Exclusively Yours (6 page)

“I don’t care.” She had just passed the worst night of her life, and a pancake wasn’t going to help.

“I’m heading over. If you’re not there in a few minutes, Ma’s going to send the boys after you. Just FYI.”

When the cabin door opened and closed, Keri groaned and pulled the covers down. Camping sucked.

When a subdued Joe had returned to the cabin last night, he’d promptly fallen into a sound sleep. She, on the other hand, had tossed and turned on her foam slab—kept awake by a silence broken only by Joe’s unfamiliar snoring and what had sounded suspiciously like a rabid, ferocious raccoon trying to jimmy the deadbolt on the cabin door.

Agreeing to this asinine blackmail scheme had been a mistake.

Looking in the mirror was a bigger one. Even feeling as crappy as she did didn’t prepare her for how bad she looked.

And she had no sink. No shower. And no toilet.

Yes, camping really sucked, except for the opportunity to bury Joe’s body out in the wilderness where nobody would ever find it.

Keri threw everything she needed for a trip to the bathhouse into one of the plastic shopping bags Joe left lying around, then donned a hooded, zip-up sweatshirt. After pulling the hood as far over her really bad hair as possible, she opened the door.

Flash
. “Say cheese!”

No. Strangling. Children.
“You and I are going to have a little talk about privacy, Bobby.”

“Aunt Terry said to tell you I’m the parazappy.”

“That’s
paparazzi
, and I’m not them. I’m a journalist, so you can tell Aunt Terry to…” Just in the nick of time, her thought-to-speech filter woke up and smelled the coffee. “Never mind.”

“You were a lot prettier yesterday.”

“And you were a lot more charming.”

He just grinned his uncle’s grin at her. “Grammy said the food’s going fast and you don’t want to go riding on an empty stomach.”

“I don’t want to go riding at all,” she said, but Bobby was already running down the dirt road.

She managed to shower fast enough to snatch a pancake and the last two strips of bacon out from under Kevin’s nose. The caffeine flowed freely from the coffeemaker connected by extension cord to Lisa’s RV, thank God, and she was almost feeling human when the boys started dragging gear out of the totes in the screenhouse.

“I…have a headache,” Keri lied weakly.

Joe took her coffee mug away and tugged her to her feet. “You can ride with me today, to get a feel for it.”

“I’d rather not.”

“You didn’t go flatlander on me, did you girl?” Leo demanded in that booming voice of his. Terry snickered.

Keri may have spent half her life in California, but she was no damn flatlander and said so.

Terry tossed her a helmet, which she managed to catch without breaking a nail. “Prove it.”

Joe grinned and leaned into her personal space to whisper, “Just wrap yourself around me and hold on tight, babe. You’ll be fine.”

“Where’s the duct tape?” Terry yelled, and this time it was Lisa who snickered.

Keri shivered when Joe’s breath tickled her ear. Between the newly triggered hot flashes and the imminent threats of mud in her hair and duct taped thighs, she was anything
but
fine.

Her eyes narrowed behind the oversized protective lens of her goggles. “How slight?”

“Very. Trust me, babe, I never found Mr. Magoo anywhere near as hot as you look right now.”

“In this?”

Absolutely in that. The jeans and boots were tame enough, but there was something about seeing her decked out in riding gear that got his motor running. The pink and white jersey hugged her curves before disappearing into the waist of her jeans, where her pink-gloved hands rested to show her annoyance. The pink and silver helmet covered her head and the lower half of her face, with the goggles helping obscure her features.

But her eyes and body language let him know she didn’t realize just how much she looked like one of the models posing on ATVs in magazine ads. He thought she looked sexy as hell.

“Just so you know, the muddier I get, the more intrusive my questions will be.”

“Just remember I get to ask one for every one I answer, and I’m a guy. Just imagine how intrusive my questions could be.”

Joe finally managed to get her buckle snug, then slapped the side of her helmet. “Oh, sorry about that. I’m used to helping the boys. It’s a guy thing.”

“It’s a little claustrophobic in here,” she said, tugging down on the front of the helmet.

“It goes away when you’re moving and getting some air flow. Let’s go, babe.”

“Why do we have to be in front? I’d rather be in the back where nobody can hear me scream.”

“Usually Terry’s first so she can set the pace, while I’m stuck in the back eating dust and making sure nobody’s LFD.”

“LFD?”

“Oh, left for dead.” She stopped walking and when he looked back, her eyes were almost as wide as her goggles. “It’s just an expression. I just make sure nobody stops to take a leak or have a drink or something alone. But it’s dusty as hell, and since this is your first time, you get to be in front.”

“Great, now Terry can hate me for making her eat dust, too.”

“Kevin will ride drag today. Usually he sticks close to Pop, but we’ll be taking it easy today. Plus it rained a little during night, so it won’t be bad.”

“But, shouldn’t—”

“You’re procrastinating. Quit talking and get on.”

He watched her climb aboard the ATV and settle herself onto the passenger box he’d installed just for her. It gave her a nice cushioned seat with a backrest instead of having to sit on the rear rack, but she didn’t look all that appreciative. Instead she looked like she was scooting her way to the gallows like a sexy, pink-clad condemned woman.

Two hours later, sexy was no longer the adjective that came to mind when he thought of Keri Daniels. Stubborn, maybe. Pain in the ass? Definitely, if it could be counted as one adjective.

At her first glimpse of the hill up to the Bear Paw scenic picnic area, she’d let go of her handholds and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her body against his back. It wasn’t as sexy as he’d imagined, though, because every time he tried to hit the throttle, Keri gave him the Heimlich.

“Relax, babe. It’s not that steep.”

“There are ruts. And a big rock!”

He tried for a soothing voice, but it wasn’t easy with both of them in helmets. “It’s not as bad as it looks. I promise.”

He eased into the throttle and she screamed, squeezing him so hard he almost lost his breakfast. With a sigh, he flagged the others around. One by one the family went by, most of them laughing as they did.

Joe tapped Keri’s knee and pointed as Bobby went around them on his little 50cc machine. His nephew, aware he had an audience, took the hill as though an Olympic gold medal was waiting at the top. Keri’s grip relaxed as she watched him, and Joe took a deep breath.

Then Terry stopped. If Keri wasn’t clinging to him like a freshly dried sweater, he’d have been tempted to jump over and stuff a sock in his sister’s mouth, but he was helpless to stop whatever verbal jab she was about to deliver.

“Ma made her blonde brownies,” Terry told Keri. “But they’re at the top.”

Then she took off in a fishtail of dust and gravel, powering up the hill.

“That bitch,” Keri said. “She knows those were my favorite. But when I said they were to die for, I didn’t really mean it literally.”

“Come on, babe. You just watched the kids go up it just fine. Who do you think taught them to ride?”

“Mike.”

Ouch. “Oh ye of little faith. No blonde brownies for you.”

“Isn’t there another way up?”

“Nope. But hey, if you tough it out, I’ll let you sleep in the big bed tonight.”

That got her attention. He could tell by the way her head swung around, her helmet visor smacking the back of his helmet. Again. “If we don’t die going up this hill, you’ll let me sleep in the bed?”

“Absolutely.”

She was quiet for a second, then transferred her death grip back to the box handles. “Okay. Whether I’m in the bed or in intensive care, at least I won’t have to sleep on that damn bunk tonight.”

If he’d been alone, Joe would have punched it, banking the corners and launching off rocks, but instead he drove sedately up the smooth inside of the trail like his mother. By the time they reached the top, gear and people had scattered everywhere while Ma and Terry unpacked the coolers.

He pulled up next to Kevin’s machine and killed the engine. Keri managed to knee him in the kidney and elbow him in the side of the head as she climbed off, but after narrowly avoiding hiking the quarter of a mile up the hill, he didn’t mind. After pulling off his goggles, gloves and helmet, he set them on the front rack and turned to help Keri.

She’d beat him to it. Standing there with her hair mussed and dust coating her face, helmet tucked under arm, she took his breath away. Her eyes were lit up and the smile meant either she was that thrilled to still be alive or she’d actually had a good time.

“I get a brownie
and
the bed,” she said.

Like an idiot, Joe reached out and cupped the back of her neck and kissed her.

Flash
. “Say cheese!”

“Any chance he’s taking a picture of Kevin?” she murmured against his mouth.

Joe pulled back. “Since Kevin’s not doing anything but staring at us like a moron, probably not.”

“Joseph, stop kissing that girl and get the hibachi set up!” his father yelled from across the clearing.

Every head turned their direction, and the blush glowed through the smudges of dirt on Keri’s face.

“If Terry hides my bug spray,” she said, “you’re buying me more.”

Joe went to unstrap the little grill from his father’s front rack while Keri walked to the edge of the picnic area. The view from the top of the mountain was amazing—they could see across the river into Vermont—and he wished he’d brought her up here for the first time alone.

Preferably late at night, when the moon was full, the woods were quiet and Keri was wearing very little clothing. They could spread a blanket over the grass. Make love under the stars.

Better yet, they could make love on the ATV. It was an idea that had had him sleeping on his back for a while last night. Joe looked at his machine, pondering the best position for—

Whack
. “Not in front of your mother.”

“I wasn’t doing anything,” Joe protested, rubbing the sore spot. When his pop cuffed somebody in the back of the head, he didn’t do it half-assed.

“Since you ain’t got a math book handy, you carry that grill in front of you and think about cold showers.”

Nothing got by the old man, so Joe did as he was told, taking the hibachi over to the flat slab of granite they always used for their cookouts.

Kevin slapped a box of hot dogs down on the rock. “What the hell was that?”

“A kiss. It’s something guys like me do with girls we like. But don’t worry, someday you’ll find one drunk enough to let you try it.”

“Funny. But in case you haven’t noticed, our sister’s bitchy enough without you making out with public enemy number one in front of her.”

“Keri’s not public enemy number one. That would be Lauren. Then Tina, Keri’s boss. She’s definitely number two. Evan’s pretty high on the list right now, but he’s only been on there three months. I guess I’d put Keri in a solid tie for the third slot.”

Kevin snorted, tossed the hot dogs down and walked away. Joe didn’t blame him. All the stupid banter in the world couldn’t cover up the fact he’d just kissed Keri Daniels in front of his whole freaking family.

What the hell was he thinking?

The only thing keeping her from tossing the whole bag of the blonde, brother-kissing bimbo’s favorite dessert to the crows was the fact her mother had baked them. While the RV had a nicer-than-most kitchen, baking was still no easy feat.

She turned away, shoving brownie pieces into her mouth. She’d stopped at the bottom of the hill with full intentions of saying something mean—maybe something about the machine rolling over backwards. But the fear on Keri’s face had been so profound she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Now she wished she had.

“What’s wrong, Mom?”

Terry swallowed brownie and tried to smile at Steph. “Nothing, why?”

“I don’t get why it bothers you so much if Uncle Joe hooks up with Keri again.”

“They’re not
hooking up
. And what part of nothing didn’t you understand?”

“You were making the same face you made when Dad came home to pack his stuff.”

She shoved the mangled remains of the brownie into her mouth just to buy herself a second to think. “After they broke up, Uncle Joe was pretty unhappy for a long time. I don’t want him to go through that again is all.”

“Maybe they just weren’t ready, but now that they’ve grown up and done other stuff, they’ll realize they love each after all.”

How had she given birth to a hopeless romantic? “She has a life and a big-shot career in Los Angeles. She’s not staying, and if they hook up, as you call it, he’s going to end up hurt again.”

“Whatever,” Steph said, and Terry said a silent prayer of thanks for the teenage attention span.

She watched her daughter walk over to where the boys had set up a makeshift racket-less game of badminton. It didn’t surprise her at all one of her nephews traveled with a battered birdie. Between the four of them, they could produce almost any bizarre item on demand.

By throwing herself into preparing a barbecue in a clearing on the side of a mountain, Terry managed to avoid standing in one place long enough for anybody to initiate a conversation. And she didn’t miss the fact Keri was managing to do the same.

No matter how much her family wanted to welcome Keri back into the fold, Terry couldn’t be open-minded about it. She was Joe’s twin—nobody empathized with him as keenly as she did. Maybe they’d forgotten the days—
years
—Joe had locked himself in his office with his computer and a case of beer.

In the beginning, he’d tried to feed her some bullshit about the alcohol breaking down the wall between the logical and the creative sides of his brain. In reality, all it did was break down his relationship with his family.

She’d never forget the day Joe quit drinking. He’d taken a swing at Kevin—not in a brotherly way, but a real, rage-driven swing that had busted his nose. That was the end of it. He’d quit cold turkey and never looked back, even during the darkest days of the Lauren incident.

But Terry was afraid Keri was Joe’s Achilles heel, and she didn’t want a rerun of that particular episode.

“Have you figured out how you’re going to come between them this time yet?” her mother asked. She was standing next to her, her hands full of condiment packets.

Was she always this freaking transparent? “I didn’t come between them the first time. Keri did. And she’s no good for him, Ma. You know that.”

“What I
know
is that you feel like your life is out of control, so you’re going to control your brother’s.” She dumped the packets in the center of the picnic table.

Dozens of bitter retorts backed up in Terry’s throat, but she swallowed them all. “Maybe.”

“Or maybe you’re more worried about her leaving
you
again than Joe.”

Or maybe Ma needed to spend a little less time watching those Dr. Self-Improvement Du Jour shows.

“Have you and Evan made an appointment with a counselor yet?”

Speaking of self-improvement. “No. I’m calling a divorce lawyer when I get home.”

“Not that I know
anything
about making a marriage stick after all these years, but you could try talking to him before you divorce him.”

“
He’s
divorcing
me
, Ma.”

“Not if you talk it out.”

Sure, because a woman couldn’t hear
I’d rather be alone than married to you
often enough. “Maybe we could have talked about it if he’d told me he was unhappy. We could have tried counseling. He chose to walk out the door instead.”

“You should—”

“Stop,” Terry snapped. “Please, Ma. Can’t I just enjoy the scenery like everybody else?”

When her mother put out her arms, Terry had no choice but to surrender to the maternal gesture.

“It just makes me sad,” she said quietly against Terry’s cheek, “that you won’t fight for him. I
know
you love him.”

And she did. But she didn’t have the strength to drag Evan home and then spend the rest of her life wondering every single day if that would be the day he left her again.

“Sometimes love’s not enough.”