He grunted and looked away. He leaned forward and clasped his hands between his knees. He stared at the floor. “My father is a retired full bird colonel. I retired as a Chief Warrant Officer.”
“Retired? You’re so young.”
“Thirty-eight.”
“No way. You’re the youngest looking retired military I’ve ever met.”
His gaze narrowed on her, a hint of suspicion in that look. “Why do you know so much about the military?”
She cradled her sore wrist; it had started to throb. “Dad was an A-10 pilot in the Air Force. Of course, that’s a totally different animal than the Marines. I’m an only child.”
O’Bannion’s surprise was clear this time. “You’re a military brat.” A smile touched his lips just enough to hint at humor. “What are you doing? Rebelling against authority?”
“What makes you think that?”
He looked her up and down, a thorough assessment as clinical as a drill sergeant inspecting troops. “Bohemian look. No makeup. Fringe leather bag. Tie-dye blouse. Wide-leg jeans. You look like a walking advertisement for the seventies.”
She couldn’t be insulted. All he’d done was describe what she wore today. Okay, so the man had a few instincts of his own. “Yes. Clear and free without pretensions. This style appeals to me.”
“Not worried about being stereotyped?”
“No more than you are.” He chuckled, but there wasn’t true humor in it; sarcasm was more likely. He looked like he wanted to tell her to clean up her act. She got the jump on him. “I don’t make any apologies for the way I look, O’Bannion.” Eager to learn more about what made this man tick, she moved on. “What did you do in the Marines?”
“I was a combat engineer.”
His willingness to supply information about himself surprised her somewhat. “Most military men I’ve met have been very closed mouth about their occupations. Even the ones that don’t qualify as secret squirrel.”
His gaze hit the floor. “Secret squirrel I’m not.”
“You went into the Marines very young.”
“Right again. I was eighteen.” His gaze flicked to hers, and now that she knew he was older than she’d first thought, she could see the small lines around his gorgeous eyes.
“What made you decide to retire?”
“You’re a curious one aren’t you?”
She rubbed her wrist. “I like to get to know the people who pay my medical bills.”
One of his dark brows winged up. “You accident prone?”
“No. And I wouldn’t call what happened to me an accident.” She swallowed as a wave of reality and fear came over her. “That guy ... I think he was trying to kill me.”
His gaze returned to hers again, lines forming between his eyebrows. “As in premeditated?”
“Maybe not that, but it’s as if he wanted to run down someone. Anyone who got in the way.”
“Wish I’d gotten the license plate number.”
“There wasn’t one.” Unease settled inside her, and she didn’t understand. She’d never considered herself gloom and doom, and she didn’t want to become that way either. “What brought you back to Simple? Wait. Don’t answer that. Your mother.”
His expression went dark, the disturbance in his expression reflecting emotional pain. “Yeah. I was out of contact for a short time in the desert. When I couldn’t get her to answer the telephone or emails, I asked my father to check on her. He came to Simple and discovered she hadn’t been seen in a few days. She’s disappeared off the face of the earth.
“Are there any clues to her whereabouts?”
“None.” He sighed. “Mom has issues. Like I said, she’s bipolar. She has a tendency to forget her meds or refuse to take them. It’s one of the things that broke up my parents. They’re the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton of the military world.”
“Married twice?”
“Yep.”
Her sensitivity got the best of her. The misery reflected in his eyes took her breath away; his pain was hers for a sharp, stabbing moment. “You don’t have to share this. I mean, it’s none of my business.”
“I could tell that you didn’t trust me to drive you here, and I understand that. I don’t trust you either. Do you have a thing about the military?”
“A thing?”
“You think guys in the military are scum?”
She snorted softly. “Some of them are. Some of them aren’t.” Before he could reply, a nurse came out to get Melissa.
The round of examinations went on for two hours. The doctor was fairly certain her wrist wasn’t broken, but decided an x-ray made sense. She had to wait for someone to escort her to x-ray, and when that was all done, the doctor came in with the results. There was nothing broken, but her wrist was sprained. He put on a flexible splint that she could take off easily to shower and wash her hands, and gave her a script for a painkiller she didn’t think she’d need. She walked out of the room relieved to be done.
Roarke sat in his regular chair reading a magazine among a half dozen other people. He looked up when he saw her, and everything feminine inside her reacted. For a tight-ass, conceited military man, at least he was reliable. Come on, Melissa. Why are you being so damned judgmental? She didn’t know. She didn’t think she was entirely wrong about him, but she also usually tried compassion on people rather than knee-jerk reactions and biting words. He put away the magazine and strolled her way. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Henrietta. Henrietta insisted she go home and rest her abused limb.
“No, I’m coming in.” Melissa had experienced enough pampering for the day. “I can still work. At least in the back.”
Henrietta agreed and they finished the call.
Roarke looked at her wrist. “Everything good?”
“It’s sprained.”
“At least it isn’t broken.”
She didn’t mention the throbbing ache in the joint. She didn’t complain when it came to injury or illness. “Let’s get out of here. I’m sure you have a ton of things to do that you can’t do sitting here with me in a hospital.”
“Nothing more important than this.”
Is this man for real? He took her arm and steered her toward the front desk where they checked out and he made the co-pay.
Back on the road, she directed him to drive to her bank. “I need to get the money to pay you back. I’d go to an ATM but all of them seemed to be acting weird yesterday and didn’t want to work.”
“Let me guess,” he said. “Owning a new age store isn’t exactly high-paying around here?”
She flinched a little. “No. What does that have to do with anything?” She smiled. “Don’t make assumptions about my ability to pay.”
“You said you couldn’t afford the co-pay.”
She sighed. “Only because I didn’t think the injury warranted an emergency room visit and I didn’t want to go into my savings. I need to pay you back.” She turned slightly in the seat and peered at him. “You aren’t one of those men who always believes the guy pays, are you?”
He didn’t take his gaze off the road. “Nope. Look, I’ll make you a deal. You can take me out to dinner tomorrow night at Giancarlo’s. They’re pretty upscale, right?”
His suggestion completely threw her. Roarke O’Bannion had just asked her dinner?
“If you’re going to reject me, Allan, do it before my feet grow to the ground.”
She blinked. “Um ... yeah, Giancarlo’s is expensive.”
“If you’re concerned about paying me, we’ll have dinner there and I get to pick your brain some more about this town. If I’m going to find my mother, I need all the information I can get. Fair trade?”
For a few seconds she didn’t know what to say. “You are quite the negotiator aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
She almost said no. Her mouth opened and out came an agreement before she could analyze it. “All right.” A totally girly thought invaded. What the hell would she wear to Gianc
arlo’s? She didn’t have much in the way of fancy-smancy in her closet.
After they’d returned to the shop, and he’d given the Toyota keys back to Henrietta, he saluted. “How does eighteen thirty sound for dinner tomorrow?”
She had to think a moment in military time. “Six thirty sounds good.” She told him where she lived. After he left, Henrietta winked at her.
“What?” Melissa asked, feeling a tad defensive.
Henrietta waggled her eyebrows. “He’s already made a date with you.”
“It’s not a date. It’s a business arrangement between two acquaintances. He paid for my co-pay, I’m paying for dinner tomorrow night.”
“Uh-huh.”
Henrietta’s dubious expression didn’t surprise Melissa, but she didn’t want people assuming things. “I’m not dating him.”
The older woman sighed. “Are you kidding? He wants to spend more time with you. That means something.”
“Maybe he’s lonely.”
Henrietta rolled her eyes. “Okay, but whooeeee! That is a man.”
“A rigid, full of himself ...” Melissa drifted off, unable to think of any additional descriptors beyond what she’d already labeled him.
Henrietta winked. “Girl, take some of that free bird in you and experiment. After all, he did a very nice thing taking you to the doctor. And what if he is rigid?” Melissa’s face flamed and Henrietta laughed at the innuendo.
“Shut up,” Melissa said, a half smile on her face as a wildly erotic idea flew through her head. She saw Roarke’s big, tough body hovering over hers, his hips between her thighs. And he was rigid all right. Her cheeks went hot as the sun.
Melissa didn’t want to admit how aware she was of Roarke, and fortunately a customer came in and she didn’t have to.
Chapter 3
Henrietta and Melissa worked the rest of the day in relative ease rearranging shelves for a display of geodes that had just come in. This first week of October, people from out of town interested in the haunted house up at Tranquil View Condominiums had landed on Simple in droves, ready to purchase new age items. The weeks before Halloween proved hectic, but good for sales last year.
The front door bell tinkled as someone entered. Jana Peterson, lawyer and city council member, stepped into the shop. She strode to the counter and smiled. Platinum hair cascaded practically to her waist in thick, but well-tamed tresses that curled and flowed. With her ice queen features and stunning blue eyes, the thirty-something could slay a man’s common sense with one well-placed grin. She wore a pink turtleneck sweater under a matching rose tweed blazer and a matching skirt that touched the knees. She just topped Melissa’s shoulder, but she had all the presence of a much taller individual.
“Good afternoon ladies,” Jana said.
Henrietta returned Jana’s smile. “Good afternoon. Great to see you.”
Melissa wanted to barf. She’d been witness to Jana’s personality too many times. This woman made her ill, but she wouldn’t act unprofessional and lower herself to Jana’s level. “Hi Jana. What can we do you for?”
Jana’s gaze took in the new Wiccan books on the counter and the half-finished display of geodes, and her mouth twisted in thinly disguised contempt. “I see you have some new ... books and ... rocks.”
Melissa couldn’t help it. “Geodes.”
“Interested?” Henrietta said, voice still light and polite.
Jana laughed and put her hands on her hips. “Of course not. Can you imagine if my church even saw me pick up one of those books?”
“Doesn’t take much imagination.” Melissa swallowed hard. Oops. That just slipped out.
Jana’s attention cut to Melissa like a laser. “I have plenty of rocks in my back yard, thank you.”
“Might cure what ails you.” Melissa crossed her arms.
Silence cloaked the room as the slight insult penetrated the blonde. “This is far more serious. And as a friend to you both, I consider it my sacred duty to give you a heads up.”
Oh, hell. What now?
Jana’s sigh held a long-suffering tone. “You know that I like and respect both of you. And I realize this is your livelihood, Melissa. But there are quite a few people in Simple that are against things they see as ....” She shrugged. “People are disturbed by many of the things going on in Simple these days.”
“Such as?” Henrietta’s amiable expression had fallen away.
“Politics?” Melissa was on a roll and couldn’t stop herself. “Global warming?”
As if she worked to convince a jury, Jana began pacing the room. “Politics are always a worry to everyone, aren’t they? After joining the city council I learned how important it is to follow the will of the people, you understand. Quite a few of my constituents have come to me and directed some rather dire accusations your way in the past few months. I’m just not sure I can hold them off any longer.”
Constituents? Melissa almost snorted a laugh, but suppressed it to a twist of the lips. Henrietta held her own. She wasn’t showing any contempt, but Henrietta had far more patience.
“We’ve heard it before, Jana,” Henrietta said. “What’s different now?”
Jana shrugged. “Nothing is different. They’re just more vociferous about it now. It’s four weeks to Halloween, and I’m afraid the holiday has worn out its welcome in Simple.”
“Worn out its welcome?” Melissa couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
“Children enjoy it, no matter what the adults say.” Henrietta spoke quietly, but iron underlined her words. “It’s much ado about nothing.”
Jana shook her head and made a tisking noise like a disapproving aunt. She pushed her thick hair back with a sweep of one well-manicured hand. “Some parents have considered asking the school to stop the costume parade on Halloween.”
Melissa felt the hair go up on the back of her neck. In reaction, she tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’d heard Simple was simple before I moved from Denver, but this cuts the cake.”
Jana threw her a displeased expression. “A small portion of the town thinks Halloween is an innocent holiday with quaint traditions. Most of us know it is not.”
“Oh, it’s a serious holiday for many Wiccans in town,” Henrietta said. “Has anyone asked them what they think, or isn’t it important because they’re a small portion of the population?”
Jana tugged on the front of her blazer and dusted one lapel with her fingers as if she spotted lint on the tweed. “You could say that. There is the move to stop the annual Halloween parade, although the council said this year it's probably too late to do that. After all, quite a few tourists come in for it. Plus this year we have the haunted house at Tranquil View Asylum which should bring in money. We need another year to formulate a fall festival or something to replace Halloween. Tourists would come to that.”
Melissa‘s frayed patience unraveled. “Why not just have a good old-fashioned witch burning? That might bring in some tourists.”
Dead silence enveloped the store, and outside the wind started to howl. Jana gave Melissa a look so cold and deeply rotten, Melissa knew she’d probably be the first one tied to the stake.
“So you’re saying people are asking us not to sell things they think are related to Halloween?” Henrietta asked.
Jana waved one hand. “They’d prefer if you didn’t. I mean, the drugstore down the street sells hokey Halloween decorations and costumes, and with four weeks to Halloween, it’s too late to ask them to stop selling them. No, the people are more concerned about the Ouija boards and other instruments of devil worship.” She strolled to a glass case filled with sterling silver jewelry and glanced inside. “For example, these.”
“Pentacles?” Melissa asked. “These are used by Satanists only if they’re hung upside down. No one I know, none of my customers does that. They’re used by pagans, witches, or Wiccans. It’s the symbol of the five elements and has nothing to do with belief in the devil.”
Jana nodded and turned back to them. �
��Whatever. Understand, this isn’t me saying this. But people trust me to do the right thing. If it was up to most of the council, they wouldn’t warn you first.”
Henrietta’s round cheeks went pink. “I see.”
Jana’s face bloomed into a warm, almost motherly expression of delight. “I’m so glad you do.” She made a small wave of her hand again and turned on her finely-shod toes. “Enjoy this Halloween ladies, because there won’t be another one in Simple.”
Jana pushed through the front door and headed down the sidewalk toward the city council offices a block away. Again the shop was silent except for the tick and tock of the grandfather clock towards the back of the store. A dark, almost pleasant desire to choke the woman came to Melissa. She turned to Henrietta, who had gone silent and was staring into space.
“Sometimes I can’t believe that woman is real,” Henrietta said. “In this day and age.”
“So she’s giving us notice that things are going to get hot around here before long because this is a new age store?”
Henrietta sighed and turned to Melissa. “This store has only been open a year. I’m surprised it took the nimrods this long to try and shut you down.”
Melissa tried to hold onto a good thought, to resurrect the white light around herself. She’d let Jana past her defenses and that pissed her off more than anything the woman had said.
“Jana drives me nutty,” Henrietta said. “I don’t believe the crap she’s shoveling.”
“What I can’t figure is why she came to warn us.”
Henrietta snorted. “That’s simple, no pun intended. She wants to grind our noses in it. And she’s a lawyer.”
“Nuff said.” After another prolonged quiet in the room, Melissa said, “I guess I shouldn’t have mentioned the witch burning, eh?”
Henrietta snorted. “Probably not.”
And they burst out laughing
* * *
Later on Monday, Roarke changed into a black sweater that had seen better days, and his most worn pair of jeans, a tool belt, and athletic shoes. He left his mother’s third floor apartment and headed toward the bottom floor and the basement.
Shadows Fall Page 3