Hearts On Fire (4 page)

Chapter 7

    
The thought of running
into JD sent her into a near panic. The thought of losing her sister put her
over the edge. So it was the threat of losing Katy because she was a chicken
which propelled her down the long driveway to Josh’s house. She’d decided to
start with him first, hoping two things. One that JD would not be there and two
that Arlene would not be there. She was not afraid of Arlene. She despised her.

     This long, winding
driveway surrounded by pastures was as unfamiliar to her as the surface of the
moon would be. Though she and JD had dated in high school she had never come
down this driveway to see him. Theirs had been a forbidden relationship. And
they’d hidden it well. Or so they’d thought.

     But she had come down
this driveway once, on a cold rainy fall day, shortly after she’d started her
freshman year of college in Washington. The thought of that trip and what had
transpired at the house at the end of the driveway so many years ago nearly
made her turn around. Nearly. But, she reminded herself, Arlene wouldn’t be
there. She wouldn’t invite her in and offer her tea and cookies. Wouldn’t act
like she understood or cared, only to shove a knife through her heart before
throwing her out on her ass.

     “Stop it,” she growled as
the house came into view. Arlene didn’t live in this house anymore. She’d had a
mansion built for herself on the other side of the property and she’d given the
old house to Josh. Katy had kept her informed on some of the goings-on whether
she’d wanted to know or not. Just like she’d told her about JD’s divorce from
Darla Jenkins. Just like she’d made sure to tell her JD had never sired any
children with Darla, either. “Who cares,” she muttered, stopping her SUV at the
bottom of the drive and looking up at the house.

     At least the wind had
stopped and the snow had abated. For now. She knew they were in for another big
storm within the next forty-eight hours or so though.

     The modest little ranch
house was wood sided and had plenty of windows. Smoke curled from the chimney.
It looked cozy and inviting. Perhaps because she knew the cold bitch had moved
out. Perhaps because being here, on this mountain again, was making her
completely daft.

     Without further thought
she jumped out of the SUV and walked for the front door, her steps brisk, lest
she chicken out.
Too late for that now anyway
, she thought to herself as
she saw the living room curtains flutter. A face appeared briefly but she
couldn’t make out who it had been before they were closed again.

     The door opened just
before she got to the landing and her heart beat so wildly she thought she
might pass out. What if it was JD? What then?

     “Lizzie Waring?”

     She looked into blue
eyes. But not JD’s. Thank God. Not JD’s. “Julie?” she asked, sure it was her.
There was no mistaking the family resemblance. She looked so much like Arlene
it was almost uncanny. She had the same honey blonde hair, the same big blue
eyes and the same thin face with high cheekbones and sharp nose. She was not an
earthy beauty, but a classic, goddess type beauty.

     “It is you,” Julie said,
her voice quiet but musical. “My gosh, what are you doing here?” And then her
eyes lit up. “JD isn’t—”

     “I’m not here to see him
at all,” she corrected before Julie could finish her sentence. “I came here to
see my sister.”

     “Katy,” Julie said. She wrinkled
her nose as though she smelled something bad. “Well, she sure isn’t here.”

     “I didn’t figure she was.
But I was hoping someone here had seen her. Maybe Josh. Or you?”

     Julie stepped back.
“Where are my manners? Come in out of the cold and we can talk for a minute.”
When Lizzie was in and she had the door shut she asked, “Would you like some
coffee? I just made some so the boys can warm up when they get back to the
house.”

     “No, I think I’ve had
enough for the day. The stuff at the police station is triple strength, I
think. Besides, I won’t take up much of your time.” She and Julie, though they
knew each other because they’d lived in the same town and gone to the same
school had never really been close. They were nearly ten years apart in age,
for one thing. The other… money and their stations in life.

     “The police station?”
Julie asked, her eyes widening a little.

     “I stopped there to
report Katy missing.”

     Julie pursed her lips and
stared out the window for a moment. “Missing?”

     “She was supposed to come
visit me in Seattle. She never showed up and I can’t seem to find her here
either.”

     “Maybe she took off for
somewhere warmer,” she suggested just like everyone else. “She had a habit of
just taking off unannounced sometimes. Well, actually, most times.”

     “Not this time,” Lizzie
said with a certainty which was beginning to wane. Maybe everyone was right.
Maybe her flakey sister
had
run off.

     “What makes you think
so?”

     “I… She was very excited
about something. Aside from that she doesn’t work. She doesn’t have money, so
where could she have gone?”

     Julie stared out the
window again.

     “Do you know something?”

     “Oh. No, of course not. I
just know your sister always had a way of finding money when she needed it. I’m
sure if she really wanted to she would have gotten enough to go somewhere. Or,
she would have found someone to take her where she wanted to go. I always
thought she could be rather clever when she put her mind to it. Unfortunately
when she put her mind to being clever it was usually getting her up to no
good.”

     Lizzie couldn’t argue
that one. She’d been on the receiving end of the no good sometimes. “You
haven’t spoken to her recently then? Seen her?”

     “No,” she answered
slowly. “Katy and I don’t exactly run in the same circles. She minds her business
and I mind mine.” She sighed a little. “I don’t even live here anymore. Ken and
I…” Now her voice hitched. “Ken and I lived in Hotchkins so he could be closer
to his work. I only visited mother on weekends and such.”

     Lizzie saw the fresh pain
and kicked herself in the ass for not addressing the reason for it sooner. “Oh,
Julie, I’m so sorry for your loss. I heard about your husband from Brian.”

     She blinked at her and
swiped at tears. “Yes, Brian would have known. His mother is a member of the
church.” Because she wanted a change of subject she asked, “How is Brian?”

     “He’s well. He started
his own practice a few years ago. I recently joined him and a few other doctors
in it.”

     “I always knew he’d do
well for himself. You’re still friends with him, even after the divorce?”

     The divorce was a hard
thing to explain to most people. Because there really had never been a marriage
to begin with. Instead of addressing it she just said, “We started out as
friends and we still are.”

     “And you have a son? What’s
his name again?” She tapped a fingernail to her lower lip. “I met him last time
Brian brought him down to visit his parents.”

     Lizzie startled at that
bit of information. Brian damn well knew the fucking rules. And he’d not only
broken one, he’d neglected to tell her! “Sean,” she nearly whispered. “His name
is Sean.”

     “Right! I only saw him
for a minute. Cute kid.” Completely dropping the subject, she said, “If you
hang around for a little bit you can see Josh and JD. Maybe they know something
about Katy that I don’t.”

     “Maybe later.” The last
thing she needed right now was to face JD.

     “I think Josh plows her
driveway for her and has helped her with some of the repairs around the place.”

     That explained the plowed
drive this morning. It also stopped her in her tracks. Katy had teased her a
couple times about her hot handyman. She’d eluded to some very intimate
moments. At the time Lizzie had just thought her little sister had been baiting
her into blushing. Now she wondered. Josh and Katy? She frowned. No way. “I’ll
have to make it later. I have a whole list of calls to make and some juggling
to do if I’m going to be sticking around for a while longer. Aside from that
when I ran into Matt today he asked me out to dinner tonight.”

     Julie’s brows rose a fraction.
“You’re going out to dinner with Matt?”

     “Well it’s not a date or
anything. He just offered to show me around town and talk to some people who
might know about Katy.”

     “Didn’t you date him in
high school?”

     Now Lizzie did blush.
“For a minute. It didn’t work out.”

     “Maybe he wants it to
now.”

     Shaking her head, Lizzie
started to draw on her gloves. “Nah. I’m not planning on sticking around any
longer than it takes to find Katy. After that I’m going home.” And with that
being said, “It was nice to see you again. I’ll say goodbye now, just in case I
don’t see you again before I leave. And I am terribly sorry for your loss.”

     Julie misted up at the
mention of her dead husband and her gaze shot to the floor. “Yes. Thank you. I appreciate
your condolences.” She saw her to the door. “I’ll let Josh and JD know you
stopped by and that you’ll try to see them later.”

     All the more reason to
run like hell.

Chapter 8

    
Not a pacer by nature,
JD did so now anyway. Drink in his hand he walked from the fireplace to the
window and back again, idly swirling the liquid around the bottom of the
tumbler.

     “So what exactly was the
deal with you and Lizzie anyway?”

     His gaze shot to his
sister. It had been hard to engage her in conversation recently. But she chose
this
to want to talk about? He stopped by the fire and warmed the back of his legs.
It had been a long day in the saddle. A long productive day. A lot of fence had
been mended. His hands were stiff and sore. Hell, his ass was paying the price
right now too. “There was no
deal
,” he told her a little stiffly.

     “You were interested in
her in high school.”

     Interested was the
understatement of the year. He’d been infatuated with Lizzie Waring in high
school.

     “Then that year you came
home for summer break after your first year of college I seem to remember
something happening.”

     Again with the
understatements. Something had indeed happened. And God, what a mess that
something had turned out to be.

     Julie blinked long lashes
at her brother, amused with his discomfort. “You had a fling with her or
something, right?” She waited and when he only glared at her she said, “You
know, that was just a shot in the dark but when you won’t speak it says
volumes.”

     “Maybe you should have
been the lawyer,” he commented dryly. Lizzie was back? And so close too. Right
up the damn hill. He wondered what she was doing. What she looked like. God
help him, he wondered if just the sight of her would still turn him on like it
had before.

     “She’s a doctor now, from
what I heard.”

     JD looked to his brother
as he strolled into the living room after his shower. Great, now he would have
two of them to contend with. “Can we drop this?” He didn’t want to talk about
Lizzie. He wanted to see her. Something which he could not allow himself to do.
The way he figured it her sister would show up home from wherever she was and
Lizzie would go home to her family. End of story. “I know she’s a doctor,” he
grumbled, happy she’d followed her dream. Pained he’d not been able to share it
with her. But too much had been in their way. Too much would still stand in
their way.

     “Mother nearly had a
coronary when she found out her golden boy was seeing the poor girl from up the
mountain.” Josh poured himself a drink from the bar. A little whiskey before
dinner never hurt anyone, he thought. Especially when they would be having
dinner with Arlene.

     “I can see we are not
going to drop this after all.” His voice a low growl, JD set himself down in a
recliner lest he pace some more.

     “Are you going to go see
her?” Julie asked.

     “No.”

     “Why not?”

     “What would be the
point?” Christ but she was tenacious tonight. Must be feeling a little better
for getting away from their mother for the day. “I don’t know anything about
her sister or her whereabouts, nor do I want to, so there’s no reason for me to
talk to her.”

     “I didn’t mean see her
about Katy.” Julie frowned. “That would be a waste of time. I’m sure she found
some man to leech dry. She’ll come crawling back when he figures out what she
is and kicks her to the side.”

     “Matt seems to think
there might be something to it,” Josh said, leaning against the mantel of the
fireplace.

     “Oh my God, Matt is
actually taking this seriously?” Julie asked, scoffing.

     “Seriously enough that he
called me and asked about Katy. Asked when was the last time I’d seen her and
such. He seems to think maybe there might be something to Lizzie’s worries.”

     “Well there’s not,” Julie
grumbled under her breath.

     “He said Lizzie always
had a good head on her shoulders.”

    
Except for that one
summer,
JD thought with a grimace.
Neither one of us kept our heads
then.

     “Maybe he’s trying to
strike something up with her again,” Josh suggested with a grin. “He did
mention to me she still looks as good as ever.”

     Julie glowered at her
brother from beneath lowered brows.

     “He’s a single guy, she’s
a single woman, and they have a history. You never know.”

     “
Ancient
history,”
JD said, getting to his feet and finishing off his drink. But sometimes history
repeated itself. Not something he wanted to think about.

    
“Why is it again you
and I didn’t stay together?” Matt asked over the rim of his wine glass.

     Lizzie looked up from her
cheesecake, her eyes wide and shining in the candlelight. Matt had failed to
mention to her this restaurant was very intimate. The tables were tiny, setting
the occupants nearly hip to hip. Though she’d been a little upset with him at
first now she was finding she didn’t mind the quiet little restaurant. And she
didn’t mind sitting close to her old friend either.

     Matt snapped his fingers.
“That’s right. I think it had something to do with my best friend stealing my
girl.”

     The corners of her mouth
turned down. “I certainly hope you’re not still holding a grudge over that,
Matt. We were all in high school. We were a bunch of hormonal juveniles who didn’t
know a damn thing about forever.”

     Realizing he’d upset her,
he put a hand up in surrender. “I wasn’t trying to dredge up the past, Lizzie.
I’m sorry.” He stared into her eyes, realizing all over again just how blue
they were. Just how beautiful a woman she was. “I just sit here looking at you
and wondering what kind of fool I was to let you slip away from me.” Reaching
out he touched a finger to her hair. “The candlelight does wonderful things to
your eyes.”

     A change of subject was
definitely in order. Friend yes. But they could be no more than that to each
other. “I have to thank you for taking my concern for Katy to heart and helping
me look for her, Matt. I know it goes against your instincts.”

     He grimaced. “I know
she’s your sister and you love her.”

     “But,” she prompted,
knowing there was one.

     “But she has a
reputation.”

     “I know she does. And she
lives up to it more often than not.” Here it was again. She felt the need to
explain her difficult relationship with Katy. “She and I lived through some
very rough times together after our father died. We were all each other had.”

     “Yes, you did live
through a lot with that dirt bag Grady in the same house. Yet you grew up to be
who you are and she grew up to be who she is. You made something of yourself.
For yourself. She chose to take from people like you.”

     “A lot of things happened
no one even knows about,” she whispered. “Katy never abandoned me. Never.”

     “She uses you, Lizzie.
You know that, don’t you?”

     Her jaw hardened. She did
know that. She also did not doubt Katy’s love. “She never abandoned me, Matt.
But I abandoned her.” She picked up her wine and took a healthy swallow. She’d
wanted to change the subject, but not to this.

     He covered one of her
hands with his and squeezed. “You didn’t abandon her, Lizzie. You went to
college. You got married and started a family. You took care of
you
.”

     He didn’t understand and
she didn’t want to explain it. Not to anyone. It hurt too much. “How about we
find something else to talk about on the way home? Something more cheerful. You
can catch me up on all the gossip.”

     Now he gave her a laugh.
“That could take days.”

    
The sister.
Christ, he hadn’t considered the sister being a problem for him. He’d never
thought in a million years Lizzie Waring would worry enough about her little
hustler sister to come sniffing around. Hell, she never came to visit. Never.
And Katy never talked about Lizzie. It was like they had become unrelated when
Lizzie had moved away. He’d always figured Lizzie had been smart and distanced
herself from her troublemaking sister. But no. Here she was, back home to roost
in White Pigeon.

     The sun had set hours ago
giving way to a star studded sky and crescent moon. There wasn’t a cloud in
sight. And without that blanket of clouds it was going to be a damn cold one
tonight. “Better bundle up, Lizzie,” he whispered, watching his breath
crystalize and rise in the air.

     Through a pair of
high-powered binoculars he watched the house. Saw her standing in the living
room window with a steaming mug of coffee or tea.
Or maybe even hot
chocolate with the little marshmallows in it,
he mused. Women liked that
kind of stuff. The light behind her was warm and inviting. He could see she had
a fire lit in the fireplace.

     He wondered how long
she’d stick around. How far she’d push things. Push him. He wondered if he’d
have to kill her too.