Bones Of Contention: The McKinnon Legends - The American Men Book 3 (21 page)

Checking in online she had just enough time to get to the airport for her connecting flight to Dallas and then nonstop to Miami. Remembering that Tray owned a condo on South Beach, she decided she would like to catch up with him while she was down there on holiday. There could never be anything romantic between them. Nonetheless, he was great company, and it would hack Josh off royally if he ever came to his senses. Not that she cared.

Serves him right, she mumbled.

She picked up Trey’s card, dialed but only got his answering service. She left a message for him to call her on her cell if he got the message before the week was out. Giving the service the name of the hotel she reserved for the duration of her stay, she put Trey out of her mind. He would either meet her or not; either way she was fine with or without his company.

Killer hopped into his airline approved carrier, favorite toy in mouth as she picked up her keys and suitcase. Heading out the door, she dutifully locked it behind her right after setting the alarm. She changed the code. If Josh tried to get in, he was in for a surprise.

Davis, her devoted guard for the night, quickly got out of his truck as he saw her making her way to her SUV with bag and dog in hand.

“Here, let me help you, Dr. Gillman, and where are you going? Does Josh know you're leaving?” Davis fired the questions.

He did not like this at all and neither would Josh. He knew from Barbara the Doc and Josh had a fight, or more like a one-sided misunderstanding, but he would bet Josh still cared for her. Davis had known Josh a lot of years, but never knew of Josh allowing a woman to stay the weekend with him or teaching random women self-defense. This one had to be different than the rest of the women his friend had dated in the past.

He would come around, Davis felt sure, because Josh was primetime in love, which was about as obvious as the fact Doc Bonz was leaving.

Jamie wanted to scream.

Josh no longer mattered and had absolutely no say in her life any longer if he ever really did. She gave him his shot at his very own Fairy Princess, literally, and he blew it. She did not have time for his family issues, nor was she inclined to take the kind of verbal abuse he had doled out earlier. If she were so inclined, she would go back to the Fairy Court.

“No, Josh doesn’t know, Davis, and furthermore, it is none of his damn business that I am going to the airport. Feel free to follow me as far as airport security. After that, all of you can just stay the hell away from me,” she warned as she slammed the door and put the SUV into reverse. Davis had to run a very yellow light just to keep up with her. He dreaded making the call to Josh.

Mr. Owens beat Davis to it.

Josh was still a half hour out of town when his phone vibrated on his hip. It was Jamie’s neighbor. He was very surprised, knowing instinctively this could not be good news.

“Sheriff? This is Tom Owens, Jamie’s neighbor.”

Josh acknowledged the older man, his gut twisting into knots.

“Listen, Son, I like you in spite of myself,” Mr. Owens confessed, “but Doc deserves a good man to take care of her, give her babies, mow the grass, and paint that house of hers. I don’t know what you said or did, but if I were you, I’d go after her and apologize.”

“What are you saying, Tom?” Josh had a sinking feeling he was not going to like the next words out of Mr. Owens’s mouth.

“Now, Sheriff, can I assume Jamie has her suitcase packed and is backing out of her driveway as we speak because of you?” He was not going to drop the bomb just yet that there was a fresh ‘For Sale’ sign in the yard.

Mr. Owens had been around the block a time or two. It was not a stretch in his mind that the sheriff was probably being daft and had put his foot square into his mouth where Jamie was concerned.

“She is a big girl, Tom. She has Davis with her and I won’t chase after her,” Josh said defensively all the while wondering what she was up to with her latest revolt and realizing chasing after her was exactly what he was doing.

“No, Sheriff, Davis is not with her. She left him behind eating her dust.”

Josh tightened his death grip on the steering wheel. Where in the hell did she think she was going? She was angry with him and hurt because of Jesse’s and his actions and that he could fully understand. Now, as a result, she could well be placing herself into danger leaving town without benefit of escort. If she were hurt in the process, it was entirely his and Jesse’s fault for pushing her outside the boundaries of safety. It did not matter she made the decisions all on her own. He and Jesse had been the catalysts.

“Let me give you some fatherly advice. You might just want to rethink your position, Josh. Personally, I’d do whatever it takes to make up with that girl. Women like her and my Eloise are the best thing a guy like you and me will ever hope to have giving us a second look.”

Tom figured Josh needed to do more than eat a little crow. Josh probably needed to eat a bus load of crow at this juncture. He probably also needed to buy Jamie a really, really nice piece of jewelry accompanied with a heartfelt apology to get that girl back judging from her reaction earlier.

She was deeply wounded.

Furthermore, he had not lived as long as he had not to know being wounded was always way worse on the bonds of a relationship than
fightin’ mad
could ever be.

Mr. Owens knew something Josh said or had done had to be the reason behind Jamie’s very hurried trip out of town and rash decision to sell her home. He knew it was none of his business, but still felt it was his duty to butt in where Josh probably felt he did not belong.

Tom looked over at Eloise, his wife of forty-eight years. He still loved her madly. He also knew emphatically if forty-nine years ago a nosy neighbor had not given him some frank and unsolicited advice, he too would probably have missed out on the best thing to ever walk into his life.

Josh might not appreciate his unsolicited advice at the moment, but he will, Tom thought, when he is bouncing his grandchildren on his knees with Jamie by his side.

“I’ll take it under advisement,” Josh snapped back.

“Well, you just do that, Sheriff, but keep in mind while you are waffling back and forth over something which should be a very easy decision, she is boarding a flight to Dallas and then to God knows where. Are you prepared to let that fine, decent woman walk?”

Josh did not think for a single moment she was leaving Lubbock for good. She had just bought a house and was too devoted to her classes and career to just up and leave at a moment’s notice. She was just leaving to blow off steam and to put some distance between them. Both were justified. He was a jerk and Jesse had behaved horribly.

Did he want to follow her? He doubted he could catch her before her flight left for Dallas, and he had no idea where she was going from there. What he did know was there were limited flights out of Lubbock and as late in the day as it was, he would be lucky not to have to wait until tomorrow should he decide he was going to go chasing after her, which was not likely, especially with Jesse in tow.

“Did she take Killer with her?” he asked striking on a thought.

If she took him with her she was probably staying inside the U.S. territories. Since most countries require pets be isolated for several weeks after entering a country to ensure it is free of disease, it was  unlikely she would want to deal with the complications for such a short trip. She had her speaking engagement in just under two weeks. It made little sense that she would take Killer out of the country.

“She asked me to watch the house, not the dog,” Mr. Owens smiled seeing the logic behind the question. The sheriff needed to get off the fence, Tom thought, and felt Josh was wavering.

Good, she is taking the dog, Josh thought. That made it somewhat easier. He did not need his passport because it was looking like she was staying inside the United States.

“Did she tell you where she was going?” Josh asked hoping Tom knew. Maybe he had just been keeping that information close to his vest until he saw which way Josh’s intentions headed?

“No. She didn’t say and I did not ask. Oh, by the way, she did say she was going to finally get to wear her string bikini.” Mr. Owens fabricated that part hoping it was going to spur Josh into action and finally get him off the fence line. Possibly the thought of her nearly naked and on some beach by herself without him close at hand might be just the thing.

Josh was seething. His suspicions were correct after all. She was going to Trey. If she was trying to make him jealous, she was succeeding beyond her wildest dreams. Then, he realized he was the one to end it. Making him jealous could not be on her mind.

Tom felt it necessary to push and turn the heat up a little hotter under the sheriff. “She got an offer from the British Museum for a two year fellowship. The museum has just received an exhibit with a two-year run from the excavation of the ancient city of Knossos on Crete, and they want her to take a look at it. There is a For Sale sign in her yard, too. Bet you did not know that now, did ya?”

“No. I didn’t.” Josh felt that must have been what she was trying to tell him.

She might just leave him after all. He and Jesse had not given her any reason not to leave for England after their actions today. He suddenly felt that prick of panic settle beneath his breastbone. A surge of adrenaline fostered by fear raced through his body.

“Tick, tick, tick. That, my friend, is the sound of your time running out. So what are you going to do, Sheriff?” Mr. Owens pushed.

“I’m not sure,” Josh answered before closing his phone, but not before Mr. Owens reminded him again that she was an attractive woman, available, and deeply hurt with a job offer to move across the pond.

Josh weighed his options; he could leave her alone, let her cool off, and catch up with her later when she returned or go after her. Jacqueline had used this tactic on more than one occasion.

He quickly reminded himself Jamie was not Jacqueline.

“Daddy, do you really love her?” Jesse asked frankly. It was a simple question.

“Yes, Jesse, I do love her,” he answered honestly looking over at his daughter as they made steady progress down the highway now only minutes from the city limits.

Jesse ceased to be a child in his eyes. She was growing up, just as Jamie had said, growing into a young woman with a sharp mind and a good heart. She looked nothing like Jacqueline, and he had no worries about the depths of her character in spite of her recent misstep.

“Do you love her with all your heart and hope to die?” she asked cocking one perfectly arched brow.

“Yes, with all the part of my heart not already belonging to you,” he smiled softly.

“Well, then what are we doe-assin’ around for? Stomp the gas on this hunk of junk and let’s go get her.” She grinned broadly making up his mind for him.

Go get her they would.

And in that instant, not only did he see himself in Jesse, he saw a true romantic with a McKinnon spirit. God help the man she was destined for as a mate. The man would never stand a chance.

And where Jamie was concerned, neither did he.

Jamie boarded American Airlines Flight 3802 bound for Dallas just before they closed the cabin door. Tucking Killer under the seat in front of her, she settled in for the short flight from Lubbock to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The hum of the small, double engine jet was somehow a comfort as she began actually looking forward to a little time away. It had been years since she treated herself to a vacation. It was time she was good to herself for a change. She loved her house and was not one ounce sorry she had saved every extra dime she could get her hands on to have a great down payment. However, she also needed to place some space between her and Josh.

She had already forgiven Jesse. She was a child, confused and insecure given her lack of feminine guidance. Jesse saw her as a threat to her father’s affections. Eventually, she would mature enough to realize her father would always love her no matter who was sleeping in his bed.

She could not say the same for Josh. He was a grown man and should have known better.

Their affair had been hot and turbulent from the very beginning. It was time to let the flame cool down, and she guessed that flame would eventually go out. However, she had never been in love before and it was purely speculation on her part.

Jamie knew from her sister’s experience that Miranda had never fallen out of love with the man who broke her heart. She had just learned to deal with it. Jamie was guessing it was better to go down in a big ball of flames than to just fade away as so many relationships do.

You know, she thought to herself, the kind of fading away where you wake up one day wondering how you could possibly have gotten involved with someone in the first place seeing no attraction and little common ground.

She would not have to wonder long with Josh. He was, simply put, a knock out on the physical level, but he was so much more than a great body. He was extremely intelligent, with deep thoughtful insights into this world and beyond. It is a combination she found hard to resist. He had played on her weaknesses, finding the chink in her armor, and then using his skill of persuasion and seduction, went in for the killing blow.

But he had baggage he brought into the relationship, which proved to be the final undoing.

She reminded herself why she had Rule #2: Never get involved with a man with kids.

He had only served to prove her convictions were grounded in good, solid, logical common sense. Straying off that path had now led her to extreme heartache.

She wondered how he would have reacted to her baggage, not that it would ever matter at this point. Her family tree was not exactly what one would call ‘normal’. She thought about that family tree. She had not seen her father in centuries and really missed him. She said a prayer for him as she fingered the medallion hanging around her neck.

“Nice piece.”

The voice broke into her thoughts. It was the gentleman seated next to her across the aisle of the small plane.