by Dana Mentink
“Good night, Mia. Sleep well.”
He said good-night to Juno, made sure Mia locked the trailer door and settled into the old chair in his own unit, positioned to keep watch, the feel of that kiss still dancing on his lips. It was the last time he’d share a kiss with Mia. He pushed away the sadness and rustled up some grit. Do the job, Dallas.
If Archie came, he’d know it.
Protection was all he could give Mia.
And he’d give it with his dying breath.
ELEVEN
Mia awoke to the sound of sneezing sometime after eight o’clock. It took her a few moments of blurry-eyed confusion to figure out it was Gracie who lay in a tight ball on the bed. Juno poked his nose at her, tail wagging.
Mia padded over on bare feet across the sunlit linoleum. “Hey, baby. The rain stopped.”
Gracie sniffed. “I gotta sore throat.”
Pulling the covers back, she found Gracie pink-cheeked and nose running. “Uh-oh.”
“I got germans?”
Mia laughed. “Germs. Yes, I think you’re coming down with something.” Her forehead felt warm under Mia’s palm. She fetched a glass of water and encouraged Gracie to drink it. Fishing through her bedraggled purse, she was thrilled to find the slightly sticky bottle of grape flavored medicine purchased after Gracie’s last go around with the “germans.” Cora had tended to her through that illness, offering homemade chicken soup and plenty of read-aloud stories. Mia’s throat thickened at the thought. In spite of the groans, Mia managed to get Gracie to swallow a dose of the medicine.
“I want my turtle slippers. Can we get ’em?”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Your slippers are all wet at the house. I’ll get you some more soon.” Anxiety cramped her stomach as the worries attacked in full force. And how exactly would she get slippers, or Gracie’s pajamas, let alone a house? Especially while evading a murder rap and a mobster who’d threatened a return visit?
We’ll find Peter Finnigan, and he will have some answers, she told herself firmly.
She grabbed a pair of neatly folded socks that Dallas had left, along with a clean T-shirt. The socks went nearly to Gracie’s thighs and they both laughed as she rolled them onto the child’s skinny legs. Mia let her mind stray back to the kiss. Why had she allowed herself to be kissed, let alone to respond? She had no clue, other than it was the most amazing kiss she’d experienced in her whole life.
Juno shot to his feet and ran to the door. Mia froze, heart hammering, until there was a quiet knock followed by a familiar voice.
“It’s Dallas. I’ve got some things for you.”
Mia found that her spirits ticked up a notch as she went to the door, pulling fingers through her messy hair and straightening the big sweatshirt he’d loaned her before letting him in.
His dark brows rose at the sight of her. “I didn’t know that sweatshirt could look so nice.”
She blushed.
He held up a brown bag. “Trailer park manager gave me some clothes for you and some that might work for Gracie left over from her granddaughter’s last visit. And guess what—” He shook a pink pastry box. “Anybody want doughnuts for breakfast instead of Goldfish?”
Gracie coughed. “Can’t. I’m sick.”
Dallas shot her a panicked look. “Sick? How sick?”
“Terrible sick,” Gracie piped up, adding a cough on the end for good measure.
“Should we take her to the doctor? I’ll get my keys.” He turned to leave, but Mia grabbed his arm.
“Not that sick. Kids come down with things all the time. It’s okay. I gave her some medicine. She’ll be okay. I promise.” Mia hid a smile at the uncertain look on his face. “Really, it’s fine. Kids are tough.”
“They are?” His lips quirked. “They’re just so...small.”
She took the pink box from his hands. “Gracie won’t eat them, but I wouldn’t want these doughnuts to go to waste.”
Soon he’d brewed a pot of coffee and she’d devoured two sugar-glazed doughnuts down to the last crumb. Dallas sipped out of his mug, a look of amusement on his face.
She wiped her sticky fingers. “Don’t you eat doughnuts?”
“No sweet tooth.”
“You’re missing out,” she said with a sigh. “Doughnuts are nature’s second most perfect food next to mac and cheese. I think they’re even on the food pyramid.”
“It was worth it to watch you enjoy them.” He added in a low voice. “To see you smile.”
She returned the grin. “You know, for a tough guy who lives with a dog, you’ve got a sweet side.”
“Don’t let it get around.”
“Why? Are you afraid you might have girls pounding at your door? Surely there must be some woman who wants a chance to get to know the softer side of Dallas Black.”
He flicked a glance out the window before he answered. “I don’t usually let them get close.”
“Why not?” She shouldn’t pry, but for some reason it felt so natural to talk to him and she wanted to understand what made him tick, and why she could not get him out of her mind.
“Don’t want to disappoint them, I guess.”
“When the mistakes of your past come out?”
He sighed. “Something like that.”
“It’s funny. You’re trying hard to keep moving, and I’m going crazy trying to put down roots.”
Yet here they were, sitting in the same banged-up trailer while a storm of trouble whirled around them. She watched the steam from the coffee drift past the waves in his hair. God had sent her a friend in Dallas Black, she realized. A friend when she most desperately needed one. But why did her feelings for him seem like something else?
He fidgeted with his coffee cup. “Mia, listen. I’ve got to tell you something and it won’t wait anymore.”
She felt a tremor inside. “Okay. I’ve had two doughnuts to shore up my spirit, and I don’t see how things could get any worse than they were yesterday. Go for it.”
Juno barked, and a second later they heard a car approach. Dallas peeked out the blinds.
Archie? The police? Her mind ran wild.
His expression was inexplicably sad as he went to open the door.
Mia blinked incredulously when her sister stepped inside.
“Antonia,” she cried, wrapping her older sister in a massive hug. “Why are you here? How did you know where to find me?” She pulled her sister to arm’s length. “Is everything okay? Is Reuben all right?”
Antonia chuckled. “I think I should be asking those kinds of questions.” She looked over Mia’s shoulder at Gracie. “Hey, Gracie girl. How’s my niece?”
Gracie waggled her fingers and squealed. “Hiya, Auntie Nia. You’re here. Where’s Uncle BooBen?”
Gracie was perfectly capable of pronouncing Reuben’s name, but her toddler nickname for him had stuck fast and it always made Reuben grin. Antonia kissed her. “I’ll tell you in a minute. Let me talk to Mommy first, ’kay?”
“’Kay.”
During the exchange, the flutter of unease in Mia’s belly grew as she put some of the facts together. Dallas had not been at all surprised to see Antonia arrive. What’s more, they seemed to be at ease with each other, as though they’d been in frequent contact.
The three moved away from Gracie. “What’s going on?” Mia demanded.
Antonia squared her shoulders and kept her voice quiet. “First off, I’m here because Reuben and I love you and we’re worried about you. We know Cora is dead and the police think it’s foul play. We also know Archie is in town because Garza believes you’ve got Hector’s jackpot somewhere. Reuben has gone to the prison to talk to Hector and tell him if there is such a prize, he has to fess up, because he’s put you and Gracie in danger.”
Mia held up a hand. “Antonia
, how do you know all this?”
Antonia exchanged a worried look with Dallas. “Because Dallas has kept us informed. We hired him.”
She could not believe she had heard correctly. “Hired?”
Dallas sighed. “They asked me to come to Spanish Canyon and keep an eye on you.”
It took several tries before she managed a response. “What?”
“There were rumors that Garza’s men were looking for something Hector had stashed,” Antonia said. “Reuben and I feared they would come after you and Gracie.”
The information landed like a bomb in her gut. “That’s how you knew about Gracie climbing the tree. Your informant kept you apprised.”
Dallas flushed.
“My fault,” Antonia said. “I hounded him for details about Gracie. I shouldn’t have, but I missed her so much.”
Mia folded her arms, trying to steady her pounding pulse. There was more. She could see it in their faces. “What else?”
“Cora was an old friend of Reuben’s mother,” Antonia continued. “When we heard you were thinking of settling near here to go to school, we contacted her and she offered to help.”
Help? Cora? The truth started to worm its way through Mia. “So Cora helped me get a job, find a house to rent. She made sure Dallas had work fixing her roof so he could spy on me. What an amazing network to put together a life for one helpless woman and her kid.”
Antonia touched her arm, but she shook it off. “Mia, we knew you wouldn’t accept any help because you’re stubborn and desperate to prove you don’t need anybody. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you like this, but that’s the truth.”
“You knew I wouldn’t accept it, but you arranged it all anyway, didn’t you? Totally against my wishes.” Anger hummed through her veins. “All this, everything I thought I accomplished here, was just charity, set up by people I thought were my friends.”
“I’d like to think I am your friend,” Dallas said quietly, “no matter how it came to be.”
Mia turned her eyes on him. “You don’t hire friends.” Each word fell out of her mouth, cutting like glass. She saw him flinch and she was glad.
Antonia’s chin went up, as it had for every head-butting argument they engaged in over the years, from which breakfast cereal to eat to the dire consequence of dating Hector Sandoval. “Listen, Mia. I know you’re mad at me and that’s okay. I knew that was a price for trying to protect you, but Dallas isn’t doing this for pay. As a matter of fact, he refused any compensation at all. He cares about you, like we do.”
Cares about you. And lied just like Hector and her sister. She found it hard to breathe. “So, why exactly are you here now, Antonia? Dallas hasn’t been feeding you enough information? You had to check up on me personally?”
“Dallas called us after Garza’s man showed up at the college. I came to try and convince you to come back to Florida with me, until the thing with Archie is resolved.”
“Didn’t your informant tell you I’m shortly to be accused of murder? I don’t think I’ll be able to leave even if I wanted to.”
“We’ll get a lawyer if it comes to that. Let’s try to get you out while we can. It’s safest for Gracie.”
Mia exploded. “Don’t tell me how to be a mother to Gracie, Antonia,” she snarled. “That little girl is the only thing I’ve done right in my whole life. Please don’t imply I’ve messed that up, too. I can’t take it.” Dismayed to find tears on her face, she dashed them away.
“I never would,” Antonia said, eyes anguished. “Honey, you’re a wonderful mother. You just need help right now. That’s all.”
The emotion on her sister’s face, the moisture that shone in her eyes, was too much for Mia. The fire ebbed out of her body, leaving only a dark despair in its place. She sank down on the bench seat. Antonia was right. She could not make a life for herself and Gracie. She did not even realize that her whole world in Spanish Canyon was a setup, neatly arranged for a woman who could not manage on her own.
But Dallas... She could not even look at him. Everything she imagined he’d done for her out of kindness, or, she hardly dared admit it, love? It was a job. She was a job to him.
“I guess I’d better do what you say. I can’t trust myself.”
Dallas sat across from her. “Mia, you’re stronger than anyone I know. What we did... It was only because you have too many powerful people working against you.”
“No,” she said, her own voice sounding strange and dull in her ears. “You did it because you and Antonia and Reuben all believe I could not manage my life on my own.”
“No...” he started, reaching for her hands.
She would not touch him, not look at him. “I said ‘All right.’” She fought the thickness in her throat. “You’re both right, and I’m not going to argue. When do we leave?”
“I’ll get us a flight tonight,” Antonia said.
“Tomorrow.” Mia glanced toward the bed. “Gracie’s sick, and there’s something I need to do first.”
Antonia quirked an eyebrow. “What? There’s talk that the weather might turn bad again. I really think tonight is better.”
Dallas stood, hands on his slim hips, eyebrows drawn together.
Mia stared at the pink doughnut box, incredulous that only moments before she’d wondered if her feelings for Dallas could be more than friendly. They’re right. You can’t trust yourself. Dr. Elias’s words came back to her.
“...you’re afraid that you can’t trust yourself, your choices, your judgments.” Even her former employer had been able to see her deepest fear that had now been proven true. But she would not walk away, not from the murder of an old woman who had been trying to help her purely out of kindness. She was not a coward, not yet. “I’m going to find Peter Finnigan. He may be able to shed some light on Cora’s death.”
“No way...” Antonia said.
Mia whacked her hand on the table, startling Juno. “No matter how it came to be, Cora was my friend and Gracie and I loved her. I have to at least try to find out if Finnigan knows something. Please allow me to do that. Will you stay with Gracie?”
Antonia chewed her lip. “Of course, but I don’t think...”
“I’ll go with Mia,” Dallas said.
“You don’t need to do that,” Mia told him. “Your spy identity has been compromised.”
He flinched as her arrow hit the mark. “I’ll go.”
She didn’t argue. If she said no he would follow her anyway. It was his job, after all, she thought bitterly, and he would do it until she and Gracie boarded that plane to Florida the following day.
She knelt next to Gracie and smoothed her hair. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Mommy, are you mad at Auntie Nia?”
“No, honey. We just had a disagreement. Auntie’s going to stay with you while I run an errand. Is that okay?”
“Yes. Will Juno stay?”
Dallas nodded. “I think that’s best.”
“When you come back are we going to Florida?”
Mia exhaled. “I think so, baby.”
“Is that gonna be our home?”
Mia thought there was never such a perfect little face as that of her sweet girl, staring at her expectantly, trusting that no matter what, her mother would provide a home. Was Florida going to be that home? Would any place ever be?
“I’m not sure if we’ll stay in Florida.”
She sneezed. “Will Juno and Dallas come, too?”
She could not answer above the sudden wave of sadness.
“Hey, Goldfish girl,” Dallas said. “You just work on getting better. We’ll talk about it later.”
“’Kay.”
Dallas offered a hand to help Mia get to her feet. She pretended she didn’t see. I’m a job to you, Dallas. Let’s keep it
that way, she thought over the grief washing through her body.
* * *
Dallas tried to open the door of the truck for Mia but she scooted around and got in herself before he had the chance. What had he expected? She believed he’d betrayed her—and maybe to a woman who so desperately craved independence, he had. He’d crossed many people in his life, disappointed dozens, notably himself, but what he’d done to Mia hurt her worse than any other offense he’d dished out. It had been wrong to deceive her, even though the reasons were right.
I’m sorry, Mia.
The distance between them seemed like miles instead of inches. She stared out the window as his tension grew.
Should he try small talk? Apologize again? Mention the haze of clouds that had started to gather along the sunlit horizon?
Talk about the weather? Stupid, Dallas.
He settled on silence, trying to ignore the leaden feeling in his limbs. He’d hoped in that idiot macho way of his the truth might blow over as the miles went by and he could start again, trying to show her how much she meant to him. Judging from the hard line of her mouth, he’d thought wrong. If only women were as forgiving as dogs.
“Why did you do it?”
He jerked a look at her, startled, praying he would not make it any worse with more idiotic conversation. “To protect you. At least that’s what I thought I was trying to do.”
“No, I mean why did you do it for nothing? Agree to take the job without pay.”
Because to me, it’s not a job. “Antonia asked me. I respect her and Reuben.”
“You didn’t move to a strange town because you respect my sister and brother-in-law.”
He shifted, setting the seat springs squeaking. “I never care much where I am. One town is as good as another. Spanish Canyon offered a decent place to teach Search and Rescue classes. Why not?”
She turned gleaming brown eyes on him, skewering him to the seat back. “That’s not it. You moved to this town, spent hours working on an old roof and living in a trailer, for no pay, to protect a woman you barely knew. Why did you do that? I think I deserve to hear the truth.”
She did, but he knew it meant sharing messy, unformed feelings, incoherent ramblings of his heart that he himself did not understand. He flipped through the memories that had swirled through his mind almost daily since he’d seen her in Florida following the hurricane. “At Antonia and Reuben’s wedding. I saw you talking to Gracie before the ceremony.”
