The possession. The growing need to protect her rose. She was his. And he would take care of her. Love her. And destroy anyone who threatened.
“She will tell everyone. No one will want to hire me.” Amy shook in his arms. Hard jerks rocking her entire frame. Damn Mavis. She hurt Amy, the girl who’d never done anything wrong to anybody.
“I won’t let her. I promise.”
Amy’s breath was hot against his bare chest, her palms searing the skin on his ribcage. She pushed away from him and felt the loss immediately.
Her eyes were wild with unshed tears. “I’m ruined. You ruined everything.”
Ranger rocked back on his heels in shock. He’d been expecting her to cry, to worry, to need him to calm her. “What? What are you saying?”
Ranger reached for her, but she yanked back out of his reach. “This is a mistake”
“No, it’s not. We are not a mistake. Last night was the best night of my life.” Ranger struggled to hold on to her, to find the right words.
Amy flinched. “I can’t do this. I thought I could, but I was wrong. Mavis will tell everyone that I betrayed my husband.”
The tightness knotting Ranger’s chest grew. Amy took another step back, pulling away from him. “No. You didn’t. We were never together when Shane was alive.” Ranger closed the gap between them and took Amy’s shoulders in his hands, anchoring her in place. “Shane is dead. He’s gone and not coming back. You are alive and have every right to move on. He would want you to be happy.”
Amy shook her head, tears running down her cheeks. “I can’t believe we did this. I can’t… You need to leave. Now.” Her words ripped through him, sharp and ragged.
“You don’t mean that. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Mavis doesn’t care. She’ll make it look like we’ve been having an affair.”
“I won’t let her.” Ranger wanted to shake the wild look of panic off Amy’s face.
“You can’t stop her. I can’t stop her. I can’t believe I let you stay here when I knew she’d be here this morning. I’m so stupid.” Her words came out broken.
Ranger felt fear ripping at his insides. She was pulling away from him. He could see her visibly withdrawing. The progress he’d made last night slipping away. “I promise I will make things right. No one will blame you for moving on. For us.”
Amy yanked back, pulling her arms free from his grasp. Her sobs breaking his heart. “There is no us. There can never be an ‘us.’ I was stupid to think we had a chance.”
He couldn’t live without this woman. He wouldn’t. “You don’t mean that.”
Amy hugged herself and closed her eyes. He needed her. Loved her.
When Amy opened her eyes again, Ranger sucked in a breath. Her gaze was…empty. “Please. I want you to go.”
“Amy…” Ranger reached for her one last time, but she kept her distance and shook her head.
“Please, Ranger. If you really care about me and Chloe, you will leave.”
The perfection of last night shattered inside him. He’d gotten close enough to touch her. Hold her. And now, because Amy was ruled by fear, they would never find that happiness. “You will regret this, Amy. Don’t let her win.”
“I can’t fight this.”
“You’re too scared to fight. Stand up for yourself. For your family. For what you want.” Ranger didn’t try to hide the edge of anger in his voice.
But Amy held silent, unwilling to take that step forward. He might love her more than his next breath, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to stand here, naked and begging. Ranger grabbed his clothes off the floor and let the sheet drop. Amy averted her gaze as he pulled on his jeans. Misery crawled up his body from her rejection. Misery and anger.
“I know you’re scared and confused right now. Dammit, I’m confused too. But at least I’m willing to give the future a chance. You’re spending all your energy focused on the past.” Ranger grabbed his shirt from the floor and pulled it on. “When are you going to wake up and realize you can’t live in the past?”
17
Chapter 17
How could a door opening destroy her life so many times? Amy leaned her head against the front door, listening as Ranger roared down her driveway. Tears burned hot trails down her cheeks. She balled her fist and punched to door, rattling it on its frame.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She’d let Mavis in to her house. Her life. And let her destroy the fragile thread of happiness Ranger had created. Instead of fighting for him, Amy blamed him. Yelled at him. And even worse, she’d hurt him.
Ranger wasn’t some playboy looking for an easy lay. He wanted her and he hadn’t been bashful about the fact. He told her he’d fight for her, but she was too scared to let him.
He gave her his heart and she stomped on it.
Her own heart twisted in response, the pain bowed her forward and sent her to her knees. Sobs wracked her body. Why did it have to be so hard?
She had to live with the repercussions of her choices. Shane’s choices. Amy had made the decision to get drunk all those years ago. She’d seen Ranger kiss Tonya Lee Swopes and gotten jealous. She’d made out with Shane in an effort to make Ranger notice her. But they’d both had too much to drink. They went beyond kissing and petting to pregnant and married.
The miscarriage came after the vows. But Amy had made a promise before God to honor Shane. She’d made her bed and she wouldn’t just lie in it. She would live in it.
Her tears fell faster and she curled into a ball on the floor. The pain, the grief, the anguish so much she could no longer support her own weight.
Amy had just ensured that Mavis’s persistent nicks and pinches to her emotional state would transform into an all-out assault, intent on total annihilation.
Mavis hated her, always had. Shane abandoned her, always had. And then the one man who came back for her - she pushed him away.
Amy had gone from letting others hurt her to hurting herself. But wasn’t hurting herself better than letting Ranger get too close and losing her business? Losing him?
Who was she kidding? She didn’t let Ranger James do anything. He was as unstoppable as the might Mississippi. Driving forward, slowly and surely eroding her battered shores of defense, chinking away at her dams of resistance. He didn’t accept anything. He fought for what he wanted, and he’d made it more than clear he wanted her.
And her daughter.
Amy was the weak one in the equation. She’d never been indecisive a day in her life, but now…now her decisions didn’t just affect herself.
Chloe cried out from the nursery and Amy forced herself to stand. To wipe away her tears. Her baby needed her. Needed her mother.
What Amy needed didn’t matter where her daughter was concerned. She would do what it took to ensure Chloe had a roof over her head and food on the table. If that meant Amy couldn’t have Ranger, so be it. She’d made tough decisions before, she would do it again. Alone.
So why did the walk to the nursery feel like death row?
A few hours later, Amy had changed and fed Chloe, swept the kitchen floor and cleaned up as best she could, considering her back door was held up by two-by-fours. She’d just sat down for a glass of tea on the couch, watching Chloe play on the living room floor.
“Amy, open up. It’s Evie.” Her best friend, called from the front door.
Amy got up and unlocked it, allowing Evie, followed by Hayden James, inside. Hayden was Ranger’s much younger adopted sister and had babysat for Amy in the summer.
“I heard what happened. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Chloe?” Evie didn’t pause but pulled Amy into a tight hug.
The action caught Amy off guard and unexpected tears pricked her eyes.
“I was so scared. What if something happened to Chloe?”
“Hush, it’s okay. Chloe is just fine.”
As if to signal her agreement, Chloe squealed from her mat on the floor and kicked her toy puppy. Amy laughed and stepped back, wiping her eyes. “Yeah
, you’re right. I am trying to block it out. I mean, they kicked down my back door. I even went to the hardware store and had new locks put on.”
Evie scooped Chloe off the floor and went into the kitchen, Amy followed. The sight of the boards nailed across her door looked even worse.
“Geez, you weren’t kidding,” Evie said.
“Yeah, how crazy is that? Why would someone try to break in your house?” Hayden hovered near the door, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
“I don’t know for sure, but I am so tired. We were up half the night.”
“We?” Evie arched a brow before returning to the living room and plopping down onto the couch.
Amy could have kicked herself. Of course Evie would pick up on that one little slip. “Um, yeah, I called Bo. He brought his deputies out.”
“I know. Ranger told me.” Evie dropped that grenade and let it sit for a minute before continuing. “He also said he was out here all night too.”
A blush heated Amy’s chest and cheeks. “Ranger has a big mouth.”
“Spill. Now.”
No way, no how. Especially with his little sister hovering near the front door. “He slept on the couch. Said no way was he leaving us here alone after a breakin.”
Amy glared at her friend, silently telling her to shut her big fat trap. Evie smiled in response, the kind of smile that said there was no way she was letting this drop.
Before Evie could open her mouth, Amy said, “Hayden, you okay? Need something to drink? Some food? I haven’t made lunch yet, but I’ve got some cold turkey for a sandwich.” Hayden didn’t move from her stance at the door, avoiding looking directly at anyone in particular.
“Um, no thank you. I’m fine.” Hayden’s reply was awkward, like they were strangers.
“Well, you’re acting weird. Do you need to talk? Something I can help you with?” Amy said.
Hayden stared at the floor. The wall. The furniture. “No. I’m sure.”
“So give me the dish girl. What the hell happened?” Evie asked.
“The damn Mexican cartel is what happened.”
Silence. Her living room went completely quiet.
“The cartel?” Hayden asked, her voice more of a squeak.
“And they want to break into your house because?” Evie said.
“One of their thugs was threatening Pedro. In my airplane hangar. Then he threatened Artie.”
“And…” Evie juggled Chloe over to her other arm and gestured at Amy to continue.
“And I told him to get the hell off my land.”
“So you showed your usual sweet southern charm and told a Lobello to kiss off?”
Amy froze, staring at her friend in surprise. “I never said anything about the Lobellos.”
Evie met her gaze, her clear blue eyes widening. “Yes, you did.”
“Nope. You’re turn to spill.”
“Hunter will kill me.”
“I will kill you if you don’t tell me what the heck is going on. Ranger knew the Mexican was Lobello right away.”
Evie made an almost imperceptible nod toward Hayden, clearly unable to talk around the girl. Amy caught on and said, “Hayden, would you mind making Chloe a bottle of formula? She hasn’t eaten in a few hours.”
Hayden startled from the door, as if lost in thought. “Yeah, um, sure. Of course.”
Amy waited on her to leave the living room before talking. “What is wrong with her?”
Evie shrugged. “No idea. She’s been weird all morning. Probably boy trouble or something.”
Amy let that go for now, she had more important things on her mind. Such as how Evie seemed to know exactly what was going on, as did Amy and Hunter and Bo Lawson. “Spill. Now.”
“You know last year, when I was helping C.W. with the MRG?” Evie had gotten roped into working with her grandpa’s old militia, the Mississippi Revolutionary Group. The MRG was the entire reason that Hunter and his team had returned to Mississippi last year.
“You mean when you took your little walk on the criminal side and nearly died?” Apparently, the CIA had suspected the MRG of gunrunning for the very terrorist they’d been tracking overseas. Hunter’s unit discovered the MRG, and Evie, was actually innocent, and it had been Evie’s crazy ex-fiancée, Marcus Carvant that had ties to the terrorist. But not before Marcus kidnapped Evie and her mother, holding them hostage and nearly killing them.
Evie glared at her. “Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Anyway, Marcus’s lackey, Sheriff Brown, escaped with the weapons before Hunter and his team could get them. They’ve been tracking them ever since.”
Mercy’s ex-sheriff, Lee Brown, had been as dirty as Marcus. He’d not only tried to kill Evie, but set up the MRG as the fall guy and stolen the weapons. “You mean Brown is still here? In Mercy?”
“Hunter thinks so. And he thinks Brown contacted the Lobellos to move the weapons out of the U.S.”
“Oh my God.”
Evie nodded, “Exactly. Now, I’ve told you everything, and you cannot tell my husband-got it?”
“Of course.”
“Your turn.”
“What do you mean?” Amy hedged. She knew exactly what Evie was talking about, but that didn’t mean she was ready to tell her everything. Like Amy and Ranger’s insanely explosive bout of mind blowing sex.
Or the fact that Amy was falling for Evie’s brother-in-law.
Except she’d kicked him out. Nope. Not going there.
“Here you go. Sorry it took so long, but I over heated the first bottle.” Hayden came back into the living room and held out the bottle of formula to Evie.
Evie peered at her with way too muck knowledge and Amy, unable to handle her best friend’s soul-searching gaze, turned away. Her gaze collided with Shane’s.
Guilt slammed into her like a heart attack. Her feelings for Ranger were too raw. Too fresh. She needed a minute to consolidate and compartmentalize.
“Okay, so Hunter sent you out here to check on us? We’re fine. I’ll call the hardware store on Monday and have them replace the back door. I think the two-by-fours will hold until then.”
Evie glared at her but accepted the change in subject and moved on. “No, Hunter sent me out here to get you. He and Ranger have to leave for a couple of days. They think you should come stay with us until they get back.”
To Evie’s house? Ranger lived with Evie and Hunter. That meant his things would surround her. How was she supposed to forget about having the best sex of her entire life with Ranger if she was in his house?
“They are going on a mission?”
Evie nodded.
Another mission. Amy’s stomach clenched and she looked away. This was just another reason she couldn’t be with Ranger. She knew, without a doubt, she was falling for him and falling harder than a damn avalanche. As the former wife of a Special Forces operative, she knew the risks. Knew the call outs didn’t get put on hold because of family. And Ranger’s team wasn’t just normal SF. They were part of a special Task Force, a fact Amy only knew from one of Shane’s drunk nights when he admitted that fact. Even obliterated as he had been, he’d quickly shut up when she’d questioned him further.
“No way. I’m not intruding on ya’ll.”
“I thought you’d say that. Ranger said for me to tell you if you didn’t come stay with me, he would come drag you out of here himself.” Evie cut Amy an I’m-not-kidding look and then nuzzled Chloe. Her daughter wholeheartedly loved the attention, latched on to Evie’s long hair, yanking and pulling.
Crap. Ranger didn’t make empty threats.
“Ranger can’t tell me what to do.” Just saying his name brought heat to Amy’s cheeks. She turned quickly, trying to hide the blush and physical and emotional reaction. Up until now she’d been able to tamp it down, to keep her distance. But last night had opened up a deep and gaping chasm inside her. One she had no hope of closing anytime soon.
“You’re right, he can’t.” Evie said from right behind her. “But he can still
worry, so will I, and I know I won’t be able to sleep knowing you are out here. Alone. With a psycho Mexican after your ass.”
The shattered glass and wood gave testament to that fact. Her door smashed in. Her bed sheets rumpled. Her life was falling apart. Again. “Okay, you’re right. I need to get out of this house. Mind watching her while I throw some things together?” Amy turned back to Evie.
“Not at all. I’ll finish feeding her the bottle and take her outside to swing for a minute. Get everything you need for the rest of the weekend.”
Amy shot Evie a grateful smile, sparing a glance for Hayden who still held close to the exit. Maybe the breakin freaked her out. Amy didn’t have time to study Hayden’s behavior right now.
The seed had been planted. Now she wanted to break out of this house like breaking out of a prison. She rushed into the bedroom and started packing. By the time she finished packing and lugging the pack-and-play out of the nursery, Evie was outside with Chloe. Amy dragged everything into the living room. Hayden stood facing the fireplace.
“Mind helping a girl out?” Amy said.
Hayden jumped and spun around, her tan skin pale, her blue eyes huge. Shane’s photograph fell from her fingers and crashed onto the stone hearth. Hayden’s hands flew up to her mouth. “Oh, my God. Amy, I’m so sorry.” Tears formed in the girl’s eyes.
Amy sat the luggage down and walked over to Hayden, needing to comfort the younger girl. “It’s okay, it’s only a picture frame. I can get a new one.”
Hayden shook her head wildly. “I didn’t mean to. I swear I didn’t mean to.”
An inkling of unease trickled down her spine. Hayden’s reaction was a little bit too severe for simply breaking a picture. “What’s going on? You’ve been acting weird ever since you stepped into my house. Is there something wrong? Boy trouble?” The drama of young love was a roller coaster of emotions. Maybe Hayden had a recent break up.
Hayden started to shake. She took a step back, away from Amy. Her shoe cracked and crinkled the broken glass into the floor. “You know?”
Resurrection River: Men of Mercy, Book 2 Page 10