Sweet Town Love

by Maggie Ryan

  “Move back in? Now it has gone from spending the night away to moving out for a while?” She yanked her arms away. “Not happening. If you want me to be safe out here, then I’ll get someone to stay with me until it’s all over.” She crossed her arms. “I make enough money, Tristan. I can afford to pay for a companion while you figure this thing out.”

  “What? Are you kidding? You’d rather have a companion out here where your life is possibly in danger than do as I requested and go to town? There is something here someone wants.” His hand swiped his mouth. “I thought you followed orders. You don’t need a companion; you need a spanking.” He knew he was over dramatizing, but he couldn’t stop.

  “Oh, were you ordering me? Huh, I thought you were asking me. I’m a rather free spirit, you know.”

  He noticed she gave him the “I can’t believe you said that” look when he mentioned spanking, but had otherwise ignored the comment. She shouldn’t.

  “Aren’t you the least bit frightened? If you aren’t, you should be.”

  He remembered they weren’t alone. He lowered his voice, but it remained hard and unyielding because he would never allow Willow to stay alone until they were finished with at least the preliminary investigation, and with luck, the culprit behind bars. She angrily stared at him for a few seconds before dropping her gaze.

  She kicked the debris out of her way and said, “No, no, I’m scared, but I want to work, too. I won’t let anyone run me out of my own home. I’ll have the locksmith come out and put deadbolts on or something. I’ll get an alarm, cameras, or motion detector lights.”

  He understood her frustration. Tristan sensed that he wasn’t going to win this battle so he’d have to make some adjustments. He hated that she didn’t just follow his instructions like most would, but this wasn’t a typical situation for him, and Willow wasn’t an ordinary woman.

  “Okay, listen to me, Willow. This is what we’re going to do.”

  He led her to the kitchen table. Righting the chair, he guided her to it. He nodded in acknowledgment of the arrival of their modified version of field forensics, more troopers. Unfortunately, he knew that a lot would depend on putting things to rights and seeing what, if anything, was taken. That and fingerprints.

  If he were in his hometown of Vancouver, he’d have her stay in one of the cottages his family rented out during the year, but she would never go for leaving the island. He figured it was a bit of overkill even if he would love her to take a vacation about now.

  “I know you want to stay here, and I agree, some kind of alarm system would help but until that can happen, what are you going to do if you have another intruder?”

  She smiled her first of the evening and it was like a starter gun going off. Tristan’s heart raced, and his gut seized. “That’s easy, Trooper Hart, I’ll just call you.”

  Willow smiled despondently. Tears filled her eyes again as she looked up at him. Quickly, she jumped from the chair taking a step away, presumably to cover the emotion. She turned back having wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

  “Why me?” she whispered. “I try to do what I can in the community, and I keep to myself otherwise. I don’t understand. Why do this to me?”

  She stepped closer, and he drew her into his arms as she sobbed. It was his final undoing. He kissed the top of her head and didn’t care how it looked. He held her tight and felt powerless in extricating himself without loss of his sanity.

  The words flew out of his mouth unbidden. “Come stay with me.”

  The room seemed to go silent. Was he mad? This was a first for him and probably even a violation, but he needed to keep her safe. This little town on a big island in Alaska didn’t have even the wink at services that you would find in a larger community. It wasn’t landlocked where she could go to another place while they worked this out. Heck, she wasn’t even close to town. She needed protection, and once he had said it, he knew it was right.

  He held Willow away from his chest far enough to look into her eyes as she responded. “I can’t. I have my work here, and Eagle’s Landing is gossip central. But,” her hesitation was hard to interpret, “I could get Casey to come and stay with me.” Her eyes sparkled with sudden hope. She was trying to comply.

  He didn’t want to explore why he was disappointed that she didn’t take him up on his invitation. He wondered if Casey was a male or female. He took a stab at her friend being a woman and prayed she didn’t correct him.

  “Let’s call her but I would rather you stay with her.” Tristan pulled out his phone, and Willow hesitated. He watched her look at the surfaces in the room for a full minute before she realized her phone was out of reach and grabbed the phone he offered. She dialed the number.

  “Casey, this is Willow. Oh, this is Trooper Hart’s phone. Yeah, I’m good. I have a little issue going on here. What? No, I’m not in jail.” She went on to explain the situation. “Come stay with me tonight, and I’ll fill you in on everything. Okay, see you soon.”

  She handed the phone back to Tristan and smiled. “She’s coming right now. It takes about twenty minutes from her house. She lives on this side of town. So I imagine her curiosity won’t let it take more than half an hour.”

  “Okay, but I thought you were going to go stay with her.”

  “No, that was you. I said she could stay with me.”

  “I’m not going to win, am I?”

  She smiled. “Nope.”

  “You know I could just lock the place down for tonight.”

  “But you won’t.”

  “No, I won’t, but you do need that spanking and don’t be surprised when it happens.” He was relieved Casey was female but worried because how could another woman keep his Willow safe? “If you’re going to be okay, I’m going to help the guys finish this up. I can keep an eye on you from wherever I am.” He needed to clear his head some and work did that for him. “You can clean up tomorrow. You’re resting tonight.”

  Tristan cleared off a corner of her sectional and guided her to it, ignoring her objections. Satisfied when she grabbed the sofa pillow and throw, he watched her snuggle in to watch them do their work. When he came out to answer the door, she was asleep. He greeted a woman who identified herself as Casey Roberts.

  Casey hesitated for a moment after his introduction and then, as though she weren’t staring at a trooper with a significant presence, said, “Damn, you are as cute as they say.”

  Tristan couldn’t stop the grin that broke free. “Ah, yes, I can see how you would be Willow’s good friend.” He belatedly stepped aside as he verified her identification. “I guess introductions would be moot at this point.” He liked Casey.

  “Oh, yes, I know all about you. Well,” Casey looked up at him sheepishly, “what the grapevine said, that is.” She looked around and whistled. “This is a mess. Where’s my Willow?” She stepped over the debris and called out.

  “She’s asleep. She needs it.”

  “I bet she does,” Casey said as she picked her way to the next room.

  “Casey. I thought I heard you. Thanks for coming,” Willow murmured as she sat straighter on the cushion.

  “Hey, girl, did you have a party and forget to invite me?” Casey joked stiltedly while she waved her arm in the direction of the rest of the room. “Is it like this everywhere?”

  “Yes, Ms. Roberts, everywhere,” Tristan answered.

  “Casey. Well, don’t worry, we can have some dinner and then set this place back on its proverbial axis.”

  “Good, but it can wait until tomorrow.” He glanced at Willow. “We’re done with gathering what we can, and you can go into your studio. I’d actually prefer you do it while I’m still here.”

  Tristan put his hand out for her to take. He pulled her up to stand in front of him. She took a sniff, and he wasn’t sure whether she was still tearful or if she were inhaling his scent. He chose the latter. He slid his right hand to the small of her back and lightly propelled her to the studio door.

  Once there, i
t took a moment before Willow reached for the knob. Tristan wondered why she didn’t lock it. He knew her art was valuable and sought by collectors. Finally, she turned the handle with a deep breath and the door swung open. The sight that met them held easels and half-completed or torn canvases tossed about the room. The panel of windows, some open, was letting in the rain. The window seat cushions were wet.

  Willow immediately walked over and closed the windows before she turned, without comment, and walked out of the room. Tristan immediately went to follow, but Casey’s hand boldly stopped him.

  “Let her compose herself. This is intimate like destroying my café. The attack is obviously personal, and she needs to have a moment to process.” Casey turned away from Tristan to look out the windows into the darkness. “You know it’s odd that someone would destroy her work in here. It’s someone who doesn’t know her habits.”

  “Meaning what, exactly?”

  “Meaning, if they knew her at all, they would know that she does not leave this room without locking up her good work in a sort of safe.”

  Tristan must have looked incredulous as he glanced around the space. “A what?”

  “You heard me. Willow has a secret panel in here and behind it is her vault. It holds those paintings and artwork that she’s submitting to contests, or selling, or something she especially loves. They’re her livelihood and are in here somewhere. But not where you would find them.”

  “Where exactly is that?” He looked carefully at the walls as he asked the question.

  Casey shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know and don’t care, really. If Willow dies, it’s in her will and her family knows.”

  “That’s why there is no lock on the door,” he murmured as though speaking to himself. “What made her think of that?” Tristan couldn’t contain his curiosity but knew he should go and find Willow soon. His look at the door must have given him away, at least a little.

  “Her first agent told her to always protect your investments. In her case, it was her art.”

  He nodded. “Smart.”

  Casey continued. “Willow likes you and is beginning to trust you.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Casey faced him fully. “She allowed you to coddle her, and I bet it was you who told her to have me come over. And, if I’m not mistaken, and I’m not, you have fledgling feelings for her.”

  Tristan pulled back and was going to deny the words but he couldn’t. Instead, he inclined his head in the direction of the door. “I need to check on her before I go.”

  “Absolutely, and I’ll go start us some dinner. I bet the kitchen is reasonably intact because it didn’t have what the thief was looking for.”

  “Her art,” he finished the thought.

  “Right. Your job will be to find out who has targeted her and if possible, why.”

  “Why indeed?” he asked to no one in particular as he followed Casey out of the studio and closed the door.

  The night was calm after the troopers had done what they could for the evening.

  “Are you sure that you don’t want to go into town for a few nights?” he asked Willow.

  “No, we’ll be more comfortable once I get some of these things picked up. The kitchen is good, and the bathrooms weren’t touched so if I clean off one of the sofas and then two beds, we’ll be set for the night. This time tomorrow night things will be as they were before all this chaos.”

  Willow’s over-bright words didn't fool Tristan, but he decided she had had enough to deal with today. He wouldn’t push her. She looked as though she was ready to crumble and he wanted to draw her into his arms and comfort her. He shouldn’t because it wasn’t professional. He wouldn’t because they’d just met. As he prepared to leave, he walked up close to Willow speaking in low tones to her.

  “Give me your cell phone.” He smiled when she shivered and pulled it out of her back pocket. He took it from her and put his number in it.

  “Call me if you need anything. If Casey needs to go home, you let me know.” He had his doubts she would call him at all let alone too much.

  “Really, I’ll be fine.”

  He kept his voice personal and quiet while putting more authority in his tone. The Trooper Hart timbre often got him compliance. He decided to add his raised eyebrow for insurance.

  “You will call me if something else happens or if Casey can’t stay for the next few nights. He paused and then continued when she did not respond. “Say, yes Tristan.”

  Willow crooked the corner of her lip in a little half smile. “Yes, Tristan.”

  He leaned in and handed her cell phone back. “Thank you,” he murmured. “Lock the door behind me.” He traced her bottom lip with his finger and walked out of the house.

  The next day, Tristan’s thoughts kept returning to the dark-headed beauty he had spent considerable time on this week. He was either with her or thinking about her. Willow Ashcroft was quite the package, and he was interested in unwrapping each delectable layer.

  He was determined to make sure she was safe while they found the culprit. If doing his job afforded him the opportunity to slip in a little more time to enhance their friendship, then so be it. Regardless of how it came about, he was determined to get to know her better, much better.

  By the time Tristan found a few moments to check up on Willow, it was midmorning. He wondered if she had stayed up late last night cleaning even though she was tired. He second-guessed his decision to give into her because now, there was no answer on her phone. His heart rate increased at the thought that something was wrong, but he reined in his overactive imagination. Tristan knew she had been working on several community issues and that artists tend to ignore all else when they created.

  He called back and left a message. He sent a text before going to lunch.

  She responded quickly to the text, so she had her phone with her. “Doing well, thanks.”

  He was reassured for the rest of the day and tried calling her again when he went home. That effort gained him a second foray into her voice mail system. It wouldn’t hurt to run by the house, he decided, on his way home. Tristan ignored that his place was ten miles in the other direction. He arrived at an empty house. There wasn’t a car outside, but she might have put it in the garage again. He came up with all sorts of scenarios why she didn’t answer, but he checked the house for security anyway. It all seemed in order so he reluctantly went home.

  After a fifth day had come and gone, with no different response than the first day, he decided to pay a visit to Casey at the Coffee Cache. She actually had a cozy little place for coffee and Danish or homemade soup and a sandwich. The atmosphere was purely Alaskan. Executives sat with fishermen, and even though it was raining persistently, not an umbrella could be found in the room. This was a savvy, hardy lot, these Islanders, and a little rain wasn’t going to stop them. He greeted two men sitting in front of a window as he stopped in the door to stomp off the water on the rubber tire mat.

  “Hey,” called out the fisherman as he looked at Tristan's feet. “I have some Xtra-tuffs at the house. What do you say to me bringing them in for you? You’ll float away in those shoes you have on.”

  “I wish they were part of the uniform, but it’s not. Yet.” Both men laughed as Tristan walked further into the café, carefully removing his raincoat. His uniform hat had plastic over it. From what he understood, the need to adjust the suit to a temperate rainforest was a discussion often engaged in at his office. If he stayed, he would have it out with the higher ups.

  Casey smiled big. “Name your game, coffee or tea, Trooper Hart?”

  “Please, if it isn’t official, it’s Tristan.” He reached for a napkin to wipe his face and smooth his brown hair darkened by the rain. “I know you ladies like your tea, but I’m a coffee drinker, the stronger, the better.”

  “Oh, you think you know us, do you? Well, I’ll have you know that while tea is always right, there are days that nothing beats a good cup of coffee.”

&nbs
p; He smiled. “My apologies. I know you're busy, but if you have a minute, about that very subject of understanding women, one in particular, I’d love the insight.”

  “Listen, this is my place, and I pay the girls to serve and such. I come and help those I’m particular to spending time with, and today, you made that list.” She smiled again and went to get their coffees bringing back two pastries as well. “My soup is done in about ten minutes if you’d like some.”

  “Thanks but no, I have things I need to do. I came because I wanted to talk about Willow. Is she all right? I mean, she only answers my texts with the most minimal of answers. ‘I’m fine,’ is the sum total of it.” He went on to explain his efforts as Casey ate her apricot Danish and drank her coffee. “I’m positive that Willow is avoiding me.”

  “Why would you say that? Just because she answers with two words and won’t pick up her phone or answer her messages? You need more evidence than that, surely,” Casey teased.

  They were silent for a moment as he drank his own cooling coffee. “So, I thought I would come to see you since you’re staying with her. Plus,” he smiled, “I knew where you would be at this time of the day.”

  “I only stayed that first night, helping her clean up. She had things to do the next afternoon, and I had to work the next morning. Jon Matheson’s sister, Amy, came by to find out if Willow was okay yesterday. They’re on some of the same projects together. Her brother, Jon, has had a thing for Willow since high school. It’s actually likely Willow is preoccupied in work.”

  Casey chewed her bite of Danish. “Willow called me and said she was fine. I offered to stay or for her to come in. She told me she had her work to finish.” Casey groaned. “She even did it to me, didn’t she? ‘I’m fine.’ The sneak knew you wanted me to stay, didn’t she?”

  Tristan was quiet as he contemplated the need to administer a good old-fashioned spanking, right over his knee to one naughty little artist’s upturned bottom. She’d avoided him because she didn’t do as he’d instructed. He finally brought his focus back to Casey, and she had a smile on her face.