At Hidden Falls (Angel's Bay Novel)

by Barbara Freethy

  “Nick Hartley. And you?”

  “Isabella,” she murmured, looking into his dark eyes. She extended her hand, and as his fingers gripped hers, a burst of color, almost like flames, flashed in her head. She wanted to let him go, but she couldn’t. Was it because he’d saved her life? Or because he was part of whatever had put her on this highway in the first place?

  Nick Hartley pulled his hand from hers and stood up, looking toward the road high above, where a fire engine’s strobe lights bounced off the hillside.

  “They should be able to get you out of here in a few minutes,” he said.

  “How did you ever get down here?” she asked in wonder. The hillside was steep and rocky and hard to see in the dark. Yet he had rushed down it without a thought.

  “I don’t remember exactly. I had some adrenaline going. Getting back up won’t be as easy, but we’ll make it.”

  “You saved my life. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. I was just in the right place at the right time. Luck was on your side tonight.”

  She nodded. But as another shiver ran through her, she didn’t think that luck had had anything to do with their meeting.

  Thirty minutes later, Nick stood on the edge of the highway, watching the ambulance take off toward Angel’s Bay. He let out a relieved breath. He hadn’t had a chance to think, only to act, but now the reality of what he’d just been through washed over him. He was soaked from the rain, and his clothes were filthy, but at least the woman was alive. She was damn fortunate.

  A shudder ran through him as he flashed back to the moment when he’d pulled her free of the car, crushed her body against the hillside, and prayed the ground would hold. She’d been terrified, her eyes wide and shocked. She’d clung to him as if he were the only thing that stood between life and death for her. And he had been.

  He could still feel the force of the car plunging toward the sea, threatening to take them with it. It had taken all his strength to pull her free. Thank God he’d been successful.

  The way she’d looked at him had rattled him, her fingers wrapped around his as if she’d never let go. For a second, he’d felt a ripping fear that he might not want to let her go, either. Which was crazy, because where women were concerned, he always let go first. The only time he hadn’t had ended in painful disaster.

  Getting into his car, he started the engine and turned on the heater. Isabella still had his suit jacket. He’d check in at the hospital later to see how she was, but first he had to get home. He had another, much younger female to worry about: his daughter, Megan.

  He pulled out his cell phone. There were no missed calls, which was disturbing. He’d been trying to get in touch with Megan since three o’clock, when she was supposed to get home from school. He’d tried to set down some rules since her arrival, but so far, he was the only one following them. He punched in her number again, but it went immediately to voice-mail.

  He tossed the phone onto his console and pulled onto the highway. He probably should have thought about Megan before he’d charged down that slippery hillside, but he wasn’t used to worrying about anyone but himself. His fifteen-year-old daughter had been out of his life for the past twelve years, returning under duress only three weeks ago. She didn’t want to live with him, didn’t want to stay in Angel’s Bay, didn’t want anything to do with the father she believed had abandoned her.

  He’d been only twenty-one when her mother had taken off with her and gone to Europe. He’d had no money, no job, and no way to fight for Megan. By the time he had the means, years had passed, and he’d thought she was happy with her mother and her stepfather, that it was too late for him to be a dad.

  He’d never imagined that his ex-wife, Kendra, would suddenly ship Megan back to him, claiming that it was his turn to take care of her. He knew Megan was hurt and furious at both of them; he just didn’t know how to make it better. Nor did he know how to be a father. Megan wasn’t the sweet, loving three-year-old he remembered. She’d dyed her blond hair black with shades of purple, had a nose ring and an attitude that was bigger than she was. He had no idea how to handle her.

  The ring of his phone gave him a small moment of hope. But it was his mother’s number that flashed across the screen.

  “What happened?” Pamela Hartley asked worriedly. “I got a call from Phyllis, who heard from her son that you were in an accident.”

  “That was fast. I wasn’t in the accident. I just got the woman out of the car to safety.”

  “Is she all right?”

  “I think so. She has some minor injuries.”

  “And you?”

  “Wet, cold, and dirty but otherwise fine. I’m on my way home. I’m more concerned about Megan. Did you check on her after school?”

  “Was I supposed to?” his mother asked.

  “I called you this morning on the way to my meeting,” he reminded her.

  “Oh, that’s right, you did. I got so caught up in work that I completely forgot. I’m sure she’s fine.”

  That was his mother, completely offhand and reluctant to focus on anything or anyone who wasn’t involved in her world of the theater. Why was he even surprised? His mother had often forgotten to pick him up from school when he was a kid. He should have asked his sister, Tory, to check on Megan.

  “Well, I’m not sure Megan is fine,” he said. “She isn’t answering her phone.”

  “Probably to annoy you. She’s been uprooted, and she’s angry. You need to give her some time. Her whole world changed in a second, and she hasn’t caught up yet.”

  “I feel exactly the same way. I never imagined Kendra would suddenly bail on Megan.”

  “You should have seen it coming. Kendra was always selfish. I never knew what you saw in that girl.”

  He’d seen long legs, big breasts, and a sexy mouth—but then, he’d been eighteen when they’d met during a summer production at his family’s theater. They’d had a passionate romance that ended with an unexpected pregnancy. They’d married, thinking it was the right thing to do and that their love would last—but it hadn’t. Kendra had gotten a better offer and taken off.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do with Megan,” he said, not expecting his mother to have an answer but needing to talk to someone.

  “You’re going to be her father.”

  “It’s a little late for that. Megan hates me.” It hurt to say the words out loud. “She thinks I deserted her, and in a way, I did.”

  “She doesn’t know the whole story. She’ll come around eventually. She likes being with us at the theater. And why not? It’s in her blood. She gets along with Tory, too. It’s all going to work out, Nick.”

  “I hope so.” His extended family was the reason he’d brought Megan to Angel’s Bay. While they often drove him crazy with their quirky, eccentric personalities, he needed reinforcements, and everyone was in town to put on the Winter Workshop. So instead of taking Megan to the one-bedroom condo he owned in L.A., he’d brought her to the two-bedroom fixer-upper in Angel’s Bay he’d purchased a few years earlier.

  “We started auditions today,” his mother continued, “and some of the locals came in. Kara Lynch was much better than I expected. Of course, we still have a lot of people to see. And there’s so much to do to get the theater ready. I can’t believe this is the last production we’ll have in this old building, but I also can’t wait to see your designs for restoring the theater to its original glory.”

  Nick’s mind drifted as his mother rambled on about preproduction planning. The theater was her life, as it was for everyone else in his family. The Hartleys had been running the Angel’s Bay Regional Theater for six decades; he was one of the few who’d broken away.

  “Mom, I’m pulling into the driveway,” he said, interrupting her ramble. “I’ll talk to you later.” As he turned off the engine, he noted the dark house. One thing he’d learned about his daughter was that if she was home, every light in the place was on.
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  He entered through the kitchen door, snapping on the overhead light. He called for Megan and checked her bedroom, but there was no sign of her.

  Returning to the kitchen, he debated his options. Megan had been testing her boundaries ever since she arrived, and he doubted she was lost or anywhere she didn’t want to be. Maybe he should be glad she’d found somewhere to go, making friends, getting out of the house. On the other hand, she could be in trouble, and he couldn’t just do nothing. Perhaps his sister would have an idea. He was about to call Tory when the kitchen door flew open and Megan ran in.

  Her face was flushed, her hair damp, as if she’d been out in the rain. Her brown eyes were bright and a little guilty. She’d been up to something. He was sure of that.

  “Where have you been?” he asked.

  She stared back at him, her eyes as stormy as the weather. “I could ask you the same question. What did you do, fall into a hole?”

  He glanced down at his mud-caked clothes. “Something like that. Don’t change the subject. You were supposed to stay home after school, and you were supposed to answer your phone.”

  “And you were supposed to be my father. But you disappeared for twelve years. So what if I took off for an hour or two? That doesn’t come close to making us even.” She ran down the hall and slammed her bedroom door.

  Nick drew in a deep breath and let it out. It had been a long day and it was getting even longer. He walked down the hall, knocked on her door, and then turned the knob. Fortunately, there was no lock, so she couldn’t keep him out even if she wanted to.

  Megan was sitting cross-legged on her bed in front of her laptop. She gave him a scowl. “Aren’t you going to take a shower?”

  “In a minute. Where were you?”

  “Out with friends.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t have any friends.”

  “Well, I do. Isn’t that what you wanted?” she challenged.

  What he wanted was for them to have a conversation without a wall of anger and pain between them, but that wasn’t happening tonight.

  She picked up her headphones and slipped them on, clearly dismissing him.

  He needed to find a way to connect with her. She was his daughter, and he loved her. No matter how unhappy she was now, he didn’t intend to let her go again.

  TWO

  Joe Silveira strode through the emergency room entrance at the Redwood Medical Center, his heart pounding against his chest. He’d been headed home from the police station when the 911 call had come in about a car accident on the highway south of town. He’d left it to his officers to handle, never dreaming that the driver was his youngest sister. He still couldn’t quite believe it was true, but when the receptionist waved him inside, he found Isabella sitting on the examining table, a man’s jacket around her shoulders, her long dark hair curling from the rain and caked with mud, her forehead swollen, and tiny cuts spattered across her pale face.

  Her blue eyes widened when she saw him, and her lips began to tremble. It reminded him of the time she’d flown over the handlebars of her bike when she was six. She’d limped all the way home as brave as could be, then burst into tears when she’d seen him. He’d been eighteen, and he’d felt as helpless then as he did now. Isabella was the baby of the family, the one they were all supposed to look out for.

  “Hey, Joe,” she said, her voice shaky as she fought for a smile.

  “Izzy? Are you hurt?”

  “Some bruises and maybe a sprained or broken wrist.” She held up her swollen left arm. “But other than that, I’m fine. I’m alive.” Then the tears came like a flash flood, streaming down her cheeks.

  He quickly moved forward, putting his arms around her as she cried against his chest. “It’s okay. You’re going to be all right,” he said, trying to soothe her, but he’d never been good with tears. Not that he hadn’t had practice. He had four sisters, after all, but he usually let them take care of one another. What he wouldn’t give right now to have one of them there.

  Fortunately, Isabella regained her composure fairly quickly, pulling away from him with a sniff. “Sorry about that. I guess I’ve been holding that in for a while.”

  He reached for the box of tissues on the counter and handed them to her. “From what I hear, you’ve been through a lot. It’s a miracle you made it.” He shuddered at the alternative. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  “I came around a turn. A car was weaving across the highway straight at me. Then it turned onto one of those side roads. I hit the brakes, but the road was too wet, and I skidded off the side.” She drew in a tremulous breath. “A man, Nick Hartley, saw my car go through the guard rail, and he came down the hill and managed to pull me free before . . . before the car went into the ocean.”

  His pulse leaped at the reminder that she’d come very close to dying. “What the hell were you even doing on that road? Why are you here?” he snapped, fear finding its way out in a burst of anger.

  “I wanted to see you, Joe.”

  “So you just hopped into the car and drove three hours north on a whim?”

  “Why not? You’re my brother.”

  He frowned as she averted her eyes. She wasn’t telling him the whole story. “What about your job?”

  “I’m between projects.”

  He wasn’t surprised. Isabella never stayed too long in any one place.

  “I thought you could use some family support,” she added. “You and Rachel were together a long time. We’re all worried about you.”

  He couldn’t lie and say he was happy about the divorce. Rachel had been a huge part of his life, but the last couple of years had been rough. He didn’t like to fail, and it wasn’t his nature to quit, but he’d had to accept that his marriage was over.

  Seeing Isabella’s gaze on his face, he hastened to reassure her. “I’m all right. You didn’t need to come up here. You could have just called.”

  “I have called. And so has everyone else in the family. You always brush our questions aside.”

  “It is my business, Izzy,” he reminded her.

  “Yes, but you’re always there for us; we want to be there for you.”

  “So you were elected to come?” He didn’t like the idea of his siblings feeling sorry for him.

  “I volunteered. I didn’t just want to see you; I wanted to see Angel’s Bay. Rachel said this town has stolen your heart.” She paused, giving him an apologetic look. “I didn’t intend for my arrival to be quite so dramatic.”

  He shook his head, still shaken by her close call. “Can you tell me anything about the car that ran you off the road?”

  She thought for a moment. “It happened so fast. I remember the lights, and then I was sliding across the road.” She shivered and crossed her arms in front of her.

  He hated making her relive the fear, but he wanted to find the person who’d nearly killed her. “I don’t want to make this more difficult, but if you can remember anything—the kind of vehicle, the color, how many people were in the car . . .”

  “There were two people—I think. Right now, it’s a blur. My head is pounding.”

  “I shouldn’t be pressing you; it’s too soon.”

  “I lost everything, Joe. My suitcase, my cell phone, my purse—everything was in the car, and now it’s in the ocean.”

  “But you’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

  “Because of Nick Hartley,” she said. “He was amazing. He risked his life coming down that cliff after me. A lot of people would have waited at the top until help came, and by then it would have been too late.”

  “I’m very grateful that he was there for you.” He shifted his weight impatiently. “Where’s the doctor?”

  “He’s been in. He wants me to get an X-ray on my wrist. He said someone would be in to take me there.”

  “What did he say about your head?”

  “Just a bump.” She gave him a small smile. “I’m okay, Joe. What I really need is to soak in a hot bath.” />
  “As soon as you’re done here, I’ll take you home. But first, I want a friend of mine to take a look at you. She’s also a doctor here. I’ve already called her to come down and check you out.”

  “The other physician seemed very capable.”

  “Maybe so, but you’re my little sister, and I trust Charlotte.” He cleared his throat, seeing the thoughtful look in her eyes. He’d forgotten what it was like to be around family, to have someone looking at him who knew him as more than the chief of police. He’d kept most people in Angel’s Bay at a distance, with Charlotte the one exception, but even their flirtatious friendship had never gone very deep. He’d been too married for that, at least until lately.

  A knock came at the door, and Charlotte stepped into the room. Every time he saw her, his gut tightened, and today was no exception. She wore a white coat over black slacks and a silky blouse. Her blond hair was pulled back from her face, and her blue eyes were curious as she glanced from him to Isabella.

  “Thanks for coming,” he said. “This is my youngest sister, Isabella.”

  Surprise flashed in Charlotte’s eyes, then she turned to Izzy. “It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Charlotte Adams. You look like you’ve had a rough night.”

  “I had a little accident on my way into town. I usually make a better first impression,” Isabella said lightly.

  He had to give Isabella credit. She was very good at bouncing back from disaster.

  “I spoke to Dr. Sawyer, who gave me the update on your condition,” Charlotte continued. “Maybe we could speak alone for a few minutes? Do you mind, Joe?”

  “Sure, no problem,” he said, happy to leave Isabella in Charlotte’s capable hands.

  “Joe is being overprotective,” Isabella told Charlotte as soon as the door closed behind him. “I’ve been completely checked out.”

  “I know,” Charlotte said, a twinkle in her eyes. “But why don’t I do a quick exam, just so we can ease your brother’s mind?”