Where There's Smoke Page 5

  “Actually, no. I don’t.” She shook her head slowly. “But I have often wondered if they might have been more to each other if given the chance.”

  The instant denial she’d sort of expected didn’t materialize. Logan weighed her opinion before shooting it down. He always did. “You know, I think you might be right. Ben never brought women around, though I know he took lovers from time to time. They would call sometimes. He never really dated them though. Never invited them here. I always thought that was odd, but not if he cared for Rose. It sort of makes sense if he didn’t want to rub her face in it.”

  Kyana concentrated on rewrapping the bundle of letters with the pretty lilac ribbon that’d fallen off them. She didn’t look up when she said, “It would have killed her to see him with someone else.”

  “Not something she should have worried about.” Logan wrapped his hand around hers on the package. “Ben would never have hurt her like that.”

  And somehow Kyana knew his great-nephew wouldn’t be so crass either. Thank God. She’d claw out the eyes of any woman he brought to their home.

  “Ky, before you finish that bow, I think there’s another piece of paper under the lid.” He deflected them from the awkward stream of conversation.

  She reached in the direction he indicated. Instantly, she felt the difference. This rough stock had nothing in common with Rose’s refined parchment. Squinting, she examined the typed document.

  If she hadn’t been a lawyer, the thing might as well have been penned in Martian. As it was, the age of the contract made the verbiage difficult to discern. Not to mention property law wasn’t her specialty. Good thing she had a friend in the business. She was going to need some help.

  “What’s that frown for?” Logan encroached on her space.

  She didn’t mind. “Sorry. This is some kind of title addendum stipulating conditional sale clauses.”

  “Come again?” He scratched his head.

  “Unless I was really distracted, we haven’t gotten there yet.”

  “Ha ha. No, seriously. Tell me what it means? In English. Simple terms for a simple guy.”

  “Quit that. You’re plenty smart. It says Ben took a discount on the sale of the house that gave the builder options to buy back certain easement rights. For up to fifty years. I’m not sure I get all the nuances, but something like if the house wasn’t standing, they could reclaim the land.” A knot of unease lodged in her guts.

  “What’s the date on that thing?” Logan seemed to jump to the same conclusions.

  “Fifty and a half years ago. Give or take a month.”

  “Wouldn’t that mean it was null and void?” He looked to her.

  “Probably. Yeah.” She shrugged. “But who knows how accurate someone might be if they thought they knew what was in here. It’d be easy to flub something by a few months after all this time, right?”

  The both scrambled to their feet.

  Logan clutched her wrist even as he looked over their shoulders. Where Kyana had felt entirely secure a moment ago, hairs on her neck rose and goose bumps pimpled her flesh. “We’re getting the hell out of here. Hand me the box and stay behind me. Close.”

  There was no use arguing when he made up his mind. “I know somebody who can help. I’ll scan this and email it over to him right away.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” They were breathing hard for an entirely different reason when they emerged into the gray haze of dusk.

  Kyana was glad for Logan’s strong grip on her hand when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and skidded to a stop. He halted with her, spinning until he faced the offender that inspired her pulse to speed like a racecar driver heading for the checkered flag.

  Daryl Thick.

  “Jesus,” Logan muttered under his breath as his hackles fell into place and the instant alertness of his body relaxed.

  The ex-military man ran a hand through his buzz cut and flashed them a quick salute before jogging toward his house with a few glances thrown over his ripped shoulder. It might be easy to dismiss his presence as a man out for an evening stroll, if he hadn’t popped up from behind Ben’s hedge like Rambo’s pet gopher.

  “What do you think he was doing in there?” she whispered to Logan.

  “No fucking clue.” He shrugged. “We can discuss it inside. Where it’s safe. Let’s go.”

  She leaned against his side when he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and tugged her impossibly near. “Won’t hear me arguing. Besides, I want to know what Ben has to say about this stupid contract.”

  “You and me both, Kyana-chan.”

  Chapter Four

  Kyana, both relieved and oddly disappointed, stared at the email glowing on her screen. It had taken almost a week for her friend to completely vet the option clause on Ben’s house. The good news… Logan had gotten it correct. No matter what crazy agreement the man had signed to afford his dream home, it was irrelevant today. The expiration date had passed without the rights being exercised. The house and the land belonged to Logan’s great-uncle free and clear.

  So why had the fire investigator’s report shown hints of arson? Ben swore he never used candles, yet there had been one set unwisely close to the curtains Rose had sewn as a birthday gift for him back in the seventies. The hideous polyester had gone up like a match, destroying one of Ben’s prized possessions along with kindling the blaze. He insisted he only kept the pillars on hand for emergencies. So who had known where he stashed them, retrieved one and lit the damn thing? And why?

  In addition to all that, Kyana wished she could hash things out with Logan. He’d spent every waking minute working on the house since the release had come through the morning after their close call in the closet. Hell, she’d hardly seen him in days. No wonder her insomnia had returned full force. Without him to cuddle up to, the darkness summoned all sorts of demons to torture her awake. And when he finally stumbled in—exhausted—each night, he barely managed to undress and shower before falling into a near coma.

  She’d offered to play his assistant. He’d refused, probably since she’d upheld her end of the stupid bargain by fronting cash and drafting a work agreement. Or maybe because he regretted their momentary lapse of decorum between Ben’s flannel shirts.

  All she knew for sure was that from her window she had a world-class view of him going to town on his great-uncle’s kitchen—sans shirt of course. An unseasonable heat wave had crept up on the heels of their mild winter, spiking the temperature into the lower nineties several days in a row. The hot spell coincided with the demolition phase of the project, providing ample opportunity to showcase Logan’s sweaty muscles, which glistened as they flexed beneath the strain of his efforts.

  Fancy molding around the window dug into Kyana’s hip as she leaned against the casing. With the lights off, she’d moved aside the lace curtains for a clear view of her obsession. How healthy could this be? Next she’d be sharing the hedge with Daryl for a better perspective.

  Hopefully Logan would smile instead of cringing when she took them down memory lane. At this point she’d rather know where they stood than hanging around wondering any longer. Making a clean break would be tough the more time she spent near him. This was what she wanted, and she wasn’t about to wait for him this go around.

  Hoping her initiative went over as well tonight as it had the other day, she grasped the metal cylinder tighter between her shaking fingers. With her thumb, she slid the switch. A dull red glow emanated from the end of the flashlight, mostly covered by her hand.

  She grinned despite the stuttering of her heartbeat as she remembered all the nights they’d sent messages across the canyon between their great-aunt and uncle’s houses. Kids who texted on cell phones or messaged on iStuff or posted on Facebook wouldn’t know what they were missing.

  Sure, she could have called Logan, but what fun would that be?

  Chuckling, she aimed the flashlight toward Ben’s house then removed and replaced her hand.

  Shor
t. Long. Short. Short.

  Dot. Dash. Dot. Dot.

  Morse code for “L”.

  The signal had always made her think of Gotham City paging Batman. In a lot of ways, Logan had been her superhero. Maybe still was. He’d swooped in and improved her life both back then and again recently. When she’d needed him most, he had her back.

  It’d probably take a while to draw his attention from the task at hand—ripping out the toasted bones of the cabinetry. Or at least, she’d thought it would. A gasp escaped when he spun to face her window immediately. She repeated the signal. From that distance she could barely make out his broad smile when he realized what had caused the glint.

  He held up his palm, then lunged for his battered toolbox, presenting her with a view of his gorgeous, jeans-clad ass. In less than five seconds, he’d returned.

  Dash dash. Dot dot. Dot dot dot. Dot dot dot. Pause. Dash dash. Dot.

  “Miss me?”

  Arrogant prick. And right on the money. Damn him.

  Dash dot. Dash dash dash.

  “No.”

  She could have sworn she spied him laughing when he sent his next message.

  Dot dash dot dot. Dot dot. Dot dash. Dot dash dot.

  “Liar.”

  No use in denying it.

  Dash dot dash dash. Dot. Dot dot dot.

  “Yes.”

  She’d barely finished the last letter when he sent her the invitation she’d been hoping for.

  Dash dot dash dot. Dash dash dash. Dash dash. Dot. Pause. Dot dot dot dot. Dot. Dot dash dot. Dot.

  “Come here.”

  Kyana flashed one last note, both agreement and her closing initial, before wrapping her gossamer robe around her and sprinting for the door.

  Dash dot dash.

  “K.”

  She shouldn’t have been surprised when the beam of his light intersected hers from his spot on Ben’s deck. Even back in high school, he hadn’t allowed her to make the miniscule voyage solo. Heaven forbid she twist her ankle or cross paths with a startled squirrel. Tonight she appreciated his supervision.

  As she neared, she scrambled for something to say. Maybe she should have thought beyond the thrill of sharing some time and space with him. “So… How’s it going?”

  “You tell me. I’m sure you could monitor my progress from your perch by the window.” He winked. “How long were you going to lurk there and peep?”

  “How did you spot me?” Mortified, she pressed her fingers to her flaming cheeks.

  “I didn’t. But I could feel your stare on me.” He buffed his arms. “You’re distracting me, Ky. I nearly smashed my thumb with that last cabinet.”

  “Sorry,” she stammered.

  “I liked it.” He tugged her into his grasp. Even perspiring, he smelled clean and manly. She had to stop herself from sinking her teeth into the tight pec in front of her lips. “I need a break anyway. It’s hot as hell in there. If I add you to that sauna, the windows will steam up for sure.”

  “Yeah, right.” She glanced away.

  “I’m serious, Ky.” He nudged her chin up with his thumb and index finger. “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. At least now I don’t have to feel like a perv for thinking so.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” She tilted her head, dragging his fingers across her chin.

  “When I visited, I liked to imagine Ben and Rose and you were my family.” He shrugged then rubbed at the spot he’d touched as though wiping away some imaginary stain. “When I started to have other feelings, I freaked. The first time I had a dirty dream about you, I couldn’t talk to you for two days. It seemed wrong to go from thinking of you as a little sister—hanging out with you, keeping you out of trouble and giving you noogies to… Well, you know.”

  “Not really.” She took his hand in hers and started to amble down the private walkway in the direction of the woods behind their houses, tugging him along with her. “I mean, if there had been something more between us, don’t you think most of our foundation would have stayed the same? We’d still be friends first, right?”

  “I guess. But that’s a more mature rationale than I was capable of then. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’d kick my ass if I were anyone else trying to put moves on you. Though hell, I never was much good at the keeping-you-trouble-free part. You’re just too damn good at finding shit to get into.”

  “Ha. I don’t find it. It finds me all on its own. Remember that blue T-shirt with the sparkly iron-on Ben bought me after we crashed our toboggan into his shed during winter break? It said so.” She liked that their steps synchronized without effort.

  “Right.” He shook his head and laughed. “You loved that damn thing. But yeah, even all this time later I still want to hang out with you, see movies, grill on nice nights, play board games when it rains and bake you a birthday cake every year. All the crap we did when we were younger. Those were the happiest times of my life, Ky. Maybe this go around I could even spring for a nice dinner when it’s in my budget.”

  His frown spurred her to go for broke. If they didn’t iron out some of their wrinkles, they wouldn’t have a chance at making it long term. A fling with him didn’t interest her. It would only screw up everything else they shared. A friendship she wasn’t willing to risk. Not when she’d just found it again.

  “Why don’t you let me take you out sometime?” She gnawed on the inside of her cheek, hoping he’d trust her and grow just a little.

  “I don’t know…” He looked like he was grinding his teeth for a minute before he sighed.

  “Money is worthless if I can’t enjoy it. Spending time with you, eating fine cuisine and maybe sharing a nice bottle of wine sounds like a perfect evening. Would you keep us both from experiencing it just to salve your pride? Who picks up the tab doesn’t mean anything, Logan. Not if we’re talking about you and me trying to be an us. Is that what we’re discussing?”

  “Damn, you really did grow a pair. A bigger pair, I guess. You always were bold.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I like this new Kyana. You’re turning me on.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.” She would have tapped her toe if they had been standing still. If he left her hanging now, all her sudden confidence would melt away.

  “Only because you’re diverting the blood flow from my brain.” He scowled before taking a funny stride to give his junk more room in the confines of his ripped jeans. “Yes. I’m doing my best to charm you into dating me. Is it working?”

  “Not like you have to try very hard. Probably never have had to do more than crook your finger to get a woman. But if we’re going to have a real shot, we have to fix the things we did wrong last time. We can’t rewind but we can redo. I’m trying to be brave here. So don’t say no.”

  “I hate it when you make sense,” he grumbled.

  “I’m not a kickass lawyer for nothing. Logic is my business, buddy.” She poked him in the side. “So it’s a date?”

  “Hell yeah.” He turned to her with a grin. “Things on my new and improved list to try… Number one, let my sugar mama take me out for a juicy porterhouse and get sloshed on fancy-pants booze. Now, about those noogies. Hmm… haven’t done that to a girl in a while.”

  She yelped and dodged his swipe, shaking her hand free of his.

  He humored her by letting her trot ahead down the illuminated path. The solar lights Ben had installed on either side of the river rock would glow softly for hours yet. When her breath came in short pants and her robe fluttered behind her, she slowed. Right on her heels, Logan grabbed her around the waist and tugged her backward into his chest.

  “I remember this. Playing. Laughing. Effortless enjoyment. Carefree joy when we were together,” he whispered in her ear, not the least bit winded. “I’ve missed this. You.”

  Kyana angled her head enough to grant him permission for more. He accepted the offer.

  Cupping her cheek in his palm, he guided her to his mouth. Gently, they exchanged a soft kiss before separatin
g with a sigh. It was as if he had the same idea she did. The same destination in mind. If there was anything she wanted a repeat performance of—a chance to rewrite—it was the night they’d done almost this. They started down the path together again, allowing a buffer between them to keep them from ripping each other’s clothes off where they stood.

  After a few seconds, Logan cleared his throat.

  “Remember how we used to help Myrtle gather her leaves every fall? We’d pile them so high we could jump off her porch railing into the mess before she’d chase us off and scoop them into the burning barrel.” He sighed. “At least you always took the plunge. I was jealous as I got older and watched from the sidelines.”

  “I wouldn’t have judged you for acting like a kid.” She hugged him with one arm as they rounded a bend beneath the canopy woven from the green shoots of old trees, which reminded her of the new season of her relationship with Logan. It had been a hard winter for them both.

  Fall seemed like a long way off, but soon enough the same plants would be red and gold and crispy. Perfect for frolicking in. A mental note would remind her to force Logan to join her this time.

  “I know, you never looked down on me like a lot of the other kids in school when I didn’t show up wearing anything that had been fashionable in this century and my lunch got paid for by the state. I guess I just learned to fend for myself with my mom never around and it got harder to let go of the tough-guy act. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to give up the luxury when I had to survive on my own again.” He groaned. “I sound like some nutcase on Dr. Phil.”

  “You don’t watch that shit, do you?” She cracked up.

  “Hell no, but you get the point.”

  “I do.” She nibbled at the corner of her mouth as a structure coalesced from the shadows. The dock at the edge of the pond. Thank goodness the moon was bright. Or maybe if it had been dimmer she’d have more nerve.

  “Are we really going to do this?” He rubbed the sensitive skin between her thumb and forefinger. “Are you sure you’re ready?”