Harlequin Superromance September 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: This Good ManPromises Under the Peach TreeHusband by Choice

by Janice Kay Johnson

  Once they caught him, it would all come out.

  I have to tell her the truth, he realized. Not liking it, but not liking any alternative, either. The lies to her, of all people, hadn’t sat well with him from the beginning. He remembered thinking that she was the person who came closest to knitting together the parts of his life. The ache when he wanted to talk to her and couldn’t.

  The risk was huge that she’d turn them all in right away. As he stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry, Reid mulled over steps he’d take to protect the Renners and Sheriff McAllister. What they’d known and ignored didn’t have to be part of the truth he told her.

  He hoped she’d cool down before she took action, though. Really listen. She’d understood why Diego had gone off the radar, why Reid had helped his brother escape their father even if he’d done it in a way she didn’t entirely approve of.

  He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, but his decision was made. He’d tell her everything. Almost everything. But later. Now he needed to get moving if he intended to have that restraining order in place before his father showed up at the hospital.

  With a grunt, Reid reached for his electric shaver.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  AFTER DELIVERING THE restraining order to the hospital, Reid was allowed into the ICU to sit with Caleb, whose condition had been deemed unchanged.

  His brother appeared dead, but for the steady rise and fall of his chest. Cold comfort came from knowing that he was breathing on his own. Some part of his brain was still functioning. It seemed to Reid that the swelling might be going down, although the livid color of the bruises made Caleb look as if he’d been made up for a horror film. Too extensive and vivid for real life, Reid’s eye tried to tell him.

  A different doctor this morning explained that they were keeping Caleb sedated. They didn’t want him to wake up yet. Reid had a vague feeling he’d been told that yesterday. It just hadn’t sunk in. So maybe he was being artificially kept from opening his eyes and saying, Reid! Man, what happened?

  Left alone with his brother, Reid took Caleb’s hand in his, remembering the comfort of holding hands with Anna last night. Not just physical contact—it had felt more like the hookup between two computers. Signals flying back and forth. Maybe, wherever Caleb was lost, he’d feel the same kind of connection.

  “Dad can’t get to you here. I got a restraining order,” Reid said, his voice sounding unnaturally loud. He cleared his throat. “No problem. That doesn’t necessarily mean clear sailing from here on out, but the judge was sympathetic. It was a woman, pretty new on the bench, I’m told. I went in with my dental records and I got yours emailed first thing this morning. Lucky you’d told me where he took you to get that bridge. She said the number of dentists he took me to over the years was a red flag that should have been noted when I was a kid.” He paused, watching for a twitch of reaction. Nada. “Dad hasn’t showed his face yet. I think I shook him up yesterday. I...really thought it might have been him who’d run you down, but it doesn’t look like it was.” His voice gained urgency. “I sure as hell wish you’d wake up and tell us what you saw.”

  He rambled for a few more minutes. He didn’t talk about Anna, although he wanted to. Figuring out what to say was too tricky. Not when part of his turmoil concerned sex.

  Making love.

  The sight of her still sleeping in his bed before he left this morning had stirred him in unaccustomed ways. He’d had the fleeting vision of waking up with her every morning. The idea didn’t scare him as much as it should.

  He did tell his brother that he had to go out to the Hales’ because TJ wanted to talk to him. “I’m meeting Sergeant Renner there, too. No way around it. It’s his investigation. Uh...I told you about him last night. So far, he seems okay. I guess I’m not surprised, since he’s married to Jane Renner, who works for me, and she’s good.”

  He squeezed Caleb’s hand. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours at the most. Later today, the doctors are going to start tapering off on the sedatives. Your head will feel a lot clearer. In the meantime—” God, he sounded like an idiot “—you just rest, okay?”

  Was he imagining the tiny flexing of those too-chilly fingers? Yeah, he decided, staring down at them, he must be. Reid hesitated, then lightly touched the less-damaged side of Caleb’s face. “I’ll be back,” he repeated and strode out.

  * * *

  IT WAS DISORIENTING to wake up in someone else’s bed. Anna lay still for a minute, until she remembered where she was. Then she opened her eyes and turned her head to see she was alone. The small house was quiet. So he was gone— Then her gaze fell on the clock and she squeaked. 10:54? No wonder Reid was long gone!

  She leaped for the bathroom, where she found a note laid on the closed seat of the toilet, hard to miss.

  Hope you didn’t have to be anywhere early. I figured you needed the sleep. I’ll see you at the hospital.

  Signed, Reid.

  Not that she’d expected any Love, Reid, but...

  She huffed. Sure. Dream on.

  After a shower, she ate a quick bowl of cereal and left, using the push-button lock, but unable to turn the dead bolt without a key. Somehow, she kind of doubted today was the day someone would break into Reid Sawyer’s rental house and steal...what? There weren’t a lot of goodies on display.

  At the hospital, she spotted a strongly built, very dark-skinned Hispanic man near the nurses’ station on Diego’s floor. Even from a distance, his fury was obvious. Wonderful. He’d been told he wouldn’t be allowed to see his son. Talking to him was a peachy way to start the day.

  Fortunately, his anger already had a target: the DHS caseworker, who cast Anna a grateful glance when she joined them. They took him into a small conference room, where they explained that given the allegations of abuse, they had requested a dependency hearing. In the meantime, his son had asked for no contact.

  Hector leaped to his feet with a roar. “You know nothing! Women.” He spat it like an epithet. “Don’t think you’ll keep my son from me.”

  The painfully young DHS caseworker shrank back from him, an enraged male standing above the two women with his fists balled. “You’ll receive a fair hearing....”

  “And this time, so will Diego,” Anna was unwise enough to say.

  Snarling, he picked up a chair. She saw in his eyes how much he wanted to swing it at her. Cave in her head. Smash her. She sat frozen, instinct telling her not to stand up, not to move at all. That same instinct said, He’s fooled half a dozen caseworkers and as many family court judges. If he lacked all impulse control, he wouldn’t have managed that.

  She was right. His eyes never leaving hers, he set down the chair and walked out of the small room. The caseworker was shaking, and Anna was disturbed to realize she was, too.

  After that, she went in to talk to Diego, who, sitting up in bed with the TV on, was undeniably awake. He looked wary. “Miss Grant.”

  “Yep, I’m back. I just met with your father.”

  The wariness became fear. “He’s here?” He looked past her at the door. “I can’t stay. I can’t.” He shoved the tray table aside and struggled as if he thought he could swing the heavy cast over the edge of the bed and leap to his feet. “I won’t go back with him. I’ll kill myself first!”

  “Diego.” She laid a hand on his arm. “He can’t come in here. We’ve filed a court order preventing him until the allegations you’ve made can be investigated. The nurses and doctors are aware of what’s going on. They won’t let him get to you. I promise.”

  His face contorted and he bent his head, trying to hide tears from her, but his shoulders heaved with a sob. Anna sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around him. He cried against her, in that raw, unpracticed way of boys and men. When he finally pulled away, she saw his shame. In his eyes, he hadn’t been ma
nly.

  Without a word, Anna handed him a box of tissues and he wiped his face and blew his nose.

  “You know what?” she said. “I need a Pepsi or Coke. How about you? Would you like a soda?”

  He sneaked a look at her face. “Can I?”

  “Sure you can. What do you want?”

  She had to go all the way down to the cafeteria to secure two tall bottles of Pepsi, chilly and beaded with moisture. The look on his face when she handed one over was her reward.

  She bided her time, letting him gulp a quarter of it down and sipping her own before she said, “We need to talk, Diego.”

  His alarm flared again. “I told that other social worker everything.”

  Anna nodded. “I know you did. She’s going to request medical records and call everyone whose names you gave. I’m more interested in, oh, getting to know you so I can put you in the right foster home if it comes to that.” She paused, watching his guard lower before adding, “I need to know more about your recent history. There’s a whole lot you aren’t telling me, isn’t there, Diego?” she said gently.

  He was tough, but also only fifteen years old. Anna’s experience trumped his stubbornness. Even so, she didn’t get everything, but he did admit enough to make apprehension, anger and a sense of betrayal tangle in her until she could hardly draw breath.

  Reid had lied to her. He must have. Unless his dear friends had also taken in Caleb and probably other boys, too. None of whom could have been court supervised, or said caseworker would have noticed the boys who weren’t on her list of foster children who belonged in the home.

  “You’ve already met Caleb’s brother, Reid, haven’t you?” she said casually.

  Diego’s mouth opened and then closed. His eyes were dark and worried. He didn’t have a face meant to keep secrets.

  Anna laid her hand on his arm and squeezed. “It’s okay, Diego. I know you’re trying not to get anyone else in trouble, and I understand. We’ll leave it there for now, okay?”

  He gave a jerky nod. “What if my dad sneaks in?”

  “Scream.” She let him see that she meant it. “Raise a ruckus. Help will come. I promise.”

  Diego’s head bobbed. “Okay.”

  She was almost to the door when, behind her, he said, “Thank you.”

  Anna turned in surprise. The look on his young face was heartbreaking.

  “I mean, for believing me.”

  She swallowed a lump in her throat before she could get out a word. “I do believe you, Diego. So did Ms. Hinton. We’re on your side.”

  She almost said, To the death, but didn’t, because that would sound bad and send the wrong message. She didn’t even exactly mean it. There were legal avenues to save this boy, and she believed in those, heart and soul. She of all people knew what came of not following the guidelines.

  Then, feeling sick—no, worse than that, grieving—she headed for the elevator that would take her down to the ground floor and ICU.

  * * *

  DURING REID’S VISITS to the Hales’, TJ had remained a closed book to him. His looks alone were daunting to the other boys, who noticeably kept their distance.

  Although barely seventeen, TJ looked to be in his twenties. He topped six feet, and unlike the other boys, had already developed a man’s muscles, long and ropy. A man’s growth of beard, too. The stubble was paired with shaggy dark hair that often hung over his equally dark eyes and hid his expression. Reid had never seen the kid look anything but sullen. From what Paula and Roger had said, his attitude was lousy. And yet, he’d stayed.

  After reviewing his records, Reid could see why. Theodore James Haveman’s father didn’t just have anger-management problems. He held grudges and possessed a mile-wide streak of cruelty. He harbored a hell of a lot of anger, but didn’t necessarily lash out the way your garden-variety abusive parent did. No, this guy would bide his time, let his kid think he’d gotten away with something or that an offense had been forgotten, and then he’d punish him viciously. Even creatively. Unfortunately, he was smart enough to do it in ways that didn’t show on the surface. Bruises and scars might tell a story. Electrical shocks didn’t. Killing the family’s pet didn’t. Hurting Mom to punish the kid, that didn’t, either. Apparently, he could count on his wife to keep her mouth shut.

  Reid hated this guy. He despised him. Unfortunately, Reid was left wondering how sane the son could be after a lifetime of such treatment. There was no way he’d been behind the wheel of that pickup truck, but he still could be the arsonist who was also fond of knives.

  Renner had said TJ seemed genuinely distraught over the hit-and-run. The kid was seriously shaken, and no wonder. Riding along the shoulder of the road, TJ had had a bull’s-eye on his back, escaping only because of sharp ears and quick reflexes.

  Reid grimaced as he got out of his Expedition in front of the lodge. TJ had probably had a hell of a lot of practice in evading pain. He’d learned to trust instincts he should never have had to acquire.

  A dark green Jeep Cherokee was already parked in front. Was somebody else here, or had Renner driven his own vehicle?

  Reid took the steps two at a time and went in without knocking. Four heads turned. Clay Renner, Paula, Roger and TJ were seated on benches on each side of one of the long tables rather than in the more comfortable living room setup around the river-rock fireplace. No fire burned in it today. The weather had actually turned a corner, and the day almost felt like spring. Memories of the winters he’d spent in Angel Butte made Reid suspect the almost-balmy day was only a trick to make them think winter had released its grip.

  No sounds came from the kitchen. The other boys were absent, probably huddled in their cabins.

  At the sight of him, Roger swung a leg over the bench. “Coffee?”

  He flapped a hand. “Don’t get up.”

  Nobody else wanted a refill when he offered. When he returned, he chose to sit right across from TJ.

  “Any update on Caleb?” Paula asked anxiously.

  Reid told them what the doctor had said about keeping Caleb sedated. “We’ll see once they taper him off.” He raised his eyebrows, his gaze on TJ. “All right. What’s this about?”

  “Can’t I talk to you alone?” The boy had a man’s voice, too, deep and even gruff.

  Renner didn’t look happy, but didn’t raise an objection.

  Reid took his time thinking how to answer. “TJ, unless this is unrelated to the safety of everyone here at the lodge, I don’t see how we can keep what you have to say from Paula and Roger. And if it has to do with the hit-and-run—” He stopped as soon as he saw from the boy’s expression that it did. “I think you’d better just come clean.”

  TJ slid a glance at Paula, took a deep breath and nodded. “Everything happening... You know. The fires and shit. Stuff,” he corrected himself. His Adam’s apple bobbed hard. “I think it’s my dad.”

  “What makes you believe that?” Reid asked, keeping his voice calm. “Did that look like his truck?”

  He’d already checked and knew that Randal Haveman was the registered owner of two vehicles, neither of which was black.

  But the boy shook his head. “No. I mean, I don’t know. He might have gotten a new one. Or borrowed it or something. Before he had a Yukon. It didn’t have the right kind of grille. Besides, it was like a 2007 or 2008. Whatever it was that hit Caleb was really shiny and new. You know?”

  Reid nodded. “It’s a help that you were so observant.”

  “Oh, sure. You mean, like how I got the license number?”

  Reid held his gaze. “You saved yourself. That’s pretty damn impressive.”

  The boy ducked his head for a minute. “Everything that’s happened, it’s just like Dad,” he mumbled. “He likes to scare people. When he was in a really good mood, I knew he was setting us up for so
mething. And Dad really liked fire. He has this, like, monster grill on the patio. He owns a whole chain of stores that sell grills and woodstoves and saunas. You know, like that. At home he had this brick circle in the backyard to have fires, too. He’d get these huge ones going with sparks floating toward the neighbors’ roofs. They called the cops a few times.” His eyes were dark and desperate. “After the guy who lived next door complained, Dad slashed his tires. I saw him coming back in with his knife.”

  “Son, why didn’t you tell us this sooner?” Roger asked, somehow keeping his voice kind.

  “I thought maybe I could catch him. Or at least see him so you’d believe me.” He looked from face to face. “It’s me that oiled the hinges on the back door. I’ve been sneaking out at night, watching for him. The night he stuck the knife in the door, I saw someone running away down the driveway. But when I started after him, there was someone else there.” His shamed gaze met Reid’s. “I didn’t know it was you. I’m sorry. I sneaked back in.”

  “I heard the door.”

  “You think your father was trying to hit you, and Caleb and Diego were collateral damage?” Renner asked.

  “He wouldn’t have cared if anyone else got hurt.”

  “Has he ever actually tried to kill you before?”

  “No, but I sort of ducked my head and tried to get by. He...came pretty close this one time when I ran away and was brought back.”

  This wasn’t the time to ask how the son of a bitch had “almost” killed his son in retaliation for the sin of trying to escape. “I’ve been trying to check out your father’s whereabouts,” Reid said instead. “It’s turned out to be a challenge because he has a dozen stores, including ones in Bend and Klamath Falls, which gives him good reason to be in our neighborhood. He’s traveling a lot. Pinning down his whereabouts hasn’t proved easy.”

  “I should just go,” TJ said in despair. “If I’m not here, he won’t have any reason to keep doing this stuff. That’s what I wanted to say.” He hunched his shoulders. “And that I’m sorry about Caleb. It’s my fault.”