He’d found a place in the sticks, away from the highway, away from everything. Less chance of passersby seeing or hearing anything they shouldn’t. Max figured once they had the woman, they’d go back for the kid later. Now the whole plan had gone to shit. He’d grabbed the woman from behind, all Dwayne had to do was grab her legs. But the asshole had screwed it up. She’d fought like a crazy woman, and then the cowboy had been on them like the wrath of God. Even then, Max thought they should have been able to knock him out and take the woman, but she’d climbed on his back and sunk her teeth into his shoulder. It still hurt like the devil. The police had followed, and then he and Tellier had been hauled to jail.
But he’d made bail and now he had the Podunk cops watching him. It was all that shithead Tellier’s fault.
The doorknob rattled and Max reached for his weapon, aiming it with a steady hand as the door swung open. That was another thing. Next time he was taking a gun. His asshole partner had talked him out of it, arguing it would draw too much attention, but the woman would have been a lot more docile if she’d had a .38 sticking her in the ribs.
Tellier stepped in, the bright sunshine blinding in the dimly lit room. “Guess Bennett bailed your ass out, too. Thought he might let you stay locked up.”
Tellier didn’t say anything. He slammed the door shut and threw himself down on the bed. Max started laughing, clutching his stomach because it was so gut-busting funny. Tellier’s face was an inflamed mass of welts and the backs of his hands were crusted over where blisters had formed. He’d had a rash since his tumble on the mountain when taking a piss, but now he looked about a thousand times worse.
“I need to go to the emergency room before I die.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone dying from poison oak.”
“It’s all over. It’s on my dick.” Tellier scratched at that appendage through his jeans, then groaned. He sat up and reached for the phone book on the nightstand, scratching frantically at his chest. “I gotta get to a hospital before it kills me.”
Enjoying his partner’s discomfort, Max lay back against his pillow. It was fine if the asshole wanted to take himself off to a hospital. Max would do the job himself, then he’d get the entire payoff.
***
Eli stepped into the house to hear an argument in full swing.
“Because you need a haircut, that’s why. Your birthday party is tonight and you’re looking like a shaggy sheepdog.”
“Maybe I want to look like a shaggy sheepdog.”
“Cameron Elijah Fontaine, you’re getting a haircut. Go sit your butt in that chair. I might give you a buzz cut so I don’t have to deal with your whininess for a good long time.” Eli could hear the exasperation in her voice and had to grin. Gwen usually had the patience of Job, but he thought this time she might lose it.
“I don’t want a buzz cut.” There was a pause. “What’s a buzz cut?”
Eli walked into the kitchen to see Cameron standing with his hands on his hips, chin jutting out. The kid didn’t challenge Gwen’s authority often, but it was entertaining when he did if for no other reason than to see how she dealt with it. Though he thought it would be best if he didn’t mention that fact out loud.
“You don’t want a buzz cut, kid.”
Cameron turned toward him. “Why don’t I?”
“Because it’s so short you’ll burn the tops of your ears.”
The boy cast a sidelong glance at Gwen, then his shoulders slumped and he went to sit in the chair she’d set in the middle of the floor. “Okay, Aunt Gwenny,” he mumbled, his tone pathetically glum. “Cut my hair.”
Amusement lightened Gwen’s expression. Eli quirked a brow at her. “You cut hair?”
She shrugged. “I can give a good basic haircut. If he ever wants something fancy, I’d have to take him to a barber. It would help if you have clippers for the back of the neck.” She looked at him expectantly.
“I’ll get them.”
When he returned she was wrapping a towel around Cameron’s shoulders, who uttered a long-suffering sigh. Then the kid eyed him with a calculating gleam. “Uncle Eli’s hair is long. You have to give him a haircut before the party, too.”
He saw Gwen give his hair an assessing look before she picked up a spray bottle to squirt water over Cameron’s dark head.
“Uncle Eli is old enough to grow his hair however long he wants.”
Cameron was still giving him that sideways look. “Maybe he wants a haircut, too. You could give him a buzz cut.”
Gwen giggled. He’d never heard that sound before, as unexpected as a burst of sunshine during a mountain thunderstorm. He eyed her, considering. “Actually, I was trying to figure out when I’d have time to get to the barber in town.”
“I’ve never given an adult a haircut. I do kid haircuts. Actually, I only do this kid’s haircuts.”
He watched her comb and snip with sure and competent movements. “I’m willing to risk it if you are.”
“Ha ha, Uncle Eli’s getting a haircut, too.”
“Don’t gloat, kid.”
Twenty minutes later Eli was sitting in the chair and Gwen draped the towel around his shoulders. He considered the logistics and thought he might have made a strategic mistake. It had been two days since they’d made love, and he’d been trying his best to keep his distance. That was the only way he could live in the same house with her and stay sane while he gave her the time she’d asked for. He was more and more certain that marriage was the right decision, and he still intended to press his case, but hands off was hard when he found her so incredibly appealing.
She picked up the spray bottle and spritzed his hair, then used her fingers to work the moisture through. Eli thought he could sit there all day letting her do that. She stood close enough that he found himself breathing deep to catch the citrusy smell he associated with her. To distract himself, and keep himself from doing anything stupid like pulling her onto his lap and kissing her senseless, he focused on Cameron, who was watching with avid interest.
“Are you getting a buzz cut?”
“Not on your life.”
“What about a mullet? Kids at school say a mullet’s real retro.”
“Do you even know what a mullet is?”
Cameron shrugged his shoulders, then cocked his head as he heard a shout through the open kitchen door. “That’s Robby so I’m going outside. Later.” He raced through the door, slamming the screen behind him.
Gwen started Eli’s haircut by trimming the back, then she moved to the side. When she got to the hair in front he lost his fight with temptation and ran a finger along her hip. She ignored him, eyes focused on her task, combing out a lock of hair, snipping it with the scissors, then repeating the process. When her shirt rode up, exposing a narrow line of pale skin, he slipped his finger over her waistband to lightly stroke.
“You’re going to have a real funny haircut if you distract me.”
“Maybe I like distracting you.”
She paused, whiskey eyes troubled. “Eli.”
He removed his hand. “I know, sweetheart. I said I’d give you time. But you’re damn difficult to resist.” She gave his hair one last comb through, then removed the towel. He rose to his feet. “When you’re considering us getting married, make sure you put something else into the equation.”
“What?”
“Basic attraction. Hell, what I feel for you is a lot more than basic attraction. I don’t think I can live without you.”
He saw the confusion on her face and figured that was fine. Confusing her kept her guessing, kept her thinking about him. He returned the chair to the table, then walked to the pantry for a broom and dustpan. She was still standing in the middle of the floor when he returned, so he leaned down and kissed her firmly on the lips. “Thanks for the haircut.”
***
Gwen lit the candles on the birthday cake while Cameron looked on with gleaming eyes. Eli couldn’t get over how she’d pulled it all together to create a memorabl
e evening for the boy. She’d driven into town the day before with Whit and must have spent some of her hundred dollars because he knew he didn’t have blue wrapping paper with baseballs on it, or a piñata full of candy. She’d bought those items and wouldn’t take the money he’d tried to give her to pay for them.
He’d never had a piñata when he was a kid, but Cameron, Robby, and Christy had taken turns whacking at it like pros, laughing and having a good time. Eli’s job had been to pull the rope and lower the brightly colored star up and down, and he’d made sure it was Christy who got the final swing of the bat and cracked open the piñata to rain candy onto the ground.
Gwen and Cameron showing up on his doorstep had been the best thing to ever happen to him. They brought love and laughter into what had been a lonely life. Spending the night of the Fourth together had sealed it for him. He felt so closely attuned to her, and found himself watching her constantly. That level of connection was new to him, and he wondered if Gwen felt it, too.
He hadn’t pressed her on marrying him, but he was starting to get itchy. He wanted it settled. As far as he was concerned, she was his, just as much as Cameron was. Earlier he’d had a call from Jack Morgan that worried him. The men who’d attacked Gwen had made bail, but Jack didn’t know who had posted it. The ranch hands were all on alert, but Eli hadn’t told Gwen. He would, but didn’t want to spoil the evening for her.
He pulled himself out of his reverie to join in singing the happy birthday song. Cameron blew out the candles, then swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Daisy, would you mind cutting the cake? Cam and I will be right back.” Gwen took Cameron’s hand and led him from the room and down the hall. After about five minutes when they still hadn’t returned, Eli went to find them. Pausing at the doorway to his office, he found Gwen sitting in his desk chair with her back to the door, Cameron on her lap. She lifted the hair off his forehead to kiss him, then murmured something that had the boy nodding and pushing to his feet. He stopped when he caught sight of Eli.
“You okay, Cameron?”
He nodded and left the room, Christy calling to him in her singsong voice. Gwen still sat facing the window, her back to him.
“What’s going on?”
She shook her head, bringing up her sleeve to wipe her eyes. And then it hit him and he felt like an idiot. On today of all days, Gwen and Cameron would be missing Chloe. He moved to the chair and reached down to pull Gwen to her feet. He leaned back against the edge of his desk, bringing her to stand between his legs.
She held herself stiffly. “I’m fine, Eli.”
“You will be.”
She didn’t say anything, wiping away another tear.
“Cam missing his mom?”
She nodded.
“And you are, too.”
Her face crumpled and he pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms securely around her. “I miss her,” he murmured against Gwen’s hair. Her arms encircled his waist and he rubbed his hand up and down her back. He continued the soothing motion as she sniffled and took several deep breaths. Long moments passed before she shifted and pulled back.
“Thanks, Eli.”
He brushed a kiss across her lips. “I could spend all day doing that, sweetheart.”
Her expression turned uncertain. “I need to get back to the party.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in a minute. I’ve got to get something.”
When he rejoined them, he set down a box with the other presents. It wasn’t wrapped, but he figured the kid wouldn’t care.
Cameron unwrapped the astronomy book, pulling out the star chart from a sleeve in the back. He studied it carefully, then looked up at Gwen. “Cool. This is so I can learn the constellations, right?”
“Yep, we’ll use it tonight.”
Cameron threw his arms around Gwen and she hugged him back. Next, he picked up the box Eli had brought in, opening it to pull out a kid-size, western-style cowboy hat. He set it on his head, then ran to the mirror in the bathroom so he could check himself out.
When he returned to the living room, Eli thought Cameron’s smile would split his face, and found himself grinning in return when the boy wrapped his skinny arms around him. “Thank you, Uncle Eli. Now I look like you.”
If he hadn’t been a goner over the boy before, he sure was now.
Cameron returned to the table to open the few remaining presents. Since Daisy had known Eli was getting him a hat, she’d helped Robby and Christy braid a leather hatband, which Cameron carefully placed around the crown of his hat. A pocketknife from Ben had Cameron proclaiming he was the luckiest kid in California.
They moved the party outside onto the back deck where Eli had set up the telescope. A look online had told him Saturn was visible and he’d focused the telescope on the planet. The birthday boy went first and had Eli smiling at the amazement on his face when he peered through the viewfinder. “You can see the rings on Saturn. That’s so awesome.”
Ben held Christy up so she could look through the eyepiece, and after Robby, the adults took turns. The kids then took out the star chart and spent the next half hour pointing out constellations.
***
With the party over, the Cutters went back to their house, and Cameron went to bed to read his astronomy book. Eli went looking for Gwen. He found her on the porch. She wore one of his wool shirts over her top, and leaned against the stone pillar, gazing across the valley where the peaks of the Sierra Nevada rose as dark shadows against the night sky.
“Gwen.”
“Hey.” She didn’t turn to look at him, instead keeping her gaze focused somewhere in the distance.
“Everything okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, that was a nice party. I really like Ben and Daisy and the kids. They’re good people.”
“They are,” he agreed. “Listen, I didn’t want to spoil the evening for you, but you need to know something.” She turned to face Eli. “Jack Morgan called this afternoon. The men who attacked you were released on bail today.”
In the glow of the light coming through the window, resignation marked her expression. “I figured they’d get out, and I’ve been thinking. I don’t know what’s best to keep Cameron safe. I keep coming back to the fact that they’re after me, not necessarily Cameron. If I left, went somewhere else, I could draw them away from him. Those men must have been hired by Justin, and he’s going to keep trying to get me.”
“You’re not leaving. You need to trust me. I’ll keep you safe.”
“But for how long? Cameron and I can’t stay here forever. What’s going to happen when we leave here, Eli? The longer we stay, the harder it will be to leave. Cameron doesn’t need another huge disruption in his life.”
“You don’t ever have to leave here. You know that. You and Cameron can stay.” He paused. When he spoke again, he couldn’t keep the urgent tone out of his voice. “Marry me, Gwendolyn. Let me take care of you and Cameron.” He sighed. “But even if you don’t want to marry me, you both can still live here.”
It would kill him to have her living close and not be able to claim her as his, but if that was all he could get, he’d take it. He wished he could read her mind. He wanted to make everything right for her. To ease her worries, make her happy. Her expression was so serious as she gazed at him, and all he wanted to do was gather her close. But he waited, feeling like his future rested on her response.
“I might not be pregnant, Eli.”
“But you might be.” He wasn’t sure why the possibility didn’t scare him senseless. “And we could adopt Cameron. It would be the best thing for him.”
What looked like pain flashed across her eyes, but then she was nodding. “Okay, Eli. I’ll marry you.”
***
Gwen woke in the early morning hours and her mind buzzed, refusing to let her slip back into sleep. Since the day of Cameron’s birthday when she’d told Eli she would marry him, she’d felt unsettled. It was all she could think about. She’d start
some chore and end up worrying. And after two nights of hardly sleeping, fatigue clouded her thinking process.
After four stingy hours of sleep, she gave up and decided to get an early start to her day. Creeping quietly into the kitchen, she flipped on a light. Even Bubba thought it was too early to be up. He lifted his head, then flopped back on his pillow with what could only be called an appalled sigh.
“Yeah, I know,” she told the dog. “Sorry to wake you.”
The morning routine soothed her. She ran water to fill the coffeemaker, then spooned grounds into the filter, all the while trying to calm her brain, a brain that seemed bent on going in a dozen different directions. Had she really agreed to marry Eli? He didn’t love her, but he desired her. That was something, at least. Her own love for him would be left unsaid. She didn’t want to embarrass him or make him feel like she expected him to return the emotion. She’d marry him for Cameron’s sake, and let that be good enough. As pep talks went, it wasn’t very peppy.
Finished with her coffee, she slipped out the front door and crossed the porch to sit on the top step and pull on her boots. A light breeze stirred the treetops and a rosy glow to the east gave evidence that dawn was coming. Crossing her arms over her knees, she lay her head on her folded arms. How would she survive living with Eli with her heart intact? Being with him every day, waking up next to him in bed—because she was pretty sure their relationship would not be platonic—day after day, year after year. Her heart would erode away to a hard lump if he never returned her love. Tapping her forehead with a fist, she forced the yearning aside. Eli might not love her, but she wasn’t marrying him for love, anyway. She was marrying him to provide a stable home for Cameron, and to keep him safe.
Determined to push aside the melancholy, she rose to her feet, burrowing her hands into her pockets as she crossed the yard. At the edge of the grassy lawn she paused, listening. A noise came from the other side of the barn, maybe the corral. She approached cautiously, then a snuffling sound had her breathing a sigh of relief, laughing at herself for living on a ranch and being alarmed by a horse.
Dead Giveaway Page 18