“None taken. We are simple. Just club us over the head if we aren’t picking up on your cues.” His thumb rubbed over her hand. “That was what was happening, right? You were hoping I’d negate your comment about us being fake?”
There was so much hope in his voice. If she closed her eyes, she could almost see this giant mammoth of a man as a small child with pleading eyes.
“Yes, I’m so used to beating around the bush. In truth, I had hoped you would set me straight, but you didn’t, so I resorted back to the game. It was easier to believe we were still playing it rather than know that you’d used me too.”
“Red is right. We used each other, but not that night. That was real. Everything about us making love was us making love. I felt it, and I know you felt it too.”
She laid her hand on top of his. “I did, and that’s why it hurt so much that you abandoned me in the morning.”
He nodded. “It was more about self-preservation than abandonment, but I can see why you would feel that way.”
This was the most honest conversation she’d ever had with a man. Being raised by a single mother didn’t give her a lot of experience in dealing with men. Working with musicians didn’t give her real-world experience because their lives were not stereotypical.
“Tell you what,” she said. “Let’s try something new. Let’s build whatever this is on honesty.”
“What a concept.” He broke a small bite of his brownie off and held it to her lips. “I say we share everything. No secrets between us.”
She took the bite and savored the rich chocolate and crunchy walnut. “I agree.”
He leaned in and moved so close their lips almost touched. “You start. I need to know what your deal-breakers are.”
She wanted to kiss him but knew if their lips met, they’d never get another word said, so she leaned back.
“You’ve left me twice, once in bed, and once at the diner. That’s a deal-breaker for me. If you abandon me again, I’m not sure I’ll be able to move forward. You do want to move forward, right? That’s what this is all about?”
He smiled, and she swore the sun shot from his lips. He was light and warmth and happiness.
“Yes, this is about moving forward, but maybe we should start at the beginning.”
“The beginning?” The middle was pretty fantastic, too, but the beginning sounded promising. “How about dinner tonight? I’ll whip up some take-and-bake pizza from Dalton’s. I’ll even spring for a six-pack of beer.”
He moved so fast, her head spun. His lips touched hers, and he spoke against them. “It’s a date—a real date. This is real. Scary as hell, but real.” He pressed his mouth to hers, and she melted against him. There was no coaxing needed. The minute his tongue touched her lips, she let him in. There was no dueling. No rushed pace. His kiss was soft and languid, and his tongue slipped against her like liquid gold. He tasted sweet, like chocolate and passion. There was a promise in the kiss. He was telling her he wouldn’t abandon her.
Then his phone went off.
He groaned as he pulled away.
“Sorry.”
He answered. “Deputy Buchanan.” His forehead furrowed. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up.
“You have to go?”
He rose from his seat. “I do.”
“See you tonight? Six?”
He brushed her lips with his. “It’s a date.”
She laughed. “A scary date,” she teased.
He swept his brownie off the table. “Care if I take this? It might be lunch.”
“All yours.” She meant it. The brownie. Her lips. Her body and her heart.
He folded the wrapper over and stuck it into his shirt pocket before he turned and walked to the door. The deadbolt turned under his grip, and he walked out; only this time, Deanna didn’t feel so alone.
Minutes later, Katie walked back inside. “How’d it go?”
“You didn’t have to leave your shop so I could talk to Merrick.” A broad smile made her cheeks ache.
“But I did, and by the looks of it, the talk was good?”
“We have a real date tonight at six. It’s a do-over. Same pizza, same beer, but no fake-date bargain.”
Katie boxed up a few brownies. “I don’t have the caramel brownies, but I have these.” She handed Deanna the box. “You can probably take your note from the wall.”
“I already did.” She glanced at the table, but the note was gone. “Oh, no.”
“What?”
“I think Merrick had my wall wish stuck to the bottom of his brownie.”
Katie threw a fist into the air. “The wall works then. It got into the hands it was supposed to.”
Deanna covered her face with her hands. “How embarrassing.” The best she could hope for was that he wouldn’t notice and would toss it out with the wrapper.
Katie looked at the clock hanging on the wall. “Girl, you have time to doll yourself up. Hot bath. Glass of wine. Paint your nails.”
“You’re right. I do.” She gathered her garbage and tossed it into a nearby trash can. She couldn’t believe how the day unfolded. She woke up solidly in the “I’ll die single” camp, and now she had a date. A real date. Maisey’s words from yesterday filtered through her brain. “And I thought I’d have to plant a garden.”
Katie waved her off. “All you needed was to plant a seed.”
Though the sweet baker had no idea what she was referring to, her response was spot on. “Yep, the seed is planted. All I need to do is water it.” As she walked out of the bakery, vines of hope sprouted inside her heart.
Chapter Twenty-One
“What are we dealing with?” Merrick climbed into the passenger seat of the cruiser. Aiden turned on the lights and took off toward Copper Creek.
“Hostage situation. Armed robbery at a bank. The Copper Creek police department has asked neighboring communities for help. They already have two officers down.”
Merrick’s shoulder stiffened as a current roped through him, making the hairs stand on his arms and the nape of his neck. His shoulder throbbed where the bullet from the last hostage situation hit him.
He stared ahead but saw nothing except a replay of the events that unfolded in Denver last year.
All he could see was the fear in the little girl’s eyes as her father held the gun to her head. Silent tears ran down her face as her whole body shook.
The rage that filled him was strong enough to power an entire city. He wasn’t a reckless cop, never had been, but that day, all he thought about was that man in the library who had taken his life. Any man willing to hold a gun to his child’s head was a man ready to use it. He had nothing left to live for.
The hostage negotiator had failed. As far as they knew, the girl’s mother was already dead. Wearing his vest, he moved toward the man but talked to the girl.
“It’s Haley, right?” He held up his hands as if to surrender. Between two fingers, he held a lollipop. “Do you like grape?” He made a slow move to raise the sucker so both father and daughter could see it clearly.
“Don’t come any closer,” her father yelled.
“You’re Todd. Hey Todd, I’m Officer Buchanan.”
“If I won’t talk to your negotiator, what makes you think I would talk to you?”
Merrick wasn’t there to talk. He was there to take action. As one of the only cops without a family or children to come home to, it made sense that he’d be the one to enter the fray. He had less to lose, fewer people who depended on him.
“I’m not here to talk. I’m here to tell you a story.” Lying was never his strong point, and he hoped the guy didn’t see the twitch in his jaw. “When I was a kid, a man held himself hostage in a library. At the time, I thought that was insane. I also thought it was noble. Two sides of the same coin. He was desperate but chose to be alone in his desperation. My mom was the librarian and managed to get everyone out of harm’s way. She was the hero that day because the cops took far too long to get there.” While h
e spoke, he inched forward, hoping his voice and the sucker he moved in his hand distracted the man.
“All I wanted was my family.” Todd’s voice cracked. “She ruined it all.”
“Where is she?”
He looked over his shoulder, and Merrick knew it was too late for Haley’s mom, but not for her. He had but a second to act. A second while Todd was distracted. A second to save Haley’s life.
He bolted from his place and ripped Haley from her father’s arms. He curled his body around hers and took off running. Shots rang out, with one hitting his vest with the power of a sledgehammer. Another burned a hole right through his shoulder, but he continued to run until he found cover behind the swat car.
The medical team rushed in, pulling Haley from his arms. Several more shots rang out. In seconds, a little girl was an orphan.
“Are you listening?” Aiden’s voice broke through his memory.
“Yep, a hostage situation. Twenty captives, two are children. One gunman.” He didn’t know how he did it, but he always managed to think and hear simultaneously.
“I brought you because you have some experience with this kind of thing. Mark would be a fish out of water in this situation. The only hostage he’s seen is Tom, the cat, and the poor thing escapes with regularity. Can’t help a victim who returns to the scene of the crime with regularity.”
“Food is a great motivator.” Speaking of food, he remembered the brownie he put in his pocket and pulled it out. Stuck to the bottom of the napkin was a yellow note. He pulled it off and glanced at it.
All I want is to be seen, be heard, be appreciated, and be loved.
Deanna
Had she put it there for him to see? He had to believe this was a gift from the universe, telling him that Deanna was open to receiving his love. He took a bite of the brownie and put the note back into his pocket. When he got back to town, his first stop would be to see Deanna and tell her he was up to the task of loving her and wanting to be the recipient of her love.
He almost pulled out his phone to send her a text, but they arrived at the scene before he could, so he tucked his thoughts about Deanna aside. Distractions were dangerous, and the situation was already risky as it was.
The Copper Creek police chief walked over to brief them.
“Shots were fired, but so far, no hostages have been injured. They seem to be warning shots, mostly aimed out the window. He clipped the first two officers on scene.”
“Do we know who the guy is and what he wants?”
“He’s Michael Caldwell, twenty-five, and a meth addict. The best we can tell is he’s carrying a Glock, but we don’t know how much ammo he’s got. What he wants is for us to go away and let him leave, but we all know that’s not happening. Our best bet is to get the hostages out one by one and let SWAT handle the rest.”
Merrick frowned. Dealing with drug addicts at their best was tough. Put one in a powder keg and add a match with the stress of the entire Copper Creek police force breathing down your neck, and it was a disaster waiting to happen.
Another officer approached. “He wants food.”
Merrick smiled. “Now you have something to bargain with.”
An hour later, a dozen hostages were freed, and a Mexican food feast was delivered.
“We need to get the kids out.” The chief of police rubbed at the shadow of whiskers on his chin.
“He’s not giving up his trump card,” Merrick said. “He’s kept all the women and children. He knows people will react strongly to mothers and children in danger. We’re dealing with a smart addict.”
The door opened, and a small screaming child was pushed out. The little boy turned to face the door and banged on it with both fists. “Mommy.”
“Get that kid out of here,” Michael said. “He’s giving me a headache. If you don’t shut him up, I will.”
Merrick tensed. His internal need to serve and protect clawed at his skin. “We need to rescue that little boy.”
He moved a step forward, but Aiden grabbed his shoulder. “Looks like SWAT has it covered.”
An officer from the SWAT team moved forward in full gear while the little boy pounded on the door and screamed for his mother.
“Stop,” Michael yelled from a crack in the door.
“Just getting the kid,” the officer responded.
“No, you’re trying to trick me.”
The officer held up his hands. “No, I’m just coming for the boy.”
The air rang with a growl. “Shut him up. I can’t stand it anymore.” The shadow behind the bank window pointed the gun down. The SWAT officer bolted for the boy.
It was like watching a rerun of his event last year. A shot rang out just as the officer swept up the child. He staggered a few feet and went down hard, pinning the boy beneath him. Merrick reacted.
He took off toward his wounded comrade with Aiden trailing behind him. It took him no time to get the boy free and hand him off to Aiden. With adrenaline surging through him, he lifted the SWAT officer just as gunfire split the air. He rushed forward toward safety. As he turned the corner and rounded the building, a searing pain sliced through his leg, and he crumbled to the ground.
Everything blurred and went to black. Oh hell, I’ve been shot again. Only this time, it was worse. He felt the life drain from his body, and his final thoughts were of Deanna before darkness consumed him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
By six-thirty, she knew he wasn’t coming.
“Why?” she asked Sherman, who stared up at her from his bed. “Is it too much to ask for a man to love me?” She paced the floor in front of her window. “Hell, I’d settle for a man who cared enough to show up.” She stomped across the room and picked up her purse. Times like this called for pie. She hoped Maisey had a cherry one, but at this point, any pie would do. She’d even settle for a chicken pot pie.
She walked out and slammed the door. “The only thing I asked from Merrick was that he did not abandon me, and hours later, he did. I’m done.”
Too keyed up to drive, she walked the few blocks to Maisey’s and took the corner booth where Merrick had left her the last time.
Louise pushed through the kitchen’s swinging doors and plodded her way. “Good evening, Deanna.”
She scowled at the friendly waitress. There was no reason to take her anger out on the sweet woman who probably had to work at Maisey’s to feed her brood of kids. How much milk did eight children drink in a week?
“Evening, yes. Good … nope.”
She cocked her head and nodded toward the metal rack at the end of the table. “You need time to look at the menu?”
“I’ll take the pie. Cherry, if you have it. Anything else if you don’t.”
“Okay, one piece of pie coming up.”
Deanna held up a hand. “Not a piece. I need the whole pie.”
Louise’s eyes widened. “You sure?”
“Some days call for moderation, but this isn’t one of them.”
“Okay.” Louise walked off.
Deanna looked around the diner. There were the regulars that came in most evenings. She knew them because she was one of them. Mostly, they were construction workers. Occasionally, she’d see the firemen. Tilden and Goldie came in at least once a week. Wes and Lydia usually ate here on Fridays after she completed her shift at the clinic.
In his corner was Doc, who sat across from Agatha. Some people had all the luck. Doc had two great loves in his life while she couldn’t find one.
The pie plate plopped in front of her. Louise stood to the side with a can of whipped cream.
“Do you want a dab or should I leave the can?”
“Leave the can.”
Louise set the can on the table. “Does this have anything to do with Merrick?”
It took everything in Deanna not to roll her eyes or let out an exaggerated groan. “Why should I care about Merrick?” It hurt her to say the words because she cared more than she wanted to.
“Oh,” Louise’
s head jerked back. “I just thought.” She waved a hand through the air. “I thought you two were a thing.”
“Nope,” Deanna said, shoveling her fork into the center of the pie. The red filling oozed from the crust. The deep crimson reminding her of the color of blood—blood that no doubt oozed from her broken heart. “We are definitely not a thing.”
Louise took a seat on the bench across from her. “It’s a tragedy, really.”
Talking over a mouthful, Deanna replied. “You’re telling me.” It was a tragedy. Just when she thought the universe was looking out for her, it gave her the finger. At least Merrick did. Well, he was too much of a coward to show up and do it in person. It was a silent finger flipping her off from wherever he hid.
“Marina was just in picking up dinner for Aiden. He’s at the hospital waiting for Merrick to come out of surgery.”
The fork dropped from Deanna’s hand. “Wait.” Her thoughts froze for a second. “Merrick’s in surgery?”
“I thought you knew. News travels like a speeding bullet.” Her hand came to her mouth. “Probably the wrong choice of words since Merrick got shot.”
“Merrick got shot?” Her heart compressed like it was caught in a vise. “Are you sure?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Someone shot him in Aspen Cove?” She couldn’t fathom that kind of violence happening in the charming town.
“Oh, heaven’s no. He was called to Copper Creek and a hostage situation. He saved a little boy and another officer but got shot in the process.”
Deanna grabbed her purse. She reached inside and took out a twenty and handed it to Louise. “Where is he?” Each word rose in pitch.
“He’s at the hospital in Copper Creek. There’s only one.”
Deanna flew out the door and ran all the way home. She didn’t bother to go into the house but climbed behind the wheel and sped off toward Merrick.
“You are so dumb,” she chastised herself. “So willing to think the worst of him because he was a man.” She hit the steering wheel hard enough to leave a bruise. She deserved one. If it got purple and ugly, it would serve her well to look at it and remember that every bad thing comes from bad intentions.
One Hundred Mistakes: An Aspen Cove Romance Book 16 Page 13