Wild Nevada Ride (18 page)

“Hello?”

“Hi, Gram.”

“Kat? Is that you, sweetie?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“I haven’t talked to you in forever. How are you?”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine. You sound upset.”

Leave it to her to see right through me.
“I’m okay. I just needed to call you and tell you I’m leaving for Iraq next week.”

“What? Why, Kat? I thought you were done with going overseas. What about that nice young man you were seeing?”

Damn it! I knew this would come up.
“I’m not seeing anyone.”

“You know very well who I’m talking about young lady.”

“There is nothing between me and Justin.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, young lady.”

“Gram! I don’t think I’ve ever heard you cuss before.”

“I don’t usually, but I’m upset with you, Katrina. I know you care for him, so why are you running away?”

Didn’t I just have this conversation?
“I’m not running away.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Justin and I are through. We aren’t seeing each other anymore. I need to get away, and I’m not even sure Iraq is far enough, but I have to try.”

“Does he know you are leaving?”

“Sort of.”

“I take it that is a no, he doesn’t.”

“Yes, he does. He just doesn’t know when.” She pinched the bridge of her nose as she fought the headache behind her eyes.

“You are a coward, Katrina.”

“Gram!”

“I never thought I would say those words to you, but you are.”

“I’m not having this conversation with you. I’m leaving, and that’s it. I’m sorry, but I have to.”

“All right. I’ll miss you. I love you, my little Kat. You take care of yourself.”

She choked back a sob and said, “I love you too, Gram. I’ll email you when I can.”

“You do that, sweetie. I’ll even try to figure out the blasted contraption you young people call a computer.”

Katrina wiped the tear falling down her cheek and chuckled. “Have Mark help you.”

“You come back in one piece, young lady.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Katrina hung up the phone as gut-wrenching sobs shook her whole body, and she curled her knees up to her chest. She cried for at least fifteen minutes before the tears finally subsided into an occasional hiccup.

Next, she dialed Mark.

The conversation with him sounded very similar to the one she had just had with her grandmother and vaguely like the one with her mother.

“Does Justin know?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? Yes, he knows.”

“Katrina, you know I wasn’t happy when you and Justin hooked up, but you have been like a totally different person when you are with him. He’s completely changed, too. I never thought I would see him fall in love with anyone.”

“Fall in love? What the hell are you talking about? Justin isn’t in love with me.”

“If he isn’t, he sure acts like he is.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving next week. I’m sure by the time I get back, he’ll find someone else.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m telling you, he’ll move on and so will I.”

“Sure, Kat. Whatever you say, but I think you are wrong.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Have you checked your cell phone lately?”

“No. I think the battery is dead, and I haven’t charged it. Why?”

“Justin has called me several times wondering where the hell you are. He even told me himself, he’s called your phone at least twenty times.”

“He has?”

“Yeah, he has. You need to talk to him. The two of you need to sit down and talk. My advice is, don’t leave until you do.”

She didn’t know what to say as the silence stretched between them. Did Justin really call her several times, trying to reach her? If so, why didn’t he just come to her apartment? It’s not like he didn’t know where she lived.

“Kat?”

“Yeah.”

“Call him. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Mark.”

“Bye.”

She got up from her chair on the balcony and walked into the living room before she grabbed her purse from the couch. Pulling out her cell phone, she flipped it open and turned it on as she headed for the charger plugged into the wall. Once it had begun to charge, she gave it a moment to connect, and even though Mark mentioned Justin calling, she was shocked to see new voicemail coming up on her screen.

She dialed into her mailbox and when she heard ten new messages; her heart sped up in her chest. Chewing her fingernail, she heard his voice. “Katrina—it’s Justin. Call me when you get this. We need to talk.”

She erased the first one, and when the second began to play, she began to question herself. “Katrina, please baby, call me. I came by your place, but you weren’t home. I want to talk to you. I need to talk to you.”

He did come by.

While each one played, she didn’t know what to think anymore.
Maybe he does care, but he never said it. Never said ‘I love you.’ Then again, neither did I.

When the messages had finished playing, she closed the phone and left it lying on the counter as she headed back out to the balcony.
I guess I should call him. There are things left unsaid, and if I leave for Iraq and don’t tell him how I feel, I’m going to regret it.

She looked out over the lights of Las Vegas shining in the distance. The glow lit up the night sky, almost like daytime. A car sped by below her, the music so loud the bass rattled the windows on her townhouse. Shaking her head, she slipped back inside and headed for her bathroom. A long hot soak would do the trick and hopefully, get her mind off of one brown-eyed, gorgeous cowboy she just couldn’t seem to forget for any length of time.

Sprinkling some scented bath salts in the water as she turned on the spigot, she was stripping off her clothes when she heard her cell phone ring in the other room. She slipped on her bathrobe and padded out to see who called. The caller ID said “Justin” and she debated on whether to answer it or not.

Biting her lip, she flipped open the phone and said, “Hello?”

“Katrina? Thank, God, I finally got you. I’ve been worried to death. Where have you been?”

“Around.” She chewed her fingernail nervously.

“Why the hell did you take off the other day? And why haven’t you called me back?”

“I didn’t know you called until a few minutes ago. My phone has been off.”

“I’m coming over there so we can talk.”

She shook her head no before she said, “No, I don’t want to see you.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s better this way.”

“Better for whom?”

She massaged the spot over her left eye while her head began to pound. “Justin, please.”

“Are you really going back to Iraq?”

“Yes. This is something I need to do.”

“When?”

“Next week. We fly on Thursday.”

“Fuck!”

She could almost see him pacing the living room while he talked, running his hands through his hair, making several strands stick up. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly at the picture she had in her mind.

“What about us?”

Her heart stopped in her chest, then started again with a slam against her ribs. “There is no us, Justin.”

“What if I said there is?”

“Don’t, okay? Don’t say something you don’t mean.”

“I don’t want you to go, Kat. I need you.”

She shook her head and tears burned her eyelids before they began to slip silently down her cheeks. ‘
I need you, Kat’—not ‘I love you’.

“I have to go.”

“Katrina…”

She shut the phone with a click and pressed it to her forehead as sobs shook her frame.

Chapter Fifteen

“Thanks for getting Matt to take care of my place, Dad,” Katrina said as she hugged him. He had come to see her off even though he still had to use a wheelchair to get around. The last several days had been spent arranging her personal things, her apartment, her car, and whatnot before she had to take off.

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yeah. I need to get away from here.”

“You mean away from Justin.”

She tipped her head back and sighed. When her gaze found him again, she said, “You were the one who told me not to give up the force for him.”

“I know, I did, Kat, but…I might have been wrong.”

“What? The infamous Colonel Alan Jamieson wrong?”

“Don’t think I won’t take you over my knee, young lady.”

“I love you, Dad. I’ll be fine.”

“Keep your head about you, girl.”

She smiled before she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Fighting the tears, she closed her eyes and held on tight. When she opened them again, her breath caught in her throat when she spotted a familiar white truck.
Shit!

Mark slipped out of the passenger side and Justin emerged from the driver’s side. She cussed Mark under her breath. Justin wouldn’t have been able to get on the base if not for her cousin.

She pushed against her father’s shoulders and stiffened in his embrace. He turned around and saw the other two gentlemen coming toward her. “I’ll see you in a bit, sweetheart,” he said before he retreated inside the building, leaving her alone.

“Mark? What are you doing here?”

“I came to say goodbye. I don’t know how long you’ll be gone this time, and I didn’t want you to leave without seeing you.”

She cocked an eyebrow as she said, “And to bring Justin on the base?”

He ducked his head sheepishly. “Yeah.”

She took in the ruggedly handsome man in front of her, all six foot three of him, and she could feel the heat rising in her blood just looking. “Justin.”

“Kat.”

The distance in his voice drove a nail straight through her heart.

“Give me a hug and a kiss, cuz, and I’ll leave you two alone.” Mark wrapped his arms around her, and she hugged him tight. She loved him, no matter his meddling ways. She kissed him on the cheek, and he pulled back before he headed back toward Justin’s truck.