The Pirate & The Adventurer & The Cowboy

Jared confided to the bird.

    "Wanna bet?"

    "No. The way my luck is running lately, I'd lose and I am not about to start losing to a birdbrain like you."

    Jared headed down the hall and heard his son's voice emanating from the study. Then he heard Kate's soft, husky tones. He smiled and went to the open door.

    For a moment he stood there unnoticed. David and Kate were at the desk, intently examining a drawing the boy had apparently just finished. Jared watched as his son carefully rolled up the large sheet of paper and secured it with a rubber band.

    "Are you really going to frame it when you get home?" David asked, handing the rolled drawing to Kate. His eyes were large and questioning as he looked up at her.

    "Oh, yes," Kate said gently. "I know a place where they frame art. It's just down the street from my apartment. I'll take it there and have them put it in a red frame and cover it with a sheet of glass. Then I'll hang it in my living room."

    "Just like a real picture, huh?"

    "It is a real picture. Signed by the artist, too. And no matter how much anyone offers to pay for it, I'll never sell it."

    "Really?"

    "Really."

    Jared heard the small catch in Kate's voice and it tugged at his insides. He opened his mouth to announce his presence, but she turned her head in that moment and saw him in the doorway. The soft, damp shimmer in her eyes told him she was near tears. Even as he stared at her in stunned amazement, she blinked away the evidence.

    "I'm home." Jared couldn't think of anything else to say.

    "Hello." Kate didn't move. Her smile was tremulous. She clutched the rolled-up drawing as if it was very precious.

    David glanced up eagerly at the sound of his father's voice. "There you are, Dad. I just gave Kate one of my drawings. She's going to frame it."

    "So I hear." He smiled deliberately at Kate. "Whenever you look at it, you'll think of us, won't you?"

    "Yes." She moved toward the door. "Excuse me, I've got to check on dinner."

    Jared stepped aside and she slipped past him. He turned back to David, who was staring after Kate. "What's wrong, son?"

    "She says she's going back to Seattle in a few days."

    "That's her home, Dave."

    "But she likes it here, she said so. She hasn't even complained about the heat in ages."

    "A lot of people like it here, but not many of them stay. You know that."

    "I bet she'd stay if you asked her to," David said, a stubborn set to his chin.

    "You think so?"

    David brightened. He nodded his head vigorously. "Why don't you?"

    "I'll think about it." Jared smiled. "Go wash your hands. I think dinner's about ready."

    Several hours later, Jared guided Kate off the dance floor and steered her out through the hotel lobby into the gardens. He was aware of a strange restlessness and a feeling of urgency. As far as he was concerned, it was all Kate's fault.

    She had been moody since dinner, he reflected, and he strongly disliked moodiness in women. A man always felt he was supposed to do something about the condition and he never knew what it was he was supposed to do.

    Dinner had gone well, as far as Jared could tell. Kate had been cheerful while everyone was involved in building tacos, but afterward, when they had said good-night to David and headed for the lounge, her cheerfulness had vanished like snow in the tropics.

    The balmy air in the gardens soothed Jared's uncertain temper. He made himself calm down and think clearly. Letty and David were right, there wasn't much time left. In three days, Kate was going to be gone. He needed to start laying the groundwork for whatever future they had. As luck would have it, they both opened their mouths to speak simultaneously.

    "Jared, I…"

    "I've been thinking…"

    "Sorry," he said. "What were you saying?"

    "Nothing. Go ahead. What have you been thinking about?"

    "Us."

    She flashed him a quick, questioning glance out of the corner of her eye. "What about us?"

    They were almost at the door of her room. Jared cleared his throat. "You'll be going home soon."

    "Yes."

    "Yeah, well, you remember I told you I get back to the States at least once a year so David's grandparents can see him?"

    "I remember." She stopped and fished her room key out of her small purse.

    He took the key from her. "Normally we go in August. That's a slow month around here." Jared opened the door and stood back while she entered. "But I think this year maybe we'll go a little earlier. Maybe in a month or two." He closed the door behind