Desire and Protect: a small town romantic suspense novel (Heroes of Evers, TX Book 5)

by Lori Ryan

  “I happen to like your name.”

  Now Phoebe rolled her eyes at him. “Anyway, she was all in to being free, not wanting to lock herself into marriage. She was much younger than my dad. I think she thought she could just take a baby on the road with her and her band and raise me as more of a friend than a child. That’s the sense I always got, anyway.”

  Shane didn’t offer the normal platitudes and pity she was used to at the end of the story. “Have you ever looked for her?”

  Phoebe nodded. “When I was 20. I looked her up and found her living in a small town in Maine. She has no kids, but it looks like she runs a small art gallery in a coastal town.”

  “Do you think you might ever go see her?” Shane asked as he picked up his beer glass.

  “I tried to get in touch.” Phoebe tasted her wine, and murmured her approval. It was crisp and light, and it helped clear away the lump in her throat that had developed with talking about her mom. “I wrote to her after I found her, but she didn’t respond.”

  “I’ve done a bang-up job keeping this conversation cheerful.”

  Phoebe couldn’t help but laugh at the wry comment.

  “Okay, your turn. Tell me all about your childhood.”

  “Ah, my childhood. Well, when you combine the uncertainty of running a ranch with a father who would rather play around with inventions in the barn than house animals there, you get my childhood.”

  “Inventions?”

  “Everything from tools to glue. It was the glue that ended up striking gold. And it turns out he wasn’t even aiming for glue.”

  Phoebe was about to cut into the chicken that had been put where her salad plate had been moments before, but she looked up at that. “What was he going for?”

  “No one really knows for sure, and he liked to be mysterious about it, but he ended up with two industrial glues that are used in all kinds of applications. Chances are it’s on at least one or two things in your apartment right now. He has a few smaller patents on some other items that paid off, but those are the big ones.”

  She eyed him. “But those didn’t happen until you were older, did they?”

  “No, not until after years of watching my mom cover for him. She still can’t see it. As far as she’s concerned, he was a great dad and a wonderful man.”

  “He wasn’t?”

  Shane looked at his drink for a minute. “I sound like an ass, I think, whenever I talk about him. He was a great dad, in some ways. I never doubted I was loved, and that means a lot. I guess, when it really comes down to it, that’s the most important thing. But there were times that I had to watch my mom scrape together the money for things we needed and I always hated that. I hated to see how much she would worry. She would hide it from him, but as soon as he left the house I could see the strain on her.”

  “It makes sense.” At his puzzled look, she explained. “You seem to take everything on your shoulders. You take care of everyone, trying to make sure you know what everybody needs before they even know they need it. I would bet that came from trying to take care of your mom when you were younger.”

  Shane nodded. “You’re probably right. As soon as I could, I got a job unloading pallets and stocking shelves down at the feed store. When I was older, I added a second job. Anything I could do, to take away from the pressure my mom had to deal with.”

  “And after you guys made your millions, you started providing grants to people in the town?” Phoebe thought back to the grant papers she had reviewed for him that morning, and smiled at the memory of him taking them out of her hands to ask her on a date. Phoebe didn’t know for sure that the family had millions, but she would guess based on the number of grants she’d seen them give people around the town, their pockets were fairly deep.

  “Yep. The first one we started with was the feed store. Tom Jansen had helped me by giving me my first job, and was always good to me and my family. He needed money to expand the store so we set up our first grant.”

  “And no one in the town knows where they’re coming from?” Phoebe shook her head, not sure that was possible. Surely the town knew the family had come into money.

  “I’m sure people suspect.” Shane shrugged. “But Ashley covers for us. She keeps helping people pour through guides to different grants around the country. Once she knows what someone is looking for, she lets us know. Then we’re able to slip a grant designed for that person into the pile of options she pulls for them. They never need to know the grant wasn’t actually one that was open to other people. They simply fill out a form and we set them up with what they need.”

  “That’s…” Phoebe searched for the right words, but came up wanting. “It’s incredible. Giving something without any expectation of credit or gratitude.”

  Shane lifted a shoulder. “We get to watch their businesses survive or grow, and we get to see people finish school or give their children something they needed. We do a few things in our name. We gave some gifts to the school in dad’s name. We donated to the new tourism board the town is putting together to increase tourism for local businesses. Things like that.”

  She could see the attention made him uncomfortable and had a feeling the whole family would be that way.

  Phoebe pushed back her plate, stuffed, even though she was tempted to eat more. It all tasted delicious.

  “How was the chicken?” Shane nodded to her plate.

  “It was perfect. I just can’t eat another bite. Unless it’s dessert,” she rushed to say. “I can always eat dessert.”

  Shane grinned at her and her stomach did that flip-flop again. “Good to know.” He pushed back his plate and sat back.

  The wait staff was swift, moving in to clear their plates and brush the crumbs from the table.

  When they brought the dessert menu, Phoebe didn’t know which one to choose.

  “Tell me which ones you’re thinking about.” Shane had a wicked glint in his eye.

  “The chocolate cake or the tres leches.”

  Shane turned to the waiter. "We’ll take one each of those, please.”

  Phoebe groaned. “I won’t be able to walk out of here.”

  Shane winked. “I’ll carry you.”

  Phoebe blushed at the thought of him lifting her in his arms. Then her mind started to wander to all the places he could take her, and what he could do with her there.

  He leaned across the table and took her hand, pulling her in closer. “I think I want to know where your head just went.” His voice had lowered an octave and she had a feeling he knew exactly where her head had gone.

  Phoebe glanced up to make sure nobody was standing nearby. “Sorry,” she whispered, “I was just thinking about you carrying me away and, um…”

  Shane made a sound that only a man can make, the kind that sent even more thoughts flashing through the Phoebe’s mind. “I think I like where you’re headed with that. And I’m not sure I can stick around for dessert anymore.”

  Phoebe gasped. “Bite your tongue. We never skip dessert.”

  Shane laughed and pulled back. “I did promise not to take you back to my place on the first date. I’m planning to stick with that.”

  Phoebe found herself nodding but on the inside, she was battling between disappointment and a sense of pleasure that he wanted to wait. She hadn’t been so attracted to anyone in a long time, but the fact that he wanted to wait, that he didn’t want to rush things between them, made this all the more appealing.

  25

  If you can find a way to be there for friends and family when they need you, even with only a word or a quiet presence, do it.

  Fiona O’Malley’s Journal

  It killed Shane to take Phoebe home at the end of the night, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He didn’t want to sleep with her until he was sure this was headed somewhere. If they went on a few dates and weren’t feeling as strongly about each other as they did now, they could walk away and stay friends. But Shane knew once he took Phoebe to bed, walking away and
staying friends or continuing to work together probably wasn’t going to happen.

  He pulled up to the curb outside her apartment. She had been lucky to rent the small studio over a garage in a quiet neighborhood not far from downtown. The houses weren’t extravagant and they were close together, but the neighborhood was well kept up.

  Shane opened Phoebe’s car door and lifted her hand to tug her out. As she stepped to him, he pulled her in, loving the feel of her body in that light sundress against his. She was so soft, her breasts skimming across his chest. He threaded one hand through her hair and dipped to her mouth to taste her.

  She was sweetness and spice all at once, and the combination was heady and sinful.

  Shane would have liked to lose himself in her, but movement from the shadows near her steps had him breaking the kiss and moving her behind him. Shane turned to face the shadow, his blood pressure kicking up at the thought that Phoebe might be in danger.

  “Get back in the car, Phoebe. Lock the doors,” he said quietly.

  He heard a gruff voice before the shadowed form came forward and took shape. “Watch where you’re putting your hands, son. That’s my daughter you’re groping.”

  “Dad?” As Phoebe’s voice came from behind him, Shane processed that he was facing General Brophy. Facing General Brophy with the taste and feel of the man’s daughter much too fresh in his mind. Talk about killing the mood.

  “Dad!” Now Phoebe shot around Shane and leapt at the large man standing there. The large man who was somehow both grinning at her and scowling at Shane at the same time. Phoebe had her arms wrapped around her father and the General held her with one arm as if the move took no effort. Something about it struck Shane. She was truly her daddy’s girl.

  It was suddenly very important to Shane that Phoebe’s dad like him.

  He waited as Phoebe and the General hugged before shaking the hand he offered Shane.

  “Stop scowling, dad,” Phoebe said after introducing them. “Come on, did you see how fast Shane put himself between you and me when he saw you step toward us in the dark?”

  Shane almost laughed at her as she put all her energy into convincing her father of his chivalrous ways.

  Her dad grumbled what seemed to be a grudging admission that he’d been impressed.

  “What are you doing here?” Phoebe looped one arm into her father’s arm and one into Shane’s, leading the men on either side of her toward her apartment.

  “Actually,” the General said, “It’s good that you’re both here. I came to tell you in person what I found out about your friend’s brother.”

  Shane felt his chest tighten. That didn’t sound good. He felt like he was walking on leaden feet as they broke apart and took the outside flight of stairs that lead to Phoebe’s apartment single file.

  “What did you find out about James?” Phoebe asked as soon as they entered. She led the way to the couch and sat. It wasn’t lost on Shane that her father took the seat beside her, leaving Shane to sit in the chair beside them. He almost didn’t care. As much as he wanted to be close to Phoebe, his mind was fully focused on the whereabouts of Laura’s brother at the moment.

  “On the record, all I’m able to tell you is that James was part of a unit running an op in South America in an area heavily controlled by guerrilla organizations. In fact, the specific groups at play there have changed hands a few times in the last few years.”

  Shane didn’t like where this was headed.

  The General continued and Shane wondered how many times he’d had to give a report like this to family members of the men who’d fought for him over the years. “His unit was under fire, sustaining heavy casualties. When they were able to get air support and another team in there to pull those guys out, there was no sign of James. The two surviving members of the unit swore they saw him sustain injuries he couldn’t have survived, but there was no body, no signs of his remains.”

  Shane got the sense the General was trying to tone it down for Phoebe’s sake, but she still looked pale. Shane stood and went to her side of the couch, sitting on the arm and taking her hand in his. She smiled up at him before looking back to her father.

  “James is officially listed as missing-in-action. The two surviving members have pushed for a unit to go in again and try to bring his remains home, but the area is still a hotbed. It’s controlled by violent drug cartels, guerrilla groups, and gun runners.”

  He paused and Shane jumped in. “You said this was what you could tell us on the record? What is the off-the-record piece of things?”

  The General paused like he was assessing Phoebe, but then continued. “Off the record, there have been reports in the region of a man being held by one of the organizations in the area. They call him the Illusion and he certainly appears to be more myth and legend than truth. Local people say he has died many times, but that is taken by others to mean he has come close to death and survived. It’s said he was captured and taken to the mountains and given over to a village of women to care for. No one expected him to live. They say he escaped for a time and was smuggling information out to government forces from within several of the guerrilla strongholds before he was recaptured and near death again.”

  “And you think this could be James?” Shane asked.

  The General shook his head. “I don’t even know if this man truly exists. The surviving members of James’s unit have gathered intelligence on this Illusion. They’ve talked to people from the region and they believe he fits the description.” He shook his head again. “Honestly, I don’t know if it’s them wanting their friend to be alive so badly they’re willing to see it in anything or what. But it bothers me that the evac team wasn’t able to find his body.”

  “What can we do?” Phoebe asked, echoing Shane’s own questions racing around his head. He knew once he told Cade there was a chance James could be alive, it was very likely Cade would want to charter a plane and go to the area himself.

  The General sighed. “I don’t honestly know if there is anything you can do, but I’ll tell you this. You said this woman, your friend, was the former Laura Kensington. She has political connections?”

  Shane nodded, seeing where he was going with this. “Her father-in-law and his father before him were both Senators. Her husband was the next in line, everyone thought, before he died.”

  “I can apply some pressure on my side of things, at least get the Army to investigate the stories, see if there’s any truth to this. If we have a man in there who’s being held, we need to know about it. If she can get her family to apply pressure from the outside, we might be able to open the file.”

  Shane rubbed a hand down his face. How could he tell Laura any of this? Knowing there was a possibility her brother was alive would kill her. And if the news didn’t shred her, having to go to her former mother-in-law for this kind of favor might just finish the job.

  26

  Life is a strange lad.

  Irish Proverb recorded in Fiona O’Malley’s Journal

  Shane had arranged for them to have breakfast out at the ranch the following day. He was grateful to have Phoebe with him as they trudged up the steps to the porch. The General had offered to come, but Shane thought it would be best letting Laura hear the news with family and friends first. He could bring her to see the General later if she wanted to talk to him. He had no idea how Laura was going to take this news.

  There were the usual hugs and kisses, as though they all hadn’t seen each other in months or years instead of days, but Shane never minded. It felt good to be enveloped by family. Laura and Cade’s daughter, Jamie, wrapped her small arms around Shane’s neck and he breathed in the scent of the small child. The girl acted so much like Cade, mimicking all his mannerisms and his way with the animals, it was hard to remember at times that biologically, she belonged to Laura’s late husband.

  Josh Samuels, his mother’s live-in boyfriend, carried hot oatmeal muffins to the table. “So, what is it that couldn’t wait until dinner tomor
row?”

  The family had a standard Sunday dinner that Shane had once again been able to attend, thanks to Phoebe getting him caught up on his workload.

  Shane cleared his throat. “It’s about your brother, Laura,” he said, meeting his sister-in-law’s gaze. He’d been more than a bit of an ass when Laura had shown up on the ranch two years back. She’d been running from her late husband’s family, believing they wanted to take her child from her. Her mother-in-law had tried, for a time. Now, they lived in a shaky truce after her mother-in-law had moved to town.

  Phoebe stood and reached a hand toward Jamie. “Any chance you could show me the puppies this morning? I’ve been dying to see them again.”

  Josh rose as well. “I’ll go with you guys. The puppies are growing so quickly, they might be able to take the two of you down to the ground and lick you to death.” He scooped Jamie up in his arms as she giggled at the image of puppies licking her and Phoebe, and the three left the room. The quiet of their absence made the silent stares all the more evident.

  Cade broke the silence. “Have you found his grave?”

  Shane shook his head, no. For more than a year now, he’d been searching for the site of James’s burial, hoping to give Laura the chance to say good-bye.

  “Laura,” Shane began, “Phoebe was finally able to help me piece things together and track down what happened to James. It turns out, James entered the Army after you left your father’s home.”

  Laura’s eyes turned soft at the news and he thought she might cry, but she kept the tears at bay throughout the whole story. He told her of Phoebe’s outreach to the General and what the General had shared with them the night before.

  “If it’s okay with you, Laura, I’d like to go see Martha Kensington for you. To ask her to apply pressure and see if we can get the Army to investigate the rumors. I’m sure she has contacts she can call.”