The Single Dad's Redemption (18 page)

Numb, she tried to read, but stared at the pages blindly. She started to clean and then tossed the dust cloth aside.

She was on her third consolation bar of milk chocolate with hazelnuts and raisins when she heard the sound of crying and someone beating on the door downstairs. She ran down the steps and peered through the peephole, then flung the door wide open.

Bobby flew in and wrapped his arms around her.

“I—I th-think he killed her,” he wailed, tears streaming down his face. “He came home and he was drunk and she told him to l-leave. And he hit her w-with the lamp. I
saw
.”

Her heart thudding, Keeley stepped out of his embrace and grasped both of his shoulders. Shaking like an aspen leaf, he buckled to the floor. “Bobby. Did you call 9-1-1?”

He cried even harder. “There was blood everywhere and I r-ran. He was yelling at me to come b-back. B-but he was gonna hit me, t-too.”

She grabbed the cell phone from her pocket and called 9-1-1.

After locking the dead bolts on the front and back doors and pulling down the shades, she sank to the floor next to him, set her phone aside and pulled him into her arms.

“The EMTs and the sheriff are on their way, honey. They’ll take care of your auntie and they’ll stop Rafe from ever doing anything bad again. I promise.”

He cried even harder, his sobs coming in great waves, and she wondered about the demons this might have unearthed from the earlier tragedy in his life when his parents died. This was so terribly, horribly, unfair.

“It’ll be okay, honey. I told them you’re safe with me, and that you can stay the night here. I have your new room ready, so you can pretend you’re camping at my house. Okay?”

She rubbed his back gently until his racking sobs slowed. “Let’s go upstairs and have some hot chocolate, okay? I even have marshmallows. We can say some prayers for your aunt, and then you can tell me if you’d like to watch a movie or play some board games.”

After two rounds of Chutes and Ladders and a card game of Old Maid, Bobby had settled down, clearly exhausted. She showed him the bathroom then got him settled into bed.

But still there’d been no word from anyone about Bess. What was going on? Or would no one think to call her? She wasn’t family, so maybe not.

She’d just stepped out into the hallway to grab another cup of cocoa for herself when she heard a sound downstairs.

A crash.

The squeaky hinges on the front door and the soft jangle of the bells.

Then heavy footsteps started crossing the floor.

Chapter Twenty-Two

C
onnor gripped the steering wheel, his gaze pinned on the road ahead.

No one had called him a second time to let him know about his father’s tests in the ER or his prognosis—or if he was still alive. But there was no question that Connor had to get home.

Connor had been praying ever since that first call.
Please, Lord, let me get there in time... He and I have so much to say...so much unfinished business. I need to get there.

He could make the trip straight through in fifteen hours, according to the map function in his phone. But if he got a call about Dad being critical, he’d head for the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, park the truck and take the first plane possible.

Connor tried calling Chris’s cell phone and then Dan’s. No answer. He tried again and again...

Then, finally, Dan picked up, his voice hushed. “Hey, man. You got the message?”

Connor swiftly pulled to a stop on the shoulder and turned on his emergency blinkers. “What’s going on? How is Dad?”

Dan blew out a deep breath. “We’ve been in the ER for several hours now. Dad had severe heart pain, so we called the ambulance. They’ve been doing a lot of tests. Honestly, it has been a terrible afternoon. Dad was sort of out of it for a while and not making sense, and he kept calling for you. Kept saying he was sorry, and he didn’t plan to die without making amends.”

Connor’s own heart felt as if it was lodged in his throat. “Any results? What do the doctors say?”

“Angina. Not a heart attack. They’ve got him resting comfortably right now. They plan to do more tests and keep him overnight, but he’ll probably go home tomorrow.”

Connor sagged against the seatback of his truck. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” Dan chuckled softly. “His doc told him that he was good for another thirty years, because he was too mean to die. Dad took it as a compliment. Hey—they’re just now wheeling him back in from an MRI and we’re not supposed to use cell phones in here. I’ll call back in an hour or so. And, hey, bro—we’re all real glad you’re coming home. But don’t push it and have a wreck. It’s no longer an emergency to get here. Okay?”

The phone connection went dead.

Connor rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion washing through him.
Thank You. Thank You, Lord.

Darkness had fallen. He could continue driving throughout the night as he’d planned. The sooner he got to Texas, the better.

He had no other viable choice for establishing himself as quickly.

Otherwise his precarious hold on a future with Joshua could go up in smoke. On the twenty-thousand-acre Rafferty ranch in Texas, he would again be a part of a successful family business; his history would be a nonissue. By slipping back into the fabric of the family ranch it would be easy to prove to the court that he had a solid means of providing for his son again.

But even as he repeated that litany of reasons over and over to himself, an image of Keeley flashed into his thoughts as he continued down the highway. The temptation to turn around grew stronger, even though he knew that he had no future there.

He’d heard the whispers back in Aspen Creek. Knew that his past would always weigh heavily if he applied for jobs. Whether he’d been exonerated or not, there would always be the suspicions. The wary looks.

He kept driving south, but now the gnawing pain in his gut and an insistent voice in his head said otherwise. How could he leave Keeley behind? Was this really the right thing to do?

She’d welcomed him into her life. Given him a job.

Thanks to her, he’d experienced the normalcy that he’d lacked for years, giving him a chance for a fresh start. She’d trusted him, made him feel whole.

Still, there was no way he could support himself and his son in that little tourist town. And he knew she couldn’t join him in Texas. Her connections in Wisconsin went as deep as the roots of the massive old oak by her store.

He drove on and on and on, his thoughts warring and his resolve weakening.

Until he finally drove onto a side road, parked and gave himself up to a heartfelt prayer.

I know I quit on You for a long time...and I’m sorry for that. But now I need Your help, because I have no idea which way I should go and what I should do. I can’t risk losing my son, and I just can’t lose Keeley. Please, Lord...tell me what to do.

* * *

Her heart in her throat, Keeley picked up the landline phone in the kitchen. No dial tone. She hung up and tried again. Tapped the zero for Operator and jiggled the phone line connection.

Dead.

Where was her cell phone? With growing horror she remembered calling 9-1-1...then setting it on the floor when she’d comforted Bobby. It was downstairs. There was no way to call for help.

And now they were trapped.

She could hear the footsteps grow louder as an intruder roamed through the main floor. Knocking things over. Throwing merchandise against the walls. Was he looking for something valuable to take? Could this be the guy who had been stealing from the stores in town?

He started jiggling doorknobs. Jerking doors open and slamming them shut. Searching. Then he uttered a string of curses and she knew this wasn’t just some petty thief.

This was Rafe. He was drunk.

And he blamed her for contacting the sheriff’s office when he’d hurt Bess. He also might be coming after Bobby.

When he found the right door, he could splinter it with one slam of his burly shoulder and come barging up the stairs.

Was he crazy enough to harm Bobby and her?

There would be no one to save them. No one who would even notice something was wrong until someone thought it curious that the store didn’t open tomorrow.

She swallowed hard. Then went to Bobby’s bedroom door and rapped lightly before walking in to shake his shoulder.

He sat up with a start, his eyes wide with fear. Then he focused on her face and relaxed. “I forgot where I was.”

“You’re here with me, Bobby,” she said in a whisper. “But you need to do me a big favor and come with me right now. Don’t say a single word, okay? Just come with me right now.”

He grabbed her arm. “Why? What’s wrong?”

She forced herself to stay calm. “I think Rafe is downstairs and I want to get you out of here. Understand? We’re going to the balcony off the kitchen. The fire escape needs another part, so we can’t use it yet. But there’s a rope ladder we can drop that nearly touches the ground, and when you get down I want you to run fast as you can to the sheriff’s office. Do you know where that is?”

He gave a single nod and swallowed hard, his face pale. “By the store with the canoes and bikes.”

“That’s right. Someone is there 24/7. Tell them Rafe is here and there’s trouble.”

The door at the bottom of the stairs crashed open and footsteps started up. Slowly, as if Rafe were too inebriated to manage the climb.

Please, God, stop him. Slow him down—anything.

She grabbed Bobby’s hand and dragged him through the living room and kitchen, quietly opened the French door to the balcony and tossed the rope ladder over the side.

“Now go. Hurry!”

“I can’t leave without you,” he cried, staring nervously at the ground far below. “You go first.”

“I won’t go until you do, in case I have to hold Rafe back. Now hurry.
Please.
”

Bobby finally registered the need for urgency and awkwardly climbed over the balcony railing. He gripped the top of the rope ladder and floundered until his feet found the first rung.

He froze, his face a mask of terror.

“Go, Bobby!”

He slowly descended, his eyes closed, each rung a painstaking effort. The rope ladder creaked and twisted under his weight.

“Good boy,” she whispered.

She turned away for one last look toward the stairway door—

Rafe’s twisted, malevolent face loomed over her, his breath laced with stale beer. “That boy ruined my life, and you let him get away,” he snarled.

With an enraged bellow he swung his fist. The pain in her head exploded in a shower of blinding sparks. She reeled backward against the door frame and slid to the floor.

Through half-closed eyes she saw him smirk with satisfaction. Then he turned toward the stairway to the first floor. Her stomach lurched at the thought of dear old Bess. Was Bobby right about Bess or had the EMTs arrived in time?
Please, Lord, help Bess...and Bobby...

She heard more sounds downstairs—footsteps running through the store. “Keeley! Are you all right? Where are you?”

Connor.

Rafe heard him, too, because he halted abruptly on his way to the stairs, then pivoted and looked wildly around the room. He lurched toward the French door to the balcony and disappeared into the darkness.

“Not safe—” she shouted.

But a second later she heard the sound of splintering wood. The screech of twisting, rusted iron giving way. A scream.

And then a heavy thud.

* * *

“Are you
sure
Bess will be all right?”

The ER nurse smiled at Keeley and patted her arm. “I’m very sure. She has some bumps and bruises, and needed a few stitches. But she’s a remarkably resilient woman. Her husband wasn’t quite so lucky with that fire escape. He’ll be in traction for months.”

Keeley held back a smile. “I did try to warn him it wasn’t safe.”

“He won’t be causing any trouble for a good long while.” Deputy Dalton had arrived a few minutes ago, his face grim. “When he gets out of the hospital he’ll be in jail. We’ve got enough on him now to put him away for quite a while, and Lorraine discovered outstanding warrants on him in Illinois.” He turned to Keeley. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

Keeley nestled deeper into Connor’s embrace on the waiting-room sofa. “A bit of a headache, maybe. If Connor hadn’t arrived when he did, things could have been so much worse.”

“And Bobby was quite a hero himself,” Connor added, giving the boy a nod of approval.

Bobby beamed. “I went down the rope ladder and found the deputy. I even got to ride in his car, with the siren and everything.”

Dalton touched the brim of his cap. “Well, folks, I’ve got to go.”

“Thanks, for everything.” After he left, Keeley shifted in Connor’s embrace so she could look up at him. “I was so shocked when I heard your voice, I could barely believe it—but I still don’t understand why you came back so soon.”

Bobby blushed, the tips of his ears turning bright red. “Because he likes you. He
really
likes you.”

She grinned at him. “I really hope you’re right.”

“I still need to go to Texas for a while. But I’ll do my best to find a job here—there has to be
something
I can do. And I just couldn’t leave without telling you the truth.” Connor stood and gently pulled her to her feet. He took a slow, steadying breath, his eyes locked on hers. “I love you, Keeley. I think I’ve loved you from that very first day when I walked into your store.”

Joy spread through her like a burst of fireworks, so dazzling and overwhelming that it took her a moment to speak. “I’ve never believed in love at first sight. I haven’t even believed in love, really...not for me. But now I know—no one else was perfect because none of them was you.”

She framed his face within her hands and kissed him, sighing softly when he wrapped his arms around her and returned her kiss in full measure.

When they finally ended the embrace, the jaded heart that had never allowed itself to love was nearly bursting. “I love you, too, Connor. Forever and always.”