Almost Twilight (21 page)

Stupid?
Rafe took an impatient step toward his brother and threw his hands to his hips.

“If
it weren’t for your big mouth, I never would have said what I said about the
Banter House, and Candy would never have been the wiser.” 

Max walked
past Rafe and into the kitchen, grabbing his black Stetson and jamming it onto
his head.

“You’re
fooling yourself, Rafe,” he said, heading toward the front door. “Fooling
yourself big time. Even if you put the house aside, you just asked a girl to
marry you on the same day you said there wasn’t going to be a wedding. Ever!
What the hell is that about?”

Max
gave a snort of disapproval. “Hiding the truth was always something foreign to
you. Even when we were kids, you could never tell a lie. I was the one who
always got into trouble, not perfect little Rafe Clearbrook. What happened to
you?”

“I
became a doctor, that’s what happened.”

Max
stared at his brother and frowned. “No, Rafe. It’s more than that. You became
something else entirely. But that’s something you have to figure out for
yourself.”

They
stared at each other, the brittle silence mingling with the soft echo of waves
rolling against the beach.

Rafe’s
jaw stiffened. But deep down inside, a small voice began to wonder what had happened
to him too.

“I’m
going for a walk,” Max said coolly.

Silently,
Rafe watched him leave.

A
minute later Rafe marched across the room and sank onto the couch. He was weary
of arguing, weary of worrying, weary of everything. Tomorrow, he would think
things through and have another talk with Candy. Tomorrow, everything would be
settled, and she would forgive him.

Tomorrow.

His
stomach growled as he picked up the magazine Max had been reading.

Wondering
what he was going to do for dinner, he flipped through the pages and stopped on
the article that Max had dog-eared.
How to catch a woman
.

His
eyes widened as he read on.

But
when he got to the end of the article, he froze.

The
two most important facts when proposing...One, never forget the ring. And two,
above all, never lie.

Grimacing,
Rafe flung the magazine across the room. “For crying out loud. Where were you a
few minutes ago?” 

He
cast a hesitant glance upstairs and scowled.

Tomorrow
was a long way off.

Candy
stood frozen in the doorway of Tanner’s house while Fritz squeezed her in a
giant bear hug. She was tired, hungry and sad. Everything inside her was numb.

“Well,
dang it, gal, didn’t know you’d be coming home so soon. Where’s that tan of
yours? You look pale as a ghost.”

“I
had a little food poisoning.”

Fritz
didn’t let her finish. He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, acting as
excited as a kid at his birthday party.

“Food
poisoning will do that. Just come in here and we’ll get you some chicken soup
or maybe some of Hannah’s fresh gingerbread. The three of them went to the show
and won’t be back for a while.”

Eyes
narrowing, he looked over her shoulder and then back at her. “Where’s Rafe?” 

During
the entire flight to Colorado, Candy had rehearsed what she was going to tell
Fritz about his far-fetched matchmaking plans.

He
should never have put her in that uncomfortable situation at Rafe’s vacation
home.

It
was a nasty thing to do to her, and she needed to tell him to stay out of her
affairs once and for all. But when those hopeful eyes met hers, she lost her
nerve. He was a kind man and didn’t want to hurt anyone, not even his sons.

Choking
back the tears, she lifted her face and smiled. “Dr. Clearbrook decided to stay
for a few more days.”

Fritz
dropped his hands from her side. “Dr. Clearbrook?” he squeaked.

“Yeah,
Dr. Clearbrook,” came another voice from behind.

“Max!”
Fritz glared at his youngest. “What in tarnation are you doing here?” 

The
older man exchanged confusing glances between Candy and Max. After a second or
two, his face turned as red as a hot pepper.

“Gall
darn it! That wasn’t how the plan was supposed to go. You are a disgrace to the
Clearbrook name, Maximilian. You swiped your brother’s woman!”

Letting
out a sigh, Max took his black Stetson off his head and gently moved Candy
toward the stairs. “Why don’t you go upstairs and rest, sugar. I’ll straighten
all this out faster than a jackrabbit can hop a fence.”

There
was a bleak smile on Max’s lips as he gave her another push. Candy managed a
nod, feeling her cheeks burning with the memories of Rafe and her broken heart.

The
grandfather clock in the hall chimed five in the afternoon, reminding Candy of
Cinderella’s crucial slap back into reality, when her ball gown became a dress
of rags and her coach became a pumpkin again.

But
now it was Candy’s turn to face reality. Her prince had lied to her, and her
dreams had fallen into pieces like a smashed coconut.

“Jackrabbits?”
Fritz countered. “What in tarnation are you talking about? You’re crazy, boy.” 

He
pushed Max aside and stepped in front of Candy. “What this little filly needs
is some of Hannah’s gingerbread with lemon sauce. That cures anything, even
food poisoning.”

“How
about a broken heart, Dad. Does it cure that,” Max said icily. “Can it cure a
matchmaking plot that turned sour?”

Fritz
paled and stared at Candy.

Candy’s
throat throbbed with unshed tears. She wanted to tell Fritz that it wasn’t his
fault. He had tried because he loved his son. But it would have never worked
between her and Rafe.

She
tilted her gaze to meet Fritz’s eyes, but when she read the gloom and
disappointment on the older man’s face, tears spilled down her cheeks and a sob
escaped her. Without speaking, she grabbed her suitcase and ran up the stairs.

Max
slapped his Stetson against his leg. “I’ll be right here, sugar, if you need
me.”

“Need
you?” Fritz snapped back at Max. “If she needs anything, I’ll take care of her.
It looks like you and Rafe bungled the entire thing. Gall dang it, you can’t
even carry the gal’s suitcase for her. What kind of boys did I raise?”

Candy
closed her ears to their shouting and shut the door to the guestroom. She
didn’t want to cause trouble in the Clearbrook family. Rafe was a hero in
Jeremy’s eyes and Tanner’s. Max, on the other hand, wanted to kill Rafe.

She
was grateful to the big cowboy for a shoulder to cry on. If it weren’t for Max
and his insistence on jumping on a private jet owned by some oil tycoon friend,
she wouldn’t have been able to change her departure so quickly.

However,
she could no longer stay at the Clearbrook home here in Colorado. She would
have to move out of the house today. She knew they would try to talk her into
staying, but she needed some time before she faced Rafe again.

She
swallowed hard, staring at her clothes hanging in the closet. She would have to
leave now or she would never leave at all. She would send for her things later.

She
didn’t have to worry about money for a while. She wasn’t going to have her
yellow house on Main Street. She had her casino money, and she had her little
nest egg. She could room with one of the other nurses for a week until she
found a place of her own. But what did she care about money now? She could
spring for a hotel.

She
grabbed her suitcase and hurried downstairs, intending to sneak out the front
door. She could kick herself for forgetting her cell phone back in the islands.
But there was a corner drugstore a block from the house. From there, she could
use the telephone to call for a taxi. She didn’t dare try using the house phone
here.

“I
wasn’t going to have her crying for days until she had to leave,” Max shouted
from the kitchen.

Candy
didn’t know if she should run into the kitchen and stop the arguing between father
and son or head straight out the front door.

“Well,
you blew it big time, sonny boy. Candy was never supposed to be your gal!” 

“For
your information, she is not my gal and will never be my gal!”

Candy
brought her hands to her lips and smothered another sob. It was never supposed
to go this far. She didn’t want the whole world to know her problems. But most
of all, she didn’t want the Clearbrook family to be divided because of her.

“Then
you should have left her for Rafe,” Fritz ground out.

Candy
heard the thwack of a heavy stick against the kitchen floor and almost smiled. She
would miss Fritz and his crazy antics, but it was time for her to leave and
never come back.

“I
don’t think you’re getting the picture, Dad. Rafe blew it big time.”

There
was a deafening silence, then Fritz thwacked his mountain cane again. “What did
the big oaf do? Gall dang it anyway!” 

The
older man’s voice had loss some of its vigor, and Candy pictured Fritz folding
his body into the kitchen chair.

A
warm tear slipped down her cheek. Sweet, endearing Fritz. She would miss him.
She had grown to love the entire family. Even crazy Max.

Chewing
her bottom lip, she picked up her suitcase and ran out the door.

A
half hour later Max and Fritz jerked their heads toward the cursing coming from
the front hall. For a minute or two, they only heard the sound of heavy
footsteps on the stairs, and then came the fireworks.

“Where
is she?”

The
roar of Rafe’s voice made Fritz grab his walking stick.

The
older man’s eyes narrowed as he glared at Rafe charging into the kitchen. “We
thought all that noise was Tanner, Hannah and Jeremy coming home from the show.
But I guess we were wrong about that. We didn’t hear the rattle on your tail,
you slimy snake.”

Every
muscle in Rafe’s body stiffened at his father’s remark. He glanced pointedly
around the kitchen, then back to the two men. “Where is she? And don’t think to
hide her from me, because I’m not in the mood to hear your little speech.” 

Fritz
raised his eyebrows in disapproval. “So, you’ve come home to pick up the
pieces, have you?” 

Rafe’s
anger escalated at the challenging words. He had just about enough of his
father’s interference. “I’m not looking for an argument. I want to know where
she is. Now!”

Max
leaned back in his seat, lifted his booted feet onto a chair beside him, and
pursed his lips as if enjoying the little scene.

Rafe
glowered at him. “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to finish what you
started back in The Bahamas?”

“If
you’re talking about that sweet little nurse,” Max replied with a hint of
bridled anger, “she’s upstairs.”

“She’s
not in her room. I just looked up there.”

Max’s
boots came slamming to the floor. “What do you mean, she’s not in her room?”

Rafe
felt his heart stop. “You two blunder heads have no idea where she is, do you?”

“She
didn’t have a car,” Fritz said, frowning.

Rafe
felt his composure slipping. “When did you see her last?”

“About
half hour ago,” Max said. “She couldn’t have gone far.”

“Did
she use your phone?”

“There’s
no phone in her room,” Fritz said, his voice filled with worry. “She would have
had to come downstairs to use it, and she doesn’t have a cell phone. Max told
me she left it back in the islands. Maybe she hopped down to the corner drug
store.”

“I
have her cell phone. She left it in her room.” Grimacing, Rafe spun around and
ate up the floor to the front door. Max and Fritz followed.

“Hey,”
Max shouted as Rafe jumped into his Porsche. “How did you get here so fast?”

Rafe
revved the engine of his Porsche and stuck his head out the window. “I flew! I
certainly didn’t swim, you idiot!”

Fritz
let out a dramatic sigh as he watched Rafe’s red Porsche zoom down the street. “Gall
dang it. You think our Rafe is finally falling in love?”

“Falling
in love?” Max burst out with laughter. “He’s way past falling in love. He
is
in love.”

Fritz
turned his smile up a notch. “Dang it, Max. I told you all along that Rafe had
things under control. You just wouldn’t listen to me, would ya? He’s a Clearbrook,
ain’t he?”

 Max
shook his head and walked back inside. “He isn’t out of the woods yet. In fact,
that man is in more trouble than a horse stepping into a snake nest. ”

Fritz
spun around. “Well, tarnation, get your butt in gear. We have to go follow
them!”

Candy
dropped her suitcase onto the asphalt parking lot of Matt’s Drug Store, a mom
and pop business with an old fashion telephone booth near the street. The booth
was really a bus stop, typically used during inclement weather.