Picnic in Someday Valley (Honey Creek #2)(69)

“Sounds like a plan.” Colby strapped on his helmet. “You got a soft heart, old man.”

“Don’t tell anyone or I’ll tell the locals you’re in the Hells Angels. The last one who came through here slept with half the wives in town. All the husbands will take it out on you.”

Colby waved as he headed up the back road. He climbed up a road no car could have managed, then crossed through the trees and came out with a clear view of Someday Valley. The beauty of the place shocked him. Close up, the houses and trailers were old and in need of repair; but from far above, the town seemed peaceful, sleeping in nature’s arms.

If Brand had been keeping an eye on Marcie, this would be the place to see all. From this point he could see the entire valley, and it was a straight devil’s ride down to the last trailer in the park. Piper told him that was where Marcie had lived. Last trailer near the tree line.

He’d heard that Marcie moved to Honey Creek, but the last trailer in the park was where she grew up. When people are frightened, they run. He needed to know where she’d run to and make sure he got there before the creep, Leon, did.

Reason told him she’d never come back here, but people do strange things when they are afraid. He pulled out his binoculars and watched for a while.

When he walked back to his bike, Colby called Piper’s office and her cell but she didn’t answer. He left messages, then headed back to Honey Creek and drove around for a while looking for that ugly old van of hers.

This weekend was starting out to be a rerun of last week. It seemed he came home to play hide-and-seek with the mayor again.

After he’d left Brand’s ranch he’d called Widows Park, and Piper’s grandmother had told him Piper was at the church in a meeting. He’d guessed it would be over by now, but maybe not. He drove over to the church and parked in the back beside her van.

Half an hour later, she walked out the back door of the church and waved, but she didn’t smile. Several people darted to their cars to avoid the wind, but Piper slowly walked over to him and merely stared at him.

He’d forgotten how beautiful she was. He loved that she always wore high heels, even if she did take them off every chance she got. He also loved how her chestnut-colored hair danced along her shoulders. His mother was going to love her. A classic beauty, she’d say. They had a long way to go before he took her home to meet the family, but he could see it in their future.

When he took her back home, Mom would make them sleep in separate bedrooms and his dad would wink and say Colby got lucky finding a girl like Piper. Of course he’d have to explain that they were just dating. She’d never mentioned anything more. Lover didn’t seem to mean mate and lately he wasn’t sure he even fit in the lover category.

As she neared, he silently swore that the next time he came to Honey Creek, he’d drive his car so they’d have some privacy when he kissed her hello. The need was so strong he thought about ignoring the other people. He wanted to start with light kisses tasting her skin, then when he finally reached her mouth, he wanted one long, deep kiss.

When he swung off the bike to kiss her cheek, she backed a foot away.

Like a daydreaming fool, he didn’t notice she wasn’t smiling until she was three feet away.

“Evening, darlin’.” He grinned without taking his sunglasses off. He didn’t want to talk about his black eye. In truth he didn’t want to talk at all.

Piper put her fists on her hips. “I thought you were coming in Thursday.”

Colby felt the urge to duck. For a moment he couldn’t form words, which made him look like he was trying to think up a lie. “I had lots to do. A bad wreck Thursday night on I-35. After that, paperwork and interviews to try to make sense of it all.” He couldn’t tell her what or who he was interviewing out here with people so close, all acting like they weren’t listening.

To his shock, she turned around and walked away.

Five minutes later, when she pulled into the Widows Park driveway, he was right behind her.

Now, Colby was plain mad. “What is going on, PJ?” He climbed off the bike and met her before she got out of her van. “First, you ask me to come home and now you don’t talk to me.”

“I wanted you to help Marcie, not me. I can take care of myself.” Piper closed her eyes and lowered her voice. “Thank you for coming down to help. I understand you’re probably worried about me, but the more I think about it, this ‘me and you’ thing won’t work. You remind me of an old jack-in-the box I had as a kid. I never know when you’re going to pop up.”

“You’re breaking up with me?” He kept his voice low when he saw three white-haired ladies watching from the window ten feet away.

“Were we ever together?”

She stared at him a moment with those dark green eyes and added, “Maybe we were just two people caught up in passion. I’m independent. I don’t need any man to take care of me. You were there for me six months ago when Boone Buchanan tried to kill me, but that was just part of your job. I’m all right now and I don’t need a knight in shining armor following me around waiting to be the hero. You did a good job and you got your Texas Ranger badge and I went back to my job, being mayor. Our lives don’t fit together.”

Colby had never wanted to hold her so badly. His darling PJ had on her professional mask. She’d face any storm head-on, and right now he seemed to be the storm. When they’d talked before, she’d been frightened for her friend and she’d turned to him. But between then and now she seemed to have found her footing.