by Sherry Lewis
She’d captured his heart and pulled him back into the land of the living, but Adam couldn’t explain that to Chuck.
“You’ve got your orders,” Chuck snarled. “Now get back to your post if you’re so worried.”
“Right.”
Chuck glanced around. “Where’s your truck? Don’t tell me you walked all the way over here.”
Adam nodded toward Third West, over half a mile away. “I parked by Union Station.”
“You want me to give you a lift back?”
“No. I’ll walk.” Even if he’d been five miles away, he wouldn’t have taken a ride from Chuck at that moment Besides, he could use the time and the fresh air to let his anger clear and the pain in his hand diminish a little. He made a noise Chuck could interpret any way he wanted, and turned away. Once Chuck made a decision, he never deviated from it Adam should have known better than to even ask.
He shuffled through the park, listening to the crackling of the leaves and branches underfoot. But he felt no better when he reached his truck than he had when he and Chuck parted. If anything, he was even angrier—this time, at himself.
Revving the truck’s engine, he peeled out of his parking spot. He gripped the wheel, not caring whether his hand hurt or not He drove too quickly, rounded the corners too fast and sped over the viaduct toward home.
He’d been so certain of the best course of action when he’d left DJ. Now he was confused and unsure. He had two choices—tell DJ anyway or stay with her and continue to lie. Either.option presented a risk. Either could easily be the wrong choice.
The responsibility for DJ and Marissa fell squarely on his shoulders. He just hoped he had what it took to choose wisely.
DJ WALKED SLOWLY through the rows of potted rosebushes behind her customer, a wiry man in his late sixties who’d looked at every table of close-out annual and perennial bedding plants and then decided roses sounded better. Overhead, a flock of seagulls circled in the pale blue sky and a few lazy clouds drifted across the sun.
Her patience had already worn thin, but she knew her irritation came more from within than anything her customer had done. She’d been neglecting her business for nearly two weeks now, and she had to reassess her priorities.
She’d been teetering on the edge of financial disaster before Larry had made his appearance. She’d been in trouble before Adam had walked into her life. Like a fool, she’d ignored everything and let both men take over her mind, her heart and her every waking thought.
But no more.
True, she’d been unusually troubled for two days—ever since the incident at the zoo. She hadn’t been able to concentrate on much since. She’d begun to wonder if maybe Larry was right. Maybe she had caused Marissa’s hesitation with him. Maybe she should tell Marissa who he was. But something still held her back.
She was equally distracted by Adam. Every minute she spent around him brought her closer to losing her heart completely. But she didn’t trust herself to make a wise choice where love was concerned—she’d already made one huge mistake by marrying Jeff. She couldn’t afford another disaster, and neither could Marissa.
Her customer paused at the end of one of the tables and rubbed his chin. “What about these?”
With effort, DJ forced herself to concentrate on her current task, but she almost resented the energy it required. She’d spent the better part of an hour helping the man, but he’d spent more time chatting than actually looking at the stock. Just thinking about the time being wasted made her even crankier.
The man scanned the bushes closest to him and stretched forward slightly, as if he intended to reach for one. Smiling over his shoulder at her, he shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m thinking maybe a nice red one would look better in the front yard. What do you think?”
DJ bit back a sigh and forced a smile. She needed this sale, even though it meant putting in extra hours later. “We have some nice varieties of red over here.” Turning toward the next table, she stepped back again to let him study the selection.
He took several seconds to ponder and made another couple of adjustments to his fishing cap before he nodded. “Well, then. I guess that’s what I’ll get”
Scarcely able to believe he’d finally made a decision, DJ lifted a healthy bush out of the cluster before he had a chance to change his mind. She reminded herself how badly she needed every customer if she hoped to keep the store open through the end of the season. If she couldn’t, she would be working somewhere else by spring. Indoors. At a desk. She shuddered and made an extra effort to look pleasant as she directed the customer toward a checkout stand.
Once she’d turned him over to the cashier, she let out a sigh of relief. Determined to finish at least the first task she’d begun that morning, she started toward her office.
“DJ, wait up.” Ramon’s voice reached her just as she passed the soft-drink machine. He caught up to her a minute later. His eyes looked troubled and his mouth curved down at the corners. He looked so unlike himself, DJ grew immediately concerned.
She led him into her tiny office and closed the door behind them. Motioning him toward the only chair, she perched on one corner of her desk. “What’s wrong?”
Ramon puffed out his cheeks and exhaled slowly. “It’s that new guy you’ve hired. Where’d you find him, anyway?”
DJ’s heart dropped. “Larry? Why? What’s he done?”
“He’s a jerk,” Ramon said with a sneer. “He’s coming off like some kind of big shot, and he’s getting on everybody’s nerves.”
“He has a difficult personality,” she admitted.
Ramon leaned back in his chair and shifted position slightly. “It’s more than that. There’s something weird about him.”
DJ stiffened. “What do you mean, weird?”
“He’s just…” Ramon searched for the right word. “Weird, you know? Spooky.”
“No, I don’t know,” she said, but her voice came out harsher than she intended. Making an effort to soften her tone, she tried again. “If you have specific complaints, tell me what they are and I’ll deal with them. But if you just don’t like him, or you’re having trouble getting along with him—”
Ramon shot forward. “It’s not just me. He’s a jerk with everybody. He and Manny nearly came to blows earlier this morning.” He broke off and shook his head without averting his gaze. “He’s trouble, DJ.”
DJ let his comments sink in for a moment Larry did have an abrasive personality. “He’s only been here two days,” she began.
“No kidding. Tell him that. The way he acts, he’s been here for years. He probably thinks he knows more than you.”
DJ didn’t want to hear this. Not today.
Ramon shook his head in exasperation. “You know those perennials you wanted Joseph to move? Well, Galloway’s out there bossing Joseph around like Joseph’s too stupid to understand what you want.”
“Let me talk to him.”
Ramon fell back against the chair and gazed at her.
“I’ll talk to him,” she said again.
Ramon lifted one shoulder in halfhearted agreement. “Where did you find him, anyway? I thought you couldn’t afford to hire anybody new.”
She hesitated a second before answering. “He’s an old friend of the family,” she said at last.
Ramon’s eyes widened a bit. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head and managed a halfhearted smile to back up her lie.
He pushed the fingers of one hand through his hair and studied his knees for a few seconds. “You know, I came in here ready to tell you I was quitting—or maybe give you an ultimatum.”
DJ’s stomach tightened. “I’m glad you didn’t. I need you here.”
He looked at her anxiously. “You really think talking to him will do any good?”
She nodded, but she didn’t feel even half as confident as she pretended.
“All right, then.” Ramon relented with a shrug. “I’ll give it another chance. But if things don�
��t get better, I will leave.” He gave her an embarrassed smile. “You’re not paying me enough to put up with this kind of crap.”
DJ’s lips curved slightly. “That’s true.”
Sighing heavily, Ramon pushed to his feet. “You know what I’d do if I were you?”
“Tell me.”
“I’d let Larry know who’s in charge. I’d make it real clear he’s not in charge of anything. If you don’t, he’s going to keep pushing people around until you lose your whole crew.”
DJ couldn’t even respond to that. If Larry had managed to upset her staff that much in two days, she’d have a disaster on her hands within a week. She didn’t need anything else to worry about.
Ramon pulled open the door and, with one last glance over his shoulder, stepped through and let it shut behind him. Almost immediately, the voices of the other crew members reached her ears through the thin wall.
“What’d she say?”
Ramon answered too softly for her to hear. He must have given a condensed version of the conversation, because within seconds, someone moaned and someone else swore.
She sucked air into her lungs and released it slowly, then buried her face in her hands and tried not to listen. But her staffs disappointment and resentment reached her even through the wall.
She’d let them down. She’d let herself down. And she’d let Larry down, although he didn’t know it. Faced with the chance to claim him as her father, she hadn’t done it.
And for the second time, she began to wonder if her reluctance had roots that reached deeper than confusion.
CURSING UNDER his breath, Adam bounded up the stairs and into the kitchen. His clock must be wrong. It couldn’t be nine o’clock in the morning already.
He hurried to the window and peered outside. Dusty gray clouds blocked the sun and darkened the sky, a stiff breeze rustled the leaves in the trees and he caught a glimpse of Brittany leading Marissa away from the house. Where were they going on foot on a day like this?
He glanced at the clock over the stove and cursed again. His watch was right. He’d slept too late. He’d missed hearing DJ leave for work and he’d slept through Marissa’s usual morning routine—in and out of the bedroom, up and down the hall over his head.
He’d planned to wake early so he could catch DJ before she went to work. She’d been quiet last night—too quiet—and he’d started to worry about her long before they’d finished dinner. She’d been reserved with him, restrained with Marissa, and standoffish toward Larry.
At first, Adam had chalked her mood up to worry and overwork. By the end of the night, he’d become convinced she had something more serious on her mind, but he hadn’t been able to get her alone long enough to find out what.
Shoving his fingers through his hair, he glanced around the room and tried to get his bearings. One empty cereal bowl sat in the sink, and a pot of coffee warmed on the burner. The acid-bitter smell in the air told him it must have been there for hours.
He went to the refrigerator and reached inside for the leftover meat loaf from dinner. But he felt only a handful of air where the container should have been. He peered inside, but the meat loaf had disappeared.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t give missing meat loaf a second thought, but he knew instinctively where it had gone. Galloway had either finished it or taken it with him—either way, he’d sponged another meal from DJ, and Adam hated the thought.
After watching Galloway for the past week or so, Adam had become convinced the man was a lot more resourceful than Christina Prescott wanted to believe. He’d also grown certain that Galloway’s only priority was Galloway himself.
Only a fool could fail to notice DJ’s confusion or Marissa’s fear. Only a self-indulgent jerk could close his eyes to the turmoil he left in his wake. Now that he’d found DJ, Galloway didn’t care what he put her through. And now that he had a granddaughter, he didn’t care that the child cringed every time he came near her. But self-indulgence was nothing compared to what Adam feared was Larry’s real agenda. He felt sure he was a dangerous man who wouldn’t hesitate to harm his own daughter to get back at his ex-wife.
Sighing heavily, Adam closed the refrigerator and crossed to the counter. He dumped the stale coffee and rinsed the pot, then refilled it
After two weeks on the case, he still hadn’t caught Galloway violating his parole, although the incident at the zoo had come chillingly close. In the meantime, he might not be able to warn DJ about the danger she faced, but at least he didn’t have to sit and watch while the deadbeat took advantage of her.
Feeling a little better, he reached into the cupboard overhead for a fresh filter and caught a glimpse of Galloway walking through the parking lot.
Adam stepped back to avoid being seen and watched until Galloway reached the store’s front doors. There, he glanced around furtively and slipped inside.
He was up to something. Adam could sense it Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Not for DJ, anyway.
Adam raked his fingers through his hair and ran down the back steps into the rising storm. He jogged across the parking lot and slipped into the building only a few minutes behind Galloway.
Inside, he paused on the threshold, panting a little to catch his breath. He didn’t have to look very hard to realize Galloway wasn’t inside the store itself. The foul weather had obviously affected business—the only two people Adam could see were Heather and Ramon, and they were so engrossed in their conversation, he didn’t think they’d even noticed his arrival.
Scanning the empty aisles, he hurried to the back of the store and looked through the sliding-glass doors. Joseph and Billy were working together, moving plants from the raised wooden benches to a flatbed truck, but Adam couldn’t see Galloway anywhere.
He turned slowly and caught Ramon watching him.
Ramon jerked his head in greeting. “What’s up?”
“I’m looking for Galloway. He came in a few minutes before me. Did you notice him?”
Ramon’s face tightened. He used his head to point toward the south door into the fertilizer shed. “Out there.”
Adam crossed the store at a near run. Galloway had already reached the fertilizer shed. He turned the corner and disappeared just as Adam slipped outside. Smiling grimly, Adam hurried after him. Wind whipped at a layer of heavy plastic that protected the plants from the elements, and the fresh scent of ozone warned him it would rain soon.
The overhead lights flickered, urging Adam to hurry. He didn’t like the thought of Galloway alone in the fertilizer shed. He’d heard of too many incidents on the news over the past few months involving someone like Galloway, raw chemicals mixed with other easily obtained ingredients—and death.
He rounded the corner and went into the shed as the lights flickered again. Galloway stood in front of a stack of large bags at the far end. He positioned his cart and started loading it with bags of some kind of fertilizer.
With his heart in his throat, Adam scoped out the area, looking for some kind of weapon in case he needed it. But he couldn’t see anything useful.
Galloway climbed halfway up the stack and pulled another bag from the top with a grunt. He dropped the sack onto the cart as Adam closed the distance between them. Chemical dust billowed away from the bag, and its acid scent filled the air. When Galloway saw Adam approaching, he stiffened perceptibly and waited.
Trying to look casual, Adam strolled toward him, crunching crystals underfoot. He walked slowly, still looking for a way to defend himself or stop Galloway if he needed to.
When he drew close enough to see Galloway’s face clearly, he nodded. But he cursed his rotten luck for being in a predicament like this without his side arm and vowed not to face Galloway again without one. “What’s going on?”
Galloway nodded back. He looked wary—even hostile. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Just checking things out. What about you? What are you doing?”
“What business is it of yours?�
� Galloway leaned one hip against the stack and squinted down at Adam.
“Just curious.”
“You know, you’re really starting to bug me.”
Adam didn’t mind that at all, but he smiled innocently. “Sorry.”
“Yeah. I’ll bet.” Galloway’s hostility crackled like sparks in the heavy air. The lights flickered again, and thunder rumbled close by.
Adam didn’t want to get caught out here in the dark, but he wouldn’t leave Galloway alone. He perched on a stack and tried to read the label on the bags on Galloway’s cart.
“You know,” Galloway said, “I think it’s about time we cleared the air between us—got everything out in the open. What do you say?”
Adam shrugged. “If you want.”
“For some reason, DJ seems to like you. Obviously, my ex-wife likes you. Me? I don’t like you. I don’t trust you. What are you really doing here?”
“Like I said, I’m just checking things out.”
“No, dammit!” Galloway shouted, then made a visible effort to pull himself together. “I mean in general. What are you doing here.” He gestured with both hands. “What do you want with DJ?”
The question caught Adam off guard, and he repeated it to make certain he’d understood. “What do I want with DJ?”
“Yeah. What do you want? Are you after her or what?” Galloway’s face left no doubt what he meant, and his insinuation sickened Adam.
“No. I’m not ‘after’ her.”
Galloway barked a laugh. “You’re a rotten liar, McAllister. I saw you kissing her the other day. God only knows what you would have done if I hadn’t come along.”
“I never said I’m not attracted to her—”
“Yeah? Well, I don’t want you to be ‘attracted’ to her. You only want one thing from her.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Am I? I don’t think so. DJ doesn’t need someone like you hanging around.”