“Do you think there’s even a small chance she’s still alive?”
“No.” Jordan shook her head. “I know she was pushed her down the stairs and broke her neck.”
“And I know it now, too. Look, I’m sorry everyone gave up on her. It shouldn’t have taken a psychic or a dream to conclude she’s dead. The woman disappeared—didn’t anyone give a shit? Didn’t anyone wonder? I mean, for fuck’s sake, Jordan, not knowing what happened to Tara was a huge horrible hole inside me . . .” He dragged his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry. It just pisses me off knowing what happened and that nobody did a thing.”
“We’ll do something. It might take time and patience, but eventually we’ll get all the answers.” Jordan crooked her finger and coaxed his lips to hers. She kissed him slowly. Kissed him deeply. Kissed him until they both had to pull back for breath.
Ty smiled. “Was that because I built you a swing? Because I’m very good with my hands. I’d like to see what happens when I build you a gazebo or something even bigger.”
She shook her head. She had no intention of telling him that his hands, no matter how ingeniously he used them, had nothing to do with the fact that she was perfectly dumb in love with him. It wasn’t the swing, it wasn’t his big heart, wasn’t even his memorial idea. It was simply that she’d told him Mary Ellen Henderson was dead and the only proof she had was a dream.
And he believed her.
No questions, no doubt, he simply believed her. That kind of acceptance and trust came along . . . well, never that she could remember. Her own mother had blown off her dreams.
For that reason alone, the decision to buy the old house got much easier. She’d follow Tyler McGee to the ends of the earth, live any inconvenient place he wanted to live. Spend any unreasonable amount of money rebuilding a house that would have been a hell of a lot easier to knock down than fix up.
“You think Ellie Henderson will like her memorial here?” he asked.
Jordan looked out over the lake and laced her fingers with his. “I have no idea what Ellie thinks about us being here. I’ve asked her to give me a sign, tried to connect with her, and there’s just nothing.” She turned her head and looked at Ty. “But I love what you’ve done here. And I love you. I think that’s all that matters for now.”
Chapter 10
The next morning, Jordan picked up her furry charity case from the vet.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said. The dog’s big brown eyes glared at her from inside “the cone of shame,” as the vet had referred to it.
“If you lick and chew your stitches, you have to wear a lampshade around your head. I don’t make the rules.” But she was damned sure going to enforce them since the whole debacle had cost nearly a thousand dollars—for a dog she didn’t technically own.
Yeah, the spectacular grand total probably wouldn’t be the first thing she’d be mentioning to Ty.
The dog appeared disgusted. She turned away and looked out the window.
Jordan turned the key in Ty’s big truck. It rumbled to life, and Jordan cruised out of the vet parking lot and onto the road.
The dog circled in the seat and knocked the clunky plastic cone against Jordan’s arm when she tried to nuzzle closer. “All right, come on. Lie down.”
The dog wedged her head between Jordan and the steering wheel.
“Um, I don’t think that’s safe, girl.” But the dog looked up with those huge brown eyes, and it was a done deal. Jordan caved, laid her hand on the dog’s side, and lightly petted her.
“Okay, here’s the plan. We’re sitting pretty because Ty got to pick out the house. Plus, rumor has it that he owns three horses he intends to move to our stable. So if you don’t belong to anyone else, I have some leverage here. I can talk him into letting you stay. But he’s crazy about this house, so no pooping on the floor. He won’t like that. And we’re not going to mention you may need another surgery down the road.”
She glanced down. The dog blinked and yawned like they were old friends and had done this routine several times before.
“Sweet and pathetic, that’s a good look for you, especially if you do poop on the floor. Ty goes for that look; I use it myself sometimes. And we should name you before we get home. A name makes it more personal.”
Jordan tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “Let’s see, what name fits you? You’re a girl, so Rover and Spot are out. Princess? Lady?”
The dog groaned.
“Yeah, you and I both passed the princess stage many moons ago, didn’t we? You look a little like Swiss cheese with the number of holes torn in you, so we could call you Swiss.”
The dog sat up, glaring as if offended.
“I’m sorry, just kidding.” She scratched the dog’s neck. “You’re still beautiful, mostly on the inside right now, but your hair will grow back.” Jordan laughed. “Don’t worry, you’re still my beauty.”
The dog managed to push her head closer and give Jordan a big lick.
“Thank you for the kiss.” Jordan wiped her hand down her cheek and laughed again. “You like Beauty, do you?”
They were stopped at a light. Jordan studied the dog, who could only be described as esthetically challenged. One ear had been torn almost clean off. Half of her body was shaved in a willy-nilly pattern most closely resembling poorly executed crop circles. And she had a wicked underbite.
“Beauty it is,” Jordan agreed. She could have sworn the silly dog smiled.
They enjoyed the rest of the ride to the ranch. The sun was shining, and the temperature was fairly warm. Beauty kept looking at the passenger window, as if she were mentally willing it to disappear.
“We’ll do the rolled-down window thing another day. When you’re not wearing a giant funnel that might catch wind and turn you into a canine kite.”
Jordan signaled and hung a left into their gravel drive. Then she immediately hit the brake.
The sight of Trevor and Ty on top of the roof of the old house grabbed her around the throat. “Seriously, guys?” Ty had said they were getting an estimate on the roof today. She thought that meant a roofer would be crawling around the steep inclines of the house, not Ty.
The man and his projects were going to drive her out of her everlasting mind. “You know, I’d happily pay someone to put on a new roof if he’d stay the hell off of it.”
Beauty yawned in agreement.
Jordan eased through the gate. She wondered if he had his phone up there because she’d sure like to call and give him an earful. Some jobs were better left to a professional. She crawled out of the truck, and Beauty leaped out behind her.
Ty looked in her direction and waved.
She waved back and pointed, adamantly, to the ground.
He gave her a big thumbs-up and a smile.
“Thumbs-up? What’s that supposed to mean? I’ll give him a thumbs-up.”
He knelt down to inspect the shingles and stood again. Once. Twice. The third time, he stumbled back a few steps.
His arms flailed as he stepped to the side. Trevor grabbed for him, but he wasn’t close enough to catch hold.
Jordan’s heart lurched. She sucked in a breath and raced to the side of the house. She saw Ty fall. “Oh God, Ty,” she screamed.
Tumbling off the roof, he reached out, snagging a limb from the overgrown tree brushing the siding. The limb bent under his weight, lowering him smooth and steady most of the way down before he slid off and dropped the final few feet to the ground.
Jordan dropped to the ground beside him. “Ty? Tyler, say something.” She knew her cries were making no sense, but oh, holy God, she refused to lose him to this kind of stupidity.
Trevor—opting for the ladder—wasn’t far behind. “Oh man, does he need an ambulance?”
“No, I’m fine,” Ty finally said after he’d gulped in several big breaths. He sat up. “Landing knocked the wind out of me, but I’m good.” He reached for Jordan’s hands. “It’s fine, baby. Really.”
&nb
sp; She exchanged a glance with Trevor, then they both turned back to Ty.
He smiled. No, he grinned. A big, fat, shit-eating grin.
“I’m better than fine. Did you frigging see that?” He pointed to the tree and laughed. “That was one in a million. I mean, what are the odds of falling off a roof and being lowered to the ground like you’re sliding down a fireman’s pole?”
Jordan punched his shoulder. “This isn’t funny. You scared the hell out of me. Don’t we take enough stupid chances in our jobs without you crawling around on top of a damned roof?”
Beauty pushed her cone-wrapped head between Jordan and Ty. She lifted one paw to Jordan’s arm.
“Hey, hey, I’m sorry. But, baby, I really am fine.” He stroked a knuckle against her cheek but did a double take at the dog. “And I’m in a lot better shape than she is.”
“That’s for sure.” Trevor chuckled. “Poor thing must have fallen out of the same ugly tree you did. Only she hit every branch on the way down.”
Offended on Beauty’s behalf, Jordan stared between them. “Ty could have died falling off that roof, but you boneheads go ahead and make jokes about the dog. Screw you both.” She shot to her feet. “Come on, Beauty.”
Jordan stood, turned on her heel, and stomped toward the house.
Trevor laughed. “What’d she call that dog?”
Ty raced up behind her, snaked his arms around her waist, and picked her up off the ground when she fought him. “Settle down, Short Fuse.” He set her back on her feet when she quit struggling.
She whipped around to face him, furious that she’d actually let a tear escape.
Ty tipped her chin up so that she had no choice but to look at him. “I’m sorry, baby. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“Tyler McGee, there better not be a next time. If you so much as even think about climbing up on that roof again, I will pack up everything I have here—”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Shhh . . .”
His lips came down on hers—and damn him—he knew exactly how to diffuse her temper. And stir up a whole mess of different emotions in the process. She gave up and clung to him, put her arms around him, and just held on.
“What if that tree hadn’t been there?” she whispered against his lips. “God, Ty.”
“I know,” he said. “I’m still trying to make sense of it, too. It was like a miracle or something. Like someone was watching out for me.”
And Jordan knew in that instant—deep in her heart she knew—someone had been watching out for him. She tipped her head back. “It certainly seems that way, doesn’t it?”
He smiled. “Well, I’d like to believe I’m a quick thinker and quick to react, but flipping around and clutching at that tree didn’t enter my mind until about ten seconds after I hit the ground. So either I have lightning-fast reflexes or a guardian angel.”
“Maybe both.” Jordan smiled at him. “And maybe we just got our answer as to whether Ellie likes the memorial you made for her.”
Jordan kissed his neck with a silent thank-you to the Hendersons. She’d gotten the sign she’d been waiting for. Any doubt about Ellie wanting them there vanished.
“I think we should go ahead and sign a contract on this place. Anywhere you can take a nosedive off the roof and land on the ground without a scratch is probably a good place to call home.”
“You sure? It’s a big place for just two people.”
Beauty bumped her head against their legs.
“Well, for two people it is kind of big. But for three, I’d say it’s just about right.” She patted Beauty’s cone head. “Say hello to your new roommate.”
Ty looked down at the dog.
On cue, Beauty cocked her head and suckered him with those big brown eyes and pleading expression. Sad, soulful, needy—just like they’d talked about. Then she did that funny scrunched-up thing with her muzzle that made her look like she was smiling.
The conniving little canine was good.
“You really want to keep her, huh?” Ty said. “She’s kind of a mess. How much was that vet bill, anyway?”
Jordan leaned into him and touched her lips to his. “A lot less than it will cost to keep a horse or two in our stables.”
Ty simply shook his head. “A smart man knows when he’s in a fight he can’t win.”
“I should hope so.” She winked at Beauty, then wrapped her arms around Ty’s neck and kissed him thoroughly. Thoroughly enough that even though he’d lost this one battle, maybe he’d feel like he won the war.
But who was she kidding? A beautiful house. A beautiful stretch of land. A beautiful man who accepted everything about her, even the dreams. She was the one who had won the war. And more importantly, she may have just found the one thing she’d been seeking for over twenty years.
Home.
Dedication:
To Jim, Corey, Cody, Cailey-
No wonder I’m a romance writer, you guys are my constant happily ever after. I love you.
Acknowledgements:
When it comes to this part of the writing process, I’m always amazed at how many people it takes to produce a book. I’m so grateful for each and every one of you.
First, a big thanks to my incredible critique group. Claudia, Linda, Dana, and Tammy, thank you for all the time and hard work you put into the critiques. And thank you for all the love and friendship you bring into my life.
A special thanks to Beth Hill, my editor and a true wordsmith. Thank you for being patient with me and forever catching my dangling modifiers. Maybe someday I’ll be able to catch them myself, but don’t hold your breath.
And to Jen and Kim in the Killion Group. Thank you for doing all the impossible, daunting things that I would never be able to swing on my own. And thank you for a beautiful cover that made me squeal when I saw it. You guys simply rock.
Last but never least, thank you to my wonderful family for all the patience and encouragement. Nothing I do would be possible without you.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Jordan and Ty’s wild ride in Dream Huntress as much as I enjoyed writing it. I read several series with great anticipation because I love when authors use the same hero and heroine in each book. It’s like coming home and getting to visit with old friends.
I suppose it was a natural progression for me to begin writing about a couple that I love. As I think about the super-couples that keep me on the edge of my seat, I find myself anticipating their intimate, private moments as much as the heart-stopping suspense. That’s what I hope to give readers in the Dream Seeker Novellas. A bit of mystery and suspense, but also a very personal glimpse of Jordan and Ty as they navigate loving each other in a complicated world.
Not only do they live on the edge of danger with their law enforcement careers, but both have survived personal tragedies. Both are headstrong and stubborn. And they need each other like the rest of us need air to breathe.
So what are their most intimate conversations about? What do they say to each other right after making love? Do they get annoyed with each other? And how do they cope with Jordan’s visits from the dead?
But most of all, can they make a life together against the odds? If so, what will that life look like? That’s what we want know, right?
Dream Seeker novels will follow the bigger, all-consuming cases. But the novellas are a special personal snapshot of an extraordinary couple making a life together in an ordinary world. I hope you enjoy them, and I love hearing suggestions and feedback from readers. I hope you’ll drop me a line at my website: michellesharpbooks.com
Never Stop Dreaming,
Michelle
Copyright © 2015 Michelle Sharp
ISBN No. 978-0-9967395-1-1
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions
By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this book. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, d
ownloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without the express written permission of copyright owner.
Please Note
The reverse engineering, uploading, and/or distributing of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the copyright owner is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
Interior format by The Killion Group
http://thekilliongroupinc.com
Thank you.
Protecting the Dream (A Dream Seeker Novella Book 2) Page 11