gives nothing in return.” She knew that wasn’ t true, but her anger wasn’ t allowing her to reason. The red light on Joe’ s cell phone came on again. He had it on silent so Kim couldn’ t hear it, but Joe knew that T ravis had called him eight times since she’d arrived. He also knew he was going to have to deal with the young man or he’d show up at the door . And with the mood Kim was in now, she might throw an anvil at him. “Didn’t I hear that you were supposed to do something special this weekend?” Joe asked. Kim groaned. As angry as she was, it didn’ t dampen her artist’ s eye as she arranged the small machines on the shelves. She put them up with all the finesse that she used to display her jewelry . “Jocelyn—she’ s married to my cousin—wants me to go to some little town in Maryland to see if I can find out about some great-great-grandaunt of mine. Joce is doing genealogy charts, and this woman in Maryland had a kid but there’ s no father listed. This is back in 1890-something. I don’ t know how I’m supposed to do this. But anyway , Dave wanted to go with me and we were going to make it a minivacation. He was going to . . .” She waved her hand. If she continued talking, she’d start crying again. “I think I’d better cancel my reservation.” She couldn’ t help thinking about what might have been. What would she have done if Dave had asked her to marry him? She’d told T ravis she’d known all about the man, but she hadn’ t. Hearing that he’d pawned the ring he’d slick-talked Carla into “giving” him had made Kim feel sick. She’d not seen anything in Dave that made her think he was capable of such thievery . He’d always been so very nice—boring, but pleasant and likeable. His talks about her going national with her jewelry had always been presented in the most respectful way , saying that it was her decision, and he was only tossing out ideas. And she really had thought the name he’d suggested was just a crude joke. She’d only heard about Dave’ s company’ s failure the day before Jecca’ s wedding, the day before T ravis reappeared in her life. She’d seen that two of his vans were on their last legs, but he’d laughed and said he had too much work to do to order new ones. She’d had no reason to disbelieve him. But the day before the wedding, when everything was chaos and there were so many people around, Kim had overheard a woman saying she was glad Jecca hadn’ t used that “dreadful” Borman Catering. Kim had tried to get him for the wedding, but he’d been booked solid. Kim had asked the
woman why she didn’ t like Borman Catering and she’d been told the story of the switched ingredients. And she’d heard that people were canceling their future orders with him. At the time, Kim had been so busy helping Jecca that she hadn’ t thought about what that meant. When Kim looked back on it, she realized that she hadn’ t wanted to see that Dave’ s business was going under . And she didn’ t want to think about that in connection to how often he asked for the combination to her safe. Was Dave yet another man in her life who couldn’ t see past her success? Kim arranged a hand drill in its case as artistically as she could manage, then started putting up the boxes of bits. When Joe excused himself to make a call, Kim continued to work—and to think. Okay, so maybe it was true that she didn’ t know as much about Dave as she’d told T ravis she did, but did that give him the right to . . . to . . . take over? She thought of T ravis buying Borman Catering. Why? But she knew the answer. He paid all that money just to send Dave away . On the drive to Joe’s she’d called a client who lived in Dave’ s building and was told that he’d left with six suitcases and had told the landlord he wasn’ t coming back. “The landlord was furious,” the woman said. “Dave left so much junk behind and the landlord has to take care of it. But then some man called and said he’d come get everything. The whole building is talking about it. What do you know?” “Nothing,” Kim said and politely hung up. She’d told T ravis she hated the way he’d swooped in and taken over , but there was a part of her that was grateful that he’d saved her from Dave. Kim now wondered if she would have agreed to marry him. Had Jecca’ s wedding, her happiness, made Kim so envious that she would have said yes just to . . . ? She didn’ t want to think about what could have happened. Earlier, as Kim had pulled into Joe’ s parking lot, her cell buzzed. It was an e-mail from her brother and there was an attachment. Kim hesitated before opening it because she knew what it was going to be. But she also knew she needed to see the truth. She pushed the button and the first thing she saw was a photo of some drop-dead gor geous woman named Leslie. The caption read WEDDING BELLS FOR A MAXWELL ? The article told how the beautiful model had been going steady with the megarich son of Randall
Maxwell for months now . “ Travis—über rich, über beautiful—never dates anyone for longer than six weeks. But he and the luscious Leslie have been together for nearly a year now . Can we look forwar d to a wedding like the world has never befor e seen?” Kim couldn’ t stand to read the rest of the documents her brother had sent. That one was quite enough. When she got out of the car , Joe was standing in the doorway , and he opened his arms to her . If her dad had been home she would have gone to him, but Jecca’ s father was nearly as good. She’d cried hard for a while, then Joe had ordered in pizza and huge colas and enough cinnamon sticks to fatten half of Edilean. Kim had cried and eaten, then cried some more. “I don’t understand why he lied to me,” she said. “Borman or young T ravis?” Joe asked. “Travis,” Kim said. “Dave is . . . He’ s a real person, so of course he lies.” Joe raised his eyebrows but he didn’ t comment on that statement. In dealing with his children of opposite sexes he’d learned a hard fact. If Joey came to him with a problem, he was asking for help to find a solution. But if Jecca had a problem, she just wanted Joe to listen. No advice. Whereas Joe had been free in telling T ravis what he thought, Joe didn’ t dare of fer Kim so much as a suggestion. “He lied to me about everything. From day one, I was completely honest with him, but he told me nothing but lies.” Joe had to refrain from rolling his eyes. That’ s pretty much exactly what Travis had said about Kim. He’d said she’d concealed the fact that she had a boyfriend and had glossed over a story about a missing ring. But Joe made no comment. His cell light went on again and the ID said it was T ravis. At the ninth unanswered call, Joe excused himself and went outside. Minutes later , he was back—and Kim was still ranting. Joe wanted to help her but he didn’ t know how . He’d talked to T ravis and he was miserable. He said he just wanted to make sure Kim was all right. “She was so angry I was afraid for her to drive.” “I guess that means you followed her ,” Joe said. T ravis’s silence was answer enough. “What have you done about this weekend?” “Weekend?” T ravis asked, sounding as though he hadn’ t thought about it. “You mean Janes Creek?” “Don’t dance around me, boy! What have you done ?”
Cautiously , Travis told him of renting every room in the two inns in the little town. Joe gave a low whistle. “Did your dad teach you to take over everybody’ s life?” “I think it’ s more that I was born with it in me than that I learned it,” Travis said gloomily . Joe almost laughed but didn’ t. “I’ll get Kim to go to that town, but you have to take it from there. Think you can manage that?” “But Kim said she never wants to see me again,” T ravis said, his voice full of his despair . Joe snorted in exasperation. “And that’ s going to stop you? Haven’ t you ever had a woman tell you to get lost?” T o him it was a rhetorical question requiring no answer . Of course women had said that to T ravis, to all men. “No. Not actually ,” Travis said. “Never .” “What a world you live in!” Joe muttered, then said louder , “That’ s because Kim sees you and not the Maxwell name. T ry being yourself with her.” “But . . .” T ravis said, then trailed of f. “Will you see that she gets home all right?” “Of course,” Joe said and hung up. He took a de ep breath, spent a few minutes looking at the stars and wishing he was snuggled up with Lucy , then went back into the shop. He was going to have to say the sentences that women so loved to hear . Every male chromosome in him fought against it, but he had to say them. “Kimberly ,” he said when he got inside, “I think you need to do something good for yourself. T ake care of you . You should treat yourself to a weekend away . Get your nails done, buy yourself some new shoes.” Joe stood there looking at Kim and wondering if she’d fall for it. Jecca would know he was up to something, but would Kim? Instantly , some of the misery began to drain from Kim’ s face. “I think you’re right,” she said. “I’m not going to cancel my reservation. I’m going to Janes Creek and spend the whole weekend thinking about my jewelry and my ancestors. No men anywhere.” She went to Joe and kissed his cheek. “I understand why Jecca loves you so much.” She was smiling even though her eyes were still red. “Thanks for everything.”
She left by the front door and Joe sat down heavily in his big chair . When did he become the man who solved other people’ s love problems? He couldn’ t even solve his own. In the next moment he picked up his phone and punched the button to reach Lucy . “Where are you?” she asked. “I just got out of the tub and I have on my —” “Lucy,” he said firmly before he lost his nerve, “I think it’ s time you and I talked about your son. And your husband.” She hesitated. “All right,” she said softly . “I’ll be waiting for you.” Joe let out his breath, and the tension left his big body . “What were you saying about what you have on?” Kim did her best to sle ep that night, but too much was going around in her head. Her dreams were of Travis and in each one, he left. Just walked away as he’d done so many years before. She got up at two, started to get some milk, but then poured herself a shot of single malt. She tried to watch a movie but couldn’ t ke ep her mind on it. She told herself it was absurd to compare something a twelve-year -old boy did while hiding with his mother from an abusive father to the man he was now. And when it came down to it, T ravis had the right to not tell anyone his last name. She’d never been around anyone who had to deal with paparazzi, so who was she to judge? But no matter what her thoughts, or how rational she was, she still felt betrayed. When she’d come back from Mr . Layton’ s she’d seen that T ravis had moved out of the guesthouse. He’d locked the door and left the key on her kitchen countertop. She looked at the key but didn’ t touch it. T o touch it would make his leaving seem real. She took a shower , washed her hair , and told herself that everything was for the better . Travis had found out what a snake Dave was; Kim had found out that T ravis . . . She wasn’ t sure what she’d discovered about him. Finding out that he was the son of some rich, powerful man hadn’ t surprised her in the least.
At 4:00 A. M . she went back to bed and sl ept until eight. She felt better when she woke up and knew that the last thing she wanted to do was go to work. For one thing, she couldn’ t bear to see Carla. It was going to take a while before she could trust the woman again. Y esterday morning, Carla had confessed to what she’d done. In defending herself, she’d said that Dave had been so very persuasive as he talked about how much he loved Kim. And Carla had fallen for it. She’d taken the ring out of the display case and given it to him because he’d said he was going to present it to Kim on their weekend together . He’d elaborated on how there would be candlelight and he would be on one knee. Carla’ s sense of romance had overwhelmed her . It was Carla’ s date with Russell Pender gast Wednesday night that had made her rethink what she’d done. He’d leaned across the table and looked at her with his beautiful dark eyes and coaxed the truth out of her . Afterward, he’d been clear that he didn’ t think what she’d done was in the least romantic. In fact, he’d said that if she didn’ t want to go to prison, she had to tell Kim the truth. It had taken all her courage but Carla had told Kim the next morning. At the time, Kim had been angry but it’ s what she’d thought had happened—and why she hadn’ t pursued the matter . At no time did Kim think Dave was scheming to steal the ring. Like Carla, she believed the man’s hints of marriage and a future together . Her problem had been how she was going to answer Dave’ s proposal. T ravis had shown strong signs of jealousy about Dave, so maybe T ravis had plans for the two of them. Kim hadn’ t allowed herself to think of that. She’d reminded herself that Travis was as elusive as a nightingale, that he didn’ t stay anywhere too long. All that day she’d been nervous, and she’d k ept wondering where T ravis was and what he was doing. When there was no call from him at lunchtime, she wanted to go home early . Maybe T ravis was doing laps in the pool. But customers k ept her late, and as soon as she pulled into her driveway , Reede parked beside her . When she saw his face, she knew what was coming. He’d at last remembered where he’d seen T ravis—on a racecourse when Travis had nearly hit Reede and his donkey . As she walked to her front door , Kim thought about how she was going to defend T ravis. She would point out that Reede had been in the way , that
he shouldn’ t have been standing in the roadway . Kim was totally on Travis’s side. What she hadn’ t expected was that Reede couldn’ t care less about what had happened in Morocco. In fact, he admitted that the whole thing had been his fault. “That doesn’ t matter ,” Reede said, then proceeded to tell her the truth about T ravis. It didn’ t matter to Kim whether T ravis was rich or poor , but it did concern her that he’d not told her such fundamental information about himself. Why? Did he think she couldn’ t handle it? Did he think she was so provincial that she’d be overcome to find out he’d spent his life in a different circle than she had? Did he think the truth about himself would change what was between them? She had no answers to her questions. The scene with Reede had been bad enough, but then to walk into her kitchen and see T ravis and Carla’ s date standing there was almost more than she could bear . She could tell by T ravis’s face, white with shock—and she had to admit some pain from what he’d heard—that if she didn’ t get angry she would have died of embarrassment. She would just plain curl up into a ball and disappear . Somehow she’d managed to ke ep cool enough to tell T ravis what she thought of him. But when she began to remember how she’d told her brother that she wanted to spend days in bed with T ravis, her anger was taken over by the embarrassment. She knew that if those two men stayed, she’d dissolve into tears in front of them, so she told them to leave. But she couldn’ t bear to be alone, so she went to see Mr . Layton. Now the morning light was coming through her kitchen window and she was doing her best to be cheerful about her coming weekend. Alone. She tried to think of those old axioms about bowls of cherries and lemonade, but she couldn’ t seem to remember them. She’d already called Carla and told her she was to take care of the shop Friday and Saturday . There was another girl who could help, but Kim wouldn’ t be there. Carla hadn’ t argued or asked for overtime. Kim packed quickly and was on the road by 10:00 A. M . It was a four -hour drive to Janes Creek, and she used the time to try to think about her next series of jewelry designs. She needed something dif ferent, something a person didn’ t see every day .
She also needed to think about the task Joce had given her to do. Everything she was to research was based on a few sentences that Colin’ s wife, Gemma, had found in a letter written around the turn of the century . “Please tell me you’re not trying to find more relatives,” Kim said to Joce and Gemma the day they’d asked her to take on the project. They looked at her as though to say yes, that is exactly what they wanted, and why didn’ t she understand? Kim had to remind herself that neither of the women had grown up in Edilean surrounded by what seemed to be thousands of relatives. Joce and Gemma had come from small families where they didn’ t know their aunts and uncles, much less their fourth and fifth cousins. Between this lack and their shared love of history , the two women were fiendish at finding out everything about everyone—and as far back as they could go. “Why me?” Kim had asked when she’d been invited to Joce’ s house for lunch. She lived in the big old Edilean Manor, the place Kim had so hated as a child. Joce had done a lot with it, and it was beautiful now , but Kim wouldn’ t have taken the house if it were given to her . She much preferred her one-story newer house with its big windows, and floors that didn’ t creak with age. In answer to her question, Gemma had put her hand on her growing belly and Joce had glanced at all the toys around them. She had toddler twins. Kim grimaced. “If I get pregnant in the next two weeks can I get out of this?” “No!” Joce and Gemma said in unison. Joce had done everything. She’d made the reservation at the B&B in Janes Creek and she’d pr epared a portfolio with papers that told all that they knew about Clarissa Aldredge, the ancestor she was to search for information about. Gemma had written a veritable treatise of where Kim should look for the information they sought. Kim glanced at it, saw “cemeteries” at the top, and closed the folder . She didn’ t understand why those two women liked doing this. Kim had been almost grateful when Dave invited himself along. He didn’t seem interested in looking for dead ancestors, but at least he’d be someone to share meals with. When Carla started giggling and talking about the weekend and saying that she had put a ring in the safe before closing time, it didn’ t take much
for Kim to figure out what was going on. Just the weekend before, Dave had admired the ring and made a joke about it exactly fitting Kim. His eyes had said the rest of it. But that had all changed. Just a few days ago T ravis . . . Maxwell—she wasn’t used to the name—had shown up and turned Kim’ s life upside down. “But that’ s over now ,” she said as she pulled into the Sweet River B&B. It was 2:00 P. M . and the parking lot was full of cars bearing plates from the Northeast. She hadn’ t seen the town but had assumed it was about the size of Edilean. Maybe they were having some local event and that’ s why they were so full. She got her bag out of the back, put the portfolio under her arm, and went inside. It was an old house that had been converted into some semblance of a hotel. She could hear voices in the back but saw no one. She thought she should get her camera out and photograph the interior for Joce and Gemma, as she figured they’d like the place. There were carvings everywhere, where the ceiling joined the walls, on the stair posts, and on an enormous cabinet against the wall. She was sure there were people who would love the house, but to her it was dark and gloomy . “Just like me,” she said aloud, then turned at a sound. “You must be Miss Aldredge,” a young woman said. She was blonde and thin and pretty , and was looking at Kim as though she’d been waiting for her. “Yes, I’m Kim. I’m early , but is my room ready?” “Of course,” she said. “I mean it is now , but . . .” “But what?” “Nothing.” Kim got out her credit card but the girl wouldn’ t take it. “Everything has been taken care of,” she said. “Meals, extras, it’ s all been paid for in advance.” Luke, Kim thought. Her rich writer -cousin, Joce’ s husband, was footing the bill. “All right,” Kim said and did her best to smile but she couldn’ t quite make it. “You’re on the top floor ,” the girl said, then picked up Kim’ s bag and went up the stairs. The room was lovely . Large and airy and done in peach and green florals, with striped curtains at the tall windows. Had Kim been in a better mood,
she would have been more appreciative. Kim started to tip the girl but she refused and minutes later Kim was alone. She flopped down in a chair . Now what? she wondered. Unpack then go look at cemeteries? “What a fun life I lead,” she muttered. She knew she was indulging in self-pity . Every self-help book said she needed to look at the positive, not the negative. But at the moment all she could think was that she had lost two men in one day. Jewelry! she thought. Think about jewelry . But then she remembered the necklace she’d made for T ravis so long ago. He’d said he still had it. That thought made her realize that she’d never see him again. Why was it that when you asked a man to do something like stop driving so fast that he paid no attention to you? Y ou could tell him a hundred times and he’d still “forget.” But tell him one time to go away and never come back and he obeyed absolutely . No second chances. No reminders needed. Kim told herself to get a grip. The two men she’d lost weren’ t worth all this angst. Dave was . . . She didn’ t know how to describe him. In fact, she could hardly remember him. In less than a week, T ravis had taken over her mind. “But not my body ,” she said as she heaved herself up out of the chair . What she needed to do was to “bury herself in work,” that phrase she read so often in books. That was easy to do when you worked in an of fice. The other people, the noise, would distract a person. But Kim’ s job was creating. She did it alone, just her and a piece of clay or wax, or paper and pen. There were no other people to help put her mind on something other than what she’d lost. No boss telling her he wanted the r eport done now so she was forced to think of something else. Kim looked at the wall in front of her and saw three big white doors. She assumed one was a closet and one led to a bathroom, but what was the other one? “Lady or the tiger?” she murmured as she reached for the middle door and turned the knob. It was a door into an adjoining room that was just as big and beautiful as her room. Standing there, at the end of a four -poster bed, was T ravis. He had on a pair of sweatpants that hung down low on his hips, his beautiful
upper body nude. Muscles played under his golden skin, richly tanned and glowing with warmth. Kim stood there, frozen in place, staring at him. In some de ep recess inside her she still had a mind, could still think rationally . If Travis was here it meant he had again manipulated her and her life to suit himself. But those thoughts were at the bottom of a very de ep well. Right now all Kim could do was feel . Every molecule in her body was alive, vibrating, pulsating with her want, her need of this man. Travis didn’ t say a word, just turned toward her and opened his arms. Kim ran to him, her arms going around his neck, her mouth on his. His kiss was hungry , as ravenous as she was for him. His lips were on hers, hard, searching, first on her mouth, then her cheeks, her neck. Kim put her head back and let his hands and lips take what they wanted. Her clothes came of f. She didn’ t know how . She didn’ t feel buttons being undone, heard no fabric tearing. One minute she was dressed and the next she wasn’ t. She laughed as T ravis picked her up and flung her on the end of the bed. Covers and pillows billowed out around her and she laughed again. This wasn’t polite, respectful sex but pure, raw passion. Travis stood over her , looking down at her nude form for a moment, then he gave a grin that was so devilish, so wicked, that Kim fell back on the bed and opened her arms to him. He picked her up with one arm around her shoulders, the other entwined in her hair , and pulled her head back to give him access to her face. When he put his mouth on hers it was with all the passion he felt. His sweatpants fell to the floor and she wasn’ t surprised to feel that he had nothing on under them. Her hands went down his back over the hills and valleys of his muscles. She curved out over the firm set of his buttocks, then down his thighs. His mouth was on hers, his kiss de epening, becoming more ur gent with every second. Kim’s hands went to his thighs, then up to put them on the male center of him. He was rampant with desire for her , his maleness strong, hard, big. She felt her body melting with wanting him to take her . She felt like she’d been waiting for him for most of her life. When T ravis began kissing her neck, she leaned back, meaning to lie on the bed, to open herself to him.
But Travis didn’ t let her lie back. As though she weighed nothing at all, he picked her up with one arm, his other one pulling her legs around his waist. With perfect aim he set her down on his manhood. He slid in easily . “A perfect fit,” she murmured. “Did you ever doubt that we would be?” he said into her neck. He held her to him and she loved that her full weight was on him, that she was touching only him. His hands, his big, strong hands, were clasped onto her bottom and raised and lowered her . Kim let her head go back, let him move her slowly , de eply , the long strokes filling her as no man ever had before. When she thought she was about to explode, he fell with her onto the bed. He pulled her up toward the headboard, never breaking the contact between them, as his strokes became more ur gent, faster . Kim wanted to scream. She’d never before felt this intensity , this sensation that her mind, her body , her very soul was being touched by this man. When she came, she wrapped her legs around his waist so tight she thought she might cut him in half. But T ravis was feeling his own climax and his shudders went through both of them. He collapsed onto the bed beside her and pulled her close into his arms. Kim put her thigh over his, feeling the dampness of him. His body felt so strange but at the same time so familiar . He was the boy she knew so well, and the man she didn’ t know at all. “What do you want to know about me?” he asked softly , his fingers in her hair , his palm against her cheek. “What did you—?” she began, but cut herself of f. Did she really want to lie in his arms and talk about his father? Did she want to hear more about his isolated childhood? Or should she be one of those girls who demanded that a man tell her about his past sexual exploits? In other words, did she want to lie beside him and ask about the beautiful Leslie? “Kim,” he said, “I’ll tell you anything you want to know . I’ll confess how I rented out this whole place because I couldn’ t bear to think of you here with another man. How I got Borman to tell me what he was up to. How I —” Kim leaned over and kissed him, her breasts touching his chest. “Do you know anything about research?”
“I know everything about it,” he said solemnly . “When I want to know about something I call Penny and tell her to do it. She can research anything.” “Oh!” Kim said, rolling of f him and putting the back of her hand to her forehead. “How do I deal with someone so spoiled?” Travis turned on his side toward her and ran his hands over her breasts. “Penny is a necessity . She frees me so I can spend all my time masterminding my dad’ s evil operations.” Bending, he put his mouth on the pink tip of her breast. “Y ou are as pretty as wild roses in the morning. Pink and white against the mahogany of your hair . I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than you.” What he said, the way he said it, took her breath away . But at the same time there were images of another woman in her head. “That’ s not what my brother says about you and . . . and the others.” Her tone was light but she was serious. “Your brother? Y ou mean the guy who stands in the middle of a racecourse holding a terrified donkey?” The image made her laugh—and it made her brother sound too dumb to know anything. Travis began to nuzzle her neck. She could feel his whiskers on her skin; she could smell the maleness of him. Closing her eyes, she let her senses take over . “I love to hear you laugh,” he whispered as his lips traveled down her shoulder . “When we were children I knew I’d never seen anyone as happy as you.” His mouth went across her collarbone as his hand came up to her breasts. He lifted his head to look at her . “Your love of life, what I learned from you, has sustained me through the years.” She started to ask him why he hadn’ t contacted her when she was in college, but T ravis’s mouth descended on hers and she for got her question. His hands explored her body , running over her legs, between them. When he touched the soft center of her , she gasped. Gently , he caressed her and she closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sensation of him, to the pleasure of his touch. Slowly, he moved on top of her . The weight of him felt wonderful, reminding her of his maleness. He entered her slowly , filling her , and his strokes were long and de ep. He took his time as he watched her , smiling as he saw the pleasure on her face.
It was minutes before Kim’ s eyes opened and she looked at him in surprise. She could feel the waves in her beginning to rise higher and higher. She’d never felt this way before, never . . . “T ravis,” she whispered. “I’m here, baby ,” he said, then held her as he flipped onto his back, with her straddling him. His hands were on her hips. Kim grabbed his shoulders, her fingertips biting into him as she rose and lowered on him, their bodies coming together with the force of a tidal wave. When she felt herself building until she couldn’ t take any more, he pushed her down to the bed, her thighs around his hips, and came into her with a force to match hers. He fell against her , weak, sated—and loving. His arms held her to him as though he was afraid she’d disappear . For a moment she thought he’d fallen asle ep but when she moved her foot, he loosened his arm. “Am I hurting you?” “Far from it,” she said. Travis moved his upper body half of f her, put his head on his hand, and looked at her . “So what do you want to do?” “Ask you questions about your past girlfriends,” she said with a straight face. She was rewarded with a split second’ s look of terror before he smiled. “You’re going to punish me, aren’ t you?” “Yes,” she said as she reached up to touch his hair . Since the first night he’d appeared in the moonlight at Jecca’ s wedding, she’d wanted to touch him. “I’m going to make you regret lying to me.” “I didn’ t really lie.” “Isn’t there a law about evading being as bad as flat-out lying?” “What would I know about the law?” he said, his eyes twinkling. Turning, he put his hands behind his head and looked up at the canopy . When Kim started to move away he pulled her back. Her head exactly fit in the curve of his shoulder . Her hand ran over the light hair on his chest. “Did you look around this place?” he asked. She was so distracted by his skin that she didn’ t at first know what he meant. She lifted on one arm and looked at his chest. “What are all these scars from?” There were three on his ribs, one across the side of his stomach.
“Stunt work,” he said and didn’ t seem to be interested in saying any more. “This town.” “What about it?” He rolled over to look down at her . “Have you seen this little town?” She lifted a bit for him to kiss her and he did. “No,” she said at last. He lay back down beside her . When he said nothing else, she looked at him. “W as that a hint about something?” “Didn’t you come here for a reason? Other than to marry some lowlife loser, that is.” “I wouldn’ t have—” She wasn’ t going to let him bait her into an argument. “Good thing you bought him out for me, isn’ t it? Are you going to learn to cook so you can run your new catering company?” “I’m going to make Russell a gift of the whole business.” “For having only recently met, you two are certainly chummy ,” Kim said. “Seeing me miserable seems to delight him.” “Why were you unhappy?” she asked before she remembered. Travis looked at her . She narrowed her eyes at him. “If you try to make me feel sorry for you I’ll start asking you why you came to my art shows but didn’ t make yourself known.” For a moment T ravis looked af fronted, but then he gave a one-sided grin. “Sounds like we’re even. Y ou think there’ s any food in this room?” “If not, you can buy the hotel and use your own catering company . Set up a Maxwell Industries right here in Janes Creek.” Travis shook his head. “Y ou and my father are going to get along well. In fact, he might be a little afraid of you.” “Funny!” Kim said, but she was pleased by his words because he was saying that he was going to introduce her to his father . Maybe even his mother. Again. When T ravis rolled of f the bed and stood up, Kim put her hands behind her head and watched him. She had pulled the bedspread over her and it was nice—erotic even—to be covered but to see him in the nude. All those sports he did had given him a truly beautiful body , with muscles rippling under his skin. There were scars here and there, but they only added to the very male beauty of him.
“Do I pass?” T ravis asked, his voice husky as he looked down at her . “Yes,” she said as she smiled up at him. Smiling back, he pulled on his discarded sweatpants. He walked around, looking at things, then went into her room. He returned with the big portfolio Gemma had made for her . “What’s this?” “The real reason I’m here.” “Mind if I . . . ?” “Sure, look all you want. I haven’ t read any of it.” As Kim watched T ravis stretch out beside her and begin to read the paper, she thought how little she knew about him. On the other hand, maybe she knew everything about him. The man who had scars from doing dangerous stunts was the same boy who learned to ride a bike and an hour later was doing wheelies. The boy who sat in a tree and read about Alice and the Mad Hatter was this man who was giving his full attention to some historical documents. “Did you really not read these?” T ravis asked as he put the papers on his stomach and drew her to him. “I saw the word cemeteries and closed the file. What did I miss?” “Let’s see . . . Y ou want the facts presented as a fairy tale or as in a courtroom?” She was tempted by the courtroom idea. She’d like to see him talking to a jury. But then, he’d probably use his good looks to charm the jurors—and she wouldn’ t like to see that. “Fairy tale,” she said. “All right.” He was smiling. “Once upon a time, way back in 1893, a young woman from Edilean, V irginia, by the name of Clarissa Aldredge, wanted to spend the summer in Janes Creek, Maryland.” “Why?” Kim asked. “Why did she leave Edilean?” She knew her tone told something de eper than her words. Travis kissed her forehead. “I can’ t imagine why she’d leave a town where everyone knows everything about everyone else.” “Exc ept people’ s mothers,” Kim muttered. “Are you going to listen or throw barbs at me?” “Let me think on that,” she said. At T ravis’s look she told him to continue. “Where was I? Miss Clarissa Aldredge went to Janes Creek, Maryland, in the summer of 1893. No one knows why she went there but it’ s my guess
that she had friends in the little town and she wanted to spend the summer with them. Okay?” Kim nodded. “Whatever the reason she left, all that’ s known for sure is that when she returned to Edilean in S eptember of that year , she was pregnant. She wouldn’ t tell anyone about the father , so the townspeople—who are given to a bit of gossip now and then—assumed that he was married. Clarissa never corrected anyone no matter what they said. The big problem was that after Clarissa returned, she was dif ferent. Melancholic. D epressed.” “I would think so,” Kim said. “Unmarried and pregnant in 1893? It’ s a wonder she wasn’ t stoned.” “I think that happened in a much earlier time period. Anyway , it seems that poor Clarissa died a few hours after her son was born.” “Oh!” Kim said. “Joce and Gemma didn’ t tell me that part.” “Probably didn’ t want to upset you. On her deathbed Clarissa said to her brother Patrick, ‘Name him T ristan and pray that he’ll be a doctor like his father.’” Travis put the papers down and looked at Kim. “Aren’ t the Aldredge doctors today still named T ristan?” “That name is saved for the ones who inherit Aldredge House.” Her voice showed that her mind wasn’ t completely on what he was telling her . “Not your branch?” “No, which is why my brother is named Reede.” “So I remember ,” Travis said as he slid down in the bed beside her . “What’s wrong?” She couldn’ t tell him what was in her mind, that she and Clarissa had a lot in common. Everything was temporary between her and T ravis. He’d come to Edilean to help his mother and soon he’d be in volved in a big divorce case. He’d go back to being a lawyer , back to his glamorous life in New York. Kim and boring little Edilean would be just a memory . Years from now , would he smile when he thought of her? She tried to put those images out of her mind. They were together now and that’ s what mattered. She gave her attention back to him. “I’m fine,” she said. “Go on with the story.” “It seems to me that if Clarissa admitted the father was a doctor and his name was T ristan, wouldn’ t that make it easy for your friends to find him through an online site?”
“Actually , they did,” Kim said. “They told me that they found a Dr . Tristan Janes—” “Like the town name.” “Yes.” She gave a sigh. “He died in 1893.” “I see,” T ravis said as he began to piece the story together . “Clarissa comes to Janes Creek to visit, falls for the local doctor , they tumble in the hay, but before they can get married she’ s pregnant and he dies. She returns to Edilean, has the baby , then . . .” “Joins him,” Kim said. “Let’s hope that’ s the way it works.” He paused. “If your friends know all this, why did they send you here?” “Joce and Gemma are newcomers.” Travis waited for her to explain that odd statement. “They weren’ t born in Edilean. They want me to see if this Dr . Tristan was married and if so, did he have any other children.” “Cousins,” T ravis said. “Is this about finding more relatives?” “’Fraid so,” Kim said. “If I do find any young descendants, Joce will probably adopt them and Gemma will want to research the whole family .” “And will you decorate them?” Kim groaned. “If I come up with some new ideas, yes. Since I met you, I haven’t had even one new design for jewelry come to me. In fact I can hardly remember what I do for a living.” Travis’s eyes were serious. “Kim, if you wanted to—” She wasn’ t certain what he was about to say , but she thought maybe he was going to speak of his ability to pay for things. She didn’ t want to hear it. She changed the subject. “So when do we talk to the natives and ask who’s old enough to remember 1893?” “If Dr. Tristan died here, we should look for a grave marker and photograph it. Maybe there’ s something on it, and maybe someone is buried near him. If he had a wife, she’d be there.” “Maybe we’ll be lucky and her name was Leslie.” Kim hadn’ t meant to say that—or anything like it. She wanted to be cool and sophisticated. Instead, she was sounding like someone from . . . well, from a small Southern town. “I’d better get dressed,” she said and started to get of f the bed. But Travis caught her arm. “I think I should tell you the truth.”
She k ept her back to him, the sheet covering her front. She felt as though her words had bared a lot more to him than just her body . “Your life is your own. I’m just in it for the . . .” She wanted to say “sex” but couldn’ t do it. With her other boyfriends she’d always managed to ke ep it light between them. One of them had said she made jokes about everything. But this was Travis. The day after he’d returned to town she’d sent an e-mail to her friend Jecca saying the man she’d been in love with since she was eight years old had come back to town. Lover or not, she couldn’ t make a joke about him and his beautiful girlfriend. When she didn’ t turn to look at him, T ravis dropped his hold on her . “It took me so long to get back to you because I had to find out about myself,” he said softly . “I was a rich man’ s son and I needed to know if I could support myself. I didn’ t want to be one of those trust fund guys who lives off his father . What kind of a man would I be if that’ s all I had to of fer you?” When Kim didn’ t move, he took a breath. “After I passed the New York bar, Dad of fered me a high-powered, highly paid job, but I turned him down. He was furious! He shut of f my trust fund, so I was on my own. He said I’d not make it and the truth was that I was afraid he was right.” Kim turned to look at him. “I wanted to get as far away from him as possible, so I bummed a ride with someone”—T ravis gave a half grin—“on a private jet to L. A. I stayed with a college buddy while I looked for work. I was so angry that when I heard of an opening for stunt work, it appealed to me. I got the job because I’m the same size as Ben Af fleck. I was shot twice for that man.” He smiled at her . “I succeeded and I proved that I was able to support myself. But I’d made it in the physical world by performing stunts. I was good at it, but I could see that my body wouldn’ t last, so I quit. And besides, it was no life for . . . for you.” “Me?” She blinked at him. “Of course for you. I told you that my life has always been about you.” “But . . .” She’d thought he was saying one of those things that all men do. She hadn’ t taken it literally . “So what did you do?” “My plan was to join a law firm. I was hired by a nice, conservative place in northern California. I thought I would work there for a year or so, then I’d return to Edilean to see you again. I wanted to know if there could be anything . . . adult between us. And if I had a year or two of legal work under my belt, maybe I could get work in or around Edilean.”
Kim caught her breath, but said nothing. “Everything was right on schedule until my mother stole millions out of one of my dad’ s accounts. He came to me in a rage and said he was going to kill her.” Kim gasped. “He didn’ t mean it literally , but I knew he’d make her so unhappy she’d wish she were dead. I knew exactly where she’d gone: the town where she and I had been the happiest.” “Edilean.” “Right. And knowing that, I knew my hope of seeing you again anytime soon was gone. I knew my dad. He’d have me followed and when he did, he’d find my mother .” “So you went to work for him.” “Yes.” “You didn’ t plan to stay with him forever , did you?” “I didn’ t think that far ahead. It seemed that one moment I was on my way to obtaining my lifelong dream—since I was twelve, anyway—and the next I was working eighty hour weeks for my father . I didn’ t have time to sle ep, much less think .” “But you had time to see shows of my jewelry ,” Kim couldn’ t help saying, and there was anger in her voice. “If I meant so much to you, why didn’t you say something to me? ‘Hi, Kim. Remember me?’ It could have been anything. I didn’ t know your last name and I searched for you for years. I—” Reaching out, T ravis pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair . “How could I come to you? Y ou were doing so well. Y ou were a rising star in the jewelry world. I had an Internet alert on you and it seemed that every day you achieved something new . While I . . . I was still my father ’s puppet. I needed to prove myself as a man.” “And in bed?” she said and more venom than she meant came out. “Yes,” he said. “I had to prove myself there too. It’ s one thing to have a girl teach you how to ride a bicycle but quite another for her to teach you what to do in bed. ‘Now wher e do I put this big thing?’” he said in a falsetto voice. Kim couldn’ t help laughing, then she pulled back and looked at him. “Did you break me up with any men besides Dave?” “No, but I k ept a close eye on them.”
“What does that mean?” Travis shrugged. “What did you do?” she demanded. “A few background checks, that’ s all. Nothing invasive. When I saw that they were much less successful than you, I relaxed. Y ou would scare the hell out of them.” “Thanks a lot,” she said. “Y ou make me sound like I wield a sword and ride bareback.” “I like the image.” His eyes were laughing. “You!” she began. “Y ou’ve put me through hell for years. I missed you and I couldn’ t find you and—” She broke of f when he kissed her . “I want to make it up to you.” He kissed her nose. “I want to spend years and years making it right between us.” For all that she liked what he was doing, she drew back to look at him. “What does that mean? Exactly .” “I love you and I want to marry you. If you’ll have me, that is.” Kim suddenly lost the power of speech. “But . . .” “But what?” “We hardly know each other . You’ve been back for a week and before that—” He kissed her again. “How about this? Y ou take as long as you want to get to know me, and every day I’ll ask you to marry me. When you feel that you know me well enough, say yes and we’ll go find a preacher . How’s that?” T urning, he put his feet on the floor . “I’m starving. What about you? Penny has an uncle who eats so much she said I wouldn’ t be able to af ford his bill. I’d like to see that, what about you?” “I, uh . . .” Kim’ s head was still reeling from what he’d just said to her . “Where will you live?” she managed to get out. T ravis was on his way to the bathroom. “With you if you’ll have me. I like your house, but I think you should move your workroom to Joe’ s place. Y ou want to take a shower with me? That way your garage will be free. I believe in taking care of automobiles. Are there any good mechanics in town?” As he disappeared behind the bathroom door , Kim sat there, staring. The sheet fell away but she didn’ t notice. Travis looked around the door . “If you ke ep sitting there like that, I’ll have to come back and make love to you again and I really am hungry .
Have mercy on me, will you?” He moved out of view but Kim still sat there. She wasn’ t at all sure of what she’d heard or what she was feeling. This weekend she’d expected a man she’d known for months to ask her to marry him. Instead, she’d just received a proposal from . . . From T ravis, she thought and smiled. She envisioned him on the bicycle as he flew down the hill of dirt. His face and clothes were filthy , his teeth were coated in grime—but she’d never seen anyone happier . That boy had just asked her to marry him! She heard the shower water . She took a few more seconds to blink, then she went running. “I like where my workroom is,” she said. “I don’ t have to get in a car to get there, so I can work late at night. Y ou can’ t—” She didn’ t say any more because T ravis’s long arm sw ept out and encircled her waist. The shower curtain was trapped between them. “I’ll drive you,” he said before he kissed her again. “I’m good at driving.” “Yeah, if you like roller coasters without brakes.” “And you do,” he said as he kissed her again. Oceanof PDF . com
Kim was sitting outside the B&B waiting for T ravis. Just as they were at last dressed—the shower had taken a very long time—his cell phone rang. “On this number it’ s either Penny or my mother or you,” he said as he dug the phone out of his trouser ’s pocket. “Penny ,” he said as he answered the call. Minutes later he told Kim that “an incompetent moron named Forester” was having a meltdown and needed some help. “Sorry ,” Travis said, “but this will take some time. He’ll destroy the entire deal if I don’ t walk him through it. Do you mind?” “Of course not,” Kim said. “I’ll wait for you outside.” As she left the room, she picked up her sketchbook. Maybe she’d have an idea or two for her designs. She doubted that she would, since all she could think about was what Travis had said to her . Had he really planned his entire life around her? Was that possible? But then, a part of Kim wondered if she’d done the same thing. Not consciously , as Travis seemed to have done, but unconsciously . Since she was a child and began sneaking into her brother ’s room where there was an Internet connection that wasn’ t ruled by her mother’s iron parental controls, Kim had been searching for him. Her quest to find T ravis had fluctuated with how her personal life was going. After a breakup with a boyfriend she had cried, eaten ice cream, and spent whole days on the Internet. Now she realized that she’d probably seen photos of the rich T ravis Maxwell, but she hadn’ t given them a second glance. She’d long ago figured out that T ravis and his mother had been running from an abusive father. No one ever thought of super rich young men as having been anything but pampered and spoiled. She’d k ept her searches of f the society pages.