This Hero for Hire (18 page)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

T
WO
 
DAYS
 
LATER
, election day in Georgia, Boone entered the hospital room where Susannah was recuperating. The room was familiar; he'd been there one entire night waiting for Susannah to come up from surgery where doctors had set her ankle. He'd also glued himself to a chair in her room most of the next day. Today he wanted to bring her home.

“You've been discharged,” he said, approaching the bed. “And, lo and behold, the governor has given me permission to drive you to the house. But we have to wait for a nurse to bring a wheelchair.”

Susannah smiled up at him from the bed. “Thanks, Boone, I don't know how I would have gotten through the past few days without you.”

She frowned down at the cast on her leg. “I'd like to say I don't need a wheelchair, but why waste my breath? It's obvious I do.”

He nodded toward the crutches against the wall. “And I see you're going to have to use the sticks, too.”

“It's not so bad. At least now I'm headed home with a handsome man and a pot roast and veggie dinner prepared by Maria.”

Boone stood a little taller than when he'd come in the room. “I'm counting on the handsome man scarfing up your share of pot roast. I'll trade you my veggies.”

“You can have my meat, but no deal on the veggies. If you're going to be around me for any length of time, you have to learn to eat your vegetables. I'm not growing them on your grandfather's farm for my health, you know.” She grinned. “Well, yes, I am.”

Technically his job with the governor was over, but he'd really like to think that he could “be around” Susannah for a long time. Maybe his lifetime.

“Tell me something, Officer,” she said. “How did you first realize that I was barreling down the hill?”

He took a seat beside the bed and resisted taking her hand. She might still be hurting. She might resent the intimacy. But he really wanted her hand tucked inside of his. “That's easy. Who else would drive like that, chopping down trees and blazing a trail? It had to be you tied to the wheel.”

She laughed. He felt a warmth pool in his abdomen.

“Were you surprised that I would attempt such a stunt?”

“Are you kidding? I've known you to pluck chickens from a ditch, squeeze through a window to enter a warehouse and shower under a fertilizer plant sprinkler system. Why wouldn't you drive backward down one of the highest hills on Cranberry Ridge?”

“Is that the name of where Randy took me? It's quite a charming name considering it was a stepping-stone to Mexico.”

“Well, thank goodness it ended up being a stepping-stone back to the governor's mansion. My career would have been toast if there had been any other ending.” He was clearly teasing her.

“And that's what really matters? Keeping your good cop reputation intact? What about my survival, Boone?”

Now he did pick up her hand. She easily curled her fingers around his palm while he gently rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. “What do you think? Just wait until you're cleared by the doctors, then we'll be on a one-way course to the high school equipment room to see if we can re-create history.”

She smiled. “I'm hoping for a different result this time.” Glancing up at the TV, she said, “Could you turn that up, please? Election news is coming in.”

They watched a local channel for a few minutes.

“It looks like most people are voting for Dad,” she said. “And by a comfortable margin. I'm so glad. He really cares about this state, and he's been a great governor.”

“You did great as his campaign manager too, sweetheart.”

The term felt so natural coming from his lips, he could only imagine calling her that for the rest of his life.

“Hopefully Dad'll be in office for four more years, and I can accomplish a lot in that time.”

Boone tried to ignore a stab of guilt. She hadn't asked him about his decision, which was fine because he hadn't yet made it. In fact, he hadn't thought about it in the past forty-eight hours. But his choice came back to haunt him now. Could she accomplish what she wanted without Braddock land? Would she even try? He had to settle this matter with his brother—soon.

“How's everything going out at the farm?” she asked. “It's time to harvest the lettuce.”

“You have plenty of volunteers out there, including two very enthusiastic and willing little girls. They've been yanking up lettuce all day.” He took his cell phone from his pocket. “They made me take a picture to show you.”

She studied the candid shot of his nieces working in the field. “They are so amazing. Tell them thanks.” Her face sobered instantly. “I don't suppose your brother has been lending a hand.”

Boone hated giving her the truth, but lying wasn't an option. “We can't ask for too many miracles in one two-day period,” he said. “Getting you out of that runaway truck in one piece was the one I was concentrating on.”

A nurse entered the room with a clipboard and a wheelchair. “Just need you to sign some papers, Susannah, and you're free to go. Remember to call your doctor tomorrow, and a nurse will be out to your house to change the bandages on your abrasions. All in all, you're pretty lucky. But no fooling around now. You go right home and rest. And keep your leg elevated.”

“I have to make one stop,” Susannah said, scribbling her name on the discharge papers. “I can keep my leg elevated on almost anything, can't I? Even a soft wrestling mat?”

Boone covered his smile with his hand.

The nurse gave her a puzzled look. “I suppose, but why would you ask?”

“It's personal,” Susannah said. “I just have to collect on an old debt.”

Something fiery and exciting stirred inside Boone. He knew his truck would have stiff competition with his heart as far as which would be racing the fastest to leave the hospital parking lot.

* * *

T
HE
M
OUNT
U
NION
D
INER
was crowded today, probably because of the election. People had come out to vote and stopped in the restaurant to express their views on the candidates. Lila wished she had chosen a more private location for her last lunch with James.

As he took a sip of root beer, she smiled. He was the only guy she'd ever been with who drank root beer. Straight or in a root beer float. He claimed he had missed the uniquely American soda when he was in the Middle East and was making up for lost time.

“So it looks like everything turned out okay for your partner,” James said.

“Sure did. Boone saved Susannah and appears to be in the governor's good graces again.” She'd never told James about her infatuation with Boone and was glad now that she hadn't because she recognized her attraction as just that—a hopeless infatuation based on nothing concrete. “I'm thinking Boone may end up with the bigger prize now,” she added. “He might win the princess's heart.”

James picked up his thick Reuben but stopped before taking a bite. “Believe it or not, Lila, I really like a good love story, one with a happy ending.”

“You do?”

He grinned at her. “Can't you tell? I've been trying to write a happy ending with you for two months now. But sometimes I'm a little awkward with words.”

She reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “But most times you say just the right thing.”

Once James had left Mount Union and was headed back to his job fifteen miles away in Libertyville, Lila went to the station to meet up with Boone. He walked into the station a while later. His buddies welcomed him back and said the usual stuff they said to each other. “And things were just starting to run smoothly...”

Boone laughed along with the jokes as he headed toward his desk next to Lila's. He picked up a short stack of messages and thumbed through them. Lila had checked the messages earlier. One was from his truck insurance company and a couple from local businesses wanting him to do night security details. She didn't feel that reading the messages had been an invasion of Boone's privacy, although technically she knew better. Anything important or personal would have gone to his cell phone.

Finished with that task, Boone turned to her with a knowing grin. “Which one do you think I should take care of first?” he asked her.

“None of them looks too pressing to me,” she said. “Say ‘good afternoon' first.”

“Good afternoon, Menen...” He smiled. “Lila.”

Her heart did a familiar little kick at the smile. It was still charming and easy and boyish in its way. But she no longer believed she needed to see that smile to get through her day. “I've missed you, partner,” she said.

“Ditto.”

“Have you moved out of the mansion?”

“Oh, yeah. Packed up two nights ago and now my mug is snug in my little apartment again. Heard Mrs. Kravitz yell at her husband at three o'clock this morning and tried to sleep through the garbage trucks two hours later.” He leaned back in his chair, creating the customary squeak of the old springs. “Honey, I'm home.”

“Do you miss the champagne lifestyle?” Lila asked.

“Can't recall ever having champagne over there,” he said. “Mostly just iced tea after washing top soil off my hands. And maybe a beer or two.”

Time to reveal the confession Lila had been thinking about all morning. “I'm sorry for all the things I said about Susannah,” she said. “She's not anything like I pictured her.”

Boone's eyes widened. “What made you come to that conclusion?”

“I went to see her at the hospital yesterday. She and I had a nice visit.”

“You did?”

“I like her, Boone. She's genuine and sincere. Some of her ideas about farming actually make sense. She might be able to convince some hardheaded traditionalists around here that there could be a better way to do things.”

He frowned. “If she stays long enough.”

“Oh, she'll stay,” Lila said. “If you ask her to. And if you let her use that land. She's the best thing that's happened to Cyrus's property in the last ten years as far as I can see.”

“You know about the land issue?” Boone seemed surprised that Lila and Susannah had talked about that subject.

“She told me your brother wants to put in a motor home resort.” Lila expressed her opinion of that idea with the simple statement, “Sounds like Jared.”

“Don't get me going on this, Lila. Bottom line, I still have to be fair with Jared.”

“You will be. You're always fair. I figure you know what is right for that land, too. Ask Susannah to stay, Boone. Put a ring on her finger, even if it's the one I always thought I wanted.”

He gave Lila a strange smile. “Is this really you talking, Menendez, I mean Li...”

“Forget it. Menendez is fine. It's comfortable and it suits our relationship. Our professional relationship.”

She thought of James, now back in Libertyville, a mere fifteen miles away but feeling like hundreds. She'd see him tonight, though, and he would make her feel happy and secure and loved. He was good at all those things, among others. Once she'd allowed her heart to accept the inevitable with Boone, she'd discovered that the same heart had an enormous capacity to open up to someone else. And James stepped in. He was the right man at the right place at the right time.

“You can wipe that expression off your face, Braddock,” she said. “It's not like this should come as a big surprise to you. I'm over you.”

“You are?”

“Well, not professionally. I will still cover your butt out on patrol. And I'd still take a bullet for you. And I guess I'll even let you pick the place for lunch tomorrow when we're back on patrol together.”

She leaned back and threaded her hands behind her head. “Now go tell that fancy girl you love her because I absolutely, positively will not marry you and bear your children.”

He stared at her for a few seconds before leaning over and kissing her cheek.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

B
OONE
 
MISSED
 
BEING
 
at the farm. To stay near Susannah and ponder his decision, he'd turned barn chores over to his helper, but he missed the extra time he had with the horses, the short gallops he'd taken in the paddock. Heck, he even missed the chickens pecking at his heels until he fed them.

Mostly he missed seeing Susannah in that raggedy old hat, stopping her labors for a moment to wipe the back of her hand across her forehead. Maybe he'd find out when her birthday was and buy her a new hat. No, wouldn't be the same. In two months, Susannah and a hat that had traveled from India to Oregon and then to Georgia had become as symbolic of Braddock Farms as his grandmother's egg basket had been years ago.

He was going to see her tonight for dinner at the mansion. Maria was serving roasted potatoes, glazed carrots and a lemon pepper–basted chicken. The family had learned to compromise on the various culinary preferences. Thankfully, Susannah and her father were getting along very well. In fact, Albee was treating her like royalty. And Susannah's mother had called several times and even offered up a few kind words to her ex-husband.

Susannah wasn't pressuring Boone to make a decision about the land. She still had a few weeks to let her ankle heal before she'd go anywhere, if leaving was what she decided. He wasn't going to make her wait all that time, though. He was going to give her an answer in two days, at the barbecue Albee had planned to celebrate his reelection. Half the town would be there.

Sometime in the next forty-eight hours Boone was going to talk to Jared about the idea he had. He hoped Jared would go for it because if Boone had to play the fifty-one percent card again, the rift between them might never heal. One thing Boone was certain of was that he wanted Susannah to stay right here in Mount Union. He didn't want her scurrying off to leave her mark on some other property. He wanted her here, beside him, making a difference to the people he protected and cared about. But without the land she'd already cultivated, poured her soul into, the land Francine called “magic,” would she stay? She cared about him, but did she care enough?

He pulled into his parking space at Union Square and noticed his parents' car in one of the guest spots. When he looked up at the second-story landing, his brother was waiting on the top step. Looks like that talk was going to happen now.

“Now's as good a time as ever,” Boone said as he got out of his truck.

* * *

T
HE
 
BACKYARD
 
at the governor's mansion was as magnificent as any single acre Boone had ever seen. Tents had been set up to accommodate the ten-foot-long bar and folks who wanted to eat in the shade. A band played on a temporary wooden platform. A small dais draped in red, white and blue and the Georgia state flag waited for the governor to say his few words, which no one thought would be few at all. The weather was perfect.

Susannah looked like a burst of Georgia sun in her lemony yellow dress with orange dots. She sat on a wicker chair, her injured leg propped on an ottoman. A stylish wide-brimmed hat had replaced the straw disaster at least for today. Boone couldn't stop smiling at her. She looked like the lady her father had always wanted her to be, but now Albee knew that beneath the orange and yellow and flawless white hat, there was a woman with grit and determination and pride.

And Boone loved her with his whole heart.

He walked up to her and snapped open a folding chair so he could sit close to her. “How many of these Georgia boys have tried to hit on you today?”

“Only a few, but I'm waiting for the only one that matters to give me his best shot.”

He took her hand from her lap and kissed her knuckles. “You are the prettiest girl here, Miss Rhodes. And I'd say that even if you weren't the governor's daughter. And even if I weren't hitting on you. It's just the simple truth.”

She leaned close to him and spoke in a husky voice. “Boone, you'd better kiss me right now in front of everybody before I haul out of this chair and tackle you to ground. Just imagine how you'll feel when all of Mount Union knows a pitiful girl with a broken ankle brought you down.”

He slipped his finger under her chin and lifted her face to fit exactly with his. “Can't let that happen. I have a rep to protect.”

And he kissed her long and hard, probably taking more liberties than were appropriate in the warm November sun of a sweet Georgia afternoon with at least three hundred people milling about her father's house. And one very powerful governor riding over every inch of his decorated acre in his tricked-out golf cart.

“What's going through your mind, Boone?” she asked him when he'd pulled away.

He grinned at her. “I just kissed you. Is that a trick question?”

She smiled. “Not exactly. I'm wondering what's going to happen with us. I've come to a rather remarkable conclusion lately.”

“Oh, yeah? What's that?”

“I think you've kind of become my boyfriend.”

He laughed out loud. “I thought you mature women only had significant others, not boyfriends.”

“I know. That's what makes this so remarkable. But since that first night when you came to dinner and turned your nose up at my vegetables, I've felt like that girl back in high school again, hoping that the most popular boy would notice me.”

He took her hand in both of his. “He's noticed you, baby, up and down and inside out. And if you'll just be patient, I hope that by later this afternoon, you'll understand just how important you've become to that guy.”

He heard a whistle, the kind made with two fingers in the lips and a whole lot of air behind it. He'd heard that whistle since he was just a toddler. He looked over and saw Jared hailing him from the back of the house.

“It's showtime,” he said, standing up and placing a kiss on Susannah's forehead.

“What's going on? What's Jared doing here?”

“I asked him to come. And I told him to bring Francine and the girls, so get ready to be mobbed. As for what's going on, I hope it's you and me for a long time.”

* * *

E
XCEPT
 
FOR
 
THE
 
time she was spurned in the gym equipment room, Susannah had never found a lack of confidence to be a problem. Until she met Boone. Now she was uncertain of herself, unsure of her future and so in love she couldn't think straight.

What would she do if all her work at Braddock Farm was torn up and covered over with concrete? Would that mean that Boone didn't love her as much as she now had to admit she loved him? Would her needs and desires mean so little to him that he could side with his brother without thinking what his decision would do to her? After all, family loyalty was to be commended, wasn't it? And brothers had to stick together. And technically she and Boone were nothing to each other except good friends—very good friends.

As she watched Boone walk toward the house, she reminded herself that she had come to Georgia with certain expectations. She hoped to make amends with her father. She wanted to introduce the ideas that had occupied her educational training and since then almost her whole life to the East Coast and her home state. She wanted Omar to be proud of her and know that his training had been thorough. At least she felt partially successful in all three categories.

The one thing she hadn't expected was to fall in love with the most handsome, most desirable, most noble down-home guy she'd ever met. And this guy hadn't said one word about loving her or wanting her to stay. He'd hinted, yes. Enough to make her hope, but if Boone didn't stand up for her with regard to her life's work, could she give up everything for him if he asked her to stay? What if things didn't work out between them and she resented her decision later? She hesitated. To have Boone, for as long as she could be with him, seemed worth every risk.

Omar approached and offered her a plate piled high with newly harvested vegetables and Georgia peaches. She took the plate but then set it on the ground. She couldn't eat a bite. Her focus was on the Braddock brothers, who'd met on the lawn, shook hands and begun talking immediately.

She knew Boone must have had a reason for inviting Jared to the barbecue. He must have a plan. And here Susannah sat with her foot propped on a stupid stool when all she wanted was to get out of this chair and work off unwanted nervous energy.

She couldn't move now even if she'd been able to. Her father breezed by in his golf cart, told her he was about to make his speech and drove up to the platform installed for his thank you talk. He stopped at the antique fire bell mounted to a wooden pole outside the back door, a relic from a time predating telephones, when neighbors relied on other means of communication to signal emergencies.

Albee pulled the old cast iron chain and the large bell oscillated back and forth, emitting a strong pure sound. The folks at the barbecue gathered around the platform. A few hollered one-line jokes about politicians, and Albee laughed. This was his world. He loved these people.

“You're about to ruin our dinner, Albee,” one man yelled.

“Looks like the party's over,” another said.

It was all in fun, and Susannah was part of it. The town she'd left all those years ago now seemed like home, and she almost felt as if she'd never been away.

Her father mounted the makeshift stage, and the grounds grew quiet. He thanked everyone who had contributed to his win from his assorted campaign managers around the state to the volunteers, young and old, who'd manned the phones, brought out the voters and mailed pamphlets.

“There is one person I'd have up on this stage with me if her ankle weren't wrapped in about five pounds of plaster,” he said when he was finished. Many of the guests turned to look at Susannah.

“I'm mighty proud of that girl,” Albee said. “My daughter, Susannah Rhodes. Most of y'all got to know her over the past two months, and I hope you've come to recognize what a fine young Georgia lady she is. She's got the best parts of her public-minded daddy and her madcap mother, the latter being a circumstance I've had to come to terms with several times in my life.” He combed his hand through his hair. “Most of you know how I got these gray streaks.” The crowd laughed.

“But I'm happy to say that Susie is her own person now, and there's no one like her. Thank you most of all, darlin', for showing up when you did. Now if I could just get you to stay. I have a hunch I can find a job for you in the governor's office.”

Chuckles ran through the crowd as Susannah pretended to be horrified at the thought. Most of the people of Mount Union knew about Susannah's efforts to educate farmers in new techniques. The story of the kidnapping had been front-page news along with details of Susannah's mission. And most knew that she would be unhappy and unfulfilled working for her father.

“But sadly, I don't think I'm the one to suggest to Susie that she stay here in Georgia.” He glanced at Boone, who waited by the stage. Susannah felt her cheeks grow warm. “Maybe someone will influence her in ways I never could.”

Boone looked down at the grass, and she wondered if he were embarrassed by her father's boldness. Perhaps he had no intention, and never had, to ask her to stay. Maybe she'd never given him enough encouragement. Maybe she'd given too much and scared him off just like she had in high school, when her boldness had gotten her into many scrapes. If she'd been born anyone but a Rhodes, would this story have a different ending?

“You folks can go on with your partying in just a minute. But before you do, one of Mount Union PD's finest young men would like to make an announcement.” He gestured Boone onto the stage. “You all know Boone Braddock.”

The crowd applauded and whistled. Looking anything but confident, Boone mounted the stage and took the mic from the governor. Even though Susannah was not in the front of the crowd, she could see his face very clearly, down to the fine lines around his eyes. She sensed that he'd made his decision. What else would have prompted this normally modest cop to take the stage in front of everyone he knew? She had no idea what he was going to say, but the tremors in her stomach warned her that his words would affect the rest of her life. If he decided against her, she had to accept it. After all, she'd turned his life upside down. And the bond of brotherhood was just too strong.

He tapped on the mic. “Can you hear me?”

“Sure, we can hear you,” one man called out. “What have you got to say, Boone?”

Jared and Francine moved close to the stage. Anne and Ellen raced around the crowd to be with Susannah. They sat in the grass, one on each side of her chair. She rested a hand on each one's shoulder.

“Everyone remembers my brother, Jared,” Boone began. “And many of you know that my grandfather left his farm and buildings to Jared and me when he died. Since Gramps passed, Jared and I have been talking about what we'll do with that property.”

Susannah felt a knot begin to form in her stomach. Boone was going to announce to the entire town what he and Jared had decided about that land before telling her? He was going to announce that what she thought was important no longer mattered? But he'd become so dear to her heart that she knew she could forgive him even that.

Boone coughed, a near bark that sounded loud and nervous. “Well, then, Jared has come up with a good idea, one that we think will benefit the town.”

Don't you dare cry, Susannah, she said to herself. You still have your work, your friends. Her throat felt as if it were closing and she drew a long, trembling breath.

“We're thinking of turning only the back ten acres into a sort of campground. Jared has some fancy ideas about that. I guess I'll let him be the boss of this project. Besides making Jared happy, this will give my folks a place to park their motor home when they're in town.”