Читать книгу Baby, Come Home - Stephanie Bond, Stephanie Bond - Страница 11

Kendall squirmed as Nikki wrapped a bandage around his thumb.

“Does that hurt?” she asked.

“No.” It did, and his big toe hurt, too, but he just wanted to get out of there.

“You look a little flushed.”

He wasn’t about to tell her it was humiliation. For years he’d imagined seeing Amy again, yet when the moment had presented itself, he’d been as tongue-tied as a teenager.

Nikki felt for his pulse on his uninjured hand. “Your heart rate is up.”

From seeing Amy. “I appreciate your help, Dr. Salinger, but I’m kind of in a hurry.”

She nodded. “Rachel is waiting for you.”

He grunted. “I need to get back to work.” He turned his head for a glimpse out the window through slitted blinds, yearning for another look at Amy, wondering why she was here and terrified she’d leave before he could talk to her. “That woman you were speaking to in the lobby…”

“Amy Bradshaw?” Nikki asked. “She’s a friend of mine from Broadway. I thought you might know her—she grew up in Sweetness.”

“I used to know her,” he said absently. “Did she say why she’s here?”

“She said Marcus had hired her to build a bridge.”

Kendall blinked. “A bridge?”

Nikki nodded. “Amy’s a structural engineer.”

He blinked again. “Really?”

“Really. I guess the two of you haven’t stayed in touch?”

“No…we haven’t.”

Nikki smiled. “Looks like you’ll have some time to get reacquainted.”

Kendall pressed his lips together and looked away, his mind churning.

Nikki patted his arm. “All done. Leave it wrapped for a few days. You’ll probably lose the nail, and it’ll be tender for a couple of weeks. Use the antibiotic ointment to stave off infection.”

“Thanks,” he murmured, then stood and walked to the door, trying not to limp.

“Kendall.”

He turned back.

“Why don’t you and Porter join me and Amy for dinner tonight at the boardinghouse?”

He hesitated. “I don’t know…”

“It’s the hospitable thing to do, don’t you think? To welcome her home?”

He nodded. “Okay. See you later. Thanks again.”

Kendall left the exam room and walked out into the waiting area, looking right and left. To his relief, Rachel was nowhere in sight. But neither was Amy. He practically ran to the door and out into the cool air. He spotted an unfamiliar burgundy SUV with a Michigan license plate and wondered if it belonged to Amy. The color reminded him of her deep auburn hair. It was empty. He glanced all around, but didn’t see her.

Kendall pulled out his phone and dialed Marcus, determined to get to the bottom of Amy’s appearance. When he didn’t answer, Kendall lit out walking toward the construction office. By the time he reached the steps leading up to the trailer, his foot throbbed and his temper had ballooned into something he’d never experienced. He burst through the door. Marcus was sitting behind his desk, just disconnecting a call on his cell phone.

“What did you do to your hand?”

Kendall fisted his injured hand. “Cut the crap, Marcus. Amy Bradshaw? You hired Amy Bradshaw to rebuild Evermore Bridge?”

Marcus sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Actually, she’s only going to design the bridge. You’re going to build it.”

“And you didn’t think it was worth mentioning to me?”

Marcus pursed his mouth. “You were busy getting the presentation together. I told you I’d find a structural engineer, and I did. I guess you ran into her?”

Kendall put both hands on Marcus’s desk, his blood pressure rising. “Blindsided is more like it.”

“Funny, she didn’t mention it.”

Kendall straightened. “She was here?”

“Of course. She wanted to discuss the project. I told her she should get settled in first, then we could all meet tomorrow afternoon for a conference call with our contact on the Preservation Society.”

“So she’s at the boardinghouse?”

“No. She wanted to get right to work. She borrowed a four-wheeler to ride out to the site—”

Kendall didn’t hear the end of the sentence—he was already out the door. He bounded down the steps, jogged to where several ATVs were parked and climbed on one. Working the hand grips hurt his thumb, but he welcomed the pain—it cut through the mush in his head. He steered the four-wheeler toward a side trail that ran parallel to the main road and led to the site where the covered bridge had once stood. As the cool air rushed by him, he tried to think of what he was going to say to Amy, but everything sounded lame and inadequate. Long time no see. How’s life been treating you? I’ve missed you every day we’ve been apart.

As he approached the area and spotted the ATV she’d parked, his stomach churned. The fact that she’d known she was coming here and hadn’t contacted him spoke volumes, didn’t it?

Maybe there was nothing to say.

He pulled the four-wheeler next to the one parked and cut the engine. He couldn’t see her through the trees, but he walked toward the area where the old bridge used to stand. When she came into view, his feet slowed and his heart sped up. Amy had set up a tripod and was bent over, looking through the camera lens. Her trim, athletic figure was silhouetted against the blue sky. She was all business in her slacks, tailored jacket and field boots, but the wind ruffled her luxurious hair that had escaped from a clasp at her neck.

She was, in a word, breathtaking.

He was sure she’d heard the four-wheeler, probably knew she was being observed. But if he wanted proof he couldn’t rattle her, he had it, because as he walked closer, she didn’t move, just kept snapping away. He stopped a couple of yards away.

“Hello, Amy.”

She stopped and glanced up. “Hello, Kendall.” Then she picked up a folded screen and extended it. “Would you mind holding this in front of the sun so I can get a few more shots?”

Her voice was the same, but her accent had changed—her pronunciation was more precise and more…Northern. He stepped forward and took the screen, feeling thoroughly dismissed. He fumbled with it, but finally opened it and held it up.

“A little to the left, please.”

He obeyed, flashing back to earlier when Rachel had been giving him similar directions.

“More to the left…and higher.”

Kendall poked his tongue into his cheek. “Is this how it’s going to be?”

She lifted her head, but was looking at the future bridge site, not at him. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “I mean, it’s been ten years. Don’t you think we should talk?”

“Twelve.” She snapped a few more photos, then straightened and looked at him. “It’s been over twelve years.”

He swallowed under the full force of her stare. If possible, she was more beautiful now than the last time he’d seen her. Gone was the gangly freckle-faced teenage lover who’d followed him around. Here stood a woman who’d grown into her skin and her looks and who had an aloof air about her that…well, frankly, impressed him.

And worried him.

Amy’s eyebrow arched. “So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

He gave a little shrug. “How have you been?”

“I’m fine,” she said in a tone that indicated she was surprised he’d think otherwise.

“I hear you’re a structural engineer.”

“That’s right,” she said. “My resume isn’t as exciting as yours, but I’ve stayed busy.”

“Who said my resume is exciting?” Kendall asked, wondering if Amy had kept tabs on him over the years.

It was her turn to shrug. “I just assumed that if you’ve been in the Air Force all this time, you’ve been involved in some interesting things. Actually, I’m surprised you didn’t make the Air Force a career.”

I missed you too much. “I missed…my brothers.”

She offered a flat smile. “Of course. Well, it seems as if you’ve found a way to be together again. And always.”

Kendall detected censure in her voice. “You don’t approve of our efforts to rebuild Sweetness?”

“I don’t disapprove. I just don’t understand why you’d want to rebuild the town.” She leaned over her camera and snapped more photos. “I suppose you have better memories of this place than I do.”

“I do have good memories,” he admitted, thinking they were mostly of her and feeling disappointed she didn’t share his opinion. “And I think this town deserves a second chance.”

“Good for you.” She straightened and picked up the tripod, then walked to another location.

Nonplussed, Kendall followed. “I understand you’re going to rebuild the covered bridge.”

She set down the tripod. “That’s right. Marcus called me last week and offered me the job. I take it you didn’t know?”

Kendall bristled. “I’ve been working on something else.”

“Does it bother you that I’m here?”

Only every cell in his body. “Of course not. I was just…surprised to see you, that’s all.”

“As surprised as I was to see an advertisement for single women to come to Sweetness in my local newspaper?”

His face warmed and his mind raced for an explanation.

Amy gave a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry. I figure that was Marcus’s idea, too. He seems to think you and I have some unfinished business.”

His tongue was like lead in his mouth.

Her berry-colored lips turned up in a little smile. “I assured him we said our goodbyes long ago.”

He nodded, like a puppet.

“And that it wouldn’t be a problem for us to work together on rebuilding this bridge.”

Kendall finally found his tongue. “Right, no problem. We’re…professionals.”

“And it’ll only be for a few weeks,” she added. “I’m thinking three months, tops.”

He swallowed hard. He already didn’t want to think about the day she’d leave. “Meanwhile, I can’t think of anyone better to redesign Evermore Bridge.”

When she looked up, her hazel-colored eyes held reproach. “Why?”

He could tell she was ready to deny any emotional attachment to the bridge…or maybe he’d projected his own association with the bridge onto her. “Because you knew every stick of that bridge.”

She nodded without acknowledging that she’d memorized the construction of the bridge during the hours they’d spent there together. “Were you planning to give the new bridge the same name— Evermore?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

She let out a little laugh that left him weak in the knees. “Do you and Marcus ever talk?”

“There’s a lot to be done around here. We’re usually working on different things.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “And you’re Head of Picture Hanging?”

At the reference to the injury he’d gotten hanging a picture for Rachel, a hot flush climbed his neck. “I was just doing a favor for a friend and lost my concentration.” Too late, he realized he’d made it sound as if Rachel had distracted him, when Amy herself was as least partly to blame.

She pursed her mouth, then leaned down to take another photograph. “Could you hold up that screen again, please?”

Kiss me again, please? Make love to me, please? He’d always teased her for saying please—as if he’d needed any encouragement to touch her or to do things that would make her happy.

He held up the screen while she took more pictures, taking the opportunity to drink in every inch of her that was so familiar, yet so changed. She’d matured into a beautiful woman with elegant taste. Her clothes were sensible, but beautifully tailored to fit her streamlined figure. He had to smile, though, at the smudge on the collar of her blouse—Amy was still a chocoholic.

His hands itched to brush her thick red hair away from her face and pull her lean body against his. It was jarring to realize that he no longer had the right to touch her, and he wondered what lucky man claimed that role these days. The fact that she wasn’t wearing a ring on her left hand didn’t necessarily mean anything. Lots of people whose jobs required them to be on construction sites didn’t risk wearing jewelry.

“Did you marry?” he asked, then held his breath while she took her time answering.

“No.”

He exhaled and waited for her to ask the same of him. When she didn’t, he volunteered, “Neither did I…nor did my brothers.”

She pulled a notebook from her pocket and jotted a few notes with a mechanical pencil. “According to the water tower, Porter’s pretty far gone over my friend Nikki.”

Kendall smiled. “She’s changed him, all right.”

The pencil point broke with a snap. Amy clicked down a new length of lead, then continued writing. “I hope she knows what she’s getting into.”

“With Porter? It’s been six months. I think she knows him pretty well by now.”

“I meant living here.”

Kendall bristled. “I know the town doesn’t look like much now, but we have plans.”

“I know. I saw the slide show on the website. Meanwhile, it’s more primitive even than when you and I grew up here.”

He tamped down a spike of anger. “Maybe Nikki is happy in Sweetness because the man she cares about is here.”

Amy’s mouth twitched down. “I hope that’s enough for her.”

Kendall felt as if he’d been kicked in the stomach. If he’d wondered about the possibility of Amy coming home to Sweetness to stay, he had his answer. And they hadn’t even broken ground on the new bridge.

Unless her mind could be changed. After all, his negotiating skills had been honed by some pretty serious head-butting between his brothers since they’d all taken on this project. Seizing on a classic mediation opener, he asked, “What can I do to make your job easier?”

She looked up from the notebook, her expression wary. “I think I have everything I need for now.” She tucked away her notes, then picked up the tripod and moved in the direction of the all-terrain vehicle she’d driven over. Kendall followed her, carrying the folding screen.

He was mesmerized by watching her move. He still couldn’t believe she was here…within arm’s reach. There were a million questions he wanted to ask her, find out everything about her life since he’d last seen her. But from the closed expression on her face and her tight body language, she wasn’t in a sharing mood. And she didn’t seem to care what he’d been doing for the past twelve years.

She stopped at the four-wheeler and lifted the seat to stow her camera equipment, then reached for the folding screen he held. “Thanks.”

Then she climbed on, started the engine and took off before he could even reach the ATV he’d driven over. He goosed the gas to keep up with her, flashing back to when they were teenagers, riding horses all over this countryside. He had always lagged behind on purpose, so he could see Amy’s wild hair fly behind her and watch her tight little behind snug against the saddle. He’d loved chasing her…and apparently things hadn’t changed—except for the catching part. He followed her back to the construction office, saddened when the ride ended, already loath to be away from her.

She was off the ATV and striding toward town before he could regroup.

“Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” he called. “Maybe we can catch up.”

She turned, still moving, her hands full of equipment. “No, thanks. If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep things between us strictly business. I’ll see you on the jobsite.” Then she turned and kept going.

Kendall watched her walk away and had to keep himself from running after her. He hadn’t been successful in convincing Amy to stay in Sweetness last time. But he had three months to do it this time.

Starting with dinner tonight with Porter and Nikki.