"We've got plenty of paint to strip. Maybe I should buy a carload of them." He grinned as he bit into another pepper. "Save a fortune on chemicals."
The phone rang, cutting off Nick's answer, which would probably have been nearly as pungent as the peppers. Carrying the take-out carton with him, Harry went to answer it. Nick hesitated only a moment before pushing open the back door and going outside.
Kate wasn't hard to find. She was on her knees next to one of the roses, studying the tangled canes with an expression that was equal parts adoration and annoyance. Nick thought of Harry's comment about Kate wanting to bring him up on charges and half smiled.
"Need a machete?" he asked.
Kate hadn't heard him approach. She'd told herself that she was assessing the condition of the rose in front of her, but in her heart of hearts, she knew she was engaged in nothing less than nature worship. The idea that this garden was hers—more or less—was so incredible that she could hardly absorb it. She'd felt the need to touch the soil, as if that would make it all real. The sound of Nick's voice shattered the moment like a hammer striking a pane of glass.
He was the single, glaring flaw in the whole arrangement, she thought as she got to her feet. She bent to dust off the knees of her slacks, using the moment to regain control of her expression. Knowing that it was inevitable that she'd see him here was the only thing that kept her from shouting with joy.
"I need to get back to work," she said, glancing at her watch without seeing it "Excuse me."
"Wait." Nick reached out, catching her arm when she would have walked past him. "I think we should talk."
Kate stared past his shoulder, her expression rigid, her stomach churning with nerves. She was painfully aware of his hand against her arm but refused to give him the satisfaction of pulling away. "I don't think we have anything to say to each other."
"I have something to say to you. Please." The last word drew her eyes to his face. What she saw made her heart thud suddenly and painfully against her rib cage. This was the man she'd met five years ago, the one who, for a little while, had made her feel less alone. She almost thought she'd prefer to see the cold, angry stranger of a few days ago. That seemed safer somehow.
"I really don't have much time." She stepped back so that his hand fell away from her arm.
"I'll try to grovel quickly."
"Grovel?"
"It's the least I owe you. I want to apologize for the things I said and for the way I acted the other night."
"Apologize?" Kate felt like an echo, but she couldn't seem to manage anything original.
"I was way out of line. I don't know what I was thinking, why I reacted the way I did."
"It's an awkward situation," Kate said faintly and then wondered if she was trying to make excuses for him.
''It doesn't have to be." For the first time, Nick hesitated, and when he spoke, it was obvious that he was choosing his words with care. "What happened between us—it was a long time ago. It doesn't have anything to do with... anyone else."
She noticed that he avoided saying Gareth's name and wondered if he felt the way she did—that they'd somehow betrayed his brother, even though the single night they'd spent together had happened long before she and Gareth had met.
"Look, this whole situation is based on a coincidence so bizarre it's like something off daytime television."
"Like Geraldo?'' she asked softly, and Nick winced, remembering his comment the last time they met.
He gave her a lopsided smile. "Actually, I was thinking of General Hospital. This goes way beyond the scope of Geraldo.''
Despite herself, Kate felt herself softening. He seemed to be honestly trying to smooth things over between them. She wanted to hold on to her anger, she admitted, looking away from him. It was safe to be angry with him.
"You're going to be part of the family," Nick continued. "I don't want any awkwardness between us."
"It's a little late for that, isn't it?" She watched a bright green, long-legged insect step delicately onto a rose leaf and thought that awkward didn't really begin to describe the situation.
"We can rewrite history a little—^pretend we're meeting for the first time today." His smile was coaxing. "Hell, politicians do it all the time and get away with it."
Kate kept her eyes on the insect, which had settled near the tip of the leaf. She wondered if it was either waiting for some smaller creature to get within reach or contemplating its first bite of rose leaf. If she slid her eyes to the left, she could see Nick's feet. He was wearing scuffed brown work boots and a pair of faded jeans—casual, working clothes. The first time she'd met him, he'd been wearing a similar outfit. Harry had said that he'd spent the last five years working on Wall Street. She had a hard time picturing him in a suit and tie.
Kate shifted her gaze to the insect, which seemed to be basking in the sun. Apparently, the dangers of LTV exposure had yet to reach his part of the world. It must be nice to be a bug—lolling in the sun with nothing to worry about but whether you were going to have dinner or be dinner.
Nick's suggestion seemed good—a chance to wipe the slate clean, pretend past mistakes had never happened. Gareth would never have to know. It was what she'd wanted and more than she'd dared to hope for. But now that it was within reach, she hesitated. Shared secrets were intimate things, she thought uneasily. They created ties, linked those who knew the truth. The last thing she wanted was any kind of a bond with Nick. Then again, maybe it was a little late for that.
"I love my brother," Nick said when she remained silent. "I would never do anything to hurt him."
Reluctantly, Kate looked at him, her eyes searching his. He looked as if he meant what he was saying. She looked away. She didn't want to see Gareth hurt, either. She could argue that something she'd done long before she met him shouldn't cause him pain but emotions were not always logical. Instinct told her that learning she'd once slept with his brother was not something Gareth would be able to shrug off, no matter when it happened.
"All right.''
Nick looked relieved. "It's the best way to handle it."
"I hope so." Kate felt a mixture of relief and guilt. Her engagement was safe, but she couldn't get past the feeling that she was protecting it by lying, at least tacitly, to Gareth.
Nick smiled and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Kate Moran."
After an almost imperceptible hesitation, she took his hand. She hoped she wasn't making the mistake of a lifetime. She hoped even more that the spark of awareness she felt when they touched was the product of too much sun and anxiety.
"I'll let you get back to work," Nick said as he released her hand. "Harry's very pleased with himself for hiring you, by the way."
"I hope he'll be pleased when he sees the results." She rubbed the tips of her fingers over her palm, as if to erase the faint tingle she felt there.
"I'm sure he will be. Gareth says you're the best."
She knew he'd mentioned his brother deliberately, an assurance—or reminder?—that the past was no longer relevant. It gave her the courage to ask a question that had been haunting her.
"Wait." He'd already started to walk away but he stopped and half turned toward her, his brows raised in question. "Five years ago, when we...met, were you... I know your wife—" At the sudden bleakness in his eyes, Kate stumbled to a halt but she'd gone too far to stop. "Were you married when we...?"
Nick's face looked as if it had been carved from solid granite. She thought he might turn and walk away, leaving her question unanswered. The silence stretched, along with her nerves.
"No, I wasn't married." He turned and walked away without waiting for a response.
Not that she had a response, Kate thought. What could she say? I'm so glad to hear that your wife was already dead when we made love? Not exactly appropriate. She felt guilty for being relieved that she hadn't slept with a married man.
Nick disappeared around the edge of a wildly overgrown hedge of Korean box and Kate release
d her breath on a sigh. Forget the past, he'd said. It would be nice if they truly could. Just pretending to forget was only going to make her remember more. She rubbed her fingertips over her palm again, and tried not to think of the awareness she'd felt when he took her hand.
Looking around the garden, she tried to regain some of her earlier sense of elation. She should be happy. She had a fabulous new job. Her engagement was safe. Everything was going just the way she wanted. Life was practically perfect. There was nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.
Lowering her gaze, she saw that the green bug was still perched on the rose leaf. He was dining on a smaller winged creature, which answered the question of his dietary preferences. As she watched, he tilted his head and she had the distinct impression that he was looking up at her. She couldn't help but think that he looked smugly triumphant.
Chapter 5
Late suddenly became aware of a prickling sensation along the back of her neck. She'd been on her hands and knees, halfway under a rose bush, scraping her hand through the layers of half-rotted leaves in search of a label that might give her a clue to the plant's identity. But she couldn't escape the feeling that she was being watched. Moving carefully, in deference to the wild tangle of canes that surrounded her, she backed out from under the plant. Turning, she sat down in the grassy path.
A very little girl and a very large dog stood a few feet away, watching her with nearly identical expressions of interest. Kate regarded them both warily. She didn't have much experience with either children or dogs. As far as she knew, one was prone to tears and the other was prone to bite.
"Hello," she said when neither of her visitors showed any inclination to speak.
"Hello." The child offered a friendly smile along with the greeting. The dog simply continued to look at her. They were an odd pair, Kate thought. The little girl was as delicately pretty as a china doll, with big blue eyes and a short cap of wispy blond hair that framed her fragile features. The dog, on the other hand, was not only large, he was, quite possibly, the ugliest animal she'd ever seen in her life. His coat was the exact color of steel wool and looked just about as soft. He was built along the stocky lines of a draft horse and was nearly as large.
"I'm Laura and this is Leroy.'' The child patted the dog on the head.
"Leroy?" The name seemed improbable.
"Like in the old song. You know, bad, bad Leroy Brown. Meaner than a junkyard dog?' Only Leroy isn't mean at all. Are you?"
She leaned against the dog, who supported her weight without effort. Kate was inclined to think he could support a small building without exerting himself. Laura looked at her, her wide blue eyes questioning.
"You're the lady who's going to fix up Harry's yard, aren't you?"
"I'm going to try to." Aware that she hadn't exactly done her part in the introductions, she smiled at the child. "I'm Kate."
"I know. Nick told me your name. He said you were going to make everything pretty but I think it's pretty already." It was evident that she viewed any possible changes with suspicion.
"I think it's pretty, too, but it can be even prettier."
Laura looked politely doubtful and changed the subject. "What were you looking for under the rosebush?"
"I was hoping to find a label that would tell me the plant's name."
Laura looked surprised. "It's a rose," she told Kate kindly.
"Yes, I know that." Kate bit back a smile. "I want to know what kind of rose it is."
"You mean whether it's white or red?"
"More or less." This didn't seem the time to go into an explanation of alba versus damascus. "Are you visiting Harry?" she asked.
"I live next door." Laura waved one small hand toward the north. "Harry lets me come over here to play when I want."
"How long have you and...Leroy lived next door?" Kate couldn't quite shake the feeling that the big dog was eyeing her with dislike.
"I've lived next door forever. Since I was a baby." Laura managed to make it sound like that had been centuries ago. "Leroy isn't my dog. He's Nick's."
"Nick's?'' Kate felt the name catch in her throat a little.
"Nick is a friend of Harry's. He's fixing up the house," Laura explained graciously.
"Yes. I know." Kate stood up, dusting her hands against the seat of her pants and then leaning over to brush bits of grass off her knees. "I didn't realize he had a dog."
"Nick found Leroy last week. Somebody hit him with a car and drove off." She threw one thin arm around the dog's massive neck, her voice crackling with indignation. "He was hurt but Nick healed him all up."
"That was very nice of him," Kate said sincerely. "I'm glad the doctor was able to help Leroy."
Laura frowned. "It wasn't a doctor. It was Nick He—"
"What am I being accused of now?" Nick's voice came from behind Kate. She turned quickly, struggling to keep her expression under control. She hadn't seen him in several days, not since they'd stood in this same garden and decided to forget the past. If only it was that easy.
"Hello." Nick's smile was friendly.
"Hello." The word was little more than a croak, and she cleared her throat before trying again. "Hello. Nick." The name was an afterthought, intended to show that she was perfectly comfortable with him—with the situation. The quick flash of humor in his eyes suggested that she hadn't been particularly successful.
"Kate," he said, his solemn tone inviting her to see the humor in the moment. Reluctantly, Kate's mouth curved in a fleeting smile.
"Hello, Nick." Laura's tone had gone from briskly adult to coyly feminine.
"Hey, short stuff." Nick's shoulder nearly brushed Kate's as he walked past her. He smelled like sunshine and sweat—^warm, masculine smells that conjured up images of bare chests and rippling muscles. Kate pushed the images firmly away.
"Don't get too close to me," he warned the little girl when she lifted her arms for a hug. 'I'm filthy."
His jeans were covered in a fine layer of dust. Patches of dirt made his T-shirt look like camouflage gear. Even his dark hair was coated with dust, giving Kate a preview of what he would look like when he was older. It hardly seemed fair that gray hair should suit him as much as his natural deep brown.
"I don't mind if I get dirty," Laura said, looking at him with worshipful blue eyes.
"Yeah, but I bet your mom does." He brushed his hand affectionately over her golden curls.
Laura looked as if she might melt on the spot, and Kate was annoyed to realize that she knew just how the little girl felt. Those dimples were hard to resist. Not that they affected her, but she couldn't help but notice them. She became aware that she was rubbing her thumb against the band of her engagement ring, as if it was a talisman to protect her against powerful magic.
"You look like you've been rolling in the dirt," she said briskly, relaxing her hand with an effort.
"Crawling in it." Nick bent to scratch Leroy behind his ear, and Kate was half amused, half irritated to see the huge dog turn his ugly face upward with a look of adoration. Really, what was it about the man that turned children and dogs into putty? Not to mention grown women, she added reluctantly, thinking back to the first time they'd met.
"Harry says I'm making too much of a mess in the house, so he's going to move into the guest house. I was just in the crawl space repairing a leak in the plumbing." Leroy shifted position, leaning his not inconsiderable bulk against Nick's leg. Nick braced himself against the weight and grinned at the dog. "You're a lazy bum."
"I was telling Kate about how Leroy was hurted and you made him better," Laura said, looking at him adoringly.
"I didn't do much. Leroy did most of the work himself, didn't you, boy?" He rubbed his knuckles over the top of the dog's head, and Leroy's human-sounding sigh of pleasure surprised a smile from Kate.
Laura frowned. "But his leg was all covered with blood and you put your hands on it and you—"
"It looked a lot worse than it was." Nick cut her off, as if uncomfortable
with her admiration.
Modest, too, Kate thought sourly. Good-looking, kind to children and small animals—didn't the guy have a fault?
"Leroy looks very...healthy now," Kate said, directing an uncertain smile at the large animal. "He's rather large, isn't it?"
"Just a healthy, growing boy," Nick said.
"Growing?" Kate's imagination boggled at the idea that the dog might actually get bigger.
"Sure. He's just a puppy, aren't you?" Leroy wagged a tail the size of a broom, his square face creasing in something that might have been a smile.
"He seems friendly," she said doubtfully.
"You're not worried about meeting him when you're alone, are you?" Nick asked. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"I'd feel good about that if I was a fly."
Nick laughed out loud, and she did her best to ignore the frisson of awareness that ran up her spine. She did not want to be reminded of how attractive he was.
"Come shake hands with him. Leroy would never bite anyone to whom he's been properly introduced. Come on," he urged when she hung back.
"Are you scared?" Laura asked, her sandy brows going up in surprise.
"No," Kate lied promptly. She forced herself to move forward. "I just don't have much experience with dogs, that's all. Actually, I don't have any real experience with them at all."
''Lean down and hold out your hand," Nick told her.
Feeling as if she might as well be holding out a T-bone steak, Kate did as she was told. Leroy eyed her for a moment, his black eyes unfathomable. She hoped he wasn't trying to decide where to bite first but, conscious of Nick and Laura watching, she held her hand steady. When Leroy lifted one massive paw and plunked it into her palm, she jumped in surprise. Kate dutifully shook his paw and then released it. She straightened, aware of a distinct feeling of accomplishment.
"Didn't you ever have a dog back when you were a little girl?" Laura asked, watching the exchange with curious blue eyes.
"We moved around a lot. It wouldn't have been fair to drag a pet away from its home all the time." She'd heard the words so often as a child that they came to her automatically now.
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