“Since part of your argument for being here, was because you understood Wilhemina, what do you think her attitude toward Dallas would be?”
“I think she would like it. For a while anyway. Great shopping, the arts. In some ways, she would feel right at home. There's a lot of wealth in Dallas. But if she views this as her great adventure, and I think she does,” Katie said with a sigh, “she won't hang around here long. I think you're right when you said we're backtracking.”
“You lived in Texas for a while. Do you know anyone who lives here?”
Katie hesitated a half beat-too long. “Not anymore,” she said with an odd sadness in her voice.
“Where did you live?”
“In a little town in the middle of nowhere. It pretty much got blown off the map a few years ago when a tornado hit,” she said, clearly reluctant to discuss it. She pointed ahead. “Is that the Hyatt we're looking for?”
Michael nodded and parked the car in the parking garage. “I'll talk to the front desk—”
“I know,” she said. “You'll ask the questions. I'm just here for reference along the way and negotiations when we find Wilhemina.”
They walked to the lobby and Michael interviewed the crew at the front desk, the concierge, and the bellman. Several of the employees remembered Wilhemina, and the bellman had given her a few suggestions for places to visit.
Michael glanced around for Katie, but didn't see her. He strode toward the restaurant and caught sight of her Chatting with a woman in the gift shop at the same time she was flipping through a telephone directory and scratching down a number. Her gaze and finger hovered over a listing.
“Find something?” Michael asked.
Katie glanced up and immediately shut the directory. “Not much. I was just talking to Anna Lee. This is Michael Wingate.”
“Nice to meet you,” Anna Lee, a middle-aged woman with big hair, said, accepting his handshake. “Wilhemina was such a nice girl. I hope you're able to find your sister.”
Michael blinked, then remembered Katie had proclaimed him and Wilhemina brother and sister. “Thank you. Both of us are anxious to find her.”
“Anna Lee said Wilhemina bought some cookies from her and asked where to find cat food. Anna Lee also recommended a few rowdy bars in Fort Worth,” she said in a gently teasing tone.
Anna Lee giggled. “They're not too rowdy. Just fun.” She glanced at the phone directory. “Did you find your friend?”
Katie shrugged with so much discomfort he could feel it from five feet away. “Too many with the same last name. You know how that goes. Maybe next time. Thank you again for your help,” she said, and they left the tiny shop.
“We're going to have to kill some time before these bars open,” Michael ventured. “Are you sure there isn't someone you want to look up?”
“I'm sure,” she said, her mouth drawn in a-firm line.
“Okay. Did you write down the names of the bars?”
Katie nodded and passed him the sheet of paper. “Anna Lee recommended three.”
Michael scrutinized the list. “What's this fourth address?”
Katie's eyes widened and she tried to snatch the’ paper from him. “lt'S nothing—” She reached for it again, but he folded it in his hand. “It's nothing about Wilhemina. Just let me rip off the bottom of it.”
“If it's nothing, then why did you write it down?”
She shrugged as if she didn't care, but the way she gnawed her upper lip gave her away. “I don't care. Let's just go.”
His curiosity aroused, Michael walked toward the rental car with Katie quietly stewing beside him. He opened the car door for her.
“Thank you,” she murmured, not looking at him as she slid into the seat.
Michael got into the driver's seat and plugged an address into the complimentary global positioning system on the dash. Katie continued to look out her window, her silence filled with so much tension he wondered how she kept from exploding.
Navigating through the downtown streets of Dallas, he took a turn into an affluent neighborhood full of large homes with wrought-iron gates and circular drives.
Katie glanced at him suspiciously. “Where are we going?”
Taking another turn, he slowed as he rounded a curve and identified his target. “907 Hawthorn Avenue. The address you copied from the phone book,” he said, looking past the wrought-iron gate to the front door of a large, elegant home. He caught sight of a blond teenage girl scooping up a terrier and snuggling it just before she passed it to a woman in a black maid's uniform. Michael glanced at Katie and saw a look of hunger on her face.
She lowered the window, her gaze fastened on the teenager as the girl bounced into her red Miata convertible. “She looks so beautiful,” Katie murmured and a bittersweet smile lifted her lips. “And she always loved animals. I wonder how many pets he lets her keep”
“Who is she?”
She was silent so long he thought she might not answer, and Michael had learned that the only thing that made Katie talk when she didn't want to was mind-altering medication.
Her gaze clung to the sight of the teenager as she revved the engine, drove out of the driveway, and roared down the street. “My little sister,” she finally whispered.
“
When you have a terrible day, drink a margarita, eat chocolate and dance in the kitchen. Things will look better in the morning.
”
—S
UNNY
C
OLLINS'S WISDOM
I
n less than a moment, it was a hot summer day in a little county in the hill country. Katie was twelve years younger and everyone she knew called her Priss.
“
Can I take 'im with me, Priss?” Lori Jean asked as she gripped a brown dog of indeterminate breed under its front haunches, leaving the back legs dangling. Lori stretched her little-girl legs to make the big porch step just outside the front door of their mobile home. Lori Jean's father, oil baron Harlan Granger, stood beside his white Cadillac impatiently waiting to take custody of his daughter. Her mother refused to speak to the man. She was infuriated that Harlan was taking Lori away and had already hugged Lori good-bye.
Thirteen-year-old Priss was devastated Kneeling down, she looked into the tear-filled eyes of her seven-year-old sister and tried to be brave. Harlan Granger wanted nothing more than to purge his daughter of any memories of her life before he'd recognized her existence. Harlan held such contempt for her mother that Priss wouldn't be surprised if the man wanted to give Lori a blood transfusion and complete deprogramming. Priss always had a hard time understanding how her mother's boyfriends could want her bad enough to make a baby with her, yet hate her afterward. Priss knew there was no way he would allow Lori to bring a flea-infested mutt into his fine house in Dallas, but she tried to gently spin the truth for Lori. “I bet your daddy is going to let you have all kinds-of pets at your new house.
”
Lori glanced over her shoulder, her face pinched with fear. “He looks mean,” she whispered. “I don't want to go with him. Can't I stay with you?
”
Priss's heart hurt so much she could barely breathe. Her mother denied it, but Priss suspected this could very, well be the last time she saw her little sister with the lopsided pigtails. Priss pulled Lori into her arms. “I would love for you to stay, but you're going to a much nicer place. Harlan Granger is going, to take very, good care of you. You'll have new dresses and toys and friends. It's gonna be great.
”
“
But what about when I want to talk to you?
”
Priss felt the threat of tears and blinked them back. Crossing her fingers behind Lori's back for the lie she was about to tell, she pressed her lips into a smile. “We'll visit each other.” Hating the lie even though it was necessary, she pulled back and followed with a solemn vow. “If you ever need me, all you have to do is call me. Okay?
”
Lori bit her lip uncertainly. “Okay. Will you walk me to the car?
”
It was something her mother should have done, but her mother couldn't bear it because their middle sister, Delilah, had been taken away just the day before by her father, a Bible-thumping minister. Lori Jean had been told that Delilah's departure was temporary, but Priss knew better. This wasn't the first time Priss had covered for her mother, and deep inside she felt touched that Lori was so attached. Soon enough, Lori would forget her.
“
Sure,” Priss said, escorting her sister across the yard and trying not to feel small due to the disapproving gaze of Harlan Granger. She reached down to press a kiss on Lori's head.
Lori whipped around and buried her face against Priss. “I don't wanna go,” she wailed, bursting into tears.
Priss felt as if she were having her guts sliced out of her. She saw a glimmer of concern cross Harlan's face. “But what about the pony your daddy is going to get you?” she impulsively asked.
“
Pony?” Lori echoed, her head bopping up.
“
Pony?” Harlan said, jerking his head toward Priss.
Priss nodded and smiled. “Did you know that your daddy has enough money to get you a real pony?
”
Lori's eyes widened with excitement. “A real pony?
”
“
A real one, and he is gonna tell you all about it while he drives you to your new house.” Lifting her chin, she met Harlan's gaze with far more confidence than she felt. “Lori has always wanted a pony, and I think it's terrific that you 're going to get her one.
”
Harlan raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue.
Lori whipped around to look at him. “Is that true? Are you really going to get me a pony?” She hesitated, then took a deep breath. “Daddy?
”
Priss watched balls-of-steel Harlan Granger melt a little before her very eyes and felt the pressure in her heart unwind a notch.
“
Of course, I'm gonna get you a pony. But I wanted to wait for you so you could help pick it out,” he said and took Lori's little hand in his big palm and led her to the car. After he helped Lori to the car, he turned to Priss for a half beat and tipped his Stetson, A silent thank-you, but Priss knew his gratitude wouldn't extend to letting Lori come back to visit. This was good-bye.
“Your father is Harlan Granger?” Michael asked, interrupting Katie's reverie.
“No. Lori and I had the same mother,” she said, horrified to feel a tear stream down her cheek. Her defenses shot back in place and she rounded on him. “And don't even start making remarks about the fact that my mother was a slut because I've already heard them all. It may be true, but I don't want to hear it right now.”
Michael calmly met her gaze. “I didn't say anything about your mother.”
So he hadn't, she thought, wishing she didn't feel so out of control. She took a careful breath to calm herself.
“Do you want me to go after her?”
“Who?”
“Your sister. I can probably catch up. If you haven't seen her—”
“No,” she said, cutting him off along with the tempting possibility of seeing Lori again.
“Why not?”
She sighed in frustration. “I just—It's not—” She frowned. “This isn't a good time. You and I need to go on to Fort Worth.”
“How long has it been since you've seen her?”
“A while,” Katie reluctantly said.
“Translate
a while
into months,” he said, watching her carefully. “Or years.”
“Twelve years, but it's none of your business,” she quickly added. “Can we just please go?”
He gave a low whistle, shifted out of park, then made a U-turn in the middle of the road to head in the opposite direction. Katie resisted the urge to glance back one last time.
“Twelve years is a long time. You must be pretty pissed off,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “I'm not pissed off. The reason I didn't see my sister was due to a circumstance beyond my control.”
“It's not beyond your control now.”
Katie was still too busy dealing with a half-dozen different emotions to give Michael credit for being right The notion that he could be right just added another emotion to the crazy mix. “I realize that you frequently get paid to be nosey, but trust me, you won't get any money for being nosey about me. Don't bother with me. We both need to focus on finding Wilhemina.”
“It's always good to understand your partner's motivation,” he said, his voice getting under her skin.
“My motivation is the same as yours. I want the money. That's all you need to know.”
Michael fell silent and Katie exhaled in relief. No more grilling, thank goodness. Leaning back in her seat she took note of some of the changes that had taken place since she'd left Texas. Dallas had already boomed, but the construction continued to sprawl. Fort Worth was expanding too, however Katie noticed a couple of guys on horseback on a back lot.
“Did I just see horses on a city road?” Michael asked.
She nodded with a faint smile. “Fort Worth is that way. It's determined to move forward at the same time it refuses to give up its roots. Rodeos and the arts.”
“Rodeos,” Michael echoed, meeting her gaze for a quick instant as he headed for downtown Fort Worth. “Cowboys, rodeos,” he said.
Katie made a face. “I don't think so.”
“Why not?”
“I don't think Wilhemina wants a showy, cowboy. She wants a cowboy that represents the western male mystique.”
“And what would that be?” he asked, his voice oozing cynical disbelief.
“Honor, strength, self-reliance.”
Great butt,
she heard her mother say and bit her tongue before she repeated it.
“She could probably find a willing cowboy toy at a rodeo.”
“That's not what she's looking for,” Katie said with complete confidence.
“What makes you so sure?”
“I know the fantasy. The cowboy part is just the trimming. She wants a man, not a boy.”
“That could depend on the guy's equipment.”
“Wilhemina's fantasy isn't really about sex,” Katie told him.
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”