“Let me introduce these gentlemen. They’re Federal agents who’ve been working with me in the investigation of some of the accidents in the plants and the failures of various equipment that was sent out to the government as satisfactorily tested. They’re going to escort you and your personal belongings out of the building, then take you down to their office for a chat. I’m sure they’ll be able to answer all your questions for you.”
Jake turned and left, striding back to his own office as he checked his watch. His meeting with Wrightman had taken longer than he’d expected. Now he had calls to make, meetings to set up and people to notify. It was going to be another long day, but it was the culmination of all the planning and work he’d done since he’d arrived back in Seattle.
He’d found the man responsible for the problems CPI had been having. What had surprised him was that the man had started long before Brock had died, even before Jake had left. There was enough evidence to nail him, but none of that was his concern. He’d officially turned all of it over to the government when he’d brought Wrightman to the two government agents.
Another week of long days and he should be ready to turn everything back to Rebecca and get the hell out of there. His release from the present situation couldn’t come too soon for him.
Eight
Jake made his way through the El Paso International Airport, knowing that Mel would be waiting for him outside the baggage pickup area. He’d called him the day before to see if he’d meet him. It was too far for a cab to take him all the way to Dry Gulch.
As soon as he stepped outside he knew he was back in Texas. Despite the calendar showing it was only mid-May, summer was here. The hot, dry air felt like a sauna after the moist, cloudy weather of the Northwest.
He was glad to be home.
A horn honked nearby and he spotted Mel driving his pickup. It was good to see them both. He grabbed his bags and strode across to where Mel was double parked, tossed the bags in the back of the truck and crawled into the passenger side of the truck’s cab.
“Well, don’t you look all citified these days,” Mel said with a big grin. “Don’t guess I ever saw you in a suit before.” He pulled into the stream of traffic and headed out of town.
“I left the house early this morning. I had three meetings scheduled before I had to catch the plane. I didn’t take time to change clothes.”
“Looks like you lost most of your hair while ya were gone.”
Jake grinned, running his hand through his carefully trimmed hair. “It’ll grow back fast enough, don’t worry.”
“So where’s that li’l gal of yours? I expected to see her with you.”
Jake frowned. “Who in the hell are you talking about?”
“That Rebecca that come to fetch you back to Washington with her. When is she going to get here?”
Jake just shook his head. “You get some of the craziest ideas in your head, ol’ man. Sometimes I really worry about you. Rebecca hired me to come to work for her temporarily to do a specific job. I did it. Now I’ve come back home.”
“Uh-huh.”
“There’s nothing between us. Nothing at all.”
“‘Cept that you been livin’ with her for the past four months or so, I understand.”
Jake closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten. “Her place is bigger than most hotels, Mel. I rarely saw her.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So how’s Betty?”
“Same as always. How long you fixin’ to stay this time?”
“I’m home for good. I did what I set out to do. Now I’m home again.”
“Alone.”
“Of course I’m alone.”
“Humph.”
“Crazy ol’ coot,” Jake muttered under his breath.
“I heard that.”
“Good.”
“So what you’re tellin’ me is, there ain’t nothin’ at all between you and that good-lookin’ li’l gal from Seattle.”
“That’s what I’m tellin’ you.”
“Then I sure as hell ain’t the one sittin’ in this here truck that’s crazy, that’s for certain.”
“Could we drop the subject?”
“Consider it dropped.”
Jake had already taken his tie off and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt before the plane had left Sea-Tac airport. Now he removed his suit jacket and folded it, placing it on the wide seat between them.
“Park rangers been lookin’ for you.”
“What do they want?”
“Didn’t say.”
“What did you tell ‘em?”
“That I hadn’t seen you in months.”
Jake grinned. “That’s a fact.”
“I’m thinkin’ maybe they was afraid you’d done busted your head open clambering around up in them mountains and was lying somewhere up there daid.” He looked around at Jake. “‘Course I could have reassured ‘em by ’splaining that you’re too blamed hardheaded to hurt yourself, even if you had hit your head on something.”
“I believe you’ve made your point, Mel.”
Mel smiled and refrained from making any more comments for the rest of the trip back to the café.
As soon as they arrived, Betty came rushing to the front door, meeting him as he first stepped inside. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Oh, but it’s good to see you! I can’t believe how much I miss you when I know you ain’t tucked up there in them mountains.” As soon as she released him, she looked around him, first at Mel, then through the screen door. “You alone?”
Dear God, not her, too! What had gotten into these people, anyway?
“Yes, I’m alone, Betty. No, Rebecca didn’t come with me. No, she isn’t going to be coming. That’s because I didn’t ask her, and even if I had, she wouldn’t have come. She has a business to run.”
She stepped back from him, grabbing her heart. “My goodness, what brought all that on? I jest asked a simple question.”
He shook his head and turned away. “I’m going to change clothes. I guess I still have some things in the bedroom, don’t I?”
“‘Course. By the time you get back, I’ll have you a plate of meat loaf and mashed potatoes waiting.”
“You always know how to tempt me, don’t you, woman?”
She giggled. “Go on now, and get out of them fancy clothes.”
Jake went out the back door of the café and followed the path to the place where Mel and Betty had lived as long as he could remember. The house was small but well kept and filled with love. He remembered feeling safe here as a child. Safe and secure.
Now he went into the spare bedroom and peeled out of his clothes. After taking time for a quick shower, he found a frayed pair of jeans to put on, a chambray shirt and the boots he’d left here before he flew to Seattle with Rebecca.
Rebecca.
Funny the way she’d sorta moved into his mind, sneaky like, and taken up residence. Was Mel some kind of a mind reader? How could he possibly have known that Jake had spent most of the flight to Texas reliving the past few days, especially the hours he’d spent with ‘Becca?
Of course they’d had to celebrate the arrest of Troy Wrightman, even though she’d felt sorry that his daughter was going to have to suffer through the scandal. All Jake could think about was the fact that Amanda—or was his daughter Millicent?—was going to find out how it felt to be the topic of pitying conversation.
Nothing like instant karma to help learn some of life’s little lessons.
The cook had outdone herself that night. Rebecca must have alerted her that they would be home early for dinner. They’d opened a bottle of champagne, eaten, then had talked about what had happened that day and his suggestions regarding what she could do to set up obstacles to deter anyone else attempting such a thing.
Sometime later Rebecca asked, “How about a swim?”
“Sounds good.”
She stood and held out her hand. “The staff’s all gone upstairs. Let’s fo
rget about our suits, okay?”
Instead of taking her hand, he scooped her up in his arms. “There wasn’t enough of that suit you were wearing the other night to be considered a swimsuit. Where in the world did you find such a thing?”
“France.”
“Figures.”
“You didn’t like it?”
“What wasn’t to like?”
They entered the glass-walled room. The only illumination came from the pool lights. He let go of her and allowed her to slide very slowly down him until her feet touched the floor.
She grinned up at him. “I would say that you’re definitely ready...uh, for swimming.”
“That, too.” He helped her off with her clothes, particularly enjoying removing her high-heeled shoes and carefully rolling down her stockings. Her lacy panties matched her equally lacy, see-through bra. Once she was unclothed, he stepped back to admire his handiwork.
“I wonder if you got the same look on your face when you were unwrapping birthday and Christmas gifts?” she asked with a pleased chuckle.
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
He quickly undressed and walked over to the pool before he forgot about swimming and did what he was tempted to do.
“Look. It’s raining.”
He glanced up at the glassed roof. “So what else is new?”
“It was only misting when we got home.”
He dived off the deep end of the pool. When he came up he found that she’d quickly followed him into the water.
“Oh, this feels wonderful,” she sighed, floating beside him.
He cupped one of her breasts. “It certainly does.”
“Does the rain bother you?”
He slid his arms around her so that he could place his mouth where his hand had been. She arched her back so that her lower body floated against him. Oh, yes. He knew he was definitely ready.
“The rain,” she repeated when he brought his head up to kiss her on the mouth. “You don’t like it, do you?”
He paused in his endeavors. “Not really. I was raised in the sun. I get tired of the gloom.”
“Is that why you live in West Texas?”
“It’s my home,” he said simply, before searching out her mouth with his. By the time the kiss ended she was clinging to him and he was rapidly losing control. Again.
He nudged her legs around him, bringing her up so that her breasts were at the level of his mouth. He stroked each of them with his tongue, nibbled and tasted until she was squirming against him. With infinite care he lowered her onto him until he was fully encased within her.
“This feels so good,” she whispered. “I love to have you so close to me.”
He loved it, too. Every time he made love to her, he hoped that this time he would be satisfied. He could no longer blame his response to her on the lack of a woman in his life. Not after these past few weeks. This had to do with this one particular woman.
He would never have known what making love to someone he really loved was like if he hadn’t come back to Seattle with Rebecca. He wouldn’t have known—
Betty’s big white Persian cat leapt up on the bed beside him, bringing him back to the present as he nudged Jake’s hand to be petted.
He’d made the right decision, the only decision he could live with. He’d returned to Texas.
Rebecca hadn’t acted as though she’d expected him to do anything different. Her cheerful demeanor had made it both easier and more difficult for him to leave.
Didn’t she care at all that he was just walking out of her life? Never by word or tone had she indicated that she’d wanted him to stay, that she loved him, or that she might miss him.
He hadn’t been forced into making any explanations about his behavior or his feelings. She had accepted everything he’d done and said.
When he’d turned down her offer to take him to the airport, explaining that he would go by cab, she had merely smiled and said, “Well, have a safe flight home. Let us hear from you once in a while.”
Of course the other department heads were all there, since the meeting was just breaking up. He and Rebecca weren’t given a chance to say goodbye in private, which was just as well.
They’d spent the night before in each other’s arms, his silent intensity probably saying more than anything he could have uttered.
So it was over. And he was safely home. Ready to retreat into the mountains once more. This was the life he’d chosen, the life he wanted. Nothing had changed.
“Gotta go, Nuisance,” he said to the cat that Mel had named. “I’m looking forward to some of that meat loaf.”
* * *
The hot July sun beat down on the hidden little valley. The cabin stayed cool enough, nestled within the cave, but Jake found himself staying outside most of the time these days. He was too restless to remain in the cabin long.
At first he’d thought it was because he’d been working so many long hours and that being there in the mountains again was an adjustment. He just needed to learn to slow down and relax a little.
So why hadn’t he relaxed?
He’d started dressing for summer now, or more accurately undressing, wearing nothing more than knee-high moccasins and a breechclout. He probably looked more like his mother’s people now. This was his usual summer garb. His mother had taught him how to dress as she’d shared some of her history and the history of her people with him when he was a child.
Despite his education and his own belief that he was no different from the other students, he’d been treated differently by everyone. Everyone except Rebecca.
Now that he recalled their conversation when he’d told her about his mother, he realized that she’d never pursued the information she’d elicited from him. She’d never once referred to it again. She’d accepted it as she’d accepted everything about him.
How could he help loving her?
What he hadn’t been prepared for was how much he missed her. He’d thought the loss would lessen, that the ache would go away. He’d treated her like an addiction he’d intended to kick.
But he had no control over his dreams, nor over the number of times he thought about her during the day. Wasn’t there a country song that mentioned something about thinking of a person only twice a day—once all night and once all day? He seemed to be coming close to that.
There wasn’t anything to be done about her. Their worlds were more than miles apart. He could function in both worlds, but he realized after spending those four months at the company that the challenge was gone. He’d enjoyed searching out a specific problem, but the everyday running of the operations was tedious.
He thought he’d been so damned high-minded about walking away last year. He was beginning to see his behavior from a different perspective. The truth was that he hadn’t wanted to face the fact that he’d pursued that life-style to prove that he could, that he was as good as anyone. He’d shown his absent father, he’d shown Brock, his substitute father, and he’d proven it to himself.
Despite all the luxury that had surrounded him, he’d yearned for the wide open spaces. Maybe there was more of his mother’s blood in him than he’d ever wanted to acknowledge.
So he should be content now. He had everything he wanted.
Except Rebecca.
Glancing around the meadow, he couldn’t remember how many times he’d wished she were there to see how lush and green it had become now that everything was in bloom and the deciduous trees had leafed out.
The deer herd seemed to be increasing and he’d wanted her to see the fawns.
He’d taken to sleeping outside at night where he’d lay for hours looking up at the stars, wondering if she could even see them with the habitual cloud cover of her area.
With a grunt of frustration, Jake made up his mind to work off some of his restlessness. He’d go hiking through the mountains, check out the different areas.
Hell, he might even look up a park ranger or two.
* * *
O
ne more night, in a string of sleepless nights, Rebecca lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, wondering what Jake was doing these days. Did he ever think of her? Somehow she doubted it.
She wished she could stop thinking about him. No matter how busy she was at the office, her mind always seemed to return to him.
She’d implemented his suggestions, promoted one of the department heads to president and did everything possible to avoid going to his office. She had too many memories of the place.
She’d gotten into the habit of swimming each evening in the futile hope that she would tire herself out enough to fall asleep instead of lying there night after night missing Jake.
She’d been downright proud of herself the day he’d left. She hadn’t cried until after she’d gotten home that night. She hadn’t fallen on her knees and begged him to stay, although she might have if she’d thought for a minute he would have listened.
However, he’d made it clear that he was marking off the days until he could return to his beloved hideaway in the mountains.
She rolled over and punched her pillow. Well, good for him. She was glad that at least one of them was happy!
Of course, it wasn’t his fault that she’d wanted more than he was prepared to offer. Hadn’t she found out enough about his early life to know that he wasn’t about to allow anyone to get close to him?
He didn’t have any idea what a family life could be. He’d never known his father. How could he possibly be expected to know?
No. She knew he was a loner. She even knew why. He found it safer not to trust anyone. He was just like one of those untamed animals living up there in the mountains.
She smiled to herself. Wouldn’t he be something, though, to keep around, if he could be coaxed in from the wilds? Didn’t she know more about him than anyone? Just as he knew more about her than anyone? Didn’t she stand a better chance of taming him? What if there was one chance—maybe one in a thousand, but still, one chance—of making it work? Didn’t she owe it to them both to try?
Her eyes drifted shut as she sleepily wondered about her vacation schedule. She used to spend her vacations in the mountains, didn’t she? So maybe this year, just maybe...
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