“Hey, Rhonda, it’s Reiner.” He leaned on the buzzer. “I need to talk to you.”
A drape shifted and a thread of light bisected the porch. He probably should’ve waited for morning, but patience had never been his strong suit.
She opened the door a crack, leaving the security chain in place. Reiner frowned.
“It’s late,” she whispered. “The girls are asleep.”
“This is important, Rhonda.” He rested a hand on the doorjamb. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise. I promise I won’t wake Krista and Nicole.”
Still, she hesitated. Loyal to the end, he thought. She’d walk the plank before betraying Katie Sara. But damned if he was giving up and walking away with his tail between his legs. Not his way. “Okay, look, I understand that—” He stopped cold. “You’re bleedin’.”
Quickly, she raised a hand to her face. “It’s nothing. Just a nosebleed. It happens once in a while.”
Even through the small opening, he saw other bruises now that he looked closer. “Like every time Woody happens to show up?”
She started to cry soundlessly.
“Let me in, Rhonda.” He spoke softly.
Looking totally defeated, she undid the chain. He wrapped his arms around her, toed the door shut behind him, and held her close while she cried, all the time imagining what he’d do to Woody when he got his hands on the slimy bastard.
He stroked her hair and made little shushing noises. “It’ll be okay, honey. Why don’t you lie down on the couch? Let me get you some ice for that nose. For your eye, too. The SOB.”
He rummaged around in the kitchen, managed a couple of makeshift ice bags from dishtowels and rubber bands. “You have any ibuprofen?”
“Upstairs in the bathroom. I can get it.”
“Stay put,” he said. “My legs work just fine.”
Taking the stairs two at a time, he nearly stepped on Krista. Sound asleep, she lay curled at the top of the landing, blanket clutched in one hand, the other tucked beneath her angelic face. Her cheeks were as pink as her little nightie, and her baby-fine blond hair curled wildly around her face.
Something in his chest twisted. How could Woody give up something this precious?
He knelt by the sleeping princess and leaned in to pick her up. Without waking, her little arms curled around his neck. She snuggled in close, all sweet-smelling, and he knew he’d be a dead goner if he ever had a daughter. That little one could have asked him right then and there to walk on fire, and he’d have been hotfooting it in an instant.
After he tucked her in, he checked on Nicole and found her sound asleep, too. Slipping into the bathroom, he grabbed the ibuprofen from the medicine chest, amazed at how girlie the room was compared to his. It even smelled different. A lot different. Of course, Felicity’s... He shook his head.
“Find them?” Rhonda asked when he got back downstairs.
“You bet.” He handed her three, along with a glass of water. “Here you go. These should help. I found Krista asleep at the top of the stairs.”
“Not again!” Rhonda struggled to get up, but Reiner placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“She’s fine. I tucked her in. She sure is a sweet little thing.”
A warm glow spread over Rhonda’s bruised and battered face. “Isn’t she?”
“Yep. I found some chamomile tea in your cupboard, so it’s brewin’. Thought maybe a cup would help you relax.”
Her brow furrowed.
“What?”
She rubbed her hands over her face, winced, and replaced the ice bags. Despite the small cut, her lower lip curled in a smile. “I’m wondering what y’all have done with the real Reiner Broderick. Are they going to pay the ransom?”
He tousled her curls and chuckled. Dimming the lights, he said, “Don’t you be telling anybody I’m drinkin’ tea now. Absolutely ruin my image.”
She laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
While they drank their tea, they talked about ordinary things and friends. She caught him up on people’s lives. When he took her empty cup, he made a point to slide his hand over her wrist and noticed her pulse had returned to normal.
“Feelin’ better?” he asked when he returned to the living room.
She nodded. “I’m so embarrassed you walked in on this. I’m sorry.”
He sat on the edge of the coffee table and looked her straight in the eye. “Rhonda, Woody is the sorry one here. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I should have called the police.”
“Maybe.”
A sigh escaped her. “Earlier, you wanted to ask me something.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” He ran a hand over her hair. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”
“I will, but first, I’ll answer your question...if it doesn’t break trust with Katie Sara.”
“Fair enough. When she disappeared that night, I blamed Mrs. McMichaels. Mrs. Channing now, I guess.” His brows rose. “I was pissed at you, too.”
“I know.”
“No matter how many times I asked, all you’d tell me was that her mother’d enrolled Katie Sara in a private school somewhere to finish the year and then for the summer term to get a jumpstart on college.”
Rhonda removed the ice bag from her nose. “That’s all I knew. That’s still all I know.”
His eyes simmered. “Don’t you think that’s strange? I mean, why all the hush-hush about the school? Where she went? Why keep it a damn secret?”
He picked up a Barbie doll off the floor and, without thought, fiddled with the hooks that were undone on the dress’s back. “The thing is, Katie Sara and her mother didn’t have two nickels to rub together by then. They’d lost their house, for God’s sake. How could she afford to send Katie Sara to a private school...and why?”
Rhonda shook her head. “I don’t have any answers for you.”
“Guess it doesn’t really matter, does it? Katie Sara could have gotten in touch with me if she’d really wanted to. They have phones even in Siberia. Paper and pencil in jail. I handed her my heart, and she ran off with it like a thief in the night.”
“She was only seventeen, Reiner.”
“Yeah.” His stomach clenched. “And I was eighteen.”
“Her mother called the shots.”
“Katie Sara could have contacted me.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Things aren’t always as simple as they seem.”
“Then tell me about them.”
She shook her head tiredly. “I don’t know anything about the circumstances. Honest.”
“Would you tell me if you did?”
“Maybe.”
“The sorority of sisterhood.” He scrubbed at his face, then stood. “Well, that’s enough of that. You’ve had a tough night. What else can I do for you before I go? Will the kids need anything?”
“No. You’ve been wonderful, Reiner. I can’t thank you enough.”
“It wasn’t anything.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
“One more Prince Charming taken.”
He gave her a quizzical look.
“Private joke.”
Reiner had never known Tim to move so fast. On the way home, he’d phoned him to let him know what the creep had done to Rhonda and suggested they make a house call. All over the idea like white on rice, Tim had practically beaten Reiner home.
“We’ll take my Jeep. I called Rocco. He’s coming with us.”
“Sounds good.” Reiner hopped out of his ’Vette and into the Jeep.
Tim whipped out of the drive the second Reiner closed his door. He fastened his seat belt as they cruised down the deserted side streets to Rocco’s house.
“I can’t believe Rocco wants any part of this,” Reiner said.
“Heck, yeah. Think if it had been his Mary or his baby girl somebody did that to. Woody’s a jerk! Besides, this is personal, and Rocco knows it.”
“What do you mean?”
Tim squirmed in the driver’s seat. “You were so hot under the collar about Dru being with Katie Sara at the fair, you probably don’t even remember Rhonda ate barbecue with us.”
“Sure, I do. Her girls, too.”
“So did I.”
“I know that.”
“We sat together. At the far end of the table, away from you. Primarily in self-defense.”
Reiner snorted.
“I like her, Reiner. I mean, I really like her. Girlfriend-boyfriend kind of like.”
Shocked, Reiner sat up straight in his seat. “She’s got two kids.”
“And I’ve got two dogs. So?”
“So,” he drawled, “let’s make sure Woody doesn’t hurt her again.”
When they pulled up to Rocco’s, he hopped into the rear seat. Five minutes later, Tim backed into a cracked, oil-stained driveway. The light from a TV flickered in an open front window from which gunshots and shouting erupted.
“Must be watchin’ some cop show,” Rocco guessed.
Tim banged on the door.
“Go away!”
Reiner put his good shoulder to the door, and the flimsy lock gave. The door splintered and crashed inward.
“What the hell?” Sprawled on the sofa in T-shirt and boxers, a bottle of beer in one hand, Woody scooted to a sitting position.
He didn’t quite make it to his feet before Tim crossed the small distance, kicking a coffee table out of the way to tower over him. Rocco and Reiner mounted guard on either side.
“What’s wrong with you guys?” Eyes nearly popping out of his head, Woody’s voice rose three octaves. “This isn’t legal!”
“Nope,” Tim said.
“You got no right comin’ in here like this.”
“Debatable,” Rocco said.
“You busted my door.”
“Yep,” Reiner said.
“You can’t touch me.” He elbowed himself higher on the seen-better-days crushed velvet sofa.
Reiner glanced at Tim, then at Rocco. No one said a word. The menacing silence taunted Woody.
Ashen faced, he started to stand. When Tim dropped a hand to his shoulder, he let out a shrill yelp.
“You sound like a woman,” Tim poked.
Woody licked dry lips. “Whadda ya want? You come bargin’ in here, you’d better have a good reason. You think just because...”
His words trailed off as Reiner moved closer, flanking Tim. Rocco closed ranks on the other side.
“Kind of intimidating to have three guys hulkin’ over you, isn’t it?” Rocco asked.
“I ain’t afraid of you.” Woody’d scraped his bravado from the floor and dusted it off. “Ain’t afraid of none of you. I could take any of you down.”
Reiner cocked one brow.
Woody swallowed loudly, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “One at a time.”
Reiner crooked his finger in a come-and-get-me motion.
Woody’s eyes flicked to the other two as if he thought one of them might come to his rescue. “I don’t have to prove anything to you, Mr. Big Shot. You guys can’t come crashing in here destroyin’ my property, then expect me to take on all three of you. This is my house, damn it! You got no right comin’ in here.”
Leaning in close, Tim pinned Woody with a piercing glare. “You listen, and you listen good. You go near Rhonda again—”
“That’s what this is about? That b—?”
Tim’s hand whipped out and grabbed the neck of Woody’s T-shirt. He jerked him up and off the couch so that his feet dangled above the floor.
The beer dropped from Woody’s hand. He tore at the shirt and swung out with his other hand. “You’re chokin’ me.”
“Got that right.” Tim tossed him back on the couch, then pointed a finger at him. “I’ll be back to finish the job if you so much as breathe on her too hard. Understand?”
Woody nodded.
“You sure?”
Woody nodded again.
Tim turned to Reiner and Rocco. “What do you think? Figure he understands?”
Reiner studied Woody, looked at Rocco, then gave a thumbs-up.
“Good,” Tim said. “Then we’re done here.”
Without another word, Reiner stepped around the door that dangled on one hinge, Tim and Rocco right behind him. Once outside, he leapt from the porch steps and walked sedately to Tim’s Jeep. When he turned to the others, they shared a high-five.
“That ought to take care of him,” Reiner said, brushing at a scrape on his cheek where a piece of the door had caught him.
“Yeah. Rhonda should be safe.” A muscle in Tim’s jaw worked. “What a sniveling coward! Picking on women.”
“Take me back to mine.” Rocco hopped in the Jeep. “Good night’s work, guys.”
A quick glance at his watch under the streetlight showed almost midnight. Way too late to be ringing Katie Sara’s doorbell, but it couldn’t be helped. He had to know.
When she didn’t answer the instant the first bell chimed, Reiner rang the bell again. And again. “Katie Sara, let me in.”
The door flew open, and she stood there in short pink pajamas and bare feet. Throwing open the screen, she grabbed his arm and yanked him inside, then slammed the door behind him.
“You cannot keep showing up at my house in the middle of the night. Philomena Passarelli and Marge Fisher will blab it all over town. They’ll probably plaster a picture of us, me in my P.J.s, on the front page of The Paradox Press.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“Did you have an abortion?”
She went as white as the ball of fur wrapped around her legs. “What?”
“Simple question.” His face ached, and it hurt to breathe. “Did you have an abortion?”
“No!”
“You’d swear that on a stack of Bibles?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “In church, but...”
He held up a hand to silence her and, like a deflated balloon, dropped onto her loveseat.
She perched on a chair across from him. The cat jumped into her lap, and she absently stroked him. “Why did you come here tonight to ask me that?”
“Gimme a minute, will you?” He kneaded his eyes with his fists and found them damp. He fought feelings he hadn’t known existed. God, he was so mixed-up. The idea of a baby like that sweet thing he’d tucked into bed tonight. His and Katie Sara’s.
He lifted his gaze and met hers. Took in her red-rimmed eyes, her red nose. Oh, jeez! His throat tightened again. This morning, this beautiful lady had buried her father, a man she’d loved to her core despite everything, and now he’d come flying in here like a damn lunatic accusing her...
He tried to regain control of his breathing, used the techniques Coach had taught them when they were heading into a big game. Nothing seemed to be working. “Something your mother said after the service today. I started thinkin’ about the way she hustled you away in the middle of the night—”
“My mother.” Katie Sara gathered her hair off her neck. “Reiner, I’m a mess. This has not been one of my better days. We have things we need to talk about. Things I need to tell you.” Her voice trembled. “But not tonight. I really need you to go. I want to be alone.”
“I made it worse, didn’t I?” He leaned forward, propped his elbows on his knees. “I mean, even before I came bangin’ on your door just now.”
Even at a time like this, barefoot and sleep-rumpled, she amazed him, could reach down and pull out that I’m-a-princess-so-keep-your-distance attitude.
“I’m not sure I understand—”
“Oh, come on, Ace. I was standin’ right beside you when Gina pulled up in front of the church this morning. I saw your face. Jeez, I saw your mother’s, too, and wondered for a minute there if I’d reach my car alive. That woman hates me!”
He shook his head. “Why? I wondered. What’d I ever do to her?”
Katie Sara shrugged.
“On the drive back from Atlanta tonight, I think I finally figured it out. Pretty simple, really.”
It bothered him that Katie Sara refused to meet his eyes. “I dared to date her daughter. The Mensa candidate and the dumb jock. The young Broderick boy. The wild one. Never quite good enough for her or her precious daughter.”
Outrage suffused her face, shoving detachment aside. “That’s not true and you know it! My God, Reiner. You? Not good enough? You’ve succeeded at everything you’ve ever tried.” She laughed derisively. “Succeeded. What an inadequate word to describe what you’ve accomplished. You’ve lived every little boy’s dream.”
That’s it. Let it out, sugar.
Rather than react to her, though, he veered off in a new direction. “By the way, that whole deal with Gina wasn’t what you think.”
“It’s midnight. I’m tired. I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do.”
Her jaw dropped at his audacity.
Good. Keep her off-center.
“You don’t owe me any explanations.”
“Well, you’re getting one anyway. I’d already promised to drive her to the Atlanta airport before you set the date for your dad’s service. She dropped me off at the church, then took my car to her place so she could load her stuff and be ready to head off to some hair conference out in Utah.”
“Ah. And you kissed her because...”
He felt the flush. “I didn’t. She kissed me.”
Katie Sara said nothing.
“There’s a difference, damn it. And she shouldn’t have. It was a cheap, below-the-belt shot.”
He jumped up, jamming his hands in his pockets.
“Nice place you’ve got here.” He turned on a small lamp. “Exactly what I expected. All those little touches that turn a house into a home. They’re here.”
“You’re changing the subject.”
He palmed a small bronze frog, crown tilted crookedly on its head, pink tongue stuck out defiantly. He grinned. Apparently, this frog didn’t give a damn whether or not he got kissed.
Then he sobered and replaced the frog. “Rhonda had some trouble tonight.”
She stiffened. “Woody?”
“Yeah.”
“I need to go to her.”
He touched her shoulder. “She’s okay.”
Bristling with anger, she asked, “How do you know?”
“I spent some time with her. We talked.”
Surprise replaced the fury that deepened the green of her eyes. “You went to her house? Tonight?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged, hoped she’d forget to ask why.
“She needs to press charges against him! I can’t get her to understand that.” Katie Sara pounded her head against the back of the chair in frustration. “How can somebody so smart act so brainless? Be so stubborn?”
“It’s not uncommon, Ace.” He rested a hip on the chair’s arm and smoothed a hand over her hair, offering comfort from a hellish day. “He’s Nicole and Krista’s daddy. Rhonda keeps hopin’ he’ll go away on his own, that she won’t have to make a bigger spectacle of herself and him in front of everybody. That she can keep it out of the papers.”
“He won’t stop.”
She leaned into him, and he wrapped an arm around her, pulled her closer. He smelled the light fragrance that was uniquely Katie Sara, felt the warm skin, so much left bare by the short pink P.J.s.
He forced his mind back to her friend. Away from the forbidden. He hadn’t come tonight to put moves on her. “Oh, I think he’s done. I’ve got a hunch old Woody won’t be botherin’ Rhonda after tonight.”
She hadn’t mentioned his scraped cheek, but now she zeroed in on it. “Reiner? What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Scooting around in the chair, she faced him.
“I’ll ask you one more time. What did you do?”
“Boy, the kids at school don’t stand a chance, do they?”
“Reiner.”
“Okay! I figured— You didn’t see Rhonda after Woody got done with her. I did, and it really set me off.”
He jumped up to pace. “After I’d done what I could for her, I left her place and phoned Tim. He got hold of Rocco, and the three of us paid Woody a visit. We had a little chat with him and reminded him how Southern men treat their ladies. We suggested he might want to keep our lesson in mind. If not, we promised we’d return for a refresher course.”
“The three of you went over there like thugs and beat him up.”
He walked to the chair. “No, we didn’t. It sure would have felt good, though. That was our back-up plan, but it turned out it wasn’t necessary. We still can, though, if Woody insists.”
Katie Sara had gone all misty-eyed.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but thank you, Reiner Broderick. Rhonda’s been waiting a long, long time for her Prince Charming.”
“Yeah, she mentioned him tonight.”
“Well, it looks like she’s finally on the right track. She’s found herself three knights in shining armor.” She went up on her knees to kiss his bruised cheek, but he turned his head and the kiss fell on his lips instead.
He slanted his mouth, deepened the kiss. Felt himself going under. God, this woman was incredible.
He had to have her. But not tonight. She wasn’t clear-headed tonight.
Raising his lips a breath above hers, he whispered, “We need to get back to what it’s all about, Katie Sara—you and me.”
Entwining his fingers with hers, he pulled her up, backed her against the wall, his body pressed along hers. Rather than form a barrier, the thin pajamas drove him crazy. He stretched her arms overhead and kissed her neck, nearly burned from the heat they created.
Then his mouth slid up to hers, capturing her cries of pleasure. Her mouth still locked to his, she tugged at his hand and walked backward to the stairs.
“Katie Sara, are you sure?” He hardly recognized the hoarse whisper as his own, could barely hear it over the pounding of his heart. “This might not be a good time—”
She curled a hand around his neck, brought his lips down on hers. The kiss lasted years, ended in seconds. He couldn’t think straight.
“This is the perfect time, Reiner. I need you tonight.”
Tonight. What about tomorrow?
Then he forfeited lucid thought to follow those bare legs, bare feet up the stairs and down the hall.
Inside her bedroom, he stopped her. “Wait.” He kissed the back of her hand. “We’ve never really done this right. It’s always been like a nasty little secret with us. We’ve had to sneak like we were doin’ something wrong instead of something beautiful.” He brushed the hair from her face, stepped to her dresser and lit the candles there.
“We’re not seventeen and eighteen-year-old kids anymore.”
He turned to see her bathed in candlelight and wondered how he, a mere mortal, found himself in the presence of this goddess.
“You’d never believe how many of my dreams you’ve visited these past years, but the flesh and blood you...” He cupped her face. “You’re far more incredible than any dream, Katie Sara.”
Almost reverently, his hands skimmed down her sides, along the curves that drove him crazy. Then his fingers moved under her pajama top.
“Condom?” she asked.
He stopped. Groaned. Laid his forehead on her breasts. So close.
“I have one.”
“You do?”
She opened her nightstand drawer. “Samples.”
“Gotta love those sex-ed courses.”
Her throaty sigh nearly pushed him over the edge. In one deft movement, he drew off her top. The flickering light turned her breasts golden. He ran his hands, his fingers over them, caressed her, then lowered his head and teased her with his tongue, his teeth.
She worked the buttons of his shirt and tugged it loose from his jeans. They both gasped in pleasure when her hands found his hard-muscled torso. While she undid his belt buckle, he backed her to the bed.
Together, they toppled onto the soft mattress, a cloud of white. The rest of his clothing, along with her pajama bottoms, joined the pile on the floor.
Familiar territory became new, changed. They’d taken this journey before, but never like this. They’d touched, tasted, wanted. But tonight, she took him places he’d never been. As teenagers, Reiner realized, they hadn’t begun to tap the well.
He barely came up for air before he wanted her again. And again. And again.
He couldn’t imagine ever not wanting her.
Somewhere downstairs, a clock chimed five. Reiner nuzzled her neck. “Katie Sara, I’m leaving before your snoopy neighbors put out the all-call that I spent the night. I don’t give a damn if the world knows, but since it seems to matter to you...”
She rolled over in his arms and stretched lazily. “Thank you.” Soft, warm, and limber, she kissed him, loved the feel of his face, rough with night stubble against her own. The kiss of gratitude deepened, detained him an extra half-hour.
“Stay in bed.” He trailed a finger along her collarbone, down her arm. “I’ll see myself out.” He leaned down for one last kiss, a line forming on his brow. “You look sad.”
“No.” She forced a smile. “Just tired. Someone didn’t let me get much sleep last night.”
When he turned to go, she reached for his hand. “Reiner, thanks for being here for me. Yesterday was—”
“I know.” He met her gaze. “But as much as I’d like to, I can’t accept that thanks, sugar.” His eyes searched hers. “My reason for comin’ over here was totally selfish. I had a question. I needed an answer.”
“Go on. Before Philomena cranks up her printing press.”
His footsteps were light on the stairs. When she heard the front door open, then close, she hid her face in the pillow that still held his scent. The night had been pure magic, but it would never, could never happen again.
A cry of exasperation escaped her. What had possessed her to move home? Why hadn’t she come back, buried her daddy, and returned to the life she’d made for herself?
Because she hadn’t wanted to leave him here alone. But truth be told, she’d done everything now she could for him. A single tear broke free, and she wiped it away on the pillowcase corner.
The bedroom door creaked, and one white paw stuck through. Chia worked the door open, crept in and hopped onto the bed.
Admitting she’d get no more sleep, Katie Sara propped herself up and wrapped one arm around her knees, the other around Chia. She caught sight of the woman who stared back at her from the dresser mirror.
“Katie Sara, what have you done?”
The mirror held no answer. Yes, she’d been vulnerable. Yes, she’d been hurting. And, yes, she’d wanted Reiner. Wanted him with a passion that had overridden common sense and good judgment. Still wanted. But...
A heavy weight settled over her. He’d expect more now and had every right to. He’d assume they’d pick up where they left off nearly twelve years ago.
Impossible. So many times, she’d tried to explain, to tell him what had happened. What she’d done. And every time, fate threw up a roadblock.
Tonight had been the night. The do or die moment. He’d given her the perfect opening, and she’d chickened out, hadn’t had the grit to ’fess up.
Now, she didn’t think she could. How could she bear to look into those incredible blue eyes and see hate reflected?
The day stretched before her, long and frighteningly empty. No school on Sunday. She couldn’t go to church—not after the way she’d spent the night.
Good old Catholic guilt. With a rueful smile, she dragged herself into the shower. Tipping her head, she let hot water cascade over her.
She’d needed Paradox, Georgia. The sleepy little town. Even the nibby next-door neighbors. But it had all gotten messed up.
“Reiner, after staying away all this time, why did you have to come home now? We’re like two planes trying to occupy the same airspace at the same time. It can’t work. Neither of us can escape unscathed.”