Jamie (16 page)

He bent low to look her in the eyes. His voice was firm, his expression inexorable. “I'm going.”

In a whisper, Faith begged, “No. ”

Both hands cupped her face. “I don't want you to worry about anything. I'm coming back, and you'll be fine here without me. I promise. I wouldn't leave you otherwise.”

“But I don't want to be here without you.”

“Do you know how to cook?”

He caught her off guard with that ridiculous question and, feeling insulted, Faith snapped, “Of course I do.”

“Then you can fix yourself some breakfast. And why don't you put on something for dinner? I'll be hungry by the time I return, and God knows, you're always hungry.”

Faith glared at him. “Ha-ha. Very funny.” But Jamie didn't take the bait. He squeezed her shoulders. “I have roasts and chops in the freezer. Canned vegetables on the shelf. Use whatever you need.”

Faith curled her hands into fists, resisting the urge to cry. She didn't want to be a burden to him, but the prospect of spending the day alone left her empty. She wanted to be with Jamie. She wanted him to
want
to be with her.

Jamie softened. “Why don't you take a nice long shower?”

“Yeah, that'll take, oh, ten minutes.”

“That's about as long as the hot water lasts anyway. Maybe you can try on the jeans Alyx brought you. Go through my clothes if you want and see if you can find anything else to wear. Make yourself at home, okay?”

None of this made sense. Why was he so determined to leave her? Keeping her tone as lacking in inflection as his, Faith inquired, “What's happened, Jamie? Why are you so different?”

His thumb moved over her cheek, and for one heart-stopping moment, Faith thought he'd kiss her.

“No.” He touched her mouth, and said in a whisper, “If I kissed you, I wouldn't want to stop.”

Faith started to speak, to tell him she wouldn't want him to stop either, but he shook his head.

“I need to get some things done.” With palpable reluctance, Jamie straightened away. “If you want to make a list, I'll pick up whatever you need. Just don't have me shopping all day.”

She had no idea what to say to him. She knew he'd go, even though she didn't want him to.

He took a sip of coffee, watching her over the rim. “When I get back, we'll talk about things.”

“What things?”

“Cory. Life. Men”—his eyes twinkled with mischief, confounding Faith, until he said—“and how women affect them.”

 

 

As Luna instructed, Scott walked to the back room of the old house, the room that had once served as Joe's bedroom before he and Luna had married. Adjacent to the kitchen, it made a perfect television room where the kids could relax with a snack. On the kitchen table sat a box of cold cereal, beside it, a little spilled milk. He stepped around the table to enter the other room, but paused when he heard Alyx's teasing voice.

“So Clay is getting frisky with you, huh?”

Sixteen-year-old Willow sounded hesitant as she replied. “Sort of. But . . . he always stops, ya know?”

Voice firm, Alyx said, “Of course he does, because he respects you.”

“He stops even when I don't ask him to.”

“Oh.” Alyx cleared her throat. “But ... you would ask him to, right? I mean, Willow, honey, you're too young to—”

“Please
don't lecture me like Joe does.”

There was a pause, then Alyx drawled, “God forbid I should sound like Big Brother.” She laughed. “Is Joe driving you crazy, then?”

“No. It's just that he's not very good at talking about kissing and boys and stuff. His advice is just
don't.
He says all teenage boys are wild animals and I should avoid them.”

Scott rolled his eyes. So Joe-the-stud-turned-parent was uncomfortable talking about sex with his new daughter? What a hoot. That ought to be good for a month's worth of insults.

Alyx sighed. “I remember. Do you know when I was your age, Joe would run off all the guys who liked me? It got so embarrassing that I decided to just run them off myself instead.”

Scott had never heard that before, but it explained a lot about Alyx. She had a tendency to bulldoze with no finesse, and it had damn near sent him packing. But Alyx was just so ... exciting. And big hearted. And so turn-him-inside-out sexy that he not only refused to walk away—he wanted to be with her forever. He wanted to know that she was his and his alone.

He wanted to marry the woman.

She, however, seemed more than happy just to share his bed, and perhaps, out of convenience, his house.

Alyx mused aloud, “Maybe that's why I haven't really gotten hooked on any guys, ya know? I'm too used to keeping things flirty and fun. As long as they don't get serious, I don't have to chase them away.”

Scott ground his teeth together, until he heard Willow ask, “Do you want to chase away Deputy Royal?”

“No.” Alyx's voice softened. “I meant other than Scott.”

A warm feeling of contentment cloaked Scott. Alyx might be averse to marriage, but at least he was special to her.

“That's how I feel about Clay.”

Peeking around the corner, Scott saw both Willow and Alyx on the floor, their chins propped on folded hands, their feet in the air. Empty cereal bowls sat in front of them. Willow wore a cute T-shirt and jeans, Alyx an enormous rumpled football jersey and loose gray shorts. They were both barefoot.

“Clay's a great guy. I like him.”

Willow rolled to her back with a groan. “I really,
really
like him. But I don't understand him.”

“Guys are tough to figure out.”

Scott did a double take. As far as he was concerned, Alyx had that backward. Guys were easy—it was women who remained a mystery.

“Sometimes,” Willow whispered, “we'll be kissing and stuff...” She peeked at Alyx, who nodded encouragement, then went on. “And suddenly Clay says he has to stop. Even when I still want to kiss him.”

“Ah. Has he told you why?”

“No.” Willow draped an arm over her eyes and gave another dramatic sigh. “He just shoves my head on his shoulder and hugs me real tight and tells me to be quiet. Isn't that rude? I mean, when he tells me that, I'm usually not even talking.”

Alyx smothered a grin. “I think Clay is a very honorable young man who cares about you and doesn't want to rush you.”

The way Alyx had rushed him? Scott thought with wry humor.

“So it doesn't matter what I want? Clay doesn't even ask me. And when I try to tell him that, he looks like he's in pain. It annoys me.
You
wouldn't let a guy tell you what you should or shouldn't do. And you wouldn't let a guy tell you to be quiet.”

“Sometimes I might.” Alyx's feet rocked in the air and, looking pensive, she drew circles in the carpet with a fingertip. “Under the right circumstances, you understand. If I knew he had good reasons.”

Lifting her arm away, Willow said, “But I've told Clay how much I like kissing him.”

“Kissing is great,” Alyx agreed. “But Clay's a little older than you, right?”

“A little.”

“He probably doesn't want to stop at just kissing, if you know what I mean.”

Willow gave her a long look. “Of course I know what you mean. I'm not dumb.” Lifting the chain from around her neck, she showed Alyx the class ring she wore. “We're going together.”

Leaning close, Alyx admired the ring. “I never got a ring from a guy.”

“Never? ”

“Nope.” She released the chain and let her long legs drop to the floor. “By the time Joe stopped ruining my dates, I dunno, I just decided I kind of preferred variety.”

Scowling again, Scott decided he'd find a way to put an end to Alyx's preferences.

Suddenly Willow sat up. “See, that's just it. I could talk about all this with Luna, but she's not like you.”

“Like me how?”

“You know. You're sort of wild and crazy and stuff. ”

Scott watched Alyx closely and saw her frown. “You think I'm wild and crazy?”

“And independent, too.”

“Yeah, well—”

“The thing is, I really do like Clay a lot.” Willow fidgeted with the chain, then burst out, “Do you think it's dumb for me to not be dating other guys? He asked me that once. If I wanted to, I mean.”

“What did you say?”

“I sort of panicked. I thought that maybe
he
wanted to date other girls. But he said no. He said he's not his dad and he cares about me and he hates the idea of me with anyone else, but that if I wanted to, he wouldn't stand in my way.”

Ducking back behind the wall, Scott nodded. He knew Clay well, and more than ever before, he respected the young man.

Willow made another female sound of frustration. “I felt so stupid. And Clay got really smug and grinned about it and he kept hugging me like he thought my reaction was cute or something.”

Sympathetic to Willow's plight, Alyx sneered,
“Cute,
” as if it were an insult.

“Exactly. I thought about smacking him.”

“Naw. Violence isn't the answer. Clay was probably just really happy to know you cared so much.”

“Maybe.” Willow heaved out a long breath. “But I can't imagine
you
doing that, panicking over the idea of Deputy Royal with someone else.”

Alyx said in the meanest voice Scott had ever heard from her, “I better not catch Scott with another woman.”

A shocked silence lingered for several seconds before Willow exclaimed, “You'd be
jealous?”

“What?” Alyx scoffed, laughed a little too hard, scoffed again. “Jealous? No. Where'd you get that idea? I just wouldn't like it, that's all. Scott's dating me. He doesn't need to date anyone else.”

No, he didn't, Scott thought with a grin. Alyx was about as much as any one man could handle. But if she held him to exclusivity, then he damn well had the right to do the same with her.

“You see?” Willow said with approval. “That's
exactly
how I feel about Clay.”

Alyx whispered, “How?”

And in the same whisper, Willow confessed, “I think I might be in love with him.”

Their voices lowered even more, and Alyx choked out, “You're in love with Clay?”

“Isn't that what you feel for Deputy Royal?”

Fearing what he might—or might not—hear, Scott decided he'd done enough eavesdropping for one day. He cleared his throat, then tapped on the doorframe. “Good morning, ladies.”

Two heads swiveled in his direction, both blank with surprise. Willow scrambled to her feet, her cheeks bright pink.

Alyx narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What are you doing here?”

“What kind of greeting is that?” But even as he spoke, Scott kept wondering how it would look to Willow if Alyx moved in with him. She was an impressionable young girl dealing with some serious issues. As a deputy, a leading citizen of Visitation, he had to set a good example, right?

Would Alyx buy that argument?

Scott cleared his throat again. “I told you I'd come by this morning. I thought you might want to have breakfast with me.”

“Oh, yeah,” Alyx said, rising from the floor and dusting herself off. “Sorry. I guess I got ... distracted. ”

No kidding. He felt pretty damn distracted right about now, too. “Luna told me you two lazy bums were back here watching morning cartoons, but she didn't tell me you'd already eaten.” He indicated the cereal bowls with a tilt of his head.

“You call that breakfast?” Alyx snorted. “That was just a morning snack.”

Willow glanced from Scott to Alyx and back again. “Joe's making a trip to town, Austin spent the night with a friend, and Luna said she had bills to pay.” She rolled one slim shoulder. “So Alyx and I were just gabbing.”

“Alyx excels at gabbing, so you picked the right gal.”

That brought a smile to Alyx's mouth. She sauntered toward him with a saucy sway to her hips. “Actually, I excel at everything I do.”

Unfair, to flirt with him in front of a kid. Scott kept his expression impassive as he stared down at her. “Is that right?”

Dancing her fingers up his chest, Alyx said, “I can be ready in fifteen minutes. Do you mind waiting?”

A little uneasy at the idea of being left alone with Willow after what he'd heard, Scott glanced at his watch. “Make it ten and you've got a deal.”

“Done.”

Alyx scooped up the cereal bowls and headed for the kitchen. In one minute flat she'd put everything away and wiped off the table. The second she left the kitchen, an uncomfortable lull fell between him and Willow. Damn, he felt awkward, when he never had before. But then, he'd never heard Willow having one of
those
talks before. And with Alyx no less.

“She's something else, isn't she?” Willow suddenly asked, and Scott jumped.

“What's that?”

Willow grinned. “Alyx. She's pretty cool, huh?”

Hot
was a better description, but Scott nodded. “In a unique, one-of-a-kind way, yeah.”

“I like her.”

“Me, too.” Hell, he more than liked her, and it made him nuts because he didn't know if Alyx felt the same.

Whenever he tried to nail her down on their future, she managed to throw him for a loop. Last night, on the heels of knowing she'd been to see Jamie—again—he'd thrown out the bait for a more permanent arrangement.