The cat rubbed her fur against the window screen. When that didnt get enough attention, she stretched out her claws and sank them into the screen netting.
Hey! Get down. Charlie tapped her knuckles against the glass and the cat jumped down from the ledge. Lolly! Shadows hungry and my hands are full.
Lolly entered the room dressed in jeans, a pink T-shirt and the pink cowboy boots she loved so much. The boots had been a great find on one of their rare trips to the thrift shop in Bozeman, Montana. Ill get the bowl. She started for the back door.
Ill find you.
The message echoed in Charlies head and she dropped the strainer of blueberries into the sink and hurried toward her daughter. Wait, Lolly. Ill get the cat bowl. Tell you what, you grab a brush, and well braid your hair this morning.
Charlie waited until her daughter had left the kitchen, then she unlocked the dead bolt and glanced out at the fresh green landscape of early summer in the Rockies. The sun rose in the east and a few puffy clouds skittered across the sky. Snow still capped the higher peaks in stunning contrast to the lush greenery. How could anything be wrong on such a beautiful day?
A loud ringing made her jump and then grab for the telephone mounted on the wall beside her.
Hello, she said, her voice cracking, her body trembling from being startled.
Charlie, its me, Kevin.
Thank goodness. She laughed, the sound even shakier than her knees.
Any more trouble last night?
She shook her head and then remembered he couldnt see her. No. Im beginning to think Im paranoid.
Not at all. In fact, Im sending someone over to check things out. He should be there in a few minutes.
Oh. Okay. Thanks, Kevin.
The guy Im sending is one hundred percent trustworthy. Id only send the best to you and Lolly. He broke off suddenly. Sorry. I have an incoming call. Well talk later.
Thanks, Kevin. Feeling only slightly better, Charlie returned the phone to its charger and stepped out onto the porch.
Shadow rubbed against her legs and trotted to the empty bowl on the back porch steps.
Impatient, are we? Charlie walked out onto the porch, shaking off the feeling of being watched, calling herself all kinds of a fool for being so paranoid. She dropped to her haunches to rub the cat behind the ears.
Shadow nipped at her fingers, preferring food to fondling. Charlie smiled. Greedy thing. She bent to grab the dish. When she rose, she caught movement in the corner of her eyes and then there were jean-clad legs standing in front of her.
She gasped and backed up so fast, she forgot she was still squatting and fell on her bottom. A scream lodged in her throat and she couldnt get a sound to emerge.
The man looming over her was huge. He stood with his back to the sun, his face in the shadows, and he had hands big enough to snap her bones like twigs. He extended one of those hands.
Charlie slapped it away and crab-walked backward toward the door. Wh-who are you? What do you want? she whispered, her gaze darting to the left and the right, searching for anything she could use as a weapon.
Geez, Charlie, youd think youd remember me. He climbed the steps and, for the second time, reached for her hand. Before she could jerk hers away, he yanked her to her feet. A little harder than either of them expected.
Charlie slammed against a wall of muscle, the air knocked from her chest. Or had her lungs seized at his words? She knew that voice. Her pulse pounded against her eardrums, making it difficult for her to hear. Jon?
He brushed a strand of her hair from her face. Hey, Charlie, I didnt know you were my assignment. He chuckled, that low, sexy sound that made her knees melt like butter.
Her heart burst with joy. Hed come back. Then as quickly as her joy spread, anger and fear followed. She flattened her palms against his chest and pushed herself far enough way, Jon was forced to drop his hands from around her waist. What are you doing here? she demanded.
Im on assignment. He grinned. And it appears youre it.
She shook her head. I dont understand.
Kevin Garner sent me. The Navy loaned me to the Department of Homeland Security for a special task force. I thought it was going to be a boondoggle, and actually asked to be released from the assignment. But it looks like it wont be nearly as bad as Id anticipated.
Charlie straightened her shirt, her heartbeat hammering, her ears perked to the sound of little footsteps. You were right. Get Kevin to release you. Go back to the Navy. They need you more there.
Whoa. Wait a minute. I promised Kevin Id give it a week. Jon gripped her arms. Why the hurry to get rid of me? As I recall, we used to have chemistry.
She shrugged off his hand. That was a long time ago. A lot has changed since then. Please. Just go. I can handle the situation myself.
If youre in trouble, let me help.
No. God, why did he have to come back now? And why was it so hard to get rid of him? Hed certainly left without a care, never looking back or contacting her. Well, he could stay gone, for all she gave a damn. Im pretty sure I dont need you. Ask Kevin to assign you elsewhere.
Mommy, I found the brush. Lolly pushed through the back door, waving a purple-handled hairbrush. You can braid my hair now. Charlies daughter, with her clear blue eyes and fiery auburn hair tumbling down her back, stepped through the door and stopped. Her mouth dropped open and her head tilted way back as she stared up at the big man standing on her porch. Mommy? she whispered. Who is the big man?
Charlies heart tightened in her chest. If only her daughter knew. But she couldnt tell her and she couldnt tell Jon. Not after all these years. Not when hed be gone again as soon as he could get Kevin to release him. This is Mr. Caspar. He was just leaving. Thankfully, her daughter looked like a miniature replica of herself, but for the eyes. No one had guessed who the father was, except for her parents, and theyd been very discreet about the knowledge, never throwing it up in her face or giving her a hard time for sleeping with him without a wedding ring.
Jon dropped to his haunches and held out his hand. Would you like for me to brush your hair? I used to do it for your mother.
The memory of Jon brushing the hay and tangles out of her hair brought back a rush of memories Charlie would rather not have resurrected. Not now. Not when it had taken seven years to push those memories to the back of her mind. She had too much at stake.
Charlie laid a hand on her daughters shoulder. Mr. Caspar was leaving.
He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Sorry. I promised to stay for a week. I dont go back on my word.
No, he didnt. Hed told her he wasnt looking for a long-term relationship when hed last been in town. Hed lived up to his word then, leaving without once looking back. Well, youll have to keep your promise somewhere else besides my back porch.
Her daughter tugged on the hem of her T-shirt. Mommy, are you mad at the man?
With a sigh, Charlie shook her head. No, sweetie, Im not mad at him. Well, maybe a little angry that hed bothered to come back after seven years. Or more that hed waited seven years to return. Hell, she didnt know what to feel. Her emotions seemed to be out of control at the moment, bouncing between happiness at seeing him again and terror that he would discover her secret.