Читать книгу Second Chance Courtship - Glynna Kaye - Страница 11

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you went out with Trey Kenton last fall.” Kara looked up from where she knelt mopping a front corner of the Warehouse floor and leveled a disbelieving stare at her old college roommate.

Meg McGuire, soon to be Mrs. Joseph Diaz, had stopped by mid-afternoon Saturday to collect a trunk full of flattened cardboard boxes. Now here she stood, handing Kara another old bath towel and delivering the dismaying confirmation that Trey was indeed considering moving back to town. He was heading up a renovation of Duffy Logan’s old horse facility, a property that had closed and fallen into disrepair almost a decade ago when Duffy suffered a debilitating stroke and his wife moved him out of town for better medical care. But why would Trey come back here of all places? Right smack-dab on top of the scene of the crime that drove him from town as a teenager?

“How would I know you had any connection to Trey?” Meg’s eyes narrowed with interest beneath the fluffy bangs of her short, brunette hair. “When your name came up one time, I couldn’t tell if he even remembered you.”

Oh, he remembered her all right.

“He definitely recalled that old car of yours,” Meg continued with a teasing tone.

Kara’s memory flashed to the infamous ’63 Mustang. The sporty, cream-colored car her daddy had lovingly restored and left behind when he took off for new adventures. He’d had the gall to transfer the registration to her as a sweet sixteen birthday gift. It still sat in the garage behind her mother’s house.

“I sense a story here.” Meg’s eyes sparkled with a speculative gleam. “Were you and Trey sweeties? Hmm?”

Warmth crept into Kara’s cheeks as she wiped the wooden floor with a fresh towel, then got to her feet. She’d told her mom about the leak last spring, yet the trickle again coursed down the wall from ceiling to floor. From the looks of the warped plaster and paint discoloration above, the summer monsoon season had added to the damage. Now the snow. So much for the expertise of repairmen.

“Trey and I were friends. Sort of.” How could she explain the mixed-up adolescent relationship she didn’t even understand herself?

“Friends, huh? Your mom mentioned you had a crush on my Joe once upon a time, but she never mentioned Trey.”

Kara laughed. “Mom talks too much.”

She crossed the rustic, wood-beamed room to spread soppy bath towels on the bricked portion of the floor in front of the woodstove. “Joe was my crush of the moment in middle school—when I found out his mom walked out on him like my dad did me. Besides, there wasn’t anything to mention about Trey—except Mom didn’t like him.”

She lifted an insulated carafe from its perch next to the coffeemaker and poured a mug of spiced cider for Meg. She’d kept her more-than-friends feelings for Trey a secret from the world those many years ago. Seemed strange to be openly teased about him now. And why did her heart tap-dance at the mere mention of his name, just like it had at sixteen?

“She didn’t like him because of the cowboy connection? Because of your dad?” Meg cupped the mug in her hands and inhaled the fragrant brew. “Or because, you know, of that other thing?”

Kara stiffened, the carafe poised above another mug. “You’ve heard about that?”

Meg nodded, her expression curious.

“Mom always said cowboys were trouble.” Kara filled the second mug to the brim. “But he didn’t do it. So don’t believe anything you hear to the contrary.”

“I didn’t learn about it until after I went out with him. But I wasn’t about to believe it. I’m glad my instincts were on target.” She took a sip of cider. “So, then, if you weren’t sweethearts, why are you all bent out of shape that he could be moving back to town?”

“I’m not bent out of shape.” Kara met her friend’s gaze, doing her best to keep her voice from betraying the turmoil inside. Meg wasn’t trying to be nosy. They’d been open with each other in college, sharing all the secrets young women held dear. Except the one having to do with Trey. “I’m surprised, that’s all. Didn’t expect to run into him last night. You might find this hard to believe, as enamored as you are with Canyon Springs, but he hated this town.”

“He’s never mentioned that to me.”

“You’ve talked a lot?”

“Some.”

Was Meg being deliberately obtuse, trying to draw her out? To get her to say more than she had any intention of saying?

“He’s so sweet,” her friend rambled on, a playful twinkle in her eye. “And single. Never married.”

“If he’s such a great catch,” Kara fired back with a grin, “why aren’t you marrying him instead of Joe?”

She couldn’t picture Meg and Trey as a good match, but nevertheless a fleeting tingle of envy pierced her consciousness. After all, Meg had dated him not long ago. What had that been like? Trey, all grown up. A man.

“I was falling for Joe by the time I met Trey.” Meg’s eyes went dreamy, so at least she hadn’t been forced to come to a heartrending decision between the two men.

“Just remember, Meg—” she took a sip of cider before setting down the mug “—if you want to make it to your wedding day alive, don’t even think of trying to set me up with him.”

“Vannie Quintero, the teen who works at my future father-in-law’s campground, is thrilled to be teamed up with an ex-cowboy.” Meg winked. “Maybe you would be, too.”

“Don’t count on it.” Kara gave in to a smile and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. She’d hardly believed it when Meg had told her Trey agreed to mentor a high school kid. Or that no one, considering his own teenage track record, voiced objections. “Besides, there’s no such thing as an ex-cowboy.”

“You never can tell. With the right woman…” Meg gave her a mischievous poke in the arm. “Now that I’m going to be more than a temporary resident of Canyon Springs, I wish you’d move back, too. Think of all the fun we’d have.”

“Fun?” she countered with a grin of her own. “Like watching you and Joe cuddling up on the sofa, eyes glued to each other like at the New Year’s Eve party a couple of weekends ago?”

“Hook up with Trey,” Meg said, wiggling her eyebrows, “then go thou and do likewise.”

Kara shook a finger at her. “I’m warning you—”

Her friend had all but bubbled with happiness since she and Joe got engaged. Must be nice. Not that she resented her friend’s good fortune to find a guy like the ex-navy corpsman with a cute kid. Meg more than deserved a happily ever after. But if Kara had the misfortune to return permanently, she’d likely seldom see her old friend. With Meg’s full-time teaching job, a soon-to-be husband, new stepson—and probably future kids—that didn’t leave much time to hang out.

Besides, Canyon Springs wasn’t in her future. Never had been. Never would be.

She held up her hand, thumb and forefinger pressed together. “I’m this far from that promotion. And I’m sure my supervisor wouldn’t appreciate my ditching him right now. Not after he’s gone out of his way to cover for me while I’m checking in on Mom. I promised to be back in two more weeks, and I take my promises seriously.”

Her memory flickered to the last conversation she’d had with her supervisor and mentor, Spencer Alexander. He’d laughed, but not in a derogatory way, when she’d let it slip that her father had been a rodeo cowboy. He’d called her his “little cowgirl.”

“And don’t forget,” she continued. “I came back here for a few weeks last spring when that new medication got Mom’s system all out of whack. And when she fell last summer. Unpaid time off isn’t helping my professional reputation—or my savings account. I’m still covering my quarter of the rent and utilities on the apartment even when I’m not there. Making car payments, too.”

Meg gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’m thrilled you’re getting a chance to live your dream. But I can dream, too, can’t I?”

“Dream away. But don’t hold your breath.”

Meg glanced at her watch, then set her mug down before snatching her jacket off the back of a nearby chair. “Thanks for helping me load the boxes. I’d better get going. Have a few things to finish up before we start carting things over to the new place tonight. Joe’s dad let us store my Phoenix furniture at the RV park’s rec center until we got the house livable.”

With another twinge of unexpected envy, Kara recalled the cute little place Meg and Joe bought last month and where Meg would now be living prior to the wedding. She’d helped her spruce up the kitchen last week. A little paint and a lot of elbow grease. New floor tile laid and curtains hung.

“You’re still having a move-in party tonight? Even with the snow?”

“Yeah. It’ll be messy, which is why I want to cut up boxes to protect the hardwood floor.” Meg zipped her coat and dug gloves out of her pockets. “Joe starts official paramedic training Monday and he wants me settled in before he leaves.”

Kara motioned to the ceiling. “Even though you weren’t in the upstairs apartment for long, I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too. It was great not to have to spend the past six weeks in the RV. Your mom wouldn’t even take rent money—said to consider it an engagement gift. Can you believe it? But I’m sure she could use a paying tenant.”

“She wouldn’t have offered it if she’d needed the money.”

Meg’s smile widened. “Now I have a wedding to finish planning, don’t I? Spring break will be here before we know it. Speaking of which, Joe’s Aunt Rosa started sewing your maid of honor dress. Hopefully she’ll be far enough along for a final fitting before you leave.”

Bells above the store’s front door tinkled, sounding merrier than Kara felt, and the pair glanced at a bundled-up couple entering the welcoming warmth of the general store.

“Looks like I’d better let you get back to work.” Meg stepped forward to give her a hug. “Good luck on getting the leak fixed. See you tonight?”

Kara nodded, but it was with a heavy heart that she watched her friend out the door. Even though Meg didn’t seem to sense it, she didn’t like the invisible wall that reared itself between them with Trey’s return. But there was no way she’d attempt to explain to her what she’d done to him. Meg was so enthralled with Trey, she’d never understand. She’d certainly think far less of her college friend if she knew.

Already dreading an evening where Trey might show up, Kara grabbed a dust cloth and gave the checkout counter a swipe, then paused to gaze around the familiar expanse of the Warehouse. The paned windows. Plank floors. Well-stocked grocery items and other general merchandise. Displays of mountain country souvenirs and outdoor gear.

The knot in her stomach tightened. Why hadn’t her cousin Lindi alerted her to Trey’s return? Lindi. The reason she couldn’t tell Trey the truth. Beg his forgiveness. It was twelve years ago this very spring that her confused and scared, barely sixteen-year-old self had made the promise. Pledged that she wouldn’t tell a soul her best-friends-forever cousin had confessed to accidentally setting the forest on fire.

By the time she’d found out Trey had been accused…it was too late. She’d already made that impulsive vow that still reached out to haunt her. Just one more sign that while God may have set her world in motion, kept it spinning, he was most often off in another sector of the universe.

“Hey, Trey!” Meg grabbed his snow-covered, jacketed arm, hauling him and his nieces off the porch and into the house she and Joe would soon be calling home. “You’re just in time for pizza.”

He stepped onto the rug by the door, Missy in his arms and Mary clinging shyly to his leg. He gazed around a room full of people helping themselves to the savory, mouthwatering contents of cardboard delivery boxes. He glimpsed a few familiar faces—Meg’s fiancé and his dad and son. A dozen or two others he guessed to be church friends or teacher pals of Meg. Some of Joe’s buds.

Recognition flickered in the gazes of several guests. That was to be expected in a small town. Warm interest reflected in the smiles of a few of the younger women. That was usually to be expected as well—wherever.

But no Kara.

Thank you, Lord.

He almost hadn’t come, thinking she might be here, that it might be awkward, but he hated to back out on Meg. The perky newcomer to town had held a special place in his heart ever since they met last September. If it wasn’t for that hotshot Diaz guy, it might be him settling down with the pretty schoolteacher. Or at least that’s what he told himself on poor-pitiful-me days. But by the time he’d gotten her to go out with him, she was already falling for the ex-navy guy, one of Reyna’s cousins. Meg hadn’t realized it yet, but Trey had, and he backed off.

“Sorry I’m late, Meg. I’ve been babysitting the past few days and Jason and Reyna still aren’t home yet.”

A chorus of soft aahs echoed from female throats and inwardly he chuckled. It hadn’t taken long to figure out that if you wanted to score interest with the local ladies, babysitting by far outweighed the classic walking-the-pup routine.

“Yeah, yeah,” Joe’s father, Bill Diaz, taunted, his mustached mouth widening in a smile. “Timed it just right so all the heavy lifting’s done.”

“Guess you cowboys aren’t as dumb as you look.” The dark-eyed Joe cast him an appraising glance, a look he’d become accustomed to during the months Joe’d been courting Meg and keeping an eye open for rivals.

Relax, dude. She’s all yours now.

“Don’t listen to them, Trey,” Meg said as he toed off his boots at the door. “You can make yourself useful bringing in the sodas—which my loving fiancé forgot to do.”

A slice of pizza halfway to his mouth, Joe made sounds of protest.

“Consider it done.” Trey would rather do something constructive than stand around making small talk with people he didn’t know. People who may have formed judgments about him based on rumor. Coming back to Canyon Springs held more than its share of challenges. But God opened doors and he was gonna be man enough to walk through them no matter what it took.

Meg reached out for Missy, then he knelt to divest Mary of her coat. He peeled out of his own jacket and tossed their stuff on a folding table piled high with outdoor wear. Not trusting the guests to know a genuine Stetson when they saw one, he hesitated to top off the mound with his felt hat. But his ever-alert hostess snatched it from him and slid it onto a peg by the front door, then pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

With Mary gripping the welted side seam of his jeans, he made his way through the crowd, following the cardboard carpet past the staircase and into the kitchen. Looked like new floor tile. Fresh paint job on the cabinets, too. Curtains at the windows. Nice. Meg’s doing? Or Kara’s?

He’d have to figure out something homey like that when he bought a fixer-upper of his own. Having scrimped and saved every spare dime of his rodeo winnings for a hefty down payment, he had his heart set on a little house, some acreage. Had been looking forward for years to a day when he could settle down, start a family. A place like this, on the edge or outside of town, would be ideal. That is, if he cleared his name and made a go of the business. Old Reuben Falkner, city councilman, wasn’t making the latter an easy effort.

He headed to an open door where Meg had indicated he’d find the laundry room. A light was on, but when he stepped to the doorway of the miniscule room, he halted. A familiar red-blonde ponytail dangled halfway down the back of a trim female dressed in figure-skimming jeans and a blue wool sweater.

Kara.

With her back to him, she wiped off soda cans arranged on the clothes dryer’s surface. He had a second to catch his breath. But no time to back out the door before, head down and lost in thought, she whirled in his direction. Ran smack into his chest.

“Oh!” Her long-lashed gray eyes met his as she took a startled step back, pulling away from his hand that had instinctively reached out to steady her. For a long moment their gazes held. Every bit as close and as beautiful as she’d been that long-ago night. The night she’d sashayed up to him. Slipped her arms around his neck…

But tonight her eyes were that of a filly fixin’ to bolt.

“I didn’t hear you.” Face flushing, she took another step back and glared at his socked feet as if he’d deliberately shed his boots to sneak up on her.

“Sorry. I was put on soda duty.”

Kara frowned, apparently irritated Meg hadn’t thought her capable to handle the task on her own. Then she spied Mary clutching his leg and her expression softened. She motioned to the cans.

“You can haul some of these to the living room if you’d like. Or break up that bag of ice in the chest there.”

“Ice or sodas, doesn’t matter to me.” He chuckled, hoping to catch her eye and put her at ease, but she kept her focus on anything but him.

“Ice then.”

He nodded and they did an uneasy tango as he and Mary maneuvered around her, the air charged with an unmistakable, mutual awareness. Had twelve years really gone by?

She took a sidestep toward the now-vacated doorway, but without thinking he shot out his arm to block her. Wary eyes met his. His breath caught at the light scent of her woodsy perfume.

“We need to talk, Kara.”

Where’d that come from? He’d been hangin’ out with his sister-in-law too long. Starting to sound like a girl. But all he needed was a lousy five minutes. He’d ditch Mary and make Kara understand he didn’t hold anything against her. That she could stop looking at him like he was going to haul her into court.

Her brows lowered. “I—”

“Trey, did you bring Rowdy with you?” the familiar voice of five-year-old Davy Diaz called from across the kitchen.

Trey stared at Kara a long moment, his heartbeat counting off the seconds. Then he lowered his arm and turned to the youngster who trotted across the floor toward him and Mary. Bad timing, kid. But he’d sensed Kara’s relief.

He gazed down at the black-haired, brown-eyed boy and smiled at the youngster’s reference to his canine sidekick. Kids loved Rowdy. “We can’t stay long, so he’s out in the truck. That woolly coat of his keeps him toasty warm.”

“Daddy wouldn’t let me bring my puppy.” Davy’s shoulders slumped as he crammed his hands in his jeans pockets in an adultlike gesture. A miniature little man. His dark eyes brightened as he studied his cousin, Mary, who’d loosened a grip on Trey’s pant leg and taken a hesitant step forward.

“Kara’s already seed it,” the boy continued, “but do you guys wanna see my new room? I’m gonna live here when we marry Miss Meg.”

Mary looked up at Trey, hope in her eyes.

How could he turn down such cool kids? He glanced at Kara, but she again avoided his gaze. “I’d like to, Davy, but after I finish up here, okay? You two go on without me.”

“No, go right ahead,” the woman next to him insisted, all but shoving him out the door. “I can handle things here.”

All I need, Lord, is five stinkin’ minutes.

Granted, the other thing he needed to explain would likely take more than five minutes—if she’d hear him out at all. Her father had told him the two of them still weren’t on speaking terms. Hadn’t been for fifteen years. But he’d need to get her old man’s permission to discuss it with her anyway.

He hauled Mary into his arms and Davy stepped forward to grab his free hand. Glancing back as the little boy pulled him along, he caught Kara’s skittish gaze. Gave her a nod.

“We still need to talk, darlin’.”