Easy Loving. Sheryl Lynn

advice. She could make sure his laundry was done and he ate properly. They’d keep each other company and make babies. He seemed very safe. Very sensible.

      “Yes, I love you, Jeffrey.”

      His smile rivaled the sun. He caught her shoulders and planted an exuberant kiss on her lips. “You’ll marry me? Say yes, Catherine. Say yes or I’ll die right here as we speak.”

      “Wait a minute! Wait!” She struggled out of his em-brace and half turned to put her back to him. From inside her damp sports bra she worked loose a chain where she carried the engagement ring. The sapphire and diamonds flashed and sparkled with cold fire. She pulled the chain over her head and unfastened the clasp, freeing the ring. For a long moment she stared at the shiny piece of jewelry. Once she committed, there was no turning back. She closed her eyes and envisioned a yard full of laughing children. She handed him the ring.

      She offered him her left hand, her fingers extended.

      With great solemnity, he slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. “So when are we getting married? Tomorrow?”

      She hopped off the table. “No quickies.” She waved her left hand slowly, admiring the beautiful ring. “I want plenty of time to savor my status as a fiancée.” She pointed at the gazebo perched on a rock pile that jutted into the lake. “We’re doing this right. I want to get married there.”

      His features tightened. “In the park? Like hippies?”

      His reaction dismayed her, but she quickly recovered. He was a special guy, but still a guy, and she doubted if wedding plans interested him in the least. “It’ll be beautiful, and dignified.”

      He loosed a martyred sigh. “Let’s run off to Vegas. We don’t need a dog and pony show.”

      “I only intend to get married once. I’m not doing it in a cheesy chapel officiated by an Elvis impersonator. We’ll have a proper wedding. If you really object to holding it outdoors, then we’ll do it in church.”

      “Whatever you want,” he grumbled.

      She poked his chin playfully. “Countless men have survived weddings. You will, too.” She laughed, whirling in a dreamy circle. Oscar and Bent leaped to their feet and posed ready to run. She ruffled their floppy ears. She did love Jeffrey and this was the right decision and they’d live happily ever after—

      She spotted Easy Martel.

      She stopped so quickly, she stumbled and stared open-mouthed toward the other, smaller lake. Only Easy’s head was visible, his hair as black and glossy as the wings of crows flying overhead. He wore dark sunglasses, but she knew. He spied on her!

      She confessed her youthful indiscretion to her fiancé, and then lo and behold, there’s the daddy. Easy’s timing couldn’t be more appalling.

      “Catherine?”

      “I have to get home. Oscar, Bent, come.” The dogs crowded her legs and she gathered their leashes.

      Jeffrey put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “What in the world is wrong with you?”

      She sneaked a peek toward Easy. He’d ducked out of sight. The Front Range, encompassing Colorado Springs, stretching from Fountain to the far south and Monument to the north, covered an area more than forty miles long. In the eight months she’d been living here, she hadn’t run into a single person she knew from her childhood. That Easy Martel chose this particular day to be in Fox Run Park was not a coincidence.

      “Nothing, nothing,” she said weakly. “I have a million things to do.”

      He glowered at his wristwatch. “I cancelled two appointments to run with you this morning. Don’t jerk me around.”

      She scuffed her running shoe through a pile of pine straw. “See what happens when I get frazzled? I turn into a flaky artist.” She fished in her fanny pack for her Blazer keys. She tossed them to him. “You drive.”

      He eyed her suspiciously, but acted amiably enough as she herded him and the dogs to her Blazer parked above the lake. She began to wonder if she’d conjured Easy out of her guilty conscience.

      By the time they reached the park entrance, she convinced herself she hadn’t seen Easy. When she adjusted the air-conditioner vent to blow on her hot face, she noticed in the side mirror a white car pulling out of the park behind them. She thought little of it until they reached Roller Coaster Road and turned right, and the car turned right behind them. The car continued following them south, all the way to Shoup Road where she felt certain it would continue toward the Springs, but it turned after them.

      “You haven’t heard a word I said,” Jeffrey complained.

      “What?” She clenched her hands on her lap, resisting the urge to turn on the seat to see better the driver behind them. She hadn’t a clue as to why Easy had appeared on her doorstep last week, as she hadn’t a clue as to why he followed her now. A sinking sensation, however, said telling him about the baby they’d made twelve years ago had been a major mistake. He’d been a quick-tempered, impulsive boy with far more energy than good sense. For all she knew, he hadn’t changed. She wouldn’t put it past him to pester her until she told him what happened to Elizabeth.

      “What is the matter with you, Catherine?”

      She should tell him about Easy. After all, it had been Easy’s surprise visit which had clinched her decision to marry Jeffrey. As her official fiancé, Jeffrey had a right to know about any unresolved issues from her past.

      He slowed to turn into her driveway. The white car slowed behind them. Anger boiled up like bubbling soup, infusing her blood, tightening her jaw.

      “Don’t talk to me then.” Jeffrey turned the wheel sharply. In the back seat, Oscar and Bent lost their balance. Jeffrey managed to hit every pothole and rut in the driveway. The dogs bounced around, unable to get their feet under them. Bent fell onto the floor.

      “Quit driving like a maniac!” Catherine yelled.

      He slammed on the brakes and gawked at her.

      She covered her mouth with a hand. The dogs grumbled as they rearranged themselves in the back seat. She stared at the side mirror, expecting to see Easy pull in behind them. Clouds of dust hovered like haze over the driveway.

      “You were happy and practically singing, then all the sudden you’re acting like a lunatic. You won’t talk to me, then you’re yelling. Is it hormones or something?”

      His sexist comment earned him a dark glower.

      He drove forward. “I will not have you yelling at me.”

      Tell him, she urged herself, but could not find the words. “I guess my nerves are…I don’t know…I’m sorry, okay? Please forgive me.”

      He pulled into the garage and shut off the Blazer’s engine.

      “I’m so sorry. I desperately need a shower and a cup of coffee and a chance to pull myself together.” She pushed open the door and went around to the side door to let the dogs out. They gave Jeffrey canine equivalents of filthy looks before hopping out of the Blazer and stalking toward the house.

      “You can’t treat me like this.”

      For a moment he sounded so much like her father—cold and authoritarian—she froze, her mind gone blank. Ridiculous, she told herself. Jeffrey was nothing like her father.

      She forced a smile and used her left hand to smooth hair off her face, exaggerating her movements so he noticed the engagement ring. With no sign of Easy or even the sound of a car engine, her agitation faded. Maybe she’d dreamed him up after all. “You’re wonderful and perfect and I do love you.”

      He held out her car keys. When she opened her hand, he dropped them onto her palm. “And you’re nuts, lady. What am I going to do with you?” His voice was calm, but lines strained his brow and cheeks.

      Catherine swallowed hard.