by Brenda Novak
“She wasn’t herself on Friday,” he said. “But what about Sophia? You didn’t mention her or Ted.”
Folding her arms, Cheyenne leaned against the doorjamb, her attention on the fight as they talked. “I’ve tried to reach Sophia. I can’t get her to pick up. I’m afraid she’s still upset by what Ted said to her. That wasn’t necessary.”
“You don’t think she was responsible for Scott’s crash?”
“I really can’t say. But who are we to punish her for it? Besides, it happened a long time ago.”
“Makes sense to me.” He scratched behind Lucky’s ears, and she whined her thanks. “And Ted’s not joining the call because...”
“We didn’t invite him. We’re a little ticked off by how he treated her. I love Ted, but he can be harsh.”
“He’s too damn smart for his own good. But you once told me he has reason to dislike her.”
Until he was forced to drop out, Dylan had gone to the same high school they had. He’d just been too busy raising hell to notice what was going on with their group. They hadn’t interacted with him much back then. Cheyenne might not have gotten to know him at all if her sister hadn’t started hanging out with him and his brothers. “He does,” she said, “but it’s time to get past old grievances. He knows she’s not happy. He’s seen the bruises on her arms and face. That should be punishment enough.”
“Maybe he still wants her. Maybe that hasn’t changed.”
“You might be right. Otherwise, he’d be able to let it go.”
He adjusted the blankets, and Lucky and the other two dogs shifted before settling down again. “Did you get the message that Presley called?”
“Yeah, I talked to her.”
“Everything okay?”
“Fine.” Cheyenne could hardly believe it, but her sister had been out of rehab for three months. That meant she’d been clean and sober for six—which was a relief on many counts but none more critical than the fact that she was almost seven months pregnant. The baby belonged to Aaron, Dylan’s younger brother, but no one besides Presley and Cheyenne knew that. Cheyenne hated keeping such a secret from her husband. She was afraid of how he might react if he found out, hoped that day never came because she had no choice in the deception. That baby was the only thing Presley had to cling to, the only reason powerful enough to get her to give up the drugs that had almost destroyed her life.
Aaron wasn’t ready for a child, anyway. He hadn’t lasted in rehab, was still using. Dylan saw him at Amos Auto Body, the collision repair shop they owned, every day. He witnessed the results of Aaron’s actions and worried about him constantly.
“She tell you about the ultrasound?”
“No.” Cheyenne came forward to perch on the edge of the bed. “Did she tell you something about an ultrasound?”
“She knows the gender of the baby.”
That Dylan was the one who’d learned this surprised Cheyenne. Other than to say the father was some guy she met when she was in Phoenix at Christmas, Presley had been tight-lipped about the baby, especially with him. She didn’t want any of the details of her life leaking back to Aaron. She knew if he contacted her, she might break down and see him, and that would be the worst thing for her and the baby. “What is it?”
He grinned. “A boy.”
Of course it was a boy. That seemed to be all the Amoses could create, not that she was going to remark on it. “Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe she didn’t tell me! A boy! And...and did she say if everything looked...okay?”
Because the pregnancy had started out while Presley was drinking and doing drugs—and nearly ended in an abortion—they’d been concerned about how the fetus might be developing. Presley had enough challenges just fighting her addictions and keeping a steady job. Cheyenne feared she wouldn’t be able to cope with a child who had serious medical issues.
“Everything’s fine. Presley’s told you that before.”
She couldn’t help double-checking. “That’s great.”
He laughed. “God, I love that silly smile on your face.”
“What silly smile?” She grabbed one of the decorator pillows he’d pushed off to one side and threw it at him, which caused the dogs to scramble off the bed.
Catching it, he tossed it back, and Lucky barked at them both. “The one that says you couldn’t be happier.”
“It’s a miracle she’s reached this stage, Dyl. Those days after Anita died...when she took off and I thought I might never see her again... They were terrible. I’m thrilled that she’s doing so well.”
“It’s too bad she doesn’t live in Whiskey Creek anymore. Stockton’s a dive.”
“Not everyone thinks so. Anyway, it’s a bigger city, where she’s been able to find a cheap apartment and a decent job.”
“You call working at a thrift store a decent job?”
“She likes it.”
“You’d be more involved the pregnancy if she was here,” he pointed out.
But then she might fall back in with Aaron. Cheyenne knew Presley was still in love with him. The two of them couldn’t be in close proximity, or they’d start seeing each other again, and Presley would slide downhill. “It’s better if she’s not around her old friends.”
“You mean Aaron. I know that. He wouldn’t be a good influence.” He put the TV on pause and turned to look at her.
“What?” she said.
“Speaking of babies...”
Something in his expression made her cheeks flush with warmth. “Yes?”
He caught her by the wrist and pulled her toward him. “I was wondering if you might be interested in making a baby with me.”
Her heart lodged in her throat. She’d been waiting for him to ask. She knew if she brought it up, he’d say yes just to ensure that she wasn’t denied anything she really wanted. But it was important to her that he crave a child just as much. “You’ve raised your brothers,” she said. “Are you sure you’re ready to start a family? What about your father?”
“What about him?”
“He gets out of prison next year. We could hold off until after that...until he’s back and settled in, doing whatever he’s going to do with his life. Then you’ll feel more settled yourself.”
He smoothed the hair out of her face. “I’m not going to plan my life around his release. At this point, I don’t even know if we’ll have a relationship.”
“But you want a child.”
“Absolutely.”
“Because...”
“Because I love you.” He kissed her tenderly. “Get in bed. Let me show you how much.”
The phone rang. But Cheyenne ignored it. She’d have to catch up with her friends later because right now nothing mattered more than Dylan.
* * *
Baxter knew what this call was about and wasn’t entirely comfortable participating. He couldn’t break his word to Callie, but he didn’t want to lie to everyone, either.
“Cheyenne’s not picking up. She must’ve fallen asleep,” Eve announced as soon as everyone else was on the call.
“We could do this tomorrow,” Baxter said. Hopefully at a time when he wasn’t available....
“No, everyone’s got to work,” Eve responded. “I’ll fill her in later. I don’t think we should put this off any longer.”
“Put what off?” Noah asked.
“Something’s going on with Callie,” she replied. “Haven’t you noticed?”
“She hasn’t been showing up for coffee much,” he mused. “Is everything okay with her business?”
“She doesn’t seem to care about her business anymore,” Eve said. “From what I can tell, she’s turned it over to Tina.”
“Because she’s getting the farm ready to put on the market,” Kyle explained.
“You think that’s it?” Eve again. “You saw the way she acted on Friday.”
“Have you tried asking her?” Noah wanted to know.
“We’ve all tried,” Eve said. “She avoids us when she can, gets off
the phone if we start to push, rarely returns a call. I’m just...so worried. Has she said anything to any of you that might offer some clue as to what’s going on?”
Baxter cringed but remained silent.
“She’s said nothing to me,” Kyle told them.
“Are you sure?” Eve pressed. “I feel that if anyone can unravel the mystery, it’d be you.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Kyle insisted.
Baxter wondered if Kyle was squirming with guilt. He had to be asking himself if he’d had a hand in how she was behaving.
“I couldn’t be there Friday—” Riley entered the conversation “—so I don’t know how she acted, but I agree she’s been more aloof than usual.”
“More aloof?” Eve said. “She’s never aloof. She’s not that kind of person.”
“We know she has some guy staying at the farm with her.” Noah didn’t sound particularly worried, but he wasn’t the worrying kind. “And there’s been trouble with the renters nearby and their dogs. I think how she’s acting could be related to her guest and what’s happened because of him. Don’t you agree, Kyle?”
“This started before that,” Kyle said.
“So what’s going on with our friend?” Eve asked. “And what can we do about it?”
Baxter cleared his throat. “I think...I think she might be going through a difficult time, but we need to give her the space to deal with it.”
“Space,” Eve repeated.
“Yeah,” he said, but Eve was having none of it.
“We’ve given her space, Bax. She’s not snapping out of it. Like Kyle said, this has been going on for some time. She’s lost weight. She’s withdrawn.”
Riley made a suggestion. “Her mother’s health has been getting worse. Maybe that’s it.”
“Instead of guessing behind her back, let’s go out there and have a talk with her,” Noah said.
“Tonight?” Riley asked.
Baxter did what he could to kill that idea. “No, it’s too late.”
Noah pushed harder. “Tomorrow, then. Or the next day.”
“I don’t know if she’ll like that.” Eve sounded hesitant.
“We’re her friends,” Noah said. “We don’t always need an invitation.”
Baxter was about to say they shouldn’t surprise her, but Kyle jumped in before he could form the words.
“It’s because of me.”
“Kyle—” Baxter wanted to warn him that what he was about to say might not help, but didn’t get the chance.
“Callie and I have been sleeping together,” he announced. “And I feel terrible about it because I know she regrets it.”
Stunned silence met this announcement. Maybe they’d had their suspicions, but no one had expected him to confess.
Baxter admired Kyle for being willing to own up to what he’d done. It proved that he was worried, too, and that he cared more about Callie than about covering his tracks. “I doubt that’s it,” he said, hoping to ease some of the surprise and awkwardness that had sprung up.
“You’ve been with Callie?” Noah said.
“Just a few times,” Kyle replied, “but she hasn’t been the same since. I feel like shit that I let it happen. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Ever since Olivia and I broke up...I’m just not the man I used to be. I keep messing up everyone’s lives.”
“I really don’t think that’s it,” Baxter repeated.
“I wondered,” Eve admitted.
Noah muttered a curse. “So what do we do now?”
“We forget about it,” Baxter replied. “I’m sure she’d be embarrassed that we know. It’s really none of our business.”
“It helps us understand what she’s going through, at least,” Eve said.
“Maybe she’s...having a crisis of sorts, feeling guilty.” Riley lowered his voice to just this side of exasperated. “Women can be like that.”
“Women, Riley?” Eve snapped. “Really? All of us?”
Riley grew defensive. “Relax. It was a generalization.”
“I bet it only happened because she was afraid she’d never meet the right guy,” Eve said.
“Meaning what?” Noah asked.
“Meaning she took what was available.”
“Wow, that really makes it sound as if she cares about me,” Kyle complained.
“Oh, stop,” Eve said. “That’s your ego talking because we all know you’re still in love with Olivia.”
He didn’t refute it.
Baxter switched the phone to his other ear. They were going down the wrong road, but he couldn’t stop them. Not without revealing that he knew more than they did.
“She keeps talking about Cheyenne and how happy she is,” Eve told them. “I get the feeling she really wants to find someone and settle down.”
“If that’s the case maybe we should be more worried about the drifter she’s got living out there,” Noah said.
Kyle jumped in again. “I have been worried!”
“No, that’s called jealousy,” Riley joked.
“It’s not jealousy! I practically chased her into this guy’s arms, but he doesn’t have a thing to offer her. How can he possibly make her happy? He’ll probably stay just long enough to break her heart.”
“Maybe he’s exactly what she needs right now.” Baxter could see it, in the context of what she was going through. She felt that Levi was temporary, so she could enjoy him and he’d go before she had to face her future, whatever that might be.
There was a moment of silence. Obviously, this wasn’t a popular opinion.
“What makes you say that?” Noah finally asked.
“She’s a smart girl,” Baxter said. “We need to trust her judgment.”
“That’s what we’ve been doing so far, and it’s not fixing anything,” Eve complained.
Baxter left his recliner to pace in front of his hundred-year-old windows. “Let’s give her some more time.”
“I agree,” Noah said. “I wouldn’t want you guys having this conversation about me.”
“We just want to be sure we’re doing all we can for her.” Eve sounded stung.
“Noah, we talk about you all the time,” Riley teased.
Noah ignored him. “I know you mean well, Eve, but—”
Riley broke in, now serious. “Why don’t we go over there sometime this week, let her know Kyle told us about...what happened between them and that we understand.”
Baxter thought that might help. At least it would ease some of Callie’s worries. “I could support a visit if that’s the purpose. If we were careful about the timing.”
“So...is everyone in?” Riley asked, and they all agreed.
* * *
Levi groaned as the shower went on. Apparently, Callie wasn’t going straight to bed. Maybe she needed to cool off.
He could certainly use a cold shower. But he wasn’t sure it would do any good. He wanted Callie too badly to stop the thoughts flowing through his head.
He imagined her lips parting beneath his as they had yesterday morning and felt his body tighten in response. Two years was a long time for a man to ignore his sexual appetites. He was learning just how relentless those appetites could be.
But he’d already screwed up with her once. He’d had her put on that lingerie, then pulled back almost the second he touched her. He’d rejected her when she was most vulnerable—when any woman would be most vulnerable—and he doubted she’d be willing to trust him again. She wouldn’t want to run into the same problem.
For that matter, neither did he.
If he went to her tonight, would he be able to follow through?
He’d make himself, he decided. But how would he feel after?
He had so many hormones coursing through him he could hardly think. His brain kept showing him tantalizing snippets of what it would be like to have Callie beneath him, to feel her hips rise to meet his. Part of him, the part that kept driving him to take her regardless of all else, didn’t see
m to care that he was still in love with Behrukh, that he’d promised to always love her.
Where had his conviction gone? His remorse for what he’d caused by coaxing her to become his friend, his lover, his fiancée?
Ashamed that he could be so easily tempted away from what he knew to be a just and deserving punishment, he dropped his head in his hands. He’d meant everything he’d told Behrukh, hadn’t he?
Of course he had. Then why did those promises seem so impossible to keep?
Rifle, who’d stayed with him instead of Callie for a change, lifted his head and perked up his ears as if asking why he was so agitated.
“Hell if I know,” he told the dog. “I can’t have her. But I can’t stop wanting her, either.”
The dog yawned, clearly not impressed by the gravity of this human problem, and rested his snout on his paws.
“Thanks for your support, buddy.” Levi wished he still had a room out in the barn. Maybe, if he could put enough space between them, his heart would quit pumping like a piston and his erection would go away. But staying inside like this, cooped up with her—he was too close to the object of his desire.
He was fighting the inevitable.
Convinced he’d succumb eventually, he went into her bedroom and shut the door to keep Rifle out.
It was just a physical release, he told himself. It wasn’t as if he was really cheating on Behrukh because it wouldn’t mean anything.
20
Sophia heard the doorbell. She was reading in the library, but she could’ve been in the shower, or even blow-drying her hair, and she still wouldn’t have missed those deep gongs. The doorbell Skip had chosen was the best money could buy. Everything in her house fell into that category. Her husband insisted they had a reputation to uphold, a responsibility to provide Whiskey Creek with a couple anyone could look up to. Exhibiting their wealth convinced others of his success, which helped build his credibility and bring him new investors, which in turn brought him more success.
But she couldn’t imagine why he’d need any other investors. He was flying all over the world as it was, could hardly keep up with the number of projects he had. Not only that, but just about everyone who had any money in Whiskey Creek was already participating in one of his many joint venture partnerships. How much more could one man need—or manage?
