All Jacked Up (Rough Riders #8)(87)

“Yes, I do.”


“Keely—”


“I need to wean myself from you, Jack.”


A bewildered pause. “Why?”


“I’ve gotten too used to having you around. In my bed. In my life. We knew this wasn’t permanent.


Dragging this out will just be harder for both of us.”


“I’m just supposed to do what? Walk away from you?”


“Yes.”


“Think about what you’re saying, buttercup.”


“I have. I am. Go back to thinking of me as a client. Better yet, don’t think of me at all. Just…go back to hating me.”


Jack was silent as his hand stroked the back of her head, over and over, with such gentleness she couldn’t stop from melting into him.


Keely whispered, “Be safe. I’ll see you on the jobsite in a couple of weeks.” She kissed the hollow of his throat and turned away without meeting his gaze.


Or without looking back in her rearview mirror as she headed home to Wyoming where she belonged.


Chapter Twenty


Three weeks later…


“Aunt Keely, how come you’re so sad?”


She forced herself to answer Liesl with a half-truth. “I’m not sad. Just tired. And thinking about—”


“Uncle Jack?”


Keely froze. Uncle Jack. Man. That sounded weird. And yet, not weird at all. She managed a smile for her inquisitive niece. “No. I’m thinking about how long it’s been since we’ve had a girl’s night. You, Eliza and me. We could paint our fingernails, watch Hannah Montana now that I have cable. Eat Oreos and have burping contests. Whaddya say?”


“All right! But I still think you’re sad. I think Uncle Jack needs to come home and kiss you because that always makes you happy.”


“Liesl. Leave Aunt Keely alone,” Domini said. “Take Oxsana outside with you and go play with your brothers.”


“But I don’t wanna go—”


Domini pointed to the sliding glass door. “Fresh air, girls. Now.”


Liesl sighed and grabbed Oxsana’s hand. “Mommy said we should make mud pies.”


As soon as the door closed, Keely grinned. “She’s gonna give you guys fits when she hits her teens.”


“I know. Cam is already nervous.” Liesl smacked her floured hands into a glob of dough on the counter. “But is my intuitive daughter right? Are you sad because you’re missing Jack?”


“I do miss him. What sucks is that’s part of his job and he’ll always be gone.” She scowled. “Or I’ll have to go with him, which will be damn near impossible once the clinic is up and running.”


Jack had called from wherever the hell he was late last night. She’d fumbled with the phone and cursed at the dead air, until Jack’s voice, barely audible, rasped, “Can’t believe I missed you swearing at me, cowgirl.” Then he’d hung up. Or maybe she’d dreamed the whole damn thing.


Domini’s hands stopped kneading. “Are you rethinking your relationship with him?”


“Yes. No. Who knows? I’m just tired. Although I love the work and the people in Cheyenne, the drive is getting old.”


“How much longer will you be working at the VA?”


“A month or two. Depending on my cash flow situation with the building.” Depending on if Jack kicked her out of the apartment after they officially called it quits.


“I recognize that ‘back off’ look, as your brother often wears the same one. But if you need to talk, Keely, I’m always here for you.”


“Same goes.” Keely snatched a cookie. “Speaking of talking…any luck convincing Cam into letting you adopt all the needy children in the world so you two can be nominated for sainthood?”


Domini flicked flour at her. “Smarty. He’s considering it.”


“That’s it?”


“No.” Domini sighed. “I get what Cam’s saying about us having enough kids.”


“But…?”


“But when the woman running the orphanage in Romania called me and emailed me the videos with those two poor darlings…” Domini bit her lip and looked away, struggling to keep her tears from splashing in the bread dough. “Sorry.”


“Cam will come around, Domini. He’s a softie. You guys are great, loving parents, what difference would two more kiddos make? It’s not like you don’t have family around to help you out.”


“True. I think the fact Markus is only six months old freaks Cam out more than that the poor baby needs eye surgery.” She sighed. “Plus, Markus’s older sister, Sasha, is eighteen months old and if we do this, we’d have two kids in diapers again…”


“Investing in Huggies for the next three years isn’t the issue, is it?” Keely said softly.


“No.” Domini slammed her fist into the dough.


A bad feeling surfaced at seeing her normally docile sister in law so angry. “Domini. What’s wrong?”