It Had to Be Him

by Tamra Baumann

While the doctor filled up another syringe, he said, “I’m going to give you something stronger for the pain and to help you sleep. Where are you staying tonight?”

  He had to think about that for a minute. Then he remembered. “In my truck. There were no rooms at the hotel, evidently.”

  “Maybe something has opened up. I’ll check for you.”

  “Not holding my breath.” Before long the meds kicked in and his mind went to a very happy place.

  While Haley dug into a big piece of pie and ice cream for dessert, Meg stacked dishes into the industrial washer in the hotel’s kitchen. “Thanks for dinner, Casey, it was great.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s been kind of quiet without the boys, so I enjoyed the company.” Casey dug her ringing cell out of her pocket, checking the display before she lifted it to her ear. “Hey, Ben.”

  Casey listened for a moment, then said, “Hang on. Meg’s here, I’ll put you on speaker.”

  As she poked a button and laid the phone down, she said, “Grams shot your ex. Ben wants to ask us something.”

  “Shot him?” She raced for the counter and yelled into the phone. “Is he going to be all right?”

  “Just a nick, he’ll be fine.”

  Meg slumped against the counter in relief. She’d never forgive herself if she’d caused any actual harm to Josh. She just wanted him to go away. “Where is he?”

  “Here at the clinic.”

  “Is he in a lot of pain?”

  “Gunshot wounds tend to hurt. I’ve given him something for the pain. He can’t drive. Do you have a room, Casey? Otherwise I have to stay with him here. I have a hot date I’d rather not cancel for a change.”

  Casey crossed her arms and shook her head. “Then let him sleep in his car! He’s trying to steal Ha—”

  Megan cut her off. “Who has big ears and is sitting right here? He’s hurt. Let him have a room, Casey. Please?”

  Casey narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Tell him he can stay but the rate is five grand a night!”

  Meg rolled her eyes. “Be reasonable.”

  “You just got done telling me at dinner he’s loaded, so why not?”

  “Because it isn’t right and you know it.”

  Casey huffed out a breath. “Okay, he can stay. But the rate is a thousand bucks a night. Take it or leave it!”

  Ben laughed. “I’ll tell him. Thanks, Casey.”

  Meg started for the kitchen’s swinging doors. “Can you watch Haley for a minute? Ben might need some help getting him here. Be right back.”

  Before her sister could protest, Meg ran out the front doors and hit Main Street. She hated the thought of Josh being shot—she’d loved him once, after all—but she needed to find out why he was here. It probably wasn’t going to help that Grandma shot him if there was going to be a custody battle. She’d better try to smooth things out a little.

  She’d just ignore the urge she still had to light all his fancy shoes on fire, and instead make nice, get him settled, and then get Haley out of the hotel and back to the guesthouse.

  Then she’d find a way to boot his ass out of town.

  Breathing hard from the run, she tugged on the clinic’s door. Ben sat behind the reception desk poking at a keyboard. He sent her a questioning eyebrow hitch, which she ignored, so he pointed the way. “I’ll help him to my car after I finish this up.”

  The sight of Josh made her stomach clench. He lay on the exam table wearing just jeans and boots. His chiseled chest slowly rose and fell, his arm sported a big bandage, and his eyes were closed. His color was good and he looked fine. Actually, he looked more than fine. Another reason she should just go. But her traitorous feet moved her closer.

  She swiped away a wisp of soft blond hair that had fallen over his eye and studied his handsome face.

  It still hurt to look at him. The man had stolen a piece of her heart that hadn’t grown back.

  When she let out a long sigh, his eyes fluttered open and he smiled. “There you are, Meg. Been lookin’ for ya.” His words slurred together.

  “I heard.”

  He struggled to sit up, so she helped him.

  “Your crazy grandma shot me.”

  “Don’t expect a purple heart. She’s shot me too.” She threw Josh’s heavy arm around her shoulder and helped him stand. “Come on. Let’s go find you a bed.”

  “Where’d she shoot you?” He swayed, nearly knocking her off her feet.

  She propped Josh against the exam table while she waited for Ben. “My butt. What did you think all those little scars were from?”

  “Oooh, yeah.” A slow, silly grin lit his face. “You have a reeeally niiiiccce ass, Meg.”

  Before she could respond to the nice ass remark, Ben appeared in the doorway, then slid around to Josh’s other side and helped him stand. “He’ll be a little loopy for a while. Just needs to sleep it off. I’ll help you get him to the hotel.”

  Ben killed the lights and locked up, then they wrestled Josh into her brother’s Jeep and strapped him in for the short ride to the hotel.

  After they led Josh through the lobby and up to his room, Josh fell flat on his face across the bed. Ben asked, “Can you take it from here? My date’s waiting.”

  “Yeah. Thanks. Have fun.”

  Megan studied Josh’s prone body with all those sexy muscles making their way down to his own very nice ass. Doing her best to ignore the physical desire for him that apparently hadn’t gone away, she focused on wrangling off his well-worn pair of boots. She’d never seen anything like them hiding among the slick, expensive shoes in his closet. Or the knife he had strapped to his ankle. Why would a software developer like Josh be carrying a knife?

  Carefully she removed it, slid the lethal-looking thing out of the case for a better look, and then laid it on his nightstand. Weird.

  Next she needed to get him out of his jeans, so she called out loudly, “Josh. Roll over. We need to unzip your pants.”

  He lifted his head, winced, and then slowly rolled over and closed his eyes again. His hands went to the top button on his jeans and fumbled for a minute before he fell back asleep.

  Pushing his hands aside, she straddled him and then undid the top button. Gingerly she unzipped his fly, careful not to touch anything important, and then nudged him so he’d lift up enough to slide his pants off his legs.

  Josh had the physique of a well-trained, professional athlete, not a software desk jockey. And he had a few nasty, painful-looking scars on his chest that hadn’t been there before.

  Not that she cared.

  But she probably needed to leave before her hormones started doing the thinking for her.

  When she rolled off him, Josh’s strong arm snaked around her middle and he drew her against him. “Don’t go. Wanna talk to ya.”

  She wanted to talk to him too. A little coherence would be nice, though. But then, maybe he’d be more truthful all drugged up.

  With Josh spooned against her back just like old times, she ignored her happy hormones and said, “Okay, so talk. Why are you here, Josh?”

  He pulled her closer and sighed.

  She feared he’d fallen back asleep until he began mumbling something unintelligible. But then she clearly made out “Gotta get her back.”

  He was trying to take Haley away. She pulled out of his grasp and headed for the door. “You’ll get Haley over my dead body, Josh.”

  Josh blinked his eyes open. The bed was soft and the sign on the back of a door told him he was in a hotel room. His things were stacked on a dresser next to a flat-screen television. His left side hurt, his head felt like he’d gone on a bender the night before, and he was starving.

  When he rolled over, searing pain exploded through his arm and everything came rushing back.

  He threw the covers aside with his good arm and sat up. His brain slid around in his skull once before settling enough to notice that the clock on the nightstand showed it was almost noon. His knife lay beside the clock.

  How he’d ende
d up dressed only in his boxers, he didn’t recall. But he was pretty sure Megan had something to do with it—which meant he’d better come up with an explanation for carrying a weapon in case she asked about it. And what if she’d found the letter?

  He stood and made his way to the dresser. He opened his duffel, shoved the clothes aside, and found the envelope taped to the bottom of the bag where he’d kept it since the day he’d had to break up with her.

  For in case things had gone bad.

  He couldn’t bear for her to never know the truth if he were to die.

  The envelope was still facedown and securely taped just the way he’d left it, so it seemed his secret was still safe. He grabbed the first set of clothes his hand landed on and pulled them out to change into after his shower. After that, he’d figure a way around the loonies who lived in Anderson Butte and find Meg.

  At least the crazy townspeople hadn’t left him naked out by the lake, covered in honey, to be eaten alive by mosquitoes.

  Maybe he was starting to grow on them.

  After a quick knock sounded, the door swung open and Meg’s sister walked in with a brown paper bag and a piece of paper in her hand. “So, you’re not dead, huh? Just lazy and sleeping in? I tried calling twice.”

  “Sorry. It appears I survived my first day in Anderson Butte despite your best efforts. Do you barge in on all your customers?”

  “I was hoping for the dead theory.” She moved farther inside, stopping a good three feet away like he might bite, and then thrust the bag and the paper toward him. “I’m sure you’re eager to get on the road. Here’s your bill and some lunch you can take with you.”

  He dropped the clothes he held and opened the bag. The sandwich, apple, and cookie inside made his stomach growl. Josh grabbed the fat turkey sandwich and took a big bite. “Thanks.” As he chewed he studied the bill. It was for a thousand dollars. “I assume you take credit cards?”

  “In your case we don’t. Cash or debit only. ATM’s in the lobby. If it’s a debit, we’ll transfer it to Megan’s account. And put some damn pants on, will you?”

  Nope. She was the one busting into his room uninvited. “I’ll be happy to transfer any amount of money you want into Megan’s account, but not until I’ve seen her and Haley. Where are they?” He’d collected full pay the last three years he’d been hidden away. Added to the money he’d never had time to spend, he had plenty that he intended to share with them.

  Casey crossed her arms. “Megan’s gone for the day. She said to text her with whatever it is you want. And you have a few other bills to settle as well. Stop by the clinic and then the sheriff’s office on your way out of town.”

  He took another bite of his sandwich. “I’ll go settle up with the others, but I’m not checking out yet.” The games were getting old. “What’s it going to take to let me see them, Casey?”

  “You’ll not see her again unless she wants to see you. Don’t make me get the sheriff to evict you, Granger. It’s past checkout time.” She turned and walked out the door.

  Josh finished his lunch, and then attempted to shower without getting the bandage wet. It was after one by the time he ventured out to Main Street. He found his truck at the end of Megan’s grandmother’s drive where he’d left it, complete with a parking ticket sticking out from under the windshield wiper. It was also for a thousand dollars and was to be paid at the sheriff’s department in cash or a debit to Megan. Laughing at the ridiculous amount, he climbed into his truck.

  Were they punishing him for not paying child support? He couldn’t blame them for that. He’d wanted to send something but couldn’t risk a money trail to Megan. He’d make it up to them.

  Josh cranked the engine and headed toward the clinic.

  He found a parking space in a large lot behind the two-story brick building. After beeping the locks on his truck, he started for the rear entrance. The sound of a helicopter approaching grew increasingly louder. When the wind from the blades became gale force, Josh looked up to see a chopper hovering not twelve feet over his head. Megan’s brother Ben was behind the controls with a big smile on his face.

  The smartass.

  Finally the chopper veered away and landed on the far end of the parking lot. Ben was the man he wanted to see, so he waited until the doctor got out and grabbed his bag.

  Ben was still smirking as he got closer. “How’s the arm today, Granger?”

  “Fine. I’m here to settle my bill.”

  “Come on in. Haven’t gotten around to printing it up yet. Have some patients in the hospital over in Denver.”

  Josh followed behind as they weaved their way back to Ben’s office. Ben held out a hand toward a side chair. “Something to drink? Coffee, water?”

  “Water. Thanks.” Of all the Anderson siblings, Ben seemed the most reasonable.

  Maybe Ben was the key to figuring out how to get to Megan. “A helicopter probably comes in handy for making rounds in Denver, huh?”

  “Yep. It saves time. We all learned to fly right after we learned to drive.” Ben popped open the door to a mini-fridge and tossed a cold bottle of water Josh’s way before he started tapping keys on the computer. “Has Meg ever taken you up? I’ll deny it if you tell her I said this, but she’s the best pilot of all of us. Except for Zeke, maybe.”

  Megan could fly a helicopter? How the hell hadn’t he known that? “No. We never got the chance, I guess.” But he’d spent more hours than he could count behind the stick himself.

  “Too busy running out the door and leaving her in a lurch, huh?” Ben slid a bill across the desk. It was for four thousand dollars. “Cash or we can transfer it—”

  “Yeah, I know. To Megan’s account.”

  “Shitty thing to do to my sister, Granger. We won’t let you take Haley.”

  He wasn’t getting anywhere, so he stood to leave. “I’m not here to take Haley. I’m here to try to make up for my past mistakes. Thanks for patching me up.”

  Ben called out as Josh headed for the door. “Have your arm checked out tomorrow or the next day for infection. My brother is waiting for you at the sheriff’s office in Town Hall. If you see an even bigger old guy with a scowl, that’s probably my dad. Run!”

  Freakin’ crazy town.

  Josh shoved the door open and sucked in a deep, calming breath. The woodsy, clean scent was something he’d never get tired of.

  Town Hall couldn’t be too far away, so he left his truck where it was and made his way out to Main Street.

  He turned the corner and nearly tripped over a kid who sat on the raised wooden sidewalk beside a golden retriever twice the little boy’s size. His head was bent over one of the dog’s big paws.

  Josh kneeled down beside them. When the dog whimpered, he reached out and gave it a pat. “Everything okay?”

  The kid shook his head. “Wilbur got a splinter from the wood.”

  “Ah.” Josh reached to his belt for the more innocuous Leather-man tool, which he’d decided to carry instead of his throwing knife. Growing up, he’d spent most of his free time with the animals at the ranch and hated to see one in pain. “Mind if I take a look?”

  The boy’s brow furrowed with confliction. “You’re that guy I saw at the diner last night, right?” The boy’s grip grew tighter on his dog. “Uncle Zeke said you’re trying to take Haley away. We aren’t supposed to talk to you.”

  It was like a broken record.

  Josh went to work on the dog’s paw. “I was at the diner last night, but I’m not trying to take Haley away. I just want to meet her.” He held up the three-inch splinter. “That had to hurt.”

  “Yeah, ummm, I . . . better go.” The boy and his dog scurried off down the street, avoiding the wooden sidewalk this time. The kid looked over his shoulder one last time, as if frightened Josh would follow behind.

  Great. His status as a child snatcher had all the little kids in town running scared too? He needed to find a little old lady to help across the street to save his reputation.

&n
bsp; With none in sight, he checked out the town that surrounded a large park. In the middle of the grass stood a big whitewashed bandstand, like he’d seen in the movies as a kid. He’d naïvely imagined he’d end up in a town just like this once he got adopted. What an idiot. He soon found out older kids rarely got adopted and, if so, didn’t end up in places like this.

  Anderson Butte was so Disneyland clean and tidy it seemed fake, like a movie set. He was tempted to go around the back to see if it was all a façade.

  Colorful wildflowers everywhere offset the vivid green of the grass and the surrounding gigantic trees. The buildings were a mix of old and new, but somehow they all blended to form a welcoming, peaceful, postcard-worthy sight.

  Yeah. He could totally see himself finally living in a town like Anderson Butte.

  Families and couples, clearly on vacation, slowly meandered up and down the street perusing the shops. The town had everything a body could want. Besides a few little touristy specialty stores, there was the diner, a place to get your hair cut, a little drugstore, the post office, a T-shirt shop, a water sports shop, a mini-market, and a toy store with matching colorful wooden soldiers as tall as he was, standing guard out front.

  He’d never been inside a toy store. He’d never had toys of his own growing up at the ranch. Had he been free to, he would have liked to shop at places like this for Haley’s birthdays and the Christmases he’d missed. Hopefully he’d be able to make up for those lost years by spending enough time with her to let her see how much he cared. But right now, he was nothing more than a stranger to his own daughter.

  Maybe he should get something for Haley to soften the blow when they finally met. But what? He pulled out his phone and was just about to Google the most popular toys for two-year-olds, but stopped. The shopkeepers probably knew Haley.

  He threw his empty water bottle into a green recycling can, pulled the door open, and entered the cluttered little shop. It overflowed with stuffed animals, games, dolls, trucks, and things Josh couldn’t identify. A tiny woman, maybe in her late twenties, stood behind the counter and lifted her chin slightly in greeting while she helped a familiar-looking blond man with a couple of kids standing next to him. Josh headed toward the counter as the man tucked his wallet into his back pocket and then spun around.