Rugged Fire [Rugged Savage Valley, Colorado 4]

by Edith DuBois

  That question, that burning question, the question that had plagued her existence since before she could remember, made her push her mother’s letter aside. The first thing she saw was a birth certificate, her birth certificate, but on top of that was an old photo of her mother with a man. Nicholas, she presumed. She brought it close to her face and studied them. They were on a couch. The camera was pretty close to them. The only other thing she could see was a blank wall behind them and a tacky orange afghan tossed across the back of the couch. Her mother was stretched out over the man’s lap but had propped herself up on an elbow for the picture. They both grinned at the camera, but the man had his hand on her mother’s hip in a possessive, affectionate gesture. They seemed to fit together perfectly, Lianne noted, and she couldn’t help thinking about her mother’s special ability.

  This was only a moment between them, a quick, passing moment captured and held prisoner on film. Lianne knew he’d left before she was even born, before he even knew her mother was pregnant. She studied his face, wondering if she could detect any sort of distance or disconnect in his eyes, but there was only a dancing light.

  He looked vaguely familiar, but then again, the photo was old. He could have been anyone. From everything she could see in the photo, though, whoever he was, he appeared to be wholeheartedly in love. She placed the photo with her mother’s letter. She couldn’t let herself think too long. She just had to make it through all of the papers, and then she would go for a walk. She would go for a very long walk. She would have to call Jamie.

  And Seb and Will, too, she realized. Even if they didn’t know it or accept it, they were important to her. She wanted to talk to them about this, wanted to share this with them. But later.

  She just had to make it through this small stack of papers. Then she could break down or scream or jump naked into a river or do whatever the hell she needed to do to process. But for now, she would read.

  Next was the birth certificate. She saw her name at the top, Lianne Emeline Seward. She saw her mother’s name, Emeline Katherine Seward. She saw her father’s name, Nicholas T. Norman.

  Norman?

  Norman?

  Who was Nicholas T. Norman? It couldn’t be coincidence. There was no way in hell, but she’d never heard of a Nicholas T. Norman, only Ulysses C. Norman. Was he a distant cousin who passed through twenty some odd years ago? Had she ever unknowingly met him? Did Jamie know who he was? She dug through the rest of the papers, but they were all hospital records and county documents. There were a few receipts and a few odd slips with handwritten notes that she could sort through later. Nothing said who this Nicholas Norman was or how he fit into everything.

  She texted Jamie. “Do you know anyone in your family named Nicholas T. Norman?”

  A couple seconds later, Jamie wrote back. “That’s my Uncle Nick. I’ve never met him. Left town a long time ago and never came back. Why?”

  “Call you soon,” she sent.

  “Oh my god.” She couldn’t breathe. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god.” She gripped the café table. “Holy shit!”

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” one of the baristas asked, shooting her a half-concerned, half-annoyed look. She waved a hand at her.

  “Fine,” she croaked out. If Nicholas Norman was Jamie’s uncle, that meant Jamie’s father was his brother. That meant Jamie was her birth father’s niece. Holy shit, that meant Jamie was her cousin. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god.”

  No wonder we look alike! No wonder we get along so well. Oh my god oh my god oh my god.

  She couldn’t think. She wanted to jump, run, sing, shout, cry, wail, howl. She didn’t know what the hell she wanted to do. She needed to call Jamie. She needed to call Will and Seb. She wanted to hear their voices. She wanted to tell them everything. God, she wanted to sob, and she wanted them to hold her while she did it.

  Her body felt hot. She didn’t know what to do with all the swirling and tilting and swaying. Her emotions had nowhere to go, and she felt ready to explode out of her skin.

  Maybe that naked jump into a river wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  * * * *

  “Ma’am?” the administrative assistant from earlier called out to her. “Ma’am, may I help you?” She strode past him. “Ma’am, you can’t go in there. He’s in a meeting.” She kept going. “Ma’am!” He was coming after her, but she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t let herself think or she’d loose every bit of nerve she clung to. She reached Mr. Norman’s office, grabbed the door handle, and wrenched it open.

  “Ma’am, you can’t—”

  She slammed the door behind her, cutting off his protests.

  Mr. Norman was behind his desk, and two men in suits sat in the chairs before him.

  “Don’t blame that guy.” She jerked her thumb at the closed door. “I barged in. I’m sorry, but I really need to talk to you and it can’t wait for lunch.”

  The two men looked at Mr. Norman, and then Lianne, and then Mr. Norman again. One of them, an older man wearing a dark gray suit, said, “We can step outside for a moment.”

  “Stay exactly where you are,” Mr. Norman said.

  Something was different. She could see it in his eyes. They were cold and calculating. Somehow he must’ve known what she came to say. He didn’t look happy about it. He didn’t look happy at all.

  “It’s really not a problem. We can give you a moment.” The older man started to rise again.

  “I said stay where you are.” His icy blue eyes never left hers.

  Silence fell, and a bead of sweat inched down her spine. She eyed the two men nervously, not sure if she could say what she needed to say in front of them. But then she looked at Mr. Norman, realizing that was exactly why he wanted them to stay.

  Intimidation.

  “Well then.” She swallowed, trying to get rid of the dryness in her mouth. “I came to say thank you. First, for the envelope you passed on to me this morning. Although my mother must have had her reasons for keeping the identity of my father a secret, I’m glad to finally know the truth. It was far past time.”

  “Second, I wanted to thank you for your generous offer regarding my business. I have not considered your proposal lightly, and it means a great deal to me that you would put so much faith in me. Of course, from the information you shared with me this morning, I think I might understand just a bit more than I did before. However, I am very sorry to say that I cannot accept your offer.”

  She held perfectly still, her eyes glued to his face. If she thought his eyes were cold before, they were absolutely arctic now. He was definitely not happy.

  The older man in the dark gray suit tried to stand up again, and opened his mouth to say something, but Mr. Norman cut him off. “Sit the fuck down.”

  Lianne jumped.

  “Miss Seward.” He hadn’t risen from his chair. He looked perfectly at ease, reclining slightly and swirling the ice in his glass as he watched her squirm. Only the low, frigid tone in his voice gave him away. “Are you certain that is the answer you wish to give me?”

  She nodded.

  “Your reasons?”

  She licked her dry lips. “Well, as you know, I’m from Savage Valley, and apart from the few years I spent at college, I’ve lived there my whole life. I know everyone there. I know every road, every business. I even know all of the school bus routes, oddly enough. I know that Jim Bob, Larry, and Bobby come into the diner at six o’clock every morning for coffee, eggs, and toast. I also know that Agnes Bird and the salon ladies come in at six thirty to harass and flirt with Jim Bob, Larry, and Bobby. That town is such a huge part of me. It is me. It’s my whole life. The people there are my family. And if I’m gonna do this, if I’m gonna make this business my career, I have to do it with the people that I know, the people that are already part of my life.

  “I understand that there is a big possibility that I’ll fail. I know that what you’ve offered me is well beyond anything I could have ever imagined for myself. But…it just wouldn�
��t feel right. You see, there had to be a reason my mom asked you not to come visit us. There had to be a reason she never wanted me to know who my father was. And I think it was because she didn’t want our lives overshadowed by you and by NormCorp. No offense, Mr. Norman. I know this is your livelihood and that you have put your heart and soul into it, but that’s what I have to do now. I have to put my heart and soul into my business. And my heart and soul belong to Savage Valley. Utterly and completely.”

  Mr. Norman looked at her for a long moment. The two men in the chair fidgeted. Finally Mr. Norman moved. He leaned forward in his chair. Lianne noticed that he was shaking. She stepped forward, thinking maybe something was wrong, but then she stopped short, angry heat flashing through her body. His shoulders bounced up and down, and Lianne realized he was laughing. He was laughing at her.

  He met her gaze again. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t just hear that load of pathetic drivel, and I’m going to give you a little lesson. When I’m finished, if you’re smart and if you’re serious about running a business, you will shake my hand, thank me, and sign the contract my assistant has prepared for you.

  “The most important thing you need to know is that you are nothing. I will reiterate, lest you not understand. You are nothing. If a large corporation—say, for instance, NormCorp—should decide that we don’t like the way your hand lotion smells, all I have to do is call up my good friend Burt Holden. Do you know Burt Holden?”

  She shook her head.

  “Burt is an editor for the New York Times. I trust you’ve heard of it?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, all I have to do is call up my good friend Burt and tell him I need him to print a story. This story will be about how this small business owner in Savage Valley, Colorado, in order to cut corners and save money, has been using hazardous materials as ingredients in her supposedly all-natural line of beeswax and bee pollen products. Pretty soon no one is buying her products. Pretty soon she can’t afford to replenish her supplies or pay her vendors or mail out her products. Pretty soon she can’t afford her employees’ wages. And pretty soon she is receiving hate mail from concerned citizens. Before you know it, Lianne’s is no more. But NormCorp? NormCorp is still here. NormCorp is still making millions of dollars every day. And NormCorp doesn’t have to smell Lianne’s god-awful hand lotion anymore. That is what doing business is all about. Not family. Not warm, gushy sentiments or some misguided sense of loyalty. It’s about power. Connection. The inescapable might of money. So you see”—he pointed to himself—“win.” He pointed to Lianne. “Lose. Now, are you ready to sign this contract?”

  It took her a moment, but she realized that her mouth was hanging wide open, and she quickly snapped it shut. “Jamie was right about you.”

  He raised his eyebrows in question.

  “She told me not to trust you, that you were only offering to help me because you had some ulterior motive, that you would never reach out to me unless it benefitted you. Everything makes sense. Oh my god, you knew what Skyler pitched to me, didn’t you? About how you wanted to patch things up with Jamie through me. That’s why…the envelope…my mother and father…everything. I am such an idiot.” She glared at him. “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why go to all this trouble. I would just be a small little shop. What could you possibly get out of helping me?”

  “What I’ve wanted for the last fifteen years. A piece of land right in the heart of Savage Valley. A way to infiltrate that backward, bumpkin-filled town and turn it into what it was always meant to be. A goddamn money factory.”

  “Mr. Norman, are you insane? What makes you think that a speech like that is going to make me change my mind? If anything, I’m probably never going to set foot in this building again after today. No wonder your own daughter can’t stand you. Look, I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me and for my mother. I appreciate what you did for her after she had me. I know that couldn’t have been an easy time in her life. But that doesn’t excuse your behavior now.

  “You’ve just proved to me, beyond any and every doubt, that I could never go into business with you. I’m sorry for taking up your time today. Good-bye, Mr. Norman. Best of luck to you and to NormCorp.”

  She turned on her heel and tore out of his office. She rode the elevator down to the ground floor, and then she walked through the lobby and out the front doors. As soon as the fresh mountain air washed across her face, she was running. She ran and ran until she made it back to her car. She couldn’t wait. She didn’t have any time to waste.

  She was going back to Savage Valley. She was going home.

  Chapter Ten

  One month later

  Seb glanced over at his brother. They only had about half a mile of jogging left before they reached Lianne’s place on Wicket Way. He put a hand over the pocket of his sweatpants. The box was still there. Now they just had to work up the courage to actually ask her. That was what the after-work jog was for, to clear their heads and soothe their nerves.

  He’d never have thought, before meeting Lianne, that asking one tiny question could be such a daunting task.

  But she was it. She was the one. She was everything he wanted and everything he never knew he needed.

  He’d known since she’d come back from Denver after her meeting with Ulysses C. Norman that she was going to be his mate. It had only been a matter of waiting for the right moment to ask her. Today he’d woken up and known. When he saw Will downstairs, they both knew. Today they would ask her to be their wife and their mate. Forever.

  As they neared her house, Jamie and the Yeats twins came out the front door.

  “Hey, guys!” Jamie called out.

  Seb smiled and waved. Then he nodded at the two men. “Clive. Ezra.”

  “William. Sebastian.” Ezra nodded stiffly to each of them.

  Well, it was progress at least. Seb didn’t know if bear-shifters and mountain lion-shifters could ever be more than cordial with each other.

  And Jamie was Lianne’s “sister-cousin,” as they’d come to refer to themselves. From the glint Seb caught shining up from her left hand, if their next conversation with Lianne went well, it looked like they’d be spending a lot of quality time with the mountain lion-shifters, as much as it galled him to think it. He’d never hear the end of it from the rest of the bear-shifters.

  But hell, love made a person do crazy things, he guessed.

  He wondered if Lianne could come up with some kind of beeswax salve to put on his nostrils to cancel out the mountain lion stench, though. He’d have to ask her about that.

  “Oh, pull the sticks out of your asses,” Jamie said, rolling her eyes at the formal greetings the men exchanged. “We’re going to Catdaddy’s. Come join us later if you want. Drag the mad scientist away from her lab.”

  “Thanks, Jamie. We’ll try.”

  Jamie knocked her elbow against his as she walked by, and Seb chuckled when he heard both Ezra and Clive growl at the gesture.

  “Oh put a muzzle on it.” Jamie continued razzing her men as they walked down the street toward town. Seb liked Jamie a lot. He was happy for Lianne, happy that her best friend turned out to be family. A moment later, Will knocked on the front door to let Lianne know they’d arrived, and then they walked in.

  “Lianne,” Will called out.

  “I’m upstairs.”

  They headed for her room. Seb noticed, with a bit of annoyance, that his palms were suddenly sweaty. When Will pushed open Lianne’s bedroom door, she was sitting on the edge of her bed and smiling at them.

  “Hello.” Her smile was different. It looked almost…well, it looked wicked.

  “What’s going on?” Seb asked.

  “I bought something on the Internet.”

  “Oh?”

  “Something naughty.”

  Seb felt his eyebrows shoot up. “Oh.”

  “Where is it?” Will asked.

  “You have to find it. I’ve hidden it in
a very secret spot.”

  Seb looked around, hoping to see something out of place, something different. “Is it in this room?”

  She nodded.

  “What are we now? Hot or cold?”

  “You’re lukewarm.”

  Seb walked toward her dresser and opened the top drawer.

  “There’s a little nip in the air, Seb, don’t you think?”

  He stopped rifling through her underwear and turned to face her. “Cold?”

  She scrunched her nose and nodded. She was so fucking adorable.

  “What about me?” Will asked from the closet.

  “Will, you’re at the north pole over there.”

  Seb headed for her nightstand, thinking she could definitely fit something naughty in there.

  “You’re getting much warmer.” He kept going for the nightstand. “You’re so warm.” When he reached the end of the bed, however, Lianne started moaning. “You’re hot. You’re so hot you’re on fire right now.”

  He frowned, looking down at Lianne, whose eyes were hooded. She rubbed her legs together and was sort of squirming a little bit. Then he realized what she was implying. “You little imp.” He moved so that she had to spread her legs to accommodate him. “What have you got down there?”

  “Why don’t you look under my dress and find out?”

  He pushed her shoulders until she lay flat on her back. Slowly, he slid his hands from her knees to her thighs, spreading her legs wide open as he did so.

  “What is this? You are a naughty girl.”

  He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her bare pussy. She wore absolutely no undergarments, and he could see exactly what she’d purchased. Attached to her red swollen clit was a tiny silver clamp. Attached to the clamp was a chain, which disappeared up beneath her dress toward her chest.

  Will sat down on the bed next to her, his eyes just as glued to her pussy as Seb’s were. He reached out a finger and flicked the clamp on her clit.

  Lianne moaned, her hips jerking at his light touch.