Holiday Hideout (9 page)

Maybe Cal was different. But could she take that chance? “I do owe you, I just…I’m afraid…”

His hand reached out to stroke her hair. She wanted to lean into the comfort. He cupped her chin. “Who do you need protection from?”

She looked away. “It doesn’t matter. Just leave me alone and let me go.” She set her jaw and headed to the counter.

“Abby, please…” His soft voice stopped her in her tracks.

Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath. Looking around, she spotted an empty bench and motioned him toward it. They sat side by side, her bag resting against her legs. “That horrible letter is a lie. And yet…it’s not.”

Confusion clouded his eyes. “You’re no murderer, Abby.”

She felt tears press against her eyelids. It was too soon to tell him. Too raw to talk about. “Like I told you, my sister died in childbirth. And so did her baby. My family blames me for not being able to convince her to go to the hospital.”

He blew a raspberry. “How is that your fault? She was a grown woman capable of making her own decisions, was she not?”

A little humorless laugh escaped her. “Yes, of course. It’s just that my family and her husband thought that I should have been able to ‘talk some sense into her.’” She wiggled her fingers as imaginary quotes as she said the last five words.

Only she wasn’t telling him the whole story. Wasn’t adding that she’d been her sister’s doctor. Was supposed to deliver a healthy baby girl so she and Keira and Reese could live happily ever after.

Cal didn’t look like he was buying her story.

But it was the truth.

Most of it anyway.

“You’re leaving something out.”

Biting her lip, she nodded. “Some things hurt too much to talk about,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I know.” He sighed and his eyes took on a faraway look. And she realized that he might understand if she told him the rest of it.

Then the light winked off his badge and the words froze in her throat.

She couldn’t confide in him. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

“I’m sorry.”

“Come on back to the house,” he said with a glance to the glass door. “It’s snowing buckets now. Whatever bus you’re wanting to take is going to be stuck anyway.”

She gasped and looked.

Once again, a world of white greeted her. Abby jumped up from the bench and grabbed her bag. “I’ve got to get my ticket.”

“Where are you going?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Somewhere warm.” She walked toward the ticket counter and got in line.

Cal followed. “Abby, come home with me. Please.”

“I can’t.” She kept her voice low. “Joseph doesn’t trust me. Not around Fiona. Not after that letter.” She swallowed hard. “And I don’t blame him.”

“I trust you.”

She stared at him. “How can you say that? You don’t know me. You don’t know—” Could she even say it? “I was— I let her die, Cal. I watched her stop breathing, I tried everything I knew how to do and it wasn’t good enough. I let her die!” Tears welled, threatened to rupture into a flood she’d never be able to stem.

He pulled her into his arms. They felt so good so she didn’t have the strength to fight him. “Abby, honey, I’m so sorry.”

She looked up at him, the grief nearly crippling her. “So? You see?” She whispered. “You don’t know. I should have stopped it. I should have known what to do. But I…”

Even as his fingers swiped the tears from under her eyes, he was saying, “I know enough. And I have great instincts when it comes to reading people. Yeah, I think you’re keeping secrets, but you’re no killer and you’re not a danger to my family—no matter what Joseph thinks.” He gestured to the door. “Do you really want to be out in that? On your own? With someone after you?”

Abby gulped. “Not really.”

“Stay with us, Abby. Let me help you.”

She studied him in wonder. “Why do you care?” she whispered.

Cal smiled a slow, gentle pull of his lips. “Because it’s been a really long time since I’ve met a woman who makes me feel…what you make me feel…when you walk into the room—or give me a genuine smile.” He shrugged and she saw his cheeks take on a reddish tinge. “I’m not ready to see you leave yet. I want to get to know you better.”

Abby gulped. Did he really just say that? Should she tell him the feeling was mutual? With a sinking feeling, she decided that once he knew her better, he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. Not after he learned who her brother-in-law was. Not after Reese got through telling Cal how she’d failed them all. Not after he learned she was her sister’s doctor.

And what about the person following her? Looking around she still didn’t see anyone even though the feeling of being watched never left her. Could she risk Cal’s family?

“I can’t, Cal. So far, this person has come after only me. What if he decides to change that? What if he doesn’t care who he hurts?” She gulped. “If something happened to you or Fiona or…I couldn’t live with myself.”

And if her attacker was Reese—or someone he hired—he would know a lot of ways to hurt people.

“Let me worry about that. I’m a cop. I can handle this, believe it or not. And I don’t have to do it alone. I have friends and experienced backup to help.”

Abby studied him, noting his rugged, good-looking features, his strong jaw and determined eyes. She had no doubt that he would do his best to protect her. And that scared her. Even strong, capable men got killed. And she didn’t know exactly who was after her. If it was Reese, hardheaded, stubborn, unforgiving Reese… “I don’t mean to imply that you can’t. It’s just…”

His eyes never wavered from hers. He wasn’t going to force her, but he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

She sighed. Looked outside one more time—and caved. “All right.”

He pulled her into a hug. “Now I’m going to get the car and have a heart-to-heart with Joseph. You stay by the door and wait for me to pull up.” Already there was at least an inch of snow on the ground and the temperature was dropping. She looked at the board. And buses were being canceled.

Going home with Cal suddenly seemed like the best thing to do right now.

She’d just have to stay out of Joseph’s way.

EIGHT

C
al couldn’t help the huge burst of relief that ruptured through him when he was finally able to talk Abby into going back to the ranch with him. He couldn’t explain it, either, except that he’d been honest with her. She made him feel things he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Those feelings unnerved him but excited him all at the same time. He had to admit watching Joseph and Fiona and his friends, Eli and Holly, and Dylan and Paige succumb to love, marriage and family had him yearning for the same.

Joseph waited in his truck, his jaw tight, eyes on Cal. Cal blinked as the snow hit him in the face and tugged the collar of his coat tighter.

Joseph rolled down the window as Cal approached. “She leaving?”

“Nope. She’s coming home with me.”

Anger flashed in his brother-in-law’s eyes. “You saw that letter, Cal. How can you justify bringing her back to the house?”

“If you’d rather her not stay with you and Fiona, she can stay with Mom. That letter is a lie. It has to be.”

Joseph’s fingers tapped the wheel as he thought. Cal waited, wishing the man would hurry up. He was freezing and he wanted to get back to the office. His shift wasn’t over for a couple of hours. Abby could hang out in the local café and wait on him. He didn’t think it would be a good idea to ask Joseph to take her home.

“Well? You gonna think all day?”

Joseph sighed and lost his mutinous expression. “You’re sure about this?”

Cal nodded. “Yep.”

“How sure?”

“A hundred percent. I think I’m falling for her.”

The expression on Joseph’s face made Cal laugh out loud. He couldn’t believe he’d allowed those words to pass his lips, but it was too late to take them back.

Abby saw Joseph drive off and breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t believe Cal had talked her into going back to the ranch with him. But he had.

Because she really didn’t want to leave him. She was drawn to him and his lovely family. She wanted to get to know him, too. Trust him with her secrets, her pain.

But once she did, would he shove her away? If there was any hope for a future together, that was one thing she was going to have to find out.

Cal motioned to her to hop in the front seat of the cruiser. She opened the door and tossed her bag on the floor.

Cal said, “Why don’t I drop you at John’s Café?” Abby knew the little restaurant sat on one side of John’s General Store. On the other side was The Candy Caper, according to Fiona. “Actually, I have a better idea.” Pulling his cell phone from his clip, he dialed a number.

“Holly, this is Cal. I have a friend who’s waiting for me to get off duty. Do you have time to keep her company?”

What was he doing?

“Great. Great. See you then.” Hanging up, he looked at her with a smug grin. “Do you like candy?”

She blinked. “Sure.”

“Then you’ll love this.”

Wondering if the man had lost his mind, Abby didn’t protest as he drove her down Main Street and pulled into the parking lot of The Candy Caper. A pretty green wreath with a red bow hung on the door. Lights were strung along the gutter and Abby could picture them lit up at night. A Christmas tree winked and blinked beyond the glass window just inside the store.

A petite young woman with blond hair and blue eyes peered out through the glass door. Seeing them, she smiled. A dart of jealousy fired through Abby and she clamped down on it.

Cal said, “I’d take you with me, but I don’t think you’d enjoy it very much. Holly is Eli Brody’s wife. Eli’s the sheriff here in town. I think you and Holly would get along great.”

The jealousy faded and she felt silly. Hoping he didn’t notice the red she knew was in her cheeks, she opened the door. Cal stopped her when his hand grabbed hers. “Be careful. Watch your back. I’ll try to drive by. Might even be able to come sit with you for a while. But we’ve got some teenagers who think they’re tough and are causing problems at the high school. I need to ride over there and put in an appearance.”

“The high school doesn’t have a full-time SRO?”

“School Resource Officer? No, unfortunately, we don’t. It’s a goal, though. If those kids weren’t causing trouble, I could stay with you.”

She nodded. “It’s not a big deal, Cal. Go do your job.” Looking around, she shivered, trying not to be paranoid, scared. “I’ll be fine.” Abby forced a smile she felt quite sure Cal saw right through. But he simply lifted a finger to stroke her cheek leaving a heated trail in its wake.

Abby scrambled out of the car, grabbing her bag from the floor. She looked up to find Holly still watching from the door, her brow raised and a small smile playing around her lips.

Holly opened the store door for her and Abby stepped inside the shop. A variety of scents assailed her. Chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla. Her stomach rumbled.

“Hi, Abby, I’m Holly.”

Abby watched Cal wave and drive off. Turning, she smiled at the woman. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

“Would you like some hot chocolate? A cappuccino?”

“Hot chocolate sounds great.”

Holly went to work fixing the drinks. “I’ve just started serving gourmet coffees and offering some healthy choices for lunches. I only have five choices on the lunch menu, so it keeps it pretty simple.”

“That sounds lovely. And you run the shop, too? Wow.”

“Yes.” Holly laughed. “It’s a lot of work. I’ve hired a few extra people to work some different shifts so that I can have time off and don’t have to work every minute of every day.”

“How long have you lived in Rose Mountain?”

“All my life.” Holly handed Abby the mug of hot chocolate and motioned to a small section of the store that had a seating area.

Abby dropped her bag by the chair and made sure she could see the door. The way things had been going lately, she wouldn’t be surprised if her attacker knew exactly where she was.

Holly said, “My son, Daniel, is sleeping in the back room. I just want to check on him real quick.”

“Sure.”

Abby sipped the warm cocoa and gave a satisfied sigh. The store was very cute, with a lot of charm and personality. It felt cozy…safe.

A feeling she hadn’t been familiar with for quite a while now. But she didn’t let that lull her into dropping her guard. She glanced through the window to the mostly empty street beyond. The weather kept most people at home. Only the most hardy ventured out.

Soon Holly returned and sat opposite Abby. “I love being able to bring him to work with me.”

The glowing eyes and bright smile told Abby that this was a woman who’d found contentment in her life.

“How did you get here through the snow and ice?”

Holly grinned. “Eli has to make it into work no matter what most days in the winter. He never knows what’s going to happen or where. We have a snow plow. It’s slow going, especially on the mountain roads, but we take our time and can generally get to where we need to go.”

Abby smiled. “You love your life, don’t you?”

“Every bit of it.”

Envy surged back to the surface, this time for a different reason. Abby had lived her entire life in the shadow of her older sister. Keira had been the popular girl. She’d been cheerleader, prom queen and college valedictorian.

A restlessness to prove herself had led Abby to med school. A love for children made her choose obstetrics. She could understand Holly’s delight in being able to bring her son to work and enjoy the simple mountain life.

“It’ll still be pretty busy today in spite of the weather. A lot of people live nearby and are able to walk to work. If someone else comes in, I’ll have to pop up and help them.”

“It’s no problem.” Her gaze took in a side room that held three computers. “What’s that?”

Holly giggled. “I thought going high-tech would be pretty cool. Welcome to Rose Mountain’s internet café.”

The door jingled and Holly gave Abby a wry smile. “Duty calls.”

Abby tensed and checked out the person who entered. An older gentleman in a black overcoat. Not Reese. She forced a smile. “Do you mind if I use one of the computers?”

“Not at all. Help yourself.”

Holly went to help the customer and Abby stood, pulling her flash drive from her pocket. Within seconds, she had settled herself in front of the computer.

Soon, she was up and running, remotely accessing her work computer, praying no one was in her office to notice. For the next little while, she compared the data on her flash drive with the data on her computer.

Digging deep into her memory, she flagged information she thought had been altered. She kept an eye out for tests she hadn’t ordered, injections she hadn’t prescribed.

A shadow passed by the windows and she shivered.

Turning her attention back to the screen in front of her, she navigated her way into the area she’d studied about a week after sister’s death.

She’d spent hours in the office, dulling her pain with mind-numbing work. Catching up on files, even entering patient data and insurance information.

When she came across Leticia Monroe’s file, she paused, puzzled. According to this file, Leticia was labeled high risk and her insurance had been billed for tests Abby had never ordered.

She clicked on another patient record. Also billed for high-risk pregnancy, but this one was accurate.

Had Leticia’s just been a mistake? She started opening the files of her other patients, going through each one, reading the information she’d written, orders she’d made, medication she’d prescribed.

Wait a minute. This wasn’t right. Something was off. Several patients had drugs prescribed, expensive ones, that she rarely used. Abby sat back with a huff and stared at the screen. Had Reese somehow managed to do this? To access patient records and change them? As a police officer would he be able to do that?

Maybe.

Not by any ethical means, of course, but…

A chill invaded her body. Was he setting her up to take a fall of mammoth proportions?

The sound of a toddler crying jerked her attention from the screen. She looked up to see Holly hurrying toward the back room.

Daniel.

Her heart thudded in her chest. She realized she’d flashed back to the day at Fiona’s apartment where she’d heard the crying baby only to have someone try to kidnap her.

She shuddered and went back to the computer.

In her search so far, Leticia’s file was the only obvious aberration. The patient she remembered the most and knew she hadn’t ordered that specific test. They wouldn’t have needed it.

She clicked on the next one. This time, she didn’t recognize the name. Sally Jensen.

“Who is she?”

“Who is who?” Holly asked from the door.

Abby jumped and swiveled her head toward Holly who stood in the doorway. Daniel blinked at her sleepily and Abby felt her heart constrict. “Oh, sorry. Talking to myself.”

“Find something interesting?”

Abby’s stomach clenched. She was dying to continue reading, but certainly didn’t want to be rude to the sweet woman letting her hang out in the store. Abby forced a light laugh. “Not really.” She changed the subject. “Is this Daniel?”

“Yes, can you say hi, Daniel?”

Daniel buried his face in his mother’s shoulder, but peeked at Abby and offered her a grin. She smiled. “I can see why you lost your heart to that one. He’s precious.”

“Thank you.”

Abby asked, “Did you get all your customers taken care of?”

“For now.” Holly switched Daniel to her other hip. “I just need to feed this little guy before it gets even busier as the lunch crowd filters in.”

Abby felt compelled to ask, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Holly smiled. “No, I have a teenage helper, Tori Leigh, who comes in to watch Daniel during the busy time.” She glanced at her watch. “In fact, she should be here any moment.” Holly asked, “Would you like something to eat?”

Abby’s stomach protested the thought of food. She was too tied up in knots to eat. “Maybe later, thanks.”

The bell on the door rang out another greeting, and Holly nodded. “That’s Tori now.”

“I’m just going to finish what I was doing, if that’s all right.” Abby’s fingers itched to keep clicking.

“Sure thing. And please don’t think I’m rude if I don’t speak over the next hour or so. Although, if you get hungry, just holler.”

Holly went back to her business.

And Abby returned to her screen. Click, scroll, read, flag. Click, scroll, read. She fell into a pattern as she accessed each patient record.

About halfway through, she stopped and went back to Sally Jensen. Who was she? A new patient Abby had just forgotten about? A patient who belonged to one of her partners and she’d just been mislabeled under Abby’s name?

Possibly.

She looked up to give her eyes a rest and they landed on little Daniel stuffing a piece of chicken into his mouth. He chomped happily while Tori Leigh played peekaboo with him.

Abby’s heart stung. She wanted children. Wanted a family to call her own. Wanted everything her sister had had.