Black Flame (11 page)

But then Deneen paused, a pair of red and green argyle socks in hand. Cal’s girlfriend was going to be here tonight. And while it wasn’t a competition, of course, what if she had dressed up, and Deneen didn't? She wasn’t a girlfriend, of course, a fact that made her heart kind of squeeze a little, but it wouldn’t do to have Jimmy—not that she was holding out hope for any sort of relationship there, that steamy kiss was going to be as far as it went—she wasn’t about to have Jimmy seeing her looking anything less than her best when she served up the turkey she’d brined and rubbed and basted.

In fact…it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he got to see exactly what he was missing, would it?

Deneen stuffed the socks back into her suitcase and dug out the silky scarlet blouse and tight black skirt she’d packed just in case a dressy occasion arose. She found her sky-high patent pumps and patterned black stockings, and quickly changed, stuffing the clothes she was wearing under the bed. She could tidy up later; right now she needed to get out there and join the party before anyone could accuse her of hiding from the guests, as she had last year when a bevy of her slightly drunken relatives had grilled her about when she was finally going to get a real job.

Once dressed, Deneen dug into her cosmetic bag and did some hasty repairs in her hand mirror. No way was she risking making a dash for the bathroom, not when there was no telling who she might run into this time. She fluffed her hair upside down and sprayed it into a puffy cloud around her face, and to finish things off, she spritzed a bit of her favorite perfume between her breasts.

Then she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and flung open the door. She walked confidently down the hall before she could lose her nerve, paused at the living room, and smiled graciously. All eyes turned to her, and Deneen had just enough time to notice that every last one of them was wearing jeans before her stiletto heel caught on the ancient shag carpet.

She went
down
.

She put out her hands to try to break her fall, but there were two carpeted steps down to the sunken living room, and she landed hard on her knees and wrists. Worse, in the shocked silence of the assembled friends, the sound of ripping fabric could be heard—the skirt, which had been tight to begin with, had given way against the strain of the fall.

“Ow,” she mumbled, eyes downcast, afraid to get to her feet lest she flash everyone a view of her reindeer-patterned panties.

Jimmy was at her side in a flash. “Are you all right?” he demanded, kneeling in front of her. Something cold and wet bumped against her arm and she turned to see a large brown dog wagging its tail furiously, its pink snout inches away.

“Oh no,” a female voice scolded. “Angel, come!”

“I’m fine,” Deneen said, though she wasn’t actually sure. One of her wrists didn’t feel very good at all. She clutched it with her other hand and yelped.

“May I?” Cal said. “I’ve got first aid training.”

While he gently kneaded her hand and turned it this way and that, Deneen snuck looks at Zane and Roan. She needn’t have worried about Roan out-dressing her—the girl was wearing what looked like a man’s flannel T-shirt knotted over a lacy gray camisole, skin-tight jeans that were soft with wear, and clunky motorcycle boots with big silver zippers. Her mass of light brown curls was held back with a silver filigree clasp, but her only other jewelry was a pair of tiny silver hoop earrings, and she wore almost no makeup. And, of course, because today was clearly still not Deneen’s lucky day, she was incredibly gorgeous.

Not a competition
, the little voice reminded her. And really, Deneen didn’t ever begrudge other women attention. She wasn’t jealous of them, either—usually—unless they happened to be her much-too-perfect sister, or the mysterious woman who was inconveniently dating the studly Supergeek, who was currently glaring at her.

“I’m fine,” Deneen snapped at Jimmy. “So you can quit worrying and go back to your game.”

Oh, nice. Now she sounded like a real bitch. But the others didn’t understand—well, except maybe for Cal, who had caught Jimmy red-handed, cheating on his other woman—that she was between a rock and a hard place here. There was no place for a woman in Jimmy’s life, her sister wasn’t due back for two days, she didn’t have a job or money, and there weren’t any other men around to take her mind off her humiliation.

But wait. What about Zane?

Deneen looked more carefully at the man sitting at the end of the sofa, watching her with concern. He was clean-cut, with nice close-cropped brown hair and light gray eyes behind tortoiseshell glasses, and with his pressed button-down shirt and polished loafers, he was also the most nicely dressed among them. And, of course, now he thought she was either crazy or mean. And definitely clumsy.

“Hi,” she said, forcing a smile and a cheerful tone to go with it. “I’m sorry, I haven’t met you guys. I’m, um, Deneen. Jayne’s sister.”

“Nice to meet you,” Zane said.

“Oh wow, you’re so pretty,” Roan said. The dog, who had flopped down beside her, tilted her head as if in agreement. “You look just like Jayne except…
shinier
.”

Deneen felt her skin redden. “I think I overdressed,” she confessed. “Back home, everyone gets…I mean, Christmas is…my family…”

“I think you’ll live,” Cal said, rescuing her as she stumbled to find a way to explain. “Not even a sprain, though you might want to go easy on that hand for a day or two. You a lefty?”

“No, unfortunately.” Deneen said. Naturally, she’d fallen hard on her right hand.

“Gets you out of dish duty, anyway,” Zane said cheerfully. Everyone was smiling and being so nice to her. Except Jimmy, who was still kneeling a few feet away, frowning as though she was a huge cockroach. Abruptly, he got to his feet and stalked to the front door, grabbing his coat from the hook, and left without a word.

For a moment, there was silence. “Don’t mind him,” Cal said, getting to his feet. “Tell you what, if you take my place in the game, I’ll get dinner on the table. We’ve already figured out most of what you’ve prepared. You outdid yourself, all we had to do was heat it up.”

“And the table is gorgeous!” Roan added.

“Oh,” Deneen said in a small voice. “Thank you.” What she really wanted to do was run after Jimmy and find out how she’d offended him this time.

“You’re the dog,” Zane said lazily, and Deneen was momentarily confused until he handed her the dice. The little Scottie dog playing piece was sitting on the jail, “Just Visiting.” Ahead, all the maroon, gold, and red properties were covered with little green houses and red hotels.

“I don’t suppose any of those are mine?”

“Nope,” Cal said cheerfully, from the kitchen. “I’m not much of a land baron.”

“The stakes are high, though,” Zane said. “The winner gets out of chores through the new year.”

“The boys fight over the stupidest things,” Roan confided, rolling her eyes. “When Matthew’s gone, they’re practically helpless. He does the laundry, shopping, cooking—I wish he was
my
boyfriend instead of your sister’s.”

“I heard that!” Cal called from the kitchen, but the look he shared with his gypsy beauty of a girlfriend was so intimate, so full of love, that it actually hurt to watch.

Deneen drew a ragged breath. So what if half the people living at the ranch were disgustingly happy and in love, and she’d somehow managed to offend the man she had kissed just a few hours ago. She wasn’t the only lonely heart in town—although maybe Zane had a girlfriend stashed somewhere too.

Out of your control,
the inner voice scolded
. Focus on what you can change
. The voice was getting more annoying all the time.

She took a seat on the couch, clutching the hem of her skirt so as not to flash anyone. Then she closed her eyes, made a wish, and rolled.

“Double sixes!” Roan exclaimed. “Wow, that was lucky. You’re on Chance, and you totally managed to miss Zane’s entire evil empire.”

“Don’t get too complacent,” Zane said teasingly. “I’ll just get you the next time around.”

Deneen picked up a card, then groaned/laughed when she read it.

“Advance to GO, collect $200.”

By the time Jimmy returned fifteen minutes later, Deneen had had the best run of luck she could remember in any Monopoly game she’d ever played. Not only had she not landed on any of the high-rent properties, she’d picked up the few remaining titles and traded her way to a monopoly on the red squares. Even Angel, who was a very sweet dog, was lying at her feet staring at her adoringly.

“She’s a ringer,” Zane groaned as he landed on Kentucky.

“That’ll be eight hundred and seventy-five dollars,” Deneen said, studiously ignoring Jimmy.

Roan glanced back and forth between Jimmy and Deneen. “What have you got there?”

“For you,” Jimmy said abruptly, handing Deneen a lumpy lightweight object covered with duct tape.

“Um…thanks?” she said.

“It’s for your wrist.” Jimmy folded his arms and nodded at the thing. “I made it out of your sister’s old brace, but it’s got a pocket for an ice pack on the back, and also one for your phone, so you can tap on the screen without using two hands. In case you need to call your sister or something.”

“Wow,” Deneen said. She slipped the thing over her hand, opening the Velcro straps on the bottom. It fit perfectly, which wasn’t surprising since she and Jayne were the same size. The blue gel ice pack peeping from the duct tape pocket felt soothing on her aching wrist.

“Jayne injured herself replacing a hose on her truck a couple of months ago. She healed satisfactorily and is no longer required to wear a brace, so I assume she won’t mind you using it.”

“I’ll just add it to the long list of things I’ve borrowed from her and never given back,” Deneen said.

Jimmy blinked. “You can remove the duct tape when you no longer need it,” he suggested. “Then it would be suitable for its original use.”

“Kidding,” Zane stage-whispered. “I think she’s kidding, Jimmy. It’s okay.”

Jimmy looked from Zane to Deneen and back. His expression didn’t so much change as fracture. He mumbled something under his breath and strode back to the front door.

“Aw, hell,” Zane said. “I was just trying to help.”

“I’m sure you did,” Roan said, but she looked worried too.

“Um,” Deneen said. There was a question she very much wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure how to phrase it. “Jimmy sees the world a little differently than other people, doesn’t he?”

Cal, who had come to clear the plates from the family room, laughed. “You can say that again. He’s got so much information in his brain, sometimes there isn’t room for him to, um…”

“Sometimes he has trouble, er, interpreting…” Zane tried, then shrugged.

“He’s a sweet guy,” Roan said. To Deneen’s surprise, she reached over and patted her arm. “You guys are cute together.”

“Oh, we’re not together,” Deneen said, mortified.

“He’s very thoughtful,” Roan continued. “When Angel was recovering from hip surgery, he rigged a ramp so she could walk up into the house without help.”

“Hmm,” Deneen said, casting a look at the dog, who seemed to know she was being talked about. She had to admit that Angel was adorable, even if she generally preferred the kind of dog that fit into a purse. “I saw that he was really good with the kids this morning at the brunch. Does he help…all sorts of people?”

Zane and Cal laughed.

“You could say that,” Cal said.

“Lots of females seem to have trouble reaching things on high shelves when he’s around,” Zane added.

“Oh,” Deneen said, just as the front door opened again. Jimmy was back, scowling, his face red with exertion despite the snow in his hair. No doubt he’d gone out to run fifty miles or deadlift a truck or two.

“Hey folks, everything will be ready in five minutes, thanks to Deneen,” Cal said, setting the turkey in the center of the table. It looked amazing, golden brown and glistening, studded with rosemary and surrounded by glazed vegetables, and Deneen felt a little better. Maybe she didn’t have a man, but she could give Martha Stewart a run for her money any day.

“Deneen was about to kick our asses anyway,” Zane said, clearing the Monopoly board.

“I’m just going to run and change,” she said. She glanced at Jimmy, but he was busy adding wood to the fire.

She had put the sweater and jeans back on that she’d worn that morning, and was trying to comb some of the hairspray out of her hair, when there was a soft knock on the bedroom door. Her heart quickening, Deneen opened the door to find that it was Roan rather than Jimmy.

“I was wondering if I could borrow a—uh, a hairband,” Roan said.

“Sure, come on in,” Deneen said, wondering how her narrow tortoiseshell band was going to fare up against the mass of curls. She doubted that was the real reason for Roan’s visit.

Roan shut the door behind her and leaned on it. “That was dumb. I don’t need to borrow anything, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute without all the guys around.”

“Oh,” Deneen said. “Um…sure.”

“It’s just that I thought you should know…when Jimmy goes outside like that, he runs around the field. He does it whenever he gets anxious, when he doesn’t know how to respond to strong emotions. Like when his friend got injured at work. Or when Cal was having trouble getting on the force and it looked like he might not make it. It’s like, you know, he
cares
so much? But he doesn’t know how to express it.”

“I, er, I think I know what you mean,” Deneen said, thinking of how his face had looked after returning from the Tar Barn earlier. And what had set him off that time? Her, obviously.

“Deneen, I have to ask—did you really kiss him?”

“I—we—he started it!”

Roan laughed. “But you wanted him to, right?”

“I—I—”

“I don’t mean to put you on the spot. It’s just that I think he’s a lot better at emotional stuff than he gives himself credit for. He overthinks everything, when if he’d just go with his intuition…” She shrugged, smiling. “Anyway, that was all, I just wanted you to know he’s a good guy.”

Her hand was on the door when Deneen blurted out, “Wait. Please.”