was a real downside to a protective circle.
“How come you missed church?” she asked bluntly. If he could be nosy, so could she. “Did you oversleep? Late date last night?”
When she’d been back before, he was seeing Joey Parker, but that was a long time ago and Kim had heard that Joey got married. Perhaps she had gotten tired of waiting for David to make a commitment, or maybe they hadn’t been serious.
David hooked his thumbs into his wide black belt and stuck out his chin. “I’ve been doing some remodeling on my house and I guess I lost track of the time.”
His comment didn’t give her a clue as to whether he was seeing someone, but his love life was of no interest to her anyway.
“What are you remodeling?” She’d only been in the house once or twice and didn’t remember much about it, but she was just trying to be polite.
“I’m redoing the master bath, and I put in a jetted tub.”
“Really?” She managed to lace her tone with innuendo as she let her gaze slide over him. “Sounds like you’ve turned into quite the party animal.”
If someone had threatened David with a hot branding iron, he wouldn’t have admitted to Kim that his main intention in adding a bigger tub was to soak away the aches from a long winter day in the saddle chasing strays. If she wanted to picture him surrounded by women in bikinis, he wasn’t about to disillusion her.
Let her think he had an active love life. Someone in the family was bound to let it slip sooner or later that he hadn’t been on a date in months. He’d look like even more of a chump if he tried to explain that his current celibacy was voluntary.
The loose circle of family members that had surrounded Kim when he first arrived was beginning to break up, as though her overprotective relatives expected David to watch out for her. The idea that he could be trusted with Adam’s precious princess, even now, carried with it a certain amount of irony. At one point, Adam’s overprotective attitude had nearly derailed his own romance with David’s mother.
David was about to ask Kim why her husband hadn’t come with her this time, but someone crashed into him from behind and distracted him.
“David, David, save me!” shrilled Cheyenne as she ducked between him and Kim.
“Hey, take it easy.” He grabbed Cheyenne before she could knock Kim over. “Why don’t you take your game over by the swings where there aren’t so many people.”
“Okay.” She darted a subdued look at both of them. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” David admonished her gently. “Just be a little more careful.”
Kim remained silent until after Cheyenne had run off again. “She’s gotten so big, and so has Jake,” she murmured. “Your mom sent pictures, but I still wouldn’t have recognized either of them.”
“Kids grow in five years,” David replied dryly. As soon as the words were out, he wanted to suck them back in.
Kim’s expression grew mocking, and she cocked her head to the side. “Been keeping track?”
“No,” he snapped, annoyed with himself. “But I’ll bet Adam has.” Although the older man had never shared his feelings, at least not with David, he must have been devastated by her choice to go and live with the mother who had walked out on both of them. What a slap in the face that had to be to the father who had raised her by himself.
Now Kim’s eyes flashed with the first spark of real emotion David had noticed since she’d come home. “You don’t know anything, so don’t judge me.”
Anger surged through him and he leaned closer, gratified when her eyes widened. “I wouldn’t waste my time.”
Leaving her gaping, he turned on his boot heel. He didn’t want their exchange to turn into a full-blown argument. Before he could stalk away, his mother touched his arm, her concerned expression making him wonder how much she might have overheard.
“We’re leaving now,” she said with a glance over at Adam, who glared back. “Iron man needs to rest his leg. We’re all getting together for dinner at our house later. You’re coming, aren’t you?”
David shot a look at Kim, who was studiously ignoring him as she examined her nails. Knowing she didn’t want him around, and feeling perverse, he grinned back at his mom. Making her happy and annoying Kim at the same time was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“I wouldn’t miss it. What can I bring?”
Kim couldn’t help but overhear his reply. She had been hoping he would be too busy ripping up his house to accept, but of course he considered himself one of the family now. After his last dig about how long Kim had been away, it was clear he figured he had more right to be here than she did.
He was probably correct. One bad choice had led to another and then another, until she’d ended up feeling trapped and powerless. She wasn’t about to tell David, who obviously had no use for her, how much she had longed to come back sooner.
About six months after she’d first left, if her mother hadn’t begged her so hard to stay with her. And if Kim’s father hadn’t already been married to David’s mother by then.
Chapter Three
A burst of masculine laughter from the back deck and children’s shouts from the yard blended with the familiar sounds of women’s chatter, drawing Kim reluctantly to her stepmother’s large kitchen. After church Kim had changed out of the rose-pink dress into her usual uniform of khaki pants and long-sleeved shirt. This one was light blue with thin white stripes. In deference to the heat of the afternoon, she had rolled up the sleeves and left the top button undone.
The women of the Winchester dynasty were of course grouped in the kitchen, setting out the food. The men were outside supervising their progeny, Kim’s siblings and cousins.
Feeling like the star attraction or, more likely, the star witness, and braced to field a slew of questions, she sucked in a deep breath, licked her dry lips and stepped into the arched doorway.
Predictably, all conversation died as her uncles’ wives stared. Emily was the first to greet her, followed by statuesque Aunt Rory of the blazing red hair, the green thumb and the angelic voice, then Aunt Robin, a diminutive and dark-haired veterinarian from Chicago. For the first time, Kim realized that all three Winchester brothers had chosen brides from other states.
Kim waited for the inevitable questions: Why are you home? Where’s your husband? How long are you staying? When are you going to start a family of your own?
Aunt Rory, the mail-order bride from the Bronx who had come out to see Uncle Charlie and married Uncle Travis instead, came forward with a big smile and open arms.
“Hi, sweetie. Welcome back.”
“Thank you,” Kim murmured, taking comfort in Aunt Rory’s enveloping embrace and the familiar scent of her perfume. As a teenager, Kim had spent many hours baby-sitting Rory’s kids.
After a final squeeze, Rory released her so she could greet Robin, the aunt she barely knew.
