Rory (3 page)

It was at that point he’d put on
his socks. He glanced over at the bookshelf and slipped on his reading glasses.
The clock said it was close to seven. Next to it sat a photo of Ryan and Cass.
He’d been the person who’d taken it, right after they’d announced their
engagement. He swallowed. Ryan had been such a good looking young man. They’d
been so happy together. He could understand why she’d felt the need to leave
Timber Creek so suddenly, and the reluctance never to return, even for
something joyous like a wedding.

Wincing as he sat up, he guessed
it was time to get ready to head to the hospital. He stood and walked over to
the kitchen area. Didn’t look like she had a coffee maker, and right now he was
craving an early morning cup of
joe
.

He opened a cupboard and looked
around for any sign of even the instant stuff, but what he found were more
unpaid bills. He’d take care of them without Cass knowing because she had more important
things to worry about right now. His cellphone rang. He walked over to the bed
and picked it up noting it was Shane calling.

“Howdy Sheriff Malone,” he said.

“Howdy yourself.
Just wanted to
check that you arrived okay, and to see how Cass’s doing.”

“I made it here and she’s doing
as well as you can with a busted leg. I’m going to insist she comes back to
Montana with me though. The place where she’s been living is definitely not the
Ritz.”

“I know everyone’s going to love
seeing her again.”

“Hey, you found out anything from
the Tacoma police about the hit and run?”

“The officer in charge said to
call him back later today, why?”

“I want to make sure that son of bitch
is punished.”

“I’ll see to that don’t you
worry. Oh, and Flynn said not to worry about the ranch, he and Natalie have
everything under control.”

“That’s good to hear. “

“Okay buddy, I have to get to the
office, but call us with updates on Cass.”

Rory pressed the end call button.
Maybe he’d forget about searching for the coffee and find a coffee shop on the
way to the hospital.

****

Cass pushed the oatmeal around in
the bowl. She’d tasted a lot worse, but when the nurse had told her a police
officer had called and would be by to speak with her about the accident, she’d
suddenly lost what little appetite she had. Not that it would hurt her to lose
some weight. Now she was out of the fog of being run down, and her head had
cleared of the anesthetic, she was pretty sure she remembered the car speeding
up toward her as she got to the middle of the crosswalk. It hadn’t been an
accident, and that’s why they hadn’t bothered to stop. Was it just a warning or
had they intended to kill her? What if they came back to finish the job?

She jumped when she heard someone
tapping on the door. She looked up thinking the worst, but it was Rory carrying
a container with what looked like two coffee containers and a bag with a coffee
shop logo splashed across its side.

“That does not look like the sort
of thing anyone should be eating,” he said glancing at the bowl of oatmeal.

“Nope, I agree with you.” She
pushed it to one side, and he placed the drink and food on the table in front
of her.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so
I got you a latte with all the trimmings and a blueberry muffin,” he said
reaching into the bag. He pulled out two oversized muffins, took one and sat on
the chair by the bed.

He bit into it. “Not as good as
Mom’s but
it’s
pretty close.”

She really didn’t have any
appetite, but after he’d gone to all this trouble the least she could do was
nibble on it.

“How’s your mom these days?”

“She’s doing
good
.
You probably didn’t know, but she had a heart attack last February and had
bypass surgery in July.”

“Geez, I’m so sorry to hear
that.”

“She’s fine now. You know how
tough she’s always been.”

Marie Malone. If only she had
half that lady’s iron might, she’d do just fine with the rest of her life.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to
either of Shane or Flynn’s weddings, but I had to work.”

It was a lie. She didn’t. But,
one, she didn’t have the money, and
two,
it would have
broken her heart to see a Malone wedding. Like the one fate had denied her and
Ryan.

“I hope their wives are both nice.”

“Two wonderful
women.
And Shane’s now a dad to a son, named Liam. And Flynn and his wife…who I should
say is Emily’s real mom.”

“Her real mom, wow.”

“Yeah, it’s a long story, but you
can guess how excited Emily is to have two parents now, and Flynn and Natalie
are expecting a baby which is due the first week of December.”

Cass set her head back. So much
had happened with the
Malones
.

“Well, you’ll be able to meet all
the new members of the family when you get to Timber Creek.”

Had she heard right?

Rory Malone had a way of sneaking
things into a conversation that you weren’t aware of, and then you’d either
agreed or hadn’t put up any protest until the deal was a done one.

“I have to get back to my job,”
she said.

“Not until you’re back on your
feet, literally,” he said. “As soon as the doctor gives you the okay, you’re
coming back with me to Montana to recuperate.”

“But I…”

“Won’t say any more about it,” he
said.

Right now she wasn’t going to
argue with him. It might be safer for her to hide out in Montana for a while.
Sure she’d be surrounded by memories of her dad, Ryan, and… no, she wasn’t
going to cry again.

“Would you do me a favor and
brush my hair for me?” she asked Rory. She could imagine how she looked today.
Yesterday had been bad, and now after she’d had a rough night, she could
imagine that it was a tangled mess.

He picked up the brush she’d had
the nurse place on the nightstand, and within seconds he was pushing it through
her hair and letting the curls fall across her shoulder. He was so gentle even
with those big hands of his. Weathered and calloused like the real cowboy that
he was. His index finger brushed her face, and she closed her eyes. It had been
so long since she’d been touched. One on one contact with another human being…a
man like Rory.

She jumped again when someone
else knocked on the door. It was a man she’d never seen before, and she went
cold.

“Hi, Miss Perkins, I’m Detective
Harry Knight with the Tacoma Police Department. I wonder if you’re up to
answering some questions about your
accident?
”

Chapter Four

Maybe he’d hung around Shane too
much, but he had the niggling suspicion that there was something Cass wasn’t
telling the detective about what happened the night she was run down.

She picked at the bandage on her
arm and then began twisting her hair around her index finger. He’d felt her
actually jump when the policeman had knocked on the door.

He crossed his legs and observed
her some more as Detective Knight took more notes and asked more questions.

“You’re pretty sure it was a
green car?” he asked her for the second time.

“Yes, I’m almost sure that was
the color.”

“Did you see it approaching you?”

“I think I did.”
More twirling of her hair.

“Did it seem to speed up or
what?”

“I can’t remember. I just knew I
didn’t have time to get out of the way.”

“And did you happen to see if it
was a man or woman driving?”

Cass shook her head and then
returned to picking at her bandage.

“You have anyone that might want
to hurt you? Maybe had an argument with a co-worker, boyfriend, anything like
that?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend, and I
get on really well with everyone at work.”

More hair
twirling.

Rory took a deep breath.
Something wasn’t right. He looked at her face some more. If he was any judge,
her black eye looked like it was an older injury compared to the rest of the
abrasions on her face.

“Well, if there’s anything else
you can remember here’s my card and be sure to call me.”

He set it down on the tray table
by her bed.

“I will.”

Rory stood. “My brother is
sheriff in Timber Creek County in Montana.”

“That’s right,” said Detective
Knight. “I spoke with him yesterday.”

“You’ll keep him updated on any progress
you make on this case?” asked Rory.

He nodded.
“Absolutely.
And I’m taking a guess this will be like other hit and runs; whoever did it
starts to feel guilty and turns themselves in.”

Rory glanced at Cass. Now she was
biting her lip.

Rory walked Detective Knight out
into the hallway, said goodbye, and then headed back into Cass’s room. He
wasn’t going to raise his suspicions to the policeman, but Cass was certainly
going to be questioned.

“Is there something you’d like to
tell me?” he asked.

Her cheeks suddenly had a rosy
hue.

“If you didn’t want to tell him
the truth about the accident, you can tell me.”

“I have told the truth.”

He sat down on the bed and took
her hand. “Call me nosy if you like but I saw some letters demanding money for
unpaid bills.”

“I’m almost caught up.”

“You don’t have to worry because
I paid them.”

“I don’t want you to take care of
me. I don’t need you to take care of me, okay?”

She tried to pull her hand away,
but he had a strong grip on her.

“Hey, hey, Cass, look at me. This
is Rory; we were going to be family. Hell, I still consider you family. We help
one another out when we need to. However, if you’re that uppity about it you
can pay me back.”

She nodded. “I’ll do just that.”

“But I want to know if you owing
money
is
somehow connected to your accident.”

She shook her head.
 
He hoped she was telling him the truth.

“That’s all I wanted to know
because I’m taking you back home and I don’t want trouble following you there. You
understand what I’m saying?”

Another nod.
“Now if you
don’t mind I’d like to go to sleep for a bit,” she said.

“No problem. You get some rest
and I’ll do some sightseeing, and maybe when I get back we can find something
fun to watch on TV.”

****

She was more like her father than
she ever wanted to be.

“Have you been drinking today,
daddy?”

He’d shake his head just like
she’d done to Rory. Her father had always given himself away with the smell of
booze escaping from his lips. There was no such thing to give away her secret,
but she’d learned one thing from her dad. If you didn’t verbalize a response,
it couldn’t truly be construed as a lie.

Cass bit her lip, wishing that
her damn leg wasn’t harnessed up so she could bury her face in the pillow and
have a good cry, over not only getting herself into debt, but not coming clean
with Rory. It was for his own good because she didn’t want him doing anything
silly and getting himself in any trouble like his brother had done.

****

Rory returned to the hospital a
few hours later and tiptoed into Cass’s room. She was still asleep, so he sat
down in the chair and pulled out the magazine he’d just purchased. He’d met
with Cass’s doctor out in the hallway and assured him that he’d be taking good
care of her once she left the hospital.

He turned the page of the
magazine, swearing under his breath when it made a crackling noise. Cass
stirred and wrinkled her nose a little. Cutest nose he’d seen. But then every
part of Cass was attractive. She opened her eyes, looked at him and blinked
rapidly, almost as if she’d forgotten where she was.

“You have a nice nap?” he asked.

“I guess there’s not much else to
do in here but sleep,” she said.

“I spoke with you doctor, and he
said as I’m taking responsibility for you, he can probably release you from
here in three days.”

“Rory, are you sure you want to
stay that long or even be burdened with me?”

“Hey, if I didn’t want to do it,
I’d say. You know me well enough by now. And another three days in Tacoma is fine.”

“What about my apartment?”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll take care
of it and pack up whatever you need and have it sent onto Timber Creek.”