Molly didn’t sleep much that night. When she did manage to doze, her dreams were restless and unsettling, leaving her tired and tense by the time daybreak finally arrived.
She showered, then wrapped herself in a robe and hopped to her suitcase to find something to wear. She wasn’t sure she could tuck her jeans inside the splint and still strap it tightly enough to support her ankle during the long drive ahead, so she donned the hot-pink-trimmed gray pants again, pairing them with a clean white long-sleeve pullover. She braided her still-damp hair, applied enough makeup to hide the ravages of the sleepless night, then settled into a chair, waiting for Kyle to let her know when he was ready to leave.
Kyle. Just the thought of his name made her lips start to tingle like crazy again.
She still couldn’t believe he had kissed her. He had simply loomed over her without warning, grabbed her chin in his hand and crushed his mouth down on hers before she could finish whatever it was she had been saying at the time. Her world had tilted on its axis—and she had a strong feeling that it would never go back to the way it had been before.
No one had ever made her feel like that with just a kiss before. And what worried her most was the fear that no one else ever would.
She had been waiting for almost twenty-four years to find a man she couldn’t turn into an honorary brother. And wasn’t it ironic that the first man who fit that description would most certainly be leaving on the first plane out of Texas?
She didn’t delude herself for a moment that Kyle was falling for her. That there was any chance he would stay in her life, rather than drop her off at the ranch and run back to his secluded cabin. He had his friends, the McDooleys, and they seemed to provide all the companionship he wanted or needed. Maybe he would be amenable to the occasional sexual liaison—he wasn’t a monk, after all—but nothing more. And certainly not with her.
Which meant it was up to her to protect herself from getting hurt. Plan A hadn’t worked out. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t going to be able to turn Kyle into a brother figure.
So it was time for Plan B. Carefully maintained distance. Polite, but detached. Completely uninvolved in his life. No more personal questions, no more friendly touches, no more pressuring him to share his feelings with her. If she occasionally noticed how pretty his eyes were, or how broad his shoulders, or how tight his… Well, if she happened to notice any of his physical attributes, she would simply appreciate the view and remind herself that Kyle was only another guy who was in her life for just a brief stay.
He rapped on the door connecting their rooms, and her stomach clenched. She could do this, she promised herself. She wouldn’t be able to pretend the kiss had never happened, but she would make it clear that she neither expected—nor wanted—it to happen again.
“How’s the leg?” he asked by way of greeting when she hobbled across the floor to open the door.
“It’s fine.”
There was no way to read his expression, which was absolutely emotionless. His voice was cordial enough when he inquired, “Did you sleep well?”
“Like a baby,” she lied through her teeth. “You?” “Yeah. Great. Ready to get on the road?” “Definitely.”
He nodded. “We’ll grab some breakfast at a drive- through window to save time.”
He was really in a hurry to dump her and get back home, she thought with a pang. “That will be fine.”
It was going to be a very long day.
Even considering the occasional outbreaks of orange barrels forcing highway traffic into one lane for construction purposes, they made good time after entering Arkansas. They stopped every couple of hours for breaks, but Molly didn’t try to talk Kyle into any more shopping or sightseeing delays. He thought she seemed as impatient to reach the ranch as he was.
She had been uncharacteristically subdued during the first half of the day, seemingly content to listen to the music playing from the CD player and to watch the scenery passing by her window. It was a beautiful, crisp October Sunday morning. Traffic was light and the moron-driver factor was lower than usual.
Kyle might have been in a fairly decent mood had he not still been so angry with himself for losing controlgrab some breakfast at a drive even so brieflygrab some breakfast at a drivethe night before. He prided himself as a man who always remained in control, and the fact that he had given in to irritation and impulse, especially with Molly, really shook him.
He had lain awake last night, much too aware of Molly lying on the other side of a thin wall. Remembering much too vividly how good her lips had felt. Worrying that she, too, was lying awake and reliving the moment. And wondering why she hadn’t even tried to push him away.
Slanting her a sideways look, he noted that her fingers were interlaced in her lap, and that she was sitting unnaturally still. Normally she would have been bouncing in her seat, tapping in time to the music, chattering a mile a minute about whatever popped into her head, flashing him those smiles that seemed to bring the sunlight right into the car with them.
He realized that she hadn’t really smiled at him all morning. And he missed those smiles entirely too much.
Was she afraid of him now? He tried to read her profile, searching for any sign that he intimidated her in a way he had not before.
“Molly?”
She turned to look at him. “Yes?”
No, he decided. She wasn’t afraid. Maybe a little warygrab some breakfast at a driveas if she weren’t quite sure what he might do next. Maybe still a little bemused by the unexpected kiss. But not afraid, he decided in satisfaction. “Nothing.”
“Oh.” She looked out the window for a moment, then turned to him with a rush of words. “Why did you kiss me?”
He tightened his hands around the steering wheel to keep the car from swerving. He should have expected something like this from her. He should probably be surprised that it had taken her so long. “It would probably be best if you just forget about that.”
“I’ve been trying to,” she admitted. “But I still want to know why.”
“Call it an impulse. An ill-advised one.”
She thought about that for a moment, then said, “You looked annoyed when you kissed me.”
She was going to analyze this to death, he thought with a scowl. “You were annoying me at the time.”
“So you kissed me? I’m sorry, Kyle, but that doesn’t really make sense.”
He heard the low growl of frustration escape him before he said through clenched teeth, “You’re starting to annoy me again.”
“Does that make you want to kiss me again?” she shot back, fearless as always.
Yes. The unspoken reply seemed to hang in the air between them. Kyle wondered if Molly was as aware of it as he was.
Maybe she was. She subsided into her seat again, riding quietly for the next few miles. Even though he kept his own gaze focused fiercely on the road ahead, he could feel her looking at him. Studying him. Trying, most likely, to understand him.
Good luck with that, he could have told her. He didn’t even understand himself right now.
Okay, Molly thought. That was it. No more questions. Questions only led to answers she didn’t necessarily want to hear.
Kyle considered their kiss an ill-advised impulse? Not very flattering.
But he hadn’t said no when she’d asked if he wanted to kiss her again.
No more questions, she promised herself. She would just continue to sit quietly, listen to the music, watch the passing scenery….
“Kyle?”
“Yeah?”
“If we don’t mention the kiss, is it okay if we talk about something else?”
“Talk about whatever you want,” he said in surrender. “Just give me the right to decline to comment if I choose.”
“Permission granted,” she said with a smile and a wave of relief. Maybe if they were talking—it didn’t matter about what—she would be able to finally stop thinking about the kiss. Maybe.
“So, what do you want to know this time?” he asked in that same resigned tone. “My blood type? My bank balance?”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you actually make a joke?”
“No. Just an educated guess.”
“Well, as a matter of fact, I don’t care about your blood type or your bank balance. I was just going to ask if you have any family left in Texas.”
“No.”
“No aunts, uncles? Cousins?”
“Not as far as I know.”
She couldn’t even imagine having no relatives.
“Were your parents orphans?”
“If my father ever had any family, they ran him off long before I came along. He had a talent for getting thrown out of all the best places-jobs, apartments, marriages.”
There was no anger in his voice that she could hear. Only a cool dispassion that didn’t quite mask a lifetime of disappointment.
“What about your mother?”
“Let’s just say she never baked me cookies.”
There was the anger. Whatever his mother had done to him, he still hadn’t forgiven her.
“When’s the last time you were on a horse?” she asked, making a quick decision to guide the conversation into less treacherous territory.
He looked a bit startled, but relieved. “Almost three years ago, I guess.”
Something in his answer told her there might be a story involved. “Tell me about it.”
After only a momentary hesitation, he did. “Several of the guys in my unit were invited to a party at a ranch near Camp Pendleton, where we were waiting to be deployed to Iraq. One of the other guests was a pretty brunette Tommy wanted to, um, get to know better. He had never been on a horse in his life, so he asked me for a few pointers that would help him impress her. I gave him a few.”
Delighted by the nuances of his tale, Molly followed along easily. “And what were the results of your advice?”
Kyle grinned, making him look—just for a moment—young and amused. “The horse went left, and Tom went right. He hit the dirt face-first.”
Molly laughed. “That was so bad of you. Did it ruin his chances with the brunette?”
Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “She felt so sorry for him that she spent the entire night personally tending to his scrapes and bruises. He always had that kind of luck with the ladies.”
“That was before he started dating Connie, I take it.” An odd expression crossed Kyle’s face. “Uh, no.
They were dating then, I guess. But it wasn’t as if they were married or anything,” he added, defensive on his late friend’s behalf.
“I see.” So Tommy hadn’t been quite the saint he’d been made out to be. Interesting.
“Look, he wasn’t perfect. But he was a great guy. And he’d have been a good husband to Connie. Once the vows had been exchanged, he would have lived up to them.”
She reached out to rest a hand lightly on his arm. “I’m not judging your friend, Kyle. I’m sure I would have liked him.”
He seemed appeased. “You would have. Everyone did.” Without moving her hand, she said quietly, “I’ve never lost anyone who was really close to me like that. My family has been extremely fortunate that we’re all still together, even after a couple of close calls. It must have been a nightmare for you.”
“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “It was.”
And was still, she mused. Kyle was a long way from coming to grips with the loss of his friend.
But this wasn’t a counseling session. She drew her hand from his arm and asked lightly, “So, tell me the truth, Kyle. Were you as lucky with the ladies as your friend?”
He snorted. “Hardly. I never had Tom’s knack for flirting. Put me in a social situation and my tongue glues itself to the top of my mouth. Maybe you remember that I’ve always been like that.”
“Mmm. Some women are drawn to the silent, brooding type,” she teased lightlyshe teased lightly—and thought that it apparently applied to herself. Especially when it came to Kyle.
Looking mildly embarrassed, he growled, “Time to change the subject again.”
“So I take it you didn’t fall off your horse?”
“No. I remembered just enough of what your father told me to stay in the saddle.”
“Do you think you could still rope a calf if you tried?” He grunted. “Only if the calf walked up and offered to put his feet in the lasso for me.”
She giggled.
With a shrug, Kyle said, “It was painfully obvious when I lived on the ranch that I had no real talent as a cowhand.”
“So you went into the military.”
He nodded. “Your dad told me about his stint in the navy. It sounded like a good deal, so I went to sign up, though I chose the Marines rather than the navy.”
“Did you like it?”
He gave her a look that made her feel foolish for asking, but he replied evenly, “It suited me at the time.”
Embarrassed about asking such a blatantly insensitive question—even though it was partially his fault for being so hard to converse with—she moved on. “You said you were considering several options for your future. What do you think you’ll do next?”
He shrugged and turned his attention back to his driving. “Maybe I’ll take Mack up on his offer to go into property management with him. I’m not too good at the dealing-with-people part, but I’ve always been pretty good at making repairs.”
She wondered if that was what he really wanted to do, or if he felt obligated to step into the place Tommy would have taken had he survived. Jewel and Mack had obviously accepted him as a surrogate son, trying to fill the hole their own son’s death had left in their lives, and Kyle was probably grateful for the assistance they had given him since he’d been injured.
She was trying to think of a relatively tactful way to ask that question when Kyle turned the tables on her. “I think it’s my turn to ask you questions.”
Though she was a bit surprised, she replied, “Sure. Go ahead.”
“Doesn’t it cramp your social life to live with your parents at your age?”
Social life? She almost laughed. The closest she had come to a social life in the past year had been the family barbecues the Walkers threw every chance they got. “Since I’m not seeing anyone in particular right now, it isn’t really an issue.”
“And that’s okay with you?”
“For now it is. I told you I’m planning to find a place of my own as soon as a teaching position opens up at one of the elementary schools within a thirty-mile radius of the ranch.”
“I’m sure there are teaching positions in the bigger cities. Dallas. Houston. San Antonio. Austin.”
Of the cities he had named, Dallas was the closest to the ranch. Yet at the time she had earned her degree, even an hour had seemed too far away. She had been so glad to be back among her family, safe in the close and loving circles in which she had been raised.
She had justified her return by telling herself they needed her there, but she’d known even then that she had needed them more. “I guess I’m just a homebody. Like Shane, I’ve seen no need to live far from the ranch.”
“Are you going to imitate your brother and build a house on the other side of your parents?”
She was making an effort not to get defensive. Kyle was just taking a little revenge on her, pelting her with personal questions in retaliation for her doing the same to him. “I don’t think that’s a very practical option. But I’m sure I can find something in the vicinity.”
“When you grow up,” he murmured.
“Now you’re just being a jerk,” she informed him with a toss of her head.
He laughed. The deep, rich sound sent a rush of heat through every inch of her body. It was a good thing, she thought rather dazedly, that he didn’t do that very often, or she would be a quivering puddle on the floorboard by the time they reached the ranch.
Molly didn’t suggest stopping in Little Rock to visit her aunt and uncle. Though Lindsey would be annoyed, Molly doubted that Kyle was in the mood for a sociable visit with her relatives. He was ready to get her safely delivered to the ranch so he could quickly get back home, she assumed.
They made it as far as Hope, Arkansas—almost halfway between Memphis and Dallas—before something went wrong with the car.
“Are you kidding me?” Kyle exploded in frustration when the engine made a funny popping sound, then died. He tugged frantically at the steering wheel, guiding the rapidly slowing vehicle safely to the side of the freeway, avoiding being hit from behind.
“What’s wrong?”
“Damn engine just quit.” He turned the key, resulting in nothing but further frustration.
“You can’t start it again?”
“Do you hear it running?” He reached beneath the dash to release the hood lock, glanced in his side-view mirror to check traffic, then opened the driver’s door and got out of the car.
Molly watched through the windshield as he opened the hood, obscuring himself from her view for a few minutes. She knew absolutely nothing about car engines, but maybe Kyle knew enough to fix whatever had gone wrong. Could be a loose wire or something, she thought optimistically. Maybe all he would have to do would be to jiggle something or tap on something or…
He dropped back into the driver’s seat with a disgusted expression that put an end to that hope. “I can’t fix it.”
“I don’t understand. I never have trouble with my car. I have the oil changed every three thousand miles, I use good quality gasoline, I watch all the dials and gauges. I know it has sort of high mileage, but the only thing broken is the radio.”
“A broken radio doesn’t keep it from running.” Biting her lip, she studied him as he stared out the windshield, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “Do you think it’s really bad?”
“I don’t know. It looks like we’re going to have to call a tow truck and have it taken to someone who can answer that.”
She reached up to rub her temples, feeling dazed by this latest misadventure. It was almost as if someone didn’t want her to get back to the ranch. “Kyle, I’m—”
He cut her off with a slash of his hand. “We’ll handle it,” he said.
She sighed and dug in her purse for her cell phone.
They wouldn’t be reaching the ranch that evening. They wouldn’t even see the Texas state line. It took more than an hour to have the car towed to a garage that was open on a Sunday afternoon, and then nearly another hour of boredom in a grubby waiting room to find out that the situation was as bad as Kyle had feared.
The timing chain on Molly’s aging little import had broken, and the garage didn’t have a replacement on hand. It would be late the next day before they could get on the road again.
Her expression stricken, Molly straightened the stack of year-old magazines she had been reading to pass the time while Kyle paced and stared impatiently out the single, wavy-paned window. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Everything keeps going wrong.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Kyle admitted a bit grudgingly. As much as he might have wanted to place blame for the mishaps of the past few days, he had to concede that Molly hadn’t intentionally hurt her leg, nor had she been able to predict the car trouble. It wasn’t fair of him to take his frustration out on her. “You’d better call your brother and tell him we’ve been delayed again.”
He couldn’t help thinking of how the five-hour drive remaining to the ranch seemed so very far at the moment. Had he been the superstitious type, he’d have wondered if the fates were conspiring to keep them from getting there—after doing everything possible to get him started on this journey he’d had no intention of taking.
Without moving, Molly sat looking at her cell phone for so long that he finally asked, “What’s the problem?”
She sighed. “I’m giving myself a mental pep talk before calling Shane.”
“Why is that necessary?”
Wrinkling her nose, she explained, “He’s going to chew me out again, and I’m bracing myself for it.” “Why would he chew you out? This is no more your fault than spraining your ankle was. Your car has been well maintained, but there’s no way to prevent an occasional mechanical problem. It’s just bad luck that it happened near a small town on a Sunday afternoon.”
Though she looked grateful for his reassurance, she seemed no more eager to call her brother. “Shane will point out—rightfully so—that I never should have been on the road today in the first place. Had I gracefully accepted your answers about the party and resisted the impulse to drive to Tennessee to nag you, I wouldn’t have sprained my ankle and I wouldn’t have put you to all this trouble and expense. And don’t even think about paying one penny of these car repairs or our motel rooms for tonight. These charges go on my credit card.”
“I’ll pay my own motel bill. As for everything else, it’s really none of your brother’s business, is it?”
She made a rueful face. “You really don’t remember Shane very well at all, do you?”
“I take it you and he don’t get along very well.” Her eyes widened almost comically. “Shane and I get along great! He’s always been my best friend in the world, in addition to being my big brother.”
Never having had a sibling, Kyle was confused. “But you said he yells at you all the time and that he bosses you around.”
“Well, yeah. But that’s just Shane. And he doesn’t really yell at me. He just worries too much sometimes. He was fifteen when I was born, you know. He’s kind of overprotective. Almost like a second father.”
“He still thinks of you as a little girl who needs his advice and protection.”
“Yes,” she conceded with a sigh. “I’ve been trying to change that, but it’s taking time. He says when he’s seventy-five and I’m sixty, he’ll still think of me as his baby sister.”
“Mr. Reeves?” A barrel-chested mechanic in grease-stained work clothes stood in the doorway of the waiting room. “Your loaner car is here. I’m sure you and your wife will be more comfortable in one of the local motels than here in this room.”
Kyle didn’t bother to correct the guy about his marital status. “Thanks. Maybe you can give me directions to the nearest decent motel?”
“There are a couple of chains just off the freeway. And several restaurants and fast-food places nearby. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting around. I’ll call the cell number you gave me as soon as your car’s ready tomorrow.”
Kyle nodded. “The earlier you can get to it, the better. We have a long drive still ahead of us.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks, Bill.” Kyle handed Molly her crutches, then slung the straps of her overnight bag and his own over his shoulders. He couldn’t help wondering what Bill-the-mechanic was thinking as he watched Molly hobbling across the room with Kyle limping along behind her. Probably that they made an odd pair—and he would be right about that.
As Bill had assured them, they found a motel without any problem. Once again, Kyle rented two rooms, putting one on Molly’s credit card, as she demanded.
He didn’t think another cozy dinner in her room was a good idea—especially since he was still aching from the kiss they had shared. Instead, he gave her time to call her brother and prop her foot up with an ice bag for a while. He tried to talk her into taking something for pain, since he could tell she was uncomfortable, but she refused to take anything more than an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory. He supposed that would have to do—and he couldn’t blame her, since he hated pain pills himself.
After they’d both rested and freshened up, he took her to a casual steak house he had spotted on the way to the motel. Molly ordered fried shrimp and French fries, while Kyle selected a thick-cut steak with a baked potato. They were both hungry after the long drive and a very light lunch, so they ate without speaking for a while.
Kyle kept expecting Molly to get the conversation going again, but when she didn’t, he finally asked, “How did your talk with Shane go? Was it as bad as you feared?”
She dipped a fry into a puddle of ketchup, stirring it around without enthusiasm. “No, it was okay. He was sort of resigned this time, I guess. He told me to be careful and to call him tomorrow when we get underway again.”
Kyle studied her face, trying to read her expression. She sounded kind of down, but she wouldn’t look at him, so he couldn’t see her eyes. Maybe she was just tired. Or still sore from her injury. Or maybe her brother had been less understanding than she had let on.
It really ticked him off to think of Shane yelling at her—for any reason, justified or not. Kyle was guiltily aware that he had snapped at her a few times when he shouldn’t have, but he thought he might just take a swing at anyone else who treated her with anything less than respect. Even her brother.
The inappropriately possessive and protective nature of that thought made his scowl deepen.
“What’s wrong?”
He smoothed his expression and met her eyes.
“How would you like to go to a movie or something after dinner?”
“A movie?”
It had been an impulsive offer, but now that he thought about it, it sounded like a pretty good plan. Sitting in a movie theater wouldn’t be too taxing for her, yet it would be much safer than spending too much time alone together at a motel. “Sure. Why not? It isn’t as if we have anything better to do.”
Actually, he could think of several more interesting ways to pass the time, but the movie definitely sounded like the wisest option. “I’m sure there’s a theater around here somewhere. I’ll ask the hostess on our way out.”
“Yeah, okay.” Molly seemed intrigued enough to smile again—which made him feel absurdly smug. “It’s a date.”
No, he almost refuted immediately, frowning again. It wasn’t a date. That word implied an end to the evening that wasn’t even a possibility. Seeing a movie together was just something to do to kill a couple of hours before going to bed—in their separate rooms, of course. It was definitely not a date.
He decided to let her statement go unanswered before he steered them onto a conversational path that was much too precarious.