Logan shook his head and leaned back on the sofa, feet up. Tanner had hovered over him like some old woman ever since Logan had first called him about the accident. He hated being treated like an invalid. Especially by someone like Tanner. His partner was about as far from a coddler as anyone could be, so to have him acting like this was something serious only made Logan feel guiltier.
The entire afternoon had been a disaster of his own making. He should have been smarter than to pull an open jar down on his head in the first place.
Then there was the problem with Allie. She hadn’t checked in. Not once since she’d headed out for Grand Junction this morning. No calls for a whole day wasn’t at all like Allie. At least, it wasn’t like her now that they had this relationship.
Funny that the word relationship had sprung to mind so readily. But that was what it was, this thing that had grown between them. A fully realized relationship. And, after all the years he’d spent avoiding entanglements and the idea of a relationship, he couldn’t quite imagine life without this particular one.
Where was she?
He closed his eyes, struggling to recall every word of their early telephone conversation. She had planned to make the trip to pick up ingredients for Dulcie and a prescription for her mom. Then she’d be back here to join him for dinner.
Only she wasn’t here. And, in spite of her promise, there’d been no calls. Even if she’d stopped for lunch, she should have returned by now.
He’d tried to reach her multiple times but couldn’t get through to her and now worry ate at his gut.
His phone lay on the table next to him and he reached for it to call her once more. Still no answer, so he left another message. What was that? Number five or six? Granted, she might not be comfortable answering while she was driving, and there were dead spots through parts of the canyon. But she’d promised to call him before she left the city for home and there hadn’t been a call all day.
Unless…
A memory of one particular moment from this afternoon flashed into his mind, carrying with it a trickle of sick dread. There had been that one call. The one that had come through while he was washing off the chemicals. The call that Shayla had answered because he hadn’t heard his phone ringing. The call she’d said had no one on the other end of the line when she’d answered.
In the flurry of activity that followed his accident, he’d dismissed the incident from his mind, chalking it up to nothing more than a wrong number.
But now? Now, with a thousand fears gnawing at his brain, that call took on an ominous feel.
Could it have been Allie?
He scanned through the options on his phone, hunting for the list of calls. Sure enough, there it was, Allie’s number recorded as incoming right after his accident this afternoon.
The call Shayla answered. The one where no one had responded and she’d yelled at him to get his pants on and come get the phone.
Christ! He could only imagine what Allie must have thought was going on when she heard that. She’d told him all about what had happened with that guy back in Texas. And the whole town knew what her father had done. With her history of bad experiences, there was no way she wouldn’t have jumped to the worst possible conclusion. He certainly would have.
Logan pushed up off the sofa, hunting for his keys. He had to find her. He had to explain. Before it was too late. Before he lost her for good. If that happened, the afternoon wouldn’t be just a disaster. It would be a complete and total disaster of epic proportions.
* * *
How long she’d sat in the parking lot, Allie had no idea. She knew only that her head hurt and her tears were all used up. She wiped her hands over her cheeks and tried to decide what to do next.
She had to get her mother’s prescription home to her tonight, even if that meant calling someone to come get her. The realization that two hours ago that someone would have been Logan started a fresh trickle of tears in spite of her thinking there could be no more.
No! She wouldn’t let herself dwell on this anymore. Not right now, anyway. Her heart might be broken, but it would mend, even though she suspected it would never be the same again. She would sort all of that out later, after she got home.
There were more immediate concerns for her to deal with first. Her grandmother would be the logical one to call for help. Or Dulcie. Except one glance at her cell phone reminded her that the battery was completely dead, so she’d have to find a phone to use to make that call.
The sudden plink, plink of raindrops peppering down only added to her frustration.
“Perfect,” she ground out between clenched teeth. “Just perfect. Any other crap you want to dump my way today?”
According to Mama Odie, tempting fate was never a smart thing to do, but Allie briefly wondered how many days like this her grandmother might have faced. Few, she’d guess, considering the woman’s always optimistic outlook.
Just for the heck of it, she tried the ignition once more and the car purred to life as if it had never had a problem. Maybe fate needed a little tempting every now and then to shake things up.
She pulled onto the road and turned toward home, feeling every bit as gloomy as the skies above her. The gentle peppering of raindrops continued until she was on the highway, at which point the skies opened up and the rain poured down in great, heaving sheets.
The rain persisted and Allie slowed her speed, hands clasped tightly around the steering wheel. Navigating the winding canyon on rain-slicked roads required her full attention and frayed her nerves like little else could. Eight years away from the mountains had made her doubt her ability to drive in them.
“Bull pucky,” she whispered, and then louder: “I call bull pucky!”
This was her home. She’d learned to drive on these roads. She’d be damned if she’d be intimidated by them now. Not the road and not any of the other roadblocks thrown in her path today.
“You better have more than that if you think you’re going to knock me out of the game,” she said aloud, leaning forward to look up at the gray sky. “I might be down, but I’m a long way from out.”
She pressed her foot down on the accelerator, surprised when the car didn’t speed up as she’d expected. For the first time, she realized that the car was quieter than usual. Remarkably quiet in fact. Quiet like a car whose engine had been turned off.
Fighting the panic rising in her throat, Allie struggled to turn the unresponsive steering wheel. It felt as if she were trying to drive her grandpa’s ancient tractor. At the same time, she pulsed her brake in an attempt to bring the car to a stop without running off the road. Considering the sheer drop into the canyon, off the road would be bad. Very bad.
After several long minutes of braking, the car rolled to a stop, but slid at least another foot on the slick pavement before coming to a complete halt in the gravel at the road’s edge.
Allie sat where she was, hands frozen on the steering wheel, breathing deeply. When she could finally make herself let go, she removed her seat belt, opened her door and stepped out into the rain to survey the damage.
Another couple of inches and her worries would have been all over. Permanently. As it was, anyone getting out the passenger side would need a parachute to survive that first step.
It would appear her grandmother had been right about tempting fate, after all.
“You win,” Allie whispered, staring over the edge of the cliff.
In one afternoon she’d lost the only man she’d ever wanted and very nearly lost her life in an accident all to similar to the one that had claimed her father. She couldn’t hope to stand up to such a formidable power.
She trembled, teeth chattering, as she backed away from the road’s edge. She had to figure out what to do next. Had to figure out what she could do. There was maybe an hour left before it started getting dark, and dark out here, with no houses or people around, was a whole different dark than in town.
Vaca Vista Inn was only a few miles down the road. Sh
e could walk that far, even in this rain. Once there, she’d call Mama Odie and this nightmare would be over.
Her eyes stung with tears as she reached inside the car to retrieve her purse and the little white prescription bag. The boxes of dried fruit would just have to wait to be rescued by someone else.
The storm began to slack off as she walked, turning into a slow, steady drizzle. A few cars passed, but none stopped or even slowed. A part of her was grateful they didn’t. She could only pretend her face was wet from the rain for so long.
She heard another vehicle in the distance, coming toward her, and, once again, she scooted to the far edge of the road. Only this one didn’t zoom past. This one slowed and came to a stop in the middle of the road.
“Allie?” Tanner Grayson swung open the door and climbed out of his truck, walking toward her. “What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? Are you okay?”
“No,” she whimpered, humiliated that she couldn’t fake it for even one minute.
“Come on,” he encouraged, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and all but lifting her up into the passenger side of his truck. “Jesus, you’re soaked to the skin. What happened?”
“Car died,” she answered, unable to say more without completely breaking down in the face of his kindness.
“Okay then,” he said as he climbed into his seat. He spoke in that all-business way of his that seemed to indicate he was already marking items off a checklist. “Did you talk to Logan? He’s been trying to call you for the last couple of hours.”
She shook her head, not trusting herself to say anything. Fortunately, Tanner’s phone rang, giving her a reprieve.
He glanced at the little screen before answering, and a frown creased his brow. “Goddammit, Kat, I already told you he’s fine so—” Tanner stopped speaking abruptly and a mottled red color crept up from his neck to his face. “Sorry, Mrs. O’Connor. I saw the number and assumed it was Katie calling. Again.” Another pause. “Yes, ma’am, I know what assuming does. And, yes, you’ll be my first call if there’s any problem. Good night.” He clipped his phone back into the holder on the dashboard and shook his head before turning toward Allie. “Well? Have you spoken to him?”
“No. My battery died.”
“Okay then,” he said again. “Logan had a little accident this afternoon. A minor chemical spill, but there’s no need to worry. He’s okay. I’m heading into Junction to grab some stuff the doctor prescribed for him and then I’ll get you home. How’s that sound?”
Her heart missed a full beat at hearing Logan had been hurt, but she pushed the feelings away. He didn’t need her. He had his sister and his mother to worry after him. And Shayla. Let her nurse him back to health. Apparently that was what he wanted.
She just wanted to get home.
“Would you mind dropping me at the Vaca Vista Inn first?” When he looked as if he were going to refuse, she tried again. “I had two really big glasses of tea at lunch, Tanner, and I’ve been walking forever. If I don’t get to a bathroom soon, I’m going to embarrass myself. Please, can we go to the inn?”
“Fair enough,” he answered, turning the truck around to return in the direction he’d come from. “You want to use my cell to call Logan and let him know what’s going on?”
“No.”
She didn’t want to speak to Logan. Not on a cell, not in person, not at all. Not now. Not ever.
“You want me to call him for you?”
“No.”
Tanner didn’t ask any more questions and she didn’t offer any more information, choosing instead to stare blindly out the window until they reached their destination.
After another ten minutes, they pulled into the inn’s parking lot, and Tanner came around to her side of the big truck to open the door and help her down.
Rather than stepping away, he blocked her path with his body and placed both hands on her shoulders. “You want to tell me what’s wrong? I might be able to help, you know. I can be a pretty helpful guy sometimes.”
“Not this time, I’m afraid,” she answered. Rising up on her tiptoes, she kissed her rescuer on the cheek. “Thanks for saving me back there. I owe you one.”
“Hey, that’s what I do,” he answered in his usual flippant tone. “You want me to come in with you?”
That was the last thing she wanted.
“No. You go on and get the stuff you need for Logan. I’m going to call my grandmother to come get me.”
“If you’re sure that’s what you want,” he said, his gaze focused on her like he was trying to read her mind. “You want me to have Logan call you at home?”
“No. But you can give him a message for me. Tell him not to bother calling me. I don’t want to talk to him or to see him again.”
“You sure you don’t want to reconsider that?” he asked. “Logan’s not going to take that message very well, you know.”
“I don’t care how he takes that message.” Any more than he’d cared about her when he took his pants off at Shayla’s this afternoon. “Whatever I thought we had between us, I was wrong. It’s over. I don’t care anymore.”
“If you’re sure that’s what you want.” Tanner continued to study her for a moment longer. “You gonna be okay?”
“Eventually,” she answered honestly, as the damned unstoppable tears started to leak down her cheeks again.
He gave her a big hug, patting her back like a man unused to comforting anyone. “You can call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay,” she answered, knowing she never would.
She turned her back and walked away, not waiting to see him get back in the truck and leave.
She had meant what she said about being okay. She had every intention of putting this all behind her. Eventually. It was only that right at this moment in time, she felt as though eventually might take centuries to get here.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Logan felt as though he’d been punched in the gut.
There was no mistaking Tanner’s pickup, not even looking through the drizzle-covered windshield. No one else in the valley drove a huge white beast of a truck with red lightning bolts racing down either side. Curiosity as to why his friend would have stopped at the Vaca Vista Inn on his way to Grand Junction drew Logan off the highway and into the parking lot.
Within minutes, he had all the answers he could stomach. A deft U-turn had him back on the highway, headed home.
Tanner and Allie. At the Vaca Vista Inn, known for miles to be the place to go for a quick afternoon rendezvous. If he hadn’t seen them with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it—the two of them huddling so close together, the kiss, the embrace.
He’d left then. He couldn’t bear the thought of watching them walk into the inn together, knowing what would come next.
It all made sense now. The repeated calls Tanner had received while the doctor was there, his insistence on going to get Logan’s meds, his comment about already planning to head that direction—everything fit.
Everything except how sure he’d been that Allie was the one. Everything except the way she’d gazed into his eyes as he’d held her in his arms last night and all the nights before. Everything except the genuine happiness he’d been so sure he’d heard in her voice this morning when he’d called to invite her to meet him for dinner.
He pulled his truck to a stop in front of the fire station and slammed his palm against the steering wheel. No, it didn’t make sense. None of it. At least, it wouldn’t have before Allie’s call this afternoon.
It might make sense if she believed he’d cheated on her. If he’d let her down like all the other men in her life had, that might explain her running to another man.
But it didn’t make sense that Tanner would agree to be that other man.
Logan climbed out of his truck and walked slowly back into the station, holding his chest as if his heart had sustained a physical wound.
It hurt. It hurt that she hadn’t trusted him
enough to ask him what had happened. It hurt that she’d jumped to a faulty conclusion without even giving him a chance to tell her the truth. It hurt that she’d had so little faith in him.
He stood in the shadows for several minutes, staring at the bag of groceries he’d left on the table this afternoon, canned goods for the meal he had planned for tonight. Like a child possessed by a temper tantrum, he crossed the room and swept the bag to the floor. Overcome by the utter helplessness of his situation, he watched as the cans rolled in all directions.
A perfect metaphor for his life at this moment. Chaos. Out of control.
He gripped the back of the wooden chair and closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath before letting the air out slowly.
Too bad he was working tonight. A full bottle of something 80-proof sounded like the only thing that might dull the misery plaguing his heart. Instead, he headed for the counter and poured himself a cup of strong black coffee. It wouldn’t dull his senses or strip the memories from his mind, but it might occupy his hands long enough to keep him from digging them raw.
It wasn’t right that Allie had judged him solely based on what she’d been through in her past. She should have trusted him, just a little. If he’d been able to talk to her, he could have explained what had really happened. He could have assured her that he would never let her down. He couldn’t. He couldn’t because he was in love with her. But without even giving him a chance to defend himself, she had tried him and found him guilty.
Halfway to his mouth, his hand paused, splashing hot coffee over the edge of his cup as realization settled over him.
He was guilty. Guilty of doing the exact same thing he accused her of doing. Seeing her with Tanner, he’d judged her actions based solely on his own past experiences. How could he criticize her for having so little faith in him when he’d just demonstrated how little faith he had in her?
TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) Page 20