By the time they got out of town and onto the highway JoLynn managed to compose herself. She had wanted him to meet her grandmother, and that meeting at least had gone very well. A smile touched her lips. The arrowhead had been a nice touch, and a good guess on his part. It was exactly the kind of gift that would mean something to Grandma. She took a deep breath and let it out quietly, trying to let the humiliation of ten minutes ago roll off. It probably would have been a much better idea to have just brought him out here to meet Grandma alone. But she hadn't wanted the situation to seem like a formal meeting of the relatives sort of thing. Not just yet, anyway. She suppressed an ironic laugh at how the strategy of keeping it casual had backfired, and he'd seen the whole crazy dysfunction anyway.
She should have known that Kelly wouldn't pass up any opportunity to put her in her place, and remind her that she took priority in Harlan's life, and that JoLynn was just the baggage from the first marriage. She should have especially known that Kelly would relish doing such a thing in front of one of JoLynn's friends. And even more especially in front of a male friend the likes of Shane. Competing was Kelly's life and she lived every day to win.
As a little girl, JoLynn hadn't been the least bit equipped to contend against the whole Miss Texas thing, so she never even tried. Maybe she should have. Now, of course, she knew that her father would have taken her side, at least to some degree, but as a child there was no way she could have known it. All she could see was Kelly's sparkle juxtaposed against her own pre-teen awkwardness.
"Your dad and Kelly have been married awhile?" Shane asked, as if he'd been reading her mind.
"Since I was eight." JoLynn glanced out the window noticing for the first time that they were high up in the hills. Shane turned the car off the highway and onto what looked like a private drive. "He had an affair with her. She got pregnant. So he divorced my mom and married her."
They were on a blacktop road with a yellow stripe down the middle. But not a road she was familiar with. She sat up, a little more alert, noticing the rising and falling of the hills.
"So it was just you and your mom?"
She shrugged. "Until she got remarried and started having more kids. She has three besides me. Where are we going?"
He cast a sidelong glance at her and smiled. "You'll see."
His enigmatic smile was infectious and she caught it. The humiliated sting inflicted at her grandmother's house eased as the mesmerizing, wooded hills outside flew past.
"So your mother must have been pretty devastated when old Harlan divorced her." Shane's assumption broke the silence.
JoLynn shrugged. "I think she got what she wanted from the divorce."
"You?"
She smiled. Sweet that he would say that, or think it. Maybe the sentiment spoke to what kind of family man he'd be one day. But she seriously doubted that custody was all her mother had wanted. She shook her head. "A generous settlement."
"Ah." Shane nodded as if he'd known it all along, as if his assumptions about rich people were suddenly justified. JoLynn sighed and felt her shoulders sag. Maybe they were.
"I don't know." JoLynn raised one shoulder. "I don't think she married my dad for his money. I can remember them being happy together. At some point I know they loved each other. But after he had the affair..." She swallowed the rising ache in her throat. "It was an ugly divorce."
He turned the truck off the blacktop and onto a gravel path that led them through a thick grove that seemed carved from the landscape. A slow smile erupted despite her current sense of regret and she leaned forward, anticipation of this new discovery—whatever it was—whispering through her.
They pulled into a clearing where the path circled back around on itself like a cul-de-sac, in the middle of which sat a few picnic tables scattered among live oaks; the most secluded rest stop she'd ever seen. Shane parked in a shady spot, opened his door and stepped out. She did too, and when she came around the front of the truck he reached for her hand, pulling her toward a guardrail at the edge of the cliff where the hill they were on dropped into a deep valley before rising again into more hills and still more hills beyond that, all green and brown earth, completely unspoiled.
"Oh, Shane." She breathed his name, reaching out for the rail in front of her. A hawk circled in the distance, dwarfed by the vast, wide-open space it occupied. Fluffy white clouds drifted above, casting scattered shadows on the earth below. "It must be a mile across. This must be how this spot has looked for... Forever. How did you find this place?"
"I know the man who owns it."
"All of it?" The thought of one person owning all this stunned her.
"No, not all of it." Shane swept a hand across the view for emphasis. "But a good chunk of this hill, at least."
"And he doesn't mind you just helping yourself up here?" She glanced at him to find him studying her intently. He shook his head and leaned back against the guardrail.
She turned back to take in the view again as a cool gust toyed with a few strands it had loosened from her ponytail. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, feeling the earth beneath her feet and the hills all around her. Only God could create a place so amazing, so breathtaking. She could feel Him here, like nowhere else. And He spoke to her now the assurance that she was loved and wanted, that even in all the times past when she'd felt like an unwelcome guest in her own father's home she'd been loved and wanted.
She opened her eyes and took it all in again. "Is there any more spectacular sight than this?"
His deep chuckle made her glance at him, and the look on his face was almost as breathtaking as the view. Like this was a gift, and her joy in receiving it made him happier than anything else could. "The Grand Canyon, maybe," he finally said. "Or Niagara Falls. The Smoky Mountains are fairly spectacular as well. Oh, and the Rockies."
She wrinkled up her nose, then grinned. "I've never been to any of those places."
A wisp of hair blew across her face and he raised one hand to gently pull it away and push it behind her ear. Her breath caught at the unexpected tender touch and she caught her bottom lip with her teeth. His expression was the same as it had been in her grandmother's kitchen, full of compassion, like he understood her. But how could he? He'd been his father's whole world. How could he understand the crazy dynamics of her family? How could he possibly know what it felt like to be an outsider in your father's house?
He took one of her hands in his and stroked the back with his thumb. The light touch sent a current through her making her pulse quicken and her eyelids drift closed. This was so not smart; standing here with him holding her hand, totally alone in this intoxicating, wide open space, and feeling the way she did about him.
She'd had feelings for him since the day she met him. It bothered her less to admit it now that she knew him better...now that she knew she could trust him. Now that she was certain he cared for her, too. The tender way he'd comforted her just a little while ago...It captured her heart completely and had sprung from an honest desire to soothe her heartache. She felt his warmth beside her when he closed the distance between them.
"But, spectacular as all those other places might be..." His soft, lazy drawl in her ear sent a shiver down her spine and a smile to her lips as she leaned into him. "I think I'm gonna have to agree with you. There is no place on earth more beautiful than this."
Another strong gust kicked up the side of the hill, taking her breath like a roller coaster. And for a moment she was torn between hanging on tight for dear life, and throwing her hands up, letting the ride have her completely. Shane's warm fingertips traced the line of her jaw before gently turning her chin his direction. Her eyes fluttered open, and her gaze came to rest on his soft, wide mouth.
Not smart, not smart, not smart!
The phrase drummed itself through her mind over and over. Monday they'd be back at work, on the road together. Whatever happened here in the next few moments would change everything between them. Work would be awkward, and how would she explain this new dynamic to Mel and Curtis. And what on earth would Truman have to say about this development. Oh, this was such a stupid thing to be doing. But the breathless sensation returned and she wanted so badly for him to kiss her.
And then he did.
The feel of his mouth on hers, soft and warm, stole her breath again, just as the wind had a few seconds ago. But she wouldn't recover nearly as quickly. Shane's hands found her waist and drew her close as she let her hands travel up over his chest and shoulders. She wound her arms around his neck, and let him kiss her deeply and thoroughly, her heart yielding completely. It didn't seem possible after their rocky start, not to mention the short time they'd known each other. She almost couldn't dare to think it.
But she loved him.
Not smart. Her head intervened.
She slid her hands back down to his chest and gave a small, experimental push. Shane countered by raising one hand to caress her face as his kisses gentled.
So not smart.
JoLynn resisted the sudden impulse to throw her arms back around him and dive in again, heart and soul. Her head told her that this had to stop now before it went any further. But her heart countered with a call to follow it instead, down this path with Shane leading somewhere...anywhere...as long as it was with him.
She pushed against him again and pulled her lips from his, then she swallowed and raised one hand to cover her mouth. "Um..." She started to speak, to put him at ease, but she couldn't meet his gaze. An image of Miss Spring Ho intruded suddenly, of the way she'd glanced back over her tattooed shoulder at him, of the way he'd admired her, and teased JoLynn about it, and then hounded her to show him her tattoo. All the flirtation that had passed between them in the past six weeks flooded her memory. He was very good at it—at flirting, at teasing, at making women like him. At making her love him. And still she knew so little about him.
She glanced up at him to find his brow creased in concern, but then his expression relaxed and he grinned. "Should I apologize?"
She smiled, shook her head, and took a step back, glancing down.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
She shrugged. "I don't even know. I just feel like...." She let her voice trail off, unable to put her concern into words.
He snagged her hand again. "What's on your mind?"
"In Lampasas you said that if I showed you my tattoo, you'd tell me whatever I wanted to know."
He took a deep breath, his smile fading almost imperceptibly. Then he nodded.
"And I'm pretty sure you noticed my tattoo that morning."
He nodded a little more animatedly. "A very nice tattoo, I must say. Though a closer inspection wouldn't hurt."
"So, what I'd like to know is the answer to the question I asked you that morning." She turned back to take in the view again, inhaling a deep, mind-clearing breath.
"Which was...?" He turned and leaned back against the guardrail, with his back to the beautiful hills she was so taken with, as if he didn't need to see them. But the length of his silence compelled her to look at him again. His grin returned.
"You sort of zoned out that morning for a minute. When I asked you what you had against rich people. Like you were thinking about something. And the look on your face made it pretty clear that it was significant." She paused and gave a small shrug. "So, what was it?"
He shook his head. "I couldn't possibly remember."
A lump rose to her throat, but she nodded. He could remember. He did remember. He just didn't want to tell her. And maybe it was none of her business. Doubt pierced her heart like a fiery little dart. Her feelings for him were strong and sudden. And possibly completely one-sided.
The cooing doves in the surrounding trees sounded particularly mournful just now. How on earth was she to extricate herself from this complication? The best way to start was probably by asking him to drive her back to her grandmother's house. But he sighed heavily and raised her hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the back of it. Then he linked his fingers through hers and turned to face the view.
"The summer I turned seventeen we stopped at an RV park near Nashville, and my dad took a job as care taker of a private park associated with some country club." He glanced at her and she gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "The house was small and old. But it was a house. Well, maybe more of a cabin. Stone walls and a solid, permanent foundation. I thought we were finally going to have a normal life. We could settle down. I could meet some local kids. Make some friends."
"Ah," JoLynn breathed. It began to make sense. "But you met the local country club set instead." The disapproval most of those kids and their families would have had for him would have crushed any hope he had of making friends.
He nodded. "One girl, in particular. She was beautiful, and I fell totally in love with her."
"But she didn't return your feelings."
He grinned wickedly. "Of course she did."
She matched his grin. "So then, what happened?"
He sighed and his grin faded. "Her family didn't approve. Her friends hated me. And there was nothing I could do to win them. No amount of charm or kindness could persuade them to overlook the fact that I was from a lower social class. It was apparently a scandal. Probably would have been funny if it hadn't involved me. I mean, that's the stuff of movies, right? I never would have believed people really thought and behaved that way.
"My dad's boss came to him and told him to get me back in line and keep me away from her, or he'd be fired. And the girl's older brother..." His voice trailed off and he stared straight into the distance.
"He gave you a hard time?"
A blunt, ironic laugh erupted from him and he shook his head. "He and three of his football buddies beat me nearly to death."
JoLynn's gasp punctuated the statement. "What?"
"I was in the hospital for four weeks. Unconscious for five days. I had a fractured skull. The doctors thought there might be brain damage." He smiled gently, letting the joke go unspoken.
She smiled softly and looked down, following his cue to keep the mood lighter than she suddenly felt.
"The parents of the boys came with their lawyers to my father with a settlement offer before I had even come to. All medical expenses, plus one million each, in exchange for no charges being filed."
She let another gasp escape. "So, four million?"
Shane nodded. "A small price, considering their boys might have faced prison time plus a civil law suit. And if I hadn't made it, the charges would have been murder."
"Did your father take it?"
He nodded again, but didn't say a word.
"What did you do with it all?"
He shook his head. "Not much. Most of it's been sitting in savings accounts and mutual funds here and there, accruing interest for twenty years. Now it's paying for my father's care in Round Rock."
"Oh my word. Shane." She gaped, making no effort to mask her astonishment.
Finally, he grinned at her.
"And you had the audacity to assume that I'd be some spoiled little rich girl."
He laughed at that. "And you had the audacity to assume I'd be some hillbilly redneck from the backwoods."
"I did not." She grinned back as he pulled her closer by the hand he still held.
He reached up and brushed her hair out of her face. "We were both wrong, I guess."
She nodded and glanced back out at the view.
He touched a finger to her chin and turned her head to look at him again. He kissed her once, softly.
"Wait." She pulled back and looked at him. "You said most of it has been accruing interest for the last twenty years. That means you did something else with some of it."
His shameless smile emerged.
"This is your land, isn't it? You bought land. In Texas."
"My dad bought land in Texas. Not me." He kissed her again and she melted.
"So, you're rich." She murmured the irony as he pressed a series of soft, warm kisses to her cheek and jaw. She was no financial wizard, but she well understood the concept of compound interest. At least for the moment.
"Does that make you like me better?"
"I don't know." Her eyes drifted closed. "Maybe it makes me like you less. Does it make you like me better to know that all your bank accounts are probably worth five times—or maybe more—what my trust fund is?"
He kissed her again. "No, Miss JoLynn." Another sweet, soft kiss. "I'd like you the same if I was flat broke and living in an RV park somewhere near Bucksnort, Tennessee."