Mr. Congeniality

by Sherry Lewis

  Dean sighed with regret. “Not to mention the fact that you’re still, technically, married.”

  The shadows bathed her face, but he could see the slight frown that curved her lips. “Only until August.”

  “Still…”

  “You’re right,” she said with a soft sigh. “We really would be asking for trouble if we got any more involved.”

  “So we’re agreed? No more?”

  “Absolutely no more.” Before he could react, she stood on tiptoe and caught his mouth with hers for another soul-wrenching kiss and then pulled away to let him see the twinkle in her eye. “Starting first thing tomorrow.”

  “WHAT’S UP WITH YOU?” Gary demanded about thirty seconds after Dean stepped into the kitchen the next morning.

  Dean stopped whistling and glanced at his friend in surprise. “With me? Nothing. Why?”

  Gary’s eyes widened and his brows winged upward. “Why? Just take a gander in the mirror, buddy. You’re acting like a different man this morning.”

  Dean laughed uneasily and tried not to make eye contact with Annie. They might have agreed to be more than buddies last night, but all the reasons they’d discussed for keeping their relationship under wraps still existed—and they were all sitting at the breakfast table behind him. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “It’s not that something’s wrong,” Gary said, raising one eyebrow speculatively. “Just different.”

  Dean shut the refrigerator and turned around to find four more sets of eyes watching him intently. Tyler had stopped buttering toast, Nessa held a glass of orange juice halfway to her mouth. Irma held a spoonful of scrambled eggs over her plate, and Les had stopped chewing. In fact, Annie—who’d suddenly developed an intense interest in muffin batter—was the only person in the room not staring at him.

  “What is it?” he demanded again. “Do I have toothpaste on my cheek or something?”

  Nessa recovered first, sipped her juice and set her cup on the table. “No. But Gary’s right. You seem different.”

  Tyler started moving his butter knife again. “You were whistling.”

  Dean let out a relieved laugh. “I whistle a lot. You know that.”

  Irma spooned the eggs onto her plate and nudged Les with one elbow to get him chewing again. “Not that song.”

  “What song?” Dean tried to remember, but whistling was such an instinctive thing with him, he rarely thought about it.

  Gary pursed his lips and the first few notes of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” filled the room.

  Dean willed away the flush he felt creeping into his cheeks and thought about that old saying—that the two things a man can’t hide are when he’s drunk and when he’s in love. He didn’t think his feelings for Annie had gone quite that far, but maybe it was equally difficult for a man to hide the fact that he’d been necking by the campfire.

  With a silent promise to disguise his emotions better in the future, he crossed to the table nonchalantly. “It’s a great day,” he said. “We have three cabins full of paying guests and none of their credit cards were rejected when I ran them through the computer. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

  “Whatever the reason,” Irma said with a quick glance at Annie, “it’s nice to see you so chipper.”

  Dean helped himself to two pieces of toast and changed the subject. “Does anybody know if the Jorgensens decided to take that trail ride today?”

  Gary nodded and leaned back in his seat. “All four of ’em want to go. And the Feeneys decided to go with them. I thought I’d take Nessa and Tyler along to help out, if that’s okay. The more experience they get with small groups, the better it’ll be when a large group comes along.”

  Identical ear-to-ear grins erupted on Tyler’s and Nessa’s faces. They both seemed thrilled, and Dean’s instinctive response was to say yes, but he didn’t out of respect for Annie.

  He glanced at her for the first time, noticed her trim-fitting jeans and loose denim blouse, and struggled to keep his voice sounding normal when he spoke. “Is it okay with you if Nessa goes along?”

  Annie didn’t answer until she’d finished filling the muffin pans and joined them at the table. “I don’t have any problem with you going,” she said to Nessa at last. “Just be careful. You’re not used to riding in the hills.”

  Gary said something about keeping an eye on the kids, but Nessa’s delighted shriek drowned him out. She bounded out of her chair, threw her arms around Dean’s neck and sent Annie a look filled with a mixture of leftover resentment and imminent forgiveness. She bounded away and Dean took advantage of the moment to put one hand on Tyler’s shoulder—casually, as if he did it every day.

  Tyler stiffened a little and he didn’t quite look at Dean, but at least he didn’t pull away. Mentally chalking up his first tiny victory, Dean moved his hand and dove into breakfast as if nothing unusual had happened. But he could tell by the furtive glances Tyler kept shooting at him that he’d either done something very right…or very wrong.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ANNIE KEPT ONE EYE on the door as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. Steam from her shower hovered near the ceiling and traveled outside through a partially open window high over her head. It might have been early July, but the cool morning air drifting past her shoulders drew an occasional shiver as she went through her morning ritual. She hardly noticed.

  She had other things on her mind this morning. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Spence’s offer, and she still didn’t know how she felt about it. She couldn’t deny that the idea of going back to Holladay House was tempting on one level, but that might only have been because it felt safe and familiar. The idea of working with Spence after everything they’d been through still left a bad taste in her mouth.

  The glittering appeal of teaching at the culinary institute and relocating to a city where she didn’t know a single soul was dulling a little more every day—but that might have been fear talking.

  To make matters even more confusing, Annie had started entertaining fantasies about Dean at odd times during the day. She’d be dicing vegetables on the chopping block and she’d imagine him coming into the kitchen behind her and burying his face in her neck. Or she’d be heading toward the showers and suddenly envision him waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Or she’d be making her bed and her imagination would transport her to Dean’s room at the end of the hall, and images would fill her mind that made it almost impossible to pretend she didn’t feel anything for him when the others were around.

  And the thing was, she didn’t want to pretend any longer.

  Her reasons for wanting to keep their budding relationship secret seemed to evaporate when they sat at the dinner table together or across from each other at breakfast. She loved watching him with his guests—pointing out the best fishing holes on a map or teaching someone to gut and clean their catch. She took comfort from the sound of his voice and the warmth of his laugh, and loved watching him grow more relaxed and less serious every day.

  Annie just didn’t know whether she longed to share her feelings with the rest of the world because those feelings were real and right, or because she was still on the rebound after Spence’s betrayal.

  Scowling slightly, she scanned her face in the mirror and pulled moisturizer from her makeup case. As she dotted some onto her face, the door opened and Nessa came inside.

  Annie lowered her hand and turned. “Good morning.”

  “Morning.”

  Annie replaced the cap and set the bottle on the narrow counter by the sink. “I was hoping I’d see you before breakfast. What are your plans for today?”

  Nessa slipped into the changing room and pulled the curtain shut between them. “The usual stuff, I guess. Why?”

  “We only have a couple of families checked in right now, so we could both probably wrangle some free time. I thought maybe we could try again to spend some time alone together.”

  “Doing what?”

  “
Whatever you’d like. We’ve both been so busy, I feel as if I hardly see you anymore.”

  “We see each other all the time.”

  “Yes, we do. But someone else is always there. I’d like some mother-daughter time.” Annie leaned against the counter and rested her hands behind her. “The truth is, I feel like we have a few unresolved issues between us and it’s driving me crazy.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like what I said the other day about you and Tyler. Like what you said about going to live with your dad.”

  Only the sounds of Nessa changing filled the strained silence for several long minutes. Just as Annie was about to give up hoping for a response, Nessa’s quiet voice drifted over the curtain. “I didn’t mean to say that, you know.”

  Annie let out a silent sigh of relief. “I know.”

  “I was just mad because of the way you were acting.” Nessa pulled the curtain partway open. “What do you have against Tyler, anyway?”

  “I don’t have anything against Tyler. I like him.”

  “Then why are you so against him?”

  “I’m not against him. That wasn’t what I was trying to say, and if it sounded like I was, I’m sorry.”

  “Okay.” Nessa leaned one shoulder against the door frame. “Then tell me again.”

  “I have absolutely nothing against Tyler,” Annie said once more for good measure. “I’m concerned about how close you’re getting because I know what can happen. That’s nothing against Tyler and it’s nothing against you, either. It’s simply acknowledging that physical attraction between two people can sometimes feel overwhelming, and it can sometimes overshadow good sense.”

  Nessa folded her arms defensively. “In other words, you don’t trust me.”

  “That’s not true. I think you’re spending a little too much time with Tyler, that’s all. But I understand what you’re feeling and why.” Maybe even a little too well. She pushed Dean out of her mind and focused on Nessa. “And maybe that’s not the only thing bothering me. It’s possible that I’m also feeling a little left out.”

  Nessa’s posture changed subtly. Her gaze met Annie’s squarely for the first time. “You mean, like, jealous?”

  “Maybe.” Annie stuffed her hands into the pockets of her robe. “I don’t like thinking I am, but it’s possible. My mom used to tell me that watching your kids grow up can be really hard and learning to let go is rough. I didn’t understand what she meant until this summer. When you were little and you needed me for everything, I was top on your list of important people. Now I fall somewhere lower, and some days I have a little trouble adjusting. I’m glad you like working with the horses and I’m thrilled that you get along so well with Gary. I’m even glad that you and Tyler have each other here. I just want a place in there with everything else.”

  Nessa stood up a little straighter. “Like when?”

  “I don’t care. Maybe we could fix dinner together one night a week, or you could spend an afternoon talking to me while I’m baking. Or we could actually take that nature walk or drive in to town for a wild shopping spree.”

  The corners of Nessa’s mouth twitched. “Now, that sounds exciting.”

  “It could be. You never know.”

  Nessa grinned broadly. “I do know, Mom. I’ve been to Whistle River.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I guess your ideas are okay, even though you know I hate cooking. But I’ll do what you like if you’ll do what I like.”

  Annie blinked in surprise. “I didn’t know you hate cooking.”

  “Well, I do. Why do you think I never offer to help you?”

  “I thought it was because you’re fifteen.”

  “That, too. But I’ll do it if you’ll come down to the stables and finally learn how to ride.”

  Annie let out an abrupt laugh, then sobered just as quickly. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah.”

  Annie ran a hand along the back of her neck. The huge beasts still made her nervous, but she couldn’t resist the eagerness in Nessa’s eyes. “I guess I could try, if that’s what you’d like me to do—”

  “Today?”

  Annie took a deep breath and nodded. “Better to get it over with than to put it off.”

  Nessa grinned slowly. “Cool. Wait until I tell the others. Gary’ll be stoked.”

  Annie laughed nervously and turned back to the mirror. “I’m sure he will be. Just make sure he picks a nice, quiet and very tame horse for me.”

  “You got it.” Nessa stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain closed. The sound of running water soon followed, and within seconds, steam began billowing over the top of the curtain.

  Annie gathered her things and let herself out into the morning. Riding horses sure wasn’t how she’d planned to spend the day, but she’d do it gladly if it meant a chance to strengthen her bond with Nessa.

  GARY BANGED THROUGH the screen door a few hours later, making enough noise for half a dozen men his size. He gave Annie a quick once-over and pushed his hat back from his forehead. “Are you ready?”

  Annie toweled a pan dry and shook her head. “I don’t know, Gary. I’m not sure I can do this.”

  “Oh? And why not?”

  “Because I’ve never ridden before, and I don’t know anything about handling animals. The only thing I do know is that they sense fear—and I’m terrified.”

  Gary chuckled and plucked a cluster of grapes from the fruit bowl Annie had started keeping on the counter for snacks. “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. Old Maisie will be more afraid of you than you are of her.”

  “I doubt that.”

  Gary grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the back door. “Come on, ’fraidy cat. Everybody’s waiting.”

  Annie let him lead her, but only because she knew Nessa was waiting. “If I get hurt, I’ll never forgive you.”

  “You won’t get hurt.”

  “You can’t guarantee that.”

  “Near as. Hell’s bells, woman,” he grumbled as he tugged her down the stairs. “I’m your own flesh and blood. I wouldn’t suggest you try this if I thought there was a chance anything bad could happen.”

  “What if I look stupid?” she asked as they started across the clearing.

  “Why would you?”

  “Because this is a very unnatural thing for me. The rest of you act as if you were born on the back of a horse.”

  Gary stopped walking, checked out her jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes, and nodded in satisfaction. “You look great. Almost as if you belong here.”

  “It’s just window dressing.” Annie clasped her hands together and responded to another gentle tug on her arm. “I feel awkward and completely out of place. I stick out like a sore thumb around here.”

  “Bullroar. I know people who’ve lived here for years and still aren’t as well-adjusted.”

  Annie laughed softly. “That’s a lovely lie, Gary. Thanks.”

  “No problem.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets and settled into the loose-limbed stride he’d picked up over the past few years. “How’s everything else? You getting along with everybody okay?”

  Annie nodded and fell into step beside him. “I really like Irma and Les. She doesn’t mince words, does she?”

  “Never known her to.”

  “Les seems quieter, but very nice.”

  “He doesn’t talk much,” Gary agreed. “Doesn’t feel the need. How about Dean?”

  Annie’s cheeks grew warm. She glanced away before Gary could read a reaction in her eyes. “We get along fine. Why?”

  Gary shrugged. “No particular reason. I just want to make sure everything’s okay since I’m the one who brought you here.”

  Annie smiled with relief. “Everything’s fine.” Luckily, it took only minutes to reach the stables, but when Annie saw five horses saddled and waiting in the paddock, she glanced nervously at Gary.

  He pretended not to notice and motioned her toward the fence. “Give us a minute and we’ll help you get
mounted.”

  Annie’s heart pounded and her hands grew clammy while she waited. Everyone else seemed so comfortable around the horses, she felt foolish. When Tyler held the gate open for her, she slipped inside as if she did this every day. But as she approached Maisie, her fingers grew numb and a strange nervous buzzing started in her head.

  Maisie watched her with wide, unblinking eyes. She didn’t even move when Gary took Annie’s hand and lifted it gently to her broad neck. “See? She’s perfectly harmless.”

  “She could just be biding her time.”

  Gary laughed and pulled a baseball cap with the Eagle’s Nest logo from his back pocket. He shook it to uncrease the folds and settled it on Annie’s head. “You’re too smart for me, cousin. This is all an elaborate murder plot we schemed up, and we’ve got the gentlest horse in creation to do the dirty deed. It’s the best alibi any of us could come up with.”

  Annie was nervous, but she didn’t pull her hand away from the horse’s neck. When she relaxed enough to actually feel the strange bristly softness of its coat, she moved her fingers gently. The strength of the animal’s muscles still frightened her, but Maisie twisted her neck to look back and even Annie couldn’t deny that her eyes were the gentlest she’d ever seen.

  “Hey there, Maisie,” she said softly. The horse snorted softly in response and Annie grew a little braver. “Could you do me a huge favor and let me live through this little experience?”

  Maisie tossed her head and Annie jerked her hand away. The horse gave her another look and Annie put her hand back where it had been. “Sorry.”

  “It appears you’ve made another friend.” Dean’s voice in her ear brought Annie around sharply, and when she saw him standing there in a pair of faded jeans and a black western-cut shirt, she decided to force herself onto Maisie’s back just for a chance to spend a few more minutes with him.

  “I don’t know if we’re friends or not,” she said. “I’m just trying to convince her not to trample me.”