Page 88 of Wild and Wanted

He followed her in, watching as she advanced inside, looking around the wood and stone interior and to the large glass panels that invited the view inside.

‘This is a nice place.’

‘Yes.’ Clay tried not to be tight-lipped, tried to remember that Cindy had been through a terrible tragedy that had skewed her life and her thinking. ‘My father built it.’

She didn’t say anything for a beat or two, just looked around some more. ‘Stevie thinks I have some business calls to make before I join her at the cookout.’

Clay gritted his teeth. Interpretation – this is just between me and you. ‘Okay.’

Turning to face him, she squared her shoulders. ‘As you know, we’re leaving in the morning.’

‘Uh huh.’

‘But… she likes you, Clay, and I know my daughter, she’s going to want to keep in contact with you. Calls and texts etc, etc.’

Lying in their tangled sheets in the aftermath, they had talked about keeping in touch. Clay had never done that with a woman in his life, but it hadn’t been a question with Stevie.

‘I’m here to ask you—’ She regarded him for long moments. ‘Please don’t respond to any of them.’

Clay wasn’t sure what a stroke felt like but he had been stomped on by a horse so he understood that pain was a warning sign, and he was pretty sure his head was about to explode. Was she serious? There was acting irrationally from grief and there was this… pre-meditated bullshit.

Going behind her daughter’s back to orchestrate something so monstrous? That could really hurt Stevie? On top of the hurt she was already applying?

Clay stiffened. ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Everhart, but I will not be doing that.’

Cindy swallowed and Clay could see a glimpse of vulnerability in her eyes, could see that it wasn’t easy for her to be standing here asking this – but she was.

So screw her.

‘I’m asking you to give her an off ramp, Clay.’

‘She’s going home, isn’t she?’ She was literally leaving in the goddamn morning.

Cindy gave a sad little shake of her head like there was something he just wasn’t getting. ‘She has a lot of big years ahead of her. Not a lot of time for much else and she can’t afford to be distracted. You’ve had your chance at fame, please don’t stand in the way of hers.’

They were almost the exact same words his father had used that day he’d warned Clay to be careful. And, if he thought Stevie really wanted that, he’d be the first to get out of her way.

‘What if she doesn’t want fame?’

Cindy’s perfectly arched eyebrow quirked. ‘You’ve known her for two seconds and you think you know her better than I do?’

Clay wanted to tell her she didn’t know her daughter at all. He wanted to tell her Stevie didn’t want this. That it gave her crippling anxiety. But he knew she would never forgive him for that because it wasn’t his story to tell.

‘I think you should talk to your daughter about what it is she wants.’

Her eyes widened a little like she hadn’t expected him to talk so personally about Stevie, or have a clue what she might want. Maybe she thought he’d only been after one thing. She let out a breath, her cheeks flushing as the bravado disappeared.

‘Look… I’m sorry.’ She shook her head. ‘Please just forget I even came here. I shouldn’t have asked what I did. It’s just…’

Clay could see she was lost, like she’d come here on a whim without really thinking it through only to discover she’d screwed up and now she was stuck. ‘I know,’ he said, his tone gentler as he realised this wasn’t malice. Not intentionally anyway. But it was coming from a bad place. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘Yeah.’ She rubbed her forehead absently. ‘Thank you for understanding and… sorry again.’

Clay nodded but didn’t say anything as Cindy left. What was there to say?

26

STEVIE