She couldn’t help laughing, thinking how Eleanor Manning, the queen of Denver society, would feel about her son living in close contact with Indians. Her laughter subsided and she grew serious. She gnawed at the inside of her cheek before asking, “How did you find me, Jace?”
“I found you to be beautiful, completely enchanting.” His voice was tender and his words disconcerting, but they didn’t deter her from her purpose.
“Please don’t play games with me. I think Allison’s future is too important.”
He sobered instantly. “I’m sorry, and you’re right.” He sighed deeply and rolled over onto his back, clasping his hands under his head. “You covered your tracks well, Katherine. I had just about exhausted all possibilities when Elsie mentioned you and Mary. I was in my room at home, and she came in to clean. She started talking about Mary, and how sweet she was and how unhappy she’d been. Apparently they had developed quite a friendship. Anyway, she mentioned in passing that the only home Mary had ever known was Denver.
“Then she said, ‘Of course, the girls were born in Texas.’ I picked up on that and asked if she knew where. She struggled to remember, and I nearly went out of my skull until she did.”
He breathed a deep sigh that expanded his ribcage and flattened his stomach. Katherine looked away quickly, alarmed that the motion had separated the waistband of his trunks from his skin.
He shrugged. “I played a hunch and it paid off. It was a lucky break that Sunglow was going to be drilling in the east Texas oil field. I was here for three days before I presented myself at your door yesterday morning. You have been under surveillance, Miss Adams.” He smiled up at her.
Her face was averted, looking toward the lake, so he continued quietly. “Your house in Denver is sold. I tracked down the agent, and she’s deposited the money from the sale into a savings account in Allison’s name according to your instructions.”
“Good,” Katherine replied.
Jace sat up then and asked, “What did you live on, Katherine?”
She faced him and said defensively, “If I had thought for one moment that I couldn’t take proper care of Allison, I never would have taken her away from Denver.”
“I wasn’t making an accusation.”
She pushed the honey-gold hair away from her face and said, “I had a savings account with a couple of thousand dollars in it. We lived on that until I started receiving my paychecks from the college.”
“I’m sure you think you’re capable of—”
“I am capable of taking care of her. I’m twenty-seven years old—”
“Twenty-seven?” he clamored. Allison stirred in her car bed and he lowered his voice to an incredulous whisper when he asked again, “Twenty-seven?”
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing,” he laughed. “It’s just that you look more like seventeen. I’m sorry. Continue.”
After his outburst she couldn’t remember what she had been saying. She collected her thoughts and went on. “I know I can earn enough to provide a comfortable home for Allison. It may not be as lavish as she would have had in Denver, but I love her.” Her voice cracked with emotion. She couldn’t give way now. She was fighting for her life.
“I have no doubt of that, Katherine. And you’ll be able to provide a comfortable home. But have you thought about the future? What about college? Will you be able to provide that for Allison? And clothes? And all the thousand other things that a young, healthy girl needs?”
He was hitting too close for comfort. She had thought about those things and worried over them, but pushed them from her mind. Somehow, she would manage. She always had before.
“I give credence to what you’re saying, Jace. It’s a valid argument. But did you know that I put myself through college? I supported Mary after our mother died so she could go to school. I paid for most of her tuition, clothes, and so forth when she went to art school. I’ve taken care of myself for a long time, and I’m used to it.”
Her face was set determinedly as she returned his searching stare. He ran one hand across the back of his neck several times and, when he spoke again, he completely changed the subject. “Is there anything to drink in there?” he asked indicating the basket.
Katherine raised the lid and checked the contents. “Let’s see. We have root beer, root beer, and root beer,” She enumerated as she took out one can at a time. She looked at him and laughed as he squinted his eyes in feigned indecision.
“I think I’ll have a root beer,” he stated, and they both laughed. She pulled the opener on the can and then shrieked as the drink spewed out and showered them both with the sweet effervescent liquid.
Hilarity overcame them, and it was several minutes before their laughter was spent. Jace was still chuckling as he studied her face and said, “You’re a mess.”
Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, Katherine didn’t resist when he pulled her up to her knees so that they were kneeling facing each other.
“Let’s get some of this off,” he said as he started stroking his fingers across her face and flicking drops of root beer to the ground.
In only moments Katherine was sensitive to a subtle change in his touch. Where before it had been quick and economical, it was now slow and caressing. She raised her eyes, not knowing that they were still wet with her recent happy tears and were most appealing.
Jace searched their green depths as his thumbs swept across her trembling lips. Moving slowly, he cupped her head in his palms, his fingers entwined in her tousled hair, and drew her face to his.