Flames from Ashes

by Caitlyn Willows

  “Tell me… Is Tate really my son?”

  Sandy’s eyes widened to saucer-size. She looked from them to Clint. He was so screwed.

  “Well, he sure as hell isn’t mine, if that’s what you’re implying.” Clint snapped to his feet and started for Sandy.

  “Someone’s here.” Tommy pointed his fork to the front window.

  “It’s Detective Posner.” Sandy sidestepped Clint on her way to the door. “His timing is as impeccable as always. If any of you have any manners, I’d suggest you use them.” She opened the door to let him in, then strode to the kitchen and grabbed Tommy’s empty plate. “You need to slow the hell down on your eating, slick.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Tommy smiled and aimed for the brownies again.

  Clint was torn between going after her and dealing with Dwight. Seeing her running water in the sink, he decided on the latter. Besides, he had a lot of explaining to do and didn’t want his family privy to his groveling.

  “Have a seat, Dwight.”

  Dwight muttered his thanks and took the chair Clint had vacated. Chuck and Annie leaned back, arms crossed, attention on him. Clint resumed his position in front of the TV.

  “We found some curious things at your homestead today.” Dwight flipped open his notebook. “As you are aware, someone fired on firefighters and your mother today, wounding her. We found a bullet casing from a rifle in the store’s back doorway. From what we surmise, it was a well-used lookout spot. We don’t know if the shooter got lucky or was one hell of a marksman.”

  Annie wiggled her fingers toward Clint. “He was in the Marine Corps. He could have done it. It would be the perfect way to prove his point that the place needed to be sold.”

  “I was with my lawyer.” He pushed the words out through clenched teeth.

  “We’re still searching for evidence.” Frowning directly at Chuck, Posner tapped his pen on the pad. “Is there a reason you never turned off the electricity, Mr. Clifford?”

  Chuck shrugged. “I must have forgotten.”

  “The place has been vacant for at least five years. The bill was paid on time every month. How could you have forgotten?”

  “I pay the bills.” Annie glared at Chuck. “I thought it was something you wanted. You kept saying there was important equipment there, and you needed to work on it.”

  “And there’s potable water, when all four wells were presumably dry,” Dwight went on.

  Chuck leaned forward. “It was easier to tell everyone the wells were dry than for me to admit I couldn’t do it anymore.”

  “When’s the last time any of you were out there?”

  No one replied. That was when Dwight’s attention turned to Tommy, and Clint felt a bone-deep chill.

  “The lock on the back door of the house was breached. Someone’s been using the place to do drugs.”

  All eyes turned to the logical suspect. Betrayal splashed over Tommy’s face. It shifted to anger a second later. He shook his head.

  “Not me. I’m clean, and I’m staying clean. I work all day. I go to meetings at night and help at-risk kids.” That glare landed on Clint. “When I said I’d turned my life around, I meant it. If you don’t believe me, I’ll give you the name of my sponsor and him permission to tell you everything.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the night programs?” Clint asked.

  Tommy gave a half laugh. “Because it wasn’t anyone’s business other than my own. Rather like your budding romance with the little firefighter. We done here?” he asked Dwight. “I have somewhere I need to be. A meeting, if you need to know. And after this lovely family gathering, I need it more than ever. Dad, I love you and Mom, but you both suck the life out of people. As for you”—he nailed Chuck and Annie with a hate-filled gaze—“we’re done. If I never see the two of you again, it’ll be too soon.”

  Hear, hear.

  “I think that’s all for now.” Dwight stuffed his notepad into his pocket as he stood. “I might have some more questions, once we’re able to look closer at what little evidence we’ve found.”

  “What kind of evidence?” Annie asked.

  “Fingerprints, DNA, and drugs throughout the house,” he replied. “It had been well used, and there were enough drugs left behind that we’re certain someone’s going to come back for them. When they do…” He left the obvious unsaid—they were staking out the place, hoping to catch the culprits. “Oh, there is one thing, though.” He pulled a small evidence bag from his pocket and held it up. All Clint could see was a clump of black in the corner.

  “What is it?” Dad asked.

  “We found it in the corner of the store. Looks like a silver bracelet with two charms on it. It’s badly tarnished, but the charms look like the silhouettes of a boy and a girl.” Dwight shook the bag until the small chain inside separated into a recognizable form.

  Clint felt sick inside. “Can we clean it up?”

  “The lab will take care of it. Look familiar?”

  “Marjorie had a silver charm bracelet like that with her kids’ names on it.”

  “When’s the last time you saw her wearing it?”

  “The day before she went missing. She wore it constantly. The catch was always coming loose. We were always having to backtrack for her to find it when it fell off. There was an incident that day, and she noticed it missing when we got home. We suspected she might have lost it in the store.”

  “What kind of incident?” Dwight tucked the bag back into his pocket.

  It pissed him off to even think about it. “We were all out at the homestead for Easter. Bottom line—”

  “No bottom line, please. What happened?” Dwight dragged out his notepad once more. Clint was beginning to see why Sandy had issues with the man.

  “Chuck and Annie’s kids convinced Marjorie’s kids there were Easter eggs in the store cooler. Then they locked them inside and took off. We thought the kids were all together and didn’t realize what had happened until it was time for dinner. We got the kids. Chuck and I argued over the fact that the cooler wasn’t secure. Marjorie and I left.”

  Sandy’s laser-eyed stare cut through the back of Chuck’s head.

  “Was it ever secured?” Dwight asked.

  “I took care of it the next day,” Chuck snapped. “The bitch threatened to sue me if I ever endangered her little darlings again.”

  “You know what?” Sandy advanced. “You’re a piece of work.”

  “I don’t need crap from you, lady.” Chuck pushed to his feet and tried to stare her down. Sandy didn’t budge. Chuck broke eye contact first, returning his attention to Dwight. “I’m more interested in who shot my mother. All the rest of this sounds like smoke and mirrors to cover up your incompetency.” He grabbed Annie’s elbow and hauled her up beside him. “Let’s go. I’ve had enough crap for one night.”

  She jerked away. “That makes two of us.”

  “Make that three,” Tommy mumbled. “Thanks for the food, Sandy.” He tossed a hug around her shoulder and ducked out the front door ahead of Chuck and Annie.

  Clint rubbed his temple to ease the growing headache. “We’re going forward with the sale to SunSpots, Dwight. The sooner you finish, the better.”

  “Yeah, I hear that a lot. I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Just talk to Clint, and he can pass any information to me.” Dad clasped hands with Dwight, and the two walked out together.

  Yeah, leave it to Clint. He’ll take care of everything.

  He sank into the recliner when everyone had vacated the house and buried his aching head in his hands.

  “It would have been nice to have been asked rather than told we were going to get married.” Icy words that warned Clint there was no easy way out. They were doing this now.

  “I’m sorry.” What else could he say?

  He glanced up to find Sandy standing there, laptop case in one hand and the bags carrying all her worldly possessions draped over her shoulders. He bit back the what the fuck dancing on his tongue
. “You’re leaving?”

  “That is what you wanted.”

  It was, but not this way. Not with her angry at him. Still, if he wanted her safe… Pulling in a breath, he pushed from the chair. “Fine. It’s been a long day, and it’s a long drive to San Diego. I’ll take you.”

  Her scowl spelled doom. “I don’t need you to take me. I can take myself. I don’t need anyone.”

  “Yes, you’ve made that abundantly clear to everyone, haven’t you? Me, your family, your coworkers. You can do it all.”

  She narrowed her eyes to laser pinpoints that scored holes deep through his heart. “You’re damn right I can.”

  A crisp pivot propelled her through the front door. She slammed it behind her, the impact rattling the pictures on the wall. He started to follow. Common sense warned him to stay put.

  He returned to his chair, pulled the plate of brownies into his lap, and used his other hand to call Danny on his cell phone.

  Chapter Ten

  “You’ll be shocked at how easily you can push each other’s buttons without realizing it until it’s too late.”

  Halfway to her car, Sandy jerked to a stop. She’d had her buttons pushed big-time and had responded with a volley of her own rather than say the truth. It was that hint of a defiant sneer on Clint’s face and his condescending tone that had shoved her over the edge. She wasn’t much better, throwing his words in his face. With his return shot, he’d tried to control the situation, setting her off.

  Now what?

  Sandy blew out a breath. Being the bigger person had never been harder. This blowup was her fault. In her heart, she knew his look and tone were aftereffects of that horrific family encounter. Maybe her reaction came from that as well. In the space of less than thirty minutes, she’d learned things she wished she hadn’t. She definitely echoed Tommy’s opinion about Chuck and Annie. She was still on the fence about Clint’s parents. This wasn’t a family she wanted in her life. But God help her, she loved the man attached to that family.

  Yet here she stood with what little she owned, ready to run off like a petulant teenager. A real woman would dig in and fight for the man she loved. A real woman would take a stand with the family and set boundaries. Something Clint had apparently not been able to do for himself. She knew why. Clint was the really great guy who always tried to do the right thing. He was the one who saved the day. Not because he had a hero complex, but because it was the very essence of who he was. Because for all their craziness, Clint loved his family, no matter how dysfunctional. And his family loved him back—with two notable exceptions who weren’t much anyway. Clint was the glue helping them hold things together. The one his parents turned to, to help make sense of things. The lifeline when Tommy had needed it most. As for Chuck and Annie… No love lost there, though she suspected Clint, being Clint, tried to be there for their children.

  Yep, if she loved the man, she was going to have to deal with the family. A real man deserved a real woman. It was time to dig in.

  Sure strides took her to the front door. She wrapped her fingers around the handle, hauled in a breath, and opened the door to hear Clint say, “You can laugh all you want, Danny. I need you to tell me how to unfuck—”

  His gaze landed on her. “I’ve got to go. Call you later.” He ended the call but didn’t move other than to shove the last of a brownie into his mouth.

  Sandy stepped in, shut the door, and tossed her things onto a chair. “Put the brownies down. Eating them all in one sitting is only going to feed my mom’s ego and make you sick.”

  She grabbed the plate, put it on the table, and crawled astride his lap. “I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen.”

  He swallowed. “Look, if this is about Annie—”

  She pressed her fingers over his lips. “I have five older brothers. There has been more than one instance of girls trying to play one brother against the other. And yes, one fool ended up marrying the bitch and divorcing her six months later. You can tell me the sordid details later. Right now, this is about me and you. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he mumbled behind her fingers.

  “We can’t allow our upset with others to bleed into our relationship. We will not take it out on each other. We’d said earlier we were going to go down to the hospital to visit your mother once your family left. Considering that I don’t have much left in terms of personal property, I’m sure you can understand my reluctance to leave anything behind at this point. That’s why I had all my things with me. I was ready to leave as we’d discussed.”

  Clint kissed her fingertips and drew her hand down. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sorry too. We both behaved badly.”

  “Me more so.” He brushed his thumb over her knuckles. “I don’t really want to see my mother tonight.”

  “It’s the right thing to do, and you know it.”

  “Because I always do the right thing.” He laid the sarcasm on thick and heavy.

  “Not always, but most of the time. It’s one of the things I love about you. And I do love you and need you. Yes, I’m very independent. You knew that from the start. I can’t help that any more than you can help being the problem solver. I love that we can be together, work together, and balance each other so well. That I feel at peace when I’m with you, generally speaking. That you are there for me, no matter what. Because even an independent woman needs a man she can depend on. You are my hero. You are the one who’s helped me in my darkest hour, even when you didn’t realize you were doing so. And when you did realize it, you—”

  “Took over?” His eyebrow inched up.

  She laughed lightly. “A little. But it is who you are. You are the one who saves the day. The one who lets me know you’ve got my back and it’ll be all right. But I’ve got your back too.”

  Clint wrapped his hands over her hips. “Your independence is one of the many things I love about you. It’s also one of the things that frustrates the hell out of me. How can I do anything for a woman who clearly doesn’t need anyone to do anything for her? There’s nothing she can’t do all by herself.”

  Sandy shook her head. “You’re so wrong, Clint. You keep me calm and make me feel safe. You settle me. I do need you so much. I need you to be with me and let me be with you.”

  “Oh, sweetheart.” Hands spanning her back, he kissed her slow and sweet, tasting of chocolate and setting her heart racing. He pulled away and butted his forehead to hers.

  “I love that you aren’t afraid to try new things and that you are willing to listen to someone else’s ideas. That you are active and ready to challenge me to join you in what you do, even if you might not say that out loud. When I’m with you, it feels like I’m being rewarded for finally getting my act together. Because as great as I might be in saving the day for others, I pretty much suck at saving myself. Then I ask myself how I wound up being such a lucky son of a bitch to find a woman who is perfect for me. That’s when the doubt creeps in, and I’m scared to death I’m going to lose it all. That I’m going to lose you to danger or my own stupidity. And your job scares me half to death. It makes me feel helpless. All this craziness lately makes me feel helpless.”

  “I know. I feel like I’m constantly holding my breath in fear of what could possibly go wrong next.” Sandy wrapped her arms around his neck and tickled her fingers through his soft hair. “There are times my job scares me half to death too. Like every time we get a call, and we don’t really know what we’re walking into. The adrenaline rush kicks in with the training. I’d like to say that’s when we pray it’ll all be okay, but most of the time, we’re thinking too much about what needs to be done to take the time to pray. I was scared last night during the fire. Scared I was going to lose us both. I was scared today when we were getting shot at. All I wanted was your arms around me, protecting me from the world, even while I want to shove you behind me and save you.”

  “Nice to know we truly do have each other’s back.” He dropped another kiss to her lips.

&
nbsp; Sandy deepened it, wiggling closer until their crotches lined up, loving the erection that swelled to meet her. Her libido responded in kind. But as much as she hated to call a halt to what promised to be physical reconciliation, she eased away. “We need to go before we miss visiting hours.”

  “In a minute.”

  He girdled her ribs with his hands, holding her in place. His erection pulsed between them, and her heart thumped faster, making her second-guess the hospital visitation.

  “I do want to marry you.”

  Sandy wanted that too, and it would have been so easy to say yes. Too easy. She wanted something they’d remember for the rest of their lives. A story to tell their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. “Come up with a decent proposal, and I might consider it. Warning. I expect a grand, sweeping gesture that will blow my socks off.”

  Devilment sparkled in his eyes. “Ah, the pressure’s on.”

  Sandy wiggled her crotch over his, smiling when he sucked in a breath. “You better believe it. Now quit trying to distract me. Time’s a-wastin’.” She crawled from his lap and extended her hand to help him up, not that he needed it. “And call Tommy. He should go too, whether he likes it or not. Honestly speaking, your mother is a major pain in the ass, but she’s scared and in pain and needs her family. Besides, she’s going to be taking notes of who comes to see her and who doesn’t. This is guaranteed to earn you some brownie points.”

  “Speaking of brownies…” He ducked under her arm to grab the plate.

  Sandy got to it first, yanking it out of reach. “Call Tommy. We’re leaving in five. I’m driving.”

  She put the dessert away, dashed to the bathroom, and returned to the living room to find Clint had yet to budge.

  “Tommy isn’t coming,” he said. “He understands your theory, but that his well-being has to come first. He’ll visit Mom tomorrow. Tonight he has to go to his meeting.”

  “I respect his boundaries.”

  “Me too, and it’s time I followed his example and set some of my own. Starting now.” Clint stretched to his feet and slowly walked her way. “I’ll call Mom later to check on her. Right now, it’s time for us. I need you. Only you. I need to be inside you, feel your body surround me. I need the world to be about us and only us.”