, she’d never made love outdoors before, and never with a man who looked like a god in the moonlight or one who knew exactly where to touch her to send her screaming blindly into the night.
His mouth was all over her, warm and delicious, turning her inside out. She followed suit, covering him with kisses, his erection between them, hard as steel, potent and exciting. She wasn’t sure how he held off but he did, sending her into a spate of orgasms with his mouth and fingers that left her too weak to move. But he coaxed her back to life, his touch delicate yet firm. When he came inside her, the power of his thrusts rocked her off her axis. And when he exploded, she laughed and sobbed simultaneously deep inside her gut from the sheer impact of emotions clashing together like cross currents of a raging river.
And he was still there. His fingers rubbed her nipples, caressed her bottom, stroked her thighs.
“Do you like the water?” he whispered into her ear.
“Yes.”
“Come with me,” he said, and rising, pulled her to her feet. The way his gaze traveled up and down her nude body sent more heat waves flashing through her core as he led her to the lake’s edge.
The water was warm and silky, the bottom of the lake smooth and easy to walk on. Holding hands, they waded in until only their heads were above the water.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her into an aquatic embrace. The feel of his wet body rubbing against hers sent more sparks shooting into the sky.
Eventually, she lay on her back floating, her extended hand resting in his as he floated beside her. How did we get to this point after the day we had? she wondered, staring up at the moon. To him she said, “I wish this night could last forever.”
“Me, too,” he whispered.
More silence, easy and comfortable. Then, “Echo? What happened to your marriage?”
She’d known he’d come back to that eventually. She waited a few seconds to respond, wondering how honest to be. Might as well go for the gold.
“The surface facts are simple. Married senior year of college, him idealistic and earnest, me dumb as a post.”
He chuckled softly. “A lot of marriages start like that. So what happened?”
“He wasn’t what I thought he was. Truthfully, I don’t think he was what he thought he was, either.”
“And all that means—”
“As long as there are young men telling themselves lies, there will be young women buying into them. He thought he wanted to save the world. What he really wanted was to see how many women he could get into bed.”
“Was he good at it?”
She smiled. “Are you asking if he was good getting a woman into bed or good once he was there?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, his thumb running across her wet palm.
“It doesn’t matter. He was adequate in both departments. I left when it all became too much.”
“You make it sound as though his infidelity didn’t matter to you.”
“Do I?” she said softly. “If I do, it’s an act. It was terrible. It ate away at my self-worth until I just got sick of it—and him. And if I sound callous, that’s because several years have passed and it seems like it all happened to someone else now.”
“I’d like to kick him in the teeth.”
She smiled up at the stars. “My hero.”
He righted himself and grabbed her. “Are you making fun of me?”
“Absolutely not,” she said immediately before his lips landed on hers again.
But this time he was the one who cut things short. “I should have relieved Cody an hour ago up at the cave.”
The mention of the cave was like an alarm ringing during a wonderful dream; reality crashed around her. She stopped floating and found they’d drifted away from shore. They swam back slowly, emerging from the water reluctantly. Solar Flare was only a few feet away, staring at them.
It didn’t take long for the warm air to dry them sufficiently to pull their clothes back on and remount the horse. Echo fell silent as increasingly distraught thoughts raced through her mind. How could she have allowed herself this last hour when she had harbored such terrible suspicions about Adam’s father? Even though she hadn’t said a single word about her doubts, it felt to her like she’d lied. Would Adam have wanted her the way he had if she had told him what she had suspected?
After dinner she’d checked out a photo stored in a file on her laptop, the one of Adam’s graduation. As she’d recalled, it was a father-and-son snapshot, both men in Stetsons, Uncle Birch’s black with a distinctive concho headband.
And the silver disk she’d taken from the Garvey house matched the three on the hat perfectly. She’d known the moment she had found it that it was going to be a match. She just didn’t know what it meant and she wasn’t sure who to ask to find out. The truth was she hadn’t seen Uncle Birch wear that hat since she had arrived here.
She had to talk to Adam. She’d just made love to him, for heaven’s sake. Surely she could trust him to help her figure out what she was missing, why she
was wrong.
“Did your father sign the papers?” she said, hoping it was a good place to begin.
“I’m not sure. I’ll check when I get to the house.”
She kissed his neck and tightened her arms around his solid torso as they rode Solar Flare. “Did he find the part he went after?”
“For the tractor? Yeah. He had to drive to Big Fir.”
“Hmm— How long does it take to drive to Big Fir?”
“From here?”
“From Woodwind.”
“Less than an hour.”
“And he left here at noon.”
Adam’s back stiffened a bit. “He had trouble finding the part, he had to go from store to store.”
“How many stores in Woodwind?”
“That carry this kind of equipment? One, maybe two. What are you driving at?”
“Nothing,” she said, afraid to push further.
“Something is on your mind,” he said. “Spit it out.”
“No, I’m not ready.”
He turned to glance at her over his shoulder. “Echo, it’s me you’re talking to. I know something is wrong. I felt it when I came into your room. In fact, before that, down at dinner. Then I got distracted. What is it?”
She bit her lip as she drank in his handsome face. Wait a second. Since when was she afraid to speak her mind? “Well, do the math. Forty minutes into Woodwind from here. Two hours driving around town looking for the part. That’s a generous three hours. That means he exhausted his search in Woodwind before three o’clock, probably well before. Why did it take him almost another five hours to drive less than an hour and buy a part?”
He had turned away from her to guide the horse, but his silence was absolutely deafening.
She pulled away again. “Never mind. This has been eating away at me all evening but now that I’m saying it out loud, I wish I could take it back. I mean, maybe he stopped for a snack or maybe he had to search through several stores once he got to Big Fir.”
Adam shook his head, releasing a few drops of water that landed on her face. “He didn’t have to search when he got to Big Fir,” he said at last. “The store in Woodwind called ahead. The part was waiting for him.”
