The Last Goodbye (The Women of Independence) (7 page)

“Carmen,” he said, fighting to keep his
voice steady. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?”

She replied by taking his hand and
leading him toward the stairs. “About as much as I want you.”

They paused on the landing for another
kiss, and he picked her up and carried her into his bedroom. “That’s what I was
hoping to hear,” he said, and kicked the door closed behind them.

* * *

“Wow.” Carmen lay in Jake’s arms, her
body sated with lovemaking. “I suppose I should be jealous about every other
woman you’ve ever been with, but I’m too happy right now.”

Jake’s heart was still pounding. He’d
known that making love to Carmen would be special, but he hadn’t quite prepared
himself for the tenderness he felt now. He turned her face and gazed into her
eyes. “What matters is that I saved the best for the last.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment. “I
hope you don’t think less of me right now.”

He pulled back. “Why would I think
that?”

“We only just met yesterday, and here I
am, sharing your bed.”

“If we were young kids it would be
different.” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “But being older, I’d prefer not to
play games. I wanted you from the moment I first saw you.”

She ran a hand slowly over his chest. “For
an old man, you’re in awfully good shape, I must say.”

He chuckled. “I’m forty seven, if that’s
what you’re asking.”

“I’m forty four.” She gave a low, sexy
laugh. “But you make me feel twenty.” She propped herself up and studied his
face. “Who are you, Jake Flynn? I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

He toyed with her hair and sighed. “I’m
an old cowboy, Carmen. I raise cattle, and try to be here for my mother and my
niece. Sean is my only real friend, and I’ve never felt this way about a woman
before.” He turned to look at her. “And then you came along. A woman who lives
in a completely different world.” He made a broad gesture that encompassed the
bedroom. “I’ve never had a woman in here, and call me old fashioned, but I’ve
never slept with a woman until I felt I really knew her.”

“Do you regret this?”

“Are you kidding? No. As a matter of
fact, I’d like to do it again, but I hear someone downstairs and I didn’t lock
the door.”

“There’s always tonight.”

“Sounds good, but I can’t promise you’ll
get much sleep.”

“I wasn’t talking about sleep.”

Jake pulled her into his arms for one
last kiss. “Carmen Santangelo, you’re my kind of woman.”

Fleet whinnied as Danielle and Grayson
approached the stable and a horse replied.

Danielle looked up. “That’s Khamsin.
Jake must be back.”

“I hope everything worked out okay.”

“Must have, or he wouldn’t be back.”
Danielle slowed. “I enjoyed today, Grayson. Thanks for listening.”

“I’m flattered that you confided in me. I
enjoyed it, too.”

They rode into the comparative gloom of
the stable and Danielle dismounted. “I guess I won’t see much of you from here
on in.” She suddenly resented the film that would tear him away from her.

“During the day. But I’ll still be
grabbing meals at the house.” He tipped up her chin and looked into her eyes.
“What say we agree to at least have dinner together when we can? And maybe a
drink out on the verandah?”

“I’d like that.” She should walk away
now, but her feet weren’t co-operating.

“Ah, hell.” He pulled her into an
embrace and gave her a fierce, hard kiss that ignited every nerve ending in her
body. It was the type of kiss she would remember when he was gone, and it made
her want more.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she
said, fighting to draw air into her lungs.

He looked down at her, an intimate smile
on his lips. “You didn’t like it?”

“That’s not what I said.” Her instinct
was to grab his shirtfront and pull him in for more, but managed to control
herself. “I liked it just fine...that’s the problem.” She summoned up what she
hoped was a perky smile and stepped away from temptation. “I’m going to take a
run into town and check on a job, and start sourcing the paint and the
harnesses for the roof.”

Enrique chose that moment to make an
appearance. “I’ll take care of the horses,” he said, his gaze flitting from
Danielle to Grayson.

“Hi Enrique.” She wondered how much he
had heard, but it didn’t really matter. Eventually, Esperanza and Enrique knew
everything that went on at the ranch. “We were wondering how Jake made out with
the cattle.”

“Fine.” He looked toward the ranch
house. “I think he’s in the big house now.”

“Great. I have to go there anyway to
grab my car keys. Thanks for taking care of the horses.”

They wandered out into the sunshine.
Grayson pulled the bill of his cap lower and looked toward the road leading
into the ranch. A little village of portable buildings had grown up on the far
side of the road; people and vehicles scurried about as if they knew what they
were doing.

Danielle followed the direction of his
gaze, then looked back at the expression on his face. “You really love this,
don’t you?”

“I do, yes.” He started walking.

She took a few steps toward the house.
“I’ll talk to Jake about letting you use one of the ATVs that we have around
here. That would make getting around a lot easier.”

He waved and kept walking. “Thanks. See
you later?”

She nodded to his retreating back, and
it occurred to her that the distance between them was already widening. But it
wouldn’t hurt to enjoy his company while he was here... would it?

* * *

The house was cool and empty when she
entered through the kitchen. Esperanza had planned menus for a week ahead and
Danielle checked the list to see what was for dinner tonight. The three main actors
– or ‘talent’ as they were called – were arriving today, swelling the number of
people eating in the house to nine, not including Esperanza and Enrique. The
housekeeper and her husband had expressed a preference to eat in their private
quarters while company was around. It was one of the things Danielle didn’t
like about the production people being here, but it wasn’t her place to
question their decision.

Four roasting chickens were in the
refrigerator, ready for the oven. A quick glance showed that Esperanza had
planned the meal with both hot and cold dishes, so the houseguests could eat at
various times if they chose. Jake didn’t entertain often, but the housekeeper
appeared to be enjoying the challenge of cooking breakfast and dinner. Lunch
was left up to the individual, and Danielle suspected that many of them would
grab something from the craft services table by the ‘village’.

“Looks good,” she muttered to herself,
and headed for the stairs.

She became aware of someone in the hall
as she neared the top of the stairs. Carmen was backing out of Jake’s bedroom, her
feet bare and her hair and clothes disheveled. She turned, and her flushed
complexion made it obvious what had been going on. Danielle was torn between
envy and happiness for her uncle.

“Oh, hello Danielle.” Carmen smiled, and
happiness won out. If it were possible to do so, the other woman would be
floating on air.

“Hi.” She gestured toward her bedroom.
“I came up for my car keys. If Uncle Jake asks, would you tell him I’ve gone to
town?”

“Yes, of course.” She smiled again, and
the awkward moment passed. “Will I see you at dinner?”

“I’ll be there.” Danielle went into her
bedroom. When she came out again a moment later, the hallway was empty, but
contentment lingered in the air like fairy dust.

* * *

 “Hi, stranger.” Allison greeted
Danielle from behind the counter as she walked into Maya’s. The coffee shop was
crowded with tourists and locals. The section featuring crafts and gifts was
also busy, and Danielle acknowledged a brief wave from the owner.

“Wow.” Danielle spoke under her breath.
“Looks like Maya hired you just in time. What’s going on?”

Allison shrugged. “She says it gets like
this every summer. And some of these are film people. When Maya agreed to have
pastries delivered out to the craft services table at the ranch, I don’t think
she realized it would translate into more business here in the coffee shop as
well.” She looked closely at her friend. “What’s bothering you?”

Danielle couldn’t meet her friend’s
eyes. “Nothing.”

“Oh, come on. We’ve known each other too
long. What is it?”

Danielle sighed. “Do I at least get a
coffee?”

“Of course. Sorry.” Allison scanned the
crowd. “Most of them have their food. I’ll ask Anna to take care of anything
that comes up and join you.”

Danielle watched her friend exchange a
few quiet words with Anna. Now that she was married to her childhood
sweetheart, Allison exuded contentment, and there were times... like right
now... that Danielle found it difficult not to be envious.

But today, the need to confide had been
powerful, and she’d done what she always did at times like this: searched out
her friend.

“How’s Cole?” she asked as Allie sat
down with half a cup of coffee.

“He’s wonderful, but then you knew
that.” Allison’s smile was radiant. “He’s thinking of training another young
man. That would be three full-time employees.”

“That’s impressive.” Danielle tried to
sound enthusiastic, but her mind was elsewhere.

“I’m scared, Al,” she blurted out.

Allison looked up, startled. “Why? What
happened?” She studied the woman across from her: Danielle, her bold, brash
friend who always knew exactly what she wanted, looked lost.

“Oh, my God. You’ve met someone.” She
watched for a reaction. “Someone from the movie, I’ll bet.” She leaned back and
toyed with her coffee cup. “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to drag it
out of you?”

“His name is Grayson.”

“Sounds very Hollywood.”

Danielle glared at her.

“Okay, I’m sorry.” She gentled her tone.
“So tell me about him.”

Danielle stared into her coffee. “He’s
the director, and oh, I don’t know Allie, there’s just something about him.”
She raised her eyes. “I mean, I told him everything. I told him about Mom and
Dad, and about Jason. He’s just so easy to talk to.”

Allison nodded. “Sounds good so far. Oh,
wait. Don’t tell me. He’s married.”

“No, he’s not married.” She picked up
her cup, then set it down again. “He kissed me.”

Allison tried to hide her smile. “The
cad. Shall I have him arrested?”

“Allie, be serious.”

Allison chose her words carefully. “I’m
trying, Dani. It’s just that I haven’t seen you like this since... since
Jason.” She reached across the table and grasped one of her friend’s hands.
“There’s nothing wrong with getting to know him, Dani.”

“Do you think so?” She blinked back
tears of frustration. “But don’t you see? I’ll get to know him and then he’ll leave.”
She dabbed at her eyes, her movements impatient and angry. “I never told you
this, but when my parents died, they didn’t say goodbye to me, even though it
was part of our routine. And when Jason died, it happened so quickly we didn’t
get a chance to say goodbye either. I promised myself I’d never let that happen
again.”

Allison patted her friend’s hand, then sat
back. “I love you, Dani, but you’re not making sense. Just because the people
you loved didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, doesn’t mean that... what’s his
name again?”

“Grayson.”

“...doesn’t mean that Grayson won’t say
goodbye.”

“He already promised.”

“There, you see? Danielle, you have to
learn to trust.” She leaned a little closer. “So he kissed you, huh? What was
it like?”

The look on Dani’s face was all she
needed.

“That good?”

Danielle had been playing with her
braid, and dropped it abruptly. “That’s just it. I enjoyed it. I have to put a
stop to this right now.”

“Oh, by all means.” Allison’s words
dripped with sarcasm. “We can’t have you being happy. Not even for a few days.”

Danielle stood up so abruptly she almost
knocked the table over. “Why did I come in here? There’s no talking to you when
you get like this.” She motioned toward the pastry display case. “Besides, you
have some customers.”

Allison gathered both cups and stood. Maybe
she shouldn’t have been quite so sarcastic, but somebody needed to shake
Danielle up, to make her see that it was high time she opened up and allowed some
joy in her life. She watched her friend leave, then went back to work, knowing that
Dani would call tonight to apologize for walking out.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. This is a secure
area.”

A slender man stopped Danielle at the
first gate into the ranch. There was something about the way he held the
clipboard. He was ‘in charge’ and loving it. Deciding to humour him, she pulled
off the road into an area of low sage scrub and climbed out.