Finding Kimber (Canyon Junction; Hearts In Love Book 2)

by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

  She knelt, stroking Stormy’s fur. “It’s okay, girl.” Kimber tossed a light blanket over the bed. With the heat, they’d certainly not need it. “Well, Bryson, here we are.” She pulled her t-shirt over her head. Zach followed suit. Kimber went for the tie on her sweat shorts.

  He unsnapped the button on his jeans. “Come here.” Zach eliminated the space between them. His hands went to her breasts. “I wondered if these were real in the waiting room.” He leaned forward to kiss them, her nipples hardening under his warm lips.

  She pushed at him. “What the heck?”

  “What? You were in a plastic surgeon’s office. I mean, look at them. They’re beautiful and real.”

  “I should call you a jerk.” She narrowed her eyes, feigning anger. “They’re very real. The only thing that isn’t is my hair color and a missing mole.”

  “I bet your mole was cute.” Zach leaned in to kiss above her lip, then whispered, “I’ve fallen in love with you.” He kissed her hard at first, but it turned tender and slow. Kimber burned inside from what his kisses, on her mouth, did to her, and the outside of her warmed from the hot evening. She returned his kiss with the same sensuality…and love. Zach lifted her. He moved to the bed and lay down with her legs still around him.

  Kimber cupped his face and stared into his eyes, hoping the sincerity in hers mirrored her words, “I can’t say when it happened, but I have fallen in love with you.” She smiled, wanting him badly this minute. “Did you ever imagine this happening between us after the way we were with each other the first few days?”

  He skimmed his fingertip along her jawline. “Yeah, kind of. You excited me with your spunk, then you fell for me in the barn. Literally.”

  “You broke my shoe.”

  “I offered to pay for it.” Zach smoothed her hair back from her face, grinning. “Looks like it doesn’t matter if you become a business partner, because after this mess, I’m asking you to marry me before the year is over.”

  “Please, don’t say such things yet. When this is over, you might not feel the same way.” She swallowed hard, for she couldn’t have him now only to lose him.

  His brow furrowed. “There’s a chance you won’t love me when this is over?”

  Her heartbeat quickened. “No.”

  “Then why should I be different?” He pressed his lips tenderly against hers, and she placed her hand against the back of his neck, plainly aware of his body waiting and ready.

  He stood to remove his jeans. The cry of coyotes filled the distant air as they mingled with the rolls of thunder and cracks of lightning. Rain pelted down and beat against the tent and metal of the truck.

  He knelt on the bed over her, and lowered himself. “I want everything with you, Kimber—the love story with a happily-ever-after—a family.” Zach closed his eyes and they became one. His body took her away from all the danger and fear, thunder and lightning, and into a figurative candlelit room glowing with love, romance, and soft music.

  The only thunder and lightning she heard was from her heart beating and her brain spinning in dancing firelight. His body quenched hers like rain would a dry desert. Like a spring bud seeking rain to bloom. She arched to meet his prods and placed her lips against his throat, kissing up his neck, his ear, and she moaned in sensual desire. He rose above her. “Zach, I do love you,” she whispered as her hands cupped his face while she steadily moved with him.

  His eyes closed, his top teeth against the corner of his bottom lip, lost in his quenched dry land. Zach released a breath in a sensuous “Ahhhh...” Soon his eyes opened to slits as he breathed easier. Smiled. He straightened his legs until he covered all of her body, just as he’d said. Zach kissed her throat, whispering, “I’m in love with you, Kimber.”

  Stormy gave a quiet woof as if she approved. They both laughed.

  “Sweetheart, you’re safe.” Zach moved but clung to her with his arm around her midriff and his leg over hers. “Woman, you have perfect breasts.”

  Kimber gave a low chuckle. “You can stop now. They’re yours.”

  “Yeah? I accept.” Zach turned to his back and placed his palm against his forehead. “Ah, damn, in our rush, I didn’t use anything.” He reached across the unstable edge of the blow-up mattress for a condom, rolled it on, and peered into her sleepy eyes in the dark that was lit with streaks of lightning. “I’m sorry.” He pulled her on top of him. “Yeah, again.”

  With their gazes romantically locked, Kimber gulped. She kissed his chest and moaned against his warm skin as she worked her way up to his waiting mouth. “It’s too late now to apologize. And I don’t care.”

  “Then my job is done here.” He laughed wholeheartedly. “Hell, no it isn’t. This is the beginning.”

  Kimber took him inside of her. Their eyes remained fixed on each other’s, until she closed hers, sighing sweetly, “Yeah, mmm, yeah…that’s it…” She made love to him like it was the last time. Her heart beat as if it was no longer broken. He pulled her body down to his chest, kissing her moaning lips as they made love together. For the second time tonight, she called out in a loving cry with complete satisfaction. “Mmm....Zach-h-h. Ahhh…”

  He muttered in a tranquil whisper against her ear, “Life with you will be fabulous.”

  Him declaring his love soothed her soul. She was still hot, and her skin felt damp. Kimber moved off him, yet he held her. His finger gently stroked her cheek as his arm lay across her chest. She dared anyone to interfere with this, and she’d fight to the death to keep them together. “Good night.”

  Zach replied in an exhaustive mumble, “Yeah, it is.”

  ***

  Her phone woke them in the early morning. She shuddered peering at the screen and sat up, pulling the sheet over the front of her. Zach’s hand went to her back. “Greg?”

  “Morning.”

  Greg paused and she waited, but her patience ran out. “Is it Jerry?”

  “No change. I’m sorry.”

  Her body tensed. How would she cope without Jerry? Traffic sounds came through Kimber’s phone. “Where are you? What about my dad? How is he?”

  “I’m in the hospital. He’s doing the best he can. He called for your mom and Charlotte to be with him.”

  Oh. “It’s bad, isn’t it? Where are you?” she asked again. He wasn’t in the hospital if traffic whizzed past him.

  “Yes, it’s looking bad. I’m pulling into the hospital. I’ll lose the connection in a moment.”

  Her eyes welled. Was he another man who couldn’t be trusted? Zach scooted closer and draped his arm over her shoulder. She might as well add coal to the fire in her emotions. “Please tell me... Sam?”

  In a nonchalant tone, he told her Samuel didn’t make it. He’d passed away an hour ago in the hospital.

  “Oh,” she muttered somberly as her stomach rolled. She didn’t want to remember the good times with Sam, but his smile and sparkling eyes appeared before hers, soon clouded over by the image of Pino Cavalli dead in front of her. “Now what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He didn’t know? “Are you sure Melinda did this?”

  He hesitated. “Not one hundred percent, but she disappeared for a reason.”

  “Thank you for telling me about Sam. I have to go.” Zach brought her to lie beside him and held her close. “Jerry’s not doing well.”

  “I gathered that. I’m sorry.”

  “I need to go to Jerry whether my parents are there or not.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  Her heart broke a little more. “I know. Sam died in the hospital. Everyone from my former life is slowly slipping away.”

  He leaned on his elbow and smoothed hair away from her face. “Your parents aren’t a part of your life, but you know they’re alive and well. Dwell on that aspect.”

  She laid her hand against his cheek and softly kissed his lips. “I have to get up.” They dressed, unzipped the door, and Kimber made coffee before they went down to the bathroom.

  �
�Come on, Stormy.” Her legs went as fast as they’d go until she got to the end of the long leash.

  Zach took Kimber’s hand on the way back to camp. “It’s a hot one.”

  She peered up at the pale blue sky. “They haven’t found Melinda. She might not know about Sam, or maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe she plain-out wants to kill me.”

  “Or maybe she doesn’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was thinking. If Melinda did make your horse sick, it was enough to keep you out of the house that night. Do you think she wanted you out on purpose?”

  Melinda had as much as begged her to go home with her. “Kept me safe? Then she didn’t shoot Jerry? But she lied to me about him. Well, she only told me he was going out of the country. Maybe it was true, and he was shot before he left. She could be in hiding because he got shot.”

  “There are a lot of unanswered questions.”

  “What about the speaker planted in the house?” They returned to the camp, and Kimber poured coffee. She stirred in her cream and added two teaspoons of sugar to Zach’s.

  Zach paced around the campsite.

  “I don’t think she wanted to protect me. You weren’t there when her whole personality changed. I can put a date to it, that’s how abrupt it was. Like one day Sam or the other two men had hooked her. What about the outside cameras?”

  Zach shrugged.

  She stopped him from pacing by standing in front of him. “No, as much as I’d like to believe it, I don’t think she protected me. She couldn’t have known for sure that I’d be in the barn all night. Can you call Randy to see if Honey is okay?”

  He walked around her. “I will later.”

  Kimber sipped her coffee. It wasn’t bad for camp coffee. No, it couldn’t be true about Melinda. Too many incidences mounted against her. Kimber sat on the top of the picnic table. “I need to call Melinda. It’s the only way I’ll know whose side she’s on. If she’s shocked to hear from me, then I’ll know.”

  “That’s not a good idea. Don’t forget the sheriff went to your house. No, Kimber. Don’t talk to her.” Zach sat beside her and drank his coffee. “Uh uh.”

  “I’ll ask Greg. Maybe he can call her.” That wouldn’t work. He’d removed himself from this whole thing other than supporting Jerry. Melinda would become suspicious.

  Zach put his hand over her arm. “She hasn’t shown up at the hospital to inquire about Jerry, has she?

  “No. If so, she’ll be taken in for questioning.”

  He peered into his cup as if answers appeared. “She has to know they’d be looking for her.”

  Kimber stood. “I don’t know. Dammit, can’t this be over?”

  He sat his cup down and stood by her. “Not yet. Be patient.”

  She held her hands out as if begging him to see things her way. “Zach, don’t you see? I have to do something to force her out. I’m going back.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “I’ll call her from the ranch. Let’s set it up with the sheriff. Maybe I can wear a wire.”

  He took her arm. “Kimber, this is crazy.”

  She jerked her arm free. “Seriously, I have to talk to the sheriff.”

  “What the hell did we come all the way out here for then? A roll in a tent?”

  “Stop. Think about it. Someone would’ve killed me. I can’t wait forever to see if it’ll go away. Sam’s dead now, yes, but I don’t know how this works with creeps who kill for money.”

  Zach checked the time. “I have to go up to the office to pay before they come around to collect.”

  Kimber lifted the lid on the cooler that Roxanne had packed. “I’ll fix breakfast while you’re gone.”

  He set up the propane stove. “Sit tight until I get back. Don’t call anyone.” He went inside the tent, bringing her pistol out, and he set it on the table within her reach. “Come on, Stormy.”

  By the time breakfast finished cooking, Zach returned from the office and told her Sheriff Thompson would meet with them at Randy’s.

  Kimber slammed down paper plates. She paced back and forth five or six times, then knelt to stroke Stormy. “What kind of wacky owner did you get, girl?”

  “Don’t talk like that, Kimber.”

  “Come on and eat. Wasn’t I going to call Sheriff Thompson?”

  “It’s done. We’re meeting at noon.” Zach fixed his plate with scrambled eggs and bacon, and buttered two slices of wheat bread.

  She fixed her plate, but carried it as she walked in circles around the picnic table. “Does the sheriff know where we are?”

  “Nope. Nobody’s going to know. I haven’t been able to get a hold of my brother. I left four messages. This isn’t like him.”

  She stopped pacing. “Where could he possibly be?”

  “I don’t know. He wouldn’t leave the area without telling me.”

  Kimber took a seat beside him. His patience outweighed hers. “I think you need to inquire about Tyler. What if he went to the ranch and Melinda, or those two men, were there?”

  Zach dropped his fork and picked up his phone. “I have to ask Randy to go over there.” Zach called him and told him to be packing heat when he did.

  “You don’t think… Oh, my God, Zach. Do you think—”

  “Nah, Tyler doesn’t have transportation. I’ll have Randy check it out.”

  Kimber moved food around on her plate then took a bite. “Camp food is yummy. Now if you asked me if this was the first camp meal I cooked, I’d have to say yes.”

  He peered at her with a smirk. “What about making love in a tent?”

  “Are you certain you want to know the truth?” Kimber peered at heavy clouds building in the sky. She smiled. “Two for one. First time in the shower too.”

  “Sweetheart, we didn’t actually do…um, much of anything in the shower.”

  The chill ran down her spine at the memory and the wild orgasm that followed. “You call that nothing. I barely stayed on my feet. You should insure that tongue.”

  He snickered. “You want me to do it again, don’t you?” His confidence caused her heart to soar while in the middle of mayhem.

  She shuddered, and her eyelashes fluttered. Heat crept into her cheeks as she visualized the act.

  “Admit it.” Zach licked his lips.

  She covered her face with her hands. “Yeah.”

  He grinned. “Call it two for two. Later.”

  “I need a shower this morning after sweating and making love all night, and baby that image didn’t help.”

  Zach glanced around the campground. “We won’t be alone in the shower until after midnight. They have a hot tub here.”

  “We should take a nap so we can stay up late. We still have a day of sleep to make up for.” Which reminded her of Honeycrisp.

  Chapter 22

  Zach acted as if nothing was wrong, but he couldn’t wait to hear from Randy. His brother wouldn’t disappear. Come on, Randy, call back. He walked around the campground, leaving Kimber back at the site. He passed the pool and hot tub, the showers, camp store, and he nodded to a camp official driving by. The smell of bacon and coffee floated through the area. He went inside to pick up a couple packs of chocolate cupcakes with white filling, his favorite, and a big bag of chips that Kimber would devour, seeing her weakness for the salty snack. Then his phone rang. It was the Greg guy. “Hey.” He moved out of the drizzle to talk.

  “Kimber called and told me about her idea. Jerry wouldn’t like it, and I don’t, either. What’s she up to?”

  How’d he get this number? Dammit, he’d asked her not to do anything while he was gone. “Listen, she wants to be free again. This is how she figures she can do it. Did she tell you where we are? Where the meeting is taking place?”

  “No, she’s tight-lipped about your location. She gave me your number. I demand knowing the plans when you get them figured out. If Jerry wakes, I’ll have to say something. Tell me where are you now.”

  Demands? He pictured Greg pa
cing around outside Jerry’s hospital room, with God knows who else. “I can’t do that. Kimber’s life is at stake. You have to understand.”

  “Look, you need to tell me now. I’m concerned about her.”

  “I don’t know you at all. I have to get back.” Zach’s thoughts went crazy. Who the hell was that guy to give him orders. All Zach saw was another person in this mess not to be trusted.

  By the time he got back to camp, the drizzle lessened. He laid the snacks on the picnic table and peered at Kimber as she put down a bowl of dog food. The damp air smelled fresh around them. Mud puddles seemed strategically placed as if put there to hop back and forth in. Music continued to play in the distance, and now kids could be heard laughing and playing in the rain.

  “What’s wrong? Have you heard from Randy?” She handed him another cup of coffee and sat beside him with hers.

  Well, she’d become good at reading him. He glanced up at the canopy. “No. How well do you know Greg?” He proceeded to eat a cupcake but kept looking at her. “You shouldn’t have given him my number.”

  “I know him from working on my case. At times, I thought he was the only one on my side.”

  “Kimber, you aren’t going to like my image of him, but I don’t trust him. Do you?”

  “Yeah, of course. Why? What’s going on?”

  She put her hand on his shoulder. When he didn’t answer she shook him. He laughed. What a woman, thinking she could shake the truth out of him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I had a conversation with him. He wanted to know where the meeting would take place. He got all smart-ass on me, demanding an answer.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Greg.” She gave Stormy a piece of bacon and ran her hand over her back. Stormy panted hard after being on the walk with Zach. Muddy water dripped from her shaggy fur and legs. “What are you thinking?”

  “We better take a trip back to your ranch.” He entered the tent, and she came in behind him. “Strap on your pistol, cowgirl.” Zach grabbed his shotgun and tucked his second handgun into a side holster.

  “You’re scaring me.” But she clipped her inside-the-waistband-holster to her denim shorts and stuck her feet into her boots. She wiped off Stormy’s paws with a towel.