Thrill Me (12 page)

Maya watched and listened. She knew that a video would be even more compelling than still pictures. Del was on the right track with his idea to create videos for schoolkids.

She found herself wondering what it would be like to be a part of that. Not that he was asking. Or she was offering. Fool's Gold was her home now, but it would sure be nice...

* * *

D
EL
TYPED
ON
his laptop on the porch of his cabin. Call him crazy, but he couldn't get China off the brain. The country was geographically massive and diverse, and they were changing economically. Rural villages were giving way to factory jobs. Was it like postwar America in the 1950s or completely different? How did the rapid changes affect the children of the country?

China
, he thought again, typing in the document. That was where he wanted to start with his video series.

Travel could be a challenge. Many areas were completely open for travel by westerners, but there would be parts that wouldn't be. He made a list of people he knew in the State Department. Maya might have some contacts. Celebrities often traveled to unexpected places.

He would need her help with equipment. How little could he get by with? Probably some kind of satellite uplink would be best, so he could send footage back to a safe location, in case some local official took issue with what he was doing and confiscated their cameras.

The team would have to be small. In a perfect world, it would be him and Maya and—

He stopped typing and stared at the lake. Him and Maya? No. That wasn't happening. They weren't together, or even business partners. He was helping her with the town videos because the mayor had asked him. The fact that he'd gotten sucked in deeper than he'd planned was just one of those things. Working with Maya was fun. They got along. But he wasn't taking her to China with him.

Still, they'd been good with those kids the other day, he thought. And on the tour. They worked well together. They understood and respected each other. Because of their past, he thought.

Once again he wondered how things would have been different if he'd realized she'd broken up with him out of fear and not because she didn't care. If he'd been able to see that, to reach out to her. Would they have stayed together? He could have transferred to her college. And then what? He wouldn't have enjoyed settling in LA any more than he would have been able to stay here. So eventually he would have had to leave.

Would she have gone with him?
A question with no answer
, he thought. Because the past was done and there was no changing it.

He looked up at the sound of an SUV driving toward his cabin. He recognized the battered vehicle and saved his work before closing his laptop. What he wanted to do was slip out the back door and not be seen. Only the cabin didn't have a back door and he was too old to be hiding from his father.

So instead he waited and watched until Ceallach walked up the front steps and took the seat opposite his.

“So this is where you're staying.”

“It is.”

Ceallach looked around. “Too many people.”

Del didn't bother saying the people around him were a part of what he liked. His father wouldn't get it or care.

“How can I help you, Dad?”

“Something's wrong with your mother.”

That got Del's attention. “What do you mean?”

“I don't know. She's a woman. A mystery. But there's something. She's not herself.” He hesitated, as if he were going to say more.

“Do you think she's sick?”

Ceallach shook his head. “She's more quiet than usual. She's gone a lot. Into town. I've asked her what's going on, but she says she's fine. I have to do something.”

“Okay,” Del said slowly. “Like take her away for a vacation?”

“Don't be ridiculous. I have to work. She hasn't said anything to you?”

“No.”

“She knows I'm working on several commissions. Big jobs. It's not like her to distract me.”

Because it was all about the art, Del thought grimly. All about Ceallach. He was the center of the known universe and life revolved around him.

“These are important commissions,” his father added defensively, as if he knew what Del was thinking.

“I'm sure they are.”

“One's for the French government. I have to be in my work. Elaine understands that.”

After thirty-five years, she wouldn't have much of a choice.

Del had often wondered what it was about his father that had drawn his mother in the first place. She'd been a small-town girl. He was sure there were those who thought she'd been overwhelmed by Ceallach's fame. Even in his early twenties, he'd been famous and successful.

Del suspected that hadn't impressed her. She would have been drawn to something else. Maybe Ceallach's passion? Not that Del wanted to think about that too much. But whatever the appeal, she had been loyal and loving through all the difficult times. Even when his father's art messed with his head and the drinking had made it worse—she'd been there.

As a kid, Del had wondered how much of his father was in him. He was sure his brothers worried about the same thing, although they never discussed it. Would they grow up to be like him?

Nick and the twins had inherited Ceallach's artistic ability. Del and Aidan were more like their mother. Del saw some of his father in himself. The videos were probably an offshoot of the other man's talent. The restlessness that Ceallach harnessed into his glasswork had manifested in other ways in Del.

He hoped he didn't have his father's selfish streak. That he was more accepting of people. Difficult to know when it came to himself.

“What are you doing?” his father asked. “You have a job yet?”

“Not right this second,” Del said. “I'm still considering my options.” He thought about mentioning that he'd sold his company for enough money that, in theory, he never had to work again. At least not very hard. But his father wouldn't see that as a positive. “I've had some offers.”

“In business.” Ceallach's tone was dismissive.

“Yeah, Dad. In business.”

“A necessary evil.”

“But without the intrinsic value that art brings to the table.”

His father brightened. “Exactly. Men of business don't understand the genius required for art.”

“What about women in business?” he asked, thinking Maya would appreciate the joke. His father, not so much.

Ceallach stared at him.

“Women in business?” Del repeated. “Because women and men do the same jobs these days.”

“Ridiculous. Your mother always knew her most important job was to support me.”

Which was probably true, Del thought, hoping his mother was happy with her choices. He wouldn't want that, a woman who simply served him. While the theory of it was kind of fun, the reality would be very different. He wanted someone who was there for him as much as he was there for her, but he also wanted more. A partner in his work. Someone who cared as much as he did about what they were doing.
A collaboration
, he thought.

Something else his father wouldn't understand.

“Are the twins coming for your birthday?” he asked.

Ceallach dismissed the question with a shake of his head. “I have no idea.”

“Where are they?”

“You think I have time to keep track of things like that?”

“Okay, I guess you also don't know why they left town, then?”

His father shifted in his seat and looked away. “I have no idea.”

The statement was so at odds with the other man's body language that Del nearly started laughing. Obviously Ceallach knew exactly why the twins had run off, but he wasn't saying. Which was pretty typical for a family that loved to keep secrets, he thought.

“I hope they're coming to the party,” he said. “It would be good to see them.”

He thought maybe his father would agree, but instead Ceallach stood. “I have to get back to work. Goodbye.”

Not the most satisfying of meetings
, he thought as the older man walked away. He still didn't know exactly why his father had stopped by, except maybe to talk about Elaine.

Del stood and moved around the porch. Restlessness threatened. Not to leave town—he wasn't ready for that just yet. But for a calming force. A place to be that always made him feel better.

Maya
, he thought with relief. He needed to see Maya. Then everything would be fine.

CHAPTER TEN

“Y
OU
WON
'
T
BELIEVE
the stuff we're building,” Chase said, his tone excited, his hands barely able to keep up with his words. “We're so over the robot cat. My team's working on an underwater robot that does welding. It has to be light enough to be easily maneuverable, but also able to work with everything that goes with underwater welding. Just dealing with the currents. Because they're always changing, right? And the tides have an influence.”

Maya smiled at her younger stepbrother. “You exhaust me.”

“It's 'cause I'm so smart.”

She laughed and hugged him. “That's part of it.”

Chase hung on for a second. “Have you seen Zane? He's happy. It's weird, but I like it.”

“As much as you like your nerd camp?”

The seventeen-year-old straightened and grinned. “Even more, but don't tell him.”

“I won't. I promise.”

Chase ran off to the house. Maya turned to Del. “He's happy.”

“I can see that. The camp sounds intense.”

“It is.”

They were out by the barn, at the Nicholson family ranch. Tonight was the rehearsal dinner, which meant a small group. Maya and Del, Zane, Phoebe and Chase. Dellina was also there with her husband, Sam. The wedding would be a big affair with half the town showing up, but tonight was more intimate.

“Chase was lucky to get in,” Maya said, heading toward the goat pens nearest the main house. “Apparently there's a long waiting list. But a spot opened up in the second session and Zane pulled some strings. I decided not to ask. I was thrilled that Zane was being so supportive.”

“Wasn't he always?”

“Yes and no. Zane worried that Chase didn't take life seriously enough. Chase isn't that guy. He's gifted when it comes to electronics and inventing things, but not one for following the well-traveled path in life. Zane saw him as a screwup and Chase kind of was. They both had the best of intentions but neither could see the other's side.”

They paused by a pen of adolescent goats. She looked at Del, liking how he was watching her. She wanted to read desire in his gaze, but even if they were just going to be friends, she was happy. Being around him always made her feel better.

“Over the summer that changed,” she continued. “They had a couple of big fights, then had to pull together to save the cattle on that trip I told you about. Along the way Zane fell in love. It changed him in the best way possible. He'll always worry about Chase, but he's learning to trust a little. And Chase is acting more responsibly.”

“A win-win?”

“Exactly.”

He pointed at the goats in the pen. “Want to talk about these guys?”

“They're goats.”

“I can see that.”

“Cashmere goats and they bite.”

He grinned. “You know that from personal experience?”

“I've been nipped a time or two. They're being kept close to the house while they're still young. They'll head out with the herd soon.”

“There's a herd?”

“More than one.” She pointed to the small animals. “The females are probably close to forty pounds now. The males a little bigger. Technically there's no purebred cashmere goat. All goats can have the gene to produce down.” She paused. “How much goat information are you looking for?”

He leaned against a fence post and crossed his arms over his chest. “How much you got?”

He was tall and broad-shouldered, she thought, doing her best not to swoon. Handsome. There were tingles whenever she looked at him. Foolish, but unavoidable. She wanted to step closer and have him hold her. Kiss her. Touch her. Sure, it would give the goats something to talk about but these ones were teenagers. No doubt they could relate to the need to get into trouble.

“Solid-color goats are preferable to multicolored. As you can see, Zane has all solids here. Their coats have a coarse outer layer, with the down underneath. Each adult goat will produce three to four ounces of down.”

He frowned. “That's it? Three ounces?”

“Uh-huh. That's enough to knit about a third of a sweater. Which is why high-quality cashmere is so expensive.”

“You know a lot about goats.”

“I lived here for two years and I paid attention. I can tell you about the cattle, too, if you want.” She held in a laugh. “Zane sells bull sperm.”

Del took a step back. “I don't think I want to know about that.”

“Most men don't.” She looked at the big house, the tent set up for the wedding, the mountains in the distance. “It's beautiful here.”

“Different from Las Vegas?”

She nodded, remembering her shock the first time she'd seen the ranch. “I didn't know places existed like this. Not real places. I thought they were only on TV or in the movies.” She looked at him. “I'd never seen snow before we moved here. Not piled up on the ground.”

“You'd probably never seen a goat before.”

“Maybe once at a petting zoo.” She looked past him. “I liked how green everything was. And the quiet. It was safe here.”

Because things hadn't always been safe with her mother, she thought. As she'd gotten older, a few of her mother's boyfriends had started paying attention to her. While it wasn't anything she'd wanted or sought out, her mother had always blamed her.

“Gotta love the town,” she said, rather than go down a dark path to her past. “You, on the other hand, probably took the charm for granted.”

“Sure. I was a kid. That was my job.”

They started toward the barn. “I remember when we used to come out here,” Del said as they approached the large, red building. “Remember going up into the hayloft?”

She nodded. Hay hadn't been stored up there in years, so it was mostly open and empty, with some old ranch equipment and a bunch of boxes containing who knew what. But for her and Del, it had been quiet and private. Something they'd been interested in a lot that summer.

They stepped into the barn. It was cool and dim. Light filtered in through the door and a couple of windows. Memories jostled with shadows.

“Zane would have killed us both if he'd found us,” she said, automatically lowering her voice. Because back then they'd been careful to be quiet.

“He cared about you,” Del told her. “Despite how you two didn't get along.”

“He did. I just couldn't see it that way. He was so annoying back then.” She looked at Del. “Do you know the only reason he met Phoebe is because I begged her to come on the cattle drive? I was worried about Chase and couldn't get up here right after their big fight. Phoebe had some time so I asked her to come protect Chase. It was a completely selfish motive.”

“Not selfish if you were looking out for your brother.”

“Looking out for one at the expense of the other.” She sat down on a bench. Del settled next to her.

“It all worked out in the end,” he said.

“It did. I even joked with her about being a distraction for Zane. We both thought I was kidding. But she turned out to be the one.” Life was funny that way, she thought. “If Zane hadn't been such a stick up the butt, I wouldn't have sent Phoebe here and he might never have met her. Looking at them together, I know that would have been a really sad thing. They're a great couple.”

She hoped her envy didn't color her voice. She was thrilled they'd found each other, but she would like a little of that magic, too. Being happy with someone. Knowing you'd found the one. She wanted permanent.

Strange how she'd never found that. She'd dated some, but really hadn't found anyone who interested her. Not in a significant way. That combination of friendship and sexual attraction seemed elusive.

“Love is strange,” Del said. “Look at my parents. They've been together for thirty-five years. I can honestly say, I don't know what my mom sees in my dad. He's not the nicest guy.”

“She loves him and he's good to her.”

Del looked at her. “You're leaving out the most important part of that sentence.”

“Which is?”

“He's good to her, in his way.”

Maya exhaled. “I knows it seems like that, from your perspective,” she began.

“Not from yours?”

They were treading on dangerous territory. Elaine was her friend, but she was also Del's mother. “I know he's the only man she's ever loved. I know she's never regretted any part of their marriage. I know she loves him and he loves her. Is it a relationship I would be happy with?” She shook her head. “No. I'd want more of a partnership.”

“Equals,” he said firmly. “I agree. My dad stopped by a couple of days ago. He wanted to talk about Mom. He thinks there's something going on with her, but doesn't know what. I would applaud him being aware enough of her to notice, except the context of his concern was all about him. How she knows her place is taking care of him for his art.” He leaned back against the wall. “Maybe it's an age thing.”

Maya was less concerned about that than what was going on with Elaine. She wasn't surprised Ceallach had noticed something was wrong with his wife. The woman was fighting cancer. She
had
to be acting differently at home.

Loyalty to her friend battled with her dislike of keeping such a huge secret. If she thought about it too long, she got a knot in her stomach.

“Did your dad say what he thought was the problem?”

“No. He was pretty vague about it.”

“If he's worried, he should talk to her.”

Del stood. “That's not the Mitchell way,” he reminded her, holding out his hand and then pulling her to his feet. “You know we love our secrets.”

“Yes, I do.” She tilted her head. “So what secrets are you keeping?”

“None that are interesting.”

“I suspect there are a few that would raise some eyebrows.”

He chuckled. “My life is an open book.”

“Even when it comes to Hyacinth?”

She hadn't planned the question. She hadn't even been thinking about the other woman. At least not consciously. But apparently she had been on her mind.

“That wasn't the most subtle transition,” he said. “What do you want to know?”

“How did you meet?”

“Through friends. We were at the same party. It was one of those things.”

“I can imagine. She's very beautiful.”

Hyacinth was a petite firecracker on skates—Maya would guess she was even more impressive in person. She had a bubbly, slightly irreverent personality that made her a favorite subject for interviews.

“You were in love with her.” Maya made the words a statement rather than a question.

“I was.”

“And now?”

Del studied her for a second. “No. It's long over. We wanted different things. I was too traditional for her.”

“Traditional as in marriage and kids?”

“Traditional as in one man, one woman.”

“Oh.”

Del shrugged. “It happens. She liked variety. A lot of variety. I realized I either had to accept that or move on. It's not in my nature to share the woman in my life.”

She never would have guessed that was what broke them up. “You know that for most people, being a one-woman man is a really good thing.”

“I've heard rumors.” His dark gaze settled on her face. “What about you? Any embarrassing secrets in your past?”

“I'm oddly boring that way. There was that one night with the wrestler, but you don't want to know about that.”

He grinned and put his arm around her, then guided her out of the barn. “Even though I know you're making it up, tell me the story, anyway. Good-guy wrestler or bad-guy wrestler?”

“Bad guy, of course.”

“That's my girl.”

* * *

T
HE
DINING
ROOM
in the ranch house was awash with twinkle lights. Large displays of flowers filled the corners and marched down the center of the table. Every place setting had a stemless wineglass with Zane and Phoebe's names engraved, along with the wedding date. The traditional dining room chairs had been covered with pale blue linen toppers, and soft music played from portable speakers.

“You outdid yourself,” Maya said. “I'm feeling a strong combination of wow and envy.”

Dellina, the pretty brunette who had planned both the wedding and the rehearsal dinner, sighed. “Thank you. Envy compliments are my favorite. When it's your time to do the marriage thing, call me.”

“Sure,” Maya said, thinking she needed a relationship first.

The rehearsal had gone smoothly. It helped that the wedding party was small. Now they were going to enjoy a nice dinner before all the craziness started in the morning.

Maya followed Dellina back to the living room, where the small group had gathered. Phoebe was talking to Chase and Del. Dellina moved to her husband's side, while Zane approached Maya.

“She's throwing me out,” he complained as he handed her a glass of champagne.

“Just for the night. Tomorrow you'll be married and with each other forever.”

Zane watched his bride for a second, before looking at Maya. “Thanks to you.”

“Yes, you owe me. Remember that the next time I annoy you. That should be in about five minutes.”

He didn't smile at the joke. “I do owe you. You're the one who brought Phoebe into my life. Without you, I probably wouldn't have met her.”

Maya swallowed against a sudden rush of emotion. “Don't you dare break the tear seal,” she told him. “If I start crying, you know Phoebe will be next.”

Zane winced. “Good point. How about those 49ers? I think they have a real shot at the Super Bowl this year. What about you?”

Maya chuckled. “I'm sure they'll go all the way.”