That was when chaos exploded, or so it seemed. More black-clad people were suddenly surging from everywhere, coming up the aisles, leaping over cashier stations, bursting in the front doors in a shower of glass.
Brianna's guy reacted faster than she did, bringing his gun around and aiming it at her head. She knew he knew he'd die, but he was angry enough, desperate enough, to take her with him.
And she couldn't rely on Cable or anyone else for rescue.
As the gun swung toward her, she grabbed the barrel, shoving upward but trying to fall back at the same time, as falling forward would point the gun at the other people. The SWAT team had vests and protective armor. She hoped.
As they fell, a shape flew from her right, tackling her would-be killer. The gun slid through her hand. She tightened her grip, not wanting the man to retain it, but the thing on the end of the barrel cut into her palm, forcing her to let go.
The man fell face first onto the ground, his chin striking tile. The man on top of him—Cable, her heart yelled in relief—immediately yanked his arms up behind him and kicked the gun away.
Brianna became aware of screams and gunshots and flattened herself on the ground, pushing backward between cashier stations until someone grabbed her by the waistband and slid her several feet. A SWAT team member stepped past her, and she scrambled to get behind the dubious cover of the register station. Next to the candy. In a second of irrationality, she reached for a Milky Way Midnight before she realized the screams and shouts had subsided and the gunshots had stopped. Radios crackled, and deep male voices gave orders she couldn't hear well enough to understand.
She peeked over the row of cash registers to see cops pouring in both sets of doors. They helped cuff the bad guys. She couldn't call them terrorists anymore, now that she knew they were just stupid thieves, no matter how successfully they'd taken over the store to start with.
Where was Cable? She looked back to where he'd been last, and didn't see him. Then she saw his blue shirt against a sea of black, and realized he was being arrested.
"Wait!” She jumped up and ran toward them. “He's a good guy! He's with me!"
As soon as she said that several handguns were aimed at her, accompanied by various forms of “freeze!” and “stop!” She skidded to a halt, her hands in the air.
"It's okay, Brie,” Cable said, his voice calm. “They have to do this. It'll get straightened out."
"Okay,” she said, trying not to laugh hysterically as they handcuffed her, too. “I guess I'll see you at the county jail or something.” A woman cop started to lead her away. She looked back over her shoulder. Cable was still watching her. “Thank you!” she called. Cable's mouth quirked, but he looked dejected. “I'm okay,” she added, but his expression didn't change.
It didn't matter, Brie thought as she went outside into the dark.
She had.
CHAPTER 19
Brianna didn't see Cable after that. She was briefly detained by the cops while she gave her statement. They checked her credentials, and apparently the kid had admitted she was a hostage, not one of them, and they let her go. Kind of. They insisted on transporting her to the hospital since she'd been in the blast and displayed injuries. She called her mother from there, since her transportation was back at the store.
"Unbelievable.” Elyse eyed her from the doorway of the exam room. “The things you get yourself into."
"I know.” She gingerly slid off the exam table, flexing her bandaged left hand. “This one kind of tops the rest, huh?"
"I think so. Are you okay?"
Brianna nodded. “I'm stiff, and little aches are starting to make themselves known. I guess from the blast, and the muscle torture when I tried to get the guy's gun. I pulled a few.” She limped toward the doorway. “The rest is superficial. I'll be fine once the painkillers kick in, and after a good night's sleep. We have Night Tree tomorrow ... oh, crap.” She rested her head against the wall.
"What?” Her mother looked alarmed.
"We didn't get the peanut butter and birdseed and hot cocoa.” Tears welled and started to seep out the corners of her eyes. Of course, after all she'd just been through, the food was the thing that put her over the edge.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it in the morning."
"Night Tree is in the morning.” She sniffled and let her mother guide her through the maze of hallways to the exit.
"I think a few adjustments can be made. Don't worry,” she repeated. “Everything will be fine."
Surprisingly, it was. Except for Brianna not being able to talk to Cable. She endured the bath her mother insisted on giving her, and ate a light dinner and drank a cup of tea. But every time she checked out her window, his truck was not in his driveway, and his house was dark.
It was driving her crazy.
She would have insisted on going back, but her mother turned Dragon Lady and wouldn't let her. Brianna was too tired to fight her. When she got up in the morning, Elyse said Cable had stopped by on his way to school.
"And you didn't wake me?” She was feeling frantic to talk to him.
"I wanted you to sleep as late as possible. Here, I made breakfast. If you eat quickly, we can still get to school on time."
"On time” was much later than Brianna usually got there. She and her mother arrived after the busses, and the aches and stiffness had her moving slowly. She barely made her classroom before the kids were dismissed from the cafeteria.
So she still didn't get to talk to Cable.
She saw him, of course, across the hall and then as they made their way out to the bus to go to the nature center. But the kids were too excited and rambunctious to allow them to talk. She watched him from her position in the back of the bus, and he looked normal, moving with ease and talking to the kids with smiles and no hint of tension.
"You okay?” Elyse asked at one point, moving down the aisle from her position in the center of the bus.
"Fine. The ibuprofen's doing its job.” She smiled at her mother, but couldn't stop herself from looking at Cable.
"You know, I think you're both being foolish. If you want to be together—"
"Steve found a replacement,” Brie interrupted. “Today's his last day, and he's leaving next week."
"Oh.” Sorrow overtook the determination in her expression. “I'm sorry, Brie."
"It doesn't matter. I'm not letting him go."
Elyse smiled. “That's my girl."
"If I can get near him, for God's sake,” she muttered. Elyse shushed her and cast a significant look at the nearby kids.
"Leave it to me."
Finally, after they'd arrived at the nature center, unloaded the kids and gear, and gotten them started on the tree, Elyse dragged Cable over to Brianna.
"You two talk. Mr. Peterson and I will watch the kids.” She pointed to the director of the center. “He has three interns to help. So you should have a good amount of time to straighten things out."
"Thanks, Mom.” Brianna turned to Cable.
"You okay?” they asked together, then gave matching smiles.
"I'm okay,” Brianna said. She tucked her mittened hands under her arms. “It's a bit colder than I'd expected. That's not helping my sore muscles. But it's better than being dead. You?"
"Banged my knee taking that last guy down. I'm out of practice."
"You seemed in perfect form to me. Thank you,” she added softly. “You saved my life."
He shook his head and looked away, toward the kids. “You were doing fine without me."
"Actually, it was more like, we made a great team.” She made her tone firm, and he looked back at her.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. And you know all that stuff about not wanting to wait for you to change your mind, and always wondering what could happen?"
"Yeah..."
"Crap."
He laughed, automatically checking how close the kids were. “Crap?"
"Crap.” She stamped her feet on the hard ground. “Last night pr
oved how stupid we are. Bad things can happen without your past being involved. Staying apart just makes us cowards."
"So, what are you going to do about it?” He looked amused, and she relaxed, not realizing how scared she'd been that he'd disagree with her.
"I'm going to marry you."
Several nearby kids heard her unquiet assertion, and turned to look. Cable unwrapped her arms from around herself, and replaced them with his own.
"Are you, now. Not even going to let me be the one to ask?"
"I'm not asking, I'm telling.” But she looked up at him, and felt the worry in her eyebrows. “Will you marry me, Cable Addison? Be by my side, through good times and attacks on Wal-Mart?"
The children had all gone silent, and she felt dozens of pairs of eyes on them.
"Yes, Brianna Macgregor, I will marry you. But let's stick to the classroom, okay?"
She grinned. “Yeah?"
He shrugged. “Steve stopped me this morning, said the sub backed out. And Karen Plummer left a message asking me to apply for a full-time position, after she read the petition. And Dina quit for good,” he added. “That helped."
"You're okay with that?” she asked, a glimmer of uncertainty still making itself felt. “Even when it has nothing to do with you, you attract trouble."
"I think that's you.” He grinned. “I'm done worrying about the future. Let's just make the best present we can, okay?"
"Okay. Now kiss me.” Before he could, she turned to the kids. “Everyone, close your eyes."
To her amazement, they did. At least, for a moment. As Cable's mouth met hers in a kiss full of promise, a cheer rose around them, accompanied by heartfelt words from her mother.
"It's about time."
Natalie J. Damschroder
Natalie J. Damschroder became a writer the hard way—by avoiding it. Though she wrote her first book at age five (appropriately titled, My Very First Book) and received accolades for her academic writing (Ruth Davies Award for Excellence in Writing for a paper on deforestation her senior year in college), she hated doing it. Colonial food and the habits of the European Starling just weren't her thing.
Shortly after graduating from college, however, she found her niche—romantic fiction. After an internship with the National Geographic Society, customer service for a phone company just wasn't that exciting. So she began learning how to write the books she'd loved to read all her life. Four books and six years later, she finally sold. Now she struggles to balance her frenetic writing life (how else can she get all the stories in her head on paper?) with her family, the most supportive husband in the world and two beautiful, intelligent, stubborn, independent daughters (one of whom has already declared her desire to be a writer, too). She somehow also fits in a day job and various volunteer positions in and out of the writing industry.
More can be found at www.nataliedamschroder.com.
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Don't miss Sophie's Playboy, by Natalie J. Damschroder
Available at AmberQuill.com!
Sophie Macgregor should be satisfied with her life, but her high-paying job and country-club social life aren't quite fulfilling enough. She wants a family and refuses to consider a relationship with a playboy, even if he is as attractive as Parker Cornwall.
Parker's reputation is well-earned, and he uses it to keep women at a distance. Though deep down he, too, craves a family, his own has a legacy of pain, a legacy he won't continue. But he can't seem to stay away from Sophie.
When they end up working together, love takes over. Sophie realizes the right playboy can be a good risk. But Parker can't get over his fear of hurting Sophie—and of being hurt—and reverts to old habits. She can't convince him that the past can be overcome. Only when tragedy strikes does Parker understand that having and losing is better than never having at all...
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