Never Say Never (13 page)

Chapter Eight

“Is there anything I can do, Jill?”

She turned around at Eunice’s soft question. Eunice had come into the kitchen, probably anticipating Jill’s desire that everything be just right for her folks and Jill appreciated her thoughtfulness.

“I think we’re in excellent shape. Since you baked up those pies yesterday, and I’d frozen some casseroles, there really wasn’t much left to do except set the table.”

Which she’d done yesterday, knowing that her parents would arrive about an hour and a half after church today. She knew she’d feel more relaxed if everything was pretty much ready, so putting Holly’s basket in the formal dining room and enlisting Joey’s assistance with laying out the tableware, Jill had been busy. All that was left to do was warm the casseroles as the chicken had been roasting since early this morning.

“You’ve done a marvelous job.”

Jill smiled at Eunice’s compliment. “I like to cook, especially for my parents. I really haven’t had much chance to.”

Peace with her past had stolen over her yesterday as she’d laid out the holly-printed napkins, pulling them through silver napkin rings. It was kind of Eunice to allow her to have her folks out for supper, and considerate of Dustin to suggest it. Her parents were going to fall in love with Eunice, and the ranch. Nobody knew better than Jill how disappointed they’d been that her engagement had fallen apart. She’d almost been able to feel their hearts breaking for her.

Their visit here today should relieve them, though. Jill smiled, feeling very serene and happy about the whole thing. It was going to do her a world of good. She let her eyes rove over the kitchen counter one last time, to make certain that all the food was ready and waiting to be ladled into attractive crockery. Though she was still dressed for church, Jill wanted to take five minutes to refresh her makeup and brush her hair. Then she wanted to slick Joey’s soft, flyaway hair down with some water, even if any headway she made would be gone in a second. Of course, baby Holly needed the satin headband Eunice had made her, and Jill hadn’t been able to resist a green velvet dress with a white collar she’d seen at the discount store where she’d picked up the ornaments the other night. Holly would look so sweet in her new outfit.

The doorbell rang, startling Jill out of her thoughts. “I’ll get it, Eunice,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. As an afterthought, she untied the apron and tossed it onto the plank kitchen table before crossing into the hallway.

It was too soon to be her parents, Jill knew, but perhaps they’d skipped church in their anxiety to visit. She smiled and opened the door.

The man she’d most wanted to forget stood on the porch. “Carl,” Jill said weakly, her bubble of happiness instantly bursting inside her. “What are you doing here?”

Her ex-fiancé seemed supremely uncomfortable, not happy to be paying this call. Sheepishly, he replied, “I have to talk to you, Jill.”

“I think we said everything that needed to be said.”

“Aw, Jill. Can’t we discuss this?”

“Carl.” Jill’s voice was stern. “I don’t think we should discuss anything more than when you’re going to get your things out of the apartment. How did you find me, anyway?”

“Your mother told me. She doesn’t want us to break up, Jill. I’m sorry about everything…”

“Sorry about using the secretarial pool as a dating service, Carl? After declaring your love to me?”

She started to shut the door. He put his hand out quickly to stop it from closing. “Okay, okay, Jill. Wow. You don’t have to be such a bi—you don’t have to be so bitter,” he amended.

“I’m having company in a while, Carl. Please say your piece and then make yourself scarce.”

“Can’t I come in?”

Behind her, Eunice cleared her throat. “Jill, I’m going to take Holly and Joey upstairs while I’m getting ready. You’re welcome to use the parlor, of course.”

“Thank you, Eunice,” Jill said, turning to give the older lady a grateful smile. “Would you like an introduction?”

“I shouldn’t think so, dear.”

She couldn’t help feeling that Eunice was very much in her corner. “This won’t take long,” she assured her, before turning around with a sigh. “Come in, Carl, but wipe your shoes and please, don’t make yourself too comfortable.” She pointed to the parlor area.

“Man, you’ve really got yourself a cozy place here, don’t you?”

“None of this is mine.”

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Jill. It looks like you’ve managed to land on your feet.”

Jill gave an unladylike snort. Apparently Carl had thought she couldn’t survive without him. After she’d discovered he had roving eyes, however, she had known that in the long run, she’d be much better off without him. “I’m surprised you didn’t know me well enough to know that I can take care of myself.”

He looked at her thoughtfully. “Ah, yeah. You sure are looking pretty, Jilly. You always were a helluva looker.”

Jill watched without enthusiasm as Carl made himself comfortable on the antique sofa. That was
her
place, she thought angrily, a place that had come to mean welcome sanctuary during the times she fed baby Holly. Together, they enjoyed the quiet and the twinkling Christmas lights, which thankfully weren’t turned on right now, or she’d really have felt encroached upon. As it was, she deeply resented Carl’s intrusion into her life.

“I look the same as I always did,” she snapped.

“You can be such a pain, Jill. Here I am trying, and you’re not making this easy on me at all.”

“So sorry. I wouldn’t want to cause you any distress, Carl.” She sighed, realizing that any further conversation between them was totally pointless. “I have people arriving any moment for dinner. You’ve come at a bad time.”

Carl stood and started to walk toward her. At that moment, Dustin entered the room. Jill had never been so glad to see anyone.

The change in Carl was immediate. He puffed up like a rooster, standing up as straight as he could, though he’d need an extra few inches in his shoes to measure Dustin’s height.

“Heard there was company, Jill. Name’s Dustin Reed,” the rancher said easily, holding out his hand to Carl.

“I’m Jill’s fiancé, Carl Douglas,” Carl replied quickly.

Jill winced. That was not how she would have introduced him. “Not exactly,” she murmured, ignoring Carl’s frown.

“It’s a mighty long way for you to come out, but…”

“Oh, it was that,” Carl agreed. “Of course, I’d drive to the end of the world to be with Jilly.”

Dustin crossed his arms, staring all the while at Carl. Jill’s ex looked visibly cowed.

“We’re a bit busy with company coming out, as Jill mentioned.”

“Yeah, yeah right.” Carl started scooting toward the doorway. “Well, I guess I’ll hit the road. It was nice meeting you,” he said to Dustin.

“I’d like to say the same,” Dustin said.

Carl looked uncertain as to how to reply to that. Swinging his gaze around, he said, “Jilly, walk me to my car?”

“Come on.” Reluctantly walking in front to lead the way, Jill noticed that Dustin stayed behind in the parlor.

They’d only made it to the porch when Carl’s anger exploded. “Who the hell does that guy think he is?”

Jill made no reply as she gauged the distance to the sports car. She couldn’t get there fast enough.

“I mean, his attitude stinks! That guy thinks he’s the Marlboro man or something. He acts like he owns you.”

“Nobody owns me,” Jill said in a tense voice.

He was quiet as he reached the car. “But the Marlboro man likes you, doesn’t he?”

“Hardly.” She wasn’t lying. Dustin and she had a long way to go before they stopped acting like polar magnets.

“I think he wants to get in your pants. Or has he already?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Jill’s patience ran out like sand in an hourglass, except it had only taken about fifteen minutes. “Must you be so crude?”

“Well, it’s obvious by the way he looks at you, like you’re a piece of juicy steak he can’t wait to sink his teeth into.”

“Only you would compare a woman to a piece of meat, Carl. Please have your things moved out by Friday. I really must turn in the notice.”

Carl paused, staring at her. “You’re really going through with this, aren’t you? You’re calling it quits between us?”

Jill was surprised. Had he forgotten who’d required a stable of secretaries and temporary typists to satisfy him, though he’d sworn they hadn’t meant a thing to him once she’d found out? “Yes, I’m going through with this.”

Slowly, he said, “I guess I didn’t think you would.”

“I don’t understand. You thought I’d wait for you forever, like some virginal heroine waiting on her hero, until you’d had your fill of the spice of life?”

Carl’s expression was considering, as if he was seeing her for the first time. “I thought once you lost your job, that you’d realize how much you needed me.”

“I’m afraid I don’t get the—wait a minute. You’re not saying you had anything to do with me being laid off?” Jill was horrified.

“Well, after you broke off our engagement, it occurred to me that if you were out of work, you’d think about us more seriously. I was hoping, anyway. So, I mentioned it to Lyle and the company had been looking for some jobs to eliminate…”

She fought off the desire to slap him. Lyle was the personnel manager and obviously, Carl hadn’t wasted any time bending the ear of the person he knew could help him. “You are a snake. I don’t know what I ever saw in you. Go away before I kick holes in your car.”

He didn’t like the threat to his fancy sports car because he instantly opened the door. “Think about it, Jilly. I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t loved you.”

Disgusted, Jill turned and began walking away. If that was love, it was sick and twisted.

“You’ll always be the only woman for me,” Carl called. The sports car roared as he started it.

She told herself he wasn’t going to be the only man for her. Shaking, she walked inside the house.

In the parlor, Dustin and Joey were talking about something on the tree. She needed about five minutes to compose herself before her parents arrived. Carl’s unexpected appearance had left her feeling weak and bitterly upset, so she tried to slip past the doorway.

“Are you all right, Jill?” Dustin called.

“I’m fine.” Jill wouldn’t have said anything else. She simply was too embarrassed to discuss it. “Thank you for trying to protect me.”

“I wasn’t, I swear.” Dustin’s face was completely innocent.

She shot him a jaundiced glance. “Please. I’ve just listened to all the baloney I can take in one lifetime.”

Dustin shrugged. “Sorry. Maybe I was in a white knight mode, somewhat. Mother was waving the emergency towel at me, and I probably got carried away.”

“The emergency towel?” Jill asked. Joey stared up at his father, listening.

“Yeah.” Dustin’s expression seemed purposefully nonchalant. “Because I’m out on the east side of the property so much, she can’t reach me, especially in weather like this when her hips act up. We devised a system of hanging a dish towel out the window for certain times. Yellow for a phone call. Green for lunch. Red for an emergency.”

“The towel was red.”

“Yes. It’s only been red once before, and that was when my father had his heart attack.”

“Oh, my,” Jill whispered. Suddenly, it dawned on her just how much a part of this family she was starting to feel like. Eunice’s and Dustin’s concern for her was heartwarming. Still, this situation wasn’t forever. “I don’t know what to say. I think I’m still feeling slightly overwhelmed by Carl showing up.”

Actually, she was more disturbed by the emotions Dustin was stirring up inside her. He nodded at her comment.

“I hope you don’t mind my butting in.”

“No,” Jill said softly. “Actually, you do a very nice white knight impression.” She stared at him for a moment, realizing how very different Dustin and Carl were. Carl lived for pleasure of the moment.

Dustin seemed a lot more solid. She took a deep breath, unwilling to think about how secure he made her feel. Yet, the very fact that the man she’d thought she loved had purposely cost her a livelihood that was important to her was deeply scary. She’d gotten extremely close to walking down the aisle, all the while thinking she’d known her fiancé, when she hadn’t. Dustin was given to silent moods and keeping to himself. How could she ever really be sure she knew him any better than she had Carl?

As far as she could tell, Dustin found attachments difficult, even to his own son. It would be unwise to find herself in the same position twice. Carl’s traitorous behavior had stunned her, and even now, she found it difficult to believe what she’d heard with her own ears.

Joey came down the stairs, came to stand shyly beside her.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going upstairs to freshen up,” she said, tearing her gaze from Dustin’s. “Joey, why don’t you come with me? I’d like to slick that hair down, just a little bit”

“Go on.” Dustin waved her away. “You need a moment to regroup. Joey will live without his hair being slicked. Besides, it wouldn’t last more than five seconds.”