Elusive Echoes (8 page)

Sean moved to the dining room door.

"Not you, Sean." His father's voice held an
air of authority that Sean never could ignore. So as Ricky pushed
past him to retire for the night, Sean realized he was about to be
put on the spot for something. He turned and went back to his seat
at the kitchen table. Then he waited while his father drew a glass
of water from the tap, bringing it to the table and sitting across
from Sean.

Justin swirled the glass, watching until the
water stopped moving. Sean sighed. It was the old man's way. It was
also Ryan's way, and both of them ticked him off with it. But if he
said anything, his father would only take that much longer to get
to the point.

"You did a good thing today, boy."

Sean felt his tension easing. Maybe it
wouldn't be a deep conversation after all.

"I did what had to be done, Dad."

"Yeah, you did." Justin was watching him.
"Thing is, you do that a lot. Always doing what's right, never
missing your step. I figure a lot of that's because you're so
danged cautious."

Sean sighed impatiently. "Dad, if this is
about Mel, I swear I'll walk out. I don't want to talk about
her."

"You don't have to talk. Just listen."
Justin took a drink.

Sean noted he didn't deny he was going to
talk about Mel and heaved a sigh.

"You know, this house is getting mighty
crowded."

Sean shrugged. "Nothing to do about it. And
it's not so bad." He stood and went for the cookie jar, getting two
chocolate chip cookies because he knew his dad would just take his
if he didn't. When he sat again, he slid Justin's cookie across the
table.

"I've been thinking since
this past summer, might be there's something we
can
do about it." Justin took a bite
of the cookie and smiled. "You remember that tract of land in
toward town you liked when you were all of fifteen?"

Sean froze in mid-bite. He nodded
slowly.

"When we were at the attorney's today, I
started the paperwork to have it signed over to your name. It'd be
a nice place for a homestead. Got enough room for your barns and
paddocks."

Giving up on eating anything, Sean set his
cookie down and stared at Justin with astonishment. "Are you
kicking me out?"

"Naw." Justin shook his head and toyed with
cookie crumbs that had fallen to the table. "I'm not kicking you
out. Not even asking you to leave. I'm offering you the opportunity
to start on your own life instead of always doing the right thing
by others without thought to yourself."

Sean felt his jaw go slack. He knew he was
staring at his father with his mouth wide open but he couldn't
think of a word to say. So he abruptly clamped his jaw shut and
swallowed hard over the lump in his throat.

Justin met Sean's stare with a look of
understanding. "I'm saying it's your turn, son."

Stunned, Sean looked away first. The cookie
in front of him had seven chips visible on top. He knew that
because he counted them twice while he tried to figure out how he
felt about the latest development in a day full of changes and
surprises. "Can I give it some thought?"

With a knowing smile, Justin lifted a
shoulder and picked up Sean's uneaten cookie. "Land's yours when
you want it. If you want to stay under the Cross MC or go out on
your own, we'll help finance your building." He held up a hand
against Sean's argument. "That's not negotiable."

He knew when to give up. His eyes burned and
he blinked. "Thanks, Dad."

"One more thing." Justin pulled a square
brown box from his pocket and set it on the table in front of him.
A jewelry box, Sean noted, with plenty of wear around its
edges.

Sean huffed out a laugh. "You're proposing
to me?"

Justin chuckled. He toyed with the box.
Finally, he spoke, his words quiet. "About thirty years ago, your
mom told me she was expecting. She was certain she was giving me
another son to help carry on, and she was right. She was always
right about things like that. When you were born, you had her eyes.
And we all could see you had fire inside you, but it sure was a
slow burn. No flash fires for you." He rotated the box so the
opening was pointed in Sean's direction, but he left it closed.
"You were even cautious taking your first breath. They kind of . .
. had to coax you along a little. The docs were all just a little
worried, but your mom said to just give you a little time and you'd
work it out. You heard her voice and gulped in your first breath.
Then you let out a scream that almost brought the hospital down."
He slid the box toward Sean.

Sean stared at the box but didn't touch it.
He was on the verge of tears. He'd never heard this story, hadn't
realized he'd caused anyone concern just being born. He rubbed the
lower half of his face with a hand that trembled.

"I bought this ring for your mom that day,
Sean. Because more than giving me my second son, she taught me to
have faith and to be patient."

Sean opened the box.

"This belongs to you, now that your mom's
gone. I don't know what you'll want to do with it, but I know given
time, you'll work that out, too. Just like your mom always said
about you."

The large teardrop emerald was set in white
gold and surrounded by tiny diamonds. Sean remembered his mother
wearing the ring. He'd always been fascinated by its sparkle. He'd
been seven when his mother had died in a drowning accident, which
had turned out not to be an accident after all.

He remembered her eyes, and her stories. And
he remembered always feeling safe when he was with her. She'd
taught him and Ryan the names of flowers, watched the night sky
with them, taken them on walks in the woods and told them stories
of fairies and trolls. And she'd read them poetry. She'd done it,
or so he understood from his dad, because she didn't want their
world to be confined to just the ranch.

But it didn't really matter why she'd done
it. Those times gave him some powerful memories that still
sustained him, especially when he ran into trouble.

Sean closed the box and shut his eyes for a
moment. When he had his emotions under control, he met his father's
gaze.

"Thanks, Dad."

Chapter Five

Sean had told her he wasn't coming in
tonight, so Mel had no idea why she kept watching the door. But
every time it opened, her head spun in that direction. Finally, it
was time to close. The lights were turned out, and she slowly
climbed the stairs to her apartment above the bar.

She had a lot to think about. She sure
missed the days when she and Sandy could tell each other anything
with no judgment between them, no lectures. Just silent listening
and friendly advice. And maybe some delectable chocolate comfort
food.

Mel thought of the letter now resting with
the others in a box on top of her refrigerator. She hated her
brother, loathed her father. And hoped like mad she'd done the
right thing by opening a discussion with DC.

She turned the key in the lock and opened
the door to her lonely apartment, surprised when a tear splashed
onto her hand. She'd hated the time she'd spent away from Orson's
Folly. And she knew Grandma Tilly would tell her it was
unchristian, but she hated Nick DeVayne as much as it was possible
to hate someone.

Mel wiped the tears with a tissue and
sniffed. Blast Denny for his letters, and for dredging up the
crappiest time in her life. What was in the past should stay where
it belonged.

But a part of her also realized that until
she addressed the past, she could have no future with Sean. And
Sean was the only reason she'd come home to Orson's Folly. She'd
been a fool to think that the past would stay buried.

****

Sean detested running errands. He preferred
handling the day-to-day operations at the ranch. Until the last
weeks of her pregnancy, they'd counted on Sandy to run in to town.
She usually spent at least four or five days a week in Orson's
Folly as part owner of Valentine's anyway. But since carting an
infant to make feed purchases or to the hardware store didn't make
much sense, Sean figured life was about to change again, and he may
as well get used to it. Trips to town would probably fall more on
him and Ryan and sometimes on Ricky, when the kid wasn't in school
or working his part-time job.

They'd have to work out a system, though,
since Sean didn't plan to go grocery shopping every time they
needed the pantry stocked. He thought about the list tucked in his
pocket, and the four or five very female items Sandy had added at
the last minute. He wasn't squeamish or anything, but a guy ought
to have limits about buying feminine hygiene products.

Coming off the last switch before town, Sean
noted the skid marks and the torn up patch on the shoulder of the
road. Someone had apparently missed the turn. He hoped whoever it
was hadn't been hurt. It didn't look like they'd gone over the
edge. It was only about a ten-foot drop, but it would have been
jarring. And the river at the bottom would have been running high
with all the rain.

He slowed as he drove past Valentine's, and
debated stopping in to see Melanie, but her car wasn't there. That
was odd. She usually worked on Saturday mornings setting up for one
of the two busiest days of the week.

Just on the other side of the intersection,
Sean spotted Mel's ancient red economy car parked at Walt
Blackstone's Auto Repair. It took him a second to recognize that
the front passenger wheel was caved inward. She'd broken her axle.
Aw, man, that was going to bite. When had it happened? He didn't
think he'd missed her call. Maybe she'd been close to home.

Without a second thought, Sean steered his
pickup into Blackstone's parking lot and stopped next to the
wrecked car. He was on his back under the front of the car
examining the sheared axle when Walt Blackstone joined him.

"Heck of a mess." Blackstone crouched next
to him. "I told Melanie she should just write the car off and get
something else. Repairs are gonna cost more than the vehicle's
worth."

Sean slid out from under the car and sat up.
"How'd it happen?" He rolled to his feet, dusting his hands on his
jeans.

Walt used the car to hoist himself to
standing. "Slid herself off the road yesterday out by Five Forks
switchback."

Sean struggled to drag air into lungs that
didn't seem to fit in his chest. The torn up patch of shoulder he'd
driven past flashed through his memory and chilled him from the
inside out.

He ran a hand through his hair, shaken by
the thought of losing Mel, and also a bit confused. She'd had an
accident on the way home from the ranch, and a bad one. But she
hadn't called to tell him about it. He could feel her slipping away
from him by degrees. Something was wrong, had been wrong for
months. The way she'd left the day before was only a symptom of
whatever was off, but he'd been too butt-hurt himself to try to
work it through with her and had let her leave instead.

Irritated at his own self-centeredness, Sean
climbed into his pickup and drove across the street to the bar. He
strode inside, his heart hammering in the way it had been since
Walt had told him what had happened. The torment tearing at his
senses wouldn't be alleviated until he assured himself Mel was all
right.

She was perusing the
Folly Gazette
at the bar
when he entered. Relief flushed the apprehension from his system.
When she looked up and saw him, she smiled in pleased surprise. A
split second later, her guard fell into place.

Well, he'd about had it with that
guardedness of hers. It wasn't going to get in his way today. He
knew one sure way to get her to drop it. He eliminated the distance
between them in three quick strides.

"Hey, Sean. What brings you—?"

Her eyes widened as she registered his
intent. He took hold of her shoulders, and moved in, capturing her
lips in a frantic kiss born of the realization that he could have
lost her. Her fingers fisted in his shirt. His arms slid around to
her back and he pulled her tight against him, trapping her hands
between them. His angst became a combination of longing and need
that nudged away his customary caution.

Her lips, so warm and welcoming, her body so
soft and his for the taking. He'd never felt more alive than he did
as he pinned her against the bar and lost himself in the passion
that always hovered between them like an ion-charged storm, ready
to erupt with thunder. She went limp in his arms with a moan as he
claimed the affirmation of her life that he needed for his own to
continue.

****

The desperation in Sean's kiss clued Mel
that something was wrong. Immediately, predictable scenarios rolled
through her mind. Was it Sandy or the baby? His father? When the
tone of the kiss rolled over to desire, she swayed against him.
Whatever was wrong, kissing her seemed to be fixing it. She opened
her mouth to his questing tongue, enjoying the sensual
invasion.

He broke the kiss slowly, retreating by
inches at a time.

Mel sighed. "Hey, gorgeous man. Not that I'm
complaining or anything, but what's going on?"

Sean cupped her face and searched her eyes,
apparently finding more reassurance. His eyes lost the agitation
they'd held when he first came in, but they still contained an
intensity she'd never seen before.

"I saw your car and—where you went off the
road." He pulled back a little and ran his hands over her
shoulders, down her arms, up her sides, before slipping around to
her back and drawing her close again. He rested his forehead
against hers. "Are you okay?"

"I . . . had a moment. When it happened."
She reached up and brushed the backs of her fingers along his jaw.
He hadn't shaved and the stubble prickled deliciously against her
skin. Ever so slightly, he pushed into her touch. "I'm okay," she
whispered, holding onto his gaze. But she hadn't been okay, really.
Not until he'd walked through the door.