little sister and ask her to leave me alone, at least for a few days.”
“Will do. Talk to you in a couple of weeks.”
“So long.” Caleb hung up the receiver, then glanced out the kitchen window at the vast backyard and thickly wooded area behind the house. If he was a hunter and fisherman, the way Hank was, he could pass the time with a rifle or with a rod and reel. And if he was a hard-living SOB like Jake, he could hit every bar in town and ease some of his frustration in a few fistfights.
But baseball had been his only passion for so many years that he could barely remember ever caring about anything else. As a teenager, the only other thing that had interested him had been his 1980 Camaro—the car he had wrecked, the car Tallie had put back together years later.
Cars. Hmm. Maybe he needed to buy himself a fixerupper street rod and—Hell, how could he do any work on a car when his right hand was practically useless to him?
Sheila and Mike owned a garage, didn’t they? He could stop by and talk to them about helping him find something special—maybe another Camaro—and he could hire them to do most of the work. He could hang around the garage and watch, and occasionally do a few things himself.
Okay, Bishop, admit the truth. You need an excuse to see Sheila Vance again. An excuse she’ll buy without any question.
“All right, I admit it,” he said out loud to himself. “I don’t know why I can’t stop thinking about Sheila. Maybe it’s because she’s so different from the women I’ve always dated. Maybe it’s because winning her over would be a real challenge.”
Think twice before you use a woman like her to ease your loneliness Caleb heard Hank’s warning once again.
Sheila was no kid. She was a thirty-year-old widow, not some naive innocent. A pang of guilt hit him square in the gut. At least not this time, an inner voice said. Okay. Okay. So Sheila had been a shy bookworm when he’d known her twelve years ago. And yes, he’d been pretty sure she was a virgin the night he made love to her. But it wasn’t as if he’d forced himself on her. She’d been more than willing for him to be her first lover.
She was in love with you, you bastard!
But that was then and this is now. Sheila was no starry-eyed, infatuated innocent anymore. If they had a brief affair now, they would meet on equal terms—two lonely people in need of companionship.
Who the hell was he kidding? Sheila Vance was no more in his league now than she’d been when they were eighteen. He had no right to even consider seducing her. But, God help him, he knew that given half a chance he’d take her and to hell with the consequences.
Mike Hanley placed the hot Reuben and fries on the desk in front of his sister. She glanced up from the computer and smiled at him.
“Thanks. I’m starving.” She shoved back her chair, stood and headed for the small rest room adjacent to her office.
“Don’t you think it’s time we talk about it?” Mike said. “You’ve put me off every time I’ve brought up the subject.”
Leaving the bathroom door open, Sheila washed and dried her hands. “What’s there to talk about? Caleb’s back in Crooked Oak for a brief visit and when he’s pulled his life back together, he’ll be gone again.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like he’s in any hurry to leave. He’s already been here ten days and hasn’t even put in an appearance in town. The natives are getting restless for a good look at the big celebrity.”
“I suppose Caleb was the main topic of conversation over at Pete’s Cafd, wasn’t he?” Sheila returned to her desk, opened the styrene food container and growled hungrily when she picked up the sandwich.
“Caleb Bishop has been the main topic in town ever since your son told all his buddies that the great man had arrived.” Mike sat down on the edge of the battered old wooden desk, reached out and grasped his sister’s chin. “Sticking your head in the sand isn’t going to work, you know. Crooked Oak is a small town. If Caleb stays—and it looks like he’s going to—then sooner or later he and Danny are going to come face-to-face. What happens then?”
Sheila swallowed the delectable mouthful of corned beef. “Nothing happens. There’s no reason for Caleb to suspect anything. After all, not a soul in town ever questioned that Daniel was Danny’s father. Why should Caleb?”
“Because Caleb is one of four people who knows you and he had sex twelve years ago.” Mike released her chin. “Have you talked to Susan lately?”
“I’ve been avoiding her calls,” Sheila admitted. “I know she’s going to do just what you’ve been doing—torment me.”
“Honey, it’s your own conscience that’s tormenting you. You’re feeling guilty for lying to Danny about his father. And you’re scared to death that somehow he and Caleb are going to find out the truth.”
“I won’t let that happen.” Sheila broke a French fry in two. “I will not let Danny get hurt because of my mistakes.”
The telephone rang. Sheila jumped, then glared at the noisy object.
“Want me to get it?” Mike asked.
“No, of course not.” Sheila lifted the receiver. “Hanley Garage and Tow Truck Service.”
“Sheila? Have you seen my brother today?”
“Oh, hello, Tallie, how are you?”
Mike’s eyes widened and his mouth curved into a smile. “Tell the first lady I said hello. I’m going back to work. Mr. Chapman is coming by in about an hour to pick up his Suburban.”
The minute Mike left the office, Sheila lowered her voice and said, “I haven’t seen Caleb since the first evening he got into town. Why would you think I’d seen him today?”
“Well, I talked to him earlier and he promised me that he’d get out for a while this afternoon.”
“What makes you think he’d come to see me?”
“Because he said he planned to stop by the garage and talk to you and Mike about finding him an antique car that the three of you could restore together.”
“Oh!” Oh, my God! The last thing she wanted—the very last thing she needed—was a reason to spend any time with Caleb. But if he did come by and hire Mike to help him restore an old car, how could she possibly refuse? What reasonable explanation could she give for not taking his money?
“Look, I can trust you to watch out for Caleb. He’s lonely and vulnerable right now,” Tallie said. “Without someone to keep close tabs on him, he’s liable to let the first pretty face he meets get him into trouble. The last thing he needs is some hero-worshiping fan to get her claws into him.”
“What do you expect me to do about it?” Sheila asked. “Besides, if he doesn’t ever leave the farm, then it’s highly unlikely that some crazed female fan is going to seduce him.”
“All I’m asking is that if Caleb needs a little female companionship while he’s in town, you provide it for him.”
“I’m
