Читать книгу A Great Kisser - Donna Kauffman - Страница 9

She was nothing like he’d expected.

Not that he’d had any expectations, or given it any thought, really. But he must have formed some opinion, because he’d been surprised when she’d stepped out of the commuter and run across the tarmac.

Given Ruby Jean’s description of the workaholic, no-nonsense, no-life, thirty-something, he guessed he’d pictured someone tall, thin, tight-faced, and humorless.

Lauren Matthews wasn’t close to matching any of those descriptions. She was short, curvy in all the right places, and her self-deprecating humor had been a welcome surprise. Caught in a downpour, she’d more or less just shrugged it off and dealt with the less-than-flattering consequences. It was probably the freckles that had done him the rest of the way in. The rain had streaked off whatever makeup she’d had on, revealing a surprising scatter of them across her nose and cheeks. Sun kisses, Ruby Jean had called them when she was little. It had been a long time since he’d thought of that. It had made him smile then, and made him want to smile now.

They’d been on the road for a little over an hour now, but the combination of the noise the rain was making, pounding on the roof of Teddy’s truck, the repetitive squeak of the windshield wipers, and the loud rumble of the engine had kept conversation to a minimum. He should have been relieved. Ruby Jean was the chatty sibling. He enjoyed his solitude and the peace and quiet that allowed him to do, think, or just be, without distraction. It’s why he loved to fly.

But he found himself more curious about his passenger than he’d expected to be. The few times he’d stolen a glance in her direction, or commented on this mountain name or that mountain pass, she’d smiled and nodded, but otherwise she seemed mostly lost in her own thoughts. He remembered what Ruby Jean had said, about the estrangement between mother and daughter. Lauren had been a little prickly when he’d mentioned her mom by name. He imagined her comments about this trip not being a necessarily fun one for her were probably tied to that. He’d also meant what he said about not getting involved, but with nothing better to do than think at the moment, he found himself spending most of the drive thus far thinking about her.

RJ had said their problems started when Charlene had eloped with Arlen. His guess was the daughter didn’t approve. Either of the elopement, or of Arlen, he wasn’t sure. Jake didn’t have an opinion on whirlwind romances, except to know he didn’t have them, and therefore really didn’t understand why any two people would be in such a rush to get to the altar. If it was right, waiting a few months, or years, certainly wasn’t going to change that. And the more a person knew, the better prepared they’d be to make such a monumental decision. At least that’s what made sense to him. But he didn’t begrudge anyone else rushing. As long as they weren’t rushing him.

However, if her problem was with Arlen personally, well…Jake couldn’t fault her on that. Not that she’d asked, or that he’d offer up the opinion. He’d keep his word to Ruby Jean. Besides, he wanted no part of whatever drama was playing out with Cedar Springs’ First Couple. Just because Arlen Thompson had always struck him as the kind of man who held only his own interests as sacred, and would sell his grandmother’s pearls if he thought it would help him advance his cause—and anyone was a fool if they thought his cause had anything to do with putting others’ needs before his own—didn’t mean he couldn’t be a good partner or spouse. Jake had a really hard time imagining it, that’s all. Not that he cared enough to share that opinion with anyone. He just steered clear and went about taking care of his own business. In fact, Cedar Springs would probably be a lot better off if more folks did the same.

Jake found his gaze sliding over to Lauren. Again. She was staring out the side window, thoughts far away from her immediate company if her pensive expression was anything to judge by. He wondered what she was thinking about, what, specifically, she was worried about, but caught himself before he actually gave in to the urge to ask if there was anything he could do. He had a laundry list of things to think about and worry over. Lauren Matthews was not on that list, nor would she be.

He thought about Ruby Jean’s idea that what Lauren needed was a little loosening up. And that she’d thought her older brother would be the perfect guy to do the loosening. If he hadn’t been enduring his sister’s attempts to match him up with any woman who dared linger long enough for Ruby Jean to discover she was single, he might have been offended by the implication. But Ruby Jean didn’t have a mean-spirited bone in her body. In fact, all she’d ever wanted, since the age of thirteen when she’d been very abruptly left with only a big brother to take care of her, was for everyone in her immediate orbit to be content and happy.

And, from the moment he’d hit thirty without a “prospect on the horizon” she’d begun searching in earnest, despite the fact that he’d done everything to assure her that he was perfectly content and happy to remain just as he was.

But, of course, RJ was having none of that. And now she was hell-bent on fixing her boss’s marital problems. Jake figured he should be thankful for the distraction, as it meant he’d be spared for the time being. Except now she was dragging him into it, likely hoping to kill two birds with one matrimonial stone.

“I’m really sorry.”

“What?” Jake looked over at her. She hadn’t spoken in so long, the sudden sound of her voice had caught him off guard. “Why?”

“Oh…no, you just—you sighed. And I was apologizing for being the reason you were dragged away from whatever it was you were doing to come and pick me up.”

“It wasn’t that. My thoughts were…elsewhere.” As yours seem to be, he wanted to say but didn’t. “It was probably just as well I stepped out when I did. Another ten minutes and I might have done more harm than good trying to fix that damn manifold regulator.”

She smiled. “What’s a damn manifold regulator?”

His lips curved, naturally, easily. It felt good. Shouldn’t have been so surprising. He’d always thought he was a pretty upbeat person, but just in the short time he’d been around her, he was realizing the smiles must have been a bit fewer and farther between of late than he’d realized. Ruby Jean had complained that he’d been too stressed out lately, but with everything currently on his plate, stress was unavoidable. Still, he hadn’t thought it had been getting to him as much as it apparently had. “It’s one of many engine parts that keeps my P-51 Mustang in the air.”

“Well, then it’s probably just as well you did step out. What kind of plane is a P-51? Crop duster or something?”

His smile turned wry. “Or something. They were flown in World War II. I race one.”

She turned to face him more fully. “Really. I didn’t know people raced airplanes.”

A quick glance over at her showed the color was coming back into her cheeks, making her freckles less stark. Her hair had started to dry, and he noticed she had a lot more of it than he’d realized. It hung to her shoulders, almost poker straight, but in a kind of thick, shiny, brown waterfall. He wondered if it felt as silky as it looked.

Flexing his grip on the steering wheel, he looked back to the road. Which was where his mind should be. And not on any part of Ms. Lauren Matthews. Even if he were to entertain any ideas about her, in any way, two things would stop him. One, his baby sister did not need even the slightest bit of encouragement. And, two, Lauren was Arlen’s stepdaughter. “Some folks do,” he said at length, realizing she was waiting for him to respond.

“Just antique planes, or others?”

“All kinds. Sort of like car racing, there are different types, different sports. It varies country to country. I only race the Mustang. It was a renowned fighter plane. In fact, the car was named after the plane.”

“I didn’t know that, either. Wow, that’s so wild. About the racing, I mean. So it’s an international thing?”

He nodded. “The first organized races started back in the twenties in Europe, different form, different planes, of course. Some races were ‘get from Point A to Point B the fastest’ kind of races and others were through a marked course.”

“Is that what you do? The course?” When he nodded, she added, “What kind of course? I mean, obviously it’s in the air; how is it marked?”

For someone who had spent the entire time lost in her own thoughts, her sudden interest and chattiness were surprising, but seemingly quite sincere. Perhaps they both could use a detour from their personal musings. And he never minded talking on this particular subject to anyone who was interested. Which wasn’t often, unless they were a fellow racer. Or one of his students. Most women of his acquaintance thought it was an interesting hobby, but glazed over if he actually started to get into specifics. He wondered how long it would take before Lauren did the same. “There are what amount to huge pylons that form gates that you actually fly between.”

“So, rather low to the ground, then?”

The curve of his smile deepened. “Low and fast.”

“Sounds pretty intense.”

“It is that. The division I fly in is called the unlimited class.”

“Which means?”

Now he grinned as he looked at her. “That we go really fast.”

Her gaze caught his and hung there, as if he’d snagged it. But her smile was bright enough to light up her eyes. “A need-for-speed guy.”

“Fair description.”

“Adrenaline junkie?”

“Plane junkie. Flying junkie. The adrenaline comes free of charge.”

She laughed. “How long have you been doing it? How did you get started?”

“My grandfather got me into it when I was little.”

Her eyes widened. “How little is little?”

“He raced and I watched. But I knew from very early on that I was going to get up in one myself.”

“Do you both race then? That’s pretty cool, actually.”

“We did. And it was. The best, actually. He died a little over twelve years ago.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“I am, too. We all were. Heart attack. He was healthy like an ox, so no one saw it coming. He ran a flight school—we ran it together at that point—and along with that, I inherited the Mustang. It took a long while before I could get her back up in the sky, but for the past five years, we’ve raced every September. So, I race her for us both. I think he’d be pretty happy with that.”

Which was another reason Jake was stressed. He’d finally gotten Betty Sue to be a contender, which would have made Patrick McKenna fiercely proud and more than a little smug, as he’d been handed defeat after defeat with a plane he knew could be a champion but simply couldn’t afford to fix it up the way he needed to.

But his grandchildren had come first in those days, about whom he was also fiercely proud. He’d taken good care of the two of them, all things considered, which was a lot, given his own wife had passed on only five years before his only son and daughter-in-law—Jake and Ruby Jean’s parent’s—were taken in a car accident on a snowy mountain pileup. He hadn’t the first clue what to do with a heartbroken seven-year-old girl and an angry fifteen-year-old boy. But, in the end, he’d done right by both of them. And it was because of him that, six years later, they’d known how to handle life when he was taken from them, too.

So, Jake would be damned if he lost out now because he couldn’t convince his sponsors that Betty Sue could be ready come race time. This was his year. Their year. He was going to bring the title home.

“I’m sure he’d be very proud. I think it’s great that you’re carrying on the tradition. And sorry I’ve kept you from working on it. I can imagine it takes a lot of your free time. Or is that how you earn a living now?” She held up a quick hand. “Sorry, that’s none of my business. I just didn’t want to assume you couldn’t. Do that. Race planes, I mean. For a living. I know nothing about racing, so for all I know you’re the rock star of the circuit, living the high life. I just—I didn’t mean to insult you, is all I’m saying.” She laughed and he glanced over to see her looking down, shaking her head with a rueful smile on her face. “And to think I’m the one the senator relies on to put words in his mouth when I can’t even string mine together for two seconds without sounding like a total flake.”

“You write speeches?”

“Sometimes. I write a lot of media statements. I also get coffee, keep track of every Senate and House vote, pick up the dry cleaning, book travel and events, and figure things out like where is the best place to have your Gordon setter personally trained.” She grinned. “Toby MacLeroy. In Arlington. In case you ever needed to know.”

His lips quirked again. “I’ll make a note of it.”

“It’s a glamorous life. Somehow I managed.”

He looked back at the road in time to see the sign for tight curves ahead. And wondered why people didn’t come with such easy to interpret warnings. Lauren was throwing curves at him right and left. Seemingly without even trying.

“You were right,” she said, after the silence had extended a bit longer. “About the rain.” She turned back to the window on her side of the truck. “And the mountains. They are awe inspiring. I’ve traveled, but never in anything like this. And to think they’re right here, in our own country.” She laughed. “That sounded kind of idiotic, but—”

“I know what you mean.”

“Have you traveled? Do you race in other parts of the country? Or the world?”

“I just do the one race in Reno every fall. With running the school, it takes pretty much the full year to get ready for that.”

“Do you have help?”

“A little. Mostly old friends of my grandfather’s who come and help out. When the race gets closer, I have friends who come in to help with the final round of prep, testing, that sort of thing, and crew for me during race week.”

“It’s a lot of work for one race.”

“It’s a series of races over the course of a week, but yes, just the one event.”

“Would you enter more of them if you could?”

He shook his head. “This is pretty much the only one of its kind. It’s enough for me. My grandfather also used to do all kinds of exhibitions, county fairs, air shows, that sort of thing, when he could get away. It’s a popular sideline for pilots and owners and not a bad way to earn some extra income.”

“Do you follow that tradition, too?”

He shook his head. “No time. And, to be honest, not the same inclination he had for that part of the culture. I’d like to travel more, in this country, and out, see more of the world. Been to Canada, down to Mexico, but haven’t gotten over to Europe. I’d enjoy that.”

“For racing?”

“They have some big events over there, and I wouldn’t mind getting to see them, but mostly I’d go for the history. You’ve traveled, I take it?”

She nodded. “It’s a little bit like your mountains here, how you described them earlier. The more I see of the world, the more it keeps me firmly rooted in my place in it, and how it’s both so insignificant and yet profoundly meaningful. If I want it to be.”

He slowed a bit as the road wound tightly and steeply down the side of another mountain, then finally glanced over at her as the pickup flattened out across a high meadow, before climbing once again. “Do you want to follow your boss? Into politics I mean.”

She looked over at him, and their gazes collided for a moment, then hung here a moment longer. Then she smiled and laughed. “I used to think I could make a difference. I started out as a lawyer, which runs in my family, but they were all very involved in politics, too, and when I got involved working on a campaign, the bug bit.”

“Did you run for office?”

“No, I was never really compelled to do that, but I wanted to be vital to those who did, to be involved in the everyday workings of Capitol Hill, be a part of history being made.” She laughed again. “Sounds so altruistic and naïve now.”

“No, it doesn’t. I think it takes exactly that kind of mentality to do what you do. You have to believe, otherwise, why bother?”

Now her smile turned a bit wry, and he found himself easing up on the gas, prolonging the moment when he’d have to keep his gaze tight on the road ahead as they made the next ascent.

“Maybe I’ve been in Washington too long, but after a while, I started to wonder how anything actually gets accomplished. I spent far more time feeling frustrated and hopeless than I did energized and aggressive. I finally decided that can’t be good. For me, or anyone.”

“Doesn’t sound like it.” He reluctantly returned his gaze to the road. “How long are you planning on being out here?” He glanced her way. “I mean, what will the good senator do if he needs to find the best pre-school for his future, unborn children if you’re not there to do the research?”

“He already has five children,” she said. “And, believe it or not, you’re not all that far off on in vitro private pre-school enrollment.”

“And here I thought it was a cliché played out in the movies.”

She laughed. “Cliché’s come to be for a reason.”

“A little scary to contemplate, given some of them.”

“You have no idea.”

They fell into silence again, but now that he had her talking, the silence seemed hollow rather than comforting. “You here for a long weekend? Sounds like you can’t be away too long.” And why he was suddenly so interested, he had no idea. The reasons for not getting involved hadn’t changed. But his feelings about wanting to might be.

She didn’t answer right away, so he looked over at her. “You don’t have to answer. I was just making conversation.”

“I quit,” she blurted out.

“What?”

She looked back out through the windshield. “I am no longer the senior staff aide to the gentleman from Virginia.”

After a quick look, he returned his gaze to the road. She looked both defensive and a little sick. “I take it this is news you haven’t shared with your loved ones.”

“With anyone. Other than the senator. And the person he’s named as my replacement. The rest of the staff found out today.”

“Is that going to be newsworthy?” He glanced over again and smiled. “For all I know, you’re the rock star of Capitol Hill.”

She smiled back and looked a little less green. “It won’t make the papers, if that’s what you mean. There is no scandal or anything. And he’s not on the forefront of any topical committees or bills at the moment, so I don’t think it will be more than a tiny ripple. Natasha will take my place and all will move along.”

“Natasha. Is this a good thing?”

Her smile widened. “You’re very nice for pretending to care. And it’s perfectly fine. She’s still hungry.”

“And you’re not.” He said it as more statement than question.

“I want to be. I’m restless. Like I’m treading water and there’s a pretty good chance I’m going to drown rather than figure out how to swim and save myself. So, I got out of the pool altogether. For now, anyway.”

“Might be the best thing you could do. How does it feel?”

“Scary. A little sad. Mostly because I miss the people on my team. No regrets. But…scary just the same.”

“Is that all?”

She had folded her arms across her middle. But she rocked forward just a little. “Okay…so maybe it’s also a little exciting, portentous. It’s been a while since I’ve felt either of those things.”

“Then it sounds like you’re on the right track. Did you burn bridges? Could you go back if the new pond isn’t any better?”

“I don’t want to go back. Not now, maybe not ever. I need a fresh challenge.” She sounded definite about that.

“Well, then,” he said, “sounds like you made the right choice.”

“Have you ever done anything like that? Just change course completely?”

“I’ve had my course changed for me. Circumstances beyond my control. Like you, it’s been scary, sad, exhilarating, terrifying, satisfying. And that’s any given week,” he added dryly.

She smiled and relaxed a little. “I guess it’s normal then. In a very abnormal way.”

“Guess so.” They were less than fifteen minutes from town. And he realized he didn’t want their time to be over quite yet. “You have plans?”

“For my future, you mean?”

He glanced at her. “Why don’t we start with this weekend.”

“Oh,” she said, and blushed just a little. “I’m—I have to see my mother. At some point.”

“I take it you’re not staying with them?”

She shook her head. “Things are a bit…strained. I thought it would be best if I had my own place to retreat to until the battle lines were more clearly defined.”

“Charlene seemed pretty happy that you were coming.”

Now the guarded look came back and Jake cursed inwardly that he’d gone and done the one thing he’d sworn not to. Get involved. “Never mind, none of my business. Where can I drop you?”

“Greater Pine Lodge. I made reservations.”

“You chose well. Mabry Johnson runs the place, along with her sister and daughter-in-law. She’s a character, but one of the best people you’ll meet.”

Lauren smiled again and relaxed a little. “Good. Thank you. And thank you again for—”

“If you’re not doing anything Sunday, why don’t you let me show you the area.”

She looked surprised by the offer.

That made two of them. Mostly because he meant it. In fact, he hadn’t thought about his favor to his sister in the last hour or so.

“It’ll give you a chance to see how spectacular the view really is.”

“Is there really that much to see?” She lifted a hand. “There I go again. What I meant was, I understood the town to be quite small.”

“I was thinking of giving you a different view.” He slowed as they bottomed out from the last descent. Cedar Springs laid sprawled just below them. McKenna Flight School topped the mesa just beyond the opposite end of town. He liked coming into town from this direction, ascending down from Cooper Pass, with Wisternan, the main resort peak, towering over the town nestled at its base, directly to the north, the winding Panlo River, bordering Cedar Springs to the south…and McKenna Flight School in the distant west. It made him feel a part of something bigger than himself, but a part nonetheless. A permanent part.

He looked over to see her giving him a speculative look. “Just exactly what view did you have in mind?”

His lips quirked. He liked that she was direct and didn’t duck a subject. He was pretty sure when Lauren Matthews wanted to know something, she came out and asked. “I was thinking the view from about twelve thousand feet might be interesting.”

She looked both relieved and a little embarrassed, making him wonder exactly what view she’d thought he’d been offering.

“I should be sufficiently recovered from my last plane ride by then,” she said. “And I’d actually really like that. But—I need to see what’s going on first. I’m not sure—”

“No worries. I don’t teach classes on Sunday. I’ll just be working on the Mustang.” He made it sound like it was nothing, when he was pretty much going to be umbilically attached to the damn thing until the race. Still…a few hours spent not tinkering on Betty Sue or operating the school wouldn’t kill him. “Early afternoon is good, but I’m flexible.”

“I might be thankful to be up in the air and out of reach by then.”

“It’s none of my business, but maybe it won’t be that bad. Like I said, it seemed to me your mother was happy you were coming.”

“I think we’d both be happy to get past this.”

“Well, then…?”

She sighed. “You’ve lived here your whole life, right?”

“Yep.”

“Then I’ll just say that it’s not my mom I’m really having a problem with. But I don’t know a lot about the situation, which is why I’m here.”

Jake had promised Ruby Jean not to slam Arlen. Sounded like Lauren was already well on her way to forming her opinion of the man without his help. So all he said, was, “Well then, you’ll get to know for yourself, and you can figure it out from there.”

She sighed. “I certainly hope so.”

She didn’t sound all that hopeful, though. Which made Jake wonder exactly what her goal was while she was here. Not your business, buddy. Not your concern.

But when he dropped her off at the registration office at the rustic little motel just inside the town limits, it didn’t keep him from wondering exactly what she was getting herself into.