Parker (4 page)

“Brown?”

“Oh, I mean black.”
Shit, Reba!

Parker chuckled again. “You’re right. You are
not thinking or talking straight. I’m a little worried about that
bump. Maybe I should have taken you on in to Livingston.”

Reba saw the concern in his eyes as he
brushed her hair back from her forehead, inspecting her goose egg.
“It’s big, isn’t it?” she said.

“Yes, but it was puffing out, which I hear is
better than pushing in. It’s going to be tender for a while, and
you’ll likely bruise there too. I see a couple of weeks of dark
glasses in your future.”

He smiled then, and Reba felt that smile land
on her heart. A little, anyway. It danced and spun and then sank in
and took hold.
Oh, my.

His fingers lingered at the corner of her
eye, his knuckles gently grazing her skin, and Reba found herself
licking her lips as Parker’s gaze shifted to connect with hers. She
watched the darkened intensity of his gaze; his eyelids drooped
half-closed as he looked to her lips.

Go for it, Reba. Live life. It’s way too
short.
The wench was back.

“I want to kiss you,” she whispered.

She startled herself by saying those words.
And she was a little frightened, again, when he didn’t jerk back
and hightail it into the kitchen, as he had earlier. But what
scared her most was when he leaned in and placed a soft, magical
kiss on her open mouth.

****

Every fiber of Parker McKenna’s being told
him to retreat. His head shot signals to his feet, telling him to
stand up and move away. His heart urged him closer into Reba’s
embrace.

She pulled back slightly, her lips a breath
from his, her mouth parted. Her breathing came in quick, short
pants, branding the scorching heat of their kiss on his lips. She
didn’t move and neither did he. They stayed close, eyes closed,
breathing each other’s breath.

At least his eyes
were
closed. He
blinked and opened them in time to see Reba’s flutter open too.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I don’t know what got into me. I’m not
thinking straight.”

“That’s my line,” she told him.

He pulled back. “Maybe so. Maybe that deer
kicked
me
in the head. I don’t usually go around kissing
women I have barely met.”

Reba frowned. “I’m sorry that it was such an
insane idea to kiss me. I mean, why would you want to?”

It was his turn to frown.
What?
“Reba,
I wanted to kiss you. And you said—”

She held up a hand. “Stop. I know what I
said. And what we just did. Let’s just—”

“Forget about it?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Easier said than done.
“All right.” He
rose and stepped across the room to a straight-back wooden
chair—the most uncomfortable looking chair in the room—and sat in
it, facing her.

He glanced at his watch. Hours had to pass
before he’d feel comfortable leaving her. At the very least, he
wasn’t leaving until he could call his friend Mike, who also
happened to be his personal doctor, and discuss her symptoms with
him.

Of course, it wasn’t that late, and Mike was
used to calls interrupting his sleep, but if he didn’t have to do
that, well…

He’d call as soon as he thought Mike was
up.

Resigned, Parker stared across the room.
“Okay, talk to me, Reba Morris. Tell me your life story. Tell me
any story. Hell, tell me lies. I don’t care. Just talk and keep us
both awake. It’s going to be a long night.”

He watched her mouth clamp shut, open, and
then close again. Then she started. “All right.” She inhaled deep
and sighed. “I just moved here from Kentucky, but I’m not
originally from there. In fact, I was born on a ranch not far from
here. The Crandalls? They are family. I bought this place from my
distant cousins. And since we have all night, I might as well start
at the beginning….”

Chapter Four

Saturday morning

Parker ambled across his porch, opened the
back door, and slowly moved into his kitchen—all the while hoping
his siblings were either still asleep or crashing at Liz’s
house.

But hell no.

“Well, if you don’t look like someone rode
you hard and put you up wet.”

I wish.
The way things had been
lately, he could use a sexual diversion.

He glanced to Mercer, standing by the counter
with coffee pot in hand, and figured what she said was pretty much
a true statement. He had to look rough.

The night
was
long, although pleasant.
Turned out Reba Morris was a very nice woman, with an interesting
life. He’d heard all about it up until about five o’clock this
morning when apparently, he’d nodded off sitting straight up in the
chair. He jerked awake to find Reba sleeping too and then quietly
left the room to call Mike. The doctor assured Parker that Reba was
probably just fine, and that he had done all of the right things,
but it wouldn’t hurt for her to follow up with her physician as
soon as possible.

That was a relief.

Parker didn’t wake her. He left a note on the
kitchen table with the instructions from Mike, and then at the last
second, jotted his phone number down and asked her to call him
later—just to let him know how she was doing.

Maybe someday he’d get to hear the rest of
her life story.

Where
had
she ended it? Oh, right. At
her wedding.

Wedding. Interesting.

He would’ve liked to hear more about
that.

“Coffee is hot, Parker. Want a cup?”

He nodded and took off his hat, setting it in
on the shelf beside the door. He ruffled his hair a bit and ran his
hands over his face—a feeble attempt at waking himself up—and then
joined them at the table. Mercer put a large mug of steaming black
coffee in front of him. He glanced up to his sister. “You’re an
angel.”

She grinned and said, “You look like the
devil.”

“I feel like hell.”

“How’s Reba?”

“She’ll be okay.”

“I hope so because I like her a lot.”

He agreed. He liked her too, for what it was
worth. “She was sleeping when I left.”

Mercer’s eyebrows arched. “Should she do
that? I mean, with a head injury…”

He waved her off. “It’s okay. I called Mike
Attaway. He said she’ll be fine, but she probably needs to
follow-up with her doctor. She’ll have a black eye and should
probably get that arm looked at sometime today. Shit.”

“What?” Callie dished some egg casserole onto
a plate and pushed it, and a fork, toward him. “Eat up. Reba
actually made this. And what’s wrong?”

Reba made it? When did that happen?

Mercer turned to replace the carafe. “We’re
almost out. Should I make another pot?” A chorus of yesses went up
around the table. She fiddled with the filter and old grounds and
then continued, “She’s single, you know, from what I understand.
And man, she sure knows her way around a kitchen. Did you see what
she did in here before she left yesterday?”

Parker was still stuck on the first of
Mercer’s words.
She’s single, you know…
Yes, somehow he
needed to learn the rest of the Reba Morris story. What had
happened between wedding and single? It was going to nag at him,
and he really didn’t want it to. He brought the coffee to his lips
and sipped. “So how come you know so much, Mercer.”

She shrugged. “She’s new. People ask
questions and talk.”

Hmm. “You women…” He glanced off for a
second, thinking, and then asked, “So what do they say about
her?”

Callie laughed. “I think big Brother has a
crush on our new neighbor.”

Parker shot her a look. “I’m thirty-five,
Callie. I don’t have crushes.”

“But you like her,” she replied.

“She’s a very nice woman.” And that was not a
lie. “You all have already acknowledged that.”

Brody rose and chuckled, taking his cup with
him, and headed for the counter where he waited for another cup of
coffee.

“What’s so funny, Brody?”

He shrugged, grinning. “Nothing.”

Parker glared.

“You’re smitten.”

“Smitten? What the hell kind of word is
smitten?”

Brody faced him and laughed aloud. “What
would you rather I say, that you want to get into her panties?”

Parker’s face heated up. Quickly he shot back
with, “We’re not talking about getting into anyone’s panties here,
Brody.”

Hell, I want to get into her panties.

Brody set his cup down and put his hands up
in surrender. “No worries, big Brother, I’m just saying that I
think you like her a bit.”

“Enough.” Parker’s voice rose. “End of
subject.” He waited a few seconds to clear the air and then added,
“One of us might need to take her to the doctor since her truck is
out of commission.” He glanced at his siblings.

Brody nodded and leaned into the counter.
“She’s lucky that truck didn’t roll a few more times. I went down
there this morning. She could have been hurt a lot worse had it
teetered off into that gully.”

Parker figured as much. “I’ll take a look
after I get some coffee in me.” He took another sip. Mercer was
right. Still hot. “I guess I’ll call a wrecker sometime this
morning.” Hell, one more thing.

“I wonder where she wants to take it?”

“I haven’t a clue. I suppose Reba should make
that decision. Insurance and all. I’ll take care of it.” He looked
to Brody then, expecting another snarky remark, but it didn’t
come.

“Let it sit,” Brody added. “It’s off the road
and not in the way. But that glass needs to get cleaned up. I’ll
have a couple of the boys get down there. Maybe fix a tarp over the
windshield to keep the animals out. I know you’ve got other things
on your plate today.”

Parker looked to his stepbrother. Brody sure
had changed the past few weeks. He’d been more help to him lately
than he had ever been. “Thanks. That would be good.”

“Mom wanted me to help her at the lodge
today,” Mercer said. “I’m not sure what time I will be finished or
I’d take Reba.”

Callie looked to Parker. “I can do it. I
don’t have anything going on.”

“Great.”
Thanks, little sister.
He was
trying to avoid taking her himself. He didn’t want to stir up the
speculation about him liking her any further. “She was sleeping so
I guess give her some time….”

Parker mentally went over his schedule. What
day was it, anyway? Saturday. “Ah hell, I have an appointment in
town at ten.” He had spoken with his father’s attorney yesterday,
and Tom had suggested the meeting. He hadn’t told Liz about it yet.
“I almost forgot.”

“Can it wait?” Mercer asked. “You’re dead
tired.”

No, it couldn’t. “Naw. Tom was insistent. No
worries.” He gave her a smile.

“Well, if you’re sure. I can call and
reschedule.”

“No, thanks.” He glanced at his watch. Nearly
seven o’clock. “I might be able to catch a couple of hours’ sleep
before I go.”

Callie stood, scooting her chair back. “Good
idea, Parker. Go crash. I’ll make sure you are up in enough time to
get to your appointment. And I’ll check on Reba too.”

Parker smiled and stood and then gave his
little sister a hug. “You don’t have to tell me twice.” It sure was
good to have her home again—permanently. He slammed back as much of
the coffee as he could, knowing no amount of caffeine would keep
him awake in a few minutes.

****

At about twenty minutes until ten, Reba
fluttered her eyes open and slowly perused her surroundings. The
cuckoo clock hung on the opposite wall. The time had to be right
because she’d worked for hours getting the thing set correctly a
few days before. She didn’t know if the time was approaching ten
o’clock in the morning or in the evening.

Felt like someone had shrink-wrapped her
brain.

Her gaze traveled to the window, where the
sun poked through filmy sheers. “Morning,” she said. Okay, so she
was starting to get her bearings straight.

Scooting toward the edge of the sofa, trying
to kick the footstool under her feet down in the process, she spied
the wooden chair across the room.

Ah. Parker McKenna. Where might he be
now?

She called out his name. Silence.

Pushing off the couch, she winced, sore from
her ribs to her shoulders. A small pain shot through her left
arm.

Dammit.
This was surely going to cramp
her style for a few days. She needed her arm and her hand and her
fingers.

Dammit. Dammit.

Her calendar. Where had she left it? What was
on her agenda for today?

The kitchen, of course. That’s where she kept
everything. After all, her kitchen was her livelihood.

She ambled through the door to her favorite
room in the house and immediately started feeling better. She’d
been happy to find when she’d arrived a few weeks earlier that the
kitchen—even though this was a log cabin—was bright and airy. A
very large bay window faced the back of her property and framed the
mountains in the distance. She paused to glance about, pleased with
her recent renovations. Her new stainless professional gas stove
and oven was the biggest splurge, but she justified it as needing
the proper tools to do her job.

A job that she needed to get to this
morning.

Calendar
. She spied it across the room
sitting open on her desk and made her way toward it. But a paper on
the kitchen table, fluttering slightly from the overhead ceiling
fan, caught her attention. She reached for it.

Reba,

Had to get back to the ranch. Called my doc
and shared your symptoms. Says you are likely fine but should check
in with your doc ASAP. Let me know if you need help getting to
Livingston.

Parker

He’d added his phone number by his signature.
Well then, Mr. Parker McKenna. Thank you very much, but I’ll take
it from here.