The - Cowboy’s - Secret - Twins (8 page)

As if to punctuate her sentence there was a loud pop. The truck careened wildly to the right side of the highway as Henry muttered a curse. Melissa saw the deep ditch in front of them and knew they were going to hit it—hard. She squeezed her eyes closed and screamed as she felt the truck go airborne.

Chapter 6

H enry fought the steering wheel hard, trying to keep the truck on the road, but he lost the battle as the vehicle flew far right, hit the lip of the ditch and flew with all four tires off the ground. It came down with a crunch and a hiss, jarring the teeth in his head as it finally came to rest. His heart raced and he quickly looked at Melissa. “Are you all right?”

She opened her eyes and gave a slow nod, but her face was chalky pale.

“I’m okay.” She drew in a deep breath and her hand shook as she shoved her hair away from her face. “I hope you have a spare,” she said. He pulled his gun from his holster with one hand and reached for his cell phone with the other. Melissa’s eyes widened at the sight of his weapon. But he didn’t have time to deal with her fear.

He handed her the cell phone. “Call Jimmy.” He rattled off Jimmy’s cell phone number. “Tell him we’re three miles from my place on the highway and somebody just shot out my tire.”

As she made the phone call, Henry kept his gaze on the wooded area on the right side of the highway. He was ninety-nine percent certain that a mere second before the tire had blown he’d heard the unmistakable faint crack of a rifle.

“Jimmy said he’s on his way,” she said, her voice higher than normal in tone.

He felt her fear radiating across the seat, but he didn’t look at her. Instead he kept focused on the area where he thought danger might come. He didn’t know now if the attack was over or if the blown tire was just the beginning. Was somebody approaching the truck now, knowing it was disabled and that he and Melissa were sitting ducks?

Minutes ticked by—tense minutes of silence. He was grateful that Melissa understood his need for focus, for complete concentration, and didn’t attempt to engage him in any way.

His heart continued to bang unusually fast, but as the fear began to recede, anger took its place. Who was behind these attacks? Dammit, there had to be something he and Jimmy could do to figure out who was responsible and get them behind bars.

Henry didn’t relax until he saw Jimmy’s patrol car pull up on the side of the road. Henry lowered his gun and opened his window as Jimmy got out of his car, gun drawn and headed across the ditch toward them.

“You’re becoming a full-time job, Henry,” Jimmy said as he reached the driver side of the truck. “You both okay?” He bent down to look at Melissa. “Ma’am?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, her voice a little stronger than it had been moments before.

“You sure the tire was shot out?”

“I heard a crack right before the tire blew. I think it was a rifle shot.”

Jimmy scanned the area. “You have any idea where the shot came from?”

“Somewhere in those trees, about a quarter of a mile back,” Henry replied. “I’m sure whoever it was is gone now. If the intention was to do more harm, then he would have come after us while we were sitting here waiting for you.”

“Any ideas on who might have taken the shot?” Jimmy asked.

“The usual suspects,” Henry replied dryly. “Oh, and I have a new one to add. I fired Hank Carroll this morning before we left for town. You might want to check him out. Can you get somebody out here to take us home?”

Jimmy nodded. “I’ll radio for Gordon to come out and give you a ride. Meanwhile I’ll check out the woods and see if I find anything. You armed?”

Henry showed his gun. “Nobody is going to sneak up on us. You see what you can find and we’ll wait here for Gordon.”

Jimmy nodded, hitched up his pants, then turned to walk back to his patrol car.

Henry shot Melissa a quick glance, pleased to see some of the color had returned to her cheeks. “I don’t think we’re in any danger,” he said softly.

“And I appreciate the fact that you haven’t fallen into hysterics.”

She offered him a faint smile, although her lips trembled slightly. “I’m really not the hysterical kind of woman. You fired Hank?”

He nodded and returned his gaze to the outside. “I’d warned him twice about drinking on the job, but he was half-lit when he carried in the tree yesterday.”

“I noticed,” she replied. “Would he do something like this?”

Henry frowned thoughtfully. “To tell the truth, I don’t know. He hasn’t been working for me very long. I hope this doesn’t change your mind about living in the carriage house.”

“I haven’t made up my mind about living in the carriage house,” she replied. “And I’d say now is definitely not a good time to ask me how I feel about living here.”

At that moment a deputy car pulled up and Gordon Hunter got out. Jimmy returned as Henry and Melissa were getting into the backseat of Gordon’s car.

“I couldn’t find anything. I don’t suppose you’d do me a favor and stay inside that secure castle of yours until I can figure out who’s after you? I mean, tomorrow is Christmas, surely you don’t have to be out anywhere.”

“I won’t be out and about for the next couple of days, but, Jimmy, I’m not going to become a prisoner in my own home,” Henry replied. Jimmy frowned. “I know, Henry. I’m doing the best I can but these driveby shootings, so to speak, aren’t giving me much to work with.”

Henry clapped his hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. He knew Jimmy was as frustrated as he was by these sneak attacks. He also knew Jimmy was a good man who took his job seriously.

“I’ll arrange for Willie at the garage to pick up your car,” Jimmy said.

“And I’ll be in touch in the next day or two. In the meantime, try to have a merry Christmas.”

Henry nodded and got into the back of Gordon’s car next to Melissa.

“Okay?” he asked her.

“Never a dull moment with you, is there?” she said.

There was still a tiny flicker of fear still in the depths of her eyes and he reached over and took one of her hands in his. She immediately curled her cold fingers with his as if she’d desperately needed the contact with him.

He was surprised by the sudden surge of protectiveness that filled him holding her small, slender hand in his. He wanted to keep her from harm. Surely it was only because she was the mother of his children and nothing more.

Still, he was equally surprised to realize that he had no desire to release her hand until Gordon deposited them at the front door of his house. Melissa grabbed her shopping bags and Henry ushered her into the house, where Mary met them at the door. “What happened?” she asked, worry thick in her voice.

“Nothing serious, just a blowout,” Henry said quickly before Melissa could reply. “The spare was flat and Gordon just happened to be driving by so we hitched a ride home with him.”

The last thing he wanted to do was worry his mother, but he wasn’t sure if Melissa would play along with his story.

She did, not countering his story to his mother. “How were the boys?”

Melissa asked. “Did they behave for you?”

Mary’s face lit up. “They were absolute angels,” Mary said as Henry flashed Melissa a grateful smile.

As Melissa and his mother disappeared into the house Henry headed for his office. He needed to call the garage about his truck and he needed to talk to Charlie to see how things had gone with Hank.

The main thing he needed was some distance from Melissa. Even with the concern that somebody had shot out his tire, he couldn’t stop thinking about how nice her hand had felt in his, how the scent of her had dizzied his senses all morning long.

He wanted her. He wanted her naked in his arms, gasping beneath him as she’d been on the night they’d shared. But she’d made it clear what she was looking for—that happily-ever-after and love forevermore nonsense. That definitely wasn’t what he’d be offering to her.

Would she be interested in a night of passion with him with no strings attached, no promise of love or commitment? It was possible. He knew she wasn’t immune to the sparks that snapped in the air between them. He’d seen an awareness in her eyes when he got too close to her, noticed the way her gaze lingered on him when she thought he wasn’t looking.

He sank down at his desk and realized it was much easier to speculate on how to get Melissa into bed than trying to figure out who in the hell was trying to kill him.

“You’re perfectly safe here,” Henry said later that evening to Melissa.

“The house has a state-of-the-art security system. Nobody can get in here without me knowing about it.”

Melissa nodded and took a sip of her wine. Mary had just gone to bed, the boys were also down for the night, and Henry and Melissa were sitting in the living room with the glow of the Christmas tree lights the only illumination in the room.

There was no question that the safety of her sons had been on her mind all afternoon and evening. How could she even consider moving here knowing that somebody wanted to do harm to Henry? Knowing that it was possible she or her boys could be casualties in whatever war was being waged?

“I can’t seriously consider moving here until the issue is resolved, not that I’m seriously considering it anyway,” she said, giving voice to her thoughts.

“But I want you to consider it seriously,” Henry said. He paused to take a sip of his scotch. “The special election is in February. Certainly by then I’m confident that Jimmy will be able to figure out who is hassling me. It would probably take you that long to make the move anyway.”

“Hassling you?” She raised one of her eyebrows at him. “Honestly, that’s a pretty weak description for what’s happened just since I’ve been here. That tire blowout could have killed us both. The truck could have rolled and we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

“I swear I won’t do anything to put you or the boys in danger,” he replied.

She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now. I plan on going home tomorrow afternoon.”

“But it will be Christmas Day,” he protested. “You can’t leave tomorrow. You’ll break Mom’s heart.”

She smiled at him. “Ah, first you try to bribe me with a job offer and now you’re using your mother to manipulate me. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

He laughed and that familiar warmth shot through her at the pleasant sound. “I refuse to feel guilty if it forces you to stay a little longer. Besides, Etta will be making a traditional Christmas feast for lunch tomorrow and what difference does another day or two make?”

“You just want more time to try to talk me into moving here,” she said. He nodded, his eyes teasing her. “There is that,” he agreed.

“Okay, I won’t leave tomorrow. But the next morning we’ve got to get back home.”

He finished his scotch and set the glass down on the coffee table. “And what then?” The teasing light in his eyes vanished. “When will I see the boys again?”

Melissa realized that her life was about to get more complicated. She’d been thrilled that Henry wanted to be a part of the boys’ lives, but now she was faced with the logistics of how they would make it all work.

“I guess I can commit to twice a month driving here for a weekend visit,”

she said. “I know it isn’t ideal, that you’d like to see the twins every day,”

she added as she saw the dismay on his face. “But, Henry, you have to work with me here.”

“I know.” He leaned back against the sofa and frowned thoughtfully. “I never knew how kids would make me feel, how much they’d make me want to be there for them, to protect them and teach them. I never dreamed that thoughts of them would be so all-consuming.”

She smiled, finding him even more attractive than ever with love for his children—for her children—shining from his eyes. “Welcome to parenthood.”

He shook his head and smiled. “I never knew it would be like this.” His features were soft in the glow from the Christmas lights and Melissa found herself wishing for things that could never be.

She wished she and Henry were married and tonight after checking on their children they’d get into bed together and make love all night long. She wished they’d share breakfast the next morning and talk about their shared dreams, laugh over secret jokes and know that they would face each other over their first cup of coffee every morning for the rest of their lives.

Foolish wishes, she knew. Wishes brought on by the glow of the Christmas tree and the warmth of family that permeated this house. She was slowly being seduced by Henry and his mother and she knew she’d be a fool to hope for anything except weekend visits for the boys and nothing more.

Still, she’d allowed him to talk her into staying another day because she’d been reluctant to leave this house of warmth, reluctant to leave him.

“Are there twins in your family?” he asked, pulling her from her wayward thoughts.

“Not that I know of. What about yours?”

“I think there were twins on my father’s side of the family,” he replied. The doorbell rang and Henry checked his watch with a frown. “Who could that be?” Melissa watched as he rose from the sofa with a masculine grace.

When he disappeared from her sight, she leaned back in her chair and released a sigh. She’d enjoyed the day with him far too much. His ideas about marriage had shocked her. Was he so afraid a woman would take his money? Did he not believe that he was worth anything simply as a man? What good was it to have money if all it made you do was worry about who might take it away from you?

She wondered what had made Henry so cynical about love. Had some woman hurt him in the past? Certainly Tom had hurt her, but even the pain of his rejection hadn’t made her belief in true love waver. When he returned he carried his car keys with him. “That was Willie from the garage. He delivered my truck.” He pocketed the keys and sat back down on the sofa.

“Henry, do you have a computer?” she asked. She knew he had never really embraced her story about MysteryMom and more than anything she wanted him to believe that she had no interest in any of his money for herself.

“Sure, in my study. Why?”

“I was wondering if maybe you could let me use it to see if I can connect with MysteryMom. This is the time of the evening when I normally could find her in the chat room. It’s important to me that you believe what it was that brought me here to you.”