“Okay.”
His expression wasn’t as agreeable as his response. A woman couldn’t have three brothers and not know when a man would rather eat glass than have a conversation. Tough.
Lani folded her hands together and settled them in her lap. “What’s bugging you? And don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean. You acted weird the other night when we left the boardinghouse, and I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with Melba Strickland’s house rules. You’ve got the same look on your face now, so it’s a good bet that nothing’s changed.”
“You don’t want to have this conversation, Lani.”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked.” Her heart was pounding hard. “So, what’s wrong?”
“Okay.” He toyed with the handle on his coffee mug. “I keep going back to that night. The Fourth of July. You made it impossible for me not to arrest you. I need to know why.”
“And I told you that I can’t tell you. But it has nothing to do with—”
He reached for the check. “We’re done here.”
“Wait, Russ. Please try to understand. I have a very good reason for what I did. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that I’m an upstanding person who follows the rules.” She thought for a moment. “Except maybe at the boardinghouse.”
He didn’t smile. “I know all of that. But honesty is the cornerstone of trust, and I can’t overlook the fact that there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“This thing isn’t mine to tell. Haven’t you ever made a promise to someone? A vow to keep something to yourself?”
“Yes. And my word is important to me. But when laws are broken, everything changes.”
She remembered the look on his face when he told her about the woman he’d loved not supporting him at probably the lowest point in his life. A violation of his trust that left a mark. It was making him dig in and not give an inch now.
“This isn’t entirely about obeying the law or honesty, is it, Russ?”
His mouth pulled tight, and a muscle jerked in his jaw. “I was blindsided once. It’s not a feeling I ever want to experience again. That cost me my career. Now I have a second chance, and I’m not going to blow it.”
Before she could collect her thoughts and tell him she was nothing like his ex, he’d tossed some bills on the table.
“Keep the change,” he said. Without another word, he stood up and walked out the door without looking back even once.
Well, she had more to say. And if Russ thought that was the end of this, he didn’t really know her at all.
* * *
After leaving Lani at the bar, Russ went back to the sheriff’s office to go over his eyewitness interviews for the investigation. Maybe there was something he’d missed, a slip of the tongue to warrant another conversation. To the best of his knowledge, he’d talked to everyone who was at the park that night, except Old Man Sullivan, who disappeared from town after losing his ranch to Brad Crawford during the poker game at the Ace in the Hole. Without a lead, there was nothing left to go on, and Russ was damned frustrated. So he went back to Strickland’s Boarding House.
After pacing his room for a while, he yanked his duffel out of the closet and set it on the bed then pulled jeans and shirts from the dresser. His assignment wasn’t over for a couple of days yet but since he had the evening ahead of him, he might as well pack. He had nowhere to go, nothing to do and no one to do it with. Getting ready to leave Rust Creek Falls might take his mind off Lani and how much he wanted to see her, take her to bed again. If only he could trust her...
There was a knock on the door, and the sound was almost as startling as a gunshot. He hated himself for it, but couldn’t help hoping Lani had changed her mind about holding back her secret.
He opened the door and was almost as surprised by who was there—Melba and Old Gene Strickland, the boardinghouse owners.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hello, Mr. Campbell.” Melba was somewhere in her late seventies or early eighties, but didn’t look a day over sixty-five.
“I thought you were going to call me Russ.”
“If it’s all the same to you, we prefer to address our boarders more formally.” Old Gene cleared his throat. “Friendly but not friends, if you know what I mean.”
Not really, Russ thought. But he’d handled characters more eccentric than these two. “I’m okay with that.”
“Good. Sensible. Young folks today have no boundaries. They walk around with those dang machines in their hands and don’t look either way before crossing the street.”
“My husband doesn’t like smartphones,” Melba shared.
“Stupid name,” the old man grumbled. “If you ask me, the world would be better off without everyone sharing everything they do and think with everyone else on the planet.”
“Change isn’t easy,” his wife sympathized.
“That’s for sure,” Gene agreed. “Computer nerds call it updates. Keep trying to make things better and just confuse the dickens out of folks. Should just leave well enough alone.”
“He’s still mad about Words with Friends. Gene loves to play Scrabble. Keeps his mind sharp,” Melba explained. “So one of our granddaughters set him up and got him started. Then some genius decided it needed to be updated. The contraption wouldn’t let him play until it was.”
“The thing is,” Gene said, “I couldn’t figure out how to do it and got so aggravated I nearly chucked that machine from here to Kalispell.”
“Finally, I started fiddling with it and somehow got a phone call from a nice young man who helped. Now Gene is playing again.”
“Until the next time they want to make it better.” The older man shook his head.
“Let’s not borrow trouble,” Melba advised.
“All this virtual stuff... There was nothing virtual about anything in the old days. You could see it, touch it, smell it. Hard work was hard work. Men were men, not telephone operators. And women had babies and took care of their families. They didn’t have a badge and a gun and drive a fire truck.”
“You’re a bit of a chauvinist, dear,” his wife told him affectionately.
Russ was beginning to wonder if they needed him and if not, why they’d come to see him at all.
“Was there something you wanted?” he asked. “Maybe you’d like to come in?”
“No, Mr. Campbell. We don’t want to invade your privacy. This won’t take long.” Melba’s voice took on a stern quality. “It’s come to my attention that you had a visitor in your room the other night.” She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to confirm what she obviously already knew.
But how did she know? Was the room bugged? Did they have video surveillance? She continued to wait for him to fill the silence, and he wondered if she’d ever done criminal interrogations. But he wasn’t a rookie and stared right back at her without saying anything.
Melba cleared her throat. “This is a boardinghouse, not a brothel, Mr. Campbell. I don’t approve of premarital sex. If Lani Dalton visits you in this room, she best have your ring on her finger when she does it.”
“Lani? How did you—” Damn. Melba was good. Drop a name, make it personal, emotions took over and something slips out.
Satisfaction sliced through the older woman’s eyes. “I have a business reputation to maintain. It’s my job to know what goes on under my roof.”
“You do know that my stay here is almost over,” he said, neither confirming nor denying.
“Of course. It’s my responsibility to know,” she said. “That still doesn’t make it all right to break the rules. If we look the other way for you, standards go out the window. You’re a policeman, Mr. Campbell. You know about enforcing rules.”
“She’s pretty set on this,” Gene said.
Russ swore there was man-to-man sympath
y in the old guy’s eyes, but not enough to take on the little woman. There was no point in protesting, since he would be gone soon. And judging by the anger and hurt in Lani’s eyes earlier, there was no chance she would step foot in this room again. He missed her already.
“I understand,” he lied. “I guarantee no woman will be in this room while I still occupy it.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Melba smiled. “Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Campbell.”
Funny, Russ thought, how she could go from stubborn to sweet in a heartbeat. He would bet she was a formidable mother, loving and warm unless forced to take a hard line with her children.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “Don’t worry about me—”
“Mrs. Strickland. Mr. Strickland.” The voice in the hall sounded just like Lani. She appeared in the doorway and smiled at the older couple. “How are you?”
“Hello, Lani, dear,” Melba said. “Gene and I are fine. How are you?”
“Good.” She glanced at him, and the shadows visible in her eyes said that she wasn’t fine at all. “I’m here to see Russ. Just to talk.”
“If a pretty girl came to see me, I wouldn’t be thinking about talking,” Gene mumbled.
“Be that as it may,” Melba said to Lani, “we know you were here the other night and were just discussing the situation with Mr. Campbell. Remember that respectability and reputation are important.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m the soul of propriety. Honest and true blue.” She gave him a pointed look.
“All right, then. Can’t do any more. It isn’t against the law, so no one can be arrested.” But the older woman gave each of them a look then settled her gaze on Lani. “You’re on your honor. Remember us to your parents, dear.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“If I were you,” Gene said to Russ, “I’d give her a ring.”
“Come along,” Melba said to her husband. They started to walk away but she turned back and asked, “Any progress on your investigation into that unfortunate spiked punch incident on the Fourth of July?”
“No, ma’am. I’ve followed every lead, questioned everyone there that night who’s still in town. Didn’t turn up anything.”
“Too bad.” The older woman moved down the hall with Old Gene following.
And then he was alone with Lani.
“What did they say?” she asked.
“That they didn’t want to invade my privacy,” he answered wryly. “Just before invading it.”
“They mean well.” She shrugged.
He was still standing in the doorway, looking at her in the hall. “I’m surprised to see you.”
“I took a shot.”
Russ wanted to hold her so bad it hurt deep down inside. He wanted to kiss her and break Melba Strickland’s ridiculous rule. But he held back. “A shot at what?”
She tucked a long shiny strand of hair behind her ear. “Coming to talk to you. It felt like there was more to say.”
“That’s up to you.” And there it was. The elephant in the room. The secret she wouldn’t give up.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.” He stepped aside and she walked past, the scent of her burrowing inside to warm his blood. He closed the door then turned and saw her staring at the bed, more specifically, the duffel with clothes beside it.
“You’re leaving?”
It sounded like an accusation, a breach of trust. Coming from her that was ironic and got his defenses up. “I was only ever staying for a couple of weeks.”
“But your time isn’t up yet,” she protested.
“It will be soon.”
“So you’re packing early.” Her tone was flat. “I guess that means you can’t wait to get back to your regularly scheduled life.”
Truthfully, his life was a mess. He’d tried so hard to not let Lani matter to him, and now he knew it was going to rip him up to say goodbye. When he walked away from this assignment and this woman, all he’d have would be his job with Kalispell PD and it was safer to focus on that, on his career. But dammit, right this second, while he was close enough to feel the heat of her body, smell the scent of her skin, he couldn’t imagine being alone, and the thought gave him a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. He’d better get used to it.
“Cases in Kalispell have probably been piling up on my desk while I’ve been gone. I’m going to be busy when I go back.”
“So you’re telling me you won’t be coming to Rust Creek Falls? To fill in when the sheriff asks?”
“No.” Because seeing her with no way to bridge the divide between them would probably kill him. But she’d come here to say something, and the least he could do was hear her out. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Are you even going to say goodbye?” There was a world of hurt in her eyes. “Never mind. It’s not important now. Sorry I bothered you. Hope I didn’t get you in trouble with the Stricklands.”
“You didn’t bother me. Lani, I—” He stopped when she opened the door.
“Bye, Russ,” she said without turning around.
And then he was alone, and not even the fragrance of her perfume lingering in the room could stop the empty feeling from widening inside him.
He kicked himself for not being able to get past his past. Lani said she wasn’t at liberty to explain her behavior that night, and if he hadn’t been sucker punched at the worst time in his life, her refusal probably wouldn’t matter. He could overlook it. But even though all his instincts were telling him that Lani was as loyal and honest as she was beautiful, he kept tripping over his doubts. And as much as he wanted to go after her, Lani’s secret was standing in the way.
Chapter Fourteen
On the way to the ranch the next morning Lani was tired. It tended to happen when you couldn’t sleep, and that was Russ Campbell’s fault. If he hadn’t told her last night that he wouldn’t be back to Rust Creek Falls, she’d have slept like a baby. But he did tell her, and he meant it. Tears she’d been fighting since walking away from the boardinghouse filled her eyes. And that made her mad. He wouldn’t take another chance on a relationship, and she wanted five minutes alone with his ex. It would feel good to give that woman a piece of her mind and a stern lecture about loyalty and support. She certainly hadn’t loved him.
Not in Lani’s book anyway. You couldn’t be in love with someone and abandon them when they needed you most. She was pretty sure it wasn’t her Russ distrusted as much as it was love. He was just looking for an excuse to push her away.
She parked her truck in front of Anderson’s house and went inside to make coffee. The pot was already brewing, and she peeked into the living room and remembered the day she’d defended Russ when he took on Travis and Anderson. The room blurred as moisture filled her eyes.
“Morning, Lani.” Anderson walked into his kitchen.
“Hey.” She hadn’t heard him approach and needed a minute to compose herself. She didn’t want him to see her upset. “How are you?”
“Good.” He moved closer and reached past her into the cupboard to get a mug. “We have to check the fences on the south edge of the ranch. Winter’s coming.”
In so many ways, she thought, a cold feeling settling around her heart. She brushed a rogue tear from her cheek and cleared her throat. “Okay. I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ve got Travis riding fence on the north side of the property.”
“Right.” She sniffled and still didn’t look at her brother. She couldn’t because he would know she was upset and grill her for answers she didn’t want to give him.
“Are you okay, Lani?” There was concern in his voice.
“Sure.” She went to the refrigerator and got out the cream then pulled the box of sweetener that he kept there for her out of the cupboard. “Why?”
“So what else is new?” She was trying to act as if nothing was wrong, and it took a lot of energy she didn’t have.
“You keep sniffling. Are you catching a cold?”
“Allergies,” she said.
“Since when? I’ve known you all your life, and you never had allergies before.”
“I’ve read that a person can develop them later in life. It happens.” She was going to lose it and didn’t want him to be here when she did. “You should go saddle up and get to work.”
“Since when are you the boss?”
“It’s getting late. You should go.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And I’ll do that as soon as you turn around and look at me.”
Damn. Why couldn’t he be like most men and not notice that her attitude was off? No way she could get out of it, so she plastered on a smile and faced him. Anderson looked suspicious as he studied her for a moment.
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “You’ve been crying.”
“I’m not a crier. You know that—” Of all people he knew that wasn’t true. He’d held her the last time she cried over a man.
“Trust me on this, Lani. You’re not a very good liar.”
It was the sympathetic look in his eyes that finally did her in. She put her hands over her face and started to cry for real.
“Come here, kid.” Anderson pulled her into his arms. “What’s wrong? Whoever it is, whatever it is, I’ll beat them up for you.”
Dear God, his white-knight complex was what got her into this in the first place. He’d hit Skip Webster for punching Travis when he wasn’t looking. “I...I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Don’t care what you want, sis.” He patted her back. “If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll have to find out on my own. And I’ll start with Russ Campbell.”
“No!” She pulled away and brushed at the wetness on her cheeks. “Why would you talk to him?”
“Because you haven’t blubbered like this since that no-good, sweet-talking liar Jason broke your heart. This is man trouble, and he’s the man you’ve been seeing.”
An Officer and a Maverick Page 17
