Love Is a Battlefield (14 page)

As Kristy made her way to the visitor center on the morning of the Fourth of July, it was already blazing hot. She'd had to carry Sam outside to get him to do his business. He'd let her know in no uncertain terms that there wasn't a dog in his right mind who'd want to go outside during a heat wave, even if his owner spoke sweetly of treats and shaved ice. But he'd finally relented like the good dog he seldom was.

By the time she reached the employee entrance, she could feel the sweat beading on her forehead underneath her hat. From the looks of the cars already beginning to fill the parking lot, she knew it was going to be one of those days. No one on staff was off today; it was all hands on deck.

She quickly set the coffee to brewing. By the time she finally stepped out to the front desk, Owen, Ace, Matthew, and Mason were congregating near the cash register.

“What's going on?” she asked.

“The vandal struck again last night.” Owen's face was grim. “Arnie is fit to be tied. Says if Steve doesn't get back from vacation soon, he's going to personally get on a Europe-bound plane and drag him home.”

Figured Arnie would find a way to pass the blame along to someone who wasn't even on this continent. “Which monument did they get this time?”

“Texas.” Ace shook his head. “This was the worst one so far. Two different colors of spray paint.”

“The bottom line is that we need to be on full alert today. There'll be a ton of traffic in and out of here, and our programs will likely be loaded with people. If you see anything suspicious, let me know,” Owen said. “Obviously whoever is doing this is someone familiar with the park, so we're looking for someone who's been here before.”

The front door chimed as the day's first visitor opened it. Mason greeted the family, and Matthew reached for the microphone to announce the start time of the movie.

Kristy followed Ace and Owen through the swinging doors that led to the ranger offices. It sounded like it was going to be one of those days. “So does this mean another stakeout is in our near future?” she asked.

Owen groaned. “You know it. I hope you didn't have anything exciting planned to celebrate tonight. Hank's in with Arnie right now, so I'm sure we'll get our orders soon.” He poured some coffee into his UT mug and went to his office.

“Guess you'll be spending the holiday with me.” Ace grinned at her.

She stared at him over her coffee. “It's my favorite holiday, you know. I always go watch the fireworks at Pickwick.”

Pickwick Dam was a favorite spot for locals during the summer. The Tennessee River flowed right through the area, making it a mecca for fishing, boating, or just relaxing near the water. Every year, there was a spectacular fireworks display on the Fourth of July. Kristy was actually supposed to watch this year's festivities with Robert. She made a mental note to call him as soon as she had a free moment and let him know that she had to work. He probably wouldn't be too happy, but maybe he could still come. She was certain his little brother would love to go see the show with him.

“Maybe we'll still be able to see some of the fireworks, depending on where Mr. Bramblett has us stationed.” Ace leaned against the doorway of his office and grinned as she made her way into the seasonal office.

Kristy turned the computer on and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. May as well get it over with.

“Hello.” Robert's deep voice sounded on the other end.

“Hi. It's Kristy.”

“I thought you were working today. Did you end up with the day off?” he asked.

“No. I mean, I am at work. I just needed to tell you something.” she cleared her throat.

“Oh? What's up?”

“Well, actually, I can't make it tonight. We had more vandalism last night, and since it's a holiday, we're going to be staking out again. So I won't be able to go to Pickwick for the fireworks. I'm sorry.” she did feel awful. He'd seemed so excited and said they'd stop and get stuff for a picnic and watch the fireworks over the river.

“That's too bad. I can't believe you have to work tonight after working all day today. And on a holiday, too.”

“I know. But that's the price I pay to work at America's favorite national park.”

Her little joke fell flat, and he was silent.

“Maybe you can still catch the fireworks. I'm sure Zach would love to go with you.”

He sighed. “Probably so. And I was planning on heading over that way soon anyway. Mom bought him one of those aboveground pools for the backyard, and I promised her I'd help set it up.”

“That's nice. I'm truly sorry, Robert. I hate to cancel. But Arnie is pretty adamant about our catching this vandal. I know it keeps cutting into our time together, though. I hope you understand.”

“I do. Don't worry about it. Really. Not another thought. Maybe we can get together Friday? Put our little plan into action?”

She laughed. “Sounds perfect. I'll make sure Owen is available. You talk to your mom today.”

“I'll do it. I'll call you tomorrow. And, Kristy?”

“Yes?”

“Happy Fourth of July.”

“Thanks. You, too.”

They said their good-byes and Kristy snapped her phone closed. She wondered what Owen would say about a get-to-know-you double date. As soon as he'd let on that he might be interested in a fix-up, Robert's mother, Dorothy, had popped into her mind. She and Owen were about the same age, and Robert had mentioned that she'd recently confided in him of her desire to start dating again. He was all for it, and when Kristy had called him last week about the possibility of a fix-up, he'd been totally on board. Now she just had to make sure Owen was available for dinner on Friday. She was enjoying her little stint as matchmaker so much, she wondered if she was turning into her mother. Pushing that thought away, she went to find Owen. Time to put the plan into action, as Robert had so aptly put it.

“So maybe if we told the boss that the Fourth of July is your favorite holiday...” Ace let his words drift off when Kristy gave him a blank look.

“What?” Her brows drew together.

“I could—” Ace shrugged. “You said—”

A distracted smile lifted her lips as she looked past him. “Hey, Ace. There's Owen, and I need to talk to him.”

As opposed to me. The person you obviously
don't
need to talk to.
Ace watched her follow the older ranger into his office. When he'd realized that Kristy was going to have to spend her favorite holiday cooped up in an old truck with him instead of on a blanket somewhere watching fireworks with friends, he'd decided to be noble and help her get out of the stakeout. But she was too preoccupied to even talk to him.

He stared at the closed door. Oh well. At least he'd tried. He couldn't keep a smile from his face. Sitting out there alone would've been pretty awful. It would be better to have company. Especially if the company was Kristy. A niggling thought rose to the surface. Any time they spent staking out was time she wasn't spending with Robert. He was ashamed of how satisfied that made him feel.

“Ace, can you come here for a second?” Mason called from the front desk just as Ace was starting to wonder what Kristy needed to talk to Owen about privately.

Grateful for the distraction, he swung open the doors that separated the offices from the front desk area. They always reminded him of saloon doors straight out of a John Wayne movie. He had to fight the urge to swagger a little bit and call Mason “Pilgrim.”

“What's up?” he asked. Being around the twins made him feel so out of touch, what with their slang terms and constant texting. He'd had to threaten to confiscate their BlackBerrys early on. He didn't tell them, but he'd never even sent a text message.

“I accidentally rang this lady up as a family because she has her little girl with her, but it turns out her daughter is under three, so she's free. So I need to change it to an individual fee instead of family.” Mason's face was red to the roots of his blond hair, his trademark dimple nowhere to be seen.

“It's okay. We can just void it and start over. Don't worry about it.” Ace pointed out the correct button on the cash register. “Now take the original receipt and write on the back of it that it is void because of cashier error.”

Mason ducked his head and did as instructed.

“Excuse me.” The woman tapped her hand on the counter, and Ace looked into blue eyes that seemed strangely familiar. Did he know her?

“I don't have much time to spend here.” Her snippy tone made it sound like she couldn't imagine a worse place to be. “And I don't see why I need to pay the entrance fee anyway. I'm not here for a tour. I just need to speak to one of the rangers that works here.” she shifted the toddler to her other hip.

“I'm s-s-sorry, ma'am.” Mason's stammering was so soft Ace could barely hear him, but he stood his ground. “All visitors have to pay the fee, regardless of if they take the tour or not.”

The woman's nostrils flared, and she glanced toward the ceiling then narrowed her eyes at Mason. “Let me speak to the manager, please.”

Okay, enough. This wasn't a restaurant. “Mason, you've been out here for a long time. Why don't you take a break.” Turning to the woman, Ace smiled. “I'm as close to a manager as you're going to get, and Mason was telling the truth. The entrance fee is for everyone who
enters
the park. The upside is that your fees are good for a week, so if you don't have time to take the tour today, you can always come back later on in the week.”

The woman's blue eyes blazed at him. “No, thank you,” she said disdainfully. “I just need to speak to one of your staff members. Can you please see if Kristy O'Neal is available?”

“Sure. Hang on a second and I'll see if she's in her office.”

He stepped away from the desk. Who was this woman? What did she want with Kristy? He retreated through the swinging doors and tapped on the seasonal office door.

Kristy was seated at the computer, engrossed in whatever was on the screen. She didn't even look up.

He tapped again, and this time it was enough to shake her out of the computer-induced trance.

“Sorry. Just reading an e-mail.” she looked sheepish, as though he'd caught her doing something she wasn't supposed to. Was it a message from Robert that had her so enthralled?

He nodded toward the front desk. “Someone here to see you. A very angry blond woman.”

She groaned. “I didn't think she'd come here to see me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So you know her? she's not just some disgruntled visitor who didn't enjoy your cemetery tour?” she clicked out of the e-mail she'd been reading. “She's my sister.”

“That explains the eyes.” He smiled at her. “But to be honest, the similarity stops there.”

She smiled, and it almost reached those blue eyes. “She's really a lovely person—although, come to think of it, she probably would hate my tour-guide skills.”

He watched as she smoothed her hair and rose slowly from the desk. It was as if she were preparing for battle. And given the countenance of the woman at the front desk, maybe she was.

“Are you gonna introduce me?”

“Of course.”

He followed her to the front desk. Normally, he'd always believed you could tell a lot about someone by their relatives. But not this time.

“Sarah. It's so nice to see you.” Kristy's forced cheerfulness was evident. There was no love lost between these two.

Sarah nodded coolly. “I needed to speak to you about Mom's gift.” she bent down and scooped up the toddler who'd been pulling at her crisp khakis. “You remember Emma.” Kristy's face brightened. “How could I not remember my only niece? Hey, Emma-girl. Say hi to Aunt Kristy.” she reached out and tickled the child's tummy, and Emma let out a squeal of laughter. “Oh. Sarah, this is Ace Kennedy. He's a new employee here.” Kristy motioned toward Ace.

Sarah regarded him over the counter. “Yes, we've spoken.” she begrudgingly thrust her hand forward, and he shook it.

“Nice to meet you, Sarah,” he drawled.

Sarah and Emma followed Kristy into the seasonal office without another word to him.

Kristy couldn't believe Sarah was actually at the park. All these years she'd been working there, and Sarah had only stepped foot a couple of times on park grounds. And one of those times was as a guest at her almost wedding.

“So. This is your office, huh?” Sarah scanned the crowded, plain room, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised. “Very festive.”

“My other office—” Kristy stopped. The yellow office wasn't hers anymore, and bringing it up would just give Sarah a chance to rub salt in her wounds.

But Sarah picked up on the inference. Her mouth twisted as if she'd eaten a lemon. “That's right. Mom said you'd been demoted.” she spit the last word out as if it were dirty. Then she shifted to a tight smile. “Too bad. I know you liked your job, though for the life of me, I don't know why.”

Kristy stifled a sigh.
And Happy Fourth of July to me.
What had she done to deserve this visit?

“Why are you here, exactly?” Kristy asked, her eyes on Emma's chubby cheeks. Oh, how she wished she knew her niece and nephew better.

“Andrew and I got Mom that grandfather clock she's always wanted. It was pretty expensive. I just thought you might want to go in on it. No big deal if you don't. Your part would be a hundred bucks, though.” she set Emma down in Kristy's chair. “But that might be more than you wanted to spend.”

Kristy had already gotten her mother a gift. A twenty-five-dollar Barnes & Noble gift card. But Sarah had never asked her to go in on a gift before. At least not since they were both out of high school. She hated to be rude about it. “Sure. Let me just write you a check.”

Sarah plopped down in the blue plastic chair in the corner of the office. “Great.”

Kristy dug through her purse for her checkbook and finally came up victorious. “So how long are you here?” she asked as she wrote the check.

“We're leaving tomorrow. We're having company the rest of the week.”

“Oh?” Kristy said absentmindedly as she tore the check from the book.

“Yeah. Dad's coming to stay with us for a few days.”

With the check still in her hand, Kristy froze as if she'd been immersed into very cold water. Sarah and their father were in contact? That didn't come as a complete shock. But that they were close enough for him to spend a few days as a guest in her home? That piece of news took her breath away. She looked up at Sarah's smug face. The reason for her sisterly visit was suddenly obvious. She was only there to drop a bombshell.