Forever Wild

by Allyson Charles

  Chapter 23

  Lissa sat in the corner of the empty coffee shop attached to the Columbus bus station, her portrait of Dax propped on the chair beside her. She chewed on the end of her brush. She didn’t have the spark in his eye quite right. Not the way he looked when she caught him staring at her. Right before a slow smile unfurled across his face and he reached for her hand. And it was more important than ever that she capture just that look.

  Her throat went so tight, it was difficult to draw air through it. When would she see him again?

  She glared at the ticket to Portland, Maine, on the table in front of her. For once, she’d done the sensible thing. She’d called Bruggard-Tayo and asked if she could defer her enrollment to the next session, and they’d agreed. It hadn’t made sense to show up in Santa Fe with Morris still on her tail. So she’d lie low. Wait for him to lose interest before she went to school.

  And avoid Dax like the plague all the while.

  No emails to him. No surprise visits. Those could land him in too much trouble. She wouldn’t even text him on the phone Marla had insisted on giving her before she’d left Pineville. It was one she’d bought for Gabe, only to learn he was a hard-core Samsung man, and she’d never returned it. It would be perfect for Lissa, Marla had said. She’d need a phone, if only for emergency’s sake, and there was no way Morris could track it because it was still on Marla’s plan. But it was so tempting to plug Dax’s number into it, call him up just to listen to his voice.

  He’d probably yell at her. She’d laugh at his stern lectures until the tears started. And then she’d have to say goodbye to him all over again.

  She traced a finger over the curve of his painted jaw. He was better off without her. He hadn’t asked for any of this. She’d just jumped in the back of his van, without a care, as usual, and dragged him into her mess.

  Sniffing, she wrapped up her brushes. Well, enough was enough. No more involving other people in her problems. Back to being an independent free spirit, answering to nobody but herself and not letting anyone get close enough to get hurt. She had the entire northeast to explore. The land of moose and maple syrup. She should be excited, damn it. Excited and eager to see new things. Discover a new world.

  She dropped her forehead into her palms. Who was she kidding? Being a free spirit sucked without having Dax by her side.

  “Another refill, miss?”

  Lissa looked up at the elderly man wearing an apron and holding a steaming pot of coffee. She gave him a weak smile. “No, thanks. My bus will be leaving soon. How much do I owe you?”

  “I’ll go get your check rung up.” He drifted away.

  Another trivial connection. Another person she smiled and spoke with but would never really know. She swiped angrily at her cheek and started putting her things away. The bohemian lifestyle was great for making a million hollow connections, but nothing substantial ever came of it. No real relationships. And Dax had shown her just how important real was. Dax and Marla and Izzy and Brad and everyone else she’d met in Pineville.

  As if she’d called her forth with a voodoo incantation, Lissa’s phone rang, Marla’s number popping up on the display.

  She put the phone to her ear. “Marla? What’s up?”

  “Oh, thank God you answered.” Marla’s breaths came quick, heavy, as though she was jogging. “We’ve got a problem back here in Pineville, and I think it’s one only you can solve.”

  Lissa straightened. “What’s wrong? Is Dax okay?”

  “Physically, he’s fine.” Marla muffled the phone and murmured something unintelligible to someone on the other side of the line. “He’s been arrested by the FBI. They took him to a federal holding center in Detroit.”

  “What?” Lissa grabbed her wallet and threw down a bill much too large for her meal on the table. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and hurried from the café. “Why?”

  “He’s being charged with lying to federal investigators, interference with an investigation, aiding and abetting a criminal activity, and accessory after the fact. Did I leave anything out?” she asked someone next to her. “No? Okay, that’s it,” she said back into the phone. “They didn’t just throw the book at him but the whole damn encyclopedia set. I think he really pissed them off, which is strange, because usually everyone loves Dax. He’s so easygoing.”

  Yes, he was. Until Lissa had been threatened. He hadn’t been so easygoing when he’d spoken to Morris.

  This was her fault. Dax was in jail because of her. Lissa paced from a garbage can to the women’s restroom entrance and back again. “But why? He hasn’t done anything.”

  “I know that, sweetie. We all know that.” Marla huffed. “I think even those orc-ass feds know that. But they also think he knows where you are, and they want to get to you. Dax refused to tell them anything, not even your plans about Bruggard-Tayo, and that pissed them off. I’ve hired a lawyer for him and his bail hearing is tomorrow. I think we’ll get him out.”

  Tomorrow? That meant he was spending a night in jail. And Lissa didn’t like the sound of that “think.” She didn’t want to hear anything as insubstantial as “think.” She wanted certainty when it came to Dax’s well-being.

  She shoved her hair back over her shoulder. “Accessory? He wasn’t even in New Orleans when I took my money back.”

  “But did you ever spend any of it on him? Buy him dinner? If so, he’s profited from it. And he gave you a ride out of Louisiana. There are arguments a good prosecutor could make against him.”

  Lissa’s heart pounded against her breastbone. Blood rushed through her ears. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair that the cops were coming after her for reclaiming her own property, but it was doubly unfair they’d gone after Dax.

  She had to fix this.

  The PA system squawked, announcing her bus would be seating soon.

  “Marla, I’ve got to go.” She hefted her bag higher on her shoulder.

  “But what about Dax?”

  “Dax is smart and resourceful. He’ll be fine tonight.” He had to be. Lissa couldn’t even think about him sitting in jail with hardened criminals without starting to hyperventilate, so she pushed it from her head. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  Ending the call, she pulled up her emails. She stared down at the ones from Bruggard-Tayo. All her correspondence with the school was linked in a chain: first the email with her acceptance letter, then the one above, agreeing to her deferral.

  All her dreams in two short emails. Her hopes for the future. For her acceptance as an artist.

  It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be to delete those emails. She pushed the phone into her back pocket and marched up to the ticket desk. “Hi.” She gave the woman a tight smile. “I’d like to change this ticket from Portland to Detroit, Michigan.”

  Chapter 24

  Dax sat on the low brick wall on the back patio of Forever Friends and pulled a lighter from his pocket. He struck the starter and held a stapled bundle of papers to the flame. The corner of the top page curled and blackened.

  He watched the fire take hold, then dropped his proposal to the cement floor.

  A tennis shoe appeared in his vision and stomped out the flames.

  “Hey!” Dax looked up and saw Brad glaring down at him. “I was looking forward to watching that burn.”

  “Then do it in a fireplace.” Brad fisted his hands on his hips. “Not where you could burn down my whole shelter.”

  Dax pressed his lips tight. That wasn’t likely. Dax knew how to control a tiny fire. Rubbing the back of his neck, he blew out a breath. It didn’t matter. He didn’t need the drama of burning his proposal. He’d already seen his dream of owning Off-Road Adventures go up in smoke.

  He’d been arrested. While on probation. His loan had been revoked.

  He’d known it was going to happen. As those feds had questioned him, becoming pissi
er and pissier when he wouldn’t tell them where Lissa was, he could see how it would play out. It had been like watching a movie he’d seen ten times before. Each frame was preordained. Every move already plotted. Dax had seen the end of his dreams, and there hadn’t been one thing he could say or do differently that would have changed it.

  He couldn’t sell her out. Not when she would lose everything. Not even if it meant he’d lose everything.

  William trotted over and dropped a tennis ball at Dax’s feet.

  Dax picked it up, ignoring the slobber, and chucked it over the back field.

  “I came out to tell you that a couple would like to adopt William.” Brad sat down next to him. “They saw his picture on the website and want to schedule a time to meet him.”

  The Bluetick trotted back to Dax and dropped the ball again.

  Dax threw it, and William jumped the brick wall to chase after it.

  “No. William is my dog. I thought you knew that.”

  “I do.” Brad smirked. “I just didn’t know that you did.”

  Dax grumbled and tossed his legs over the brick wall to face the other way. Watching William and the other dogs play was about the only good thing he had right now.

  “I don’t know why you’re so grouchy,” Brad said. “You made bail. Things could be a lot worse.”

  Maybe, but Dax didn’t see how. The loss of Off-Road stung. But it was the loss of Lissa, of who he’d thought she was, what kind of person, that dug a spike into his heart.

  His lungs seized and he couldn’t draw air. Had he ever really known her?

  “Things don’t always work out, Brad. Not everyone gets their happy ending.”

  Brad spun around to sit in the same direction as Dax and nudged his shoulder with his own. “You’re getting a secondhand version of a two-minute conversation Marla had over the phone. That might not be the whole story.”

  “Marla said Lissa was in a hurry to catch her next bus. That she said I’d be fine in prison.” Marla had been livid when she’d talked to him after he’d been released on bail that morning. Her anger on his behalf would have been endearing if the story she’d told hadn’t ripped out his guts.

  He wanted Lissa to have her dreams. Hell, that was why he’d been arrested. But that she could be so casual about his incarceration, about the end of his hopes, meant he truly hadn’t meant much to her.

  “How could I have been such an idiot?” Propping his elbows on his knees, Dax hung his head and rested his hands on the nape of his neck.

  “Hey, that’s supposed to be my question.” Gabe’s footsteps padded behind Dax, and then his jeans-clad legs swung into view as he sat on Dax’s other side. “For God’s sake, why didn’t you just tell them everything you knew? She obviously wasn’t worth your loyalty.”

  “You don’t know that,” Brad said.

  Gabe crossed his arms over his chest. “The evidence speaks for itself. First, she left Dax to face those three meatheads on his own. Next, she leaves him holding the bag when the feds come calling. Not a good look.”

  Dax cocked his head. That first one wasn’t her fault. He hadn’t wanted her facing those thugs with him. And the card she’d left him … He fingered the envelope in his cargo pocket. How could all those sweet words have been lies?

  “What exactly would you want her to do against three armed men?” Brad asked, exasperated. “Paint unicorns on their foreheads? Would you want Marla to go toe-to-toe with violent criminals?”

  A muscle in Gabe’s jaw twitched. “No. But I also know that even though I’d tell Marla to stay back, if I was in trouble, she’d ignore me and jump right into the fray. Damn, fool woman,” he muttered. “That’s why I’m marrying her.”

  “She finally accepted?” Brad asked.

  “Yup.” Gabe threw his shoulders back and sat up straighter. “We just have to agree on the date.”

  Brad whooped and Dax managed a smile.

  “That’s great, man,” Dax told him. “I’m really happy for you.”

  Gabe and Marla. Brad and Izzy. Everyone was a part of a happy freaking couple. But he couldn’t begrudge his friends their joy. “If you meet down at the Pins ’N Pints tonight, the first round’s on me.”

  “You’re buying? Without wanting something in return?” Gabe raised an eyebrow. “Stop the presses. I wouldn’t miss that.”

  Dax rolled his eyes. “Funny. But I do have a favor to ask one of you.”

  “Knew it,” Gabe said.

  Dax ignored him. “If I go to jail, will one of you foster William? He’s high energy, so he’ll need a lot of runs and playtime.”

  “Of course,” Brad said just as another voice called from behind.

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  Dax whipped around so quickly, he knocked into Gabe and hit Brad’s hip with his leg. Gabe put a steadying hand on his shoulder.

  And Dax needed it. Lissa stood at the back door of the shelter, with Judge Nichols beside her. Her long hair was up in a high ponytail and she wore dark jeans and the plainest-looking black top he’d ever seen on her. Her wardrobe didn’t look anything like his Lissa, but the little mischievous uptilt of her beautiful lips was a familiar hook to his gut.

  His stomach hardened. Not his Lissa. Not after what she’d said. He rubbed his temple. But, then, why was she here?

  Her smile faltered when she caught his expression. “I’m really sorry I got you involved in this, Dax.” Her throat rippled as she swallowed. “But you don’t have to worry about the feds anymore. All the charges against you have been dropped.”

  Dax stood. “What? How?”

  Judge Nichols stepped forward. “I found Lissa on the courthouse steps before your court session. I believe she was intending to disrupt your bail hearing.”

  Her cheeks flushed a lovely rose. “I was just going to tell the judge hearing your case that you weren’t involved. That it was all me. And he’d be an absolute idiot if he didn’t release you right then.”

  “Yes.” Judge Nichols cleared his throat, his blue eyes twinkling. “Well, much as I’d have liked to see that, I advised Lissa to come with me to meet with the prosecutor in charge of your case. She brought in the FBI agents who arrested you and the parties came to an agreement.”

  Dax stepped forward, his gaze never leaving Lissa. “What sort of agreement?”

  “I gave them all the money I took.” She shrugged. “Well, all the money I had left, which was most of it. They say they need it for evidence in the money-laundering charges against Morris and whoever his partner was. They wouldn’t tell me the name, but I think he’s even a bigger fish than Morris, and they want him bad. Anyway, in exchange for my testimony, they agreed to drop the charges against you.”

  Dax’s chest felt as if it was in a vise. The pure elation that was rocketing through his body at Lissa’s return, at knowing she cared, wanted to burst free. But … “Your school. You need that money to pay for your classes.” She’d given it all up. For him. He wouldn’t cry. He blinked against the burn. She was still the woman he’d fallen in love with. He didn’t know whether to shake her for being a damn fool or to hug her until her ribs cracked.

  She tipped her head to the side. “I should get my money back. Eventually. After the forensic accountants have gone through all Morris’s accounts and they figure out what was mine. If I still want to go to Bruggard-Tayo, I’ll apply again.”

  “And in the meantime?” Dax held his breath. She was a wanderer. Just because she wasn’t going to Santa Fe didn’t mean she wanted to plant roots here. With him.

  “I can paint anywhere. I thought I’d get a part-time job while I paint, try to sell my work through the local galleries and online.” She scraped her teeth against her bottom lip. “I was hoping to do that here. In Pineville. If you still want me, that is.”

  If he still wanted her? Dax’s hands clenched and unclenche
d. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and prove just how much he still wanted her. But they had an audience.

  Screw it. He strode up to her and grabbed her tight. If anyone didn’t want to see this, they could close their eyes. Lowering his head, he slanted his mouth across hers and reveled in the feel of her lips against his once more.

  “What?” A confused voice interrupted his reunion. “What did I miss? Why is Dax kissing she-who-shall-not-be-named? He can’t have forgiven her for what she pulled.”

  Raising his head, Dax grinned at Marla. Izzy stood beside her, holding the leashes to her two dogs. She unclipped them, and the two boxer-mixes and Marla’s poodle hopped over the low brick wall and joined the other dogs out in the field.

  Gabe strolled over and took Marla’s hand. The diamond on her left ring finger winked in the sunlight. “Sorry, babe, but you got this one wrong,” he said. “She came back for him.”

  Lissa’s forehead wrinkled. “Of course I came back. What, did you think I’d leave him to face the music alone?”

  Everyone looked down at the ground.

  Lissa opened her mouth in a circle of outrage, and Dax took advantage.

  He planted another kiss on her, needing the connection. Sliding his tongue against hers, he let the velvety thrill of her kiss send sparks up and down his spine until someone cleared his throat behind them. Dax broke away, out of breath. “It doesn’t matter,” he told Liss. “You’re here. You’re staying. Everything’s perfect.”

  She fitted her body to his. “You forgive me? Judge Nichols told me your loan’s been revoked. You lost your dream because of me.”

  “You’re my dream.” Rubbing his nose against hers, he breathed deep, taking in her scent and committing it to memory. “Off-Road Adventures would have been a pathetic substitute if you weren’t here. I can always find another job. Another company. There’s no one else like you.”

  “Awww,” Izzy said.

  Gabe made slight gagging noises until Marla elbowed him in the gut.