Above Rubies (Rockland Ranch) (35 page)

             
The other instance happened near the women's restroom.  Kit had noticed several times during the evening that there was a man watching her.  She finally even asked Nick if he knew who it was.  Nick said he was the boyfriend of some movie starlet she wasn't familiar with, but at any rate, the guy made Kit’s skin crawl. 

She and Joey
were just coming out of the ladies room around the corner from the ballroom when he staggered away from the wall, slurring as he addressed her, "There you are.  I've been trying to catch your eye all night."  Kit looked at Joey nervously as he walked toward them eyeing everything he could get his eyeballs on. 

As he approached them, he actually put out his hand as if he was going to touch her chest.  Kit's reaction was instantaneous and decisive and surprised even herself.  He made his disgusting gesture and she whirled and kicked his hand in a lightning fast spin.  He was knocked back against the wall where he slowly slumped to the floor, gripping his arm with a shocked look on his face. Kit and Joey continued walking as if nothing at all had happened and as they rounded the corner into
the ball room, Joey whispered, "Dang!  Matt would be proud!"

             
They continued on toward Nick and Bryan who led them out onto the dance floor for a slow dance.  Kit and Nick had only been dancing for a minute when he pulled back marginally to look down into her face and ask, "Are you okay?  You're heart is beating like crazy." 

             
She just looked up at him and smiled. "Must be your animal attraction."  He looked at her again in obvious skepticism and pulled her back in close to dance.

             
That evening as he walked her to her hotel room door he asked, "Am I ever going to feel like I dare kiss you good night?"

             
She looked up at him, wishing he hadn't asked that.  She hated feeling like she was toying with him.  He bent to place the gentlest of kisses on her mouth, watching her eyes as he did.  "Goodnight, Just Kit.  Call me when you make it home safe."

              This time Bryan took them to the airport, by way of Isabel's horse farm to see the bronzes.  They only had a few minutes to admire them, but Kit couldn't have been happier.  They'd turned out just as she had envisioned them.  Three spirited foals bucking and kicking at the gated entrance to the beautiful sprawling farm.  They were magnificent! 

Bryan hadn't understood why he was b
ringing them here and he asked, "Now why are we here looking at these statues?"

             
Joey grinned and gave Kit an exuberant high five.  "Kit made these, Bryan!  These are her latest pieces of work!"

             
Bryan looked from one to the other in amazement as they climbed back into his Porsche and said, “No way!  Serious?”

Chapter 19

             
They made it back to school and the Stab in the Dark party was fun.  Matt was always good for a laugh and Kit enjoyed him a lot.  Every once in a while she still wondered if he didn't have a thing for her, but then she'd decide everything was fine.  She took another CLEP test the next day and she and Joey finally went home.  It felt like she'd been gone a month. 

             
When they arrived, Naomi told her she'd gotten word that the trials in Arizona had been postponed due to some minor legal detail.  Kit wasn't sure what to think about it, but Naomi was disgusted. 

             
That afternoon when the girls had had a chance to nap, Rossen showed up with horses saddled and Mimi bundled into a heavy coat.  The leaves were all gone and the weather had turned cold, but Kit didn't have to be asked twice. 

They rode for almost two hours in the foothills around the ranch and although she hadn't seen much of the ranch in this late fall, she thought it was as beautiful as ever.  The grasses and brush were all browns and tans and grays
, and the trees were like stately black and white skeletons against the muted background.  Behind it all was the deep green of the thick pines and then the flat sky, just now low and gray with the threat of the season's first snow.  It was so different from the brilliant green of summer and the stark whites of the snow, but it had its own sense of waiting for the coming winter.  Riding beside Rossen in the cool wind off the ridges made her feel vigorous and alive. 

She loved to watch him ride.  Even just walking his horse along the trails, he was so masculine and in control.  His confidence was maddeningly attractive and she let he
r horse have its head to follow as she focused on watching him.  All too soon Mimi began to fuss and they headed back.  Rossen took the baby in to his mom and then came back out to help Kit unsaddle the horses and put them away.

             
He was pulling his horse's cinch when she sighed beside him, wondering about his family’s ranch.  He came over to where she was leaning against her horse’s shoulder looking out over the neutral landscape and glanced to where she was looking across the ranch yard to the bench on the other side, as she asked him, "If you were going to build a house here, where would you put it?"

             
He nodded to right where she was looking. "Right up there on that bench, back from the edge some, but out from the trees.  The view is incredible from there and it's protected from the storms that come in over the ridge.  You'll be able to watch the sun rise or set from the same rocker on the front porch.  I actually bought that piece from my dad and have already had a set of plans drawn up and engineered. I just haven't ever gotten around to building yet."  His voice was wistful as he ended and picked up the saddle to take it into the tack room.  He paused beside her. "Why do you ask?"

             
She was still looking out toward the bench. "I'm going to build a house here too.  Next spring, as soon as the snow's gone.  Sean's going to build it for me.  Your dad said he'd sell me a place to put one. I just don't know where I'd like it to be."

             
He took his saddle in and put it away and came back out to pick up hers, as she gathered up the blankets and bridles to follow him inside.  He was quiet and didn't say anything even when she came out to stand beside him as he continued to look out toward the bench.  Untying their horses, she led them off to put them away.  She'd give good money to know what he was thinking behind those blue eyes.  When she came back around, he was standing over against the corral, leaning on the top rail looking across the valley at the bench he'd been talking about.  She wanted to go to him and ask him what he was thinking, but she knew he probably couldn't tell her anyway.  Another one of those stupid rule things.  She went inside to take care of Mimi, but her thoughts and her heart remained outside with him.

             
                                          ****

             
Kit was so busy that the days began to run together.  Her life became a blur of school and dating and driving.  The only things that even stood out and seemed to matter were her meager time at home with Rossen and Mimi, and the upcoming night as Nick's date for the Hollywood Awards show.

             
When she was at home she was more conscious than ever of the passage of time.  The snows had come to the Wyoming mountains and the ranch was looking like the first time she'd seen, it almost a whole year ago.  It was amazing how far she had come from that momentous night they'd picked her up.

             
Mimi was now six months old, had two tiny front teeth and could crawl and pull herself up to anything handy, usually Rossen's long, denim clad legs.  She would reach up one little arm to him and say, “Dah.”  Her hair was getting long, and Kit laughed the first time she came home to find he'd pulled it up into a tiny whale spout on top of her head with a pink bow around it. 

Mimi had become far more attached to him than she was to Kit and if Kit thought about it too much
, it made her deeply sad.  She tried instead to remember how grateful she was that her daughter was so well loved and cared for.  Every once in a while she would imagine what her and Mimi's lives would have been like if he hadn't picked her up off that dark Las Vegas street that night.  It made her love him all the more.

             
This time home, she and Naomi had a long talk while they cooked, something they hadn't done in a while.  Mimi was napping and the rest of the family had gone to feed and it was just the two of them making lasagna together.  Kit was layering the noodles in the pans while Naomi added the final seasonings to the meat sauce, when Naomi said, "I know Rossen has been after you to eat more, but you're still pretty thin.  Are you still working yourself to death at school?"

             
Kit shook her head. "I'm not working myself to death.  I'm just trying to fit enough into this semester to keep Rossen from hassling me to death when I come home to stay next month.  It's been pretty hectic.  I think half the stress is trying to date a lot without leading a bunch of guys on.  I don't have much of an interest in any of them really."

             
Naomi smiled a sympathetic smile. "And the other half of the stress?"

             
Kit gave her a sad smile as she said, "Trying to figure out how to let my rich and famous boss down gently when he asks me to move to LA and marry him."

             
Naomi gave her signature, "Oh my!" with a shade more enthusiasm than usual.  "Joey told me she thought he liked you, but I had no idea he was that serious!  Is he one of those rich and famous people who have been married seven times, or is it just that he's figured out what a keeper you are this quick?"

             
Kit sighed. "That's part of the problem.  I almost wish he was one of those disposable wife kinds.  It would be easier to blow off his attention.  Actually, he's never been married even though he's almost thirty.  Even knowing about Mimi doesn't matter to him."

             
She layered pasta and sauce as she continued, "I felt like I had to go out with him at first because of Rossen.  I figured he could never say I hadn't dated enough when I wanted to come home, if I'd dated one of the most famous guys in the country, but now Nick has become a good friend who I have a great deal of respect for.  He's a really nice guy.  And he made me agree to at least keep his offer on the table.  That's a hard one."

             
Setting aside the cheese grater, Naomi said, "Well, playing the devil's advocate, have you thought about what you're turning down?"

             
"What do you mean?"

             
"Well, he
is
very wealthy, and famous, and you'd have a relatively easy in if you wanted to become a famous star yourself.  He's good looking, and apparently treats you well.  That's a lot to walk away from"

             
With another sigh Kit said, "It is, but what about being a worthy priesthood holder?  He's actually pretty open to gospel ideas, but I'd be like number two hundred as far as women he's been with.  What about raising my daughter in the church?  Could she and I ever be happy in the city after living like this?  And I guess most importantly, I'm not in love with Nick.  If I were, a lot of these other things would be non issues, but I'm not.  And honestly, I don't see myself ever falling in love with him.  Anyway, can you imagine me trying to separate Rossen and Mimi?  I couldn't do that to either of them."

             
Kit spread the grated cheese on top of the finished pans.  "No.  If it's still okay with you, I'll come home, build a house here next spring and raise Mimi where she's loved.  It's going to be hard enough on her growing up an only child with an unmarried mom.  Dragging her off to the big city would be too much.  If I'm still single when she's grown, I'll worry about getting married then."

             
Naomi was quiet, thinking for a moment.  At length, she said, "I'm glad you've decided against marrying him.  It is a lot to walk away from, but you're right.  Raising Mimi Star in the church is more important than money or fame.  And having the priesthood in your home, or at least next door, is important."  She put her arm around Kit.  "And I would miss you both terribly.  But you need to do what you feel is the best decision for the both of you to be happy.  Of course, it's still okay with us.  You're one of us completely now.  It will be nice to have you home and fatten you up again!"

             
Kit thought of that conversation again later that night when she watched Mimi climb all over Rossen as he lay on the floor in front of the TV.  She pulled herself up against him and crawled right over the top of him.  Even when she pulled herself up by grabbing a handful of his hair, all he did was turn her over on her back and make her laugh uncontrollably when he gave her zerbits on her little tummy.  She continued to laugh and pull his hair as they played, until she finally wound down and crawled over onto him and went to sleep. 

Kit lay on the couch above them watching.  In some ways their love for each other made her heart full and in some ways she felt left out. 
Rossen openly adored the baby and there were no stupid rules.  Kit closed her eyes to doze off, wondering if she was jealous of her own daughter.