It Happened One Night

“‘May I go back to the carpet,’” Kiley automatically corrected.

“May I?” the little boy asked, flashing his charming grin.

“Yes, you may,” she said, deciding that she could give more thought to Josh and his dinner invitation after the children had gone home for the day.

Kiley went through the motions of rehearsing the Christmas show the children would put on for their parents in a few weeks. But her mind kept straying back to Josh and his ridiculous invitation. Even if she were willing to go to dinner with him—which she wasn’t—she didn’t think he would be all that enthusiastic about dining with a two-year-old.

It wasn’t that Emmie wasn’t well-behaved. She was. But by the end of the day, she was tired and wanted nothing more than dinner, a bath and to go to bed. Besides, there was absolutely nothing Kiley felt the need to discuss with Josh. Now or in the foreseeable future.

* * *

As Josh drove his Mercedes through the gates of Pine Valley, the exclusive golf course community where several of the TCC members had built mansions, he couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been thinking when he asked Kiley to dinner. Why couldn’t he just drop what had happened that night three years ago?

He knew that would be the smartest thing to do and what Kiley wanted. But for reasons he didn’t want to delve into, some perverse part of him wanted her to admit that, although the circumstances that brought them together that night might have been an unfortunate accident, their lovemaking had been nothing short of amazing.

“You’ve lost your mind, Gordon,” he muttered as he steered his car onto Alex Santiago’s private drive.

Doing his best to forget the matter, he parked in front of the palatial home, got out of the car and climbed the steps to the front door. Before he could ring the doorbell, the door opened.

“Hello, Señor Gordon,” a round-faced older woman with kind brown eyes said, stepping back for Josh to enter. “Señor Alex is in the sunroom.”

“How’s he feeling today, Maria?” Josh asked as the housekeeper whom Alex’s fiancée, Cara Windsor, had recently hired led the way toward the back of the elegant home.

Maria stopped, then, turning to face him, gave Josh a worried look. “Señor Alex still has headaches and can’t remember anything before he was found.”

“I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before he recovers his memory.” Josh wasn’t entirely sure who he was trying to reassure—the housekeeper or himself.

Alex had been missing for several months before being found, suffering a head injury, in the back of a truck with a group of migrant farm workers smuggled across the border from Mexico. No one seemed to know how he wound up across the border or how he got into the back of the truck with the workers, and he couldn’t tell the authorities anything. There was strong evidence that he had been beaten several times and one theory was that he had been kidnapped. But no matter what had happened, Alex still had amnesia. It had only been recently that he’d been released from Royal Memorial Hospital. With Cara’s encouragement, Alex’s friends from the TCC had been taking turns dropping by to check on his progress. No one had said as much, but Josh knew they all hoped to help him recover his memory so they could find whoever had done this to him.

“How are you feeling today, Alex?” he asked, walking into the sunroom where his friend sat reading a book.

Alex smiled and slowly rose to his feet to extend his hand. “Josh, isn’t it?”

Nodding, Josh shook Alex’s hand. The man’s grip was firm and Josh took that as a good sign that his friend was regaining some of his strength. But he was still cautious about making sure he called his friends by the correct name, which indicated his memory wasn’t much better.

“I wanted to stop by and let you know that we’re all hoping to see you and Cara at the Christmas Ball.” Before his disappearance in the summer, Alex had been on the planning committee for the annual holiday gala. Josh hoped that referring to the event might spark a memory.

“Yes, Cara and I discussed it and we’re hoping that being at the Texas Cattleman’s Club with all of my acquaintances will help me remember something,” Alex answered. He sighed heavily. “It’s damned irritating not being able to remember anything about my life before waking up in the back of that truck.”

“I’m sure there will be a break in the case soon,” Josh said, hoping he was right. “The Royal Police Department’s detective unit is one of the best in the entire state and they’re letting Britt Collins, the state investigator, take the lead. With her FBI training and specialty in kidnapping cases, they’ll have whoever did this to you behind bars in no time.”

“I was told this morning they intend to send my picture to the national television networks in an attempt to find anyone who might have seen who I was with while I was missing. It might also help locate any family I have,” Alex added. “Apparently none of them live close by, because there haven’t been any family members respond to the local news reports about me.”

Josh smiled. “I’m sure the news of all this going national will help to escalate the investigation.”

As they continued to discuss Alex’s frustration with his lack of memory and the possibility of the police turning up something that would give them a clue who had beaten him, Josh’s mind kept straying back to Kiley and his invitation to dinner the following evening. It suddenly occurred to him that she hadn’t said no.

Of course, she hadn’t exactly accepted his invitation either. But he decided not to give that a second thought. As far as he was concerned they were having dinner tomorrow evening and he fully intended to discuss that night three years ago. He needed for her to understand that he wasn’t in the habit of making love to a woman he didn’t know, then leaving her like some kind of thief in the night. He also wanted her to admit that she had played a part in the incident when she had been so receptive to him. Then, as far as he was concerned, the matter would be closed for good.

Satisfied that he had a viable plan, he filled Alex in on things that were going on at the clubhouse. “The day care center is open and has quite a few kids attending.”

“I am sure the female members are happy about that,” Alex said, smiling. “But Cara tells me her father and a few others are less supportive.”

Josh nodded. “I wasn’t entirely sure it’s needed, but after the director’s request for more money to operate the center I’m taking the time to learn more about it before I make up my mind.”

“It is always good to keep an open mind and get the facts before one passes judgment,” Alex said, nodding.

As Josh listened to Alex, he appreciated the wisdom in his friend’s quietly spoken observation. “Thanks for the advice. I’ll be sure to do just that.” Rising to leave, he shook Alex’s hand. “You know if you need anything, all you have to do is give me a call.”

“I appreciate that, Josh,” Alex said, following him to the front door. “I will certainly keep that in mind.”

As Josh descended the front steps, he noticed a car coming up the long drive. When it pulled to a stop behind his and the driver got out, he recognized Alex’s former housekeeper, Mia Hughes.

She waved. “Hi, Josh. How is Alex doing today?”

“He’s frustrated with his lack of memory, but that’s to be expected.” He smiled. “I hear that congratulations are in order.”

The pretty young woman beamed. “You heard about my engagement to Dave Firestone?”

“Yes.” He laughed. “News like that travels through the TCC like a flash fire through a wood pile.”

She laughed. “Thank you, Josh. I’ve never been happier.”

“If the smile on Firestone’s face these days is any indication, I’d say he’s just as happy,” Josh said.

“It was nice seeing you again, Josh,” Mia said as she started up the steps to the front door.

Josh nodded. “I’ll see you in a few weeks at the Christmas Ball.”

Getting into the car, he drove away from the Santiago mansion feeling pretty good about the day. He had successfully straightened out a problem with the work crew on one of the Gordon Construction job sites, had a nice visit with his friend and had set up dinner with Kiley Roberts for tomorrow evening.

“A very good day,” he said aloud as he drove across town to his ranch just outside Royal.

* * *

The next afternoon, Kiley tried to remain focused and not think about Josh stopping by, expecting her to go to dinner with him. But try as she might, every time the door opened, she looked up expectantly. So far, it had been parents arriving to pick up their children, but she knew it was just a matter of time before she looked up to find Josh entering the day care center.

Of course, she had no intention of going anywhere with him. But how could she anticipate and dread him stopping by all at the same time?

“Kiley, would you mind if I leave now?” Carrie asked, looking hopeful. “There are only two more children to be picked up by their parents and I have an appointment at the hair salon in fifteen minutes.”

“Do you have a date with Ron tonight?” Kiley asked. From the time the young woman started working for her, Carrie had chattered nonstop about her boyfriend and Kiley expected any day to hear that they had become engaged.

Her assistant nodded. “He’s taking me out to dinner and then we’re going to see the new Channing Tatum movie.”

“You can only leave early on one condition.”

“What’s that?” her assistant asked cautiously.