by Diane Darcy
“You’ll have to talk to my dad about that.”
She gave a feminine half-shrug, a nod and a smile. “Okay.”
“So where are you from?” asked Trevor.
“Napa. I love it there. It’s pretty here, too. Do you like Redding?”
“Sure. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
“I like your place,” said Honey. “I’m in a small house in the middle of town, but it suits me. It’s close to my office and central to anywhere I need to show.”
“You like your job?”
“I love it.” She smiled. “The hours can be long. It actually feels like I’m running a dating service sometimes, you know? Trying to match the right house to the right family. It’s great.”
She sounded like a hard worker. Not like his ex-wife.
“Your house matches you,” she said.
His brows rose. “You think?”
“Sure. It’s big, quiet, and intimidating. Especially in the dark when you’re trying to break into the place.”
Trevor laughed, not sure how to take the last part. “You don’t seem very intimidated.”
Honey waved a hand. “Nervous chatter. Sorry. My fiancé is always telling me I talk too much when I’m trying to impress.”
Trevor drew in a breath as intense disappointment swamped him. “You’re engaged?” his voice was level.
“Yes,” she said, then sighed. “At least I think I still am. Christian isn’t taking my calls again.”
Just like that the fun went out of the conversation. Which was ridiculous, because it was just as well. He reminded himself of his plan to avoid her, and forced himself to remember his ex-wife. She’d been pretty and charming, too.
Besides, the fact that Honey was engaged just made avoiding her a whole lot easier. He turned onto the main road again.
“Is it very far to your parents’ house?” she asked.
“We’ll be there before you know it.” Hopefully he could rid himself of the irrational sense of loss he was feeling just as quickly.
***
Dylan, Isaac, and Seth reeled in their lines. “Anything?” asked Dylan.
Dylan watched as Seth fell to his knees at the edge of the Sacramento River, tugged a bit, then towed in the last of his line by hand. “It’s just some weeds.” He sounded disgusted. Carefully he pulled the weeds off the big hook, then flung the greenery back into the water.
“Let’s try again,” said Isaac.
Dylan lifted up his pole. “Okay, ready?”
“Just a minute.” Seth pushed up his glasses, then tried to untangle the last bit of fishing line.
Dylan waited impatiently for a moment, then set his pole down, knelt on the ground, and helped untangle it. “Do you want me to put a larger treble hook on?”
Seth nodded. “Sure.”
Dylan got into his dad’s tackle box, pushed aside a bar of soap, and snagged the last weighted-treble-hook he’d filched from his cousin. He attached it to Seth’s line.
A car approached on the road above and the three of them froze. They were mostly hidden by the trees lining the river, but if anyone were specifically looking...
“The warden?” Seth whispered.
Dylan shook his head and everyone let out a breath as the car kept going. Snagging fish by any body part other than the mouth was illegal and they knew it. But they were proving a point. The warden couldn’t push them around anymore.
Dylan looked at his two friends, both nervous, Seth’s thin face serious, and Isaac’s freckled one slightly scared. Dylan tried to think of something to say that would relax everyone. “Too bad we don’t have some explosives, huh? Or one of those fish shocking machines.”
Isaac nodded slowly, and finally smiled. “That would be seriously cool. The fish would practically jump out of the water.”
Dylan stood. “My cousin might be able to get us some explosives if I ask him.”
“Seriously?” asked Seth.
Dylan doubted it. His older cousin avoided him whenever possible, more interested in girls now than fishing. That was the only reason Dylan could swipe his hooks without retribution. But Dylan nodded anyway. “Totally. Are you ready?”
The three of them took turns throwing out their lines as far as they could, then reeled and jerked the lines back toward shore.
A minute later, Seth yelled. “I got something!”
“Awesome!” said Dylan. Finally, they were going to have some fun! “Keep the line tight.”
Isaac jumped from one foot to the other. “Don’t let it get away!”
Dylan and Isaac both reeled their lines in quickly, set the poles down, and watched as Seth pulled the fish toward shore, his pole arced wildly as he jerked the fish up onto the dirt where it flipped on the ground, gasping for air.
One large hook was partially imbedded in the fish’s side. “It’s big!” said Dylan. “I bet it’s eighteen inches at least!”
They watched it flip for a while, the silvery color turning brown in the dirt and Dylan felt sort of guilty. They didn’t have a way to get it home, especially with that big gash in its side. The wound would be a dead giveaway they’d been snagging if the warden caught them with the salmon. So it would just die, wasted.
Seth squatted down for a better view. “Maybe we should throw it back in the water?”
Dylan was glad Seth brought up the idea first. “Okay, if you want.” Dylan retrieved the needle-nose pliers out of his dad’s tackle box. His dad’s best lure stuck to the pliers and fell to the ground. Dylan would get it in a minute.
He gripped the dirty, thrashing fish, clenched the hook with the pliers, and pulled it out of the fish’s side. The fish jerked and Dylan jabbed himself with the hook.“Ow.” He looked at the tiny gash.
“You okay?” asked Isaac.
“Fine.” Dylan wiped the swell of blood on his jeans.
Seth looked up the hill again, got out his inhaler, and sucked medicine into his lungs. When he let out his breath, he asked, “Do you think the game warden is around anywhere? We’re not gonna get arrested or anything, right?”
“Who knows?” There was a tremor in Isaac’s voice. “But maybe we should get out of here, just in case.”
Dylan scowled up at his friend. “Are you two serious? How are we supposed to have fun if you’re so scared of being caught all the time? Screw the warden.”
Seth looked indignant. “You’re looking around as much as we are.”
“Yeah,” agreed Isaac.
Was he? “Whatever. I thought we were having?”
Seth shook his head.
Isaac did, too.
Dylan threw up the hand still clutching the pliers. “Jeeze! We might as well give the warden our fishing poles. He’s taking everything else.” Jaw tight, Dylan stared down at the gasping fish. This was bogus. Dylan missed his dad. When his dad took him fishing, they had fun doing it.
The fish jerked again and, looking at it, Dylan started to feel sick. His dad didn’t believe in snagging, or in killing anything you weren’t going to eat. Reaching down, he threw the fish head first back into the water.
A flash of red and yellow disappeared underneath the surface, and it took Dylan a second to realize his dad’s best fishing lure was attached to the fish’s tail. “No!”
Dylan jumped into the water and made a grab for the fish, but it was too late. The water was dark and the fish was gone.
Dylan’s feet sank into the silt. He had helped his dad make that lure and his dad claimed it was the most perfect one they’d ever done. He loved it and would want to use it when he got back from Iraq.
Dylan smacked the water and his eyes started to burn. “What am I going to do?” His voice cracked, which made him feel weak. Like a baby.
Rage boiled up inside him. This was all the warden’s fault. They’d never have even been out here if he weren’t so mean they felt they had to show him.
Dylan hated him. Hated him!
He turned and dragged himself to the shore and bo
th his friends gripped a hand and hauled him the rest of the way out.
Dylan didn’t even feel the cold. “Come on. I’ve got an idea. We’re going to have some real fun.”
Chapter Five
“There’s that bear I was looking for,” said Honey, feeling slightly vindicated.
“What?” Trevor pulled the truck into his parents’ long driveway.
Honey pointed. “The carved bear by the mailbox. That was the landmark I was searching for when I drove out this way the other night. You can blame him for my breaking and entering stint.”
Trevor nodded. “I carved the bears. My sisters have them by their mailboxes, too.”
“You made them?” Honey stared from him, to the bear, then back again. “They’re really nice. That’s quite a talent.”
“Thanks.”
She raised a hand. “But that’s completely beside the point. The fact that you carved those bears makes my life of crime, specifically my foray into breaking and entering, entirely your fault.” She arched a brow. “Don’t you agree?”
Trevor lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. An accessory, maybe.”
Honey pointed at him. “I’ll take it. If anyone asks, you’re at least half to blame. Agreed?”
Trevor chuckled. “Okay. Half.”
A smile still on her face, Honey got out of the truck and looked around. “What a wonderful property.”
“Yeah. It was a good place to grow up.”
Before her lay a huge, country-style, three level home, complete with a wrap-around porch. A breezeway separated the house from an oversized three-car garage and Honey glimpsed a swimming pool in the backyard.
Trees were interspersed throughout a huge expanse of green lawn dotted with yellow flowers in the front yard. Off to one side of the driveway, a white picket fence separated a picnic area, complete with outdoor tables, comfortable chairs and overhead trees. Very, very nice.
Honey walked beside Trevor to the front doors and her steps slowed the closer she got. What she was doing here? A sudden surge of homesickness engulfed her. She wanted her house, her job and her fiancé. She didn’t know these people, had embarrassed herself horribly, and now was going to spend the entire evening with them? She suppressed a sigh. Maybe after she settled things with Mr. Baron, she could relax.
Trevor opened the door and immediately a child’s voice yelled out, “Trevor’s here!”
Honey stepped into the large entry and spotted the child, about eight years old or so, at the top of a staircase made of light wood. The petite girl took one look at Honey, flicked long e hair over one shoulder, and ran up and out of sight.
Trevor directed Honey into a huge great room, complete with a stone fireplace that reached to the second-story ceiling, and an overhead balcony from which the little girl grinned down at them.
Adults and children lounged on the chairs, three kids played clue at a corner table, and a couple of men energetically competed to win a foosball game at the far end of the room.
Laura Baron came forward. “Hello, Honey. It’s so good to see you again.” She took her hand, pressed it for a moment, then moved to hold Trevor’s face with both hands. She pulled him down and kissed his cheek. “I thought you’d be here sooner.”
Trevor shrugged. “Flat tire.”
Laura tsked. “Honey, let me introduce you to everyone.” She indicated a couple of older women, both with salt and pepper hair, sitting on the couch. One held a tiny baby. “These are my sisters, Linda and Lisa.”
Both women nodded. “Pleased to meet you.”
“And my oldest daughter, Amber.” A woman, mid-thirties, waved from an easy chair.
“And that’s her husband beside her and...”
Honey lost track of the names. The Baron family was big, and everyone was welcoming.
A little girl, about three, sporting a mischievous grin and brown pigtails, deliberately ran into Honey’s legs. Honey caught the tyke and smiled. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”
The girl laughed and reached for Trevor who grabbed her and hefted her into the air, provoking a shriek. “What are you up to, munchkin?” he growled.
A sandy-haired man came forward to claim the tyke. “I’ll take that.”
Trevor handed the laughing girl over. “Honey. This is Paul, a friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you.” Paul shook her hand, let the wiggling child go, then put an arm around the small, dark-haired woman who joined him. “This is my wife Mandy.” The pretty, slender woman looked to be around Honey’s own age.
“Excuse me, young lady,” one of Trevor’s Aunts, the one holding the baby, said from her place on the couch. “But are you the girl who went and stayed at Trevor’s place by accident? Or was that someone else?”
Honey laughed, feeling residual embarrassment, but also glad to get it out of the way. She hung her head and nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid that was me.”
Trevor raised a hand. “But apparently I’m half to blame since I placed the bear out front, so...” Trevor shrugged and everyone laughed.
Grateful for his words and his presence, Honey grinned at her own fickleness. Earlier she couldn’t wait to get away from Trevor, and now she felt like they were friends and didn’t want him to desert her. She was actually glad to be staying at his place with him and Elizabeth. Too many curious people here.
Laura beckoned from an arched doorway. “Honey, why don’t you come with me? We can chat while I cook.”
Reluctant to leave her ally, Honey glanced at Trevor, but he was chatting with his friend so she made her way across the room and into a well-designed country kitchen with slate and hardwood floors. Amber and Mandy joined them. Amber picked up a handful of mixed nuts from the bowl on the counter. “Where are you from, Honey?”
“Napa.”
“Ooh. Good wine. We always stop at the ZD winery when we’re down that way. They have the best Pinot Noirs. Have you been there?”
Honey shook her head. “No, but now I’ll be sure to look them up.”
“So, are you married?”
“Engaged.”
Amber nodded. “You’re a realtor?”
“Yes. I’m hoping to purchase some property from your father.”
Amber nodded again and Honey noticed the other ladies seemed to be listening. “Can I help with the food?” she asked Laura, who was mixing a pasta salad.
“Oh, no, thank you. You’re a guest and, besides, everything is almost done. The boys just have to grill the meat.”
A cell phone rang on the counter and Amber picked it up and turned away. Honey remembered her own was on silent and dug it out of her purse and checked it. She’d missed a couple of calls from her boss, but could call him back later. There was no call from Christian despite her messages.
A large man with a slight pot belly and a thick head of graying hair, came in the back door. “The grill’s ready.” He announced loudly and with good humor. “Where’s the meat?”
“Oh, Honey. This is my husband, Greg,” said Laura. “Greg, Honey.”
Greg rounded the counter, held out a large hand and took hers in a firm grip. She instantly liked the twinkle in his brown eyes. “Nice to meet you, Honey.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you. You have a wonderful family. I’m hoping you and I get the chance to talk tonight about the piece of property I’d like to purchase on behalf of my employer.”
He shook his head. “Not tonight, we won’t. It’s a party, isn’t it girls?” He looked around, a huge grin on his face.
Laura grinned back at him. “Yes, it is. The steak, chicken and hot dogs are in the refrigerator. Remember, don’t put the meat back on the same plates, or I’ll skin you alive.”
They weren’t going to talk tonight? Disappointment had Honey slowly sinking down onto a bar stool. She’d come to talk business and didn’t want to waste any more time. If they weren’t going to get anything done, she could have stayed at Trevor’s and studied for tomorrow’s test. Or slept, or tried to
get in touch with Christian. She could...
She shook her head and smiled at her thoughts. Good company and good food and she was complaining? Besides, she knew better than anyone that most deals were made between friends. So she might as well relax and enjoy the party.
Paul stuck his head in the doorway. “Honey, I challenge you to a game of foosball. How about it?”
Mandy shook her head. “Don’t do it. He’s almost as competitive as Trevor. He’ll show you no mercy.”
Honey laughed and headed out, determined to enjoy herself. “Then he’d better expect none in return.”
***
Trevor headed outside to help his dad grill. It would give him the added benefit of avoiding Honey and, since he liked her way too much, it was probably a good idea.
He shut the French door behind him and walked out onto the deck. “Need any help?”
His dad glanced up. “Hey, son. Glad you’re here.” He sprinkled a bit of seasoning on the chicken, set the bottle down and put his fingers to his lips. “Shh. Don’t tell your mom.” He grinned. “And nope, I don’t need anything, but you can keep me company.”
Trevor glanced through the window at Honey. She looked like she was having fun at the foosball table.
“That’s a cute girl you brought with you,” his dad said.
Trevor realized he was staring and glanced away. “I guess.”
“Any chance the two of you might get together?”
Trevor eyed his dad. “What about your business dealings with Honey’s boss? I thought you were going to give Honey a hard time.”
His dad waved his hand. “That’ll all be over soon. Anyway, I’m a good judge of character. After meeting her, I doubt she’s involved. What do you think?”
Trevor shrugged. “I doubt it, too. But it doesn’t matter, anyway. Honey’s engaged, so asking her out would be pointless.”
His dad’s black brows rose. “That’s too bad.” He paused, rolled a couple of hot dogs over, then looked up with a sly smile. “But, you know, engaged isn’t married. Your mom was engaged to another guy before I stole her away. You know the saying. All’s fair in love and war. Fiancé stealing is practically a family tradition.”
