Always Faithful

by Catherine Snodgrass

  Chapter 14

  * * *

  Rowan stretched her arm around Phillip’s shoulders. He looked like a grown-up version of Ian, trying his best to keep his emotions in check. Oscar lay unconscious on the stainless steel veterinary table, his tongue protruding. The lab assistants were clearing away the last traces of expelled antifreeze fluid and hooking up an intravenous drip to re-hydrate the exhausted Weimaraner.

  "You’re lucky you found the dog when you did," the vet said, checking Oscar’s pupils with a quick flick of his thumb.

  Phillip cleared his throat. "You’ll be able to help him?"

  "It was touch and go at first, but we seem to have gotten him cleaned out. As of now, it’s looking real good. He’ll have to stay overnight, of course."

  He caught Rowan’s fingers and traced each digit. "I’d like to leave him here for a few days…if that’s possible."

  "I doubt it will be necessary."

  "This wasn’t an accident. It was intentional. I don’t want him hurt again. If you could board him here until I can take him back home, I’d appreciate it. He won’t much like it, but I’d rather have him upset than dead."

  Concern narrowed the vet’s eyes. "Not a problem. But if I were you, I’d notify the Sheriff’s Department."

  "We have friends at the house who should have already taken care of that." He scratched Oscar behind the ears, then bent and gave him a kiss on the head. "You hang in there, boy."

  Rowan wanted to break down and weep. One look at the sheen of unshed tears in Phillip’s eyes stopped her. Someone needed to be strong at this time. It should be her.

  The ride home was quiet except for a sniff from the passenger seat. Rowan half-expected Phillip to brush it off as allergies. He surprised her again.

  "Big ole dope of a dog. He’s the dumbest animal I’ve ever met. Has a heart big enough for twenty dogs. Crazy to love a dog that much." He gave a humorless chuckle. "Zach would say it was crazy to love anyone that much."

  "And what would you say?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "I would say Zach’s in for a big surprise when the woman walks into his life." Phillip straightened. "We need to get Ian away from here until this is over."

  "I don’t have any relatives except Mom."

  "I was thinking about Claudia. Ian and Emma could go up there. She’s living in San Francisco right now. Claudia’s job is pretty high-profile. She’s an investigative reporter for the local TV station. She lives in a very secure apartment building. My father won’t bother them, if that’s what you were thinking."

  That’s exactly what she was thinking. "Well, if you’re sure he would be safe, and Claudia wouldn’t mind. But how can we make sure they get there safely? Mom refuses to fly. Someone will have to drive them. Any suggestions?"

  "Maybe, but before we make too many plans let’s check with your mom first to see if she’s going to be able to leave for an extended period of time."

  "Call her."

  Phillip laughed. "You’re getting spoiled with that cell phone."

  Rowan had to admit she was.

  "We were in such a hurry I left it at the house. We’ll stop by her place before we go home. I’d rather talk to her without any eavesdroppers. No sense upsetting anyone until we know if this is doable."

  "You mean Ian."

  "Actually, I was thinking about Zach."

  Rowan flashed him a puzzled frown.

  Phillip pointed toward the road. "Just drive. I’ll explain later."

  Light burned behind the drawn curtains of her mother’s house—an odd occurrence at dusk since Emma always enjoyed catching the last rays of sunset each day.

  "Something’s not right. Those curtains should be open. Mom never closes them."

  "Jess is with her. I’m sure she’s fine."

  Rowan pulled into the driveway and jammed the gearshift into park. "Phillip, someone tried to kill Oscar and threatened Ian. Why would Mom or Jess be any safer? A bullet can kill from a long distance, and I doubt at this point the murderer is real picky about who he shoots."

  Phillip conceded the point with a nod. "I’ll go in first…just in case."

  With breath held she watched Phillip approach the house. His stride was poised and calm, never giving away to any sniper that they suspected foul play. A flick of his wrist opened the door. He ducked in, then pulled back, his eyes wide with shock.

  Rowan wrenched open the door van and dashed up the walk. "Oh-my-god, they’re dead, aren’t they?"

  He pulled her back before she could rush inside. "No, no, no. They are very much alive. Shh… Listen."

  She cocked her head to one side. An unmistakable sound reached her ears. Rowan’s jaw dropped. "My mother and Jess Alderman are having an…they’re having…they’re doing—"

  "Right on the living room floor." He grinned and hooked his arm through her elbow. "Let’s go. I’ve been traumatized enough for one day."

  Under Phillip’s guidance, Rowan stumbled toward her van.

  "Don’t look so shocked." Phillip chuckled. "Ian said you thought she had a boyfriend."

  "Yes, but I never thought…she’s never said anything about this."

  "What’s she supposed to say? You’re her daughter. Shared confidences only go so far. Have you ever talked to her about your sex life?"

  What sex life? Her head shook of its own accord. "I didn’t have a clue this was going on. She’s been so…discreet."

  He yanked open the van door. "Then there’s hope for us yet."

  Rowan spun around, not quite believing her own ears. "What?"

  He caught her shoulders in a gentle hold, drawing circles with his thumbs. "You certainly can’t mistake the fact that I still want you as much or more than I ever did. If I can’t be with you soon, I swear I’ll go crazy. I love you, Rowan. You must have realized that by now."

  Somehow she had known, but hearing the words, knowing she wasn’t mistaken made everything right. She pressed closer, feeling the evidence of his desire and praying he could feel the heat of her response.

  "I love you, too, Phillip. I can’t say that I’ve ever stopped loving you. And, God knows, I want you so much."

  "That settles it then." He jerked his head toward the house. "If they can be discreet, so can we."

  "Discreet? Phillip, we have never been known for our discretion. Look at us now. We can be seen from Mom’s house, my house, and by anyone watching us."

  He dropped his arms and moved away.

  "And don’t you think that Malcolm Collins is going to notice when you rush to the store for condoms? Unless you have some with you."

  "I don’t. I wasn’t expecting—"

  "I wasn’t either, and I certainly don’t have anything at the house. Collins and whomever else he is working with is not stupid, Phillip. And shopping for birth control isn’t discreet. That little news item would get to my colonel’s ears in a second and your colonel’s a second later." She snapped her fingers. "He’d use it to destroy your career and mine."

  "So… What do you want to do?"

  "What can we do?" The question was meant to prompt discussion, an evaluation of options open to them. Instead, her tone posed it as rhetorical.

  "Phillip, I don’t have the luxury of having a just-for-the-heck of it relationship. I…we have a child to consider. How do we know this isn’t sex talking?"

  "If it was only sex I wanted, I would have gone to Laura."

  Phillip realized his mistake too late. The glare she shot him was worse than Ian’s I-hate-you look. Rowan’s hackles were raised in full display. She swung into the van and cranked the engine.

  "Get in or walk."

  "You’re blowing this way out of proportion. It was a poor choice of words."

  "You got that right." She slammed the door.

  Phillip pulled it open. "Don’t do this. Don’t be this way. You know what I meant. You know the difference between having sex and making love. I was trying to make a point. I simply used the wrong example. You can�
�t hold me to account for what I did or who I was with when we were apart. Surely there has been someone in your life from time to time."

  Don’t answer, Rowan. I don’t want to know. I couldn’t bear to know that you had been with someone else.

  A sigh lifted her shoulders. "All right. You’ve made your point. If it’s love, I’ll be in my room waiting for you tonight. If it’s lust, don’t put one foot on those stairs."

  "And what would you suggest I do about the condom issue?"

  A half-smile lifted her lips. "If it’s more than lust, you’ll figure something out. Come on, we’ll let the lovers have a little privacy while you call Claudia."

  * * *

  Zach splayed his hands across his chest. "The Ice Princess? You expect me to willingly put myself into the frozen path of The Ice Princess?"

  It would have been comical had the situation not been so dire.

  "I heard that," Claudia shouted from the other end of the line. "You tell that self-indulgent—"

  "Stop it…both of you." Rowan grabbed the phone from Phillip. "Claudia, my son’s life is in danger. I need your help…please."

  "I’m sorry. You know I’ll help. It’s just that Zach Taylor is the most—"

  "I know, but aren’t they all to some degree or another? We’ll call you back when we make a decision on when they’ll be leaving."

  Phillip expected her to launch into Zach next, and from the way Zach fidgeted, it looked like he expected it, too. Ian’s arrival defused the situation.

  "Is Oscar going to be all right?" His bottom lip quivered with every word, and tears filled his eyes.

  To Phillip’s surprise, Zach pulled him to his lap. For someone who had sworn not to have children a few hours ago, he fit the father role rather well. "The doctor is doing all he can."

  "Can I see him?"

  Phillip pulled up a chair. "He’s at the vet resting so he can get better. He’ll be home before you know it, ready to play, chase rabbits, and begging for something to eat."

  Rowan tsked. "Oh, Zach, your dinner…I’m sorry."

  "I kept something warm for you in the oven."

  Food was the furthest thing from her mind, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. "I’ll get something in a minute. I want to make sure Mom can do this. Unless I shouldn’t bother to try."

  "Go ahead. I’ll watch the tadpole for you…even if it does mean getting frostbite." He leveled his gaze to Phillip’s. "And no lectures about getting along. I’ll behave if she does."

  He laughed. "No lectures. I promise."

  Ian hopped down from Zach’s lap. "Dad, the sheriff was here after you left."

  He lifted a questioning brow to the other two men.

  "It looks like the guy may have gotten sloppy," Mike said. "The sheriff took the jug of antifreeze for fingerprints." A triumphant grin spread. "There are boot prints in the sand."

  "How do we know they aren’t from one of us?"

  The grin widened. "Because the sheriff tracked the prints to the road."

  "Hot damn!" Phillip whooped. "Now all we need to do is tie them to our suspect. We have to find some way to trip him up."

  Rowan poked her head into the room. "You can work that out with Jess. He and Mom are on their way over. I’m going to take a long soak in the tub. Ian, bath time for you, too."

  "Aw, Mom."

  Phillip scooped Ian up and held him upside down until he started to giggle. "Come on. I’ll let you beat me at computer games once you’re done."

  * * *

  Rowan slid into a sea of bubbles. Maybe the warmth would ease her tension away. The last of the bruises from her various adventures, even the scratches from Kemp’s wife were beginning to fade. She sighed. So much for her body, but would there ever be a day when her life would return to normal?

  All she had wanted to do was get to the bottom of the flurry of accidents centered on the Lava training area. She was doing her part. Being a Marine. Protecting her own. What had it gotten her? Threats, agony, turmoil…and Phillip back in her life. The one plus or another minus?

  The bath pillow cushioned her as she leaned back. Forgetfulness would be nice, if only for a moment.

  Dreams pulled her in. Rowan let them. Sleep would be a welcome escape. She didn’t know how long she lay there. Minutes, hours? It didn’t matter. It wasn’t long enough. She cursed the fact that it was time to summon her energy and get tucked into bed.

  With a cat-like stretch she opened her eyes, then started when she saw Phillip sitting next to her on the edge of the tub. He was naked, muscles shifting under taut skin. The heat of the bathroom had already slicked his body with a thin sheen of moisture.

  "What—"

  "Ian’s in bed fast asleep. You said to come up if it was love."

  "Then I presume you somehow managed to discreetly find a condom?"

  "This is love, remember? That would be lust." He brushed his hand through the sudsy water and caressed the long length of her leg, sliding slowly up the sensitive skin to her inner thigh.

  "Don’t get me wrong. I want you so much I feel like I’ll explode any minute. But I asked myself if something happened and for some reason you and I could never make love again, would I still love you and stand by you? The answer was yes. I’d love you no matter what."

  "So…" He swung himself into the other end of the garden tub, and lowered his body into the swirling water. "I’m going to sit over here and simply be with you. No matter how much it kills me."

  "Oh, Phillip, I…" She slid toward him, gliding her body against his, a silken caress.

  Phillip sucked in a breath as her belly brushed against him. He cupped her buttocks and nestled her closer. With a feathery touch of her tongue, she kissed him, inhaling the very essence of his being.

  "Over my dead body. I love you no matter what," she said softly. "But I’m afraid I can’t be as noble as you right now." She straddled his hips and rubbed herself along his length.

  Phillip shuddered with the effort to maintain control. "If you keep that up…"

  She pulled up and stroked him again, smiling when a soft groan left his throat.

  "Rowan, we can’t—"

  "We can…this way. We have before…remember? That hot tub in the Poconos?"

  "How could I forget? But I’m not going to last very long if you keep doing that."

  Rowan caught his hand and guided it to where their bodies touched. "Neither will I if you do this."

  He dipped his hand between them, parting her with a flick of his fingers before probing deep into the depths where he longed to be. She moved against him, urging him on with each caress he gave. He clenched his teeth, fighting to hang on, longing to wait for her.

  Agony, pleasure, that white-hot rush she loved and tried so hard to forget. It burst upon her with little warning, engulfing her with its power, paralyzing her. She tensed with the spasms then felt him shudder with the force of his own release.

  Chapter 15

  * * *

  Lightning backlit the gathering clouds. It was bad enough to have her family leave after nightfall, but with the storm closing in, it was all Rowan could do to keep her anxiety hidden.

  Ian’s unhappiness about the long road trip to Claudia’s house didn’t help matters either. He fretted over Oscar, worried about leaving her and Phillip. Rowan was at a loss on how to explain this in terms he would understand. Thankfully, Phillip handled the situation with patience and love.

  She didn’t know what he said in the hour he and Ian were sequestered in Ian’s bedroom—all she could hear through the doors was the low rumbling conversation—but when they walked out, Ian was more accepting. Too bad Rowan wasn’t.

  Not that she didn’t trust Claudia or Zach with her family. They would protect the people she loved best. In fact, she wished she could go with them. Everything was spiraling out of control, and all she wanted to do was hide away until the whole mess was over.

  Phillip shut the trunk on her mother’s car. "That’s it. Time to hit the ro
ad."

  Her mother heaved a sigh and stuck out her hand to Jess. "I want to thank you for all you’ve done, Mr. Alderman." Her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

  He shook her hand slowly while his gaze traveled the curve of her face. "My pleasure, Mrs. McKinley. My services are always available to you."

  Rowan rolled her eyes heavenward. "Mom?"

  "Yes, dear?" She forced her gaze away from Jess.

  Rowan shook her head. "Just give me a hug." She wrapped her arms around her and whispered, "Cut the melodramatics, Mom. We know. You really need to keep your doors locked. Now give this poor guy a good-bye kiss. He looks like he can hardly stand to let you go."

  Her mother pulled back in a mixture of astonishment and embarrassment. "You understand? I mean, you don’t mind?"

  Rowan laughed. "Of course, I don’t mind. You’re a beautiful woman. You deserve to be happy…to have a life of your own. The love of a good man."

  Joy covered her mother’s face. In one fluid motion she spun around and flung her arms around Jess’ neck. He hauled her close, plastering a kiss on her that could have steamed rice.

  Zach coughed into his hand. "It’s getting late. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us."

  Rowan hugged and kissed Ian. He was so sleepy, she doubted he’d even remember. After fastening his seat belt, he toppled to one side and nestled his head into a pile of travel pillows.

  Zach started the car. "Should take about ten hours. I’ll call the minute we get into San Francisco."

  The rain started with his departure. A perfect backdrop to the mood surrounding Rowan. Jess, too, judging from his hang-dog look.

  "Sorry, Jess." Phillip clapped him on the back. "Zach was the only one of us not directly involved with this case. There wasn’t much choice."

  "I know." He glanced toward Rowan. "I want to thank you for what you just did. Your mother and I have been seeing each other for about six months. When you were arrested…"

  Suddenly weary, he closed his eyes. "I didn’t know what to do. It’s hell to be torn between the woman you love and your job. You don’t know how grateful I was to discover you were innocent. I love your mother, Rowan. I want to marry her. She’s always been afraid of how you would take it. You were so close to your father."