01 - The Heartbreaker

by Carly Phillips

  Where was she headed? She had no idea.

  After Sloane’s departure, the quiet in the small guesthouse was palpable. No one dared speak, but Chase wasn’t afraid of breaking the silence. He’d never forget the pain and humiliation in Sloane’s eyes and he knew who was to blame.

  “Samson.” Chase barked at the older man.

  Sloane’s father ignored him, muttering under his breath as he stroked his dog’s head, giving the animal the affection his daughter craved.

  “I’m talking to you.” Chase strode to the man’s side and grabbed his arm, forcing him to look up and acknowledge him.

  In his eyes, Chase saw the same hurt he’d witnessed in Sloane and that observation gave him hope that his gut feeling was correct. That the man had a reason for rejecting the daughter he’d initially sought out.

  “What do you want?” Samson asked.

  Behind him, Chase heard Rick whispering to Pearl and Kendall, no doubt giving orders about who’d be staying where until the threat to Samson was eliminated. Now that they knew where the man was, Chase and Rick agreed no one should be living with a walking target. Kendall would take Hannah to Raina’s, along with Charlotte. Rick and Roman would stay here in the hopes of preventing further disaster. It had been quiet since the explosion in Samson’s house, but they’d missed the older man once. Chase had no doubt another attempt on Samson’s life would be coming.

  “I know why you rejected Sloane,” Chase began. “You wanted her away from you and any potential danger. Nice sentiment, but wrong way of handling things.” He released his grip before he took out his anger on Sloane’s father.

  “So now you’re a mind reader as well as a reporter.” Samson snorted.

  Drawing on his patience, Chase inhaled deeply before tackling the stubborn old man once more. “How about we play this one straight? No games, no smart-ass answers, and no pretending to be some dumb backwoods hermit. We both know you’re smarter than you act.”

  “I don’t want her around me because I don’t want her getting hurt. I don’t want Pearl and Eldin at risk either, but I had nowhere else to go.” Samson spread his hands wide, looking more like a dejected man than a sullen, angry hermit. “So I’m here, but I’m not going to bring anyone else into my life. At least not until it’s safe.” He confirmed Chase’s hunch.

  “Why not stay in Hampshire? Earl or Ernie would have taken you in and you’d be far enough from Yorkshire Falls to make your trail even harder to follow.” Chase paced the floor, still uncertain of how to handle this man, with his unexpected moods and curious way of thinking.

  “Because then I couldn’t keep an eye on my daughter.” His voice cracked at the admission.

  Chase paused in his walk across the floor, stunned and unsure how to react. As much as he’d figured Samson was looking out for Sloane, he’d never given any thought to the older man’s feelings. He’d never acted as if he had any before.

  “She looks so much like her mother, it hurts to see her,” the man went on, still stroking his dog. “I had to let Jacqueline go, but I’d never have done it if I knew she was pregnant. I lost Sloane’s mother. Then I lost seeing Sloane growing up. I’m not going to risk her life now.” He swiped a hand across his eyes, refusing to look at Chase. “Even if I just drove her away for good, at least I’d know she wuz alive.”

  Chase nodded, understanding. “You did the right thing, not letting her stay here. But after this is over, you damn well better make things right,” he muttered. “She doesn’t deserve to think you’re rejecting her.”

  “Not any more than she deserves the way you’re treating her, Mr. High-and-Mighty Chase Chandler.” Samson put the dog on the floor and circled around the sofa until he invaded Chase’s personal space, taking him by surprise. “She’s my baby girl and you hurt her just as much as I did. That much is obvious, even to someone as antisocial as me.”

  Chase winced, knowing Samson was right. “We both knew the score going into the relationship.” But his words sounded lame to his own ears. Because knowing the score only meant something on their first night together.

  Once Sloane came to Yorkshire Falls, things changed. The explosion that rocked Samson’s house also rocked Chase’s world and things hadn’t been the same since.

  “You’re a grown man. If you ask me, you should start acting like one,” Samson said. “Take responsibility for your actions. Decide what you want, once and for all. I made my choices all those years ago and I have to live with the regrets now. If you want to let her go, then wave good-bye and don’t look back. Don’t hang around playing her savior when it suits you and pushing her away when it don’t,” he said, reverting back to normal Samson-speak.

  “For someone who’s been hiding out, you seem to think you know a lot about me and Sloane.”

  He shrugged, but there was an arrogance in the gesture Chase was coming to notice more and more. At least when it came to Sloane.

  “I’ve seen and heard a lot more than you realize,” Samson said. “And I don’t care if your last name is Chandler; the way you’re acting is a disgrace and my little girl deserves a lot better than you.”

  On that parting shot, Samson settled into the couch, back in his surly mood, ignoring both Chase and Pearl, who was trying to catch his attention.

  Chase couldn’t forget Samson’s words. They echoed in his head even as Rick directed Pearl and Eldin to pack their bags and move in with Raina. Samson would stay and hopefully draw out the men after him with Rick keeping watch. But Chase had no time to think or draw parallels between his life and Samson’s until the threat to Samson and, indirectly, to Sloane and the rest of Chase’s family blew over.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Last time we were all together like this, one of us had to get hitched.” Roman folded his arms across his chest and laughed, reminding the brothers of their coin toss more than nine months earlier. A time when Raina’s heart episode had been nothing more than indigestion, but the brothers hadn’t known that then.

  Raina had used the incident as the beginning of her illness charade, begging for one of her boys to settle down and give her grandchildren before she passed on. The three single Chandler brothers had tossed a coin to see who would get married and give their mother a grandchild first. Roman had lost the toss and his reunion with his long-lost love, Charlotte, had begun.

  “It hasn’t been all that long, and now two of us are married, leaving just one bachelor,” Rick said, leveling a glance at Chase, who didn’t find the topic of discussion at all amusing.

  The situation was sadly ironic, though, since now Raina really was sick, and Chase would do just about anything to see her well. Except that his getting married to suit Raina’s needs wouldn’t do anything to help his own.

  Not even his brothers seemed to realize that fact. “Do either of you two morons realize you fell right into Mom’s trap? Trying to escape her meddling, you gave her exactly what she wanted.” Chase glanced out the window of Rick’s kitchen, the one that overlooked Pearl and Eldin’s house in the back.

  At one time, Pearl and Eldin lived in the house while Kendall had stayed in the guesthouse, but the older couple’s health and Rick and Kendall’s marriage made swapping houses the perfect solution.

  Meanwhile, all appeared quiet in the backyard while everyone from the guesthouse packed to leave. Only Samson remained inside the guesthouse, refusing to leave.

  Roman shrugged, then headed for the refrigerator. “Soda?” he asked his brothers.

  Both grunted “no.”

  “Suit yourself.” He pulled out a bottle of Coke and started rummaging through cabinets.

  “What the hell are you looking for?” Rick asked.

  Roman slammed a cabinet and opened another. “Drinking glasses.”

  “The door next to the microwave. And by the way, feel free to make yourself at home,” Rick said.

  Roman chuckled, apparently not the least bit offended. “Back to basics,” he said, seating himself on the Formica counter. “Did yo
u realize that the way things turned out, what Mom wanted was in our best interest, after all?”

  “Kendall’s going to kill you if that counter cracks,” Rick said.

  “Naah. She’s going to kill you.” Roman grinned, then raised his glass in a mock toast, before guzzling his drink. “So when are you going to give in and admit Sloane’s the woman to give you a kick in the ass?” he asked Chase.

  Chase let out a groan. Just because Roman and Rick had opted to marry and have families didn’t mean that doing the same was in Chase’s best interest. “We all have our own paths to follow.”

  “And you can’t follow yours and be with Sloane at the same time?” Roman lifted an eyebrow. “Seems to me I said the same thing. I can’t have my career and settle down with Charlotte. I was wrong.”

  “You were a foreign correspondent and willing to change positions in order to accommodate both of your needs. I’m going to write an article that’ll get picked up by every paper out there and decimate Sloane’s father’s political career. That’s hardly being a decent partner in marriage.”

  “We’re talking marriage?” Rick asked. “Woo-hoo!”

  Chase leveled him with his sternest glare. The one that had worked when a sixteen-year-old Rick had threatened to take Chase’s car if he didn’t choose to lend it to him. At almost nineteen, Chase had felt more like thirty and hadn’t trusted his middle sibling behind the wheel.

  Rick merely shrugged. “You said the dreaded word first, not me.”

  Obviously, now that Rick was thirty-five, Chase’s anger didn’t mean much anymore. Not when Rick thought himself right.

  “Would you two behave?” Roman said, attempting to be the voice of reason.

  Rick chuckled, but sobered quickly. “The kid’s right. We’ve got more immediate concerns, for now. What about Sloane?”

  “What about her?” Chase asked, deliberately playing dumb because he wasn’t in the mood to deal with his siblings.

  “She sure as hell doesn’t need to be alone after what Samson just pulled on her.”

  Chase rolled his shoulders before giving his brothers the answer he’d been trying to make himself believe for the last hour. “Sloane needs time to sort through her feelings about Samson.”

  “How about protection?” Rick asked, falling back into cop mode. “We already made sure the rest of the family, Pearl, Eldin, and Samson were safe. Doesn’t Sloane deserve the same?”

  “As long as Sloane’s not with Samson, she’s fine. We already agreed on that. And Samson’s holed up in the guesthouse.”

  “She may be physically safe, but what about emotionally?” Rick shook his head, treating Chase to a look that told him he was pathetic at understanding the opposite sex. “All women like to have that strong shoulder to rely on in times of need,” he said cleverly.

  “And you would know.” Chase slanted his head to one side and met his middle brother’s amused gaze.

  “Can I help it if I excel at rescuing damsels in distress?”

  “It got you married in the end.”

  Rick shrugged. “What of it? I didn’t marry any old woman Mom shoved in my face. I married Kendall, the right woman for me, not Mom. So did Roman. But you, big brother, are still running.”

  “That’s a crock of shit,” Chase muttered. “I haven’t run from a damn thing in this lifetime, starting with my responsibilities to the two of you.”

  “Those are long finished, Chase. But they’re a damn convenient excuse for you to use every time you want to avoid thinking about your feelings for Sloane.” Roman cleared his throat. “And it’s those responsibilities you’re running from.”

  “What was your major in college, again?” Chase asked, not hiding his sarcasm. “Because I don’t recall you taking psych.”

  Roman rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t require a rocket scientist to figure you out.”

  “Oh, boys!” Pearl’s high-pitched voice interrupted their conversation as she burst through the front door.

  “I thought you were at Raina’s,” Rick said, watching as Pearl made her way up the stairs and into the kitchen.

  “I am, but you had rushed me before and I forgot my plate of brownies.” She perched one hand on her full hip and wagged her free finger in front of Rick’s nose. “What kind of houseguest doesn’t bring a thank-you gift to her host? Raina’s putting up with me in her not-so-healthy condition, so I came back here for my brownies. Because I’m grateful,” she continued rambling. “And because Charlotte’s so very pregnant and craving chocolate.”

  “So where are the brownies?” Rick asked, eyeing her empty hands.

  Chase figured Rick was angling for food.

  “In the car out front. With Eldin, who’s waiting.” Pearl gestured outside. “But you should know, Samson’s gone. He’s not in the house where you told him he should stay. And when I realized he was missing, I didn’t want to be arrested for being an accessory to a crime, for not reporting his disappearance.” She nodded her head, certain she’d done the right thing.

  Which she had, Chase thought. Even if her reasons made no sense and were completely skewed.

  Rick placed an arm around her shoulder and started walking her toward the front door. “You did the right thing,” he assured her.

  She nodded again. “There’s one more thing I should have mentioned earlier.”

  Rick tipped his head to one side and stopped in his path. “What is it?”

  “Samson’s been mentioning that someone keeps asking him for directions. The same man popping up in different places where he’s been. When we suggested he tell you, he said he wasn’t concerned. That the man had had many chances to take him out, if that’s what he wanted to do.” She twirled her fingers into her housecoat. “But Samson’s stubborn and doesn’t trust people to help him. He hasn’t for years.” Hanging her head low, she said, “I just thought you should know.”

  Chase sucked in a deep breath, then forced a calm release. While Rick walked Pearl to the car, Chase was forced to admit two things. His brothers’ lectures had distracted him from watching the window and the guesthouse to make sure Samson didn’t sneak out on them. And with Samson on the loose, Sloane could no longer be alone. It wasn’t safe.

  Because if her father went looking for her, Sloane, like Samson, would be a walking target.

  The smell of fall permeated the air in the old tree house. Wood walls prevented the biting wind from whipping around, but a small window let a cold draft inside. And Sloane was freezing. Not that it mattered. She had no place she could go, and so she’d been alone here for the last few hours.

  Curling her legs beneath her, she shut her eyes and leaned back, when without warning, the sound of someone climbing the rickety ladder leading to the tree house took her by surprise.

  So did her visitor.

  Samson eased his body into the small doorway and sat down beside her. She eyed him warily, unsure why he’d seek her out after rejecting her earlier. Refusing to make any overture, she tightly hugged her knees and waited.

  “You deserve better than someone like me to be your father.”

  She clenched her hands at her sides. “It’s not up to you to decide what’s best for me. And besides, we don’t determine our gene pool. Fate does that.” And she’d take the man fate had provided for her.

  He wore an oversize army-green jacket and wrinkled khakis. His straggly white hair was windblown and his bearded face possessed the ravages of a life that hadn’t been kind to him. But in his eyes, she saw a depth of emotion and caring she hadn’t noticed before. He was obviously a man who hid his emotions well, letting them out only when he trusted the response.

  And since Sloane had already reached out to him, maybe he trusted her now.

  “So you’re stuck with me.” He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and rocked in place.

  “That’s one way to look at it.” Sloane’s lips lifted in a grin. Drawing a deep breath, she decided to extend the olive branch once more. “I prefer to think fate
has blessed me with two different but very good men as father figures. You’ve just come to me later in life, that’s all.”

  He tilted his head to one side. “Why are you being so nice about all this? About me?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? Besides the obvious reason that we share bloodlines, we also missed out on a lot. I want to catch up. Get to know my real father.”

  “And what a stand-up man he is.” Samson gestured to himself in disgust. “Can’t compare to the senator, can I?”

  She shook her head, noticing yet again the self-deprecating way he spoke about himself, making her wonder about a life that had beaten him down so badly. But she also noticed his change in tone, manner, and speech. No longer the country bumpkin with incorrect grammar, he spoke to her like a more educated man would. The kind of man Jacqueline would have been attracted to, Sloane thought.

  “I never thought to compare you to Michael any more than I like being compared to my sisters or my stepmother. We’re different people. I came looking for you and I’m not disappointed in what I found. Are you?” She met his wary gaze.

  “Of course not.”

  Giddy relief flowed through her, but she wasn’t about to ruin the moment by throwing herself into his arms. Yet. They still had too much to learn about each other. She’d discovered enough about Samson to know that if she got emotional, he’d bolt. So she decided to switch subjects.

  “What’s with the country-bumpkin act? One minute you’re talking like you barely finished elementary school and the next minute you’re civilized and speaking to me like a proper gentleman.” She leaned toward him. “Why the cover?”

  “It should be obvious,” he muttered. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out what looked like a pack of gum. “Want some?”

  She shook her head. “No, thank you, and it isn’t obvious to me.”

  “Your mother and I had dreams. We’d both finish school; she’d work until she got pregnant; I’d get a job with an antiques dealer until I could start a business of my own and support us.” He shifted, the nylon jacket he wore making a loud, crinkling noise in the otherwise quiet tree house. “I was majoring in art history, you know.”