Montana Skies (You, Me and the Kids) (Harlequin Superromance, No 1395) (17 page)

“And that's a bad thing?”

“Of course, it is! Maura, you and Jake have helped me out when I needed it most, but North Star is the last place I think I'd be happy staying permanently.” She paused when Maura made a face. “What?”

Her cousin frowned. “Nothing, you just remind me of myself because I used to think that, too. When Seth was injured, I gave up my dream of cooking in a five-star restaurant to help out, and I
hated
it. But it was necessary. I couldn't expect Jake to go it alone, especially not after everything Seth had done for us in regard to Lexi when we were both still in school.”

“But what about that five-star restaurant? Seth's well and now he has Grace, and you're still here. What about
your
dreams?”

“That's just it. I'm here because I want to be here,” Maura insisted softly. “Dreams change. I'm cooking, but I'm also raising a family, and I feel very lucky to be able to do both. I've managed to find balance when it honestly wasn't something I was looking for. And I'm smart enough to appreciate the hand God played in
not
giving me what I thought I wanted.”

Rissa blinked at her, the words churning in her head. “What changed your mind? Was there something specific?”

Her cousin looked around them and Rissa followed her gaze, taking in the tall pines and trees newly green with spring, the rocks and grasses and early blooming
wildflowers, and absolutely breathtaking clear blue sky overhead. Each day here was different, changing, always beautiful. Ready to be explored. New skies for a new life? But how would she get up there from here?

“I can't think of any one thing. It simply became home. My priorities changed. Suddenly I couldn't see myself working for some demanding restaurant owner who liked to yell. Here I'm in charge of my kitchen, cook what I want and still get to play with my kids and be home with my husband. It's the best of both worlds.”

Rissa stilled, happy for her cousin, sad for herself. She wanted that, too. She wanted to regain Skylar's confidence. Have a home, more children. Play time free of hassle or work responsibilities. How would she have that in the future when beginning a new job was always a challenge? Her flight skills would be tested and debated simply because she was new to the crew and a woman to boot. She'd get all the unwanted hours, the least favorite flights, be the low pilot on the totem pole for the next how many years?

Her gaze locked on what looked to be a private jet flying low overhead, and more than anything she wanted to be up there. Whether she flew a helicopter or small airplane, it didn't matter. She needed the freedom to breathe that flying brought, and no matter the problems or hurt she'd feel when she left North Star—and Jonas and Carly—she couldn't get that freedom here. And she couldn't let herself forget it.

“Did I help?”

Rissa nodded, sad. “Finding balance in my life will be next to impossible.”

“No, Rissa—”

“Yes. Maura, it will be. I can't plop down anywhere
and fly. Which means I need to be willing to settle. And I have to remember what it's like when I
can't
fly so that I'm thankful to have a job when I find one. No matter where it is.”

 

S
KYLAR WALKED OUT
of the girls' locker room and stopped for a drink at the fountain. Her mom had to work at the diner this evening so Skylar had asked her if she could get a ride to the library. It meant her mom had to drive in early to pick her up since she didn't have detention, but her mom hadn't seemed to mind since it meant a few extra tips.

She knew her mom assumed she would be meeting up with Carly, but ever since Monday when Carly had chosen to eat lunch with the in-crowd, they hadn't spoken to each other. She didn't care though. Carly was the one who'd regret it because she would have to stand up for herself from now on after choosing them over her.

Sitting in the library alone beat sitting at the cabin all night, and this way she could make sure Jonas wasn't sniffing around her mom. She wasn't staying in Loserville any longer than she had to—especially now that Carly had gone to the dark side.

“So it's a bet? The first guy to bag five cherry freshmen gets coach's tickets to the playoffs?”

Skylar froze, unable to walk away from the conversation taking place inside the boys' locker room.

“I'm going to have those tickets in no time. Give up, losers, you're toast.”

She rolled her eyes. Travis. Of course.

“You've got a girlfriend, dude. You're out.”

A rough laugh followed. “That's fixable. And I'm
in
.” A loud slap echoed off the cement walls. “In more ways than one.”

Snickers filled the air at his crude comment. The
jerks.

“Okay, so here's the deal. All the virgin girls' names are in here. Everybody in picks five and those are the girls you go after. Nobody else's.”

“That takes all the fun out of it.”

“Those are the rules. Otherwise everybody'd go after the decent ones and leave the dogs alone. You want to win, you gotta get your girls.”

“Guess we know Mandy isn't in there.”

“Got that right.”

“Or freak-girl.”

Skylar rolled her eyes, disgusted by their talk, but unable to walk away because she knew this game had something to do with how nice the boys were being to Carly and a few of the other not-so-popular girls lately. Lunch had been…strange. More scenes like the one in the hallway Monday between Randy and Carly, the popular girls glaring at the jocks and exchanging angry whispers.

In that instant, she realized their bet was already in the planning stages, and they were trying to get the girls to like them, not knowing who they'd get when the names were drawn.

Low murmurs and shuffles bounced off the walls along with groans and more than one
“Yes!”

“Hey, Trav, who'd you get?”

Skylar waited, holding her breath.
No, no, no.

“Good ones, man. Makayla, Payton, Cheyenne, Dara and…
Car-leee
.”

“Ah, man, that girl changed overnight. Sweet!”

“Yeah, but she's so desperate she'd do anybody—even Trav.”

More snickers and name-calling.

Skylar got a better grip on her book bag and took a step forward, intending to go in swinging. Someone grabbed her arm and yanked her back. “The coach is right behind me,” Marcus told her. “Unless you want detention again for causing trouble and being in the boys' room, you'd best get out of here.”

She glared up into Marcus's knowing eyes and blinked back tears of fury, feeling like an idiot but unable to stop. “You know what they're doing.”

His mouth flattened into a line. “They're smart girls, they'll figure it out.”

Maybe.
But not until it was too late.
Guys didn't understand. It wasn't the same for them. Not at all. “You're in on it, too.”

“No, I'm not,” he argued. “I don't treat girls like that. It's a couple of the senior losers trying to go out with a bang because they know next year they'll be nothing in college.”

“And the rest?”

Marcus glanced behind him and Skylar looked as well, saw the coach talking to the principal, but walking backward toward them.

“Detention is worth bashing their heads in. I'm going to stop them.”

“They're bigger than you, and nobody will believe you when it's your word against all of theirs.” Marcus leaned lower, his blue eyes intense. “Think about it. You're hanging out here after all the girls are gone—”

“I'm waiting for my mom.”

“You've been in trouble already, and PC or not, your looks and attitude give a certain impression. You go in there and I won't be able to protect you, not from all of them. And
they'll
say you wanted something from them—not the other way around—and are making up
the story because you got caught trying to have a good time. If you want to do something, warn the girls.”

She hated that he made sense. “Maybe nobody will believe me, but if you went to the principal and said—” Skylar broke off, shaking her head when stupid tears got the best of her. She swallowed, having a hard time breathing because her chest felt so tight. “Forget it. God, guys are all the same. Every single one of you are horn-dog jerks who don't give a damn about anything but your dicks.”

Skylar yanked her arm away from him and headed toward the gymnasium door.

“Not all of us.”

She kept going, hating herself even more for wishing it were true.

 

T
HE NEXT DAY
Carly had called Skylar's house and not gotten an answer so she'd told her dad she needed to go to the library for one of the extra-credit projects. He'd okayed it and come to pick her up, but she knew it was because he wanted an excuse to go across the street and see Rissa. Her dad liked Rissa even if he wouldn't admit it.

Now she dropped into the library chair opposite Skylar, and hoped Skylar would talk to her instead of issuing her orders like she had yesterday when she'd told her the horrible lie about Travis. “Hi.”

“What do you want?”

She glanced around to make sure no one was nearby to overhear. “Um…I'm sorry about lunch the past couple days, okay? But if you knew how long I've waited to fit in, you'd understand how badly I want—”

“To screw your real friend over?”

Her stomach knotted at the look on Skylar's face, but she pressed on anyway. She had to. Nothing was going to blow her chance with Travis.

Not even Skylar.

She got up and reseated herself on the block table, closer to where Skylar sat. “Please try to understand. It's just… What you said about Travis and the others
isn't
true. It's
not
. I asked him about it and he said he broke up with Mandy because he
likes
me. You must've misunderstood or something. Travis said he's liked me for a while, but Mandy kept making such a big deal out of it that he had to say mean things to me to make her happy. After my makeover, he said she was really jealous. No wonder she's been so mean to me. She's horrible.”

“She's not the only one.” Skylar shoved her iPod aside and glared. “I can't believe you're taking his word over mine. He's a lying prick.”

“Don't call him that, he's
not!
” She looked down, wishing she knew the right thing to say to convince her. “Travis says you're just—”

“What? What did jerk-wad say?”

Carly straightened her shirt. “He says you're jealous because I'm pretty and—and getting attention now and because everybody's talking about me and not you.”

Skylar muttered a really foul word.

“He says you feel bad because you're being left out. But, Skylar, listen, we don't want you to feel bad and we—we came up with a way you can be involved, too.”

“I can't wait to hear this.”

Carly cleared her throat, and glanced around again. “Travis asked me to go to the dance, but my dad won't let me date. I—I need help getting out of the house to
meet Travis there, and we thought maybe you'd help us so you could be involved in things, you know?”

Skylar smirked. “So I'm your friend—and
Travis
's—if I get you out of the house without your dad finding out?”

“You're my friend either way, but I want to go. What's wrong with that?”

“What's wrong? You're supposed to be smart, that's what's wrong.” She shook her head. “It doesn't work both ways, Carly. You have to choose. Me or them. Either way, I won't help you.”

“Skylar.”

“Choose.”

Carly grabbed her books and stood. How could Skylar fail her now when she needed her most? Friends? She'd never been her friend. Not really. “If you
were
my friend then you'd help me,” she told her, her throat hurting because of the lump of tears burning inside it. “I choose
them,
how's that? You're leaving town soon anyway, right?” The words came out in a gasp. “When you're gone,
I'll
still be here. That means I have to have other friends besides you. Even my dad says so.”

Skylar didn't move, didn't blink. “Sounds like you've already got it figured out, and you don't need me.”

“You're right. Who needs a friend like you?” She turned to walk away. “I certainly don't.”

S
OMETHING WAS UP
. Rissa returned the phone back to its base and frowned. She'd been leaving the cabin for her shift at the diner when Skylar had called from a pay phone at school and asked if she could spend the night at Carly's house.

It was the first time her daughter had asked to stay with Carly, and the request came after a week of watching Skylar mope around the house. Rissa had immediately said yes to the request—so long as Skylar checked in and Jonas didn't mind. Skylar had called again a few hours later, but then no more. And now no one answered at his house.

Dread spread fast and Rissa told herself it was nothing. Jonas must have taken the girls to the movies again. That was all. But wouldn't he have driven to the diner to see her after dropping the girls off? He hadn't been around much this week, but he'd claimed it was due to being a man short at work. Now she wasn't so sure. Other than brief sightings of him at dinnertime when she couldn't stop to chat, he'd kept his distance, and she had to believe it was due to her reality check comment and her relief that they'd been interrupted by his watch alarm.

One of Jonas's deputies sat in the far corner of the
diner. Hesitating only briefly, Rissa grabbed the coffeepot and headed his way.

“Hey, Rissa, busy tonight?”

“Not too bad. You, um, wouldn't happen to know where Jo—the sheriff is tonight, would you?”

The gleam in the man's eyes said he'd caught her slip. “He was head deep in paperwork when I left the station a few minutes ago.”

“Oh. He's not off doing something with Carly tonight?”

“Not that I know of. Kevin's on vacation so we're both covering the hours.”

She braved a smile and topped off his cup, her hand shaking. O-kay, now she had her answer. But was she wrong to be so suspicious? A bad mother to think the worst?

Two seconds later Rissa shoved her guilty thoughts aside and asked Charlotte to cover for her while she made a few phone calls. By the time she was ready to make the last one, she really felt ill.

“It's Rissa,” she said the moment Jonas picked up.

“Hey, I was sitting here thinking about you. Listen, my deputy is supposed to be back to work tomorrow and I wondered if the girls might want to go to the movies again tomorrow night?” His voice lowered to a seductive pitch. “I'd like to talk about last weekend and…maybe we could have more time alone?”

Memories flooded her, but she shoved them aside. Once he heard the news, he wouldn't want her or Skylar around. “Jonas, did the girls ask you if Skylar could spend the night?”

He hesitated, and a squeak sounded as if he'd sat forward in his chair. “No, Carly said she was spending the night with Skylar and you were picking her up at the
house after school. Why? They change their mind? It's fine with me, but I won't be off for a while. Where are the girls now?”

“I—I don't know.”

“What?”

She quickly filled him in.

“Stay put. I'll be right there.”

Five minutes later Rissa hopped inside Jonas's cruiser and they headed west, turning down Schoolhouse Road once they reached the outskirts of town.

“The middle school entrance is on that side of the building,” she said, pointing. The structure was huge, the high school on one side, the middle school on the other, and shared a gymnasium and cafeteria between.

“There's a dance tonight. Some end-of-year thing the eighth graders get invited to. Carly asked about it a while back, but I told her she couldn't go.” He slid her a glance. “What about Skylar?”

“She didn't say anything about it.”

Tension filled the car. “Then Skylar must've—”

She groaned, shaking her head. “Jonas, you can't always assume Skylar's responsible! What if she's not?”

“My daughter has snuck out once in her life and that was to see yours,” he muttered darkly. “What are the odds she snuck out tonight because Skylar talked her into ignoring me and going to this thing?”

“Skylar never mentioned a dance. What if Carly talked
her
into going?”

They glared at each other before Jonas turned his attention back to the road, more accusations unspoken between them. He thought the worst of Skylar, assumed the worst, and probably always would.

Had she really thought it would be any different?

Inside the auditorium, speakers blared out a pounding rhythm that matched the sledgehammer now beating against the inside of her skull. She and Jonas wove their way through the multitude of teenagers, but saw no sign of either girl. Finally she spotted a too-young teacher sporting an employee badge and headed his way, Jonas behind her.

“Excuse me,” she shouted over the din, “have you seen Carly Taggert or Skylar Mathews? We need to speak with them.”

The teacher shook his head. “Haven't seen those two at all. Are you sure they're here? There's a party somewhere tonight. Heard some girls talking about it earlier.”

“Where?”

The teacher shrugged.

Knowing they'd get no more help from him, they moved quickly through the dancing teens again to no avail.

“Mr. Taggert! Hi.”

Rissa turned at the sound of an overly chipper voice to find Jonas already facing Mandy Blake. A group of girls surrounded her, the majority of whom Rissa assessed with a glance. Trouble with a capital T.

“Have you seen Caroline?” Jonas asked. “Or Skylar?”

Mandy shook her head, sliding Rissa a haughty glance. “Not here. They're probably at the party on the other side of town.”

“What party? Where?”

“One of the football players is having it. He lives somewhere near the Wash'n Go.” Mandy gave him a coy look. “I'm surprised she didn't tell you about it.”

Jonas's gaze narrowed. “Why didn't you go?”

A couple of the girls snickered. Mandy lifted her chin, and after shooting her friends a killing glare, she
focused on Jonas again. “Because I don't have an L on my forehead,” she stated with a tight, saccharine-sweet smile. “That's why.”

The girl obviously thought Jonas wouldn't understand what the phrase meant. Rissa laid a hand on Jonas's arm. She had to tug twice to get him moving, and glanced over her shoulder to see Mandy and her friends laughing. The girls were ecstatic that Carly and Skylar had obviously been caught in a lie, which didn't bode well for what they'd find when she and Jonas got to this party.

“She knows better than to sneak out. She knows better than to drink. When I get my hands on her—”

“Carly
might
have had the poor judgment to go to this party, but it doesn't mean she's done anything wrong otherwise.”

Jonas shoved the door open, hurrying Rissa outside.

She glanced at Jonas as they climbed back into the cruiser, and noted his worry and upset. He looked angry and she knew it was because he thought Skylar held such an influence over Carly.

“Jonas, Carly is her own person, she makes her own deci—”

“Who's the one always breaking the rules and getting in trouble? Do you really think Skylar isn't to blame?”

Mouth set, she slumped in the seat beside him. Maybe the truth couldn't be denied and her daughter was a bomb ready to explode. What was she thinking? Pushing for Skylar to be friends with Carly? Beginning a relationship with Jonas? She should've known better,
did
know better.

She was kidding herself believing that somehow, by some miracle, things with Jonas would work out. Her
daughter would always be a source of contention, always be the one behind that midnight phone call bringing disaster and, with it, blame.

“I never meant for this to happen, you know,” Rissa whispered. “I thought the girls could help each other. Carly was coming out of her shell and gaining confidence, and Skylar was calming down. You have to admit the changes were good. For a while.”

Jonas drove back down Schoolhouse Road, banging his palm on the steering wheel. “I saw the difference, Rissa. But it must've been too much, too soon. Skylar's still adjusting to being the new kid, trying to be cool. She probably thought since she's stayed out of trouble for a couple weeks and been on her best behavior, she could get them both out of the house and back home without either one of us finding out.”

“Maybe you're right.” A weak laugh left her. “What am I saying? Of course, you're right. Jonas…I'm sorry.”

He glanced at her, reached across the seat and took her hand to squeeze. “Me, too, Rissa. I'm sorry, too.”

They exchanged a long glance, and in that moment Rissa realized this was the end of them as well. She swallowed tightly, hoping he didn't notice the way her hand trembled. “It's been…good, Jonas. You've been a wonderful friend when I—I needed one.”

Jonas didn't comment. He turned down a road, then another, and made his way back onto Main Street where he sped toward the other side of the small town. Minutes later, near the Wash'n Go, he slowed and they both leaned forward on the bench seat, searching for any signs of a party.

“At least you were a step ahead of me,” he murmured
finally. “You checked up on the girls when it didn't occur to me that Carly would lie and—”

“Listen— Do you hear that?”

He pulled to a stop, letting the car idle while they took in their surroundings. The motel was on their right up ahead, its grounds dimly lit, but somewhere nearby something pulsed.

“Music. We're close.”

Jonas nodded and slowly drove down a darkened side street beside the motel.

“Is that— There in the parking lot behind the motel! It's them!”

He stopped in the shadows not far from where the girls stood, oblivious to the arrival of their parents because they screamed at each other with such intensity. A lanky teenaged boy leaned against a truck behind Skylar.

“Stay here and let me check this out.”

“Yeah, right.” Rissa opened her door and got out, hurrying toward the trio.

Jonas shook his head and sprinted around the front of the car after her, the girls' raised voices easily carrying. Jonas caught Rissa's arm and slowed her down.

Although furious at the girls and at himself and Rissa, he still had his head. And he wanted to know what had happened. Once they confronted the girls, both would shut down like they had that day at the library, and he was determined to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

“Hold it. Let's see if we can get a feel for what's going on before they clam up.”

Rissa's response was cut short by Skylar. “Oh, grow up, I told you about the stupid bet, but you wouldn't believe me! Now you're crying?”

“Travis said it wasn't true!”

“But it was, wasn't it? What'd he do? And why'd you leave the dance? I didn't think I'd find you in time!”

“This is all your fault! You
ruined
everything! My one chance and you ruined it!”

“I was trying to help you! God, why would you want your first time to be with a loser like him? Get real!”

Jonas sucked in a sharp breath, but the sound was drowned out by Rissa's gasp. He locked his legs when they threatened to cave and wondered where he'd gone wrong, anger and pain sliding through him so fast his head spun.

The teen behind Skylar shifted, suddenly aware of their presence. Their eyes met and Jonas recognized Ben Whitefeather's grandson. Marcus stiffened when he identified them, his eyes widening in alarm. He stepped forward, but Jonas waved the kid into silence, his glare daring the boy to speak. He wanted to hear it all, no matter how bad it was.

“Maybe it was true, but Travis was right about you, too! You're jealous of my new look and me eating lunch with them. You're mad because after my makeover I was popular and not sitting at the
loser
table with you!”

His daughter's shoulders shook with sobs and Jonas hardened his heart at the sight. Crying wasn't going to excuse what she'd done by sneaking out and lying and—

He couldn't think about the rest. Not now. If he did, he'd lose what little control he held over his anger.

“Are you
happy?
You got what you wanted,” Carly sobbed. “Travis called me names and—and hooked up with Makayla instead. I hate you! Do you hear me, I
hate
you! This is all your fault!”

Skylar remained dry-eyed, but Jonas saw her flinch from the bite of his daughter's words. Skylar's hands were fisted, her black lips drawn tight while Carly railed at her.

In that moment, Jonas realized what she'd done, realized Skylar wasn't to blame. Realized he owed Rissa and her daughter apologies that would not come easily nor would it make anything better at this point. Especially his and Rissa's relationship, such as it was. He'd screwed that up by doing exactly what Rissa feared, jumping to conclusions and making accusations against her daughter.

Jonas closed the distance between them, Rissa at his side. “That's enough.” Both girls whipped around to face them, both paled in shock.

“D-Dad?”

“What are you doing here?” Skylar asked cautiously.

“I think that's a question you two need to answer.” Jonas focused on Caroline. She stood before him in one of her new outfits, but instead of the short-sleeved button-down shirt looking modest as it had when she'd modeled it for him, she'd left the material open over a tight-fitting tank that revealed the top of a lacy bra. He'd seen the same look on the covers of magazines and now cursed that it was considered stylish.

It took a long moment for the shock of seeing him to wear off, but when it did, his daughter began crying harder. His gaze shifted to Skylar, but in an instant her expression closed off and became an unreadable mask. She wouldn't look at him or her mom, but she did glance at Marcus before swearing like a pro and stuffing her hands into the pockets of her black trench coat.