Rescued (A McKenzie Ridge Novel Book 1) (16 page)

On the way to town, Dawson made a quick call to Lou to let her know that he stepped out for a quick trip to town, explaining Sam didn’t want to bother anyone. Lou assured him that they would watch over things from a distance, but she was planning to leave soon herself, to drop Ellie off at the stables for riding camp, so they wouldn’t have to worry about a thing until closer to the dinner hour.

At Baker’s, he made sure to grab Ellie’s favorite donut along with all of the other goods he was gathering, it would make a fun dessert, sure to get her excited. As much as he loved alone time with Sam, he looked forward to Ellie coming home after camp and barbequing dinner for his girls.

His girls
, he loved the sound of that, it felt good, felt right. He had a family again, a sense of belonging, people to take care of. If anyone asked him a year ago, or even six months ago, if he wanted a family, he would have laughed right in their face, but now? Now it was all different, he didn’t know he wanted a family again, until one rushed into his life and took over his heart.

***

He arrived at the house, arms loaded with sweets, finding the gang in their typical gathering place, the mess hall. A quiet day, with maintenance and cleaning up to par, they were happy to have a visit from their missing link, and of course delighted by the delectable sugary treats in tow. After some quick banter and catching up, he brought up the real reason he stopped by.

Not worried about the ears around listening in, he began to question Blake and Morgan about Rene, what they knew about her and what they could find out. He shared the odd encounter the day before, where Morgan was present and added her two cents. Although nothing specific stood out about Rene’s behavior, nor was it threatening, it struck her as odd, too, and she agreed, it couldn’t hurt to look into her past and get a better idea of who their mysterious neighbor really was.

Being Colton, the eternal optimist and believer in innocence until proven otherwise, he chimed in with a contrary opinion. “Why so suspicious, it just sounds like she was having a bad day to me, isn’t she friends with Sam? Maybe she’s just lonely, or even a little jealous?” The voice of reason settled around the room.

“I hear you, Sparks, but with everything that has been going on lately, the odd behavior just stands out. Look, maybe she was just having a bad day, but I can’t shake that feeling that there is something more to this, and her familiarity is stumping me.” Dawson shot back, understanding that this could be nothing, but wondered if it could be something.

Feeling his sense of frustration and perhaps a little unease, his partner Carigan had his back and supported his position. “There is that odd familiarity that we all have agreed on, and there
have
been a lot of odd circumstances since her arrival. I hope it was just a bad day, but what if it was more, shouldn’t we at least look into it? Peace of mind and all?”

“I think she’s weird!” All eyes shifted to Jessie and her brutal honesty. If nothing else, you always knew what she thought and where you stood, even if it wasn’t flattering. “What? She is. She never goes anywhere, always holed up in that horse barn, it’s like she doesn’t like people or something, and when she is around, she’s always watching, its creepy.”

Silence lingered as they processed Jessie’s frankness, and realized maybe there was a little mystery to her behavior that none of them had really noticed. “Your silence basically says I’m right, you’re welcome, mystery solved. She’s strange, a creepy people watcher,” Jessie finished, before adding her last bit of bitch, “I bet she had one of those scary lairs and does who knows what in it, like on those TV shows.”

Jessie’s observation of Rene didn’t make Dawson feel any better, even if part was in jest, in fact that nagging in his gut was getting stronger; Jessie may be on to something. “What do you think Morgie, you probably know her best, you are down at the stables a lot.”

Not wanting to stir the pot, but beginning to feel that same heaviness Dawson was, she shifted to cop mode and laid out the facts, or assumptions, as they may be. “I have to echo Sparks a little, in that she could just be lonely, and seeing Sam surrounded by support, maybe jealous?” This wasn’t a far-fetched idea, in fact it made the most sense considering the absence of evidence of any kind.

“She is kind, amazing with the kids, but I can’t overlook that there really isn’t anything else about her that I can share. Thinking about it, I don’t really know anything about her, other than what I just told you. She is a bit of a loner.” Acknowledging that she was a
loner
was a red flag in cop world, why was she a loner? What was she hiding, if anything? Why was she so damn familiar to everyone?

“Look, I don’t have anything to justify something official. Jessie not liking someone isn’t evidence, Jessie doesn’t like anyone, but I can’t ignore that there is something to look at. Lets at least find out who she is,” Blake said, settling the conversation. It wouldn’t hurt to see who Rene Garcia really was and where she came from.

***

Sam felt Dawson’s absence immediately and giggled at herself for such. For perhaps the first time in her life, she desperately craved a relationship. Sure, as a child she wanted more of her mother, but quickly learned affection and attention from Bette Morrison was about as likely as being raised by a pack of wild wolves.

She was okay with that, though, especially when Granny Lou and Evie came into her life. She loved them dearly, but they were a given, proven, rock solid family. Dawson wasn’t a promise, just a desire, and boy did she desire him. She felt safe, cherished even, with him.

She adored the relationship developing between him and Ellie, that was her only hesitation; she worried about her baby’s heart, should he change his mind about them. Would he get bored with her, with them, when things were back to status quo? Would family life be too much for the lifelong bachelor?

Loyal. If Dawson had shown her anything these past several months, through all the trials and tribulations along the way, it was that he was loyal. That loyalty and compassion he had, told her over and over that she could trust him, count on him, be with him. She was in too far now, imagining life without him now, pained her. Yes, her desire, that craving, was deeply rooted in her heart, clear to her soul, and she was going to let her heart run with it, despite what her mind had been telling her for months. Dawson was hers.

With time to kill, and a bit of privacy for a change, Sam decided to pull out her laptop and do what she had been dreading—pay bills and go over her finances. Granny had taken care of the basics while she was “asleep”, but it was time to assess the damage and make a plan. She had a small savings and disability from the hospital, but she knew this was going to make things a little tough for a while. A couple months in the hospital on a single parent’s income was about as affordable as a five star trip to Spain on a private jet.

Her car was easy, it was a total loss and completely resolved by the time she came to, she just needed to find a new car. There was no rush on that front, though, since she was still sporting a bum leg and not cleared to drive just yet.

A roof over their heads was priority one. She hadn’t received a single call from her mortgage company, they were obviously aware of her situation and kindly cutting her a break she thought, but that wouldn’t last forever, so that needed to be her first order of action. She opened her laptop that was propped against her nightstand and logged into her mortgage account with her lender. Checking it multiple times, cross-referencing her balance due with the payment history, she was baffled by what she found.

Her balance was current, payments had been made and she was three weeks from her next payment. Was there an error? Her checking and savings reflected something different, she hadn’t paid a dime, so how was this possible? Had Granny paid her mortgage and not told her? Why would she do that knowing Sam would figure it out? Besides, Granny couldn’t afford to manage her mortgage in addition to her own expenses.

She looked up her account with the hospital next. Interesting, paid in full, as of the day Sam was discharged, not a dime owed. After checking all of her other basic household expenses, and a quick call to Granny, she found that Gran had only paid what she said, and those balances were reflected on Sam’s bank account—utilities, cell phone, camp for Ellie, all accounted for, nothing regarding the mortgage payments or a behemoth hospital bill.

Something wasn’t right, thinking back to her conversation with Gran, she had mentioned that every time they spoke to Beth, at the hospital, she said there was nothing due at that time and she would be in touch should a problem arise. Granny Lou had assumed it had to be an exception, since Sam was an employee, but no balance at all? They just weren’t that generous, it’s a hospital after all.

Completely stumped and even a little annoyed or frustrated, Sam called the mortgage company. They assured her that her account was current, all payments made, on time, and it wasn’t a mistake. She asked how, but the representative wasn’t able to answer without more research on her end because all that was noted on her account was that her payments were made with a credit card, with the reference “Tayler”.

Sam reluctantly hung up, anxious for a call back. She hadn’t made those payments, even if the reference was Tayler. Impatient as ever, she decided to try her luck with Beth, from the hospital business office, surely she could shed some light on this odd situation. They exchanged pleasantries, Sam shared the progress she was making in her healing journey, before cutting to the chase. Beth went silent at Sam’s question, who paid her account off. Beth stumbled over her words and gave as vague an answer there ever was, she said it was paid in full, lump sum, anonymously. After light banter, Sam conceded, maybe the mortgage company would shed some light on her dilemma. Who would have done this? She didn’t know a single soul with that kind of money.

***

Sam hobbled to the bathroom for a shower, something she had mastered on her own, as well as being able to keep the contraption on her bad leg dry during the shower process. After a quick rinse and changing into comfy clothes, hair done, and even a little lip gloss, she made it back to her bed just in time to see the email from the mortgage company come through. She had just opened it when her phone rang—Dawson.

Dawson was getting ready to leave the gang and wanted to know if she needed anything before he headed back with their breakfast. She giggled and mentioned something about breakfast and needing something other than fritters. Her playfulness and flirting started a sexy back and forth of what exactly they were craving and wanting instead of fritters.

A chill ran down her spine as she began to read the opened email, and her heart sank as she read what was in front of her, while listening to Dawson’s almost dirty talk on the other end of the phone. The attachment to the email was copies of the charge slips that had made her monthly mortgage payments; it was Tayler alright, Dawson Tayler.

“Son of a…“ She half shouted in irritation.

On sudden alert, he quickly questioned her. “Sam, what is it, is everything okay?”

“It was you. You did all this, why?” Disappointment flooded her words, and he didn’t miss it at all, what had she thought he had done?

“Sam, help me out here, I don’t know what…“

“You paid the hospital too, didn’t you?” She accused, feeling insecure and embarrassed almost that he had paid her bills for her.

Oh, that, not expecting her to find out, much less question him in the middle of a fun game of phone sex, he quickly tried to find the words to dig him out of this. “Yes, I did. I wanted to help. I overheard Beth talking to Lou and Everly one afternoon and I figured it was something I could help with when I couldn’t help you with anything else, at the time.”

“It wasn’t your responsibility, you hid it from me, what the hell were you thinking? You know it will take me
years
to pay all of that back to you!”

“I don’t want your money, Sam, that’s not why I did it. I did it because I wanted to lift the burdens you would be facing, to make sure you and Ellie would be okay. I don’t want the money back, I don’t need the money.” He knew he was in deep right now and revealing his finances and ample wealth he inherited probably wouldn’t make this go over any easier, but he was going to lay all the cards on the table. Here was his chance at the truth, clean slate, so they could move on together.

“Of course I have to pay you back, Dawson, we are not your responsibility, you earned this money long before you met me…“

“Sam, I don’t need the money, my family…my family had money, lots of it, and I was the only remaining heir. I don’t even have to work, but I do. I couldn’t live off that money, and think of them every time I spent it. Taking care of you, and El, that was the first time I even touched it.”

“What? Secrets already, awesome. You crossed the line Dawson, you have no obligation to us, we aren’t your responsibility, and we aren’t your family!” Regretting her words as soon as she said them, she paused trying to figure out a way around this. She wanted him, not his money.

Before she could say another word, she noticed smoke billowing in, below her door, long before she smelled it. What the hell? She rushed to the door, phone still in hand, and felt it with the back of her hand, it was hot, shit, there was a fire.

He continued, unaware of the events unfolding on the other end of the phone, “You’re wrong, you are my family and I do take responsibility for you, Sam, I did this because even then I knew I loved…“