A Winchester Homecoming

He wasn’t about to admit that he’d even given Kim a thought. He no longer had any idea of what made her tick, and perhaps he never had.

“Who knows,” he replied carelessly. “Maybe it’s jet lag.”

“It’s a three-hour flight from Seattle,” Charlie pointed out dryly. “You’d think she would have recovered by now.”

David shrugged. The aroma from the chicken was making his stomach growl as more food was brought out to a long side table. “Have you met the missing husband? I never did.”

“Yeah, I have.” Charlie took a drink of his beer. “First time at the wedding, and once when I flew out to Seattle with Adam to surprise Kim.”

“Yeah?” David prompted, curious despite himself about what kind of man had managed to win her heart, and her hand.

“Piece of work,” Charlie said flatly. “Ritzy wedding and a reception straight out of the movies. Food, music, booze. More attendants than a president’s funeral and flowers everywhere. I heard the old man telling someone they’d flown the orchids in from Holland, and the roses from South America.”

He chuckled, making David shift impatiently. It wasn’t the wedding he was curious about, it was the marriage.

“When they released the white doves outside the church, I was braced for a shotgun blast,” Charlie added with a grin.

“What’s he like?” David asked.

“Good-looking, I guess, but cold.” Charlie looked over at Kim, who had come out with a pitcher of juice for the kids and a stack of cups. “She seemed happy at the time. I s’pose most brides are on their big day, Lord knows Robin was. But now, with Kimmie, I don’t know.”

“What about Christie?” David asked. “Are she and Kim still close?” Kim had first gone to live with her mother in Denver, but he’d been stunned when she moved with Christie to the Northwest.

“Didn’t you hear?” Charlie’s brows waggled in surprise. “That gold-digging witch finally managed to bag herself a rich, decrepit old husband. They moved to Italy not too long ago.”

“Huh. I didn’t know that.” David wondered if Kim resented her mother’s remarriage as much as she had Adam’s. At least Adam hadn’t left the country afterward.

Everyone was beginning to gather, drawn by the food like ants to a picnic. David’s mother clapped her hands together. “Okay, everyone,” she said briskly. “You all know the drill. Food’s on, so let’s eat.”

After Kim had gone through the buffet line, she carried her plate to an empty place at the end of one table, right after her father, David and Emily sat down at the other with some of the kids. Kim wasn’t avoiding them, not really, but someone was bound to start asking her questions she didn’t feel like answering today.

Robin sat down across from Kim and glanced at her plate. “Is that what you’re having?”

Kim hadn’t even realized that all she had selected was green salad, jello and a few olives. “I’m just getting started,” she replied, feeling defensive.

“I’m sorry.” Robin looked remorseful as she unfolded a gingham checked napkin. “I’m the last one to grill you about what you’re eating.” She indicated her own loaded plate with a jab of her fork. “I’m still trying to lose weight from my pregnancy, but today I’m splurging.”

For a few moments they talked about babies and dieting. Robin was short but more curvaceous than she had been at her wedding to Charlie.

“Are you back to work yet?” Kim asked to fill the lull before Robin could ask her anything.

Robin was a veterinarian, specializing in large animals despite her diminutive size. Kim remembered that she had first come to town at the same time someone was poisoning Winchester cattle. It turned out that a huge corporation had hired a couple of thugs to help persuade her dad and uncles to sell them the ranch. Charlie had gotten shot during the chase and subsequent arrest, but not seriously. The corporation had paid a large settlement, but Kim didn’t know the details.

“I’m only working at the clinic part-time so far,” Robin replied after she’d swallowed a bite of potato salad. “Doc Harmon was nice enough to wait to retire until after I had Amanda, and we’ve hired two more vets. So far they’re working out pretty well.”

“Are they both straight out of school?” Kim asked, pushing around the food on her plate. Who else would come here, besides Winchester brides and greenhorn veterinarians looking for experience?

“Todd’s a young guy, but great with animals,” Robin replied. “Sophie is older. She went back to school after her divorce.” To Kim’s surprise, Robin blinked away sudden tears.

Kim nibbled on an olive while she waited for her aunt to compose herself.

“Sorry,” Robin said with a sniff. “I’m just so proud of Sophie.”

“So you two have gotten to be pretty good friends?” Kim asked.

Robin nodded. “I don’t know if you heard from anyone in the family, but I’ve been going to a support group over in Elizabeth for a few years now.”

Kim shook her head, curious and yet reluctant to pry. Especially since she wasn’t willing to reciprocate.

“When Sophie joined the group, she had just bailed out of a horrible marriage,” Robin continued. “She had left with nothing. She was living with her kids in a shelter.”

“That’s awful,” Kim said. She felt bad for women who were so desperate that they had nowhere else to go, especially when there were children involved. It had to be heart-wrenching to see your children going through that and know it was because of choices that you made. “Sophie must be a very determined woman.”

Robin broke a piece off her roll, staring at it thoughtfully for a moment. “Not when I first met her. She had no self-confidence, no self-esteem and no fight left in her. It can’t have been easy, but she’s come a long way.”

“That’s great.” Kim was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable that Robin was telling her so much about someone else’s life.

Rory, who was sitting next to Robin, must have been listening, even though she had been talking to a couple of the kids. Perhaps Rory already knew Sophie’s story.

Robin touched Kim’s hand, distracting her. “I’m not just passing on idle gossip,” she said quietly. “I would never break a confidence that way, but Sophie is proud of her accomplishments and so am I.”

Kim nodded, not sure what Robin expected her to say. “So your support group is mostly social, a group of friends?” she asked.

Now Robin’s smile was rueful. “I wish.” She glanced at Rory, who surprised Kim by giving her sister-in-law an encouraging nod. “I started going to the group after I got involved with your uncle,” Robin said. She glanced over at Charlie, her face softening. He was deep in conversation with Steve and his sister.

“You see,” Robin told Kim quietly, “I had been raped by a date back in college, but I never really dealt with it before I started seeing Charlie. I’d shut myself off, but he’s a very persistent man.”

“Some would say stubborn,” Rory drawled.

“They’re entitled to their opinions,” Robin replied. She turned her attention back to Kim, who was still trying to deal with the way Robin had said the word raped, as calmly as if she were talking about being involved in a minor traffic accident. “Since he was the sheriff, Charlie knew about the group. After I told him what had happened to me, he encouraged me to go. He wouldn’t give up until I did.”

“I’m sorry.” Kim wasn’t sure how to respond. “That’s awful.” Her comment was so inadequate that she bit her lip. Having someone you went out with force himself on you must be a hundred times worse than just having your husband demand sex when you weren’t in the mood, even if he did lose his temper when you tried refusing.

She started to touch her cheekbone, but then she stopped herself.

Robin waved her hand dismissively. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago, and your family has been wonderful in helping me to deal with it.”

So everyone knew? Kim couldn’t imagine telling everyone about something so personal, so devastating.

“Do you ever go back over it and wonder what you could have done differently?” she blurted without thinking.

“Of course I have,” Robin replied calmly. “I must have played back a thousand times in my mind everything that happened. For a long time I blamed myself.”

“But it wasn’t your fault,” Kim protested. “You didn’t ask for it.”

“Of course not. No one ever deserves to be raped.” Robin took another bite of potato salad, as though they’d been discussing the weather.

“Sometimes a woman just flat-out makes a dumb decision about something, and then she’s got no one else to blame if it ends up a disaster,” Kim mused without thinking.