A Promise Of Home (A Lake Howling Novel Book 1) (14 page)

“Saw some birds sitting on your tail rotor when I went for a run, and one shat on your windscreen. Nothing I could do about it; by the time I got out there, they’d done the damage.”

“What!”

Jake swallowed his laughter as Ethan pushed off the counter, no longer the easygoing Texan. If anything riled him and robbed his ability for rational thought, it was anyone touching his helicopter.

“There’s a bucket in the barn, if you want to wash it off, and I’m pretty sure there was no damage done, but…”

The blue eyes narrowed and then he relaxed back onto counter. “Fuck you, McBride.”

Jake’s laugh was low and nasty.

“For what it’s worth, she seems to have your personality traits. Nasty mouth, foul moods, and generally bad tempered,” Ethan said, his eyes suddenly serious.

“Leave it, Ethan.”

“I’ve left it for way too long, Jake. In fact, since I was the one who pulled you out of that makeshift hospital with blood all over you and nothing but emptiness in your eyes, I think I have a vested interest in you, my friend. I also believe it’s time for you to deal with what haunts you Jake, and I think she could help you.”

“I don’t make a habit of agreeing with number five, but in this, I do,” Buster said, who also knew about Jake’s time in Iraq.

“Jake looked to make sure Branna hadn’t suddenly appeared before he spoke. “I don’t need this now, Ethan, I’m dealing with it the only way I know how. The flashbacks are getting further apart, but the dreams are still vivid. I would never inflict that on a woman.”

Ignoring the pitying look on his friend’s face, he walked further into the café. Jake stopped when he saw Branna, because the sight she made was worthy of that, and it gave him time to let the tightness in his chest ease. Seeing her pulled him out of that pit of darkness he sank into when he thought about his time in Iraq.

She was totally unaware of him, hadn’t realized he’d even walked in, which let him observe her undetected. The sun brushed the thick black curls that reached her shoulder blades. He’d never seen it loose, and it made his fingers itch to touch it. The dress was another revelation, and while the cut-offs had his vote, this soft pale green thing was something special. She’d curled her legs under her, and the hem was halfway up her thighs, and Jake wanted to get his hands on her; he wanted to run them over all that exposed skin. Two white top teeth trapped her bottom lip, as her eyes studied the screen of Buster’s laptop.

“Hey, Rosebud.”

Her head shot up, green eyes wide, and then she muttered something and looked at the screen again. But Jake wasn’t fooled; he’d seen the flash of interest. He wasn’t the only one in this, whatever it was. Walking around behind her, he looked over her shoulder. A picture of Buster stared back at him.

“Damn, that man’s ugly.”

“He’s not; in fact, he’s cute.”

Her hands flew over the keys as she tweaked this and adjusted that.

“How about a drop-down there, with different options?”

Her hands stilled and she looked at the screen for a few seconds. “McBride, if you’re good at this, why the hell didn’t you help him before?”

“I offered, we just never got ‘round to it, but I guess there’s no need now, as you’re doing it.”

She worked silently to implement what he’d suggested, and when it was done, he suggested a couple more things. His hands touched her shoulders as he leaned over her and she tensed beneath them.

“Relax, I don’t bite during daylight hours.”

“I’m done; you can move back now.” She’d tilted her head back to look up at him.

“Clever girl, it looks pretty good.” He wasn’t looking at the screen as he spoke; his eyes were focused on her. The soft curve of her lips and the sweet beauty in her face that eased the pain inside him.

“Don’t.”

“Do,” he cupped her chin and closed the distance. It was sweet and brief and ignited him in seconds. She responded, her lips moving beneath his and when he lifted his head, they were both breathless.

“You’re beautiful, Branna Rose O’Donnell.” Running a finger down her cheek, he traced the soft blush that stole into her cheeks.

“Haul ass, Buster, she’s finished!” Jake grabbed the nearest chair as he spoke, and sat it close to Branna, just to unsettle her some more, before dropping into it as his friend appeared.

“She’s made you look pretty, which should get her a lifetime supply of mystery muffins, I reckon.”

“I’m pretty.” Head now beside Branna’s, Buster was soon getting a tutorial on how his new website worked.

“Son, I’ve seen Texan Longhorns that could outshine you,” Ethan said, coming to look at the website too.

Buster snorted. “You’re a Texan; everyone knows how you feel about your cattle.”

They threw insults around between the three of them, while Branna alternated between giggling, which was a sweet little sound that made Jake’s gut tighten, and outrage on Buster’s behalf when both he and Ethan attacked him.

“Don’t listen to these feckin eejits, Buster, you and I both know who the prince among the three of you is.”

“Honey, that hurts right here,” Ethan thumped his chest.

She wasn’t interested in Ethan; Jake could see that by the way she interacted. He’d seen women stop in the streets, their mouths falling open as the Texan walked by, but not Branna, she treated him like she did Buster.

“And now that I’ve had my daily dose of fun and laughter, I must return home and do some real work.” She climbed to her feet and the hem of her dress settled a few inches above her knees.

Hell of it was, he’d just calmed down, but seeing that hem just begging to be raised, was firing Jake up all over again.

“What do you do, Branna?”

“I write.” She picked up her purse. “Books,” she clarified.

“So, it runs in the family? I have to say, honey, I’m a real fan of your dad’s stuff. Have the entire collection,” Ethan said.

“That’s nice.”

“Do you think he’ll be coming to Howling, because I’d be happy to meet him again if he does?”

“Again?” She frowned at Ethan.

“Went to a book signing in Dallas; he’s a real nice man, your daddy.”

“My dad and I…we d-don’t really talk.”

Jake could see Branna didn’t want to talk about her father. She looked cornered, exactly like he did when people questioned him about stuff he didn’t want to share.

“What kinds of books do you write, Branna?” Ethan asked, exchanging a look with Jake she missed. Both Buster and he had noticed her reaction, but the Texan was the elected questioner; he could get anything out of anyone when he used that tone.

“The reading kind.”

“I read, tell me what they are and I’ll buy a couple.” His smile was wide and flashed a mouthful of perfect teeth, as his blue eyes twinkled.

“I don’t write under my name, and you may not like them anyway.” Branna’s words were flat and expressionless. Her fingers gripped the back of the chair Buster now sat in, clearly uncomfortable.

“You’ll pardon me for saying this, Branna honey, but isn’t the idea to get people to buy those books of yours, not put them off?”

The two top teeth worried her bottom lip again. She didn’t want to tell them, but Ethan was making it impossible not to.

“Rosanna Howlling, is my writing name. Howlling with two LL’s” she quickly added. “Now, I have to go, so stop bugging me.”

Ethan raised both hands as if to say he wouldn’t stop her, and with a muttered goodbye, she was gone. Jake watched those long legs disappear around the corner and felt himself relax.

“That girl sure is a puzzle,” Ethan said, moving to Buster’s left shoulder. “And now that I know her writing name, I’m even more intrigued because I’ve read every one of her books, and let me tell you, she’s a rival for that daddy of hers.”

“I’ve read a couple too,” Buster said, bringing up her website.

She was smiling in the picture, and her hair was loose around her head, and Jake reckoned she’d get her fair share of fan mail. They read her bio in silence, and then studied the list of her books.

Buster whistled. “She’s as famous as him, that’s for sure. Funny how she writes the same stuff.”

Jake whistled as he studied the list of books and accolades she’d received.

“Was it just me or did anyone else notice how she froze up when I mentioned her dad?” Ethan asked.

“Noticed it, and I wasn’t even looking at her.” Buster was navigating his way around her website.

“There’s a mystery there, boy.” Ethan slapped Jake on the shoulder, “and I’m commissioning you to unravel it, then tell your friends.”

“Tough job for sure, but I’ll take it.”

Two sets of eyes looked at him.

“Well, well, well, looks like our little boy may have been hooked, Tex.”

“Ha, not likely, but she’s hot and smart, two things that I find hard to resist,” Jake said the words out loud, hoping like hell they were true, because he didn’t want to feel anything else for Branna.

“And maybe she might help you, Jake, and maybe you might help her?”

“Ethan, I’m not sure what, if anything, will help me other than time.”

“You talked to anyone lately? You told me you’d think about it, that it was time to do that again.”

“No, but maybe I will soon, I just need to do this when I’m ready. I know you got that buddy who’s a shrink, and I’ll let you know when I’m ready, I promise,” Jake added.

Buster swung in his seat. “Funny how you’re a doctor and adverse to a bit of doctoring.”

“I’m not adverse; just don’t want my veins sliced open before I’m ready.” Jake thought about the doctor who’d been assigned to him in those first weeks. He’d made Jake open up, and he’d wept and raged, and nearly punched the guy, and at the end of it he’d felt more tired than he could ever remember; he didn’t think he was ready for that again…or ever would be.

“It’s fair to say Branna’s done a hell of a job on my website.” Buster was back to looking at his laptop. “Mystery muffins will be on me for a bit, I’m thinking.”

Jake left The Hoot minutes later and jumped in his pickup, then sat there thinking about what Buster had said.

“Hooked? Ha, no way.” Shaking his head, he started the car and headed for the clinic to see his mother.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Ally knew he was here; she could hear the rasp of his breath and the stench of stale sweat, both were etched in her memory from their first terrifying encounter, but unlike that night, this time there was no escape. He was going to finish what he started, and tomorrow the sun would rise without her.

Branna was wrenched from the story as someone knocked on her front door. “Bollix!” she muttered.

“Branna?”

“In here, Mikey.” She heard the sound of his feet running; the boy rarely walked anywhere. He appeared in the doorway, shirt ripped at the shoulder, dirt on his knees, hair standing on end.

“Good day at school?”

“It was all right, but Miss. Todd put me in detention because I answered one of her questions with too much detail.”

“What?” Branna stood and shepherded him out towards the kitchen. History had told her he would demand food in a few minutes.

“She asked if anyone knew what the word notion meant, and I said I did without raising my hand; she’s real strict on that kind of thing.”

“I used to be big on that too, to be fair,” Branna conceded.

“And then I gave her the explanation, because I knew it.”

Branna had been thinking that she might pay Mikey’s teacher a visit. Just to let Miss Todd know what she was dealing with, and this reinforced it. She’d make the time to call in at the school over the next few days.

“You want some pancakes? I’m starving.”

“Yes!”

They cooked, ate, and she quizzed him about words and numbers, then they did his homework. She’d never had a sibling. In fact, since Belle, Branna had never had to think about anyone but herself. It wasn’t something to be proud of; it was just the way things had evolved after the death of her mother. To cope with their grief, both she and her father had shut themselves away from each other and neither had found their way back, until they’d simply drifted apart permanently.

She had a pain that was dull and deep in her chest that reared its head when she thought about Declan O’Donnell. She’d had no contact with him since that day he’d come to see her at university, and they’d said horrible nasty things to each other. Well, at least she had. It was funny how they’d both chosen to become teachers, and now wrote crime novels, funny and disconcerting, considering they were estranged.

Occasionally, memories of the father she’d once had slipped into her head, the man who had spent hours teaching her how to make a page of writing come to life. But Branna usually pushed them back into that dark place as soon as they appeared; she would gain nothing from remembering. She was better off remembering the cold, hard man who had turned his back on the child who had needed him.

By the time Branna had given Mikey the extra work she’d created for him, and he’d cycled off, she was ready to pull on her and the smells around her. It also gave her plenty of time to think, unfortunately, most of her thoughts were occupied with a dark-haired man, who was far too disturbing.

CHAPTER NINE

He arrived on foot; the sound of his shoes crunching on the gravel of her driveway alerted Branna that someone was approaching. Wearing worn shorts and T-shirt, as usual, Jake kept walking until he was at the edge of the garden.

“Ethan would have come, but he’s star struck now and doesn’t think he could get a word out without stuttering.”

Branna stayed kneeling in the dirt, which as he’d walked closer, was the wrong move because he was now towering over her.

“I’d hoped to avoid something like that,” she said. “Him being such a delicate little flower and all.”

His laugh was deep and unrestrained, which told her he was in a better place than some of the others she’d seen him in.

“Your arm up to gardening, Rosebud?”

“Yes.”

“If you don’t give it the proper rehabilitation, you could be wearing that brace for longer.”

“I thought you gave up being a doctor, McBride?” She’d touched a nerve, because his left hand fisted briefly, and his good mood started to slip.