A Woman's Touch (20 page)

„Uh-huh. You could have made things much more difficult for me,“ Darla said thoughtfully. „In fact, if you had really wanted me, really loved me, I don’t think I would have gotten free at all. But, who knows? Maybe if you had really loved me, I wouldn’t have wanted to leave in the first place.“ She smiled as he looked back at her with a glowering frown. „It will be interesting to see how easily you let Rebecca go.“

Kyle caught her arm as she went past him. „Whatever else happens, Rebecca isn’t getting away from me. You go tell her that.“

„What are you going to do?“

„I’ve got business to attend to.“ He released her, jammed his hat down over his eyes and went up the steps and back into the cafe.

Glen Ballard lounged in the booth, finishing off the French fries his wife hadn’t eaten. For some reason it struck Kyle as odd to see Ballard calmly eating his wife’s leftover fries. It seemed like such an ordinary, mundane, husbandly thing for an enemy to do.

It occurred to Kyle that although he’d been raised in the same small community as Ballard there was a hell of a lot he didn’t know about the man. Enemies tended to have a very narrow perspective on each other.

Kyle dropped into the booth across from his lifelong opponent.

Ballard grinned faintly. „This town is going to have enough gossip to last for the next ten years. Imagine a Ballard and a Stockbridge sitting down to have lunch together.“

„This isn’t exactly a luncheon meeting.“

„We’re eating, aren’t we? Here comes your hamburger, now.“

Kyle glanced up in annoyance as Jan set the platter in front of him. The young woman looked nervous. She removed herself immediately and skittered back toward the kitchen.

„What the hell’s wrong with her?“ Kyle muttered.

Glen munched another French fry. „I think she’s jittery now that the women have left. As long as Darla and Rebecca are around, everyone thinks we’re under control. But with the two of us sitting alone here, anything could happen. Who knows? Whole damned booth might go up in flames.“

„What makes people think Darla and Rebecca can control us?“ Kyle asked irritably.

„Word about our chipping in together to buy a round of drinks in Cully’s and our unplanned swim last night has spread. Our reputation as big, tough, macho types is still a little damp. Darla says folks are calling Becky the new town marshal. We’re the bad guys, in case you haven’t noticed.“

„This is crazy. Crazy and stupid. Women’s games.“ Kyle started to shove his hamburger aside but abruptly realized he was hungry. He removed the top half of the bun and poured catsup with a liberal hand. Then he replaced the bun and took a huge bite. The taste of rare meat was vaguely reassuring.

„So,“ Glen said sardonically, „the way I see this, it’s all your fault.“

„My fault!“

„You’re the one who found Rebecca first. You’re the one who got her involved. You’re the one who got her mad enough to come up here and set up this stupid situation. If you hadn’t tried to one-up me, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

The lawyers would have found her. You and I could have made our offers in a straightforward, businesslike manner.

She wouldn’t have known anything about the history of Harmony Valley. She would have picked the offer she liked best and that would have been the end of it.“

„Don’t give me that bull. You were looking for her as hard as I was. I just got lucky first, that’s all.“

„Lucky? I’m not sure that’s the right word under the circumstances. But, then, the Stockbridge luck always has been overrated.“

Kyle took another large bite of burger. „Let’s skip the rehash of how we got into this and take it from there. I don’t suppose you want to do the reasonable thing and let me buy you out?“

„Hell, no. This is as close as a Ballard has ever come to owning Harmony Valley. Don’t expect me to walk away from my half of that land.“ There was a delicate pause before Glen continued smoothly. „I don’t reckon you want to do the sensible thing and let me buy you out?“

„Forget it.“ Kyle polished off the last of his hamburger and leaned back in the seat. „Now what?“

„Beats me.“ Glen gave him a reflective look. „You know something? I never really thought too much about what I’d do with Harmony Valley if I ever did get hold of it. Somehow it always seemed like it would be enough just to own it finally. You got any ideas?“

Kyle stabbed a French fry into a blob of catsup. „It’s occurred to me from time to time that Harmony Valley has the makings of a fine ski resort.“

„A ski resort? That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.“ Glen’s reaction was clearly an automatic one.

„It could be done.“

Glen gave that some thought. „It would take cash. A lot of it.“

„Yeah.“

„A successful resort would bring a lot of money into this area. Create jobs. Bring new business into the community.“

„If it was done right.“

Glen gazed out the window. „You see the two of us working together on something like that?“

„No.“ Kyle finished his fries and reached for the leftovers on Rebecca’s plate. They were cold.

„Neither do I. Stockbridges and Ballards never work together. We’d draw blood every time we had to make a decision.“

„It would never work,“ Kyle agreed.

„The alternative is to let the land sit there until my son grows up and inherits it.“ Glen chuckled. „Not a bad idea. If I wait long enough, Harmony Valley will eventually belong one hundred percent to Ballards, anyway.“

Kyle eyed him. „What about my son?“

„I’m not real worried about him. I figure at the rate you’re going, you won’t be producing any heirs.“

„At the rate I’m going?“ Kyle prodded softly, telling himself to hang on to his temper for a few more minutes. This was, after all, business.

„The lady you just sent packing is the one female on the face of the earth who might be able to handle marrying you,“ Glen said. „Letting her go was a typical piece of Stockbridge idiocy. But I figure it will work to my advantage, as usual.

You’re going to have a damned tough time finding another woman who will stick around long enough to give you an heir. So my boy will just naturally inherit the whole of Harmony Valley one of these days.“

„An interesting scenario, but I wouldn’t pin my hopes on it if I were you. I’ve got plans for Rebecca.“

„Yeah, but is she going to go along with them? That woman’s got a mind of her own.“

„Let me worry about Becky,“ Kyle said forcefully. „We’ve got other things to discuss.“

Glen nodded thoughtfully. „A ski resort, huh?“

„You’re right. It would never work,“ Kyle said broodingly.

„A
partnership between a Stockbridge and a Ballard wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.“

There was silence for a long moment and then Kyle said musingly, „You remember that Halloween when the two of us went out to Alice’s place and chased off those creeps who were going to trash the barn?“

Glen nodded. „I remember.“

„We worked together then.“

„True. For about an hour.“ Glen fell silent again. „I reckon we could try putting together a plan for a ski resort in Harmony Valley. Maybe if you and I stayed at arm’s length, and we let our assistants do most of the work…“

„Don’t kid yourself. When it comes to Harmony Valley, neither of us is going to be able to keep our hands off. This isn’t going to be a routine development project.“

„Maybe if we had a couple of peacekeepers around to chaperon us, we could refrain from slitting each other’s throats. Darla and Rebecca might be able to manage things.“

Kyle considered that. „Maybe.“

Another long silence fell.

„You know,“ Glen finally observed, „our fathers and grandfathers must be turning over in their graves.“

„I’ll bet Alice and her mother are having a good laugh somewhere, too.“ Kyle ate the last cold French fry from Rebecca’s plate and got to his feet.

Glen rose and reached for his hat. „I see Jan hovering down at the cash register with our tab. Probably too scared to bring it over to us.“

„I’ll take care of it.“

„Like hell you will,“ Glen said amicably. „No Stockbridge is buying me lunch. You take care of your half, and I’ll take care of mine.“

„Suit yourself.“ Kyle grinned suddenly as he tossed a few bills down onto the counter.

„What’s so funny?“ Glen added an equal amount to the small pile of cash.

„You told Rebecca we couldn’t even split an apple pie. And we just split the lunch check. Not bad for our first effort at doing business together.“

„Don’t get too excited. I expect it will be all downhill from here on in.“

Kyle smiled thinly in agreement. „I expect it will. Trouble is, I don’t see any other choice for us but to figure out how to put this project together.“

„You ever had a feeling you’ve been caught in your own trap?“ Glen asked reflectively.

„Yeah, I’ve had that feeling a lot since I met Rebecca.“ He walked out of the cafe, aware that everyone in the place was watching, open-mouthed in astonishment. A Stockbridge and a Ballard had just dined together, and neither was bleeding.

He knew the new town marshal would probably get the credit.

Kyle headed toward the motel, not bothering to give his new business partner a backward glance. He had a few things to discuss with Rebecca now that his temper had cooled.

It came as a shock when he discovered that Rebecca had checked out ten minutes earlier.

A cold shiver of dread went through Kyle. It had finally happened. He had lost his temper with Rebecca, and she had run from him just as his wife had run from him. Just as Darla had run from him.

Just as his mother had run from his father.

But there was one major difference this time around. He wasn’t going to let Rebecca go the way he had let Heather and Darla go. And Kyle was damned if he would give up and sink back into himself the way Cale Stockbridge had done when Martha had fled.

Kyle vowed he would find Rebecca if he had to track her down to the ends of the earth. She wasn’t going to get away with teaching him about love and then walking out on him.

„You can run, lady,“ he said softly, „but you can’t hide.“

The next four days were the worst Kyle had ever experienced in his life. He spent them in a desperate search for Rebecca. He wasted one entire day looking for her in the mountains: Alice Cork’s place, the motel, the Ballard house.

He tried motels in neighboring towns. Then he got into the Porsche and drove back to Denver, anguish and anger eating at him all the way.

She had run from him. Kyle couldn’t seem to absorb the shock of it. Deep inside, in spite of all the turmoil of recent days, in spite of the past, a part of him had counted on Rebecca staying with him.

Was this the way it had been for his father when Martha Stockbridge had fled? He wondered how any man could go on after a part of him had been ripped to shreds.

Kyle increased the speed of the Porsche as he left the mountains. He had to find Rebecca. He wasn’t going down the same route his father had taken. He would not turn into the bitter, joyless man his father had become. Damned if history was going to repeat itself again. He was not his father, and Rebecca was sure as hell not a weak, fragile, overly delicate female who couldn’t handle a man’s temper.

Kyle was not going to repeat his father’s mistakes. At least not every damned one of them. Not if he could help it.

He would find Rebecca and explain that to her. He would explain it very, very clearly, Kyle told himself grimly.

But by Sunday Kyle finally admitted to himself he wasn’t going to locate her very easily in Denver. He had checked her old apartment, her favorite restaurants, even left messages at the major hotels. At night he prowled his condominium, pacing from room to room as if expecting her ghost to materialize.

Kyle got out of bed on Monday morning and remembered he had a business to run. He couldn’t ignore Flaming Luck Enterprises any longer. He had already been away a full week without checking in. Lord only knew how Harrison was getting along with no sharp, efficient, capable executive assistant there to cover for the boss’s absence.

He stood under the shower for fifteen minutes, shaved with acute precision, found a clean shirt and forced himself to eat some cereal. But none of the familiar morning rituals had the power to erase the ravages left by the events of the week.

Even Kyle could tell he looked like something out of the bottomless pit. He took one glance in the hall mirror, saw the darkness around his eyes, the grim lines that etched his mouth and noted the fact that he badly needed a haircut.

He ran his fingers roughly through his dark hair, trying to tame it. Then he gave up the effort.

He rode the elevator downstairs and climbed into the Porsche. The car’s sophisticated engine howled in commiseration as Kyle sent the vehicle roaring out of the garage. On the way to the office, Kyle tried to think of where to look next for Rebecca. He could pull her personnel file and get the addresses of her relatives.

As he pulled into the lot and parked, he decided it was time to hire the same private-investigation agency that had located her in the first place.

„Good morning, Mr. Stockbridge.“ Theresa Aldridge looked up in surprise as Kyle stalked into the office. „We didn

’t know whether to expect you today or not.“

„I own the place, remember?“

„Yes, sir,“ she said politely.
„I
do remember.“ She eyed his grim appearance and cleared her throat. „Did you have a pleasant vacation last week?“

„I
had one hell of a lousy time, Theresa.“

„I’m delighted to hear that, Mr. Stockbridge,“ Theresa said automatically. Belatedly her eyes widened. „Excuse me, I mean…“

„Never mind, Theresa. I know exactly what you mean. What’s going on around here? I see the building hasn’t fallen down in my absence.“