“And to get both of them to call within—” she
checked the screen. “Thirty minutes of each other?”
He shrugged. “That was their doing. Probably
talked to each other first. You want to tell me what’s really going
on here?” He motioned to the bar.
She tucked her phone away and kept her gaze
straight ahead. How could she feel comfortable with him and jittery
around him at the same time? Maybe if she ignored who he was, just
talked, her nerves would calm down. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you quit Quinn’s to take a different
job, you kick the doctor to the curb. Are you getting ready to take
off, Beth?”
She stopped short and snapped her gaze to
his. “No! God, if only, but no.” She pushed her hands through her
hair and started walking again. “I’ll see Linda through college.
Then maybe.”
“No one could blame you, you know. You
sacrificed a lot for those kids, and you were almost done, and then
Linda goes and has a baby.”
Like he was telling her something she didn’t
know. “My choice to let her keep the baby. If she’d given him up
for adoption, we’d have one more year.”
“Do your brothers know she had the baby?”
“Sure.”
“And they didn’t come home to meet their
nephew?”
“At the time, the adoption plans were all
set. They didn’t see a need. Once everything changed, they couldn’t
make it. Why would they want to come back here, anyway? Too many
bad memories.”
He looked out over the lake as they reached
the path that ran alongside it. “Their sisters are here.”
She slowed her pace, the lapping of the water
never failing to soothe her. As much as she wanted to leave behind
the struggles she faced here, she did love the beauty of the place.
If only she had more time to enjoy it. “Family doesn’t mean the
same to us as it does to the Bradleys, remember? You were here for
some of it.”
“I was.”
He didn’t say any more, and she wondered if
he was remembering her father throwing beer bottles at her as she
fled the house with her baby sister in her arms. Maddox had been
waiting outside and drove them both down to the lake, where Linda
played while Beth cried. Or the time when he’d come in and wrested
the belt from her father’s hand because he was beating the holy
hell out of Adam. Her father had collapsed on the floor in a
sobbing heap, Beth had cradled her younger brother and begged
Maddox not to act on the violence she saw etched on his face.
He of all people would understand why she
couldn’t allow her father back in their lives, but if she told him,
well, he would want to rescue her. She hadn’t needed anyone to
rescue her in a long time.
“So are you going to call your brothers
back?”
“In the morning, maybe.”
“Will you tell them what’s really going
on?”
“It’s private. I plan to keep it that way. I
can handle it.”
“Someday something’s going to come along that
you can’t handle all by yourself, Beth. You keep pushing people
away, who will you turn to then?” He drew his cap over his eyes,
nodded a good night, and turned to walk away.
By the time she clocked out her first night
at Lakeside Casino, her feet were screaming, but she had to wear
the high-heeled strappy sandals as long as she was on the floor and
in uniform. Quinn had let her wear athletic shoes, and she had the
freedom to sit down every now and again. At the casino, even it if
was slow, she wasn’t allowed to sit. She’d leaned a few times, and
gotten dirty looks from the bartender and other waitresses.
Stepping gingerly to avoid the worst of the
pain, she went to her locker, grabbed her purse, stuffed her tips
for the night deep inside, slung the bag over her shoulder and
hobbled out to her car. Tomorrow she would remember to bring
clothes to change into in the future. God, she just wanted to be
around things she knew and loved.
She fumbled with her keys and almost dropped
them when she heard a group of men laughing, closer than she
expected. She wasn’t paranoid, but she wasn’t stupid, either. Women
who were unaware of their surroundings, especially in a place where
men had been drinking, were asking for trouble. With a quick scan,
she saw the three men, about four cars down, and they had noticed
her. She got into her car, locked up behind her, hating that her
heart was racing. She slipped off her shoes though she knew better
than to drive barefoot, and when she straightened, she looked into
the eyes of one of her customers through the driver’s side window.
He gave her a leer, a wink, and pointed his finger at her, then
shouted to his friends. She twisted the key in the ignition and
gunned out of the slot, then out of the lot and onto the road.
She was aware enough to check her rearview
mirror to see if she was followed—something she never had to worry
about in Bluestone. And yes, before long, headlights appeared
behind her. She was only so paranoid, but when the other car had
ample opportunity to pass, or turn off, and didn’t, her heart
started pounding again. She tried to remember what she’d read she
was supposed to do. Not go home, for one. Drive to a police
station. Okay. She could do that. No one would be there this time
of night, though. She pulled her purse onto her lap to dig for her
cell phone, slowing and giving the car another opportunity to pass.
It didn’t. She dragged out her phone, pressed the button, and
nothing. Not charged. Damn it, not again. She tossed it on the seat
and thought.
Maddox’s place. The Barclay cabin he’d rented
was halfway between Lakeside Casino and Bluestone. Yes. She’d go to
Maddox’s. He’d be home, though not necessarily alone. And if she
turned off and the car behind her kept going, well, she’d just turn
around and go home. She accelerated a bit, hope surging.
When she turned on her signal to the road
leading to Maddox’s, the car behind her did the same. Her pulse
spiked. She had to slow, not remembering just which driveway led to
the Barclay’s cabin. There. She signaled again and turned in.
Without looking back, she grabbed her bag and
ran on bare feet up the steps to Maddox’s cabin. A light was on
downstairs, and as she approached she heard the drone of the TV
through the open window. She slapped at the door in her panic, and
hoped it didn’t transmit through her voice when she said, “Honey! I
forgot my keys again.”
Please answer. Please answer.
Behind her, the other engine cut off, and she
heard the creak of an opening door. Adrenaline spiked, and she
hurried to the open window and looked in on the empty couch in
front of the flickering TV. God. Where was he? She couldn’t get rid
of him most of the time, but when she needed him—
She turned to see a shadow on the porch. When
her eyes adjusted, she saw it was a Maddox shaped shadow, complete
with white undershirt. His straight hair stood up on his head and
he scrubbed his hand over his face. “Forgot your keys again?” he
asked sleepily.
Behind him, the other car door closed, and
the engine started. Beth’s knees weakened in relief, and it took
the last of her self-control not to reach for him.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I didn’t know
what else to do.”
She saw the minute he became alert, and
turned toward the retreating car.
“What’s going on?”
“I—they followed me from the casino. I didn’t
want to go home, and you were close and I was scared and—”
“Okay, okay. It’s all right.” He caught her
arm and drew her stumbling toward him, into his arms.
She let her head fall to his shoulder, let
him wrap his arms around her, absorb her trembling. He smelled
good, like fresh air and clean sweat, warm from sleep, and strong
and solid.
“I’m glad you thought of me. Come in, sit
down, have something to drink. You’re shaking.”
She didn’t want him to let go just yet, but
her feet throbbed and her knees wobbled. Maybe sitting down was a
good idea. She let him draw her inside, gently, like he was coaxing
a fawn, and sit her on the plush couch, still warm from his body.
She glanced at the infomercial onscreen, proof he’d been asleep.
She couldn’t imagine Maddox Bradley watching an infomercial about a
super-mop. A moment later, he sat beside her and held a glass of
water out to her.
“Sorry, should be brandy, I guess, but I
don’t have any.”
“I have to drive home anyway,” she said,
taking a grateful sip.
“Do you know who those guys were?”
She shook her head. “I don’t even remember
seeing them in the casino. They were just yelling stuff in the
parking lot, and I ignored them and drove off. I guess they decided
to follow.”
He shook his head. “I’m glad you were aware
enough, and thought to come here.”
She shuddered, trying not to imagine what
would have happened if she hadn’t been paying attention and they’d
followed her home, where her sister and nephew were. He curved his
arm around her shoulder and drew him against her, and she didn’t
protest. Her heart rate slowed as the adrenaline ebbed, as the
scent of him washed over her, and the hours and the nerves of the
day caught up to her. She drifted in his arms, relaxing against his
chest until she felt him chuckle.
“Sweetheart, where are your shoes?”
Beth blinked against the early morning
sunlight and wondered who had opened her window. And her pillow
wasn’t usually so firm. Or moving.
Oh, crap.
The sunlight was streaming through the big
windows overlooking the lake. And her pillow was stroking her hair.
She snapped her head up to look into the amused brown eyes of
Maddox Bradley.
“Been a long time since we did that,” he
drawled, his head propped on the arm of the couch, his fingers
trailing through the length of her hair.
“We didn’t do anything,” she pointed out,
certain she was right, sliding down his body to escape. Only she
forgot the combination of soft, warm bodies, the movement and a
man’s natural morning greeting. He sucked in a breath and she was
way too aware of his arousal beneath the fly of his jeans. She
hesitated for a moment, then rolled off the couch. “I need to get
home. Linda will be wondering where I am. I can’t believe I left
them all night.”
He sat up more slowly as she looked around
for her shoes, then remembered she hadn’t been wearing any. She
pushed her tangled hair back from her face and looked at him. Bad
idea. Even rumpled from sleep, he was a damned sexy man. When had
his shoulders gotten so broad? His wife-beater had ridden up and
revealed a flat belly with dark hair arrowing toward the waistband
of his jeans and—
She jerked her gaze away and scanned the room
for her purse. Had she brought it in?
Instead of thinking how smoking hot Maddox
looked, she needed to be thinking about what she would tell her
sister after being out all night.
“Let me make you some breakfast,” he
said.
She shook her head. There was her purse, on
the entryway table. “I need to get home. Linda will be up and
worried.”
“You’re not going to tell her you were here,
are you?”
“She wouldn’t believe nothing happened.”
“So what?”
She spun on him. “So what? How can I tell her
she can’t stay out all night when I do it?”
“Just tell her the truth. Lying isn’t going
to do any good, anyway. What happens when she finds out the
truth?”
“And who’s going to tell her? You?”
“Small town. Lots of eyes.”
He was right. Someone would see her leaving
here, or arriving home, and would draw the wrong conclusion. Not
only would it undermine her authority with Linda, but it would hurt
Dale. She tried to recall just how frightened she’d been last
night, to come here. Or had she been wanting an excuse?
He rose, too close, and she scrambled away,
toward her purse.
“Beth,” he said, with a touch of
exasperation.
“Thanks for letting me stay,” she managed,
digging out her car keys and reaching for the door handle.
“I’ll—see you.” And she made her escape.
Her stomach was in knots the entire drive
home. With her luck, Trinity would be there, too. But no, the space
in front of the house was empty, and the porch light was still on.
Excuses clogged her throat as she walked up the steps and slipped
the keys in the door.
Linda’s door was still closed, and though she
heard Jonas fussing in his room, she slipped into her own bedroom
and closed the door.
Beth did her best to blink the tears from her
eyes as she maneuvered over the sour smelling carpet of the
Lakeside Casino. Her heels pinched after years of waiting tables in
athletic shoes. Her butt throbbed from the three good pinches she’d
received, all when her arms were full and she couldn’t fight back,
or do more than pivot and glare, which only made the perpetrators
laugh. She needed to make friends with security, especially after
last night, because the men in Bluestone would never do something
like that. If they didn’t fear her wrath, they feared Quinn’s. But
here, she was on her own.
Why did guys think girls liked their asses
pinched anyway?
She lowered her tray to the bar and leaned
against it for a moment to get her weight off the cursed heels.
“Miss Lapointe!” a nearby manager—in
practical flats, Beth noticed—snapped. “You need to stand
straight.”
Wow, talk about making her feel like a
five-year-old. She straightened, slowly, and thought about the
tips. Already she’d made more in four hours than she made in two
nights at Quinn’s, even with Maddox playing. With any luck, she
could finish up here by fall and go back to Quinn’s. But she knew
better than to count her chickens before they hatched. As she
waited for the bartender to fill her order, she looked around the
glass-and-chrome bar. Glasses hung overhead, upside down,
reflecting the blue and green lights hung between them. People
occupied every barstool on this Saturday night, some with heads
bent together, others looking about, clearly hoping to meet
someone.