To Bedevil A Beauty (Southern Sanctuary - Book 5) (9 page)

He’d
just finished the last fry on his plate when new arrivals walked in, a
couple.  They were arresting.  For one, the woman was stunning, even
in the simple white loose pants and light blue scooped necked sweater she wore
clinging to mouth-watering curves.  Her dark hair was up in a sassy slick
pony-tail, calling attention to her beautiful face, classic cheekbones and
gorgeous clear sea green eyes.

Ramsey
couldn’t deny the female was lovely, but it was her companion that really
caught his attention.  Mainly because Ramsey didn’t often come across men
that were taller than him… or broader for that matter.  The newcomer
looked like a surfer dude on steroids with his tanned skin and shaggy
blonde-brown hair. Except this was no casual beach bum, the man moved like a
professional soldier, light, wary of putting his back to the room, deliberately
manoeuvring the woman so that she was always protected. 

Several
of the locals greeted them as they entered.  Ramsey didn’t catch the
over-sized surfer’s name, but the name Charisse, sounded awfully
familiar.  Ah, of course, the painter.
 
The one who’d been the focus of the two recent vandal attacks.
 
He watched as she patted her companion on the
shoulder, rolled her eyes and despite his protest strolled away to find them a
table.

Glancing
at his watch, realising that he still had forty minutes until he had to relieve
Gideon, Ramsey decided to make himself useful and get answers to a couple of
things that had been bothering him about those supposed vandal incidents. “Hi.”

The
brunette jumped, a hand clutching at her throat.  Why, he had no
idea.
 
Surely she’d seen him sitting
there one table over, who could miss him?

“Oh.” 
Her look of surprise instantly changed to a polite cautious smile.  “Hi.”

Ramsey
got to his feet, doing his best not to loom or intimidate.  “I’m Chief
Ramsey Hughes and you’re Charisse…?”  Damn, he didn’t know her last name.

“That’s
right.”

“I
was hoping to ask you a few questions.” He was already pulling out a chair and
taking a seat, Charisse didn’t appear all that perturbed by his pushiness but
she did blink slowly, as if off balance slightly that he hadn’t said whatever
she’d been expecting. 

“Sure
Chief Hughes, whatever I can do to help.”  Her wary smile gave way to a
wide sunny grin.

“You’d
better make it Ramsey.”  He held up his bottle of beer. 
“Technically, I’m off the clock.”

“You
have some questions?”

“About
the recent vandal attacks; on your car and house.”

“Oh
yes, of course.”  Charisse nodded.  “I’m not sure how much help I can
be though, I wasn’t present when they happened.”

“You’ve
had some time to think since they occurred though, any names popped into your
head about who might want to cause trouble for you?”

Charisse
studied him carefully, amusement lingering in her eyes, a smile tugging at the
corner of her lips.  “No, I’m afraid not. I guess it was just kids who
found an empty house and decided to cause a little mischief.”

“Ones
capable of lifting a car with their bare hands…”  Ramsey muttered under
his breath.

Before
Charisse could make any response, a shadow loomed across their table. 

Ramsey
looked up to find Charisse’s companion standing over them… hmm, so this is what
it felt like to be loomed over?  Interesting.  Damn the guy was
large, what was he, 6.7ft maybe 6.8ft?

“She’s
not available dude.”  A glass of wine was slammed down on the table in
front of Charisse.  “She didn’t smile at you.  She wasn’t flirting
with you with her eyes.  She doesn’t want to hear that her hair is like
spun sunshine or that her eyes are vivid green pools of a tropical sea. 
She doesn’t want to listen to your half-assed compliments, get it.  Did
you not see the band-aide?”  The giant held up his right hand, to display
a band-aide taped to the middle of his palm.  “Did you not see the ring?”

“Ah…
well.”  Ramsey was finding it hard to track the conversation.  Was
this guy drunk?  What was up with the band-aide?

“Nate…” 
Charisse’s voice held a warning tone.

“Cyd,
did you show him the ring?”  Nate turned his attention to Charisse. 
“We agreed. Any time a guy approaches, you put your hand out and show them the
ring.  We had the conversation again this morning.  Remember? You
promised.”

Charisse
shook her head.
 
Wow, she even frowned
beautifully.
 
Weird surfer hulk was one
lucky guy.  “I did?  I don’t remember agreeing to do that.  It
sounds rude.”

Nate
shook his head.  “This morning, when I was stripping paint off the front
door?  We talked about it then and I definitely recall you agreeing.”

Charisse’s
frown suddenly cleared.  “You weren’t wearing a shirt.”

“A-ha,
so you do remember the conversation.”  Nate accused.

“I
remember you not wearing a shirt… I don’t remember any conversation.”

Nate
rolled his whiskey coloured eyes, Charisse reached up, grabbed him by the
t-shirt and yanked him down onto the seat next to her.  “Sorry.”  She
gave Ramsey a reassuring smile.  “We’re renovating a house and I think the
paint fumes have started to affect him.  Nate… sweetie…”

Ramsey
couldn’t be sure but he suspected that Charisse was grinding her heel down on
Nate’s booted foot.

“…this
is Ramsey Hughes, the new Chief of Police that
everyone has been talking
about
.  Ramsey, this is Nate…”

“Her
husband.”  Nate held out his hand, smiling in genuine surprise when Ramsey
actually shifted his attention easily from Charisse and took it.

“Yes.” 
Charisse laughed softly.  “I’m still trying to get my head around how that
actually happened.”  She lifted her glass and took a sip.

Ramsey
hid a frown, there was a band-aide on the palm of Charisse’s hand, mirroring
the exact same spot Nate had one.  Nate had mentioned the band-aide first
and then the ring, as if the band-aide and whatever it represented meant more
than the ring… just one more piece of the puzzle.

“I
was just asking Charisse a few follow up questions about the recent vandal
attacks on her car and property.”

“Unfortunately,
I wasn’t very helpful.”  Charisse absently laid her hand down on Nate’s
bare arm.

“I
would have thought your number one priority would be finding who shot
Berry?”  Nate mused.

Charisse
gave him a horrified look. “Goddess yes, Berry!  How is she?  I spoke
to her mother today and she says Berry is recovering.  Is she allowed
visitors?”

Ramsey
nodded, he knew exactly how Berry was doing, he had hourly reports to prove
it.  “She’s good, sleeping a lot, grumpy from the pain but she should be
fine.  We’re keeping visitors to immediate family only at the moment.”

“Understandable.” 
Nate was studying Ramsey closely, the more the new Chief of Police talked, the
more the larger man appeared to relax. “If you ever need any help, back-up, you
should call me.”

“Just
what is your line of work, Nate?”

“Security.”

Security?
 
Hmmm, why did he think that was only the tip
of the iceberg?  Ramsey glanced at his watch, his gut instantly
easing.
 
Thank God, he could finally see
Berry… er, relieve Gideon.  “Well nice meeting you both, I’ll let you get
on with your evening.”  He stood up.

Charisse
leant casually on Nate’s shoulder, giving Ramsey a smile.  “Tell Berry I
said hi, and that I promise there will be a party.”  She looked at
Nate.  “A party right… to celebrate?”

“An
absolute blow out Cyd, you can count on it.”

“You’re
invited too Ramsey, I’ll let you know the date.”

As
Ramsey walked away he heard Nate mutter something in Charisse’s ear causing her
to laugh, it was an insanely sexy sound. He was glad he wasn’t Nate, he must
have to fight men off his new wife with a large club. 

Chapter
Eight

Berry
opened her eyes to find filtered morning light coming through the
curtains.
 
A frown rippled across her
forehead, her eyes bleary, both her head and shoulder throbbing.
 
Grrr, she’d had a restless night tormented by
strange dreams, all of them starring Ramsey Hughes.
 
Though why she should have Hotshot Hughes on
the brain she had no idea.
 
It was not as
if the man had even bothered to visit and check on her welfare since she’d
entered his home.
 
Not that she wanted
him too.
 
It just would have been the…
polite, yeah, the polite thing to do.
 

Hmmm,
she tried to recall exactly what her dreams had been about.
 
The details were all hazy, she just
remembered Ramsey featuring front and centre in them.
 
Looming over her, holding her hand,
protecting her.
 
Every time she’d sunk in
to unconsciousness he’d been there, waiting for her… or had it been the other
way round?
 
Every time she’d woken, he’d
been there?
 
Not possible.
 
That would mean he’d been in her room.
 
No, talk about dazed and confused, she was
being fanciful, they had just been dreams.
 
But then why did her palm still tingle in memory of Ramsey’s Hughes
thumb skating back and forth across it?
 
Maybe fanciful was too kind a word, perhaps delusional was more fitting.

“Hey
there.”
 
Nell’s head popped around the
door.
 
“How’s the patient doing this
morning?”

Berry
glared at her cousin, who looked way too elegant and put together for so early
in the morning.
 
Honey blonde hair
secured up in a chignon, her eyes looking particularly blue today thanks to the
long sleeve hunter green dress she was wearing.
 
Of course, as always with Nell, it was all about the footwear, even in
her weary to the bone state, Berry couldn’t help but cast a quick covetous
glance down at Nell’s black suede ankle boots. “Your patient wants drugs.
 
Lots and lots of drugs.
 
The knock out kind that can ensure a good
night’s sleep.”

“Restless
night?”
 
Nell placed her medical bag on
the floor beside the bed.
 
Her healer’s
eye instantly cataloguing the lines of tension and pain around Berry’s dark
eyes and mouth.
 
“That’s not good.
 
I’m sure I have something in my bag of tricks
that can rectify that.”

Berry
blinked, Nell had capitulated all too easily.
 
“No!
 
No way.
 
I want drugs. Real drugs from a recognised
pharmaceutical company.
 
None of your
foul tasting herbal teas and no more slimy salve.”

Nell
shook her head, a warm, amused smile on her pretty face.
 
“I’m going to put all those negative
ungrateful comments regarding my teas and salve down to lack of sleep and
pain.”
 
She lifted out two items from her
bag.

Berry’s
eyes instantly went to the small pouch of tea leaves. “No.
 
I told you.
 
I’m holding out this time for real drugs.”

Nell
waved her other hand to get Berry’s attention.
 
“If you drink the tea you get the sling.
 
If you are wearing a sling I can sign off on you getting out of bed…
maybe having a wash… or a bath.”

Berry
rolled her eyes.
 
“Blackmail?
 
I don’t know why everyone thinks you’re so
nice and sweet.”

Nell’s
lovely smile never wavered.
 
“Now,
now.
 
Don’t think of it as
blackmail.
 
Think of it as being backed
into a corner by a foe of superior wit and intelligence.”

Berry
laughed, and then groaned as she jostled her shoulder.
 
“Ouch.
 
How am I supposed to manage a bath even if I’m wearing a sling?”

“Reinforcements
are on their way.”
 
Nell assured, heading
for the door, the pouch of tea leaves in her hand.
 
“I’m just going to go put the water on.”

“You’d
better hope you don’t appear in my court room any time soon cousin.
 
I’m talking jail time here, so you’d better
not even think about jaywalking anytime soon.”

Nell’s
husky laugh drifted back through the door.
 

*                        
*                     
*

Hmmm,
for the second time that day Berry swam upwards to consciousness.
 
This time though it was from a deep peaceful
sleep.  She was guessing by the light filtering passed the curtains that
it was late afternoon.
 
Wow, she felt
good, better than good. She felt rested. The pain in both her head and arm
having receded.
 
She supposed she owed
Nell and her foul-tasting magically concoctions a grudging apology.
 
She was feeling so good she considered
getting up but… if she did that, she might bump into Ramsey Hughes.  She’d
sworn to herself never to bury her head in the sand again or avoid a confrontation
but surely being shot at least gave her some temporary reprieve from having to
face reality.

Honestly,
avoidance thy name is Beryl Louise Malone. 

Hmm…
so get up and deal with the possibility of bumping into Ramsey Hughes and
battling her unwanted attraction to the man or roll over and try and go back to
sleep?  Well, they did say rest was the best medicine of all and she was
particularly cosy and her feet were extra warm.
 
Um, speaking of which, what was that weight?  And just what had woken
her anyway?  Lifting her head she noted the dark curled up form of Limbo
at the end of the bed. His black fur a stark contrast to the white cotton
blanket.  She relaxed.
 
It was only
Great-Great-Aunt Adelaide’s cat.  Instantly her head came up again, shit!

“Limbo…”

His
green eyes blinked her way. Eerie how luminous and clear they were. 
Before she could say his name again the cat was mid-air, those wickedly sharp
claws aimed straight for her face.  She screamed in alarm and then groaned
as pain shot up her arm to her shoulder.

Her
cousin Zeke raced into the room, gun drawn, head swivelling, searching the
shadows.  “What’s wrong?  What is it?”

Berry
sat upright, her heart racing, cradling her sore arm carefully. 
“Cat.” 

“Dream?” 
Zeke, holstered his weapon.  “Or real?”  A scowl crossing his
handsome face as he noted the glass sliding doors were still closed and locked.

Berry
huddled in the middle of her bed, trying to peer over the side.  “Limbo, I
wouldn’t get too…”

A
hiss sounded, Zeke jumped back from the bed.  “Little bastard. How did he
get in here?”  He pulled up his trouser leg to examine the damage done to
his shin.

“I
don’t care how he got in here.  All I’m concerned is how you’re going to
get him out of my room.”

“Me?” 
Zeke’s bright blue eyes widened with surprise.  “Why me?”

“You’re
the one with a gun for starters.
 
I’m
just a helpless invalid.”

“I
can’t shoot him Berry.”  There was a regretful tone in Zeke’s voice.

“I’ll
turn my head and everything, no witnesses, it will never come back on
you.”  Berry promised, enjoying the fact that her 6.2ft, built like a
line-backer cousin was obviously just as wary and scared of Limbo as she
was. 

Zeke
bobbed and weaved, trying to catch a glimpse of the feline invader.  “Very
funny.  You must be feeling better you certainly sound it… for that matter
you’re looking better too… less day old fish left out in the sun.”

Berry
chuffed a laugh.  “That’s a lovely description.  With charm like that
it’s a wonder you’re still single.”

“And
loving every moment of it.”  Zeke flashed a grin, sweeping a hand absently
through his short black hair.  “Well that book I bought with me isn’t
going to read itself.”

“Hold
it right there.  You are not leaving me alone in here with that… that
monster.”

Zeke
shrugged.  “Berry, I’m a brave man but I’m not stupid.  No way am I
going to attempt to drag Limbo out of here. He’ll leave when he’s good and
ready.”

“Then
you need to take me with you.”  Berry awkwardly crawled to the end of the
bed, damn thankful for the sling keeping her arm steady and supported. 

“Take
you where exactly?” Zeke frowned.

“Out
of here for a start.  We can just close the door and ignore the problem
until one of your brothers turns up. Then we can trick them into coming in here
and they can deal with Limbo.”

Zeke
grinned.  “Smart thinking.  Okay, how do you want to do this logistic
wise?”

Kneeling
at the very edge of the bed Berry eyed the gap between her and her cousin.
Hmmm, if she… and then he, um...  she froze as there came the sound of
movement from under the bed. Oh-no, Zeke looked ready to bolt. She did the only
thing she could think of, she flung herself across the gap, straight at him,
counting on his excellent reflexes to catch her.

Thirty
seconds later she was ensconced on the comfy sofa in the living room. The door
to the guestroom firmly closed.  Zeke had resumed his post in the foyer by
the front door, promising to keep an eye on both doors. 

Resting
her head back on a cushion Berry worked hard on getting her breathing back
under control.  After a few minutes she began to relax and take in her
surroundings.  Similar to the guest bedroom, the floors out here were a
light coloured hardwood but the walls were painted a soft grey that
complimented the darker grey sofas set up around a low pine coffee table. 
There were no paintings on the walls and the room itself though comfy, was only
saved from feeling sterile by the magnificent view out passed the large
balcony.  The sky a stunning clear blue today, the ocean darker, but calm.
 
Out on the Bay itself, sail boats, their
colourful sails billowing, chased the wind and each other.

Okay
Berry my girl, no more hiding, no more using your injuries as an excuse. 
You are staying in Ramsey Hughes’ apartment and you are just going to have to
learn to live with the man… the fact, learn to live with the fact. 

Damn,
shifting, she adjusted her sling slightly before trying to rake her hair back
in to some semblance of order.  Double damn, she should have had Joanne at
least pull the mess back into a pony-tail.
 
Though who was she kidding, her head had throbbed like crazy when Joanne
had done no more than run a gentle soft bristled brush through it.

With
nothing to do but think, Berry snuggled down further on the sofa and
contemplated her mother-in-law’s visit earlier in the day.  It had been
good to see her, better still when Joanne had insisted upon helping Berry to
bathe.
 
Though sitting in three inches of
tepid water was not exactly Berry’s idea of
bathing,
but at least she’d
felt clean and fresh after the experience. Even though her legs had wobbled
like a new born foals.

Joanne
had taken it all in stride. Despite her timid nature she was a born nurturer
and since coming to the Sanctuary had really come out of her shell.  She’d
been a recent widow when Berry had first met her just after she’d gotten
married.
 
Drifting along in those early
days, leaning heavily on her only child Robert, looking to him for support and
advice. 

It
had been Berry’s idea that Joanne join the Sunshine Senior’s club when they
first arrived at the Sanctuary.  Thinking it a good way for her
mother-in-law to socialise and if she witnessed anything weird, she hoped
Joanne would just dismiss it as eccentric old people stuff and not well… magic.

With
shoulder length greying blonde hair, large pale blue eyes and a petite trim
figure, Joanne had hit the senior social scene with quite a splash. 
Widowed for over five years now, she appeared finally ready to dip her toe back
into the dating pool. Though as yet, she’d shown no favourites. Insisting that
she was having too much fun to settle on just one beau at the moment. 

It
was funny really, how her timid, sit at home mother-in-law had become quite the
social butterfly here at the Sanctuary.
 
That
much was made very clear as Jo recounted her weekend activities.  Friday
night cooking class with Berry’s third cousin Bertram.  Saturday spent at
the Reverie Valley market having coffee with Colin, a visiting artist from
Sydney.  Saturday night, movie on the beach back at Haven Bay with a group
of friends and then Sunday, at the town square for the jazz band, escorted by
Kenneth, Berry’s cousin by marriage.

Berry
let Joanne do all the talking.
 
Mainly
because all her energy was focused on not falling down as she brushed her
teeth, bathed and dressed but also because Joanne chatted when she was nervous.
There was no point in pushing her, or asking what was wrong.  She needed
to get to it in her own time.