Solitaire (13 page)

“It’s good,” Cat forced out in a tight voice, all her focus on the unannounced business deal.

Kai smiled and came around to join her. The white slacks and bright green blouse did nothing but bring out her natural beauty. “Great! Hey, you know we should go shopping soon. Slade could fly us into Houston for the day. He always has business with Alvin, his partner, there. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we tagged along.”

Slade had a partner. A business partner. Cat didn’t like what she was hearing. Was Slade’s care and seeming desire nothing more than a means to get her to work with him on his mine? A knifelike pain tore through her. Had Slade’s kisses only been a disguise for what he really wanted? No wonder he’d downplayed her problems with Ian Connors. If Slade wanted her services, he’d gladly tell her to drop Connors.

Her fingers tightened around the frosty stem of the glass. Shaken, Cat took another gulp of the margarita.
One way or another, I have to find out why Slade really brought me here. Maybe it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart, as I thought.
Inwardly, Cat died. Until that moment, she had never really gotten in touch with the depth of her feelings for Slade. And now it was sheer, aching torture to admit just how much he had come to mean to her.

After Kai had gone, Cat sat in the silence of the living room.
I’ve just found out why I’m here at Mourning Dove Ranch,
Cat grimly told herself. She gingerly ran her hands over her healing ribs and went to the kitchen, where Pilar was starting preparation for lunch.

“Did you want coffee, señorita Cat?” she greeted her, lifting one soapy hand.

Cat managed a smile and went over to a large pot, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “I can get it, Pilar. Thank you.” She needed time to think. “Is Slade in his office?”

“Either his office or hobby shop,” Pilar replied. “Would you like an early lunch?”

“No, thank you. I’ll just go out to the porch for a while.” She had no appetite.

Cat sat down at the table, staring beyond the screened-in porch. Absently, she smoothed the burgundy skirt that was imprinted with a profusion of white, pink and lavender orchid blooms. Kai had insisted over the weeks that she have something other than pants to wear and had given her a gift of the Mexican skirt and blouse. Cat fingered the lace of the boat-necked white blouse she wore, her mind spinning.

Cat’s mind focused on Slade. Was he planning to send men and machinery down to Colombia to gear up for the mine he wanted to build? For eight hours each day he would disappear into his office. Was Slade playing a waiting game with her? Cat tried to search her memory for some betraying facts. Slade would join her, like clockwork, at noon, for an hour-long lunch. She could never quite get used to his devastating effect on her–that special warmth flowing up through her, the added beat to her heart when she first saw him crossing the living room and moving to the porch where Pilar served lunch. Merriment was usually lurking in his eyes when he approached her. Cat frowned, the coffee tasting bitter. Right or wrong, she was drawn powerfully to Slade, and it was more than physical. How she felt about him and what he wanted from her warred within her. She had to talk to Slade and clear the air.

Cat rose, her mouth set in a determined line. She wanted to do something–anything–to settle what lay between them. In another few weeks she would be fit and ready to work again. Cat set the coffee cup on the drain board, gathering her courage. Padding silently through the house, she walked across the garden and patio. The palms of her hands grew damp as she followed the left fork. Cat tried out a number of opening lines in her head as she walked along the path to Slade’s shop. She slowed, coming to a sliding-glass door that was partially open.

Slade was bent over what she recognized to be a multi-wheel gem polisher. He had a gem in a brown, waxlike substance known as dop, and was grinding the shape of the gem against the spinning wheel. His long workbench, to the right, was strewn with a can of dop sticks that would hold a rough-cut cabachon-shaped gem. Faceting equipment, which would shape a gem to blinding brilliance, was nearby. Cat stood in the doorway, tense.

Sensing her presence, despite the level of noise, Slade turned around. “Come in…if you can find a place to sit down.” Taking off his safety glasses, Slade leaned over, pulling a stool toward him, motioning for Cat to join him.

“I–thanks.” Cat sat down.

“Looks like you’re a little bored.”

Somehow, he looked more pulse-poundingly handsome than usual to her. Slade wore a faded red T-shirt that emphasized the powerful breadth of his chest and tight muscles. His jeans were streaked with dust and soiled across the thighs, where he obviously wiped his fingers as he worked.

“I didn’t know you were a jeweler,” Cat began lamely, unsure how to begin her preamble.

Slade grinned, putting the glasses back on and returning to the work at hand, turning on the polisher again. He expertly positioned the cabachon he held on the stick between his hands. “Making jewelry is my hobby.”

Cat leaned forward, fascinated. “An unusual hobby for a man.”

“But not a geologist,” Slade corrected, lightly pressuring the stone against the wheel. A whirring sound continued for several seconds before he lifted the stone away. Slade dipped it into some water, and rubbed away the accumulated material that resulted when the rock was polished. There was satisfaction mirrored in his face. He held the stick out to her. “Take a look. That’s pink tourmaline from the El Camino mine. Beautiful specimen, isn’t it?”

Cat held the stick, observing the gem. Slade was no amateur in his fashioning of the stone. The tourmaline was at least four carats in size, and Slade had used the oval cut to bring out the breathtaking pink fire from the depths of the stone. “It’s lovely,” she whispered.

Slade smiled. “There’s no color on earth like this,” he agreed, running his callused finger over the gem.

“You’re hardly a novice,” Cat accused, handing the stick back to him.

His smile broadened as he set it down on the table next to the lathe. “No, but my mother taught me to be modest about my talents. So what did you think I was doing back here?”

“Working on the latest geology reports, collecting data for a place where you might want to go next,” she hinted, waiting to see if he would take the bait.

“I wanted to get this ring finished in time for my mother’s birthday. It’s only ten days away,” he murmured, taking off his safety glasses.

“It’s a lovely stone. I’m sure your mother will be thrilled with it.”

“I sure hope you’re right. So, you’re itching to get back into the mining mode?”

Cat froze internally. “Not yet.”

“Let’s change our schedule, then. How would you like to go on a picnic with me today?”

Caught off guard, Cat repeated, “A picnic?” It sounded wonderful and she knew the sudden catch in her voice showed her surprise. She saw Slade smile as he got up and rinsed his hands off in a basin nearby.

“Well–I–there’s something we have to discuss, Slade.”

“Great. I’m cashing in on that rain check I promised you, Cat. We can talk over lunch. Why don’t you tell Pilar we’re going? She’ll be happy to fix something for us.”

Cat slid off the stool. Maybe a picnic would be the right place to broach the subject. “Oh? Does she want to get us out from underfoot?”

“She’s been after me for the past two weeks to take you on one. I couldn’t because it’s hell traveling with taped ribs any more than necessary. Now, you’re almost as good as new and I think it’s just what we both need.”

Cat turned away, feeling heat in her cheeks. “Have you had broken ribs before, Slade?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, when I was at the university I played football. One game I took three hits simultaneously and ended up under a pile of opposing players. I came out with four busted ribs. Needless to say, I didn’t play the rest of the season.” He lifted his head and turned toward her. “That’s how I knew how much pain you were in this past month. You’re a pretty brave lady, you know that?”

With a wan smile, Cat stepped out the sliding-glass doors. “Don’t put me on a pedestal, Slade. I’ll fall off before you can blink twice. I’ve got enough inclusions in me to match any emerald you find.” Inclusions were the hairline fissures that could flaw the otherwise clear surface of a gem. In other words, they were mistakes, and she made her own fair share. And so did Slade.

“Inclusions make you interesting, sweetheart. Who wants a flawless gem? They’re rather boring in comparison.”

“You’re a glutton for punishment, then. I’ll tell Pilar of our lunch plans.” Cat tried to stop the fear expanding within her. In the weeks they had lived together under the same roof, peace had reigned, not irritation or tension. No, Cat thought wryly to herself, the only tension her heart felt was a longing to draw closer to Slade. Toward the end of the picnic, Cat could talk to Slade about the mine.

* * *

Packing the wicker basket in the back of the Jeep, Slade guided Cat into the front seat. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she had become in the past month; her sable hair shone with gold highlights, and though it was a bit shaggy, it was more appealing as it grew longer. She was, by anyone’s standards, a woman to be recognized. Pilar had given her a broad-brimmed straw hat to protect her face from the harsh sun overhead. Slade got into the driver’s seat, and the Jeep started up with a cough and sputter.

“Where are we going?” Cat asked.

“A special place for a special lady,” Slade answered. He pointed the Jeep down the flat expanse of dirt road, driving slowly and avoiding most of the holes in the road that might jar Cat. “It’s on Kai and Matt’s ranch. I only took you by one part of the river before. The part we’re going to now has about four thousand pecan trees planted along it. And there’s a beautiful spot near the water where they placed a picnic table. I thought you might enjoy a change of scenery.”

The sun was warm and Cat held the hat on with one hand. “Kai wanted to know if I’d go into Houston with her to shop for a day.”

Slade made a chortling sound. “Uh-oh. Women going shopping spells disaster. Houston will never be the same. Did you tell her you’d go?”

Cat shrugged. “I told her I’d think about it.”

He heard the hesitancy in her voice, but didn’t understand it. Usually, most women would give their right arm to go shopping in such a cosmopolitan and sophisticated city as Houston. But then, Cat wasn’t the average female, Slade reminded himself. He almost sensed that Cat didn’t want to leave the ranch, whatever her reasons. Had her nightmares dampened her otherwise keen traveling spirit? He decided to pursue that at an opportune time, later.

* * *

Slade spread the red cotton tablecloth across the green picnic table while Cat brought over the basket. Pilar had packed beef sandwiches, potato salad, some apples and a bottle of zinfandel, Slade’s favorite white wine. The pecan trees rose straight and tall, already bearing a quantity of fruit. In the fall, they would be harvested during a five-day celebration. The noontime heat was well over ninety. Beneath the trees, with a cool breeze rippling off the small, quiet river that languidly flowed past them, it was an acceptable eighty degrees. Slade motioned for Cat to come and sit down. When she did, he sat next to her, something he rarely did at the ranch.

His move hadn’t been missed by Cat, either. At first, she was going to say something, and then thought better of it. She wondered perversely if he had deliberately used reverse psychology on her so she would willingly welcome his advances. Cat shook her head, angry with herself. Slade had been the perfect host since she had come to his ranch. She decided to drop her wariness and simply enjoy him for the duration of the picnic.

“I didn’t realize how skilled you were at jewelry making. Do you work on it every day?”

Slade handed Cat a plastic cup half-filled with the delicate white wine. “Yes. After I get caught up on paperwork, I head over to the shop. I use the samples I collect from my job assignments and play treasure hunter, stalking the gems I know are buried deep within the matrix.”

“I’d like to see some of your finished work. Is that possible?”

“Sure. I keep all my fledgling attempts and mistakes in the back room.”

“Knowing you as I do, I doubt if you’ve got any ‘mistakes.’”

Slade set a plate loaded with food in front of her. “I’ve got plenty of mistakes. I just don’t go around showing them to everyone.”

“Why to me?” she asked, meeting and holding his gaze.

“What if I told you I wanted you to know me with and without mistakes?”

Cat’s heart pumped hard to underscore the implications of his question. “Then I’d ask why you’re according me that privilege.” Was he going to tell her about his mine?

“Would you?” He looked at her closely.

She nodded, sipping the spicy, clear wine. “I think it signals a certain change in a relationship when both people let down their guard and allow the other to see all their qualities.”

Slade took her statement seriously, biting into a sandwich. He was having trouble keeping the conversation light. The past week had been pure hell on him. He wanted to do something about the longing in Cat’s eyes as she looked up at him. Food was the last thing on his mind right now. “That’s another thing I like about you, Ms. Kincaid; you don’t play the games men and women play so well with one another.”

“But you play games, Slade.”

He winced inwardly at the sudden sadness in her voice. He wiped his mouth and then his fingers on a paper napkin. He captured her hand, squeezing it gently. “Not with you, sweetheart.” He saw the unsureness in her emerald eyes as she studied him in the intervening silence.

Cat swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. Tears pricked her eyes. Angrily she shoved these unexpected feelings back down inside, to be dealt with later, and shook her head. “I just don’t know what to think, Slade. Ever since we met, I felt as though you wanted something from me. At first, I thought it was just because you were interested in me–as a woman. But later, once we developed a friendship, I changed my mind about that. Right now, I’m not sure what you want from me.” She sat rigidly. “Kai mentioned you had a mine down in Colombia. By any chance does that explain why I’m here at your ranch?” She prayed it wasn’t so.