The Texan's Tennessee Romance (10 page)

“So Cathy’s sporting some new clothes,” she said as a way of reminding herself what they’d been talking about.

“A whole new wardrobe,” Amber emphasized. “Not just a few new sweaters or anything. And from what I can tell, she’s scored some expensive designer stuff.”

“And she hasn’t said where all this money is coming from?”

“No. She just giggles whenever anyone asks and sort of coyly says she’s found a new source of income. She won’t say anything more about it. Which makes me wonder if her new source of income is selling client information to the tabloids.”

“What bothers me is that she’s so open about the spending,” Natalie fretted. “Is she really foolish enough to brag in the firm if she’s making the money by exploiting her job?”

“Have you met Cathy?” Amber asked drily. “She’s stupid enough to think no one would even notice.”

“Has anyone noticed? Anyone in the upper tiers of the firm, I mean, not the other clerical staff.”

“I don’t know. If they have, nothing’s been done. I mean, she’s still here.”

Natalie sighed in frustration. “And I suppose there have been no more information leaks since I left.”

“None,” Amber said, sounding almost apologetic. “The leaks stopped the day you left.”

“Which only makes me look more guilty.”

“I, um…”

“Never mind.” There really was nothing Amber could say to make this situation any better. “I know you need to get to work. Thanks for calling.”

“I just wanted to check on you. You’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” She was already hearing noises from outside that indicated Casey had started working. “Really.”

“I hope you took my advice the last time we talked. Have you done something fun while you’re there?”

“I went hiking yesterday, actually. I had a very nice time.”

“Hey, that’s great. Got any big plans for today?”

Another thump sounded from outside. “There are a few things I could do,” she replied vaguely.

“Good. Take advantage of the time off. I’d love to be in a cabin in the Smokies right now instead of just about to start a day of boring filing.”

“Yes, well…”

“Have you heard from any other firms yet? I mean, you are sending out résumés, aren’t you?”

“I haven’t heard anything yet,” Natalie said evasively. She saw no need to mention that she hadn’t quite gotten up the nerve to send out any inquiries yet. How could she, before she’d found some way of clearing her name? Who would hire her now?

“Well, hang in there, okay? You’ll find something. You’re too good at what you do not to. Not everyone’s going to believe the accusations against you, especially after they meet you and realize you’re not like that.”

Natalie wasn’t so sure of that.

They disconnected only moments later. Natalie tried immediately to call Beecham, but was routed to his voice mail again, to her annoyance. Tossing the cell phone aside, she rubbed her temples where a dull ache threatened. A tapping sound made her look up, and her eyes met Casey’s through the sliding glass door that led out to the deck. Seeing his look of concern, she pasted on a smile and moved to open the door.

He didn’t seem entirely reassured, and she wondered just how disheartened she’d appeared after her talk with Amber. “Is there something you need?” she asked to change the subject.

“Yeah. The dog bowls.”

“He’s back?”

“Yes.”

“He’s earlier than usual.”

“He’s hungry, I guess.”

She moved toward the kitchen. “I’ll get the bowls.”

The dog sat at the edge of the woods again, but maybe a bit closer to the cabin than he’d ventured before. His tail wagged against the ground when Casey and Natalie brought the bowls. And Natalie would have sworn the dog smiled just a little when they set them in front of him.

The dog ate part of the food, and drank a little of the water. And then he just sat there, watching them.

“He doesn’t seem to be as hungry as he has been,” Natalie remarked.

“Well, yeah. We’ve been feeding him. Maybe he just wanted to make sure we were still here with the food.”

“Maybe he did.” She studied the dog, then on impulse knelt down and held out her hand.

“Hi, buddy,” she said, using the same soft tone and nickname that Casey always employed with the stray. “Have you figured out we’re not going to hurt you?”

It was almost as if he’d been waiting for her to reach out. The dog rose, walked straight toward her, sniffed her fingers, then licked her hand. His tail wagged behind him as he gazed up at her with what could only be called a melting look.

“Wow,” Casey said, sounding both startled and amused. “He’s certainly taking to you. Are you wearing beef-scented perfume or something today?”

Tentatively, she patted the dog’s dirty head. The matted tail wagged more eagerly. “I don’t think he understands that I’m not really a dog person.”

“He thinks you are.” Casey knelt beside her and the dog sniffed his hand, then allowed Casey to pet him briefly on the head. And then the dog turned back to Natalie, moving closer to her, his body touching her knees.

Though the mutt was in dire need of a bath, Natalie didn’t recoil. A little dirt wouldn’t hurt her jeans. And she had to admit that she was rather touched that he seemed to have taken to her. Maybe it would be easier to find a good home for him if they could convince him that humans could be nice to have around. “How old do you think he is?”

“A year, maybe? Year-and-a-half at the most.”

“I wonder if he’s ever had a home.”

“My guess would be yes. I think he’s been socialized at some point. He was probably dumped or abandoned when someone moved or when he got bigger than expected or maybe they just got tired of him. Or maybe he got lost and never found his way back home again.”

“Do you think someone is looking for him?”

“No collar. And he’s ragged enough that he looks like he’s been on his own for a while. So, no, probably not.”

Giving the mutt one last pat, she rose from the uncomfortable crouch. The dog gazed up at her, then trotted over to take another drink, after which he curled in the sun and watched them from sleepy-lidded eyes.

“Doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere for now,” Casey commented. “He’s staying near the food.”

“Have you mentioned him to Kyle or Molly yet? To see if they know someone who would be willing to take him?”

“No, not yet. I wanted to see if he showed the potential to be a family pet. After this morning, I’m thinking yes.”

She looked back over her shoulder as they moved toward the house. The dog lay in his sunny spot, his eyes closed now. The air was chilly, and the ground was probably still cold from the night, but he seemed to be getting enough warmth from the bright morning sun to keep him comfortable. “He’d probably be more appealing to a potential owner if he had a bath.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time for now.”

That sounded like a good idea—in a lot of ways, she decided.

She looked at the ladder and caulking supplies sitting by the side of the cabin where Casey had been working before he’d spotted the dog. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Sure, if you’re looking for something to do.”

She nodded on a sudden decision. “I’d like to help.”

Anything to get her out of that house. Away from the computer that was doing her so little good. Away from the phone that remained frustratingly silent, except from the occasional call from Amber. And distracted from the nagging fears that she was going to run out of savings before she cleared her name and found another position.

“You might want to get a jacket. And your gloves. Maybe a cap.”

“Can I bring you anything?”

“I’m okay for now.”

“Then I’ll be right back.”

She was inside less than ten minutes. Returning with her gloves, she came to a stop on the deck when she saw that the dog had moved closer to the cabin and was now sitting only a few yards from the steps, gazing expectantly up at her. “I didn’t bring you any more food, Buddy.”

“He’s been sitting there ever since you went inside. I just looked around and there he was. What did you do, hypnotize him?”

“I didn’t do anything. You were the one who talked to him most and fed him and everything.”

Shrugging, Casey quipped, “Guess he just fell under your irresistible spell.”

She rolled her eyes. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”

Casey laughed and turned with her toward the cabin. The dog curled up nearby, apparently content to be near them and the food without being too close for his own comfort level.

She wasn’t even sure who’d first mentioned the aquarium, though she knew Casey was the one who’d suggested they visit after she admitted that she loved them. He hadn’t even had to work very hard to convince her to agree. She had looked at the empty cabin waiting for her and then at Casey’s smiling face, and she’d weighed her choices. Obsessing about her problems—or spending a few hours in an aquarium with a very likable and attractive man. It was a no-brainer, really.

She spent the next two hours laughing. A lot. She laughed at the “fishy-faces” Casey made at the colorful inhabitants of the many tanks. She laughed when he held a horseshoe crab and talked her into holding one, too. She laughed when he reached down to pat a ray in a sandy-bottomed petting tank and got splashed in the face when one of the rays playfully slapped the water with a broad wing.

They stared mesmerized at the otherworldly jellyfish undulating through water to the strains of piped-in, new age music. They rode the moving walkway through a long Plexiglas tube that gave them up-close views of sharks swimming toward them and over their heads. They oohed and aahed over the vivid colors and spectacular markings of the many different types of fish in the tropical displays. They admired sea horses and leafy sea dragons, and watched a sea turtle slowly surface for air. They had fun.

Walking out of the aquarium with a bag full of the souvenirs Casey had insisted on buying her in the gift shop—a coffee mug and a T-shirt printed with the aquarium logo and a stuffed shark—Natalie was bemused that a day that had started so glumly had ended so pleasurably. The downtown area was beautiful, already wrapped in thousands of tiny LED lights that created a spectacular winter wonderland for the upcoming holidays. Trolleys ran from the aquarium all around the area on Christmas-light-viewing tours and even on a weeknight two weeks before Thanksgiving, business was already brisk.

She glanced at Casey and saw that he was watching her with an almost smug expression. Had he read her a little too well again? Was he privately taking credit for putting a smile on her face after catching her at a low point that morning?

She supposed she couldn’t blame him, since it was entirely true.

“How about a walk along the river?” he asked, motioning toward the walkway that meandered alongside the gurgling Little Pigeon River.

Lined with benches and gazebos, the walkway was festooned with twinkling holiday lights overhead and was already being enjoyed by several couples. There couldn’t be a more romantic setting for an after-dark stroll with a handsome man, and Natalie saw no reason at all to decline. “I’d like that.”

It seemed only natural when Casey reached out to take her hand as they passed under an archway of lights on the bridge that led from the aquarium to the river walk. She laced her fingers comfortably with his, her souvenir bag dangling from her other hand as they walked so close together their shoulders touched. It was surprisingly easy to ignore the other people, the noises of the busy main street not far away, the problems that waited for her back at the cabin. Temptingly easy to concentrate entirely on the clear, cool night, the soothing sounds of rushing water, the pleasure of being so close to Casey.

“So, the aquarium was fun,” Casey murmured in the companionable silence that had fallen between them.

“It was,” she agreed quietly. “It’s been a long time since I visited an aquarium.”

“Sounds like it’s been a long time since you’ve done a lot of things,” he said a bit too casually.

“Maybe I’ve worked a little too hard the past few years,” she admitted. “You know how it is.”

“I know exactly how it is.”

He seemed to wait for her to say something more, and she wondered if he was hoping she would tell more about herself. It was tempting. Casey really was a very good listener. But something held her back. Partially because she didn’t want to ruin a nice evening with her depressing tale, and—even more significantly—because she didn’t want him to know what had been said about her. She didn’t want to watch his face when he mentally questioned whether there was any truth to the accusations.

“We really got a lot done today,” Casey said after another brief pause. “A lot more than I expected when I thought it would be just me doing the work.”

“I actually enjoyed it. It was such a nice day, and it feels good to do something to help Kyle and Uncle Mack. They were so generous to let me use the cabin.”

“They were,” Casey agreed. “But it’s not as if they could rent it while it’s being worked on.”

“I know. But still…”

“I suspect your aunt and uncle would have let you use the cabin even if it was in top shape for rent,” he said, glancing down at her with a smile. The twinkling lights reflected in his eyes, mesmerizing her. “They’re obviously crazy about you.”

She cleared her throat and tried to speak coherently. “I love them, too.”

“I can tell. It’s good to have family to turn to when you need them.”

She wasn’t sure if he was delicately fishing for information, but she didn’t offer any, except to say, “It’s nice that your father and his brothers and sisters stayed so close, unlike my dad and his other siblings.”

“Actually, my dad and his twin were separated from their brothers and sisters for most of their childhood. There were seven of them altogether, and they were split up into the foster care system when their parents died. The oldest, my uncle Jared, was eleven. The youngest, Lindsey, was just a baby. My dad and his twin, Ryan, were seven. They didn’t see each other again for twenty-four years.”

Intrigued, Natalie paused to gaze up at his face in the pale light. “I hadn’t heard about that. Molly hasn’t mentioned it. Your family always sounds so close when the two of you talk about them.”

He nodded. “They were reunited more than twenty-five years ago, and they’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since. All of them except Aunt Lindsey live around Dallas. She was adopted as an infant by a family in Arkansas and she’s stayed close to them, but she comes to Texas often for Walker family gatherings.”

Natalie was fascinated by the tale. She knew of other biological families that had been reunited after years of separation, but she’d never known any of them personally, not even once removed. “Were any of the others adopted?”

“Michelle was. She’s the next youngest, just a toddler when her parents died. She was taken in by a very wealthy couple in Dallas. She was raised knowing she was adopted, but unaware that she had siblings. She found out after her adoptive mother died. She hired a private investigator, Tony D’Alessandro, to find her brothers and sisters. A few months later, she married the P.I. My uncle Tony, father of four of my cousins.”

A P.I. It might have been a good time to mention that she, herself, was utilizing the services of a private investigator, but she pushed that fleeting thought to the back of her mind, focusing instead on Casey’s story. “What about the other siblings? None of them were adopted?”

“No. Jared and Layla, the two oldest, were raised in foster homes until they were old enough to be out on their own. My dad and Ryan were placed together in a series of unsuccessful temporary homes, but they were…well, difficult, I guess you could say. They were angry about being separated from their family, naturally rebellious—”

“Imagine that,” she murmured, thinking Casey must have inherited a bit of his father’s temperament. After all, he had been one of the Walker family’s “terrible trio.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve been told I’m a bit like them. As are Aaron and Andrew. Anyway, my dad and his brother took off in their teens and bummed around on their own for years until they got wind that the sibs were looking for them. They came back to the fold on their own, before Tony and his team could locate them. They’ve been in Dallas since.”

Doing some rapid math in her head, Natalie said, “You said there were seven siblings. You’ve only mentioned the fate of six. Did they never find the other one?”

“Miles died in a car wreck, several years before the others were reunited.”

“Oh.” She imagined how heartbroken they must have all been to hear that. “That’s very sad.”

“It was a blow for all of them,” he agreed. “A few years later, though, they found out that he’d left a daughter behind. Brynn. She sort of stumbled into the family by accident, but that’s a different story. Now she’s a D’Alessandro as well as a Walker. She married Tony’s younger brother Joe.”

Natalie shook her head. “How do you keep up with all of this?”

He shrugged. “It’s my family history. We’ve all heard the stories a million times.”

“And Molly is…whose daughter?”

“Jared’s. The oldest. He has a son, Shane, from a previous marriage.”

“Families can certainly get complicated, can’t they?” she mused, thinking of her own.

“You could say that.” He glanced back toward the way they had come. “Ready to go back?”

She gave one last lingering glance to the light-bejeweled river and sighed lightly. “I suppose so.”

He leaned over to steal a kiss before they started walking again. She offered her mouth freely, even eagerly. How could she resist in such a blatantly romantic setting?

Slipping an arm around her shoulders, he matched his steps to hers as they retraced their path. Mentally blaming it on the chill in the air, even though that had little to do with it, she nestled more closely into him.