Текст книги "A Highlander Christmas"
Автор книги: Джанет Чапмен
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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 13 страниц)
Chapter Nine
Camry walked down the beach at a brisk pace, her head feeling like it was going to explode from the tears she desperately fought to hold back. So much had happened this morning, she wasn’t sure she’d ever recover. She’d been hit with so many lies and half-truths about so many things—not the least of which was silently walking beside her.
He was Lucian Renoir,the man of her dreams and nightmares of over a year.
In her dreams, she had worked side by side with a fantasy version of the handsome physicist, sharing their scientific passions by day and indulging their sexual passions at night.
But she’d also had a recurring nightmare involving an equally handsome Dr. Renoir, where he was standing at a podium as she sat cowered before him wearing nothing but her underwear. He was lecturing her in front of an assembly of their peers, expounding at length on her inability to solve even the simplest equation. Her mother and father, and all her brilliant, successful sisters sat in the front row, their heads hung in shame.
But all her dreams and nightmares combined were nothing compared to Lucian Renoir in the flesh. He was even more handsome than she’d imagined: definitely taller, a heck of a lot leaner, and more rugged-looking than the man in the grainy photo she’d found on the Internet. It was the long hair and ripped body, she guessed, that had prevented her from being suspicious of having bumped into a fellow physicist in the unlikely town of Go Back Cove.
That’s why it felt as though she’d taken a punch in the gut this morning, when she had read the name on the card Fiona had left him. Having grown quite fond of Luke as they’d recuperated together, and finding herself more and more sexually attracted to him with each passing day, she had actually started weaving fantasies of following him home at the end of his sabbatical. She better than anyone could handle being ignored when he got involved at his lab, and she had hoped his passion for his work might actually rub off on her, and maybe even nudge her back into the game.
But he wasn’t good old Luke Pascal, was he?
He was Lucian Renoir. Which brought her right back to her nightmare of sitting cowering on a stage instead of realizing her dream of spending her days in his lab and her nights in his bed.
They reached the porch steps, and Luke picked up the gaily wrapped box that Fiona had left with the cards on the kitchen table, before the girl had vanished as mysteriously as she had appeared only a week ago.
He held the gift out to her, but Camry shoved her hands in her pockets. “It’s addressed to both of us,” she said. “You open it.”
He tucked it under his arm, gathered up the cards that had blown into the tall grass, then walked up the stairs and held open the door. Camry preceded him inside and went directly to her bedroom, closed and locked the door, then threw herself down on the bed and burst into tears.
Luke stood leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping his third beer from the six-pack he’d found in the fridge, and stared at the box he’d placed on the table along with Fiona’s two cards. He just didn’t feel right opening the gift without Camry.
He hadn’t felt right about reading the note Fiona had left her, either, but since he was already flying down the slippery slope of deceit, he’d read it anyway. He’d actually chuckled, despite feeling like hell, when he discovered the romantic teenager had left Camry a note almost identical to his.
Just as short and idealistic, the young girl’s note had asked Camry not to give up on him,and she’d echoed that they were each other’s miracle. The only deviation had been that Fiona had finished Camry’s note by saying that she’d see her favorite auntienext week, on the winter solstice.
Luke twisted off the cap on another beer and took a long swig. Christ, the house felt empty without the brat and the mutts. The gut-wrenching sobs coming from the bedroom—which hadn’t stopped until he’d heard the shower turn on twenty minutes ago—were the only reminder he wasn’t alone.
He honest to God didn’t know what to do. His heart ached to see Camry happy, but he couldn’t figure out how to make that happen. And he didn’t have a clue what he could say to help her find the courage to face her parents. Hell, he was about as much help as were the cryptic notes that Fiona had left them.
A miracle? What in hell did the girl mean, they were each other’s miracle? They’d screwed up their own lives so badly, he questioned if they were even competent to babysit the dogs.
Luke straightened when he heard the bedroom door open. He quickly shoved his empty beer bottles back in the holder and put everything back in the fridge except the one he was drinking. But then he grabbed one of the full bottles and set it on the table, and had just made it back to lean against the counter when Camry walked into the kitchen.
She sat down, folded her hands on the table, took a deep breath, and looked at him. “Okay, I’m ready. You can begin,” she said, her voice husky. She suddenly held up her hand when he tried to speak. “Only I wish you’d keep it under an hour, because I still have some thinking to do.”
“Um . . . begin what?”
“The lecture you’ve been dying to give me ever since you arrived in Go Back Cove,” she said, her tone implying he was a bit dense for making her state the obvious.
“I’ve been dying to give you a lecture?” he repeated, feelingdense. “About what?” He suddenly stiffened. “You want me to lecture you about the mistake in your equation? Camry, I told you, I don’t give a flying damn about that anymore.”
She gaped at him.
He sighed. “Okay, look. If you want to talk about it we can, but some other time. Right now I’d rather hear from you.” He took a swig of liquid courage, then looked back at her. “I really need to know how things stand between us, because I really need for you not to shut me out.”
She snapped her mouth closed, opened it several times, as if she were searching for words, then finally whispered, “Are you for real?”
Luke shifted uneasily, then suddenly flinched when she shot out of her chair and rushed up to him. He sucked in his breath when she just as suddenly shoved on his belly at the same time as she pulled out his belt and looked down his pants!
He sidestepped away in alarm. “What areyou doing?”
“I’m looking to see if you still have your balls.”
“My what!” he yelped, stepping even farther away.
She walked back to her chair, sat down, and folded her hands on the table again. “Don’t worry, they’re still there. So let’s get on with it, okay? I told you, I still have some thinking to do.”
“Get on with what?” he growled, tugging one pants leg.
“Your lecture.”
Luke sighed, long and loud and heartfelt. “Will you please tell me what I’m supposed to be lecturing you on?”
“On what a selfish, inconsiderate daughter I am. While you’re expounding on what a no-good rotten liar I am, you might as well get in a few licks on my cowardice.”
The lightbulb finally clicked on, and Luke went utterly still, then collapsed into the chair opposite her. “Camry,” he said softly. “There is nothing I can or would say to you that you can’t or haven’t already said to yourself.”
She was back to gaping at him.
He shook his head. “You’ve obviously been beating yourself up over this for an entire year; I’m not about to beat up on you, too.” He covered her hands with one of his. “But I can be a damn good team player. You do as much thinking as you need to, but while you’re at it, try to think of how I can help you. Whatever course of action you decide on, I’m with you one hundred percent.”
“Why?”
He reared back, not having seen that particular question coming.
“Why don’t you just walk away?” she elaborated. “Because you said it yourself, this really is none of your business.”
“Well, it isn’t,” he agreed, choosing his words carefully. “Or it wasn’t until . . . sometime around Tuesday, I figure.”
“What happened on Tuesday?”
“I fell head over heels in lust with you.”
It was her turn to rear back, and, yup, she was gaping at him again.
Luke reached in his pants pocket, pulled out the condom, and set it on the table. “Do you know what this is?”
“It’s a condom.”
“And do you know what it’s used for?”
“Preventing unwanted pregnancies and venereal diseases.”
He nodded. “Not bad for a used-to-be scientist. Tell me, have you ever actually seen one out of its packet?” he asked, ripping open the foil.
She leaned back in her chair even farther.
“I only ask because while you were in the bedroom this past hour thinking,I was doing a bit of thinking myself. And you know what I was thinking about?” He slid the condom out of its package, then lifted a brow, waiting for her answer.
“N-no,” she whispered, her gaze dropping to the condom again.
Luke rolled it open, then left it sitting on the table between them as he picked up the unopened bottle of beer, twisted off the cap, and leaned back in his chair. “I was thinking about how you’ve perfected the art of satisfying a man in bed so well, he doesn’t even realize he’s not having intercourse.”
She paled to the roots of her beautiful red hair.
He leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. “I think you should know,” he continued softly, “that this morning when I realized what had actually been going on the last two days, I wanted to wring your pretty little neck. But sometime in the last hour,” he said, motioning toward the bedroom, “everything suddenly made sense.”
He leaned even closer, looking her directly in the eyes. “You’re a virgin,” he said, stating a fact, not asking a question. “You’ve been so afraid that having a child will steal your passion for your work, you’ve never been able to go all the way.”
“I really don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“You are such a passionate woman, Camry, in and out of bed. Everything you do is full speed ahead, no holds barred, one hundred and ten percent.” He leaned back in his chair again. “So to answer your question as to why I don’t simply walk away, it’s because I can’t. For the first time in my adult life, I’m letting my lower brain make my decisions. I’m in lust with you, Camry, and I’m asking you to do what Fiona also asked, and that’s for you not to give up on me. Let’s solve our problems together.”
“I-I don’t do commitment well,” she whispered, her gaze back on the condom.
“Sure you do,” he contradicted, which certainly brought her eyes up to his. “You commit yourself completely, just not long-term. You hit hard and fast, and then you take off before a guy realizes what’s happening . . . or rather, what isn’thappening.”
That got the paleness out of her cheeks. She set her hands on the table and stood up, presumably the better to glare down at him. “If you think I’m going to let you blackmail me into having sex, think again, buster.”
“Blackmail you!” he said on a strangled laugh. “With what? Hell, I’mthe one who should worry about being blackmailed. You and your mother have enough dirt on me not only to ruin my career, but to get me thrown in jail for destroying a multimillion-dollar satellite.”
She collapsed back in her chair. “My mother knows you were eavesdropping on Podly?”
“From the beginning, apparently,” he admitted. “And she also knows that I caused it to crash. Hell, she’sthe blackmailer. She guilted me into coming after you.”
Camry buried her face in her hands and thunked her head down on the table. “What are we going to do?” she muttered. “How am I ever going to face her again?”
Luke nearly jumped up with a shout, he was so happy to hear her speaking in terms of we. He did stand up, though, and went to the fridge, pulled out the last bottle of beer, and waited until she’d finally sat up before he handed it to her.
“I have no idea what we’re going to do,” he said, sitting down again. He slid the gaily wrapped box toward her. “But maybe we should start by opening Fiona’s gift. It’s possible the meddling little brat left us another cryptic clue. I mean, seeing as how she’s so magicalthat she can be five months old and sixteen at the same time.”
Camry spit her mouthful of beer all over the gift, the table, and Luke. “Oh God, don’t tell me youbelieve in the magic!” she cried, her horrified gaze locked on his.
Luke wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. “What in hell are you talking about? I was kidding, Camry. Fiona—if that’s even her real name—obviously found out you had a niece named Fiona Gregor, and decided to mess with your head. She’s a teenager; it’s her job to drive adults crazy. Believe in the magic,” he muttered. “What is it with you MacKeages, anyway? I don’t believe in magic, serendipitous coincidences, mother’s intuition, or miracles. I’m a scientist, and I only believe in what I can back up with cold, hard facts.”
Camry absently toyed with the ribbon on the gift as she watched him out the corner of her eye. “So you don’t believe it’s astronomically impossible that my mother’s satellite crashed near her home, or that you arrived at Gù Brath at about the same time Fiona was mailing her card to my parents? And it doesn’t seem like a strange coincidence to you that you ran into me within minutes of arriving in Go Back Cove? Or that we ended up in bed together your very first night here, or—”
He held his hand up to stop her. “The odds of all those things happening are huge, I’ll admit, but not impossible.”
“Okay. Then how about calculating the odds of Podly’s crashing into Springy Mountain at the exact time of the summer solstice? Which also happens to be the exact moment—right down to the second, I feel compelled to point out—that Fiona Gregor was born.”
He frowned. “That’s pushing things a bit much, I think.”
She slipped the ribbon off the box, carefully unwrapped the gift, then lifted the cardboard lid just enough to look inside. At first she frowned, then her eyes suddenly widened. She looked up at Luke, spun the box around, and pushed it across the table. “Okay, then explain thatto me using cold, hard facts.”
Luke lifted the flap on the box and also frowned, not quite sure what he was looking at. But then his eyes widened just as Camry’s had. He reached in and, as carefully as if he were handling the Holy Grail, he lifted out the slightly charred, fist-sized instrument . . . that actually had the words STARSHIP SPACELINE etched in tiny letters on its side.
“Come on,” Camry said smugly, “explain what that piece of Podly is doing in my kitchen, or how a five-month-old teenagergot her hands on it in the first place, when it should be buried under three feet of snow somewhere on Springy Mountain.”
His hands trembling because he was afraid to drop it, Luke carefully set what appeared to be the satellite’s transmitter down on the table. “Please tell me I’m dreaming.”
“I’m sorry, Luke, I wish I could,” she said just as softly. She reached over and picked up the transmitter, which caused him to flinch. She chuckled. “It’s already survived a rather long fall,” she drawled. “I think it can survive my handling.”
She turned it over to study it, and the tiny instrument suddenly chirped.
Camry threw it down as they both jumped in surprise.
The transmitter rolled off the table, and Luke made a lunge for it at the same time she did. But they fell into each other trying to catch it, and the precious instrument clattered to the floor. It rolled across the linoleum, smacked up against the stove, and softly chirped.
Sprawled on their bellies, they both stared at it, utterly speechless.
The damn thing chirped again.
“It’s still functioning?” Luke whispered. He looked at her. “Do you suppose there’s . . . could more of the satellite have survived, do you think?”
She didn’t respond right away, apparently unable to tear her gaze from the transmitter. She finally looked at him, her eyes shining intensely—quite like they did when she was about to rip off his clothes. “I think we’re going to have to go to Springy Mountain to answer that question.”
“Excuse me?” he whispered, not daring to hope—but hoping anyway.
She straightened to her knees, grabbed their bottles of beer off the table, and handed one to Luke once he sat up to lean against the cupboards. She settled down on the floor beside him and took a long chug of her beer—swallowing this time—then suddenly grinned. “The way I see it, we have three choices. We can break into my family’s ski-resort maintenance garage and steal one of the snowcats; we can steal some horses from my cousin Robbie; or we can snowshoe the forty miles to Springy Mountain. Your choice, Dr. Renoir.”
She was going home!
And she was taking him with her!
“I have a fourth choice,” he carefully offered, not wanting to dampen her spirit—or get himself thrown off her team. “You can go home and tell your parents how much you love them, then askthem if we could borrowa snowcat. I’m sure they’ll be so happy to see you, they will gladly lend us one.”
She glared at him.
“What?” he asked, his hopes waning.
“I thought you said you’d do anything to help me.”
“I will. I am.” He ran his hand through his hair, wondering if his lower brain wasn’t going to be the death of him. “It’s just that I’m pretty sure you and I have both deceived your parents quite enough already. Stealing from them is more or less adding insult to injury, don’t you think?”
“Okay then, we’ll steal from Robbie,” she said, rolling onto her hands and knees and crawling toward the transmitter. “Riding horses into Springy will be colder, but it beats the hell out of snowshoeing.”
He grabbed her arm to stop her, then urged her to turn to face him. “Camry, you’re going to have to deal with your parents eventually.”
“I will, just as soon as we find Podly.”
He tightened his grip. “You think you can’t go home unless you’re bearing gifts?” He shook his head, his eyes never leaving hers. “Take it from a world-class ass of a son and stepson—parents don’t want anything from their children but love. And the lesson it took me six stubborn years to learn is that loving them means trusting them.”
She blinked at him, then suddenly threw herself at his chest, knocking him back against the cupboards. Luke quickly set down his beer to wrap his arms around her just as she buried her face in his shirt.
He cupped her head to his chest. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”
“They’re never going to forgive me.”
“Of course they will. They already have.” He lifted her chin. “They’re just waiting for you to forgive yourself.”
“But you don’t understand,” she whispered, burying her face again.
“Then explain it to me,” he petitioned, holding her tightly against him.
She quietly sighed, saying nothing.
Luke contented himself with just holding her as he stared at the tiny transmitter sitting next to the stove . . . and resigned himself to the fact that he was about to add stealing a snowcat to his growing list of crimes.
Chapter Ten
It had taken Luke less than twenty minutes to throw his belongings in his suitcase, so he’d spent the rest of the afternoon studying Podly’s transmitter—which for some reason had stopped chirping. Camry had stayed in her bedroom, supposedly packing, but Luke suspected she’d taken a nap. It was early evening, and they were sitting across the table from each other, eating the only thing he knew how to cook: scrambled eggs and toast.
Or rather, Camry was eating. He was getting one hell of a lesson on letting his lower brain call the shots. “What do you mean, I have to go stay at the hotel?” he repeated. “I thought we were leaving for Pine Creek in the morning?”
“I’ve decided not to leave until Wednesday.” She shoved her fork into her eggs. “Or maybe Tuesday evening, so we’ll arrive in Pine Creek around midnight. It’ll be easier to steal the snowcat then.”
Dammit, she was ditching him! “Then let’s leave tonight,” he offered, careful to keep his frustration from showing. “The sooner we get going, the sooner we’ll find the rest of Podly. I had the Weather Channel on all afternoon, and they’re talking about another snowstorm heading north by Thursday or Friday. With any luck, we can be on and off the mountain before it hits.”
She shot him a confounded look. “You said you spent two monthssearching for Podly. You expect that because I’ll be with you this time, we’re going to drive directly up to the satellite, load it in the snowcat, and be off the mountain in a matter of days? It will probably take us weeks to find where it crashed.”
“Then all the more reason to leave now.”
“I can’t,” she muttered, poking her eggs a bit more forcefully. “I have a couple of commitments here I have to deal with first.”
“What commitments?”
“I babysit four dogs, remember? I can’t just take off all of a sudden and leave my clients without day care.”
“They’re dogs, Camry, not kids. They can stay home while their masters work, like normal dogs do.”
“But I promised Tigger’s and Max’s owners that I would keep them over the holidays. The Hemples are leaving for England tomorrow, and I’m supposed to have Tigger for an entire month. And Max’s mother is leaving on Tuesday for Wisconsin, and she won’t be back until after New Year’s.”
“Call and tell them you have a family emergency or something.”
“You want me to lieto them?”
Luke very kindly refrained from pointing out that she’d been lying to her parents for almost a year. “Then let’s get on the phone and find alternative accommodations for their pets. Surely there are kennels around here.”
“Tigger can’t stay in a kennel! She’d be scarred for life. And so would Max. Why do you think these people have me babysit them? They’re not dogs, they’re family.”
Luke sighed, not wanting to ask his next question, but seeing how his lower brain was in charge, he asked it anyway. “So what’s your plan, then?”
She looked back down at her eggs. “We’re going to have to take Tigger and Max with us,” she said, so quietly that Luke had to lean forward to hear her.
He reared back. “You expect to take two dogs to Springy Mountain in the middle of the winter? Camry, the snow’s deeper than Tigger is tall. And the snowcat’s going to be crowded enough with the two of us and our gear. Where are you planning to put Max? He’s the size of person.”
“We can carry most of our gear on the roof, and we’ll steal one of the resort’s larger groomers. That way we can even sleep in it if we have to.”
Luke dropped his head in his hands to stare down at his plate. Had she changed her mind about his going with her, or did she intend to go home at all?
She touched his arm, and he lifted his head. “You have my word, I’m not trying to ditch you,” she said, apparently reading his mind. “It’s just that while I was packing this afternoon, I suddenly remembered I’d committed myself for the next month.” She smiled crookedly. “We’ll find Podly, I promise. And who knows, maybe Max and Tigger will come in handy. They’re both hunting breeds; they can sniff out the satellite for us.”
Luke laced his fingers through hers. “If you’re really not trying to ditch me, then why do I have to go back to the hotel until Tuesday?”
Her cheeks turned a lovely pink, and her gaze dropped. She tried to pull away, but Luke actually tossed her hand away with a snort. “You’re out of here ten minutes after I leave. Only you’re not going home, you’re running away again.”
“That’s not true! It’s just that . . . I don’t want . . . Dammit, I’m not going to be fit company for the next two days! I just want to be left alone, okay? Come back Tuesday afternoon, and we’ll leave after supper.”
“Not fit . . . What in hell are you talking about?”
Her cheeks turned blistering red. “Look, I started my period today, okay? And for the next two days, I’m going to be a miserable, achy grump.”
He was so relieved, he started laughing.
Camry jumped up and ran out of the room.
Luke instantly sobered. “Hey, wait! I’m sorry!” he called, scrambling after her.
Her bedroom door nearly hit him when she slammed it shut, and she managed to get it locked before he could open it.
He thunked his head against it with a groan. “Camry, I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you. I mean, not really. Dammit, don’t shut me out.”
“Go away,” she said, her voice coming through the wood only inches from his. “I’ll be right here come Tuesday, I promise.”
God, he was an idiot. For a man who’d managed to earn several degrees, he didn’t seem to have a clue when it came to women. Which was surprising, considering he’d spent the first thirteen years of his life in an all-female household.
“Have I mentioned that I was raised by my single mother, my grandmother, and my aunt?” he asked, his head still resting on the door.
“No,” she whispered after several heartbeats.
“And I can certainly attest the old myth is true, that when women live together their menses gravitate to the same schedule.” He chuckled.
“What’s so funny about that?” she growled.
“I just thought of your poor father, living in a household of eight women.”
“That’s a sexist remark!”
“It’s not sexist if it’s a scientific fact.”
“Go away, Luke.”
He straightened away from the door, running his fingers through his hair. Dammit to hell. He didn’t want to leave. “The only reason I pointed out my having been raised by women was to let you know that I don’t care how grumpy you get. I can pretty much handle anything you dish out.” He hesitated. “Except being told to get lost.”
When she didn’t respond, Luke walked to the living room, threw himself down on the couch, and glared at the transmitter sitting on the coffee table. He leaned forward and picked up the stubbornly silent instrument. “You are obviously the design of a feminine mind,” he muttered. “Why in hell do women have to be so complicated?”
“Because it’s our job.”
Luke jumped, fumbling to hold on to the transmitter, but it still went flying when Camry plopped down on the couch beside him.
“Because men are such simple creatures, women need to be complicated to balance things out,” she continued, preventing him from going after the transmitter by snuggling against his chest.
Luke wrapped his arms around her and sighed heavily.
“Did your mother really tell you to get lost all the time?”
“No, my aunt did. She was a grumpy woman every day, but it wasn’t until I was nine or ten that I realized she was downright mean a few days each month.” He softly snorted. “The day we moved out of Gram’s house and in with my new stepfather, my mother actually apologized for making me live with Aunt Faith for thirteen years.”
“Why was Aunt Faith so grumpy?”
“Who knows. My guess is she was bitter. Even though my biological father took off the day he found out about me, I think Faith was jealous that Mom had even had a passionate affair.” He shrugged. “Faith didn’t have much luck with men, and I finally decided she was lonely.”
“Maybe she would have had better luck if she wasn’t so grumpy.”
Luke chuckled humorlessly. “I actually told her that once. It was around the time my mother met André Renoir. I was eleven. Aunt Faith went from grumpy to openly hostile the deeper in love Mom fell with André.”
Camry popped her head up. “André Renoir became your stepfather?”
Luke nodded. “When I was thirteen. And he legally adopted me the day they got married.” He nudged her head to his chest so she’d quit looking at him. “I hadn’t minded André up until then, since he made Mom happy. But I didn’t see why I suddenly had to change my name, too, as well as let him have any say over my life.”
She popped her head up again. “Was he mean to you?”
“Oh no. André is a good man, and he was sincerely interested in me,” he said, pulling her back against him. “But for the first thirteen years of my life, I pretty much did what I wanted without receiving much flack. I’d lock myself in my room for days with my books and computer, and nobody bothered me. But after we moved in with André, the man kept dragging me outdoors, saying I needed to get the stink blown off me.”
Luke laughed. “He tried to teach me to play baseball, but I kept striking out on purpose. So he took me hunting with him, and I made enough noise stomping through the woods to scare off all the game. But God bless the patient man, no matter how much I sabotaged his good intentions, he just kept trying . . . until the day I ran away from home.”
“You ran away from home? How old were you?”
“Fourteen. My mother and André told me I was going to have a baby sister.” He chuckled. “Even though I knew all about the birds and bees, I was horrified to suddenly realize they’d been having sex. I waited until they went to bed that night, then took off.”
“Where’d you go?” she asked with a giggle.
“I decided to go back and live with Gram and Aunt Faith, so I started walking to Vancouver, which was a little over a hundred miles away. But I didn’t care. I just wanted my old self-centered life back, grumpy aunt and all.”
“And? Did they take you back?”
“I didn’t make it ten miles. It was the dead of winter, and André found me half frozen to death, stubbornly trudging along the side of the road. He never said a word the entire ride back home. But when we drove into our dooryard, instead of letting me go inside and warm up, he dragged me out to the woodshed, and—”
“He beatyou?” she gasped as she straightened.
Luke grinned at her fierce expression. “No. But it was the first time I’d ever seen him angry. He handed me a crosscut saw and axe, and told me to start working up next year’s firewood. And that while I did, I was to contemplate one simple question, and give him the answer when I was done.”
“And that question was?”
“He asked me the definition of love.”
Camry’s eyes grew huge with anticipation. “And what did you tell him love was?”
Luke snorted. “I was fourteen—what in hell did I know about love?”
She scrambled off the couch and stood glaring at him. “But you had to have told him something! You obviously didn’t freeze to death in the woodshed.”
Luke stood, then walked over and picked up the transmitter before looking at her again. “Oh, I came up with an answer that at least got me back in the house—though it didn’t get me out of working up eight cords of firewood. André told me what I’d come up with was only a start, but that he would know I had figured out the rest when I finally apologized to my mother.”
