on her hind legs and her cubs ran behind her. She dropped back to all fours and disappeared into the shrubs, and a moment later Katie saw the four of them hightailing it up the path and into the forest. And Katie yelled, “I’ve got cubs, too! Bitch!”
He grabbed her arm. “Katie, good Christ, you shouldn’t antagonize her like that. Just get out of the way.”
“She’s really got some attitude, that one. A guy I met at Jack’s, some guy with an orchard, said she’s been bothering them and he was going to call someone—like the game warden or something.” Then she turned her big blue eyes up to his. “But I think maybe I’ll find something a little more urban. Know what I mean?”
He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. The boys peeked out the door to see if there were bears. “Go inside, please,” Dylan said. “Get ready for school.” When they were gone he turned to Katie. “All right, listen to me. I’m not leaving right away. I’m going to take the boys to school and drop them off. Then I’m going to run a few errands, make a couple of phone calls and come back here. You—stay in the house and do not confront that bear again!”
“I don’t want you hanging around here,” she said. “I’m not going to sleep with you!”
“Oh, absolutely not,” he said. “But we are going to examine the potential for a relationship, you and me. It might not be easy, but—”
“But Hollywood waits,” she said.
“Yeah, well, I probably won’t be able to work and hang out here all the time, but I also probably won’t be out of town any more often than a soldier. Right now I think you need me. So I’ll take the boys to town and I’ll be back.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you understand ‘no’?”
“No,” he said.
Fourteen
Right after leaving Katie’s house and dropping off the boys, Dylan parked on the side of a hill that offered a spectator’s view of a lush valley, but his interest was not the view. He had cell reception here. He called Lang. “How’s everything going?”
“Going,” Lang said. “I flew a couple of charters. They didn’t pay enough, but they paid and it was work. We could use more. I was out of town most of last week, but it’s money and I’m encouraged by the business.”
“How’s Mrs. Lang getting along?”
“She’s doing all right, but then Sue Ann always gets along better without me than I do without her.”
“Listen to you,” Dylan said. “She’s stuck at home with five kids, trying to help run an airport, manage the house and everything and you’re whining about doing something you love to do—fly.”
“I know,” he admitted. “She could’ve done better. Boy, am I lucky she didn’t.”
“I remember when you met her,” Dylan said. “It was like you saw her and glazed over…”
“Nah, I didn’t really go into a trance until I talked to her. But I was in big trouble once I slept with her. Shew.” Lang took a breath. “Thank God I’m home for a few days!”
“Eleven years later, still the horn dog for your wife.”
“Hard to get bored with perfection,” he said with a sigh.
Dylan just chuckled to himself. Sue Ann was pretty, but she wasn’t a knockout. She was kind of soft and wholesome-looking, but she had a sharp tongue on her, like someone else Dylan knew. She didn’t suffer fools gladly. She certainly didn’t put up with any of Lang’s shit. “I’m still trying to figure out how that works,” Dylan said. “One look and not only did you know how you felt then, you knew how you were going to feel in twenty years.”
“You see what you want to see, D,” Lang said. “Like we’re the perfect married couple? Hell, we’ve had some knockdowns. I’ve spent my share of nights on the couch. In fact, it’s making up that really gets us into trouble—that’s usually when we slip up and get pregnant.”
“Didn’t you promise her a vasectomy?”
“Yeah, when little D is two, and guess what? He had a birthday just after I got back from our ride. As soon as I can put together some days off, I’m going to get that done. We can’t afford another one. And there are so many kids, I never get any time alone with my wife.”
“Man,” Dylan said. “No one’s ever cutting on me…”
Lang laughed heartily at that. “We’ll talk after you have five