by Leah Braemel
“Your mom was disappointed you missed Sunday dinner.” His dad hunkered down and poked through his toolbox. “You know how important it is to your momma to have her family together at least once a week. Especially with Griff working up north and Ethan away at college.”
“Sorry. We were over at Nikki’s place helping her clean up the mess Phil left, and I lost track of time.” He sat back on his heels watching her pull a water bottle from her pocket and take a long swig. Even from this distance, he could see the long, smooth column of her throat move as she swallowed. He released a breath as he remembered touching it when she’d gone down on him in the shower. Damned if he didn’t get hard just at the memory.
“You running her back and forth to her place to do her chores every day?”
He shifted, easing the tightness in his jeans. “Nah. Brett thought it best if we brought her horses over here, just in case Phil realized how much they were worth and decided to come back for them.”
“That must have taken you a while, shipping all those horses in her little trailer. You could have borrowed my big rig if you’d needed.”
Dillon shot him a smug grin. “I just cut a hole in the fence between our places and led them through.” They’d debated putting a gate in place of the hole when they were finished. While he’d argued—and won—that it might be too tempting to Phil to just open the gate and lure the horses back onto her land, he’d secretly wanted to make it harder for Nikki to move back to her place. “Brett and I have worked out our hours so there’s always someone here to keep an eye on her, just in case Phil does try something though.”
“Speaking of Brett, where is your brother? He around?” His dad picked up a socket wrench and spun it around in his fingers, making it whir. Geez, sometimes he could be as big a kid as Dillon’s youngest brother, Matt.
“Brett’s run into Dallas on police business.”
Nikki had the colt switch directions, rewarding him with a click when he obeyed. Dillon found it hard to believe the horse had never worn a halter a month before. Then again, he’d wear a halter if it meant she’d pay attention to him, reward him with treats the way she did the colt. Or better yet, he’d like to use some leather bindings on her. Tie her up to his bed and spend the day pleasuring her.
“Thought he was off on Wednesdays.”
Dillon grabbed the rag from his pocket and wiped his face. Fantasizing about tying up your girlfriend when your father was a couple feet away definitely breached the weirdness boundaries.
“Yeah, well, Tiny O’Brien called this morning, saying they had a lead on her brother. They traced the GPS chip in Nik’s cell phone to Dallas. Brett figured they might get further with the cops there if they had to deal with an actual person, instead of a voice on a phone.”
“Well, when he gets back, tell him to drop by, will you? Your sister wants to ask him about living in Boston. Figured he’d be able to tell her what it was like from when he went to school there.”
“She doing a school project or something?”
“Or something.” His father grunted as he replaced the wrench and picked up a file. “She’s trying to decide where to apply for college. She got some wild hair about going to school up east like Brett did, instead of going to Aggie like the rest of you boys. Your mom’s hoping Brett will dissuade her, but I’m not so sure. The boy stayed there even on his breaks, especially that first year.”
Dillon couldn’t look at his father; they both knew why Brett hadn’t come home. Dillon swore as he stripped the threading on the screw. Jeezus that had been a shitty year. One neither of them had talked about since he’d finally gotten his head out of his ass and apologized to Brett.
“By the way, have your girlfriend call your mom, will ya? Your mother and grandmother are planning on having some sort of fundraiser over at the church for her, but they need to know what she needs the most.”
Dillon’s chest swelled with pride. Trust Mom to come up with some way to help out. He just hoped Nikki would accept whatever help they came up with. “Might be better if I call Mom and see what we can come up with. Nikki might be embarrassed and try to turn them down.”
“Yeah, well, pride’s all well and good, but there’s a difference between a hand-out and a hand-up.”
A donkey’s bray interrupted his father. Dillon laughed as Merlin raced across the field to where Nikki had led the colt to set him free, the training session over. The donkey’s musical hee-hawing ended as he head-butted Nikki. “That donkey’s in love with her. He does that whenever he sees her.”
His father made a sound in the back of his throat. “From the way you’ve not stopped looking at that girl the whole time I’ve been here, I’m guessing he’s not the only one in love. Or is it more lust at this stage?”
The tips of his ears burned at the thought he’d been that obvious. “I’m just trying to be a good neighbor. I could hardly leave her to sleep on the floor at her place, could I?”
“Uh huh.” His father sounded doubtful. “So she’s staying in the guest room, and you and your brother are sharin’ a bed again, are you?”
Busted. He ducked his head, hoping the brim of his hat hid the color rising into his cheeks. Shit. He hadn’t blushed since he was in Bible camp and Tommy Snider had pantsed him in front of the entire girls’ class.
His father chuckled. “That’s what I thought. You know your momma’s buying wedding magazines already. Talking swatches and color schemes and all those things women love.”
Shit. Rolling his shoulders, he pretended to examine the chainsaw’s air filter. This was going in a direction he’d not wanted. Not yet, anyway. “Talk about jumping the gun. We’ve only just started dating. Besides, Nik’s first marriage wasn’t great, so I doubt she’s ready to tie herself down any time soon.”
“Glad to hear it.”
That got him staring at his father, his fingers clamping over the screwdriver. “What? You don’t think Nikki’s good enough for me?”
His father held up his hands in mock surrender. “Now, don’t go puttin’ words in my mouth. All I meant is that marriage can be hard work. It ain’t all about the fun you have in the bedroom, you know. Especially once you’ve got kids. So it’s not something you should rush into.”
“Jeezus, Dad. I’m not the one who mentioned marriage here.”
“Maybe not, but you do have a tendency to rush into situations, thinking you know everything there is to know. Look at that fight you and Brett had senior year of high school. If you’d just taken the time to—“
“I know.” He tossed the screwdriver back in the toolbox. Christ on a crutch. How had a perfectly nice afternoon gone downhill so freaking fast? “I know I should have checked out Wade and Dave’s story and made sure it really was Brett’s condom. It was Brett who’d taken my Camaro to Tater’s party; how was I to know Dave and his girlfriend had snuck into the backseat and fucked in my car, huh?”
“You should have trusted in your brother over those two. Brett would have told you the truth if you’d bothered to ask him.”
“I know, all right?” He took a breath and forced his shoulders down when his father raised an eyebrow at his sharp tone. “I apologized when I realized what had happened.”
Of course, that had taken over a year.
“That’s what I’m saying, son. Apologies sometimes aren’t enough to patch things up. Not in a marriage. Some things a body just can’t get past. Lack of trust is a big one.”
“You think I won’t be able to trust Nik?”
“I’m not saying that. I’m more worried about your impulsiveness. I hate to see you hurt by jumping into a relationship with a woman you barely know, only to end up hurt in the end.”
“I’m not eighteen anymore, Dad.” He sure as shit sounded like a surly teenager. “I own my own business and make decisions that affect my employees every day.”
“I know, and your mother and I are as proud as peacocks about how things have worked out for you. I’m just sayin’ take your time. Get t
o know her and make sure she’s what you want before you get in any deeper. Hellfire, son, you had her move in before you even started dating.” His father stood with a groan and dusted off his jeans. “For all you know, you’re her rebound affair. Once she’s worked out her issues with you, scratched whatever itch she’s got, she may want to move on.”
Rebound affair? Was that what he was to Nikki? His guts sure didn’t like the thought that she might be using him to work out any issues.
“Ah, who knows? For all I know, I could be talkin’ out my hat.” As he passed Dillon, his father tapped Dillon’s brim, a habit that had started when Dillon was a kid and got his first Stetson. Normally he liked the ritual. Today however, it bugged the bejeebers out of him. “I gotta go. Don’t forget to tell Brett to call your mother when he gets back.”
The dust left by his father’s truck had long since dissipated before Dillon roused himself. He tossed the chainsaw into the back of the truck, not caring that he’d cracked the casing.
Rebound affair ringing in his ears, he stomped into his workshed and slammed the door behind him. His father had to be wrong. This thing with Nikki was more than an itch to be scratched. He was in it for the long haul.
But was she?
Nikki fumbled with her purse as Brett parked his car in front of Ernie’s Motors and turned off the ignition, then hopped out to open her door.
“You don’t have to stay.” She took the hand he held out to help her from the car. “I’ll just pay the bill.”
“It’s okay. I’ll wait to make sure you get home safely.”
Shaking her head at how different he was from Phil, who would have driven her as far as the nearest bar and told her to find her own way, she headed into the cramped garage office. “Hey, Gloria, I’m here to settle up.”
“Hey, Nik.” Gloria shuffled through a dozen forms in a metal tray and selected one, then slid it across the counter so Nikki could read it. She ticked off the list of things they’d had to repair. “By the way, Ernie says your brakes are going to need fixing soon.”
Fantastic. It was starting to get to the point where the truck was costing her as much in maintenance as it would to pay a loan on a new one. She handed over her debit card, tilting her head toward the fan when it blew her way. “I don’t know how you work in an office without air conditioning, Gloria.”
“Not as if I have much choice. With the economy the way it is, we can’t afford to replace the old unit.” Gloria ran the card through the machine, and Nikki dutifully punched the buttons, instructing it to take the money from her checking account.
A few moments later, Gloria frowned. “Sorry, Nik, but the transaction’s been declined. You got another account you want to try?”
Nikki took the card back and stared at it. There should have been enough money to cover the mortgage payment and the repairs. “What? That can’t be right.”
She tried her savings account with the same result. The acids in her stomach burnt the back of her mouth. She’d definitely had enough to cover the bill in her savings. There had to be—she’d been saving to pay for her next tax bill. If that money was gone…. No. This couldn’t be happening. Phil wouldn’t have cleaned out her bank accounts too.
“How about a credit card?” Gloria suggested.
“I can’t use them right now. I had to cancel them.” She didn’t like to admit that Phil had stolen her stuff, even though everyone in town had probably heard about it already. “The new one hasn’t arrived yet.”
The bell over the door jingled as Brett stepped into the tiny space. She hadn’t thought of him as large until he stood beside her. “There a problem?”
“The bank declined the transaction,” Nikki explained.
He flipped open his billfold and selected a Gold Card. “Here, Gloria. Put it on my card.”
Before Gloria could take it from him, Nikki grabbed it and shoved it back at him. “I can’t take your money.”
“If you don’t, you won’t get your truck back.”
Damn it, but he was right. If she didn’t have her truck, she’d be reliant on him or Dillon to drive her anywhere she wanted to go. Either way, she was going to owe him big time. More than she already did. “All right, but I’m paying you back.”
Despite the smile on his lips, there was a shadow to his expression. “If you want to pay me back that’s fine, but it wouldn’t kill you to accept a gift when it’s offered.”
Once the bill was paid and she had her ignition key in hand, Brett walked her to her truck. He waited as she unlocked it, then reached past her and opened the door for her. Instead of closing it once she’d climbed in, he stood there, his forehead wrinkled as he stared at her purse. “You thought there should have been enough money in the account to cover the bill, didn’t you?”
She bit her bottom lip and stared at his hand resting on the door. Damn Phil for taking every shred of dignity from her. She shouldn’t have to answer questions about how much money she had, even though Brett didn’t mean it as an insult. “Yeah. There should have been enough.”
“Thought so. Look, do yourself a favor and go to the bank. Make sure Phil hasn’t found a way to get into your accounts.”
She huffed in exasperation. “I’ve already called the credit card companies—”
“I know.” His tone was gentle, but firm. “But maybe he found a way to get an extra ATM card or something. Or maybe he forged your signature on one of those checks the credit card companies are always sending out with their bills.”
Shit. It pissed her off to admit it, but he was right. “All right. I’ll go to the bank to check into what happened, and then I’ve got a couple other things to pick up. I’ll meet you back at Dillon’s in a while.” She put her hand on his shoulder and leaned over, pressing a light kiss on his cheek. “And thanks for the loan, Brett. You’re a real good friend, you know that?”
“Anything for you, Nik.” He waited until she’d started the engine before closing her door.
She watched as he rounded the front of her truck and headed to his own car.
Anything for you, Nik. Was it her imagination, or had there been an undercurrent to his phrase? Almost a longing.
Nah, you’re imagining things. Same as you’d thought he was going to kiss you a couple nights before.
Focus. She needed to get shampoo and conditioner, and a couple other things at the drugstore, but Brett was right. First she’d need to get her bank account figured out.
When she got to the front of the line at the bank, she handed the teller her card and explained her problem. “But there should be enough money to cover the bill.”
The teller swiped the card, then typed something into the computer. “Sorry, Ms. Kimball, but it says here there’s nothing in that account. Looks like there was a cash withdrawal for the balance on Monday morning.”
“What?” Everyone in the bank stared at her, so she lowered her voice. “I didn’t take any money out, and I’m the only one with a card to access it.”
“Can I help?” The assistant bank manager appeared at the teller’s side. Wouldn’t you know, it was Dillon’s aunt, Missy. Was there anyone not related to the Barnetts in this town?
Missy listened with pursed lips as Nikki explained about the missing money. “Why don’t you come with me, and we’ll see what we can find out?”
Nikki followed her into the manager’s office. Like the teller had minutes earlier, Missy tapped her account number into her computer. And like the teller, her forehead wrinkled into a myriad of lines. “I see you’ve put a hold on any future credit.”
Nikki explained about Brett’s warning about freezing her credit. “I was in on Monday, but nobody here said there was money missing from my account.”
Then again, she hadn’t asked either.
“It says here there are two cards authorized to access those accounts. Who has the other one?”
“Two? No. I’m the only one with a card.” She’d made sure of that when she and Wade split.
Missy leaned back in her chair and tapped her nails on the edge of the keyboard. “Did Phil have access to your computer?”
“When I wasn’t in the house, I guess. I’d turn it on in the morning and leave it on all day—check my horse loops and email and stuff.” Oh, dear God, what else had Phil done online under her name? “How could he have gotten it without my authorization?”
She closed her eyes. If he’d found the book she kept her passwords and PIN numbers in, it would have been easy. What an idiot she was for not thinking of it sooner. Especially after Brett had told her to check.
“Well, someone did. The transaction was an ATM in Dallas.”
Dallas? She clutched her purse tight to her side. “Could you write down the details so I can give it the police for their investigation?”
“Of course.” Missy hit a button; seconds later, her printer whirred to life, and a sheet of paper rolled out of it.
Once she’d tucked the printout in her purse, she steeled herself and asked, “Can you tell how much is on my credit card?”
“Credit card?” The lines on Missy’s forehead deepened even further. “How many cards do you have, Nicole?”
“Just one.” She’d been careful not to rely too much on credit; she’d seen how easily Wade had run up the bills during their marriage buying unnecessary gadgets.
“I was afraid of that. Says here on your credit report you’ve got—” Missy ran her finger down the screen, her lips moving silently as she counted, “—nineteen accounts you owe money on right now.”
“Nineteen!” Oh God, how much money was she going to be on the line for?
Missy steepled her fingers and tapped them together twice before speaking. “Did your brother have access to your regular mail as well? Your junk mail?”
She nodded. “Sure, he went out and got it from the box for me every day.” It was one of the few things Phil had done for her without being pestered.
“It’s possible he’s been collecting the blank applications companies sent out in mass market mailings and applied for credit in your name. According to the records here, it looks like you started applying for more credit about seven months ago.”