Blue Ridge Sunrise

by Denise Hunter

  Zoe tried to step away from her, but Kyle grabbed both her arms, sinking his fingers deep until she winced. His breath bathed her face with the stench of beer and fury.

  “I never should’ve agreed to stay. We’re leaving right now.” His eyes shot daggers at her. His face was twisted.

  She should be afraid.

  But instead heat flowed up her neck, and her hands clenched. She didn’t know if it was the country air or the moment she’d had on stage or having the people she loved nearby. Whatever it was, she found courage she hadn’t felt in years.

  “You know what, Kyle? It’s not always about you and what you want.”

  Surprise flashed in his eyes a moment before his hand tightened painfully on her elbow. “What did you just say?”

  Her heart was ready to explode from her chest, and her mouth was as dry as a cotton ball.

  But somehow she pushed out the words. “You heard me. And I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here.”

  Was she talking about the Rusty Nail or Copper Creek? Staying temporarily or forever?

  Even as his lips twisted in that way she’d always hated, even as his cold eyes narrowed on her, she couldn’t bring herself to take back the words.

  chapter five

  Cruz shifted in his chair, his eyes drifting to the door for the tenth time since Zoe and Kyle had exited less than a minute ago. Conversation continued at the table, but he heard none of it.

  Something wasn’t right. It was odd that they’d left so quickly after Zoe’s performance. And he was troubled by the look in Kyle’s eyes as he’d ushered her from the building.

  Cruz thought of all the changes he’d noticed in Zoe and the cruelty in Kyle’s tone during their confrontation earlier. He didn’t like it. Didn’t like it one bit.

  He pushed to his feet.

  “Where you going?” Brady asked.

  “Just . . . I’m going to check on something.”

  Now that he’d decided, Cruz couldn’t get outside fast enough. He skirted the tables, his long legs making quick work of the space. He pushed through the crowd milling near the door, worry building with each step.

  The parking lot was dark except for puddles of light from the overhead lamps. It was crowded, the gravel lot full and spilling onto the neighboring grass lot. He had no idea where they’d parked. They could even be gone by now.

  He stopped, scanning the area, listening. The heavy bass leaked through the restaurant’s walls, and night sounds mingled in. A metal clip pinged on a nearby flagpole in the cool wind.

  Then he heard something else. A shuffle and a grunt. Cruz’s feet were moving before his mind kicked into gear. His adrenaline pumping, he skirted cars as he scanned the crowded lot. The music grew louder as he neared the back of the restaurant, but his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, catching on shadowed figures two rows away.

  He heard Kyle’s voice, a low growl. “Get in the car!”

  Cruz was already running as Kyle’s shadow meshed with Zoe’s. And then there was another grunt, and she was on the ground.

  Something red and hot rose inside him. He raced toward Kyle, unable to think past the roar in his ears.

  Kyle lunged toward Zoe.

  “Hey!”

  Kyle turned just in time for Cruz to plow a fist into his face. The man stumbled backward, tripping over something, and went down with a grunt.

  “Zoe.” Cruz started toward her, but she was scrambling for her daughter, and from the corner of his eye he saw Kyle pushing to his feet.

  Oh, no he didn’t.

  Cruz’s punch landed in the guy’s gut with a satisfying whomp. But Kyle recovered quickly and came across with a jab to his face.

  Before Cruz could recover, someone grabbed him from behind and a voice said, “Back off, Kyle!”

  Brady. Cruz fought, but the arms were like bands of steel.

  “That’s enough, both of you!” Brady said.

  Kyle wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “Zoe!” Hope was there too, crouching at Zoe’s side.

  It took Cruz a moment to realize the little girl was crying. She must’ve been what Kyle had tripped over. Zoe was soothing the child in her arms. A dark spot of blood trickled from the corner of Zoe’s mouth.

  A dark cloud of anger flooded him, and he surged forward, breaking free. He nearly got away, but Brady grabbed him again, and someone else blocked his path, arms extended.

  “The sheriff’s on his way,” Brady said. “Come on, settle down. Let’s not make this any worse.”

  Hope helped Zoe to her feet. Her arms tightened around her daughter, whose cries had diminished to a sniffle. They’d done a quick check and found only a scrape on Gracie’s leg.

  Zoe became aware of the gathering crowd, of Cruz, held back by her brother, staring daggers at Kyle.

  A rush of heat filled her face until she felt woozy.

  “This is the thanks I get?” Kyle’s voice grated across the few feet separating them, his eyes narrowing on hers. “For keeping you around, for taking on your . . .” His eyes dropped meaningfully to Gracie, rising to hers in a cruel threat.

  Zoe’s heart stuttered to a stop. Her arms tightened around Gracie. He wouldn’t say it. He’d rather die than admit the truth. The secret had allowed him to own her. To control her. And now it allowed him to lord his position over Cruz, up close and personal.

  The moment dragged on, time ticking away slowly.

  Finally Kyle’s lips pressed together, curling at the corners. He started toward her, but a couple guys jumped into his path, and someone grabbed him from behind.

  “The sheriff’s on his way, Kyle,” someone said. “Best you get on out of here before he arrives. Don’t want to get hauled off to jail now, do you?”

  “He’s not going anywhere,” Brady said. “Jail’s exactly what he’s going to get.”

  Judging by the look on Cruz’s face, that was exactly what he wanted.

  “No,” Zoe said. “Please . . . I just want him to go. There’s been enough drama for one night.”

  “You’d better leave then, Kyle,” someone said.

  Kyle nailed Zoe with a look and called her a name that made her face grow ten degrees warmer.

  “That’s enough, Kyle!” Brady said, struggling to hold Cruz.

  “You’re nothing without me!” he shouted.

  The fog cleared from Zoe’s mind. She saw the scene, heard Kyle’s words with a clarity she hadn’t felt in a long time. Remembered all the ways he’d manipulated her, all the ways he’d cut her down, held her back.

  Her back straightened as she met his heated gaze head on. She was done bowing to his will. Done tucking all her feelings away. Being someone she didn’t even recognize anymore.

  “Just leave, Kyle,” she said.

  Kyle jabbed a finger at her. “We’re done! Don’t call me. Don’t text me. You hear me, Zoe? You’re finished!”

  He jerked the car door open and got inside. A second later the tires spun, shooting grass behind, and the car peeled out of the lot.

  “I’m finished with you,” she whispered.

  chapter six

  Zoe sat in Hope’s office inside the Rusty Nail, the reality of the situation beginning to wash over her.

  The sheriff had shown up shortly after Kyle left. She hadn’t pressed charges, despite everyone’s encouragement to do so. She just wanted this night to be over. A medic in attendance had checked over Gracie and her. They were both going to be fine.

  Physically at least.

  After the sheriff left, the small crowd dispersed, going back inside to their friends and conversation. A whole new topic on the menu now. The gossip would be all over town by morning.

  The music played on, the bass thumping outside the manager’s office.

  Hope dabbed gently at Zoe’s lip with a paper towel. “Sorry if it hurts.”

  “It’s fine.”

  Brady was washing Gracie’s leg in the adjoining bathroom, and Cruz stood just inside the office
door like a guardian angel, looking formidable with his tight jaw and dark, piercing eyes. One of those eyes was swelling. He was going to have a real shiner in the morning. His arms were folded, his biceps bulging under his sleeves. He hadn’t spoken to her once.

  Zoe was only now becoming aware of the pain in her jaw. She was going to have a whopper of a bruise. But the injury was nothing compared to the dawning realization of her circumstances.

  Kyle was gone. He’d taken off with Gracie’s booster seat—with their car! His car, she reminded herself. It was in his name. As was everything else she’d just said good-bye to. He was probably swinging by the hotel on his way out of town and taking everything they’d brought.

  “What have I done?” She clutched her purse—her lone possession—with trembling fingers.

  “What you should’ve done a long time ago,” Hope said firmly.

  “You don’t understand.”

  “He hit you, Zoe. That’s not okay.”

  “I know.”

  Zoe winced as Hope dabbed at her cut. But the injury didn’t hurt near as bad as her pride. How had she sunk so low?

  “Sorry.” Hope’s touch gentled. “Has he done this before?”

  “No.”

  Hope gave her a look, her eyebrows lifting over her green eyes.

  “He hasn’t.” Maybe he’d shoved her a time or two. But only when she’d made him really upset. And he’d never been anything but gentle with Gracie.

  Gracie.

  She didn’t even have a change of clothes for her girl. Or a place to stay. She closed her eyes as worry flooded like a spring creek.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Hope said. “You’ll see.”

  “I don’t have a car or a job,” she said quietly, not wanting Cruz or Brady to hear. “I only have twenty dollars in my purse! My credit card is in his name, and he’ll cancel it.”

  Hope grabbed her restless hands. “You have family, and we’ll take care of you.”

  Zoe jerked away. “I don’t want to be taken care of!”

  She was sick and tired of being taken care of. Of letting someone else make all the decisions. How had she let this happen? She used to be so independent and bold and fierce. Just like Granny. Everyone had said so.

  “You’ve got the farmhouse and the orchard. Let’s just take one day at a time. Do you want to stay there tonight or come home with me?”

  “She’s not staying alone.”

  Zoe glared at Cruz.

  “He could come back.”

  “That’s true,” Hope said, looking back at Zoe. “Do you think he will?”

  She hated to admit he was right. As much as she wanted to assert her neglected independence, she had Gracie to think of. Kyle had sounded pretty done with her, but he was unpredictable. He might feel differently about all the time and effort he’d put into her and their relationship. Not to mention the band.

  Funny how love didn’t even come to mind. “I don’t know.”

  “He’s not going to just let his daughter go.” This from Cruz.

  Zoe pressed her lips together, her eyes meeting Hope’s. They both knew Kyle had no legal claim to Gracie, but she wasn’t about to tell Cruz that.

  “Why don’t you stay with me tonight?” Hope said. “We can swing by Walmart on the way home and grab a few necessities.”

  Gracie entered the room, her red curls bouncing, Brady on her heels. Her daughter looked none the worse for wear. Zoe hoped she’d been too sleepy to realize what had happened.

  She climbed onto Zoe’s lap and showed off her Band-Aid. “Look, Mama! Uncle Bwady fixed my boo-boo.”

  Zoe forced a smile. “I see that, baby. Did he give it kisses?”

  “No.” She frowned at Brady. “Uncle Bwady, you didn’t kiss my boo-boo!”

  “Sorry squirt. I’m a rookie.”

  “What’s a wookie?”

  Zoe gave the Band-Aid a big smack. “There. All better.”

  Gracie held her mom’s cheeks in both hands, frowning. “Mama, you have a boo-boo too!”

  “I know, honey, but it’s all better now.”

  Gracie leaned forward, kissing the corner of her mouth. “Now it’s all better.”

  Cruz’s eyes sharpened on Zoe. Her lower lip was swelling, the cut at the corner red and angry looking. Her jaw was bruising up, his mood darkening along with it.

  He wished he’d gotten in a few more swings before Brady had come along. Wished he’d seen Kyle hauled off to jail where he belonged. What was he doing, hitting a woman? A woman he was supposed to care about? And what else had he done to Zoe and her daughter in the years they’d been gone?

  No wonder she was just a shadow of her former self.

  And yet the first thing Cruz had done when he’d come face-to-face with Kyle was provoke him. He winced, guilt flooding in deep and overwhelming. He watched Zoe waver as Hope helped her to her feet, and he called himself ten kinds of fool.

  Brady took the little girl, and Hope grabbed Zoe’s purse.

  “She’s staying with you?” Cruz asked Hope as they neared him.

  “Yeah, but we’re running to the store first.”

  “She should go to the clinic and get checked.”

  Zoe met his gaze head on. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”

  He was glad to see a spark of anger in those green eyes, even if it was aimed at him. “Sorry.”

  He was sorry for a lot more than that. His eyes narrowed on her swelling jaw, and he reached out to touch it. But just as quickly he let his hand drop. He had no right to touch her.

  “Might want to get some ice on that ASAP,” he said. “It’s swelling pretty bad.”

  “Right back at you.” Her eyes softened on his before they dropped to the floor. She cleared her throat. “Thanks for your help tonight.”

  He waited a beat, but she didn’t look at him again.

  “Anytime, Zoe.”

  He’d fight all her dragons, every last one of them, and she didn’t even have to ask. It had been true then, and it was true now. For the first time in years he allowed their long and complicated history to rise to the surface of his mind. Allowed himself to remember the way it had all begun and the way it had ended.

  part two

  chapter seven

  Cruz remembered the exact day Zoe Collins came into his life.

  He and his mom had only been in Copper Creek a couple months, but already Brady Collins was like the brother he’d never had. On the first day of school Brady had invited Cruz to sit at his lunch table. It was there they discovered their shared passions for cars, fishing, and girls—in no particular order.

  Brady was open about the fact that his birth mom was a drug addict and his aunt and uncle had adopted him as a baby. Mr. and Mrs. Collins were his mom and dad as far as everyone was concerned, but Cruz could tell Brady felt a little out of place sometimes.

  Brady’s family had a nice house, but he preferred to spend time at Cruz’s dumpy old rental. In fact, that seemed to be where they hung out the most. Maybe it was the appeal of Cruz’s mom—even at seventeen, he had to admit she was pretty cool. She worked two jobs, but now that Cruz had gotten hired at the hardware store he was hoping she’d quit the Wash ’n’ Spin.

  It was going on midnight, and he and Brady had just started playing PlayStation in his upstairs bedroom when Cruz heard a noise outside the window. He frowned and went to shut off the lights. Copper Creek seemed like a safe place, but he’d learned back in Atlanta how to take care of his mom and himself.

  “What are you doing?” Brady’s fingers were jabbing the controller buttons as he blasted away aliens.

  “Thought I heard something.” Cruz moved to the window.

  A final blast sounded from the TV, then it went quiet. “I’m going to the bathroom,” Brady said.

  Cruz barely heard his friend leave the room. He eased away the curtain and reared back at the face staring right at him.

  It was a girl. Her hair blazed like a lion’s mane in the moonlight
and fluttered against her creamy skin. It was her eyes, though, that held him captive. Eyes that lit mischievously as if they harbored some amusing secret.

  His heart gave a heavy thud, and his body flooded with warmth, fogging his brain. Cruz’s olive skin and black hair made him popular with the ladies—he could thank his mother for that. But if he’d ever thought to wish for any girl to appear at his bedroom window, he’d have wished for this one.

  Cruz gathered himself enough to tug up the stubborn sash. But once he had it open his words dried up like a puddle in July.

  Her lips curled upward. “You wanna let me in? I’m fixing to fall, you know.”

  He pushed the windowpane all the way open and helped her through. Her skin was the softest thing he’d ever touched. She squeezed through the opening, all long-limbed and nimble-bodied in her filmy white shirt and cutoffs.

  She plopped onto his twin bed, brushing off her legs.

  He blinked at her, finally finding his voice. “Who are you— how did you—?”

  “I’m Zoe. Your rose trellis needs some fixing. It’s rotted in places. I almost fell twice. Sorry about the mess.”

  Zoe. Brady’s fifteen-year-old sister. The one he was so protective of.

  Cruz wanted to turn on the light and get a better look at her, but he was afraid it would somehow break the spell. Or maybe he was dreaming, and if he was, he sure didn’t want to wake up.

  Her eyes sparkled in the light of the TV screen as she returned her gaze to him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like I’m a ghost.”

  “Are you?”

  “There’s no such thing, silly.”

  “How do you know?”

  She arched a playful brow. “Have you ever seen one?”

  “Maybe.”

  She reached for his hand, squeezing it softly. “See? One hundred percent real.”

  He felt the zing at the top of his head, at the tip of his bare toes, and every place in between. He wanted to hold her hand forever.