“Oh, I just wanted to make sure Old Man Burnett didn’t pass out on his walk home,” Patience replied with a mischievous grin. “You know you don’t wanna have to carry him home to his wife twice in one week.”
Nodding Cain sighed. Maybe it was kismet, he thought to himself. Perhaps fate was telling him that this wasn’t the night to approach Faith after all. Offering the woman a last lingering look, he nodded at Patience. “I’ll check. Be back in a few.”
~000~
Waiting until Cain was safely out the door, Patience exchanged a look with Harmony, Zeke and Abel before turning her attention to where her sister stood wiping down tables. “Hey, Faith, sweetie?”
“Hmmm?” Faith hummed without looking up from her task.
“Would you mind going and grabbing me another bottle of Jack Daniels from the shelf in the back?” she asked, pointedly looking at the empty space on the shelf behind her bar. “I swear those frat boys drank us clean out of whiskey tonight.”
Nodding, Faith turned toward and walked toward the door to the dining room, disappearing around the corner without a word.
Waiting until her sister was out of sight, Patience turned to Harmony. “Are you sure about this, sis? She told us not to meddle,” Patience worried in a hushed whisper.
“We’ve given them a week,” Harmony reasoned. “It’s time to do something. The holidays are right around the corner and I want Heaven to have one big, happy family for Christmas. This’ll work if everybody did everything they were supposed to do,” she continued with a hard look at the men seated in front of her.
“Everything you told us to get is in the walk-in cooler,” Abel declared with a nod and an impish smile. “Right down to the bottle of wine and two glasses.”
“Plenty of sleeping bags and lots of thick blankets? Battery operated lantern?” Patience asked worriedly, tapping her nails nervously against the bar.
Nodding, Zeke swallowed the last of his beer. “They won’t die of hypothermia, and I stuck two lanterns in there,” he said dryly. “But, there are about a thousand things in there that Faith can use to impale Cain with if she takes a notion.”
“She won’t,” Harmony insisted with the trademark McKinnon determination.
“I hope not,” Zeke muttered, not quite as certain of the outcome. “Honor’s gonna be pissed if that cooler gets bloody, and I’m not ashamed to say that I have no problem throwing any of you under that oncoming bus if it comes down to it.”
“You are so whipped,” Patience breathed in derision, staring at the Sheriff.
“Why do people keep stating the obvious?” Zeke asked Abel irritably as the bell above the door tinkled and Cain returned.
“Home safe and sound, Patience,” Cain called as he began to shrug his jacket off his shoulders.
“Oh, don’t take that off, Cain,” Harmony said sweetly as Faith returned and handed a bottle of Jack Daniels over the counter to Patience. “This beer cooler is plumb empty after those boys came through here tonight. Honor would have our scalps if we didn’t restock everything before we left tonight. You know how she gets when the beer isn’t the right temperature. After that last health inspector took points off his report for it, she’s on the warpath about following all the rules.”
Shoulders sagging, Faith nodded. “She’s right. Honor would kill us.”
“Oh, she’s gonna kill us for a lot more than that,” Abel mumbled into his beer, fully aware of the huge risk they were all about to take together. He’d interfered once in his brother’s life and lived to tell the tale. He just hoped he’d be as lucky the second time around.
“Let’s just get this done,” Zeke suggested with a sigh, jerking his head toward the kitchen as Faith, Cain and Abel filed toward the door. Winking at Patience and Harmony, he murmured, “Wish us luck.”
“Good luck,” Harmony offered with a wide smile.
“You’ll need it,” Patience muttered under her breath.
Zeke walked into the kitchen just as Faith shrugged on a jacket. Thankfully the woman had worn jeans instead of shorts tonight in deference to the cooling temperature outside.
“Y’all go on in,” Abel murmured to the others. “I’ll grab us a dolly to roll the beer out.”
Following Cain and Faith into the cooler, Zeke took a deep breath and prayed he was about to do the right thing for all parties concerned. Thankfully, the clueless pair walked right past their stack of supplies in the corner without noticing them.
“Okay, we usually start with the Budweiser,” he heard Faith tell Cain as she lifted her arm and pointed to the cases stacked in the corner. Seeing his opportunity, Zeke lunged forward and captured her slim wrist quickly manacling her arm with an economy of motion.
“Zeke!” Faith asked loudly as she realized what was happening.
Acting with lightening quick reflexes, Zeke fastened the other manacle around Cain’s arm before the man could open his mouth. Quickly backing away from the shocked pair, he smiled and held up his hands in front of him.
“What the hell!” Cain cursed, frowning at his shackled arm.
“Now, kids,” Zeke soothed calmly, his authoritative voice dripping with sympathy, “First off, this wasn’t my idea.” He crept steadily backward toward the door as the pair stood frozen to the spots they stood in. “But I really do believe this is for the best. You’ve got plenty of supplies,” he said, gesturing toward the pile of blankets in the corner. “And somebody will let you out in the morning, I promise.”
“Let us out?” Faith gasped, her wide eyes going from Zeke to Cain. “Did he just say ‘let us out’” she shrieked, yanking at the handcuff around her wrist.
“Trust us,” Abel’s voice joined in as he opened the cooler door and held it for Zeke, “This is gonna save dozens of lives and shave years off the war!”
“Abel, don’t you fucking dare!” Cain roared, charging toward the two men as the heavy door swung shut in his face. Pushing furtively against it with the weight of his body, he growled.
“Cain?” Faith questioned, beginning to panic as the light began to dim in the walk-in cooler. “Open it, Cain! Open the door!”
“Honey, I can’t,” Cain admitted, hanging his head for a second. “They locked us in here.”
“No! NononononononoNOOOOOOOOOOO!” Faith screamed, pounding her fist against the steel door. “Let us out of here! I mean it! Patience! Harmony!”
“Pretty sure they were in on it, too, babe,” Cain remarked with a sigh. Oh, somebody was gonna pay dearly for this, he thought to himself as he watched two fat teardrops roll down Faiths cheeks. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he murmured, pulling her against his chest and sliding the hand not chained to hers down her back. “They won’t keep us in here forever.”
“You think they’ll come back in a few minutes?” she asked hopefully, looking up into his face.
“Well, I suspect it’ll take a little longer than that,” he answered truthfully.
“When, then?” she asked, lifting her head to stare up at him.
“Probably morning,” he admitted, watching as her face tightened and two more tears escaped to slide down her cheeks.
“I’m going to kill them!” she yelled, stomping her foot angrily as she turned to glare at the door.
“Sounds like a plan,” he surmised reasonably. “Happy to help in any way you need.” Gazing toward the supplies Sherriff Dickhead had mentioned, he tugged gently on her hand. “Until then, I suggest we see what they left behind for us and get real comfortable. It looks like we’re going to be here a few hours.”
Chapter Sixteen
Faith watched Cain thoughtfully rub his scarred jaw as he peered into the corner of the walk-in cooler. Pressing her lips together, she shook her head. Hadn’t this been exactly what she’d been trying to avoid? Captured in a too-small space with an all-too-overpowering alpha male, she knew she was out of her depth. Forcing herself to breathe normally, she comforted herself with thoughts of the violence she intended on inflicting as soon as she
escaped this prison.
One of her sisters was to blame for this. She had to be. The only question was which one was the most culpable. She doubted it was Honor. While things were still tense between them, she’d made her peace with the fact that her youngest sister had been trying to do what had been best for everyone concerned. Faith also realized that at her core, Honor despised conflict. She’d never have taken action like this to try and resolve the issues between Cain and Faith. There was too much chance of blowback. Nope, Honor was in the clear here.
That left Patience and Harmony.
“I can hear you thinking, Faith,” Cain chided as he looked up from where he knelt on the floor. “What’s going through that brain of yours?”
“Just trying to figure out which of my siblings are ultimately responsible for our untimely incarceration,” she muttered truthfully. “I’ve ruled out Honor. There’s no way she’d risk pissing me off again after going behind my back and hiring you.”
“Well, that only leaves Patience and Harmony,” Cain returned, grabbing one of the thick sleeping bags and spreading it out on the floor. “Which one are you leaning toward?” he asked as he grabbed a second sleeping bag off the stack and spread it out beside the first.
“Patience is too in-your-face for this kind of thing,” Faith mused aloud. “She doesn’t do sneaky. At least, not well. She’s involved, for sure, but I think she more than likely got bullied into participating by the ring-tail leader.”
“Harmony,” Cain and Faith stated in unison, looking at each other.
“Yeah, Harmony has happily-ever-after syndrome. I think she figures that if she couldn’t have her own, she’ll do her best to make sure that everybody else gets one. I can’t kill her,” Faith grumbled unhappily, chafing her arm through her jacket as she watched Cain pull several thick wool blankets out of a cardboard box. “She’s Heaven’s mom. I can, however, maul her a little bit. She doesn’t need two arms and legs to be a mom. One of each will suffice.”
Cain chuckled at Faith’s dark plans. “They were all only trying to help,” he pointed out quietly. “Things have been a little strained around here the last couple of weeks. I think they’re hoping that if we have no place to go, we’ll finally talk things out. Maybe we should take advantage of the opportunity,” he suggested, smiling as he pulled out a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from the box. It was Faith’s favorite. “They even gave us a bottle of nice wine to grease the conversational wheels,” he remarked, holding up the bottle of expensive wine to show her.
“Oh, this is definitely Harmony’s work,” she seethed, snatching the bottle from him. “She asked me just yesterday if I preferred red or white wine. She said she was getting things ready for the holidays.” Her sister would be lucky if this bottle didn’t become the murder weapon Faith used when she killed her for interfering.
“Harmony means well,” Cain defended the oldest McKinnon softly. “She doesn’t like to watch you hurting, Faith. No one does.”
“I’m fine,” Faith countered irritably.
“That’ll help,” Cain muttered under his breath. “Just keep lying to yourself. And me. That’ll solve everything, Faith.” Reaching for one of the two battery operated lanterns, he turned it on and cast the dimly-lit cooler in a warm, golden light. “At least we’ll be able to see now.”
“Great,” Faith retorted. “For the record, I am not lying, Cain. I am fine,” she insisted vehemently. “Or, I would be fine if I didn’t feel like I had a stalker on my ass,” she added bitterly, glaring at him.
“A stalker? Really?” Cain growled, rising back to his feet. “I’ve gone out of my way to give you space, Faith. I even cut back on the nights I’ve been working at the bar to the busiest times on the weekend. I’ve abided by your stupid rules. I haven’t mentioned anything about what happened two weeks ago between us, have I? I haven’t cornered or coerced you despite the fact that the waiting is driving me insane. What the hell more do you want from me?” he barked.
Taking an involuntary step back, Faith frowned as her mind comprehended his sharp words. Damn it, he was right. He had honored their deal and kept his mouth shut. He hadn’t pushed her to make a decision about them or used what happened in the café’s office as a way to get closer to her. He’d been completely honest about that. “You’re right,” she mumbled, looking away from him to stare at the metal racks along one wall. “You haven’t gone back on your word, and I know you’ve been trying to give me my space. I’m sorry.”
Exhaling a long breath, Cain stared at the woman he loved. “Look, I could use a drink. Do you want a glass of that wine or are you going to use it to bean me over the head?” he asked, nodding toward the bottle in her hand.
“Harmony’s the one in danger of that, not you,” Faith confessed, handing the wine back to him. “And yes, I want a glass.” Perhaps, the alcohol would soothe her frazzled nerves. She watched as he grabbed the corkscrew from the box and quickly opened the bottle and poured the wine into two glasses that had been left for them. It had taken both of his hands to do it, and she shivered as their handcuffed fingers rubbed together. She accepted the goblet he passed her and took a small steadying sip.
“Listen, we’re gonna be here for a while, Faith. There’s nothing we can do about it. Let’s just sit down and drink our wine. If you don’t wanna talk, I’ll deal with it,” he offered calmly, tugging at her arm as he dragged her toward the pallet he’d made against one wall.
Both of them sat down, their backs propped against the steel wall as they stretched their legs out in front of them. “Are you warm enough?” he asked when they’d gotten settled.
Faith nodded. “It isn’t that bad in here. They must have turned up the thermostat a little,” she commented blandly.
“No, I think that’s just your own anger raising your body temperature,” Cain countered, lifting the glass to his lips again. “Righteous fury will do that to a person.”
“I just can’t believe that they thought they had to trap us in here,” she murmured with another look around their cold, makeshift cell. “We haven’t been that bad, have we?” she asked, turning her head to look at him. “It’s not like we’ve been fighting or anything.”
“Personally, I’d rather we just fight this out together. The Cold War is driving me nuts. I guess it’s having the same effect on the people that care about us,” he admitted gruffly. “I know I’d rather have you yell and scream at me than freeze me out, Faith. Your silence is worse than any accusation or insult you could hurl at me. I can’t defend myself against silence,” he added huskily.
“Maybe that’s because what you did to me… to us,” she corrected herself grimly. “Maybe it was indefensible, Cain. Have you ever thought of that?” she asked tightly as the same old hurt and betrayal tightened around her heart. “I don’t know if there’s anything you could say that would ever justify what you put me through,” she revealed truthfully, closing her eyes as the ache within her intensified.
Shifting his big body on the pallet so that he could stare into her eyes, Cain swallowed. “Will you please just let me try, Faith. Let’s have this out between us once and for all, and if after we’re done you still can’t forgive me, I’ll walk away. Ask me any questions you want answers to, and I’ll give them to you. I’ll give you the whole, ugly truth. Then, you can do what you think is best.”
“And you’ll abide but whatever decision I make?” Faith asked through a throat clogged with emotion. “You’ll walk away if I tell you that’s what I want?” she asked, blinking back tears as she stared into his haunted eyes.
“I will. It might kill me, but I’ll do it for you,” he agreed huskily.
Chapter Seventeen
Cain’s heart thudded in his chest as Faith slowly nodded. Licking his dry lips, he scooted closer and dropped the hand chained to hers over her knee. Okay, he thought, this is it. “Why don’t you start?” he invited, keeping his voice low and steady.
“Where?” she asked faintly.
“Wherever
you want,” he answered firmly. He’d explain anything she wanted an explanation for. God knew, he’d made a lot of shitty choices over the last half year. “I’m an open book, Faith. All you have to do is ask.”
“Did you have doubts about us when you left for Afghanistan?” Faith asked, her voice shaky as she voiced her first concern. “When you first proposed to me, did you already have doubts about us?”
“No,” he replied firmly, shaking his head. “The night I proposed and you said yes was the best night of my life. I was head over heels in love. I had the perfect woman for me. I couldn’t imagine anything separating us for long. Not even a war halfway around the world. When I left you, I was truly in love with you, and that hasn’t changed for me. It never will, Faith. I have never doubted the love I feel for you. It’s the one constant that I’ve been entirely sure of.”
“Bullshit!” Faith cursed roughly, her entire body stiffening as she listened to him speak. “That is complete, utter bullshit. You doubted your love for me enough to write me a letter that totally firebombed my world.”
“I did that,” he confirmed hoarsely, not bothering to deny the obvious. “It was a stupid, selfish thing to do. It’s the single biggest mistake I ever made in my life, and I’ll go to my grave regretting it. It didn’t have anything to do with my love for you, though. It was my own stupid thoughts about me that compelled me to write that letter. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, Faith. There aren’t even enough words for it.”
“Well, as long as you feel bad, everything’s okay then, huh?” Faith retorted, yanking his arm when she crossed her arms over her chest. “You gutted me, Cain. You were my first love…. my first lover… my first everything. What the hell did you think was going to happen when I got that letter?”
Cain sighed. “Honestly?”
“No,” Faith snapped. “Lie to me some more. I love that,” she added caustically, her eyes flashing with pure rage as she glared at him.
Cain was encouraged. This was the most emotion he’d witnessed from her since they’d made love. “I’m not lying about anything, Faith. When I mailed the letter, I was banking on you being enraged. I figured you’d be so angry that you’d move on with your life out of spite. I half expected to come home and find you married to one of the local boys. Hell, they’ve all been half in love with you for years anyway.”
Cain's Salvation (Passion in Paradise - The Men of the McKinnon Sisters) Page 11