“I thought it would be okay if I didn’t go far. It wasn’t until I met Susan that I realized how far I’d walked.”
“Where did you see Susan?”
“On the track where you found me. She saw smoke coming out of your chimney and thought she’d see what was happening.”
Grant ran his hand along the back of his neck. “I’ll call her on my satellite phone and ask her not to tell anyone we’re here.”
Mallory opened the front door and took off her jacket. “I’ll wash my hands. If you want to start getting lunch ready, the quiche is in the pantry. A salad and the last of the tomatoes are in the refrigerator.” She left her jacket on the back of a chair and headed down the hallway.
Grant wondered if he’d made a big mistake bringing her here. She hated Saddle Butte as much as he needed it. But regardless of how she felt about living here, it was the safest place she could be.
He left his keys on the dining table, hesitating when he stepped on a folded sheet of paper. It was beside Mallory’s jacket, so he presumed it had fallen out of her pocket. He picked it up and left it on the table.
When he saw the quiche, he sighed. It looked amazing. But if he was going to enjoy it, he needed to do more than say sorry. Yelling at Mallory wasn’t going to make her want to stay with him; it would make her run in the opposite direction.
***
“Wow.” Mallory stared at the dining table. As well as the quiche and salad, Grant had found some pretty leaves and placed them in a glass that doubled as a vase.
“Would you like a glass of orange juice? It was in one of the boxes Rachel gave us.”
“That would be great.” Grant pulled out a chair and she sat down. “This is wonderful.”
“I didn’t know how to apologize.”
“You don’t need to. If I hadn’t walked off we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” She glanced down at her plate and frowned. “What’s this?” She picked up a piece of paper and opened it.
“It was on the floor. It must have fallen out of your jacket pocket.”
Mallory’s mouth dropped open. She glanced at Grant, wondering if he’d read it.
He had a knife in his hand, cutting the quiche into thick slices.
“How much would you like?”
She cleared her throat. “One piece will be enough, thanks.” She handed Grant her plate and took a deep breath. She was sure he would have been more upset if he’d read the letter.
She stuffed the letter into her jacket and tried to forget it. But every time she looked at Grant she saw the Los Angeles Skating Club’s logo stamped across his forehead.
Grant passed her the salad and she added some to her plate.
“Tomatoes?”
“Huh?”
Grant frowned. “Tomatoes. You’re more quiet than usual. Are you still angry with me?”
“No…I was never angry with you. I made a stupid decision and should have known better.” She added a tomato to her plate and waited for Grant to organize his salad before she started eating.
Grant bit into the quiche and smiled. “This is delicious.”
“Thanks. It’s one of my favorite recipes.” Mallory ate a piece of quiche, hoping the familiar taste would help her nerves—and her guilt.
It didn’t.
Grant added ketchup to the side of his plate. “I was thinking about teaching you some self-defense moves. We could start this afternoon.”
Mallory nodded. “Sounds good.”
“I could show you how to fish, too. The lake at the back of my property is a great place to learn.”
“Okay.”
“Do you know how to shoot a gun?”
Mallory started to nod, then stopped. “A gun?”
Grant left his knife and fork beside his plate. “At least you’re half listening to me. What’s wrong?”
Mallory bit her bottom lip. “Nothing.”
“You’re not a very good liar. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
Grant looked at her with steady eyes.
“I’ve got to make a decision—a big decision.”
“About what?”
Mallory pulled the piece of paper out of her jacket. “A coaching job is being advertised in Los Angeles.” She flattened the piece of paper and handed it to Grant.
“Is this what fell on the floor?”
Mallory nodded.
“And you want me to read it?”
“Andrew gave it to me.”
Grant’s gaze slowly dropped to the letter.
She watched his face, wanting more than anything to know what he was thinking. “The Los Angeles Skating Club is one of the best in America. They expect their students and coaches to perform to the highest standard.”
“It’s a junior coaching position. Is that what you want?”
“It would give me the experience I need to apply for senior roles in a couple of years. If my students do really well it could launch my coaching career.”
“You said you wanted to skate again.”
“I’m two years older than when I was in the national squad. I don’t know if I could compete at that level anymore.”
“The lady sitting behind me at the Winter Festival said you’re skating better than the current U.S. figure skating champion.”
“She was being kind.”
“And you’re not willing to at least try?”
Mallory looked down at her hands. “It takes time to rebuild a skating career. I’m twenty-eight years old. Most female skaters are thinking about retiring, not making a comeback.”
“You’re not most people.”
“Even if I throw myself into an intensive training schedule, I may not be ready to compete in any of this year’s regional competitions.”
Grant handed her the letter. “It sounds as though you’ve already made up your mind.”
“How would you feel if I applied for the job?”
“It’s a long way from Bozeman.”
Mallory sighed. “It’s a long way from you.”
“Do you need to work in Los Angeles to coach figure skaters?”
“If it wasn’t Los Angeles it would be another big city. I can’t work from Bozeman and create a successful coaching career.”
“I guess that depends on how you define success. I learned a long time ago that you need to do things that make you happy.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“I can’t tell you what you should do, Mallory. You need to work that out for yourself.”
Grant took his plate across to the kitchen. “I’ll finish my lunch when I get back. I forgot to do something in the barn.”
He left the cabin and Mallory’s heart sank. If she applied for the job and got it, it would be the end of any relationship they could have. When her students were competing, she’d be busy seven days a week.
Coaching was the type of job that became your life—a life that was the next best thing to what she’d always dreamed of doing.
***
Grant pulled open the barn doors. His heart pounded as he thought about the coaching job and what it would mean for them.
He couldn’t leave Bozeman. If Mallory wanted to coach figure skating, she couldn’t stay in Montana.
Falling in love with her had changed his life. It was unfair to ask her to choose between him and skating. If he did, her answer might not be what he wanted to hear.
The familiar scent of oil and gas filled his lungs. In the past, he’d come to Saddle Butte to forget about the outside world. But the outside world had sneaked up on him, reminding him that he couldn’t distance himself from everyone and still have the life he dreamed about.
He wanted to share his life with Mallory, but what he wanted didn’t matter. If she left Bozeman, he’d be lucky to see her again.
Maybe he should step away now, save them both the heartache that was bound to happen. The skating club in Los Angeles would be crazy to turn d
own her application. And even if they did, there would be other jobs, other cities where she could work.
He opened the door of his SUV and replaced the first aid kit that he’d taken out earlier. It was the only vehicle in his barn that truly belonged to him. When it was time to buy a new vehicle for his ranch, he’d decided to keep his old SUV at the cabin. The dented and scratched bodywork was a reminder of the weekends John had spent with him, tearing through the off-road tracks around home. He’d added a few dents since then, but the SUV still ran well and made him less noticeable in Havre.
The snowmobile and motorbike were hand-me-downs from his neighbors. He’d reconditioned the engines, fine-tuning them until they ran like clockwork. They weren’t the latest models, but he didn’t care.
A knock on the door startled him.
Mallory walked inside holding a cup of coffee. “I thought you might like this.”
He took the cup. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She looked around the barn and frowned. “You’ve got a lot of vehicles and tools in here. Has anything ever gone missing?”
“No. Even before I installed the security cameras it wasn’t on anyone’s radar.”
“That’s good.” She dropped her gaze to the cup he was holding. “Well…I’ll leave you to whatever you’re doing. Enjoy the coffee.” She turned to leave.
“Wait…”
Hope lit her eyes and made him regret a whole lot of things he couldn’t change. “I want to show you how to use a satellite phone.”
“You want to do that now?”
“The cameras on the motion sensors are linked to my phones. But we could do it later if that suits you better.”
Mallory smiled. “My social calendar isn’t exactly full. Now would be fine.” She pointed to one of the cameras in the rafters. “I take it that’s one of your high-tech surveillance gadgets?”
“It is.”
As Mallory counted the number of cameras inside the barn, he understood how people could die from a broken heart. He had as much hope of distancing himself from her as telling the sky that he didn’t need sunshine. When she left, he’d slap a Band-Aid on his heart and pretend he was okay. But for now, he had a job to do. He needed to protect Mallory, and protect his heart.
Grant took a satellite phone off his workbench. “This is the real brains behind the cameras.”
Mallory watched him open the surveillance app. “You have the Internet on your phone?”
“I need it to see the live video from the cameras.” He turned his phone around and pointed to a panel of images below the main video. “When I opened the doors, I set the motion sensors off on the cameras.” He pointed to a black box opposite them. “The video on the satellite phone is coming from that camera.”
Mallory waved and watched her image on the phone. “I’m impressed.”
“The dashboard under the main photo shows the images being transmitted from each camera.” He tapped one of the small images and it filled the screen. “You can email the video files to Fletcher Security. All you do is tap this button, select John’s name, and push send.”
“And he’ll receive the video like a normal email?”
“Almost. Anything he gets from me at the moment is on a priority list. As soon as an email or voice message is sent to his account his phone goes crazy. If it takes longer than a minute for him to open the file, a message is sent to a pager system.”
“Are you telling me this because you want me to hold onto your phone?”
“No—it’s yours to use. I’ve got another one. We’ll send John a test email.”
“Does he know it’s coming.”
“Nope. We’ll see how fast he replies.”
Mallory pointed at the rafters. “Smile at the camera.”
She bit her bottom lip as she found John’s email address and tapped the send button.
Within seconds, John’s face appeared on the screen. “Are you waving at me to say hello or wanting help?”
“Can your brother hear us?” Mallory whispered.
John smiled. “Hi, Mallory. And yes, I can hear you. The sound is coming from the satellite phone, not the cameras. I’m assuming this is a friendly call and not a life-and-death situation?”
“Grant’s showing me how to send you a video file from the surveillance cameras.”
John nodded. “I’ve got the file. Has my brother managed to annoy you yet?”
Mallory glanced at Grant. “Not really.”
“Be patient with him. He’s not used to female company.”
Heat rushed up Grant’s face. “Thanks for that. Remind me to take you off my Christmas list.”
“Never going to happen. You love Christmas more than Bella.” His brother’s smile disappeared. “How is everything going?”
“We’re safe for now,” Grant said slowly.
John looked at Mallory. “If you need me, don’t hesitate to call. It doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is.”
“Thank you.”
Grant looked closely at his brother. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s been a busy week.” John turned away from the screen. “Someone’s waiting to see me. I’ll call you after they’ve gone. Do you need anything?”
Mallory shook her head.
“No, we’re okay,” Grant said. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
Grant stared at the phone after he’d ended the call.
Mallory watched him. “John seemed tired.”
“He works too hard.” Grant pulled his mind away from his brother and focused on Mallory. “Keep this phone with you all the time. If you need me, my number is in the contacts list.”
“I promise not to use the Internet to check the news.”
“If we’re here for more than two weeks, we’ll both need to catch up on what’s been happening.”
“Do you think we’ll be here that long?”
“I hope not, but I don’t know.”
Mallory held the phone to her chest. “I’ll go back to the cabin.”
Grant took a deep breath. He had to tell her what he thought now, before he missed his opportunity. “If working in Los Angeles would make you happy, then you should do it.”
Mallory’s eyes widened. “You want me to leave Bozeman?”
“No, I want you to stay, but you need to do what’s best for you. Life is too short for regrets.”
Instead of looking relieved, Mallory seemed even more confused. “The applications don’t close until next Friday. I’ve got a few more days to decide what I’m going to do.”
He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
“If the grizzly bears haven’t eaten our quiche we could finish lunch together.”
Mallory’s big blue eyes swallowed him whole. He felt as though he’d just let go of the most important part of his life. “Lunch sounds great.”
As they walked toward his cabin he tried to imagine his life without her. All he could see was a gray, empty future.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Grant replaced the sandpaper on his sanding block. He’d decided to make Bella a desk for her birthday, but at the rate he was going, it would be ready before then. Once he’d assembled everything, he’d paint the wood a crisp white. With crystal handles, a shelf for spare paper and pens, and lots of pink stationery, he hoped it would give her an incentive to do her homework. At the moment, it was sitting in pieces, ready to be glued and nailed together.
It had been two days since Mallory had told him about the job in Los Angeles—two long days of not knowing what she was going to do. He didn’t want to put any extra pressure on her, but the thought of her leaving Bozeman was killing him.
When his phone rang, he picked it up and answered his brother’s call. “Is everything all right?”
“Juan Garcia has been arrested in Mexico.”
“When did that happen?”
“Yesterday.”
“And you’re only telling me now?”
John sighe
d. “I only found out myself an hour ago. We’ve been trying to locate him, but not long after he was arrested he disappeared. An armed team of men intercepted the police vehicle that was taking him to prison. We don’t know whether the men worked for him or if he’s been kidnapped.”
“Do the Mexican police know where he’s gone?”
“If they do, they’re not telling us. Juan Garcia has done a lot worse than terrorize a village. The CIA has evidence that he was behind a huge drugs and human trafficking ring.”
Grant wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Why was he searching for Mallory? She wouldn’t have been high on his list of priorities.”
“I’ve been asking myself the same question. The only answer I’ve come up with is that he must have thought Simon’s files had more information in them than what they did. When we started asking questions about the resort development, it put her life in danger.”
“What do you want us to do now?”
“Stay at the cabin until someone finds Juan Garcia. If he thinks Mallory has more information, he’ll do everything he can to eliminate her.”
“We’re going to need backup.”
John sighed. “Already onto it. A security team will be at your cabin in three hours. Keep Mallory close. I don’t know what’s going to happen over the next few days.”
Grant could hear the bone-weary tiredness in his brother’s voice. “Are you okay?”
“I will be. Call me tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I’ll have more information by then.”
“Say hi to Bella and Rachel for me.”
“I will. Take care.”
Grant stared at the phone. John was worried about something and he had a feeling it didn’t have anything to do with Juan Garcia. That left only one unresolved issue—the person in South America who was giving his brother grief.
He looked through the barn window and sighed. He couldn’t do anything to help John from here, but as soon as they left it would be a different matter.
Drug lords, human traffickers, and corrupt businessmen wouldn’t stand between him and his family. Nothing meant more to him than keeping the people he loved safe.
***
Mallory stared at the satellite phone. It was beeping and vibrating against the kitchen counter. There were only two things that could mean.
Always (The Protectors Book 3) Page 17