It was painfully similar to her life with her father, her life before she’d made it her own, when he’d entertain guests, or even himself, by using her as the butt of every joke to be made.
The only thing that had changed was her reaction. Instead of retreating in shame, she’d screamed at him on the main thoroughfare of the town she’d planned to disappear into until she could get her head straight.
What the hell was wrong with her, yelling at him like that with no thought to who would hear and what they might think? She already felt like a fish out of water. Just a few blocks into window shopping and she’d realized she’d overdressed. And her shoes, the same shoes people fought crowds to purchase, had made strolling along the cobblestone streets nearly impossible.
That morning when she’d decided to amble along the main street she’d passed on her way into town, she thought jeans and a casual top would be perfect. She’d even mentally congratulated herself on her ability to dress the part despite having packed for a different location. Who knew the part meant old jeans, as in high-waisted, do-nothing-for-your-body denim, tennis shoes, and unflattering t-shirts. And not the kind of t-shirts she owned, ones with little sayings or emblazoned with retro rock bands that clung to every curve, but the baggy kind that made everyone look androgynous. No wonder Jesse was begging to get his hands on her. Poor guy probably hadn’t seen actual curves since the last time he sweet-talked some poor mountain girl onto her back.
She’d been overly harsh with him, but damn it, her days of feeling guilty were over. Wasn’t the whole point of this trip to regain the hard won independence she’d let slip since she’d seen her father? She’d be damned if some know-nothing river guide would cause even a blip on her radar.
No matter how cute he was.
No matter how much she liked and respected his father.
***
“Hello?” Cal called after knocking on the screen door of Lita’s cabin. He’d seen her come back from wherever she’d spent the afternoon, driving that SUV of hers so fast up the drive he was surprised the tires weren’t smoking.
“Lita? It’s Cal.” He knocked again and sighed when she didn’t answer. He’d brought over a bottle of wine for them to share after the delightful conversation they’d had over breakfast that morning. It was as much for him as it was for her. He was lonely. He didn’t intend to embarrass himself by poking around the cabin too much, but when he’d gone to uncork the wine and have a glass on his porch, he thought she might like to have some with him.
Truth was, he hadn’t had too much female company in the last few months, ever since Sally Robinson got the wrong idea and stormed off after he’d casually mentioned he never intended to marry again. Women. He’d enjoyed spending time with the widow Robinson. They had similar interests in movies and he always sat with her on Thursday nights at the VFW for Bingo. She’d even taken to having him over for supper on Saturday nights. And why would she, at the age of sixty-two, be interested in marrying him or anyone anyway?
He liked his life, tending to his house and the two cabins that stayed rented most of the spring, summer, and fall seasons. The variety of people who came to spend a few nights or a few months at Bloodworth Cabins kept most of his boredom at bay. It was times like now, when winter just started to pass, but things were still slow, he tended to itch for company. It was getting harder and harder to lure Ty away from his friends and the girls he refused to admit he chased. And Jesse was so busy getting his business ready for the season he rarely poked his head around more than once a week. And considering the way things were between them lately, that seemed about all either one could take.
Besides, Cal found Lita’s company better than average. She was smart and sassy in an unassuming way. And it sure wasn’t a hardship to look at her. She was gorgeous and built with the kind of curves that reminded him of his favorite actresses—Hedy Lamarr and Ava Gardner. Those were real woman, with real bodies a man could sink his hands into.
He’d ambled down the steps of the deck, assuming she’d taken off for a hike on one of the many paths that meandered through the property, when he heard something that sounded like a grunt from around the side of her cabin. He walked to the edge and peered around the corner. He saw Lita on all fours yanking weeds from the bed he’d been meaning to clean out, but hadn’t gotten to yet.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “You’re going to get your pretty clothes all muddy.”
She sat back on her heels and swiped a dirty hand across her forehead. The streak of dirt she left behind didn’t take away from her beauty one bit. “I’m thinking. I hope you don’t mind, but I think best when my hands are busy. I usually design, but my heart wasn’t in it today. This was the next best thing.”
“Honey, you can weed my garden any day, but you may want to borrow some gardening clothes next time. I’m sure there’s something of Ellie’s in the house you could wear.”
She looked down at her soiled jeans, if that’s what you even called the rhinestone covered denim things she wore. He’d never seen anything like them.
“Oh, well, that might be a good idea.” She clapped her palms together to dislodge most of the dirt and pointed to his hand. “What ya got there?”
Cal looked at the forgotten bottle cradled in his arm. “Wine. Can I interest you in a glass? It’ll give your hands something to do.”
“Yes.” She took a look at the mostly weeded garden. “Yes, I think I’d like that.”
“I’ve got a great view of the sunset from my porch.” Cal held out his hand to help her up from the ground. “Looks to be a good one tonight.”
“Perfect. Give me five minutes to change and I’ll meet you there.”
***
The nights bordered on frosty in the mountains, so Lita rooted through the dresser for the mittens and warm sweater she’d found in one of the dresser drawers. The sweater smelled of cedar and both the smell and the appearance of them reminded her of the ski trip she’d taken two years ago. What a disaster it had been. While Lita could walk for miles in three-inch heels, she couldn’t go two feet in skis without falling over. She’d spent more time on her backside than the last time she and Sophie had gone to a spa.
Cal was right where he said he’d be, gently swaying in one of the four rockers on his front porch. He greeted her approach with a smile.
“Show’s about to start.” His grin widened as she took a seat in the rocker next to him. He handed her a glass.
“Thanks.” She sipped and closed her eyes as the warm red coated her throat. “Ummm. What a way to end the day. You’re a lucky man, Cal.”
“Most times I’d have to agree.”
He didn’t sound like he felt too lucky or even like he was in the mood for company. She wondered if she’d overstep her bounds by asking why he seemed so glum. But when she considered the fact that he’d invited her to join him, she thought maybe he wanted to talk.
“So how was your day?”
Cal looked a bit surprised at her question. “Good. My day was good. Did some work on the other cabin. Had a pipe burst this winter and messed up the floor in the laundry room. Just about got it all back to rights.” So that explained the smell of turpentine she’d whiffed earlier. “Caught the last half of Ty’s baseball game. Look’s like they may make the playoffs again this year.”
“Ty?”
“Oh, cripes, I forgot you don’t know all the players around here. Ty’s my grandson. You’ll meet him soon enough. He’s fourteen, almost fifteen now. He helps me out around here when he’s got the time or, more accurately, when he needs cash.” Cal pointed to the sky. “Just look at the way the sun’s glow sets the mountains in relief. Looks like a painting, doesn’t it?”
Lita rocked and sipped, lulled into relaxation by the kaleidoscope of colors in the sky and Cal’s melodic voice. She could hardly remember being quite so content. “So do you have other children, besides Jesse?”
“No, just Jess. Ellie and I tried for years and never did have much luck.
” He gave Lita a sly grin. “We sure had fun trying, though. We never got caught up like people today, with all the fancy tests and whatnot. Figured if God wanted us to have another baby, he’d have given us one. Course, we practically raised Ty when he was a baby, so I guess he was saving us.”
Lita’s mind was doing quick calculations as the sun slid slowly toward the earth. Jesse couldn’t have been over thirty, but if he had an almost fifteen-year-old son, he had to be. She could have sworn he was no older than her twenty-seven. “Jesse has a son?”
Cal’s laugh brought Lita to attention. “Hard to believe, having met him the way you did, that he’d be somebody’s father. But yes, he was only seventeen when he got Kerri Ann pregnant. Boy, Ellie and I were spitting mad. Jess had scholarship offers trickling in already, both for baseball and football. That all went by the wayside. Course, when we got a look at the little guy, couldn’t say God didn’t have a plan.”
“So that makes Jesse what, thirty-two?”
“Just,” Cal said as the sun dipped below the mountain in the distance. He reached over and turned on an old lantern Lita hadn’t noticed earlier. “I’d come in from his birthday lunch the day you called.”
Seventeen. That was the same age Lita had been when she’d gotten pregnant. But her baby hadn’t lived and she still couldn’t see God’s plan in that.
“It must have been hard, for all of you.”
Cal sighed. “Hard, yes. But nothing worth having’s easy. He’s a good boy, Ty, and having him around is one of the purest joys of my life.”
She couldn’t ask any more questions about the boy. It was too much like the flip side of what her situation had been, in more ways than one. He had lived and thrived in the bosom of his family. Her baby had died, alone except for his grieving mother. She blinked away the threat of tears and tried to focus on Jesse. This was a side of him she hadn’t anticipated. “So is Jesse married?”
“They were, for a bit. Fought like cats and dogs, he and Kerri Ann. Too much alike to be together. I think they were waiting for college to put an end to their romance, but her pregnancy changed everything. They married not long after they told us about the baby and divorced eight very long years later.” Cal stood up from the chair and turned to Lita. “It’s gotten chilly since the sun went down. I’m going in for a sweater. Can I bring you out a blanket or something?”
“No, I’m good, thank you.” She heard the screen door open and close and stared across the sky as the first stars began twinkling. So, Jesse was a young father with a teenaged son. She couldn’t see it, she just couldn’t see the man she’d dismissed as a no-strings loner as someone’s father.
Cal returned a few minutes later wearing a worn cardigan and carrying a plate of cheese and crackers. “Thought you might be getting hungry.” And she was. She’d been too angry after her outburst to stay in town and enjoy a nice lunch like she’d planned and then she’d been too wired to eat and started pulling weeds. It was too late in the evening to dice and sauté the ingredients for the elaborate chicken recipe she’d downloaded from the Internet. And as she’d learned two nights ago, cooking for one wasn’t all that much fun. So she indulged in more wine to go with her cheese and crackers and enjoyed Cal’s stories of the great loves of his life: his wife Ellie, his son Jesse, and grandson Ty.
Hours later, when she slipped between the sheets of her bed, slightly buzzed and high on the aftereffects of an enjoyable evening, she felt blessed for being included in the family of Cal Bloodworth, if only for a little while.
Chapter 4
Someone, somewhere, had just cut their grass and the fragrant smell of the newly mown blades made Kerri Ann smile. She closed her eyes for just a moment as memories of summers spent running through her neighborhood came rushing back in her mind.
“Mom,” Ty screamed from the passenger seat. “Did you seriously just close your eyes? Jesus, and you say Dad’s a bad driver.”
“I just shut them for a second.” She gripped the wheel extra tight and made sure her hands were at ten and two to set the right example for Ty. “Do you smell that grass? Sure a sign as any that spring’s on the way.”
“Yeah, well, we won’t get to enjoy spring if you run off the road and kill us.”
“I’m a better driver with my eyes closed than your dad ever was, so please don’t insult me by comparing our driving. You know that gets on my nerves.” And even more lately, she admitted to herself. Maybe it was because she and Ty couldn’t be alone for five minutes without Jesse’s name popping up one way or another. Yes, he was the world’s worst driver, but couldn’t Ty have compared her to her own father? Pops had just last week rear-ended the neighbor’s mailbox.
“Why are you on Dad’s case all the time?”
She had to stifle a snort before answering. Since when did he become so perceptive? “I’m not on his case.”
“Could’ve fooled me. Even Bryce noticed.”
“Bryce?” Kerri Ann whipped her head around to look at him. “When did you talk to Bryce?”
Ty shifted in his seat. He’d segued into his least favorite topic: his parents. It always made him uncomfortable and he usually avoided talking to one about the other whenever possible. The fact that he’d brought it up made Kerri Ann worry. And she knew that if he hadn’t been trapped in the car with her for another few miles, she’d never get the whole story. “I saw him the other day in town when you were dealing with the vegetable delivery guy,” he said.
“And he told you I was on your dad’s case?”
“No, I told him you were in a pissy mood and he suggested it had something to do with Dad.”
“Oh really?” Well, wasn’t that just perfect. “I don’t appreciate you discussing my moods with Bryce Jenson. As a matter of fact, I don’t want you discussing my moods with anybody. And since you’re entering the time of your life when you need to know a thing or two about women, you’d be smart to never discuss a woman’s mood with anyone. Got it?”
“Loud and clear,” Ty said under his breath as she pulled up to the curb of the high school. He hopped out of the car the second she brought it to a stop.
“I don’t even get a good-bye?” Kerri Ann shouted out the window.
“Bye, Mom.”
His waiting friends snickered, making Kerri Ann all but sure he’d rolled his eyes. Men. They were the bane of her existence. Why hadn’t God given her a girl, an ally? No, he had to surround her with men, none of whom understood the workings of a woman. Well, one thing was for sure, she was going to let one particular man know just how she felt about him discussing her behind her back.
When the tires squealed as she pulled away from the school, she should have known it wasn’t a good time to confront a friend. But, most of the time, logic didn’t take hold of Kerri Ann until her temper had cleared. And her temper was a long way from clearing.
It didn’t help that she was forced to parallel park in front of the quaint house that held the offices of Bryce Jenson, Attorney at Law. Although it sat along Main Street just a few blocks down from the Pizza Den, she was too full of steam to risk using her reserved spot behind the restaurant and getting caught up in work before giving Bryce a piece of her mind. So she inched the old sedan back and forth along the curb until she was sure it wasn’t sticking too far out in the street and stuck a quarter in the meter before storming up the steps to his office.
“Well, Kerri Ann.” Misty Allen sat behind the desk where she spent more time talking on the phone than doing actual reception work. “Haven’t seen you around in awhile. How’s your mama and pops doing?”
“I need to see Bryce. Is he in?”
Misty sat upright in her seat, looking equal parts insulted and curious as to why Kerri Ann had ignored her question and seemed to need Bryce so urgently. “He’s in court this morning. Mr. Freeman’s suing Tom Barber for the shoddy roof job he did on his store last year. He lost a butt load of merchandise after the roof caved in this winter.”
Shoe Strings Page 4
