A Change of Heart (7 page)

Cory ate her dinner and listened to the Langford children chatter away with their great-aunt. A twinge of longing shot through her. Noah and Ceejay’s children were so adorable and sweet. What would it be like to have a family of her own, to have a life filled with happy voices, soccer practices and recitals? She’d never know.

Once they were done eating, Cory cleared the table and cleaned Micah’s face and hands. She and Jenny were in the middle of loading the dishwasher when Noah and his wife walked into the kitchen.

“Mommy. Daddy,” Toby shouted and wrapped himself around his father’s knees. Noah swung his son up into his arms.

Micah fussed and made a beeline straight for his mother. As soon as she lifted him, he laid his head on her shoulder and yawned. Lucinda, a little more dignified, greeted her parents with a wide smile.

“You must be Cory,” Ceejay said, glancing warmly over her son’s downy head. “Welcome to Perfect.”

“Thank you.”

“This is Ceejay.” Noah tilted his head in his wife’s direction. “I see you’ve met everyone else.”

Cory nodded. “Jenny invited me to dinner, so I got to spend
time with Toby, Micah and Lucinda. You have a lovely family.” Ceejay shared Ted’s country good looks and had similar coloring. Although her hair had way more red in it than Ted’s sandy blond, they both had the Lovejoy curls.

“Are you all settled into the carriage house?” Ceejay asked.

Considering all her possessions fit into one cardboard box and one large duffel…there wasn’t really anything to settle. “Pretty much. The apartment is…” Overwhelmed with gratitude, she cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed. “It’s great, and thank you so much for having it all ready for me to move in.”

“Mommy, did you find out if we’re having a brother or a sister?” Lucinda interrupted, placing her hands on Ceejay’s baby bump.

“It’s a girl,” Ceejay announced, threading her fingers through her daughter’s chestnut locks.

Lucinda pumped her fist in the air. “Yes!”

“That’s wonderful news,” Jenny added. “Another little girl for me to spoil and dress up.”

Cory backed toward the sliding doors, ready to make her exit. She had no place in their family celebration. “Thanks for supper, Jenny.”

Ceejay’s brow rose. “You don’t have to rush off.”

“I don’t mean to eat and leave, but it’s been a long day, and I’m tired.” She slid the patio door open.

“Harlen is waiting for me.” Jenny gathered her things. “I’m ready to go home too.” She turned toward Cory. “I’m glad we had the chance to visit. Don’t be a stranger. Come on down to the diner any time, even if it’s just to say hello.”

“I will.” Cory started to slip out the back.

“Wait a sec.” Noah walked to the counter where their phone was situated. He grabbed a pen and wrote something down on
a Post-It. “We have satellite Internet. Here’s the password.” He handed her the paper. “You also have cable TV. It’s included in your rent.”

“But…” She frowned. “I’m not paying any rent right now.”

“You will once you’re back on your feet.” One side of his mouth quirked up. “See you tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” She nodded and left. Noah and his family had no reason to reach out to her, yet they had. She wasn’t used to this kind of generosity from total strangers. Somehow she’d find a way to make it up to them. Letting herself into her new apartment, she thought of things she could do at L&L that were above and beyond her list of responsibilities. She’d throw herself into her work, make that her focus, and everything would be fine.

It took her all of twenty minutes to put the rest of her things away. How pathetic. It had taken her less than half an hour to be completely moved in. Her thoughts knocked around inside her head like rocks in a cement mixer. Noah wasn’t kidding about the quiet.

After constant background noise for most her life, both in the army and in the trailer park, the total absence of sound got to her. Cory made her way to the living room, picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. She didn’t want to watch anything, but the noise calmed her. She snatched her laptop from the table and settled herself in the recliner. After setting up her computer with the password Noah had provided, she checked her e-mail, searching for any news from the law clinic.

Unfit to serve.
Her chest tightened, and her entire being rebelled. The words lodged in her soul like a festering splinter she couldn’t reach. Her inbox held nothing from the law clinic. She made short work of answering the few e-mails she had from friends still in the army and set the laptop aside. It wasn’t even
nine o’clock yet, and she was ready to go to bed. After being so inactive for weeks, following a schedule, learning a new job and being around a group of strangers had exhausted her.

She got ready for bed, set her alarm clock and slipped between the brand-new sheets, her mind straying to thoughts of Ted—the satisfied smile lighting his face after he’d installed the deadbolt, his earnest expression as he gave her the stun gun and pepper spray. If she’d met him any time other than now, would they date?

Her insides clenched, and bitterness brought tears to her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she forced her mind to other things, like defragging all the computers at L&L and reorganizing some of their systems and processes to increase efficiency. Exhaustion tugged at her. She yawned, turned to her side and curled up, slipping into sleep.

Sergeant Barnett pinned her against the back wall, his hand pressed tightly across her mouth and nose. The pungent smell of his sweat filled her with revulsion. She couldn’t get enough air into her lungs, and terror clawed its way up her throat. Don’t panic. Think. You’re a trained soldier! Cory fought, gouging and poking at his eyes with her thumbs, until he was forced to back off. The second he did, she kneed him in the groin.

“Stop, bitch.” His fist connected with her mouth. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. You know you have this coming.”

Her lip split, and stinging pain raced along her nerves. The salty, metallic taste of her blood filled her mouth, and rage turned her vision to hot red. No one had this kind of shit coming. Taking advantage of the momentary freedom, she tried to scream for help. His hand came back to cover her face. She twisted and turned, fought for all she was worth. His second blow caught her right eye,
and her head snapped back against the wall hard enough to make her dizzy. Spots swam in front of her eyes, and the throbbing ache brought tears to her eyes.

The snap of his belt being pulled free from his pants sent panic streaking through her. NO! She went slack, sliding down the wall, feigning unconsciousness in an attempt to get him to follow. If he’d only follow, she could catch him with a head butt.

“I tried to go about this the right way, but no,” he said through gritted teeth. “You wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Bitch, you should’ve put out for me months ago. You don’t know your place, and I’m going to teach it to you today. I own you.”

He backhanded her, but he didn’t follow her down. Dammit. The minute she raised her arms to protect herself, he grabbed her wrists. Still dizzy, in pain and close to passing out, she made a desperate effort to gather her resources enough to fight. Despair and helplessness swamped her.

He flipped her around and used his belt to bind her wrists. She struck out at him with a boot. He grunted, and a flare of triumph bloomed in her chest. A vicious kick to her ribs robbed her of breath, sending more spots dancing around her head. The small bit of triumph dissipated. She couldn’t stop what was happening, couldn’t fight him off bound as she was…

His hands were all over her, tugging at her clothing, rubbing against her bare skin. Disgust and bile rose in her throat at his brutal touch, his unwelcome probing and pinching. His hot, heavy breathing filled the silence as he unfastened his pants. Forcing her legs apart with his knees, he lowered himself…

“
No!
” she cried, flinging the blankets off. Disoriented, she gasped for air, struggling to remember where she was. A cold, clammy sweat covered her body, and a shudder pulsed through
her. Dirty, violated, ugly—all that was good had been hollowed out of her, everything she had been, leaving nothing but rage and fear behind. Nausea roiled through her.

She sat up, swung her legs to the floor and began rocking herself back and forth with her arms wrapped around her middle. Not here. This horror had no place in her new home with its coziness, its magic and healing powers. She clenched her jaw so tight it ached.

Sergeant Dickhead could not have this place. He could not fill the carriage house with his ugliness and violence. He’d already taken so much. She couldn’t let him take this as well. Angry tears coursed down her cheeks as she rocked back and forth. Finally the trembling stopped, and she got up on shaky legs and headed for the bathroom. She turned on the shower to scalding hot, stripped and stepped under the spray.

Scrubbing her skin until she couldn’t take any more didn’t erase the disgust. Her attacker’s filth lived inside her, in a place so deep she couldn’t reach it with soap and a washcloth. Still, she stood under the nozzle, praying the water would wash her clean, trying to shut out the words echoing through her head.

“You tell anybody this was anything other than consensual, and I’ll make sure you never receive another promotion for the rest of your career.” Sergeant Barnett put himself back together. He loomed over her where she lay broken and battered on the concrete floor. “Next time I expect your full cooperation.” He took a step back and studied her swollen and bruised face. “If anyone asks, you tripped and fell into the metal shelving in here. You got that, Corporal?”

Damn him to hell.

Ted sat next to Cory at her desk, close enough to catch a whiff of the soap she used, along with her own unique feminine scent. He drew a deep breath into his lungs and guided her through the shipping process. She smelled so damn good, like fresh air, sunshine and sweet clover.

The week had flown by, and Cory had proven herself over and over. She’d already taken over the web maintenance and ordering, handling both like she’d done the job for months. “We have several trucking companies we work with, and who we use depends upon the region for delivery and their availability.” He brought up the file with the links to the companies they used on a regular basis. “Once an order is completed, you have to check with their dispatchers to see if they have a truck already going to a particular area. Once you choose a carrier, you fill out the paperwork, a packing slip, and let the guys know when the pickup is going to take place. They’ll crate everything up and have it ready to go.”

“That sounds easy enough.”

“It is, but it’s time-consuming.”

She glanced at him. “Have you given any more thought to my suggestions for updating the ordering process? I still think bringing a piece of paper down to a basket on the wall is archaic. We could do it all electronically with a computer or tablets.”

“Uh, no. Let’s keep it as it is for now.” Dollar signs flashed in front of his eyes. Tablets weren’t cheap. “It’s simple, and it’s worked for us up till now.”

“Welcome to L&L.” Paige smirked from her desk. “We like to keep things low-tech.”

“It’s time to update.” Cory’s eyes held a challenge. “There should be a computer in the production area.”

“There used to be,” he told her. “When it was just the four
of us, Ryan liked to keep his desktop in the workspace. Now it’s in his office. We needed the extra room to accommodate the increase in production.”

“What if we mounted a screen on the wall? We could send the orders, and each guy in production could have a separate file. You back everything up, don’t you?”

He took in another breath, savoring the Cory-scented air filling his senses. “Um…you’d have to ask Paige. Technology isn’t really my thing. I know how to navigate the software, and that’s about it.”

“Yes. We back everything up.” Paige raised her eyes from her computer.

“That’s good.” Cory grinned at Paige like they shared some big technological secret he didn’t get.

True. He didn’t get it, and he didn’t care that he didn’t. Ted shifted in his chair. Her nearness, the way she smelled and seeing her grin—it all worked on him until he couldn’t think straight. He wanted more time with her. Alone. “Are you prepared to lose our bet?” She’d be more likely to think the whole thing was no big deal if he opened up the conversation in front of Paige, right? “We can start with my place this weekend.”

Paige straightened, peering at him over the top of her computer screen. “What’s this about?”

“I bet Cory where I grew up is worse than where she grew up.”

“Oh.” Paige laughed. “Ted’s gonna win that one.”

“Don’t count on it.” Cory raised an eyebrow, and her eyes held a competitive glint. “What did you have in mind?”

“Come to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner. The whole family gathers there once or twice a month, and one more mouth to feed won’t make a difference.”

She tensed and averted her gaze.

“It’s no big deal. Jenny and her husband will be there, and maybe Noah, Ceejay and their brood. They prefer to keep their Sundays to themselves, but they do join us every few months or so. If you aren’t comfortable with me picking you up, I’m sure Jenny and Harlen would be happy to swing by for you if Noah’s family isn’t coming.”