Angel Kisses and Riversong

by Lynnette Bonner

  Dale pulled in behind him and got out of his vehicle, leaving his lights flashing.

  Jett dug for his wallet. Pulled out his driver’s license and motioned to the glove box. “Mind handing me the registration? It’s in the plastic sleeve in there.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Salem retrieved the little folder from the glove box and handed it to him. “I’m sure you didn’t do anything wrong. This is a power play.”

  Jett tamped down his irritation and offered her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. After all, it wasn’t her fault that her ex was a consummate bully. “It’s alright.”

  Dale hung back from the driver’s window and peered into the cab.

  In the side mirror Jett could see the man’s hand resting on his weapon. Jett resisted a roll of his eyes. Dale was checking out the interior of the cab like he had no idea who they were and they might be drug-running criminals or something.

  He rolled down the window. Waited for Dale to speak first.

  “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

  Uh, yes. But out loud all he allowed himself to say was. “No. Can’t say that I do.” He tucked all his paperwork between his first two fingers and held it out the window.

  Dale smirked. “Why is it no one ever knows why they were pulled over? Everyone’s an innocent!”

  Salem leaned down so she could see Dale’s face. “Dale, please. Just stop. You know he didn’t—”

  Jett reached over and squeezed her hand, and Salem took the hint and quit talking. But that didn’t stop her from jutting her jaw to one side and folding her arms. Jett hid away a smile, thankful she’d quickly seen her error. Nothing good would come from them mouthing off to Dale, and if it came down to it, Jett would rather pay any bogus ticket than spend another minute worrying about the actions of her jealous ex.

  Dale examined the paperwork and looked a little disappointed to find it all in order. He lifted a glower back to Jett’s face. “You ran the stop sign back in town.”

  Jett thought back. He knew he’d come to a full stop, because he’d looked over at Salem and gotten lost in studying her. She’d been blushing ever so prettily when a car behind them had honked its horn to nudge him on his way. But saying so would do him no good. He only folded his arms and held his silence.

  A muscle in Dale’s jaw twitched. “Got nothing to say about it?”

  Jett shrugged. “I’m certain I came to a full stop. But if you say I didn’t, I have no way to prove it.”

  Beside him, Salem tossed up one hand and muttered, “This is ridiculous.”

  Dale bent down and peered over at her. “What was that?”

  Jett held his breath. Was she going to lose it on the guy? He wouldn’t blame her, but it might make things even worse.

  But after darting Jett a look, some of the starch seeped out of her spine, and all she said was, “Nothing. Never mind.”

  Jett eased the air from his lungs. Good girl.

  Dale backed away from the door. “Step out of the vehicle please.”

  Salem growled. Loud. She leaned down to better see him again. “Dale! This is crazy. And we all know it!”

  So much for her not losing it. “Salem.” Jett quietly urged her to silence. He covered her hand where it rested on the bench now. “Let’s just do as he asks and then move on with our day.”

  Jett showed the smirking cop both his hands, as he reached out the window and opened the door from the outside. The last thing he wanted was to give some jealous idiot with a badge and a grudge an excuse for overreaction.

  Dale jutted his chin toward the front of the truck. “Spread your hands on the hood please and don’t move.”

  Jett hesitated for half a second. This was getting a little out of hand. But he really had nothing to hide, so why not let Dale search him? Then they could be on their way.

  “You got a problem with that?” A distinct note of challenge rang in the question, as though Dale hoped he truly might have a problem with it.

  Without a word, Jett strode to the front of the truck and spread his palms flat on the hood. He had a feeling Dale was pushing him and trying to get him to react. Making Jett lose his cool was likely his ultimate goal. But if not that, he at least was having fun showing he held the power in this situation.

  Dale came up behind him and kicked his feet apart. “Don’t move.”

  Jaw clenched, Jett lifted his gaze to the inside of the cab while he endured the pat down. Salem had her thumbnail firmly between her teeth, and her eyes narrowed in seething anger. He gave her a little shake of his head. They’d be on their way soon enough.

  Dale stepped back. “Thank you. You may return to your seat. But don’t go anywhere.” Once again, he seemed disappointed that he hadn’t found anything. Or maybe his disappointment was in that he’d not gotten the reaction he’d hoped for.

  When Jett scooted into his seat once more, Salem reached over and gripped his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

  He smiled at her and squeezed her fingers. “This isn’t all bad if it gets you to hold my hand like this all day long.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, but did smile. “I’ll pay for your ticket. This is about me, not you.”

  “Not on your life. There’s no way I’m paying this ticket. But we’ll deal with that later.”

  She gave him a questioning look, but Officer Schmuck was once again heading this way, so he didn’t elaborate.

  Dale thrust a tiny clipboard at him through the window. “Please sign here.”

  Jett took up the pen and scrawled his name, then handed the clipboard back.

  Dale tore off an under-copy and handed it to Jett along with his license and registration papers. “Please drive more carefully in the future.”

  Jett had nothing to say to that, so he only nodded. He took his time putting his license back into his wallet and re-filing the insurance card and registration into the plastic sleeve in the glove box. Then he turned on the blinker and pulled back onto the road.

  It was a relief to see Dale do a U-turn in the rearview mirror and head back toward Riversong. Jett had halfway wondered if the man might follow him all the way to Seattle.

  He looked over at Salem. “You didn’t happen to recognize who was in the car that honked at us at that stop sign back in town, did you?”

  Salem snapped her fingers. “That’s right! We for sure came to a full stop because someone had to honk at us! But”—she slumped back against the seat—“I didn’t see who it was, sorry.”

  “It’s all right. Don’t worry about it. Try to go back to sleep.” He was going to have to chat with his lawyer and see if he should just pay the stupid ticket, or if he should try to fight it. The money, of course, was not the issue. It was the frustration of having to pay for something simply because the local cop was a jealous boy.

  He was gratified to feel her drop her head onto his shoulder and wrap both hands around his arm. A soft smile tugged at his lips. Looked like Dale’s little social experiment might just have backfired on him.

  CHAPTER 15

  Salem tried to drop off to sleep, she really did. But too much anger and frustration coursed through her at the moment. She sat up with a huff. “I can’t believe he did that. I’m so sorry.”

  Jett looked over at her with a little smirk. “Don’t worry about it. It’s done.” He reached over and took her hand. “Let’s just try to enjoy the day.”

  She loved the feel of his fingers threading through hers, but she couldn’t deny that a little jolt of fear zipped through her too. She had so much responsibility weighing on her right now. She really couldn’t afford a distraction. And Jett was nothing if he wasn’t a distraction. But it was a really enjoyable distraction that made her feel like warm melted caramel inside. Still, she should be home hauling the first load of Gran’s “collectibles” from the largest room on the bottom level. The sooner she got that room rentable, the sooner she would have more of an income stream. But no, here she was, riding to Seattle with this man who always seemed to make he
r forget what her priorities ought to be.

  She rested her head on one fist and watched the magnificent mountain scenery give way to the flatter plains as they came down off the pass. In a school field next to the road, two little boys tossed a football back and forth with each other.

  Jett slowed and leaned down to better see them. “That one’s got quite an arm.” He gave a little nod of approval accompanied by a wistful smile.

  Salem moistened her lips and dove into a question that she’d been wanting to ask him. “Tell me about your injury?”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw, and he scrubbed his fingers over it.

  She held her breath, afraid that she’d pushed into an area that might still be a forbidden zone, but after a long moment he spoke.

  “I never saw that hit coming. I was looking off to my right. O’Dell Wright, he’s just fast. He blasted past my lineman, but got tripped up on his way. His helmet connected with my left leg just below my knee. Shattered both bones and tore all kinds of ligaments.” He downshifted for the red light at the one-light town they were currently driving through. “I had surgery right away, but too much damage had been done. Even with the best physical therapy, there is no way I will ever get cleared to play again.” The light turned green, and he started them down the road again.

  “I’m so sorry. I know that must have been hard for you.”

  He nodded. “Still is. Like I told you, I’m not sure what I’m doing with my life from here on. That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.”

  “What brought you to Riversong?”

  He jutted his jaw to one side. “Trying to stay out of the media spotlight, mostly. Nothing like trying to answer the question ‘What’s next?’ when you have absolutely no idea yourself.”

  Salem released a breath. Boy, did she know what that felt like—well, maybe minus the media harassment part. She was the only one asking herself ‘what next.’ And for now she knew that at least her immediate future was in taking care of Gran. She had that in her favor.

  But it gave her new appreciation for living life out of the public eye. She couldn’t imagine trying to make life decisions while constantly facing that media pressure.

  The plains gave way to the suburbs of Seattle, and Salem’s thoughts turned to other things. Today would she see any of the people who had interviewed her at D.I.M.E.S.? Would it be awkward? A little knot of apprehension twisted her stomach. She determined that she would do her best to not make anyone feel bad about not hiring her. Obviously, they had hired someone much more qualified than her for the job, and she would just leave it at that.

  Jett took her to brunch in the SkyCity Restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. The view was amazing and the food delicious. After they ate, they went to Pike Place Market and browsed through the stalls of crafts, flowers, and trinkets vendors had on display. Jett bought her a bouquet of wildflowers interspersed with Stargazer lilies. The scent was heavenly! They watched the fishmongers put on a show where they sang a song and tossed a whole fish back and forth to each other. The cute guy behind the counter winked at Salem and tried to talk her into catching a salmon.

  She laughed and declined.

  Jett grumbled about being invisible and held her hand after that. And Salem couldn’t say that she minded, even though the reality of his departure in the morning lingered in the back of her mind like a warning. They strolled the few blocks to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and shared a chocolate and caramel covered apple rolled in pecans and drizzled with white chocolate that about sent Salem into a diabetic coma.

  “Oh my goodness, this is so good.” Salem covered her mouth with one hand and spoke around a sticky bite of tart goodness, too enthralled with the taste to wait until she’d swallowed.

  Jett smiled and offered her the last slice. She broke it in half and offered part back to him. He’d been a little quiet for the past hour, but before she could ask him about it he spoke.

  “We should probably get going.”

  “Okay, sure.” She licked a smudge of chocolate off her finger, then used a wet wipe from her purse to wash her hands, offering one to Jett too.

  As they climbed into the car, all her concerns about D.I.M.E.S. returned. She tried to push away her anxiety, but it seemed that the harder she tried not to be nervous, the more nervous she grew.

  And by the time they pulled up to the D.I.M.E.S. complex, the tiny knot in her stomach had turned into a full blown pain.

  Jett parked and killed the engine.

  She stared at the familiar building, trying to batten down wishes of what could have been. For now, Gran was doing alright with just Salem taking care of her. And Salem knew that God would provide for a time in the future when that might not be the case. It was just hard to walk in there when so many of her hopes for herself and her family had been shattered the last day she was in that building.

  Jett came around to her side of the truck and opened her door, a furrow in his brow. “You okay?”

  She gave herself a little shake and climbed down. “I’m fine. I just… I told you I applied for a job here, right? The last time I was here was when they told me I didn’t get it. I’d really wanted Gran to have access to a facility not far from here. She would have had friends and activities and better medical care.” Salem rubbed at the headache squeezing her temples.

  Jett snagged the clothes bag from the backseat, locked the truck, and then settled one hand into her lower back and nudged her forward. “You are giving Gran great care, from what I’ve seen. And I told you that I can help with something else when the time comes.” He urged her around the side of the building.

  “And I told you that I can’t—” Cutting herself off, she laid a hand on his arm. “Today we aren’t here for me to worry about that. Where are we going? I’ve never entered the building from this side before.”

  He motioned to a door ahead. “Players and coaches entrance.”

  “I’m excited to watch the game.”

  Jett pumped his brows but rolled his lips in and pressed them together.

  She laid a hand on his arm and pulled him to a stop. “Are you nervous?”

  A breath of air puffed from him. “So so so nervous.” He laughed uneasily. “I have a lot of emotions piling on top of me, but having you here is really helping, so thank you for that.”

  She chuckled. “You’re going to do fine. The players will love you. And the most important thing to remember is that it’s all for a great cause. We’ll just be each other’s crutches to make it through this day. How’s that?”

  Jett draped one arm across her shoulders and pretended to need her help to walk. “Sounds good to me.”

  She laughed and jabbed his ribs, then darted out from beneath his arm. Jogging a few steps ahead, she turned to face him, walking backwards as they resumed their trek toward the door. “Mental crutch.”

  He did his best to look hurt. “Here I am so nervous that my stomach hurts, on top of which I’m just recovering from a crushed leg, and you won’t even let me lean on you!”

  Her conscience pricked her. He wasn’t really hurting was he? She paused her retreat, but then noticed the glimmer of amusement dancing in his eyes. She narrowed him a look, doing her best to hide a grin and failing miserably. “You almost had me there for just a second.”

  He snapped his fingers in an aw-shucks manner. “I was hoping to have an excuse to keep you plastered to my side.” He winked.

  Salem started to lift a teasing finger of admonishment, when from behind her the doors to the complex burst open.

  “Jett, look this way!”

  “Jett Hudson, what are you doing in Washington?”

  “Jett, tell us what made you disappear from your Florida home without warning?”

  Reporters surged past her and converged on Jett like bees on a juicy piece of fruit at a picnic. The media bumped and jostled Salem from several angles as they rushed to get a good position before Jett. One microphone on a stick barely missed her head, and when she duc
ked back from it she cracked her skull against a large camera.

  “Watch it, lady.”

  And with that they were past her and she was left several feet away from the cluster.

  Poor Jett. She could see him trying to shoulder his way through them, but none of them even attempted to move out of his way.

  Finally he stopped and thrust one hand into the air. “I’ll give you a statement, just everyone please, take a giant step back. And then I have a schedule to keep.” He smiled that signature flirty smile and everyone complied, silence descending.

  Salem felt awkward standing all alone, but where else was she to go? Jett was her ticket inside, since a sign on the nearby door clearly stated “for the coaches and players only.”

  The clothes bag still draped over one shoulder, Jett scooped his free hand back through his hair and then faced the bank of cameras that all seemed to have lined up in one general area.

  Salem stepped to one side to keep an eye on his face.

  “The truth is”—Jett shrugged and offered up his dreamy smile—“I came to Washington to…get away from it all for a bit. My career is over—the doctors have made that clear.”

  Several reporters launched into loud questions at that, but Jett only held up a finger until they were all silent.

  “I’m taking some time off to relax and reassess. I have nothing more to say on the subject. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get inside.” He barreled toward two women reporters with his smile still in place, and they stepped out of his way, likely so flustered by his charm that they moved before realizing what they’d done.

  Jett grabbed Salem’s elbow and spun her toward the door.

  “Who’s the woman, Jett?”

  Feet pummeled the pavement behind them.

  Jett yanked open the door and propelled her inside and across the lobby. She was practically running to keep up with him.

  The pack of reporters surged through the door, slowed only because none of them wanted to let another go first. When Salem tossed a look over her shoulder, several of them were logjammed in the doorway.