Breakfast at the Honey Creek Café

by Jodi Thomas

  Colby leaned in. “I’ll go first.”

  “I’ll back you up, Trooper.”

  Colby grinned. “How’d you know?”

  He didn’t wait for the answer. He was flying down the wide, flat hose hoping he had the grip to stop before he hit bottom. He hit the first knot and wrapped his legs around to help slow the pace.

  The next knot helped slow him more.

  When Colby hit bottom he pulled his weapon and stepped away from the makeshift rope. It was cooler here, but still smoky. Whoever had set the fire could be standing three feet away. In the smoke and the dark, he couldn’t see anything.

  He heard Sam hit the floor.

  Colby figured if the guy had a gun they’d both be shot by now, so he shoved his weapon back in place and then spread his hands, feeling his way. Colby could hear Sam breathing beside him. The idea of finding anyone seemed impossible.

  Colby bumped into a pole and swore under his breath. As he paused to see if he was bleeding, he heard someone far into the darkness calling, “Help me. Somebody help me.”

  Following the cry, they moved closer until Colby’s boot tapped what felt like a leg, and a man cried out in pain. He pulled the weapon again and stood his ground.

  Sam knelt. It sounded like he was patting his way along a body. “Where are you hurt? Blood’s everywhere.”

  “I think I’ve broken both legs. You got to help me. I can’t take this pain.”

  The man whined as Sam felt his way down the man’s body. “I feel where a broken bone has pierced the skin.”

  All was silent.

  “I think he’s passed out,” Sam finally said. “Let’s get him out.”

  Colby’s eyes had adjusted enough for him to see the outline of Sam. He pulled his T-shirt off and ripped it, then wrapped the man’s legs together.

  As he worked, Sam said, “It’s going to hurt like hell, but we’ll have to take him out. Parts of this cellar could cave in at any minute.”

  They lifted the man and slowly moved toward where Colby thought the ramp might be. It took several tries, but they finally saw water dripping beneath what had to be the cellar door.

  “Who do you think we have?” Colby asked.

  “I don’t know, but whoever he is I’m betting he set the fire and barred the mayor’s door.” Sam kept moving. “The way he’s bleeding, he won’t last long if we don’t get him out of here.”

  They moved one step at a time until Colby shoved open the unlocked door with a shove of his shoulder.

  The banging of the doors falling away must have attracted attention. A cheer went up as the two men stepped into the night air.

  Colby breathed, really breathed, for the first time since he’d smelled smoke.

  Suddenly everything seemed to happen at once. Pecos was there to help carry the man. The sheriff took over bossing everyone around. The ambulance driver and his one EMT rushed over with the stretcher.

  The man was loaded and strapped in when he came to enough to start moaning.

  Sam and Colby looked at him, dirty, dressed like a homeless person. A week-old beard on a face twisted with pain was hard to see.

  “Who do you think he is?” Colby saw mostly blood and dirt.

  Sam shrugged.

  The sheriff moved between them. “That’s Boone Buchanan. Though he don’t look so good right now. I’ve got a few arrest warrants on him today. Seems he robbed an illegal poker game. Thought no one would file charges.” LeRoy laughed. “He don’t know ranchers. They’ll pay the fine for gambling before they’ll allow someone to steal a dollar from them. If you fellows don’t mind, I think I’ll ride with him to the hospital. I’ve got a list of questions when he wakes up. I don’t think he’s going to like the next picture that hits the papers.”

  They all walked behind the stretcher. Colby and Sam didn’t say a word.

  “Pecos,” the sheriff yelled at the kid ten feet in front of him. “You’re late to work. I told you that’s one rule you can never break.”

  “Am I fired?”

  “Yep, but I think I can find you another job. I’m thinking this town needs more deputies.”

  Pecos was almost jumping up and down.

  The sheriff didn’t seem to notice. “Did your father give you that black eye?”

  “Nope, my father-in-law.”

  “Should I look into this, son?” LeRoy yelled, with half the town listening.

  “No, it was kind of a welcome-to-the-family slug. He’s calmed down since then.”

  Boone was enraged as they shoved him into the ambulance. He told everyone that he was a lawyer and planned to sue the whole town.

  LeRoy squeezed between the stretcher and the bench. He accidentally bumped Boone’s leg. Boone shrieked, and the sheriff said he was so sorry.

  When Sam and Colby walked away, Colby said, “I’ll take Piper and Anna to Widows Park. It’s close and they’ll be safe. You coming?”

  “No, I need to stay until the fire is out. These volunteers look like they could use some help. They used enough water to put out the fire and with luck most of the damage will be smoke damage except where the wooden stairs were. If the volunteers hadn’t got here so fast it could have been a lot worse.”

  Sam offered his hand. “You’re still standing guard, aren’t you, Trooper?”

  “That’s what we do. Right?”

  “Damned straight.”

  Sam remained in the shadows as Colby went to join Anna and Piper. When Colby looked back, Sam had disappeared among the other firemen.

  Chapter 39

  Evening

  Pecos

  Mr. Winston’s house was dark, but Pecos knew his way from the kitchen door to his new bedroom.

  Mr. Winston had set them up in separate bedrooms with a connecting door between them. Pecos paused outside his door. There was no light under Kerrie’s door so she must be asleep. He’d have to wait until morning to tell her everything that had happened. The fire, the rescue, the arresting of Boone Buchanan. Pecos had heard the ambulance driver say that Boone would have bled to death if Colby and Sam hadn’t found him.

  The sheriff heard it, too, but just shrugged like he didn’t really care which way tonight ended.

  When he opened his door a low bedside lamp was on. He walked in slowly, his wet shoes in his hand.

  He shrugged out of his clothes.

  “Pecos?”

  Kerrie’s voice made him jump. He turned, and there she was—in his bed.

  “What are you doing here?” Maybe she got mixed up. Or maybe he had.

  “My bed was such a mess with all the clothes piled on it. I thought you wouldn’t mind if I slept in with you tonight.”

  ” Sure,” Pecos said. He took a deep breath.

  She rubbed her eyes with her fists like a kid would and sat up. “How was your first night at work?”

  “I didn’t make it in.” He thought it best to give the abridged version of his night. “I saw a fire starting at city hall. I couldn’t get 911 to pick up so I ran for help. The preacher saved Anna and the mayor. The sheriff saw me at the fire and not at work. He fired me, then gave me another job as a deputy.” He slid into bed next to Kerrie. “Is it just me or has this day seemed like we’ve been living ten years? Marriage ages a fellow. At the rate I’m living I’m guessing I’ll be ready for retirement by the end of next week.”

  “Tell me all about it.” She giggled. “Isn’t this fun? We can stay up talking as long as we want to. It’s like a sleepover.”

  He had no idea what a sleepover was like, but this was great. He told her all that had happened—how he’d felt, how he’d been able to help . . . and that the sheriff had called him son.

  When he got to the part about seeing what a broken leg looked like with a bone poking out, he looked down at Kerrie. She was cuddled under his arm and sound asleep.

  He covered her shoulder up with the sheet, then leaned down very slowly and kissed her on the lips.

  He didn’t feel like a husband and he doubted
she felt much like a wife. It didn’t bother him that she thought of him as a friend. He could handle that. As long as he was helping her, being with her, having a sleepover in his bed, Pecos felt he was a lucky man.

  And he was a man. Any boy that had been in him at dawn had melted away by nightfall.

  Chapter 40

  11:00 p.m.

  Piper

  Piper’s grandmother and aunts at Widows Park all came down in their robes and hairnets to take care of Piper and Anna. They fussed over them and ignored Colby. Which was fine with him, but now it was Piper’s turn to worry about her trooper.

  Finally, Piper convinced them to feed him something. She said she felt like she’d calmed down from all the excitement, but Colby was still on guard, still pacing.

  “He looks as if Boone might steal a wheelchair, beat up the sheriff, break out of the hospital, and come looking for me,” she told her grandmother.

  They brought him hummus and crackers, and he prayed it was the appetizer. He passed the plate to PJ and waited for the meal.

  Fortunately, Piper’s grandmother brought him a sandwich and beer.

  Two of the aunts took Anna up to the guest room so she could shower while they found her a nightgown. They seemed to have one in every size.

  At one point, they saw Aunt Nancy and Aunt Geraldine sneaking out of the house wearing matching purple jogging suits. Nancy had on a blue crocheted hat, and the taller Aunt Geraldine wore a red one.

  “Are they making a ten o’clock ice cream run?” Colby asked Piper. “Maybe we should put in our orders.”

  Finally, it was just the two of them. Piper said, “That was the longest kiss in the world. If a fire hadn’t started downstairs, we’d still be curled up in my office chair kissing.”

  “I would never have thought that the kiss was the first thing we’d talk about after we both almost died tonight.” He laughed. “But it’s as good a place to start as any.”

  “So”—she leaned closer—“tell me about the kiss.”

  “It has never happened to me like that. I always thought a kiss was just the beginning of foreplay, but, PJ, I could be happy just kissing you forever. It was like an addiction.” He watched her closely. “You probably know I’m falling for you hard. I’m not playing a part now. No one is listening. This is me talking just to you.”

  “I know.” She ate one of his chips. “You did your job when trouble came. You kept me safe and you found Boone.”

  “More like he found us. But there is more to us than the job.”

  Piper didn’t want to talk about that. She’d never been good at expressing her feelings in words or actions. If she wasn’t careful, she’d make a fool of herself by telling him how much she wished he’d be near all the time. That wasn’t her way. No emotions in public. No scandal. Give people nothing to gossip about.

  Somehow she’d carried the rule over to her private life. Maybe that explained why she didn’t have a private life. Maybe that explained the shocking fiasco with Boone.

  She had to change the subject.

  “What I don’t understand is why Boone hated me so much.”

  After a moment, Colby said, “Some people are just twisted up in their souls. You always had what he couldn’t have. The pretend engagement satisfied him for a while, but that couldn’t go on much longer. And then he got mixed up with some bad people, and he got desperate.”

  “Or maybe he just hated me. Because of me, the media started digging into his life. The dirt on him ran back to his college days. If his family hadn’t had money, a few of his pranks might have landed him in jail.”

  Colby offered her a bite of his sandwich. As she shared his meal she pushed her toes under his leg. “You can sleep down here in the parlor if you like.”

  “I plan to. I’m still on guard.” His hand rested on her leg, warming her all over.

  The sneaky purple getaway drivers appeared at the study door. They still had their red and blue hats on, but now they had Walmart bags in their hands.

  Colby smiled, and whispered, “Those two could get away with murder.” Raising his voice, he spoke to the aunts: “What’s up tonight, ladies?”

  “We made a run to the store and bought you some clothes,” Nancy said.

  She pulled out a Hawaiian shirt and a black T-shirt that said, BORN TO RIDE. Geraldine pulled out sweat pants and a pair of jeans, and said, “You’ll have to try them on. If they don’t fit, we’ll make a run back. The store’s open till midnight.”

  “What—right here, right now?”

  Nancy scoffed at him. “We’re both in our eighties and we’ve both had a couple of husbands and raised sons. You haven’t got anything we haven’t seen.”

  Piper fought down a giggle as both of her aunts sat down.

  Colby was too tired to argue. He peeled off his shirt and dropped his jeans. In truth it was probably a relief to get out of his dirty, smelly clothes.

  When he reached for the shirt, Colby looked up at the night riders and found them looking as if they were staring at a crime scene.

  “You’re hurt,” Nancy said. “Look, Piper Jane, he’s got more patches than a quilt.”

  “No, it’s someone else’s blood.” But when Piper looked again, she saw the patches she had put on, and the bruises and a few scrapes he’d gotten when climbing over the balcony. Hell, he looked like one of those voodoo dolls women name after their ex-husband and torture.

  The room was silent. Finally, Piper said calmly, “He’s got a beautiful body, but this assignment seems to have been a bit hard on him.”

  Nancy stepped closer for a better look. “Your grandmother called your brother, Piper, and demanded the facts tonight. He told her Colby McBride is a trooper assigned to protect you. Now we all know that, but we didn’t know he was taking a few blows protecting you.”

  “And probably dragged.” Aunt Nancy pointed to a scrape on his arm. “And poked. Oh, my dear, dear boy.”

  Colby just stared, as the two aunts went into action. One said she’d wake up the night nurse, and the other grabbed a throw and covered his shoulders as she ordered him not to drip blood.

  “I’ve been telling him that for days,” Piper said as she followed Colby and her diminutive aunts to the stairs.

  Men, Nancy informed him, were not usually allowed on the second floor, but an injured hero would just have to be the exception.

  A brawny bulldog of a nurse appeared at the top of the stairs. Before Colby could object, the nurse and the two army aunts hustled him to bed.

  “If he needs oxygen I’ll pull it off of Frances. She don’t really need it, she just likes the sound,” Nancy said.

  Colby closed his eyes. After a long day, the real nightmare seemed to be just starting.

  “I think he just passed out,” Piper said.

  “What if he’s dead?” Geraldine asked.

  The nurse pinched him hard. Colby opened his eyes. He stared at Piper with one of those “help me” looks like she’d given him at the café when she thought he was leading her into making a scene.

  “He’s alive,” the nurse announced. “Help me strip off these bandages. We’ll clean him up, then do the doctoring.”

  Piper crawled onto the bed, her back against the headboard, Colby’s head on her lap. As the ladies circled around, she whispered, “There will be more than a kiss waiting for you if you live through this.”

  He managed a smile just before the nurse and her helpers attacked.

  Ten minutes later, Colby whispered, “Now I know what being abducted by aliens must feel like. I can compare stories with Digger.”

  She kissed his head.

  “You missed, PJ, and your laughter didn’t make it better.”

  Just before the door closed, the bulldog said to Piper, “Only stay a few moments. He’ll need his sleep.”

  Piper covered her mouth until the door was closed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “They brought you some pajamas.”

  “I don’t wear paj
amas.”

  “You might want to. I think the nurse makes hourly rounds.”

  He sat up and put them on, not even bothering to ask why a widows’ commune had men’s sleepwear.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” he asked as he crawled back in bed and sat beside her.

  “For everything. For giving you such a hard time when you first got here. For not believing that I might actually need someone to watch over me. For causing a few of those wounds on your body. I can’t take the blame for all of them.”

  “My beautiful body,” he corrected. “The mayor said it, so it must be true.”

  She leaned over and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. “I have to go. The aunts are probably standing in the hallway with a stopwatch.”

  He leaned back and she covered him up.

  She kissed him lightly. “One last thing, Trooper. I think I’m falling hard for you too.”

  * * *

  Colby drifted off wondering if those were the last words she’d said or the beginning of a dream. He’d remind her of the kiss she owed him when he woke.

  Chapter 41

  Almost midnight

  Sam

  Sam wasn’t surprised that he bonded with the firemen within minutes. They’d seen his bravery and realized he knew his business. As they cleaned up and headed back to the station he was already talking to them about what needed to be done. Better equipment, routine checks of every building, regular testing of alarms.

  By the time they sat down at the station, the men were kidding him about yelling that he loved Anna Presley.

  “You’re braver than any man I know,” one man said. “And I’m not talking about the fire. Now don’t get me wrong. She’s a great lady. Not a person in town doesn’t admire her, but I’ve seen her skin a man alive for making an improper comment. Once, she heard a guy tell his wife that he should slap her for voting against his candidate. It took two men to pull little Anna off him.”