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“I just went to Mexico for a while.” She climbed into the cab of the truck and played with the frayed hole in the knee of a disreputable pair of jeans.
“Maybe you’d like to tell me why?”
“Maybe not. It’s none of your business.” Her jaw was set and she slid a pair of sunglasses onto the bridge of her nose.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t do anything illegal, okay? I just needed to get away for a while. Fun and sun, that’s all.”
“And you couldn’t call?”
“I didn’t want to. Whether you know it or not, Mason, you’re not my keeper.” She fished into her purse, pulled out a tube of pale pink lipstick and applied it without benefit of a mirror. “And don’t give me any guff about a promise to Mom, okay? It doesn’t wash anymore. I’m way too grown-up to have an older brother breathing down my neck.” She slipped the cap onto her lipstick tube and tossed it back into the messy interior of her bag.
Mason, starting the engine, was still suspicious.
“You know, Mason, you should lighten up.” She found a decorative elastic band, scraped back her hair and snapped the band into place. “You’re starting to imagine things.”
He jammed the truck into gear and drove through the parked cars. Sunlight glinted off windshields and fenders, while people with bags of every sort and size clustered in knots at stations for the shuttle. Was he imagining things? He didn’t think so. He cared about his sister even though she’d given him nothing but grief ever since he could remember.
“You know, Patty,” he said as he slowed to pay for his short stay in the parking lot. He handed the attendant in the booth a ten-dollar bill and waited for change. “It wouldn’t hurt you to settle down.”
She laughed as the gate opened and he drove through. “Oh, yeah, what’s this? You know the old saying, the pot calling the kettle black or some such hogwash. You could take some of that advice yourself.”
He slid his sister a knowing glance. “How did Jarrod find you?”
At the mention of Jarrod Smith’s name, Patty’s expression changed. She avoided Mason’s eyes. “You know your old friend. He could find a black cat in a dark room on a moonless night.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t come back with you.”
Patty lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t invite him,” she said and reached into her bag for a pack of gum. She made a big show of unwrapping a stick before plopping it into her mouth. “I think he said he’d be back in a few days, in time for his mother’s wedding. I didn’t really pay a lot of attention. He made sure I got on the flight and I took off.”
She seemed to take sudden interest in the other cars on the freeway as Mason melded his truck into the flow of traffic, then slid lower in the seat, as if she intended to get a little shut-eye. “Jarrod did tell me that you were seeing Bliss Cawthorne again,” she said.
“She’s back in town.”
“Is that good news or bad?”
Definitely good, he thought, but kept his feelings to himself. He knew Patty was just trying to distract him and, damn it, her ploy worked. Now that his sister was safe and, for the moment, out of trouble, he could concentrate on other things. Terri was coming around about Dee Dee, and that left Bliss.
Bliss.
What in the world was he going to do with her?
Ask her to marry you, that’s what. You can’t take a chance on losing her again.
His jaw slid to one side and he adjusted the air conditioner to lower the temperature in the cab. He’d struggled with his feelings for over a week. She was the one woman he’d sworn to avoid and now he couldn’t get enough of her. Making love to her was pure heaven. Holding her close at night was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. And she’d be leaving soon. John and Brynnie’s wedding was scheduled for the end of next week. Then Bliss was planning to return to Seattle.
That thought settled on him like lead. It was time to come clean. As soon as he’d deposited Patty at her apartment, he’d have it out with old man Cawthorne.
* * *
Bliss gave Fire Cracker her head and felt the hot summer air stream through her hair as the game little mare raced over the dry stubble of the field. The sky was on fire, deep shades of magenta and gold blazing over the western hills, as the sun set in a splash of brilliance.
It was a glorious evening and Bliss felt a rush of adrenaline as Fire Cracker’s hooves thundered over the dry acres. Cattle and horses dotted the hillsides, and shadows grew long at the base of trees. How could she ever leave? In the past few weeks she’d grown to love this ranch, just as her father did. And despite all her talk to the contrary, she’d fallen in love with Mason.
Not that he loved her.
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