by Lynda Chance
He bussed her forehead with his cool lips and turned away. Hannah opened the door and slipped inside.
****
When Josh got home that night, he knocked on Katie’s door and when she answered, he let himself in. It wasn’t late, and his cousin was sitting in the middle of her bed with homework spread out around her. It hurt Josh to know that Katie never went to town anymore, unless she was at school. She didn’t hang out with her friends; she refused to go to parties. She was quiet and subdued, and Josh felt only a small measure of comfort as he remembered Jesse’s broken and bloodied body lying on the ground.
“You’re always doing homework.”
“You ought to try it once in a while,” she answered without looking up from her textbook.
Josh let out a dry laugh. “Don’t need to. I pay attention in class. It sticks.” He pointed to his head and Katie looked up and glared. It had always been a point of contention between them. Although they both made excellent grades, Katie had to work for hers, and Josh didn’t. He had a rule; he always handed in something so he wouldn’t get a zero, but he didn’t waste time on homework. He knew what counted, and that was the tests. Those counted for almost the entire grade, and luckily, he usually only had to read the content once and it was cemented in his brain. At least for as long as it took to take the test.
When Katie looked back down to her book, Josh shifted restlessly and then pulled the chair away from the desk and swiveled it to face the bed. He sat down and put his feet on her bedspread.
“Get your boots off. They’re dusty.”
Josh rolled his eyes and brought his booted feet to the floor and spread his legs wide, trying to relax. He so didn’t want to have this conversation with her. But he knew it couldn’t be avoided. “Katie. Shut the book and talk to me a minute, okay?”
She looked up at his tone and searched his expression. Letting out a deep breath, she marked her page and shut the book. “What’s wrong?”
“The last thing I want to do is upset you, you know that right?”
Her eyes grew wary. “Okay.”
“You need to go to the police. You’ve got to file a report on Whitaker.”
“No,” she refused quickly.
“Honey, I know you don’t want to. But you have to.”
“It happened weeks ago. Why now?”
“He attacked Mandy Thompson today.”
Katie’s face paled and Josh felt her distress hit him like a sledgehammer. “Did he—”
“No. I saw them leave the diner together and I had a feeling. I followed them and called the sheriff. We both got there in time, but she was scared shitless. He would have raped her.”
“Oh, God.”
“And you need to know that I beat the crap out of him … before the sheriff got there. If Jesse resented us before, he damn sure won’t be happy after today.”
“So, Mandy’s all right?”
“Shit, I guess, but she’s got to be damn near traumatized. This won’t be the last time; you have to file a report.”
“Josh… I can’t.”
“Yeah, you can. You have to.” He stared into her eyes. “You have to dig deep and find it, Katie. You have to find the courage to do this. I know you can. I know you don’t want what happened to you to happen to someone else.”
Her eyes welled with tears and she looked away from him, and Josh was seared with the emotional turmoil of having to make her do this. Not that he could make her. As he watched her, a tear ran down her cheek and she brushed it away.
She nodded her head. “I’ll think about it, okay? I promise that I’ll think about it.”
“I’m not going to let it go.”
She let out a mirthless laugh. “I know you won’t.”
****
The week slipped by and Hannah’s plans for the weekend were shifted a bit. Her grandmother in Shreveport had been hospitalized again, and Hannah’s parents left on Thursday afternoon. Zachary had agreed to come to the ranch and stay for a few days so that Hannah wouldn’t have to miss school or stay alone. By mutual consent, her parents had decided not to burden Zach with the news of Hannah’s new boyfriend. It would only upset him, and at this point, nothing could be gained by telling him. If it came up, or he found out, they wouldn’t lie to him. But they wouldn’t push the news if the need wasn’t there. And Hannah agreed with their decision.
Ava told Hannah that the ‘garage surprise’ was complete and totally awesome. Ava’s dad had bought a second-hand pool table, a flat-screen television, a refrigerator, and a couple of rocker-recliners and had made the kids the best hangout imaginable. Ava apologized a couple of times for the fact that it had been furnished with ‘used’ stuff, and Hannah felt bad that her friend felt the need to even mention it. Hannah couldn’t care less and why should she?
On Friday, Hannah texted Josh and found out he knew about the new hangout as well. When she told him they were invited for Friday night and that she thought it would be easier to just meet him there, he didn’t like the idea. He liked it even less when she told him that her parents were out of town and Zach would be home. Was she trying to avoid telling Zach about him? That had been a tough question to respond to, and she’d ended up asking him if they could talk about it later, in person.
Hannah was the last one to arrive at the Andersons that evening. Kayla was with Ty again, so that made six kids in the garage. She immediately spied Josh leaning against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched not only Ty and Ethan playing pool, but the door as well as he waited for Hannah to come through it. It was more than obvious to her that he’d been waiting for her arrival. Their glances connected, and his gaze was intent, compelling. He didn’t smile. Hannah knew he was angry, and she looked away from him. After telling everyone ‘hi’ and letting Ava lead her around and show her everything, Hannah ended up standing within Josh’s reach.
He didn’t hesitate to take advantage. His hand clamped around her wrist and Hannah’s nerves jumped erratically. As the other two girls watched Ethan and Ty vying for the win, Josh pushed off the wall and pulled Hannah a few feet away. He swung her around on the other side of the large refrigerator where their view from the others was mostly hidden, and he pushed her up against the wall. His body crowded hers and he lifted her hands over her head and held them pinned against the sheetrock, her wrists in each of his hands. He pushed her legs a few inches apart, and slid his lower torso against hers. His eyes bored down into hers, and Hannah hung in his grasp, balancing on a precipice somewhere between extreme excitement and heart-stopping panic.
His lips twisted cynically, and when he lowered his head and slammed his mouth over hers, the panic fled and excitement won out. He kissed her like a madman, his tongue forcing itself between her lips and his pelvis pressing against hers in a display of pure possession.
He lifted his mouth just long enough to snarl, “I told you I’d pick you up.”
“I know,” she panted.
“You’re ashamed of me. You don’t want your brother to know about us.”
“It’s not that.”
“It damn sure is.”
“No.”
“Yes,” he growled.
“No!”
“Don’t give me that shit, Hannah—”
“Josh, crap! Your father is sleeping with his wife! Would you give me a freakin’ break?”
He quit arguing, not speaking again. He studied her face, lines of frustrated anger creasing his mouth, and then his eyes dropped to her lips again. Hannah tried to breathe as his nostrils flared, and then the rest of the world was blocked out as his mouth dropped to hers again. The kiss was powerful, devastating, and Hannah suddenly found one of her arms free as her wrist was released and his hand fell to her breast and encompassed it completely within the palm of his hand.
His fingers squeezed and then his thumb found her nipple unerringly. A sharp, piercing hit of desire sliced through her as her nipple pebbled beneath his touch and her knees almost gave out underne
ath her. Through his blue jeans and the cotton of her shorts, she felt him surge and harden against her. Her belly quivered and her lungs seized up, threatening to cut off her supply of oxygen.
At the edge of her consciousness, underneath the desire, she knew he was trying to prove something, whether to her or to himself she didn’t know, but he was trying to dominate her with this power play.
She registered what he was doing, but she didn’t think she cared. She slid beneath the surface of thought and let him have his way. He wanted this; he needed it, and if she could help him in this one way, she would. She gave into him and let herself sink into the glory that was his touch. Everything within her psyche seemed to revolve around Josh. It had always been about Josh, and she knew that until the day she died, whether he was hers or not, somewhere below the surface, it would always be about Josh.
He must have felt it when she gave into him, because the very second after she let go, his hold gentled imperceptibly and his kiss softened.
He kissed her for many long minutes, his hand still clamped around her breast in utter possession, but the world around them slowly came back and Hannah began to hear the laughter around them and the clang of pool balls.
Josh must have heard it too, because he lifted his head, and after a few deep breaths, separated his body from hers. Everywhere, except that one hand that still gripped her wrist. He transferred his fingers from her wrist to her hand, and as he enclosed her palm with his, his eyes darkened. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“I know why you don’t want to tell your brother. I get it, Hannah. I’m sorry that I’m a douche.”
Hannah smiled softly at him in forgiveness. “You’re not a douche.”
“No?”
“No.”
“All right. We’ll forget it for now.” His eyes became intense. “But someday, your brother’s got to find out, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
****
When the sheriff called Josh on his cell phone a few days later and asked to see him, it came as no surprise. For once, he wasn’t worried about what the other man wanted; Josh knew it pertained to Jesse Whitaker in some way.
Josh sat down in the older man’s office and without preamble asked, “Is Mandy okay?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You did, son, and we both know it. I’m grateful, but we’ve got a couple of things to discuss.”
“Such as?”
“First I want you to know that I think you’d make a damn fine officer. Redwood Falls needs a few more men, and you’d make an excellent addition. Have you ever thought about law enforcement?”
Josh couldn’t help it; he busted out laughing. “No, sir. Can’t say as I have.”
“I’m not kidding you, son. I don’t know what you’ve got planned for your future, but you’ve got the temperament needed for the job.”
Josh thought about the man’s suggestion seriously for a moment. There was no doubt that he wouldn’t hate it. The idea certainly had an appeal. He’d like the respect the badge would give him; he was damn sick and tired of living beneath his father’s shadow. “I don’t have big, going away plans or anything like that. I know I’ve got to help my uncle with the ranch. But I need a paycheck as well. And obviously, I already know how to shoot. What exactly would it take? What are the requirements?”
“You’d need to be twenty-one, and you’d need sixty hours of college credit. That’s it. Well, and no priors.”
“You of all people know that I don’t have a record.”
“That I do, son.”
“I’ll have twenty-seven hours by the time I graduate in June.”
“Twenty-seven? That’s impressive. Mandy’s got nine, I think. How’d you manage that?”
Josh gave a mirthless laugh. “Grit and determination. A combination of advanced placement and dual credit. And a lot of luck.”
“I don’t think it’s been luck. You’re determined all right.”
“Could I get the rest through online classes?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Hmmm.” Josh nodded his head. It was definitely doable. He could take the classes while working full time at the feed store until he turned twenty-one. His aunt would probably worry, but except for Jesse-fucking-Whitaker, it wasn’t as if Redwood Falls had a lot of crime to worry about. “Let me think about it.”
“Okay, no rush. It’s your future, but like I said, we’d like to have you.”
“Okay.”
“Well, now for the other thing,” the sheriff hesitated.
Josh got a bad feeling in his gut and braced himself for what he was about to hear. “Is this about my father?”
“No.”
Josh let out a pent-up breath. “Then what?”
“I think it’s time you had a serious discussion with your cousin. With her testimony, we could put the rat bastard away for a long time. Mandy’s complaint won’t hold much water as it didn’t get to the real violent part, thank God, but we’ve got to do something before the little fucker hurts another girl.”
Josh took a deep breath and hung his head toward his spread knees. He knew what the sheriff was saying was true, and Josh knew he needed to talk to her again, but how in the hell could he convince Katie to do it? And how could he put her through it? Her reaction hadn’t been positive when he’d spoken to her the last time.
He lifted his head. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see what I can do and get back to you.” Josh stood up and so did the sheriff. They shook hands.
“I’m counting on you, Josh.”
****
The next few weeks passed in a blur of football games, homework, and hanging out with Josh and everyone in Ava’s garage. On Saturday, Hannah was studying for a history test and trying to get it over with because Josh was picking her up at eight. Her mind consumed with the Norman Conquest, she barely heard it when her mother tapped on her bedroom door and peeked in.
“Are you okay in here? I haven’t seen you practically all day.”
“I’m fine. I have a huge test on Monday.”
Janet McIntyre nodded her head and then just stood watching her.
“Is something wrong?” Hannah asked as she felt an arrow of nerves as she watched her unusually subdued mother and waited for an answer.
Her mom hesitated and then took a fortifying breath. “Cindy left town two days ago. She went with Chris Turner and they haven’t come back.”
Shock hit Hannah in the gut. “They just left?”
“You mustn’t tell anyone, Hannah. But you need to know what’s going on. I know you and Josh and even Katie are close, baby. It’s going to be difficult for awhile.”
Hannah was having difficulty believing that this was really happening. Chris Turner had nothing to speak of and Hannah didn’t think Cindy was in it for love. She’d sort of assumed that Cindy was trying to get Zach’s attention by having the affair at all. Zach might seem a little cold-blooded, but he was a businessman and that was a facade he’d had to show the world and maybe Cindy didn’t appreciate that. The affair had been bad, and Hannah remembered that her mom had told her that Zach would never forgive Cindy. But now, Hannah realized that all along, somewhere in her own subconscious, she assumed that it would all blow over. Hannah figured that Cindy would end the affair, and after a time, Zach would forgive her, if for nothing else, then he’d do it for the baby.
But leaving town with Chris Turner? What the hell? How stupid could one woman be? As soon as she had the thought, Hannah felt a pang of remorse, because the man was Josh’s father. But just as quickly, she realized that Josh wasn’t like his father, he wasn’t anything like his father, and she had nothing to feel remorseful about, at least, not in that aspect. Cindy was proving herself to be stupid.
“This is going to be bad. Zach got drunk last night in the study while he was unloading to your dad. He�
�s extremely angry. Jeff thinks he’s more angry than hurt. Zach wants that baby. He’ll fight for custody after it’s born.”
“He’s going to get a divorce already?”
“Not yet. Texas won’t grant a divorce when there’s a pregnancy involved. The baby has to be born first.”
“Oh my God. I can’t believe this. I knew she was cheating on him—but crap, mom. And I don’t know what to say to Zach—how to act—what to do.”
“You don’t need to say anything. He’s not going to want to discuss it. You know how he is. Jeff told him last night that he would tell us that Cindy was gone. So Zach knows we know. That’s enough.”
“Okay.”
Her mother walked over and brushed a hand over Hannah’s forehead and stroked her hair. “I’m sorry that you’re having to go through this. I know you must feel torn in two, stuck in the middle of all this.”
“Yeah.”
“Try to remember that Josh has nothing to do with this, and remember baby, we know that as well. We like Josh.”
Hannah smiled shakily at her mother. Thank God for that. Hannah’s thoughts turned from what her brother was going through, and went back to Josh. Unease spread through her. Josh’s long and sad history with his dad made it unpredictable how he would react to the news of the man leaving town. Would Josh be glad he was gone? Or would he feel abandoned? Whatever he felt, Hannah was convinced it would be something more that he’d have to struggle with.
Chapter Eleven
As Josh smothered her mouth with his, fireworks exploded in Hannah’s brain, her senses overwhelmed with his scent, his touch, and his taste.
When he’d picked her up that night, he hadn’t said anything, just put her in his truck with a grim expression, and then he’d driven straight to the washout near the abandoned wooden bridge. From the look on his face, Hannah realized that Josh knew his father had left town, and her heart bled for him. As he’d parked the truck and cut the engine, the inky blackness of the night had swirled around them and encompassed them within the confines of the vehicle. His head had dropped to the steering wheel and Hannah reached out with one hand to touch his shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked, not able to disguise her worry.