Games of the Heart (20 page)

So it needed to happen for Aunt Dusty.

It was late. He was supposed to be asleep. But he didn’t hesitate grabbing his cell and scrolling to Aunt Dusty.

She answered on the first ring, her musical voice he always thought was kick-freaking-ass was heavy with obvious concern, “Hey, honey. It’s late. You okay?”

Fin took in a deep breath.

Then he said, “No.”

* * * * *

Like she was waiting for it, which she was, the minute her cell vibrated on her nightstand, Clarisse’s eyes opened and she snatched it up.

The display said, “Fin Calling”.

She’d turned off her ringer, just in case. And set it on her nightstand with more hope than certainty and when she said hope, she meant a whole lot of it.

And the call came.

She was breathing funny when she hit the button and put it to her ear.

“Hey.”

“Hey. It’s all good.”

She felt her belly flip and not just because dark-haired, tall, broad-shouldered, deep-voiced, available junior Fin Holliday was talking to her at past eleven at night when she was in bed in the dark. But also because he said it’s all good.

“Is she coming back?” Clarisse asked.

“Oh yeah.”

“When?”

“Soon.”

“For how long?”

“Well, she’s bringin’ her horses and her kilns with her so, my guess, a while.”

“What?” Clarisse asked, not understanding.

“She makes pottery and has to fire it in kilns. And she has horses she likes to ride. So, what I’m sayin’ is, she’s comin’ up here long enough to stay a while, work a while and I know this because she isn’t leavin’ her kilns or her animals behind.”

Clarisse’s belly flipped again and she whispered, “Awesome.”

“You’re up, babe.”

Ohmigod! Fin Holliday called her “babe”!

“What?” she breathed.

“She gets here, you gotta get your Dad over here. I’ll make the coast clear, get Mom and Kirb out for a while. I’ll text you. She says she needs a week or so to sort shit out down in Texas. But at lunch tomorrow, we’ll plan.”

That was practically a date!

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Cool. Later Rees.”

“Later, Fin.”

She hit the button to disconnect.

Then she put her phone back on the nightstand.

Then she stared at its shadow through the dark and she did this a long,
long
time.

Finally, feeling better about just about everything, Clarisse Haines fell asleep smiling.

All It Ever Felt Was Right

M
ike turned his head and watched his daughter wander up the backyard, Layla bouncing at her side.

For the last ten minutes she’d been out there at the back gate, the gate open, standing in it, her hand lifted, cell to her ear.

Something new was going on with Clarisse. Instead of seeming lost, being lazy and lying, she seemed focused, he just didn’t know on what, full of energy and secretive.

He could not say he didn’t like this change, except the last. She got her homework done before he asked her. Her grades which had started to take a turn for the worse, except for English which never dropped, were improving. She texted him nearly every night to ask when he was due home. Then, when he got home, she was in the kitchen cooking. Before he went to bed at night, the dishes were done and even the counters were wiped clean. For over two weeks, he hadn’t done a single piece of laundry and all his clothes were clean, folded and put away. Both his kids got their chores done without him having to get on them. No had even asked for money because Reesee had written out a grocery list of what they needed and he’d volunteered to go. Three times.

All this and she hadn’t asked him for her allowance even though she knew she wasn’t going to get it. She had five weeks left on her backlog. She also hadn’t been to the mall with her girls. Not once.

And she was on the phone, a lot. And texting, a lot. This was not abnormal. She did this with her girl posse. But what
was
abnormal was the little smile he
did not like
that played at her mouth during some of the texting. He also did not like the light that hit her eyes both after her phone binged with texts she’d just read or after she wandered down from upstairs and he knew she’d had some call.

He let her alone about this. First because she was a teenage girl and as much as he didn’t like it, he knew it eventually would happen. And he knew exactly what was happening from that smile and the light in her eyes that was far from difficult to read. Second because he did not want to know.

But the rest was a mystery.

He figured, since her birthday was imminent, she was buttering him up. He asked his kids for wish lists every year for birthdays and Christmas and hers this year for her birthday was long.

Her roping No into helping out, though, was overkill.

Maybe she’d sorted herself out.

Or maybe she had a boy who was interested in her and she was riding that high and spreading the joy.

He figured with those little smiles and the light in her eyes, it was both. And thinking his pretty daughter who was turning fifteen had a guy on her hook made him wish something he never thought he’d fucking wish. And that was that Reesee was back at lost, lazy and lying.

Christ.

She opened the door and came in, Layla bounding in with her.

“Hey, Dad,” she greeted, eyes lit, mouth smiling, shrugging off her jacket.

“There a reason you’re standin’ outside in the cold, dark February night starin’ at the Holliday Farm?”

Her jacket dangling from her fingers, her eyes lit again but not in the way that made him lament for the first time in his life he didn’t have two sons because he figured this next phase might just kill him.

Studying her closely, Mike still didn’t get this new light.

Then he couldn’t think of it at all when she replied chirpily, “Yeah. Rumor has it Fin and Kirby’s Aunt Dusty is movin’ to town and she has horses. I was hoping to see them.”

“Pardon?” he asked softly.

She walked to the couch, her eyes never leaving his and tossed her jacket on the back.

“Finley Holliday’s Aunt Dusty is movin’ in. His Mom isn’t doin’ too good and they’ll be plantin’ soon. So she’s moved back from Texas or, uh…wherever and she’s gonna be around a while to help out.”

Mike stared at his daughter.

Fuck. Shit.

Fuck.

“Anyway,” she went on and with effort he focused on her, “I didn’t see the horses. I did see Fin and Kirb leavin’ with their Mom. Didn’t catch a glimpse at their aunt though. Maybe that drive from wherever with her horses wore her out or something.”

Dusty was home.

Dusty was home and was going to be home a while.

Dusty was fucking next door, home for a while and right then home alone.

Mike knifed off the couch muttering, “I gotta go somewhere. I won’t be back for a while.”

He was walking down the hall when Reesee called, “Okay Dad, see you later.”

Mike lifted a hand and flicked out two fingers but didn’t look back.

He just grabbed his jacket, his keys and walked out the door.

* * * * *

Grinning, Clarisse bent her neck, lifted the phone in both hands and her thumbs flew over the keyboard.

Worked like a charm. He’s already gone,
she typed then hit send.

Five seconds later, her phone binged and at the top of the text it said, “Fin”.

The text said,
Awesome.

Her grin got bigger and she skipped down the hall and jogged up the stairs to her room, Layla following.

* * * * *

“You forget something?” I called when the front door opened.

Fin, Kirb and Rhonda just left. A movie. Rhonda was against it and even I wasn’t so sure since it was a romantic comedy. But for some reason Fin was adamant they “get out of the house, let Aunt Dusty relax and settle”.

Fin was a good kid, thoughtful, attentive, he noticed things but even for Fin, that was weird.

And I was not sure Rhonda needed to go to a romantic comedy. A reminder of romance I did not think would be a good thing. It had been over a month and my sister-in-law was still skating the edge of grief gone bad. Her eyes were sunken in her head. She’d lost weight. And she was even more flighty than normal to the point she was nearly hazy.

Not good.

Maybe they were home because Rhonda had called a halt to them going out on a school night after dinner all the way to the mall to watch a movie that wouldn’t get her and the boys home until after ten.

Then again, Rhonda didn’t have much of a backbone so I couldn’t imagine, even though it was clear she didn’t want to go, she’d be able to pull that off.

I was in the living room flat out on the couch. It had been a long three-day haul, me and my babies. Fin was right about one thing, I was tuckered right the hell out. I needed to relax and settle. And I was doing that with a beer and really shitty TV.

“No, you did. You forgot to lock the door.”

That answer came not from Fin, not from Kirb and not from Rhonda but from a deep, familiar voice.

I froze then shot to my feet, whirling to the door to see Mike standing there.

What the fuck?

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

Then I watched with astonished eyes as he shrugged off his leather jacket and threw it on an armchair like he was going to stay a while.

My eyes went from his jacket to his face and I felt them narrow.

“We need to talk,” he announced.

“No we don’t,” I replied immediately.

“Yes we do,” he shot back.

“Get out,” I ordered then I was moving back and doing this quickly and instinctively. And I was doing this because he was moving forward faster and with purpose.

Toward me.

I scuttled backward across the room, hit a cabinet, adjusted then my back hit the wall about half a second before Mike hit me. His body to mine, his hand at the side of my neck sliding back and up into my hair and his other arm curling low at my waist.

My heart was beating like a jackhammer as I looked up at him, shocked.

“What are you doing?” It came out breathy which pissed me right off.

“Like I said, we’re going to talk.” That came out firm but soft and warm with his eyes staring straight into mine also being warm but visibly determined.

“Step back,” I demanded.

“No.”

“Step back!” I snapped.

He pressed me into the wall and repeated a low, “No.”

“Are you crazy?” I asked, forcing my hands between us to push him off but this was a mistake. A big one. Because his arm slid up my back then grew tighter and it trapped my hands and arms between us.

“I fucked up,” he whispered.

I stopped trying to pull my hands from between us and glared at him.

“Yeah, you did.”

“I know I did.” He was still whispering.

“Will you
step back?
” I clipped.

“No. We’re talking.”

“Mike –”

His lips hit mine and I stilled.

“We’re…
talking,
” he murmured against my lips and I stayed still. Completely still. Except my heart which was racing.

God, that was hot. He was an asshole dick of the worst variety and still, that was unbelievably
hot.

“So talk,” I encouraged bitingly in an effort to hold onto my temper at the same time hide my reaction to the hotness of his maneuver.

He lifted his head half an inch which was not far enough by a long shot but at least it was something and I wasn’t in the position to quibble, unfortunately.

“My headspace was fucked up,” he began.

“I think I got that,” I retorted sarcastically.

“I know you did, honey, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I served up that crap to you. I’m sorry I did it at all but I’m unbelievably fuckin’ sorry I did it after Darrin died and you were vulnerable.”

“I wasn’t vulnerable.”

“I’m glad to know that now before I gave my heart to you because I had one day with you and I was all set to wrap it up in a tidy bow and hand it right over,” he stated and I blinked.

Mike was repeating what I said.
I’d
said that. In fact, I think I said that verbatim.

And he remembered every word.

I felt my skin start tingling.

Mike kept talking.

“I was so fired up to protect myself from you playin’ games with my heart, I played yours.”

Holding onto my anger, I shared acidly, “I got that too.”

“I know you did,” he whispered and I wished he’d quit whispering like that because it was sweet, it sounded nice, it made it sound like he meant his words in a way that came straight from the soul and it was messing with my head. I also wished he’d quit holding me. And I also wished I could tear my eyes from the intensity of his.