The man’s voice turned Joie’s blood to ice. “Andrew, what are you doing here?” she asked in a choked voice.
He reached for her, and she yanked her arm back. “Don’t touch me!”
“Joie, wait.”
She quickly glanced around to see who might be watching. “I told you it was over.” And she had, over a year ago.
“Joie, please. Just listen. I’m in town for the bar convention—”
Her eyes narrowed. “And let me guess—you didn’t bring your wife?”
“That’s not fair.”
“Funny, I believe that was my line.” She turned and stomped toward her car, determined to escape this scene at any cost. She’d nearly reached her jeep when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
“Joie, please.”
She whirled to face him, her eyes drilling his own with her anger. “What part of not interested do you not understand?”
Despite the enmity she felt toward this man, her breath caught. God, did he have to still make her entire being buzz just by standing there?
It’d been many months since she’d last seen Andrew Merrill, and he looked the same. Same jet black hair that refused to stay in place, a lock escaping his precision haircut and falling carelessly over one of his coffee-brown eyes. His clean-shaven face held a shadow and in place of his typical tailored suit and crisp white button down with a striped tie—his law firm uniform—he now stood there in designer jeans and a plaid shirt. Black hair peeked from under his rolled sleeves. Hair she’d run her fingers lightly across more than once.
Andrew saw her staring and his face drew into a slow smile, one that left Joie unsettled.
“Look, all I want is to be left alone,” she told him.
“I miss you,” he said, daring to take a step closer. She could smell his signature cologne, a woody aroma that drew her mind back to memories she vowed to forget. Despite her pledge to do the right thing and move on with her life, she now found every cell in her body viscerally responding to the closing space between them.
“Please stop,” she begged, her eyes now filling with unexpected tears. She angrily wiped them away. “I can’t do this.”
“I only want to talk.” His eyes pleaded with her own, asking for something she wasn’t going to give.
“I can’t.” She forced herself to turn away. She opened the door on the jeep and climbed inside, finding it impossible to breathe normally.
“I’m at the Sun Valley Lodge—room 23.”
She slammed the car door closed.
“Room 23—,” he repeated, pressing a hand against the closed window.
Joie started the engine. Her foot slammed the gas pedal to the floor, gunning the engine and she roared off, leaving the man who had nearly destroyed her standing on the sidewalk.
Karyn stood at her father’s sink, scrubbing potatoes for dinner, when the door opened and Leigh Ann entered, her arms loaded with sacks filled with groceries.
“What’s all that?” Karyn asked. She shut the water off and wiped the counter with a dishtowel.
“The farmer’s market,” her sister reported. “I couldn’t stand to pass up all this fresh produce.”
“So, you bought out the entire market?”
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “Besides, you’ll be glad when you get a taste of this pepper jelly from a new vendor in Stanley. She mixes red peppers with choke cherries.”
Karyn scowled. “Why are you walking funny?”
“Don’t ask.”
Karyn folded the towel and placed it by the sink. “What do you mean?”
A slow smile sprouted on her sister’s face as she slid the sacks onto the counter. “Let’s just say my broom went in for repair.”
Karyn reached for a grocery bag and began emptying the contents. “Goodness sakes! And, what did you do to your hair?” She leaned closer to get a better look.
Her sister fingered the sides. “Just a few highlights. Do you like it?”
“Like it? You’re nearly blonde!” She reached to touch her sister’s hair.
Leigh Ann beamed and pulled her shirt collar aside, proudly exposing her shoulder.
Karyn scowled and moved closer to get a better look. “Oh, my goodness! And what is this?”
Leigh Ann gave a defensive shrug. “Just a little tattoo.”
“A tattoo? Are you kidding me?” Karyn inspected the inked outline of a tiny seal with large puppy-dog eyes. The surrounding skin was bright red. “A seal? I think a few nuts have left the Planters can.”
“It’s a Wedell seal,” her sister patiently explained. “A cute, yet ferocious little female predator who will stop at nothing to protect her own.”
Understanding dawned. “Oh, I see what this is all about—the hair, the tat.” Karyn’s gaze dropped lower. “And everything.”
“Yeah? So what?” The look in her sister’s eyes grew challenging. “I’ve been married since I was as old as Colby. Over all those years, Mark not-so-subtly suggested I lose a little weight. He criticized the fact I spent all that time filling my days with volunteer work.” She used air quotes. “Accused me of neglecting all that stupid exercise equipment he gave me for Christmas. Oh sure, he noticed other women on occasion, but never did I dream he might leave me.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Well, I’m not going to let that happen.”
The vehement tone in her sister’s voice took Karyn aback. “So your plan is to make yourself over? To mold into what you think Mark wants and expects?” She reached for her sister’s arm. “Oh, Leigh Ann. Surely, you see how—”
Her sister yanked her arm back. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Karyn wanted to argue, but the door opened and their dad strode in, unaware of what he’d interrupted. He looked between them and frowned. “Something up?” he asked, taking his jacket off.
“Karyn and I were just talking. Hey, any reason Joie hasn’t shown up yet?” Her sister quickly skipped over what had promised to become a rare point of contention between them. “I told her we’d be having dinner tonight.”
Their dad joined them in the kitchen. “I’m sure she’ll be here eventually.” He brushed both the tops of their heads with a kiss.
He leaned back and looked over Leigh Ann’s new appearance. “Say, that’s a bit different.” His weathered face broke into a broad smile. “I like it. Very pretty.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” Leigh Ann squeezed his arm, all the while staring down Karyn in an unspoken challenge not to add anything to his remark. “I hope you’re both hungry.”
Joie pulled into the stables lot, parked her jeep and climbed out. She headed for the horse barn with renewed purpose. Ever since she was little, she’d found solace in animals every time life’s challenges reared their ugly head.
Tonight was no different.
With her stomach tied in knots, she made her way to the tack room and grabbed a halter. All she wanted to do was to take Fresca out—ride off some of the angst tangling in her gut.
Why now?
She saddled the gelding and led him into the ring. Why after nearly a year had Andrew just shown up like that? Especially after she’d made her wishes entirely clear when she’d left.
She mounted the horse and pressed her heels into his sides, urging him into a slow lope. She circled the ring, wrestling the idea of Andrew in her mind.
No matter how tempted she’d been to reach and brush the hair from Andrew’s face, the way she once had, she’d done the right thing in standing firm and leaving no room for misunderstanding. Their relationship was over the minute she learned he was married. She’d left the firm and moved back. And, it was still over.
She made a clicking sound against her cheek and Fresca broke into a gallop. Joie let her body move to the rocking motion created by the horse’s lanky strides. With every movement she felt the tension ease from her own muscles.
Joie rode the horse hard, round and round the enclosed area. His hooves made almost no sound beating against the thick, soft dirt. Soon, the gelding would be ready for the barrels. She’d be able to line up some sponsors and compete again. Perhaps by next summer.
Or maybe she’d split for a while and go to Perris Valley and participate in the planned formation skydivers hoped would beat the world record. California weather was great, even in the winter. She could try to fit in some surfing at Laguna. Or abalone diving in Mendocino.
Nothing was keeping her in Sun Valley—well, except her family. And of course, her lack of money. There was always that.
Both she and Fresca were in sync—in mind and body—as she slowed the horse to a trot and then a slow walk. After circling twice more, she dismounted and led the gelding out of the arena and back down the wide aisle lined with gated enclosures to a cement pad where she tethered him and grabbed a hose and brush.
“Hey.”
She turned toward the familiar voice. Clint Ladner headed in her direction.
“Hey,” she answered back, wishing he’d just go away. She’d finally settled herself down and only wanted to be left alone.
“Did that guy find you?” he asked.
Her heart instantly filled with dread. “What guy?”
“Said his name was Andrew. Told me that you used to work together and he needed to find you.” His eyes carefully watched her. “I said he’d likely find you downtown. You hook up?”
Her lips drew into a taut line. “Guess not,” she fibbed, sweeping the brush across Fresca’s flank. “Besides, any friend of mine has my phone number and can reach me if they want to.”
Clint rubbed at his jawline. “That’s funny. He left the impression you were close.” He stared at her with casual knowing. “Maybe even more than friends.”
Joie raced up the stairs, taking two at a time, then hurried down the thick, carpeted hallway until she stood in front of Room 23. She banged on the thick wooden door with her fist, waited for several seconds, then banged again.
From inside, a voice called out, “Coming. I’m coming.”
The door flung open and Andrew gazed out at her, not bothering to hide his surprise—or his pleasure at seeing her.
“Joie,” he breathed. “You came.”
She pushed her way past him. “Yes, I came. What did you expect?”
“You’re mad,” he stated, no matter how stupid that made him sound.
Joie whirled. “Mad? Why would I be mad?” She jabbed his chest with a finger. “You went to law school, passed the bar exam—so I know you understand the English language. What part of stay out of my life don’t you get?”
For good measure, she hauled off and slapped him.
Hard.
Andrew grabbed her wrist. At the same time, he kicked the door closed.
Only then did it sink in she was alone with him, in a hotel room. The idea flustered her, and she didn’t fluster easily.
As if speaking to a toddler throwing a tantrum, his voice lowered and he calmly suggested she come in and let him pour her a drink.
“I’m not going to have a drink with you. I simply want to drill it through your thick head that you are not to show up at my work, you are not allowed to meander Sun Valley looking for me, and we most certainly have nothing to talk about. We’re over. Go back to your wife.”
“That’s done. The decree was signed two months ago.”
The news shocked her, but failed to dissolve her stance. She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. You lied to me. You lied to her.”
He reached for her and she stubbornly pulled her hands out of his. “What? Did you think all you had to do was waltz back into my life and we’d start over? At square one?”
He shook his head vehemently. “No, that’s not at all what entered my mind. I simply wanted to talk. I think about you all the time—the way it was between us.” He gazed over at her, looking miserable. “I miss you.”
She stared back at the man she’d chased from her dreams night-after-night. Ebony hair—like that of a black stallion’s mane. Squared shoulders that lent a certain gravity to his countenance. And those cognac eyes that nearly seared the depths of her soul every time he looked at her.
Like now.
She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath before facing off with him. “So, you want to create a crisis out of your nostalgia?”
Andrew reached for her again, his eyes filled with emotion. “Please don’t be angry.”
This time her resolve wavered slightly. She allowed his hand to linger.
Even all these months later, she had yet to adjust to being without him. Even so, she would never completely forgive herself for not having seen what was right in front of her flipping face. But wasn’t that the way things were sometimes? Passion often makes you blind and you only notice what you want to see.
She stepped from him and swallowed. “Please, Andrew. If I ever meant anything to you at all—let me be. Go home and don’t contact me again.”
Despite her determination, tears formed. She made the mistake of hesitating before moving for the door.
“You miss me too, I can see it.”
This was not the way she wanted this conversation to go. Andrew, somehow, taking control.
“I missed you,” he quietly repeated.
He reached and lightly brushed away the moisture collecting at the corner of her eye. That’s all it took. She couldn’t . . . didn’t seem able to move. Even as he folded her into his arms.
Her emotions suddenly broke and she now wept openly, something rarely allowed. A deep ache rushed through her gut as she took in the smell of him, felt the strength of his arms.
She made a final weak attempt to turn away. He jerked her back. “Joie, I know you love me.”
She struggled to clear her mind, to pull free but he only held her tighter. Suddenly, his lips were everywhere—her throat, her earlobes, her cheek. She could feel the heat coming in waves as she melted against him. Finally, he lifted her chin and pressed his lips to her own.
God help her. She kissed him back.