California Girl (20 page)

Stalking after Alys, he caught up with her just as she
turned into the doorway of another diner advertising barbecue and Texas-fried
steak.

“What if we passed the Rover in the rain?” he demanded. “It
was too dark to see far alongside the road.” He caught her elbow to steer her
through the diner crowded with college students.

“The police investigate cars alongside the road. If your cop
friends filed an APB, they should be calling shortly.” Jerking her elbow from
his hold, she took the vinyl dinette seat and opened the menu so he couldn’t
see her face.

Elliot pulled the menu out of her hands and turned to the
waitress. “Two iced teas, unsweetened, and two Cobb salads.”

“I can fix salads at home. I want something I can’t cook on
my own.”

“You need vegetables. Eat the salad and you can have pie.”

Alys
slapped her palms on the table and leaned over until they were nearly nose to
nose. “I am not the one with the problem here. People
die.
Accept it, Elliot. You are not dictator of the universe.
Face facts and get over it.”

He thought about it. Then he leaned across the table,
planted his lips across hers, and said, “No.”

He liked the way she shut up and fell right into the kiss.
He liked the way she thought for herself and stood up to him. He liked a whale
of a lot of things about Alys Seagraves, and he wouldn’t let her harm herself
any more than he would let Mame.

He didn’t like being stared at, however, so after shutting
her up with a satisfying tongue tango, he sat back down and let her do the
same. If his expression was anywhere near as shocked as hers, they were already
a sight to see without groping each other in public.

“What
do you mean,
no
?” she asked, recovering
rapidly. “I don’t think you have an option here, Elliot. You cannot put Mame in
a cage with Purple.”

“But if I find her, I can reason with her. And as long as
you’re with me, I can see that you eat properly. You may get hit by a truck tomorrow,
and I can’t stop that, but I can try to see you live as long as possible.”

“You’re not God,” she muttered, adding sugar to the iced tea
the waitress delivered to the table.

But he noticed she ate every bite of the salad, even if she did
slather it with dressing and ask for more.

When the waitress asked about dessert, Elliot told her no
and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill before Alys could override him. It was time
he took back the reins.

“We’ll pick up cookies next door,” he told her, dragging her
to her feet. “We can take them to the park with us.”

That got her moving. “Chocolate chip,” she crowed. “I
haven’t had fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies since I was a kid.”

“You’re
still a kid. Actually, I know
kids
with more sense.” Leading the
way next door, he ordered two oatmeal raisin cookies.

“Sometimes, kids understand things better than adults.
You’re way too adult, Elliot. Try being a kid again.”

Pulling out her meager wallet, Alys ordered four chocolate
chocolate chip. She slapped his hand when he tried to shove back her money,
then stood on her toes to kiss his cheek to distract him as the clerk handed
over their sacks.

“Not God,” she murmured, opening the sack and removing a
still-warm cookie.

“Not sane,” he muttered back. “Have you even tried oatmeal
raisin?”

“Not while in reach of chocolate chip.”

She shoved a cookie between his lips and Elliot nibbled it.
It was luscious and warm and packed with artery-choking butter and chocolate.
He shoved oatmeal raisin into her mouth in retaliation.

She chewed a bite and nodded. “Not bad, but not chocolate.”

“The difference between great sex and mediocre sex?” he
asked, swiping the key from her hand as they marched back down the highway,
opening the passenger door for her when they reached the car. He was still
ticked that she thought they could forget sex after one night.

She caught Purple and slid into the seat without kicking his
shins in retaliation. She kept him off balance, never knowing when she would
blow up at him and when she would accept his dictates.

She didn’t answer immediately, so he didn’t know if she was
stewing and furious or considering the answer or ignoring him. He started the
car and followed the signs in the direction of Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

“Maybe,”
she finally said. “But then, what if sinfully delicious chocolate chip sex is
actually
good
for you?”

They hadn’t seen a sign of Mame since noon yesterday, and he
was going insane worrying over her, but he had to laugh at Alys’s reasoning.
“You don’t want oatmeal cookie sex?”

“Ha, big shot Doc Nice thinks he’s chocolate chip sex.”

“If you want to live dangerously, it might as well be fun.” Content
that he’d got her head screwed back on right and that he had some chance of
looking forward to the evening ahead, he relaxed for the first time that day.

Which ought to worry hell out of him but didn’t.

* * *

“My word.” Alys exhaled in reverence. The canyon opening
below the scenic viewpoint in the visitor’s center was far more than her
imagination could ever have conjured from old cowboy movies. “It’s a lunar
landscape painted in colors.”

“And Mame will want to see it by horse,” Elliot said in
resignation. “There was a sign for a stable at the entrance.”

Alys couldn’t conceal her eagerness. “You mean it? We can
ride horses down there? Even if I don’t know how to ride?”

“They’ll be trail-broken nags if they’re safe enough for
Mame. If we’re really lucky, maybe we’ve actually caught up with her this
time.”

So far, they’d not located Mame’s name anywhere in Texas.
The park’s visitor center had a guest book, but it hadn’t been very visible.
Perhaps Mame hadn’t seen it.

Since Elliot hadn’t received any calls from the police, Alys
had to assume all was well. She’d lived with worry far too long and had no
intention of repeating the experience, not with the wonders of the earth spread
out before her. As long as Mame was leaving a trail of orchids and kittens,
Alys knew she was all right.

She offered Elliot the last chocolate chip cookie in
gratitude. He broke it in half and returned the bigger piece to her.

She could never live with his high-intensity worry gene, but
she liked his gentlemanly politeness. Of course, what he really wanted was more
sex. If she wanted to be a risk taker, shouldn’t she go for it?

The stable didn’t show Mame’s name on their roster as having
gone out that morning, and she wasn’t signed up for later in the day.

“Maybe she’s doing museums today,” Alys suggested, trying to
reassure Elliot and erase the frown. She could have bit her tongue after she
said it. Now he’d want to go back to the museum.

He looked torn, and she tried to hide her longing. She
wanted to grab every opportunity offered, knowing life had a way of hitting
people with buses when they weren’t watching. Still, she understood his concern
for Mame was deeper than her need to ride a horse through a canyon.

He shook his head and handed his credit card to the person
taking reservations. “For all we know, Mame is right behind us, watching our
every move. Or she found another stable. Let’s see the canyon.”

Alys flung her arms around him and kissed him. She’d never
thought of herself as a demonstrative person, but then, her whole problem was
that she didn’t know who she really was. She could easily learn to be
demonstrative in the company of a man who granted her every wish.

“Umm, hold that thought,” he murmured against her mouth,
holding her so tight that her feet left the floor. “I’m thinking of writing a
chapter on a diet of chocolate chips.”

“I’ll read that one.” She shoved away and dashed outside to
examine the horses in the corral.

“We can’t ditch the car. We need it to reach your mother.”
Mame watched worriedly out the hotel window.

When she’d first planned this expedition, she’d made the
mistake of reserving a room in the Big Texan Motel in Amarillo, hoping for a
touch of whimsy. At the time, she hadn’t realized she would need a room
protected by security guards and interior corridors. The Texan was designed as
a cross between a frontier film set and the old-fashioned Route 66 motels that
had only two floors and an exterior walkway.

If Salvador was following them, he could smash in a window
and be inside instantly. Unless he wanted to instigate a court fight over
Lucia’s guardianship, he wouldn’t bother calling the police. A man with a gun didn’t
need a court order. He could go anywhere he liked.

“Surely, he wouldn’t hurt Lucia, would he? He was just
shooting the tires, right?” Mame asked, trying to reassure herself as much as
Dulce. She couldn’t believe anyone would deliberately harm the innocent child
sleeping in the middle of the bed.

The huge Range Rover sitting outside the motel room loomed
like a billboard shouting “We are here!” She’d felt like a rolling target
driving down the interstate after Dulce had explained the purple semi cabs they
passed belonged to Lucia’s grandfather.

A policeman might not look twice at an elderly lady and a
young woman driving down the highway in a muddy SUV unless they were violating
traffic laws, but Salvador could tell his drivers exactly who to look for. As
far as Mame was aware, the hotel could be seen from the interstate. Trucks flew
across the bridge a few hundred yards from the door. It was only a matter of
time before Salvador radioed them to be on the look out for a Range Rover.

But the child had been terrified and all either of them
could think to do was find the room Mame had reserved so they could let Lucia
settle down while they plotted their next move. Secretly, Mame hoped Elliot
would be there to help them, but he wasn’t.

That
was probably a good thing because he was likely to send them back to Salvador
if he knew the truth.
Talk about
mixed emotions.

“He shot at the tires. And missed.” Dulce stroked the hair
of the sleeping child before rifling through Lucia’s backpack. “I think
Salvador hates giving up what he thinks of as his. He worked hard and pinched
pennies until he owned that trucking company. It is in his nature. I do not
know what he will do if his drivers find us.”

Mame had no answer to Dulce’s fear. “He’ll know we’re
heading for the reservation. If we turn around and go the other way, do you
think we can lead them astray?”

Dulce considered this. “There is no place for us back east. We
could look for a truck with ‘Mendoza Trucking’ on its side, let the driver see
us, and head east as if I was taking her back to Springfield with me. But I
don’t know if we will be able to lose them long enough to turn and go the other
way.”

“What if Elliot and Alys take her to the reservation?” Mame
asked. “We could make certain Salvador or his drivers see us head east, and
lead them on a wild-goose chase until Lucia is safely with your mother.”

Dulce looked doubtful. “Why would they do such a thing for
us?”

“Albuquerque is only a few hours away. Why wouldn’t they? They’ve
already taken in the cat and the orchid, haven’t they? That’s the kind of
people they are,” Mame said with assurance, crossing her fingers behind her
back.

“How soon will your nephew arrive?” Glancing nervously at
the door, Dulce stashed Lucia’s bright pink camera and assorted precious possessions
into the backpack she had grabbed on the run. “There is no clothing in here,
just the things she takes to school with her. I must run over to that Wal-Mart
we saw and buy her some pajamas and things.”

“If they went to the canyon, it could be hours before they
return. Or they could just be waiting until check-in time.” Mame glanced at her
watch. It was past four. Fortunately for them, the room had been ready early.

“We should go on,” Dulce said uncertainly. “Lucia does not
know your nephew or Mrs. Seagraves. If we hurry, perhaps we will reach
Albuquerque before Salvador can notify all his drivers.”

“If
they’re looking, they’ll be looking for
us
. They
won’t be looking for Elliot and Alys.” Now that the idea had formed, Mame
wouldn’t let go of it.

She didn’t want to admit she feared frightening either child
even more if she should have another spell. Dulce had too many burdens already.

“Lucia is not a kitten. We cannot just leave her here,”
Dulce protested.

That Dulce had agreed to come to the hotel said she knew as
well as Mame that going on alone was dangerous. They needed help fighting an
angry man with a gun and a fleet of trucks.

Although legally speaking, the law was probably on their
side, it could still be messy if they were caught before they reached the
reservation.

“We won’t just leave her here.” Mame sat down at the desk
and fished out a piece of hotel stationery. “I’ll write Elliot a note and
explain where he needs to take her.”

“I can’t just leave Lucia with strangers without explaining
to her.” Frightened, uncertain, Dulce took up watch at the window.

“Once you pick up the things you need at the store, I’ll
take the car and hide it where it can’t be seen. You can explain to Lucia
what’s happening and stay here until they arrive. They don’t know you. Pretend
to be a maid or something. We’ll find a cleaning cart. As soon as they come in,
you run. I’ll wait for you at the Pizza Hut down the road.”

Heart in her eyes, Dulce glanced at her sleeping niece.
“It’s not as if she hasn’t been cared for by strangers before. It’s just—”

“I know.” Mame scratched the pen quickly across the paper.
“You’ll give her a safe home soon, one where she’ll feel like talking. Salvador
won’t be able to touch her once we reach the reservation.”

Dulce closed her eyes in prayer. Mame applied all her
persuasive abilities to the note, hoping to convince her stubborn nephew to do
what was best—and not necessarily what was right.