“I wasn’t sure who else I should call. You’re the Sheriff.” She took a sip of the strong, black coffee he’d made.
In a tender tone, he said, “You were right to call. Talk to me, I need to know all of it.”
“Yes, yes, I guess you do.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t tell you everything this afternoon. Oh, everything I told you is the truth…I just left something personal out.” She hesitated and he waited. “When I woke in the hospital after being attacked, I didn’t remember anything that happened in the days preceding it. When I lost that time, I gained something else. This is so hard to explain.” She took another sip of coffee and began again. “It seems, somehow, I’d acquired the ability to sense people’s feelings just by being near them.” She rushed on, before he could speak. “With some, if I touch them, I can read their thoughts...get in their heads, whether I want to or not.”
Embarrassed, she couldn’t look at him and instead concentrated on stroking Hank. “At first we thought the ability would go away, and believe me, I looked forward to it. It nearly drove me insane. I was never sure when I’d pick up something personal about a stranger. And it was even worse when it was someone I knew. Private thoughts should be just that, private. It got so bad I had to isolate myself. It was paralyzing me and I couldn’t control it. I stopped working and started to live off the money my parents left me. Not something I ever planned on doing.”
Reggie had told him Gillian was a freelance, graphic designer but she wasn’t working at present. She’d also told him Gillian’s parents died years ago in a car accident so she was pretty much on her own. Travis sat in silence as she continued,
“Eventually, the mental exercises my specialist, Dr. Smythe and his team taught me, helped to control the phenomenon. In fact, he was the one who suggested I get a dog. No one predicted a dog would give me so much more than just companionship. When I touch Hank’s fur, he helps me to ground myself and shut out all feelings or thoughts that are not my own. I rescued him from a family that had neglected him and he ended up saving me too.” She stroked Hank’s head and smiled down at the gentle giant. He was so much more robust than when she’d first laid eyes on him. Now, there was no trace of the sad-eyed dog who’d known nothing but bitterness, who’d lost all hope.
“Without him, I’d be more or less housebound. Dr. Smythe arranged to have him registered as an official Guide Dog so I can keep him with me at all times. I have more control now, but I had to move out of the city to some place a little less crowded. When there are a lot of people around, I can get overwhelmed. It’s like sensory overload and I shut down. It’s never happened here in New Crescent, until today.”
“So you were overcome by the thoughts of all the people in the supermarket?”
“Not exactly.” She paused, looking for the right way to explain it. “I didn’t get overwhelmed by the combined thoughts and feelings of the people in the store. It was just one person, one whose feelings were so intense I couldn’t help but tap into them. Sandy touched me.”
“When I came in tonight, you said, “She was raped”. Were you talking about Sandy Jackson? Was Sandy raped?” His voice was low as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. His hands dangled restlessly between his knees. His white-gold gaze was focused entirely on Gillian.
She nodded in reply. “When she touched me, I could feel it. So naked, so intense, I wasn’t prepared and my mind shut down in self-preservation. It took some work to get it back. I’m not sure I’ve got it all, but I know she was raped. Nothing else could make a woman feel that way.”
“Did you see who did it?” he pressed gently.
“No. It doesn’t work that way. It would be so much easier if it did. I didn’t pick up what she saw; only what she felt. It’s confusing.” At his encouraging nod she continued. “Once I broke through the mental block, I remembered thinking Sandy looked strange, not herself somehow. You see, I’ve touched her before and got the impression Sandy is a well-adjusted, strong young woman who has a real sense of self.”
“You can pick that up, just by touching her?”
“Sometimes. Some people just broadcast what they are feeling and I pick it up. Others are more closed off to me and I get nothing from them at all. If I try hard enough and reach out, I might get something, but I never do. It’s dangerous digging into places I shouldn’t be. From you, I get nothing more than what you want me to know.”
“Thank God for small favors.” He grinned. He had known she was extraordinary, but he’d had no idea.
“I think I must have been trying to help. I could see she wasn’t feeling well and instinctively, I guess, I reached out to her when she touched me. I could feel what she was feeling. It’s hard to describe. I didn’t see the rape, but I could feel Sandy’s emotional response to it, or at least how she was feeling about it at that moment when she touched me. Violation and shame, so awful. I know she was raped Travis.”
She looked at him with such earnest conviction. Her eyes, deadly serious, peered out at him from her flushed face as she continued her explanation. “That poor, sweet kid, she felt dirty, like she’d never be clean again. Sandy could barely stand there and behave normally.” Gillian shuddered, “She’s afraid she’ll never smell like herself again. She can still feel him inside her, and it’s breaking her apart. I’m not sure she’s ready to talk to anyone about it. She’s in a pretty bad way.” Gillian stopped talking for a second then added with embarrassment. “You must think I’m crazy.”
“On the contrary, this is New Crescent the best place you can be with a talent like yours. You forget. Ernestine Sinclair is my great-aunt.” He shrugged with good-humored helplessness. “I come from a long line of people who possess unexplainable abilities. New Crescent is just that kind of town. We take care of our own. What happens to one happens to us all. There are a lot of things around here I can’t begin to explain, hell, I don’t even try. I know you’re not crazy. I’m just not exactly sure what our next step should be.”
She smiled at his use of the word “our” instead of “my”.
Noting her smile, Travis continued. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want you messed up in all of this. Reggie would never forgive me if I endangered you in any way, but I’m not sure I have a choice. Sandy might not report it. How do I approach her with this without making it worse? You have a unique insight into Sandy’s state of mind right now. I’ll need your help, but we have to step very carefully.” He looked pensive as if working out their next move.
Before he could say anything more, she rushed in, “Well, I’m prepared to do whatever I can to help Sandy. She might open up to me, if I told her I already know and how I know it. With Hank near, I could possibly get more information without triggering a blackout.” She reached down and stroked Hank’s fur. The dog hadn’t taken his eyes off his mistress once since Travis arrived. For his part, Travis was grateful, he felt better knowing Hank had the stature and willingness to provide Gillian with protection, should she need it.
“I can’t let you jeopardize yourself in any way. I insist I be nearby while you talk to her, just in case.” He was poised for her rejection.
Instead, she surprised him. “Of course. I’m not stupid enough to think I should handle this all by myself. That’s why I called you. We’re talking about rape here.”
Relieved, all he said was, “Good.” She’d been through so much that day, yet she looked so determined, fierce and oh, so beautiful. He imagined she’d look beautiful to him in any circumstance. He responded to her on a very deep level. He’d accepted that. But he wondered when she’d finally admit it too.
She was so close to him he could smell her. But he remained motionless, locked in the moment. He refused to take advantage of her twice in one day, so he waited for her to move. When she finally did, he thought he’d explode from sheer anticipation.
She whispered. “Too much horror, Travis, it shouldn’t be that way…ever.” The kiss sent shock waves straight to his toes and he almost ga
ve up trying to be a gentleman. Instead, he gently pressed her body to his, offering her the opportunity to make the next move. At last, she pushed away from him.
“Wow Travis, I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have…I don’t think…”
He groaned as her tongue darted out and tasted her bottom lip. “Did you know you have the most beautiful lips? Whenever I see you, I want to taste them.” And he did.
At first, she responded ardently, but then she pushed away again. “This isn’t what I had in mind when I called you.”
“Too bad, you started it.” He murmured with a wicked smile.
“This is not a good idea.”
“Oh yes Gilly, this is a very good idea.” And he kissed her once more. Taking her head in both of his hands, he applied himself to the task. He fit his mouth over hers very gently at first, waiting for her response. When he felt her sigh against his lips he increased the pressure slightly, then opened her mouth with his, dipping his tongue inside just briefly, hoping to make her want more. He wasn’t disappointed. When he pulled back a little, she followed him with her lips and he knew joy.
The fingers he wound in her hair stroked a path to the nape of her neck and he felt her tremble in his arms. His heart pounded in his chest like it wanted to break free. He was lost in her; mindless.
Her fingers were entwined in his hair when she abruptly froze. For a split second he thought he’d done something wrong, but the look in her eyes told another story. She was frightened. That wasn’t the usual response to his kisses and his ardor cooled in an instant. He released her immediately.
“Gilly honey, what is it?”
“Someone is watching us. I can feel it.” Hank must have felt it too for he was standing at the French doors, teeth bared, growling low in his throat.
Travis commanded Hank to stay. He pressed speed dial on his cell phone as he turned out the only light in the living room. He leaned very close to Gillian and said, “Stay here with Hank. I’m going to check it out.” He kissed her once and whispered into the cell phone. “Brown, get out to the house on the cliff now, and be quiet about it.” He left through the back door.
Gillian kept a hand on Hank’s back, feeling a little foolish while she waited for Travis to return. In a way, she was relieved they’d been forced to put a halt to things. Their chemistry was potent, stripping away her control. She’d never acted this way in her entire life. She was hardly inexperienced sexually, but she’d never lost herself in a man quite the way she had with Travis. For the sake of her sanity, she knew she had to get a handle on this thing with him.
It felt like hours before he came back into the room. He brought the cool night air with him but that was all.
“There’s no one out there now. I checked everything. I know this place like the back of my hand. There is no one.”
“I didn’t imagine it, Travis.”
“I didn’t say you were imagining it and I didn’t think it for a moment. There is no one there now. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t someone there ten minutes ago. I’ve got Brown looking things over.” He bent at the waist and squinted at her, “Aw, you’ve got that look on your face again.”
“What look?”
“Third-grade teacher.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re going to tell me to behave myself. Miss Jenkins used to look at me like that just before she told me to “stop it” or “put that down.”’
“You’re talking nonsense. I’m just tired and I want to go to bed.”
“So now you’ve changed your mind. That’s fine. It’s your choice. You’ve been through a lot today. My timing sucks, but like I said this afternoon Gillian, I intend to start this. I want you. I won’t play games. I won’t pretend I don’t want to be so deep inside you neither of us can tell where I stop and you begin. Hell, just being in the same room with you can make me hard.” He rubbed his hands through his hair and back again. It was a particularly attractive, almost helpless gesture and added to his words, it was almost her undoing. Meanwhile, he continued, “I know you want me too. Maybe I’m rushing things, and for that I’m sorry, but you’re just going to have to get used to me. I’m going to keep after you until I get what we both want.
“I don’t do this kind of thing Travis. I hardly know you.
He understood and with a huge sigh, he had the good grace to back off and agree with her.
“You’re right, I’ll put this aside for the moment. We’ll concentrate on the task at hand.” He put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans as if hoping to keep them from reaching out to touch her. He leaned a shoulder against the wall and said, “I think you should talk to Sandy tomorrow. Invite her here for dinner. She loves dogs, so I imagine she’d love to spend some time with Hank.”
Relieved he’d agreed with her so readily, she graciously returned the favor. “That sounds like a good idea.”
He acknowledged her response with a nod and added, “I’ll bring my dog, Maggie too. Sandy loves her. The two of you can talk while I take Maggie down to the beach or something. You’ll need Hank. All you have to do is give me a signal and I’ll be at your side.” Somehow Gillian knew that was no empty boast. He’d be there if she needed him. She was just hoping she wouldn’t need him.
“I guess you’re assuming I can cook.” She smiled at him easily now the heat was off. “Or are you going to act as chef?”
“I can manage a barbeque, if you’d like.”
“That would be lovely. Of course I’ll do all the preparation and you’ll take all the credit. I know how it works.”
As a response Travis pounded his chest and said, “Man make fire. Wo-man make po-ta-to salad.”
“Just as I thought…here, man, your coffee’s getting cold.” She handed him a cup of the batch he’d made earlier that evening. It was cold indeed, but he drank every drop.
Chapter 10
The next morning dawned, bright and clear. Yellow sunshine cast its warm approval over Gillian’s new home. It promised to be a perfect day for a barbeque. It was a good sign. Gillian was pleased it only took her a few minutes to persuade a much subdued Sandy to accept her invitation to dinner that evening. She checked her supplies and determined she had all she needed to provide a hearty meal. If Travis needed something special, she figured, he could damn well buy it himself. She told him as much when he called and he laughed at the familiar note in her voice.
He seemed pleased she’d been able to secure Sandy’s promise to be at her place around five that evening. “Have you thought about what you’re going to say to her, or how you’re going to get her to open up?”
“I’ll just play it by ear. With Hank around, I can reach out and gage her emotional state. I’m going to have a chat with Dr. Smythe this afternoon and get his advice as well. As luck would have it, he’s visiting a friend not far from here and we’re meeting for lunch.”
“That’s quite a coincidence. Did you know he was coming?”
“He’d told me he had friends out this way when I told him where I was going to recuperate. I’m glad he’s able to see me.”
Travis was quiet for a second before saying, “Well, it’s probably a good idea for you to talk to your doctor before attempting this thing. If he has any reservations, we won’t do it, okay?”
She agreed promptly because she didn’t for a second believe Smythe would advise her not to help Sandy.
Travis sounded relieved she’d offered no argument and said, “How close do you want me?” He laughed at his unintentional double entendre. “No, wait, don’t answer that. I can’t take rejection before breakfast. What I meant to say was, how close do you want me to be when you talk to her?”
She couldn’t help smiling at the sound of his laugh. “I’m not sure how close you should be. Let me get a bead on her first and I’ll let you know.”
“Works for me. I gotta go. We have donuts. If I don’t throw my weight around a little, there’ll be no chocolate ones left. Believe everything you’ve heard a
bout cops and donuts. See you around four-thirty.” He hung up without waiting for her reply. She guessed donuts were more important to him than good manners. She shrugged as she hung up, grumbling, “Bad cop. No donut.”
* * * *
On Main Street, the sheriff’s office was pretty quiet, as was normal for a Saturday morning. Travis didn’t usually come in on weekend mornings but he wanted to check on things and make sure nothing sinister had happened overnight, especially given what he’d learned from Gillian. All was not well in his town. One of the first things he did was call to make sure Regina was okay.
She answered on the thirteenth ring and wasn’t particularly coherent when she did. “Ugh…Travis…damn…what time? Saturday morning?” Something crashed and he heard her swear. He was pretty sure she’d dropped the phone and he gave her a moment to retrieve it.
“If you knew it was me, why’d you take so long to answer?”
She was starting to make sense. “I hoped after ten rings you’d give up.”
“You should have known better. I’m sorry I ditched you last night. Did you get home okay?”
“You woke me up to ask me that?”
He just laughed.
“Yes, I got home okay. I met up with Deputy Brown who made mad, passionate love to me all night and I’m exhausted, so buzz off.”
Before she had a chance to hang up on him, he said, “That’s a lie. I know because Brown was with me.”
“And he made mad passionate love to you? At least one of us is getting some.” She still had an irritated edge to her voice.
“Are you always like this when you wake up? If so, then I’m glad I don’t have to share a bed with you.”
“You should be so lucky.” She was fully awake now.
Trouble [New Crescent 1] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 7
