by Cindy Kirk
Keenan took the piece of sesame chicken into his mouth, chewed, then swallowed. “My only dreams back then were to have a good time and see how far I could push myself.”
She’d known men—boys—like him back in her old neighborhood. They’d lived for today without a thought for their future. She’d avoided them like the plague.
“When did that change?” she asked.
He shot her a lazy glance over the rim of his water bottle. “What makes you think it did?”
“You became an airplane mechanic,” she said evenly. “You got your pilot’s license.”
He leaned back against the wall, his eyes taking on a distant look. “I got tired of all the travel, the different beds, the partying. I didn’t want to end up...”
His voice trailed off but Mitzi had no difficulty seeing where he’d been headed. She realized with a start, they weren’t so different after all.
“Like your mother,” she finished the sentence for him.
He merely shrugged, drank long.
“Things were coming together for me. I even started to think I might one day have enough money together to start my own charter service.” He gave a humorless chuckle. “Then it all fell apart.”
“What happened?” Even as she asked, Mitzi knew it was none of her business. Realized the topic was probably a difficult one for him to discuss even among friends. While they’d shared a couple of meals, she and Keenan weren’t friends, not really.
He could be. Mitzi had the feeling Keenan would make a really good friend.
The day outside was overcast and the room held a soft glow, encouraging confidences. For reasons she chose not to examine too closely, Mitzi wanted to understand the man with the broad shoulders and suddenly tired eyes sitting across from her on the floor.
“I was working late at a private airport outside of Cheyenne.” Keenan stared down at the fork in his hand as if he’d never seen the utensil before. “I heard sounds of a scuffle outside the hangar then someone screaming. I ran outside to help.”
He hesitated.
Instead of pushing for more, Mitzi took a long, slow sip of her beer and waited.
“Two big guys were pummeling this man who was already down. There was blood. Lots of blood.” His eyes grew dark with the memories. “I shouted for them to stop. They stopped all right...and turned on me.”
Mitzi’s heart caught in her throat. She lowered the glass. “What happened?”
“I got in a couple good jabs.” He lifted one shoulder. “Everything after that is a blank. When I woke up I was in an infirmary...attached to the jail.”
“You hadn’t done anything but try to help.”
“I learned I’d been charged with murder. I wasn’t worried,” he said. “I’d gotten a good look at the two guys and could give their description. Then I discovered the gun that was used to kill the man had been found in my hand.”
Mitzi didn’t bother to hide her shock. “You were framed.”
He nodded. “They did a bang-up job of it. Still, I was prepared to prove my innocence...until I got word if I fought the charges, they’d kill my sister.”
Keenan’s gaze locked with Mitzi. “I had no doubt they could do it. They knew where Betsy worked, where she lived. I’d have done anything to protect her.”
Her gaze didn’t waver. “You went to prison for a crime you didn’t commit.”
“They’d have killed her,” he said simply.
“How did you get out?”
“New evidence came to light. Not from me, but from one of the two men there that day. He turned on his friend. Bad guys do things like that. Lucky for me or I’d still be stuck in that hellhole.” He gave a humorless chuckle. “Still, it took considerable time, money and effort to secure my release. My sister and my friends here went above and beyond in that area. There’s no way I can ever repay them.”
Mitzi leaned over, placed her hand over his. “I bet they’d say having you out of prison is all the payment they want.”
“Perhaps,” he said, not sounding convinced. “Regardless, I’m going to repay every penny they put out. That may take a while. Their kindness, their support, well, that’s something I can never repay.”
His voice, thick with emotion, cracked, surprising them both.
Keenan attempted to cover the sound with a cough. “Anyway, that’s the story. I’m back where I started, and it’s okay.”
“You plan on sticking?”
He nodded. “I want to see my nephew grow up, hang out with friends...although it’s different now, most of them being married with kids.”
“Tell me about it.” Mitzi rolled her eyes. “It’s not easy being single and surrounded by happily marrieds.”
Keenan’s eyes grew sharp, assessing. “I’m surprised someone hasn’t snagged you before now.”
“Shagged?” She couldn’t help but smile. “That’s happened a time or two. Or three,” she added.
“Snagged.” He emphasized the word and laughed. “As in put a ring on that finger.”
There were a dozen phrases she’d used over the years to explain her single status, but for some reason Mitzi decided to take the honest route this time.
“For as many years as I can remember, I’ve had to keep men at arm’s length. I had my dreams and nothing—and no one—could be allowed to derail those plans.”
“Now you’ve reached your goal.”
“I have,” she admitted. “But keeping that distance became a habit. Trust has never come easily for me.”
Over fortune cookies, she found herself telling Keenan about Kelvin, her last boyfriend. Although she’d known from the start that the odds of her and the NFL star having a future were a long shot, she’d still been shocked when she learned he’d been cheating on her.
“I let myself trust him,” she admitted. “That’s where I went totally wrong.”
“Did you love him?”
“I was heading in that direction,” Mitzi said, embarrassed she could have been so gullible. “I was stupid.”
“No,” Keenan said firmly. “He was stupid.”
Mitzi lifted a shoulder. “My mistake was getting involved with him in the first place. I should have known it wouldn’t work. We were apart too much.”
“What about Benedict?” Keenan asked.
“Ben’s a great guy,” she said. “We should have been a perfect match. But he got on my nerves and I got on his. Big-time.”
“I can understand that,” Keenan said then grinned when she gave him a shove.
“How about you? Any true loves in your past?”
“A prison isn’t exactly a dating wonderland.” His eyes grew shuttered, the way they always did when those years came up.
Mitzi got it that he didn’t want to talk about that time. “I mean before that.”
“No. There was never anyone special.” His eyes grew thoughtful. “I think I always knew I needed to get myself together before I had anything to offer someone else.”
“Any prospects in Jackson Hole?”
“Maybe,” he said, a lazy gleam in his eyes.
Her stomach twisted, even as Mitzi told herself it didn’t matter to her in the least who Keenan McGregor wanted to date...or to sleep with....
She scrambled to her feet, feeling oddly out of breath. “It’s getting late.”
Taking his time, Keenan pulled to his feet, hazel eyes focused on hers. “I guess that’s my cue to leave.”
“It’s getting late,” she repeated, feeling foolish.
He leaned forward and surprised her by brushing a kiss across her cheek.
Mitzi frowned, resisted the urge to touch her face. “What was that for?”
“For the dinner.” He shot her a wink. “Next time, it’s my treat.”
Chapter Six
“Next time, he says, as if it’s a given,” Mitzi groused to Kate over lunch at the Green Gateau the following day. “He acted as if it was a date or something, and that we were destined to have another one.”
“I’ll tell Joel he’s bothering you.” Kate stabbed a crisp piece of endive with her fork.
Mitzi jerked upright. “Don’t you dare repeat one word of what I say to your husband.”
“If one of his employees is harassing you...” Kate dipped the lettuce into the salad dressing, not seeming to notice Mitzi’s horrified expression.
“I didn’t say he was harassing me,” Mitzi sputtered. “And whatever I tell you is in confidence and not to be shared. I won’t have Keenan getting in trouble—”
Suddenly seeing the amusement in her friend’s eyes, Mitzi paused. “You had no intention of speaking with Joel.”
“Of course not.” Kate lifted her hands and drew a box in the air with her fingers. “We’re in the vault.”
Whatever was said in “the vault” was between the two of them and not to be shared.
“Besides,” Kate continued, a tiny smile tugging at her lips, “he’s not harassing you—he’s flirting.”
“You’re wrong.”
“C’mon, Mitzi, you’re not that clueless.”
“I’ve got someone else in mind.”
“Tim Duggan?”
Mitzi shook her head. “I thought about it. You were right. I’m not ready to be an instant mommy.”
Her expression giving nothing away, Kate took a sip of mango iced tea. “So who’s moved to the top of the leader board?”
“Winn Ferris.” Mitzi set aside her reservations. Although he didn’t make her blood surge like Keenan, there was no denying Winn was an attractive man. And he met all her criteria. “I’m certain the better I get to know him, the more I’ll like him.”
Kate cocked her head. “Really?”
“Some men have to grow on you.”
“Others hit you square in the heart.” Kate’s lips curved up.
Mitzi felt a stab of envy, knowing her friend was thinking about her reaction to Joel when she’d first met him. Though Kate’s journey to love and happiness had been jolted by more than a few potholes, her friend had a marriage Mitzi envied.
But Mitzi had learned long ago that everyone traveled a different course in life. Hers had never been easy. So why should her quest for love and a husband be any different?
“I’ve got to figure out a way to spend time with Winn.” Mitzi caught her lip between her teeth. “I could simply tell him I’m interested, but honesty tends to scare men off.”
Kate looked as if she was trying very hard not to laugh. “I agree. Coming out and telling him he’s at the top of your husband list might be a trifle disconcerting.”
Mitzi shot her friend a glance. “I wish there was a party coming up. A reason to bring us together without being obvious.”
“How about book club?”
Mitzi had attended the monthly book club in the past when she’d had nothing better to do or was in the mood for gourmet food. It was a given that Lexi Delacourt would supply the entrée consumed prior to the discussion. In addition to being a fine social worker, Lexi was a gourmet cook. Though husbands often showed up with their wives, it wasn’t really a party.
“The book club is all women,” Mitzi said pointedly. “Winn is a guy.”
“During the book club meeting—which happens to be at our house this month—Joel plans to get the guys together for a pickup game of baseball.”
A slow smile spread across Mitzi’s face. “He could invite Winn.”
“He could.” Kate handed the waiter her credit card. “I’m sure your Mr. Ferris would attend. Especially considering that many of those who’d be there are the movers and shakers in Jackson Hole, including our new mayor, Tripp Randall.”
“Yeah, he’d come.” Mitzi brought a finger to her lip. “Unless he has other plans.”
“You’ll know one way or the other,” Kate spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. “You might want to come anyway. Lexi is bringing her fabulous Southern-style fried chicken and we’ll be discussing Catcher in the Rye, so it should be an enjoyable evening.”
“It’s next Tuesday, right?” Mitzi scrolled through the calendar in her head.
“Seven o’clock,” Kate confirmed.
“I’ll be there,” Mitzi promised.
This would be a perfect chance to spend some quality time with Winn, perhaps charm him a little. Mitzi wondered why she didn’t feel more excited at the prospect.
The second Keenan stepped into the lobby of the Red Sands Hotel, he wondered what madness had prompted him to come. The monthly Jackson After-Hours events gave young professionals in the Jackson Hole area the opportunity to mingle and network.
As Keenan wasn’t a professional and at thirty-four didn’t feel particularly young, it didn’t seem like an event for him. But Gabe and Joel made the event sound mandatory.
Much of the growth Stone Craft Builders had experienced could be traced to contacts made at such events. In Keenan’s mind, the only upside was that the complimentary hot hors d’oeuvres would save him from buying or making dinner.
In deference to the event, he’d taken off a half hour early to shower, pull on a pair of khakis and a green polo with the company logo.
When he arrived, the private dining room adjacent to the bar already teemed with people. He recognized many of them, including his brother-in-law.
After getting a glass of club soda from one of the bars, Keenan forced himself to mingle. As he walked through the crowd, he heard a shriek and found himself wrapped in a bear hug.
“Someone told me you were back.”
Keenan had a momentary glimpse of bright copper hair tipped with fuchsia and dancing blue eyes framed in purple glasses studded with rhinestones. The girl had blossomed into a woman, but he’d have known that smile anywhere.
“Cassidy Kaye.” He returned the hug. “It’s been a long time. What are you doing here?”
“Networking,” she said and he heard pride in her voice. “I own my own salon...Clippety Do-Dah on Main.”
Her gaze narrowed as she studied his hair. “You could use a trim. Stop in and I’ll take a few inches off. It’ll be like old times, except now I know what I’m doing.”
“If you need some work done on your car,” he said easily, taking a sip of his club soda, “all you had to do was ask.”
She chuckled and hugged him again. “You know me so well.”
It was the truth. Cassidy had lived down the street from him growing up. All through high school he’d helped keep her ancient Gremlin running. In exchange, she’d cut his hair. Though they never spoke about it, he knew her home life had been no better than his. But she was tough and from all appearances had come out ahead.
She scanned the crowd, her lips lifting in a rueful smile. “Ever think you and me’d be standing here mingling with Jackson’s elite?”
“Oh, yeah,” he drawled. “All I had to do was get out of prison first.”
She laughed.
He narrowed his gaze. “Is that Doogie over there?”
Cassidy smiled. “That’s him.”
Dr. Timothy Duggan had been another classmate Keenan had lost track of over the years. From the time he’d been a small child, the awkward red-haired kid had wanted to be a doctor. That fact, coupled with old reruns of Doogie Howser, MD and a last name of Duggan, had sealed Tim’s fate. He’d been dubbed Doogie in middle school. The name had stuck.
While Keenan and Cassidy had been from the wrong side of the tracks, Tim had come from a wealthy family. Still, he’d been a good guy and had once been a friend.
Keenan noted Tim’s red hair had darkened over time and was now the color of mahogany.
“I haven’t seen him since high school,” he told Cass.
Even as the thought of walking over and greeting his old friend crossed his mind, Winn Ferris and Mitzi paused to speak with Tim.
Cassidy’s expression narrowed. “That’s Winn Ferris and Mit—”
“I know the other two.” A hard knot had formed in the pit of Keenan’s stomach.
Keenan felt Cassidy’s curious gaze at the cu
rtness in his tone.
“Let’s go say hello.”
Before he could respond, she had her hand on his arm and was tugging him across the room.
Mitzi told herself the evening was moving along splendidly. She already planned to see Winn at the upcoming book club meeting, so running into him tonight was an extra bonus. She barely had time to get a glass of wine when he’d sought her out.
The gold cashmere dress and heels had earned Winn’s effusive praise. He also liked her hair, which tonight was a subdued brown with blond highlights.
She thought hair color should have more pop, like Cassidy Kaye’s hot pink tips. Like Cassidy, Mitzi shared a love of changing hair colors as often as other women changed shoes or men. But she couldn’t go wild and crazy like Cass. Common sense told her patients wouldn’t accept a pink-haired orthopedic surgeon.
Tonight Cassidy had brought a date. Mitzi’s lips curved before her smile froze.
Her heart gave a little jolt at the sight of Keenan. Though his attire for the evening fell squarely into the business casual arena, he looked good enough to eat.
She pulled her attention from him and listened to Winn discuss—again—the golf development planned for Jackson Hole with Tim. It was good, she told herself, that he was so passionate about the project.
Perhaps it was her background, but she found it difficult to get excited about a sport that wasted so much of a person’s time and money. Still, she plastered an interested expression on her face, even as she wondered if she should place Tim Duggan back on her husband list.
Though he listened respectfully as Winn droned on, she could see him looking for an escape route. Despite being a father of two, Tim was attractive, in a boyishly handsome way. Still, two kids was a definite negative.
“Hey, guys. Are you talking about how hot I look this evening?”
Mitzi turned toward the sassy feminine voice, along with Winn and Tim.
“We don’t mean to interrupt,” Keenan said firmly.
We.
Mitzi’s smile froze on her lips. Had Keenan come to the party with Cassidy?
“Keenan was just saying that he hadn’t touched base with you since he was back, Dr. Duggan.” Cassidy’s voice picked up speed and red splotches appeared on her neck. “So I dragged him over here.”
