Taming His Montana Heart(45)
“How’d the tree decorating party go?” Boone asked. “Alexa loves the picture you emailed. Now she’s asking why we can’t have one as big.”
“What did you tell her?”
“To ask her Uncle Shaw.”
Shaw explained that the question of Santa Claus’s existence had been more important than trees to the girl. Next year he’d do everything he could to get his family here for Christmas. Just because he’d left where he’d once believed he’d spend his life didn’t mean he’d deserted the people he loved.
“What about Haley Walters?” Boone pressed. “Was she there? And, for the record, your sister-in-law commanded me to ask.”
He hadn’t said much about Haley, just that she was one of his best hires, but maybe Carol had heard something in his voice that led her to conclude Haley was more than just an employee to him.
“She was there.”
“And?”
“And we talked.”
“What about?”
“Some pretty serious stuff.”
“About what you—”
“No! Sorry, no. Not that. Boone, her mother was murdered.”
“That’s horrible. Who killed her?”
“I don’t know.” But this might explain her aversion to guns.
“You don’t—wait. You didn’t interrogate her, did you?”
“Of course not. I got the distinct vibe she wasn’t ready to talk about it. We—I don’t think we were discussing her family right before that came up.”
“What were you discussing?”
“Darn but you’re nosy.”
“Yep.”
“All right. I think I’d been talking about parents and how profoundly their children’s lives impact them.”
“Like Mom and Dad went through.”
“Yeah. Like Mom and Dad.” His brother was the one person he could be totally honest with. “I’m not sure what got me started on that or how far I intended to go.”
“Do you know her well enough for that?”
He didn’t and yet he’d been tempted. Fortunately, he’d come to his senses in time. “That isn’t the point.”
“Why isn’t it?”
Darn you. “Because I didn’t say anything. She did.”
“Yes, she did.” Boone was silent for several seconds. “I’m thinking you two are just getting to know each other and yet she trusted you with something pretty intense. If she was willing to go that far maybe she wants to go the rest of the way, even if she doesn’t know it. How will you handle it if she does?”
I don’t know.
*
Haley didn’t hear from Shaw until late in the afternoon. Last night’s storm plus reports of treacherous driving conditions had resulted in about half of the day’s clients canceling. As a result she hadn’t been particularly busy. After clearing the roof, she and Daron had researched alternative education programs. They’d identified several, and Daron said he’d talk to his mother about them.
She wanted to tell Shaw about her conversation with the teenager, but when he called, she almost didn’t answer her phone. Talking to him might be easier if she’d gotten a night’s sleep. Instead, she’d kept replaying what she’d impulsively told him. Even harder on her nerves, when she had dozed off, too-familiar images had taken over.
To her relief, and probably in deference to his consideration for her, Shaw didn’t bring up her admission that her mother had been murdered. Instead, he told her that the new snowmobiles and trail groomer could arrive as soon as the day after tomorrow.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to get away to come see them,” Shaw said.
“It isn’t necessary. I know what to look for.”
“I’m sure you do. I just wanted to see—you.”
She stared, couldn’t speak.
“Haley, did you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“What is it? Wrong thing for me to say?”
“No.” Absolutely no. “I guess I’m confused trying to figure out our relationship.”
“Yeah?” He sighed. “That makes two of us.”
*
The new snowmobiles were everything she’d hoped for and then some. She and Daron had reacted like kids. There’d been a little racing and tight turns involved, all right, more than a little. She’d called Shaw and told him the machines would satisfy the most demanding clients. After that, they briefly talked about Daron’s educational opportunities. Then he said he was expecting a call from the resort’s attorney about the garbage collection contract.
Their relationship continued in that vein for the next week. They talked on the phone every afternoon. Each time after they’d covered the day’s news, she waited for him to say something of a personal nature, but he didn’t. Neither did she. Tiptoeing around the man who was often on her mind kept her off-balance. She wanted things to change.
It took Rey’s workmen not quite three days to more than double the size of her office and install a small but efficient wood stove. Shaw unexpectedly showed up as she was hanging pictures that included a framed enlargement of the wolf tracks they’d discovered. Just before he walked in, her nerves had gone on alert so she wasn’t really surprised to see him. However, that didn’t stop her from staring at him. He did the same, two people silently taking each other in. Not addressing the energy that suddenly filled the space.