The silence in the day-care center heralded in thoughts of Caleb. As she straightened books and put toys away, her head filled with thoughts of the man who’d refused to accept her love, who had refused to embrace his own love for her.
Even if he didn’t want a future with her, she hoped that someday he could put aside his bitterness and find a life partner, some woman he would love to distraction. The thought of him spending the rest of his life alone made her ache for him.
In the three days that had passed since she’d last seen him, had he thought of her? Did he have any regret in his heart?
She hadn’t ventured into town, had been afraid that she might catch a glimpse of him, that she might have to make friendly conversation if they met on the street and she just wasn’t ready to do that. Her pain was still too fresh, too raw.
Eventually they would run into each other at a town function or in the grocery store. Eventually she would have to smile and pretend that the mere sight of him didn’t break her heart all over again.
She straightened a stack of coloring books and then turned to leave. She gasped as she saw the object of her thoughts standing in the doorway.
“Hi, Portia,” he said.
“Caleb.” Her heart leaped into her throat at the sight of him. He was clad in a pair of worn jeans that hugged the length of his legs and a white T-shirt that stretched taut across his broad shoulders. He looked strong and sexy and Portia wanted to order him away and throw herself in his arms at same time.
“You’re off duty today?” she asked, pleased that her voice sounded normal and not strained with the tension that gripped her.
“On vacation,” he replied. He took a step into the room and looked around. “The new paint looks nice, bright and cheerful.”
“Thanks. What are you doing here, Caleb? I’m sure you didn’t come here just to check out the new paint,” she said, a hint of irritation in her voice. If he thought they could be friends now, he was dead wrong. She couldn’t be friends with a man she loved, a man who refused to admit he loved her.
He raked a hand through his hair, causing that charming curl to droop across his forehead. He focused his gaze on her and in the depths of his brown eyes she saw a hint of vulnerability.
“I’ve tried, Portia. For the last three days I’ve tried hard to convince myself that I did the right thing in walking away from you. I tried to tell myself that I was the kind of man who could live alone, that I could wrap my bitterness around me and that that was all I needed to keep me warm, but I was wrong.”
He made no move toward her and she remained rooted in place, afraid to hope, afraid to believe the reason he might be here. “You’re right. You hurt me years ago when you didn’t believe me, when you thought I’d cheated on you. And you’re right again, Laura made me leery of ever trusting a woman again.”
He drew a deep breath and cast his gaze out the nearby window. “I didn’t want to love you, Portia. I thought what we had was just a physical attraction. I thought what I felt for you was nothing more than leftover emotions from the past. I thought I was done with love, but I was wrong.”
Once again he looked at her and in his eyes was a softness, a deep yearning that made Portia catch her breath. He walked over to where she stood and took her chin between his thumb and finger.
“When we were sophomores in high school I thought you were the cutest girl I’d ever seen. When we were juniors you were not only my best friend, but the girl I wanted to spend all my time with, and when we were seniors I not only wanted you with a man’s passion, but I realized how much I loved you, as well. And as a woman you absolutely take my breath away.”
He dropped his hand from her face but didn’t move away from her. “I made you a promise a long time ago. I promised to be true to you and love you forever. I didn’t break that promise years ago and I don’t intend to break that promise in the future.”
His words created a song in her heart, a happiness that filled her heart to capacity. “Caleb Grayson, if you don’t take me in your arms this minute I’m going to die.”
He smiled then, that sexy beautiful grin that never failed to light a fire in her. He pulled her against him and the kiss they shared held all the passion of youth, the joy of forgiveness and a love that she knew would last until the end of time.
When the kiss ended he looked down at her. “You’re the one for me, Portia. The only one I want to wake up to in the morning, the only one I want to hold in my arms through the night. I want you to marry me, Portia.”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I want that, too. We’ll get it right this time, Caleb.”
“It is right,” he replied, his eyes shining with promise and the love she’d known burned deep in his heart.
She placed a hand on his cheek. “I want to have your baby, Caleb.”
He tightened his arms around her and gazed at her with a hunger that nearly stole her breath away. “I want that. I want you and marriage and babies.”
“You already have me. It will take a while to arrange for a marriage, but we could start working on that baby thing right away,” she said.
His eyes lit with a flame that shot fire through Portia’s veins. “What are we waiting for?” He took her by the hand and led her out of the day care and toward her house, to the happily-ever-after they were meant to share.
Epilogue
Brittany Grayson awoke with a gasp. She sat up on the cot and an overwhelming despair swept through her. Waking was the worst, when she left happy dreams of family and safety and realized the tiny cell wasn’t a nightmare, but rather her reality.
As always when she first awakened she studied her surroundings, looking for any weakness that might provide an escape.
The barn had been transformed into a jail, with five cells complete with strong iron bars. Each cell not only had a bed, but also stainless-steel bathroom fixtures.
The interior of the structure had been soundproofed and in the first couple of days after she’d slept off whatever drugs she’d been given, she had screamed herself hoarse, but nobody had heard her cries.
She had no idea who her captor was or what he intended to do with her. All she knew was that she’d lost track of the days she’d been here, he wasn’t feeding her enough to keep her strong and she was in terrible trouble.
She closed her eyes for a moment and summoned a mental picture of her brothers. Tom with his quiet confidence, Jacob with haunting secrets that darkened his eyes, Benjamin with his easygoing personality and ready smile and finally Caleb with the big heart that he tried to hide. Her heart ached with the need to be with them.
They would be frantic. They would be looking for her, but she didn’t even know where she was, didn’t know if she was still in the small town of Black Rock. She didn’t even know if she was still in the state of Kansas. For all she knew she could be hundreds, thousands of miles away from her home.
Tears burned but she bit them back, refusing to cry. She’d already cried buckets full of tears and crying wasn’t going to get her out of here.
The last thing she remembered before awakening in this cell was being in her car and getting ready for a night out at Harley’s. She had a little crush on one of the bartenders and had been looking forward to spending the evening in a little harmless flirting.
She’d put the key in the ignition and an arm had come from the backseat and around her neck, pinning her back to the seat while a hand had pressed a noxious-smelling rag to her face.
Stupid. She’d been so stupid. She’d left her car doors unlocked and when she’d gotten into the car she hadn’t thought to check the backseat.
She was a deputy, for God’s sake, and she hadn’t practiced the first rules of safety. And now she was in trouble, terrible trouble.
She heard the sound of a man’s whistling and it shot terror through her. He was coming! Was this the time he would kill her?
She stood from the cot as the whistling grew louder and then the outer door opened and he stepped inside. A
s always he wore a ski mask to hide his features. What wasn’t usual was that he carried an unconscious red-haired girl in his arms.
“Good morning, Brittany.” He had a pleasant voice that Brittany thought sounded vaguely familiar but she couldn’t place.
He opened the door to the cell next to Brittany’s and laid the young woman on the cot. Brittany saw her face and recognized her. Jennifer Hightower. She worked at the convenience store where Brittany often stopped for a cup of coffee on the go.
“What are you doing? Let her go!” Brittany grabbed the steel bars of her enclosure. “You creep! You pervert!”
“Ah, sticks and stones…” He stepped out of Jennifer’s cell and locked the door. “You should be happy. For you, she’s company and for me, she’s an audience.”
“An audience?” Brittany’s heart thundered in her chest.
“I do my best work when I have an audience.” He pointed to the empty cells. “When I have those full, then the games will begin.” He laughed, a horrifying sound of anticipation. “Unfortunately, you probably won’t find the game as fun as I will.”
He laughed again and then began to whistle as he left the barn and closed the door behind him. A wash of terror swept over Brittany as she sank back down on the cot.
Glancing over at the unconscious woman in the cell next to her, her mind raced. They had to still be close to Black Rock for him to have abducted Jennifer and brought her here.
Impotent anger balled her hands into fists. It was her duty as a deputy to protect and serve the people of Black Rock, but she couldn’t help Jennifer. She couldn’t even help herself.
She cried out her brothers’ names in her head, willing them to find her, to save her. She knew in the very depths of her being that if they didn’t find her before those other cells were filled with women, then she would never see them again.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6045-4
THE LAWMAN’S NANNY OP
Copyright © 2010 by Carla Bracale
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