A Family Kind of Guy (24 page)

“You'd see her at Christmas, in the summer and whenever else you wanted to. The way I see it, Dee Dee needs a home and some security,” he said.

“Oh, like she'd get that from you?” Terri laughed and rolled her eyes. “Don't forget you're a workaholic, Mason, and you're always zipping from one place to another. If there's a problem with the ranch, you're back in Montana or the spread in Wyoming. Now you think you'll settle down here.”

“I will.”

“Why?”

“Because it's time.”

She skewered him with her wide eyes and shook her head. She still looked young; that pixie quality had never left her despite the lines fanning from her eyes and creasing her forehead. “It's because of Bliss, isn't it?” she said, sadness heavy in her voice.

He didn't answer.

“I knew it. You never forgave me for lying to you about the baby, and you never got over her.” She shook her head and sighed. “Oh, Mason, we were such fools.” Opening a cupboard drawer, she withdrew a pack of cigarettes.

“I thought you quit.”

“I did. Again. But every time I'm around you, I need a cigarette to relax.” She lit up and blew a stream of smoke toward the ceiling. “I did love you, you know. A long time ago.”

“You had a funny way of showing it.”

“Yeah, well…” Sniffing loudly, she glanced into the living room. “We both made mistakes. I suppose you're getting married, right?”

“Don't know yet.”

“Then how can you talk about security? For God's sake, who's gonna take care of Dee Dee when you're off on business?”

“She'll go with me or I'll have a live-in nanny.”

“Or you'll marry Bliss Cawthorne.”

“We haven't discussed it yet.”

“You'd better talk it over with her old man, you know,” Terri said. “And then you'd better come clean with Bliss. There are things she still doesn't know about that whole mess ten years ago. Oh, hell—” she jabbed out her cigarette “—what do I care? Bob wants to get married and move up north, you know that, and, well, he's not crazy about kids.”

“Sounds like a great guy.”

“At least he loves me, Mason. That's more than you ever did. If you want to keep Dee Dee, okay, we'll try it out and—”

“No. We're not going to try it out. We're going to do it. No one changes his or her mind. I've already talked to my attorney and we'll make it legal. As I said, you'll see her whenever you like, but I'll have custody. And instead of the child support I've been paying you, you'll get a sizable lump sum.”

She lifted a curious eyebrow. “How sizable?”

He had her and he knew it. Good. He reached for his checkbook. “Name your price, Terri. What's it worth to you?”

* * *

Bliss scooted back the chair at her desk. So she and Mason had finally made love. She chewed on the edge of her lip and thought, as she had since returning from the ridge, about the only man she'd ever cared for—ever loved. “Oh, you're the worst kind of fool,” she told herself as she tossed down her pencil and ignored the plans for a remodel of a warehouse on the Seattle waterfront that had been sent to her and lay open on the desk in her father's den. Work, which usually interested her, held no appeal—not this morning when the sunlight was streaming off the mountains and sparkling in the dewy grass.

Last night she'd watched as Mason had returned, unsaddled and unbridled Lucifer. He hadn't so much as glanced at the house, where she'd stood at a window. Instead, he'd climbed into his truck and driven away, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She didn't believe that he'd used her, wouldn't even consider her father's protests that Mason was only getting close to her to get back at him. No, the attraction that she and Mason felt for each other was deep enough to cross time barriers, strong enough to dim the past with all its pain.

So here she was, contemplating loving a man she'd sworn to avoid.

Every time the phone had rung, she'd nearly jumped out of her skin, hoping that Mason had decided to call. Each time, she'd been disappointed. She hadn't heard a word from him all day, but then, she supposed, it was her turn to make a move in his direction. If that was what she wanted.

She heard a car in the drive and her heart did a quick little leap. Pulling the old curtains aside, she saw Katie's convertible approaching the house. Her hair was wild and free, her smile wide as she parked, and though Bliss was still thinking about Mason, she was glad for the distraction that her half sister was sure to bring.

A few seconds later, Katie was ringing the bell on the front porch and Bliss threw open the door. A wave of heat rolled inside. “Come in,” she said, before the younger woman had a chance to say a word.

“I just stopped by to let you know that John's being released, but Mom's insisting he stay with her in town. She wants him where she can keep her eye on him, and, really, I don't blame her.”

“Neither do I,” Bliss replied, still unsure exactly how she felt about this dynamo of a half sister but willing to give her benefit of the doubt. “Would you like something to drink or eat?”

“Yeah, a glass of water would be good. Then I've got to look under the hood. My car acts like it's about to give up the ghost and it hasn't even reached two hundred thousand miles yet.”

“Imagine that,” Bliss said drily.

She poured them each cups of water with ice, handed one to Katie, then followed the redhead outside, where her bug-splattered car was resting in the shade of a spruce tree. Above their heads fragrant needles rustled in the hot breeze, and from the safety of a high branch a squirrel scolded Oscar, who whined and barked and ran in circles at the base of the tree.

Katie popped the hood and while she bent over the engine, she talked. “Hold this a sec, would you?” She took a long swallow of water, then handed the cup back to Bliss. “You know, those brothers of mine would know exactly what's wrong, but where are they when you need them, huh? Around? No way. Probably somewhere raising hell. Oh.” She lifted her head and offered Bliss a knowing glance. “They're really not as much trouble as all that. Even the twins, with their reputations, aren't bad guys—just, well,
irreverent
would be a good word to describe them.” She turned back to the cooling engine, touched it delicately as the radiator gave out a warning hiss. “Too hot to do anything with right now,” she said, blowing her bangs out of her eyes and accepting her glass of water again.

“I decided to drop by and fill you in because I have a few minutes while Mom and Josh pick up John.” She scratched her head and frowned, her forehead puckering thoughtfully. “You know, I'd like to pretend that all this is okay and we could be one big happy family, that I was big enough to make nice-nice for Mom's sake, but the truth of the matter is, I'm not cool with everything that went on between them and though I want them both to be happy, I don't think I'll ever be able to call John ‘Dad.”'

“I don't blame you.” Bliss lifted a shoulder as if she didn't care, but she was glad that Katie was having the same kind of mental dilemma that she was. The situation was beyond complicated.

“Mom wanted me to tell you that while John's recuperating at her house, you can come over anytime.”

Bliss wasn't sure about that. She still had more than her share of reservations where her father and Brynnie were concerned. “How long will he be there?”

“Well, that's the problem, isn't it?” Katie said nervously, and Bliss suspected they were finally getting down to brass tacks—the real reason for her half sister's visit. “You know that Mom sold her portion of this place to Mason, though no money changed hands—the deal hasn't closed yet. Now Mason's willing to sell it back to her or John or whoever, which is good, I guess. But the thing is that she did it in the first place behind John's back. Mom should have talked it over with your dad first, I think. I mean, they're getting married and all, so why the secrets? If you ask me, when two people decide to tie the knot, they should be able to trust each other implicitly, be able to talk over everything. I mean
every
thing.” She picked at a sliver in the fence rail while Bliss felt sweat collect between her shoulder blades. “Call me a dreamer, but that's what marriage means to me.”

“I guess it means something different to everyone,” Bliss said, remembering her parents' union and knowing now that it was based on lies and deception. She took a long swallow from her glass. “Sometimes I wonder if this wedding is ever going to come off.” Her father and Brynnie's relationship seemed more tenuous as the days passed.
Oh, yeah? And what about your relationship, if that's what you'd call it, with Mason?

Katie took a final swallow of water, tossed the melting cubes onto the grass and handed her glass to Bliss. “Look, I've got to run soon. Josh'll be home in half an hour.” Her eyes darkened with a personal pain Bliss could only attribute to her son.

“You're worried about him.”

“Him and a lot of things. But, yeah, he's at the top of the list. Raising a kid—especially a boy his age—alone isn't exactly a piece of cake.”

“What about his father?”

Katie frowned. “Took off when I got pregnant. Haven't heard from him since. I decided I could raise my baby alone and I haven't really had to. Mom's always helped out.” She studied the horizon, but Bliss suspected she wasn't observing the mountains or lowering sun; instead, she was looking inward, to a private place only she could see. “I don't talk much about Josh's father. It's easier that way, although my curious son has been asking a lot of questions lately.” She lifted a shoulder. “What about you? No kids, I know, but why haven't you ever married? And don't tell me you never met the right kind of guy, 'cause I won't believe it. With your looks, money and connections, my guess is that men—most of them potential ‘right guys'—were flocking all over you.”

“Maybe the right guy turned out to be the wrong one.” Bliss eyed the cattle lumbering in the fields of the lower hills and tried not to let her thoughts turn toward Mason again. “Mom and Dad's marriage wasn't exactly picture-perfect, but then, you know that. Mom always wanted me to date—and I quote—‘a strong, moral man with social standing, not some riffraff or rough-and-tumble cowboy like I did.'”

“Oh.”

Bliss plucked a piece of dry grass from a clump near the fence post. “According to my mother, no one was good enough for me and I really wasn't interested.”

“Because of Mason,” Katie guessed shrewdly.

“What?”

“Hey, I've lived here all my life, heard the gossip, and it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. You got involved with Mason and John gave him the old heave-ho about the time of your riding accident up on the ridge. Your dad blamed Mason for what happened.” She glanced at Bliss, then continued. “Terri was pregnant, Mason married her, and you've never given your heart to another man, right?” Her green eyes were dark with unasked questions and Bliss found it increasingly impossible not to like Katie Kinkaid.

Pride inched Bliss's chin up a notch or two. She wanted to argue but thought better of it. Wasn't Katie reaching out, talking to her, being the sister she'd never had? “Something like that,” she admitted. There was more, a lot more, but some things were private and couldn't be shared, especially with a stranger who just happened to have turned out to be a half sister.

“Well, good.”

“Good?” Bliss couldn't believe her ears. For years, Margaret had paraded eligible suitors in front of her face, begging her to find someone to share her life with and get over whatever it was that had been eating at her—especially if it had to do with a certain cowboy John had told her about.

“Yeah. Good.” Katie tossed her hair away from her face. “Now you and Mason can get together. He's divorced, you've never married and the rest can become, as they say, history.”

“I think that's a little premature.”

“Ten years is a long time.”

Bliss bristled. “Listen, if anyone needs a man, it's you.”

Katie's small jaw became granite. “Believe me, Bliss, no one ever
needs
a man, but sometimes it's nice to have one around. I'm doing just fine on my own.”

“So am I.”

“Well, I wouldn't pass Mason up, if I were you. He loves his kid and is a good man. Last night we had Dee Dee over, you know.” She thought for a minute. “She's a good kid—a little on the quiet side—but then, I'm used to Josh, who's more than outgoing. But I'd only been around Dee Dee a couple of times before, but I liked her. She made sense. It's too bad her folks don't see eye to eye.”

“Mason's crazy about her.”

Katie's smile was wistful. “I know, and Terri doesn't realize what a godsend that is. There are so many fathers who are deadbeats or more interested in themselves than their kids.” She sighed, then shook off the wistfulness that had come over her. “Anyway, as I said, Mason's a catch, Bliss, and now that you're my sister, I guess I have the right to give you some advice. Don't make the same mistake twice.”

“I'll try not to,” Bliss replied, a little unnerved at Katie's boldness. Sure, they were related by blood, but that didn't give her half sister the right to try and run her life.

Katie dusted her palms together. “Time to tackle the car again.” She walked back to the worn-out convertible and stuck her head under the still-open hood. Perplexed, she wiggled a few wires, then unscrewed the caps on the battery. “What I wouldn't give to have taken auto mechanics in high school. Damn.” She replaced the caps and wiped her fingers on her jeans. With a sidelong glance at her half sister, she said, “So you're out here all alone for the next few nights.”