“No, no,” Kristin insisted, shaking her head. “Nothing like that.” She turned back to Cindy. “He said…well, he said something about knowing who I was, knowing that I was—” She stopped, rolling her eyes. “And I thought—”
“Oh dear,” Cindy sighed, cutting her off. “I’m beginning to get the picture.”
“Oh, Cin, I am so embarrassed,” Kristin groaned, continuing. “Of course I completely overreacted. I jumped all over him and—” She stopped a moment, thinking. “I—I actually think I accused him of following me.” She groaned and turned away. “Oh, God, can you believe that? What must he think?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cindy advised in a calming voice. “You’re being too hard on yourself. After all, it’s understandable, given the circumstances.”
“But Cin, if you could have seen his face. The poor man…he was trying to do something nice. And it was such a sweet thing really, when you think about it, discreetly letting me know he’d listened to the show, telling me he was a fan.”
Cindy straightened up, her eyebrows raising. “Jake’s a fan?”
Kristin shook her head. “He was trying to be polite.”
“Interesting,” Cindy mused with a smile.
“Oh stop it, Cin,” Kristin chided.
“Stop what? What am I doing?”
“You know what you’re doing and I’m telling you to stop it.”
“I’m just saying I find it interesting, that’s all,” Cindy said, her eyes widening innocently. “Frankly I’m surprised Jake Hayes would have even heard of ‘Lost Loves.’”
“That’s not the point, Cindy,” Kristin pointed out in a deliberate voice. “The point is, he was being nice and I cut him right off at the knees.”
“Oh stop, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Cindy said, gathering Kristin into her embrace. “You have every reason to overreact considering everything that’s been happening.”
“But he doesn’t know that.”
“Maybe not,” Cindy conceded. “But Jake will survive. Okay, so maybe he thinks you’re a little nutty. So be it. He was a cop for a long time. I’m sure he’s seen his share of nutty things.” She gave Kristin a little shake. “Things even crazier than a radio talk-show host gone postal.”
“I suppose.” Kristin smiled, coughing out a humorless laugh. But when she thought of the look of utter disbelief on Jake’s face, she groaned again. “Oh God, I hate this. I hate that my life isn’t my own any longer.”
Cindy’s face grew somber. “I know you do.”
Kristin’s gaze turned to her sister. Standing there in her glorious chiffon gown and silk veil, Cindy was the picture of a beautiful bride. Kristin hated that she had allowed all the turmoil and disorder in her life to spill over onto the special day. Her armor may have cracked a little, but it hadn’t shattered completely. It would protect her long enough to make it through the rest of this amazing day. Once she was home, once she was alone in her own private space, she could fall apart, she could tremble and cry and do all those things she’d been doing for the last eight months, all those things no one needed to know about.
“But you’re right,” she said with resolve. “He’ll get over it. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s forgotten about it already.” She slipped an arm through Cindy’s and led her toward the door. “So let’s get out there and dance like a couple of fools.”
“You? Dance?” Cindy gasped. “This really is a special day.”
“And was that a karaoke machine I saw out there?”
“What?” Cindy stopped. “I don’t believe this.”
Kristin opened the door, waving her sister through with a grand gesture. “I think I feel a song coming on.”
“Ted says you live somewhere in the mountains?”
“That’s right,” Jake said with a nod.
“Really? That’s interesting.”
“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging. He’d only been talking with the young, voluptuous woman for a few minutes but already he was bored.
“Where?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Where in the mountains?”
“Oh. Mount Holloway. I man the fire lookout tower up there.”
“Is that in California?”
“Right,” he said, pushing himself away from the terrace railing and turning to look out across the parking lot. The young woman had walked out of the reception a short time after he had. Her skimpy little dress and abundantly exposed bustline had gotten his attention, but even they weren’t enough to hold his interest. Maybe Ted was right, maybe he had been out in the wilderness too long.
“Awesome wedding, huh?”
“Oh definitely,” he agreed. “Definitely…uh…awesome.”
“And aren’t Ted and Cindy just the cutest couple? Ted looks so adorable in that tux and Cindy’s dress—gorgeous. They’re just adorable.”
Jake thought this was probably one of those pivotal points in his life. At thirty-six, he hadn’t considered himself old, but he hadn’t realized until that moment just how little in common he had with someone obviously much younger.
“He’s so quiet down at the station,” she continued, stopping just long enough to take a healthy sip of her drink. “I work there, at the station, did I mention that?”
“Yes, I believe you did.”
“Well, let me tell you, Ted is so serious at the station. He barely even smiles.” She took another drink, draining the glass. “Oh look at this,” she said coyly, holding up her glass. “Time for another drink.”
There was an awkward moment, one of those awkward moments that seem to stretch a few seconds out into an eternity. Jake knew this was his cue to do the gallant thing and offer to get her another drink. But doing that would mean he would have to continue this conversation.
“Well,” she said cheerily when it became obvious he wasn’t going to offer. “I’m off to the bar.” She took a few steps, then turned back. “Can I bring you anything?”
“Nothing, thanks,” he said with a little wave. “Nice talking to you.”
Nice? It had been agonizing. There was a time he probably would have enjoyed her company, would probably have even extended their conversation all the way to his motel room, but for some reason he wasn’t interested in just getting laid.
He turned and stared out across the darkening cityscape. Maybe that was another pivotal point he’d reached—the point where one-night stands just didn’t seem as appealing as they once had. Was it possible to outgrow meaningless sex?
He drew in a lungful of city air, then pushed it back out again. Would he have felt the same way if that had been Kristin just now? Would he have been restless and bored and chomping at the bit to get away?
“Ha!” he snorted aloud, thinking about the encounter he’d just had with her. If it had been Kristin with him just now, he wouldn’t have had to worry about getting bored. She wouldn’t have let him get close enough to find out.
Just then, a car pulled into the lot and came to a stop just like the half dozen or so that had come before it while he’d been standing on the terrace. There was nothing much to distinguish it from any of the others, but Jake’s keen eye had recognized it immediately as an unmarked police car. Of course, the appearance of a police car in itself wasn’t all that unusual.