Home, she thought as she wearily climbed the steps to her apartment. Where was that? She didn’t know anymore. It sure wasn’t in Chicago. She had thought it was here, Pawhuska, this quiet town that had embraced a stranger and made her feel welcome. Now that everyone knew her story, would they still want her there? Evan didn’t. Evan.
She looked down at her shirt, at the dried blood that clung to the fabric. She had cradled Evan against her, pushing her hands to his side to try and stop the life from draining out of him. She was bone-weary as she climbed under the shower spray, the water as hot as she could stand it. She felt the water wash over her, melting some of the stress from her shoulders. She lathered her hair three times and scrubbed at her skin until it was pink, feeling like she couldn’t wash the day’s experience off of her. Her legs felt weak and she sat in the tub, wrapping her arms around her knees as the water pelted her back and cried. She cried until there were no more tears, until her throat ached and her eyes burned, until the water ran cold.
Climbing out of the shower, she dried off and wrapped her hair in the towel. She walked to her room, ignoring the clothes spilling out of the open drawers. She pulled a t-shirt and a pair of underwear on and climbed into bed, falling into a deep sleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow.
When Sally woke in the morning, she felt hollow. Realizing she hadn’t eaten in almost two days, she went to the kitchen to find something for breakfast. She poured the last of a box of cereal and some milk into a bowl and stood at the counter to eat. She looked over the living room, at the broken vase and dead flowers on the floor. She finished her breakfast and cleaned up the mess Joey had left in his wake. She went back to the bedroom and began refolding her clothes and putting the drawers back in order. Coming around the side of the bed, she noticed something sticking out from beneath it and bent to pick it up. A picture of her and Evan at the town Labor Day picnic. She plucked the picture from the broken frame and sat back on the bed. That day had been one of the happiest days of her life. She’d laughed and eaten until she thought she would throw up. They’d done a three-legged race and had danced under the stars to the band playing late into the night. Back at Evan’s house, they had made love and fallen asleep in each other’s arms. It had been a perfect day. And now, it was all gone.
Sally thought back to the things that Evan had said. That people would talk, that he couldn’t be with her anymore. She would ruin him, that’s what he had said. Had she been so foolish to think that he would still love her after he found out who she really was? She placed the picture in the drawer of the nightstand and stood to get dressed. She needed to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her life.
Evan
After almost three weeks in the hospital, Evan was cleared to go home. He would need to rest at home for a while longer so his lung could heal and would need physical therapy to help regain the strength he’d lost from being in bed for so long. Walker, the deputy that had saved his ass, drove him home.
“As pissed as the Mayor was when you had GPS trackers installed on all the cruisers, it sure paid off,” Walker was saying. “That’s the only way we could’ve found you. Smart thinking you putting one on your truck too.”
Evan nodded as Walker talked, interjecting when necessary. He wasn’t talking much these days. Truth be told, he’d been in a funk since the nurse had told him that Sally had never come to see him in the hospital. He honestly couldn’t blame her after the things he’d said. He had hoped she would give him the chance to explain that he didn’t mean them. That he loved her no matter what. That he didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought, or about his career, or his business. All he cared about was her. But he’d never had the chance. He’d tried calling her from the hospital but it always went to voicemail and he couldn’t bring himself to leave a message. He needed to see her, to talk to her, to hold her and tell her everything.
“More than you can possibly eat,” Walker was saying.
“I’m sorry, what? I must’ve been daydreaming,” Evan responded.
Walker smiled kindly at him, knowing where his boss’ thoughts most likely were. “Everybody’s been bringing food to the station. Leanne’s been taking it to your house, stocking your freezer. She said there’s enough there to keep you from having to cook until next spring.”
“That’s great,” Evan said, without much feeling. He loved his town and the people in it, he truly did. Their generosity did touch him but he was far too preoccupied, stuck inside his own head.
Walker pulled up to Evan’s ranch and came around the side to help him out. Evan still moved rather gingerly, his side still burning from time to time if he stepped the wrong way. The deputy gathered the small duffel with Evan’s things and followed him to the house. Evan opened the side door to find his kitchen full of flowers, balloons, cards and a banner reading, “Welcome Home Sherriff!”
“I told Leanne you wouldn’t want all the fuss but you know how she gets. And Minnie was right there egging her on. Shit, those two are mother hens if I ever saw some,” Walker laughed.
“Tell her I appreciate it would you? I’m going to take a few days before I start returning calls,” Evan said, perching himself gingerly on a high stool.
“No problem Sherriff,” Walker said. “If there’s nothing else you need, I’ll leave you to it.”
Evan stood and held out his hand, giving Walker’s a quick squeeze. “I owe you Ben,” he said.
“Nothing of it, Sherriff,” Walker stated, slapping his shoulder and seeing himself out.
Evan went to his room and tried to relax but he couldn’t get Sally off his mind. He tried calling again but this time instead of going to voicemail, a voice came on stating that the number was disconnected. Evan felt his stomach plummet. He dialed the number for Buck’s, hoping she would answer.
“Buck’s,” Buck Carter’s gruff voice barked into the phone.
“Buck, it’s Evan, is Sally there,” he asked, holding his breath.
After what seemed like forever, Buck finally responded. “Sally’s gone Evan. Turn’t in her keys and left town about a week ago.”
THE END
Cowboy Romance
Sally and Evan: Take Me Home
Book Three
S. Bridges
Sally and Evan: Take Me Home
Evan
Evan wasn’t quite sure he’d heard right.
“Say that again Buck,” he asked
“I’m sorry Evan but Sally turn’t in her keys ‘bout a week ago and cleared out. I thought you knew,” the older man said sympathetically.
“No, I had no idea. Thanks Buck,” Evan said and hung up the phone. Right now he wasn’t sure what hurt worse, the healing hole in his lungs or the twisting in his gut. Damn it all to hell. If he would have just left a message, just let her know that he hadn’t meant what he’d said, Sally wouldn’t have left. Or maybe she would have. If Evan really thought about it, he didn’t know Sally at all. Shit, her name wasn’t even Sally. Casey. The name sounded so foreign on his tongue.
He was having a hard time putting everything together in his head. He couldn’t make it make sense. His instinct had told him from the get-go that she’d been hiding something. That she was running away. Her file said she was from Indiana but her accent had said otherwise. She’d seemed skittish at first, quick to jump if startled. Evan never in a hundred years would have figured she’d been party to drug deals and violence. That wasn’t the woman he knew. The woman he loved.
Evan had never let himself get this close to anyone before. He’d watched his strong bull of a father wither and die when his mother passed. He had been terrified of that depth of love and he’d never allowed himself to get close to it. Until Sally. The wrenching in his stomach right now was proof that he loved her that much. That despite all of the lies and surprises, he would go to his grave for her. He damn near did.
When he’d first woken up and found that Sally hadn’t been to the hospital, he was angry. He’d doubted the
love she’d professed to him. If she loved him like she said she did why wasn’t she here holding his hand, giving him ice chips, smoothing his hair from his forehead the way she did when he lay with his head in her lap? He let himself think that he was just another guy whose attention she’d lapped up like a lost dog. Those first few days he’d been quite a prick to anyone who dared a visit to his room.
It wasn’t until Walker came in one afternoon to see him that he got a reality check. Walker told Evan how Sally had reacted when he’d been shot. How her tiny frame single-handedly pulled his large body onto the floor and put her hands over the hole in his side to stem the flow of blood from the wound. How she’d cradled his head in her lap and whispered “please don’t die Evan, I love you” over and over while her tears splashed onto his face. How she’d refused to let the paramedics take him to the hospital without her and had refused to eat, drink, or even wash his blood off of her until she knew he’d made it through his surgery. Then the anger faded and the heart-hurt took over. He’d have rather been angry.
Evan went to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. He needed to find out where Sally had gone but at this hour there was nothing he could do about it. He poured himself a second glass and washed a few pain pills down with it. He padded across the big empty house back to his room and crawled under the covers. He lay there and stared at the ceiling thinking of how big this bed felt now with just him in it. True he’d spent nights without Sally there but the promise of her being next to him another night was always there. He tried to imagine what it would be like if she never came back. It nearly sucked all the wind out of his damaged lungs so instead he focused on how to get her back.
First, he would need to find where she was. It was too late to make any calls so Evan made a mental list of who he’d need to talk to. He would start with Candy, she and Sally had become rather friendly and Sally may have given her a clue as to where she had gone. If Candy didn’t know anything he’d call the local Marshal’s office and see if she had been relocated again. As he ticked off all of the boxes in his head, Evan finally began to feel tired and the fist squeezing his heart started to loosen as he worked out a plan to find Sally. Finally, his eyes closed and he drifted off the sleep with hopes that the new day would bring him closer to Sally.
Sally
Sally was finishing her shift at Tom’s Crab Shack, wiping down the last of the tables and emptying the order pad and pens from her apron. This was her second day on the job and she was settling in to the routine. She’d memorized the menu on the first night and found that waitressing came rather naturally. Tammy, her boss, was cashing out the register as she was taking off her apron.
“You’re doing really well so far Sally, the customers really like you,” Tammy offered kindly.
“Thanks Tammy. I’m enjoying it so far, and the view out that front window doesn’t hurt either,” Sally said, motioning to the ocean lapping at the sand not fifty feet from the dining room. “It’s really peaceful here.”
“A couple of the girls and I are going to grab a beer after we close up, you should come with us. We can show you around a bit since you’re new in town,” Tammy offered.
Sally wanted to refuse, she’d never really had any female friends other than Crazy Candy. Tammy and the other waitresses, Brenda and Carly, all seemed very friendly but she was afraid she wouldn’t know what to talk about.
Sensing her hesitation Tammy slapped at Sally’s arm playfully, “Come on, we won’t bite. I promise.”
“Sure,” Sally heard herself say. “That sounds great, thanks.”
They finished up all of the closing chores and locked up for the night. The four women stepped out into the cool night air, the smell of the salt spray filling their noses. Sally did find it beautiful and peaceful here in southern Florida but also found herself missing the plains sunsets. She shook the memories from her mind and walked to her car, a used compact Ford that got her from point A to point B. She rolled down the windows and followed Tammy and the other girls out of the parking lot onto the main road. After a few blocks, they parked in front of a small bar called “Todd’s Place” and went in.
Inside, the bar reminded Sally a lot of Bucks with a few tables scattered around a rough dance floor and a short bar with seven or eight stools. Brenda waved to the bartender and sauntered up to the bar, tossing a wink and a playful smile over her shoulder at the girls.
“She’ll have us drinking for free inside of five minutes,” giggled Carly.
The girls found a table off to the side where they could chat and people watch while the waitress brought a round of beers to the table.
“First round is on the house,” she said, sounding less than thrilled.
Tammy and Carly high-fived one another and hooted at Brenda as she swayed her hips back toward their table.
“I swear I don’t know how you do it,” Carly said.
“Do what,” Brenda asked innocently, batting her eyelashes before all four girls broke into giggles. “Jimmy and I went to high school together. We had Sex Ed senior year.”
“Yeah, under the bleachers!” Tammy snorted.
The evening went on like that with lots of laughter, a few beers, and easy conversation. Sally found that she was relaxing and enjoying herself and was glad that she had agreed to come. After a few hours, the girls said their goodbyes and parted ways for the night. Sally got into her car and drove back to her small apartment, smiling to herself. After a short drive, she pulled into the parking lot of her building and climbed the steps to her apartment. She paused at her door, turning toward the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Although it was too dark to see the ocean, she could hear and smell its presence not far from her new home. She leaned back against her door and closed her eyes, inhaling the fresh night air for a few minutes before unlocking her door and going inside.
Once inside her apartment, Sally turned on the lights and surveyed the small space. It wasn’t much but it was cozy and nicely decorated and she had a small TV. She took a quick shower and changed into her Mets t-shirt, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and heading to the couch. She turned on her TV and flipped through the few channels, finding nothing but nightly news and infomercials. She turned the volume low, and lay back against the cushions. Since moving to Florida a week ago, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to sleep in her bed. It felt too big and too lonely and it made her think of Evan.
Evan. She wondered how he was. She wondered if he missed her. No, she told herself, now that he knew who she really was he was probably glad to be rid of her. Sally closed her eyes, feeling the hot tears slide down her cheeks as the low murmurings from the TV lulled her to sleep.
Evan
Evan woke the next morning early and more determined to find Sally. He called the local Marshal’s office first, since it was too early to bother Candy, or most anyone else for that matter. A deputy marshal by the name of Tom Brooks, answered. After a brief conversation the only information Evan received was that Sally had not been relocated through Witness Protection. She had informed the local field office that she was moving of her own accord with no forwarding address. She was not scared of Teddy Cruz as she’d been told he would be spending the rest of his lift in jail. He had no chance of parole and most of his organization went their own way. Joey was dead, Cruz’s brother Martin was dead, the deputy marshal that had sold her out was dead. Sally felt she didn’t need to hide anymore.
Evan briefly wondered if Sally had gone back to Chicago where she was from but quickly dismissed the idea. She had nothing and no one there. She’d told him more than once that she was glad to be rid of that place. He tried to think if there was some place Sally had mentioned she might like to go but came up with nothing.
Feeling only slightly discouraged, Evan showered and made his way into the kitchen to make himself some coffee. He jotted down some thoughts on a notepad he kept on his kitchen counter. He ran his hand over the granite, remembering how Sally used to sit on the c
ounter while Evan cooked. He remembered the way she would cock her head to one side while she listened to him talk, how she would get “that” look in her eye when he did the dishes.
“There are few things sexier than a man who does dishes,” she would say playfully before wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him in for a kiss.
He missed her kisses, the warmth of her mouth on his. He missed how perfectly her small body fit against his large frame, how she would give a contented sigh when he entered her. He missed being sheathed in her wet warmth, her hands in his hair, nails raking over his back, arching and calling is name as she came.
Evan took a large gulp of his coffee and adjusted himself in his seat, his erection straining at his jeans. Jesus, even the thought of her made him hard. He needed her. Not just her body, but everything she was. He would not rest until he found her and had her back with him where she belonged. He realized it might take some convincing on his part after the things he had said during the standoff with Martin Cruz. Pushing back from the table, Evan grabbed his hat and headed out the door to his truck.
He arrived at the grocery store about half-past seven hoping Candy didn’t have the day off. He walked in, tipping his hat at the few customers there this early morning, and spotted Candy’s wild red hair at the last register. He walked over purposefully, the tender flesh around his healing wound stretching with each long stride. He tried not to wince as he approached Candy’s lane.
“Mornin, Sherriff,” she said. “Good to see ya up and around, ya gave us all quite a scare.”
BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE: The Unforgettable Southern Billionaires: The Complete Collection Boxed Set (Young Adult Rich Alpha Male Billionaire Romance) Page 140
