A Little Surprise For The Boss

Three

Terri was staring at her Jeep when Buck caught up with her. “Too bad,” he said. “I told you those old tires of yours needed replacing.”

“Well, I can’t do much about that now, can I?” Terri shook her head. Even if she left her vehicle and walked to Canyon Shadows, there was no way she’d get there in time to visit her grandmother. “Go on and take Quinn home. I know how to change a tire.”

“Well, you’re not doing it tonight. I’ve got people for that job.” He whipped out his cell and, before Terri could stop him, typed out a text message before he pocketed the phone again. “Quinn and I will take you to see your grandma. I remember Harriet from the old days. She was quite the spunky little lady. I’d enjoy visiting her, too.”

If Buck hadn’t seen Harriet since the old days, he was in for a shock, Terri thought. Her grandmother was a different person now. “Thanks, I’d appreciate that,” she said. “But you won’t need to come inside. Just let me off and go. When I’m through visiting, I can walk back here and change the tire.”

“You heard me—the tire will be taken care of. It’s arranged. Come on.” He guided her toward the Hummer with a light hand on the small of her back. The warm pressure of his palm triggered a tingle of memory that raced like flame along a fuse through her body. The feeling was sweet torture. If only she could forget what had happened between them, or at least dismiss it—as, it seemed, Buck had. But Quinn was with them now, Terri reminded herself. She wouldn’t know for sure whether he was going to bring up what had happened between them until she was alone with him.

He opened the passenger door for her and helped Quinn into the backseat. The drive to Canyon Shadows took only a few minutes. “You don’t have to stay—I really don’t mind walking back to Giovanni’s,” Terri said as the Hummer pulled into the parking lot.

“Will you stop arguing with me, Terri?” Buck’s voice carried a hint of reined impatience. “I told you, I’d be glad to come in and say hello to your grandmother. And Quinn won’t mind coming in, either.”

“I know that,” Terri said. “It’s just that my grandma has changed a lot since you knew her. She’s ninety-one and not doing very well. She has her good days and bad. I’ve learned not to expect too much, but I worry that seeing her might upset Quinn.”

He stopped the vehicle and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Let me be the judge of that, Terri,” he said.

* * *

Buck had never been beyond the front doorway of Canyon Shadows. The rambling two-story stuccoed building was decent for a nursing home, with manicured grounds and a covered walkway leading to the front doors. Bouquets of silk roses and framed landscape prints cheered the lobby, but an air of gloom still hung over the place. Maybe that was inevitable when nobody who lived here wanted to be here.

He let Terri lead the way as they signed in at the front desk and continued on to the elevator and up to the second floor. In all the busy years she’d worked for him, he could barely recall asking her how her grandmother was doing. What had brought on this sudden interest in her life outside work?

But he knew the answer to that question, and it didn’t make him feel proud of himself.

Eleven years ago, in an army medical tent, he’d knelt next to Steve’s bed and promised his dying friend that he’d look after his kid sister. Buck had viewed giving Terri a job as the first step in keeping that promise. But over the years, as the pressures of building his business had closed in, she’d proven so capable and so willing that the focus had shifted. Instead of what he could do for her, it had become what she could do for him.

But that had never included her sharing his bed.

After finding her earring in his rug, his first thought had been how to avoid losing her help. But as the afternoon had worn on, his musings had deepened. He’d taken a long look at himself in the mirror and seen a first-class jerk looking back at him.

Steve, if he’d been here, would have punched him black and blue.

Somehow, he had to do a better job of keeping his promise. And he absolutely had to forget about taking her to bed again. As wonderful as it had been, he knew that a romantic relationship with Terri could never work. She was the kind of woman who would demand full honesty from her lover...and that was something he couldn’t offer. Not with the secret he’d kept from her all this time.

If she knew the truth about what happened with Steve, she’d never let him touch her again—not even as a friend.

Her friendship was something he had to keep, not just for Steve’s sake but for his own, too. She meant far too much to him for him to be willing to let her slip away. So that meant finding a way to make amends, to show her how much she meant to him—in a purely platonic way. But with a strong, independent woman like Terri, knowing where to start with winning her over wouldn’t be easy—especially after what had happened this morning.

“Come on, Daddy!” Quinn tugged at him, and he realized he’d fallen behind. Terri had already opened a door partway down the long corridor and stepped into the room. Still holding Quinn’s hand, he reached the doorway and paused on the threshold.

In the light of a single table lamp, the woman in the worn leather recliner looked as if a strong breath could blow out her life like a candle flame. Her face was as wrinkled as a walnut, her hair like white spider webbing on her ancient head. He would never have recognized feisty Harriet Cooper, Steve and Terri’s maternal grandmother, who’d raised them after their parents died. Remorse crept over him. How many times in the old days had he been in her home and eaten at her table? And now—damn it all, he’d barely been aware that she was here. He certainly hadn’t taken the time to visit.

“Hello, Grandma.” Terri knelt next to the chair, the lamplight falling on her face. “I came by this morning but you were asleep,” she said.

The old woman huffed, refusing to look at her.

“I’m sorry,” Terri said. “I came as soon as I could.”

“Sorry, are you?” Harriet snapped in a papery voice that sounded so different from the warm, maternal tones he remembered. “Then take me home. They steal things here. My wedding ring—”

Terri took one bony hand and lifted it to the light. “Look, Grandma. Your ring is right here on your finger. Nobody stole it.”

“Liar! That old thing isn’t my ring!” The old woman snatched her hand away. “Where’s Steve? He never lied to me! I want him to come and take me home!”

Still standing in the doorway, Buck felt the painful tightening in his gut. It hurt for him to watch this. But how much worse would it be for Terri, dealing with this poor woman every day?

And why couldn’t Steve have been here? Why had Steve been the one to die, when it should have been him?

“Look, Grandma.” Terri drew her attention toward the doorway. “You’ve got visitors.”

“Oh?” Harriet perked up. “Who is it? Is it Steve?”

“No, it’s Steve’s friend Buck. And he brought his little girl. Her name’s Quinn.” She beckoned them over.

Quinn gripped her father’s hand. Maybe Terri had been right about this experience being too much for her. But it was too late to back out now.

“Hello, Mrs. Cooper.” He offered her his free hand.

Her dim eyes brightened. “Steve! It’s really you! Did you come to take me home?”

Buck steeled his emotions. “I’m Buck, Mrs. Cooper. I used to come to your house with Steve.”

Her grip on his hand was surprisingly strong. “You were always my favorite, Steve. More than your sister. Why’d you stay away such a long time?”

He cast a helpless glance at Terri. She was doing her best to remain smiling and composed. “This is Buck, Grandma,” she said. “And here’s his little girl.”

“Steve’s little girl.” She reached out and touched Quinn’s cheek. “My, but you’re a pretty thing. Come give your great-grandma a kiss.”

Buck could feel Quinn trembling next to him. But she stepped forward and feathered a kiss on the wrinkled cheek. Buck had never been more proud of his daughter.

The old woman fixed her cataract-blurred gaze on him. “So, why are you just standing there? Get me up and take me home.”

“Grandma—” Terri began, but she was interrupted by a polite tap on the already-open door. The aides, thank heaven, had arrived to get Harriet ready for bed.

“No—I’m going home!” the old woman protested as one of the young women started unbuttoning her sweater.

“It’ll be all right, Grandma. I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll talk then.” Terri kissed her grandmother, and the three of them made their exit down the hallway to the elevator.

“I’m sorry about the mix-up,” Terri said as they walked out the front door. “She does have good days...but I’m afraid the bad ones have become a lot more common. Lately, every time I come here, she breaks my heart.”

“But at least you keep coming. I’ve got to hand it to you, Terri. I had no idea she was so bad. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Terri shook her head. “All she wants is to go home. One of these days she will.”

Quinn, usually so chatty, had fallen silent. Buck hoped he could get her to talk on the way home. She needed to process what she’d seen and heard. But meanwhile, he needed to stall Terri a little longer so she wouldn’t interrupt the first part of his campaign to show her how valuable she was to him.

“Hey, how about ice cream sundaes?” he said. “The best ice cream parlor in town is right across the street!”

Quinn brightened. “Sounds yummy!”

“I really need to get back to my Jeep,” Terri said, moving on. “You two go ahead and get your sundaes. It’s a nice evening, and I could use the exercise of the walk back.”

“Oh, come on.” Buck caught her arm, his grip hard enough to stop her in her tracks. “Quinn’s here. Doesn’t that call for a party? We can drop you off when we’re finished.”

She sighed. “Okay. Ice cream does sound good.”

They entered the ice cream parlor, ordered hot fudge sundaes at the counter and found a booth. The place was done in pink-and-black ’50s decor with vintage rock and roll playing in the background. An elderly couple was holding hands at a corner table. The man was laughing, the woman tapping her toe to the beat. Quinn watched them a moment before she spoke.

“Do I have a grandma?” She showered her sundae with sprinkles from a canister on the table.

“Your mother’s mother lives in Florida,” Buck said. “She’s your grandma.”

“She doesn’t count. She and Mom are mad at each other. They don’t even send each other Christmas cards. What about your mother? How come I don’t know her?”

Buck had known that sooner or later she was bound to ask. But he’d never looked forward to answering. “She died when I was in the army, before I married your mother. She had lung cancer—from smoking.”

“What about your dad? He’d be my grandpa.”

“I never knew him. He went away before I was born.”

“And he never came back?”

“He never did. My mother raised me on her own. She was a waitress at the old truck stop out by the main highway. We were so poor we lived on the leftover food she brought home.” Buck didn’t tell her his parents had never married, or that his mother had done more than wait tables at that truck stop. Some truths were better kept in silence.

“If you were so poor, how did you get rich, Daddy?”

“Smart thinking, lots of hard work—and good helpers like Terri.”

“Is Terri rich, too?”

Buck glanced across the table at Terri. She was nibbling her sundae, avoiding his gaze. He paid her a good salary, but after what he’d seen tonight, he was pretty sure she spent most of her money on her grandmother’s care. When she didn’t answer Quinn’s question, he answered for her. “Terri’s not nearly as rich as she deserves to be.”

Guilt chewed at him, drawing blood. The old woman was Steve’s grandmother, too. If Steve had lived, Terri wouldn’t have had to shoulder the burden of her care alone. Nursing homes weren’t cheap, but for Buck the money would be pocket change. He’d call Canyon Shadows tomorrow and make some arrangements. Or maybe he ought to just buy the place. It was decently maintained and would likely be a good investment.

But what was he thinking? After a day like today, he was in no frame of mind for business decisions.

His gaze wandered back to Terri. She looked irresistible, with tendrils of windblown hair framing her face and a little smear of chocolate fudge on her upper lip. If they’d been alone he’d have been tempted to lean over and lick it off. He’d never had thoughts like this about her before—had always viewed her strictly as a friend. But now that he knew how good it could be between them...

The memory slammed him—Terri leaning over him, straddling his hips as he thrust deep. And this time he could visualize her face, eyes closed, lips sensually parted.

Damn!

The lady was off-limits for so many reasons. And she was driving him crazy.

* * *

After the ice cream sundaes, Terri had finally managed to convince Buck that she wanted to walk back to her Jeep. The distance wasn’t far—only about seven blocks—and she truly needed to clear her head. As the Hummer drove away, she blew a last kiss to Quinn and set out.

By now it was nearly dark, but Main Street was still busy, the shops and cafés doing a bustling business. The tiny white lights that adorned the sycamores along the boardwalk had come on, their glitter creating a festive atmosphere. But Terri’s mood was far from festive. From beginning to end, this had been the most emotional day in recent memory.

Quinn’s presence tonight had been a godsend. She had no idea what she’d have said to Buck, or what he might have said to her, if they’d found themselves alone together. From his flirting with the waitress at dinner, it was clear that he wasn’t interested in pursuing anything with Terri. She’d been foolish to even consider the possibility. Maybe she should just forget it had ever happened. Expect nothing—that was the only way to survive life with Buck.

Her thoughts shifted to their visit with her grandmother. Had it upset Buck to be mistaken for Steve? The two had been like brothers all their lives. Buck had been there in Iraq with their combat unit when Steve died. He’d never talked about it, and she’d never asked him, but Terri knew her brother’s death had affected him as deeply as it had her.

She could understand why he’d insisted on ice cream tonight. He’d wanted to blur the memory and end the evening on a happy note. But the conversation with Quinn had only opened more dark windows on the past.

Terri knew about Buck’s troubled childhood. And she knew how far his mother, a desperate but kindhearted woman, had gone to provide for her boy. Terri could only hope he had forgiven her.

Terri’s long legs covered the seven blocks back to Giovanni’s at a brisk pace. Through the deepening twilight, she could make out her Jeep at the far end of the parking lot. She felt for the keys, pulled them out of her purse and strode toward the vehicle.

Had Buck’s crew fixed her flat tire, or would she have to haul out the jack and the lug wrench and do it herself? No big deal—she’d changed tires before. And at least that way, she wouldn’t feel beholden to Buck. After this morning, she never wanted to feel obligated to him again. To use the old-fashioned expression, it would be too much like being paid for her favors.

She was a few yards away from the Jeep when the parking lot’s overhead lights flashed on. In the sudden glare Terri saw what the shadows had hidden.

The flat tire hadn’t just been changed. It had been replaced, along with the other three. Her ancient Jeep was now sporting four brand-new, top-of-the-line tires.

Terri stared at Buck’s gift. What had the man been thinking? He could certainly afford to replace her tires. But why had he done it, especially without asking her? Did he think he owed her some kind of reward for her...services? Or had he done it out of some twisted sense of guilt for taking her to bed in the first place?

Either way, she wasn’t going to let this stand.

* * *

“Daddy, why did Terri’s grandma call you Steve?”

Quinn had been silent most of the way home. When she finally spoke, her question, coming out of the cab’s darkness, caught Buck off guard.

“She’s old,” he said. “She can’t see very well, and sometimes her thoughts get confused. It’s sad, but it happens to some old people. That’s why she’s at Canyon Shadows, so the nurses can take care of her.”

“But who’s Steve?” Quinn persisted. “Is he somebody who looks like you?”

Buck tapped the brake as a mule deer bounded through the headlights and vanished into the brush on the far side of the road.

“Steve was Terri’s brother and my best friend. He died in the war. It was a long time ago, before you were born. But his grandmother doesn’t remember that.”

“How did he die?”

“He was a soldier. He got shot.” Buck struggled to block the images that flashed through his mind. He wished his daughter would talk about something else.

“That’s sad.” Quinn’s profile was a dark silhouette against the side window. “Where did they bury him?”

“Right here in Porter Hollow. His grave is in the cemetery.” Buck pressed the remote button to open the wrought iron gate to his property. “What would you like to do tomorrow, besides clothes shopping with Terri?”

“I want to go to the cemetery.”

“What on earth for?” Buck bit back a curse as he gunned the Hummer up the steep driveway to the house. He knew Quinn was curious. But there was nothing in the cemetery he cared to show her, let alone see again himself.

“I’ve never been to a cemetery. I want to see what it’s like. I want to see your mother’s grave—she’d be my grandma if she was alive. And I want to see where Steve is buried.”

“Maybe Terri can take you after you go shopping.” It was the coward’s way out to dump this on Terri, but Buck really couldn’t go himself. He had some wealthy clients from Dubai coming in this afternoon to raft the Grand Canyon. He wanted to greet them personally and make sure everything was up to their standard of luxury. He’d been weighing the idea of building a second resort in the southeast corner of the state, near Moab, with access to Arches and Monument Valley. So far it was just a dream, but if he decided to go ahead, a hefty infusion of Dubai cash could make it happen sooner.

If nothing else came of it, at least he’d have an excuse not to visit the cemetery and relive the past with Quinn.

“What else would you like to do?” he asked his daughter. “I can have Terri line up anything you’d like. Oh, and I’ve asked Mrs. Calloway to be on hand while you’re here. She can take you if you want to go somewhere.”

“Daddy, I’m nine years old!” Quinn stormed. “I’m not a baby, and I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Well, you do need to eat, and Mrs. Calloway’s a good cook.”

“That still doesn’t mean I have to be babysat. Mrs. Calloway won’t let me out of her sight. She’s a nice lady, but she drives me crazy. She even sits right by the pool when I’m in the water. Last year I asked her if she could swim. She shook her head. If she had to rescue me, she’d probably drown.”

“Mrs. Calloway is just doing her job,” Buck said. “The agreement I have with your mother says that while you’re here you have to be supervised.”

“Why can’t I just hang out with Terri?”

Buck ignored the slight jolt triggered by the mention of Terri’s name. He wondered what she’d thought when she’d discovered the new tires on her Jeep. He’d done it in the spirit of helping her out, but would she see it that way? Maybe he should have left well enough alone.

“Terri has to work,” he said. “I need her help in the office.”

“Then why can’t I hang out with you?” Quinn asked. “You’re the boss. Nobody tells you when you have to work.”

“The boss has to work the hardest of all. That’s why he’s the boss. I’ll be busy all day tomorrow. But Terri will pick you up in the afternoon. You’ll be fine.”

“Sure.” Quinn sighed like a deflating balloon and slumped in the seat. She was silent till the Hummer pulled into the driveway and stopped. Buck had barely switched off the engine when she opened the door, piled out of the vehicle and ran to the fence, where Murphy was waiting to welcome her with barks and whimpers of joy.

“Hi, Murphy!” She reached her small hands through the chain links to pet the huge dog, whose wagging tail could have felled a forest of small trees. “How’ve you been, boy? Hey, I can hang out with you, can’t I? At least somebody’s got time for me!”

Giving Buck a meaningful scowl, she stalked onto the porch and waited for her father to unlock the front door.

* * *

The next morning Terri came in early, opened the door to Buck’s private office and left something on his desk. He wouldn’t be happy when he found it, but she was braced for the storm. If the boss man didn’t like it, he could fire her.

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