Montana Hero (19 page)

F
lynn woke before
his alarm went off. Not unusual.

What was unusual was finding a warm body in bed beside him.

Katherine.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to drink in every delicious bit of her scent. Spicy sweet. That was the only way he could describe her. He rolled closer and nuzzled a favorite spot at the base of her neck. He had other happy spots, too. He knew the list would continue to grow if they took this relationship further, but that couldn’t happen unless they were honest with each other. He’d learned all too well what happened when people went into a relationship with radically different agendas.

“Good morning. I’m glad you’re still here,” he said, drawing her close to spoon.

His male anatomy responded with Pavlovian predictability, but he tamped down his desire. They had too much to discuss and too little time. “It’s early, but you told me you wanted to take Brady to breakfast. Do you have time for coffee? I’ll start a pot.”

She rolled away and stretched, her arms going wide so the covers slipped, revealing one perfect breast. God, he loved her body. He went hard remembering each of the times they’d made love last night. But they hadn’t talked. Not really.

“Yes, please. Do I have time for a shower? I didn’t bring anything, but—”

“My shampoo is your shampoo. Make yourself at home. I shower at the gym.”

Flynn slipped out of bed and sat, his feet landing on the thick carpet. The house was chilly, but he heard the programed furnace turn on and knew it would be tolerable by the time she finished dressing. He walked to his dresser for a pair of underwear.

“Are you coming to the office to make your resignation official?” he asked as he pulled on his black, thigh-length briefs.

When she didn’t answer right away, he shot her a look to see if she’d gone back to sleep. Not even close. Her eyes were half-lowered but in a sexy, come-make-love-to-me-again way. He had to will his dick not to respond. He grabbed the pair of sweats and T-shirt he’d left on the chair and quickly pulled them on.

Her sigh sounded disappointed. “Yes. I owe that to everyone, especially the Sheriff. He was really good to me during the chaos after Ken was forced out. This can be my two-week notice if you want me to stick around until you hire someone to take my place.”

Like that would be possible.

Flynn didn’t want to think about that. He sat to pull on his socks and running shoes, and then he walked to the door where his clean uniform hung in a zipper bag, ready to go. For once, his preparedness came in handy. “We can talk about your options when you get there. I’ll call the Sheriff and give him a heads up if I get in first.”

She’d sat up with the quilt primly covering her breasts. “I’m a single mom—quick showers are a way of life. See you in ten.”

Twelve max, he thought when she joined him in the kitchen, dressed in the same clothes she’d worn last night.

“I found an extra toothbrush in the drawer. I owe you one, okay?”

“No problem. It was a freebie from my dentist. You could have used mine and I wouldn’t have cared. I think we swapped enough spit last night that we don’t have to worry about germs.”

She made a face that made him smile. “True, but as Brady would say, ‘Eiouw. Cooties.’”

He poured a cup and carried it to the kitchen table along with a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies he’d found on the counter with his name on it. A gift from one of the Bedazzled Bling ladies. Bailey’s artisans had been very kind to him and welcoming. They claimed they weren’t in any hurry for him to move because they loved having someone to fuss over.

“Ooh,” Kat said, diving for a cookie. “My fave. Plus, I might have forgotten to eat last night.”

“If I’d known you were free, I would have asked you to join the guys and me.” He didn’t have to know what Tucker would have made of that since Flynn had never introduced any of his post-divorce dates to his friends.

“So, tell me again why are you quitting?”

She chewed a moment then took a gulp of coffee. “You mean besides what happened last night?”

“Yes.”

“When word gets around…and it will because this is a small, close-knit town and everyone knows the Zabrinskis, people will judge me. They’ll assume I came here with an agenda—probably involving money, and that I hid in plain sight, like a spy or something. I’m afraid what this will do to Brady. Kids can be so mean.”

Flynn saw the pain she tried to hide behind her calm mask. “You’re entitled to the truth, Katherine. I don’t see how anyone could blame you for wanting to know the identity of your biological father.”

“Thank you for that, but I could have handled this better. I felt so conflicted and a little ashamed.”

“Why?”

“Because my stepdad was a good man who loved my mother with all his heart and did the best he could to love and support me. I was angry with him for a long time because he helped Mom hide her symptoms for years. It’s what killed him. She was behind the wheel and made a wrong turn into traffic. He died instantly. I not only had to bury and mourn a man I cared a great deal for, I had my rose-colored glasses ripped off my face when I realized how bad Mom’s condition had become.”

“Alzheimer’s, right?”

She nodded. “She couldn’t live alone. I moved her in with us. Greg lasted about a year. Having a kid with issues was bad enough, but adding in a mother-in-law who couldn’t be trusted to walk outside alone…he just couldn’t take it.”

Flynn heard every tick of the clock as silence fell between them. He had little to add to the conversation since his father sounded a lot like this Greg guy. Self-absorbed. Dad only made time for his kids for a few weeks every summer.

Ryker remembered their father with worshipful fondness. Flynn? Not so much. He remembered the tension between his parents when summer ended and the four of them tried to reconnect as a family. He sure as hell wouldn’t wish that dysfunction on any kid of his.

“Are you thinking about going back to Texas?”

“Maybe.” She didn’t look enthused. “My renters have given notice. I either sell them my house or they’re moving out.”

She hugged herself as if chilled, but he didn’t think the temperature was the problem. “The house is too big for Brady and me. And filled with too many sad memories. I want to sell, but I’m afraid to let go.”

He knew the feeling all too well, but he had very little to offer in the way of help. He stood and pulled her into his arms. After a chaste kiss on the forehead—no use starting something he couldn’t finish, he said, “If you need someone to smooth things over with the Zabrinskis, maybe Ryker can help. I’ll see if he can meet me for lunch. Sound good?”

She gave him a quick, powerful hug. “Thanks. I feel more hopeful than I did yesterday.”

She picked up her purse and coat, which she’d draped across the counter. “I’ve gotta hurry if I’m going to take Brady to breakfast.” She rushed toward the back door. “See you at the office.”

Their
office. The one where he was boss and she was an employee. Something he’d conveniently overlooked last night. Had seeing the word:
resignation
been all he needed to undermine his moral rectitude?

“Shit. Maybe I’m more like my dad than I thought.”

The idea made the coffee in his stomach churn. He put their mugs in the dishwasher, grabbed his stuff and dashed to his truck. The sour taste in his mouth made him reach for a mint the moment he got the engine started.

When he reached the gym, he pushed himself harder than ever before. Pain and sweat helped clear the hangover of their passionate night together. He’d need to be on his game for whatever flack hit the fan today.

*

Kat ran to
her apartment and changed clothes before hurrying to the adjoining complex to meet Brady. Her son was far too observant not to notice that she was wearing the same outfit as yesterday, and she had no intention of trying to make up a believable excuse to explain it.

Robby’s mom, Marilee, answered the door in her pjs with her six-month old in the carrier strapped to her chest.

“Good morning. You survived! Was everything okay?”

“They were a little gabby, but once Brian got home, they settled down. I fell asleep nursing this one.”

The baby let out a loud yowl.

“Hurry up, boys. Brady, your mom is here.”

Brady exited a bedroom and walked toward her. Although the layout was similar to her place, the third bedroom shrank the size of the living room and kitchen. Toys and clutter made negotiating a path through the hallway a hazardous challenge. He didn’t look up until he reached her.

“Hi, baby. I missed you.” She gave him a quick hug—the only kind he tolerated. “Ready for breakfast?”

They’d agreed that she would take him for pancakes if he gave spending a night at his friend’s house a try. “Yes. Please.”

“Is Robby joining us?”

“He wants to ride the bus,” Brady said. “His girlfriend rides the bus.”

Girlfriend?
Kat wasn’t overly alarmed. Brady had explained months ago that having a girlfriend was a mostly one-sided concept that involved watching said girl from afar and eventually working up the nerve to say hi…usually through one of her friends.

“Okay, then. Let’s hustle. Marilee, thanks again! I’ll return the favor any time.”

“Sure. Bye, Brady.” Marilee smiled and closed the door.

“Did you have fun?”

Brady nodded, but he didn’t seem too talkative so she gave him time to wake up as they drove. Once they were seated across from each other at the Main Street Diner, she tried again. “So, what did you guys do last night?”

“We played Minecraft and ate pizza.”

Food and games. What more was there when you were ten?

As usual, they ordered silver-dollar pancakes, one juice and an extra glass. It was Brady’s turn to pick the variety of juice.

“Cranberry,” he told the waitress.

Her least favorite.

“So,” she said, stirring cream into her coffee. Normally, she drank it black, but this was her second cup and she already felt jittery. “What really went on last night?”

He frowned, probably trying to decide how much she knew and what level of deniability he could maintain. “It’s all over Facebook.”

“What is?”

“What I said to Mr. Zabrinski.”

“People are talking about it?”

“Somebody made a video.”

“No.” Her stomach turned over. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. But, at least, most of your friends are too young to be on Facebook. You have to be fifteen, remember?”

The look he gave her pretty much summed up what he thought of that hypothesis. No doubt the kids who wanted be on the social networking site found a way—either their parents facilitated the setup or they knew of some other roundabout.

“Somebody called you a gold digger. What’s that, Mom?”

“A person—usually a woman—who is trying to get money from someone else—usually a man. Because the Zabrinskis have money, people are questioning my motives.”

“But I told him, not you.”

“They probably assume I put you up to it.”

“That’s not true. GG told me. It was our secret. You weren’t supposed to know.”

“Why?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

A lie, but she let it go.

“Let’s not worry about any of that right now. Eat your pancakes.” She nudged the plate a little closer to him. “I’ll try to see the Zabrinskis at some point and explain what I know, which, despite what GG told you, isn’t all that much.”

She checked her watch. Brady could afford to be late, but she wanted to get to the office as early as possible to prepare for her meeting with the Sheriff.

“Are you quitting your job?”

They’d discussed her quitting so they could return to San Antonio as one option. She noticed an odd tremor in his voice. Normally, day-to-day stuff didn’t bother him that much. As long as his needs were met, the world could carry on without him.

“I don’t know, yet. Let’s both try to stay focused on the here and now, okay? Whatever happens, it’ll all work out for the best.”

Brady pushed his plate away—the bulk of his breakfast uneaten. “Can we go now?”

Did he want to get to his desk before the rest of the students so he could avoid the gossip and questions? She wondered if Chloe Zabrinski would be there, and what she’d have to say to Brady.

As she had since Brady’s first breath, Kat worried about her boy, but, intellectually, she knew he had to deal with the fallout from his impulsive action on his own. She couldn’t shelter him every minute of every day.

*