by Dana Mentink
She forced her limbs to stop quivering and her body to stop craving Jack’s embrace and climbed the stairs, hoping he didn’t notice how she had to clutch the railing.
It was a normal reaction to an abnormal, shocking situation to throw herself into Jack’s arms like that. Perfectly normal. She tried to tell herself.
Whatever you say, Doc.
TWELVE
His mom was already brewing coffee, and Annabell was in her bouncy seat, gumming a fist. Larraby roamed outside, taking pictures, while they waited in the kitchen.
Barrett paced, and Jack waited patiently for whatever was coming. He knew his brother, a big bear of a man who thought long and talked short, had something to say.
“Horses are okay. Spooked, mostly, but they’ll recover,” Keegan said, also eyeing his eldest brother as he helped himself to two oatmeal raisin cookies from the jar.
Barrett completed another circle around the linoleum, stopped and faced the table. “I’m sorry. I feel bad saying it, but this can’t continue.”
“What do you mean?” Evie said. Tom edged behind her, his fingers caressing his wife’s neck.
Barrett scrubbed a hand over his beard. “The baby, Shannon, here at the ranch.”
Jack’s jaw went tight. “You’re not saying we should kick them out.”
“I don’t want that, of course. I want them safe, but not here.”
Jack stood now, meeting his brother’s hard stare. “They’re in danger everywhere else.”
“They’re in danger here,” Barrett snapped, “and I can’t allow that to bleed over and expose our family, too.” His gaze traveled to Shelby. “My wife, our baby. I can’t risk their safety. I’m sorry.”
Jack felt fiery heat rise to his face. Barrett’s wife, Barrett’s baby. Well, maybe Jack’s own marriage was a farce, but he burned to defend and protect it. Toss Shannon and Annabell out? No way. No how. He faced his brother, and it was like looking at a bigger, broader version of himself. “To keep your wife safe, you’d toss mine out?”
“Don’t make it like that, Jack.”
“I’m not. You are.” Adrenaline pumped hot through his veins. It would have been a relief if Barrett threw a punch, if their anger and fear tumbled out in a wrestling match or a fight, anything to release that unbearable tension.
Barrett’s hands hung loose at his sides. “Jack,” he said.
One syllable from his brother, and the agony it contained was a reminder to Jack. Barrett had lost a wife, a woman they’d all loved and adored. His big brother had been stripped of his soul mate in one horrific moment that almost ended Barrett’s will to live, too. Those had been dark times, terrible years that they’d only survived thanks to the grace of God. Jack stemmed the hard words that were about to spill from his mouth. Heaving out a breath, he took a step back. “I get it, Barrett, but I’m going to protect them,” he said simply. “I’ll figure out another way.”
A shimmer of relief shone in his brother’s gaze. “They need to go into police custody. The cops can keep them safe until Dina shows or doesn’t.” His shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to say this, but I can’t look myself in the mirror knowing my family is a target. I...”
Shannon rose and put a hand on Barrett’s. “You’re right, Barrett. No need to apologize for having the courage to say it.”
Jack’s throat thickened as he heard the understanding embedded in her tone.
She let out a breath. “I’ll take Annabell and go back to the inn until midnight. If we don’t hear from Dina, I’ll hand the baby over to Larraby.”
“We,” Jack said, through the stab of pain in his gut. “We will stay together, and not at the inn. They’ll be watching there. I’ll take you somewhere else, a place nobody knows about. Somewhere we’ll have the upper hand.”
Tom raised an eyebrow. “The fishing lodge?”
“Yeah. I’ll take them up in the SUV. It will be bumpy.”
Shannon smiled. “At this point, what’s a few more bumps?”
Evie poured her more coffee. “It’s a two-bedroom, but it’s rustic. Tom built it early on in our marriage, when we had this notion that roughing it was some sort of noble idea.”
Tom kissed her temple. “Come on. You loved those days fishing and living off the land.”
She laughed. “I didn’t love the snakes.”
Shannon blanched. “I could have done without knowing there are snakes.”
“Not many in the spring,” Jack said. “We won’t be hiking around their territory, anyway. Strictly a shelter in place until tomorrow.”
“I’ll go, too, on horseback,” Keegan said. “I’ll bring up Prince for some added insurance, in case you need to escape onto the mountain. Motorcycles can’t follow you there.” He caught Shannon’s eye and winked. “Don’t worry. Those bikers would be too scared by the snakes to stick around, even if they did know where the lodge was located.”
Shannon gave him a sassy toss of the head.
Shelby sighed. “I wish I could go and help you but...”
“But you won’t,” Barrett said.
“I know, but still. It’s not going to be easy with a baby if this place is as rustic as you say.”
“Keeg and I can help,” Jack said.
Annabell let out a cry, and Keegan tensed. “Uh, I’m just there for equestrian support. I don’t do babies, only if they have four legs and a whinny.”
Jack shook his head. “Pathetic.”
“I’ll go,” Evie said. Tom frowned, but she waved him off with a dish towel. “She can’t tend a baby by herself in that place.”
“Yes, I can,” Shannon said.
“Know how to operate a woodstove?” Evie said.
Shannon deflated. “Uh, no.”
“That’s what I thought. I’ll put some food together, and we’ll go. Tom, Barrett and Shelby can keep the ranch going for one day without me. Right?”
“We’ll try,” Shelby said. “No promises.”
Shannon shook her head. “I appreciate it, I really do, but Barrett is right. I don’t want Evie and Keegan to put themselves at risk.” She shot a look at Jack. “Can’t you tell them?”
Jack shrugged. “I can tell them, but I’ve seen that look on their faces before. The only person in this family more stubborn than Keegan is Mama.”
“I can attest to that,” Tom said. His soft gaze found Shannon. “You’re family, Shannon. You always have been, no matter what your legal status is or isn’t. We don’t turn our backs on family.”
Shannon stood rigid and stiff, and Jack wanted to reach out to her, but more than that, he wanted her to accept his father’s words. The Thorns did not turn their back on family, but her own father had, and it left such a wide rip that only God could heal it.
Her pain ran deep, but he hoped there would eventually be a place where she could allow God to mend the torn edges of her soul.
“Thank you. I... That is so kind, especially in light of all the pain I’ve caused.”
Tom smiled. “I’ve got to see about boarding up the broken windows and ordering some new glass.”
“I’ll help clean up,” Barrett said, avoiding Jack’s eyes, “and get some rifles cleaned and loaded for you to take to the lodge.”
As he passed, Jack stopped him. “Would have said the same thing in your place.”
Barrett clasped Jack’s shoulder in a fierce grip that said everything without a single word.
* * *
Jack and Shannon climbed into the front seat that afternoon, after Evie commandeered the back in order to sit next to Annabell. Shannon kept her phone close, but there was still no word from Dina or from Larraby about the cell number she’d called from the hospital in Los Angeles. The only text was from her supervising doctor.
Do you intend to return and finish your internship or not?
&n
bsp; Panic seized her. Yes, yes, yes, she wanted to shout, though she tried to keep her tone professional as she mentally composed a reply. Every day that passed of her unscheduled leave would no doubt reinforce to the hospital board that she was throwing away her excruciatingly hard-earned opportunity. How many more days before they told her not to bother coming back?
What was she doing here in Gold Bar? Spinning her wheels, risking her life, developing feelings she didn’t want for a family and a man she’d walked away from.
“Something wrong?” Jack said.
What isn’t? she wanted to say. Instead, she shook her head and stared out the window.
The road up the mountain to the lodge was bordered with a thick fringe of trees and shrubbery, the mountain quilted in every conceivable shade of green. A perfect day for a drive, yet her stomach remained clenched in a tight knot. After an hour and a half of steady uphill, Jack turned off the main road and tackled a gravel path that gave them all a good shaking.
“Keegan’s just texted me he’s arrived,” Evie said.
“Faster by horseback, but there’s the baby-seat problem,” Jack joked.
Shannon could not make herself smile, so she settled on a nod.
“Gonna be over soon,” Jack said, fingers skimming hers.
And that was part of the problem, she thought. Spending such intimate time with Jack and the Thorns would make it harder to do what she knew must be done: their divorce. It was unfair, how she’d handled things, running away, keeping Jack close with a marriage license, when she knew he deserved to live his own life and find someone else. And then dragging him back into her orbit with a desperate plea she knew he would not turn away from.
Over soon. Jack was right. Once Annabell was safe with her mother, Shannon would return to her emergency room and dissolve her marriage. Pain lanced her heart. Shoving away the cascade of emotion, she sat up straighter as the lodge came into view. It was a rectangular one-story building, wood sided and hemmed in by trees on every side. Claustrophobic, Shannon thought. Around the back of the house was a fenced area and a horse shelter. Inside were two horses, including Jack’s Lady, exploring their temporary digs.
At Jack’s instruction, Evie extricated the baby and left the car seat fastened in. Shannon grabbed the diaper bag, and Jack gathered up some bulging paper grocery sacks in one arm and a small generator in the other.
She raised an eyebrow. “No electricity?”
“No, ma’am. This will make sure we can keep our phones charged.”
He’d thought of everything, but then, Jack was a planner by nature. How she’d thrown his life into disarray when she’d called him after fleeing Los Angeles, she didn’t want to consider.
They entered the dark interior. It was musty and cool. Shannon wanted to turn around and go back to the SUV, but she swallowed and followed Evie to a bedroom, where someone, Keegan likely, had set up a portable crib. There were two small beds and a minuscule bathroom with a skylight that let in the sun. Evie flashed a smile. “See? Not so bad. No rodents or snakes, and there’s indoor plumbing. I insisted on that.”
Shannon went to the window. A great wall of mountain rose up behind the property, and she saw an eagle soaring slowly above. A slice of creek was visible, fringed by cattails, with water bugs darting along the surface of the water. It was lovely, quiet and so very isolated.
If they were found here by Cruiser...
She jumped as Evie touched her back. “I’m going to go work on some minestrone for dinner. Takes a long time to get water boiling up here, so I need a good head start. Call me if you need help with the baby.”
“I will.”
Evie walked to the door.
“Mrs. Thorn...”
“Evie,” she said.
“Evie...thank you. I mean, for everything.”
Evie nodded. “You’re welcome, Shannon.” She stopped with one foot out the door. “Oh, by the way. That blue bag is for you. It was delivered to the house yesterday, and Jack said to make sure to bring it along.”
“Okay.” After Evie left, she opened the bag and took out a foil-wrapped box. Chocolates. They were from Val’s shop, she realized, the woman who had rescued Jack at the clinic. Chocolates. Amid that whole drama, he’d bought her candy. The box indicated they were truffles, hand-dipped in both milk and dark chocolate, her undisputed favorites. Underneath the box was a fuzzy bunny toy, plump and soft, with a little rattle inside that sounded like rain. A toy for Annabell, their pretend child.
She sat on the cot, staring at the box of chocolates and squeezing the bunny to her cheek, emotions tumbling in ways she did not understand.
“You found them?”
She jerked. Jack stood at the door, holding a pair of leather work gloves, every inch the tall, strong, blue-eyed cowboy. For a moment, she forgot everything she’d meant to say to him as a sudden yearning to embrace him flooded over her.
“Uh, yes. Thank you,” she managed, “but you shouldn’t have bought chocolates for me.”
He shrugged. “I remembered how much you liked them from our dating days, the kind with squishy stuff in the middle, right? I figured you could use a treat.”
Our dating days... “Jack,” she said. “Please. Please don’t misunderstand. You can’t treat me like we’re dating or married or anything. I’m leaving.” Her heart twisted desperately. “I’m leaving just as soon as I can. We are going to make it official this time, the divorce.” Her stomach felt suddenly ripped in two, but she kept her expression steady.
He went still. “I know.”
“I don’t want you to think that there’s something between us again.”
“I don’t.”
She waved the box. “This is...”
“Candy, that’s all.” His voice held an edge. “If you don’t want it, toss it.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It was sweet of you, but...”
“But you don’t want sweet,” he snapped. “You don’t want Gold Bar, and you don’t want me.” He jammed the gloves in his back pocket. “Don’t worry. I got it. Forget about the chocolates. Sorry they upset you. Dumb idea.”
As he whirled on his boot and stalked away, her mind and heart warred with each other. She knew what she wanted, and she’d said as much to anyone who would listen. Why, then, did she ache for Jack Thorn?
Do it before you lose your nerve.
Yanking out her phone, she was relieved to find that she had service. Quickly, she called and left a voice-mail message for her supervising doctor.
I will be back in Los Angeles by Wednesday evening, at the latest.
The gold band on her finger drew her attention.
She was one step further on the road to her heart’s desire, the emergency room, her internship, everything she wished for. So why did she have a feeling it would be the end of the world to take that ring off her finger for good?
THIRTEEN
Jack could not extinguish the anger that rippled through him. It took a few hours of tending the horses, another hour of riding to check out the area, oiling his rifle and unpacking their scant supplies before he realized he was entirely to blame for his sorry state. As dusk crept over the tall grass, he slammed the ax into the sturdy log, his own actions rising up to convict him. Shannon was not interested in making their marriage work, so why in the world had he allowed his feelings for her to flame to life like dry tinder? A deluded sap, that was what he was, buying her chocolates. What had possessed him?
Get yourself together, he thought, ripping the ax through a log and hauling the pieces inside. He stacked them on the stone hearth and washed up before settling himself at the kitchen table, where his mother ladled out bowls of soup. It was a cool evening, the gathering darkness arriving quickly as the lodge fell into the shadow of the mountain.
Shannon settled Annabell onto a blanket and joined them at the table. She m
ade no effort to generate conversation until Evie pressed.
“I apologize for overhearing your phone call,” she said. “But we’re in pretty close quarters here. You were making plans to return to the emergency room?”
Shannon nodded. “Yes. I told them I’d be back Wednesday night, at the latest.”
Wednesday. Good to know the exact date their marriage would be over, so their divorce proceedings could begin. On Wednesday, he would restart Jack Thorn’s life, part two. The part without her.
“I...I imagined everything would be settled by then,” Shannon said.
He felt her gaze on him, but he kept his eyes on his soup and offered a casual shrug. “Sure. The baby issue will be squared away. Nothing keeping you here.”
Keegan and his mother exchanged a look, which he pretended not to notice. The rest of the meal passed in awkward spurts of forced conversation, until, mercifully, it was done.
“I’ll help you with the dishes, Mama,” Keegan offered, gathering up plates and disappearing into the kitchen, with his mother right behind. Shannon settled into the rocking chair and offered Annabell the bottle Evie had prepared. Soon they would both be gone from his life.
Nothing keeping you here. He gulped some water to ease his suddenly dry throat.
“I’m sorry,” Shannon said, startling him.
“About what?”
“That I didn’t pursue a divorce earlier.”
His gut pinched. “Got another guy waiting to marry you?” It was mean and uncalled for, but it didn’t stop him from saying it.
“No,” she said coldly. “Do you have someone else?”
He didn’t answer. She already knew, anyway, he’d never loved anyone but her. Last thing he would do was utter the words.
She blew out a breath. “I meant that it was unfair to let things linger all these years, unfair to both of us.”
“Then why did you?”
Shannon looked away. “I’ve been busy. Medical school, residency.”
“Baloney.”
Her eyebrows zinged up. “No, it’s not.”