Running Blind (33 page)

Kat shrugged. “I kind of suspected already.”

“Why? How?” And more important, did anyone else suspect?

“You two have always had … sparks. On the day you met, right here in The Pie Hole …”

“That wasn’t a spark, that was just my annoyance shining through. He called me a stray.”

“You called him worse.”

What was worse than a stray? “It’s not serious,” Carlin said, giving up on the pretense that nothing was going on but clinging to the one that she was still heart-whole. Said heart gave a hard thump in her chest. “It’s just … a thing. Two unattached adults doing what comes naturally. Nothing more.” Except … she cleared her throat. “There’s a problem.”

“Yeah? What kind?”

“A birth control kind.” She cleared her throat again. “I can’t get a prescription for birth control pills without showing my ID. I’m not sure what kind of databases are out there on drugstores, but the problem is, everyone here knows me as Carly Hunt—”

“Which obviously isn’t the name on your ID.”

“Right. And I don’t want anyone curious enough to search my name online.”

Kat sighed. “You do know this’ll set off a minor explosion of gossip, with people wondering just who in hell I’m sleeping with.”

Grateful that Kat had immediately guessed what was being asked of her, Carlin was still suddenly guilt-stricken.

“I’m sorry. It was a bad idea.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I think it’ll be kind of fun, because obviously I’m not sleeping with anyone. Hell, I haven’t even been
out
with anyone in so long I’m not sure I remember my table manners. As for the other, I think I’ve become a virgin again. But the guessing game will be hilarious. And it might be good for business, because everyone will come around to see if they can pick up any clues as to who the nonexistent guy is.”

“Oh, God,
thank
you.”

“You’re welcome,” Kat said blithely. “I’ll have them for you … well, I’ll have to call the doctor and see when I can get an appointment, given I have to work around the café hours. But I’ll call you when I know.”

A new customer came in, the bell over the door chiming, and Kat moved away to take care of business. Feeling relieved down to her toes, Carlin slid from the stool, grabbed the purse she’d started carrying since switching from the TEC jacket to the parka, and went in search of Spencer.

Much to her relief, the call came two days later. To give herself an excuse, she ordered some pies from Kat, then had Spencer drive her in the next day to pick them up. There was always an item or two that the ranch needed from the hardware or feed store, so she sent him off and darted into The Pie Hole.

Unfortunately the place wasn’t empty even though she’d timed her visit to be after lunch. Sitting at the far end of the counter, Carlin waited anxiously for the last customer in The Pie Hole to pay and leave. Finally!

“Did you get them?” she asked, her voice lowered even though they were alone. She felt as if she were on a covert operation.

Kat raised finely shaped eyebrows. “I’m fine, thank you so much for asking. How about you?”

Carlin sighed. “Sorry. How are you? Has business been good? Made any new and exciting lunch specials lately?”

Kat leaned her elbows on the counter and narrowed her eyes. “No, but I am in the middle of an illicit drug deal that could send me to jail and ruin my good reputation.”

She reached beneath the counter and came up with a small, white bag.

It was all Carlin could do not to snatch the bag out of Kat’s hand, even though Kat held the bag just out of reach.

“You’ve turned me into a criminal,” Kat said. Then she sighed and passed the bag to Carlin. “But it’s not like
I
need them.”

Carlin peeked into the top of the bag. Birth control pills! It would be a while before they were effective, but once they were … no more annoying condoms. No more interrupting that very hot moment when she couldn’t wait to have Zeke inside her to put the blasted things on, no more barrier between her and Zeke when they were together. Damn it, that thought alone was a pretty strong turn-on.

“Thanks,” Carlin said as she put the bag in her purse and pulled out the folded bills to pay for the pills. “I just can’t get a prescription under a false name.”

“I get that, Miss Linoleum,” Kat said wryly as she took the offered cash and stuck it in her apron pocket. “What are you going to do if you get sick and need an antibiotic? What if you get the flu?”

“I’ll handle that problem if and when it happens,”
Carlin said pragmatically. Goodness knows she had enough real problems to deal with, like falling for Zeke, and trying to figure out how to end the nightmare with Brad. She’d been taking it one day at a time for so long, getting a prescription for birth control pills that would take a couple of weeks to kick in seemed like a long-term commitment.

Kat poured herself a cup of coffee and warmed up Carlin’s. “Well, there is one good thing about you taking up with Zeke, even if it is contrary to my very sound advice about cowboys.”

“What’s that?”

Kat grinned. “It looks to me as if you’ll be sticking around for
at least
the next twenty-eight days.”

T
HANKSGIVING HAD NEVER
been Zeke’s favorite holiday. Usually more than half the hands wanted the day—or four—off to visit with family, which meant more work for those who remained behind. It wasn’t their busiest time of the year, so it wasn’t like they couldn’t spare a few hands for less than a week, but eating massive amounts of food was hardly Zeke’s idea of a celebration that required time off. Depending on who was cooking, at the Decker ranch there was either a feast or sandwiches and chips. Even when Libby had been working here, she’d occasionally taken a few days off and flown south to be with her daughter and grandkids. Those had been the sandwich years.

This year was different. Carlin had thrown herself wholeheartedly into preparing a traditional Thanksgiving meal; she’d been at work since long before dawn. Hell, technically she’d started work yesterday, which seemed like way too much work to him. A kitchen seeing action well before dawn wasn’t all that unusual on a ranch, but today Carlin was almost giddy, as if turkey
and dressing and blackberry cobbler represented something more than just a feast to remember the pilgrims.

He thought about escorting her into this kitchen for the first time, watching the horror on her face as she’d surveyed the damage he’d left behind, telling himself the whole time that she was a temporary solution and nothing more. Boy, how things had changed in the past two months!

Watching her bustle around the house, as excited as a kid, made his heart squeeze. Of course, she still insisted that there was nothing he could do to help her, and was adamant that he not interfere.

Normally he’d just plow ahead and do what he knew was right; he’d make her business his business and end this nightmare once and for all. But if he did, she’d leave. He saw that truth in her eyes every time he broached the subject. She was still clinging to the idea of leaving in the spring, because there was nothing he could do to help and anything he did would just worsen her situation.

Zeke so-the-hell didn’t agree. Brad Whatever-his-last-name-was was just a man. He could be stopped; he
should
be stopped. But it was something they’d have to do together, and Carlin wouldn’t even discuss the possibilities with him.

If he went behind her back, she’d never forgive him. He shouldn’t care about that, given that she kept insisting that she was temporary, that what they had was a nice fling while it lasted. But, damn it, this didn’t feel temporary. It felt as if Carlin was
his
.

“You look like you’ve done this before.” He stood in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen, watching Carlin flit back and forth between a counter covered with bowls and dishes and food, to an oven that had been in use for hours—make that days—to the sink overflowing with dirty dishes. She settled in one spot with
a deep bowl and a long-handled wooden spoon. “Does your family always do a big Thanksgiving?”

She didn’t pause, but continued to stir the ingredients for something in that oversized bowl. “When I was little, and Mom and Dad were still alive, we did the usual thing. Robin and Kin and I made turkey decorations and put them all over the house, Mom cooked for three days, and the food was pretty much gone in twenty minutes.” She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “My dad always took care of the cleanup. I think that’s an excellent idea, by the way. The man of the house
should
chip in to do his share of the work.”

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t do dishes.”

Carlin poured the gooey mixture she’d been working into a huge oblong pan. “Come to think of it, I do remember that.” She licked the spoon and smiled. “Oh, I hope this turns out okay! I’ve never made corn bread dressing before.” She opened the oven door and carefully slid the big pan inside.

Carlin had never been one to share much about herself, as if being on the run meant she wasn’t entitled to a past, as if it meant she wasn’t just hiding from a stalker, she was hiding from everyone. He was intensely interested in this little slice of her life that she was revealing. “When did they die? Your parents. How long have they been gone?”

She didn’t answer right away, and he began to wonder if she’d answer at all, though he didn’t see anything about the question that would alarm her. Finally she said, “It’s been eight years, almost nine. After that the family kind of drifted apart, as if our parents had been the glue that held us together and we didn’t know how to be a family without them. Robin had her husband and one baby, at that time, and Kin had a new career, and I … I wanted to start a new and exciting life. I wanted to be independent, I wanted to see different things, do different things.” She
looked at him again. “Stuff happens for a reason. Always. Brad knew I wasn’t close to my brother and sister. When he asked about them, I should’ve realized something was off. But I didn’t. I thought he was just making conversation, trying to get to know me. If he thought he could get to me through them, he would. Even though I don’t see or talk to Robin or Kin much these days, we’re closer than we’ve been since Mom and Dad died.”

Before he could ask another question, Carlin waved the wooden spoon at him as if she meant to smack him with it. “I do
not
want to talk about him today! I refuse to let him spoil this. What about your family? Why aren’t they all here for Thanksgiving?” She glanced at him. “Or why aren’t you there?”

“My family visits in the summer, when travel isn’t so iffy and the kids are out of school. And I don’t leave the ranch for an extended time very often. There’s too much to do.”

She made a scoffing sound in her throat. “You have a perfectly good foreman who can handle things while you’re away. You don’t have to do everything yourself, you know.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“And yet you don’t quite believe that the ranch can survive without you.” There was a teasing note in her voice.

“Fine.” He walked toward her slowly. “I’ll go visit my family for Christmas. I’ll fly down and stay with my oldest sister and her crazy-ass family for a full week.” It wasn’t like she hadn’t asked a hundred times. Carlin looked a little surprised, and then he threw in the kicker. “As long as you come with me.”

Frowning, she looked down, then tossed the spoon into the sink. “You know very well the answer is no.”

“Why? What could go wrong? Don’t you think I can
protect you?” It was what he wanted to do more than anything: protect her. Fix all that had gone wrong in her life.

“It’s not that.” She turned her back to him and started fiddling with bowls and spoons, needlessly straightening her mess.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her back against his chest. “Okay, then. You’ll meet them in the summer, when they come for a visit.”

“You know I won’t be here when summer rolls around.” She tried to sound cool and matter-of-fact, but didn’t quite pull it off.

It was some comfort that she sounded sad about that fact. Instead of arguing with her—which was, he had discovered, a waste of breath—he kissed her on the neck and then let her go. “I’ll be back in less than two hours.”

She watched him head for the mudroom. “Don’t you dare be late! And tell the others they’d better not be late, either. Kat will be here by one, she said. I told her I didn’t need any help, goodness knows she spends too much time cooking, but she said she’s bringing dessert and rolls anyway. We
will
all be at the table and eating no later than two. Got that?” She sighed. “It’s going to be perfect.”

The meal, maybe. The day, sure. He’d had plenty of perfect days lately. But her
life
wouldn’t be perfect until her fear of Brad was gone, until Brad himself was gone, and he couldn’t figure out how to make that happen without breaking his word to her. He knew what he risked if he broke his promise. She might never forgive him, and everything they had would be gone.

But as much as he didn’t want to let her go, he had to wonder if it wouldn’t be a worthwhile sacrifice if it meant she would finally be free.