A Mother's Homecoming(20)

“Thanks, but I’m not staying,” Pam said quickly. Did she really seem so pathetic that someone might think her only prospects for a relationship would come from a total stranger? “I’ll probably just be in town a few days.” She’d use the time to try and forge a bond with her aunt and uncle and find a competent real estate agent to list Mae’s—my—house.

Was there a property version of selling a broken-down car for parts? Because Pam couldn’t imagine anyone actually living in the neglected home she’d seen yesterday afternoon.

“Oh, right.” Dawn smiled contritely. “I don’t know why I’d think you were staying permanently.” She stared out at the road in front of them, and Pam wondered if the woman was regretting her impromptu visit. I hope not. Dawn was the first person who’d seemed unequivocally delighted to see Pam, harboring no bitterness over her abrupt departure a lifetime ago.

A pickup truck rumbled down the street, and it wasn’t until the vehicle had practically reached the Calberts’ driveway that Pam read the logo printed on one of the cab doors. Bauer and Shepard Construction. Her stomach clenched. She sat stock-still, unable to take her gaze off the impending doom.

Let it be a coincidence, she thought stupidly. But the truck rolled into the drive and, a heartbeat later, Nick Shepard emerged.

Dawn’s breath caught. “Oh, my good Lord,” she whispered. “That man got even better-looking over time.”

On a completely objective level, Pam supposed her friend was right. But it was hard to appreciate the appeal of his long, lithe body, chiseled features and laser-bright eyes when he looked angry enough to do someone violence. Specifically, this someone.

He closed the space between them with powerful strides. Though he was still in jeans, he’d changed shirts since she’d seen him that morning. The white polo shirt he had on now emphasized his tan. He obviously spent a lot of time out in the sun. A random memory hit her, the two of them by a secluded, sun-dappled pond—her alternately fretting that someone might actually happen along and laughing that if she didn’t put back on certain pieces of clothing, she could end up sunburned in vulnerable areas. She’d realized later that Faith had been conceived by that pond.

Suddenly Nick slowed his gait and conjured a smile. “Dawn Lewin, I didn’t see you there. Been a while.”

Dawn nodded like a bobble-headed doll, hand at her throat. “Sure has. But you don’t look any older.”

“I was just thinking the same about you,” he said. “I hate to run you off, Dawn, but would you mind if—”

“Of course!” The accommodating brunette bounced out of her seat, grinning at Pam. “You and I can finish reminiscing some other time. Stop by C-3 before you leave town, and I’ll do your hair for free. It just has to be after hours.”

“C-3?” Pam repeated dumbly. Like that gold robot in those movies?

“Cut, Curl and Color. You remember the salon on Witherspoon Drive? The owner thought C-3 made us sound more modern and less like the place where Eugenia Ellsberry has been requesting the same blue rinse since 1978.” This explanation came mostly over Dawn’s shoulder as she hustled down the front porch steps. She disappeared into the little compact parked at the curb and was gone all too soon. Pam hadn’t even had a chance to summon her aunt and uncle from inside the house as witnesses.

She gauged the leashed anger in Nick’s rigid posture and sighed. Will people even know where to look for my body? Dragging that pond might be a good start.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” she drawled. It was stupid to bait him, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of what the right thing to say would be. “Did you come here because you realized you didn’t yell at me nearly enough this morning?” Darn it, she’d known she got off too easily.

“No.” He clenched and unclenched his hands. “I came here because my daughter asked me to.”



Chapter Six


Nick took the porch stairs two at a time, reminding himself to keep his cool. For Faith’s sake, this meeting needed to be productive. Besides, he knew what kind of lecture he would suffer through when he returned home and had to face his mother—might as well make sure this was worth it.

Pam had gone pale. Because of his unannounced appearance or because he’d mentioned their child?

“Faith heard that I’m in town,” she concluded.

“Yeah. And she wants to meet you.”