In her dream she was struggling with a dark figure in the bed who was choking her. She couldn’t breathe. She slammed her hand against his head, and when her fingertips scratched against rough beard—This was no dream! Her eyes flew open, but it was too dark to make out more than a figure looming over her with his hands on her neck.
Gasping for air, she kicked the sheet away from her and shoved her hands upward. His fingers around her neck didn’t budge. The puppy yapped as she struggled harder, and she felt him lunge away from her.
The man cursed, and the puppy yelped but didn’t come back to her for shelter. She had to help him. Gathering the last of her air, she pulled her knees to her chest and shoved upward with her calves. The grip on her throat loosened, and he rocked back.
She rolled away and off the other side of the bed, reaching for the baseball bat she always kept in the corner. Her right hand closed around the handle, comforting in its solid feel.
The shadowy figure lunged at her, and she swung the bat at his head the way she would at a softball. There was a sound like a stick hitting a melon, and she felt the satisfying shudder in the bat all the way up to her shoulder. He was still standing though, and she thought he had his hand to his ear. The string of curses rolling out of his mouth could have turned the air blue.
She finally had enough air in her lungs to shriek. A long pent-up scream that didn’t sound like it could come from her nearly pierced her ears.
He lunged toward her again. “You little—”
She turned and ran for the door, then stopped. Where was the puppy? Had he hurt the little guy? She ducked through the door and stood to one side with her heart pounding. Through the window she saw lights flicker to life in the big house. Brendan and Rick would be here any moment. It would be more sensible to wait on them, but what if that guy took out his rage on the puppy?
She lifted the bat to her shoulder and stepped into the center of the doorway. Reaching around to the side wall, she flipped on the light, then blinked. The room was empty, and a breeze lifted the curtains of the open window. She nearly sagged with relief, then rushed into the room. The puppy wasn’t on the bed. She dropped to her knees and looked under the bed where she found the little mite cowering on his belly.
“Come here, boy.” She waggled her fingers, and he scooted on his belly toward her, whimpering the whole way. She scooped him up and hugged his trembling body to her chest, then scrambled to her feet with adrenaline still shuddering through her body.
She turned at the sound of footsteps pounding toward her room. Brendan’s panicked voice shouted her name, and she staggered toward the door to fall into his arms.
His strong embrace held her close, and she listened to the thud of his heart under her ear. It was a few moments before she found the strength to raise her head and tell him what happened.
When he tipped her chin up and examined the marks on her throat, his eyes went dark. “I’ll find him.”
SEVEN
SITTING ON THE SOFA BESIDE HER, BRENDAN DABBED SOME ointment on the angry welts standing out on Lauren’s neck. He didn’t know what to do with the rage that made his hands tremble a bit. The man had dared to come here on Bluebird property and attack her. He wanted to wrap his fingers around the thug’s throat and give him a taste of what he’d put Lauren through.
He finished his ministrations. “Does it hurt much?”
“Not too badly.” Her voice sounded hoarse.
“I think you’ll have some trouble talking tomorrow. Rest your voice as much as you can. I think you need to see a doctor.”
She shifted away and shook her head. “I’ll be all right.”
Allie came in carrying a tray with a teapot and cups. “I thought the warm tea might help your throat, Lauren. You want sugar in it?” She set the tray on the table and poured a cup of tea, then handed it to Lauren who fumbled with it a little.
“Sorry, my hands are cold. I’ll just have a dollop of cream too.”
Allie glanced at Rick. “Would you start a fire, honey? Her hands are cold.”
She touched her throat. “I thought I was dreaming at first.”
Rick knelt in front of the woodstove and began to load it with wood. “Did you get a look at him?” He held a match to the paper, and it blackened, then burst into flames. The wood caught and he closed the door.
Lauren shook her head. “It was too dark. The puppy tried to bite him. It distracted him enough that I was able to fight back.”
Brendan’s fingers found the soft fur of the puppy curled up on his lap. “Thank God for this little guy.” He couldn’t mask the fervency in his voice. What if that creep had killed her? The thought made him shudder. “He seems okay.”
“I think the man knocked him to the floor. He yelped.” She scooted closer and reached over to rub the puppy’s head.
The warmth emanating from her made him want to move closer and put his arm around her. He stayed where he was and kept his gaze on the little dog.
She took a sip of her tea and grimaced. “Hurts.”
Allie headed back toward the kitchen. “I’ll get you some ibuprofen.”
Rick sat in the chair opposite them. “Did the guy say anything?”
“Nothing but curses when I hit him with the baseball bat.” She looked up at Brendan. “But there was something about the shape of him and the timbre of his voice. I think it was the same guy who killed Dustin. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”
Brendan processed the information and logically began to connect the dots. “How could he have tracked you here? No one knows where you are.”
“Tonia knows.” She bit her lip. “She could have tracked me here with the phone I used. She’s the only one I’ve called.”
“I’m going to see if there’s any answer to my query about her.” Brendan reached for his laptop on the side table and opened it, then navigated to his e-mail. “Yeah, looks like I have a response.” He opened the message and scanned it. “Looks like Tonia owed everyone and their brother. She got twenty grand on her refi, tried to get a second mortgage, but was turned down. She opened a high-interest rate credit card and took an advance immediately. That money went to a casino in Oklahoma.”
Lauren’s arm brushed his. “What’s the situation now?”
“All her debt was wiped out. She doesn’t owe anything but a small payment on her car.”
“When did the payoff happen?”
He scanned the screen, and his gut clenched. “When was the murder?”
“Two months ago.”
He turned his head to stare at her. “She paid all that debt off on October 15.”
Her eyes dilated and she inhaled. “Less then two weeks later.”
Coldness settled over him at the desolation in her voice. Betrayal like this shouldn’t happen in families. “I think we need to have another talk with your cousin. When did she marry McAvoy?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Steve helped her with those debts.”
He turned back to his keyboard. “Should be a matter of public record.” He logged into the right website and began to peruse. “A month later, November 15. So it didn’t take her long to drag him to the altar once you were out of the picture.”
Allie returned with a bottle of ibuprofen. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Could McAvoy have given her the money?”
“The report doesn’t say where the source of the money came from. I’ll have it looked into. It might take a couple of days to track that down.”
“Steve isn’t poor, but I don’t know if he’d have that kind of money sitting around. A lot of people, even professionals, live on everything they make and don’t stick money in savings.”
He grinned. “Which brings up another area of research. Let’s see what we can find out about McAvoy’s finances too.” He sent off a request for a report on the attorney.
The weight of her gaze on him was like a rock. He glanced up and lifted a brow. “What?”
Color touched her cheeks, and she looked down
at her hands. “You’re pretty impressive, Brendan. Overwhelmingly so.”
He quickly looked away before his expression gave away how much her words touched him.
Lauren touched her hand to her sore throat. “You didn’t have to walk me back to my room.” The crisp air felt good on her overheated skin. Just being near Brendan did erratic things to her temperature. She inhaled. “The air smells good. I love sage. There’s nothing like it.” The puppy scampered around her feet, nipping at insects in the dirt.
Brendan stopped outside the barn door. “I’m not just walking you home. I’m going to sleep in the hay. Rick had one of the hands bring over a sleeping bag for me.”
The moonlight illuminated his face. His lips were pressed together and his gaze held serious intent. This wasn’t a man who ran away from anything. She’d never felt so protected, not even when she was a kid. Her mother had tried, but after her dad had died, life held an edge of danger to her. There was never enough money, often not enough food. They moved from rental house to rental house, and she lived in fear of a hard knock on the door as an owner evicted them, and they had to find another place to live.
“Thank you.” Her voice was a husky whisper. “I was a little scared to go back to my room, even though I knew Rick had two men staked out here.”
His teeth glimmered in the bit of light as he smiled. “Allie offered you a bed in the house.”
“I didn’t want you to think I was a weakling. Not after that speech about me being an underdog who never quits. I didn’t want to be a quitter.”
His fingers, firm yet gentle, touched her under the chin and tipped her head up. “There’s no quitting spirit in you.”
His eyes smoldered with an intense emotion she was afraid to name. What if she was misjudging this attraction between them? She didn’t want to make a fool of herself. The man was a heartbreaker if she’d ever seen one. Not that he would intend to hurt her, but she was more fragile than he knew. Her heart had never been tried like this. There’d only been casual flirtations over the years. He tempted her in ways she wasn’t willing to admit.
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
“Not even you?” The words were out before she could call them back. She stepped away and turned toward the door, but he caught her arm and gently rotated her back to face him.
He brushed the hair away from her face.
A bubble of laughter welled in her chest, and she let out a nervous chuckle.
“I would never hurt you. We both feel it, Lauren. There’s a deep attraction between us. I don’t know where it came from, but I’m not going to lie. You are the most beautiful, intriguing woman I’ve ever met.”
Her throat felt even tighter. “Beautiful . . . intriguing.” No one had ever said that about her. She was just . . . Lauren. A horse-crazy woman in a heap of trouble. She usually felt anything but special, but with his gaze boring through to her innermost thoughts, she could have sworn she’d grown two inches and was on the cover of Mademoiselle.
“Why is this happening? I’ve never believed in . . .” She wasn’t about to say the word.
His hand touching her hair moved to cup her cheek. “Love at first sight?”
She barely nodded. Was this love? Could it happen that fast? It had to be major attraction, not love. But something in her soul wanted to know his innermost thoughts, his dreams, his desires. Events were swirling so fast around them, and maybe that was why everything felt so ramped up.
His thumb stroked her cheek, and her insides turned to mush. She couldn’t think past the feel of his fingertips gliding along her face. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and she leaned in, inhaling his musky male scent and the spicy aroma of his cologne.
His hand slid to the back of her head, and his lips came down on hers with a tender, yet insistent pressure. She wrapped both arms around his neck and kissed him back with everything in her. The scrape of his faint whiskers against her face rooted her in the moment. Lauren wished it could last forever. She’d never experienced a kiss that swept her along on a tidal wave of emotion like this one.
She was still clinging to him when he pulled away and gave a shaky laugh. “I think I’d better get you inside, or I might not let you go.”
Her heart still hammered against her ribs as she stumbled into the barn to her bedroom door. She felt as though she’d just lived through some kind of explosion. She paused outside her door. “Good night.”
He still hadn’t released her arm. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
“I know.” She couldn’t seem to make her hand open the door. “Um, could we try just one more kiss?”
His only answer was to draw her into his arms again. This kiss was even more shattering to her sanity than the last one. She gave herself over to the emotions racing through her and clung to him like a rider on a wild horse. She knew only the feel of his mouth on hers and the taste of him on her lips. She caught the last shred of sanity and pulled away so the brush of night air could cool her heated cheeks.
“You sure make it hard to say good night.” His voice was a low rumble, and he dropped his hand from her arm.
“I think you’re right.” Her fingers seemed to find their strength, and she twisted the knob and practically fell into the room. The puppy dashed in past her feet and turned to look at her as if to ask if she was coming.
“Everything look okay?”
She spared a glance around. “Yes. Good night.” She shut the door before she gave in to the temptation to kiss him again.
EIGHT
BRENDAN BUTTONED HIS RED SHIRT. HE COULDN’T REMEMBER the last time he’d been this excited about Christmas, which brought him up short. Shouldn’t the day of Jesus Christ’s birth always be holy and special to him? And yet something about this one had his senses heightened and his hope buoyed. The yard was empty and dark as he strode toward the twinkling Christmas lights on the big house.
The children were chatting excitedly when he joined everyone else in the large living room. Several of the parents were there as well. He nodded at Gary and Katrina Foreshaw on one of the sofas. Had Lauren told them they were about to get a puppy at their house? The kids sat in a circle around the glimmering Christmas tree heaped with packages. The scent of pine permeated the air and mingled with the tangible excitement wafting off the children.
He settled into an armchair to the left of the tree. His gaze shot over to collide with Lauren’s. He’d barely slept last night, jolting awake every time one of the horses snorted. The evening had passed uneventfully though, and he was thankful for that.
Allie and Rick had opted to let the children open gifts now since so many were leaving tonight to spend Christmas with their families. The puppy had been stashed in Rick and Allie’s bedroom, and Brendan kept thinking he could hear it whine, but maybe it was his imagination.
A children’s Bible in hand, Rick moved to the Christmas tree. “How many have heard the Christmas story?”
Only two children held up their hands. Carly wasn’t one of them, and Brendan frowned. Wouldn’t all children have heard this at least once? The children quieted as Rick began to read Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus. The children’s eyes were wide and intent as they listened.
Rick finished the story and closed the Bible. “So that’s why we celebrate Christmas. It’s Jesus’ birthday, and we give gifts to people we love, to share his love. He loves each of you very much, and so do we.”
Allie led the children in “Silent Night,” and several of them didn’t sing until the second chorus when they joined in hesitantly.
Rick set the Bible on the stand by Brendan, then turned to the tree. “So let’s distribute the presents. Brendan, could you help me?”
Brendan rose and handed out packages. The room turned loud with children squealing and talking excitedly. Soon the room was awash in brightly colored paper and empty boxes as the kids hugged their gifts to their chests.
Carly sat on the floor to one side with Summer. All she’d
gotten so far was a small doll, but she didn’t seem to notice she hadn’t gotten as much as the other children. He glanced at Lauren and signaled her to go get the puppy.
Her cheeks pink, she got up and hurried from the room. He stepped closer to Carly and put his hand on her head. “Carly, we have a special surprise for you.”
Carly glanced up, her green eyes wide. She still didn’t seem to grasp the gift might be hers. Lauren entered the room with the puppy in her hands. The little fur ball yipped, and Carly’s gaze shot over to Lauren. She didn’t rise though. Poor kid had probably lost all ability to hope for good things in her life.
The children were talking excitedly, and Brendan held up his hand. “Quiet, kids. We can’t even think.”
Lauren put the puppy on the floor, and its little belly practically rubbed the ground. The puppy pounced on a roll of red wrapping paper, and the children giggled. An entranced expression on her face, Carly scooted slightly closer to the puppy and reached out her hand. The puppy sauntered closer and sniffed her fingers. She stroked his head.
Lauren squatted in front of her. “It’s a boy puppy. What’s his name?
Carly glanced up. “He’s your puppy. You should know his name.”
“Carly, he’s not my puppy. He’s yours. Merry Christmas.”
The little girl’s mouth gaped. Her gaze darted to Brendan’s, then back to the puppy. “Mine?” She tipped her head to the side, eyebrows raised.
Lauren nodded. “Yes, we bought him for you. Me and Mr. Brendan.”
Carly’s lips trembled, and her eyes glistened with moisture. “Why would you do that?”
“He needed you. And you needed him.”
Carly reached over and slid her hand under the puppy’s belly, then lifted him onto her lap. He wriggled all over and stretched up to lick her chin. Her eyes widened, and a small giggle escaped her lips. She looked up at the Foreshaws. “Can I keep him?”
Gary’s smile was pinched. “I don’t think we have a choice.”
All Is Calm: A Lonestar Christmas Novella Page 5
