Picnic in Someday Valley (Honey Creek #2)(7)

Marcie Latimer curled up on an old leather couch at Brandon Rodgers’s small ranch house and cried while he checked on one of his mares about to foal in the barn. He’d turned on the lights and lit a fire before he’d left, but her world still felt cold and dark.

In her mind she kept envisioning what would have happened if Brand had not come back to her trailer. If he hadn’t stopped the drunks.

Her body shook with fear. They would have hurt her and then called her names. They would have threatened her if she said anything about what they’d done to her. It was her word against all theirs. One would probably tell her to forget what happened; after all, she wasn’t really hurt, just bruised a bit. Another would whisper that he’d be back for seconds.

She couldn’t remember when she’d been so tired. Bone weary all her life would probably be carved on her headstone. She saw no way out, just day after day of trying to survive. She’d been burned by her last boyfriend so badly, she’d never even wanted to try loving again. She was a grown woman, but tonight she felt like a child huddled in the woods, shivering and afraid.

When she heard Brand’s boots stomping across the porch, she pretended to be asleep. She couldn’t stand the thought of him asking questions. She’d seen worry in his brown eyes at the bar. She didn’t want to see pity now.

He stepped inside, removed his muddy boots, and came straight toward her.

Marcie couldn’t breathe. She thought she could trust him. Suddenly she wondered why. Maybe she never heard of him dating because he killed all his girlfriends and buried them out by the barn. Maybe he wanted what Joey and his friends wanted, all to himself.

As he leaned toward her, she balled her hands, then realized what chance did she have in a fight? He’d taken on five men. Running seemed her only answer. But where? In the dark she’d never find the main road, much less her way back home.

His big hand grabbed the quilt on the back of the couch and lifted it.

Suffocation? That’s how he’d kill her. He’d never been very friendly, and now he probably thought putting her out of her misery was being kind. She was simply a wounded animal no one seemed to want around.

As he straightened, he floated the quilt over her. Like a cloud it drifted down, adding a layer of warmth.

Marcie took in air and opened her eyes slightly. As usual, her imagination had taken over. Brand was just a man helping out someone in trouble. She thought of him as someone she knew from school years ago. No one special. Barely remembered.

She watched him walk away from her. He turned the dead bolt, lifted a shotgun from a shadowy corner, and checked that it was loaded before putting it back. Then he turned off all the lights except the lamp by the couch.

“Good night, pretty lady,” he whispered as he reached the hallway.

“Good night,” she answered in a voice he’d never be able to hear.

The fire slowly died and sleep finally came to her. Even a broken heart has to rest.





Chapter 5


Piper


Mayor Piper Mackenzie pulled the key from a nail just above the back door of the Honey Creek Café. The only sound at the closed café, on the edge of town, was the lapping of the river almost spilling over its banks.

“My cousin reminds me regularly where the extra key is so we can use the bedroom upstairs if you ever come home.” Piper laughed. “I think she’d like to have you in the family someday.”

He stopped nibbling on her ear long enough to ask, “You’re not sleeping here? Every night I imagine you here, waiting for me to make it back.”

“No, I’ve been staying at Widows Park since you left. I guess cuddling with all the old dears isn’t near as sexy. Lately they seem to need me more.”

“I need you,” he added, then pulled a few inches away. “Are all the old girls okay?”

“Yes, except for a cold or two. I just get lonely here without you, and they love having me around.”

Colby hugged her. “I try to make it back, but I swear one, or both, of your brothers have something they think I have to check out every weekend. If I didn’t know better I’d say they were trying to keep us apart. They both protect their little sister like grizzly bears.”

“I’m not surprised. They like you, Colby, but they think no man is good enough for me. Between them they’ll make you a great Texas Ranger, but they’ll have to get used to the idea of you being their little sister’s boyfriend.”

“I’ll try my best to do the job of ranger. I feel like I’m learning in double time.” He laughed. “As for being good enough for you, I’ll try real hard, Mayor, but you’re the only one who can judge my progress. How about we leave your brothers out of what’s between you and me? There’s not enough room in the bed.”

They both laughed as they opened the café door and ran up the back stairs to their lovers’ hideaway. The little room she’d once used to spend time alone was waiting for them.

She needed to hold him, touch him, taste him, and it seemed he felt the same way. They hadn’t talked of love and commitment, but she knew he’d always feel this way about her. He’d saved her life. He’d made her feel wanted and needed. He made her laugh.

Tomorrow he’d talk about his training as a Texas Ranger, and she’d tell him all that was happening at city hall, but right now all she wanted to do was make love to her man.