She narrowed her eyes and watched as he parked the car and got out. He looked achingly handsome in his khaki uniform, and her heart squeezed in her chest as he approached.
“Evening, ladies,” he said.
They all returned his greeting.
Tom looked at Peyton. “Could I speak with you for a moment?”
“Of course,” she said. He probably needed to talk to her about the case against Rick. As a victim of a crime and with him being sheriff, she knew there would have to be a certain amount of interaction between them. She got up from the bench.
“You can leave Lilly here,” Rachel offered. “We’ll keep an eye on her while you two talk.”
Peyton hesitated a minute, then reminded herself that these women were truly her friends and she could trust them. Tom led her away from the benches to stand beneath a nearby tree. Peyton steeled her heart against the onslaught of emotion he evoked in her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better every day,” she replied.
“Rick was transported to Wichita right after his arrest. He’s been officially charged with murder and attempted murder. It’s a solid case, so you don’t have anything more to worry about.”
She forced a smile to her lips. “I wasn’t worried. I know you did your job well, and there’s no way he’s walking on a technicality. But thanks for the information.” She turned to go back to the women, but he grabbed her arm with his hand.
“Peyton, wait.”
She turned back to look at him. She just wanted this conversation over. The smell of his cologne made her remember being held in his arms.
“When I left your house the other morning, I remembered something my brother Jacob had said to me. I had spoken to him about you after the night we’d made love. I told him what an amazing woman you were, that I found myself having strong feelings for you, but that I had no intention of following through on anything. He told me that I was in a box of my own making, that I’d never really grieved for all that I’d lost, and I told him he was crazy. But that morning after leaving you, I found myself at Kelly’s grave and I realized he was right—I hadn’t given myself a chance to grieve.”
“Oh, Tom, I’m so sorry.” She couldn’t help the fact that her heart ached for him.
“No, don’t be. That morning at Kelly’s grave I realized that I couldn’t move forward until I’d let go of the past. My grief for her filled my heart so completely I didn’t have room for you or for Lilly.”
He leaned with his back against the tree, his eyes distant as he stared across the expanse of the park. “I didn’t know I had that many tears in me, but that morning they all came out.” A faint pink tinged his cheeks, as if he was embarrassed by this admission. “I cried like a baby, and for the past two days I’ve been numb.”
She couldn’t stand it anymore. She had to touch him. She wanted to console him, to somehow help him heal. She took one of his hands in hers. “There’s no shame in crying for somebody you love.”
“I know,” he agreed. “The thing is, I woke up this morning and the grief was gone, the numbness had passed and all I was left with were my feelings for you.”
Peyton felt as if her heart stopped beating, as if everything around her faded away and there was only Tom. “What feelings?” she asked softly.
“I’m falling in love with you, Peyton. I don’t know if I can be the man you and Lilly want, the man you need in your life. All I know is that I want to try.”
Her heart exploded with happiness as he took her into his arms and his lips met hers. The kiss was like nothing they’d shared so far. Yes, it had the wild passion, the gentleness of the other kisses they had shared, but this one simmered with sweet promise.
As the kiss finally ended, he smiled down at her. “You know by morning we’ll be the talk of the town.”
She laughed. “I’m already the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons. I don’t mind being the talk of the town if it means I’m with you.”
He dropped his arms from around her. “We’ve been through a life-and-death situation, we’ve shared our pasts and we’ve made love. Maybe it’s time we go out on an actual date.”
“Just name the place and the time,” she replied.
“How about right now. We’ll have some dessert and coffee at the café.”
With a wicked little grin, she placed her palm against his cheek. “How about we have coffee at the café and dessert at my place.”
His eyes flared with a heat that warmed her from her head to her toe. “We’ll make it a quick cup of coffee,” he replied, his voice thick and smoky deep.
As Peyton and Tom walked back to Lilly’s stroller, Dawn and Rachel smiled at them with a knowing gaze. “Looks like you’re settling in here just fine, Peyton,” Dawn said.
Peyton smiled as Tom took control of Lilly’s stroller. “I think I’m at the beginning of a wonderful life,” she said. “I’ll see you guys later, Tom and I are headed to the café.”
“You go, girl,” Rachel said.
As Peyton walked with Tom and Lilly toward the cars, she remembered the dreams that had sustained her through her terrible childhood.
Despite the odds, she’d managed to get her education, land a wonderful teaching job and move to a quaint little town filled with good people. Best of all, she’d found a man to love, a man who found his capacity to love again after suffering a tremendous loss.
It was a new beginning for both of them, and as Tom gently lifted Lilly from her stroller and kissed her sweet little cheek, Peyton felt her future calling. She knew that future was going to be filled with warmth and laughter and the love of an amazing man.
Epilogue
He stood in the building that had become his playroom. Hidden by a grove of trees and brush in the center of a pasture, and after some major renovations, the old barn was perfect.
The wooden horse stall enclosures had been torn out and replaced by steel bars, creating individual jail-like enclosures, each with its own plumbing.
It was a perfect place for him to keep his collection, a place where nobody would bother him and, most important of all, isolated and insulated to assure that nobody could hear the screams. Ah, the screams. There was nothing more exciting than the sound of a woman screaming in fear, in pain.
He walked to the first “cell” and gripped the cool iron bars in his hands. She lay inside on a cot, her hair a spill of dark silk against the white pillowcase.
Brittany Grayson. She was beautiful and bright and all his. At the moment she was still drugged, as she had been for the past two weeks. Today he’d stop giving her the drug that had kept her out of it since the moment he’d taken her.
Eventually she’d regain consciousness and realize she was a prisoner, his prisoner. He wanted to be here when that moment happened. He wanted to see the fear etched deep into her pretty eyes, see it stretch her mouth into a scream.
He pulled up a nearby chair and sat, prepared to wait for that moment to occur. As he waited his gaze shifted to the other cells. There were five of them, and eventually they would all be filled. Then the games would truly begin. He fought a shiver of excitement at the thought.
Maybe a blonde next time, he thought. Or perhaps a redhead. After all, variety was the spice of life. He had to admit he was vaguely surprised that Brittany had been missing two weeks and nobody had raised an alarm.
Soon the alarms would sound. Soon the entire town of Black Rock would be in an uproar as they realized pretty young women were disappearing.
In the meantime, he was savoring the first of his collection. He couldn’t wait for Brittany Grayson to wake up.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5027-1
HIS CASE, HER BABY
Copyright © 2010 by Carla Bracale
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†The Delaney Heirs
†The Delaney Heirs
†The Delaney Heirs
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††Cherokee Corners
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‡Wild West Bodyguards
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*Lawmen of Black Rock
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