For Keeps

by Rachel Lacey

  T.J. followed them into the barn. Merry stood with Jules, helping the girl teach Salsa how to roll over. She had a gift, with the kids and the dogs.

  While Merry worked with the kids, he pulled them out one at a time for their riding lessons. They’d all made tremendous progress there too, thanks in no small part to Pat’s expertise with equine-assisted therapy. All of them, even Lucy, could ride unassisted and complete their exercises with confidence.

  Camp was a success. Except he’d failed to accomplish his goal in creating it. He hadn’t helped Noah.

  And that burned like hot coals in his gut.

  After lunch, the kids came up to the house to visit Amber. She lay on her dog bed, tail thumping happily as they petted and comforted her. He had to admit that she’d turned out to be a pretty solid dog. Even as she lay in the street, terrified and in pain, she’d made no move to bite him or anyone else.

  Noah stayed in the hall, refusing to go near her. Tomorrow he’d try to get the boy up here alone and convince him how much Amber needed to see him. Maybe Merry could help.

  She hung around until the kids had all been picked up, although he knew she had to get to work.

  “Bosley’s getting adopted,” she told him.

  “Really? Wow, we’re losing dogs left and right.”

  “He’ll finish camp. They’re taking him home next weekend.” She chewed her bottom lip.

  “That’s good.” He waited for her to tell him what was bothering her.

  “Remember how I told you some money had gone missing from my purse?”

  He tensed. “Did it happen again?”

  She nodded. “It’s been happening, and again today.”

  He couldn’t believe any of those kids would steal from her. It made no sense. “Are you sure? How much?”

  “Five dollars. It’s always five dollars. Look, I don’t have time to talk about it today, but just… keep it in mind.” She gave him a lingering look full of angst and regret, then went out the front door to fetch her dogs from the barn.

  What the hell was that supposed to mean?

  * * *

  He didn’t get to ask until Wednesday. He found her sitting behind the barn, staring out at the horses grazing in the field.

  “Something on your mind?” he asked as he sat beside her.

  She lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Just thinking about a case from work.”

  “Anything you want to talk about?”

  She shook her head. “Too depressing.”

  He shifted closer, so that their shoulders touched. “Try me.”

  She turned her head, and he saw the anguish in her hazel eyes. “It’s a baby, okay? He’s got long-term health problems, and his foster mom just bailed on him.”

  “Damn. I don’t know how anyone deals with shit like that.” Let alone her, who’d lost a baby of her own, watching another be abandoned.

  “Life’s not fair sometimes.” She stood and walked to the fence.

  He followed, but when she turned to him, her expression had changed. She grabbed his shirt and kissed him until he almost forgot how to breathe. He lifted her and set her on the top rung of the fence, her feet locked behind his back.

  “Stay here tonight,” he said, his fingers lost in the tangle of her hair, much as the rest of him seemed to be tangled up in her so that he couldn’t be without her.

  “I can’t. I’m working a few hours tonight to cover for a coworker, but I couldn’t anyway. The good news is, I’m definitely not pregnant.” She winked.

  He frowned at the implication of that. “You don’t have to have sex with me to spend the night.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Right, because we do talking so well.”

  “Dammit, Merry—”

  “See my point? Just shut up and kiss me.”

  She didn’t give him much choice. She dug her heels into his back, tugging him closer, and kissed him until he couldn’t remember why he’d been annoyed. When she’d thoroughly hijacked his senses, she gripped his shoulders and hopped down.

  “Sorry about that,” she said, eyeing the front of his jeans.

  “I’ll live.”

  She stood a few feet away, arms crossed over her chest, her eyes wary. She was distancing herself from him, physically and emotionally, and he didn’t like it. Didn’t like it one bit. Dammit, camp ended in two days. If she thought he meant to never see her again…

  “I need to tell you something before I go,” she said.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “About the missing money.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about that too. Come in, let’s get a cold drink.” Because her tone left little doubt that he wasn’t going to like what she had to say, and he needed a moment to cool off before diving into this conversation.

  She nodded and followed him to the house. He poured two glasses of sweet tea and handed her one.

  “Thanks.” She took a long drink, distracting him with the way her throat moved as she swallowed.

  He shook his head to clear it. “You have any idea who’s the culprit?”

  She stared at him for a long beat of silence. “I have a theory.”

  “All right then, let’s hear it.”

  “They’re all good kids. Whoever’s doing it, I don’t think they’re stealing to buy candy or video games.” She focused on her sweet tea.

  What the hell was she getting at? “Spit it out.”

  “I think it’s Noah.”

  He slammed his glass onto the table so hard tea sloshed all over the floor. “And why the hell would you think that?”

  She sighed, then met his gaze straight on. “He’s in trouble, T.J. We’ve both seen it.”

  His pulse thumped in his ears. “All the kids have been in here this week visiting with Amber. It could have been any of them.”

  “Yeah, it could have. I would love to be wrong. But why would any of them steal from me? You think sweet Jules is a thief? What about Lucy, in her wheelchair?”

  “Parker, he’s caused some trouble. It could be him.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so. He gets worked up easily because of his sensory problems, but he’s a good kid. He wears designer clothes. His mom drives a Mercedes. I can’t imagine why he’d need five dollars out of my purse.”

  “And my nephew does? They may not be rich, but Amy provides for him. Noah is not a thief.”

  “I found him in here one time getting a drink from the fridge. He looked guilty as hell when I came into the kitchen. He ran from me. That was one of the days money went missing.”

  “Did you hear yourself? He was getting a drink.”

  “And my purse was right next to the fridge.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this when it happened?” He heard himself yelling but could do nothing about it.

  “Because I knew you’d be upset, and I was hoping I could get to the bottom of it by myself.” Merry lifted her chin, not backing down. “He’s in trouble. You know it. I know it. I don’t want to make it worse. I just want to help.”

  “Help? I don’t think calling him a thief helps anything, do you?”

  “I want to talk to him about it and see if I can get him to open up to me.”

  He braced his hands on the counter. “Absolutely not. You will not accuse my nephew of stealing.”

  “He doesn’t even know I’ve noticed the missing money. If I don’t say anything, we’ll never know what happened, or why. Don’t you want to know why?”

  “Yeah, I want to know why you think my nephew is a thief.”

  “Oh, for crying out loud!” Her temper finally spiked to meet his. “He stole a few dollars! He’s not a criminal. He’s a kid in trouble. If we don’t find out what that trouble is and help him, it might get even worse.”

  “No. No way are you accusing him of this.” Noah was already upset, already withdrawn. He trusted Merry. If she accused him of stealing, it would break that trust. A boy as sensitive as Noah might never get over something like that
.

  Worst of all, he might lose Noah’s trust as well.

  “Either you talk to him about it or I will,” she said.

  “He’s my nephew, Merry. You will not have this conversation with him.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I could talk to Amy.”

  “No.”

  She groaned in frustration. “I’m not letting this go. I can’t.”

  He stepped closer, staring her down. “You can, and you will. I’ve donated a hell of a lot of money to your rescue in exchange for you completing this camp to my satisfaction.”

  She drew back as if he’d slapped her. “I didn’t realize I’d traded my free will for your money. That’s… that’s… Go to hell.”

  “Leave Noah alone.”

  “Right. Got it. I’m glad we had this totally two-sided, rational conversation. Like I said, we do talking so well.”

  With a look that could melt steel, she stalked out of his kitchen.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Merry brushed back the annoying sting of tears. She’d expected that response from T.J. It was the main reason she’d waited so long to broach the subject.

  But there was no going back now. She wasn’t going to let it drop. She couldn’t. Noah was in trouble. She felt it in her bones. He needed her help, and she might have to push a little to get through to him.

  T.J. on the other hand? She could hardly blame him for sticking up for his nephew. But really, she didn’t want to cause any trouble for Noah. She only wanted to help him. Why couldn’t he see that? Why couldn’t he be a reasonable, rational adult and understand her concern?

  And why couldn’t she be a reasonable, rational adult and get on with her day? Instead, she sat in her SUV in a McDonald’s parking lot, trying to pull herself back together after what had been just one more in a string of petty, meaningless fights.

  Only this one didn’t feel so meaningless. Or petty.

  Hurtful things had been said. Things that couldn’t be taken back.

  Things that made it painfully clear she’d gone too far with T.J. She’d let him worm himself in where no man ever had. In fact, judging from the ache in her chest, he’d made it all the way into her heart.

  If she pushed, if she questioned Noah about the money, T.J. might break it in two, leaving her a bloody, emotional mess. If she didn’t, if she let it go, she’d be failing Noah just to keep from angering his stubborn uncle.

  Knowing herself, she was about to get her heart broken.

  And on that note, she was going home to play with her dogs until it was time to go into work this evening. She’d been foolish to let herself get so consumed by T.J., but it wasn’t as if she couldn’t still fix it.

  She could let him go. Hearts healed. Hers would too.

  She drove the rest of the way home with her head held high. No more moping. Merry Joy Atwater did not mope. She just got on with her life.

  She sat with the dogs in the living room for a few minutes to catch up on emails and rescue business. The remainder of T.J.’s donation would go toward Amber’s vet bills, which left her high and dry as far as a source of income to keep TBR afloat.

  Camp had sucked more time and energy than she’d expected. Between it, and work, and her relationship with T.J., she’d completely fallen behind on drumming up a new source of income. Well, it was time now. Bills kept coming, and she wasn’t any closer to having the money to pay them.

  Her phone pinged with a new text message.

  She reached for it, then smiled.

  2 more days! Can’t wait! It was from Cara.

  She couldn’t wait for her best friend’s visit either. First stop—Red Heels, she texted back.

  I invited Liv too, Cara replied.

  Perfect. I owe her a drink or two.

  We have a lot to catch up on.

  Yes, they did. And Merry was ready to spill it all. She needed her friend’s advice, now more than ever.

  * * *

  T.J. spent the next two days putting himself between Merry and Noah. He didn’t trust her not to bring up the money, even though he’d told her not to. Noah seemed to be avoiding her too. Maybe it was guilt over what had happened to Amber.

  Maybe she’d already said something.

  That thought put gravel in his gut. Noah was the sweetest, most innocent kid he knew. There was no way in hell he’d stolen from Merry, and T.J. wasn’t going to sit by and watch him be falsely accused.

  Merry hadn’t said another word about it. She’d been business as usual ever since their argument on Wednesday. Business only. She’d gone straight home after camp yesterday, and it was driving him crazy. He needed to get her alone and work this out.

  Because today was the last day of camp, and he was absolutely not ready to let Merry walk out of his life.

  They were stronger than this disagreement. He knew it. But did she?

  She stood in front of the group now, explaining the order of events for the exhibition on Sunday. Lucy, Jules, and Parker listened attentively, looking ridiculously proud and excited. Noah stood in the corner, one arm around Ralph’s neck, looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

  And that overshadowed everything else.

  “All right, let’s practice the whole thing from the beginning,” Merry said. She and Olivia stood in the center of the aisle while the kids walked in a circle around them, dogs at their sides. “Okay, everyone, now stop and ask your dog to sit.”

  They did. Four dog rumps hit the earth.

  “Now ask your dog to lie down.”

  Four dogs lay on the cool dirt floor.

  “And now stay.”

  The kids all gave the command. They took two slow steps away from their dog, then released them and lavished them with praise.

  T.J. was damn proud of those kids and how hard they’d worked in camp. They were proud of themselves too, and that was the best part. The sense of accomplishment they’d achieved here. The self-confidence. The concentration and motor skills they’d honed.

  If only he’d been able to draw Noah out of his shell, camp would have been a complete success.

  Next, each child came to the middle of the aisle one at a time and performed a special trick with their dog. Lucy asked Bosley to shake hands. Jules asked Salsa to roll over. The puppy did a half roll, half summersault, then both puppy and girl twirled with excitement. Parker high-fived Chip. Noah, who had the advantage of a pretrained dog, held out his arm and asked Ralph to jump over it.

  Everyone cheered. Merry and Olivia praised and high-fived all the kids and gave them extra cookies to reward their dogs. At the end of the hall, Pat, Savannah, and Madison whooped and clapped for them.

  The last event for the dogs would be a game of “Musical Sit.” The kids walked their dogs around in a circle as music played. When the music stopped, everyone asked their dog to sit. Last dog standing was out.

  They practiced several times, with Noah and Ralph winning each time. Merry watched pensively, then announced that on exhibition day they’d alternate dogs so that everyone took a turn with each dog. Ralph would make sure they all had a chance to win.

  After that, they put the dogs in the extra stall and got the horses ready. Parker and Jules went first on Twilight and Peaches. Pat ran them through a series of exercises they’d learned during camp with Savannah and Madison assisting and cheering them on. Next they each got to trot once all the way around the ring.

  Then it was Lucy and Noah’s turn.

  Finally, exhausted and sweaty, they all returned to the barn. The kids helped get the horses untacked, hosed off, and turned out to the pasture. They ran back to the barn, ready to eat their last lunch together at the picnic tables.

  That was when T.J. noticed two cars missing from the driveway. Olivia had left early, as she usually did to prepare for her shift at the café. But Merry had left too, without so much as saying good-bye.

  Summer camp was over, and Merry was gone.

  * * *

  Merry could barely ke
ep from bouncing up and down as she stood at the top of the escalator at Raleigh-Durham International Airport waiting for Cara to arrive. She felt like Jules. In fact, she envied the girl’s unfiltered ability to let her excitement just pour out of her.

  Several minutes later, Merry caught a glimpse of strawberry blond hair, and then Cara’s smiling face came into view. As soon as she’d passed the security checkpoint, Merry threw caution to the wind and grabbed her in a bear hug.

  Finally Cara pulled back, laughing. “Geez, you could at least pretend you missed me.”

  “Seriously, you have no idea. It’s a good thing I like Matt or else I’d really hate him for taking you away from me.”

  They started walking toward baggage claim.

  “Aww.” Cara smiled. “I love Matt, and I like my new life in Massachusetts, but I missed you too. I miss North Carolina. I’m even looking forward to feeling the crazy humidity out there.”

  Merry scoffed at her. “Really? The humidity?”

  “I know, it’s crazy. Thanks again for letting me stay with you. My mom may never forgive me, but preserving my sanity will be worth it.”

  They stood by carousel three, waiting for the Boston luggage to arrive. Cara was looking at her a little too intently, and Merry knew she wouldn’t have a choice but to confess everything. Which was a relief really. She needed to unload her problems on someone, and there was no one she trusted more than Cara.

  “Here’s mine.” Cara snagged a pale blue suitcase off the conveyer belt, and they headed for the exit.

  “Ralph’s going to freak when he sees you, and you haven’t even met Chip and Salsa yet.”

  Cara looked wistful. “Somehow I feel even more homesick now that I’m here. I forgot how much I had missed.”

  Merry elbowed her. “Maybe next time it won’t take you so long to visit.”

  “You sound like my mother. Things have been hectic. I’m finally getting my photography business off the ground, and Matt’s private investigation firm has been crazy busy. Trust me, this winter I’ll be here as often as I can. I don’t know how I’m going to survive all that cold and snow.”