Echoes From The Past (Women of Character) (18 page)

He stared at the wet, bedraggled
woman plastered to him and all laughter stilled. Every part of her body was
making itself known to him as slender curves intimately pressed against him.
His body had felt tired earlier but now he felt revived and full of energy.

Looking at the sparkle in
Christie’s eyes, Garrett felt in that moment as if the world narrowed down to
soft brown eyes, milky skin with a faint scatter of freckles and full, red
lips. He couldn’t resist. He didn’t think. He lifted his head out of the mud
and kissed those red lips. Realizing what he’d done, he let his head drop back
to the ground. Christie’s eyes widened and a flush touched her now serious
face.

"Well, hell," Garrett
muttered, his glance fixed on her mouth. He had a notion to kiss her again and
lifted his head to do just that.

"Hell indeed, Garrett
McIntyre! What is all the noise about? My Lord, I thought I needed to call
emergency services."

Garrett shifted his focus. Ruth
stood on the outskirts of the muddy mess they’d made, a stern expression on her
face. Sam, beside her, was struggling to keep a straight face.

Just then Bo Peep appeared beside
Ruth and started her excited barking again. Christie looked at the dog and
said, "Hush!"

Garrett said, "Bo Peep,
that’s enough." With a small whine, the dog lay down and stared at him,
chin resting on her paws.

Garrett groaned. He would never
live down playing in the mud. Christie scrambled to get up, her knee
inadvertently catching him in the groin. Garrett groaned again.

"Sorry," she muttered,
low enough so only he could hear. She got to her feet, almost falling again as
her foot slipped in the slick mud.

Garrett got to his feet and helped
her right herself. He looked around. "Where’s Ally and Randy?" They’d
disappeared.

Ruth crossed her arms. "All I
see are you two playing in the mud."

"I think they made off for
the creek behind the barn," Sam muttered.

Garrett kept a straight face.
"Well, it’s time I got cleaned up. It’s been a long day and I think I need
a shower." He looked at Christie with mild inquiry, as if they weren’t
covered from hair to toe with drying mud. "What about you?"

"I’m going to do the
same," she said, struggling to keep a straight face.

Garrett flicked mud from his shirt
collar.

Ruth marched away, but not before
Garrett had seen the glint of laughter in her eyes.

Sam merely shook his head as he
headed in the direction of the barn.

A bit more soberly, Garrett began
to rewind the hose. That’s when he noticed several of his employees standing at
the edge of the yard and in the barn entryway.

Garrett threw Christie a quick
glance, but she was busy rewinding the other hose. Knowing the damage had been
done to his serious, hard-assed image, Garrett gave the hose in his hand a few
experimental squirts. "Anybody else?" he challenged the onlookers.
There were a few laughs, but no takers. After some good-natured ribbing
everyone wandered off to their cars.

He might have made a fool of
himself in front of his employees, but it had been worth it to see the laughter
on Christie’s face. For once, Garrett wished he had Randy’s easy manner with women.
He might have persuaded Christie to go down to the creek as Randy had done with
Ally. Who knows what might have developed from there.

Ruefully, he looked at the brown
streaks of mud on his clothes, then pulled his shirttails out of his pants and
yanked the material off his shoulders.

"You’ve got mud on your
neck," Christie said.

Garrett twisted around to find her
behind him. She reached out a slim hand and rubbed at a spot just above his
collarbone. The touch of her fingers against his skin was disturbing, warm.
After a moment he grabbed her fingers and held them still against his chest.
"It’s okay, I’m going to take a shower." He cleared his throat,
feeling as if her fingers were burning a hole in his chest. Her fingers moved
beneath his, gently stroking the hair on his chest. Garrett was very conscious
of the rise and fall of her breasts, the faint sound of her breathing. He
stared into her eyes and took a step closer.

Before he let rational thought
intrude, he bent down and lightly touched his tongue to her lips. Christie
closed her eyes and rested her other hand on his shoulder.

In the next instant she stepped
back. He saw her gaze shift and she stared behind him, then lifted her startled
gaze to his. "I have to get cleaned up." She turned and hurried
toward the barn.

Garrett knocked some of the caked
mud from his jeans. Reaching down, he gently caressed the dog’s golden head,
aware of the way his nerves jumped over the kiss he’d shared with Christie.
"Come on, Bo Peep."

When he turned toward the house,
he saw his daughter standing there. "Hey kiddo."

Hannah frowned at him and crossed
her arms. "I saw you and Christie." Garrett read the mixed emotions
on her face: Anger, sulkiness, perhaps fear. "You’re full of mud."

Garrett grinned, ignoring the first
part of her statement. "Yeah, I know. I can’t believe I forgot how much
fun it is to play in the mud."

Her eyes grew very wide. "But
-- but Daddy’s don’t play in mud."

Slowly, his heart rate came back
down to normal.

"Christie’s leaving soon,
isn’t she, Daddy? I think she should go back to her own place."

Garrett surmised now that out of
the house wasn’t far enough for Hannah. He lifted a brow as the storm signals
deepened in Hannah’s blue eyes and the tight, straight line of her mouth.

"Christie’s leaving when Kim
is ready to come back to work."

"She should leave now."
Hannah clenched her fists.

Garrett motioned Hannah over to
the chair he had earlier vacated in the back yard. "Hannah, come and sit
down with me a minute. We really need to talk."

Stubbornly, she shook her head and
crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"Hannah," he said
sternly, pointing to the chair.

Reluctantly, she thumped her
bottom down and slouched in the chair.

Garrett pulled a chair close to
hers and watched her intently, but she didn’t lift her head. "Why don’t
you like Christie?"

Hannah shrugged and started
playing with the webbing on the chair.

Garrett waited, feeling the mud
soak through his jeans and drip down into his boots. He shifted his feet and
stared at the water now puddling beneath him.

"Daddy, I’m hungry and Ruth
made my most favorite special dinner tonight." Hannah’s voice bordered on
a whine and she jutted her lower lip.

"Then you’d better give my
question some thought and answer it." She looked at him in surprise and
the corners of her mouth quivered, but Garrett knew he couldn’t give in.
"Ruth made cheesecake with strawberry sauce, too," he added. "So
tell me, has Christie been mean to you?"

"No."

"Did she make you eat that
terrible jelly roll she baked last week?" Garrett put his face down by her
soft pink cheek. "I know . . . when you sleep she goes in your room and
plays with your favorite dolls."

Hannah looked up, startled. She
began to laugh. "Daddy!"

"Well, I’m just trying to
figure out why you don’t like her."

"I don’t want her to be my
mommy!" she blurted, all laughter wiped from her face. She hunched her
shoulders again.

The breath stopped in his lungs.
Shit! Garrett put his hand on her shoulder but she twisted sideways and
clenched her small fists.

Garrett took several deep breaths,
trying to figure out the fears in Hannah’s head. Finally, he rubbed the back of
his neck. "No one will replace your mom," he said bluntly, "and
as sad as it makes us, it was time for her to go to heaven."

"No!" She shook her
head. "It wasn’t her time." Her voice went real low. "It wasn’t.
It was all my fault." The tears suddenly fell on her cheeks. "Daddy,
I made the car crash. It’s my fault Mommy died!"

Garrett felt such shock as he
stared at the torment on his daughter's face. The dark look in her eyes would
haunt him a long time. "No honey."

"I cried and cried because I
didn’t want to leave you and Mommy said she’d take me back home, but the car
crashed."

Garrett swallowed hard. "It
wasn’t your fault. Sometimes adults make mistakes." He spoke gently but
firmly, even though his guts were twisting up inside. "Why didn’t you tell
me this before? We could have talked about it."

"I’ve been real bad and I
always get into trouble, but not on purpose, Daddy. I thought if you knew, you
wouldn’t want me anymore. I’m not really your little girl."

Garrett knelt at his daughter’s
feet. "Let's get this straight. You are my girl and you always will be. I
will love you forever and ever, no matter what." Gently, he tilted her
chin. "No matter what," he added fiercely. "Do you
understand?"

Watching him intently, she slowly
nodded. Garrett touched a teardrop hanging on the end of her nose.

"As far as you not liking
Christie," he said firmly, "it really has nothing to do with being
disloyal to your mom’s memory. Someday I may decide to get married, but it
won’t change how I love you." Garrett placed his palm over his heart.
"This old heart of mine is big enough for you and a few others. Do you
think I love Grandma and Randy?" he asked.

Wide-eyed, Hannah nodded.

"Well, I love Grandma and
Randy and you. That’s three people I have room to love."

"What about Ruth and Sam and
Bo Peep?" she demanded breathlessly.

Garrett began to smile. "Ruth
and Sam and Bo Peep, too."

"And all your horses, Daddy.
You love them too."

He squeezed her fingers gently.
"That’s right. I’ve got a pretty big heart. Even though I love all those
people and all the animals, I still love you."

Hannah squeezed his fingers
fiercely. "I love you too, Daddy, forever and ever and always."

"There’s one more thing you
should know, sweetheart." Garrett knew it was now or never. "The
reason Christie came here was to find your mom. You see, she’s not here to try
and take your mama’s place. Christie is your mom’s little sister. She’s your aunt."

Hannah took a moment to think that
over. "Are you sure, Daddy? They don’t look at all alike."

He nodded. "I’m sure. She
wanted to stay and get to know you. You see, she never knew about you until she
came here."

"Just like we didn’t know
about her." The wonderment in his daughter’s voice tightened Garrett’s
throat.

"That’s right. So I guess
it’s kind of like a gift, finding out you have an aunt."

"You’re pretty smart,
Daddy."

Garrett laughed, not having
expected that. "Let’s get going or Ruth will have our hides."

"I never had an aunt before,
huh, Daddy?"

"No, you haven’t."

Hannah jumped to her feet and then
ran up the back steps to the kitchen. At the door, she did a little dance and
then planted her feet. The warning look she threw him was very adult. "Are
you going to take your boots off?"

"I guess I’d better."

"You got mud on my pink shirt
too, Daddy. Do you think Ruth will yell at you?" she added with barely
suppressed glee. "This time you’re the one in trouble, not me."

"I might as well go inside
and get it over with."

Hannah held the screen door
partially open. As if they were co-conspirators, she peeked out at him and said
in a stage whisper, "Hurry, Daddy. Ruth’s not in the kitchen."

"Says who, little
missy?" demanded his housekeeper from somewhere beyond the kitchen.

Garrett looked at Hannah, hiding
his grin. "Busted," he said, not minding at all. For the first time,
he actually felt like he’d made some headway with his daughter.

###

"Randy, I don’t know why I
let you talk me into coming down here!" Ally stepped back from the narrow
creek and dabbed at her mud-crusted clothes. "It’s no use. I’m a
mess."

Randy grinned. "You came
because you find me irresistible."

"This shirt is ruined and I
don’t know how I’ll get these jeans clean." She was determined to ignore
the sizzle burning her stomach. She’d been crazy to come down here with him.
Crazy, but oh so tempted.

"I’ll buy you another
one."

Distractedly, Ally looked around
the sun-dappled woods. "I’d better get back. Everyone will wonder where we
are."

"Who cares?" Randy
lazily played with the strands of fiery red hair resting on her shoulder.
"Last time I knew we were both single."

Ally pushed wet hair off her
forehead. "I care," she muttered. The twinkle in Randy’s appealing
blue eyes was hard to ignore. "Damn you anyway. You really think you are
irresistible." It wasn’t fair that one man could be so attractive. "I
won’t be labeled one of Randy McIntyre’s women," she added tartly.

Randy clutched his chest
dramatically. "Ouch. You really lay it on the line. I thought you cared
about me."

"I do care about you, but
Randy, you’re the type who’ll be a major heartache in any girl’s life. I had
enough of that with my ex-husband. My next birthday I’ll be thirty three, seven
years older than you. I’m not looking for just a date anymore." She rolled
her eyes in good-natured exasperation at his puzzled frown. "Randy, we’re
nothing alike. I’m not into the party scene."

His eyes grew serious and intent
and Ally found it hard to look at him and not want him.

"I haven’t been into it for a
while either. Give me a chance, Ally. You might find we’ll have a great
time."

Ally swallowed the dryness in her
throat, her resolve weakening. She’d never seen him so serious. The Randy she
was used to always had a joke and a ready smile. "Randy, you’re a nice guy
-- but you collect women like trophies." Darn! Her argument sounded like
it was getting weaker.