Susan Mallery Fool's Gold Series Volume One: Chasing Perfect\Almost Perfect\Sister of the Bride\Finding Perfect (87 page)

She searched around for another explanation.

“I saw Jo,” she said quickly. “The friend who took the cat?”

He nodded.

“I wanted to ask if Jake missed me, which is dumb, right? He obviously adores her. I was just a way station in the feline road of life. She's a destination. I just…”

“What?”

“I keep thinking if I can't make a cat happy, what chance do I have with kids?”

His expression sharpened. “You're going to have them?”

“Yes. No. I'm not sure.” She sighed. “Maybe. I know
that's what Crystal wanted. And no matter how many times I tell myself they're not my responsibility, I feel they are. I'm female. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume I have all the working equipment.”

She could do more than assume, she reminded herself. She knew for sure.

Don't go there, she told herself. Not today. Not now. Wasn't there enough going on without a side trip to Guilt Land?

“You'll have someone else's children and then raise them?” he asked.

“It's not like I'm going to have them and give them away.”

“Why not?”

She stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“Why wouldn't you give them away? There are hundreds of couples who are longing for children of their own. Infants are easy to place, aren't they? You could handpick the couple yourself, be sure the babies are going to be well taken care of.”

That had never occurred to her. Give Crystal and Keith's babies away? Despite the warm afternoon, a shiver raced through her.

“No,” she said firmly. “If that was what she wanted, she would have mentioned it in the will. Crystal took the trouble to pay for three years of storage. She wanted to give me time.”

“She didn't warn you about what she was going to do.”

“I know and that confuses me, but it doesn't change reality. If I have the babies, I'll keep them. And raise them.” No matter how the thought of it made her stomach flip over and over.

He stared into her eyes as if searching for something. “I don't know many women who would be willing to take that on.”

“Really? Because I don't know many who would refuse.”

“You can't believe that.”

She thought about her friends—how they looked out for each other. “I'm fairly sure.”

“As sure as Crystal was of you? You're the one she picked.”

“Which raises the question why,” she said with a laugh that was almost real. “Okay—enough personal stuff for today. I have to compulsively check on things, and you need to stand in the sun so your shirt can dry.”

She took off before he could do something really dangerous, like put his arm around her. That would probably get her to babbling like a starstruck fan.

It was the strangest thing. Usually people made her nervous when she first met them. Over time, the feeling went away. With Raoul, it was the complete opposite. She was more tense every time she saw him. At this rate, in a month, just seeing him would send her into catatonic shock. And wouldn't that give Fool's Gold something to talk about?

* * *

R
AOUL STOOD BY THE
main building and watched the kids arrive for their first day of school at his camp. The parking lot was organized chaos as teachers sorted the children into classes.

In less time than he would have thought possible, the camp had been transformed. There were desks and
chairs, playground equipment, books, papers and people prepping lunch.

Dakota joined him, a clipboard in hand.

“This is great,” she said. “Like the first day of school, only better.”

“The kids would have probably enjoyed more time off.”

She laughed. “You're right, but education is important.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Everyone thinks you're amazing for giving the town this place. Such a nice guy.”

“There are worse things to be.”

She looked surprised. “Most guys don't want to be nice. It keeps them from getting the girl.”

He'd never had much trouble getting the girl. “A nice guy changed my life. Being like him would make me a happy man.”

Hawk wasn't a pushover. He was a tough guy who did the right thing. Raoul doubted his old friend would have been fooled by Caro. The irony was Raoul had done his best to make sure he
was
choosing the right person. But he'd still managed to screw up.

“I need to check with a couple of teachers,” Dakota said and excused herself.

Three more cars pulled up and parked. Pia climbed out of one and waved in his direction.

She wore a dark skirt and boots. Her sweater was the color of her eyes. Not only did he notice, he found himself wanting to walk toward her. Meet her halfway. That image morphed into his mouth on hers, hands everywhere and a whole lot less clothing.

Not a good idea, he reminded himself. Pia was headed in a whole different direction. Besides, he had
rules about small towns and the female residents. Pia might tempt him, but making her an exception would be a disaster…for both of them.

“Isn't this the best?” she asked as she approached. “There was actual traffic coming up the mountain. I love it when a plan comes together.”

A bus pulled up. When the door opened, kids spilled out. One boy, skinny with bright red hair, ran over to Pia.

Raoul recognized him as the kid who had flinched when he'd tried to help the boy out of the smoky classroom. As he watched, Pia and the kid greeted each other with a complicated handshake.

“You remembered!” the boy crowed. “I knew you would.”

“It's our thing,” Pia told him with a laugh. “You'd better get to class. Have fun.”

“I will.”

He turned and ran off.

“You know him?” Raoul asked.

“Peter?” Pia shook her head. “We met Saturday at the park. He was there with his friends. Why?”

He thought about the smoke-filled classroom. Maybe Peter had been scared of the fire instead of him. Maybe he'd imagined the whole thing.

Even as his gut told him he hadn't, he knew he wasn't going to say anything. Not until he had more information.

“I think he was in the class where I was speaking,” he said. “When the fire started.”

“Oh. Maybe. He's the right age.” She shifted her handbag onto her other shoulder. “What's your calen
dar like over the next couple of days? Technically I still owe you a meeting.”

“How about today?”

“What time?”

“Noon. We'll have lunch.”

She hesitated. “You don't have to buy me lunch.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I was going to let you pay.”

She laughed. “Oh, well, in that case, sure. We'll go to the Fox and Hound. They make a mean salad, and you look like a guy who enjoys lettuce.”

“I might surprise you.”

Something flickered in her eyes. As quickly as it appeared, it faded. She nodded.

“You might at that.”

CHAPTER FIVE

P
IA LOOKED AT THE HANDSOME
man sitting across from her in the restaurant and told herself to focus on business. She was here in a purely professional capacity—not to enjoy the view. Though Raoul was pretty enough to dazzle anyone.

They'd already placed their orders and their drinks had been delivered. Pia had chosen diet soda, with the passing thought that if she went ahead with the pregnancy, she could kiss her artificial-sweetener habit goodbye, at least for nine months.

“You grew up in Seattle, right?” she asked, thinking a little chitchat was in order. She was allowed to be friendly.

“Until college,” he told her.

“I've never been, but I'm guessing it's nothing like Fool's Gold.”

“It's a lot bigger and there's a lot more rain. Seattle has mountains, only they're not as close.”

“Why didn't you move back there?”

He flashed her a grin that made her pulse do a little cheer. “Too much rain for me. It's gray a lot. I like to see the sun.” He picked up his iced tea.

“Is that why you abandoned them during college? You could have gone to the University of Washington.”

“The other offers were better and Coach thought I
should get out of the state and see the rest of the country. Except for him and his wife, and my girlfriend, I didn't have all that much I was leaving behind.”

“What about your family?”

He shook his head. “I never knew my dad. One of my brothers died when I was a kid. He was shot. My mom—” He shrugged. “I spent a lot of years in foster care.”

There was something about the way he said the words. Bad things had happened, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know what. “I spent a year in the system,” she admitted. “Here.”

“You?”

“My senior year of high school. My dad died and my mom left to live with her sister in Florida. She said it would be better for me to stay here so I could graduate with my friends, but the truth was she didn't want to be bothered.” Pia frowned. “I haven't seen her since. She didn't come back for my graduation and she made it clear I wasn't welcome there. So I stayed. Went to community college for a couple of years before transferring to a four-year university. Got a job with the city when I came back.”

She forced a smile. “They tried to offer me a football scholarship, but those uniforms don't really suit me.”

“This is your home,” he said, his dark eyes serious. “Where you belong.”

“You're right. Every couple of years I think I should go somewhere else. L.A. or San Francisco. Phoenix, even. But I won't leave. Which probably seems pretty boring to you.”

“No. It's what I want, too. I thought I'd settle in Dallas. The fans are great and I enjoyed the city. I came
here because of what Keith had said about his hometown. He made it sound like something out of a movie. When I got here for the golf tournament, I found out he'd been right. I liked everything about Fool's Gold. So I came back and then I decided to move here.”

She wondered if he was running to something or from something. Not exactly a casual question.

“So this is your first small town,” she said. “Then you need to know the rules.”

“Didn't I get them in my welcome packet?” The corner of his mouth twitched as he spoke.

She did her best not to smile in return. “No. But they're very important. You mess up even a little and your life will be hell.”

He leaned toward her. “What are the rules?”

“There are the expected things—keep the living room and kitchen picked up. You never know when you're going to have company. Don't mess with a married woman.” She paused. “Or man, depending on your preferences.”

“Thanks for the news flash.”

“Don't favor any one business over another. Spread the wealth. For example, the best places for hair are owned by two sisters. Bella and Julia Gionni. But you can't go to just one. Trust me. Just alternate. When you're at Bella's, she'll trash Julia and vice versa. It's kind of like dinner theater, with highlights.”

He looked more wary than amused. “Maybe I should go out of town for my haircuts.”

“Coward.”

“I know my limitations.”

“You're the one who bought the camp here. Now you're stuck.”

His face was handsome, in a rugged man's man sort of way. She liked the stubborn set of his jaw and the way his dark hair fell across his forehead.

“Can I get those rules in writing?” he asked.

“I'll see what I can do.”

Their server arrived with their meals. Pia had chosen the barbecue chicken salad, while Raoul had picked a burger.

“How did you find the camp?” Pia asked, reaching for her fork. “I've lived here all my life and I barely remember knowing about it.”

“I went for a drive,” he told her. “I followed some old signs and found it. I'd had this idea about doing something with kids, but I wasn't sure what. When I saw the camp, I knew it was what I'd been looking for.”

He held his burger but didn't take a bite. “The summer program is where we're starting, but I'm hoping we can do more. Be year-round. Bring kids in for intensive two-and three-week sessions where we focus on one or two subjects. Mostly science and math. Not enough kids are excited about those subjects.”

“You'd have to coordinate with school districts,” she said. “To complement their current curriculum.”

“That's what Dakota's working on. We're thinking middle-school-aged kids. Get them excited before high school.”

He had plenty of passion about the subject, she thought, taking a bite of her salad. What was he like when he was with a woman? Was the same passion there?

An interesting topic, she thought, but not one she would pursue. Even without the potential pregnancy in her future, she knew better than to get involved with
a high-powered guy like him. Or any guy. For some reason, men made it a habit of leaving her. If they hadn't wanted to stick around before, what luck would she have getting them to stay when she had three kids?

Three kids? Her head started to swim. She forced herself to think about something less frightening.

“Having the school use the facility is an interesting way to work out any problems,” she said. “And here everyone thought you were just being nice.”

He chuckled. “It's a win-win for everyone.”

“Even if it wasn't, the camp is a great idea. I know a lot of the kids in town appreciated being able to head up there every day this past summer. Or should I say their moms appreciated it. Summer can be a very long three months.”

* * *

P
IA'S HAZEL EYES DANCED
with amusement. Raoul found himself watching her rather than eating. He liked her, which was a good start. He wanted to get to know her better, yet even if he ignored the foolishness of getting involved so close to home, there was the issue of the embryos.