Summer's Desire (18 page)

He led her
back to the table and was not surprised to see Mindy Sue sitting next to Matt.
They seemed to like each other and he was glad.

“Hi
,
Mindy Sue,” Summer
said.

“Hey guys.
Nice moves on the dance floor,” Mindy Sue enthused. “Oh, I almost forgot. Some woman
named Sheila
called
the office all day.”

Matt turned
pale. Holden swore under his breath and Summer looked at him with her eyebrows
raised. “Thanks for letting me know.” He was going for casual but his voice
sounded gruff.

Summer pushed
her chair back and stood. She leaned over
and whispered
. “I’m going to the ladies room.”

Holden
nodded, his thoughts were on Sheila, wondering what she wanted.

*
*
*
*

Summer
seethed inside as she plastered a smile on her face and made her way through
the crowd. Who was Sheila and why did Holden act like it was nothing when Matt
turned so white? Something didn’t add up and it felt as though a weight was on
her chest. The ladies room was crowded but she just wanted to wash her hands.
The cold water might make her feel better, plus she needed to step away from
Holden for a few. She had no details but something wasn’t right.

Trust was
important to her. She’d known all along that something happened in Texas. That
something just might be named Sheila
,
and t
he more she thought about it the more upset she
got.
Leaving the ladies’ room, s
he battled her way through the crowd to the front door. She needed
to breathe. She felt stifled. The heavy metal door shut behind her. The air was
cooler than it had been all summer
,
and
i
t felt wonderful. She leaned
back against the wooden building and
stared
up at the moon
, which wasn’t
quite
full. She pushed off from the building and wandered over to a swing
, brushing it
off
and s
itting
on it
before
she pushed off
.
L
ife
had been so
simple when her parents were alive. Since then it had been one thing after
another. She missed her parents and she also missed Paul. Paul had been like a
father to her. His murder still made her shudder.

“Hello
,
Summer, long time no
see. Oh
,
I did see you. In a truck?” Brent’s voice sounded evil and the expression on
his face was one of triumph as he grabbed her, pulled her up from the swing and
put his hand over her mouth.

She kicked
and
fought
to get away. She bit his hand but he still managed to drag her
toward his truck. No matter what she couldn’t allow him to put her in
it
. He’d murder her
for sure. Her adrenaline kicked in and she kicked him in the leg as hard as she
could with her heel.

Brent yelped
and loosened his grip to slap her. It was the opportunity she was waiting for.
Screaming
,
she made a run for it. She heard him behind her, but she also saw Gabe
running her way. For being as giant as a refrigerator
,
he ran surprisingly
fast. He ran past her and tackled Brent
.

Denver was
right behind. Once they had him handcuffed, Denver
used his cell phone and
called Holden and then the police.

Relief washed
over Summer but the glaring hate she saw in Brent’s eyes
terrified
her. He’d
had her fooled the whole time they dated.

Holden
sprinted to her side, followed by his brothers and she was never so glad to see
them all. She grabbed Holden around the neck and
couldn’t let go. His
safe strong arms were her haven. He held her
tight
and rocked her until the sheriff showed up.

Sheriff Brown
didn’t seem to be in a great hurry as he ambled over to them. He shook his head
when he saw Brent on the ground. “I thought for sure you had lit out of this
area.” He glanced at her. “Come on, you both are going to jail.”

Summer gasped
and cried out. “No, I’m not
!
I don’t know why you hate me so much but I am not a part of his
crimes. I’m a victim.”

Holden
stepped toward the sheriff, his hands clenched by his side. “We already know
who is behind this. What I want to know is why you didn’t investigate. It was
easy enough to find the evidence.”

“There is no evidence,” the sheriff sneered

“Tell that to the investigator I hired.”

Summer’s eyes
widened. “What evidence?”

Holden turned
and gazed at her. “Paul told his brother
,
Andy he was going to put you in his will. The
bar and grill belong
s
to you.” He gave the sheriff a look of accusation. “The good
sheriff here knew about it and somehow the lawyer never got a hold of you.”

“What?”
Summer put her hand over her mouth to keep the screams in. Paul died because of
her. It was almost too much to take in.

“Some of the
hands where Brent last worked said that Brent suddenly came into some money.
They figure that’s why he quit. Summer had nothing to do with it.” Holden
grasped her hand and drew her to his side. “She’s not going anywhere.”

Sheriff
Brown’s face turned red. “You haven’t proven one thing.”

Colt and
Caleb rounded the corner with Andy Gallagher. They held him between them, their
hands wrapped tight around his arms. He was swearing up a storm.

Summer
glanced up at Holden. “I don’t understand.”

“You will,
honey.”

The sheriff
frowned. “You
O’Malleys
let him go. What do you think
you’re doing?”

Colt spoke
up. “Let me see. How does this work? The killer usually rats out the person who
paid them for a reduced sentence. Isn’t that right
,
Caleb?”

“Happens all
the time. The actual murderer gets less time than the person that planned the
whole thing,” Caleb answered. “Of course it depends on who confesses first.”

Andy’s face
turned red. “I didn’t pull the trigger. I’m not doing more time.”

Brent was
still on the ground, flanked by Denver and Gabe. “Shut the hell up!”

Sheriff
B
rown
called for backup, then he handcuffed Andy. “Hell, Andy, why’d you
have to do it? You’ve been a pillar here in Carlston. I’m finding it hard to
believe.”

Andy didn’t
make eye contact with anyone. It was as though he was suddenly ashamed. “She
had my brother twisted around her little finger. Do you know who built that bar
and grill? My father did.”

Tremendous sadness
and guilt filled Summer. If not for her, Paul would be alive. It was almost too
much to bear. A lump formed in her throat and the back of her eyes burned. Her
heart ached in a way she’d never experienced before. She watched as the
deputies took the two men away. There was no thank you from the sheriff. The
men began to congratulate each other and it was just too much. She burst
into
tears. Holden
held her while she sobbed and she wrapped her arms around his waist. He rubbed
her back and whispered encouraging words until finally she was too drained to
cry anymore.

She let go of
him, embarrassed by her outburst. “I got your shirt wet.”

He bestowed
her with a loving smile. “Sweetheart, it’s all good. Ready to go home?”

Summer hiccupped
and nodded, allowing Holden to lead her to the truck. Her limbs felt heavy and
her head hurt. She couldn’t stop thinking about Paul and his horrible death.
The guilt overwhelmed her. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed
her eyes.

Chapter
Ten

It hurt to
watch Summer. She looked so devastated and Holden wished he could take her pain
away. He thought that catching Brent would be cause for celebration. It was for
everyone but Summer. He could read her pain in her eyes. She’d been quiet the
last two days and that worried him. He sat in the kitchen drinking coffee,
listening to the hum of the vacuum cleaner upstairs. The house never looked
cleaner, she never stopped. She just cleaned and cleaned. She need
ed
to keep busy but
when was she going to stop?

He’d gone to
her bed the last two nights and held her. She no longer cried but she seemed to
need his comfort. Last night she’d had some sort of nightmare and woke up. He
pulled her close and she went right back to sleep. Besides that, he felt
helpless. He wished he knew what to do.

His cell
phone rang. It was Sheila again and he hit ignore. He never should have allowed
that woman into his life.
She
was pure poison and he wished he could ignore her, but sooner or
later he’d have to deal with her
,
again.

Paul’s lawyer
had stopped by yesterday to tell Summer she was the sole owner of the Bar and
Grill and there was a good bit of cash that Paul wanted her to have. She seemed
even more distressed by the news.

E
nough
was enough
,
h
e went outside and
saddled two of his calmer horses. When he came in the vacuum was still going.
Holden marched up the steps and unplugged it.

Summer turned
and stared at him. “Too loud? I can do something else.”

The circles
under her eyes ate at him. “No, honey
,
we
’
re going for a ride.”

Summer
sighed. “I don’t want to go into town today.”

Holden
stepped in front of her and gently put his hands on her shoulders. He gave her
what he hoped was a sexy grin. “No town. We’re going horseback riding.”

She
stared
into his eyes
and gave him a semblance of a smile.

“Good!” He
took her hand
,
led her down the stairs and out the front door. Before she could
object he had her mounted on Links while he jumped into the saddle on Jessie.
They
started out slow and easy. They didn’t talk and she looked as though she was
enjoying herself. She even smiled. The next thing he knew Summer was flying by
him. He admired her riding. He gave Jessie a kick and off they went.

Summer pulled
Links up at the pond. Her smile brightened her whole face. “I guess I won.”

Holden
laughed. “I didn’t know we were racing, honey.” He dismounted and went to get
Summer down from Links. He made sure that her body slid against his as he
lifted her down. A spark of desire flickered so quickly in her eyes he wasn’t
sure if it was wis
h
ful
thinking or
not.

Summer led
Links to the water and Jessie followed. “This was a great idea. Thank you.” She
smiled at him again.

“I’ve been
worried about you. Talk to me, Summer, tell me what
’
s eating at you.”

“I keep going
round and round and I can’t get past the part where I’m to blame for Paul’s
death. I even dated his killer. I try to tell myself that it’s not my fault but
everything inside of me screams that it is my fault.”

He wanted to
put his arms around her, but he wanted her to talk more.

“Paul gave me
a place to live
and
a job. He liked Brent too and he listened to me when I was down.
In fact when Brent broke it off, Paul defended Brent’s reason of our schedules
being too different.”

“Awe, honey,
obviously Brent fooled Paul too. No one that worked with him thought him
capable of murder. It’s not as if you missed any
thing
.”

She stared at
him thoughtfully and was silent for a few minutes. “That makes sense. Why did
he stick around? He must have known he’d get caught.”

“From what I
gathered, Andy
decided
not to
pay him unless
you were dead too
, since you had witnessed
it
.”

“What?”
Summer’s voice squeaked.

“Paul told
Andy he was going to change the will but Paul had already done it. Somehow they
had the idea that you wouldn’t be there or something.”

“That does
make sense. Wednesday night was my night to work a shorter shift. It was busier
than usual, so I stayed and helped Paul.” Summer sighed and sat on the lush
grass.

Holden sat
beside her and pulled her down until he was on his back with her head nestled
on his shoulder. “The main thing is that you are fine and they have been
caught.”