She looked up to see him standing in the doorway in a pair of shorts. They'd become so comfortable together, and she found that kind of comfort extremely sexy.
"I couldn't sleep. I have a lot on my mind," she offered as he moved toward her and sat next to her on the floor. "Go back to bed. You don't have to sit here with me."
"I told you that you'd never be alone. I'm keeping my word," he said as he gathered her hand in his. "Are you nervous about this woman being in town? The kids could all sleep in our room with us, or we can pack up and go. Your call."
Nichole rested her head on his shoulder. "You're too good to me."
"You deserve it."
But she wasn't so sure. "That woman always wanted my husband. And she had him, so I'm not sure why she's got to do this to me. I worked hard for everything I had. Why would she want to take that from me?"
Ben rubbed his hand down her bare arm. "People like that don't understand what you've accomplished. They want everything easy."
"What I don't understand is why she wasn't arrested when she turned over Jerome. They know she was part of it."
Ben kissed her temple. "She'll get what she has coming to her. And you'll get what you deserve too."
Nichole turned her head to gaze into Ben's sleepy eyes. "And what's that?"
"A man who loves you and your children."
She was sure she'd never tire of hearing such a thing.
Nichole figured it would take a lot of getting used to, leaving her child at the ranch, even if it was with Ben and his mother.
Tuesday morning, she drove the boys into town to school. They only had one week left, and she'd be happy when that was over. She'd walked them into the school and proceeded to the office where she let them know what had been going on recently.
In her heart, she wondered if taking them to school was the right thing, but if she didn't, they'd miss a field day, and assembly, and all the special events that kids had on the last days of school. Moving to Georgia was supposed to give them a normal life. She could never have imagined that it would have her scared and wanting to run again.
The school staff gave their word that they would keep the boys safe. There was no reason to assume otherwise. She'd arranged to pick them up at the end of the day and take them back to work with her. She'd be more comfortable when they were all back together.
The salon buzzed with hair dryers and gossip as Nichole walked through the door. Each of the girls waved as she walked toward the back to store her bag, but Audrey's eyes were cool on her.
Nichole stored her bag in her locker, poured herself a mug of coffee, and pulled the towels out of the dryer and began to fold them.
"What the hell is going on in your life?" Audrey asked as she walked into the room.
"Some crap followed me to Georgia I guess. It won't interfere with my work. I promise."
She saw the quick flash of anger in Audrey's eyes before she noticed how dark they looked as if she hadn't slept in days. "I'm not worried about your work. I'm worried about you. I think we've well moved past the boss/employee relationship. I'm worried about you as a friend and a potential family member. So, what's going on?"
Nichole piled towels on the table. "I just have had crap luck with a man in my past, and it just so happens that the woman he had on the side has a psycho streak."
"A psycho streak is damn right. I mean stealing all your money and taking an expensive vacation is one thing. But showing up here, that's where she goes psycho."
"Sunshine confirmed it was her. Now we have to keep an eye open."
"I won't lie. I'm a little freaked out. We had three walk-ins this morning alone, right after we opened. Don't think I wasn't comparing faces to the picture that Phillip sent over."
A smile tugged at the corners of Nichole's mouth when she thought about Phillip sending out a picture of Justine to ensure everyone kept their eyes open. How had Nichole gotten so lucky to fall into a town where everyone looked out for one another, and treated her like family.
"I can't imagine she'll stick around."
"You remember that Gregory had a stalker? Yeah, you assume they'll just go away, but they don't. Just watch your step. I don't want anything to happen to you. I need you."
"I'm not going anywhere." Nichole folded another towel and kept her eyes steady on Audrey. "Are you feeling okay? You look as if you haven't been sleeping."
Audrey smiled as she walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "I'm not kidding when I say I need you. I'm going to need your word that you'll be around for the long haul."
"That's the plan."
"I'm going to need to take some time off," Audrey said as she took a towel from the pile and folded it.
Nichole didn't like the way that sounded. She pulled out the chair in front of her and sat down. "What's going on? Are you sick? God, you don't have some disease, do you?"
That had Audrey laughing. "I feel sick. I feel horrible, but it's not a disease."
"Don't leave me in suspense. What's going on?"
Audrey leaned her arms on the table and eased in closer to Nichole. "I'm going to need to take a maternity leave."
Nichole heard her, but it took a moment to register. When it did register, Nichole was to her feet and pulling Audrey up and out of her chair.
"Oh my God! You're pregnant!"
"Shhhh." Audrey laughed. "I'm not telling the girls yet."
"I should have known. I should have seen the signs."
"Your mind has been occupied with sleeping with my cousin and losing all your money."
For the first time, Nichole could laugh at her situation. "If you promise not to have an intervention again, I'll tell you all about my relationship with your cousin now."
Audrey smiled. "You're in love, that's all I need to know. It's written all over your face."
Nichole stepped back and placed her hands on her cheeks. "All over?"
"All over."
"I do love him. I can't say I wanted to. I just liked the attention he was giving me, and there was something to how it flustered him to do so. But he makes me feel like no other man ever has. He'd take care of me, and my children. He loves my children."
"He's a good man. I've told you that."
"He is, and I know how fortunate I am that he loves me."
Audrey's smile grew wider. "He's told you that?"
"He has."
"Well, don't go thinking that you can have time off for maternity leave until I get back from mine," she joked, and Nichole let out a long breath.
"That's not in my plans right now."
"Oh, it will be. Especially if it involves a Walker man from that side of the family. They're tight."
"I know."
"And Glenda loves her grandkids."
That statement warmed Nichole from head to toe. "She loves my kids too. She's watching Laura today."
"They make her happy, Nichole."
Both women turned when the bell over the door rang. "I'll bet that's the start of my day," Nichole said gathering the folded stack of towels from the table. "I won't say anything about your condition," she whispered as she walked out of the room and heard Audrey's laugh carry on the air behind her.
39
He was grateful that his mother had wanted to take Laura because Ben had an itch to go into town. Nichole would probably be furious to know that he wanted to check up on her, but he couldn't help it. He didn't like the thought of the boys being at school, or Nichole being at work.
There was no need for her to work, he thought as he crossed from the gravel road to the paved one. Nichole could stay home with her children and raise them. Wasn't that what every mother wanted? It was what his father had wanted for his mother.
Maybe that was old-fashioned thinking. Of course, it was. When he thought of the women in his family, he was sure that even if Nichole didn't argue the fact, they would.
He was surrounded by strong-minded, and willed women who forged their own paths. His cousins were business
owners and investors in the community. All of them. And the women his brothers and cousins had married were equally strong-minded and willed.
Perhaps that was why he fell so hard and so quickly for Nichole. She was as strong as all the women in his family combined.
As he came to the end of the long road that would lead him to town, he saw a car on the shoulder with the hood up. Ben slowed and noticed a woman standing over the engine studying it.
Deciding it was the neighborly thing to do, he pulled up behind her, put his truck into park, and stepped out.
The woman, small in stature with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, looked up at him through large dark glasses. "Hello," she said, her voice relaxed and a bit carefree.
"Hi. You having some engine problems?"
"Yep," she said with a thick southern accent. "I don't know the first thing about cars."
Ben looked at the engine, the woman leaning up against the car next to him. "I'll tell you what. I can give you a ride into town. My cousin owns a garage, and he could come out and get you back on the road."
"Really? You'd drive me in?"
"Sure," he offered as he stepped back from the car. He studied the woman who looked familiar, but he knew he'd never met her before. "Are you from nearby?"
"Just passing through. Checking out the lay of the land so that I can relocate."
Ben started back toward the truck. "Where are you from originally?"
"Here and there," the woman said as she opened the passenger door and climbed in. "You local?"
Ben slid in behind the wheel, closed his door, and nodded. "Lived here all my life."
As he started down the road toward Jake's, he watched the woman take a compact from her purse and apply lipstick. Her nails were painted pastel pink, and peeking out of her purse were a pair of pink and black eyeglasses.
He bit down firmly on his bottom lip. "You look as though you might have been on vacation recently. You have a sunny glow."
The woman smiled wide and licked her freshly glossed lips. "Just got back from a resort vacation. You're very observant."
Yeah, he thought. Not observant enough quickly enough, he cursed himself. He had just picked up Justine Meyers, he was sure of it. Her hair was colored the same color as Nichole's. The color on her nails matched the same color Nichole had on hers. And when he'd seen the glasses in her purse, he'd known who she was.
She didn't look like the photo Phillip had shown them anymore. It was quite obvious that she'd taken the stolen identity a bit too far.
He realized she'd asked him a question while his mind wandered to what he was going to do with her.
"I'm sorry, what?"
She smiled easily as she tucked everything back into her purse and set it at her feet. "Jake, that's your cousin, right?"
Ben shifted her a cautious look. "Did I tell you his name was Jake?"
Easily on a laugh, she tipped her head back. "Oh, Ben. I know everyone in your family."
The use of his name had his heart pounding in his chest. "And I didn't tell you my name either."
"You didn't have to." She reached her hand over to his thigh and pressed it there. "Don't act like you don't know who I am, Ben."
"I'm very sure we haven't met," he argued as he focused on the turn ahead.
Her hand lingered for another moment before she pulled it back and crossed her arms in front of her. "I'll be very disappointed if you act like I'm not the woman you're sleeping with every night. I won't have you blowing me off."
"Listen, honey, I don't…" Those were the only words he got out before his vision blurred as something cracked him across the head.
He'd felt the jarring of the truck and the impact, but everything went black.
Nichole situated the boys in the back room of the salon with after school snacks and her iPad with a new movie on it. She felt horrible that they were going to have to be there until seven o'clock.
When she had called Glenda, to check up on Laura, she had told Nichole that Ben was heading into town. He wasn't comfortable not being with her. Though she thought that was extremely romantic, she wondered where he really ended up. According to Glenda, that had been hours ago, and she hadn't seen him.
Then again, she'd been busy with clients one right after the other. She'd even managed to work in a haircut for Jake while another client was processing.
She had just started her next client when Phillip walked through the door and grabbed Audrey by the arm, escorting her out of the salon through the back door when he'd noticed the boys.
What on earth would have made him do that?
She kept an eye on the back room and listened, but she never heard another word. But when Audrey reappeared, all of the color had drained from her face.
Nichole excused herself from her client and hurried to her.
"You should sit down. What's wrong? You're pale." She tried to move her to the back room, but Audrey shook her head. "I'm fine. I have Patty coming in. I just called her."
"Okay, what's going on? Are you sick?" She moved in closer to whisper. "Is the baby okay?"
A tear streaked down Audrey's cheek. "Phillip is out back waiting for you. He needs to talk to you. I'm going to work on your client and Patty will finish up for you tonight."
Now it was Nichole's turn to go flush. She felt the blood drain from her head and the room began to spin. Audrey took her by the arms and pulled her into the back room and dropping her into a chair. She looked at Wyatt. "Get your mom a glass of water," she demanded and then looked at Zane. "Open the back door and tell Officer Smythe to come in."
Nichole sipped the water when Wyatt handed it to her. She despised that his eyes were wide and she could see the worry in them.
"I'm okay, honey. I am," she assured him as she heard the door open and Phillip walk though.
"Nichole, are you okay?" She heard his voice before she saw his face as he knelt down in front of her.
"I'm fine. Audrey says you need to talk to me."
He nodded slowly looking at both of the boys.
Audrey smiled. "Boys, why don't you grab your iPad and come out in the salon with me. You can sit in the dryer chairs for a few minutes while your mom and Officer Smythe talk."
They hesitated until Nichole gave them a reassuring nod.
When they had left the room, Nichole lifted her head and looked Phillip in the eye. "Something bad happened. What's going on?"
"Let's take it one step at a time." He held her hand as he shifted to sit in the seat next to her. "You're okay?"
"I'm fine."
"I need to know if you've been here all day."
She could feel the tears stinging her eyes. "Yes. I took the boys to school and then came in. I only left to pick them back up from school and bring them here."
"I would assume that your schedule will verify that."
"My schedule. My clients. Audrey. Even Pearl and Lydia know I've been here."
He patted her hand before he sat back in his chair. "Then I can assume you weren't the woman who robbed the liquor store and shot the clerk in the stomach."
Nichole's hand came to her mouth and the tears that had only threatened, spilled. "She hurt someone?"
Phillip leaned in over the table. "More than just the clerk. The photo I showed you of her, well, she looks totally different."
"What does that mean?"
He pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled. When he turned the phone around Nichole felt her head spin again. "Oh, God."
"I've talked to a few witnesses who claim you're the one they saw leaving the scene."
"That's not me."
Phillip tucked his phone back into his pocket. "I know. There is one more thing." Now he took her hands and held them in his. "We found a stolen car abandoned outside of town on the same road you would take to get to the Walker's ranch."
Nichole's pulse quickened and her breath caught in her lungs.
"My baby."
"She's fine. But we have reason to believe
that Ben might have picked her up assuming she was having car problems."
At that Nichole fell toward him and gripped his shirt as she sobbed. "God, where is he? What did she do?"
"He's at the hospital. He was in an accident. It wasn't bad, but his truck went into the ditch. He has some head trauma, but the doctors say it's not life-threatening."
"I have to go to him. I have to see him."
"You need to be calm for your boys. Ben's dad is headed into town. He's going to meet us at the hospital and take the boys back to his house. Gerald and Eric are with Glenda and Laura. No one is going to leave the kids or you alone."
She was torn. No one should have her children but her, but then again, she'd trust no one but the Walkers to keep them safe. And of course, she wanted to be by Ben's side. That horrible, home-wrecking woman from her past had hurt the man she loved. And for what?
"He's okay?" she mumbled again against his chest.
"He's going to be just fine."
40
The boys were humored by the fact that they were riding in the back of a police car, but Nichole couldn't enjoy their banter. Why Phillip didn't have his sirens on was beyond her. This was an emergency. She needed to get to Ben.
When they arrived at the hospital, Phillip opened the locked back doors to let the boys out, and Nichole quickly grabbed hold of their hands.
"Now the two of you need to simmer down. Hospitals aren't for silliness."
Both sets of eyes were on her.
"Mom, is Ben okay?" Wyatt asked, and she couldn't even answer.
Phillip placed his hand on Wyatt's shoulder. "He's going to be fine. He lost control of his truck, and it crashed into a ditch. He's a little banged up. If the nurses let you see him, I'm sure he'd like to say hi. Then, his dad is going to take you back to his house to be with Laura."
Nichole exchanged a grateful glance with him.
"We get dessert when we eat dinner at their house," Zane informed him.
Phillip smiled as they began to walk into the hospital. "I know. I've eaten over there a few times. You're lucky boys."
They took the elevator to the floor that Phillip had said Ben was on. It made Nichole sick to think he'd been there for hours and she hadn't known what had happened.
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