Her Cowboy Distraction

by Carla Cassidy

  “Sam, put the knife down and talk to me,” Daniel said. He didn’t move from his position, as if knowing Sam would see any kind of an advance as a threat.

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” Sam replied. “I see the way you look at her, that happiness that jumps into your eyes. I’ll never know that again. Cherry was my only sister, and you took her from me, just like I’m going to take Lizzy from you.”

  Lizzy felt the prick of the knife tip against her skin, a quick sharp pain and then the warmth of blood. Even when Sam had been beating her she hadn’t felt this kind of terror. She also saw a flash of rage in Daniel’s eyes, but he remained motionless.

  “Sam, I didn’t take Cherry away from you. A car accident took her away,” Daniel replied, his voice deeper than normal. “And that same accident took away my wife.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” Sam replied through clenched teeth. “I don’t care about Janice. All I care about is that you never be happy again. And if I kill Lizzy, you’ll have the weight of her death forever on her soul.”

  “Sam, what in the hell are you doing?” Adam Benson stepped through the cabin door.

  In the blink of an eye everything changed. As Sam’s attention turned toward his brother, he lowered the knife just an inch and loosened his hold on Lizzy. Lizzy flung herself away from him and at the same time Sam pointed his gun at her.

  “I don’t want to kill you, Sam,” Daniel said, his gun pointed at Sam’s chest.

  “Sam, for God’s sake, put down the gun,” Adam exclaimed. “What are you doing, man?”

  “He took our sister, Adam. He killed her as surely as if he shot her in the heart.” Sam’s and Daniel’s gazes remained locked, the air in the room so tense Lizzy felt as if she might faint. “Now I’m going to take from him.”

  “Cherry died in a car accident,” Adam said, his voice holding a frantic appeal. “You know she always drove too fast. You yelled at her a thousand times about speeding. Sam, Daniel’s been our friend since we were kids, and Lizzy has nothing to do with any of it.”

  “He loves her!” Sam screamed, his hand trembling as it held the gun pointed at Lizzy.

  “And I loved Cherry,” Daniel replied. His eyes were colder, harder than Lizzy had ever seen them, and she knew then that he would kill his friend to save her life. “She ate at my house, I danced with her at The Corral. We all had drinks together a hundred times. Sam, for God’s sake, don’t make me shoot you. Put down your gun.”

  There was a moment when Lizzy thought it was all going to be okay, when the gun in Sam’s hand finally swung away from her and she drew in a desperately needed breath of air. But just that quickly it all changed again.

  As if in slow motion she saw Sam redirect the gun at her, heard a deafening blast and squeezed her eyes tightly closed. Pain. She waited for it to explode through her as everyone seemed to shout at once.

  When she realized she hadn’t been shot, she was afraid that if she opened her eyes she’d see Daniel on the floor, dead because he’d made the mistake of loving her. The tremble she’d desperately tried to fight against when the knife blade had been against her throat swooped through her.

  “Lizzy.” Daniel’s voice whispered in her ear, and she didn’t have to open her eyes to know that it was his arms that drew her close against his chest. “It’s okay now. You’re okay.”

  She gasped in relief and opened her eyes to see Sam on the floor, writhing in pain as he held his bleeding thigh. Sam’s gun was in Adam’s hand, and Adam looked frozen with shock.

  “Nobody move!” Cameron’s voice yelled from the doorway. He grabbed the gun from Adam and shoved past him. “What is going on?”

  “He shot me!” Sam screamed, in obvious pain. “Get me some medical attention before I bleed to death.”

  “He tried to kill me, Cameron,” Lizzy said, not moving from Daniel’s arms. “He’s the one who attacked me here before, and in the barn. He was going to kill me and make it look like Candy’s murder.”

  “And I shot him,” Daniel said as he tightened his arms around Lizzy.

  “She needs to die,” Sam shrieked. “I want her dead.” He glared at Cameron. “Shoot her. Kill her. He can’t have her.”

  Suddenly the cabin started to fill with people. Daniel pulled Lizzy against a wall as paramedics arrived to load the still-raging Sam. Adam sank down in a nearby chair, his face buried in his hands.

  When Sam was gone and Cameron had instructed Deputy Temple to ride with the ambulance, he stood against the wall opposite of Daniel and Lizzy, questions radiating from his eyes. “So, who’s ready to talk?”

  Lizzy stepped out of Daniel’s embrace. “I’ll start,” she said. “I stepped out of the bathroom and he grabbed me and pulled me into this cabin. Sam is who attacked me the two other times. He just wanted me gone, and when I didn’t leave town he decided I needed to die. He wanted to punish Daniel for his sister’s death.”

  “I had to shoot him, Cameron. He was about to shoot Lizzy. I didn’t go for a kill shot.” Daniel’s face was taut with sorrow. “Sam was my friend. I never dreamed he’d do something like this.”

  Adam raised his head. “He’s never been the same since Cherry’s death. I told him to get some help, to talk to a therapist or something, but he was just so angry all the time.” Adam’s dark gaze sought Daniel’s. “I’m sorry, man. If I’d known he was really a danger to anyone, I would have done something about it myself.”

  “You don’t owe me any apology,” Daniel said.

  Adam looked at Lizzy, his eyes filled with misery. “I can’t believe he attacked you, that he hurt you so badly before. The man that was in here tonight wasn’t my brother. I don’t know who that man is.”

  “He didn’t kill Candy,” Lizzy said to Cameron. “He told me he didn’t, and I believe him. He had a specific reason to come after me. He wanted to punish Daniel, but he had no reason to murder Candy.”

  Cameron swept a hand across his forehead as if he had the beginnings of a headache. “What I’d like now is for all of us to go down to the office where I can take some official statements.”

  “What’s going to happen to Sam?” Adam asked.

  “He’ll get the medical treatment he needs and then he’ll be arrested for attempted murder,” Cameron said, his voice holding the hint of pity for the man.

  Adam stood from the chair and straightened his shoulders. “I’ll meet you at the sheriff’s office, and in the meantime I’ve got to get hold of Nick. It’s time for him to come home. I can’t run that place all by myself.”

  As he left the room, despite everything that had happened, Lizzy’s heart hurt for the man who had not only lost his sister but also, in another way, his brother.

  Daniel once again wrapped an arm around Lizzy’s shoulders, and as she leaned into him she realized for her it was over. The trembling began all over again as she realized just how very close death had come once again.

  “It’s over, Lizzy,” Daniel said as if he’d read her thoughts. He pulled her into a full embrace and she clung to him. He might have killed a man…a friend, for her. He might have been killed himself in trying to rescue her.

  “I’ll see you two at the office in a few minutes,” Cameron said as he left the cabin.

  Lizzy didn’t move from Daniel’s arms. She had never needed anyone in her life as she needed him then, just to hold her, to assure her with the strength of his arms, the solid beat of his heart, that everything was fine.

  “When you didn’t come back to the table after going to the bathroom, I sent Mary in to see what was taking so long. When she came back and told me you weren’t in there, I panicked.” His words whispered against her neck with the heat of emotion. “I was so afraid I’d lost you. I thought I’d made you mad and made you run to danger, just like the night of Janice’s death.”

  She raised her head to look up at him and saw the deep torment in his beautiful gray eyes. “Oh, Daniel, you didn’t make me mad. I didn’t run out of here angry. I was forced out. I
had every intention of coming back to the table to argue with you if I needed to.”

  His gaze held hers for a long moment. “I don’t want to argue with you, Lizzy. I’ve showed you my hand, my heart, and now the next play is yours.” He dropped his arms from around her. “And now we better get down to the sheriff’s office and put this terrible night and craziness behind us.”

  As he led her to his truck, she was vaguely aware of a crowd gathered at the back of the café. But, all she could focus on was what he’d said, that he’d shown her all his cards and now it was her turn to play.

  Chapter 13

  Lizzy awoke with the late-afternoon sun drifting in through the guest bedroom window at Daniel’s place. They hadn’t gotten home until just after dawn. It had taken forever at the sheriff’s office to finally wrap things up.

  Sam had gone through surgery for the gunshot wound to his thigh. Before going in he’d made a full confession to Cameron about the attacks on Lizzy, but he had remained adamant that he’d had nothing to do with Candy’s death.

  It would take months before a trial, and in the meantime Cameron believed what Sam needed most was some psychological work. Still, he would remain in jail and eventually stand trial for his crimes against Lizzy, the most serious charge one of attempted murder.

  She turned over in the bed and stared at the sunbeams dancing across the bottom of the pink comforter, her mind drifting back to the night before. By the time she and Daniel had driven home there had been nothing left to say between them. Both were exhausted, and he’d gone to his room to sleep, and she’d undressed and fallen into bed in this room and slept without dreams.

  Daniel had been devastated by Sam’s betrayal. Cameron had been upset that he hadn’t been able to clear up Candy’s murder, and Adam had been distraught to realize how mentally ill his brother had become. Lizzy had felt as if she were on an emotional roller coaster.

  It had been a night of high emotions, and by the time it was all over everyone had been wrung dry. Lizzy still felt wrung dry…numb by everything that had happened both before and after Sam had taken her into the cabin.

  The conversation she and Daniel had been having before she’d gone to the restroom had been both wonderful and troubling. He loved her. He’d not only said the words out loud, but he’d also shown her through his actions not just last night but also during the past week that they’d spent together.

  He’d been a terrific nursemaid while she’d been healing from her beating. He’d anticipated her every need and had been by her side for comfort and support.

  Still, she didn’t believe his assessment of her, that it was somehow fear that had kept her out of relationships in the past and fear that would take her away from him.

  It was just the wrong time in her life for love. She had things to do, places to see and a promise to keep. She got out of bed and headed next door to the bathroom for a hot shower, hoping some clarity would make itself known as she stood beneath a hot spray of water.

  By the time she left the bathroom dressed and ready to face the day, she knew the card she was going to play. It took her only fifteen minutes or so to pack her suitcases. She carried them down the stairs and placed them by the front door and then went in search of Daniel.

  She found him seated at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him. Her heart swelled at the sight of him, and she consciously tamped down any emotion that might try to take hold of her.

  “You look almost as tired this afternoon as you did this morning when we went to bed,” she said to him as she walked over to the coffeepot to pour herself a cup of the fragrant brew.

  “Yeah, it took me forever to get to sleep when we got home.” He offered her a tired smile as she sat across from him at the table.

  “I still can’t believe it was Sam who attacked you,” he said, his eyes sad as he spoke of the man who had once been his friend. “I never sensed the rage inside him. I never had a clue that he harbored so much resentment against me.” He took a sip of his coffee and then smiled at her once again. “But, you look well rested.”

  “I guess there’s nothing quite so good for sleep as knowing the psycho who attacked you is finally behind bars. I slept like a baby.”

  “Cameron still has his hands full with the investigation into Candy’s death.”

  “He’s a smart man. I’m sure he’ll have it figured out. Everyone still thinks it’s Kevin, and I believe like Cameron does that it’s just a matter of time before Kevin tells somebody and the case against him blows wide open.”

  “I hope so. Somebody needs to pay for that young woman’s death.” He turned his gaze out the window, and for several long moments an awkward silence prevailed.

  She studied his face as he continued to look out the window. She loved the strength that radiated in his features and the softer edge of sensuality that clung to the curve of his mouth.

  She loved the way his eyes lit when he smiled, transforming them from a battleship gray to a lighter shade. He had the heart of a warrior, proud and strong, yet protective of the people he loved.

  And he loved her.

  Her chest tightened as emotion rose up inside her. But, was what he felt for her real love? Could she really depend on that love? Or was it that she’d been the first woman after his tragedy with Janice to come along and he was mistaking his feelings for her?

  Maybe he was right about her. Maybe she was just too afraid to trust in any man enough to bind her heart to his. All she really knew was that she needed to leave…and she needed to leave now.

  He turned his head and his gaze captured hers, and the sadness in his eyes ached inside her heart, inside her soul. “I heard you carry your suitcases downstairs. I guess that means you’ve made up your mind to move on.”

  “Don’t look so sad, Daniel,” she said, surprised to feel the press of tears at her eyes.

  “I am sad, but I think maybe I’m more sad for you than I am for myself,” he replied. “You’ve opened up my eyes to life again, Lizzy. You’ve touched my life in such a positive way.” His eyes grew darker. “Don’t get me wrong. I love you and I don’t want you to go. I can’t tell you how much it’s going to hurt not to have you in my life, but I’m not going to beg you to stay.”

  Each and every word he spoke cut a gash in her heart that she knew would take a long time to heal. “It’s just that I…”

  “I know, you have this bucket list thing,” he said, interrupting her. “I just hope that when you’ve finished your bucket list and many adventures and are ready to settle down, you’ll find a man who will love you as deeply, as completely as I love you now.”

  Run. The word flew through her head as tears tumbled from her lashes. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she said, her voice thick with suppressed tears.

  “I guess it just proves that you can’t dictate when love will enter your life.” His gaze held hers for another achingly long moment, and then he abruptly rose from the table and walked over to the sink, where he placed his cup.

  She didn’t look at him. Run. The word whispered in her head once again. She downed the coffee, the hot liquid burning the back of her throat. She set down her cup and finally got the courage to meet his gaze once again.

  “I figured if I left right away I’d be able to get to Kansas City before nightfall.”

  He nodded, his eyes holding no emotion at all. “Then I guess I’ll walk you out.”

  They said nothing as they reached the front door, where he picked up her two suitcases as she carried her purse and her cosmetic bag out of the house.

  When they reached her car she popped the trunk lid, placed the two suitcases and the makeup bag inside and then closed the lid. When he looked at her again, his eyes brimmed with emotion. Love and sorrow mingled with despair.

  He walked with her to her driver door. “I just want to say one last thing,” he said before she opened the door to slide into the car.

  Please don’t, her heart begged. She couldn’t take anymore. Her
heart was already breaking. She was already torn in half, unsure that the decision she’d made to go was the right one.

  “What’s that?” she asked with a weary resignation.

  “I love you, Lizzy, and I believe we could have something wonderful here together. But, even if you decided to stay, I couldn’t make promises to you that we’d never have problems or that I wouldn’t sometimes let you down or disappoint you. Of course, I’d do everything in my power not to do those things, but I need you to know that I’m not like your father.”

  He reached out and softly touched her cheek. “I would never be that man in your life. I would never leave you sitting all alone on a stoop waiting for me, whether you were my wife or my child.”

  At that moment his heart was so open, so vulnerable to her, that it was painful to see and know that she was going to turn her back and run from Grady Gulch, from him and from love.

  Right man, wrong time, she told herself as she murmured a quick, choked goodbye. Reluctantly he stepped away from her door and she started the engine.

  She pulled away from his house without looking back in her mirror. She didn’t want to catch one last glimpse of him. She didn’t want the last look she had of him to be in her rearview mirror as she drove away from what he was offering her.

  She just wanted to be on the road, footloose and fancy-free as she’d intended when she’d first arrived in Grady Gulch.

  She emptied her mind, numb as minutes later she drove past the Cowboy Café and all the people she’d come to love who worked there.

  She didn’t stop. Her heart couldn’t stand another goodbye. She just wanted to drive with the window down and the breeze blowing every thought of Grady Gulch and Daniel Jefferson out of her mind.

  The numbness lasted until she was about forty miles away from Grady Gulch, and then the emotions she’d tried so hard to control exploded wildly. She pulled the car to the side of the road as tears blinded her vision.

  Dropping her head to the steering wheel, she wept because she really didn’t want to go forward, but she was too afraid to go back.