Jenny went into the bathroom and stood before the mirror. She could barely recognize the reflection staring back at her. If she were back at her New York apartment, she would have been in full makeup, her hair masterfully layered and colored at her favorite salon. It had only been four days since arriving in Ombrea, and already she looked completely different from the woman she was.
Her hair hadn't been brushed after her shower last night, so her natural curls cascaded over her shoulders. There were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, and her cheeks were tinted pink from far too much sun. She lifted a handful of hair to her nose and took a long sniff. At least the stench of the fire was gone.
Jenny made her way down the hall and slipped on her battered, running shoes at the front door. The main door was wide open, and she unlatched the screen to head out onto the front deck.
Toward the lake, she could make out a small figure running in the surf and a medium-sized dog bouncing alongside her. As she watched, Isabelle stopped suddenly, laughing when the dog barked and jumped up for the game to continue.
“She's a fun little girl once you get her out of her shell.”
A husky, male voice stole her attention, and Jenny turned to see Roy stepping up onto the deck, a cup of coffee cradled in his manly hands. His face revealed that he, too, had enjoyed the events of the night before.
“You’ve done more for her in the past couple days than I ever could.”
He frowned heavily and stepped forward to lean against the wooden railing of the deck.
“I don't think that's true. She trusts you.”
“That's something, I guess. I can live with that.”
“Come here.”
When he beckoned her forward, she stepped up beside him. She was comforted when he slipped an arm around her waist.
“You're being too hard on yourself. That little girl down there is safe because of you.”
“I almost got her killed yesterday. If she had been in that house with me, who knows what might have happened.”
“She's fine. Just look at her.”
Roy pointed out to the lake where girl and dog, tired from their game, had taken a seat on the shoreline beside one another.
“She's doing alright. I can promise you that. And it’s all your doing.”
“Okay.”
Jenny relented a little, but she couldn't shake the idea of what would have happened if Isabelle had come home with her. She wasn't able to open that back door for anything. What could she have done with a child in tow?
“But what next? How is she going to adjust to life in New York?”
“Who said you had to go back to that damn city anyway?” he asked, and Jenny could sense frustration in his response.
“Just my job and my life. That's all.”
He removed his arm out from around her waist, and she immediately missed the comfort it provided.
“Well, as long as you have something to go back to.”
Jenny watched as he headed down the steps to the beach.
“Roy! Come on,” she pleaded.
“I'm going to go see if she's hungry yet.”
When he glanced back at her, Jenny felt the hardness she had first seen in Roy returning.
“Why don't you just go inside and do whatever it is you have to do?”
* * *
Roy heard the porch door swing shut but refused to turn around.
He was angry, fuming even. He thought she had changed. Most women would have been more than willing to take on a child who had no one else, especially when that child belonged to their brother and their best friend. Instead, Jenny seemed unwilling to take on the responsibility. In fact, she was as eager as ever to rush back to her life in New York where he could only assume Isabelle would be left in the care of a nanny or sitter.
Roy shook his head as he reached the surf. He kicked at a grouping of pebbles with the toe of his boot and watched them scatter into the oncoming wave. How foolish could he have been, he thought, as he watched yet another wave lap the shore, this one reaching his boot.
And to think, he had slept with her. Last night's tangled embrace came back to him in a flash. He had kissed her because he wanted to. It was as simple as that. He had taken something he wanted. In the heat of the moment, what man wouldn't have taken it when it was right there in his grasp?
He thought it meant something. He breathed in deep and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans as he scanned the far reaches of the lake. How could he have been so naive.
He thought back to the last time he had been intimate with a woman, a whole two years ago. Natalie and he had a passion, unrelenting and wonderful. He could remember many a night when, too frisky and too excited about their love, they had undressed one another and done it right there in the surf.
Since her death, he hadn't thought about another woman in that way. He had never wanted another woman. Even when he felt a need or desire and pleasured himself, it was always to an unnamed woman with a blurred face. Just a set of limbs he could create and fantasize about. It always did the trick, but it always left him wanting a little something more that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Until last night that was.
Being with Jenny had shown him what he had been lacking all along - human connection and emotion. Jenny wanted him as much as he wanted her. They had come together, free and unhindered by their pasts, and it was meant to be, or so he thought. He wasn't sure what it was now.
One thing was for certain. He wasn't about to ask her. He had too much pride for that. If she was going to take the kid back to the city, what did it matter anyway? If Isabelle hadn't been around, he considered that he might have told her to pack up her things and go to the Best Western on the outskirts of town. With her there, he would have his own space back again. He could focus better if she weren't around to distract him.
Roy watched as Isabelle came running back through the surf toward him as fast as her little legs would carry her. The dog, a stray that often loitered about with him as he ran errands or worked around the cabin, came tumbling after, clearly enamored with his new friend.
“Slow down!” Roy called out to them as they approached. “You’re going to make yourselves sick at this rate, and that's the last thing I want to see on my beach.”
“Is it really your beach?” Isabelle asked as she came to a grinding halt. The dog barked and danced around her feet until she reached out a hand to tickle the dark fur between his ears.
“It is. All this land is mine, from the edge of the lake on the other side to the top of that hill. See?”
He turned and pointed past the cabin to the edge of the crest of a hill off in the distance.
“It's a fair size, don't you think so?”
“I do indeed.” Isabelle nodded with enthusiasm.
He hadn't seen a child smile as much as this one had since she had been out here. The open air was doing her some good.
“I think this is simply the most amazing place I have ever been to.”
“Well, thank you very much, Miss Dale.”
Her smile suddenly disappeared.
“I wish I could stay here forever with you and your dog.”
Roy dropped to a crouch in front of her.
“Now first off, that there isn't my dog.”
The animal barked as if to disagree and circled them both before he dropped down in a sweaty heap beside him.
“It sure looks like your dog,” Isabelle laughed. “I bet you have a name for him and everything.”
“Dog, of course. Plain and simple.”
Isabelle laughed again until Roy took her little hands in his own much larger ones.
“Now you listen here, little missy. You are in very good hands with that lady in there. She's your aunt, and that means she is family to you. It’s a damn sight more family than I've got, believe me. You’re lucky she came all this way to take care of you.”
“Except I don't think she really wants to.”
>
Isabelle jutted out her chin, a sure sign she was holding back a flood of tears.
“I think she really just wants to get rid of me. I wish my mom was alive so I could just be at home right now with her. I wish my daddy wasn't locked away in jail. I wish he didn’t kill my mommy.”
She paused to sniff loudly.
“That is what happened, isn't it? My daddy killed my mommy?”
“Who told you such a thing?”
Roy held her hands for comfort.
“Whoever told you that is wrong, very wrong. Your dad would never hurt your mom like that, and I think you know that already.”
“But he told me so,” Isabelle protested.
“Who? Who would fill your head with such foolish notions?” he asked her.
Isabelle stared across at him. Her blue eyes were welling up with tears.
“The man at the wake.”
“What man?” Roy asked, although he had a pretty good idea who Isabelle might have been referring to. “What did he look like?”
“A policeman. The tallest, scariest one.”
* * *
Jenny watched from the cabin's living room window as Roy and Isabelle interacted down on the beach.
She had to admit, she was feeling unmistakable pangs of jealousy. She only wished she could talk to her niece as easily as Roy could and have her respond in the same way. Since she had met the child at the station, it seemed as if she hadn't been welcome. Isabelle would rather have been with absolutely anyone else in this town, but her.
Jenny felt like she would be stealing Isabelle’s life away by taking her back to New York, but what choice did she have? Her life was there and all of her responsibilities. Without them, she had nothing. It was her whole life and one she worked hard to build for herself. She couldn't give it up now, especially not to remain here in this backward town full of difficult memories.
Not that she was entirely sure she had a career to go back to. It had been five days since she’d been given the editor position. She knew it didn’t look good that she’d left town the day after the promotion. The fashion magazine business, was tough, fast, and competitive. If she couldn't step up to the plate and get the work done, she would be toast and all of her hard work to get to this point will have been for nothing.
Jenny turned away from the window and sank down onto the old couch, crossing her arms across her chest. It wasn’t fair that she was back where she started.
Although, last night with Roy had been pretty amazing. She could get used to that. He had been confident and took control of the situation, qualities she liked in a man.
He brought out her confidence as well. She gave herself freely to him, with no inhibitions. She had loved every minute of it. She could still recall each and every caress. She closed her eyes and recalled each delicious kiss. Her body burned with the desire to reconnect with him.
It had been a long time since she had taken a lover. Her days were spent mostly at the desk in her office or back in her apartment sleeping off the stress of her job in the fashion industry.
As much as friends tried to drag her out to the latest club or trendy bar, Jenny just had a hard time letting herself go. She made a good first impression, with a knack for making quick conversation with strangers when she had to, but that was where her involvement stopped. She didn't have the same desire to build something romance-wise with anyone. No one had tickled her fancy.
Until now. Since her first meeting with Roy, he held a spot in the back of her mind, even when he was getting under her skin.
She had wondered if she would run into him again, half wanting to and half dreading it. Seeing him at the funeral had sent her heart, and body, into a frenzy, and she was pleased that they were now on speaking terms and becoming more. She hoped it was more.
Jenny wished he weren’t so angry with her. Surely he realized she had to go back eventually. It was her livelihood. How else was she going to make good money? A girl had to eat, live, and shop. Just because he lived off the land and made do with the simple way of life didn't mean it was for everyone.
She leaned forward and let her head drop into her hands as a headache creeped up on her.
Chapter 14
Roy told Isabelle she could help cook breakfast, and he watched as she happily skipped on ahead of him toward the cabin. Her mood had brightened considerably after he explained to her how wrong the police officer at the wake had been to say those things about her parents.
He knew immediately that it would have been Chief Cartright who had said those horrible things to a little girl. No man of any character would have done it.
Cartright often ran his mouth around town. He was especially obnoxious when he had a few drinks in him, and yet he was still widely respected and trusted by most people in Ombrea. Chief Cartright had even been named Town Official of the Year a couple years prior. The brass plaque was displayed proudly on his office wall, or at least it was the last time Roy reported to duty, two years ago this November.
Roy had been quite friendly with Chief Cartright when he first joined the service. He would even go so far as to say they had been close. It was Chief Cartright who took a chance on him when he showed up one cold, rainy morning with no formal police training or education. He had only his army training and experience to back him up. That, along with determination and willpower. He had those in spades.
In a small town like Ombrea, anybody willing to report on time to duty and put his life on the line was taken on almost immediately.
Things progressed quickly from there. Roy did well in the position and proved himself to be an asset to the team. He was told he would be working with Joey Dale on his fifth day. It was a Friday, and the two of them, the service's two newest recruits, bonded quickly as they carried out their duties together.
They spent the first afternoon working traffic up on the main road, the task being to ensure construction on the new stop light didn't slow traffic to a dead stop. Roy found Joey fun to work with. He was quick with the jokes and chatty. None of the police officers Roy had worked with up to that point had been as friendly as Joey. He knew they had been trying to intimidate him and keep him on his toes while they trained him, but he learned more from Joey than any one of them, and he started to enjoy the job.
After Natalie died, everything changed. He no longer cared about the police force or those he worked with. He constantly showed up late or in such a bad mood. He was quickly reprimanded.
After a number of reprimands, he was eventually called into Chief Cartright's office and relieved of his duties. He turned in his badge and gun without a peep. He just didn't care. All he wanted was his beautiful wife back, and if he couldn’t have that, he didn't want anything.
Chief Cartright didn’t speak to him again until the trouble began with Joey.
Roy had gone home the afternoon of his termination with a plan. He had his father's old shotgun in the house. It wasn't the cleanest of ways to go, but it would do the trick.
Roy slammed the front door shut behind him and walked straight through the cabin to the gun locker in the study. He found the old key tucked away in his desk drawer. It had been a long time since he had taken the gun out of its storage unit.
He unlocked the cabinet easily. The lock snapped back and he flung open the door. He bent to collect a couple of shells from the metal tub at the bottom of the old unit and stood, reaching for the gun. He unlatched it from the wooden holding frame.
Roy pulled the desk chair across the room and propped his foot up on it so he could load the weapon more easily. When he clicked the barrel back into place, he felt his first feelings of doubt. Maybe this wasn't such a good decision to be making. Maybe he was being a little overly-dramatic in thinking he should end it all so suddenly.
He locked back up the gun and dropped the key once again into the cluttered desk drawer. He closed it firmly and left the study the way he found it.
Roy never considered doing away with himself again. In fact, he mad
e sure to hide the key a few days later just to be sure he wouldn't repeat his actions. The downside was that he had done the hiding while drinking whiskey and still had to find where the new hiding place was.
Now, as he followed Isabelle into the cozy cabin, he was especially grateful that he hadn't chosen to end his life that day. His place was here, fighting for a good cause. That good cause was Joey Dale.
No one else would be stepping up to fight for Joey’s freedom. Not even his own sister would have been there for Joey if it weren’t for him. Roy was the one who convinced her that her brother had been set up. Joey would have been screwed.
But their fight still was just beginning. They still had to prove their case to the authorities and have Joey freed from jail. Right now, he had to figure out how to go about doing that. They would start with the fire. If they could find the person or persons who wanted Jenny Dale dead, it would lead to new information about Chloe’s death.
* * *
Roy didn't see Jenny when he came inside, but he could hear the shower running and figured she would be avoiding him at all costs. He was fine with that. He was still upset that she intended to return to New York, even after what happened between them last night. Some distance would do them both good. He didn't want to look like a fool for thinking last night meant more.
He told Isabelle which ingredients to fetch and she went to the fridge to find them. He figured a large breakfast would do them all some good. They needed rest and nourishment for hunting down leads.
Soon, the kitchen was alive with the smells of cooked bacon and sausages. He pulled over a stool from beneath the open sink and showed Isabelle how to fry the eggs until they were over easy and perfect. He was impressed by how quickly she caught on.
He let Isabelle set the table. Isabelle demanded a tablecloth like the one her mother had always used. He dug around a few cabinets while she monitored the cooking. He was relieved to find an old, blue one he hadn't seen in years. Natalie had laid this one out on the table when they first moved in. She said blue was her favorite color.
He gave the cloth to Isabelle and took over the duties at the stove.
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