Hearts On Fire

by Childs, Penny

  Hearts on Fire

  by:

  Penny Childs

  Chapter 1

  “What a shitty day for a funeral.”

  “Is there such a thing as a good day for one?” JD cocked a dark brow toward his younger brother and shoved his hands into the deep pockets of his long wool coat. Sleet pelted both of them and the wind whipped, rattling the bare branches of trees together. The sound brought to mind bones rattling and he could not help the shiver which traced up his spine. JD had to agree with his brother’s assessment. It was a shitty day. And their reason for standing out in the cold didn’t help matters any. “Could always be worse. You could be the guest of honor,” he told him, tilting his chin to the hole in the ground which had just received the polished rosewood coffin.

  Josh considered his brother’s words in silence for a moment. “Yeah. You have a point.” Turning the collar of his sheepskin coat up against the wind he let his gaze wander to their baby sister. Twenty-three and widow. He could hardly believe it. She hung off their mother’s arm, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was going to be a mess for a while, he knew. Losing a husband she’d had little more than a year to a car accident had shaken her badly. And when one in the family was shaken they all rallied together. “How long you gonna bunk at the ranch?” he asked.

  JD worked his jaw. “As long as it takes, I guess. I can work from here if I have to.” He was looking at his mother, his jaw still set. “Mom wants us to help move Julie back to the ranch and settle whatever needs settling as far as the finances go.”

  “I can handle the move. You deal with the legal crap.”

  “Julie says the move is temporary.”

  “Does mom know that?” Josh quipped.

  “Dunno. That’s between her and Julie. I’m just the help.” Which he could have done from his condo in Denver, but his mother had insisted he and his brother stay at the ranch. And what Arlene MacGreggor wanted, Arlene MacGreggor got. No if, ands, or buts.

  “There’s Matt,” Josh told him, watching as a tall rangy man in a Stetson and thick ski jacket headed their way.

  JD managed a grin, seeing his long-time friend coming his way. Sticking out his hand he shook with him. “Matt. Long time no see.”

  “Yeah,” Matt agreed. “You should stop by for coffee once in a blue moon. It’s no good meeting under these circumstances.”

  He was right.

  “How’s Julie holding up?”

  “She’ll get by. She’s moving back in with mom for a while.”

  Matt grimaced. He knew how Julie and her mother fought sometimes. But he said, “It’s good she has someone to lean on.” Lifting his hat he shoved his fingers through thick blonde hair before setting it back down. “It’s a shame about Ken. He was a good guy.”

  JD nodded. Julie’s husband had been a good kid. Star of the college football team, top of his class and from a good family. And hand-picked for Julie by their mother. The last he’d heard Julie and Ken had been trying for a baby as Arlene had thought it time they started a family. Julie, though she argued with their mother more often than not, always wound up bowing to her demands. Just like the rest of us, he thought with a scowl, wondering for the umpteenth time what his own life would have been like if he’d not bowed to her and married a woman he had not loved. He shook himself out of it. It was ancient history and didn’t matter anymore. The marriage had dissolved and the woman he loved… well, she’d moved on.

  “JD?” Matt asked. “Wool gathering?”

  He had been and he needed to stop it. His father had always told him a man could learn from his past but he couldn’t live in it. And he’d been right on the money there. “Just worried about Julie. She’s taking this really hard.” He locked gazes with Matt. “You’re still sure it was an accident, right?”

  Matt lifted his brows. “What else could it have been, JD?” He took in a long breath. “You know I had the state police come in on the investigation. They came to the same conclusion my office did. Ken must have slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel to avoid something. On the ice he lost control of the car and it went through the guard rail.” And over a seven hundred foot drop, he didn’t finish. The wreckage had been horrific. There had been little left of the vehicle or the man who had been driving it.

  “Sure wish I knew what he tried to avoid hitting,” Josh was saying. “I mean everybody knows, a deer, dog, or any other critter walks out in front of your car you hit ‘em rather than wreck.”

  “Sure, everybody knows that. But not everybody lives by it. If some animal ran out it may have just been pure reflex.” A bad reflex. “The way those roads were that night all it would have taken was a flinch.”

  JD gave a nod. “I know. I wasn’t accusing you of not doing your job, Matt. I just wish his accident didn’t seem so damn senseless. When a good kid with his whole future ahead of him dies like that you hope there was a better reason for it than he just flinched at the wrong moment.”

  The weather was crap. Not a good night for driving. But drive she would. She had to get out of town and get out of town fast. But first, a phone call. Tossing her overnight bag next to the door she turned and surveyed her surroundings. For the last time. She was out of here. Finally out of here. The money she’d hidden away this time would keep her comfortable for years to come. Maybe on some sweet little tropical island. She’d be warm and tan. And she’d get herself a warm, tan pool boy too. Oh, yeah. Tall, dark and ready to please his mistress.

  “God, what a fucking haul,” she whispered to herself. Finally. The con of cons. Pulling the cell phone from her back pocket she dialed and waited, wondering if she’d get dumped into voicemail by her highness. “C’mon little miss Lizzy. Answer your damn phone for a change.”

  “Katy?” the sleepy voice on the other end of the line asked.

  “Lizzy, holy crap, you actually answered for me.” She took an excited breath. “I need a favor.”

  “Of course you do,” Lizzy answered, her voice dry, no longer sleepy. “How much do you need this time?”

  Katy laughed. “I don’t need money from you this time, sis. I’m beyond that now. Way beyond. In fact, I could probably loan you money.”

  “Yeah. Right. Or pay me back all the money I’ve loaned you over the years.”

  “That’s why I’m calling. Well, one reason. I will pay you back. I just need a place to crash for a few days while I make some arrangements.”

  “Arrangements? What kind of arrangements?” The pause was long. “Oh, God, what have you done?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Have you broken the law?”

  Katy smiled and looked out the front window nervously. I’m sure I’ve broken several laws, she thought. Her gut told her she needed to move. Now. And her gut was not something she tended to ignore. It had been refined after years of trial and error. “Of course I haven’t broken the law!” she lied, going for wounded sister. “Look, are you going to let me crash at your place or not?” She could literally hear her big sister frown over the phone line. “Lizzy, c’mon. This is your one and only baby sister asking for some help.”

  “You’re not being sought by the police or some angry person you’ve bilked out of their life savings, are you?”

  Years of working her sister would come in handy now. “Damnit, Lizzie. Just forget it.” She nearly hung up but stopped when she heard her sister say, “Wait! Okay. You can come. Sean would love to see you anyway.” Katy breathed a sigh of relief. Stage one of her getaway plan was a go.

  “When were you planning on getting here?”

  “I’m gonna leave right now. I can be there in a few hours.”

  “In the middle of the night? Now you really do have me worried.”

  “Don’t worry. Yo
u know I’m a night owl. If’s it’s not okay I can crash at a motel until morning.” She knew damn well her sis wouldn’t make her do that. Not Saint Lizzie.

  “No, don’t do that. You know where I hide the spare key. Just let yourself in. The guest room is always ready for you.”

  Katy’s grin came again. She hung up with her sister and twirled around the room, looking at everything for the last time. The. Last. Time. She did a little dance and whooped loudly. This place had been her prison for far too long. Since she’d been a kid. No more. Let Lizzy have it if she wanted it. Snatching up her bag, purse and car keys she yanked open the front door. And let out a startled scream as snow and wind blasted in the open door past him. What the fuck was he doing here?

  “Well, well, well. Looks like I got here just in time. Going somewhere?” he asked, his eyes traveling to the bags she held.

  Heart hammering in her chest she shook her head. “Ju… just out for a while,” she stammered.

  “With a suitcase?” He didn’t ask to come in, just walked toward her, using his bulk to push her aside. Once in he reached behind her and slammed the front door shut. “Out for a while,” he repeated in a mocking, sing-song tone. “Now why don’t I believe you?” He shook his head and leaned in toward her, showing his teeth, his nose just bare inches from hers. “Nah. It looks like you’re getting ready to skedaddle on out of here. And in the middle of the night, too. What kind of person packs up and leaves in the middle of the night?” The question was rhetorical and he didn’t give her the opportunity to answer. “The kind of person who’s done something very naughty and has to run, that’s the kind.”

  Swallowing hard she hugged her purse to her chest. This was not good. Not good at all. She’d expected him to find out what she’d done, but not this quickly. “I’m just running to the store for some things. I take a bag with me in this weather. You know, in case my car breaks down or I go in a ditch and can’t make it home.”

  He reached out and ran a finger down her cheek, his lips curving into a smile, his eyes ice cold. “Liar. You were gonna take it all and split, weren’t you? And I don’t blame you. Not a bit. Not after what you’ve done.” He chuckled and clucked his tongue at her. “Took a lot of balls, what you did, I’ll give you that. And you almost got away with it. Almost.”

  “No. I—”

  The fingers which had just caressed her so gently were suddenly around her throat, squeezing just enough to let her know he meant business. “That the money?” he asked, indicating the overnight bag which she’d dropped near her feet.

  She shook her head. There was no point in playing dumb or lying to him. He knew about the money. “No. Just some stuff. Clothes,” she croaked through her constricted larynx.

  He let up on her throat, stroking her rabbit fast pulse with the pad of his thumb. “I know you have it. I saw her give it to you. Now where is it?”

  She had to think fast. Because there was one thing she knew for damn sure. Whether she gave him the money or didn’t, he was going to kill her tonight. And he would get away with it. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind he would get away with it. Guys like him always did.

  Chapter 2

  “Aunt Katy is coming for a visit?” Sean perked up at this bit of news, chewing his strawberry pop tart with a grin.

  Lizzy frowned behind the rim of her coffee cup. She knew her son loved his aunt Katy and she knew why. Because Katy was a damn kid herself. Aunt Katy was fun. More fun than his boring old mom. Katy laughed in the face of responsibility. She never made Sean follow the rules. “Yes. As a matter of fact she should have been here last night. But when I checked the room she’d not been in bed yet.” Which wasn’t really worrisome at this point. Katy had a habit of being late. Or of just not showing up at all. She also always had a basketful of excuses. What it normally boiled down to was something more exciting than her sister and nephew came along. Something more profitable.

  Sean’s happy grin turned to a look of seriousness. “You think she’s okay? The weather was bad last night.” Which was why he was still sitting at the kitchen counter in his pajamas at seven-thirty in the morning. School had been cancelled for the day.

  “I think she probably stopped at a motel on the way.” And didn’t bother to extend the courtesy of leaving me a message, Lizzie thought sourly. So like Katy. “She’ll probably stroll in this afternoon with all kinds of stories to tell about her bad drive.” And about whatever this latest scheme of hers is.

  “How long is she staying?”

  “A few days, I guess.” The late night phone call still bothered her, though she should be used to them by now. Her sister didn’t live by conventional hours. And she didn’t live a conventional life. Lizzie knew her sister sometimes – no, most of the time – fell on the wrong side of the law. She lived in that gray area. And she stole from people sometimes. Not at gun or knife point, but with con tactics Lizzie knew she’d learned from their step-father Grady. There were so many times she’d wanted to wash her hands of her sister. But she just couldn’t do it. Because deep down she knew Katy was a good person. She just didn’t know how to let that person take the lead.

  “Are you going to work today?” Sean asked, hopping down from his tall chair and taking his paper plate to the garbage. His dark hair fell over his brow and he looked up at her from under his bangs, his expression hopeful.

  “No. I’ll stay here today. I didn’t have anything pressing.” She gave him a smile and sipped her coffee. “Sorry, kiddo, you’ll just have to put up with your mom today.” At twelve she’d left him home alone a handful of times for a few hours at a time. So far he’d done well but she just wasn’t ready to leave him alone for an entire day.

  He must of read her mind, frowning, he told her, “I’m not a baby, you know.”

  “I do know that.” And sometimes it broke her heart that he wasn’t her little baby boy anymore. Gone were the days when he wanted her to kiss the scrapes on his knees or make hot chocolate with him.

  “I can stay by myself.”

  His big blue eyes held a mixture of boy and man. And for a moment they reminded her so much of his father she nearly lost her breath. The way his dark hair fell over his forehead and the way it made her want to sweep it back for him made her heart ache in a way she very rarely allowed. “Hey, maybe I want to play hooky today,” she told him, rubbing the top of his head playfully before heading for the coffee pot for a refill.

  “You never play hooky,” Sean told her.

  “Today I am.” She’d already called Brian and worked it out, shifting her appointments to next week. A three day weekend sounded absolutely great for a change. And she knew she needed the break, she’d been working much too much lately.

  “Can I watch cartoons?”

  “Yes.”

  “And play video games?”

  Laughing, she told him, “Of course. What good is playing hooky without cartoons and video games? And we’ll eat lunch in the living room on the TV trays. Maybe we’ll even make some popcorn later and watch a movie.”

  He thought this over. Watching a movie with his mom? He frowned a little, the corner of his mouth turning down.

  Just like his father, she thought again. Every day he acted and looked more like the man.

  “An action movie, mom. Not some girly movie with lots of kissing and stuff.”

  “Of course not. The more stuff that gets blown up the better.”

  Now he grinned. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad day after all. “And when Aunt Katy gets here she can play Mortal Kombat with me!” He nodded solemnly. “I better go practice. She’s good.”

  Because she never grew up, Lizzie thought. But she smiled anyway. Because no matter what her sister had done it would still be good to see her again.

  Arlene studied her youngest child with worry. Since Ken’s death last week she’d been so quiet. So withdrawn. Not like her at all. She didn’t even argue when her mother suggested she eat or sleep. She hadn’t even argued about moving back to the ranch
. “Cook has put together lunch,” she told Julie. “Your brothers are over to Josh’s ranch taking care of things, so it’s just us girls. I suppose that will give us a little time together.”

  Julie’s slumped shoulders tightened as she turned away from the window and the swirling snow beyond it. She’d been hoping her mother would just leave her alone today. “I’m really not very hungry.”

  Now that was her girl. Always contrary. “Nonsense. You’re nothing but a shadow. I know a lady has to watch her figure, but she mustn’t get too thin either. A man likes a woman with some substance.” She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth, as soon as she saw Julie’s face blanch.

  Flinching a little, Julie said, “Well, I’m not in the market for man at the moment, mother.”

  “I know that and I’m sorry I said it. I wasn’t trying to be callous.”

  The problem was her mother didn’t have to try to be callous, overbearing or a snob. She just was. With all of her children. Josh was really the only one who didn’t kowtow to her. JD had. And she had too. She’d married Ken, hadn’t she, when she hadn’t even loved him? And that was the worst of it. What everyone else thought was intense grief was really guilt. Sure, she’d liked Ken all right, but she hadn’t loved him. Hadn’t felt that spark for him, that fire for him she read about in her magazines and romance novels.

  “You’re young, Julie, you’ll bounce back. Unlike me. I lost your father too late in life to think of starting over.”

  She’d been about to tell her mother she was also in no mood to discuss starting over or anything else when her phone vibrated in her back pocket. Saved by the bell? She yanked it out and looked at it, knowing without glancing up that her mother was scowling at her. “I have to take this,” she told her. “I’ll be along for lunch in a minute.” Carefully, into the phone she said, “Hello.”

  Arlene stared at her daughter for another moment, then, shaking her head, walked out of the room, leaving her to what she assumed was one of her friends calling to cheer her up.