Desire for Love (The Club #13)

by S. E. GILCHRIST

  “I think I really need to deal with this problem right here and now.”

  “Sounds to me that you have to prove you’ve been set up.”

  Madeline chewed her bottom lip and gazed into his face. “I already got that part.”

  “If you’re charged, does that mean they’ll put you in a cell straight away?”

  “I guess until I make bail.” She pulled away and placed her hands over her face. “Shit. I can’t think straight. I’ll have to get an attorney. There goes the last of our savings.”

  “They have to find you before they can charge you, right? Lie low at the cabin until we get the proof we need.”

  “We?” She peered at him over her hands. “I don't know. It might be best if we stay and deal with this problem here and now.”

  “Babe, you need to make sure you've got all the right answers before fronting up to the cops. I know I’m right. I'll keep you and your brother safe.”

  “You really mean it, don't you?”

  “Too right.”

  She nodded and gave a tentative smile.

  Rocked to his core at the warmth in her face, jubilation and hope dancing in his heart, Harrison mumbled, “Five minutes and we are out of here.”

  Chapter Five

  Madeline sat crammed between her brother and Harrison on the bench seat of Harrison’s pick up as they took the state highway out of town and headed in a southernly direction. Her migraine had reduced to a mild throb in her temples and her nausea had faded to queasiness. No longer dazed, her normal no-nonsense self, began to reappear and the further they drove, the more she wondered whether she’d done the right thing in leaving Karim.

  Occasionally, Harrison’s leg or arm brushed against her body and each time she attempted to squirm a little closer to her brother. It wasn’t that she found the contact repulsive; rather it was the opposite and that realization was quite disconcerting.

  He’d been nothing but kindness when he’d discovered her huddled in the bathroom. And that massage…by God, it had taken the edge off her pain and driven back the darkness sufficiently for her to stand upright.

  Although, obviously not sufficient to drive me to my proper senses. I feel like I’m on the run from the law in some B-grade movie. How on earth, did it get to this point? Hustled by Harrison, like a sheep dog herding up a particularly contrary sheep, she’d raced around the house packing a couple of duffle bags with clothes and a few personal belongings. He’d given her little chance to think things through logically and certainly no time to change her mind. Before she knew it, she’d stuffed her laptop into a backpack along with her treasured photo album and added the only thing she possessed that had belonged to her unknown father—an old leather-bound book of poems by Wordsworth. After loading Harrison up with extra blankets, they’d secured her gear in his truck and driven to Karim Academy.

  “This is mega cool. Pulled out of school and driving off into the sunset, chased by cops.” Her brother leaned forward and grinned at Harrison.

  “This isn’t a game,” Madeline snapped, her mind buzzing with all kinds of terrifying what if’s.

  Uncertain how much to tell him, she’d given her brother a garbled story about the police wanting to question her over a theft at the Club. Although, why she had dragged him out of school in the middle of the day was a question she hadn’t answered; only said it was important. Used to obeying his elder sister, Matty hadn’t put up too much of a fuss. Yet. And the day wasn’t over. Any moment now and he’d want to know the real reason.

  She gripped her hands together in her lap. How much to tell him? I can’t tell him about the bet. That is just too…too much.

  “Leave off, sis. I know that, but you got to admit, it’s kinda cool.”

  “Not to me, it isn’t.” She fell silent, loathe to admit how anxious she really was at the thought of losing her brother and their futures tainted by a pack of lies. He already knew what was at stake and didn’t need reminding every five minutes.

  “What’s with your weird accent, dude?” Matty said.

  “Hey, you blokes are the ones with the weird accent,” Harrison shot back, grinning. “I’m an Aussie, all the way from New South Wales.”

  “Yeah? What are you doing here?”

  Harrison’s smile faded. “I’m an ornithologist and part of an international research team doing a study on how climate change affects migrating birds. We’ve been split into seven groups of three and my lot is based in McFadden National Wildlife Refuge. Any kind of water birds is my specialty, but my favorite is the snow goose. I can go on for hours but I won’t bore you.”

  Matty laughed. “I know what that’s like, when you’re on your fav topic and your listener’s eyes start to glaze over. Sound familiar, sis?”

  “It’s not that I find chemistry boring, its only that I don’t know a great deal about it,” Madeline defended herself.

  “Is that what you intend to study when you go to college?” asked Harrison.

  “If I get there.” Her brother gave a short laugh, but Madeline caught the underlying anxiety beneath his words.

  “You will.” Keen to switch the focus onto something else, she turned to Harrison. “What do you think of Texas?”

  “Love it.” His response was prompt and rang with enthusiasm. “There’s a position opening up with the US Fish and Wildlife Service that could have been written expressly for me. I’m thinking of applying for the job. ‘Course I’ll have to extend my work visa but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Madeline’s heart sped up a notch. “Sounds like you might be staying around for a while.” Oh God, I sound so breathless, like a starry-eyed teenager.

  “That’s one of my plans. What pans out over the next couple of days will help me to decide.” A little smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

  Madeline stiffened and switched her gaze to the windshield, appalled at how much she wanted to press a kiss to those sexy lips of his. “Will that mean working at the McFadden Park?”

  “Partly. The job also entails a fair bit of conservation work in Trinity River National Wildlife Park. I guess budget constraints have come into play, probably cramming two separate positions into one. I don’t mind. I like to be busy and Trinity River has some fascinating birdlife.”

  The need to cross-examine him about his involvement in the bet, and what he knew about Roberta and her lies bubbled in her chest like a volcano about to erupt. With her brother sitting beside her and listening to every word, she knew now wasn’t the time.

  As if sensing her desire to keep the conversational ball rolling on innocuous topics, Harrison said, “The cabin’s about fifteen minutes’ drive out of the Refuge and it’s a bit isolated. Got Wi-Fi though.”

  “That’s a relief. I have an exam next week and my English teacher, Old Schumacher, posted some articles on the school forum for us to read beforehand.” Matty shifted on the seat.

  “You’ll be back before then, I promise.” Why did everything they say somehow lead back to their precarious situation?

  Her brother offered her a stick of gum. “How did you two meet?”

  About to pop the gum in her mouth, she coughed, her face flaming as hot as an iron. Shit.

  But Harrison said easily, “We met at the Club last night and hit it off right away.”

  That was one way of describing the incredible sex they’d shared. Her belly roiled with a return of her nausea. Madeline balled the gum up in the paper and shoved it into the ashtray.

  Harrison asked her brother about his baseball team and within seconds the two of them were recalling every game they either watched on screen or seen in person. Left alone with her thoughts, Madeline was barely aware of the passing time, until Harrison announced they were almost there.

  She came out of her deep reverie to find the rolling hills surrounding Karim had faded into the distance and they had turned off the highway onto a smoothly graded gravel road that wound through a pine forest. The ground here was fairly flat. Thick shadows were cast
by the trees and overhead dark, grey clouds covered the sky. Harrison flicked on the headlights. Droplets of rain began to fall, splattering on the glass and Harrison switched on the windshield wipers.

  He slowed down and turned onto a track that twisted like a manic snake through the trees. The headlights glinted off brackish pools of water indicating they had entered the marshlands. Gradually the forest fell away and the track petered out into a wide clearing where a log cabin squatted. A long, narrow lean-too close by provided shelter for the car and a stack of firewood.

  “We’re here.” Harrison killed the engine and slung an arm along the back of the seat, turning around to smile at them.

  More aware of his proximity than she cared to admit, Madeline edged forward so she wouldn’t make contact with him.

  “Looks great,” she lied. Her heart sank as she studied what she considered had to be one of the most primitive buildings she’d ever seen.

  Trees hemmed the area in to the west, and to the south and east the land dipped down to boggy marsh land grassed with thigh-high, thin reeds that swayed and rustled with the wind. The shadows were deep, where anything could be hiding and there wasn’t another soul or house in sight.

  The rain fell harder, slapping on the car’s roof. Cold seeped through her clothes, chilling her bones now that the engine had been turned off, and she shivered. “Er…is there power?” She didn’t dare ask about toilet facilities.

  Harrison chuckled. “Somehow I get the impression you’ve never been camping.”

  Madeline exchanged an equally horrified glance with her brother. In unison they said, “No.”

  And that was true. Camping out here in the middle of nowhere where, God only knew what kind of man-eating beasts prowled not to mention the snakes, was not really the same as squatting in untenanted buildings in a city.

  “You’re in for a treat.” Harrison’s voice rang with enthusiasm.

  Staring about her, Madeline doubted it. The place gave her the impression of complete isolation. Any minute, she expected to see an ax-wielding maniac dash out of the trees. She peeped at their driver from the corner of her eyes. What was his real agenda? Was he a friend or did he have some ulterior motive?

  And more to the point, what had possessed her to trust him?

  Harrison started the car again and drove under the lean-to where he parked.

  “Brrrr. I’m freezing,” Matty said, opening his door.

  Before she could raise an objection and request Harrison drive them back to Karim, Matty hopped out of the car. He slung his backpack over his shoulders and made a dash for the front porch, leaping over the rapidly forming puddles of water.

  Madeline felt rather than saw the glance Harrison threw at her before he also got out of the car, shutting the driver’s door quietly behind him. Instead of heading straight for the house, he went to the rear of his pickup and flung back the canvas canopy.

  “Come on, sis,” yelled Matty as he opened what apparently was an unlocked door and disappeared inside the cabin.

  Her heart hammering against her ribs, she zipped up her overcoat and after pulling the hood over her head, followed her brother.

  The front door made of thick planks opened into a communal living space. Although small and even without the lights switched on, the stone fireplace and woolly throw rugs covering the two sofas gave the cabin a homely appeal. A tiny kitchenette dominated one corner of the room and there was a door on either side of the fireplace.

  “Home sweet home. At least for a few days.” A bunch of bags and blankets landed at her feet and Harrison reached around her to flick the light switch.

  The glow from the lone bulb overhead illuminated the room. Harrison paid no intention to her. Instead, he hoisted up the bags once more and tramped through the room to one of the doors opposite.

  “Only one bedroom and it’s on the small side, I’m afraid. You can sleep here, Madeline. Your brother and I will have the couches. The other door leads to the loo and the shower. We’re on tank water though, which means you’ll have to be sparing with wash time.” He dumped the bags again onto the floor then walked back to the front door where he slung off his oil-skin and hung the dripping garment from a timber peg. “Shoes off, please, Matt. Saves me having to wipe mud off the floor.”

  “Sorry.” Matty grinned and surged up off the sofa to toe his boots off near the door.

  Silently, Madeline copied him and also hung up her wet overcoat. She picked up the pile of blankets and moved to the nearest sofa where she laid them down neatly.

  Harrison raked her with an encompassing glance. Heat bloomed under her skin. What must he think of her? Dressed in a pair of old sweat pants and a flannel shirt, and with her hair loosely tied back into one braid. She didn’t have a slick of makeup on her face—such a stark contrast to her outfit of last night. Hugging herself, she turned away from his intense gaze.

  “No trophies of deer or bear heads?” Nodding, she indicated the bare timber walls.

  “I’m no hunter. I’m a conservationist, remember?” He bent to stoke the fire with a pile of kindling and lit a match. Soon, a welcoming blaze warmed the room.

  Rubbing her hands together and a trifle uncertain of what to do next, Madeline wandered over to the stove and inspected the twin burners. Gas, which would be handy if the storm cut off the electricity supply to the cabin. A perusal of the cupboard contents revealed plenty of canned food as well as tea, coffee supplies, and powdered milk. It would have to do. She was dying for a hot drink. She quickly located the kettle and soon was handing around coffees.

  With the door firmly shut against the storm raging outside and a fire burning brightly, Madeline began to relax. Maybe this hadn’t been a crazy idea after all. Taking her mug, she settled on a sofa and idly watched her brother work on his iPad.

  “Assignment,” he said without looking up.

  His total focus on his task made her smile.

  The cushions shifted as Harrison sat down beside her, taking up more than his fair share of the space.

  She frowned. Would it be too obvious if she moved further along the lounge? “Shouldn’t you be working?”

  Harrison snorted. “Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in this weather, and I’m neither.”

  “What’s that?” Matty paused and glanced over at them and Madeline couldn’t help wondering what he made of the pair of them sitting so close together, if anything.

  “Just an old saying.” Harrison grinned. “Us Aussies like taking the piss out of Poms.”

  Madeline and Matty exchanged baffled looks.

  “We like teasing English people,” explained Harrison, taking a big gulp of his coffee. He stretched out his legs, shuffling about until his body was right next to Madeline’s.

  She glared at him.

  He winked and slung his arm along the back of the sofa. His fingers rested on her shoulder. She tensed, her tummy fluttering while a slow burn of sexual heat sizzled through her veins.

  “I know you like baseball, but what else do you like to do, Matty?”

  Matty’s face lit up. “I’ve got a chemistry set but it’s a bit basic which is why I use the lab at Karim Academy. I’m particularly interested in biochemistry.”

  “I meant out of school.”

  Madeline sent her brother a fond smile. “That’s what he does, in and out of school. It’s a wonder he doesn’t put a bed in that lab.”

  Matty grinned.

  “No girlfriend?” Harrison persisted.

  “Nah, not really. I don’t have a lot a spare time.”

  “Amazing how much you two are alike.”

  Madeline turned and looked at Harrison. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I think you use your work and your commitment to your brother as an excuse not to get involved with anyone. And probably, vice versa.”

  “Rubbish.” Madeline trembled. Damn him for hitting the nail on the head.

  “Prove it.”

  She sipped her coffee before saying, co
olly, “How?”

  “Okay, tell me you believe in love at first sight.”

  Madeline scoffed. “There’s no such thing.”

  “You think so?”

  “Absolutely. Our mother believed in that rubbish. And look where it got her. Pregnant at seventeen with no guy in sight, kicked out by her family, homeless and with no one to turn to.” Her voice was thick with grief and she had to clear her throat.

  Matty ducked his head and played with his fork. He choked down an audible sob.

  “That would have been tough for her,” Harrison said noncommittedly.

  “You have no idea,” Madeline said hoarsely. “Mom did her best but she didn’t have an easy time giving birth to me. It never entered her head to give me up. Even though she struggled with depression each day, she kept us together.”

  She smiled across the room at her brother. “It wasn’t all bad. We had each other. Mom eventually resorted to prostitution to put food on the table, then Matty was born and he was such a beautiful baby. But again, she experienced post-natal depression. The hospital did nothing for her except hand over a bunch of drugs. And the next thing, I knew, she was an addict. She died from an overdose when I was sixteen.”

  Madeline leaned over and placed her mug on the small coffee table. Straightening, she raised her eyebrows at the guy beside her. “See? Love at first sight, what a joke.”

  Harrison waited a beat before continuing, “What about falling in love? You must believe in love since you guys are so tight.”

  “That’s different,” Madeline said gruffly.

  Matty bent his head and tapped away on his screen. “This is a pretty dumb conversation.”

  “See? Peas in a pod.” Harrison shook his head.

  When Madeline gazed into his eyes, there was a bleakness dimming their luster. She compressed her lips and turned away. It was none of her business if this guy had suffered disappointment and heartbreak over some woman. Hell, everyone has been hurt or let down at some point in their lives. Look at me and Matty. She stiffened her spine so she wouldn’t snuggle into his side and give him the comfort of her body.