by Kristi Gold
She’d questioned why she hadn’t left hours ago, when the band had stopped playing and the crowd had thinned out to only a few people finishing drinks and conversations. Instead, she’d remained alone at the small corner table, nursing a cola and disappointment in her husband.
“I thought I might help clean up.” The only logical excuse she could come up with at the moment.
Chase pulled out the opposing chair, sat and raked off his tan cowboy hat, which he set on the table, brim up. “All the equipment’s going to be moved back to the community center by the fire department. The rental company’s here to pick up the tables and chairs and take down the tent, and the fairground’s crew has already cleaned up the trash and emptied the barrels. That means there’s nothing left to do, unless you want to sweep the dirt.”
Sweeping dirt beat going home by herself. “I guess you’re right. I just don’t have the energy to move at the moment.”
“You look pretty worn-out.”
More like stressed-out. “It’s been an exhausting day.”
“And the night didn’t turn out too well, either.”
“Thanks to Matt in the role of Mr. Macho.”
“Can’t say that I blame him,” Chase said. “Harbin’s a pretty seedy character and always has been. If the tables were turned and he’d been hitting on Jess, I might’ve done the same thing.”
“I knew the moment he started talking he wasn’t an upstanding citizen,” she said. “That’s why I was somewhat relieved when Matt showed up, even if I did resent the implication I can’t take care of myself. Between him and my father, you’d think I was a totally helpless female.”
“Matt just wanted to protect you,” he said. “That’s what we do around these parts.”
She understood that, but she didn’t always appreciate it, particularly when that protection came in the form of violence. “Where is this Harbin guy now?”
“In jail.”
Jail? Rachel was admittedly relieved, but also worried over her husband’s fate. “Did you arrest Matt, too?”
Chase settled his hat back on his head. “No, but it took some fancy stepping to avoid it. I had a hunch about Harbin and decided to run a check on him while he was in the E.R. As it turns out, he’s got an outstanding warrant for assault in Nashville. I locked him up and we’ll ship him off in the morning.”
Rachel felt quite a bit better knowing R.J. wasn’t on the streets, in case he should decide to hunt Matt down and exact some revenge. “I guess an assault charge should come as no surprise.”
“Nope, and Matt knew what he was dealing with when he took it upon himself to run interference.”
“He still could have been hurt if Harbin had been armed. But lately he’s been so self-destructive, maybe he simply didn’t care.” She paused to consider exactly who she was confiding in. “I’m sorry, Chase. Matt’s one of your best friends and I shouldn’t be criticizing him around you.”
“Hey, you’re my friend, too.” Chase leaned forward and folded his hands on the table. “I might not entirely agree with Matt’s recent behavior, but on some level I understand it.”
She assumed Chase was referring to the confrontation he’d had with her brother that could easily have turned worse than it was. “You were justified in what you did to Dalton after what he did to Jess.”
“I’m not talking about Dalton or Harbin,” he said. “I’m talking about Matt’s acting out to cover the grief and guilt. I’m an expert on grief and guilt.”
“Because of your war experiences?”
“One experience in particular.” He shifted slightly in the folding chair. “While I was over there, a child got caught in the cross fire, and I’m fairly sure the bullet that killed her was mine. The image of that little girl dying in my arms will never go away.”
The sorrow in his voice and expression momentarily stole Rachel’s breath. “Oh, Chase. I had no idea.”
“Jess was the only one who knew about it until now,” he said. “I couldn’t talk about it to anyone outside the military. Hell, I couldn’t face it. The guilt nearly buried me on more than one occasion. Had it not been for reconnecting with Jess, I don’t know where I might’ve ended up.”
“But that wasn’t your fault, Chase. Our son’s death wasn’t Matt’s fault, either.”
“True, but that didn’t make me feel any less responsible. I imagine Matt feels responsible, too.”
She agreed with Chase on one count. Her husband could be dealing with guilt, perhaps even more than grief. Guilt over never really wanting to be a father. “I have no idea what Matt’s feeling, because he won’t talk to me about it. And I’ve never seen him shed one tear, even at the funeral.”
“Men are wired a whole lot different than women,” Chase said. “We’re not prone to discussing our feelings. Some of it’s pride, some of it’s fear we’re going to be seen as cowardly if we admit how bad it hurts. My theory is Matt’s venting that hurt by doing things normally out of character for him.”
She was hurting, too. Badly. “I understand what you’re saying, but I just can’t handle it, especially the drinking. Who knows how much booze he had on board when he rushed in to rescue me?”
“Sam says he didn’t even have a beer.”
“That doesn’t mean he didn’t have a few before he came here. Regardless, the drinking’s only one issue among so many more.”
“We need your table, folks.”
The booming voice nearly startled Rachel right out of her shoes. She glanced behind her to see a group of men gathered nearby, waiting for the two stragglers to finally leave.
She returned her attention to Chase to find he was already standing. “Time to call it a night,” he said. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
Rachel knew better than to argue. All three men who comprised their circle of friends, including her husband, hadn’t received the memo that chivalry was on life support. “I’d appreciate that.”
After she came to her feet, Chase followed her outside to her car, which was parked near the entrance. She fished the keys from her pocket and tripped the lock before facing him again. “Thank you for listening to me, Chase. And tell Jess I’ll call her soon.”
“Not a problem. Just one more thing I need to say.”
One more thing might be more than she could handle, but she did appreciate having a male perspective on Matt’s problems. “Sure.”
He looked much too serious for Rachel’s comfort. “Before you make this split permanent, I hope you exhaust all your options first. The two of you owe each other that much.”
Rachel felt as if the option bank was quickly running out of funds. “I will.”
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “I better get home to my wife. She gave me strict orders to be there before midnight, since Danny’s at a sleepover. I’m already five minutes late and that means I could have hell to pay.”
“If she’s not already out like a light. When I was pregnant, I could barely keep my eyes open past sundown.”
He grinned. “Not Jess. She’s about to wear me out.”
Rachel returned his smile in spite of that same old twinge of envy. “Have a good night, and thanks for listening.”
“Anytime.”
After Rachel gave Chase a brief hug, she slid inside her car and tipped her head back against the seat. The urge to see Matt tonight, to talk things out, almost overwhelmed her. But she was feeling too vulnerable, too lonely, to take that risk.
She’d have to wait until Monday afternoon for the next spousal showdown…if she decided to show up.
* * *
SHE WASN’T GOING TO SHOW.
Or that’s what Matt thought when two o’clock rolled around and no Rachel. Then the clinic’s door chimed, followed by the recognizable voice speaking to Tina. He should probably go into the reception area to greet her, but he opted to wait until she came to him—unless things got tense between his wife and the new office manager, forcing him to mediate to avoid a catfight. So far he hadn�
��t heard any raised voices or angry words, only polite conversation and even an occasional laugh. At least he’d avoided a confrontation. One down, one left to go.
After ten or so minutes, a succession of raps sounded, followed by Rachel opening the door and peeking inside. “May I come in?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t mean to sound so irritable, but he wasn’t too pleased with her formality or her tardiness.
She stepped inside the room, briefcase in hand and a self-conscious look on her face. “Hope I’m not disturbing anything.”
He was disturbed, all right, but not in the way she might think. Her slim-fit black skirt, purple sleeveless silk blouse and deadly high heels nearly did him in. The full face of makeup and her dark hair curling around her shoulders only added to his misery.
Under normal circumstances, he’d stand and give her a kiss, but the way he felt right now, he’d be better off if he remained seated. And chances were she didn’t want a kiss from him anyway. She sure as hell wouldn’t appreciate his obvious below-the-belt reaction to her appearance. He thought back to a time when she would round the desk, stand behind him and drape her arms around his neck before kissing his cheek. He also recalled going about his business without really acknowledging the gesture. What he wouldn’t give to take it all back, to relive those times. That hindsight being twenty-twenty thing kept coming back to bite him.
After Rachel moved into the room, he gestured toward the chair across from him. “Sit.”
“Okay.” She took a seat, clutching the briefcase to her chest as if she thought it might take off without her. Or maybe she’d caught him looking and was trying to conceal the hint of cleavage.
“Where’ve you been all dressed up?” he asked.
“At the bank’s weekly staff meeting.”
“Since when do you attend that?”
“Since my father decided to extend his vacation and asked me to stand in for him.”
That could mean old Edwin still didn’t know his daughter had left her husband. “I’m bettin’ you were the best-looking woman at the conference table.”
“I was the only woman there.” She momentarily looked away before meeting his gaze again. “Tina seems to have everything under control, so it appears she won’t need my help. What an asset for you, an office manager who’s both pretty and smart.”
Her tone lacked any sincerity—not that he was surprised. “Yeah, she’s pretty sharp. But her coffee sucks.”
She smiled but it faded fast. “Perhaps you should learn to make your own coffee.”
“Perhaps I will.”
She looked around the room as if she’d never seen it before. “How’s your hand?”
He flexed his fingers. “Still bruised and fairly stiff, but it’ll heal in a week or two. It does kind of make it hard to work in certain situations.”
She brought her attention back to him. “If you’re looking for sympathy, I’m all out.”
He didn’t want or need her sympathy. He did want her to understand why he’d done what he’d done—to protect her. “I guess you heard Harbin wound up in jail.”
“I know. Some sort of assault charge.”
“Sexual assault.”
From the shock in her expression, it was pretty obvious she’d been kept in the dark. “Chase didn’t mention that.”
“Probably because he didn’t want you to know exactly how much danger you were in. And if I hadn’t come along, I’d hate to think what Harbin might’ve done to you.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not as if I’d actually go anywhere with him.”
Hardheaded woman. “And it’s not like he couldn’t have waited till later and followed you to the car.”
“Okay, fine. You rode in on your horse and saved the day. Is that what you want to hear?”
“Thank you would be sufficient.”
“Thank you. Now, could we please get started on the reason why I’m here?” She retrieved a lined tablet from the briefcase and set it on the desk. “I’ve drawn two columns beneath our names, indicating what I feel is an equitable division.”
In an effort to shake her up, Matt stood, walked around the desk and peered over her shoulder. “You have the house under my name.”
“Yes. I’m not interested in keeping it.”
He leaned forward a little more and caught a whiff of her perfume. She smelled so damn good he wanted to bury his face in her neck. “I’ll buy out your half of the equity. Same goes for the clinic.”
She glanced back at him before returning to the tablet. “I don’t want either. It’s all yours.”
“Whatever floats your boat.” He had no intention of going through with this nonsense anyway, even if he had no idea how to convince her to stop the process. Then he noticed one asset that he hadn’t considered before. She’d handed him an opening and he planned to stroll right through it.
“Any reason why you have the cabin under your name?” he asked.
“If you recall, I used my trust fund to buy it,” she said. “And since I’ve given you the house, it’s only fair.”
None of this was fair as far as he was concerned. “The key word is us. It’s in both our names.”
She sent him a champion frown over one shoulder. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you? And would you please go back to your chair? You’re making me nervous.”
That gave him a small measure of satisfaction, he realized as he reclaimed his seat. “If you want easy, then agree to give me the cabin. Or we could continue to own it jointly and rent it out.”
“Or we could sell it and split the proceeds.”
He wasn’t particularly fond of that option, but it did lead to an idea. A good idea that could present a great opportunity. “I don’t have a problem with selling it, but that means we’ll need to take a weekend trip and clean out the contents together.”
Her frown told him she didn’t welcome his idea. “I’d prefer if you box everything up and bring it back here to sort through.”
Obviously she couldn’t stand the thought of spending time alone with him. Or maybe something else was bugging her. “Are you worried you might not be able to resist me if we spend a few days cooped up in a cabin together?”
The slight flush on her cheeks spoke volumes. “Why on earth would you think that?”
He couldn’t quite control his smile. “Oh, I don’t know. Something about a hot tub and winding up with my jeans around my ankles a couple of weeks ago.”
“I haven’t given that mistake a second thought. But now that you mention it, I don’t trust that you wouldn’t pull that stunt again.”
“Stunt? You’re the one who started it by climbing out of the tub buck naked and taking your good sweet time drying off. And I sure as hell don’t remember you putting up a fight. In fact, you didn’t fight me at all. You did do quite a bit of moaning, though.”
She held up a hand to silence him. “Let’s just drop it, okay? I’ll split the cost of gas with you if you’ll just bring the cabin stuff back here.”
Matt scraped his brain for some argument that might sway her to his side. “Fine, but I’m going to toss some of it while I’m packing up. I’m thinking your souvenir napkin collection could be in jeopardy.”
Her dark eyes went about as round as a basketball. “You wouldn’t dare throw that out!”
“Maybe not intentionally, but when you’ve got a lot of paper lying around, anything’s possible.”
“We’ll compromise. I’ll go up one weekend and pick up my things. You can go the next.”
She’d just trampled the last of his patience. “That’s a waste of gas and time. The place has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, so you don’t have to come anywhere near me if you don’t want to. And I figure since my hand’s still not a hundred percent, this weekend would work. I’ll close the office from Friday until Tuesday and have Riley take emergency calls for me.”
She blew out a frustrated sigh. “If I agree to do this, which I’m not saying I am, I have no
idea if I could even go this weekend until I check the date.”
“Friday’s the twenty-seventh.”
She looked almost alarmed. “Are you sure?”
Matt turned the desktop calendar around and pushed it toward her. “It’s right there in black and white. It’s the last weekend in April.”
She stared at the calendar for a few seconds before her gaze shot to his. “I just remembered something I need to do.”
“This weekend?”
She shoved the tablet back into the briefcase and shot to her feet. “No. I meant now.”
Before he could get another word in, she took off out of the office. He caught up with her in the parking lot as she fumbled with her keys. “What about this weekend, Rachel?”
“I’m not sure.” She tripped the lock and opened the door. “I’ll call you and let you know.”
With that, she slid inside the sedan and backed out as if she was going to put out a pasture fire.
Matt mulled over her strange behavior and tried to remember something significant about the date. Something that would upset her. He couldn’t think of a thing.
Now he’d just have to wait for her to call and give him her answer. But even if she turned him down this time, he wasn’t going to give up. Taking her back to their honeymoon cabin could only help his cause. They’d be surrounded by good memories of their life together, and maybe, just maybe, she’d finally realize what they stood to lose if they lost each other.
* * *
RACHEL DRUMMED HER fingertips atop the table at the back booth in Stan’s Diner, both from impatience and stifling anxiety. If her friend didn’t get there soon, she’d be forced to call again. Of course, she could have postponed the meeting until tonight at the guesthouse, after the maid had finished cleaning. Or waited until tomorrow, for that matter. But the delay would have been unbearable. Intolerable. Excruciating. She’d already spent one sleepless night worrying over the possibility.
The moment Rachel reached into her purse to dig out her cell phone, the screen door opened and thankfully in walked Jess. And right behind her, Savannah.