Hummingbird Lake Part 19

"Oh no." Her eyes rounded with concern and she took a step away from him. "Don't tell me Rose has moved here, too."

"I don't know anything about your sister." Colt reached out and took hold of her arm. "I'm not concerned about her. I'm concerned about us. What's going on here? Why are you so threatened by this?"

Her chin came up. "I'm not threatened."

"Yes, you are." Their walk had taken them to the small camping area south of Reflection Point, and Colt tugged her along toward a picnic bench beside the water. There he sat her down and said, "Talk to me. Tell me what's going on in that gorgeous head of yours. We were good together, Sage. I missed you when I left, and every time I received an email or a text or a call from you, I got a little charge. You must have enjoyed it, too, or you wouldn't have played the game. Am I wrong about that?"

Begrudgingly she said, "No."

"So then, why the panic? Why the cold shoulder?"

Rather than respond to his questions, she asked one of her own. "What do you want from me, Rafferty? Did you come here expecting to pick up where we left off? Did you think I've been pining away for you and all you'd have to do is say 'Honey, I'm home' and I'd throw myself into your arms and then drag you back into my bed?"

Well, a guy can always hope. "No, not at all. We had a fling. It was great, but that's not what I want with you now."

"Oh?"

Was that hope he heard in her voice? Wow. This woman was doing a number on his ego. Colt took a moment to debate his options. He could sound the retreat and regroup. That might be the most intelligent way to go about this. But in the past few weeks, he had adopted a more go-for-broke, lay-your-cards-on-the-table att.i.tude, and so far it was working for him. He saw no reason to change that now. "No, I'm not looking for any more flings. I want a relations.h.i.+p. Long term. I'm tired of flings."

"Define relations.h.i.+p," she said, a bit of a wild look in her eyes.

"I'm thirty-four years old, Sage. I'm ready for a home of my own complete with all that entails-a wife, children, a yard for the dogs."

With a horrified gasp, she said, "You are not asking me to marry you!"

Inwardly Colt sighed. "No. We don't know each other well enough for that yet."

"Exactly!"

"But I want to know you that well, Sage. You are a fascinating woman and you've intrigued me from the very first. I want to know everything about you. I think I might be falling in love with you."

"Oh, G.o.d." She dropped Snowdrop's leash, put her elbows on her knees, and buried her face in her hands. "This is a catastrophe."

Colt's mouth twisted in a grim smile. This was the closest he'd come in years to saying the L-word to a woman and she called it a catastrophe. Pretty humbling moment, he had to admit.

He took a seat beside her on the bench. Snowdrop sat looking at them both, tilting her head from left to right then back to left again, wordlessly asking, What is wrong with you people?

"Careful there, Sage. You'll give me a big head from all the praise."

"Stop it. I am not responsible for your feelings. If I was the least little part of your decision to make this move, then you should have been smart enough to talk to me about it before you jumped off and did it. You would think a man with a Ph.D. would be smarter than that."

"Okay, then. Just for the grins, what would you have said if I told you that I thought you might be the one for me and I wanted time with you to explore the possibility?"

"I'd have told you don't waste your time. I'm not available, Colt."

"Why? Are you married to someone else? Involved with someone else? In love with someone else?"

"No, but-"

"So there is nothing tangible standing in my way," he interrupted.

"There's me," she said, her tone just a shade softer. "I can't have a relations.h.i.+p with you. I won't have a relations.h.i.+p with you."

"I'll change your mind."

"You are so infuriating."

"I'm determined. It may turn out that I'm wrong, that you are not the woman I'm meant to love, to live with, to make a home and family with. But I do know that if I don't give this, give us, the old college try, I'll regret it the rest of my life. Sorry, Sage, but I'm not taking no for an answer on this one."

"You have to. You can't force me to fall in love with you. You can't even force me to date you. This isn't Russia, Danny."

Colt looked down at Snowdrop. "What man can resist a woman who quotes Caddyshack during an argument?"

"Neither is it medieval England," Sage added.

That distracted Colt for a moment as he once again pictured her as the subject of one of Edmund Blair Leighton's paintings, only this time he pictured her naked. "Okay, you lost me on that one. How did medieval England get into this conversation?"

She waved a hand. "I was reading a historical romance last night."

"My mom loves those books." Colt scooped Snowdrop up into his arms and scratched her behind her ears, then stood. "So, are you about ready to head back? I'm getting hungry. The Trading Post had some excellent-looking steaks and Alton Davis swore by the bottle of cabernet I bought from him. It's a new-to-me label, but I told him I'd be back to hound him if he led me wrong. Besides, I can't be too late because I promised Beth Myers I'd pick up Shadow by eight o'clock."

"Your Lab. I forgot about your dog. You left him with the Myerses?"

"Yes. Beth and her dog were out in their yard when Shadow and I walked by on our way to the store earlier. Shadow and her mutt had a great time playing together, so Beth begged her mom to let her puppysit."

"You know what, Rafferty? I think it's time you learn what the word no really means. I'm not having dinner with you. I'm not letting you into my house. In fact, I don't think I'm going to let you hold my dog anymore." She stood and plucked Snowdrop out of his arms. "Go home, Colt. Wherever that is, just go."

"You have to eat."

"Yes, but I don't have to eat with you."

"Tell me why you won't."

"Won't what? Eat dinner with you? Date you? Sleep with you?"

"All of the above."

"No. N-O. No."

He grinned and those d.a.m.ned dimples winked. "I'll change your mind."

Aargh! "Why would you even want to? I'm a mess. You know that."

In that knee-bending, toe-curling, s.e.xy low rumble of his he said, "I want you. I'm here and I'm staying and I'm not giving up. Hide behind your walls if you want, Princess, but I'm giving you official notice. You are under siege."

She couldn't help but be a little secretly thrilled. "Go away, Rafferty."

"You need to relax. Drink a gla.s.s of wine."

"Maybe so, but I'll do it by myself." Then she drew a deep breath and exhaled with a sigh. "Please, Colt? I still need to deal with my sister, and frankly, I don't have the energy to argue with you anymore right now."

She got to him with the sister argument. There was a story there, but she wasn't in any mood to tell it. And the sister had run off like she was being chased by a h.e.l.lhound, so yeah, there was definitely drama there. Fine. At some point Sage would spill and he'd be there ready to listen. For now, he figured he'd given her enough to think about. "C'mon, I'll walk you back."

"You go on. I think I'm going to sit out on the public pier and think for a little bit."

"All right. I'll talk to you tomorrow, then." He bent down and kissed her cheek, then started back the way they'd come.

He distinctly heard her murmur, "Not if I can help it."

He winced and kept on walking. All in all, that hadn't gone so terribly. It hadn't gone so great, but he had time. He'd given her his terms. He wanted her and he'd get her. Eventually.

He was now a permanent resident of Eternity Springs.

FOURTEEN.

Sage gave him a ten-minute head start. The talk about wanting to sit on the public fis.h.i.+ng pier and think about her sister was bunk. First, if she wanted to sit on a pier, she'd do it on the one she shared with the Landrys. It was one of her favorite places to think. Second, she couldn't think about Dr. Rose Anderson even if she wanted to because her mind was filled with Dr. Colt Rafferty of Eternity Springs.

I think I might be falling in love with you.

Her knees felt a little shaky as she began the walk home. She'd made this same trek often, so she didn't need to pay attention as she went along, which was a good thing since she was so busy looking inward.

What was wrong with her? Colt Rafferty was a great guy. Intelligent, dedicated, swoon-worthy handsome, and a master in bed. He was kind, creative, and generous. Because of Colt, she had Snowdrop.

I think I might be falling in love with you.

Why did he frighten her so much? Because he was intelligent and dedicated. Perceptive. Persistent. He'd push and poke and prod without ceasing until he rooted out all of her secrets.

Would she even realize it? How was it that he managed to get her to tell him more than she'd even admitted to herself?

And then what? It was bad enough that she'd shared as much as she had. What would happen if he learned the rest of it? Would that admiration in his eyes transform into disgust? Would he say the same things to her that her father had said when she went to him for absolution? Maybe. Probably. Her father had been a great guy, a generous man. He had loved her, too.

"And look what that got me," she muttered aloud, stooping to pick up Snowdrop, not because the dog signaled she'd grown tired, but because Sage needed the comfort of holding her.

At home, she brought her overnight bag in from the car and unpacked. She put a load of laundry into the washer, then read her mail and paid a few bills. She realized she'd inadvertently left her cellphone in her car, and after debating the matter for a few minutes, she went out to get it. She'd missed two calls, neither of which was from Colt or Rose.

Rose. Sage couldn't believe she'd come to Eternity Springs. What in the world was she going to do about her sister?

Maybe it was time she faced that dragon.

Sage eyed Colt's bottle of wine and thought, What the heck. She opened it and poured herself a gla.s.s while noting that Snowdrop lay curled up asleep in her bed in the living room. Grabbing a sweater, she opened her back door and stepped outside. She might as well walk down to the tip of the point and the fis.h.i.+ng pier. After all, what better place to reflect on the misery of her family life than Reflection Point?

A few puffy clouds dotted the sky and the breeze had strengthened as the afternoon grew long. The air blowing in off the lake had a chill to it, so she slipped into her sweater before taking her usual seat at the end of the pier, her feet dangling above the water, her gla.s.s of wine sitting on the wooden pier beside her. Sunlight sparkled off the surface of the lake like diamonds, and she allowed her gaze to drift along the sh.o.r.eline before settling on a leaf that floated on the water beneath her feet.

Rose.

Sage blew out a breath, watched the current spin the leaf in a very slow circle, and remembered.

Her apartment above the garage was dark, the blinds and curtains blocking out all but the ambient light. She lay curled in a ball amidst tangled sheets. The TV was on, though the sound was turned off. The hum of the window unit drowned out any sounds from outdoors, and inside, the only noise to be heard was the buzz of the fly that persisted in circling around her head.

Maybe he thinks I'm dead.

The image of flies landing on the b.l.o.o.d.y body of little Aba Ballo flashed through her mind.

Too bad I'm not.

Beside her bed, the phone began to ring. Once again she ignored it. She realized that she was thirsty, and she considered getting up to get a drink. No. That took too much effort. She drifted back to sleep.

How long she slept, she didn't know, but she awoke to a new sound. Something different. Thump. Thump. Thump. Someone was pounding on her door.

Sage grabbed her pillow and pulled it over her head, m.u.f.fling the sound, though not blocking it out entirely. The pounding finally quit, and she relaxed back into sleep.

Until a loud bang bang crash brought her sitting up in bed.

Her front door flew open. Her sister swept inside like an avenging angel. Sage sat on her bed and stared. She'd kicked in the door. Rose had kicked in her door!

"So you are here," her sister said, her tone scathing and accusatory. "Brandon said he saw a car in the driveway, but I didn't believe him. I told him you wouldn't be so selfish and disrespectful. I told him you wouldn't let me down this way. Let Dad down this way."

She stormed across the room and wrenched back the curtains. Light flooded into the room. Sage grimaced and s.h.i.+elded her eyes.

"Are you drunk?" Rose demanded, her gaze zeroing in on the empty vodka bottle on Sage's nightstand.

The bottle had been there for at least two weeks, maybe three. She'd brought it with her when she came home, drank it in the first week, then never roused herself to go out for more.

"What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" she repeated before saying it once more in a rising screech. "What am I doing here?"

She advanced on Sage, her face red with fury, her eyes a little wild. "When I got hold of you in New York, you said you'd come. I called and called and called, but you didn't answer your phone. I waited for you for two weeks, Sage. Two weeks."

She glanced around the room, took in the suitcase, the handbag. The plane ticket. She picked it up and read the date.

Her jaw dropped. Her voice went faint and disbelieving. "You've been here all this time." She looked up, stared at Sage. "You were here. Ten minutes away from us. I don't believe this. How could you, Sage? How could you do this to Dad? How could you do it to me? You left me to do this on my own!"

Sage closed her eyes, the pressure in her chest so heavy she wasn't certain she could fill her lungs with air. What could she say? How could she possibly explain? What was she going to do? Tell Rose what their father had said to her?

She'd rather slit her wrists.

So she did nothing. Said nothing. Tried desperately to feel nothing.

Rose let out a little mewl of pain, and Sage looked at her. Her big sister was crying. Big, fat tears spilled down her cheeks.

In that moment, Sage was jealous, furiously jealous that Rose could cry. Her chin came up and she said, "Go away. Just go away."