Hearts On Fire

by Childs, Penny

  “He came in on a snowmobile. We found his tracks about a quarter mile away from the house. We lost them once he hit the main road. Too many cars have run over them since.” Matt looked to Lizzie, letting his gaze linger for a long moment. “You’re sure it was him?”

  “Absolutely,” she told him, raising her chin defiantly. “I don’t just think so because you put a scare into me about his parole officer not being able to find him. I may not have seen his face but I recognized his voice.”

  “Well, looks like he’s not missing anymore,” JD drawled wryly.

  “What it looks like is he’s partners with Katy,” Matt pointed out. “And it looks like Katy hid the blackmail money somewhere and he wants it. From what I remember of him he’s a greedy little bastard. Chances are he won’t go away until we either catch him or he gets his hands on that money.”

  “I don’t know anything about the money. I don’t know where she would have hidden it,” Lizzie protested under Matt’s probing gaze. “If I did I would tell you.” Her fingers went to the band aid at her throat. “Believe me, I would tell you.”

  “Well, Summers seems to think you know something. Which is why I think you should take a room at the hotel in town until we can find him.”

  “She’ll be staying here,” JD interjected before she could answer.

  Her head whipped around and she pinned him with a fierce glare. “Like hell I will, senator,” she shot back at him.

  Matt looked between the two again, obviously amused by the antagonism.

  “I’m not too stubborn to see the obvious. I know I can’t stay at Katy’s place any longer. But I’m not staying here,” she told him, waving her hands to encompass the living room.

  “I’ll have a deputy at the hotel. But I can only spare one right now.”

  JD shoved himself away from the bricks, his jaw set. “Strangers come and go at hotels all the time. Lizzie, you’ll be safer here.”

  Safe from Grady, maybe, she thought. She certainly wouldn’t be safe from JD.

  “We know what Grady looks like. He won’t get near her in the hotel,” Matt assured his longtime friend.

  “He’s not our only concern, Matt. What about Julie’s lover? We have no idea who the guy is. What we do know is he’s capable of murder.” He saw Lizzie about to protest. “Julie told me he tried to kill Katy, remember?”

  That shut her down.

  “For all we know this guy is one of your deputies.”

  Lizzie shook her head and blew out an infuriated breath. “Now you’re just using scare tactics to get your own way. Typical MacGreggor.”

  JD frowned at her.

  Matt rubbed his jaw. “I have to agree with her. I know all of my men. None of them—”

  “You don’t know that.”

  Matt wanted to argue the point but couldn’t. “It’s the best I can offer for right now. I can contact the state boys and see if they can send someone in to help out.”

  Lizzie stood, her arms wrapped around herself. “I’m going to get some of that coffee your brother made,” she told JD. “Let me know what the two of you figure out for me.”

  They watched her walk out, back stiff, chin up. “Still got that fire, doesn’t she?” Matt asked when she was out of earshot.

  JD made a sound and went to the small bar in the corner of the room. Screw the coffee.

  “And you’ve got your sights set on her again.” Matt followed him to the bar but put up a hand and shook his head when JD offered to pour him a shot of whiskey.

  “Maybe I do,” JD allowed.

  “Look, I don’t know what happened that last summer she came home but I do know all hell broke loose after. Grady Summers hightailed it out of here like his ass was on fire. Lizzie ran out of town just as fast and two months later was married to Brian Castellanos and living in Seattle. Brooke Waring killed herself with booze and Katy wound up living with an aunt in Edgemoor until she was eighteen.”

  “Thanks for the history lesson.”

  “Lizzie’s entire family imploded. And I think you were right at the center of it all.”

  A slow smile stole across JD’s lips. “Ah. You’d like another shot at her too.” He knew he’d been the reason Lizzie and Matt had broken up in high school. He also had always known that though Matt had told him it was water under the bridge it had still always been there between them.

  “What I want is for you to be careful with her, for Christ’s sake. You have a tendency to bull your way through life, senator.”

  “She’s a big girl.”

  Matt shook his head and swore under his breath. “You weren’t around to see what you did to her the first time you decided you were done with her. She was devastated, you son of a bitch.”

  JD cocked a brow. “And what? She came to you for a shoulder to cry on?” The thought of it filled him with a jealous rage. Just like the thought of her leaning on Matt now did. He didn’t think there was anything to worry about. Yet. But it was obvious Matt wanted her too. And she just might decide Matt was the safer of the two of them. And she was probably right on that count.

  Matt would have hit him if he’d been anyone else. “You’re an arrogant prick, you know that?”

  “I do know that,” JD agreed, tilting his glass to Matt. “Look, you’re getting yourself all wound up for nothing. She’ll be going back to Seattle when this is all said and done. She’s made it quite clear she’s not interested in any type of relationship with me. And I can’t say as I blame her.” He sighed and set down his glass. “I just want to make sure she’s safe. That’s all.”

  Matt looked into JD’s eyes. “Holy hell.” He backed up a step and shoved his fingers through his hair. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

  “I always was,” he admitted, bowing his head. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. She hates my guts.”

  “What happened that summer?” Matt asked. He remembered how in love they’d been in high school. He wondered what could have happened to make her despise JD so much. And he knew she did. He could see it plainly.

  “I fucked up is what happened.” He waved Matt off. “I’m going to try and convince her to stay here. If she won’t I’ll call you and bring her to the hotel myself, okay?”

  “Yeah. Good luck with that one, buddy.” He clapped JD on the shoulder. “I’ll make sure she’s safe at the hotel.”

  Josh studied Lizzie over the rim of his coffee cup as he leaned a hip against the counter. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked her gently.

  “I’m sure.” Sitting at the table in the corner she leaned over her mug of coffee, letting the steam warm her face. “Just a little shook up. I’ve never had someone hold a knife to my throat.”

  Josh’s features tightened. “Grady Summers is a piece of shit. He steps foot on my land he’ll get a bullet for his trouble.”

  Lizzie looked up at him. She didn’t know Josh well, but she knew people well enough to hear something in the tone of his voice. “You don’t like Grady much.”

  Josh lifted a shoulder. “Not so much, no.”

  “Why? You would have just been a boy when he left town for good.”

  “True enough. I didn’t know him back then. But I’ve heard plenty.”

  She licked her lips and felt her heart flutter in her chest. “From JD?”

  “Some.” He looked her directly in the eye. “And from Katy too.” Now was the time, he decided, to come clean. Because he needed something from her and there was only one way to get it. “How is she, Lizzie? No one will tell me anything at the hospital. And I can’t… I haven’t been able to see her.”

  Now she felt herself jerk a little. She saw something in Josh’s eyes and heard it in his voice. “You and Katy?”

  He snorted. “It’s nothing romantic like that,” he told her. “Katy wouldn’t have that. We just… we’re friends sometimes is all.”

  But he wanted more than that. Lizzie could see it plain as day.

  “You know how Katy is. Not one to tie herself do
wn.” He picked at a chip in his mug with a fingernail. “And I guess she was getting ready to leave for good anyway.”

  She felt a tug on her heart for the younger man. “Katy had a rough life. She has trouble trusting anyone.”

  “Yeah. I know. Because of that bastard Summers.” He set his mug down with exaggerated care. “She has nightmares about him, you know.”

  She hadn’t known.

  “About what he did to her.”

  Her eyes widened, filled with the pain of sudden knowledge.

  Josh didn’t miss it. “You didn’t know.”

  She closed her eyes. “No.” But she should have after what he’d tried to do to her. Only JD had saved her then. But there would have been no one to save Katy. “She didn’t tell me.”

  “I get the feeling she didn’t tell anyone. I only found out because of her bad dreams.” He smiled a little ruefully. “Not that she let me stay over very often.”

  “Her prognosis is good,” Lizzie told him, answering his earlier question. “And if you’d like I can have you added to the list of people who may get into her room.”

  Now the smile reached his eyes. “I’d like that, just to, you know, let her know I’m around and stuff.” He shuffled his feet and looked toward the door which stood closed between the kitchen and the living room. “Just do me a favor, will you?”

  “Of course.” She thought she knew what was coming.

  “Don’t mention any of this to JD. He doesn’t like your sister a whole lot and he really wouldn’t like me having anything to do with her.”

  She understood. “I won’t say a word to him.”

  Chapter 20

  “I’m fine, really. I wouldn’t tell you otherwise if it weren’t true.” Lizzie sighed into her cell phone. “I wouldn’t have told you anything at all if I didn’t think it would be on the news in the morning.”

  “Nice, Lizzie,” Brian growled.

  “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.” She leaned back in the kitchen chair and stared at the darkened window over the sink. “I’m a little testy right now.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I just want to make sure Sean is okay. He’ll hear about this, I’m sure.”

  “I’ll explain everything to him. Just please tell me you’re not staying in that house all alone.”

  “I’m not staying there.”

  “Good. The White Swan isn’t exactly five star, but it’s a reputable hotel. I assume Matt will be providing you with some kind of protection.”

  Now came the fun part. “I won’t be staying at the hotel.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll be staying at Josh MacGreggor’s place.”

  “Josh?” He paused. “Oh. Is that where our esteemed senator from Colorado is staying as well?”

  “I’m not staying here because of him. I’m staying here because Josh asked me to and because it makes sense for tonight. I’ll need to pick up some things from Katy’s tomorrow since I had to leave in a hurry.”

  He chuckled. “You’re over-explaining. Which means you’re hedging the truth.”

  “Okay. Fine. And because it’s time I clear the air with JD once and for all. You were right. I have to tell him. And soon. Once his mother finds out I’m here, on her land, she’ll come unglued. She’ll think I’m after her baby boy’s hand in marriage so I can get to the family fortune. She’ll make it her business to out me to him.” Which had been why she’d almost run to the hotel. But the time for running was done. Christ, she’d almost been killed tonight. And the thought of being killed, of dying, before she had a chance to tell her son the truth about his father, was unbearable. He deserved to hear it from her, not someone else. And, she supposed, JD deserved to hear it from her own lips as well.

  “I’m glad you’ve decided to come clean. Are you doing it tonight?”

  She was exhausted. Too exhausted to do it tonight. A clear head would be needed and she was anything but clear headed tonight. “Tomorrow,” she assured him. “I’m not sure I could string together a cohesive sentence tonight much less fight with him.”

  “Okay. Call me after. You’ll need a shoulder, I’m sure.”

  She smiled. “That’s what I love about you. You’re always there for me. I will call you.” She wished she could talk to Sean but knew tonight was out. He’d been in bed for hours now and would only be frightened and confused if Brain woke him at this hour. Bowing her head she rubbed at the tension at the back of her neck. What she needed was sleep, if it would come to her. “Tell Sean I love him.”

  “Of course I will.”

  “And I love you too, Brian.”

  He laughed. It was the warm sound only a friend can give another friend. “Of course you do,” he teased. “Back atcha. Now, get some rest. I have the feeling you’re going to need it.”

  Without raising her head she disconnected the call and set her cell down on the table. One deep breath after another she tried to relax.

  “If you still love the guy why aren’t you still married to him?”

  Jerking upright she faced JD, who had a shoulder resting against the door frame, his gaze stormy. She had the brief panic of wondering just how long he’d been standing there. How much he’d heard. Not anything too damning, by the look on his face. What she saw there was jealousy, not fury. “We’re friends. Not everyone who gets a divorce hates the ex.”

  He thought of Darlene and winced. There was no love lost between them. But then, he mused, there had been no love between them to begin with. And, he supposed, a kid changed things too. Getting along for their sake would be crucial. “So why aren’t you still married to him?”

  “I don’t want to have this conversation right now.” Standing, she took her empty coffee mug to the sink and rinsed it out.

  “You married him right after you left here that summer.”

  She whirled around, her face flushed hot with anger. “So what? At least I wasn’t married before that!”

  His jaw hardened and he nodded his head once. “I deserved that one. Josh tells me you’ve agreed to stay here.”

  “For the night, senator. Just for the night.”

  He would accept that. For now. Tomorrow was another day. “I can show you up to your room.” He saw her balk and nearly smiled. Standing there twisting her hands in front of her with those big blue eyes she looked like a deer caught in a cornfield with a flashlight. “Josh hit the hay. This is a working ranch so he has to be up with the sun.”

  She didn’t want him showing her to a bedroom. But it looked like there was little choice unless she planned on wandering around until she hit pay dirt.

  “There’s a bathroom just down the hall from your room. I expect you’ll want to take a hot shower.”

  She wanted nothing more at this moment than a hot shower and a comfortable bed. But first, she wanted one answer. “What were you doing out in the woods by Katy’s place in the middle of the night on horseback?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. I was there, that’s all that counts.”

  “It matters to me. Why were you there?”

  “You’re not gonna like my answer,” he warned, his voice low, his gaze direct.

  “I’ve come across a number of things I haven’t liked lately.”

  A corner of his mouth lifted and he shifted on his feet. “I was watching you.”

  She’d known it. But to hear him admit to it… “And what the hell do you think you were doing watching me?”

  He gave her that insolent shrug again.

  “You know, they have laws against peeping at women.”

  “I wasn’t peeping, Lizzie. You know that. I was just keeping a watch over you, that’s all. That news you gave me about Grady spooked me. And when you wouldn’t listen to reason and insisted on staying at Katy’s I figured I’d best keep an eye out.”

  “I don’t need a damn keeper, senator.”

  He pushed away from the wall and advanced on her, his own anger piqued. “Tonight you did,”
he countered, standing so close he caught the scent of her. Something gentle. Lilacs, maybe.

  Because she couldn’t argue the fact she clenched her teeth. Damn him for coming to her rescue again. And damn him for making her want him all over again. She wanted to look away from him, escape his hold over her, but she couldn’t. God, what had ever made her think she could get him out of her system? It had always been like this with him. “You’re right. I did. And I haven’t thanked you.”

  He’d never been able to resist her and he couldn’t now. Gently he touched her face with his fingertips, tracing her cheek, her jawline. He saw the mixture of fear and desire in her eyes and felt the same things stir in himself. “You don’t need to thank me, Lizzie,” he told her softly.

  “JD…” Her voice faltered. “Don’t.”

  “Why not, Lizzie?” He wanted to kiss her. God did he want to kiss her. Only the hint of fear in her eyes kept him from doing it.

  “There’s too much… too much between us.”

  “I know I screwed things up. It won’t happen again.”

  He was right on that much. Once he knew the truth he would never want her again. She needed to distance herself from him now, before it was too late. “I’m tired. Please, I just need to sleep.”

  The need to protect was still coursing through him. The need to hold her close was too. But for now he knew he’d have to push that need aside. “All right, Lizzie.” He took one of her hands in his and led her upstairs.

  He slammed a fist on the old window sill, rattling the thin pane of glass above. Outside the snow was coming down again. The wind howled. In the boathouse a cold draft sifted through. But his fury was enough to warm him. “What the fuck did you think you were doing, Grady? Christ but you fucked this up!”