Whispered Promises. Brenda Jackson

to the bed where he lay with his eyes closed. Taking a seat in the recliner next to the bed, she studied her father’s pallid face. As if sensing her presence, a weak smile touched his mouth. His eyes opened slowly.

      His gaunt appearance looked nothing like the robust man she’d always known and loved. Sickness had aged him beyond his fifty-eight years and he’d lost an enormous amount of weight. Caitlin had to bite back a strong urge to cry out in agony. Instead she remembered Dr. Flores’s words and took her father’s hand in hers. Immediately she sensed his loss of strength. Her heart ached.

      Halston Parker forced out a ragged breath. “Caitlin?”

      “Yeah, Dad. It’s me. Don’t try to talk now. I’m here, and I’m not going anyplace.”

      He closed his eyes, then reopened them. A hint of a smile barely touched his mouth. He stared at her. Caitlin wondered if he saw her or was visualizing her mother whom she favored, his beloved Catherine, who’d died eight years ago. He had taken her mother’s sudden death from a ruptured appendix extremely hard, never fully recovering from it. It had been during that time their already close relationship had become even closer. He had devoted all of his time and attention to his only child. It was as if Caitlin had become the only thing that had kept him going in a world filled with extreme loneliness.

      Caitlin sighed, remembering how, six months ago, he had encouraged her to accept a job offer that required a move to Fort Worth. He’d known about his condition and had sent her away to spare her the anguish of seeing him suffer. If only she had known…

      She reached out and, with an unsteady hand, wiped beads of moisture from his forehead.

      “Dex.”

      Caitlin’s hand stopped moving, hanging in midair. Her eyes widened. Surely her mind and ears were playing tricks on her. Her father couldn’t have spoken the name of the only man she’d ever known him to despise…and the only man she’d ever loved. “Dad?”

      Halston Parker stared at his daughter through glazed, dark eyes. “Call Dex. I need to see him.”

      His words, although wrested from his lips, sounded clear and precise. Silently, Caitlin stared at him. She moistened her dry lips remembering Dr. Flores’s words— Don’t question anything he tells you— but with her father’s strange request, she couldn’t help asking, “Why would you want to see Dex, Dad?”

      Pain clouded Halston Parker’s eyes, making them appear more deep set. His craggy jaw was covered lightly with a day’s growth of gray whiskers. His once-rugged features now looked muted and frail. New lines, a result of some emotion Caitlin couldn’t name, creased across his cheekbones. His nostrils flared slightly from labored breathing. “Tell him to come before…”

      His words drifted off as his eyes closed slightly. He forced them back open to gaze at her. “Call Dex, Caitlin,” he pleaded raggedly in a voice so low Caitlin had to lean over to catch the words. He closed his eyes again.

      Caitlin forced back a rush of tears. Why would her father want to see her ex-husband? She’d decided four years ago Dex would no longer be a part of her life. Since that time she’d managed to move ahead and not dwell on the love she’d given up. She couldn’t say she hadn’t looked back, because a few times she had. No, she confessed, more than a few times. A familiar twist of pain unfolded within her. It had been a decision she’d made and stood by.

      Seeing that her father had lapsed into a deep sleep, she rose from the chair and went to the window. Could she do what her father had asked? Could she handle seeing Dex again? Would he come even at a dying man’s request?

      She took a deep breath as numerous questions flowed through her mind. No matter what her father’s reasons were for wanting to see Dex, no matter what the chances were of her wounds being reopened, she would do as her father had asked. Telling Dex her father wanted to see him didn’t necessarily mean he would come. Why should he?

      Walking out of the room, she went to use the pay phone in the lobby. She wasn’t even sure if Dex was in the States. The last she’d heard, he was still out of the country. Minutes later she dialed the residential telephone number in Houston that had been given to her by the operator.

      After three rings she found herself listening to Dex’s answering machine. The sound of his deep, masculine voice nearly made her jump. It had been four years since she’d heard it. A sensation she thought had dissolved long ago crept down her spine. Even over the phone lines Dexter Madaris had the ability to make her knees weaken, her pulse escalate and her breathing thicken.

      She quickly hung up the phone, deciding not to leave a message. She would try contacting him again later. A sigh whispered through Caitlin’s lips. Time hadn’t totally destroyed the effect Dex had on her. This unexpected revelation struck her suddenly. After four years she still couldn’t force the strong-jawed, dark handsome face with its sensuous voice out of her mind…and completely out of her heart.

      But she had to. She couldn’t afford to go back and dwell on the past. But still, she couldn’t stop her mind from drifting back to that beautiful day in late May four years ago, when she and Dex had met…

      Caitlin Parker had a hard time believing her eyes when her gaze settled on the handsome man who’d just entered the café. He moved with the grace of a black leopard, reflected in the powerful movement of his shoulders and muscles. There was a smooth leanness in his tall form, reminding her of a spirited athlete combined with a laid-back silent manner.

      His jeans molded to his firm thighs and long legs, while his white shirt stretched tautly across his broad chest. When he removed the Stetson from his head, she saw that his naturally wavy black hair was cut short in what she considered a blatantly masculine style. His nut-brown features, bluntly strong and sensuous, seemed carved into his firm jawline, high forehead and straight nose. However, it was his eyes that took Caitlin’s breath away. There was something very cryptic about the charcoal-gray eyes scanning the room before coming to rest on her. After mumbling a few words to the waiter, he moved in her direction.

      Caitlin was caught up with the handsome man’s approach to her table. Her grip tightened nervously around the glass of iced tea she held, attempting to control the trembling in her body, beginning with her fingers. It didn’t work. All attempts at control failed when he stood before her.

      “Caitlin Parker?”

      The sound of his deep voice nearly undid Caitlin, causing her to nod in mute silence.

      “I’m Dexter Madaris. My uncle, Jake Madaris, had planned to meet with you but, unfortunately, he had to fly to Wyoming unexpectedly on business. He won’t be back for several days. As a favor, he asked me to come meet with you to discuss the summer job you’ve applied for. May I sit down?”

      Caitlin could only stare, hypnotized by the man standing before her. He had to be, without a doubt, the sexiest man she’d ever seen.

      “Miss Parker?”

      At that moment Caitlin realized she hadn’t answered his request. Heat flushed her face and her lips trembled slightly with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Mr. Madaris. Yes, please have a seat.” She watched as he settled his lithe frame into the chair.

      “How old are you, Miss Parker?”

      “What?” Caitlin whispered, caught off guard by the question. His voice echoed a Texas drawl that made her breath lodge in her throat. Masculine and distinct, it conveyed a strength and an endurance all its own. Together, his eyes and voice were a deadly combination.

      Dex smiled in a way Caitlin thought enhanced the fullness of his sensual mouth. “I asked how old you are?”

      Caitlin cleared her throat. “I’m twenty-one. Why?”

      “Because you look rather young for the job. By the way, you can call me Dex. Do you mind if I call you Caitlin?”

      “Not at all.” She nervously lifted the glass of tea to her lips and asked, “And how old are you, Dex?”

      He shot her a surprised glance