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

by Janice Kay Johnson

He either wasn’t hurt...or he was dead.

  No, don’t even think it.

  She reached the Hales. “Let me walk you to an aid car.”

  Roger shook his head. “We’re not hurt. Maybe some bruises.”

  “Someone should look at your wife,” Anna said gently.

  He looked down at her, blinked a couple of times, then nodded. Anna led them toward a second aid car.

  Terrified to ask, she had to. “Reid?”

  His brown eyes were bleak. “He was shot. I don’t know—”

  Her teeth chattered.

  “He was surrounded, and they wanted us out.”

  Trying desperately to hold herself together, Anna nodded.

  Please, please, please.

  An EMT helped Paula Hale into the back of the vehicle. As he listened to her heart and her husband watched helplessly, Anna went back to staring at the front of the lodge.

  And then two men appeared. Police Chief Alec Raynor, supporting Reid, who moved with obvious pain, but was on his feet and walking. He wore the windbreaker but the bulk of the vest beneath appeared to be missing.

  Anna’s feet seemed to be rooted.

  His head was turning. He was looking for something, someone. Maybe the Hales. But then he saw her and never looked away. As Raynor helped him down the steps, Anna started to walk, then to run. His eyes never left her.

  He held out an arm, but she stopped, quivering, before she could throw herself at him.

  “You’re hurt.”

  “You’re crying.” His tone was strange. Wondering.

  Anna put a hand up and discovered her cheeks were wet. “I was so scared.”

  “He’s okay,” Chief Raynor said kindly. “He needs to get an X-ray, though.”

  “Anna,” Reid said, in that way he had of imbuing her name with such rich emotion. “Come here.”

  Raynor stepped away as she walked the last small distance and let Reid’s arm close around her. She put her arms around him but didn’t lean. Just let herself feel his warmth, breathe him in. He’d survived. She was having trouble believing that.

  “I love you,” he said in a low, gravelly voice. “I should have said that before I went in. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” God, she was totally pathetic. Tears streamed down her face. Probably snot, too.

  “Will you forgive me?”

  “If you’ll forgive me for being a...a prig.”

  His chest vibrated with what she realized in astonishment was a laugh. “A what?”

  Anna wiped hopelessly at her face and looked up. “I was so...self-righteous. I don’t know how you can forgive me.” The last was a wail.

  “No. You were...wounded. I understood that. I wish I’d known earlier. I’d like to think I’d have done things differently.”

  She was about to protest when she caught herself. He’d just been shot. This was hardly the moment for her to be confessing her sins of self-absorption.

  “Come on.” She moved to his side and slipped one arm around his back. “I’ll walk you to the ambulance.”

  He grunted. “I don’t need an ambulance. Or the hospital.”

  “Typical man.” Face still soggy, and she was teasing.

  He might deny being injured, but he was leaning heavily on her. They’d taken ten or fifteen steps when he abruptly stopped. “Oh, hell. Are those TV cameras?”

  They were, and she hadn’t noticed them.

  “Caleb,” he said.

  “Oh!” Anna fumbled for her phone. “I’ll call him.” She went to recent calls, touched Send and handed her phone to Reid.

  After a pause, he said gruffly, “No, this is Reid. Hey. I’m okay. We got everybody out.”

  Anna couldn’t make out Caleb’s response.

  “He’s dead,” Reid said, even in his bluntness sounding...something. Anna couldn’t quite decide what, but the next instant knew. Any man’s death diminishes me. John Donne.

  Caleb spoke again.

  “They’re insisting I go by the hospital. I wore a vest, but I took a couple of bullets to the torso. Chances are good I have broken ribs.” His tone became dry. “Not for the first time.”

  He was talking about his childhood, not his job. She hadn’t been able to see the X-rays or medical records he’d submitted to the court, but she’d heard enough to suspect how horrific they’d been.

  Caleb’s, too.

  And I thought it was wrong for him to help Caleb escape however he could.

  Reid had ended the call while she brooded, and he handed the phone back to her. They resumed their slow walk across the yard. Reid exchanged a few words here and there with other cops. When he saw Sergeant Renner, he asked, “Isaac okay?”

  “Kid’s mostly worried about Damon.”

  “Yeah, Caleb is, too, and I kind of gather Damon wasn’t well liked.”

  “But he’s one of them,” Renner said simply, and Reid nodded.

  Reid looked at Anna. “Will you help us figure out how to protect the rest of the boys?”

  “Of course I will.” She smiled shakily first at Reid, then at Renner. “And the Hales, too.”

  The sergeant smiled back at her, his approval obvious. “Good.” He eyed Reid. “I’ll get somebody to drive your vehicle to town. You’re in no shape to do it. I’ll deal with things here, too. If the doctors release you, go home. Tomorrow’s soon enough to give a statement.”

  Reid nodded.

  Stubborn man that he was, he adamantly refused to ride in an ambulance. He said, “No,” and kept saying it. He insisted on walking the full length of the driveway to Anna’s RAV4, parked out on the road. Once in, he groaned as he leaned back. She started the engine and cranked the heat as high as it would go, remembering when he’d done the same after they’d skied. She waited while an aid car and two police cars emerged from the driveway and started toward town. Even then, she didn’t shift into gear. Headlights kept glancing off them, but somehow leaving them alone, as if they were in a cocoon. Safe.

  “Does everyone know now what the Hales were doing?” she asked, almost at random.

  “I’m not sure.” There was a hint of caution in Reid’s voice. “Clay has done his best to keep the full story from getting out.”

  She turned her head to stare at him. “You mean, he knew, too?”

  “Uh...yeah. I guess there was an incident out here last year that brought them onto his radar. From what I can gather, Jane was abused as a kid. She made him promise to keep his mouth shut.”

  Anna didn’t say anything for a minute. Then, feeling a familiar ache, she murmured, “So many kids being hurt.”

  “You’re not responsible for saving them all.”

  The weight of his gaze was tangible even though she wasn’t looking at him and, with only lights from the dashboard, wouldn’t be able to see him well if she did. “Trying isn’t such a bad thing.”

  “No. As we’ve already agreed, we both carry our memories into our jobs.”

  She sniffed, then said, “Excuse me,” and reached to open the glove compartment, where she kept a box of tissues. Reid watched as she blew her nose firmly and wiped her cheeks.

  Then, having gotten herself together, at least temporarily, she finally pulled onto the road and drove toward town. Reid must hurt, and she was the one on the verge of falling apart. Not what he needed.

  “Did you mean it?” he said suddenly.

  “Mean it?” She frowned at him. “Mean what?”

  “That you love me.”

  She swallowed hard. “Yes.” Damn it, her eyes were watering again. “It happened so fast. I never have before, you know.”

  “I didn’t know I could.” His voice was impossibly tender. “Do you know what I thought the first time I saw you?”
<
br />   Wordless, she shook her head.

  “I saw ghosts in your eyes.” With one finger, he touched her face beside her eye.

  She tilted her head just a little, enough to savor the warmth and security of even this slight touch.

  “Your ghosts scared me,” he said, when she stayed silent. “But...I was drawn to you, too.”

  “You saw a reflection of your own pain.”

  “Maybe.” He seemed to be thinking it through. “Partly. I don’t think I could trust someone who didn’t understand.”

  “No.” Naturally, he was right. “No,” she repeated, lowering her high beams, then turning them back up when the oncoming car passed.

  “You know Caleb’s mine now.”

  “Of course he is.” Puzzled, she waited to find out his point.

  “He called you.”

  “Yes. He said, um, that you’d told him about me.”

  “Yeah.” Reid made a sound. “Probably not very coherently. I think he was glad that I’d found somebody.”

  In self-defense, Anna went into social-work mode. “It would be healthy for him to see that you can build a trusting, mature relationship.”

  “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

  “I wasn’t trying—”

  “I know. I’m trying to work my way around to something here.”

  The lights from one of the area’s fanciest resorts glinted on the dark water of Arrow Lake to their right. They’d be in town in less than five minutes.

  Heart thumping, Anna stole a sidelong look at Reid’s profile. “What?”

  “I don’t think we need to wait for Caleb to get on board with the idea of us being together.” Reid’s usual ease had deserted him. He sounded awkward. “I know my timing probably stinks, and probably this is too soon, but I need to say this. I want you there when I go home after work. I want to wake up with you in the morning.” He stopped, then started again. “You are home for me. I’ve never had one before.”

  The hot rush of fresh tears took her by surprise. “Damn it,” she muttered.

  “I shouldn’t have said anything yet—” He sounded chagrined. Or maybe hurt.

  “No.” She reached out a hand blindly, finding the hard muscle of his forearm. “I just— You keep making me cry.”

  “Pull over.”

  Laughing and crying both, she did. They had reached the outskirts of town, with curbs and sidewalks and streetlights. Unfortunately, he’d be able to see her. Reid opened the glove compartment again and handed her another tissue, waiting patiently while she blew and mopped. Wouldn’t you think I’d have run dry by now?

  Anna crumpled the tissue in her hand and looked at him through puffy eyes.

  His were so dark, she couldn’t have guessed at color if she hadn’t known. “I love you,” he said again. “Will you marry me?”

  Her heart seemed to have swollen to fill her entire chest cavity. Her ribs hurt, and she wasn’t the one who’d been shot.

  “Yes,” she whispered. Then, louder, “Of course, yes! And I want to throw myself at you, but I know I can’t.”

  He was grinning, looking as foolish as she probably did. “But you could kiss me if you’re really careful.”

  “Reid.” She leaned toward him and their lips met. Softly. He nibbled at her mouth and she savored his. It was the sweetest kiss of her life, even as desire simmered beneath. He wanted to go to bed with her every night. Wake up with her every morning.

  She was his home.

  “I can’t believe this.”

  He gently nipped her lower lip. “What can’t you believe?”

  She laid a hand on his chest, feeling the hard beat of his heart. “That I would ever feel safe enough with anyone—”

  She didn’t have to finish.

  “I won’t let you down, Anna. I won’t hurt you.” He rubbed his cheek against hers, then said the words that meant everything to her. “I promise.”

  Her vision blurred, but still she pulled back just far enough to be able to see him. “I won’t hurt you, either. I won’t let you down.” Her smile shook. “I promise.”

  “I love you.”

  She echoed him, unwadded the tissue to do another minor cleanup, then pulled back into traffic and drove him to the hospital.

  * * *

  SHE STAYED WITH him as if there was no question whether she should. Reid was almost sorry nobody challenged her. He’d have liked to have an excuse to say, She’s my fiancée. Words that should have scared the shit out of him, but didn’t. Not yet, at least. No, he thought he’d moved through the fear, the doubt, and come out on the other side.

  They had exchanged the most sacred of promises.

  The first thing he’d done on arriving at the hospital was ask about Damon’s condition. The boy was in surgery, but the report was optimistic. It would be hours before they’d know any more.

  Reid and Anna were left alone in a tiny waiting room while the technician checked to be sure that the X-rays were clear and didn’t need to be retaken. Reid doubted he looked his best in a too-small hospital gown, his legs bare except for the socks he’d left on because the vinyl floors were cold. Getting undressed had been painful, though. Damned if he was going to put his pants on and then find out he had to take them off again.

  After sitting in silence for a minute, Reid realized something she’d said was clinging like a burr in his mind.

  “You don’t feel like you should report the Hales?”

  Anna’s shock was obvious. “Of course not!”

  “Wouldn’t you, if a couple of months ago you’d learned what they were doing?”

  “You mean, before I met you.” Tiny lines puckered her forehead. “Probably. Yes.”

  “I don’t want you—” he had to think how to put this “—violating your conscience for me.”

  “No.” She gripped his hand. “It’s not like that. I still think there are horrendous dangers to what they’re doing. But I also think they saved a lot of kids who would otherwise have been lost.” Her fingers tightened. “And you’re one of them. For that, I’ll be eternally grateful.”

  “Okay,” he managed, past the lump in his throat. He kissed her temple, such a vulnerable spot, the skin so silky. Her fine hair tickled his nose.

  “In fact, I was, well, thinking. If we can keep their role secret. Will they go back to doing what they have been?”

  “I don’t think so. It’s gotten so too many people know about their operation. After this, there’s no way they’d stay under the radar. I suspect they’ve begun to have doubts, too. Having Caleb and Diego injured like that and not being able to stand at their sides, that hurt.”

  Anna nodded, her expression earnest, the gray of her eyes soft. “Do you think they’d be interested in fostering for Angel’s Haven? I could really use another group home for teenagers who don’t fit well into the average foster home. If all goes well, some of the boys they have now could stay with them.”

  He hadn’t thought he could love her more, but he was wrong. “Yeah,” he said hoarsely. “I’m betting they’d love to do that. They really are good people, Anna.”

  “I know they are.” A smile wobbled on her lips. “If they weren’t, you wouldn’t be such a good man.”

  “Let’s get married soon,” he said, urgency adding roughness to his voice. “Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve got a kid now. That makes sleepovers tough to have.”

  His Anna smiled for real. “I agree. Although, it might be nice if you don’t have broken ribs on our wedding night.”

  “I heal fast,” he said huskily, and they just looked at each, the air charged.

  Right now, he couldn’t see her ghosts at all. Along with the lust, an unfamiliar emotion filled him: peace. He kind of thought she might be feeling the same.

  H
is optimism was new, too. But he found he really believed that with a little luck, some work and a determination to keep their promises, they could hold on to this hard-won peace.

  The curtain was swished aside and the radiation tech appeared, beaming at him. “You can get dressed now. We’re all set.”

  Yeah, Reid thought, shaking off any last disbelief, they were. He stood, kissed Anna and said, “Give me a minute. Doc said he’d get me in quick when we were done down here.” The last thing he said was the best: “Then we can go home.”

  EPILOGUE

  CALEB WAS THE last person out of Reid’s SUV, and he hung back momentarily when Anna and Reid walked ahead carrying food—a totally gigantic potato salad and a crock of baked beans. His job was to haul the cooler with drinks.

  Anna’s voice drifted back. “Oh, the Renners are already here.” She sounded pleased.

  Had she been hit by the weirdness of them all being here at the Bear Creek Resort for a Labor Day potluck and reunion, or was it just him?

  The front yard was swarming with people. Foster parents of the boys who had stayed in Angel Butte but no longer lived at the resort, some new boys Anna had sent to the Hales and, strangest of all, cops and their spouses. Caleb remembered the way he and the other guys had all sort of faded out of sight if anyone unexpected showed up here. Especially if a cop showed. And now look. He’d never seen big tables set up on the lawn, either, and the horseshoe pit was new.

  He bet Roger and Paula still made their boys do chores, though.

  It would be kind of cool seeing all the guys, though. Only a few wouldn’t be here. Apollo’s sister had taken him in, TJ had gone back to live with his mother now that his father was dead, and Isaac had left a week ago for college. He had been so close to eighteen, the judge had just sort of dragged her feet until his birthday came. Given his special circumstances—that was the way Anna described it—he’d been accepted to the University of Oregon even though his application was way late, but he’d told everyone he was going to apply to transfer to MIT for his sophomore year. Caleb bet he’d get in, too.

  Diego and Trevor were in the same foster home. Their foster dad was a scary dude who could stand up to Diego’s father and Trevor’s uncle, both of whom Reid, at least, thought were still potential threats.