Burned by a Kiss (15 page)

“Try to do a man a good deed, and this is how I get treated,” Sid said. “Fine. Sit out here and freeze your stupid citified carcass.”

He drove off, highly indignant. Nick looked at Santana. “Is there a reason I didn’t want my tires back?”

“Wait for it,” Santana said, and Nick was surprised to see Sid stop his truck in the middle of the icy street. He got out, hustled to the truck gate. Opening it, he tossed the four tires Nick had claimed were his into the street.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Sid called to them. “And I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention this to my sister!”

He got in his truck and drove off.

“Wow. Did you know he would do that?”

“I knew sense would eventually kick into his meaty brain. Let’s go in and get some coffee. Miss Sugar’s just set some out fresh, which I was coming to tell you when I saw you had company.”

Nick wondered if Santana knew that Sid wasn’t the only company he’d had. They tossed the tires into the back of the Range Rover and went inside Miss Sugar’s.

She had coffee and fresh biscuits on a table for them. “Hope you slept well!”

“Thank you, Miss Sugar.” Nick shook his head and sat across from Santana, who seemed unconcerned about anything but hot coffee. “The ways of small towns elude me just a bit.”

“You think?” Santana asked drily.

“You’d be just as awkward in my world.”

“More.” Santana bit into a biscuit. “I wouldn’t even try to fit where you come from.”

Nick wondered why he was bothering to try to fit into the Darks’ world. Frankly, small town life probably wasn’t going to work out for him. Thanks to the internet and cell phones and good roads, he could run just as much of his business from Star Canyon as he would normally—outside of the lunch and dinner meetings. But he didn’t have to do those to make business happen. He’d just done them out of a sense of…loneliness.

“So, just a word of caution,” Santana said. “I wouldn’t let my sister talk you into anything else.”

Nick’s gaze shot to meet Santana’s. He wondered if he had guilty stamped on his forehead. “Like?”

“Running for town council.”

Nick laughed. “No, really.”

Santana shrugged. “She will. Or something else civic-minded.”

“I don’t have time.”

“You have nothing but time. And you’ll want to make her happy. Everybody always does. Sierra has that effect on people.”

Nick looked at him warily. “I’m a committed bachelor.”

Santana laughed. “Join the crowd.”

“No, I really am. I know you and Emma are, um, close.” He hesitated at the quick glower on Santana’s face. “But I’m not interested in Sierra, not like that. We’re like sand and water, we’d mix and make a soggy mess.”

Santana looked at him. “All I said was everybody wants to make Sierra happy. How did this get to be about you and Sierra hanging out on beaches?”

Nick sipped his coffee. “Just making sure what we’re talking about.”

Santana’s face was practically stone, looking very much like the homicidal maniac Sierra had mentioned. “You’ve got a thing for my sister,” he said, his tone stunned.

Nick held up a hand. “Absolutely not.”

“You poor bastard. She’s already got you under her spell. Well, good luck with that.”

Nick blinked. “I don’t need luck.”

“You will. Oh, you will.”

But then Emma walked in, looking fresh as morning sunshine. Nick noticed Santana change from stone man to a man with a smile—however small—on his face, and thought he wasn’t the only poor bastard in Star Canyon.

Misery loved company, and there was plenty of that to go around.

Emma sat down, and Santana poured her some coffee. “Nick got his tires back.”

“Really?” Emma looked at Nick. “No wheels, though?”

“Not yet,” Santana said. “But I expect we’ll have everything we need in the next thirty minutes to get us back to Star Canyon.”

“I got a text from Jenny,” Emma said. “She said there was all kinds of snow dumped in Star Canyon. But since your brothers are home, one of them is running by to get Joe from her. It might have been Cisco.”

Santana stilled in the act of biting a biscuit. He put it on his plate. “Why are my brothers at the ranch?”

Sierra joined them at the table, her hair standing straight up. Nick wondered how he could think a wild girl like this would ever fit in his world. She would stick out at cocktail parties. Other wives would stare at her. Eclectic didn’t fare well in the world he lived in, not this kind of eclectic which was actually a polite way of saying eccentric.

“What?” Sierra asked Santana. “Why is your face frozen like you just bit into something gross?”

“Our brothers came back. They’re at the ranch right now.”

“I know.” Sierra nodded. “I was going to tell you, but I found out last night. When I walked past the fireplace room, you were sacked out.” She looked at Nick. “So, you’re no good at keeping secrets.”

“You knew?” Santana howled at Nick.

“Don’t get me involved.” Nick raised his hands. “I’m going to borrow Sierra’s shower. See if you can work your magic and get my wheels back. I don’t think I can hang around you Darks much longer. Jeez.”

He stomped off, not about to get caught in the middle of a Dark family fracas.

Sierra followed him to her room, closing the door behind them.

“I didn’t tell him. Emma did.”

“I know. She just told me.” Sierra looked at him, and he wished desperately there wasn’t a closed door separating them from the rest of their companions.

“Well, get out. I can’t shower with you in here.” He glanced around the room, seeing only one double bed. “Hey, you told me there were two beds in here.”

She shrugged.

“Are you coming on to me? Because if you are, I want you to know I don’t want you to,” he said, digging deep for resistance.

“Just came in to get my purse.” Her gaze was laughing as she picked it up and went out.

Nick went straight to the shower, turning it on cold.

• • •

Emma went straight home to relieve Jenny of pet sitting duties, glad to be away from Santana. What exactly had happened between them on that short journey?

She found her friend sobbing into a pillow on the sofa. “Jenny! What’s wrong?”

“One of the lovebirds died!” Jenny wailed. “I’m a failure as a pet aunt!”

“Oh, Jenny.” She hugged her friend. “Don’t cry. You’re upsetting Gus and Bean. And me. My birds are very old. They don’t live forever, you know.” She and her father had picked them out together for a birthday present for her the year after her mother had died. She’d been seventeen. The birds were a sweet reminder, but she had the clinic, and that was a permanent link to her family.

“Nothing’s ever died on my watch! I had to take it out and put it in a little baggie, then wrap a dish towel around it, and put it in a shoe box. The ground’s too cold to bury anything right now, and I didn’t know if you’d want to do it yourself.”

“Jenny, you’re a wonderful pet aunt. Please don’t cry.” She got her friend a tissue as Gus and Bean flailed at their feet for attention. “Hello, fellows. Are you trying to make Aunt Jenny feel better?”

“They’ve been so good.” Jenny sniffled into her tissue. “Even Princess has been good and cuddles with me all the time. She used to be sort of unimpressed with me, but we really bonded. I thought we were all doing so well! And I was eating you out of house and home, reading a little case law, and watching some old Alfred Hitchcock TV shows. And then—”

“Don’t think about it anymore.” Emma patted her friend’s arm. “Jenny, there’s no one I trust more with my animals than you.”

“Thank you.” Jenny sniffled again. “How was the trip?”

“Strange.” Emma didn’t know what to think about anything that had happened. “It’s like we were on this really weird adventure to find an old dress, and wound up finding out a lot about each other instead. Maybe too much.” And maybe too much about themselves. After their recent lovemaking, she felt certain she and Santana shouldn’t be so awkward with each other. But he’d been totally remote after he’d left her room that night.

I’m not going to think about it. I can’t guess what was on his mind. If he wants to talk, he can find me
.

She got up. “I’m going to get some hot tea. I’m bringing you some, too. You’re staying here for the night, okay? The roads aren’t good at all.”

“Thank you,” Jenny said, still not cheered. She padded after Emma into the kitchen, and the dogs followed, not about to let Emma out of their sight. “Is the dress beautiful?”

“In an old-fashioned, sort of sad way.” Emma smiled. “Yes, it’s lovely. But the story that went along with it was sort of a testimony to love that never happened.”

“Well, that won’t happen to you. Santana’s on the case.” Jenny giggled, and Emma was glad to see her smile, even if her opinion wasn’t close to being right.

“Cisco, Romero, and Luke came back.”

“What?” Jenny got up on a bar stool at the island, watching her set a kettle on. “Why?”

“What I’ve been able to learn from Sierra—who was so sick while we were gone that I’m not sure how much she actually knew and what she was making up—is that they took a crazy road trip. But they’re back for the holidays.”

Jenny’s eyes went wide. She tossed the tissue into the trash. “Maybe they decided military life wasn’t for them?” She sounded so hopeful.

“I don’t know that they decided that, exactly.” She set two teacups between them. “My guess is that they’ve decided to wait until after Christmas to make big decisions.”

“You know,” Jenny said, her voice soft, “I’ve always had kind of a thing for Cisc—”

Knocking on the door startled them. “I’ll get it,” Jenny said, sliding off the stool. Gus and Bean went nuts barking, so Emma couldn’t hear who it was, but her heart leaped inside her. Maybe Santana had come by with Joe, and maybe those strange moments between them were nothing more than worry over Sierra.

She was stunned when Nick walked into the kitchen, followed by Santana. Her gaze met Santana’s, surprised.

“Jenny, this is Nick Marshall. Nick, one of my dearest friends, Jenny Wright. Have a seat, please, everybody. Would you like some hot tea?”

To her surprise, Nick nodded. Santana moved his large frame onto a bar stool.

“If it’s no trouble,” he said courteously.

“It’s not. What brings you two out? Last I saw you, you were heading to check on your new hands, Nick.” Emma got out more tea bags and a couple of mugs for the guys, pulling the kettle off the stove once it started to rumble.

“Sierra left,” Santana said, and Jenny and Emma both fastened their gazes on him.

“Left?” Emma asked.

“Town. We were wondering if she’d mentioned anything to you.” Santana watched her as she poured tea for everyone.

“Not a word.” She got out some cookies from Mary’s bakery and put out dishes and napkins. “Why would she leave?”

“She said she could now. That she had the freedom to leave me and Nick to our own devices. That the ranch was in good hands.”

Emma was dumbfounded. “What about the wedding store?”

“She left me with a leased space she’s got practically ready for business.” He sighed, staring down into his tea. “Not to mention the storeroom full of crap she’s been stockpiling since the beginning of time.”

Santana took a deep breath. “I realize she’s in pain. I know everything’s that’s happened has hurt her. It’s hurt all of us.” He held up a hand. “Nick, this has nothing to do with you,” he said, forestalling Nick’s words, whatever he’d been about to say. “This isn’t any easier on you,” he told his cousin. “You’ve tried to be fair with us.”

Jenny got up. “I’m going to take the pups outside, I think,” she said softly. “They need a walk.”

Gus and Bean were more than happy to joyously skitter out the door, all heaving tongues and scrambling paws. Emma sat on the counter. “I’m sorry I’m no help. The last person I ever thought would leave this town is Sierra. Especially with your brothers coming home. And Christmas so close.”

“Their return gave her freedom.” Nick stood. “I think I’ve overstayed my welcome in Star Canyon. So as much as I’ve enjoyed life in a small town, I think I’m going to return to what I know best.”

They watched him walk out. Emma’s gaze met Santana’s.

“What the hell just happened?” Santana said.

“I’m not exactly certain, but it’s possible your newfound cousin just ditched you.”

Santana was stunned by Nick’s abrupt exit from Emma’s house. The man simply got up from the bar stool he’d been perched on and left. “Ditched? As in, left Star Canyon for good?”

“I think maybe in the short term, at least.” Emma considered. “Something’s bugging him.”

“Yeah. What has gotten into everybody?” On paper, maybe it would seem best that Nick had gone. His arrival in their lives had certainly stirred up plenty of trouble.

Yet he hadn’t wanted Nick to leave Star Canyon—or their lives. Their family tree had grown a strange branch, but it was a branch he hadn’t envisioned losing.

He rubbed his face, scrubbing at his shadow, realizing he had no ride home. He didn’t want Emma driving in the snow. One of his brothers could come get him. “What do you think he meant by overstayed his welcome?”

“I think just that he’s ditching us, no hidden meaning,” Emma said simply, and Santana realized she was right.

“He can’t. He can’t just up and leave Star Canyon. He has a ranch to run.”

“Can you blame him? We’re not an easy town to live in for outsiders.”

“Blame him?” he echoed. “I don’t blame him for anything.” What was there to blame Nick for? He hadn’t wanted them anymore than they’d wanted him.

“Back to Sierra, your sister mentioned that if the dress shop didn’t work out, she was going to work at the fire station.”

“No,” Santana said automatically. “No, she’s not.”

No way was he losing his only sister the way he had their father. “No,” he said again.

“You know why she feels that way,” Emma said. “It’s a part of your family. And Miss Sugar brought up the fire. I could tell it really got to Sierra, though she didn’t say much about it. Now that I think about that, maybe it’s no surprise Sierra feels like she needs some time to herself, Santana.”