by Robin Bayne
“Go on. You’ve got a good two hours before we eat.”
Liz closed the door behind her, and they walked down the hall. “You sure you don’t need help with the food?”
“Nah. Go ahead, but if you happen to run into Colt’s father, George, be prepared.”
“For what?”
“He wasn’t exactly pleased to see me here with Colt, so I’m not sure how he’ll treat my friends.”
Liz studied her intently.
Tia squirmed. Finally she snapped, “What?”
“Oh, nothing. Just haven’t seen you for a while. See ya,” Liz said, and let the back door bang behind her.
Tia watched her go, moving easily through the grass in her high-topped sneakers. She couldn’t help wondering what exactly Liz had seen in her face, and what she was going to do about it.
~*~
Colt stepped back, taking in the reconstructed stable walls. The horses were groomed and fed, content enough in their temporary home. He’d always wanted to bring more horses here when he was younger. Now he had room for ten if he wanted them. He also had Jake’s younger brother, Tim, to come in daily and help care for them.
Colt knew Tia wasn’t pleased with his decision; but it was his home, too, and his business. This was something he needed to help rebuild his life, regardless of whether or not he had her approval. At least animals gave unconditional love. Shaking his head, Colt wondered where he’d picked up that piece of psychobabble. Wouldn’t Tia be ticked off if she thought the horses were a substitute for her?
A shadow flickered across the floor, creating layers of dark in the dust-sprinkled sunlight. Colt looked up to see a short woman in jeans watching him. She looked familiar. She must be Tia’s friend, Liz.
“Hey, Colt,” she said, one hand shading her eyes as she entered.
“Hey.” Colt wanted to greet her warmly, based on his newly gained memory that they had gotten along well in the past. But he kept silent, wondering why she’d shown up here without Tia. Maybe Cami had made him cynical. Maybe he couldn’t even trust his own memories.
“Hay is for horses.” She moved closer to Colt, looking around the barn as she did. “You’ve got this looking good.”
He nodded. “Did you want to see the horses? You like to ride, right?” Pulling a baggie of baby carrots from his pocket, Colt handed them to Liz and led her to a gentle mare. Her musky perfume mixed with the smell of animals and hay.
“Tia would croak if she had a horse this close to her,” Liz said, smoothing the animal’s flank and fishing a carrot from the bag.
He couldn’t argue with that observation. While Liz chattered on, sometimes in a soothing voice not aimed at him, Colt leaned on his workbench and merely listened, amused at her enthusiasm for the animals, for the inn, and for Tia.
The carrots were gone and still she lingered, making Colt wonder if she had another reason for being there.
“Can I ride tomorrow morning?”
Colt nodded. The woman wanted something else. But what?
“Great. Well, I’m going to help Tia with dinner. I did study cooking too, you know.”
“Yeah, you were roomies in college, right? I remember that. Would you please tell her I’ll only be another half hour out here?”
Liz hovered by the door, one hand braced against the frame, the other stroking the newly sanded wood. “Colt?”
Here it comes. He merely looked at her, arms crossed where he leaned, waiting. Would she hit on him? Ask him for something? Remind him of something embarrassing about his behavior when he’d had amnesia?
She cleared her throat, and suddenly found the gumption to look him in the eye. “If you ever need to know things, I mean, if you can’t remember what happened, between you and Tia, and you don’t want to ask her, I can help fill in the blanks. It might make a difference.”
He raised an eyebrow, surprised but pleased by Liz’s sincerity.
“I just want to see her happy, you know? It’s been a long time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
~*~
The splash sprayed Tia and Liz as they approached the pool where two of the younger guests cannon-balled into the blue water. Their parents had made them wait an hour after eating, and the energy saved up in that hour now exploded into water and chlorine.
Meg sat curled on a chaise lounge, pretending to read a horror novel, but Tia could tell she was keeping an eye on her younger sister. Good girl.
“Dinner was wonderful,” Mrs. McMillan assured Tia, reclining on a chaise that kept her close to her children.
Tia chatted with her for a few minutes, and then lost her train of thought when she saw Colt in the kitchen through the window. His shirt was open at the neck with several buttons undone, and Tia couldn’t decide if she saw a shadow of chest hair or a play of light as the sun began to set.
He nodded once and disappeared.
Hearing the bell ring for the front desk, which was wired into the courtyard, Tia was glad she’d not yet shed her beach cover-up. She gave Liz a little wave as she passed her friend’s comfortable chair, where she had plopped down with a paperback novel.
Colt was nowhere in sight as Tia met her new arrivals, a sweet couple in their early sixties from New Jersey. After registering them and taking a moment to be amazed at how the inn had filled up, she was swept into a steady stream of tasks that varied from finding missing rolls of toilet paper to paying for a delivery of junk for those horses, to finally fixing a snack for her newest guests who had missed dinner.
By the time she got back to the pool, it was nearly eight and everyone had cleared out, except for Liz, who clung lazily to the edge of the shallow end, laying back so her curls floated on the surface. Her eyes were shut, and Tia resisted the urge to jump in and scare her.
As if reading her mind, Liz opened her eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”
Shedding her cover-up, Tia took the plunge. Cold water enveloped her as she disturbed her friend’s tranquility.
“How old are you?” Liz demanded, sputtering as she wiped her eyes. “Since when do you do cannon balls?”
Tia giggled, feeling free and playful, until she noticed Liz standing and studying her again, and her face warmed despite the cool wetness.
Liz touched a finger to her cheek. “You know, you’ve gained a little weight. What is it, about ten pounds since I last saw you?”
“Well, thanks for pointing that out.”
“Now, don’t get defensive. It’s a good thing. Didn’t you lose twenty or so after the accident?”
Tia nodded. “Wish I could have kept it off, though.” She skimmed the surface with both hands, rippling the water and smelling chlorine.
“Too skinny.” Liz looked down at her own size ten body and then circled Tia. “You still have it, don’t you? Does it stretch when you gain weight?”
Tia snorted, dipping to shoulder height in the water. “Not really.”
“Let me see.”
“No.”
“C’mon, I’ll show you mine. Mine got a little tighter when I lost a few pounds.”
Tia sighed, wishing Liz would drop the subject, knowing that she wouldn’t. Slowly she stood and turned her back to the other woman, hooked her finger in the band of her bathing suit bottom and lowered the right edge enough to reveal the tiny tattoo she’d had inked there. The entire image was no larger than a dime, but she really regretted getting it
“It’s fine.” Liz poked her finger against the miniature crane’s head.
“Yes, it is,” Colt called from the kitchen window.
Tia whipped around, covering her hip. She couldn’t be sure of his expression through the screening, but felt her color rising.
“Very fine.” Colt raised a can to her in a mock toast and then took a lusty swig.
Tia dipped into the water to hide from Colt’s searing gaze and her friend’s questioning one.
Liz burst out laughing.
6
Colt tensed, feeling the sweat star
t all over. He had no idea what he was drinking, but clutched the can in his fist as he watched. Tia and her friend had been acting girly in the pool when he’d first glimpsed them through the window. He’d popped the top, waited for overflow but stayed frozen to the spot, watching for no particular reason.
Not that he hadn’t known from day one that he’d have to see Tia walking around in a swimsuit. She’d always been a swimmer.
He’d remembered that at first glimpse of the pool, deserted in the courtyard, when Tia had been still surveying the inn’s abandoned state. But never in a memory had she yanked up her bathing suit bottom and revealed a tattoo! That was one thing she’d never had, would never have agreed to when they were together. Through the screening and at this distance, he had no idea what the tattoo actually was, but the fact that she’d gotten one on her cute little hip was enough to stir his blood.
Too bad this was something forbidden to him, something he hadn’t been meant to see. Or even know about. A tattoo on a girl, especially on a nice girl, was just plain appealing. Not that he’d have any of the things himself, he really didn’t see the point of being stuck with one picture or word on one’s chest or arm the rest of one’s life. He’d had the chance several times, with Jake and his buddies, who all wanted to impress on their skin that they were tough construction workers−real men.
It hadn’t seemed to Colt that it made them men.
Glancing at his arm, he wondered if he had gone ahead and put Tia’s name there, could a doomed relationship and whole lot of pain been avoided? Would he have regained consciousness in the hospital, seen the permanent marking and known to send Cami packing?
Didn’t matter. He swigged again and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. No one cared if he was sloppy. Outside, the women had climbed out and were completely wrapped in big towels, covered to their knees in blue cotton, but Colt knew he’d be seeing that hip all night long.
He dumped whatever was in the can down the drain and wondered if his date for the evening had her own tattoo.
~*~
Strains of a country song filtered out of The Stable, the wood-covered bar that only the locals knew about and patronized. Colt scanned the rows of cars in the lot, saw Jenny’s new-model sedan, and made his way to the battered front door, which was supposed to look like a barn door. It only looked...old.
A cloud of smoke hovered in the entrance, as if waiting for someone to open the door and release it.
Colt was pleased to let some of it escape; he hated the haze in these places. It kept him from actually seeing expressions. Not that he really wanted to see Jenny’s face when he told her they couldn’t go out, but sometimes the face told tons more than the words spoken.
He spied Jenny’s dark hair at a nearby table and slid into the seat opposite her. Up against a brick wall, the table was private, if not quiet. “Hey,” he said, amazed as always at how much she looked like her brother. Jake had wanted them to get together, had thought Colt was the guy who wouldn’t hurt his little sister. Yeah, right.
“Hi, Colt,” she said, just as the song ended. “I’m glad you could come.” Jenny offered him a sweet smile that he didn’t deserve.
A waitress appeared, and Colt ordered beers for them both, and then grinned as Jenny had to search her purse for some proof of age.
“I’m sorry, I can’t find anything.”
Colt waved his hand. “No problem. We’ll both have colas.”
Jenny shot him a grateful smile, and the waitress rolled her eyes before leaving. “Colt, sorry about that. I really am twenty-two, you know.”
“I know. You are a year or two younger than Jake.” Another song began to play, something whinier than the last. He took a deep breath, preparing to say what he’d come here for, but the smoke he inhaled made him choke a little. “Jenny, speaking of Jake, I don’t−”
Her hand reached for his wrist and took hold. “Can I talk first?”
“Um, sure.” He was in no hurry to make her feel bad.
“Remember when Jake first decided to fix us up? He told me you were lonely, because you’d been in an accident and lost your girlfriend.”
“Yeah?” Colt was glad she’d omitted the part about him finding Cami.
“Well, he said that she had been your true love, your soulmate.” Jenny let go of him so that their drinks could be placed on the table. “Thank you.”
Colt wrapped a hand around his glass, suddenly feeling way too warm in the little bar. He wondered if people would stare if he lifted it to his forehead.
“Anyway, Jake wanted me to meet you a while back, but yesterday he told me that you were working with her again, and−”
“Just working.”
“OK, I know, but now since your memory is back, and you are stuck working with her, this woman Jake insisted was the best thing that ever happened to you, I don’t think I want to intrude on that.”
“Uh-huh.” Colt gulped half his soda, drowning in the irony of it all. Sure, he could remember Tia now, but he couldn’t date her, and because of her he couldn’t date Jenny either. He saw Jenny smile at some guy at the bar. “I didn’t want to end up hurting you, and that’s why I wanted to meet you tonight.” Colt shoved a hand through his hair, enjoying the cold dampness from the icy glass he held.
“Because I’m Jake’s sister?”
“Because you’re a nice girl, and I like you. And thank you for caring about my, um, soulmate, if there is such a thing.” Colt looked up as the other guy approached.
“Colt, this is Dave. He’s the other reason I can’t go out with you.”
Colt stood and offered his hand, which the other man shook heartily. The kid couldn’t be more than twenty-five, Colt thought, barely grown but clean-cut. He was just perfect for Jake’s sister.
“You guys go have fun. But not too much,” Colt said, smiling now. He’d just been dumped by the best, and he didn’t have to be the bad guy. What a deal.
Jenny stood and reached back for her purse. Her head close to Colt’s, she pecked his cheek. “Hope you find your soulmate.”
Colt, still standing, nodded to both of them.
“You’re working with Tia at the inn, right?” Dave asked, ignoring Jenny’s tug on his arm.
“Yeah.”
“So you’re the guy she got the tattoo for, huh? My brother’s the one who did it.”
Colt’s nostrils flared as a wave of irritation hit him. Make that petty jealousy. “Is that right? Well, tell me−”
“Bye, Colt!” Jenny had Dave moving into the fog before Colt could finish his question, which didn’t surprise him a bit. He finished his drink, alone at the table, wondering when Jake had figured out what Tia had meant to him, and why he hadn’t said anything during his amnesia. And whether that made Jake an even better friend, or not one at all.
Colt figured it wasn’t just the smoke giving him a headache, tossed a few bills on the table, and left The Stable.
~*~
The entire morning had been wasted, but this was important, so Colt swigged more caffeine as he eyed the lawyer.
“So how’s this working out?” John Berger snapped twin levers on his brown briefcase, closing in it the final papers making Tia Colt’s partner. It was a done deal.
Colt tossed his copy on the desk, the white paper edges fluttering as they landed. He looked at John. “Could be worse.”
Berger raised his glasses, pulled them from his nose and cleaned them with the handkerchief from his breast pocket. “I see. Anything I can do?”
“Not unless you can convince Tia that this place needs more horses, a working stable, and maybe a few other animals.” Crossing his arms, Colt leaned on a bookcase built into the small study’s walls. “For the guests.”
“Well, I uh, guess that’s a decision you two will have to make together.”
Colt nodded, thought about playing host and offering the man a drink, but rejected the idea. This was the person who’d been all set to sell this place out from under him to the high
est bidder−and a little grudge prickled under Colt’s skin. So instead he opened the study door and tilted his head toward the hall. “Thanks for bringing the recorded papers.”
“You’ll give Tia her copy.” Berger picked up his case and tucked it under one short arm, stating his request rather than asking. He turned back to Colt before leaving. “How’s your father, Colt?”
“George.” Colt said the name, recalling that Berger and his father had once been friends. “Has his good days, and just as many bad.”
Berger shook his head slowly, hiking the briefcase higher into his armpit. “I’m sorry. I always figured that’s why your grandmother left the place to you. Well,” he went on, speeding his pace suddenly, “call me if either of you needs anything.”
Seeing him out, Colt wondered how the real estate agent could possibly help him with what he needed. Did he know when George had started to lose his memory? Was it Alzheimer’s, despite what the doctors said? George seemed fine most of the time and had managed without Colt’s help for years. If only Tia’s mother had acted on her feelings, been a little selfish, and stayed with George. Maybe then things would have been different.
For all of them.
He filled the rest of the day, and then watched as Tia, respectably covered in a white skirt-shorts type thing, set a tray of plastic tableware and utensils, cups and an ice bucket on the deck table. He would have helped her with it had she asked, or even been near him, but she’d avoided him for the past few days since the tattoo incident. Or maybe since he’d let her think he’d had a date.
They hadn’t spoken, even when he’d handed her the official partnership agreement, signed, sealed, and delivered. She’d taken it, thanked him, and went back to dusting the front room.
So he’d been left to wonder, and imagine things like roses, tiny hearts or even a smiley face as a tattoo.
Jenny’s friend had implied the tattoo had something to do with him, but he really couldn’t imagine her getting his name on her hip.
And he had some kind of imagination. Picturing Tia with any of these on her hip sent his pulse racing. It made him even more aware of her as a woman, but at the same time, made him want to yell at her for damaging her skin. Taking a chance on getting a dirty needle. Showing another man her body.
