The Patriot Girl (2 page)

What a wasted day, sitting in a hospital room reliving what he’d been trying to forget for the past three years—the hospital smells, the tests, the questions, the guilt.

If a bonk on the head hadn’t triggered any memories, nothing would.

“How ya feeling, Harold?” Dana laughed.

As a junior, his family had always called him by his middle name. Hearing his first name sounded foreign to his own ears—but not funny.

Putting up with Dana’s silliness was better than hitching a ride from his mother. He would have had to put up with being lectured on how he had to be careful with head injuries, especially since waking from his coma.

“Are you done laughing?”

Her lips gave away the restraint. She smiled. “At least this time they didn’t have to remove a bullet from you.”

True.
Seeing that young boy with a gun at the robbery this morning did remind him of the Slaughter incident. His sister’s ex-boyfriend thought he was a bad-ass, threatening Dana to come back to him…or else. Everyone had been surprised when his gun went off, and devastated when the bullet hit Dustin in the shoulder.

“Slaughter didn’t know the gun was loaded.” Dana still stuck up for him. “He loved me. He thought a gun would scare me back into his arms and we’d live happily ever after.”

Since the jackass had apologized, and finally realized he and Dana were better friends than lovers, Dustin hadn’t pressed charges. For the past six years, Slaughter had been at Dustin’s beck and call—but had never been called upon for a thing.

“That’s why I stay single. Relationships are too screwed up.” After meeting MaKayla this morning, he’d be wise to keep that in mind.

“You should see the job Slaughter and I did at the club this morning.”

Dustin drummed his fingers on the armrest. What if MaKayla had taken him up on his earlier drink offer, and he wasn’t there?

Her hazel eyes had reminded him of the color he painted his first pickup truck as a teenager. A sudden whiff of her apple scent on his clothes made him forget about the stench of medical supplies from the hospital.

The softness of her skin still lingered on his palm. When he’d had a gun aimed at his head, all he’d been able to concentrate on was the swell of her breasts pressed against his back. And while she’d played nursemaid to his injury afterward, how could a man not become aroused by her gentle touch and pleasant smile? Since the loss of his wife three years ago, no other woman had made him feel this way.

Good thing he’d had his head examined just now. Otherwise he’d be convinced something was wrong.

Focusing on the way a woman’s tank top exposed tan skin from one shoulder across her collarbone to the other shoulder had been something he’d done in his teens. He always admired long, tanned legs, so that wasn’t a concern. But admiring her full pink lips and wanting to run his fingers through those dark curls streaming from her head onto her breasts… He was sure the gunman had done some damage.

Dana’s singing brought him back to reality. “Get off the next exit. I want to check out what you two did to the club.” And it would get his mind away from a woman whom he would probably never meet again. Maybe not getting her number was for the best. A woman like her could get him in a lot of trouble.

He’d been content with putting his law practice behind him to raise Melissa alone, keeping his final promise to Liz that a nanny would not raise their child. The life insurance money had been enough for him to keep his promise.

Owning three condominium complexes and now a nightclub had kept him busy when his daughter spent time with her grandparents.

With the women who came and went through these business transactions, not one of them had the ability to brand him the way MaKayla’s hypnotizing smile and green eyes had. Would he ever be able to get her out of his head?

Dana raised a brow and glanced his way. “Are you kidding?”

Had she read his mind? He’d heard some twins were capable of such things. Better to make sure before he said something to make her start asking questions. “What do you mean?”

“If you don’t have a headache yet, the loud music will give you one.”

That was close,
he thought, glad his sister hadn’t possessed the talent to read his mind. Not yet anyway. “Either way I’ll get a headache—at the club, or hearing Mom worry about me getting hit over the head.”

The accident that had taken Paul Adams’ life three years ago—putting Dustin into a coma—was a memory lane he’d rather not walk down with his mother. She had tried everything to trigger that day’s memory loss for him. Although the accident had been ruled Adams’ fault, Dustin had been living with the guilt of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He needed his lawyer to close the case once and for all, so he could put the past behind and allow the Adams family to do the same.

“Mom still treats us as if we’re four instead of forty.”

“She means well.” Dana smiled. “She wants you to remember Melissa’s birth. That’s all.”

So he’d been told. Maybe subconsciously he didn’t want to remember—because then he’d also have to remember his wife dying while giving birth to his daughter. The child he had begged Liz to conceive before he became any older. Had his mother ever thought of that?

His and Melissa’s futures had to be his priority, not worrying about a past he couldn’t change.

Dana turned into the club’s dirt parking lot. The landscaping would get attention once the details inside were to his satisfaction.

Stepping out into the August early evening heat, Dustin raked his fingers through his hair, careful not to touch the stitches on his forehead. He missed the Stetson he’d left back at the bank.

Opening the wooden front door, he followed Dana inside.
Wow.
Candles flickering on each table and the dim overhead lighting had been the missing link to completion.

The echo of cowboy boots stomping on the wooden floor in the center of the room and hand-clapping to the DJ’s music brought back childhood memories of his grandfather’s barn.

“Amazing.” Dana and Slaughter had turned this once-dull and cold building into a place he couldn’t wait to fill with customers.

Living in a state that appreciated the cowboy life, he hoped to draw enough traffic to show off his family’s heirlooms. Decorating the club with old rodeo memorabilia he’d found in his grandmother’s attic in Oklahoma brought back those family members who no longer walked the earth. His kinfolk would be proud.

Now, to make a success of this business—in a town where few people lived—he needed a miracle.

Chapter Two

MaKayla was glad to finally be heading home. After the robbery, she and Jodi had put their emergency training to use. They made sure every customer gave a statement to the police before sending them on their way. They locked the doors, called the head of security, and then counted what money Jodi had managed to hold on to. Only
she
would have the forethought to mix the money with deposit and withdrawal slips.
Brilliant.

After completing their tasks, they had a coffee in the break room to relax. Jodi was excited to hear all about MaKayla’s idea of opening a public relations business that she could work on at night while Alex was away at college.

MaKayla drove slowly as she passed No Bulls on her way home. Why had Dustin asked her to meet him there? Maybe he worked there. More likely, he was a regular customer.

The red clapboard building hadn’t changed its old barn appearance. At least now, with cars in the parking lot, the place showed signs of life.

Driving by the place on her way home each day would now be a reminder of the robbery and the man who had become her hero when she least expected it. She would never get his dark eyes and long lashes from her mind. And what was it about his twin dimples that had made her heart skip a beat?

It was almost an insult to use the word cowboy to describe him.
Cow man? Cow hunk?
Her memory of him made her smile. She couldn’t explain why. Until she could meet him again and return the cowboy hat the police officer had given her, he would be a constant thought.

She turned into her driveway and slammed on her brakes. Her quick reaction saved yet another teenager from being hit. Normally, she watched for teenagers using her yard as a short cut—but not today when her mind was focused on other matters.

After calming her heart rate, she parked beside Paul’s oxidized gray sedan that their son now drove. No surprise that Alex would be home waiting for her. Even though she had called to tell him she was okay, she knew he had to see her for himself—so typical of the Adams men.

Her life-threatening experience made her appreciate even the ordinary sounds of her flip-flops slapping against her feet as she made her way across the patio. She took a deep breath of the brisk August air—a reminder fall was right around the corner. Her fingertips grazed over one of the four white columns she had asked Paul to add when he built this house.

She opened the door and tossed her keys and purse onto the small table stacked with the weekly pile of mail.

“Mom. Thank God you’re home.” Alex hugged her. “Are you okay?”

His voice was as welcoming as the first breath he’d taken that morning seventeen years ago. His green eyes and heart-shaped face identified their relationship. The musky scent of his black velvet hair, lax hug, and caring heart he’d inherited from his father.

“I’m fine, sweetheart.” She released her hold, kicked off her flip-flops, and smiled at Alex’s recently acquired girlfriend. “Hi, Tammy.”

“Hi, Ms. Adams. Do you know if they caught the robbers?”

“They have two of them. Duke said in his twenty years of being on the force, he’s never seen anyone vanish into thin air like that third guy.”

“We’re glad you’re home safe, Mom. We were going to finish watching a movie and then head to the recreation center. But if you want us to stay here—”

“No, honey. You two go have fun. I’ll be going to bed early.” Keeping her Friday night routine of sifting through the week’s mail would be put on hold. Tonight she couldn’t concentrate on reading anything. All she wanted was a hot shower and then to crawl beneath her satin sheets.

When the young couple turned and walked into the next room, MaKayla had full view of the open space of her home. Wrought iron railings divided the three main rooms. She wanted to give her whole house a great big hug.

“I ordered egg rolls and rice, Mom. The leftovers are in the fridge.”

With her high adrenaline, food hadn’t been on her list of priorities all day. “Thank you.”

The thick white carpet beneath her feet ended at the kitchen. Her bare feet chilled as she crossed the wood floor to retrieve her dinner.

Dustin’s masculine scent drifted upward from her clothes as she leaned against the counter, waiting for the microwave to warm her Chinese food.

She placed her arm to her nose. No other customer ever had her enjoying the scent he’d left behind. The giddy feeling in her belly made her smile.

The instant his image came to mind, a warm feeling caressed MaKayla’s body. Maybe with Alex leaving, she probably wanted companionship. That had to be it. Dustin’s scent would wear off in the wash and so would his memory.

Opening her own PR business had to be priority. A man would only complicate things. Her hands would be full with trying to find clients.

Only open fields lay between her house and No Bulls.
No Bulls
.
What a name.
Everyone around here already knew about the ice cream parlor, Columbus Bank, and the auto mechanic’s shop.

Welcome to Dalton, Tennessee.
Dalton was officially the “land of nothing and miles from everything.”
Wait.
No Bulls!
The owner would need some publicity help to attract new people to this side of town. Why not start there?

The simultaneous ding of the microwave and the ring of the phone made MaKayla stand up straight. Reaching around the cupboard, she removed the cordless receiver. “Hello?”

“Honey, it’s me. How are you doing?”

Jodi. Perfect.
Just the person she wanted to talk to. “Good.” Nesting the phone between her ear and her shoulder, she removed the hot plate from the microwave and set it on the wooden table. “Are you better?”

“After a roll in the hay with the big guy, life is always better.”

MaKayla chuckled.
Gutter mind
meant Jodi was happy. “Did they catch the third creep yet?”

“No. The other two are not talking.”

Words she didn’t want to hear. After next weekend, she would be alone. Having a criminal with a gun loose in the neighborhood would not help her to sleep well. “What do they know about the two they caught?”

“They’re a couple of homeless dudes. Duke is assuming the third one is as well.”

“That doesn’t sound promising for finding him.”

“They will, honey. Don’t worry. Hey, I told Duke about your PR business. He loves the idea. He’ll spread the word at the precinct. Oh, and new plans for Sunday evening.”

“Don’t say it’s cancelled.” MaKayla had been waiting months to celebrate Jodi and Duke’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. She couldn’t wait to see their expressions when they opened her and Alex’s gift.

“Not cancelled. Moved. We’re meeting at that new club near your house, No Shits, or something.”

MaKayla choked.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.” MaKayla went to the refrigerator and pulled out a half-pint of bottled water to wash down the rice lodged in her throat. “It’s called No Bulls. What time?”

“Six-thirty.”

“Perfect.”

“Good, because I thought maybe you should talk to the owners. They could use some PR work, operating on your side of town.”

“I had the same thought. This new business venture is going to be a blessing to keep me busy while Alex is away.”

“Riding a cowboy is
always
an option for keeping busy, darling.”