CHAPTER 3

C HAPTER 3

Mellie, all excited, was waiting for Essa in the lobby at exactly five minutes to four. But Duke wasn't there.

"Where's your dad?" Essa asked, looking around.

"On the phone in our room," Mellie said. "But he said he'd only be a minute. You look nice," she added in a faintly surprised tone.

"It's the way I usually dress," Essa protested, glancing down at her jeans and Save the Cobras T-shirt, with sneakers.

"Your hair," came the amused reply.

"Oh." Essa had left it long. It came to her waist in back, pale blond and thick and beautiful. She wasn't sure why she'd worn it down. She usually didn't.

"It looks pretty," the child told her, smiling from ear to ear.

"Thank you," she replied gently, brushing back a stray strand of Mellie's blond hair. "Yours always looks pretty."

"Thank you," was the quick reply.

"Hello there," Dean said, coming down the staircase. "Both of you down here?"

"Yes, Daddy's got a surprise for me! And I wanted Essa to come, too." She lowered her voice. "Daddy wasn't pleased," she confided.

Essa laughed. "Yes, well, we're not exactly sociable," she agreed.

Dean shook his head and chuckled. "I'm sorry you couldn't come today," he told Mellie. He cocked his head. "You're a nice child," he added in an odd tone. He glanced at Essa. "And you're a nice woman. Not just nice. You have . . . you're odd. I don't mean that in a demeaning way . . ."

"I am odd," Essa said softly and with a smile. She studied him. "And I think you are, too. In a nice way. You have a . . . a sad background. But it's nothing you can't overcome."

He looked downcast. "That might have been possible," he said, "if I'd met you two sooner. But there are things we have to do that we don't want to do."

"I understand," she said, still smiling kindly at him.

He sighed and smiled back. "You really are exceptional. Don't think too badly of me in the future," he said, surprisingly. "I didn't know the right people at the right time. It might have changed everything."

"I see."

"You don't," he corrected. "But you will." He smiled at Mellie. "I've enjoyed knowing you. I'm sad and happy that you couldn't come with me today. You're a sweet child. I hope you have a wonderful life."

"Thank you. I think you're nice, too," Mellie said warmly.

Dean looked torn. He glanced at Essa. "I think maybe her dad has a sixth sense," he commented. He smiled. "Or maybe you do. What a lucky thing. Or maybe it's just fate. See you."

He left them with a wave.

"That was a strange conversation," Mellie told Essa, moving closer to her.

"It was," Essa said, spooked by it. The man was saying a lot without saying anything.

They were still discussing it in whispers when Mellie's dad came down the stairs. He was wearing his usual indifferent expression, except that it changed to a tight-lipped one when he spotted Essa.

She glared at him and didn't say a word. He glared back.

"Essa is my friend. You don't really mind that I asked her to come with us?" Mellie asked in a plaintive tone.

He took a deep breath. "Of course not." He glanced at Essa. "I thought you were going to another dig with your friend Dean?"

"He invited Mellie," she said, "and then he invited me. But Mellie said you had someplace special for her to go that was secret. And she wanted me to come."

He scowled as he pulled out his car keys. "Why were the two of you whispering?"

"It was something Dean said," Essa told him. "He said you must have some sort of sixth sense. We didn't understand what he meant."

"And he said he was happy and sad that we couldn't go with him," Mellie added.

Duke knew something, Essa could tell. But she didn't question aloud the sudden change of expression that he hid very quickly. Obviously he wasn't sharing any information with the enemy, she thought wickedly.

He looked down at her with a strange expression. "Your hair," he said. "It's very long."

"Too long for my profession," she said, tongue-in-cheek. "It caught on fire once, before I learned to put it up before I went into a kitchen."

He actually laughed, but he covered it up at once by coughing. "Well, you won't be near any fires today."

She and Mellie followed him out to his car. Mellie quickly claimed the back seat. An amused Duke insisted she move to the front seat. He climbed in and glanced at both of them to make sure their seat belts were on before he put on his.

"I always wear a seat belt," Essa remarked. "It saved the life of one of my friends. He was in the passenger seat in a wreck. It was the only thing that kept him from going through the windshield. His mother said he had bruises where the seat belt dug into him."

"Better bruises than dead," Duke replied as he drove out onto the highway.

"Where are we going, Daddy?" Mellie asked excitedly.

He glanced at his daughter and smiled secretively. "Wait and see."

"Oh, Daddy!" she wailed. And then she grinned.

* * *

They drove to a neighboring town, about halfway between Benton and Denver, to, of all things, an ice-skating rink.

"Oh, Daddy, you remembered!" Mellie exclaimed, and hugged him tight. "I thought you said you hated ice-skating now and would never do it these days!"

"I didn't say that." He noticed her glowering at him. "Well, I didn't mean it, when I said that," he corrected. He handed her a bill. "Go rent some skates."

"Aren't you going, too?" she asked Essa.

"I don't imagine the would-be novelist here could stand up on them," Duke said with a bland expression.

Essa just looked at him with an expression that could have stopped a charging bull. She went with Mellie to get skates.

"Can you really skate?" Mellie asked. "' Cause Daddy gets real snarky with people who don't do it well. He has his own skates, too."

"I get by," Essa replied, not adding that she'd won a regional championship while she was still in high school. She also had skates, but she'd had no idea they were going to an ice rink on this surprise trip for Mellie.

"Okay then."

"Are you good at this?" she asked Mellie.

"Not as good as Daddy thinks I should be." She sighed. "He and Mommy used to skate all the time."

They both sat down to put on their skates. Mellie noticed how meticulous Essa was about lacing up the skates; it was something a beginner might not even know how to do.

"At least these have toe stops," Essa muttered, "but they've really been worn. I guess I'll escape blisters. Some, anyway." She laughed.

"You do know how to skate," Mellie said enthusiastically.

"I might. Just don't mention it to your dad, okay?"

"Okay!" Mellie agreed. It sounded like great fun, helping her new friend get one up on her dad. So few people ever did.

* * *

They went out onto the ice and were surprised to find Duke already there.

"I thought we might have to pick your friend up off the ice. Several times," he murmured, waving the red flag at the bull.

Essa smiled. "You're so kind . . . oops," she said, and pretended to slip. She recovered her balance. "These things aren't too stable, are they?" she asked. "Gosh, it's a lot different from roller skates."

"Yes, it is," Duke replied with a very superior smile.

"Well, no time like the present to get started, right?" She leaned forward just a little, her legs in position. "Somebody want to give me a little push . . . ?"

Duke gave her barrier a gentle push. She skated around the rink, very fast, and because there were only a couple of people skating, and at the other end of the rink, she jumped at top speed, and went into a triple salchow, followed by a toe loop, and finally ending in the unique layback that had helped earn her the medal in district competition.

She skated off the ice, out of breath. "Wow, thanks for the push," she told a wide-eyed, silent, blond man. "It sure helped!"

"That was awesome!" Mellie exclaimed. "How did you learn to do that?"

"Years of practice. I won a district competition medal about four years ago."

"Why did you quit?" Duke asked.

"Both my parents died of a virus three years ago," she said quietly. "I didn't have the money to go into higher competitions. And I was too busy with . . . other matters." She choked back tears.

"Any siblings?" he asked.

She shook her head, fighting for control. "Just me."

"I'm sorry," he said, and it sounded genuine. "That would have been rough, both at once."

She took a long breath. "It's never easy, losing someone you love. It's worse when there are two of them. But they went together." She smiled sadly. "You almost never saw them apart, except when they were at work."

"What did they do?" he asked.

"Dad was a deputy sheriff. Mom worked as a dispatcher for 911."

"Well." He actually sounded impressed.

"Dad always wanted to get a novel published. I helped him work on them, but he never did." She looked up at Duke. "If I ever make it, it will be like he made it, too. If that makes any sense."

"It does," he told her, and for once, he wasn't snarky.

"Aren't you going to skate anymore?" Mellie asked Essa.

"I was just catching my breath." She glanced at Duke. "I forgot to ask—can you skate?" she asked, and with a really snarky smile.

"I do all right," he said easily. He pushed away from the barrier, sped around the rink as she had, jumped, and landed a triple salchow, a double toe loop, and a very nifty layback.

His cheeks red from exertion, his dark eyes glittering, he glanced at Essa's open-mouthed surprise. "I love skating."

"Daddy was asked to go to the Olympics, but Mommy got sick, and he couldn't go," Mellie said softly.

"I'm so sorry," Essa said with genuine feeling. "You really are an awesome skater."

"Thanks," he said, and glared at his daughter for saying something so personal to a virtual stranger.

"She's not like most people," Mellie said surprisingly. "She's . . . well . . ."

"Odd," Essa supplied. "I don't fit in with other people. I sort of sense things about people. It makes them uncomfortable."

He didn't comment. They all went back onto the ice and skated until they were out of breath and in danger of getting real blisters on their feet, something professional skaters had the equipment, and the know-how, to prevent.

"They have a cafeteria here. Want to get something to eat?" Duke asked when they'd turned in their skates.

"That would be great!" Mellie enthused.

"I' d love to eat something I didn't have to cook." Essa sighed. She glared at Duke. "But I pay my own way."

"Fair enough," he said.

"Daddy takes out girls who always want him to pay for everything, and they hate having me along," Mellie said on a sigh as she and Essa came out of the bathroom together.

"You go with him?" Essa asked, surprised.

"Oh, yes. He said he wasn't leaving me with any babysitters. Not after that first one."

"What happened?" Essa asked, angry to think that the poor child had been abused or something.

"Well, she had a headache, so she took some pills and went to sleep." Mellie's face dissolved into gleeful mischief. "First I went outside and walked in the mud, then I climbed all over Daddy's recliner. Then I went into the kitchen and threw tomatoes at the wall. After that, I unplugged Daddy's computer and all the other stuff, including the internet and the router. By the time Daddy got back and found the babysitter asleep, I'd done a lot of very bad things. So from then on, Daddy always took me with him on dates."

Essa burst out laughing. "Oh, I can see why he did that," she told the laughing child.

"So that's why Daddy can't get married again," Mellie said. "I'm obnoxious," she added with a big grin.

"Obnoxious, precocious, and very annoying from time to time," her father said curtly. He was carrying a tray. "I got you a hamburger with extra catsup and French fries, also with extra catsup, and a lemonade."

"My favorites! Thanks, Daddy!"

Duke looked at Essa. "You said you'd get your own," he reminded her.

"Yes, I did." She smiled at him and went to the counter, returning with yogurt and black coffee.

"You call that lunch?" Duke exclaimed.

"Well, I'm not really very hungry," she confessed. "I eat a huge breakfast, and it lasts me until supper."

"I eat a big breakfast, too," he confessed. "Of course, I have to cook it," he added, glancing at his daughter.

"You won't let me cook," she defended herself.

"It took a month to get the repairs done," he retorted.

"It only burned a couple of cabinets," she said defensively.

"Yes, and taught your father to never let you near a stove again!"

"Not nice," Essa chided. "She's a sweet child. You've done a magnificent job of bringing her up," she added, smiling at Mellie.

Duke, surprised, checked to make sure she wasn't being sarcastic. But she wasn't. She really liked the child. He was very surprised. None of his dates had liked her and made it evident.

"You don't really mind that I'm obnoxious?" Mellie asked with a big grin.

Essa chuckled. "No, because I'm obnoxious, too!"

They both gave Duke a smarmy smile.

He groaned and finished his meal.

* * *

On the way back, he turned off on a dirt road when they were near Benton.

"Where are we going now?" Mellie asked.

"It won't take long, will it?" Essa asked in a small voice. "I've really enjoyed today, but I have to be back in time to get the supper menu going."

"No problem. I just want to ask a couple of questions," he added.

It was a small ranch with well-kept paddocks and newly painted fences. The livestock looked well-fed, and the horses showed no signs of abuse. Essa, who was raised on a ranch, fell in love with it, especially the ranch house, which was flat and sprawling and seemed to blend into the forest that surrounded it. Sharp mountains, snow-capped, rose in the background.

"It's so lovely," Essa said in spite of herself.

"What, no comments about poor cows?" he asked.

She gave him a long-suffering look. "We don't eat cows, we eat steers. And if you noticed the menu where you're staying, we offer several beef dishes that I'm required to cook."

"What's a first-time mama cow?" he shot at her.

"A heifer."

His eyebrows rose. He didn't say anything but just got out of the car and went to shake hands with a man standing at the foot of the steps.

"I wish we lived here," Mellie said sadly, laying her arm over the back of the seat and pillowing her cheek on it as she spoke to Essa. "I hate living in Denver. Daddy hates it, too."

"I love Benton," Essa replied with a smile. "It's small, but we all know each other. And Benton during the holidays is extraordinary! We have a Christmas parade with floats and lots of horses."

"I like horses and cattle. And I'd love to have a dog and a cat." She made a face. "We live in an apartment. You can't have pets there."

"I live in the hotel," Essa replied. "I can't have a pet, either. I had to give up my dog and my cat after my parents . . ." She swallowed, hard. "Anyway, I don't have pets anymore."

"Do you know where they are?" Mellie asked, sad for her new friend.

"Yes. There's a no-kill shelter in town. I give them money every week for their keep. They aren't mistreated and they get plenty of attention from the people who work there."

"I guess that's better than having them go to a different kind of shelter."

"It truly is!"

Duke was shaking hands with the man again. He was smiling as he came back to the car.

"You look like the cat who ate the canary," Essa remarked.

"I just discovered something."

"What, Daddy?" Mellie asked, excited.

He glanced at her with a secretive smile. "This place rents horses."

"Oh, Daddy," Mellie exclaimed. "Could we go riding? Please?"

He chuckled. "Tomorrow, if you like. I don't work Sundays."

"Great! And can Essa come, too?"

"Oh, I have to work Sundays," she said at once, and then flushed when Duke raised an eyebrow. It wasn't true. She had Sunday off.

"But you have to come, too. You shouldn't have to work all the time," Mellie argued.

"She might not know how to ride, honey," Duke said.

"I can ride," Essa blurted out.

The eyebrow was still raised. "Really?"

She glared at him. "Really."

"Then how about after lunch on Sunday?" He made it a challenge.

She ground her teeth together. She'd planned to worm her way out of it, but Duke's smile and Mellie's pleading eyes put an end to that.

"I guess I could," she said after a minute.

"We can even stop by a convenience store on the way back," Duke offered as he got behind the wheel.

"Why?" Essa asked innocently.

"To buy you some liniment. For after you go riding," he added with a big smile.

She counted to ten silently. It wasn't going to be the best weekend of her life. Although he was in for some surprises. He seemed to think he had the market cornered on sports. She was going to wipe that smug smile off his face.

* * *

She was just on her way up the staircase after cleaning the kitchen when Dean stopped on his way down.

"There you are," he said, smiling. "I was looking for you."

"Hi," she said, and smiled back. "I've been making up for lost time."

"I guess so. Did you have fun on Mellie's surprise trip?"

"We actually did," she said, with sparkling eyes. "Mr. Marston took us to an ice-skating rink. He thought I'd fall on my face."

"Did you?" he asked, and seemed really interested.

"Well, a double salchow and two double axels later he changed his mind."

He laughed wholeheartedly. "I'd love to have seen that."

"I just love changing peoples' opinions," she said with absolute glee. "It was great fun!"

"I'd have enjoyed taking Mellie to the dig." He sighed. "Not that you aren't fun to be with," he added quickly. "But she's so innocent, so bubbly, so excited about learning new things! I love seeing the world through the eyes of a child. It's like going back in time and being one myself. A different one."

There was a sudden darkness to his tone, a look on his face that was a little scary. And then he smiled, and Essa chided herself for reading things into his expression that weren't there.

"I don't guess she'd like to go Sunday?" he asked hesitantly. "I could postpone my next project."

She sighed and shook her head. "Her dad is now going to introduce me to horse riding 101 on Sunday afternoon," she said with a flash of angry eyes. "It's going to be a very interesting day. I guarantee, Mellie is going to love it!"

He laughed softly when he saw the mischief in his new friend's eyes. "Well!" He chuckled. "I wish I was going to be here to see it."

"Oh, are you leaving?" she asked, and felt and sounded sad.

He was surprised and pleased. People didn't usually miss him. He felt a deep sadness, an aching sorrow, for what might have been under different circumstances.

"You're such a nice person, Essa," he said after a minute. "I' d have loved having you for a friend when I was younger."

"What a nice thing to say!" she exclaimed, beaming. "Thank you. I . . . don't really fit in well with most people. I'm always the outsider, the person sitting in a corner at parties."

"That's me, too."

"It's a shame we didn't know each other years ago. We could have ganged up against the sarcastic people," she said with dancing eyes.

He chuckled. "Yes, we could have."

"If I give you my cell phone number, we could keep in touch."

He looked shocked. "I would have loved that. But it's unwise. On the other hand, your email might be possible. Could you write it down for me?"

"Sure!" She searched in her bag for the pad and pen she always kept for making notes on dishes when she changed the recipe. She wrote her email on a small sheet of paper and handed it to him. "How about yours?" she asked.

He studied her very carefully and saw nothing underhanded in the query. He laughed at his own suspicion. "I'll write to you first, how about that?"

She grinned. "That would be nice. I don't meet many people that I don't want to lose track of, if you get my meaning," she added ruefully.

"That's me, too," he confessed.

He checked his watch. "Well, I have things to do, and I have to pack. I'll leave first thing tomorrow. If I don't see you again, it's been really nice, knowing you."

"It's the same with me." She studied him long and hard, sensing the anguish in him, the sense of failure, of incompleteness. "I hope life is kinder to you on the road ahead," she said softly. "Much kinder."

He drew in a long breath. "That's not likely. But thank you for the sentiment. Always be aware of your surroundings," he added suddenly. "Safety is an illusion. You're never safe."

She laughed. "You sound like that old pioneer saying, ‘If you do not see any enemies, then they are the thickest. ' "

He smiled, but he didn't laugh. "They're right, you know. There are enemies all around, and they aren't always obvious. Never take safety for granted."

"I don't," she said.

He cocked his head and studied her. She wasn't really pretty, but inside, she was beautiful. "I'm sorry and glad to go," he said. "Take care of yourself."

"You do the same," she said gently.

He gave her one long, last look and went on down the stairs.

* * *

When she got to the top of the staircase, Duke was watching.

She drew even with him, curious.

"Is he leaving?" he asked.

She nodded. "On Sunday." She looked up at him. "He asked if Mellie might want to go out with him Sunday. I told him we were going riding with you."

He drew in a short breath. "If you see her when I'm not around, will you watch her for me, so that she doesn't sneak out?"

"I will," she said. She drew in a small breath. "There's something . . ." She frowned, trying to put it into words. "He has something dark and cold coiled up inside him, like an ice pack in a teddy bear." She looked up again, surprised at his expression. "I put that badly . . ."

"No, you didn't," he replied. "It's an apt observation."

"You know more about him than you're willing to tell."

"Yes," he replied quietly. "I know things I can't tell. But we must both make sure that Mellie doesn't go outside the hotel with him."

"He's not a mean person."

"There are compulsions that make intent useless, Essa," he said, using her name for the first time. "People do things they don't expect to do on the spur of the moment. Sometimes more than once."

The comment went over her head. She felt warm all over when he said her name, and her cheeks colored. With all her after-school activities, she'd had little time for boys, and she hadn't liked the boys she knew in school. She was a novice at romance, and it showed.

It showed very well to Duke, who'd never had a woman say no to him. This one, however, looked as if she would never say yes to anyone. It was a joke at first, then it was a curiosity. He didn't dare think of it as a challenge. He had a child to raise, and seducing her new friend wouldn't help their strained relationship.

"I'll watch out for her when she's with me," Essa said quickly. "Good night." She almost ran to get past him.

* * *

He watched her go, surprised that she was starting to have an effect on him. Of course, he didn't like it. Not one bit.