by Jillian Hart
What about his mission? Working beside Mick wasn’t helping to gain the man’s trust. If anything, he was earning the counterfeiter’s distrust. Mick had warned him twice about breaking Michelle’s heart, that he wasn’t going to stand for that as if he were a tough guy who could take Brody down.
All Brody needed was his thumb to put the over-blown man on the ground and in handcuffs, but he didn’t mention that. He merely tried to reply honestly, that he had no intention of hurting Michelle. He respected her too much.
And while his words and his hard work earned Pete’s approval, Mick kept his distance. It wasn’t hard to see why. Mick did as little as possible, and Pete wasn’t happy with him.
“Is that what you’re going to do when this is yours?” Pete would ask. “I don’t want this land to go to ruin, Mick.”
I’ll buy it from you. It was all Brody could do not to blurt out those words. He would bite his bottom lip and keep working. But he could buy the land. At least, his nest egg would go a long way toward a down payment on property like this.
Mick had wandered off with some muttered excuse and after twenty minutes passed, he was missing. Was the man just ducking out of field work? Or was he sneaking off to meet his contact?
Please, Father, help me to end this mission well. But quickly. How could he keep this up for much longer? Keeping secrets from Michelle, spying on her family, having everything he’d ever wanted so close, but he couldn’t seize it.
His phone vibrated—Hunter left a text message. Mick had been spotted leaving the ranch on the back service road.
What was Mick up to? Itching for some action and eager to bring this case to a close so he could get on with his life, Brody almost walked away from the fieldwork. He felt it in his guts—this was the break they’d been waiting for.
The cutter jammed and clattered to a dead stop.
“I’m askin’ the Lord to help me hold my temper, because that’s the only way I’m gonna stay calm with a thunderstorm headed this way.” Pete tossed his hat to the ground. “Brody, think you can help me? Where’s Mick, that’s what I’d like to know.”
My partner could tell you, Brody thought as he crouched down on his hands and knees, eating dust and shredded bits of grass. He bellied under, careful of the dangerous blades, and took a look.
“You’ve got a length of wire caught up in here. Must have picked it up with the grass.”
“And with a storm coming in, too.” Stress hardened Pete’s voice. His face wore the brunt of it. He looked worn and tired. He studied the seasonal workers he’d hired—a handful of teenagers. “I’ve got hay to put up before the hail hits. The rest of us can load if you’d run to town. Take my truck. I’ll give John a call at the hardware store. He’ll have the part waiting for you.”
At least it would give Brody a chance to get away and give Hunter a call. Find out what was going on. “I’ll take care of it. We’ll have that part in and running after lunch.”
“Son, you’re a good man. Let me grab my phone so I can make that call.” Pete yanked open the truck door, found his cell phone on the floor. “I sure thank the Lord for sending you my way.”
“I thank Him for sending me here.”
Pete nodded in approval as he waited for the phone to connect. “You stop by the diner and ask Jodi to pack us up lunch to bring back with you. She’ll put it on my tab.”
“Will do.” Brody hopped in Pete’s rig and headed straight to town.
He called Hunter first thing and found out that it looked as if Mick was heading for the closest casino. They already had sensitive mikes in place, in case Mick was doing business while he gambled.
“If you are right, Brody, if Mick’s exchanging the money he’s printing, we may end this case tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest.”
“The bearer bonds I found in his safe were a huge clue.” Those midnight excursions had paid off. “We’re a good team, Hunter. Buzz me if you get anything else.”
“No problem.”
The second he put away his phone, his mind went back to Michelle.
How wrong was that? He couldn’t seem to help it. This case was almost in the pan, he could feel it. He’d never wanted an assignment to end so fast. He couldn’t waste another minute.
How was she going to feel when she found out why he was really here? Troubled, he didn’t notice the reduced speed sign at the edge of town. He hit his brakes, but the town sheriff must have been patrolling somewhere else.
Maybe he’d drive on by the hardware store, see if Michelle was busy at the hair salon. Then he’d circle back for the part. When he spotted her car in the lot, the warm glow in his chest brightened.
He couldn’t wait to see her. He’d missed her smile and her quick humor and her spirit.
There she was! A wave of excitement washed over him. He was about to undertake a new mission. The most important of his life. The quest to make Michelle his wife.
Fully aware Brody was standing outside the salon’s wide front windows, Michelle kept her back turned. She focused her full attention on her newest customer. Just the right shade of a handsome dignified blonde bounced in a sassy layered cut. Michelle was happy—she’d done a great job, if she did say so herself. Fran, the clerk from the hotel that first night Brody came to town, stared unblinking in the large mirror.
“That’s me? Why, I haven’t looked this good since I was thirty.”
“You’re beautiful. Look at you.”
“Honey, I feel like a whole new woman.” Smiling broadly, Fran reached inside her purse. “What do I owe ya? I insist on paying. I haven’t been this happy with a cut and style since I don’t know how long.”
“I said complimentary and I meant it, and we’re not done yet.” Michelle caught her co-worker’s eye in the mirror. “Cassie is slow today. Why don’t you let her treat you to a manicure? She includes a hand massage to die for.”
“Oh, I’ve always wanted those French-tipped nails. Thank you, Michelle.” Fran grabbed her into a hug. “You are just a doll. I feel so good, I swear I could bust.”
Michelle heard the door behind her jangle as she led Fran to Cassie’s table. Confident boots tapped on the other side of the partition. Michelle didn’t have to look around to know who those boots belonged to.
Before he opened the door, she could sense his presence, as tangible and as certain as the breeze from the air conditioner against the back of her neck. The tiny hairs at her nape prickled and her entire being felt as if it were blossoming, like summer’s first rose.
I love you. His words were inside her, and she felt so vulnerable. Afraid and thrilled and uncertain.
The love so new to her heart was deep. What was going to happen? What if he let her down, the way Rick had? Or what if Brody decided the open road and his life elsewhere had a greater hold on him than his love for her?
So many doubts crowded together in her mind.
No, don’t think that way. She stopped the doubts, but the echoes of them remained. The uncertainty breaking her hopes a little. She grabbed the broom from the closet and swept up the hair clippings on the black-and-white tiled floor.
Could she stop thinking about him for even one minute? No. Even when he was in the other room, she could feel him. She wanted to turn to him. To her dream.
How could a man be so wonderful? It was as if the angels had looked deep into her secret wishes, the ones she dared not voice, and brought her Brody.
This was how dangerous love was? Sure, love was tenderness and commitment and joy. She’d learned the hard way that it was also confusion and doubt and fear. Despite her worries, the love within her rose so strongly, like a river flooding its banks, taking over.
She did love him.
“I came to town to fetch a part, and your dad said to stop by and order up lunch from the diner.” Brody’s voice. Brody’s step behind her as she swept the clippings into the dustpan and emptied it neatly into the small garbage can by the supply closet.
Would it be too forward
if she ran to him and begged to know the feel of his arms holding her close? Yes.
“Want to come with me?”
I’d follow you anywhere, and that’s the problem. She decided not to clue him in on that little bit of information. She straightened and put the broom and pan away and tried to sound sensible, as if she wasn’t so in love with him she couldn’t think straight. “Fran was my last appointment for the day. I don’t have to start my shift at the coffee shop for a few hours.”
“Then come with me. I’ll buy you lunch while we wait.”
“Make it a milk shake and you have a deal.”
“Excellent.” It was there in the way he watched her. Tender. Respectful.
Was this longing she felt for him part of his longing, too?
She grabbed her purse and slung the thin leather strap over her shoulder. With keys in hand she called goodbye to Cassie. Brody held the door for her and, when he fell in stride beside her on the sidewalk, wrapped her hand in his.
Like a couple. Like a man saying, “This is the woman I love and I choose to be by her side.” She was proud to be seen with him, not because he was a good-looking man. But because he was the best man she’d ever met. And to think that he loved her.
She loved him with all the joy in her heart, even if she trembled inside. Love was scary. It was opening up a part of herself that she’d protected for a long time. She trusted that Brody, so protective and good, would never hurt her.
Trust. It was hard to hand over to a man again. But to this man it was right.
She’d never loved another human being the way she loved Brody. Even walking beside him, she ached in ways she couldn’t explain. She only knew that she’d never felt so much. Been so alive. It was invigorating to see the world like this, the brightness, the colors and the brilliance.
And to feel the depth of her heart—and his.
How could she not? He fit perfectly into her life. Her family loved him. After the Monopoly game, her sisters and brothers-in-law couldn’t say nice enough things about him. And her father had given Brody rare praise numerous times for his hard work in the fields. Her dad wasn’t as young as he used to be, and it was hard for him to depend on others to do the work he loved.
Brody opened the heavy diner door, a perfect gentleman. His hand found hers again as they stepped into the cool breeze from the air conditioner and looked around. Only a few booths were occupied. This time of year was a busy one in farming country, and only the old-timers were talking over food and coffee today.
The waitress circled around the counter with a pot of steaming coffee in hand. “Hi, Michelle, and is this the handsome Brody I’ve been hearing about? What can I get you two?”
“I’d like an order to go,” Brody said. “Can I see a menu?”
“I’ve been doing to-go’s all day. Here, take this, find a booth and just wave me down when you’re ready. Would you like some coffee while you wait?”
“Something cool sure would be good. Got some iced tea?”
Michelle chose a booth in the corner right beneath the air conditioner vent and slid onto the cool padded seat. “You look beat. Dad’s been working you hard.”
“Yep, but I don’t mind. It’s honest work, and I admire your dad a lot. He’s a good man.” Brody settled across the table from her. He looked uncertain before he reached out and drew her hand into his. “I’ve missed you.”
His hand was iron-strong, but he trembled, a tiny bit.
Or maybe she was the one who was trembling. “I’ve missed seeing you, too.”
His fingers squeezed hers more tightly, as if holding on. As if he never wanted to let go. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look today?”
“Not yet. I’m waiting.” She liked making him chuckle. He had a nice laugh—warm and deep and quiet.
“You do. But what about me? I’m covered with grass and dirt and grease. I’m surprised you aren’t ashamed to be seen with me.” Brody felt ashamed now that he realized he’d been so eager to see her he hadn’t given a single thought to how he must look after being in the fields since four o’clock.
“I like the way the way you look.” Her big eyes filled with admiration.
His throat closed up tight with emotion. She might not have said that she loved him, but the way she was looking up at him said it all.
He couldn’t find the words, but he was grateful. He held her hand more tightly, wondering about her slender fingers. He had a hold of her left hand, and he figured that was no coincidence. How right his ring would feel on her fourth finger.
He felt a strange flutter as his stomach tumbled, but he was determined. He’d ask her tonight. He would find out one way or the other if she loved him. If he had a chance of making her his wife.
“If it storms, I won’t be working.” Did he really sound that awkward? He cleared his throat and tried again. “I was wondering if you’d like to spend some time with me—”
A shadow fell across the table, and it wasn’t the waitress’s. Michelle tried to pull her hand away, but he didn’t let go. Even when the slick dressed man stared disdainfully at their locked hands.
“Oh, hi, Rick.” Michelle didn’t sound happy to see him.
Brody felt his defenses rise.
“Michelle.” He nodded, his baseball cap shading his face. “Hear you have a new boyfriend. A biker boyfriend.”
Brody took in the man’s mocking tone and the tilt of derision of his upper lip. It took only a second for Brody to see Michelle’s distressed look of pain.
He nearly leaped to his feet, overwhelmed with determination to protect her. Fierce with it. “Good to meet you, now move on.”
“Fine. Here’s a hint. Her father won’t give you the land, and she’s locked at the knees. Good luck.”
Brody saw red. It all happened so fast. He heard Michelle’s gasp of pain, and he was on his feet. His hands full of collar and quaking with fury.
“Apologize to the lady,” he growled.
“S-sorry,” Rick gurgled, and Brody released him.
“Now go.” Adrenaline pounding as hard as his fury, Brody stood protectively beside Michelle. It wasn’t a peaceful response and it wasn’t right, but his fury came from an honest place. From the need to shelter her. To keep her safe.
Rick straightened his cotton shirt, looked as if he were thinking over his options and then swaggered to the door.
Brody trembled, all fight, ready to keep defending her until the door closed tight.
The waitress bounded down the aisle with an iced tea and a strawberry milk shake. “Goodness, Michelle, are you all right? He didn’t make you cry?”
He stepped aside, keeping his gaze on Rick through the long wall of front windows. Letting Rick know Michelle was his now. The woman he loved. He wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her. Ever. On his life. On his honor.
“I’m fine, Jodi.” Michelle’s voice was wobbly, and her eyes were bright, but she wasn’t crying.
Good thing, because Brody didn’t think he could take seeing her cry.
“Some men have it all wrong. They think money is what’s important, when it’s the love of a good woman,” the waitress soothed.
“Thanks, Jodi.”
Brody heard Michelle’s single sniff and she cleared the emotion from her voice. Rick had crossed the street and climbed into a brand-new sports car, red and polished and sleek. Brody might drive a sensible sedan and his town house back home in Virginia was modest, but it wasn’t the net worth that made a man, but how he lived and how he treated his woman.
When Brody sat back down, his anger was fading and he realized the waitress was gone and Michelle was stirring the long handled spoon in her thick pink shake. She looked unhappy. Regret kicked in his chest.
“Sorry. I acted before I thought.” He was a man of faith. He didn’t go around intimidating people. What was wrong with him? He was an FBI agent.
“Thanks. No one’s quite stood up for me before. Not like that, anyway.” It was in her eyes. Her appreciation
. Her love for him. “I thought Rick was a wonderful boyfriend. He seemed wonderful because he knew what I wanted and he was careful to give me the dream of it.”
“Marriage?”
“Romance, marriage, everything.” She blushed and stirred the spoon around in her milk shake. “He said that he respected me for wanting to wait until I was married to, well, you know, but he was cheating on me with another woman.”
Rage thundered through Brody’s blood with enough power to blow him apart. The edges of his vision blurred. How could anyone hurt Michelle? How could anyone not want her?
“Rick did the very worst thing he could. He betrayed me. He deceived me. He was dating me because he was hoping to get his hands on my family’s net worth. He used me. He lied to me. He knocked my feet out from under me for a while.”
He leaned across the table and cupped her face in the curve of his palm. Wiped a single tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Beautiful, he is the dumbest man alive to think the land was more valuable than you. You’re the true value. The kind a man waits all his life to find.”
She fell even more in love with him.
He pressed a kiss to her cheek, so sweet and tender it brought tears to her eyes.
This man had protected her, defended her and loved her. She couldn’t find the words, so she pressed her face against his palm. She gave thanks that he felt this connection, too, the way their hearts beat in synchrony.
The way he fit against her soul.
Chapter Twelve
The thunderstorm held off. The tall stack of thunderheads amassed on the northwestern horizon as if gathering strength, waiting to attack.
Brody could feel the threat in the air. When the storm came, it would be with a fury. They worked all out, as fast as they could go. When the first gust of wind blew in cold and mean, they worked faster.
Some of the hired teenagers hurried off to help at home, to prepare for the storm. Pete and Brody kept working, fighting the wind gusts as they covered the stacked bales with tarp. The rain came and turned to hail. Lightning split the sky. They kept working.