by MJ Fredrick
She swallowed, her face heating. “He would be pissed. But he’d never come all the way down here. Besides, how would he know where I lived? And we’d know if he was in town asking questions. He doesn't exactly blend in.” She waved a hand. “That’s out of the question. It wouldn't be him.”
Noah and the sheriff exchanged a look. “I’m going to look into it,” the sheriff said. “Y’all can come get your dad in a couple of hours, but I’m not crossing him off my list, just expanding it. I’d give Casillas a call, if I were you.”
Which meant that if he couldn't find a more reasonable suspect, Rey was going down for the job, guilty or not.
“Why didn't you think of Devin before?” Miranda asked Noah when they walked out of the sheriff’s department.
“Because why would I think the arsonist could be after me? I don't live there. Why didn't you mention Damian before?”
Uncomfortable with the conversation in front of Ben, Miranda reddened. “He was never a threat.” But she couldn't help recall his anger when they’d spoken on the phone on Christmas. It had been palpable. But not enough for him to fly to Texas, drive to Evansville, and set fire to her house. That was unreasonable.
But now that the sheriff mentioned it, she couldn't shake the idea.
She sighed. "I need to talk to Jolie and Riley. They've probably heard by now that Rey was arrested for the fire, and I want to apologize."
"What do you mean, apologize?" Noah asked sharply. "He didn't do it."
"They don't know that, do they? And right now they're thinking they lost everything because of me."
Wounded, Noah peeled out of the driveway in a shower of gravel, and headed back to town.
*****
As expected, Riley's gaze was cool when Miranda knocked on the door of the apartment over the bakery.
"I guess you heard," Miranda said, waiting to be let in, but not receiving an invitation.
"I heard."
"He didn't do it."
Riley’s mouth was in a hard line. ”Everyone in town seems to think he did."
"Everyone wants to believe the worst."
The baker folded her arms over her chest. ”Are you representing him?"
"No, even if I wasn't involved with Noah, I couldn't because I'm a victim. I don't know how to apologize."
"If he didn't do it, why are you apologizing?"
Miranda blew out a breath. ”Because if Noah hadn't been spending the night, Rey wouldn't even be a suspect."
Riley shook her head. "That doesn’t make any sense. Why are you apologizing to me, then?"
"Because there's another suspect the sheriff is considering, and he would also be tied to Noah. And still another is because of me. So in any of those scenarios, the fire is my fault." She didn't expect the tears to rise up and choke her, but suddenly her friend's face blurred in front of her.
Riley stepped forward quickly and took her arm, drawing her inside. "In none of the cases, it's your fault," she countered. "You didn't set the fire. Someone who was mentally disturbed set it. It isn’t your fault. But I have to ask, why are you involved with Noah when he comes from such a troubled family?"
Wow, now Riley sounded like her mother. Her defense came quickly and naturally. ”Noah's wonderful. He's risen above all of that, made a career for himself, taken care of his sister. He is who he is because of his family, and despite them. You've seen him with Selena. He's tender and kind and loving."
Riley nodded, arms still folded, her gaze falling to the floor. "I guess I've seen him like that with you, too. I'm sorry. I just got really upset because I'm having issues with the insurance, and then I heard about Rey being arrested. I know Noah isn’t like his father."
"Rey's made mistakes, bad ones," Miranda said softly. "But I promise he didn't do this. And I promise we won't let the sheriff stop until he has the right guy."
Riley grunted. "That will be good, I guess, but it's not going to bring back what we had."
"I understand if you don't want me as a roommate if we can find another place."
Riley straightened, her feet apart. "I may not be able to afford to move out right away, anyway. And by then, who knows what will have happened with you and Noah?"
*****
After dropping Miranda at Riley's, Noah had gone to the Coyote to get his sister. He and Ben had decided not to tell her about Rey's arrest. She would only get upset, and they didn't have any answers for her right now. Ben was going to the sheriff's office to pick up Rey, so he'd be home when he got her home.
But when he walked in the Coyote, he saw he was too late. The stricken look on her mottled face told him she'd heard, and she'd been crying. She hurried over to him when she saw him and wrapped her arms around him. He folded his arms around her and glared around the restaurant, wondering who had told her.
"It's okay. It's okay."
"They said he's a bad man, Noah. They said he wanted to kill you."
Christ. He hadn't thought of coming to get her, to protect her from the rumors. The last time, she'd been a kid, in school and the comments from the other students had hurt her. Why hadn't he thought the comments from adults would hurt worse?
"He didn't set the fire. He doesn’t want to hurt me. Someone else set the fire." He didn't elaborate that someone else might want to hurt him. No sense in scaring her more than she was.
He saw Vonda watching them and angled his head to signal her to come over.
"How long has she been this upset?" he asked the owner. "Why didn't you call me?"
"She didn't want us to call you. She said earlier that she's scared to go home."
"Why are you scared to go home, darlin'?" he asked, easing her back from his chest so he could look into her eyes.
"Because if he wants to hurt you, he wants to hurt me."
"Sweetheart, he doesn’t want to hurt any of us. He's our father."
"I want Ben to come live with us. Not with him," she said decisively.
"Ben is a grown man who can take care of himself. He can come if he wants to, but I think he likes living at the ranch. Rey did not do this. I promise you, he will not hurt you, or me, or Ben. I will take care of you." Yeah, he'd done a bang-up job of that today. "Let's get some dinner and we'll make some plans for when we move into town, okay? Rey's going to be home, you'll see. Ben went to go get him."
Vonda shot him a sharp glance. "He's out?"
"They had only the flimsiest of evidence. Miranda was able to make them see they had other, more likely suspects to look at before they arrested Rey."
"Do you really believe all that stuff you just said?" she asked when Selena walked away to get her things to go home.
"I lived with the man for eighteen years. He's more likely to hurt someone one on one than to sneak around like that," Noah said.
"So he's not all goodness and light, like you just told her."
Noah met the woman's gaze. "There's a reason I'm moving her into town now when I never did before.”
*****
The evening at home was subdued, with the take-out Noah and Selena had brought from the Coyote. Rey retired shortly after. Once Selena was in bed, Noah found himself knocking on the old man's door again.
"Yeah."
Noah swung it open. His father was sitting sideways on his unmade bed, his legs drawn up as he watched a game show on TV. "You have any more of that Keta here?"
Rey's eyebrows lifted. "Why? Want some?"
Noah set his teeth at his father’s attempt at—what was that, humor? ”I want it out of here. You get it from Devin?"
Rey scowled. “I didn't get it from you."
"Yet when I asked you the last time, you denied knowing anything about it. So let's say I'm not really trusting right now."
"Like I give a damn if you trust me."
Noah blew out a breath. Did his father not know he'd been at the jail with Miranda? Maybe he didn't. "Look, I just don't want you to get into any more trouble while we're going through this investigation," Noah said. "I just
want you to keep your nose clean, and I'm thinking you just don't have the self-discipline to do that."
"I don't have any more," Rey grumbled, his attention back on the game show. "I screwed up, just like you knew I would all along. You ready to gloat?"
"No," Noah said with a weary sigh, and closed the door.
*****
"I've told you for years that family is nothing but a disaster,” Cindy Bonner declared over homemade dinner that Miranda couldn't help but push around on her plate. Her mind was too full for her to concentrate on the meal.
"And I've told you for years that Noah is nothing like his father." She glanced at her sister and wondered if she'd chime in about Ben, but Allison said nothing.
"You've been home only a few weeks and you've had to help the father and the brother out of jail. Out of jail!" Cindy's voice rose on the second exclamation.
"I'm aware."
"You wouldn't be drawn into this if not for Noah."
Also aware. “I walked away from him during the hardest part of his life before. I’m not making that same mistake again.”
"It's going to ruin your reputation."
Miranda gave a short laugh. "I don't have a reputation."
"I mean your professional reputation. You don't want those kinds of clients."
"For one, Rey's not my client. And for another, yes, I want any client I can get at this point. I need to get my practice off the ground. Maybe some day I'll be able to be choosy, but not yet. And why is it Allison didn't get a lecture for showing up at Ben's trial to declare she was the reason behind the bar fight?"
"Ben was defending her honor. She wasn't involved,” Cindy declared.
Miranda glanced at her sister and raised her brows, but Allison remained silent.
"So you just said Ben was defending Allison's honor, so how could me being his lawyer be a bad thing?" Miranda argued.
"How much did he pay you?" Cindy asked, just as quickly.
He hadn't. Her mother would of course find the weakness in her argument. There was a reason Miranda had decided to become a lawyer.
"So you're working for free because you're involved with Noah."
"Mother, how well do you know Noah? Because I think you need to get to know him, know what kind of man he is, know what he's overcome to get to where he is." Miranda straightened in her chair. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Let's have him and Selena over for dinner. And Ben, too, if you'd like." She directed the last to her sister, who shook her head vehemently.
Cindy sat back and dropped her fork to her plate. "You want them to come here."
"Well, we could go there, but I don't think you'd like it very much." She leaned across the table and covered her mother's hand with hers. "I love him, Mom. Please. Do this for me.”
Chapter Twenty
Moving out of the house where he had lived all of his life was harder than Noah ever expected. He didn't think he had that much stuff he wanted to take with him–clothes and books, some pictures of his mom. But some things he didn't want to leave behind, like the picture on the wall in the kitchen that his mother had loved, the shelf in the corner that his grandfather had made. The afghan that had been on the back of the couch for years, was tattered and faded, but which said "home" to him.
Selena was not as discriminating. She would have packed the kitchen sink, if she could have. He knew part of her behavior was excitement and part of it was having familiar things around her. He couldn't blame her. He'd never really made a home before. He wasn't sure how good he'd be at it.
He’d taken her to the house a few times, and her attitude had turned around. She was now looking at it as an adventure.
He wished Miranda was coming with them, but she'd drawn away a bit since Rey's arrest. He couldn't blame her. The whole town had been talking about Noah spending the night, and the idea of his father being the villain who'd set the fire and tried to kill them–well, the gossips were having a field day. Miranda had promised to meet them at the new place and help them unpack.
She might be there a while, based on the number of boxes Selena was merrily loading into the horse trailer he was using instead of renting a moving van.
Following Miranda's lead, Noah had ordered new beds online, which would be delivered to the new house this afternoon. They'd have to find a table and couch, but he hadn't settled on just what he wanted yet. Maybe Miranda would go with him into San Marcos or someplace and help him pick. She would be spending a lot of time at his house, he hoped, and she should have some say-so.
Rey stood on the porch as Noah loaded the last of Selena's boxes into the trailer.
"You sure this is the best thing for her?" Rey asked as his daughter climbed into the cab, bouncing with anticipation.
"I think it is. She's going to need more independence than she can have out here. She'll be able to walk to work, walk to most places she needs to go. It's good. And it's a fresh start for me."
"Will Miranda come live with you, too?"
"I don't know. Not yet. I think it's best she waits, anyway. She has enough on her plate right now, getting her practice off the ground."
She'd actually started keeping office hours this week.
"She's good for you, I think."
Noah didn't need his father's blessing on his relationship, but it was possibly the nicest thing his dad had said to him since he'd come home. He nodded. "She is." He backed toward the door of the truck."We'll be seeing you."
"If she gets homesick, she's welcome back, any time. As are you."
Noah wouldn't resent the old man making him welcome in the house he'd kept for the past fourteen years. He nodded again, and got into the truck.
As the ranch disappeared in the rearview mirror, his vision blurred, just for a minute.
*****
"Mom invited the two of you to dinner tomorrow," Miranda announced, sitting on the floor of the kitchen unwrapping plates from newspaper.
She had brought those from her mother's, plates her mother no longer needed. Noah wondered how Miranda had talked her out of them, and if Cindy knew where the plates were going. Maybe Miranda told her she wanted them to replace the dishes lost in the fire.
"Us? Selena and me?"
"It's a good thing. She wants to get to know you better. That's something she never would have done fourteen years ago."
She lowered the plate to her lap and looked up at him as he hung the picture from his mother's kitchen in his own.
His own. His own house, his own yard, his own place to make memories. No one in his family had been in this place before. It was a fresh start, and once again he felt his vision blur with emotion.
"She's had fourteen years to make up for that," he pointed out.
"But no particular reason to."
"I suppose. Is that straight?"
“Tilt it a bit to the right. There. So will you come? You and Selena?"
He gave her a sideways look. "Why am I getting the feeling I'm walking into an ambush?"
"I would never let her ambush you."
"Because you have as much control over your mother as I have over my father?" He reached a hand down to her. She took it and he pulled her up, into his arms. "I'll go. Because I want you in my life, and making her happy will make you happy. But I'm not going to let my guard down."
"I would never ask you to."
"Come on. I want to show you my new bed."
She blushed and looked past him. "Selena?"
"Is in her room doing whatever she wants and is as happy as I've ever seen her." But he was worried what would happen when night came and Selena realized she wasn't returning to the only home she'd ever known. Maybe he should back out of the dinner at Miranda's until things were more settled.
But there would always be an excuse not to go to dinner, and if her mother was extending an invitation, maybe she really did want peace between them. God knew he did.
But right now, he didn’t want to think about his mother or his sister. The woman he love
d was in his arms, and he had a brand new bed, just begging to be broken in.
*****
Noah adjusted the tie that threatened to strangle him as he stood on the front step of Miranda's house. He hadn't been inside since he was a kid, picking Miranda up for a date, and he felt the same terror now as he had then. Beside him, Selena, bless her, was as happy as a clam, excited about being invited out to dinner. Damn, another way he had failed her. He hoped the dinner and the unfamiliar company didn't overwhelm her. She'd weathered the first night in their new home better than he'd hoped, but here was another new experience on top of that one.
He knocked and Miranda opened almost instantly.
"I thought you'd stand there forever," she teased, stretching up to kiss him before turning to hug Selena.
He saw, she, too, had dressed for the occasion, in a dress that hugged her curves before flaring out at the knees. He hadn't seen her in something so–feminine, he guessed, since she'd been back.
"Pretty dress," he said as he followed her into the house.
"Still in my closet from high school," she said over her shoulder.
Oh yeah. He remembered it now. She'd worn it to one of the school dances. It looked better on her now than it had then, and made him want to take her into his arms and never let her go.
Her mother and Allison were sitting in the living room, which took Noah off-guard. He'd kind of expected his mother to be in the kitchen, putting last minute preparations on the dinner.
Which smelled amazing. Clearly Miranda had missed the cooking gene. To his left, the dining room table was set with bright dishes, a large vase of flowers in the middle of the table, waiting.
"Mom, Allison, you know Noah. Have you met his sister Selena?"
His mother smiled warmly at his sister, which melted some of the tension he was carrying in his shoulders, to be honest.
"I have met Selena, sometimes in the Coyote and sometimes in the bakery."
"I want to work at the bakery," Selena blurted. "I want to make cookies."
Her confession surprised Noah. How long had she had that wish, and why hadn't she ever told him?
"Have you talked to Riley?" Miranda asked, sitting on the love seat and motioning for their guests to sit and help themselves to the fresh vegetables on the tray on the coffee table.
