Just Kate: His Only Wife (Bestselling Author Collection) (21 page)

Damn. He did know her well. “I guess.”

His arms were tanned, the dusting of soft brown hair on them denser than she remembered. She shouldn’t stare, but it was easier looking at his arms than his face.

“Is talking with me that tough?” he asked, readjusting his cowboy hat. “I remember when we’d stay up half the night talking. After we got married, we’d stay up half the night making l—”

“Details aren’t necessary. I remember.”

As did Gage, if his wide grin was any indication.

What was with him, anyway? They’d seen each other occasionally through the years, most recently at her grandfather’s funeral. Those encounters had always been on the tense side and notably brief. Had enough time finally gone by that they could relax in each other’s company and be themselves? It appeared so for Gage.

“Two whole sentences. That’s a start.” He chuckled and strode away.

But not to his truck. Instead, he cut behind her SUV and came up the passenger side. Before she could protest, he’d settled in beside her. Her glower had no dimming affects on the twinkle lighting his dark brown eyes.

“I don’t remember inviting you in.”

In response, he removed his cowboy hat and set it on the dash.

“Forget making yourself comfortable, you won’t be staying long.”

“Another thirty minutes, I’d say. The sheriff’s office called in a special tow truck for the semi, and it hasn’t arrived yet.”

Siren wailing, the ambulance passed them going in the opposite direction toward Pineville. Momentarily distracted, Aubrey looked out her window. “I hope no one’s injured.”

“Two. Seriously, but not critically.”

“How do you know all this?” She shot him a quizzical glance.

“I made a call on my cell phone. I have a friend who works in the newsroom at the radio station in Pineville.”

“A friend?”

He turned toward her. “A
good
friend.” His expression hinted at more.

“I’m happy for you.” She crossed her arms over her middle and told herself it was indigestion and not jealousy gnawing at her stomach. For all she cared, he could have a thousand good friends.

“He and I went to fire academy together.”

Aubrey groaned inwardly. Shame on her for walking right into his trap.

She remembered a very brief conversation they’d had at her grandfather’s funeral when Gage mentioned joining the Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire Department. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if he’d stuck with it, but she refrained, not certain she wanted to learn everything about him yet.

“You still a nurse in the emergency room at Tucson General?” He moved his seat back to accommodate his six-foot-plus frame.

Aubrey rolled her eyes and shook her head. The man had a lot of nerve. “Not at the moment.”

“You quit your job?”

“I took a leave of absence.”

“Wow.” He stopped fiddling with the seat position and faced her. “I thought you loved nursing.”

“I do.” Aubrey heard her voice crack and swallowed before continuing. “Just not the E.R. lately.”

She thought of Jesse and Maureen—saw them as she had at their thirtieth wedding anniversary, a hundred family members and friends in attendance to join them in celebrating. Dear friends of the Stuarts, Aubrey had known “Uncle” Jesse and “Aunt” Maureen practically her entire life. She remembered being deeply touched at the way they gazed sweetly into each other’s faces. How wonderful it must be, she’d thought, to still be in love after so many years.

But then another, different image of Jesse’s and Maureen’s faces came to her. Broken and battered and covered in blood. Less than a week after the anniversary celebration, the couple had been brought into the E.R. while Aubrey was on duty, victims of an automobile accident. Upon glimpsing them, Aubrey had froze.

All of the E.R.’s staff vast skill and expertise proved inadequate. They couldn’t save her parents’ friends. Within the hour, Uncle Jesse and Aunt Maureen were both dead.

Aubrey lost more than two patients and more than two family friends that sad and terrible day. She lost a part of herself. And though she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, she was terribly afraid she might never find it again.

“Hey, you okay?” Gage reached over and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, a gesture so familiar, Aubrey’s heart ached. He let his fingers linger. “You seemed lost for a second there.”

He couldn’t be any closer to the truth.

Something stirred inside her at the intimate contact, and it wasn’t revulsion. Her eyes involuntarily sought his. Emotions, some old, some new, filled her. Without intending to, she let out a soft, “Oh.”

A horn beeped, then another. The moment, or whatever it was, abruptly ended.

Gage grabbed his hat off the dash and swung around. “Traffic’s moving. I’d better get back to my truck.”

“I think that’s a wise idea.” Aubrey started the SUV with shaky fingers. She was never so glad to be surrounded by rude and impatient drivers.

“How about you and me pick this up later where we left off?” Without waiting for her answer, he stepped outside.

Another chorus of horns blared. Aubrey began to inch ahead, forcing Gage to slam the door shut. “How about we not?” she muttered under her breath.

In the next instant, he was on the run, his arm raised high in a parting wave.

Aubrey let out a frustrated grumble. Five minutes alone with him and look what happened. She let him touch her and stare at her...and...comfort her. Did she not possess so much as a smidgen of self-control?

* * *

Gage picked up his cell phone and punched in his friend’s number.

“KSLN newsroom.”

“Marty, it’s me.”

“Hey, buddy. What have you got?”

“Traffic’s moving,” Gage said. “Slow, but steady. I’ll let you know more when I reach the accident scene.”

“The tow truck just hit town. Should be in your vicinity within the next few minutes. My guess is only the northbound lane’s open.”

“Nothing coming at me, so I’d say you’re right.”

Gage kept Aubrey’s silver SUV in sight. He planned on tailing her the entire way to Blue Ridge. The road was notoriously rough in places and in her present distracted state of mind, she might not be paying close attention.

“Did you hear the latest on the Denver fire?” Marty asked.

“Got the call a half hour ago. Thirty-five percent contained as of this afternoon. Assuming the weather holds, it’ll be fifty percent by the morning.”

“Kelli’s already unpacked my bags. She was furious I might miss our six-month anniversary.”

“Newlyweds. Every month is a reason to celebrate.”

“That’s fine with me.” Marty chuckled. “Kelli really knows how to celebrate, if you catch my drift.”

Gage did. All too vividly, in light of his recent encounter with Aubrey.

“You disappointed about the fire?” Marty asked.

“Not at all.”

“Huh! I figured you’d be raring to go. It’s been almost two weeks since the last one.”

“Aubrey arrived today.”

“Ah. That’s right. The ex-wife is back in town. How’d it go?”

“Good and bad.” Gage gunned the accelerator and passed a van. Only three vehicles now separated him and Aubrey’s SUV. “Good because she let me get within ten feet of her without clamming up. Not that she talked a mile a minute.”

“And bad because...?”

“She looks great.”
And feels great, too.
Gage’s fingers still tingled from when he’d brushed her hair back from her face.

“Gage,” Marty said, his tone patient. “Need I remind you the lady ran out on you without so much as a ‘see ya around, it’s been swell’?”

“She didn’t run out on me. The divorce was a mutual decision.”

“Thanks to her father’s interference.”

“Can’t blame him for everything. If she’d really wanted to stay married to me, she wouldn’t have left
.” Or, I could have gone with her,
thought Gage. “But I see your point.”

“You were a walking train wreck afterward. Are you sure you want to put yourself out there again?”

“No. But you should have seen her.”

Gage recalled Aubrey hurrying across the gas station parking lot. Short denim skirt. Short little top. Short red hair. The only thing long about her had been her legs. He’d never seen so much of their tanned length exposed in public. The Aubrey he remembered lacked the confidence to show off her body. Gage had to admit he liked the change in her.

In fact, everything about her was different, including her green eyes. They were the same color, but their former vividness had been replaced by wariness and a sadness he didn’t think had anything to do with him or their breakup.

He often wondered what might have become of them if her father hadn’t shown up that night, waving a carrot in front of Aubrey’s face. Her decision to return to college hurt Gage, but the passing years had given him an adult perspective he lacked at twenty. He understood, at least in part, some of her reasons and didn’t disagree with them.

Blue Ridge offered little opportunity for anyone with an ambition outside of ranching. He of all people knew that. Aubrey dreamt of following in her father’s footsteps her whole life. Bombing her first year at college took a little of the wind from her sails, but it hadn’t thrown her off course.

No, Gage did that when he proposed marriage.

Marty made a disgruntled sound into the phone, distracting Gage.

“Be careful, buddy. A hot ex-wife back in town is no reason to go all stupid.”

“Quit your worrying,” Gage answered, returning his focus to Aubrey’s SUV. “I’m not planning anything.”

But he was. He’d seen the spark igniting in Aubrey’s eyes when he’d touched her. And while he wasn’t ready to go “all stupid” as Marty put it, he did want to explore possible options. Risky, yes, but the plain truth was, he’d never cared for a woman the way he had Aubrey. One look at her again and he wasn’t sure he ever would.

The only way to discover for sure if Aubrey reciprocated any of his feelings was for him was to see her again.

Already his mind was formulating a plan. One that would ensure he and Aubrey crossed paths frequently during her stay in Blue Ridge.

Chapter 2

A
ubrey flopped over onto her side, pulled the bedsheet up around her neck and cracked open one eye. A field of tiny pink tulips filled her vision, more faded than they’d been the last time she slept in this room, but still the same.

She and her sister chose the wallpaper, back when she was four and Annie three. It was the first summer they’d stayed in Blue Ridge. Grandma Rose had wanted the girls to feel at home, so she and Grandpa Glen drove them into Pineville for the day and let them pick out paint, wallpaper, bedspreads, matching sheets and a lamp at the home decorating store. Being little girls, they went with a pink color scheme.

Grandma Rose never changed a thing. Every summer for the next fourteen years, Aubrey and Annie spent their nights in twin beds, slumbering amongst pink tulips. Until the summer ten years ago when, fresh from a quickie Las Vegas wedding, Aubrey had moved out of her grandparents’ house and into an old motor home parked behind the barn on the Raintree ranch.

Thinking of Gage reminded her of the two of them in her SUV yesterday. One little touch of his fingertips, one brush of her hair, and she’d gone soft and gooey inside. Old habits were definitely hard to break. Groaning, Aubrey drew the bedsheet over her head and buried her face in her pillow.

“Aubrey,” her grandmother hollered from her bedroom across the hall.

“Coming!” Aubrey sprang out of bed, glancing at the alarm clock as she did. The red numerals glowed 8:16 a.m.
Yikes!
No wonder her grandmother was hollering. Throwing a robe on over her pajamas, she hurried through the door.

“Were you still sleeping?” Grandma Rose asked when Aubrey entered her room.

“I could have sworn I set the alarm before I went to bed.”

“It’s all right. You needed your sleep. I could tell when you arrived yesterday that you were tired from the drive.”

More frazzled than tired, thought Aubrey. She’d seen Gage tailing her the entire way from Pineville to Blue Ridge and couldn’t shake the feeling he was going to prove as difficult to outrun during her stay here as he was on the road yesterday afternoon.

“That’s no reason for me oversleeping.” Aubrey positioned the wheelchair by the side of the bed, then helped her grandmother to a sitting position. “Do you need to use the bathroom?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

Over the next thirty minutes Aubrey saw to her grandmother’s needs, getting her bathed and dressed and otherwise ready to face the day. When they were done, she wheeled her grandmother to the kitchen and got her situated comfortably at the table. It still shocked Aubrey to see how small and frail her grandmother had become. When she’d arrived yesterday and glimpsed the older woman napping in a recliner, only the presence of Mrs. Payne, the neighbor, had kept Aubrey from crying out in alarm.

“What do you feel like eating this morning?” Aubrey asked as she made a pot of coffee.

Like the bedroom she and her sister had shared, there were no significant changes in the kitchen’s decor, either. Coffee was stored in the second largest of four ceramic windmill canisters on the counter. The others held flour, tea bags and sugar, in that order.

“Just toast. And maybe some of that calcium-enriched orange juice,” her grandmother answered.

“Is that all?”

“I haven’t recovered my appetite since the accident.”

No wonder her grandmother had lost so much weight. Aubrey remembered the breakfasts served in this kitchen as being hearty enough to satisfy a crew of lumberjacks.

“Well, maybe we can fix that while I’m here.” She placed two steaming mugs of coffee on the table, then opened a cupboard where she knew she’d find a loaf of bread.

“I’m so glad you came, dear.” There was genuine pleasure in her grandmother’s voice, along with a hint of sorrow. “I’ll try not to be a burden.”

Aubrey went over to her grandmother and placed an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t talk like that. You’re no burden whatsoever.”