THE STARLIGHT HILL COMPLETE COLLECTION: 1-8

by Bell, Heatherly

  She told the girls what she’d discovered about Nikki, after Riley’s admission. Both girls knew about Nikki and how it had all ended with her and Sophia, but she figured this new information would bring to new light their feelings that Nikki was a ‘bad friend.’

  “What a bitch.” Lizzie looked ready to kill the next person who walked in the kitchen.

  “Brand new definition to the words ‘bad friend.’ Holy shit, Soph. I’m sorry that happened to you,” Angie said.

  “She knew how crazy I was about Riley. I talked about him all the time.”

  “Sure,” Lizzie said with a shake of her head. “That made him ripe for pickins’ for someone like her.”

  “Angie!” Raul called out, his voice panicky. “The sauce.”

  “What did you do?” Angie ran to the stove. “What did you do?”

  “I don’t know, it was fine and then I don’t know what happened.” He sent an apologetic look Sophia’s way.

  “It’s Monday.” Sophia felt the need to remind everyone. “You have plenty of time to do another batch.”

  That was another thing they all needed to discuss but maybe later. Sophia whipped through the doors of the kitchen into the dining hall as her cell phone pinged with a text alert.

  Hello beautiful. Riley.

  Swoon. Her breath caught in her throat and she wondered if replying hello handsome would sound too juvenile and contrived. And also, was she going to question every single thing she said when it came to Riley? She’d never done that before. Then again, her relationship with Riley for years had been so restricted. Having no boundaries on communication other than the ones she put in place would be new and interesting. And having him available for months on end with no long separations? Also new.

  She texted back: Hi.

  How original. Okay, she had to stop being so hard on herself. Why had she always had the funniest quips and lines to share with her massive Twitter following but when it came to Riley she was struck dumb?

  Dinner tonight? He texted.

  Was it too soon? Probably, but then again she had no plans other than Facebook and Twitter. Dinner didn’t have to mean they were going to have sex again.

  I’m home by eight. I’ll bring something from the restaurant.

  I was going to cook for you.

  Thanks, I’m not in the mood for soup.

  Ok, but I decide on dessert.

  Deal, she texted back and then slipped her phone in her pocket.

  Dear Lord, she was really dating her husband.

  * * *

  Riley put his cell phone away and stood. The end of another office hours day and he thought he might actually have a paper cut.

  “Was that Sophia you were just texting?” Claire stood in his doorway, a knowing smile plastered on her face.

  Shit, was he that obvious? And damned stupid open-door policy. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Priscilla said she saw you two out Monday night.”

  “Did she also tell you she made a pass at me?” Riley scowled.

  “Yeah,” Claire said with a sigh. “She’s stupid. I don’t even know why I’m friends with her sometimes.”

  “I don’t know either.” He moved to the filing cabinet and stuck a folder in the budget section. “Think about it.”

  “Well, I for one am happy for you, chief. I’m glad I was wrong.”

  “Thanks.” He hesitated telling her she might not be totally wrong yet.

  Sophia had let him back in her bed but he had a feeling her heart was still closed off to him. He could sense it in the way she held back from him last night. Another lover might not have, but he knew her too well. Getting back in her heart’s good graces might take some time. Then again, with how he’d screwed things up, he couldn’t blame her. But time, for once, was on his side. He wasn’t going anywhere.

  Since he didn’t have a patrol shift tonight and Sophia was working, Riley figured he’d drop by Lucy’s and see how much she’d been lying to him the day before. He wasn’t gullible enough to believe that Lucy would tell him the truth. Ever. Certainly not while she was using. He changed into the sweats he kept in the locker room, left his shoulder holster on, and grabbed a jacket. The drive into Napa was backed up with rush hour traffic, but he still made it within forty-five minutes. Then sat in his truck for another thirty minutes watching the house. He couldn’t help it, but he didn’t trust Lucy any longer. She wasn’t making good decisions, her current choice of male companionship being high on that list just below the drugs. When no one came or went, he got out of the truck and made his way to the front door.

  Olga the psychic, as would be his luck, sat on the porch of her house no doubt waiting for suckers to arrive. “Hey, good looking. The rate is half-off this month. New year and people are still paying off Christmas debt. You know how it is.”

  He did not. “Yeah.”

  “Want your fortune?”

  “No. But thanks.” He rapped on the door once. One warning was all Lucy would get from him, then he was in the house. He wanted to surprise her. That was part of the deal. She didn’t have time to cover anything up.

  Olga waved her hand in the air. “Suit yourself, but Lucy’s in a bad way.”

  “It doesn’t take a psychic, Olga.”

  Lucy didn’t open right away, so he let himself inside. For once, the house looked clean. One quick glance and he could see the sink was empty of dishes. A few blankets were folded neatly on the couch. The kitchen table was cleared, save for a newspaper and a pencil nearby.

  “I’ll be right there, babe,” Lucy called out from inside the guest bathroom.

  This was one of the reasons he knocked. “It’s me, Luce.”

  “Riley?” She opened the door a crack. “I didn’t expect you.”

  “That’s kind of the point.”

  “But we just talked yesterday.”

  “Come on out.”

  “Well, geez, I’m kind of busy in here.”

  “I’ll wait.” He took a seat on the couch but stood up after a minute. Too antsy.

  Something wasn’t right despite the orderly scene. He picked up a framed photo on a nearby cluttered bookshelf. Lucy still had photos of the family everywhere. Photos of Lucy and him when they were about four and five respectively, each sitting on a parent’s lap. Dad left the following year, Riley thought, but couldn’t remember exactly. A long time ago, to be sure. He was an asshole, anyway, and the only thing he’d ever taught Riley was what not to do. Mom had tried, at least, but she’d barely lasted through their teenage years.

  Ten minutes later, Lucy emerged from the bathroom. She’d done a lousy job of covering up a black eye with too much make-up and wasn’t fooling him. He reached her in two steps, and put his hand out to brush the hair she’d used to partially cover her right eye out of the way.

  That fucker. “He did this?”

  She pushed his hand away. “Everything was going so well. I don’t know what I did wrong. I cleaned up the place and everything. Anyway, he’s really sorry.”

  “He will be.”

  “Maybe you should just leave and let me handle it. He went to the store to get me some stuff I need. And flowers.”

  “Sure because that fixes everything.” He was so sick of this shit.

  Lucy couldn’t see she could do much better than Dickhead. Why couldn’t she see it? He partly blamed himself since he’d been away so many years. Lucy had been able to let herself go and now strong patterns were set in place. Patterns it could take years to reverse. The front door opened and Numb Skull started to come through it, flowers in hand. He took one look at Riley and did a reverse back out the door.

  Dick was smarter than he looked.

  Riley advanced, following the guy out of the house, ignoring Lucy’s pleas for him to stop. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  The flowers and shopping bag dropped to the ground and before he realized what was happening, Riley’s forearm was across the fool’s neck. “If you ever lay a hand on my sister again, I�
��ll kill you.”

  Riley told himself to relax, to think clearly. He was police chief of a nearby town and had no business getting this excitable over a piece of shit.

  Let him go. Relax, dammit.

  “I am relaxed,” the asshole barely squeaked out and until that moment Riley didn’t realize he’d said that out loud.

  “He’s not worth it!” He recognized Lucy’s voice, clearly calling out to Riley.

  That snapped him out of his rage and Riley’s forearm lowered slowly off the man’s neck. Just in time, as his face had turned red, eyes bulging out of their sockets. He took a deep gasping breath when Riley let go, and slid to the ground.

  “Get up,” Riley growled at him. “And get out before I call the cops.”

  “Go ahead,” he said, rubbing his neck. “I want to see what they say when I tell them what you did to me, Mr. Police Chief.”

  “Your word against ours,” Lucy said from inside the house. “I didn’t see him do anything but escort you outside.”

  “Is that how it is? You’re going to stand up for your brother now?” Dick finally staggered up, taking his flowers and bag with him. “After all I did for you?”

  Riley gave the man a little shove. “Nice knowing you.”

  He ignored Riley, and turned to Lucy. “Ah, who needs you, bitch?”

  Riley walked to the curb to make sure the guy left.

  “This isn’t over,” Dick said from his car his tone low, menacing.

  “Come find me. Anytime you feel like getting your ass kicked.”

  Only when Dick had roared off in his car and turned the corner did Riley feel it was okay to walk back inside. When he did, he found Lucy sitting on the couch, head in her hands.

  “Why do I keep picking such losers?”

  He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Didn’t say a word because he had no answers. He could only hope Lucy would come to her own conclusions this time, because maybe when she did they would mean more to her than someone else parroting what everyone in their right mind could see. It was time for her to move on from this town and start over somewhere, anywhere else.

  He sat with her a few more minutes until it was time for him to go.

  The one true thing Riley had ever been able to count on, whether he’d just returned from a war zone or simply a trip to the PX was that when Sophia waited for him all seemed right in his world. It was how he’d figured out he was in love for the first time. Meeting her at Henry’s, he’d actually thought he might have a casual fling. But within a week he realized he couldn’t live without her. One more and he’d proposed. He didn’t think that kind of a thing happened to anyone but a prissy, pussy-whipped fool.

  Joke was on him.

  She’d come from such a different background and family life than he had that they might as well have been raised on different planets. Either way, she was his from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. He didn’t know how or why he’d gotten so lucky but in this one area of his life everything had sort of fallen together for him. For a while, anyway. Even now, a twenty-nine-year-old man who’d just had his arm across a man’s neck chocking out most of his wind, all he had to do was walk in the door and he knew that Sophia would take him somewhere else entirely.

  She opened the front door. “Dessert will get you in the door, chief.”

  Hershee yipped and Sophia shushed her.

  “Too easy.” He produced a quart of Chunky Monkey.

  “You do know me.”

  He took two steps in the door and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair, and breathing in the unique sweet scent that was all hers. His wife. His woman.

  “Hi,” she said, framing his face with her hands. Her expression went from interested to concerned, her eyes narrow slits. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he lied. “Work stuff.” He’d never shared the ugliest parts of his life with her and wasn’t about to start now.

  He’d always sheltered her as much as he possibly could. Maybe it wasn’t smart and he needed to change that soon. She’d been through a lot herself, even if he’d been the one to put her through most of it. He didn’t want to worry her now. Besides, he could handle Dickhead, threats and all. Neanderthals like him were all talk. Now, Sophia would be a different story. She’d take something like this and make a Federal case out of it. Start lighting candles at St. Mary’s. She took worrying to Olympic levels ever since David and Nikki. Riley couldn’t blame her. At least, he repeatedly reminded himself not to blame her.

  She pulled him to the kitchen table, which she had already set. “I was thinking today that it must be so different for you being in such a small town where nothing ever happens. After everything you’ve been through.”

  “It’s a change.”

  “But it’s okay, right?” She gave him a sideways glance while she moved to serve the pasta.

  Reassurance, he reminded himself. She wanted to know he was safe. This was important to her, and if he didn’t know that by now he didn’t know jack shit.

  He held up his index finger. “I got a paper cut today. High stakes here.”

  Hopefully, that would set her mind at ease. Best not to enlighten her on the fact that every town had drunks, drugs both legal and illegal, and more than its fill of domestic violence. Every dysfunctional family had the chance to become its own little war zone and no town in America was immune to it. He’d visited a family just last week on patrol after a disturbance of the peace complaint. Thankfully, the sight of a uniformed officer on their front step sobered some people up in a hurry. But those kinds of situations could go sideways in a New York minute.

  All things he would never tell Sophia.

  “People aren’t giving you a hard time, are they?”

  “Define ‘hard time’.”

  “You know. Doubt you can do the job. You’re too young and all that.”

  “You heard?”

  “Well, Diana said something. She has to go to those city council meetings for the paper.” She tossed the pasta, then licked some wayward butter off her finger.

  He groaned inwardly since her tongue seemed to have a direct connection to his dick. “People need time to get used to me. It’s all good.”

  “Sure, that’s what I was thinking.” She smiled. “What do you do all day?”

  “Budget stuff, meetings, safety and otherwise. Think of me as a business-man. With a gun.”

  “Is it wrong to find that a little bit sexy?” She handed him a bottle of wine and the corkscrew.

  “I hope not.”

  He opened the Merlot wine and poured for them both. They ate in silence for a few minutes. Once, theirs had been a companionable silence. Comfortable. Tonight he could hear the sounds of his own chewing. Hershee stared at him from her perch on the couch as though she expected an invasion at any time and was preparing to attack at daylight.

  Sophia put down her fork. “Okay. This is weird.”

  “Is it?”

  “Did we ever do this before? Sit at a table and have dinner together?”

  “We didn’t have a table.”

  “Oh yeah. We used to eat on the couch.”

  “Or in bed.” Far be it from him to censor his memories, especially some of the best ones.

  She smiled. “Look at us, all grown up and eating at a real table.”

  “I don’t like to brag, but I’ve been eating at a table for years now.”

  She should have laughed at that but didn’t. Instead her smile slipped and her eyes looked shiny. “You’ve been doing a lot of things without me. For years.”

  Great. Should have seen that coming. Too bad he’d been the one to bring it up. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  “You have a few years that I know nothing about.”

  “I had a whole twenty-one when we met.”

  “That’s different.”

  “I don’t want to talk about most of what I spent those years doing.” Too many deployments. Seeing the world and missin
g her. Wondering why he’d let her go. Regrets. There was no point to them.

  “I want to hear about some of it.”

  “You never used to.”

  “That was before.”

  Before David. She didn’t have to say it. Before she realized what she’d gotten herself into. What she stood to lose. He didn’t say another word, but waited for her next move. It had to be hers.

  “How many deployments after that last one?”

  “Too many.” He pushed the words out. “I got forced dwell time. Pissed me off at the time but it was probably the best thing that happened to me.”

  “Why?” She seemed interested, which surprised him.

  “Too much time on my hands. All that led to some thinking. Some decisions. I was very close to re-upping for another four.”

  He listened as Sophia sucked in a breath.

  “And in the end I didn’t.”

  “You always wanted to be a cop and you never said you’d be a Marine forever.”

  “That’s true, I did say that. I don’t expect you to understand, but something happens on deployments. It sucks you in. At least it did for me. I don’t like losing.”

  “I know.”

  “But I’m home and I’m never going back there again. Do you believe that?”

  “Yes. I believe you.”

  “Good girl.”

  She wouldn’t meet his eyes, and took their plates to the sink. “Were you ever lonely?”

  Like me, seemed to be the end of that sentence. Now they were getting somewhere. He stepped towards her as she stood at the sink, her back to him. “There’s never been anyone else. Not for me.”

  “Never?”

  She hadn’t turned to face him, so he turned her, circling his arms around her waist. “No. You?”

  “My friends think I met men online because that way I could be sure I’d never really get serious with anyone.”

  “Or maybe it’s because you got used to a long distance relationship.” Another thing he’d done to her. Taught her how to distance herself. Good for you, asshole.

  “I never thought of it like that. You and I were different. We had our time together, our reunions, that made up for she separations.”