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“I’ll take care of it,” Katie said. “It’s on me.” She ignored Trevor’s offer of money and found her purse wedged between half-filled boxes on the kitchen counter. As she and Tiffany headed outside, Katie glanced up at the upper story of the carriage house, the place Luke temporarily called home. How would it be to live so close to him, to know that he was only a few short footsteps away? She thought again for a second about making love to him on the parlor floor and decided she couldn’t dwell on the future or what, if any, kind of relationship she had with him. Only time would tell.
* * *
“I was wondering when I’d hear from you again. How’s it going out there?” Ralph Sorenson’s voice was loud and filled with anticipation.
Luke had steeled himself for this phone call—a call he hadn’t wanted to make. “It’s going,” he replied, hedging. “Renovations on the ranch house have started, and I should be moving out to the spread in a month or two.”
“So, what about the other? Have you found out if Dave had a kid like he hinted at?”
Luke heard the note of eager enthusiasm in the older man’s voice, could almost see Ralph’s aging fingers curl, white-knuckled around the receiver. “I’m not certain yet,” Luke admitted, “but I’ve got a couple of leads. Good ones. As soon as I know for sure, I’ll let you know.”
“It means a lot to me,” Ralph said. “It’s all I have left of my boy.”
“I know. I’m working on it. Trust me.” Luke heard the old man sigh and felt like a heel. How had he gotten himself roped into this mess? He turned the conversation to the weather, the price of feed, a new virus that was infecting cattle herds in west Texas—anything but the topic of David Sorenson’s child. Stretching the telephone cord so that he could look out the window to where Josh Kinkaid and Stephen Santini were playing one-on-one at a basketball hoop hung on the garage, he leaned his shoulder against the window.
The older kid was winning by a lot, but Josh, even though he still hobbled a little, wasn’t a slouch. Luke hated the thought, but he would bet dollars to doughnuts that the kid was Dave’s. His age was perfect, and Katie acted so oddly—like she couldn’t wait to change the subject—whenever the question of Josh’s paternity came up. She’d also been blown away when she’d learned about Dave’s death—had turned white as a sheet. Hell, what a mess.
But he couldn’t prove it. He suspected only one person knew the truth.
“I’ll call in a couple of days,” he promised and hung up. It was time for a showdown with Ms. Kinkaid. As soon as her half brothers and the Santini clan cleared out, Luke would have to confront her.
For a second the image of her lying beneath him, her eyes wide and verdant green in anticipation, her lips parted in passion as he made love to her, flashed through his mind.
His gut knotted.
He’d never felt so completely satisfied in his life as he had with her; and he’d never felt so guilty for seducing someone. Katie Kinkaid was different from any of the other women he’d had in his lifetime. Very different. And that was a problem. A big problem.
CHAPTER NINE
That night, after most of the stuff had been packed away, Katie opened the door to Josh’s room and smiled as she saw him spread-eagled across the bed, snoring softly, dead to the world. Her heart swelled as she brushed a wayward lock of hair from his forehead, leaned down and kissed his smooth brow. He had been warmer to her today, as if he was getting over the shock of realizing that she had lied to him, as if he were finally forgiving her. Thank goodness. She didn’t know how much more of the cold shoulder she could take. As she left the room she snapped off the TV and lights, then softly closed the door behind her.
In the next room over, her new office, she rearranged some files on her computer, edited an article on the new Santini winery and vineyards, and went through her notes on Isaac Wells. It had been over a week since she’d received the letter, and she’d never been contacted again. The police had told her nothing, and she was starting to believe she’d been the target of some kind of hoax, though she couldn’t begin to think why. “Live and learn,” she said, frowning and catching a glimpse of her pale reflection, blurred over the words of her article in her computer monitor.
A truck roared into the drive, and Katie’s heart jumped. The engine died as she opened the blinds and peered through. Luke’s truck was parked near the garage, the glow of a security lamp reflecting on its hood. Stretching as he climbed from the cab, he stro
de across the backyard. His expression was stern, his demeanor that of a man with a mission. Her pulse jumped of its own accord.
He cast a quick look at the house and upstairs to the lighted window. Katie’s throat caught. She couldn’t look away. He didn’t so much as smile and quickly disappeared from view beneath the roof of the porch. Her porch. Oh, God, he was coming to see her.
Katie was down the stairs in a flash, her bare feet skimming the wooden steps and hallway into the kitchen. She opened the door and found him in the shadows, as taciturn and unfriendly as she’d ever seen him. “Something’s wrong,” she guessed.
“You could say that.”
Her heart went wild. “Come in, come in. What is it?”
Once inside, he grabbed one of the chairs positioned around the table and straddled it. Folding his arms over the back, he stared up at her. Dread did a slow crawl up her spine. In a moment of intuitive divination she knew what this was about.
“I want to talk about Josh’s father.”
“I figured as much.” Her voice sounded strangled, even to her own ears. “Why?”
“It’s time.”
She wanted to argue, to tell him it was none of his business, but the truth of the matter was out. Now that Josh knew his parentage, there seemed no reason to lie. “I don’t see why it could possibly matter to you,” she began, rubbing at a spot on the counter with one finger, “but you may as well know that Josh was Dave Sorenson’s son. We…we knew each other in high school, got involved, and then, just before he left, I got pregnant.” Her cheeks burned, and for a second she thought she might break down altogether, but she managed to keep her voice steady and look Luke in the eye.
“You never told him that he had a son.”
“Nope.” She shook her head and couldn’t hide the regret in her voice. It seemed Luke was determined that she face all her demons. Tonight. “I should have. For Dave. For Josh. I…I was young and stupid and naive and hurt. I had explained to Dave before he moved away that there was a chance that I was pregnant, but he didn’t seem concerned, and then, when I knew for sure, I found out that he’d already hooked up with another girl in Texas. I guess I had too much pride to run after him and give him the news he didn’t want to hear—that he was going to be a father.” She drew in a long, shaky breath. “So the only person I confided in was my mom. No one else knew, and she kept my secret. I didn’t even tell Jarrod who Josh’s dad was, and I felt badly about it, because Jarrod saw me through some pretty dark hours. Stood by me and didn’t ask any questions or give me any lectures.”
