Just His Luck

by B. J Daniels

  A shiver ran the length of her spine as she pulled up and parked next to his pickup. It appeared that it was just the two of them. The work on the barn must have been completed because she saw no workmen around. Shade had said to come early so they would be all alone.

  She felt another shiver, this one of desire. Both were dangerous. She didn’t believe she could ever be afraid of Shade, no matter what it was he had to tell her. In her heart, she knew he’d had nothing to do with Ariel’s murder. But she couldn’t help being concerned by what she’d heard in his tone earlier. She got out of her SUV and started up the steps to the lodge.

  She hadn’t gone far when he appeared on the porch above her. She stopped to look up at him and felt that jolt she always did. He was so handsome, so masculine, so confident. Except right now, the cowboy looked nervous.

  “You made it,” he said and looked past her to the road as if to see that they really were alone. The reunion committee had decided to hire a party bus to bring everyone up so there wouldn’t be any classmates drinking and driving. The bus could take anyone back who had to leave early. Also they wouldn’t have ten cars to worry about parking.

  But the bus wasn’t supposed to arrive for at least another half hour or more. Lizzy slowly mounted the steps. “You said it was important that we talked before the others arrived.”

  “Come in. I’ll take you to your cabin and help you with your bags later.” He stepped aside to let her enter the lodge. A blaze crackled in the huge rock fireplace.

  She moved toward its golden warmth, too aware of the cowboy behind her as he closed the door. Standing in front of the fire, she warmed her hands, surprised at the chill she felt as he joined her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. She’d never seen him this nervous. Whatever he had to tell her, he was worried she would...would what?

  “I can’t believe I waited ten years to ask you out,” he said and shook his head. “I feel like a fool now.”

  “I’m sure the women you dated were glad you kept busy those years,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

  He chuckled. “None of them were you.”

  She could feel his gaze on her. Had she been wrong about why he’d gotten her here early? Maybe it wasn’t about anything more serious than seduction. But when she met those amazing blue eyes, she felt her heart stutter in her chest.

  “What is it you need to tell me?” she asked, her voice a hoarse whisper.

  He sobered at once. She saw him swallow before he said, “I found out something that could change everything between us.”

  She stared at him. “About Ariel’s murder?”

  Shade quickly shook his head. “No,” he assured her. “No, it’s more complicated than that. There’s this woman I knew in college and—” At the sound of the front door opening, they both turned.

  Lizzy hadn’t heard a vehicle drive up over the pounding of her heart. There was this woman he knew in college?

  But then Brad Davis came in, his boots thumping on the hardwood floor, his rolling suitcase squeaking as he let the door close behind him.

  “Hey!” Brad called out. “The temperature is really dropping out there.” Like a blustery gust of cold air, he blew in, quickly joining them at the fire. “Glad to have some heat. Hope there’s heat in the cabins.”

  Shade looked pointedly at the clock on the wall. “You’re early. Why didn’t you take the party bus?”

  Brad shook his head. “Thought you might need some help. I also wanted to have a look around the place before everyone got here, maybe take some photos.” He glanced at Lizzy before returning his gaze to Shade. “Had a feeling the two of you might already be here. Ready for the excitement to begin?”

  “I’m not sure how exciting it’s going to be,” Lizzy said, hoping it was true as she tried to get her footing under her again. What was it Shade was going to tell her? Something he hadn’t wanted to, which was why he hadn’t just blurted it out and gotten it over with. She felt sick to her stomach and realized she had really been looking forward to going out with Shade—and where it might lead given the chemistry between them. He’d said that whatever he had to tell her might change everything. It was that serious?

  Brad laughed as he looked around. “Oh, I think anything could happen up here during the reunion. Actually, I’m counting on it,” he said. “So no one else is here yet? You think they’ll all come? I mean, if you were the killer, you wouldn’t want to miss this, right? You’ve gotten away with murder for ten years. You’d be cocky, thinking you’re smarter than everyone. You wouldn’t want to miss the speculation while everyone tries to figure out which of us did it.” He grinned. “We should have a contest. Throw some money in and the person who guesses right gets the pot.”

  “Or gets killed,” Shade said.

  Brad chuckled. “There is always that.”

  Lizzy turned to study the man. “You certainly have figured out what the killer is thinking. Don’t forget that you’re a suspect and right now, you’ve just moved up my list.”

  Brad beamed. “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. I’m honored.”

  “Let me show you to your cabin,” Shade said to him. Turning to her, he added, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Why don’t I tag along and you can show me to mine?” She needed to get him alone to find out what he was going to tell her. It would haunt her the entire reunion if she couldn’t find out what else he was going to say.

  Or maybe it was better not to know, she told herself. As they all left the lodge, the sound of a vehicle engine could be heard coming up the road.

  * * *

  SHADE GROANED INWARDLY. He could see how this whole weekend was going to go. Why had he thought any of this was a good idea? All he wanted was to get Lizzy alone and tell her about Maisie. Why hadn’t he let this go for now? Lizzy had enough on her mind. Why hit her with this?

  He mentally kicked himself. He’d wanted to get it over with. No, what he’d wanted was to find out if this changed everything—his greatest fear. Dorothea seemed to think that he was underestimating Lizzy if he thought it would be a deal breaker.

  He should have known Ariel—if nothing else—would have all of their classmates anxious to get here, to find out what was going on with everyone else. No one wanted to miss anything with all the murder intrigue. And he agreed with Brad. The killer would come to the reunion.

  The cabins were all stuck back in the pines and some distance apart. “You’re in cabin nine,” he told Brad. It was the last one and the farthest from the lodge. “Go on down. I’ll join you in a minute.” He turned to Lizzy. “Here, let me help you with that.”

  She shook her head, insisting on carrying her own overnight bag. “What cabin am I in?”

  “One. It’s the closest.” His gaze met hers.

  Brad grumbled as he headed off down the trail toward the last cabin in the distance.

  As Shade and Lizzy started up the side of the mountain toward her cabin, he said, “I’m sorry we were interrupted.”

  “Me, too. You were saying something about an old girlfriend from college.”

  He glanced over at her. He didn’t remember saying anything about Hannah being an old girlfriend. “Hannah and I dated, she broke up with me, but we ran into each other three years ago. I didn’t know it but she was engaged at the time.” They reached the cabin. He stopped and turned to her.

  “Shade, please.”

  He looked into her dark eyes and just as impulsively as he had the night of their graduation party, he reached for her. Cupping the back of her neck, he pulled her into a kiss. It was something he’d wanted to do for so long that he couldn’t help himself.

  At first she was too surprised to respond, but then he felt her lean into him, lean into the kiss. Time seemed to stop. The world seemed to withdraw around them until it was the two of them alone on their own island.
r />   Then Brad yelled something from down by his cabin and the moment was lost. Shade let go of Lizzy. Her face was still turned up to him. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

  She nodded, evidently still as stunned by the kiss as he’d been. “Shade—”

  “Hannah ended up marrying the guy and having a child. That was over two years ago. She came to see me yesterday because she’s dying and she’s worried about what will happen with her little girl...” His voice broke. “Maisie.”

  Lizzy’s eyes widened. “She wants you to take her? What about the girl’s father?”

  He held her gaze and blurted it out. “I’m her father.”

  * * *

  LIZZY STARED AT HIM, speechless. Ten years hadn’t dulled that rocket-fueled chemistry between them. Heat had rushed from her lips to the toes of her boots. That old, unfulfilled ache had shot to her center. What was it about this cowboy?

  Her head swam. From that sudden amazing kiss. To this news. “Did you—?”

  “I had no idea. Not a clue. We were together just that one night about three years ago. I didn’t know at the time that she was engaged.” He shook his head. “I got the DNA results today confirming it, but I knew yesterday, the moment I saw her, that she was mine.”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. He’d known since yesterday?

  “Maisie looks exactly like I did at that age, blond with big blue eyes.”

  “Maisie?”

  “I’m as shocked as you are. I know this is a lot to lay on you right now since we haven’t even gone on a date, but I had to tell you because...” He stepped to her and took her shoulders in his big hands.

  She felt a surge of electricity followed by a warmth that made her want to lean into him, into his strength, to nestle against him and breathe in his scent. For a moment, she thought he would kiss her again.

  “Because I want us to have a chance. You and me and now I’m afraid—”

  The sound of the bus pulling up was followed by “Hey! Let the party begin!” Christopher stumbled out of the bus with a large duffel bag, dragging a cooler with wheels. “Which cabin’s mine?”

  Shade let go of Lizzy and stepped back to call, “Seven!” without looking at the man. “Your names are on the doors.” He kept his gaze on Lizzy as if afraid that she might...what? Run away? “Tell me this isn’t a deal breaker,” he whispered.

  She cleared her throat, her head spinning. “Your daughter—”

  “She’s two. Lizzy?”

  “Shade,” she said and let out a breath. “I don’t know what you want me to say. You and I—”

  “I know we haven’t even begun. Just tell me that you haven’t given up on me. That you won’t.”

  She looked into his blue eyes and felt her heart lurch before she smiled. “I haven’t given up on you. I can’t.”

  He started to reach for her again, but Christopher appeared next to them.

  “Hey, you two,” he said, grinning.

  “Cabin seven,” Shade repeated.

  “Right.” Christopher stood for a moment, still grinning, and then lumbered off with his load of belongings toward his cabin.

  Others began tumbling out of the bus with their bags.

  “We’ll talk later?” Shade said.

  She nodded, feeling as if she’d been dropped into the center of a tornado. Shade was the father of a two-year-old girl he would be raising soon. She knew he must feel even more thrown than she was. The cowboy had been busy sowing his oats all this time. To become an instant father...

  “Maisie,” she said to herself. Shade had said the little girl looked just like he had at two. Lizzy wanted to see her. To meet her. She wondered how long the mother had and what would happen next. She had no idea. Shade was a father. She felt her heart warm as she realized he would be a great one. But she’d thought it would be with their children—when she’d dared dream that far ahead.

  She stepped into her cabin, shaken by the news. Shaken by the kiss and being in his arms again. She hugged herself, smiling like a fool as the tip of her tongue touched her top lip. She could still taste him. Outside, she could hear people hollering and loud music. She closed her eyes, wishing it was just the two of them up here on the mountain. She couldn’t wait for this reunion to be over.

  As she began to unpack her overnight bag, she reminded herself that she couldn’t think about anything but her job now. While she wasn’t wearing her uniform, she wore her gun in her ankle holster beneath her jeans. She was still the sheriff. And she still had a killer to catch.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  SHADE HUNG ON to Lizzy’s words, telling himself there was hope. But right now, he had to shift gears, become the host of a reunion and get everyone settled in their cabins, when all he wanted to do was curl up in cabin one with Lizzy.

  But as he saw her come out and walk down to where everyone was gathering, he reminded himself that she was working, as well. He thought about the car that had hit her on the road out of the ranch. Ariel’s killer was still out there.

  No, he thought, Ariel’s killer was probably now on this mountain.

  In the large lodge kitchen, he found Buckshot. The cowboy cook was busy at the stove. Buckshot had cooked at the guest ranch for years—until earlier this year when he’d broken his leg and Will had hired a caterer. That caterer, Poppy Carmichael, had turned out to be an amazing cook who’d stolen his brother’s heart. The two were now married and Buckshot was healed and back cooking at the ranch—at least temporarily.

  Next summer, Will and Poppy planned to run the guest ranch together. Her food had been such a hit that word had gotten out and they were already booked solid.

  “How are things going?” Shade asked the rugged old cook. Buckshot grunted and pulled a large cast-iron pot from the oven filled with shredded beef for the burritos. He had a pot of beans on the stove and a variety of other ingredients for burritos. He put the beef back into the oven and turned it off.

  Taking off his apron, Buckshot announced, “I’m leaving. You’re all set. The rest of the meals just require you putting them into the oven.”

  “You’re not having dinner with us?” Shade asked, though not surprised. The old cowboy cook had never been what you’d call social.

  Buckshot snorted. “Not with this bunch of yahoos.” With that he left to return to the valley.

  “Can I help?” Lizzy asked as she came into the kitchen shortly after the cook retreated.

  Shade chuckled. “It’s all ready. I told everyone that the cuisine was going to be basic.”

  “They didn’t come up here for the cuisine,” she said.

  “Why did they come?” he asked in all seriousness.

  She shook her head. “I was just asking myself the same thing.”

  He could hear the guests entering the lodge and heading for the bar.

  “Are you ready for this?” he asked and for a moment she wasn’t sure if he meant the reunion or what might be ahead for the two of them.

  “I am if you are.” She smiled. Their gazes met and held.

  He returned her smile and pulled her to him into a blistering kiss. She came willingly, pressing against him as he deepened the kiss and pulled her even closer. He swore he could feel the pounding of his heart in sync with hers.

  “Lizzy,” he whispered against her lips.

  Someone cleared her throat behind them.

  Shade didn’t want to let Lizzy go. He knew she didn’t want to let go either, as if both of them had wanted this for so long.

  * * *

  LIZZY STEPPED FROM Shade’s arms and turned to find Ashley standing behind them, her arms crossed and a knowing look that went with the smirk on her face.

  “You’re just the person I wanted to see,” Lizzy said and instantly wiped the amused look off Ashley’s face. “I need to ask you something.”
r />   Clearly, her classmate had forgotten that Lizzy was the sheriff and still investigating Ariel’s murder. “I’ve already told you everything that I—”

  “You were closest to Ariel.” Lizzy stepped closer and lowered her voice. “Did she keep a diary?”

  Something flickered in Ashley’s eyes for just an instant. “I have no idea. A diary?”

  If Jennifer knew, then Ashley probably would have, as well. “I thought you’d know since the two of you were so...tight.”

  Ashley shook her head and frowned as she avoided eye contact. “You might ask the others.” The woman looked past her to where Shade was checking something on the stove. “What smells so good? I’m starved. I forgot to eat lunch and that drink Christopher just made me really went to my head. I think he’s trying to get us all as drunk as him.”

  Lizzy could hear the others in the lounge, Christopher’s voice carrying over the clink of glasses and ice. She left Shade and Ashley and went in to see who else had gathered. There was Kayla, Brad, Josh and Tyler. Josh was at the bar getting himself a beer. Apparently he’d changed his mind about coming to the reunion. Tyler stood back from everyone, appearing to just be watching—much as he had in high school.

  A roar came up as Lizzy stepped into the room, but none of them were looking at her. Instead, everyone was cheering Jennifer who’d just come in the front door carrying a box with more booze.

  This is going to get interesting, Lizzy thought. Behind her, Shade came out of the kitchen to stand next to her.

  “Did everyone find their cabins all right?” he asked, seemingly not surprised to see Josh and Tyler. Everyone must have already been drinking because some of them seemed to be having trouble finding their cabins earlier, despite the blackboards with names on each door.

  “Once you’ve all had a drink and are settled in,” Shade said, “we’ll have dinner.” Then he whispered to her, “Is it just me or is all of this small talk very weird?”

  Lizzy nodded even though all of them being together again wasn’t just weird. She could feel something in the air like heat lightning. It made the hair at the back of her neck quill and her skin prickle. It made her think of a book she’d loved when she was younger... Something wicked this way comes. When she looked over at Shade, she saw that he was feeling it, too.