Anything You Want (8 page)

“Is it a guy?” he asked, his tone sharp.

She turned to look at him. “A guy?”

“Yes, a guy. A man, a boy, a lov—” he coughed, “—lover.”

She looked at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement. “If I was bringing a man home, would I be traveling alone?”

“Maybe he’s coming in a few days. Maybe you’re coming home first to talk to your dad so it’s not a huge shock.”

She laughed lightly. “Breaking it to Dad easy would take all the fun out of it.” Sabrina seemed to be enjoying some imagined mental picture. “Shocking my father is a hobby I haven’t enjoyed for a long time.”

Now
that
was believable. “Who is it?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Does Kat know this person?”

“I take it you don’t care that I don’t want to talk about it?”

“We have a long way to go, what else are we going to talk about?”

“Why don’t you ask me to tell you about what I’ve been doing for the past year or so?”

He grimaced, which he hoped she would miss in the dim lights of the dashboard. “No thanks.”

She shifted in her seat to face him. “Why not?”

“I don’t need more details than I already have.” The things Kat had told him and Luke had made Luke crazy and Marc amazed. He hadn’t liked Sabrina but he’d always considered her intelligent. Until she left Justice. Then it seemed, from the stories anyway, that she couldn’t make a good decision to save her life.

“What details do you have?” She sounded genuinely curious.

“That you lived in dumpy apartments with heating that worked sporadically at best. You had offers to pose for porn films and magazines to help supplement your income. Which you didn’t take as far as I know,” he added. “And if you did do
not
tell me. You were also the cause of at least two bar fights both of which ended up with a man going to jail. You gave an agent almost two thousand dollars shortly after you left Justice and then never saw him again. Should I go on?”

“No,” she muttered. “That’s plenty.”

“I’m amazed you’re actually here in one piece.”

He didn’t have to look at her to know that her expression was surprised.

“You were worried about me?”

“I was disgusted by your lack of sense,” he said. “Does Kat know this mystery person?” he asked again, trying to turn the conversation.

Sabrina hesitated before answering, a fact that Marc carefully took note of. “She knows
of
this person, anyway,” she finally answered.

“How about your dad? Does he know this person?”

She shook her head adamantly. “No way.”

“Does he know
of
this person?”

“
No
.”

“It’s someone he won’t approve of?”

Probably. Those were the people Sabrina loved to introduce to her father.

“I guess you could say that he won’t approve,” Sabrina said, frowning at the dashboard.

“What did he say when you told him you’re coming home?” Marc glanced at Sabrina’s stubborn expression.

“He doesn’t know I am coming home.”

“You’re kidding.”

Of course, that made sense. Bill hadn’t said anything about it to Luke and had he known, he would have come to Luke with the news right away. Marc would have known about it shortly after that.

“You’re planning to surprise him?”

She didn’t smile. “I guess if I see him he’ll be surprised.”

“
If
you see him?

“I’m staying with Kat.”

“Oh?” He tried to make it sound casual, not judgmental. By the scowl on Sabrina’s face, however, he assumed he’d failed.

“I’m not running home to daddy. I’m coming back to Justice for…a few reasons, but I don’t want to deal with Dad, or anyone else,” she said with a pointed look in Marc’s direction, “thinking that I’m home because it didn’t work out on the road with the music. There are other considerations. It has nothing to do with my music.”

She was doing more than informing him, he realized. She was convincing him, or trying to, anyway.

“In fact,” she went on, “I never intended to come back to Justice. I’m coming back because I have to, for now. I don’t know that I’m even coming back for good. This might just be a layover while I figure things out.”

That was a good thing. Which didn’t totally explain why he was annoyed.

It was because Sabrina had always looked down on Justice.

He, on the other hand, loved their hometown. Everything about it. And he shared that love with Luke and Bill. They loved the Midwest, loved knowing all of their neighbors and they loved being a true part of the community where they depended on others and knew that those people, in turn, depended on them.

Both Bill and Luke had tried to instill that love and contentment in Sabrina. They’d insisted that she would be happiest in Justice—with them. Because, in spite of their problems, Bill loved his daughter. He wanted her to have a home, caring neighbors, the safety of a small town, the reward of contributing on a real, direct level to a community and, most of all, a family—a loving husband and a bunch of kids.

That was Bill’s idea of true happiness. Which, of course, meant that Sabrina was going to rebel against it. Anything Bill wanted, Sabrina automatically rejected.

She wanted her own life. She wanted to do her thing, her way. She’d left town and never looked back. Until now.

“Why are you coming home? You hate Justice, you want something Justice can never give you. You and your father can barely have a civil conversation. And you better not be coming home for Luke. Because that isn’t going to happen.” He felt—and sounded—surly. He didn’t care.

“It’s not like Luke’s been waiting around, pining away for me,” she snapped.

This sounded interesting. “What’s that mean?”

“Kat hasn’t only been telling
you
stories about
me
, you know. She’s told me all about Luke’s women.” She said
women
with an almost contemptuous tone.

It sounded like Sabrina was bothered by what she’d heard. That made him feel better. “What has she told you?”

“She’s told me about how he’s been dating steadily ever since I left. But she, and everyone else apparently, are curious about why he strictly dates women from out of town. He also never takes any of them to any functions or shows in Justice. They never come to The Camelot. He never introduces any of them to his friends, or to Karen or Dave.”

“Kat’s irritated because she doesn’t get any dirt on any of the women we date.”

He and Luke both made a habit of not dating women from Justice. It made things messy when they broke up if they were running into each other at the grocery store and town events. Or worse, at The Camelot. Either things were tense, which didn’t make for a good environment, or the women stopped coming in, which was bad for business. Even worse if the woman’s friends and family also stopped coming in too.

“She doesn’t know them, but she does have some opinions. Especially on the ones you take out.”

“And?”

“She says they’re all sluts.”

Marc couldn’t help but laugh. The blunt way Sabrina said it indicated that she believed Kat. “Like I said, Kat hasn’t gotten to know any of them. They are nice, professional women who have no criminal records, no sexually transmitted diseases and no major addictions.”

“Must be the way they dress.”

He laughed again. “Kat’s seen maybe two of them ever, and I can assure you, they all dress very nicely.”

“But your idea of nice and Kat’s idea of nice might be different,” Sabrina pointed out.

That could be true. He tended to like a more sophisticated look and Kat had a distinct look of her own. Always had. She liked black, wore fitted clothes in interesting combinations and changed her hair color nearly every other month. Of course her various piercings and body paint made her stand out in a town like Justice. She was a native, though, and a fantastic doctor so everyone forgave her fashion statements.

“Marian’s has a fairly obvious dress code,” he commented.

Sabrina whistled. “Marian’s huh? You must like them.” It was the nicest restaurant in the area, next to The Camelot, of course.

He shrugged. His choice of restaurant didn’t have so much to do with how much he liked the woman as it did with wanting them to like him, or at least think he was a decent guy. He could admit it—he still felt like he was proving to the Hamiltons and the town and everyone that he had been a risk worth taking after he’d been orphaned and taken into their family. He knew they loved him and were proud of him. But he owed them everything and he made sure there was never a reason for them to be upset, embarrassed or disappointed.

“I wouldn’t date them if I didn’t like them,” he said.

“But why keep them so mysterious? Why not date some of the women from Justice?”

“Maybe because I don’t want everyone in town discussing my love life,” he said, rather than telling her the whole truth. Sabrina was not someone he wanted to be completely open, honest and vulnerable with. Luke had been and look what had happened to him.

“But they
are
discussing your love life.”

“But they don’t have any facts. Besides, I’m providing some much-needed entertainment. Obviously, Kat doesn’t have much else to think or talk about.”

Ten minutes later, Marc took Exit 297.

“Marc?”

“Yeah?” He didn’t look at her.

“Do we need gas again?” She leaned over to look at the gas gauge.

“Nope.”

“Bathroom?”

“Nope.”

“Why are we getting off?”

“This is the exit to the airport.”

“I noticed. Why does that matter?” Her heart started beating harder. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions. There might be reasons Marc was taking her to the airport other than putting her on a flight.

“I’m putting you on a flight.”

Except in this case where her conclusions were completely right. “You are not.”

“Oh, yes I am.”

Sure, where had he been four weeks ago when she’d spent a huge chunk of her measly savings on a spontaneous plane ticket to Jamaica? She could have used someone adamant about her flying that day. “Where do you think I’m going?”

“Anywhere but Justice.”

A tingle of temptation zinged through her. Anywhere but Justice sounded really good to her.

“What do you mean anywhere?”

“I mean anywhere you want to go.”

That list was actually pretty long. But if she had to pick just one destination, she knew exactly where it would be—

She forced her thoughts from that. She was sticking with her plan to do the
opposite
of everything she was tempted to do.

Even if there was a music competition taking place in Nashville in a few weeks that she’d really love a shot at singing in.

Besides, in Nashville she’d still be pregnant and broke, without a job, a place to live, health insurance—or a clue about pregnancy and babies. In Justice she’d have a roof over her head, a lower cost of living, and her own personal physician who would only expect pedicures in exchange for her services.

She looked at Marc. He stubbornly kept his eyes on the road. “You were planning this the whole time?”

“Laramie is the closest airport that can get you anywhere in the country. You’ll fly to Denver and then anywhere from there. Your pick. My treat.”

I can be responsible. I can make good choices. I can do the right thing for my baby.

But damn she wanted a free ticket to Nashville.

And damn Marc seemed sincere about giving it to her.

“Why is my not going back to Justice worth four or five hundred dollars to you?” she asked, already knowing some of it.

“Not four or five. I’ll set you up with a few months rent, some money for a new car, give you references for a job, whatever you need.”

It was like waving hundred dollars bills at an addicted gambler and saying, “just pick your game.”

She clenched her fists and focused. She couldn’t go to Nashville, whether it was free or not. It wasn’t just about having a place to live and groceries. In Justice she’d have a doctor she trusted, who wouldn’t laugh at how clueless she really was. She’d be able to hire a daycare provider that Luke’s mom had known for ten years through her church committees. She’d be able to walk to the park without mace in her pocket.

Justice was what was good for the baby. That was what mattered.

“No.”

He sighed and she knew he’d been expecting her answer. “Come on, Sabrina. It’s the best offer you’ll get.”

“I don’t need a plane ticket or rent to live in Justice.”

“I need you to not live in Justice.”

“Why is this such a big deal?” But she knew. It was about Luke and the fact that she was returning to basically create the life he’d wanted to give her.

Marc said nothing as he took the ticket from the machine at the entrance to the airport’s parking garage and rolled through two levels before pulling into a space. He shut the car off and turned to face her.

“If you come back to Justice, you’ll ruin everything for Luke.”

“This isn’t about Luke.” But her stomach felt queasy as she said it.

“Luke will make it about Luke. If you come home, it will turn things upside down for him. And you know it.” He frowned at her.

She frowned back. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“That’s bullshit. You can go anywhere you want. Back to Seattle. If you need money, I’ll give you money. Or somewhere new. New York City. Miami. Chicago. Big cities with all the lights and excitement and nightlife that you want.”

She looked down at her hands, clasped tightly in her lap. “I don’t want those things anymore.” She hoped that would be true eventually.

“You have the FBI after you or something?”

She snorted. “I think the FBI might think to look in my hometown if I disappeared, don’t you?”

“A crazy ex-boyfriend? A stalker?”

Crazy wasn’t the word she’d use to describe Paul. And coming after her was the last thing he was going to do. In fact, he’d high-tailed it in the opposite direction as soon as he’d had what he needed—her bank account number and credit cards.

“No, nothing like that.”

“A kidney? I’m willing to see if I’m a match.”