Natural-Born Protector / Saved by the Monarch

by Carla Cassidy

  He was grateful that Melody took his hint and instead, with Maddie’s prompting, began to talk a little bit about her childhood.

  “Lainie and I were like two musketeers, always together and always watching out for one another. We weren’t just sisters, we were very best friends.” A soft smile lit up her face, and Hank wanted to be welcomed into her memories.

  “I wish I had a sister,” Maddie exclaimed. “I don’t even have a best friend.”

  Melody smiled and leaned forward to take one of Maddie’s little hands in hers. “Wait until school starts. You’re going to have so many wonderful new friends you won’t know what to do.”

  The smile that Maddie gave Melody constricted Hank’s heart. When was the last time his daughter had gazed at him so lovingly? And when was the last time he’d talked to her in any meaningful way?

  The familiar grief of Rebecca’s loss teased around the edges of his consciousness. There was a part of him that wanted to embrace it, wanted to wrap it around him to keep him insulated from any other hurt.

  But at that moment, Melody and Maddie’s laughter formed a joyous circle that beckoned him with the promise of happiness. Just for tonight, with his daughter and this beautiful woman across from him, he wanted to forget what had come before and simply enjoy the moment.

  It had taken a while after leaving the video store for the chill of James O’Donnell to wear off Melody. But as the meal progressed it was impossible to maintain that icy cold pond inside her with Hank’s gaze warming her from head to toe and Maddie’s charming chatter filling her head.

  It would have been easy to imagine the three of them as a family, out for an evening meal, then going home where she would tuck Maddie in with a good-night kiss and make love to Hank until the sun came up.

  But she knew those were foolish thoughts. He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in anything permanent. He’d had his magic and apparently once in a lifetime was enough for him.

  Still, as the evening progressed and Hank loosened up in a way she hadn’t seen before, she was charmed and reluctant for the evening to end.

  “You have to have dessert,” Maddie said when the waitress had taken away their dinner plates.

  “Yes, you have to have dessert,” Hank agreed with a lazy grin. “Maddie says, and we all know Maddie is the boss.” Maddie giggled.

  “Then by all means, I’ll have dessert,” Melody replied with a laugh. She ordered a piece of chocolate pie. Hank ordered apple cobbler and Maddie got both a banana split and a piece of cake.

  As they ate, the conversation turned to Cotter Creek and the changes that had occurred over the nine months that Melody had been gone.

  “I thought Wild West Protective Services was strictly a family business,” she said. “I’m surprised they’re hiring new people.”

  “From what Dalton told me, his brothers and sister have all chosen new paths. They’re all married now and starting families and don’t want to travel like they used to,” Hank replied. “Dalton told me he wants to hire at least five more men who will be based here in Cotter Creek.”

  “And you don’t mind the idea of traveling?” She flicked a gaze at Maddie, who seemed completely absorbed in her banana split.

  “She has everything she needs with my mother,” he replied with an edge of challenge in his voice.

  He didn’t have to worry. She wasn’t going to challenge any decisions he made concerning his life. Even though they’d had hot sex, she had no right to challenge him about anything.

  “My mother knows Red West,” Melody said. “She always said Red had his hands full raising five boys and a girl on his own.”

  “He did a fine job,” Hank replied. “The West brothers are some of the finest men I know.”

  “How do you know Dalton?” She spooned some of the chocolate pie into her mouth, the rich sweetness a burst of pleasure.

  “We were friends as kids. Then about four years ago he worked a job in Texas not far from where my ranch was located. I don’t know the details of the job, but we met in town and he became a frequent visitor to the ranch over the three months he was there. We became good friends again.”

  “It’s nice to have friends.” She spooned up another biteful of the pie, but held it halfway between her mouth and the plate as she continued. “I wish I would have taken the time to have a friend besides Lainie.”

  Maddie smiled at her, a ring of chocolate and strawberry ice cream around her rosebud lips. “But you have friends,” she replied. “You have me and Daddy.”

  Melody’s heart puffed up so big it filled her up. She reached across the table and grabbed Maddie’s sticky little fingers. “And you’re a terrific friend.”

  “What about Daddy? Tell him he’s a good friend, too.”

  Melody released Maddie’s hand and looked at Hank. The softness of his gaze as he smiled at her warmed her in a way she hadn’t been warmed in a very long time. “And you’ve become a wonderful friend,” she said.

  Oh, but the way he was looking at her had nothing to do with friendship. Friends didn’t have that flame in the depths of their eyes. Friends didn’t look at each other with the hunger that radiated from his at this very moment.

  “And you’ve become a very special friend to me,” he replied, the slight gruffness in his voice sparking a familiar fire in her.

  She had to take care. She knew she had to be smart, for this man and his daughter had the potential to rock her world in a way that would only lead to a new kind of heartache.

  Chapter Eight

  “Forest Burke,” Melody said into the phone the next morning. She sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee forgotten near her elbow. “That’s who Lainie was supposed to have a date with on the night of her murder.”

  “How do you know that?” Zack West’s deep voice boomed across the phone line.

  “I had a talk last night with James O’Donnell. He told me.”

  There was a long pause and she could almost feel the lawman’s disapproval wafting through the wire. “How would he know who Lainie had a date with that night?” he finally asked.

  “He was stalking her. I think he knew more about her life than anybody realized.” Melody thought about the way James had looked at her. Something in his eyes had made her feel dirty and violated. “Are you sure his alibi for the night of the murder is solid?”

  “As solid as anyone else’s. His mother insists he was home at ten and they watched a movie together until after midnight, when he went to bed.”

  “Is it possible his mother is lying?” Melody pressed the receiver closer to her ear. James was the best suspect they had and she couldn’t believe he wasn’t responsible for Lainie’s death.

  “Let it go, Melody,” Zack said softly. “Go home and let us do our job. By involving yourself in all this you’re only making things more difficult for us. I’d much rather spend my time investigating your sister’s murder than having to find out who might be threatening you because you’re stirring things up.”

  “You’ll call me if you find out anything about this Forest Burke?” she asked, pointedly ignoring his unwelcome advice.

  He released an audible sigh. “I’ll let you know what I find out,” he agreed and they disconnected.

  First her mother and Fred, then an anonymous caller and now the sheriff—everyone seemed to want her to head back to Chicago. Nobody seemed to understand that Lainie had needed her in life and still needed her in death.

  Melody wasn’t about to go anywhere…at least not yet.

  She left the kitchen and moved to the doorway of the bathroom where Lainie had breathed her last gasp. Even the morning sun streaking in through the windows couldn’t banish the cold that grabbed hold of her as she stared into the room.

  She hadn’t entered this room since her arrival, but now it was time to face the task of packing up the items inside.

  She wrapped her arms around herself and thought of Hank and Maddie, seeking anything to generate some warmth to replace the icy c
ore inside her.

  Dinner the night before had been wonderful—too wonderful. She needed to put some distance between herself and Hank. He was drawing her in too deep. But at the moment, as she faced entering the bathroom, she wished he were standing beside her, his calm, steady presence giving her the strength she needed to face the demons that lingered in the room.

  “You can do this,” she said aloud. “You don’t need Hank here. You’ve never needed anyone.” No one but Lainie, and she was gone forever.

  She was just about to step into the room of death when a soft knock sounded at the door. A smile curved her lips. She recognized that little knock.

  “Good morning,” she said to Maddie as she opened the door.

  “Morning,” she replied. “My grandma is going to come get me in just a few minutes. As usual we’re gonna spend the day together.” She flopped down on the sofa. “So I thought I’d come visit you while I was waiting for her.”

  “I’m glad you did,” Melody said as she sat beside the little girl. “What do you and your grandmother have planned for today?”

  Maddie shrugged her slender shoulders. “I don’t know. We might go to the movies or we might bake a cake.”

  “Which would you rather do?” Melody asked.

  A sad frown etched across Maddie’s little forehead. “I’d rather stay home with my daddy.” She sighed, a sigh far too deep for one so young. “But he’s always got stuff to do and wants Grandma to keep me.”

  “Did you sleep well last night?” Melody asked in an attempt to change the subject.

  Maddie’s frown didn’t ease. “I had bad dreams.”

  Melody smiled. “It was probably those two desserts you ate last night.”

  Maddie tilted her head to one side and eyed Melody. “I don’t think so, ’cause I have bad dreams even when I don’t eat two desserts.”

  Melody scooted closer to the little girl. “You want to talk about the bad dreams?”

  Maddie’s face scrunched up with an expression of such unhappiness it resonated through Melody. “I just dream that my daddy goes away and never comes back.” A tiny sob caught in her throat.

  “Oh, honey, it’s just bad dreams, that’s all.” Melody pulled Maddie into her arms, surprised when the little girl wrapped her arms around Melody’s neck and eagerly accepted the embrace.

  Maddie cuddled against her, her face burrowed in the crook of Melody’s neck as Melody stroked her hair. “You know bad dreams are really nothing more than fears that come out in the dark.”

  “I don’t like them,” Maddie said angrily. She remained in Melody’s arms for several minutes, allowing Melody to caress her thin little back.

  The complete and utter trust she felt radiating from Maddie shot straight to Melody’s heart, and she realized that walking away from this child would be almost as difficult as walking away from her father.

  Maddie finally raised her head to look at Melody. “Lainie had nightmares, too.”

  “Yes, she did. But you know what always helped Lainie not be afraid?”

  “What’s that?” Maddie asked.

  “Come with me.” Melody got up from the sofa and took Maddie by the hand. She led her down the hall into Lainie’s bedroom. There was only one thing left in there, the Guardian Angel picture that Melody had intended to take back to Chicago with her. But she had a feeling that Lainie wouldn’t mind what she was going to do.

  “See that picture on the wall?” she asked.

  Maddie nodded. “That was Lainie’s most favorite picture in the whole wide world.”

  “That’s right. Lainie loved it because whenever she was afraid all she had to do was look at it and she didn’t feel afraid anymore.” Melody walked over to the wall and removed the picture. “And I think Lainie would like you to have it to hang in your room.”

  “Really?” Maddie’s eyes widened and she threw herself at Melody and hugged her around the waist. “I loved Lainie and I love you, Melody,” she whispered.

  The words, spoken with such heart, pierced through Melody. She didn’t want Maddie to love her. She was just a person passing through Maddie’s life and didn’t want to be the source of more heartache for the child who had already lost too much.

  She knelt down in front of Maddie and gave her the picture. “You’re going to love lots of people in your life, Maddie…Madeline. And when I go back to Chicago in a couple of weeks we can write to each other, okay?”

  Maddie reached out with one hand and placed it on Melody’s cheek. “You can call me Maddie.”

  At that moment there was a louder knock at the door. Maddie dropped her hand and clutched the picture to her chest. “That’ll be my dad or my grandma.”

  It was Susan and within minutes she and Maddie had left and Melody was once again alone to face the daunting task of clearing out the bathroom.

  She leaned against the wall just outside and wrapped the memory of Maddie’s sweetness around her like a shield. She had a feeling what Maddie needed most in the world at the moment was more of her daddy.

  Again she tried to tell herself that it was none of her business. Soon she’d be home in Chicago and all of this would just be a dream, part nightmare and part happy memories.

  Drawing a deep breath, she stepped into the bathroom and began emptying the medicine cabinet and the cupboard beneath the sink.

  She packed everything she found under the sink in a box and the items in the medicine chest went into the nearby white wicker wastebasket.

  She kept her mind carefully removed from what she was doing and instead focused on the little girl who had managed to crawl deep into her heart in an incredibly short period.

  What she didn’t want to think about was Lainie, and the last moments of her sister’s life in this room. She kept a mental vision of Hank, strong as a rock and with shoulders wide enough to heft a mountain.

  Blue guest towels with little gold stars and moons reminded her of Hank’s eyes. Last night in the video store as she’d faced James across the counter, Hank had stood beside her like a mature tree that no wind, no act of nature or man could tumble. She’d drawn her strength from his nearness, and it scared her just a little how much she’d come to depend on him through this ordeal.

  Finally, everything was sorted. She carried the boxes to the living room, then went back to get the wicker wastebasket. For a moment she stood in the center of the bathroom, and it was as if she could feel Lainie’s spirit, restless and needy.

  For all of Melody’s life Lainie had needed her and until that need had been sated, Melody wasn’t going anywhere. With a deep sigh she grabbed the wastebasket to carry it into the kitchen and empty it into the bigger trash can.

  She’d just emptied it and was about to put the wicker basket into the trash as well when something blue sparked in the sunshine, something caught in the woven wicker strands.

  Curious, she used a fingernail to dig the small item out. As it fell into the palm of her hand, she stared at it in confusion.

  It was a shiny stone. She frowned. She’d seen something like this before. She carefully laid it on the counter and looked closely at the wicker basket, her heart freezing as she saw a splatter of blood around the area where the stone had lodged.

  Excitement rocked through her as she realized that it was possible she had just found the first piece of real physical evidence.

  Hank had awakened that morning in a strange panic. For in that moment between sleep and complete wakefulness, he couldn’t get a mental picture of Rebecca in his head.

  Every morning since the day of her death, a vision of her had been the first thing that filled his mind when he opened his eyes. But this morning it refused to come. Instead his head had filled with a picture of a different woman.

  Melody.

  Guilt had pulled him from the bed and into the living room, where a small photo of Rebecca rested on one of the shelves on the entertainment center. He’d picked up the photo and stared at it and had waited for the incapacitating grief to consume h
im. But it hadn’t come.

  Instead of the killing grief, only a quiet sadness had filled him for the life that had been taken far too soon. The moment his mother had taken Maddie for the day, he’d left his place and headed for the shooting range on the outskirts of town.

  Emptying several clips into the targets had eased some of the restless tension that had plagued him. From the shooting range he’d gone to the café for lunch.

  As he’d sat in a booth alone, he’d realized he needed to cool it with Melody. He was spending far too much time thinking about her. The sound of her laughter put a smile in his heart. Talking to her about nothing more important than the weather reminded him of what it was like to share companionship with somebody. And the dizzying scent of her perfume kept him in a slow burn of desire.

  He’d stood at his wife’s graveside and promised there would never be another. Rebecca had been his soul mate and he intended to honor their commitment to each other until the day he died.

  He’d left the café with a determination to keep Melody at bay. He’d made the mistake of sleeping with her, of letting her get just a little too close, but he had to stop it now. Maybe if he wasn’t aiding and abetting her in her private investigation she’d give it up and go back home. Then he’d fall back into the comfortable position of mourning what would never be.

  As he walked down the hallway toward his town house door, he stiffened as he saw Melody leaning against the wall just outside.

  Dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink sleeveless blouse with pink sandals, the sight of her stirred him and caused the resolve he’d just made to waver. Her hair was pulled into a careless ponytail that exposed her delicate features and graceful neck.

  She saw him and offered a wide smile, those impossibly blue eyes of hers sparking with excitement. “I’ve been waiting for you! I’m so glad you’re back. I have something to show you.”

  He wanted to tell her he was busy, that just because he’d agreed to do a little bodyguard service for her didn’t mean he’d be at her beck and call anytime she wanted him. He wanted to tell her to find somebody else to talk to, but as he unlocked his door and her scent eddied in the air around her, he knew he wasn’t going to do any of those things.