A touch of love (23 page)

Jesse leaned down to grasp a handful of Ricky's T-shirt and hauled him to his feet. "You are easily one of the most pitiful excuses for a man I've ever seen. You could have a beautiful wife and adorable daughter, and instead all you've got is grease under your nails." Jesse lifted the disheveled young man clear off his feet, and then dropped him in the grass where he lay sprawled in a heap.

"Do you want to have him arrested?" Jesse asked Shelley.

Shelley gave her head a frantic shake. "No. I'll just spend the night at my mother's, and he'll be gone by tomorrow."

Aubrey noted the confusion in Shelley's eyes and doubted she was thinking clearly. "Are you certain that's what you really want to do?" she asked.

Shelley hugged Annie more tighdy. "He told me this was my last chance to come with him, and I'm not taking it. I want something better for us, and he doesn't even understand what that is."

Jesse knelt down beside Ricky and took hold of a hank of hair to lift his head off the damp grass. "I want you to pay real close attention, Rick." He waited until the look in Ricky's eyes cleared from muddled to an intelligent gleam. "Good boy. Now you can lie out here in the yard until you feel better, and then you're going to find some friends to help you get that Harley out of here. I'm going to keep a close eye on Shelley from now on, and if she has a reason to complain about you ever again, then we'll just have ourselves a re-match. You understand what I mean? You stay away from Shelley, or I'm going to make you real sorry that you didn't."

The sound of a distant siren filled Ricky with hope, and his battered features mirrored his relief. "Think you're going to be rescued?" Jesse asked. "Think again."

Aubrey sensed the violence welling up inside Jesse and called to him before he could give Ricky Vance a final reminder to stay out of Shelley's life. "Don't do it," she ordered as she came out on the porch. "He knows just how easily you could break his hands. You needn't do it. This time."

Jesse released Ricky and straightened up. He stared at Aubrey a long minute, then appeared to reluctandy concede the point. "Yeah, I guess you're right, darlin'. He'll need two good hands to ride that noisy machine out of town."

Aubrey hurried Shelley and Annie out to Jesse's truck and dropped them off at her mother's with the assurance they would return quickly should the need arise. "I do think you ought to take the day off tomorrow. We've nothing scheduled for the week, and I'll talk with you before next Saturday." Aubrey said.

"All right. Thank you. Just give me a minute." Shelley took Annie inside, then came back outside to speak with Jesse. "Ricky isn't mean," she stressed. "He'd never hurt us. He's just young is all, and too self-centered to take care of a family. By the time he grows up, Annie and I won't need him anymore, but we sure needed you tonight. I want to thank you again for what you did.''

Jesse wasn't used to receiving such unabashed admiration, and he sure didn't want Shelley transferring her affections to him. He slid his arm around Aubrey's shoulders and hugged her close to make his choice plain. "You have a good night, Shelley, and kiss your little girl for us."

"Thank you. I will." Shelley paused beneath the porch light, looked back at them, and waved.

"Come on," Jesse whispered under his breath. "Let's get out of here before playing hero gets to be too much for me."

Aubrey was becoming adept at climbing up into his truck, and was as eager as he to get away. "How are your hands?" she asked.

"I can drive home," Jesse assured her, "then soak them a bit. Where did you get the idea that I'd break Ricky's hands? It was positively inspired, by the way, but did you really believe I'd have done it?"

Aubrey chose her words with care. "I sensed you were about to do something more to him. At least, that was the way it sounded and I didn't want to see it."

"I was just trying to scare him into behaving himself. I don't go around stomping defenseless men's hands. I hope

the police do find Rick stretched out on the lawn and take him in. A night in jail would do him a lot of good."

"Are you speaking from experience?"

Jesse chuckled way back in his throat. "It's been awhile but yes, I've spent a night or two in jail and it was definitely a worthwhile experience."

"I can't imagine how."

Jesse pulled into her driveway, cut the engine, and set the brake. "Let's just say it gives a man the opportunity to contemplate the error of his ways."

The light beside the back door provided enough illumination for Aubrey to read his expression clearly. He was teasing her again, and yet for a moment when he had had Ricky Vance at his mercy, she had felt more than a mere threat of violence meant to keep the young man in line. There was far more to Jesse Barrett than she had had time to explore, and while she had come to appreciate the side of him that gave so generously of love, she knew he must possess a dark side that she would be a fool to ignore.

She shivered and Jesse hurried her inside the house, but it had not been the temperature of the air that had touched her, but a premonition of something bad to come.

presentation, but first I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss my week."

Jesse cocked a brow, but Aubrey had no intention of revealing any of the intimate details of their budding relationship. Instead, she related only a request from a former teacher to look into the Ferrells' disappearance, and how inappropriate her talents were for such a task. 'It's unfortunate that my effort to be helpful was misinterpreted by the media, but I'm sure many of you have had a similar experience when your actions were misconstrued, if not by the press, then by an acquaintance or friend.

"Indeed, we all have difficulty communicating with each other, whether it's simply in being understood, or in effectively making our needs known. Now I'd love to hear how some of you handled the stress you encountered last week. Were any of you better able to cope?"

Several hands were raised, and Aubrey guided the ensuing discussion to limit its focus to the relaxation techniques she had introduced. Some accounts were humorous, others serious in tone, but she succeeded in ending whatever speculation there might have initially been as to her psychic abilities. As for Jesse, she introduced him as she had at the seminar for the Wells Fargo Bank employees, and he repeated his experience using creative imagery on the rodeo circuit.

With the morning off to a good start, Trisha sidled up to Gardner Evans. "How was your weekend?" she asked softly.

The engineer was startled by the question, then shook his head to warn her he was too busy tending his equipment to chat. Trisha was dressed in a hot pink outfit he considered much too distracting for a workshop stressing creative imagery, but because Aubrey didn't seem to feel the bright colors Trisha wore were inappropriate, he had never offered his opinion. He had worn another of his new shirts

and ties, but still felt as though he was wearing a disguise rather than his own clothes.

"You look very handsome," Trisha whispered, and then leaving Gardner blushing a bright red, she moved away. At the morning break, she again attempted to engage him in conversation, but still had no success in drawing out the shy young man. Giving up, she waited until the seminar adjourned for the day, then confided in Aubrey.

"Shelley was dead wrong. Gardner just seems annoyed whenever I try to talk with him. Maybe he thinks I'm cute, or likes my legs, but he doesn't care about me at all. I'm going out again with the banker tonight anyway. He makes no secret of his interest in me, and I can't help but be flattered."

"Even if he's a mite dull?" Jesse asked.

"You were right." Trisha squirmed with embarrassment. "I hadn't given myself enough time to get to know him. Now I can't help but wonder if I might have let Mr. Right slip by before I'd realized who he was."

Trisha looked sincerely pained by that prospect, and Aubrey was quick to reassure her. "Then he couldn't have really been the right man for you," she insisted, "or he'd have stayed."

Trisha shrugged slightly. "Well, let's hope he would have, but sometimes I'm afraid we're all hopelessly out of sync." She looked over her shoulder and watched Gardner pack up the last of his gear. "I wonder who Gardner's trying to impress. It sure wasn't me."

Jesse kept his mouth shut, but he thought it likely Gardner hadn't really expected his effort to enhance his looks to work so well with Trisha, and when it had, he had been intimidated rather than proud. Jesse didn't have the time to hold the young man's hand and talk him through a date, but after having prompted him to make a necessary change, he didn't want Gardner to slump back into his

baggy clothes and painfully shy ways. He walked over to him and again offered his help.

"And I'm not talking about your equipment," he whispered. "I advised you not to warm to Trisha too quickly, but you're carrying your lack of interest to an obnoxious extreme."

Gardner slammed a bright orange extension cord on his dolly. He wiped his hands on his pants before he remembered he was wearing a new pair, then jammed them into his pockets. "I'm never going to have your finesse with women. It's useless to try."

Jesse had always regarded his success with women as a natural gift, and didn't believe finesse was the proper term to describe it "It's sincerity that impresses women," he argued. "They want to feel they're genuinely liked, just the way men do. Now what's the real problem here? Did you only want Trisha when you thought you couldn't have her? Now I realize worshipping her from afar saved you the embarrassment of asking her for a date, but I can't really believe you enjoy being alone."

Unwilling to discuss his most private emotions, Gardner turned sullen. "Are you licensed to do counseling?"

Jesse laughed. "No, but I've definitely got the practical experience to qualify. Shelley had a real rough night last night, but I think she's finally seen the last of Ricky Vance. If you've no plans for tonight, maybe you could give her a call and cheer her up. Sometimes a man just needs a woman friend, and I know Shelley admires you."

Gardner looked dismayed. "Why?"

Jesse was ready for him, and slid his arm around Gardner's shoulders. "You're the kind of man a woman can depend on. That means a lot."

Gardner nodded slightly. "I'm reliable. So what? That's not very exciting."

"Not every woman craves excitement. In fact, that's

probably the last thing Shelley wants. I'll bet you could be real romantic if you put your mind to it, and Shelley deserves some sympathetic attention."

Pulling away, Gardner grabbed hold of his dolly. " Shelley has a daughter, and I don't want a ready-made family."

Instantly, Jesse saw Gardner for the fool he was and raised his hands. ''Excuse me. I mistook you for someone with character. That's the last mistake I'll make with you." He walked away, but as soon as he and Aubrey were on their way home, he gave vent to his anger.

'T just can't understand that kind of thinking. If it can even be classified as thinking rather than a stupid prejudice," he fumed. "If Gardner doesn't have an obstacle, then he'll just build himself one. I'm sorry I mentioned Shelley to him because he's as big a flake as Ricky Vance. He'll probably die a virgin and it'll be his own damn fault."

Aubrey thought Jesse was taking her assistants' problems too seriously, and then wondered if he weren't creating a convenient diversion rather than expressing whatever doubts he might have about his involvement with her. As for herself, she harbored no doubts about them whatsoever. They were a fine, if not lasting match, and she intended to cherish every second they shared. She reached out for his arm and slid her hand down to his bruised knuckles.

"It's a shame Gardner lacks your insights, but he'll have to make his own mistakes and learn life's lessons in his own way."

"But he's not learning," Jesse argued. "He's stuck in his own stagnant pond. Trisha would have gone out with him if he had asked her today, but he didn't ask. Shelley's just as quiet and shy as he is, but he won't pursue her, either. The man's an idiot!"

"You're not responsible for his choices. Let it go," Aubrey advised softly.

Knowing she was right, Jesse reluctantly dropped the subject. "How did you get so smart?"

Aubrey answered as Jesse turned into her driveway. "I learned the hard way. Just like everyone else. There's always the risk of being hurt whenever we care about someone else. Gardner's afraid to take that risk. It's a shame, really, because life doesn't amount to much if we care only about ourselves."

"Well, I've never been one to choose the safe path," Jesse assured her.

His eyes were aglow with a mischievous twinkle, but Aubrey knew better than to expect him to put his feelings for her into words. He was definitely a man of action, but she hoped before they parted for the last time, that he would finally hint at love.

Between her passion for Jesse and her anxiety over meeting Harlan Caine a second time, Aubrey spent very little time sleeping Saturday night. When she awakened late Sunday morning and found Jesse nestled beside her, observing her with an amused smile, she quickly sat up. "From the width of your grin, I'd say you've either thought of a brilliant plan for dealing with Harlan Caine, or you're too distracted to care. Which is it?"

Jesse reached out to comb her curls off her forehead. "You are most definitely a distraction, but I've not forgotten today's appointment. Because I think it's likely Caine will lay a trap, we're not going to let him lead the way. No matter what he suggests, we're going to veer off in the opposite direction. We're going to keep him between us, so a sniper, if he's hired one, can't shoot us without a grave risk of hitting him. We're also going to rush him through the site, so if he's timed an accident, we'll throw him off schedule."

"We'll simply be the tourists from hell, is that it?"

"Yeah. You could say that. There's some risk involved, but we'll already be on our guard around him, and we should be able to sense whatever trouble he might cause us before it happens."

Frightened rather than reassured, Aubrey tried not to shriek uncontrollably. "Feeling uneasy around Caine, and being fast enough to sense and avoid danger are two entirely different things. I'll be happy to interrupt his conversation, and divert his tour so the route we follow is ours rather than his, but I wish we had a secret weapon or two just in case everything goes wrong."