Top Gun Guardian

by Carol Ericson

  “No. I can’t leave…Malika. Can’t you see? She means a lot to me.”

  He traced the hills and valleys of her fingers. “You don’t have to prove anything, Raven.”

  “Prove anything?” She froze, her mouth forming a thin line.

  “You know, prove you can like kids. Prove you can be a mother when it’s something you’d rejected for years, when it’s the reason you called off our engagement.”

  She flung her hands up, dislodging his grip. Her dark eyes flashed with fire and her cheeks reddened as if scorched by the flame.

  “That’s what you think I’m doing here? Using Malika for some sort of redemption?” Her nostrils flared. “Or do you think I’m using her to get to you? You think you’re so freakin’ irresistible, I’m using a child to get you back into my bed?”

  Buzz gestured toward the bed with a slight smile. “It worked, didn’t it?”

  Her jaw dropped, and Buzz tensed his muscles, preparing for a slap or a punch to the gut. Come on, Raven. I can take it. Get it over with and then get the hell out of White Cloud. Go back home. Go back to safety.

  The line of her jaw hardened and she clenched her hands. “Bryan Richardson, you’re an ass.”

  Then she rolled from the bed and slammed into the bathroom.

  He collapsed on the mattress. She didn’t say she wanted to leave, but how long would her anger allow her to stay with him? In danger?

  The running water in the bathroom seemed to go on forever, and then she burst through the door. “I’m taking the bed. You can have that comfortable chair over there or sleep downstairs. I’ll leave it to you to explain to your nosy sister.”

  Grinning, he eased back against a pillow. “Did I say I minded being back in your bed? I admire your tenacity. You’re a brilliant strategist.”

  “And you’re an ass. Get out.”

  He’d definitely be getting out. He wouldn’t be able to sleep in that chair while the woman he loved had this big bed all to herself. He couldn’t give up Raven any more than he could give up breathing.

  He shrugged and slid from the bed, grabbing a pillow. He had no intention of sleeping downstairs on the couch. He had a perfectly good guest room down the hall—but she didn’t need to know that. Might as well send her back to New York with a little guilt niggling at her conscience. Just in case.

  He crept down the hall and slipped into a vacant room. The cold, empty sheets enveloped his body and he punched a pillow. Did he really think Raven would come running back to his arms once he’d finished this assignment and found Jack?

  She’d done it this time. Was twice too much to expect?

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Raven brushed her teeth so vigorously she almost wore off the enamel. She hunched over the sink and studied the dark circles under her eyes. The blissful cloak of sleep hadn’t stolen over her much last night because of Buzz’s words churning through her mind.

  She should’ve socked him when she had the chance.

  She soaked a washcloth in cold water and pressed the cloth to her eyes. She didn’t want Buzz to notice the remnants of a sleepless night.

  She tossed the wet cloth into the tub and started applying the cheap drugstore makeup she’d bought the other day. The concealer gave her the appearance of a clown and she wiped it off with a tissue.

  Clown. She crumpled the tissue in her hand and her knuckles turned as white as the porcelain sink. That had to have been an accident. One of life’s little coincidences. Maybe the rodeo clown’s encounter with her outside of the porta-johns shook him up.

  But why would her questions shake him up if he hadn’t said anything to her in the first place? And why had he warned her?

  She didn’t care. Buzz was right about one thing. She needed to go home. She didn’t fit in here at White Cloud with horses and rodeos and corn dollies. And kids.

  A tap on the bedroom door lured her away from the mirror and the mess of trying to hide her sleep-deprived eyes. If that was Buzz trying to get his stuff, he’d just have to wait.

  Another thing he’d been right about—she found him irresistible.

  She swung open the door with discontent twisting her features only to find Malika on the threshold.

  “I am going to be a pea.”

  “You have to pee?”

  Malika giggled. “I am going to be a pea in the parade.”

  Oh damn, another parade. Just what she wanted to see.

  Raven pasted a bright smile on her face and widened her eyes. “You are? What parade is this?”

  “The Harvest Festival parade.” Josie leaned against the doorjamb, her bright-blue eyes scanning Raven from head to toe. “I hope you don’t mind. The city has vegetable costumes and the kids dress up and march down Main Street.”

  “And you want to be a pea?” Raven tickled Malika behind the ear.

  “Or a carrot.”

  “Just don’t be a Brussels sprout.” Screwing up her face, Raven stuck out her tongue.

  Malika skipped out of the room singing, “No Brussels sprouts, no Brussels sprouts.”

  Josie tipped her head to one side and Raven prepared for the onslaught.

  “You’re good with her.”

  “You seem surprised.” Raven bit her tongue. She should’ve just accepted the compliment.

  “Well, we’d heard that’s why you ended things with Buzz. He wanted kids. You didn’t. Sort of surprising you show up here with a ready-made family.”

  “People change.”

  “Yeah.” Josie’s gaze tracked down Raven’s sweater and jeans, settling on her low-heeled boots—the only shoes she had besides her Jimmy Choo stilettos tossed in the closet.

  “We’d also heard you were a city girl through and through, from a wealthy family, boarding schools, designer clothes, the whole nine yards.” She smirked. “That’s a football reference.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Harvard has a football team.”

  Josie’s eyes lit up. She liked to needle and seemed to enjoy getting needled back almost as much. “I think the Sooners kicked their butts once.”

  “Probably.”

  “You and Buzz must’ve been in a real hurry then if you couldn’t even be bothered to pack a Louis Vuitton with your designer duds.” She waved a hand over Raven’s ensemble. “Unless Daisy’s set up shop in Manhattan.”

  “We were in a hurry. If you want to know why, ask Buzz.” Raven pushed past Josie, restraining an impulse to slug another Richardson.

  Raven had the kitchen to herself and zeroed in on some pancakes cooling on the counter. She stuck her fork into a couple and dropped them on her plate. Josie irritated her but at least the woman could cook.

  Carrying her plate in one hand and a bottle of maple syrup in another, Raven wandered to the kitchen table and peered out the window. Buzz had the kids doing chores.

  Did he really think she’d been using Malika to rehabilitate her image? She sawed into a pancake and popped a bite into her mouth. The sweet syrup was at odds with the sour taste in her mouth. Maybe she should go home, let Buzz deal with this mission in his own way. Forget she’d ever seen Buzz. Forget they’d ever made love.

  She dropped her fork and took a gulp of orange juice. Like that would be easy to forget. After they split up, it had taken her months just to forget the taste of him on her lips.

  The front door swung open and Raven jumped. Austin barreled into the room, whistling some country song. “I saw Buzz with the kids, but where’s Josie?”

  Raven pointed her fork at the ceiling. “She’s upstairs.”

  “Sounds like you want to keep her there.”

  Raven shrugged. She liked Austin and really didn’t want to get into a discussion with him about his wife.

  He laughed. “Yeah, Josie’s little but she’s like a tornado. Don’t let her get to you. She likes you.”

  Raven swallowed and kept her mouth shut. Austin was delusional.

  “Hey, I was in town this morning and got some news about the rodeo clown.”

  “Is he oka
y?”

  Austin ran a hand across his mouth. “No, he’s dead.”

  Raven’s heart skipped a beat. “Is the rodeo canceled?”

  “They’re not going to cancel the rodeo. It’s too bad about the guy, but it wasn’t the rodeo. Seems he had a heart attack.”

  “A heart attack?” Raven wrapped her hands around her glass of juice. “But he was a young man.”

  “Was he? How could you tell under that makeup and from that distance?”

  “I—I just assumed because of his line of work.”

  Austin spread his hands. “I don’t know how old he was, but if he had heart disease even a young man can die of a heart attack. Anyway, it wasn’t the bull’s fault and they’re not going to cancel the rodeo.”

  “I guess that’s good for the kids. What time is this parade of vegetables?”

  “After lunch.” He paused on the first step of the stairs. “I hope you don’t mind that Josie and the kids and I barged in on your retreat here and are dragging you to the Harvest Festival every day.”

  “Not at all.” Well, maybe except for Josie. “It’s fun for Malika.”

  “Malika’s school must have this Thanksgiving week off from school, too. She’s in kindergarten, right?”

  Raven stared at him while her brain whirred around ages and grades in school. Five. Kindergarten. Right. “Yes, yes, she’s in kindergarten but we don’t have her enrolled in school yet.”

  Austin blinked. “That’s probably a good idea to give her time to get acclimated. Burumanda, right?”

  “Huh?”

  “Buzz told us she came from the area that formed the new country recently.”

  “That’s right. Her parents died in the upheaval.” She chewed the inside of her cheek. Was that too much information? Apparently, she didn’t know what Buzz had told them.

  “Sad story. She’s lucky to have you.” Austin’s voice echoed down as he trod up the stairs.

  Was she?

  For the rest of the morning, Raven watched Buzz with the kids. Wyatt and Britney were already competent riders and Malika wanted to match them.

  Raven hung on the fence, calling out encouragement. She and Buzz hadn’t spoken directly to each other since their argument last night. Did he believe her words of support for Malika were an act?

  Buzz led Malika’s horse to the fence. “She’s doing great.”

  “I can tell.” Raven backed up two steps.

  “Don’t be afraid of the horse, Mama.”

  Raven slid a glance toward Buzz as the customary lump formed in her throat when Malika used that word. Did he think that was fake?

  “Okay, you teach me how not be afraid.”

  Malika leaned forward on the pony, hugging his neck. “Put out your hand slowly.”

  Raven stretched out her hand toward the pony’s nose.

  “Bunch up your hand and let Star sniff you.”

  “His name is Star?” Raven fisted her hand and held it in front of Star’s big, snuffling nostrils.

  “Buzz-Daddy, give Mama a piece of apple for Star. Star likes apples.”

  Buzz withdrew an apple from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to Raven. “Watch his teeth.”

  Raven put the apple under Star’s nose and held her breath as the horse pulled back his lips and took it with his teeth. He demolished the apple in a few bites and nuzzled Raven’s hand.

  “See? He likes you, Mama. He trusts you. They need to trust.”

  Raven flashed a dark glance at Buzz. Horses and people needed to trust.

  When they were alone together in the car with Malika in the backseat, Buzz turned to Raven. “You know the rodeo clown died from a heart attack?”

  “Austin told me. Is that good news or bad news?”

  “It’s bad news for the rodeo clown either way, and it’s bad news for us, too.” His jaw formed a grim line.

  Raven glanced in the backseat and shook her head at Buzz. Malika didn’t need bad news, whether she understood their conversation or not.

  When they met Austin and Josie at the festival information booth, Josie herded the kids to the dressing room to find veggie costumes.

  Raven hooked an arm around Buzz’s and dragged him toward a food stand. “Okay, why is a heart attack bad news for us?”

  Buzz shoved his hands in his pockets and widened his stance. “I’m not sure you need to know, Raven. I think you should leave. I can send you back to Tulsa with Austin and Josie and you can catch a flight out from there.”

  Grinding her teeth, Raven blew out a harsh breath. “I’m not leaving Malika, and I don’t care if you think it’s an act because if you do think it’s an act, I’m certainly not interested in renewing our relationship so that should prove it’s not an act.”

  Buzz raised one eyebrow in a look that she hated because it was so sexy, and she didn’t want to find him sexy right now.

  “Do you want to say that again so I can understand it?”

  “No.” She poked him in the chest. “Now what’s the matter with having a heart attack, besides the obvious?”

  He ran a hand along the rim of his hat. “There are ways of inducing a heart attack in someone, ways that make the attack appear natural.”

  She whistled. “So you think someone did that to the clown? But why? Why was he warning me?” She grabbed Buzz’s shirt as an image slammed against her brain. “He was there by the crane.”

  “What?”

  “The other night, when I took what I thought was Michael’s call. I saw a clown by the bleachers. I bet it was the one who warned me.”

  “Do you think he saw who released that crane?” Deep grooves etched lines in Buzz’s face. “That means it wasn’t an accident.”

  “Th-that also means Farouk tracked us to White Cloud.” Raven glanced over her shoulder as if she expected Farouk to appear in the flesh. “How, Buzz? Nobody outside that room at the hotel even knew you were involved with President Okeke and even the people in that room don’t know about White Cloud.”

  “There are always ways, Raven.” He rubbed his chin and scuffed the toe of his boot into the ground.

  “We need to get Malika out of here.”

  “I’ll work on it.”

  “There’s still something that doesn’t make sense. Suppose somebody did kill that rodeo clown because he witnessed the crane accident and tried to warn me. But why would someone come after me? I didn’t even have Malika with me at the time.”

  “I don’t know.” Buzz jerked his chin toward Josie hustling the kids out of the costume area. “We’d better help out. All I can think of is with you out of the way, there’s a clearer path to Malika.”

  Raven strode toward the kids, calling over her shoulder, “Not if I have anything to do with it.”

  The girls were struggling into their costumes and Malika peered at Raven through the face of a pea pod. Britney danced around in her carrot costume, bobbing her head to wave the leaves at the top, and Wyatt sulked as a stalk of wheat.

  “I don’t know why I have to be in the parade. It’s for girls.”

  “You do it every year, and besides, you have to show Malika the ropes.” Josie pulled his arm through the beige sleeve and grimaced. “Boys. When you and Buzz have another, you should stick with girls.”

  Raven ignored Josie’s comment and flipped the mesh screens over the face cutouts on the girls’ costumes. “These are cute. What exactly do you do in the parade?”

  “Stupid dancing, and I’m not dancing.” Wyatt folded his arms across his chest.

  Josie flicked his head with her finger. “Oh for goodness’ sakes, Wyatt, lighten up.”

  Buzz whispered in Raven’s ear, “I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to go dancing down the street as a stalk of wheat either.”

  “Time to line up.” Josie grabbed the girls’ hands as Wyatt trailed behind, dragging his feet.

  “I have to pee.” Wyatt dug his sneakers into the ground.

  Josie’s face turned red and her eyes glittered. The sight ha
d a strangely comforting effect on Raven. Good parents got angry and frustrated with their kids, too.

  “I’ll take him.” Raven held out her hand to Wyatt. “Do you want to hold my hand? That costume looks like it could throw you off balance.”

  He put his slightly sticky hand in hers and she didn’t even mind. “We’ll meet you in the lineup for the parade.”

  The festival organizers had set up Porta-Potties in a parking lot and Raven headed toward them, gripping Wyatt’s hand. He wriggled loose and pointed to a small café. “I can go in there. We know the owners. They’ll let me.”

  “Okay. If you say so.” Raven pushed open the door to the crowded café and stopped a waitress. “Bathrooms?”

  “There’s a unisex in the back to the right, but you have to buy something.”

  So much for having friends in high places.

  Placing her hands on Wyatt’s shoulders, Raven steered him toward the small hallway in the back of the restaurant. “It’s back there. I’m going to buy a drink. Meet me right here.”

  She watched him walk to the hallway, and then she turned toward the counter. “I’ll have an iced tea to go, please.”

  After she paid, she shoved the straw through the lid and sauntered to a table facing the back hallway. She leaned against the table and watched the single bathroom door.

  A blonde woman swinging her purse at her side hurried into the hallway and pushed open the bathroom door.

  The straw slipped out of Raven’s mouth. The waitress had told her the café had a single bathroom. She pushed off the table and crept down the hallway. A brisk breeze blew strands of her hair across her face. She peeked around the corner of the hallway. A back door stood open, leaving a screen door rattling in the wind.

  Pinpoints pricked her flesh, and Raven turned back to the bathroom door. She tried the handle.

  “Occupied.” A woman’s voice sang out from behind the door.

  A spiral of fear snacked up Raven’s spine. If the blonde was in the bathroom alone, where was Wyatt?

  Chapter Thirteen

  The blood rushed to Raven’s head and she grabbed the door handle to steady herself. With the other hand, she banged on the door. “Wyatt?”