The Moment of Truth

The puppy made it to the patio. And, seeing Sam, ran up to greet him, peeing on his shoe in the process.

Josh figured he couldn’t have planned that one better. The man was trespassing, not just on his property, but on his life. Grabbing a couple of paper towels from inside, wetting one, he held them out.

“I’m not changing my mind,” he said, guy to guy.

“No one’s asking you to.” Sam handed him one of the mugs in exchange for the paper towels and wiped his shoe.

Josh took a sip.

Not as good as his favorite brew back home, but better than a lot of stuff he’d had in expensive coffee shops all over the globe.

L.G. took a dump in the yard.

“What’s with the garb?”

“I rode my bike,” Sam said, no longer grinning, but looking too damned friendly for Josh’s taste. “It’s cold.”

“For wimps, maybe. This is spring weather in Boston.” What in the hell was the matter with him? He might be lacking in a lot of areas but basic manners wasn’t one of them.

Cocking his head to the side, Sam perused him. “You ever ride a Harley?”

“Standing up.” Not one of his brighter stunts.

The older man was grinning again, just like he had that night in the bar. “You wreck it?”

Shrugging, Josh took another sip. “I lived.”

“How about the bike?”

“It lived, too.” But he’d sold the powerful fifty-thousand-dollar custom toy for pennies on the dollar because it had had a scratch on it.

“When I first left Shelter Valley, before I joined the peace corps, I bought a custom-made parasail and jumped off a mountain.”

“I see that you lived.”

“Yeah, the parasail didn’t.”

When he caught back his own grin, just in time, Josh scoffed, “What’s with the ski cap?”

Sam pulled it off, letting the long locks of his hair float down to his shoulders. “Can’t stand to have strands of hair poking around under the helmet.”

“I didn’t hear a bike.”

“You don’t look like you’d have heard much of anything.” With his head slightly cocked and his gaze narrowed, Sam Montford was making Josh uncomfortable.

“I treated myself to nearly a fifth of aged Royal Salute last night.” He’d brought the expensive Scotch whiskey with him, in case of emergency.

“How was it?”

“Same as always.” He should have been the one with a low tolerance for alcohol, not Michelle.

“How’s the house look?”

“Like the housekeeper has already been here this morning.”

Sam kept watching him. And grinning. “I parked the bike a few blocks over—at my son’s karate school. People around here know me. And know my bike. I didn’t figure you’d want them knowing I was here. The boy’s going to be expecting me back soon.”

“Does he know where you are?”

“No one does. I merely went for a walk in the desert.”

Sam was honoring his request for anonymity. As hard as he was trying, Josh was having a hard time finding anything about the guy to not like.

And he couldn’t afford to like him. He couldn’t trust himself to stay true to his cause with the temptation of the life he’d always known so close.

“You jumped the wall,” Josh said, making the words sound like an accusation.

“Your mother thinks you’re celebrating Thanksgiving with us.”

“Not from me, she doesn’t.” And she wasn’t supposed to be in touch with the Montfords, either.

“I think she just assumed. At least that’s how it seemed in her response to Cassie’s email. The one you asked her to send.”

“She’s wrong.”

Nodding, Sam said easily, “We’d like you to be there.”

“I have plans.”

Chin to his chest, Sam hid whatever he was thinking. And then said, with all seriousness, “I respect what you’re trying to do.”

“Thank you.”

“I’d like to know why you’re doing it.”

“Ask my mother.”

“I’m asking you.”

Josh hesitated, looking the older man in the eye.

“I almost killed a girl.” It was no secret back home.

“Knowingly?”

“No.”

“How long are you planning to be AWOL?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“Can’t, or won’t?”

“Can’t.”

Nodding, Sam sipped some coffee, looked at his watch and put his mug down on the ground next to a porch support. “I just bought the mugs,” he said. “They’re yours.”

He could use them.

Turning, Sam headed toward the back wall, stopping to pet L.G. in the process. Josh followed him.