Connections of the Mind (11 page)

Allison put the shirt over her arm. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously.”

“I think we should go hiking. We can relax tonight.”

“Okay, let’s find some hiking boots.” She’d better believe they were going to relax tonight. Late tonight. If he had his way, it’d be the wee hours of the morning before they actually relaxed. He had some serious time to make up. He dropped her hand and put his arm around her waist, pulling her close, and kissed her. Just a whisper of a kiss, but again, she didn’t pull away. In fact, she snuggled against him. She was definitely sending him signals.

“Hey, look at this.” Allison picked up a statue of a hiking couple and turned the box over. “It’s a cake topper. Can you believe it? It has three different sayings on the flag, from just married to happy trails.”

Lester took it from her and read the box. “Everything you always wanted for the serious hiker.” He set it back on the counter, laughed, and picked up another box. “How about this? Do you play dominoes?”

“I did once a long time ago. I wasn’t very good at it. In fact, I’m not very good at any game.”

“Really? I bet I could teach you.”

Allison batted her lashes at him. “I bet you could teach me a lot of things.”

He let out a low chuckle. He bet she could teach him a few things, too. This conversation was getting way too hot for now. Already he had to hide his bulge from her. “Let’s check out the boots.” He changed the subject.

“Good idea. Rebecca probably thinks we got lost.”

Rebecca, hell, he’d forgotten all about her.

* * * *

Rebecca wandered through the huge store and looked at shoes. She tried one on and liked the way it lifted her to match the booted foot. At least she wouldn’t be limping. She took them to the cash register to pay and almost bumped into Lee Derrick.

She grabbed his arm to balance herself. “Oh, sorry. Seems I keep bumping into you.”

“You’re that girl I saw with the cop?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I almost knocked you over at the pizza shop the other day.” He grinned at her. “But this time it’s your fault.”

Rebecca laughed. “You’re right it is. Sorry.”

He let go of her arms. “Well gotta go. Maybe we’ll bump into each other again sometime.”

“Maybe.” He walked away, and Rebecca shook her head. Strange character. She paid for the shoes, took her receipt, looked around, and wondered where Lester and Allison were. She wandered through the store to the small café and decided to grab a cup of coffee. Lester and Allison sat at a table in the corner, looking like star-struck lovers. Looked mighty cozy. She almost hated to intrude, but it was time to go back to the hotel. Her foot throbbed, and her head still ached. She hated to do it, but she needed a pain pill.

* * * *

Lester dropped Rebecca off, and he and Allison went to their rooms to change. “I’ll meet in you in what—five, ten minutes?”

“Five should be enough. All I have to do is change out of these clothes.” Allison took the bag with her clothes and kissed Lester’s cheek. “See you in a few.” She unlocked her door and went inside before Lester had a chance to reply.

He almost suggested she change in his room but knew better. No way would they be going on a hike if he got her alone in a room. If Allison hadn’t said she wanted to go hiking, he wouldn’t think twice about it. Tonight was plenty of time to kick back and relax. Besides, tonight there wouldn’t be any interruptions. He couldn’t help but grin and hurried into his room to change.

It had been a long time since he’d worn a pair of jeans. He pulled them and the shirt out of the bag, tore off the tags, and put them on. He liked the feel of them. He’d become too stuffy over the years. Too serious. Why had he forgotten how to have fun? He used to love to hike. In fact, in high school and college, he belonged to a hiking club. But that all changed when his parents died.

Between raising Rebecca and school, it took enough of his time. Especially when Rebecca started to act out. He spent many hours discussing her behavior with the school counselors. Thankfully, she pulled herself together after only six weeks, when he was just about to send her to a psychologist at the counselor’s recommendation.

He had a feeling Allison had a lot to do with setting Rebecca straight. Allison and Mrs. Heath, that is. Rebecca needed a mother figure, and Allison’s mother filled the roll. He remembered meeting her once, to talk about Rebecca. They talked on the phone several times after that. But once Rebecca got her act together, they lost contact. It would be interesting meeting her again as her daughter’s boyfriend. He couldn’t recall ever meeting Allison’s father.

He chuckled to himself. Hopefully, Mr. Heath wasn’t as bad as he was with Rebecca’s beaus. Something told him, he’d better cut Rebecca and Jeremy some slack. They were adults after all. Rebecca was right; she wasn’t a teenager anymore. He didn’t need to protect her virtue.

* * * *

After Lester dropped Rebecca off, she went into her hotel room and took a pain pill. She wondered where Jeremy was. Hopefully, his news didn’t have anything to do with his mother. Maybe they caught the guy who tried to kill him. She turned on the T.V., leaned back on her bed, and closed her eyes. She was so tired all of a sudden. Heck, she hadn’t been up that long. Probably the pain pills were making her sleepy.

A persistent knocking woke her. Rebecca slid out of bed and rubbed her eyes. “Hold your horses, I’m coming.” Had to be Lester. No one else she knew knocked like that. Sure wish he’d learn some patience.

She opened the door and stared at Lester. On his left foot, he wore a blue air boot just like hers.

“What happened to you?”

Allison held Lester’s arm and had a silly smirk. “Your brother tripped over a branch.”

“It wasn’t a branch, it was a tree root.” Lester grinned back at Allison. “Broke my damn ankle.”

Rebecca stifled a giggle. At least he wasn’t angry. She couldn’t believe the change in him since this morning. Allison must be doing something right.

“So when did this happen?” They hadn’t been gone that long. At least it didn’t seem like that long. She looked at the clock on the nightstand. Five fifteen. She’d slept right through lunch.

Allison sat down on one of the chairs. “Would you believe about ten minutes after we got on the path? We’ve spent more time in the hospital.”

“No way.” Rebecca turned away and tried to stifle a chuckle.

“It’s not funny.” Lester plopped on the bed. “Not funny at all.”

Rebecca looked at him. Her brother was actually laughing. She glanced at Allison. “What’d you do to him? Give him happy pills?”

Allison beamed. “No. Why?”

“I’ve never seen him so happy. Especially when things don’t go his way.” If this had happened last week, he’d have been storming mad. But then last week, he wouldn’t have agreed to even go on a hike. Well, maybe he would have if Allison had suggested it.

Lester stood up and went to stand next to Allison. He leaned down and put his arm around her. “You can thank your friend for that.”

Oh brother, he had it bad, just the way he looked at Allison you could see love written all over his face. “So do you two feel like going to dinner? I’m starved. I skipped lunch.”

“What did you do all afternoon that you didn’t remember to eat?”

“Would you believe I slept?” Rebecca said. “Just let me brush my teeth and freshen up.”

“Slept? Are you kidding?” Allison asked.

“Nope, not kidding at all. Slept the whole afternoon away. I think it’s these pain pills. I’m going to quit taking them.” Rebecca headed for the bathroom. Another knock on the door stopped her from going further. She looked out the peephole. Jeremy! She pulled the door open, and he walked in, took her in his arms, and kissed her.

Rebecca pulled away. “We were just about to leave for dinner. Care to join us?”

Jeremy eyes showed he got the hint. “Sure.”

“Good. Be right back.” Rebecca hurried to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Jeremy walked into the room and nodded at Lester and Allison. Lester looked a little happier. At least he didn’t snarl at him this time.

“Hey,” Lester said, and held out his hand. “I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier. I’m sorry.”

Jeremy shook his hand. What a difference. Nice firm handshake. What got into him? “No problem.” He looked at Lester’s foot. “Talk about getting off on the wrong foot. What happened to you?”

Lester chuckled. “Would you believe I fell?”

“If you say so. Trying to keep up with your sister?” If he only knew the truth. Sometime soon he needed to have a serious conversation with Rebecca. She couldn’t stay here alone. Maybe she needed to go home with her brother. She could always come back later, when they caught the guy.

Rebecca came out of the bathroom. “Ready?”

“Lead the way,” Lester said. He took Allison’s hand and motioned for Jeremy to go in front of him.

Don’t know what changed this guy in the last couple of hours, but Lester sure as hell was more pleasant. Jeremy had wondered how he was going to win him over. After all, if he had his way, he and Rebecca were going to have a long relationship. A very long relationship.

Chapter Fifteen

The looks that passed between Lester and Allison told Rebecca they wanted to be alone. It didn’t come as much of a surprise when Lester said he and Allison were going to the show.

“Do you want to come along?” he asked, all the while looking at Allison.

It didn’t take rocket science to figure out he wanted her to say no. That left her and Jeremy alone, and she didn’t want to be alone with him. Not yet.

“No, thanks,” Jeremy said, just as she was about to say yes. “I need to talk to Rebecca about something. You go ahead and have a good time. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lester didn’t waste any time. He took Allison’s hand, and they took off across the parking lot as fast as he could hobble. Rebecca smiled. Her brother was probably afraid she might change her mind. Of course he knew her well enough—he’d probably seen the look of indecision on her face. Funny, earlier he didn’t want her to spend any time with Jeremy, now he threw her to the wolves.

“So what do you want to talk to me about?” Rebecca started walking. She didn’t want to go back to her room. Not with Jeremy, it was too dangerous. She knew she’d lose control and couldn’t chance it.

Jeremy took her arm, stopped, and looked down at her.

“Becca, I think you should go home with your brother.”

Becca, he called her Becca. No one had called her that since her mother died. She liked the way it sounded coming from him. Go home? Was he nuts? Rebecca turned in a circle and threw her hands up in the air. Maybe she had misjudged him. Maybe he didn’t want a relationship at all. She wouldn’t put out, so now he wanted her gone.

Rebecca held her breath. Nope, leaving was out of the question. Relationship or not, she liked it here and come hell or high-water, she was going to take that course. After that, well, there was plenty of time to decide what to do. She counted to ten before she answered.

“Why do you want me to leave?” May as well find out where she stood right now.

“Becca, I...” He ran his hand across her cheek. “I don’t want you to leave. Truthfully, I’d like you to stay here for a long time.” Jeremy looked around the parking lot.

“Look, can we talk about this inside?”

Rebecca shook her head. “It’s a beautiful evening for a walk.”

“Come on, let’s go.” He took her arm and led her to the hotel.

Rebecca pulled back. “I don’t want to go inside. Not to my room, I mean.”

“Afraid to be alone with me?”

“That’s not funny.” If he only knew. “Let’s get a cup of coffee or something.” She headed toward the restaurant. “So if you don’t want me to leave, why are you telling me to go?” Talk about confusing. All of a sudden, she couldn’t read him at all.

Goosebumps prickled on her arm. What the heck? Rebecca looked around. She swore someone was staring at her. Someone other than Jeremy. But no one was around. Not a soul. Odd. She shivered.

“Not cold are you?”

“Maybe we should go to my room.” All of a sudden, she didn’t want to be out in public. She wanted the privacy of her room. And she wanted Jeremy, bad, but that wasn’t going to happen. Right now, she wished for the comfort and safety of his arms, but even that might turn into something she wasn’t ready for. Rebecca followed Jeremy through the lobby and down the hall to her room.

She unlocked her door, threw the key card on the desk and sat in one of the chairs. Far away from him. They needed to talk, and it was best to keep her distance from him.

Jeremy picked up the key card. “Want a soda?” He wanted to take another look around. Without Rebecca. She had the same sensation of being watched as he did, he could tell the way she shivered, and the look of fear on her face. Damn it, it was too dangerous for her here. He hated this. The hurt look on her face when he told her to leave tore him apart. Hurting her wasn’t his intention, but it was the only way he knew to keep her safe. The only way to protect her was to send her home. For a minute, he thought about letting her think he didn’t care about her, but she deserved the truth. So sweet, so innocent. She had no idea the danger she was in. All because of him.