Hearths of Fire (15 page)

Her heart skipped a beat upon hearing her nickname and she fought the need to run her hands down her sides. Charlotte didn’t have the tall and thin frame that most of the blondes possessed in town, like her sister. Instead, Charlotte was petite with curves and while normally that didn’t bother her, she was self-conscious about it today for some reason. It really didn’t matter though, did it?

The pain, anguish, and regret of what Charlotte had done to Neal on their wedding day returned like a blow to her chest. Even during their high school years they had both known what they’d wanted—to get married, have children, and grow old right here in the town of Hearth. That had all changed when her parents had died in an auto accident the summer she’d turned eighteen. She was left to raise a younger sister. To this day she could recite the conversation they’d had under the stars after her parents’ funeral.

“We both won’t be able to afford college,” Neal said with a certainty that shot dread into her heart. They were lying on a blanket underneath the stars where he’d held her for hours, letting her cry all the tears she’d needed to. Charlotte had done her best to put on a brave front for Mandy, but Neal had known how hard today had been for her. They had stolen a few hours to themselves in the back yard of her parents’ house after her sister had finally fallen asleep. “I think it’s best if I join the Corps.”

“What?” Charlotte tried to sit up, but Neal stopped her before she could by rolling onto his side and placing an arm over her abdomen. She looked up at him with shock and struggled to find the right words that would make him see reason. “What about our plans? We’ll figure out a way that both of us can go to the community college over in Kirksville. If I sell the bookstore—”

“You’re not selling the bookstore, Char.” Neal’s green eyes looked almost black in the darkness. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but she couldn’t allow him to go into the service. “Your parents left you enough money so that you and Mandy could go to college. Use your half and get your business degree so that you can continue to run the bookstore. If I go into the Marines, they’ll pay for my college after four years.”

“Shannon’s brother went into the service and he didn’t come back home. Jimmy did the same thing.” Charlotte reached up and traced his face with her fingers. She’d lost so much already…she couldn’t lose him too. “If you sign up, you’ll—”

“I will always come back to you,” Neal said with earnest, leaning down and pressing his warm lips to hers. She’d been so cold lately. “This will be a good thing for us. You’ll see. We’ll get married before I go so that you and Mandy will be covered under my health insurance. I’ve already spoken to a recruiter. My parents have already said they’d cover the wedding, although it will have to be small. We can make this work, Char. I know we can.”

“When I didn’t hear from you the rest of the week I assumed you’d decided not to come home,” Charlotte said, shaking off the memory. She needed to focus on the here and now so she crossed her arms, but then she realized that it looked as if she were raising her breasts and she quickly lowered them. Getting sick of second-guessing herself already, she let her arms fall to her sides. She needed to remember that he was here to help her with Mandy and that she should express her gratitude. She hadn’t lied on the phone. He was her last option. “I’m truly grateful that you’re here, Neal. I fear that once Mandy turns eighteen I’ll lose her forever.”

“You’re not going to lose your sister.” It looked as if Neal was going to say more but then stopped himself. He gestured behind him. “Let’s go over to the diner and grab a bite to eat. You can go into detail about Ashe and his parents.”

Charlotte nodded somewhat hesitantly and it didn’t take her long to collect her purse. She didn’t like this uncertainty she felt around him, particularly since she was such a self-assured woman. If only she’d made a better effort to speak with him when he’d returned home the first time then maybe this wouldn’t have been so awkward. Then again, she never would have thought her little sister would be in this predicament either. Maybe talking about what had happened in the past two months would ease this tension between them. That is, if there wasn’t one of the cult members in the diner eavesdropping on their conversation.

In under a minute they were across the street and entering Ember Café, the local diner. Charlotte should have known their presence would be the topic for tonight’s gossip mill. Already the gossipmongers were looking at them like they were shark bait and Thelma Till was the worst of them. Damn, Charlotte’s luck was batting a thousand. There was also one of those Ashes to Dirt people sitting dead center at the counter. She hadn’t realized she was blocking the entrance until she felt Neal’s hand on her lower back. Regardless that she was wearing a knit sweater, she swore that she could feel the heat of his palm through the thick material.

“Don’t give them a second thought,” Neal murmured, his deep, rich voice sending shivers through her body. After all these years Charlotte would have thought their attraction would have diminished. “When the reason I’m here gets out, the ATD will be the topic of conversation.”

Neal’s acronym for the cult was interesting, but she didn’t reply. Charlotte was grateful to see that a booth toward the back of the diner was open and although she quickly made her way to the empty seats, Neal’s hand continued to stay on her back. She wasn’t too sure about the effect he seemed to think would happen at the change in gossip. She went to slide in the side facing the door, but the pressure from his other hand on her arm had her taking the other seat.

“Sorry,” Neal said, although he didn’t look apologetic in the least. “Habit. I need to see who’s coming and going.”

In other words he wanted to be aware of his surroundings. Charlotte could understand that. What she couldn’t recognize was the darkening of his green eyes when they met hers. Was it anger? Was it resentment? She wanted to ask but she couldn’t bring herself to talk about the past. Instead she postponed the inevitable.

“I saw your truck outside,” Charlotte said, placing her purse beside her on the seat and wishing the waitress would arrive soon. She looked to her right and saw that Fred Lamm was having dinner with another fishing buddy of his, but neither of the older gentlemen was talking. More likely they were listening in on every word she and Neal had to say. “Was your drive uneventful?”

“Yes.” Neal leaned back in his seat and she would have given anything to know what he was thinking. He did take time to give a nod of acknowledgment to Fred, but immediately refocused his attention back on her. She remembered that Neal liked to fish and had gone numerous times with Fred. Honestly, there probably wasn’t a person in this town that didn’t know them and their past history. “So catch me up on Ashes to Dirt. I’m not sure if you know this, but before I left for San Diego I had a run in with the leaders. The town council asked that I speak to them after they bought that stretch of property you were referring to on Ryder Road. The mayor wanted to be reassured that they weren’t here to cause some sort of trouble.”

“No, I didn’t know that,” Charlotte replied, not surprised though. The townsfolk still weren’t happy, but somehow the followers were able to recruit one or two new members a week from the surrounding area. Now that they were talking about this her thoughts instantly went to Mandy and Garreth. Her stomach revolted and she again wondered what was taking the waitress so long. “Why would the mayor ask you to do that? Wouldn’t that be old Sheriff Plinkton’s job?”

Charlotte tried to relax now that their discussion stayed on the reason she’d asked him here instead of where her thoughts had been taking things. It also eased her mind when the earlier silence slipped away by the hushed murmurs of conversation. She presumed the diners were yakking about the two of them, but she figured since she couldn’t see them she was able to put it out of her mind.

“The sheriff’s wife was in the hospital at the time and you know how Mayor Rudolph can be,” Neal said with a shrug, indicating it wasn’t a big deal. Now that he’d brought it up her memory had been sparked.

“Wait.” Charlotte leaned forward and lowered her voice, ensuring that only he heard what she had to say. “Is that when your house was broken into?”

“There was never a connection made, but I believe so,” Neal divulged, the tightening of his jaw showing his displeasure. “Nothing had been taken and there was no evidence to trace it back to Ashes to Dirt.”

“I’m surprised you would let something like that go,” Charlotte admitted, leaning back when Sally Jenkins appeared—gossipmonger extraordinaire. The waitress was overworked, but apparently not too tired to prevent her brown eyes from sparkling with interest at seeing the two of them having dinner together. There wasn’t a single person in town who wasn’t aware of her and Neal’s past. “Hi, Sally.”

“Charlotte,” Sally said with a smile and a wink. She turned her attention to the man she really wanted to speak with. “Neal Bauer. What brings you back to town?”

“I’m here to ensure that Mandy makes the right choice,” Neal declared, much to Charlotte’s surprise. He’d also said it loud enough that his rich voice carried throughout the diner. What the hell did he think he was doing? Charlotte looked over her shoulder and the reason was evident. One of the members of Ashes to Dirt was still situated at the counter. It was easy to tell them apart from the black buttoned-down shirt the men wore with black denim. It was as if it were some type of uniform, although she’d never specifically asked Garreth about it. “You know, college and such.”

Charlotte slowly let out the breath that she’d been holding, thankful that Neal had pulled back on saying what he really wanted to say. She didn’t need an all-out war with the followers or the Ashe family. Neal would be returning back to San Diego on Sunday and she would be left here to deal with whatever fallout came from this. All she wanted was for Mandy to stick to the plan of becoming a nurse and not get persuaded to join some fanatical cult.

“That’s right nice of you, doll,” Sally said, her smile faltering just a bit. Charlotte noticed that her eyes darted to the counter as well before she pulled out her pad and pen. “What can I get the two of you?”

“Two Hired Hand specials with coffee for me and a hot chocolate for Char.”

Charlotte didn’t bother to argue since that’s exactly what she would have ordered. She played with the edge of her napkin as Sally wrote down their orders and told them she’d be right back with their drinks. Charlotte finally placed the napkin in her lap and looked across the table at Neal.

“What was that?”

“A little warning,” Neal replied, still keeping his eyes on the man sitting on one of the stools. “They need to understand that bringing Mandy into the fold will be bad for them. The only way to do that is to lay our cards on the table. Your sister is still seventeen and resides under your roof. What you say goes.”

“And what happens at the end of next week when she turns eighteen?” Charlotte asked, amazed that Neal wasn’t seeing the larger picture. Things had been so much easier when they’d been younger. “Yes, I could have forbidden Mandy to see Garreth. And what then? The way her personality has changed she would have run away. What we need to do is concentrate on changing Mandy’s mind, not making idle threats to one of the followers.”

“Char, Mandy isn’t going to change her mind,” Neal said softly, his gaze finally landing on her. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, covering her hands with his. He hadn’t touched her like this since they were nineteen years old and she found that she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight. His next words took care of any foolish thoughts that might have entered her head and she jerked away from him. “It’s Garreth and his family that need to rethink who they are targeting. There’s only one way to do that.”

‡

N
eal didn’t know
why he’d reached out to touch Char, but the action had been instinctive. She’d looked so troubled about the fact that Mandy was going to turn eighteen within a week and rightly so. When she’d pulled her small hands out from under his, it was then that he’d realized his mistake. It wouldn’t happen again.

Seeing her this time around hadn’t been as easy as he’d thought it would be. When he’d driven into town he’d steeled himself against the memories, much like he did upon returning in the beginning of the year. The difference between now and then was that he’d gone out of his way to stay clear of her before. Sure, they’d run into each other here and there, but nothing that would place them in a situation where they’d have to speak at length.

“Char, you called me and asked for my help,” Neal said, trying to ease them into what the next two days would bring. “I’m here, but you need to trust me. Think about the way we were back in high school. We thought we knew what we wanted and no one was going to tell us different…just like Mandy.”

Neal could have kicked himself in the ass for bringing up the past, but there was no way around what she needed to get through her head. Mandy thought she had all of the answers. She wasn’t going to listen to anyone but the boy she was infatuated with.