Her Desert Treasure (Entangled Ignite)

by Larie Brannick

  “Jacob, didn’t you say that the two of you met when Meg brought an injured animal to you?”

  Jake shot a glance at Meg before answering. “That’s right, Mom. That’s how we met.”

  “And, Meg, didn’t I hear Jake tell the Taylors that you were the one who brought Rex here?”

  Now Meg looked at Jake and swallowed. Turning back to Linda she said, “Yes, I saw him get hit, and I brought him here to Jake.”

  Linda nodded slowly and pursed her lips as if she were trying to solve a difficult puzzle. Beside her, Robert nearly choked trying to hold back his laughter.

  “And Rex has been here for what…a few days?” Linda asked.

  She sent Jake a silent plea for guidance. He dropped a quick kiss to her nose and faced his mother. “Okay, Mom, what are you getting at?”

  “I was just wondering if Meg rescues a lot of animals for the clinic. It does seem like quite a coincidence, doesn’t it?”

  “No, it’s not a coincidence at all. We met when Meg brought Rex to me last week. Does that answer your question?”

  “So you admit you’ve only known each other for three days?”

  Jake grinned. “Five, counting today. Is that a problem?”

  Heart pounding and with the heat of a blush creeping up her neck, Meg tried to hide behind Jake. Great, his parents think I’m a slut now.

  He reached behind and pulled her around to stand beside him. “Oh no, you don’t,” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “Don’t show fear.”

  Bolstered by his nearness, Meg stood her ground. She didn’t know what she was going to say, but Jake was right. No hiding.

  Linda shook her head again and said almost to herself, “And here I was feeling guilty for butting into his love life. He didn’t even have a love life when I invited Kristen along.”

  “Shouldn’t we just tell them?” Meg asked. “We’re all adults here. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

  “Understand what, dear?”

  Jake let out a long breath. “Okay. It was just a crazy chain of events that even brought me and Meg together. We really hit it off, though, and after spending some time together, I asked her if she would hang around this weekend to…you know…give you a little taste of your own medicine.”

  By now Bob couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing. “What a pair you two are,” he told his wife and son, “Trying to out-sneak each other. Priceless!”

  “So this was all an act?” Linda asked.

  Jake took Meg’s hand. “It might have started out that way but…now…”

  “But what?”

  “We’re not pretending anymore.” He brought Meg’s hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “Are we?”

  Meg smiled up into his warm, brown eyes. “No. We’re not pretending.”

  Bob put his arm around his wife. “Okay super sleuth, now that we have everything out in the open, can you two agree that you’ll stop this nonsense so we can enjoy the rest of our visit?”

  Jake hugged his mom tight. “Sorry I lied to you about Meg. But I’m definitely not sorry about how it’s turned out.” He turned to Meg. “And I’m sorry that I dragged you into the middle of this.”

  Linda squeezed her son back. “And I’m sorry that I butted into your business and tried to force Kristen on you.”

  Kristen. At once, they all remembered leaving her home alone.

  “Oh, dear. I almost forgot.” Linda put her hand to her chest.

  Bob started out the door, tugging her behind him. “Yeah, we’d better go check on her. You two coming?”

  Jake nodded. “Let me lock up and we’re right behind you.”

  The house was quiet when Jake and Meg entered. The hushed voices of his parents drew them down the hall. Robert came toward them with an impish grin on his face.

  “Wow, she really tied one on.”

  “But she’s okay?” Meg’s concern was obvious, and Jake felt a little guilty at his lack of worry. Kristen was a big girl, and she’d gone to the bar on her own. Something Meg had said smacked him upside the head. It was Kristen’s choice to put herself in that position. Just as it had been Carolyn’s. Even though Jake would never wish bad things on anyone, he couldn’t save them from themselves.

  “She’s fine,” Bob reassured her. “Linda gave her some aspirin, and Kristen’s going to take a shower. She said she was doing shots with some locals last night, and they don’t water down the drinks here like they do in her regular night clubs. She’ll feel better once she’s had some coffee and something to eat.”

  Meg sighed with relief and turned to go to the kitchen. “I’ll start the coffee.”

  Jake started to tell her that he would do it, but his father stopped him. “Wait a second, son. When we were talking to Kristen before, she said something about wanting to leave today.”

  Jake’s head jerked up in surprise. “What was that?” He thought maybe it was just wishful thinking that had him hallucinating.

  “Kristen said she called the airline and can get a flight out this afternoon.”

  Jake shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t figure on that happening.”

  “Well, don’t get too happy just yet. She said she wants to talk to you first.”

  A little leery about what Kristen might have to say, Jake nodded. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  Thirty minutes later, Kristen slunk into the kitchen where Jake and Meg sat with his parents. They’d been talking about going into town for some of the Summer Festival activities and were looking at a list of things to do there. Conversation halted when Kristen groaned as she made her way to the coffee pot.

  “Are you all right, dear?” Linda asked with a worried frown.

  Kristen raised her fingertips to her temples and snapped, “Not so loud.”

  “Here, let me pour you some coffee. You sit down.” Linda ushered her to a chair and went back for the coffee.

  Kristen sat in the chair and rubbed her forehead. She accepted the cup Linda offered her and took a cautious sip. “Thank you.”

  “Can I get you anything else, something to eat maybe?” Meg rose and went to the refrigerator.

  “No, nothing. I would like to speak to Jake in private, though. Do you mind?”

  Meg exchanged looks with Jake’s parents and nodded.

  Jake grabbed her hand to stop her exit. “Meg, you don’t have to leave.”

  “It’s all right, Jake. I don’t mind,” she said, echoing Kristen, and followed his parents out of the room.

  Jake turned to Kristen, the look on his face leaving no doubt that he wasn’t happy. “What do you want, Kristen?”

  “Well, you don’t have to be so cranky. I’m the one with the killer headache.”

  “And whose fault is that?”

  “Okay, stop. Look, I don’t think I can take much more of this wilderness crap any more than you want me to be here. I can get a flight out this afternoon.”

  Jake leaned forward with his forearms on the table. “Kristen, I’m sorry my mother brought you out here with the impression that I was interested. She didn’t know about Meg when she invited you. I apologize that you’ve had such a bad time.”

  “Frankly, I was shocked she even asked me. But we haven’t seen each other for so long, I thought it would be fun to surprise you like that.”

  Ambush me like that. “Well, no matter now. What time is your flight?”

  “I haven’t booked it yet. There’s something I want you to do for me.”

  He viewed her wryly. “Of course there is. And that would be?”

  “I want you to drive me to the airport. By yourself.”

  Shit. The airport was over a hundred miles away, and the highway there was really a secondary road, so the drive took more than two hours. That meant if he left now, he wouldn’t be back until late this afternoon. Another whole day without Meg.

  Of course, he couldn’t expect his parents to make the drive, and he did want Kristen gone. “Right. When do we le
ave?”

  “You’re very agreeable. If I can get the two o’clock flight, we’ll need to leave soon so I can be there an hour early.”

  “Fine. You get your ticket, and I’ll load your things. I can be ready to leave in ten minutes.”

  “I’ll make the call.”

  Jake returned to the living room, caught hold of Meg. “I have to drive Kristen to the airport, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. Why don’t you go into town with my folks and enjoy the festival for a while? Then we can all meet up for dinner when I get back.”

  Meg nodded. “Do you need me to do anything?”

  Jake brushed a kiss across her lips. “Just be here when I get home.”

  Meg kissed him back. “I’ll be here.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Monty perked up in his seat when he saw the pickup leave the animal hospital. The vet, but who was with him? Definitely not Meg. He waited a few minutes, watching the tan sedan pull out onto the road. Again, he observed the man and woman he’d seen earlier, but no sign of Meg. Was she there alone now? He didn’t have to wait long for his answer. Meg drove out by herself in the old station wagon not long after the sedan left.

  He laughed to himself. It must grate on her ego to have to drive the piece of shit after he’d totaled her sporty little Mazda in California. Maybe it hadn’t been the smartest thing to do, but he’d been so angry at her grandfather for blowing him off, he hadn’t been thinking about the risk. It had felt good to take something away from her.

  “That’s not all you’ll have to part with, little princess.”

  He waited for her to put some distance between them, then pulled out and followed her into town. It took a while for her to find a place to park. The downtown area was filled to overflowing with cars and people milling around in the streets, but she managed to find a spot near the city swimming pool and pulled in.

  He noticed the older couple waving to her, and watched her lock the car and walk toward them in the center of the park. Slowly, he passed them and pulled over at the end of the block to sit and wait. The three of them wandered around to the different booths, stopping to look at trinkets or sample food. He waited until they were out of sight before he got out of his car and walked nonchalantly over to Meg’s.

  There were hundreds of people around, but no one seemed to notice him as he knelt by the rear tire and removed the valve stem cover then pulled a small tool from his pocket. He turned the valve stem slightly and heard the faint hiss as the air in the tire began to escape. Quickly, he replaced the cover, but didn’t screw it down tight. The thought of Meg finding the flat tire pleased him. He knew it was childish, but he enjoyed being able to annoy her, even if she didn’t know it was him doing it. She would soon enough, though.

  He stood, brushed off the knees of his slacks, and strolled off in the direction Meg and her companions had gone.

  …

  Meg truly enjoyed herself. The festival was full of street vendors and musicians. A few people that she recognized from the animal hospital waved as they passed. She was feeling even more certain about her decision to make this place her home and was filled with a pleasant sense of peace. Jake’s parents were having fun as well, picking out souvenirs and toys for their grandchildren, talking and laughing and having a good time. When they’d been there for about an hour, the temperature started to rise so they sat down at an outdoor café for a cold drink.

  Bob took a long pull from his iced tea and asked, “What should we do about lunch?”

  Meg sipped her water and shrugged. “I’m not that hungry after all the sampling I’ve done. But you two should try the Italian place down the street. It’s terrific.”

  “Yes, it’s very good.” Linda agreed. “We’ve been there with Jake before. Of course, you’ll join us, won’t you, dear?”

  Meg squirmed. She hadn’t ever had to explain to a boyfriend’s parents that she needed more clothes if she was going to continue living in sin with their son. Now that they knew the truth about her and Jake, there was no sense lying any more. “I really would love to, but I need to go pick up a few things from the cabin.”

  “The cabin?”

  “The property I told you about. There’s a little cabin there where I was planning to stay until…” Oh, brother. What should she say? Well Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, I planned to stay there until your son took me to Heaven with his tongue and his other talented parts, but now I’m addicted and can’t wait to jump his bones again. “We just thought it would be easier for me to stay at his place since I’m going to be helping out at the clinic.” Sounded reasonable. “That’s why I brought my car. We can meet back at Jake’s later.”

  Bob checked the time. “I’d give Jake at least three hours. That’s if everything goes smoothly, and he doesn’t get delayed somehow.”

  Meg nodded. “Right, we can meet at his place this afternoon then.”

  Bob eyed Meg. “You realize Jake will have my head if I let you go off by yourself and get into trouble.”

  She grinned back. “Then I won’t get into trouble.”

  They finished their drinks and parted ways with hugs and a round of “see you later”. Meg made her way back to her car and inched through the middle of town until she cleared the heavy traffic. A sense of freedom claimed her as she pulled onto the road that led to her place. My own place, she thought and smiled to herself. As much as she enjoyed being with Jake—yes, she could admit she liked him and had begun to trust him—she still loved the thought of building a house of her own in the desert.

  It didn’t take her long to reach the gate, and she jumped out to unlock it. Despite the heat, a cold chill ran down her spine with the overwhelming sensation that someone was watching her. Which was silly. After everything that had happened with Kristen and hearing Jake’s story about Carolyn, she was being paranoid.

  She quickly got back in the car and drove the short distance to the cabin.

  …

  Jake had the urge to break every traffic law he knew to get to the airport, but with all the other cars and the condition of the road, he had to rein it in. Luckily, Kristen had fallen asleep after about thirty minutes into the trip so he was spared from having to listen to her non-stop chatter for two hours.

  Traffic had been heavy when they first left town, but had thinned considerably now. All he could think about was getting back to Meg. He was still trying to figure out how she had become so important to him in such a short time. It didn’t really matter how it happened, he just wanted to be with her and learn everything about her. To follow these feelings and see where they led. He knew it wasn’t just about the sex, though that had been the best he’d ever experienced. This was a deeper level than he’d ever reached before.

  A glance at his watch informed him they were still thirty minutes from the airport. If he dropped Kristen off and traffic cooperated, he could be home before three. He could live with that, especially if it meant being alone with Meg and not having to entertain Kristen for the rest of the week.

  He picked up his speed, now even more impatient to get this errand over with and get home. To Meg.

  …

  Meg hiked the hills, remembering times spent here when she was young. Everything felt like a homecoming, and she relished the feeling.

  She’d found several good pieces to add to her growing rock collection and caught herself day dreaming about a special room in her house to showcase it. In her mind’s eye, she could picture it, and oddly, she saw Jake there, too. There was off-the-charts chemistry between them, and now she believed her feelings were more than infatuation.

  She wasn’t used to sharing so much, but it had felt good to tell Jake about Troy. There was still a lot for them to talk about—they both had issues—but where Jake was concerned, she found she was willing to put herself out there. For years, she’d carefully shielded her emotions, had only let a few people in, but now she could feel the walls crumbling, and strangely enough, she didn’t mind at all. She checked the time and figured Ja
ke must be at the airport by now. He should be back in a couple of hours.

  Wanting to make sure the surveyors hadn’t left anything behind yesterday, she headed for the survey site, curious to see if she could discover what they’d actually been doing. It didn’t take long to reach the spot, and she was pleasantly surprised to find all of the equipment had been removed. What had they been doing here? A pile of rubble at the bottom of the hill drew her eye.

  Hiking up the hill to the rocky face to see if she could find where the debris had fallen from, she noticed a crater in the stone wall. Going closer, she realized several small holes had been drilled into the face, and one of them had what appeared to be a thin rope hanging out of it. She didn’t need her degree in geology to recognize it as primer cord used in blasting. If the cord was there, it meant dynamite might be in the hole.

  Quickly, she backed away and walked down the hill to the survey site. Why were they blasting here—was Monty Anderson behind it as well as the surveying? What were they looking for?

  Ideas churned in her brain a mile a minute while she walked back. She’d been so lost in thought, she hadn’t paid attention to the time. By the time she reached the cabin, it was almost three o’clock. Hopefully, Jake should be home soon.

  She’d no more than thought of him when her cell phone rang. She smiled when she saw the number. “Hi, Jake.”

  “Hi, Meg.” He said something else, but the static kept Meg from hearing it all.

  “Hang on, Jake. This connection isn’t very good.” She walked to the picnic table where reception seemed to be better. “Okay, try now.”

  “Can you hear me?”

  “Much better. Where are you?” Meg hoped he hadn’t been waiting at home for her for too long.

  “That’s the thing, honey. I kind of got stuck at the airport, and I won’t be home for probably an hour. I just wanted to let you know I’ll be a little late.”

  …

  Jake had thrown all of Kristen’s purchases from The Pointe into one of his own large suitcases so she could get everything on the plane. When she realized what he’d done, she insisted on buying a new suitcase and returning his.