“Could I just sit here and watch you work?” she asked.
He heard her start to pull up Earl Ray’s stool and said over his shoulder, “You’re welcome to sit in the rocker.” He didn’t dare look at her. He’d brought the rocker out of his cabin this morning, telling himself he might as well let Earl Ray use it instead of that old stool.
Lying to himself had become a habit, he realized. He’d brought it out for her, hoping she would stop by. He heard her sit down, slip off her coat as if settling in and staying for a while. He felt himself begin to relax as well as she began to talk. She had a melodious voice that was easy to listen to as he worked. She talked first about the weather and how tomorrow the sun was supposed to come out. Then she talked about Texas, growing up there.
He knew that eventually she would get to Daniel Jackson, the boy next door who she’d fallen in love with as a young girl. She talked about how their parents had tried to keep them apart but how they couldn’t stay away from each other, until finally they’d taken off and eloped, Kate lying about her age. How excited they were when Mia was born and then Danielle, and how Danny, as she called him, never complained about working two jobs.
“He built the girls a big dollhouse,” she said, a smile in her voice as she recalled their lives together. “He had so much fun doing it. All the little details, like the shutters and the stairs and the curtains at the kitchen window. He was good with his hands. He used to whittle, too. He carved all the furniture for the dollhouse. It took him a while because he got home so late from his jobs, but even when he was exhausted after such a long day, he would sit on the porch and whittle something for the girls. It was his tireless patience that I admired the most. And his love for me and the girls.” Her voice broke.
Jon said nothing as he continued to work. The workshop filled with the sound of only his hand-sanding or the crackle of the fire in the stove. A few minutes later, he turned and saw that the rocker was empty. She’d slipped out. He’d stared at the closed door, wondering if she would be back. He hated the hope that rose in his chest—and the fear—that she would. Or worse, wouldn’t.
Then he reminded himself that he couldn’t stay in Buckhorn much longer. And neither could she.
* * *
COLLIN HAD KNOWN it was just a matter of time before his creditors got hold of his cell phone number and started dunning him. He’d held them off for as long as he could. Things were getting ugly, and they weren’t even the kind of creditors who would break your legs. He had those, too, and they were the ones that had him running scared.
He told himself that once this business deal was done, he’d be fine. But even as he thought it, he knew it wouldn’t be enough money for long. He had to think long-range. That was where Kate came in. She’d been his long-range plan—until she’d seen that damned carpenter.
Seldom was he at a loss as to what to do. But Kate losing her mind over some loner had come out of left field. Like anything could have prepared him for this. Now he was putting all his hope into proving that Jon Harper wasn’t her Danny boy. But what if he was wrong? What if Jon Harper’s criminal record was clean? What if he really was Kate’s long-lost husband?
Of course, he wasn’t.
But would she even believe him when he proved Jon wasn’t Danny?
He pushed open the door to the bar, glad to see it almost empty except for Lars and Dave. Sidling up to the bar, he gave Dave a nod and took a stool next to Lars.
“Still here, huh?” Lars said, smiling as he motioned to Dave that he was paying for Collin’s beer.
He picked up the draft Dave placed in front of him and tilted it and his head in thanks to the man. “Leaving soon. At least, I hope so.” His friend Nels had to come through for him. It was just a matter of running the prints. He tried not to think about what he’d do if Jon Harper’s prints weren’t on file. He was so sure the man was hiding from something and that usually meant a criminal background.
In the meantime, he wouldn’t think about Kate. He was pretty sure she was with the carpenter right now in his cruddy little workshop. Just the thought made him take a gulp of his beer.
“Rough day already?” Lars asked with a sympathetic smile.
“There a woman in your life, Lars?”
Dave laughed and then quickly turned away. Lars picked up his beer and took a drink before answering. “Trust me, I have my own female problems. Maybe not quite like yours, but damned close. So, what are you going to do about it?”
“Have another beer,” Collin said with a curse. “What can I do? My fiancée has lost her mind.”
Both Lars and Dave said “Women!” at the same time. Dave poured them both a glass of beer and said, “On the house,” and went into the back.
“If I want to get rid of my live-in, I’d have to give up where I live, where I work. Hell, I’d have to pack up and leave town before either she or her father got a gun and came after me.”
“I suspect you’re exaggerating,” Collin said.
“I wish. On top of that? She’s pregnant,” Lars said and held up his hands. “It’s not mine. I swear. Needless to say, my girlfriend is furious and threatening to have my nuts cut off.”
He studied the man. “All that in this small town?”
“You want to know the worst of it? I have no idea whose baby it is. Everyone in town thinks it’s mine, including my girlfriend.”
Collin shook his head. “You might have it worse than me. Short of killing the live-in, pregnant fiancée, I don’t know what to tell you to do.”
Lars chuckled. “Don’t think I haven’t thought of it.” Dave returned with a case of beer to stock the cooler, and Collin and Lars watched the news on the television over the bar while they finished their drinks.
Collin realized he’d found peace in the bar with these men. He didn’t even mind if Kate was with the carpenter. Let her spend all the time she wanted with him. Wouldn’t make a lick of difference come tomorrow afternoon when she was going to get into that rental car and head to Canada with him, come hell or high water.
He’d even let her look back fondly on this town and her carpenter all she wanted. It wouldn’t do her any good. By then it wouldn’t matter who Jon Harper really was. Because Collin had made up his mind. He wasn’t going to let the woman ruin his plans. He couldn’t. Too much was riding on this.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
NOT LONG AFTER Kate left his workshop, Jon had gotten in his pickup and driven to Lewistown. He’d stopped by the bank, taken out all his money and closed his account. Then he’d walked around town until he realized he was hungry. He’d found a café and got something to eat. All the time, he found himself watching the people around him. He knew the kind of men who would be coming after him. He told himself he’d know them on sight.