Chapter Thirteen

Vince’s heart beat faster as he made his way to the front door. Tammy waved and held up the pizza box she was carrying. “Hey,” he said as he drew closer.

“I heard about the rescue,” she said. “I thought you might be hungry.”

The aroma of pepperoni and cheese made his mouth water. “Thanks,” he said, and fished out his keys. “Come on in.”

He unlocked the door and she followed him inside. “I hope you don’t mind me stopping by,” she said.

“Of course not. It’s always good to see you.”

“I didn’t know if you had other plans. After all, it’s Saturday night.”

“No plans,” he said. “Just let me put away this gear.”

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

When he reached the kitchen, she was bent over, sliding the pizza into the oven. She glanced over her shoulder at his approach. “I thought I’d warm it up a little.”

“Good idea.” She was a little more dressed up than usual, in a pink top that showed a hint of cleavage and a bit of lace. She smelled good too. He wanted to nuzzle her neck and inhale deeply.

He slipped past her and turned away so she wouldn’t see the erection this thought had aroused. “How did you hear about the rescue?” he asked as he took plates from the cupboard.

“I have an emergency scanner. It’s handy for news stories.”

“I’m surprised you weren’t there, covering this one.”

“Russ lives two houses down, so he volunteered to take it. Didn’t you see him there?”

“I wasn’t paying attention. I was focused on the rescue.”

“Of course. How is the kid who fell?”

“He’s going to be fine. And maybe less quick to run away the next time he and his parents don’t see eye to eye.”

“That’s what happened? He ran away?”

“He probably just wanted to take a walk and let off steam, but he got disoriented in the dark and ended up falling into the canyon. The road is pretty narrow, and the soil on the edge was crumbling. It kept collapsing as we were working, trying to set up the rigging to bring him up.”

“Sounds like it was a happy ending, though.”

“Yeah.”

She took the pizza from the oven and carried it to the table. Vince helped himself to a couple of slices. “What happened today made me think about Valerie,” he said.

“Oh?”

“This kid was a few hundred yards from his house. When he first fell, he must have shouted for help, but those trees and the dirt and everything absorbs sound. Apparently, no one heard him. And though his parents said they searched for him, they couldn’t see him where he was and couldn’t hear him. I wonder if something like that happened with Valerie.”

“I guess it could have happened that way,” she said. “Though you would think, with so many people searching for her, they would have found something.”

“Not if she ended up in a deep crevice or a long way from where she fell.”

“That’s terrible to think about.”

It was, but he had tortured himself for years with speculation about his sister’s fate. No need to pull Tammy into that. “Did you ever get into fights with your parents and leave the house to cool off when you were a teen?” he asked, thinking about his conversation with his fellow volunteers.

She plucked a piece of pepperoni from the pizza and popped it into her mouth. “I wanted to a few times,” she said. “But I never did. My parents had lost one kid. They were terrified of losing another. It made them overprotective, and I chafed against that. But at the same time, I didn’t want to hurt them. At least, not any more than they had already been hurt.”

“Yeah. It was like that for me too,” he said.

She set aside a pizza crust. “I can hardly remember anymore what Mom and Dad were like before my brother died,” she said. “Their pain was part of them, like my mom’s curly hair or my dad’s cleft chin.”

“Yeah. I guess you never get over something like that.”

“Were your parents overprotective too?”

“Not exactly.” It made sense that having lost one child, a parent would hold even more tightly to the offspring left behind. But it hadn’t been like that in his house. How to explain it to her without making his parents sound like terrible people? “Losing Valerie was such a blow they kind of, I don’t know, checked out for a while,” he said. “They couldn’t cope. I knew they loved me—and they tried, they really did. But it was like they were in so much pain they didn’t have more of themselves to give. I was kind of on my own.”

“Oh, Vince.”

He winced at the sympathy in her voice. “It was okay. Most of the time, anyway. Birthdays were hard.”

“Because it was her birthday too.”

“Yeah. When we took that camping trip, my dad tried to make up for me missing my friend’s party by saying that when it was my birthday, I could have a sleepover. Not a joint party with Valerie, the way it usually was, but a celebration just for me and my friends. But that never happened.”

“Did they not celebrate your birthday at all?” Tammy asked.

“There were always presents and a cake. But there was too much sadness. It was like a weight, pressing us down.” He shrugged. “I don’t celebrate my birthday anymore. I can’t.” That day could never be only about him anymore.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “But I get it. I always felt like I didn’t just lose my brother when Adam died. Our whole family lost itself. We couldn’t be the same family we were before, and we never figured out how to completely put ourselves back together.”

“You can’t,” he said. “That one piece is always missing.”

They ate in silence for a while, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Tammy was the only person he had ever known who truly understood what growing up had been like for him. And he knew what things had been like for her too. He felt closer to her right now than he had to anyone.

“You look nice tonight,” he said.

She smiled, and her cheeks blushed a little pinker. “Thanks.” She glanced down at the pink shirt. “I had lunch Thursday with my brother’s new girlfriend, Elisabeth. She’s always perfectly put together. I guess she inspired me to make a little more effort with my appearance.”

“You always look good,” he said.

Their eyes met, and in that moment he felt so...whole. As if he didn’t need anything else but to be here, right now, with this woman.

They finished eating and carried their dishes in the sink. She started to turn on the water, but he put his hand on her arm. “Don’t worry about those now,” he said. “Let’s go into the living room and talk.”

They sat side by side on the sofa, but instead of saying anything, she leaned over and kissed him. Her lips were soft, their gentle pressure making him aware of every sensation firing in his body at her touch. She pressed her palm to his chest, over his heart, every hard beat reverberating through them both.

He pulled her close, clinging to her like a drowning man, a wave of longing almost pulling him under. He kissed her hard, then drew back a little to look at her. She stared back. Was he reading her true feelings in that look or his own emotional turmoil reflected back at him? “I really, really like you,” he said.

She looked amused, and slid her hand down his chest to the waistband of his jeans. “I really like you too.”

Words failed him as she traced the top of his waistband with one finger. “I want you, Vince,” she said.

“Yes.” He smothered any reply she might have made with another kiss, and followed eagerly as she lay back and pulled him down with her. He slid one hand beneath her shirt, gliding over the satiny skin of her stomach and up to cup one full breast. He fought the urge to tear at her clothing, wanting to see and feel all of her at once. Only now did he realize how much he had been holding back. “That first day we met, I was attracted to you,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “Your perfume drove me wild.”

“I don’t wear perfume,” she said.

“Maybe it’s something else, but you smell amazing.” He inhaled deeply and smiled. Vanilla, floral and definitely sexy. “Maybe it’s just you.”

“Mmm.” She wrapped both legs around him, pulling him even closer, and for a long while, conversation ceased as they lost themselves in playful discovery.

Finally, flushed and a little out of breath, she pushed against him. “Why don’t we go into the bedroom?” she suggested.

He levered up on his elbows. He must have been crushing her. “Good idea,” he said.

“Oh, I’m full of good ideas.” The knowing smile that accompanied the words sent a fresh jolt of heat through him. Wanting something this much was exhilarating. And a little terrifying. You’ve done this before , he reminded himself as he took her hand and pulled her toward his bedroom.

That was true, but he wasn’t sure getting it right had ever mattered so much.

T AMMY WASN ’ T A WEEPER . Sappy commercials and sad novels didn’t make her tear up the way they did many of her friends. But lying here in Vince’s bed had her blinking against a stinging in her eyes. Vince cared so much. He cared about her and how she felt. “Is that good?” he asked as he moved down her naked body. “Do you like that?”

“Everywhere you touch me feels good,” she said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll let you know if there’s anything I don’t like.”

But there wasn’t anything about him she didn’t like—from the sculpted muscles of his arms and shoulders to the strong curve of his thighs, to the smile that pulled at his lips as he traced the lines of her body with his mouth, proof that he liked what he was discovering.

He had taken out a condom without her having to ask, and when they came together, he was gentle, holding back. She stroked his shoulders. “It’s okay,” she said. “You can’t hurt me.”

“I don’t want to be too rough,” he said, his voice ragged.

“You won’t be.”

He was less careful then, and she was soon caught up in the intensity. There was something erotic about seeing him like this, on the edge of control, and knowing she had brought him to this point. She had never been this aware of her partner’s desire in the midst of her own, and that knowledge acted like a multiplier, heightening every sensation. They found a rhythm, hard and deep, and she gave herself up to it, riding the waves of sensation, not even minding as tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes as she reached her climax.

He trembled in her arms, and she held him tightly as he found his own release. They lay together for a long moment, not speaking, his weight heavy but still feeling good.

Finally, he levered off her. “I must be crushing you,” he said, and moved to lie beside her.

“No, it was wonderful.” She idly stroked his hair. “You’re wonderful.”

He didn’t say You’re wonderful too , or any clichéd response. Instead, he rested his head in the hollow of her shoulder and his hand across her stomach, cradling her as if she was so precious he couldn’t find the words.

“I WISH WE could stay here like this all day,” Vince said the next morning after he and Tammy had made love again. They lay in a tangle of sheets, sunlight pouring through the thin sheers over the bedroom window.

“We’d have to send out for food,” she said. “And coffee.”

He sat up. “I’ll make coffee,” he said. “And breakfast. But then I have to leave. I promised my dad I’d play golf with him today, and he likes to get an early tee time.”

“My mom is making Sunday dinner for my brother and his girlfriend,” Tammy said. “I need to be there too.”

Vince pulled on his jeans, then looked over his shoulder at her. “I’d rather be with you.”

That look—a little possessive, a lot lustful—sent a tremor through her. “I’d rather be with you too,” she said. “But family is important.”

“Of course it is.” He opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a shirt. She began dressing also. Even if he had never put it into words, she figured he felt the same obligation she did. It wasn’t enough that they be their parents’ children. They had to try to make up for their missing sibling, impossible as that might be.

They parted at his front door with a passionate kiss. “See you later?” he asked.

“For sure.”

She had texted her mother the night before to let her know she was spending the night “with a friend” and expected a full interrogation, and maybe a lecture, when she walked in. Instead, the only thing her mother said was, “I need you to set the table while I finish the rolls. Use the wedding china.”

Tammy set down her bag and followed her mother into the kitchen. “This is just a casual dinner,” she said. “You don’t need to use the wedding china.” The service for twelve had been a wedding gift from Tammy’s great-grandmother, and was only used on holidays and special occasions. The rest of the time, it was displayed in a large buffet on one side of the dining room, dutifully removed and hand-washed each quarter to prevent a buildup of dust.

“This is the first time Mitchell has brought anyone home for dinner.” Her mother began shaping dough into rolls and arranging them in a buttered pan. “I want everything to be special.”

“You don’t have to worry about impressing her, Mom,” Tammy said. “She should be worried about impressing you.”

“Just looking at Elisabeth, you can tell she comes from money.” Mom plopped another roll in the pan. “She’s used to fancy things.”

“Did Mitch tell you that—that she comes from money?”

She paused in the act of shaping another roll. “No, but it’s obvious. Those clothes she wears didn’t come from the discount store, and I’m sure her haircut cost at least a hundred dollars.”

“If Elisabeth likes Mitch, it’s not because he has money,” Tammy said, trying to quell her annoyance. “It shouldn’t matter what kind of plates we serve dinner on.”

“Still, I want to make a good impression.”

Tammy went to the buffet and began removing four plates. “If I’d known this was going to be such a big deal, I would have invited a friend,” she called back to her mother.

“You can invite your friend some other time,” her mother said. “Today, I think the focus should be on Mitch and Elisabeth.”

The excitement in her mother’s voice set off alarm bells. Tammy returned to the kitchen. “What’s going on?” she asked. “Is something happening I should know about?”

Her mother smiled—something she did so seldom the transformation of her features shocked Tammy. “I don’t know for sure, but Mitch hinted around that he’s serious about this young woman. I think he might propose soon. She could be part of our family before long, and I want her to feel welcomed.”

“He’s only known her a couple of weeks,” Tammy said. “She hasn’t even said if she’s going to stay in town.”

“If they marry, of course she’ll stay in Eagle Mountain,” her mother said.

Tammy returned to the dining room and tried to process this turn of events as she set the table. Her mother could be wrong. She might be reading more into the relationship than was there.

Then again, Elisabeth’s eagerness to have lunch with Tammy last week could have been a way of reaching out to someone she saw as a future sister-in-law. A shudder went through her at the thought; then she immediately felt terrible. If her brother loved Elisabeth, Tammy would learn to love her too.

By the time Mitch and Elisabeth arrived, the table was set with the wedding china and fresh flowers, and the aromas of the Sunday roast and fresh-baked rolls perfumed the air. Elisabeth wore a sleeveless summer sheath in cherry-pink linen, with matching high-heeled sandals. Tammy, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt advertising a defunct local band, reminded herself she had nothing to be defensive about. “It’s good to see you,” she said.

“Everything looks lovely, Mrs. Patterson,” Elisabeth said.

“Not as lovely as you, dear,” Mrs. Patterson said. She had changed into slacks and a gauzy top Tammy had never seen before.

“Elisabeth always looks great,” Mitch said, and pulled her closer. She smiled up at him, a pleased-with-herself look. Though maybe that was Tammy projecting. She was beginning to realize this wasn’t going to be their usual laid-back Sunday meal.

For the next hour, Tammy’s mother and brother remained focused on Elisabeth, showering her with compliments and asking her about herself. But while she revealed the same details Tammy already knew—she was from Nebraska and her family had all died—that was all they got. “What kind of work do you do?” Mrs. Patterson asked.

“Oh, I’ve done a lot of different things,” Elisabeth said. “I helped my father manage his investments.”

“Do you mean, trading stocks and bonds?” Tammy asked. “Or real estate?”

“Something like that.” Elisabeth turned to Mitch. “Mitch had an exciting week. He thinks he’s found a buyer for a big ranch near Delta.”

Mitch looked pleased. “The deal isn’t final yet,” he said. “But it’s looking promising.”

“It would be the largest commission you’re earned yet, wouldn’t it?” Elisabeth said.

“Yes, it would.”

“I could steer you toward some sound investments, if you’re interested,” Elisabeth said.

Was she legit, or was this some kind of scam? Tammy wondered, then immediately hated herself for thinking it. Her brother was smart enough to see through a scam, even through the rosy lenses of infatuation. And Elisabeth was allowed to be beautiful, charming and good with money.

“What about you, Tammy?” Elisabeth asked. “Did you report on anything particularly interesting this week?”

“The county commissioners agreed to buy a new grader for the road crew,” Tammy said. “And the Elks Club has sold almost all of the tickets for the Fourth of July Jeep raffle.”

Even Elisabeth’s laugh sounded delicate and feminine. “You have to love what passes for news in a small town, don’t you?”

“It’s reassuring to know there’s very little serious crime around here,” Mitch said.

“I suppose so,” Elisabeth demurred. “Though personally, I never minded a little more excitement.”

“Then we’ll have to make our own excitement,” Mitch said.

Elisabeth smiled at him. “That’s an excellent idea.”

When the meal ended, Tammy offered to do the dishes. Better to work off her bad attitude scraping plates than risk taking her annoyance out on her brother’s girlfriend.

She was loading the dishwasher when Elisabeth came into the kitchen, a stack of dessert plates in hand. “These were overlooked on the side board,” she said, and set them in the sink.

“Thanks,” Tammy said.

“Let me help,” Elisabeth said.

“No. Go back in with Mitch and Mom. I wouldn’t want you to risk getting that beautiful dress dirty.”

But Elisabeth made no move to leave. “How’s it going with your friend—Vince?” she asked.

Tammy cursed her inability to hold back a blush. “It’s going well.”

“Did you do what I suggested? Turn up the heat a little?”

Tammy nodded.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Elisabeth grinned, and Tammy couldn’t help but grin back.

“What are you two plotting in here?” Mitch came in. He stood between them, one arm around each of them. “It’s good to see my two favorite women getting along.”

“Don’t let Mom hear that,” Tammy said. “She might feel snubbed.”

“My two favorite young women, then.” He released his hold on Tammy but took Elisabeth’s hand. “Did Elisabeth tell you she’s decided to stay in Eagle Mountain?”

“No. That’s good news?”

“Of course it’s good news,” Mitch said. He turned to Elisabeth. “You were asking about my childhood. Mom pulled out her photo albums. You’re going to get a laugh out of some of these shots.”

They left, still holding hands, and Tammy returned her attention to the dishes. Whatever it was about Elisabeth that set her teeth on edge, she needed to let it go. She was a pleasant woman who had gone out of her way just now to be friendly. Tammy would return the favor. She wanted Mitch to be happy, and if Elisabeth was the one who made him happy, Tammy needed to find a way to tolerate her, even if she doubted she could truly love her.