Final Mend (23 page)

Even if he never found the right woman, he would always have the memory of his parents' love to fall back on. And Brandon's love. And Amy.

And Winona.

He'd been so driven in life after his stupor that he never felt like he reached completion no matter what he did. He might win a meet, but he never felt good enough no matter how hard he tried. He might have a lot of friends and be able to open up to people, but he never allowed himself to feel this deep-seated fear of rejection.

Amy's time here was fleeting, but his didn't have to be. Winona was obviously scared of falling hard just as he was, but he didn't want to push her. Her experiences were that love didn't last. His experiences were that love could last if you found the right person.

After losing his parents, he never, ever thought he'd find the right person. He'd been searching for a patch to mend his broken heart, and it had come in the form of drugs, alcohol, women, and sports. Nothing had healed him like his sport had but he knew, from his relationship with his parents, the right woman could keep him sewn.

And that scared him. He didn't—wouldn't—depend on a woman to make him happy, but he'd like a woman to complete him. That was how his dad had explained his love for Jake's mother, and what Jake had been searching for ever since. Winona completed him in a way no one ever had before.

He took a shower in the bedroom, grateful it had its own private bathroom so he could soak away his sorrows in privacy. Toweling off, he pulled on a pair of loose shorts and slipped into bed.

He jumped when the door opened with a click. He spotted Winona's silhouette in the shadows of the hallway light before she shut the door. His heart pounded. His body immediately hardened.

The nightlight he'd kept on offered just enough light for him to see her disrobe. She slipped into bed beside him and put her arm over his chest and her head in the crook of his neck.

He shifted to face her. She moved aside to accommodate him. His lips met hers in an urgent need to take all that she would give. Their tongues tangled, breaths meshed, and as he made love to her and she responded to him, he recognized his feelings for this woman went way beyond lust.

She could be his final mend. Or, worse, his final end.

• • •

When Winona woke the next morning, Jake wasn't in bed. She stretched and listened to the voices in the kitchen. She couldn't make out the words, but it sounded like everyone was up but her.

She quickly showered and dressed, brushing her teeth as best she could with her finger. She'd have to go home before she did anything today, but coffee was the first thing on her agenda.

She found Jake and Amy in the kitchen, and Garret and Reagan at the kitchen table, watching the two prepare pancakes. With a small skillet in hand, Amy tossed and flipped a pancake.

“I did it!”

“Great job,” Jake said. Amy stood on a chair at the stove, Jake beside her.

“I can't even do that,” Winona said as she shuffled to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. “Morning, everyone.”

“Morning.” She caught Reagan's eye and smiled, wondering when they'd discovered she'd stayed the night. Neither acted strangely.

“There's cream and sugar by the coffee, or half-and-half in the fridge.”

“No, thanks. Black's good. You investigate cases for a living and learn to like whatever coffee can be found.”

“Which is why I enjoy every bit of cream and sugar I can,” Garret said.

“I did it again,” Amy exclaimed, and Winona returned her attention to the stove. “There's a few pancakes ready, guys,” she said, all adult like. “And fresh blueberries and strawberries if you want.”

Once all the pancakes were done, everyone sat together at the table to enjoy their meal.

“These are excellent, Amy,” Winona said.

Amy beamed. “Thanks. The mix is all homemade. Jake helped, of course.”

Dishes clashed and rattled as they ate breakfast, drank coffee, and discussed the day's events.

“You wanna help me find a kitty to adopt?” Winona asked Amy after breakfast.

“Yes! Yes! Let's go!”

“I want a cat, too,” Reagan said.

“And I want a dog,” Garret added.

“Yay!” Amy clapped her hands and performed a dance-jump. “Two kitties!”

Winona arched her brow, but didn't bother mentioning it wouldn't do to get a cat or a dog if Reagan was still planning on leaving. Now was not the time to broach the subject.

Winona ran home to brush her teeth and change. Jake and Amy came to pick her up and they met Garret and Reagan at the shelter.

Winona greeted Marybeth, the owner of the shelter, with a hug. “We're here to adopt a couple of cats.”

“Wonderful. We have so many. I'm afraid we're going to have to put some down.”

“No. You can't do that.”

“We're running out of funding. No one contributes anymore. No one volunteers anymore. And people are abandoning more and more animals these days.”

“We need to do something to make people more aware,” Winona said.

“I'm working on it. Mainly, it's a funding problem. It's so expensive running the place, keeping the electricity on, making sure we have the food we need.”

“We'll talk about this later,” Winona said when Amy started pulling on her arm. “I want to do something to help.”

Winona took Amy to the cat room while Jake stayed behind. Jealousy slithered through her as she watched him with Marybeth. She would turn forty this year, and her cocoa-colored eyes and warm smile made everyone else around her feel dull.

“They're all in cages,” Amy said, returning Winona to the matter at hand.

“Yes. Shelter kitties have to live in cages. We take them out to play with them, but this is where they have to stay.”

“That's so sad.”

“It is sad. That's why it's so important to adopt only when you know you're ready to take on the responsibility and never let them go. They become a part of your family. And that's why it's so important to make sure they are fixed so they can't have more kittens.”

Amy's face scrunched, as if she was trying to understand. And because Winona didn't think she needed to understand, she opened the first cage.

“This is Snowbound. She's the kitty I'm considering adopting.” Winona lifted the dirty white cat from the cage and handed her to Amy. She knew Amy was safe. Snowbound was four years old and looked like a brown cat dusted with snow, hence the name. She was older, which meant she was harder to adopt, and she'd lived in the shelter awhile. She'd been declawed by her previous owners, and Winona would like to declaw the owners who'd put her through that kind of abuse. Didn't they realize those claws were the cat's defense mechanism should she ever get cornered or attacked? Didn't they understand if a cat had plenty of scratch posts, she wouldn't tear their furniture?

“She's precious.” Amy cuddled Snowbound one last time before handing her to Winona. “But I want to see the kittens.”

Reagan cooed over two kittens who were inseparable, and finally decided to adopt both brother and sister.

Still holding Snowbound, Winona pulled her aside. “Are you sure that's a good idea?”

“Yes. Why wouldn't it be?”

Winona glanced at Garret to make sure he wasn't in hearing range, but he'd found the dogs in the other room. Jake was still talking to Marybeth and Amy was enthralled with peering through the cages. “Well, if you decide to leave.”

Reagan's face fell. “It'd be stupid to leave the man I love and who loves me just because of a job. We had a good talk last night and I told him how I felt. Admitted how close to leaving I'd come. But I told him I'd support him in anything he decided to do, as long as he was honest with me about it.”

“That's easy to say now. But what if he does decide to take the job?”

“We talked a lot about it, and I feel better about it. We'll talk more, should he make that decision, but it's not like he's taking on the job of police chief in a huge town.”

Jake joined them and settled his hand on Winona's back. “Did you find a cat?”

“Yes, this is Snowbound. She'll let me hold her for hours. Where have you been? Did you get Marybeth's number? Because I have it if you don't.” She couldn't keep the jealous twinge from her voice.

“Why do I need her number?”

“For a date.”

Jake chuckled as he petted Snowbound. “We were talking business.”

“Business?”

“Just ways to help the shelter.”

Marybeth approached with a gleam in her eye and they all checked out with their animals, including a dog for Garret. Marybeth was giddy with excitement the whole time. Her mood had taken a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn after her conversation with Jake. As Jake walked with Amy outside, carrying a box of food, Winona stayed behind.

Marybeth hugged her. “Thanks for bringing me business. I'm sorry I don't have any toys or extra food for you to take. I think it'd be fun if I created a pet store here, too. We have a bit of food to give the owners to tide them over, and the grocery stores have the commercialized food, but stocking this place with food, crates, and toys would be great.”

“But I thought you said you were considering putting some of the animals down. How can you even consider adding more debt and bills?”

“Oh.” She eyeballed Jake, who was outside holding the door open for Amy and helping her into his truck. “That man of yours just donated a quarter of a million dollars to the shelter and said he wanted to talk to me later about becoming partner in a small business. He's the one who suggested stocking more items, and said he'd donate more if necessary. But I won't become one of those stores who breed and sell. Still, it'd be nice to supply the owners with more choices for their pets when they do adopt. And better facilities for the pets. We need more room.”

“Jake?” Winona asked, shocked.

“Yep. That tall, handsome triathlete out there.”

Winona watched him out the window as he loaded Amy into his truck and set the box with the cat on her lap. “Okay. We'll talk about this later.” They hugged again and Winona walked out the door, slowly heading for the man of her dreams.

Her head spun. He stood beside the open passenger door, waiting for her, with his eyes sparkly, relaxed shoulders, beautiful smile. Her throat thickened, her chest expanded. She walked into his arms and nuzzled his chest. She smelled the remnants of the animals on his shirt, like they'd become a part of him.

“You are an amazing man.”

“Why, thanks.”

She stepped away and looked at him. “Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?”

“She told you about that, huh?”

“How?”

“How what?”

“How can you just give away that kind of money?”

“I make a lot of money. I invest a lot of money. I inherited a lot of money. Besides my triathlons and my sponsors, I do commercials and am being considered for a role in a movie. I take care of my assets. I had to put things on hold for a while after what happened to Amy and Brandon, but I'm always looking for new investments. If this isn't one, I consider it charity. As long as the woman doesn't take the money and run, and after talking to her, I don't think she will.”

“Thank you,” she said, all the while hearing unspoken words. He would be leaving soon. Amy was safe, he had responsibilities, and he would leave. They were probably all just charity to him.

Her energy slumped. She kissed him on the cheek and got into the truck. The excitement of a new cat and Jake's donation dissipated into dread.

Winona took Snowbound home. Amy favored Reagan's new kittens, so when Winona invited them to her place and Amy chose to stay with Reagan and the kittens, hurt struck her like a pervading stench of goo. She felt dumb and selfish for her emotions.

She spent the evening at home. Restlessness and loneliness pursued her no matter what activity she chose.

She decided to turn on the TV and drown herself in Johnny Depp's brown-eyed gaze, hoping to dispel the lingering image of Jake's captivating blues. Snowbound purred in her lap, but not even Johnny could enrapture the cat. Snowbound jumped at every sound until Winona turned the television down, then off.

She lay on the couch and stared into space until the phone rang, startling her.

Recognizing Jake's ring, she let pipe another ring-tone before answering. She considered ignoring it. Let him wonder what she was doing tonight. She knew he was at home with a little girl, but didn't mean he shouldn't worry about what she might be doing.

Feeling selfish for thinking such thoughts, she snatched the phone and punched answer. “Hello?”

“Hey, beautiful.” His words slid under her skin, in her hair, lighting her scalp with fire.

“Hey yourself, handsome.”

“I missed you tonight.”

“I missed you, too.”

“You could have stayed for dinner.”

“I didn't want to leave Snowbound alone on her first night in her new home.”

“I know.”

“You could have come for dinner here,” she said, trying to keep the accusations out of her voice. She didn't want to feel jealous of a seven-year-old child.

“I know. I told Amy she could play with the kittens later, but she was having so much fun. Then Chayton and Naomi came over.”

“Oh.” Sounded like everyone had a great big party without her.

“Naomi said she texted you.”

“I never got a text.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and glanced to see she had missed a couple of texts. She didn't bother mentioning it to him. She was busy. She wasn't sitting at home, alone, waiting for a man to call.

“Sorry I didn't call sooner. Been busy with Amy, and I only get this small window of time with her so I want to make the most of it.”