Taylor, Buzz thought. Not Mr. Quelhorst, not Taylor Quelhorst, but Taylor. It was none of his damn business, but he wanted badly to tell her just how he felt about her being on a first-name basis with a man who looked at her the way Quelhorst did. But he knew it would only cause an argument. After all, Buzz didn’t have a claim on her one way or another. Damn it, he didn’t want that kind of relationship with her. They’d tried once and it hadn’t worked. He was crazy to be feeling like a jealous teenager.
“Sounds like you’ve done well for yourself,” he said after a too-long moment. “You still living at the house?”
The pretty little house just west of Denver they’d bought together as newlyweds seven years ago. The two-bedroom, one-bath matchbox with the tiny yard and leaky kitchen sink. The house where they’d made love in every room, including the living room closet.
“Actually, I put the house on the market last month,” she said. “The commute…it was just too long.”
Buzz wasn’t sure why, but that hurt. “And you didn’t see fit to discuss it with me?”
“It’s my house. I didn’t see any reason—”
“What about my son? Maybe you could have considered him.”
She blinked at him. “Buzz, I didn’t think you would mind. I mean, you made it clear you didn’t want the house.”
“Maybe I do mind. Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” Angry now, he turned away from her, willing his pulse to slow. He knew he was acting like an idiot, but he couldn’t seem to get a handle on his temper. “Did you buy another house?” he asked. “An apartment? What?”
“I rented a condo in Breckenridge, but it’s only temporary.”
Buzz shot her a questioning look.
Kelly took a keep breath, like a woman on a high diving board about to plunge twenty feet into cold, deep water. “I’m relocating to Lake Tahoe.”
“Lake Tahoe is in California,” he said stupidly.
“We’re moving.” She looked down at the crumpled wrapper in her hand. “Next month.”
For an instant, he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. But he saw the answer in her eyes, felt the truth like a dull knife plunged into his solar plexus. “I see,” was all he could manage.
“Taylor just opened a small resort in Tahoe. Skiing in the winter. Horseback-riding and hiking in the summer. The grand opening is next month. I’m going to be running the place for him. It’s a good opportunity for me. I mean, it’s not like I have ties in Denver holding me back.”
For a moment, Buzz couldn’t say anything, didn’t know what to say. All he knew was that yesterday he’d been told he had a son. Today, he was being told the son he’d never met was moving five hundred miles away. He wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to handle being a father, but he suddenly knew enough to realize he didn’t like the idea of a long-distance relationship with his boy.
“When were you planning on telling me?” he asked.
She wrapped her arms around herself in a defensive posture. “I don’t think this is the time to discuss this.”
“Evidently, you didn’t think any time was a good time to discuss this, did you?”
She stared at him, stricken. “I can’t talk about this right now.”
Buzz tried hard to get a handle on his temper. He knew she was right; now wasn’t the time to open this particular can of worms. Things were tense enough with Eddie missing. But his temper boiled every time he thought of her leaving town with his son and not telling him.
“Maybe you were just going to leave and not tell me. You’re good at that, aren’t you, Kel?”
“That’s not the way any of this happened.”
“Yeah?” Furious, he rose and stalked over to her. “I guess you didn’t notice the way he looks at you.”
She gaped at him. “The way who looks at me?”
“Quelhorn.”
“You mean Quelhorst?”
“Whatever.”
“Our relationship is strictly professional,” she said.
“Strictly professional until he decides he wants more.”
“Buzz, where the hell is this coming from?” She rose, smaller, but every bit as furious. “Even if I was involved with him, I don’t see what business it is of yours. We’re divorced, remember?”
Buzz had sworn he wasn’t going to let her do this to him. He wasn’t going to let her tick him off. Swore he wasn’t going to let her push his buttons. But if there was any one person in the world who could set him off, it was Kelly. Aware that his heart was pounding, that he was feeling cranky and mean and scared—and that his hands were clenched into fists at his sides, he spun on her. “It’s my business because I’m Eddie’s father,” he growled.
“That’s a role you never wanted.”
“You took any choice I might have had away from me.” Breathing hard, he paced away from her. The next thought that occurred to him turned him back around, had him stalking over to her. “What have you told Eddie about his father?”
She blinked at him again, as if the quick spin of topics was confusing her. “I haven’t told him anything. He…hasn’t asked.”
“What are you going to say when he does, Kel? You know he will sooner or later.”
“I haven’t decided—”
“Haven’t decided?”
“Buzz—”