Harlequin Superromance September 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: This Good ManPromises Under the Peach TreeHusband by Choice

by Janice Kay Johnson

  Both nodded.

  “But if you want my advice?”

  “Of course we do,” Paula said warmly.

  “Then I’d sit tight. What I can and will do when it all comes out is my damnedest to defend and support you. And to make sure these boys’ stories are heard. My guess is you can count on Sergeant Renner, too. I don’t think any of the boys will be returned to their former homes. And, for all that she’s angry at me, I know Anna will fight for your kids.”

  A nerve twitched beneath Roger’s eye. Paula abruptly bent her head to hide her face.

  God damn. This was hard. Reid felt as if he was betraying them, as he’d betrayed Anna and maybe Caleb, too.

  “I need to get back to the hospital,” he said. “Caleb was looking a little more active. Twitching. Even moving a little.”

  “That’s good news,” Roger said heavily.

  “I hope so.” He flattened his hands on the table to shove himself up, then stood for a minute, feeling as if each foot was encased in cement. Actually walking out felt beyond him.

  Caleb, he reminded himself.

  “I’ll keep you informed,” he said, nodded a good-night and left.

  * * *

  WAKING AND SLEEPING were versions of the same nightmare.

  Reid had asked permission to stay with Caleb, and the latest doctor had okayed it. Caleb was struggling toward consciousness, and nobody liked the idea of him waking to unfamiliar people on top of an alien environment.

  He was no longer on oxygen, but was still wired for monitoring. His slightest movement caused beeping and a wild disarrangement of one of the squiggly green lines that ran across a screen. The beating of Caleb’s heart became part of Reid’s waking and sleeping dreams, along with visions of Anna’s face while she told him about her sister.

  He killed my little sister.

  Reid wondered how. He’d seen enough bodies of young children to be able to envision too many possibilities, all graphic. God, had six-year-old Anna seen it happen? Discovered her sister’s body afterward?

  Promises meant everything to Anna.

  He hadn’t made one to her. He hadn’t broken a promise. Not to her, not to anyone. Reid didn’t ever remember making a promise beyond the most casual, the “I’ll call this afternoon” variety, until Caleb had come along.

  Didn’t matter whether there had ever been an explicit promise, Reid realized. He had known how much Anna would disapprove of what the Hales were doing. No, he hadn’t known why, but his gut had told him she had a powerful and very personal reason. He’d lied anyway, because what else could he do?

  By morning, he felt like hell. His neck was stiff and his skin grimy. Yesterday morning’s shower and shave were a distant memory. He clenched his teeth against the jab of another memory, that of Anna sleeping in his bed, nestled in the middle because she’d been cuddled up to him until he’d eased himself away. That had been yesterday morning, too.

  He stood and stretched until his bones cracked, after which his eyes focused on his brother, who lay quietly as if sleeping. The swelling that had made half his face grotesque had noticeably gone down. No, the sleep wasn’t peaceful, he saw then—there was a lot of activity going on beneath Caleb’s eyelids. Dreams? Or a semiconscious battle?

  “I’m still here,” he said quietly. He gripped his brother’s hand again. “You’re in the hospital, Caleb. I’m going to feel one hell of a lot better when you open your eyes and say my name.”

  The movement under the boy’s eyelids intensified, even seeming agitated. His lashes fluttered—and his eyes opened. He closed them as quickly, opened them again, but squinting this time. Well, on his good side—on the battered side of his face, the remaining swelling allowed barely a squint anyway. What Reid could see of his eyes looked...blank.

  Feeling a thrill of fear, Reid said, “Caleb?”

  That uncomprehending gaze very slowly turned to him. And then his brother’s misshapen mouth twisted into what might have been a stab at a smile. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times. His tongue touched chapped lips. Finally, he formed a word. “Reid.”

  “You heard me.”

  The mouth formed another word, almost silent. “Yes.”

  “God.” Reid dropped like a stone onto the bedside chair. “You scared the crap out of me. You’ve been unconscious for damn near two days.” He ran a shaky hand over his face. “I need to let the nurse know you’re awake. Hold on there, kid. I’ll be right back.”

  He would have sworn Caleb said, “I know,” although he might have been mistaken.

  Within moments, Caleb’s bed was surrounded. Reid was banned to the waiting room for the next while. Exhilarated, he didn’t mind. He walked the hall outside the unit until his muscles loosened, then took out his phone. It was early, but...he couldn’t imagine anyone else had slept much better than he had.

  He called Anna first. The call went to voice mail. She might still be asleep, he told himself, but he knew better.

  “Caleb’s regained consciousness. He said my name. I thought you’d want to know.” Despite the glorious relief, he became aware of the huge hollow beneath his breastbone. “Anna...will you talk to me? Will you listen?” For some reason, he waited, as if she might pick up even though he knew that was impossible.

  After a minute, he touched End, then called Clay Renner, who did answer, sounding alert.

  “That’s good news,” he said. “Has he been able to answer questions yet?”

  “No. The doctor is in with him now. They kicked me out. But he’s all here, Clay.” His voice had thickened. “He said my name.”

  “I’ll come straight there,” the other man said kindly. “See you in fifteen.”

  Paula answered the phone at the lodge and began to cry when Reid gave her the news. “Thank God,” she said. “Thank God.”

  He’d barely finished that call when Clay Renner arrived, a manila folder in his hand.

  “Will they let us question Caleb?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.” Reid rasped a hand over his jaw. “If he’s up to it, I don’t know why they wouldn’t.”

  Renner eyed him. “I’ve got an electric shaver in my glove compartment. You want to borrow it?”

  A reluctant grin broke on Reid’s face. “That bad?”

  “Some people look good with stubble. You’re not one of ’em.”

  It felt good to laugh. “Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind. I itch.”

  Nobody had emerged from ICU to summon Reid before Renner returned with the razor. Reid headed to the nearest restroom, laid out paper towels to catch the whiskers and shaved. When he was done, he eyed himself, not sure the whole picture had improved. The lack of sleep showed. His hair, never cooperative, was doing strange things. He wet it down and tried to smooth it, but wasn’t sure he hadn’t made matters worse. With a shrug, he gave up, tossed the wadded paper towels and went out to join Renner.

  “They’re ready for us.”

  For some reason, Reid’s heart gave one hard beat. He didn’t know why.

  The doctor cleared everyone out of Caleb’s cubicle when Renner and Reid went back. His brother’s eyes were closed, giving Reid another brief scare, but when he said, “You awake?” and touched his hand, Caleb looked at him.

  “Hey.” He sounded a little better. A cup of ice chips sat on the bedside table, so maybe just moistening his mouth had helped.

  Reid introduced Renner, who smiled. “Glad to see you looking a lot better,” he said.

  Caleb slowly lifted the hand that the IV was inserted into and gingerly touched the damaged side of his face. “Yeah?”

  Renner’s smile widened. “Didn’t say you looked good. Just better.”

  Caleb laughed and then winced. His gaze turned to Reid. “Shaved.”

  He rubbed his chin. “Yeah.”
>
  “Thought you might be growing a beard.”

  “God, no.” He stood looking down at his brother, wondering how much of what he felt was on his face. “I didn’t go home last night.”

  “Oh.” Caleb seemed as vulnerable and uneasy about the unspoken emotions as he felt.

  “Do you remember the accident?” Reid asked abruptly. “Neither Diego nor TJ saw much.”

  Caleb didn’t move. Reid saw him absorbing the fact that, in addition to himself, at least two other boys had now been exposed. “They’re...okay?” he asked at least, cautiously.

  “Yes. TJ made it into a ditch. Diego is here in the hospital, too, with a broken leg and some other broken bones. No head injury, though, unlike you. You took the hardest hit.”

  “He drove straight at us.” The horror of the memory was in his eyes. “We were on the shoulder. As far over as we could go. He swerved to take us out.”

  “Neither of the others was sure what the vehicle was. They didn’t get a license plate or see the driver, either.”

  He looked at Reid. “Wasn’t Dad.”

  “We know.” Reid took his hand again. “Sergeant Renner questioned him, but he was able to prove he wasn’t in Angel Butte.”

  Caleb nodded slightly. “Dodge Ram.” Long pause. “They’ve got...kind of a different front grille. You know? My friend Ian’s dad drives one.”

  “Ah.” Renner sounded pleased.

  “Did you see the driver, Caleb?” Reid asked.

  “Yes. Don’t know him.”

  Renner said, “I brought some photos to show you, Caleb. No, don’t try to sit up. I’ll hold them so you can see them.”

  Reid recognized the faces enlarged and printed in color that Renner had fanned out at the foot of the bed. He said nothing, but approved when Renner chose to start with Trevor’s uncle, deliberately skipping the photo of TJ’s father and moving on through several others before he held up the driver’s license photo of Randal Haveman.

  Caleb’s whole body instantly stiffened. “Yes!” he hissed. “That’s him. Oh, man. Who is he?”

  Reid kept his mouth clamped shut. Renner’s eyes met his briefly before he looked again at Caleb. “Can you keep it to yourself?”

  “Yes.”

  “TJ’s father. He’s...been afraid it was his father. I guess he’s been sneaking out at night hoping to catch him red-handed.”

  “Oh. I thought...” Caleb closed his eyes, leaving his suspicion unspoken.

  “We’ll find him,” Renner said, voice hard. “You’ll have to testify in court, Caleb.”

  “I will.” His fierce stare held Clay Renner’s. “He was looking straight at me when he hit me.”

  Primal rage hit Reid like the leading edge of a storm. He locked his jaw so tight, he feared his molars might crack. He wanted in the worst way to go after the son of a bitch himself. But he knew he couldn’t, for a lot of reasons. And the determination and cold anger he saw on Clay Renner’s face reassured him.

  “Then I’ll get on with it,” Renner said harshly and left without another word.

  Reid sat down again, allowing the silence to build. He half expected Caleb would fall asleep again, but instead he turned his head on the pillow to look at Reid, his expression tormented.

  “Paula and Roger... Are they in trouble? God, if only we hadn’t gone out! Or if I could have gotten out of the way—”

  “Then the truck would have hit Diego harder than it did. He might be dead right now.”

  Caleb’s stricken expression didn’t change.

  “This isn’t your fault, Caleb. None of it.” Familiar theme, Reid thought. On a flicker of amusement, he wondered how many times Paula had given this same lecture. What had she said to him, not so long ago?

  You have no responsibility for your father’s sins.

  In that microsecond, Reid let go of the belief that she was wrong. He only wished he’d have a chance to try to convince Anna that she bore no responsibility for her sister’s death.

  “I told you Dad wasn’t in town,” he said. “Paula and Roger didn’t forbid you guys from going anywhere, did they? You had pretty girls in your sights. Why wouldn’t you ride down to the county park? What is it, half a mile tops?”

  Caleb’s face relaxed some, although he remained troubled.

  “Will they, like, go to jail or something?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Reid had to admit. “I’ll do my best to keep that from happening.”

  “And what about the other guys?” This was a cry. “What if they have to go back?”

  This time Reid shook his head. “I’ll fight to see that doesn’t happen.”

  “You promise?” Caleb’s eyes bored into his.

  “Yeah.” God. “I promise.”

  The tension left Caleb’s thin body. “Okay.” But then his eyes shot open even before he had let them close. “Dad? Does he know...?”

  With so much else going on, Reid had forgotten to say this. “I got a restraining order, Caleb. He’s not allowed to see you. There’ll be a hearing as soon as you’re well enough to attend. Unless you want me to look for your mother, I’m going for full custody.”

  Caleb searched his eyes. “You mean...I’d live with you?”

  “Yeah.” Reid reached for his hand again. Touching like this was starting to come more naturally. “You’ll live with me. I’m sorry, Caleb. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I should have done this in the first place.”

  “’S’okay.” Caleb’s words slurred. “Took me away from Dad.”

  It seemed Reid’s chest ached all the time now. “I wouldn’t have left you, no matter what.”

  No response. Caleb had dropped off, maybe hadn’t even heard him. Didn’t matter, Reid realized. They’d said enough. He trusts me.

  Doing nothing but watching his brother sleep, Reid stayed for another ten minutes before the lure of a shower got him to his feet.

  * * *

  AS SHE DROVE, Anna kept an eye on Diego, who had pushed the passenger seat as far back as it would go to accommodate his cast. A pair of crutches lay on the back seat, but, given that he also had a cast on one arm, he wouldn’t be making much use of them for a while.

  They had sneaked him out of the hospital through the employee parking lot, and Anna was pretty confident they weren’t being followed. Diego’s body was rigid, though, and he kept glancing in the side mirror. The kid was scared to death that his father would find him.

  “I picked these foster parents mostly because I thought you’d like them,” Anna said. “But there was another reason, too.”

  Diego turned his stare on her.

  “John is retired Marine Corps. Recently retired. From what his wife says, he was in a lot of firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan. He knows about your father. He’d be more than happy to take him on.”

  Tears appeared in Diego’s eyes. He wiped at them, ducking his head. “I... Thank you.”

  She patted the cast on his arm, then put her hand back on the steering wheel.

  “Did you get a chance to see Caleb again?” she asked after a minute. Diego had wanted to say goodbye. Proud that she’d kept her intense interest out of her voice, Anna waited anxiously. Reid had left her two messages this week, both updating her and ending each time by saying he wanted to talk to her. She wasn’t ready.

  “Yeah.” Diego brightened. “Reid brought him to see me.” Ironically, Caleb had left the hospital before Diego, whose injuries hadn’t been life threatening. Partly, that was because Diego had the mobility issue, but also because finding him a home where he could be kept safe from his enraged father had been an issue.

  “Good. You know, if you both stay here in Angel Butte, you’ll go to school together.”

  “That’d be cool.” From his downcast tone, she knew h
e didn’t believe it would happen. “He has a hearing Monday. I mean, in court. He’s pretty freaked.”

  “Tomorrow?” Her pulse picked up. “That was fast.” Ridiculously fast. How had Reid pulled that off?

  “Can you find out what happens? And let me know?” His puppy-dog brown eyes pleaded with her. “I mean, if he can’t?”

  “I will.” She pulled into the driveway of Diego’s new home and set the emergency brake. “Cross my heart.”

  He grinned, if weakly. Then looked alarmed as he gazed wide-eyed toward the house. “Is that him?”

  Anna smiled. She’d had the same reaction the first time she met John Pannek. He was big, muscular and mean-looking—until he smiled. Walking down the driveway toward them, he wasn’t smiling yet. “Yep. Think he can take on your dad?”

  “Yeah!” Diego exclaimed.

  Half an hour later, she was back in her car. Usually she took longer to settle a kid into a new foster home, but this time she’d been able to tell she wasn’t needed. For all the abuse he’d suffered, Diego had stayed a nice, levelheaded boy. The Panneks had fostered for her before, and she had complete confidence in them. It was pure luck they’d decided they were ready for another child right now, ending her waffling about where she could safely place Diego. They’d taken to him instantly, and vice versa. If Hector went looking for him, it would appear that Diego had vanished. Unless they sent him in a wheelchair, Diego wouldn’t be able to start school for at least another month. A former teacher, Beth was going to homeschool him until the custody issue was resolved.

  Anna drove a few blocks, then pulled over.

  Eight other boys still lived at the Hales’. Remained vulnerable the way she and Molly had been. Because she hadn’t done what she should have done and reported the couple hiding kids from all legal authorities.

  She’d been telling herself she wouldn’t have to, that with the sheriff’s department investigating, it would all come out anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling shame. Whatever her duty should be, whatever her conscience said, she didn’t want to be the person Reid would blame for destroying the people he loved. She didn’t know if that made her a coward or someone whose eyes had been opened to shades of gray.