Wild Hearts (The DiCarlo Brides)

by Heather Tullis

  He laughed, not seeming to realize what it meant for her. “You’d wipe the ground with any idiot who acted like you didn’t know what you’re doing because you’re a woman. You sure shut me down last summer.”

  “Well, I did, yes.” She was pretty proud of herself for that. It wasn’t often one saw Jeremy speechless—a fact she could appreciate more now.

  “I thought you hadn’t decided what to do yet.”

  “I’m not sure if I’m going to get rid of Fallon’s bike just yet,” she admitted. “But I think I’m ready to buy a new one. It’s past time, actually. If I’d done it last fall I might have gotten out a few times during the winter instead of being afraid to get stranded somewhere in twenty-degree weather.”

  He squeezed her hand between them. “I’d love to come if you want me there. We could make an evening of it, catch a flick or something. One that wasn’t written for five-year-olds.”

  She agreed whole-heartedly. “I could use a good action flick. I hear there’s a new one with Vin Diesel.”

  He slapped his hand over his heart. “You must be the most perfect women in existence. I’ll find out about show times and locations. Send me an email with the bike shops on your list and I’ll pick a theater or two nearby.” His hand returned to covering hers and he swore. “What’s that guy think he’s doing?”

  Delphi looked over her shoulder to see the truck behind them was riding their bumper. “Pull over and let the jerk by.”

  “I’d love to, but pulling over here wouldn’t make for a very smooth ride.”

  She looked out the window and realized that the road dropped off on her side. It was dark enough she couldn’t tell how far it dropped. She tightened her seatbelt. “How far to the next turnoff?”

  “Not far. Hang on.” He increased his speed and the truck slammed into them from behind.

  Delphi’s head snapped back and she gripped the door handle beside her. “What’s he doing?”

  “I don’t think he’s going to wait until we get out of his way.” Jeremy’s teeth clenched. “There are times I wish I was on my motorcycle. I’d leave this jerk in the dust.”

  The road curved the other way and Delphi saw lights from Wellsville up ahead. It was a tiny town, but it would give them a place to get out of the truck’s way. Wheels ground against metal and the truck’s engine roared as it came forward and hit them again.

  Delphi gripped the door handle and the side of her seat, wondering if this was going to be it for them as a final curve approached before the ground flattened again at the small town.

  “Hold on.” Jeremy’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

  The truck rammed them again and she started swearing under her breath. Jeremy was out-cussing her as they reached town and he whipped around a corner fast enough to fishtail—even in the stable little hotrod.

  The truck zoomed past, shining white under the street lamp.

  Jeremy cut his lights and pulled behind a fence at a small apartment complex.

  “What are you doing?” Delphi asked.

  “Wait. Just wait.” Jeremy got out of the car and watched over the fence, a tree branch obscuring them from the street. Delphi joined him.

  He pulled out his phone and she could see the number 911 glowing in the darkness. He called in the attack just as the truck came back down their side street, rolling slowly, as if looking for them.

  When he hung up, Delphi asked, “What is going on?”

  “That’s what I want to know.” Jeremy’s mouth was in a tight line. “We’ll wait here a little longer for the deputy and to make sure the other guy doesn’t come back. Then we’ll take another way out of town.”

  “First someone breaks into your place, then they try to run us off the road? What did you do to someone? Lars wouldn’t have gone this far, surely.” Delphi was trying to calm her racing heartbeat, but not making much headway.

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to figure it out.” He turned and slid an arm around her shoulder. “Are you okay? That freaked me out, so I imagine you’re not much better.”

  “You’d be right.” She slid up against him, appreciating his warmth and how secure she felt in his arms. She buried her face in his neck, which was exposed to the cold. He smelled of leather, Old Spice and warm skin.

  “Sorry. I really can handle my car when someone’s not trying to run me off the road.”

  “You handled it pretty well even when someone was trying. Is this the real reason you have a racing bike? Because you have to dodge angry customers?” She spoke light of it, but she was still anxious and shaky from their experience.

  She heard the rumble in Jeremy’s chest, felt it against her face. Then she was kissing him, and he was kissing her back and everything else melted into the background. He slid his fingers into her hair, cradling her head and taking the kiss deeper as she leaned against him, enjoying the width of his shoulders and the solidness of his frame. He backed her up a couple of steps until she was leaning against the car, her hands wrapped around him, under his coat.

  His hand slid down her spine, pausing when another vehicle approached on the street. A truck by the sound of the engine. Jeremy jerked back and faced the street, his body growing tense again. Delphi sucked in a breath as he stepped out to the road and released it when he waved someone down.

  Delphi touched her hair to straighten it and joined him, relieved to see it was a sheriff’s department truck. She couldn’t help looking around her, nervous about the attacker’s return, despite the deputy. Jeremy leaned into the passenger window, telling the deputy about their encounter. When Delphi drew near, he reached out and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close while he finished the rundown.

  The deputy looked at Delphi, “You okay, Miss DiCarlo?”

  She didn’t react to the wrong last name—half of the town referred to all of the sisters with that last name, even though most of them had never used it. “I’m fine. Thanks.” She didn’t recognize him, but was glad to see him taking a report. He called in the truck’s description, but there wasn’t much to set it apart from every other white truck in the area, and then took pictures of the back of Jeremy’s car, which would need serious work. The deputy told them he’d have everyone keep an eye out for a truck with grill damage.

  Jeremy led her back to the car and started it up.

  “I’m sorry about your car,” Delphi said when he grimaced as his tires rubbed against the metal as they took a corner. “Cami said you and Vince and Gage all restored your cars together.” She was starting to feel less shaky than before.

  “Yeah. I can’t believe this.” His mouth was in a tight line as he took the back roads to Juniper Ridge. “The worst part isn’t the car though. It’s that we might have been killed. That’s so much worse.”

  She silently agreed as she slid her hand into his. Worse yet was knowing that whomever had tried to run them off the road may not be done yet.

  Delphi hid in her room the next evening, not wanting to get in on girl’s night—something that always seemed to happen whenever the guys got together to play poker. She was still unsettled about nearly being run off the road with Jeremy and had already had an earful of concern from everyone when news about it spread through the family that day.

  Someone knocked on her door and she sighed, wondering who it was. Couldn’t they understand that sometimes a person just wanted to be alone? “Come in.”

  Cami cracked open the door and looked in. “What’s going on down here?”

  “Work.”

  “Why are you being so antisocial? Just worn out from a crazy day?” Cami walked in and looked around at the room, which their father had planned in an interesting mix of dainty blush pink paint, and black and white motorcycle posters. “I don’t think I’ve been in here three times since we moved in the house.”

  “Probably not.” Delphi left her hands on the laptop keyboard even though she focused on Cami. “What’s up with you? Pregnancy announcements?”

  She lau
ghed. “I don’t think so. Give me a little longer. Etta’s chomping at the bit for more grandkids, though.”

  Having met Etta, Cami’s mother-in-law, Delhi didn’t doubt it. She occasionally dropped by with treats and to ask about how the girls were doing. “I bet. How are his parents doing?” Delphi chastised herself for not doing the social niceties and asking about the extended family like she should have. Cami’s mom—the only one of George’s women who’d been married to him—died years before their father did, so there wasn’t anyone else to ask about.

  “Great. She’s getting ready for their anniversary trip to the Bahamas. She’s so excited.”

  “That’s fun. It’s so beautiful there. I keep asking myself why Dad didn’t build the resort there instead. Or Fiji. Or Vienna. Or, oh, hey, maybe Greece, right on the shores of the Mediterranean.”

  “Ditto. Especially in early February when we hadn’t seen double digits in weeks—at least not on the upper half of the thermometer.” Cami sat on the bed beside Delphi and picked up the rock Delphi had brought back from the waterfall. “Is this your fool’s gold?”

  “Yeah. Pretty isn’t it?”

  “It is. And heavy. Much heavier than I expected.” Cami turned it over in her hands. “So how are things with you and Jeremy? I ask Vince what Jeremy says about it and he just goes all non-committal on me. The brother code, you know how it is. He said I had to harass you if I want answers.”

  Delphi took the rock from Cami and rolled it in her fingers, enjoying the feel of the bumpy ore on her skin. “It’s nice. He’s going with me to Denver tomorrow to pick out a new bike. I’m thinking of getting something that will outstrip his. And then I think that’s pure pride and I should be more utilitarian.”

  Cami’s brows lifted. “Utilitarian? That sounds boring. Why would you want to do that? You might as well enjoy driving, or what’s the point?”

  “Says the girl with a sports car.”

  Cami grinned and leaned back against the headboard. “So, you and Jeremy.”

  “Am I hearing an echo?”

  “No, you just didn’t give me any particulars. I need particulars.”

  “Is this one of those sister things where you pry because you’re the biggest sis and you think everything’s your business?” Delphi asked.

  “Of course. Except it’s also one of those things where you’re dating my husband’s best friend, even though I didn’t think there was a prayer you two would ever go out. It’s lasted longer than most of his relationships, so I’m curious and prying. I like a good story. Especially if there are really excellent smoochies. I thought I’d corner you about it down here so if you wanted to cuss me out, at least you wouldn’t go to your room and lock yourself inside.”

  “You’re a major pain, you know?” Delphi wasn’t sure how she felt about this sisterly love stuff. Granted, she’d done her share of prying with the others over the previous months but she didn’t enjoy being on the other side of the pry bar. On the other hand, sharing didn’t seem like nearly as big of a deal as it had a few months ago.

  “I try. So, do I have to prompt you again?” Cami asked.

  Delphi leaned against the headboard beside Cami. “We’re seeing each other. Fairly often. It’s kind of weird because he’s not the long-term type and I wasn’t interested in getting involved with anyone here.”

  “But he’s hot. You admitted that when you first met, even though he had been a jerk.”

  “Well, yeah. Super hot, but—”

  “And how are the kisses? There are kisses, right?” Cami asked.

  Delphi looked over and decided not to change the subject. Despite her complaint about Cami asking questions, it had felt good to be part of the group, to share moments of closeness with the others, even if they had been fleeting. And it wasn’t nearly as intimidating to answer questions one-on-one instead of with the whole group. “They’re, wow. Hotter than he is. More amazing than anything I’ve ever known, and that’s saying something because Fallon was extremely gifted for one so young.” She felt a pang of guilt at comparing the two men, but it wasn’t as strong as before.

  “Ah, your misspent youth—it’s so nice to hear you talk about that after being so secretive.” Cami patted Delphi’s knee quickly in punctuation. “So, are things getting serious, or are you just having a good time?”

  “My youth was not misspent,” Delphi objected, though since Cami’s tone was teasing, she was more annoyed than angry. “Especially the time I spent with Fallon. That was the best-spent time of all.”

  Cami’s smile held an apology and understanding. “And how is your time with Jeremy?”

  Delphi took a few seconds to think about their time together. “I like him a lot, but we’ve agreed that there are no strings, and if one of us wants to walk there will be no hard feelings.”

  Cami sat up, folded her legs in front of her and turned to face Delphi. “Okay, seriously? You act like the ice queen, but I know you can’t turn your feelings on and off like that. So what really happens if he decides he’s had enough and walks?”

  Delphi picked at some lint on her pants. “I wallow for a little while, because that’s what I do when I’m upset—I wallow, ergo the private brooding I did all last fall. And then I get up and keep going, because that’s how life is and I’m in charge of my own feelings, so I’ll have to deal with it. And wallowing isn’t very fun after a while, anyway.”

  “And then you’ll call me and we’ll go decorate his car windows with whipping cream messages,” Cami suggested.

  Delphi crossed her arms. “Whipping cream? If he breaks my heart that’s the worst you’re going to do to him? You’re a real rebel there, Cami. I don’t know why you haven’t been incarcerated by now.”

  Cami shrugged apologetically. “Well, I like him, and he’s my husband’s best friend, so I can’t do anything too mean. Whipping cream will be a pain to clean if it dries, but it won’t be permanent. Besides, it’s about your therapy rather than his punishment, right?”

  “You keep telling yourself that.” Delphi felt oddly better about everything though, knowing someone would have her back when Jeremy walked away, as she knew he would sooner or later. She looked at Cami, who was staring at the golden rock and another bout of honesty assaulted her. “I can’t believe we’re sitting here like this.” It seemed unreal.

  “Why not?”

  “I used to hate you, you know? When we were in college. You walked down the hall to the dorm, confident and secure and sure about your place in life. I can’t count the number of times I thought about knocking on your door or stopping you in the hall to tell you we were half-sisters. And not because I saw us having quiet chats together.”

  “Really?” Cami’s brow furrowed. “Why then?”

  “I hated being Dad’s dirty secret.” Delphi’s voice was low. Now that she was talking, she felt compelled to say all of the things that had been eating at her. “Sometimes I wanted to hurt you with the truth, to knock you down a peg. I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. You were oblivious, but you were nice to me, when you noticed me at all. I wondered if you were really that confident or if you were just really good at covering it up.”

  “You seemed pretty confidant to me. You still do.”

  Delphi shook her head, then made herself keep talking. “Now I do okay—most of the time. But back then it was all smoke and mirrors. I learned how to put on a front when I was still in diapers.”

  “You don’t talk about home much,” Cami said. “I met your mom at the gala though; she’s a force to be reckoned with.”

  “And how. Her husband is the same way. Only I’m not his kid, and while he didn’t admit it to anyone while Dad was alive, as far as I know, he never considered me his kid. He was sterile, though no one ever said if that was by chance or by choice. I think he would have preferred to be childless. He treated me more like the under-foot niece who needed kindness, but not much more.”

  “And then there was Dad, who loved you, but kept you hidden away, on
e of his dirty secret,” Cami acknowledged. “It took me so long to understand how it must have been for you guys, at least a little. I’m surprised you didn’t tell him where to put his inheritance and walk away. After you stalked from Alex’s office, we expected you to.”

  “I almost did,” Delphi admitted. “I had to read the letter from him a dozen times before I realized that despite everything, I was still desperate for his approval. Even though that was completely lame and I thought I was over it. I came because I knew it was what he wanted, and I couldn’t help but follow through with his final request.”

  “Didn’t make everything hurt less, though, did it?” Cami asked softly.

  “No.” Delphi felt tears well in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She didn’t cry in front of other people. Except at funerals. “Time heals all wounds, though. It’s getting better.” Every day it got better. She hoped by the time the summer ended she would even be able to forgive her dad for his secrets and for forcing her to move here when she had a life already. She glanced over at the rock in Cami’s hands. She was studying it as she turned it. “What’s the deal? I know you like shiny things, but your fascination is a little overboard, isn’t it?”

  “What?” Cami looked up, saw Delphi’s gaze was on the rock and looked down again. “It’s funny. Seems wrong somehow for fool’s gold.” She stood and walked into the private bathroom, opened a drawer, rummaged, and returned with a pair of nail clippers. She twisted the middle attachment and used it to dig at the rock and left a mark. “Holy crap. That’s not a scratch, it’s an indent. I think fool’s gold is too hard to do that.”

  Delphi grabbed it and pulled it closer to her face, then swore loudly. She snatched the clippers and twisted the rock to a new spot, scraping the tool against it and saw a dent form. “No way. No way can this be real.”

  “Where did you find it?”