Angel in Disguise (10 page)

“Pete?” she began tentatively.

“Hmm?” He readjusted his position on his rock, getting comfortable, as if he didn’t care whether they hiked any farther today or not.

“You said your accident was a couple of years ago. Your divorce was also a couple of years ago.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Talk about stress points. Yours must have rocketed off the chart.”

He played it down, but she could tell she’d been right.

“Did you have God to help you get through all that?”

He studied a blue patch of sky. “Well, I’m here, so I guess He must have helped.”

That wasn’t the answer Sunny wanted to hear. Once Pete must have had a relationship with God, for he’d mentioned working with youth. Had he lost his faith or gotten sidetracked? People did over less than he’d experienced.

Lord, if you have put me here, right now, to help Pete find his way back to You, give me the right words.

“Want to know the funny part?” he said, breaking into her silent prayer.

“I can’t believe there is a funny part.”

“Well, I think it’s kind of funny.”

“I can’t promise to laugh.”

He smiled, his eyes saying he appreciated her empathy. “After the accident, I ended up with more bucks than Lisa could have spent in two lifetimes.” His mouth twisted in a bitter smile. “But Lisa’s not in on the joke. She doesn’t know my income took a boost.”

“And when she finds out?”

“I don’t know,” he said, stroking his chin. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t want another crack at being Mrs. Maguire.”

“Will you take her back?” Sunny held her breath.

He laughed cynically. “No, but I wouldn’t mind hearing her tell her husband that it was time for another upgrade.”

Sunny joined his wicked smile. If Lisa could see how cute Pete was today, she’d really want him back, upgrade or not.

Cute? When had she started thinking of Pete as cute? Cute was for adorable, darling, cuddly people who touched your heart, not devastatingly handsome charmers like Pete and Bruce.

Pete and Bruce! That was so unfair. They were nothing alike. Pete would never use a woman’s love to complete his own agenda. He’d never leave her wondering if he’d cared for her, even a little. And he most certainly would never expect her to swallow her pride, bury her hurt and return to him.

“Sunny?” Pete’s brow was creased with concern. “What’s the matter?”

She’d done it again. She’d dropped into the past, rehearsing old hurts as if she’d never given them to the Lord. How could she do that? This was a new day. Her future was in God’s hand.

“Nothing’s the matter,” she said brightly, determined to move on. She stood, raised her backpack to her shoulders. “Ready for some new scenery?”

Pete watched her adjust the straps to her pack and wondered what had just happened. One minute those
butternut eyes of hers had been popping with sass, the next they’d gone cloudy with pain.

“Why don’t you lead this time?” she said.

Involuntarily wincing as he rose, he responded, “Go ahead.”

But she shook her head and stepped aside. Pete took his time putting his backpack on. “Sure you don’t want to lead?” he asked.

“Positive.” She wasn’t meeting his eyes. That bothered him. Whatever had taken her down was still on her mind.

The way his hip felt, he couldn’t possibly move as fast as she had. But if they talked a lot, she might think he liked to hike at a snail’s pace. Unfortunately, making conversation was not one of his strong suits. Like most guys, he could talk sports all day, but not the touchy-feely stuff women liked.

“Want to hear my first impression of you?” she asked.

He smiled to himself. Maybe he’d just let her do the talking. Women were better at that anyway. “Will it hurt?” he responded.

“I hope not. I just wondered if you noticed that I sort of blew you off at first.”

Sure he had, but he did the chivalrous thing and fibbed. “You did? I was too nervous to notice.”

“I apologize anyway. When I first saw you, and saw how good-looking you were…”

“Not me!” He had to stop her on that. “Just The Face.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, but I deliberately blew you off, and I shouldn’t have done that.”

That bothered her? “Sunny, there was nothing wrong with that.”

“But I didn’t even know you,” she protested, sounding upset with herself. “I couldn’t get past your good looks. Bruce is an extremely handsome man like you and—”

He stopped her with a lifted brow.

“Okay, like The Face, and I immediately assumed you were like him. It was grossly unfair. I’ve been wanting to apologize and explain it had nothing to do with you.”

He didn’t need the apology. In fact, it embarrassed him, but she obviously felt better making it. He couldn’t take that away from her. “Okay, but don’t worry about it anymore.”

“Now that I’ve seen the picture of the way you looked before, I especially want you to know it didn’t take long for me to stop seeing The Face as just another good-looking guy. Pete, the real you shines through so strongly, your looks don’t matter.”

The conviction in her voice made him feel like the old Pete Maguire, and he almost touched his nose and chin to see if he’d gone back all the way. Maybe someday he’d get used to looking so different, but if he didn’t, it was good to know it wouldn’t matter.

“Forgive me for taking you at ‘face’ value?” she teased.

“Forgiven,” he said, glad that the path here was wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side.

“The Face sure didn’t seem to be a problem for
the other two girls on the show,” she said, her brown eyes mock innocent.

He wished she’d forget about them, but if she wanted to play, he’d go along. They couldn’t race up the mountain if they were joking around.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, pretending fond memories. “Cheryl and what’s her name, the brunette.”

“Jacy.”

“You sure? I thought it was Jani.”

“No, Jacy. Definitely Jacy.”

“Whatever.”

“Whatever! Bruce would not only have remembered their names, he’d have dated them by now.”

Pete shook his head, not understanding a guy like that. “With a girl like you wearing his ring, he was crazy to fool around.”

They walked on for several yards before she said, “I was the last to know.”

He knew what that felt like. “At least it was before the wedding, not after.”

“You’re right. I’m grateful for that.”

After hiking silently for a few minutes, she asked what he thought about the latest trades among the NFL players, and that got the conversation out of the sensitive zone. Since she knew a lot about sports, there was plenty to talk about. He was grateful, for it kept him from thinking too much about the growing ache in his hip.

They stopped for a late lunch at a spot with a great view.

“Brad should have come with us,” she said, munching on a nutrition bar. “I kind of miss the guy.”

“Brad and his attitude,” he agreed, swilling down tepid water.

“I thought Meggy handled him very well, didn’t you?”

“Meggy did fine.” He’d seen a new side to his little sister, and it made him proud.

“Meggy’s your sister, isn’t she, Pete?”

How had she figured that out? And if she had, had others?

“How could you tell?” he asked anxiously.

“I overheard her refer to your mother right after we got here.”

“That was all?” That wasn’t too bad.

“I also thought you seemed proud of her and rather protective.”

“I am. Always have been.”

“I could have used a brother like you.”

He felt nothing like a brother to Sunny.

“So did your sister get you on
Dream Date?
Are you hoping to get noticed by someone for TV or movie work?”

He snorted. “Me! Are you kidding?”

“For modeling then?”

“With a face like this?”

She lifted her brow, and he rolled his eyes, remembering The Face. But he insisted, “Definitely no modeling.”

“What then?”

“Meggy’s in charge of selecting and supplying the contestants. When a last-minute cancellation put her in a jam, she begged me to fill in. Family members of employees aren’t supposed to be contestants, so we pretended to be strangers. I didn’t like it, but
she was worried about losing her job, and she promised she’d never get in such a jam again.”

“Lucky Meggy. Not every brother would do that for his sister.”

The acceptance glowing in Sunny’s golden brown eyes was heady stuff. Funny, how a woman could make a man feel taller, stronger and smarter than he was.

“I was really wrong about you,” she said. “I even thought you weren’t a carpenter like you said.”

She’d picked up on that? Man, it was time for more honesty. “You were right,” he admitted. “I’m not a carpenter anymore. I don’t need the work, and plenty of other guys do. After Dad died, we let the company go.” He hoped he could leave it at that. “So you could tell I was fibbing, huh?”

“I was pretty sure you weren’t telling the whole truth.”

“How could you tell?” he asked, intrigued.

“I teach school. I know hooey when I hear it. So if you’re not a carpenter, what do you do?”

“Not much. On the show, I let the ‘carpenter’ thing slide because it seemed better than saying I was a beach bum.”

“You don’t work? At anything?”

“Nope.” Pete watched for the censure that any self-respecting person would have to feel, especially one who was a teacher and a Christian to boot.

“Exactly what does a beach bum do to pass the time?” she asked, a surprising lack of judgment in her eyes.

“Lots of things.” He liked it when they talked
like this, fooling around. “I’m a professional, so I keep pretty busy.”

“Uh-huh. Be more specific.”

“Well, I watch a lot of clouds, noting their precise shapes and changes.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It is, and I listen to the seagulls.”

“That, too? Wow. You just lie around all day?”

“Not always. Sometimes I sit.”

Her eyes scanned his shoulders, arms and chest. “Well, I don’t think you get those muscles building sand castles,” she said, sounding like a teacher who was through with monkey business. “So what do you really do, Pete?”

Man, she was as bad as Meggy, digging until she got what she wanted. “I work out,” he said evasively.

“And…”

“I visit with the neighbors.”

“More…”

“I make a great pot of coffee.”

She scanned his face. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

He grinned at her. He was off the hook, at least this time.

“Okay, lunch is over, Maguire. On your feet. I’m tired of listening to this nonsense. We’ve got a mountain to explore.”

He laughed and managed to get himself back on the trail without groaning. She made him lead again. How he wished he could stride out at a pace that would make her beg him to slow down, but every step was an effort. As often as he could, he stopped
to reminisce about something or tried to get Sunny involved in a minor dispute about some pro athlete.

He even talked about his family, telling her about his otherworldly mother who lived and breathed art, and he described projects he and his dad had built together. He told her about Meggy’s determination to have “And Daughter” painted on his dad’s truck until she accidentally nailed her shirt to a roof when she tried shingling.

He asked about Sunny’s family a couple of times, but somehow she always managed to change the subject.

By midafternoon, his hip hurt so much, conversation was too big an effort, so he examined foliage and rock formations, pretending enormous interest in everything. Every delay spared the needles and knives from jabbing into his flesh.

At home he had painkillers, and that’s where he ought to be. Sunny was a great girl, wonderful, really, but trying to impress her had gotten him into this jam. He hoped she wouldn’t take it personally, but this was no good. He was better off without her or anyone else in his life.

Chapter Six

S
unny had never hiked with a person like Pete. Backpackers enjoyed covering a lot of ground. Each new vista over each new rise—that was the thing that kept them going. Pete, on the other hand, moseyed along, seemingly fascinated by every leaf and pebble.

By late afternoon, she knew something was very wrong. His face had a gray cast and his eyes seemed glazed. When they came to a spot where the trail ran close to a stream, she said, “How about stopping here for the night?”

“Fine,” he said, not bothering to look around.

“It’s not perfect. The tent floor will slope a bit, but we might not find a better place soon.”

Indifferently he pointed to a more level patch and said, “What’s wrong with putting the tent over there?”

She glanced at him to see if he was serious.
“Nothing, other than it’s part of the trail, right in the path of the burros.”

“The what?”

“The burros. They come barreling down the trail at night.”

“Oh, right. How about over here?” he said, pointing to a flat area on lower ground.

It looked suspiciously like a creek bed to her. “Ever been in a flash flood?” she asked dryly.

He narrowed his eyes, scrutinized the flat area, then looked back at her. A pale replica of the half smile she loved crept over his face. “Just testing your knowledge of the great outdoors.”

“Did I pass?” She pulled her tent out of its bag.

“Absolutely.”

He reached for the tent poles, lost his balance and fell to the ground with a muffled groan.

“Pete!” She knelt beside him. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes squeezed in a grimace, his teeth clenched, he said, “Nothing. I’m fine.”

He was no such thing. If she had to treat him like one of the kids, she would. “Pete Maguire, you are not fine. Tell me what’s wrong this instant.”

He opened one eye and peered at her as if she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had. He had her plenty scared.

She tried again, this time with gentle pleading. “Pete, please tell me what’s wrong.”

“Women!” he muttered as if she weren’t there. “If they don’t get what they want one way, they try another.”