the rental car that you didn’t use but is still an option when you want to return to Seattle.” He smiled at her and added, “And no, we’re not trying to buy you. I don’t imagine you come cheap.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said, and for once, he looked ill at ease, which strangely made her feel better.
“I am thirsty,” she said.
“Good. Let’s give this place a try.”
The diner turned out to be a far cry from the waterfront bistro of the day before. Kate ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and it actually seemed to sit okay in her stomach for once. Toward the end of the meal, Frankie took out his cell phone and studied it. “I’m reminding myself how to get to Dave Dalton’s place,” he explained.
“Do you know what it is he wants to show you?”
“Not a clue. I’m curious, of course,”
“Is he expecting me to be there, too? If it’s awkward, I can sit outside in the sun or something.”
“I doubt your being there will be an issue but no, he’s not expecting you. I arranged this meeting about a week ago, before I knew you’d be...with me.”
“Before I made trouble,” she said.
“Yeah. Listen, as long as I have my phone out, why don’t you give me your email and cell number? Phones don’t always work out at the ranch, but—”
“I don’t have email or a cell phone,” she said.
He stared at her a second as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard her say.
“I moved here from Arizona over a year ago,” she added. She had to give him some explanation so she went with the truth. “My grandparents didn’t have internet or the...inclination...to install it. When my tablet died, I just, well, people lived for generations without computers, right?”
“You sound like my father’s kind of girl,” he said. “He’s not big into them, either.”
She did not want to be compared to his father. “I loved my computer. I mean, you can’t get through college nowadays without...well, those days are long over. Now there are other things to keep me busy.”
“Like what?” he said.
She looked down at her hands and shrugged. “You know, work.”
“What kind of work do you do?”
She should have anticipated these questions. They were the kind almost everyone asked, she was just woefully out of practice fielding idle curiosity. Not sure why she felt the need to take the sting out of her words, she smiled. “Remember that whole I like my privacy thing?”
“Yes,” he said. “Sorry.”
She pushed herself away from the table and they both stood up. “Thank you for the sandwich and the tea,” she added. “I’m going to the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back, I know you’re anxious to get going.”
“I’ll wait for you in the car,” he said as he stood. As she watched him walk to the cash register, the strangest pang of longing came over her.
Now what was that all about?
* * *
DAVE DALTON LIVED down a tree-lined lane a mile or so outside Spokane, Washington. The road was rutted with parallel tracks. Kate had gripped the edges of her seat as Frankie did his best to stay in the ruts, but inevitably the tires found all the uneven spots. Dalton needed to grade his long, bumpy driveway.
Frankie’s gut feeling that Kate was hiding something just wouldn’t go away. Sure, she was touchy, but it had to be more than that. Touchy was understandable. She’d accepted an invitation from a virtual stranger who openly questioned her convictions. He was a little wary of her, too. But it was something more, like the way she avoided direct answers to simple questions, hiding behind the privacy thing. Still every once in a while, he caught an unguarded comment or look and it made him smile inside.
When had he last been serious about a woman? Almost a year, he realized with a start. She’d been a nurse at the urgent care center, pretty and fun-loving, full of hopes and dreams. He’d broken it off with her when she got too clingy and talk of her dreams became talk of “their” dreams, dreams he didn’t share.
Right after that, he’d started building himself a very private home even his family didn’t know about. Years before, his father had given each of his sons their choice of land on which to construct houses when and if they wanted. Frankie’s oldest brother, Gerard, had chosen a river view parcel not far upstream from the main house. He and Kinsey lived in it and would soon be joined by their baby who was due momentarily.
Next in age came Chance. He’d built himself an A-frame. His fiancée’s name was Lily and she and her small son lived on the ranch, too. Pike came next. He’d renovated a barn into a really cool house. His girlfriend, Sierra, split her time between the ranch and New York City.
Frankie knew he didn’t quite fit into his family of overachievers. It was difficult being the youngest of four brothers, all with different mothers, all very capable ranchers and businessmen. His designated title as a kid had been the screwup. And now, between one thing and another, he just liked to keep part of his life to himself, hence his secret hideaway. Half the time when his family thought he was in town carousing or causing mischief, he was actually working on his place.
So, in short, he knew a thing or two about privacy and keeping secrets, but there was only one that made him break into a cold sweat every time he thought about it. With Kate, that seemed to happen constantly. She acted like she was under a lot of stress from a lot of directions and despite how prickly she could be, he felt for her.
But right now she was hanging on to her seat and staring straight ahead as a small house finally appeared in a clearing at the end of the private road. He pulled to a stop and heard her expel a long breath.
“You okay?”
“Just glad to have that road behind me.”
“Don’t forget we still have to get back to the highway.”
“Let me enjoy walking around for a minute.” They got out of the car and she took several breaths. Some of the color started to return to her cheeks as she gazed around them.
“It’s quiet here,” she said. “And warm.” She unzipped her windbreaker and started to pull it over her head. As she raised her arms, her blouse rode up with the jacket and three inches of creamy, smooth, velvety skin appeared at the delicious curve of her waist. By the time she got the windbreaker off and tugged her clothes into place, he had looked away, alarmed at how enticing he found that tiny peek of her flesh.
The house had a small concrete slab for a front porch and a steeply pitched roof, probably because it snowed here in the winter. A trio of moldy, faded garden gnomes sat by the bushes in front of the window. Frankie knocked against the wooden door and they stood there waiting as insects droned in the tall grass.
“Are you sure he’s expecting you?” Kate asked.
“I
