Dalton (Fairplay Shifters Series Book 5)

by Serena Meadows

  She just wasn’t ready to take that chance, wasn’t willing to go through the heartache when the spell or whatever it was wore off and he discovered that she wasn’t quite as attractive as he’d thought she was. It had taken her a while to figure out how her eyes affected men, affected her, and what she’d decided was that the best way to avoid heartache was to avoid romance.

  She’d come to that conclusion after a disastrous freshman year filled with one love affair after another. What she hadn’t understood before she left home was that that boys who’d grown up with her had developed an immunity to her eyes, and those that hadn’t had been easy enough to push away.

  But when she arrived at MIT, the boys swarmed her, and for a little while, she enjoyed playing belle of the ball. The only problem was that after a string of boyfriends, she found herself alone and broken, unable to understand what she was doing wrong, how something so perfect in the beginning could wither and die so quickly time and time again.

  It wasn’t until she started wearing sunglasses to cover up her eyes, puffy from crying, that she realized that when they couldn’t see her eyes, the boys treated her differently. From that day forward, she wore sunglasses any time she was with people she didn’t know, and the few times she hadn’t had always ended unpleasantly.

  Today was a perfect example, and she couldn’t wait to drop Dalton off in Fairplay and be free from the constant attraction she felt when he was around her. When the rain began to fall, she was relieved to focus her attention on the road and put thoughts of what might have been from her mind. She didn’t need a man, was just fine on her own, at least for now.

  ***Dalton***

  He couldn’t help stealing glances at Melody as she drove, her focus on the road and the storm raging around them. The rain was pounding on the windshield so hard it was difficult to see, and gusts of wind pushed the truck around on the road. With each brilliant arc of lightning, the sky lit up, and thunder seemed to shake the truck. But Melody looked perfectly at ease, the only sign that she was on edge being her tight grip on the steering wheel.

  Looking at her, he realized that she was very different from the women he’d been attracted to in the past. That she wasn’t fragile like she looked, but tough in a way that spoke of someone who had faced challenges in their life and overcome them. Suddenly, he had an overwhelming urge to know more about her, to understand what her life was like.

  But he knew that then wasn’t the time to strike up a conversation, so he settled back in his seat and waited. The storm broke just as they came over the top of the pass, the rain stopping as if it had never started, leaving a huge patch of blue sky above their heads.

  A ray of sunlight lit up the cab of the truck just as they came around a corner and dropped into the most beautiful valley he’d ever seen. As they dropped down, he let his eyes sweep the valley, the mountains shrouded in thick white puffy clouds, a stark contrast to the green of the vegetation on the valley floor.

  “This is incredible,” he said.

  Melody laughed, “You caught the valley on a good day; it’s not always like this, but it’s summer, and a wet one from the looks of things.” Then she sighed and said, “It’s good to be home.”

  Dalton looked over at her, surprised. “You live here?”

  Melody looked a little alarmed but answered. “All my life, well, except for the last four years. I’ve been away at school, but I’m home to stay now.”

  “Oh, I’m staying in Fairplay for a little while,” Dalton said, envisioning them going out on a date and suddenly not feeling quite so annoyed to be here.

  Melody took her eyes off the road to look at him. “What?” she asked, alarmed.

  “I have some business in Fairplay; it might take a while,” he said, hopefully. “Maybe I can take you out for lunch or something; a thank you for the ride.”

  He began to realize something was wrong when his suggestion seemed to alarm her even more. “Oh, I don’t know, I’m going to be really busy for a few weeks, getting everything set up and all,” she stammered.

  Dalton was a bit surprised by her reaction, knew that he hadn’t imagined the attraction between them, but he knew when he was being blown off. Determined not to give up just yet, he asked, “What do you do anyway?”

  ***Melody***

  Melody didn’t like the direction the conversation was going in, especially now that she knew he was going to be in Fairplay: a temptation she might find hard to resist. “I’m going to work for the family business,” she answered vaguely.

  Dalton thought about that for a second. “Doing what?” he finally asked.

  “Setting up a new computer system and stuff like that.”

  “Computers?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got a degree in computer engineering from MIT,” she said, unable to hide the pride in her voice.

  Dalton looked at her shocked, then stupidly said, “I just assumed you were a teacher or a nurse or something like that.”

  Melody took her eyes off the road to look at him, and he would have sworn that she was glaring at him. “And why is that?” she asked, her voice even but full of underlying currents of outrage.

  “You just don’t look like a computer geek, that’s all. You look more like the teacher type, you know…” He trailed off, not sure what he meant.

  Melody saw the city limits sign coming into view up ahead and was relieved, but she wasn’t quite done with Dalton. This wasn’t the first time a man had questioned her career, and she’d never backed down before.

  “Is that because I’m a woman?” she asked, her voice still even.

  Dalton shrugged his shoulders and said, “Where I come from, women do those jobs and let the men handle the difficult stuff,” he said, then looked like he wished he hadn’t.

  “I see,” Melody said, then pulled the truck off the road and into the front lot of a garage. “I’m going to leave you here to get your car squared away. I hope you enjoy your stay in Fairplay.”

  ***Dalton***

  Dalton didn’t move, didn’t reach for the door handle, not sure how things had gone badly so quickly. “I didn’t mean anything by that; I think it’s great you like to play with computers. I’m just used to women who… well, they play a different role where I come from.”

  Melody sighed. “I don’t know where you come from, but here women do everything men do and sometimes they do it better,” she said, then looked over at the garage. “They’re going to close soon; you’d better see to your car. I’m sure someone can give you a ride to wherever you’re staying.”

  Dalton’s heart sank; he clearly wasn’t going to make this better. “Okay then,” he said, opening the door. “Thanks for the ride; maybe I’ll see you around town some time.”

  “Your welcome,” Melody said, then revved the engine.

  Dalton shut the door and watched as she sped out of the parking lot and into town, feeling the anger beginning to grow; all he’d been trying to do was get to know her, and now he did. She was clearly one of those independent women who took offense at the slightest thing. The kind of woman he’d learned to steer clear of.

  Walking through the door of the garage, he understood now why she’d seemed different than the women he was usually attracted to and wondered if he was losing his mind. The last thing he wanted in his life was another strong woman; his twin sisters were enough for him.

  After he’d arranged for the rental car to be towed into town and cleaned up, he asked for a ride to the hotel, not even considering calling someone at the Brooks ranch to come get him. That would be beyond embarrassing and not the way he wanted to start his stay.

  Once he’d checked into the hotel, he realized that he was starving, so he begged a quick meal from the hotel kitchen, which was just about to close, and took it up to his room. Sitting at the little table next to the bed, he ate his dinner, wondering what other surprises were in store for him.

  Meeting Melody had been a shock to his system; he’d long ago pushed away thoughts of romance, de
cided that there was plenty of time left for that kind of thing when he’d finished the Simons’ library. He’d thought that his resolve was strong, that he had a plan in place that would be easy to follow.

  Finish the library and then find a woman who fit into his life; a woman who would support him and share his hopes and dreams. If love wasn’t a part of it at first, that would be fine with him; love was overrated anyway, made people do stupid things.

  He knew that from experience; passion was a wonderful and exciting thing, but it didn’t last and when it was gone, there was usually nothing left but a pile of regrets. He’d been down that road before, and he wasn’t going there again, and considering how powerful his desire for Melody was, that would be exactly where he ended up.

  If somewhere in the back of his mind he understood that he was walking away from something incredible, he ignored that thought. Life was full of missed opportunities, and this one would just have to be one of those, Melody didn’t fit into this life, and never would.

  Chapter Five

  ***Melody***

  When Melody finally got to the ranch, she was relieved, sure that nothing else could go wrong that day. But when she got out of the truck, it was strangely quiet, only a few lights on in the house. She’d expected more of a greeting as it had been almost a year since she’d been home, but no one came bursting out of the house.

  She was almost to the door when it flew open and her cousin Daniel stepped out. “What took you so long?” he asked, a huge smile on his face.

  “It’s a long story,” she said, pushing past him expecting to see her aunt and uncle or Justin and Jake, but the house was empty. “Where is everyone?”

  “That’s a long story too, I’ll tell you all about it, but first, I bet you’re starving.”

  “I could eat a horse; it’s been hours since I had lunch,” Melody said, wondering whose cooking she was going to be eating. “I hope you didn’t cook.”

  Daniel laughed. “Margot left your dinner on the stove.”

  Once she was seated at the table, a huge plate of food in front of her, Daniel asked her about her trip. It was nearly a half an hour before she’d finished recounting her day but talking about it made it seem more funny than awful, and she’d begun to feel better.

  Pushing her plate away, she said, “Okay, now that I’ve entertained you, tell me where everyone is. I’ve been pretty out of touch.”

  Daniel got serious, “I don’t know how much you know about what went on around here last year,” he said.

  Melody felt a little guilty. “Well, between graduating early and the internship in Boston, I’ve been really out of touch. I know that three of my cousins got married and I missed it.”

  Daniel shook his head. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg, the good that came from everything we’ve been through, and by the way, Steven’s getting married at the end of the summer,” he said, taking her plate to the sink. “Come sit in the living room, and I’ll explain.”

  An hour later, Melody was sitting on the couch trying to digest everything Daniel had told her, including the role they wanted her to play. “I just don’t see how I’m going to be able to help you find the shifter. I can trace the phone calls and emails, but that doesn’t mean we’ll find him.”

  “It’s a place to start, and you won’t be working alone. Annabelle is sending her brother to help us. I’m not sure what he’ll be able to do, but she seems to think that he’ll be able to help. I couldn’t refuse; we need to get the amulet back.”

  “I thought you said it was a talisman now?” Melody asked, still slightly confused.

  “Call it what you want, the thing is powerful, and we need to get it back to New England where it belongs. I hope I never have to see the thing again,” Daniel said, getting to his feet. “I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted, I made up the bed in Penny’s room for you for tonight. We’ll figure out where to put you permanently tomorrow.”

  Melody was beat, and her mind was spinning; when she’d thought of going home, she’d never imagined that she’d walk into a mess like the one she’d just found. What she needed was a hot shower followed by a good night’s sleep; it would all make more sense in the morning.

  ***Dalton***

  When he drove up to the ranch house the next morning, Dalton wasn’t sure what to expect; he’d never been to a real working ranch. What he found was a modest house surrounded by barns and outbuildings that looked like they cost more than the house. There was the distinct smell of manure in the air, but over that was the crisp scent of the pine forests around him.

  The man standing on the porch waiting for him had to be one of the Brooks boys; his resemblance to Justin was unmistakable. As soon as he stepped out of the car, the man stepped off the porch and crossed the yard to meet him.

  “Hi, I’m Daniel; you must be Dalton,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Dalton shook his hand, then looked around him. “This is a nice place, beautiful country.”

  “We like it,” Daniel said, then got right to the point. “Annabelle says that you can help find the talisman, and I sure could use your help.”

  Dalton thought about putting up a false front, pretending that he knew exactly what he was doing, but that seemed wrong, so he went for honesty. “I’m not sure what she thinks I can accomplish here, but she wanted me to come, so I’m here.”

  Daniel shrugged. “Annabelle’s not wrong very often,” he said. “Come on into the house and I’ll show you what we’ve got. My cousin is inside setting up the computers; then we’ll see if we can trace the phone number or the email address.”

  “That seems like the only place to start. I’ve talked to both your brother and Charlie; neither remembers the shifter using a name, but if we can get that, it might lead us right to him,” Dalton said, following Daniel into the house.

  “My cousin is pretty good at that stuff, got into a little trouble in high school for hacking; if the information is out there somewhere, we’ll find it,” Daniel said, leading him through the house to a back bedroom.

  When they stepped into the room, all he could see was towers of computer equipment, some with flashing lights, some sitting dark. It looked like there was no one in the room but then a blonde head popped up out from under a desk.

  “Do you have another power strip? I didn’t order enough,” Melody said, then her eyes got big when she saw him standing in the doorway.

  ***Melody***

  Daniel had warned her a few minutes ago that Annabelle’s brother was on the way, but she’d paid him little attention. For more than a month she’d been spending every free minute researching and ordering the perfect computer equipment for the ranch, and now that she had her hands on it, everything else had faded.

  She’d forgotten about the talisman, the shifters, and Annabelle’s brother until she stood up and came face to face with Dalton. Frozen in place, she stared at him, unable to believe that he was standing in the ranch house.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked stupidly.

  “I was just thinking about asking you that same question,” Dalton said wryly.

  Daniel looked from one to the other then said, “Dalton, this is my cousin Melody.”

  Dalton smiled at her. “We’ve met,” he said, raising his eyebrows at her.

  “Dalton had some car trouble yesterday, and I gave him a ride to town,” Melody said, wondering why she was covering for him.

  “Melody was up at dawn putting all this together so we could get started this morning. None of it makes any sense to me, but she thinks she can trace the phone and email address, and if we’re lucky, we’ll get a name and a location,” Daniel said.

  “That’s where you come in; you’ll have to figure out how to lure him here,” Melody said; finally, able to move again, she ducked back down under the desk, clicked her headlamp back on and went back to work.

  Her heart was pounding in her chest; her palms were sweaty. She’d thought that she was free of Dalton and now he
was standing just a few feet from her. Relieved not to have to look at him any longer, she took a few deep breaths and began connecting cables.

  “Aren’t things like names and addresses protected or something?” Dalton asked, coming around the desk and peering under it.

  “That’s not a problem for Melody; once in high school, she changed all our grades to A’s. It was hilarious,” Daniel said, making her groan.

  “Well, all this is way beyond me. I don’t know what help I can be,” Dalton said, thinking he’d go back to his motel and work on the book of spells he’d brought.

  “You can start figuring out how we’re going to get the shifter to come to us; isn’t that why you’re here? Didn’t someone explain the plan to you?” she asked, her frustration making the question come out a little harsher than she intended.

  “Of course, Annabelle explained it to me, but I don’t see how we’re going to do that. We don’t have anything he wants,” Dalton said, then he had a thought, “Except Charlie and Steven; he’s going to need them to unlock the talisman.”

  “There you go, start there, see if you can figure something out,” Melody said, condescendingly.

  “Don’t patronize me,” Dalton said, his tone of voice making it clear that she’d over stepped, but she didn’t care.

  “I wouldn’t if you’d started using your brain on your own,” she fired back at him.

  She heard him sigh and wanted to smile, but then he said, “Okay that’s fair. But you have to understand; I spend my days in a library with books. I don’t usually find myself in these kinds of situations.”

  “Well, you’d better get used to it; you can’t hide in a library all your life,” Melody said, then asked, “Are you here to help or to talk? I need to get back to work.”