"Can I buy you a drink?"
Kerney took the bottle from Sara's hand.
"I think I need one."
"Don't you like surprises?"
"This one I do."
She slipped out of her coat and dropped it on-the arm of a sofa that faced a corner fireplace and a patio door.
On one side, an archway opened onto a kitchen that contained a small cafe table and two chairs. Opposite the kitchen, on the wall next to an open bedroom door, hung a small watercolor of a herd of horses moving through a snowstorm. It was the only personal touch in the room.
Sara inspected the watercolor.
"That's very nice."
"Pletcher Hartley did it. I wrote you about him. I think you'll enjoy meeting him."
"Prom what you've told me about him in your letters, he sounds like quite a character." She turned back and gestured at the bottle in Kerney's hand.
"Are you going to open the wine, or not?"
"You bet."
"Well, let's get started celebrating this reunion."
Sara sat at the kitchen table while Kerney searched for wineglasses and a corkscrew. He took his time doing it, glancing at Sara out of the corner of his eye. He had a snapshot of her, but it didn't convey the full impact of her physical presence. Her strawberry blond hair was a bit shorter now, further accenting the sensual line of her neck. Her green eyes sparkled with a hint of something Kerney couldn't quite decipher. Even in blue jeans and a mock turtleneck pullover, Sara look stunning.
He brought the glasses to the table, sat across from her, uncorked the bottle, and poured the wine.
"Cheers."
Sara touched her wineglass to Kerney's and took a sip.
"So tell me, Kerney, have you slept with many women since I've been gone?"
"How would you define 'many women'?"
"More than one," Sara answered.
"Then I have not slept with many women."
"Only one?"
"One."
"Tell me about her."
"Her name is Karen Cox. She's a lawyer, an ADA.
Divorced. Two children. She lives in Catron County."
"Attractive?"
"Very."
"Are you still seeing her?"
"No. I got a note from her recently. She's hooked up with a ranch foreman."
"She likes cowboys."
"So it would seem."
"That shows good taste. Any regrets?"
"No. And you?"
"I've been a very good girl, which hasn't been easy.
Will Andy let you take some time off?"
"He's out of town for the week at a convention in Florida. He left me in charge."
"That simplifies matters. I've really never spent much time in Santa Fe. Will you tour me around?"
"Of course."
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Start the tour," Sara said, putting down her wineglass.
"I'd love to see your bedroom."
With her head on his shoulder and her leg draped over his thigh, Sara gently scratched Kerney's chest with her fingernails. The heat from her body felt like a long warm ember against Kerney's skin.
"That was a lot of fun," she said.
"It was my pleasure. Major Brannon."
"It's Lieutenant Colonel Brannon."
Sara's statement surprised Kerney. He had spent one tour in Vietnam late in the war as an infantry lieutenant and knew that only a remarkable circumstance would accelerate a very junior major to light colonel.