Shoe Strings

uncomfortable for the
first time all night.   “I thought
we’d go get another drink, maybe find some live music.   There’s a great jazz bar just around the
corner.”
    Why was he trying so hard to make her feel like they were on
a real date when it would be so much less cruel to take her home?   “That sounds real nice, but I think I’d
like to head back if it’s okay with you.”
    “Sure, Kerri Ann.   Whatever you want.”

 

 
    Chapter 12
    Lita’s hands were shaking and she could barely catch her
breath.   She wouldn’t let her father
do this to her again.   She wouldn’t
let him force himself back into her life, the life she’d created for herself
with absolutely no help or emotional support from him.   How dare he ask her to compromise her
beliefs and her company to aid him because he’d chosen to do business with
questionable people.   If his life
were on the line, he’d been the one to put it there.  
    She slammed her car into gear and headed up to the
cabin.   She needed fresh air and
wide-open space to think things through, to figure out a way out of the mess
he’d plopped on her lap.   The roads
were slick from the brief shower that had come through in the afternoon and she
gripped the wheel as she sped up the winding mountain roads.   As she climbed the drive to her cabin,
the gravel sounded like bullet shots beneath her car.   She swung the SUV into the drive with a
jerk and almost ran into Jesse’s truck.
    Damn.   She didn’t
want to see him or anyone else right now.   She didn’t want to explain her mood before she’d had a chance to put
things into perspective, organize her thoughts, and decide on a course of
action.   She tossed her purse up the
stairs of her cabin and marched up the drive to where the path she’d discovered
a few days ago led to the top of the property, blessing the casual attire and
tennis shoes she’d put on earlier.   She needed the physical exertion of a hearty climb to help work off her
temper.
    “Angelita?”   She
heard her name called over the whip of the wind and ignored it.   It was Jesse and if he were a smart man,
he’d steer clear for awhile.   She
kept walking at a crisp pace.
    “Angelita?” he called again.   With a huff, she turned to see him
scrambling up through the trees from the direction of Cal’s house.   She noticed Cal and Ty sitting in the
rockers on the porch watching them as well.   Great, an audience.
    With a hand on her hip and the other swiping the hair from
her eyes, she waited for him to get to her.   She wasn’t going to shout at him and
make a scene in front of Cal and his grandson.  
    “Damn, woman,” Jesse gasped as he joined her on the narrow
path.   “Where the hell are you
going?”
    “I need some time, Jesse.   Please just go back down to your
father’s.”
    He reached out for her arm as she turned to leave.   “Wait just a minute.”   He ignored the scathing look she gave
his hand on her arm.   “It’s getting
dark.”
    “I’m not a child and I know where I’m going.”   She pulled her arm free with a
jerk.   “Please just let me go,” she
shouted and the echo of her anger taunted her as she stood gazing at his
face.   She couldn’t tell if he was
annoyed or hurt.
    “Angelita.”   With
his hands on his hips, he studied her.   “You’re upset.   What’s
wrong?”
    She could feel the resentment and anger brought on by her
father’s demands bubbling in her chest, ready to explode like a volcano.   She’d given Jesse fair warning and he’d
ignored her, just as her father ignored her request to leave her out of his
business.   What was wrong with men?   Why couldn’t they leave well enough
alone?   “I’m not going to do this
with you right now, okay?   I’m not
some helpless female who needs rescuing.   I’m perfectly capable of taking a walk along a clearly defined path if I
want to and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me.”
    His eyes sparkled in the setting sun and she mistakenly
assumed it was anger.   Little did
she know he’d taken her words as a challenge.   She figured it out quick enough when he
circled his arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest.   “Nothing I can do?” he chuckled as she
struggled against him.   “Lady, you
weigh less than a flea.”
    Lita flung her hair out of her face and craned her neck to
look up into his laughing eyes.   “Let me go, you bully!”
    “Are we back to name calling?