We'll Never Tell (Secrets of Ravenswood) (14 page)

“What convinced her?”

“Her publisher
insisted.”

“It’ll be good for Alice
to learn a new skill. She’s even smarter than you, so I’m sure she’ll pick it
up fast.”

Darby got out of the
pickup and slammed the door. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

****

The phone rang while Sam
was immersed in dog owner data for the greater Ravenswood area. Based on the
statistics she’d dug up, dogs very nearly outnumbered people. Ethan would have
plenty of clients if he offered obedience classes. When the phone shrilled again,
she picked up the receiver and mumbled a distracted hello.

“I’ve left five messages
on your cell phone. Christ, Sam, haven’t you been watching the news?”

Her head jerked up, and
her hand tightened around the receiver. Only a major tragedy would put that
note of excitement in her boss’s voice. “What happened, Doug?”

“Earthquake in Chile.
Team’s leaving tomorrow evening. Should give you plenty of time to get to the
San Francisco airport.” Her immediate superior at
RAW
spoke like a rapid
fire assault weapon.

She opened her mouth,
shut it, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you
can’t?” His squawk blasted her eardrum. “Of course you can. Pack your stuff and
drive west. Simple.”

When was the last time
she’d told Doug no? Three years ago she’d been sick with a bad case of food
poisoning when he called, but that had only delayed her departure. She’d never
actually turned down a request to help at a disaster site. Biting her lip, she
fought the urge to cave in and agree to go. People needed her.

Ethan needed her, too.
At least she hoped he did.

“I’m taking a break,
Doug.”

“What exactly does a
break mean?”

The uncertainty and
concern in his tone weakened her resolve. With a supreme effort, she forced
back words of reassurance that would have her winging her way toward South
America the following evening.

“I’m not quitting if
that’s what’s worrying you. Just taking a sabbatical.”

“Are you going
somewhere?”

“That would defeat the
purpose. I’m staying home. You should try it sometime.”

“Home is overrated. I
like having a continent or two between me and my ex-wife.”

Sam rolled her eyes.
“Did it ever occur to you the continent or two are the reasons she’s an ex?”

“Funny, she harped on that
fact while we were still married.” He sighed. “You’re sure you’ll pass on
Chile?”

“Positive. I
need
some time for myself or I won’t be worth anything to anyone.”

“If you say so. I’ll be
in touch when we get back.”

“Thanks, Doug, I
appreciate it.” Sam hung up and swiveled in her chair when the floor behind her
creaked. Her hand flew to her throat. “My God, you scared me!”

Ethan shut the kitchen
door and stepped into the room. “I didn’t want to interrupt. The call sounded
important.”

“It was Doug, my boss at
RAW
. There was an earthquake in Chile.”

His gaze met hers and
held. “I guess he wants you to head to South America.”

“I told him I couldn’t
go.”

The tight lines in his
face eased. “Yeah?”

Standing, she crossed
the tile floor and stopped close enough to breathe in his unique scent, a hint
of pine mixed with dog and the smell of man. “Yep.”

He met her halfway and
tugged her up against his chest. “I’m glad, Sam.”

“So am I. Saying no
wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Want to know why?”

His smile made her
stomach jumped.

“I do.”

“I just thought about
you.”

The sharp blue of his
eyes softened. Inch by inch he lowered his head until his mouth met hers. She
pressed against him, and all her defenses crumbled. If the flutters in her
chest and the giddiness she felt every time she looked at him wasn’t love…

“You make me happy, Sam.
Thanks for giving us a chance.”

“You make me happy,
too.” She clasped his face in her palms and kissed him. The brief contact left
her needing more. “It scares me a little, how much I want to be with you.”

His gaze caressed her
face, coming to rest on her lips. “Why would that frighten you?”

“Because everything has
happened so fast. There’s no denying the attraction between us is blazing hot,
and that worries me. What if it burns out?”

“Not so fast, when you
think about it. You forget we started this relationship five years ago. My
feelings for you have been simmering ever since. That proves it’s more than
attraction, and it won’t burn out.”

At the confidence in his
voice, some of her fears eased. “I can’t tell you how many times I thought
about the night we shared and wished the morning after could have been
different.”

“This time it is
different.” He stroked the side of her neck and cupped her jaw in his palm.
“This time we’re doing it right.”

He kissed her again, his
lips lingering. Her pulse raced as she pressed harder against him. When they
finally came up for air, it took Sam a moment to gather her thoughts.
Communication was beyond important. If they shared their concerns now…

“I feel like we’re
rushing our relationship, but I can’t seem to slow down.”

“I don’t want to slow
down. I need you too much.” He swept her up in his arms and carried her toward
the bedroom. “Don’t overthink what we have. Give yourself permission to be happy.
I won’t hurt you, Sam. Trust me.”

Her need to talk
disappeared on a fierce wave of desire. When he laid her on the bed, she clung
to his neck, pulling him down beside her. She did trust him. And she didn’t
want to let him go. Not ever.

“Who knew you were so
smart?” she whispered as her hands shoved up beneath his T-shirt and stroked
the hard muscles of his back.

He nuzzled her neck. “My
dogs think I’m a genius.”

She smiled with her nose
pressed into the hollow of his neck. “I do, too.” She took a breath and said
the words clamoring in her heart. “I love you, Ethan.”

He kissed her and then
pulled back to stare into her eyes. There was no mistaking the emotion shining
in their depths. “I love you, too. I think I have since the first time we were
together. Who knew it would take you so long to come to your senses?”

“Me?” She swiped at a
strand of hair hanging in her face and frowned. “I don’t remember you asking me
to stick around.”

“It wasn’t my place to
push you into a decision you weren’t ready to make. If I had, you would have
resented me for it.”

She relaxed against the
mattress and let the tension drain out of her. “I probably would have. But I’m
ready for a change, which isn’t to say I intend to quit disaster relief work. I
do, however, promise to be less obsessive about it.”

“I’d never ask you to
quit something you love.  Even if it is to fit me into your life.”

She couldn’t help but
grin. “Is that what you intend to do, squeeze me in amongst your dogs?”

“They sleep in the
kennel, most of them, anyway. I can think of better places for you to spend
your nights.” He kissed her, stroking into her mouth with his tongue, running
his hands up her sides and around to cup her breasts through the lace of her
bra.

Her breath left her
lungs in a rush of need. Nerve endings tingled from his touch, and she gave as
good as she got, tugging his shirt over his head. After a few moments of
desperate struggle, they rid each other of all remaining clothes. Skin rubbed
against skin as he pushed into her and they melded into one. Closing her eyes,
she drifted on the pleasure of holding Ethan close, feeling him move inside her
and bring her to a shuddering release.

Drained, she flopped
against the sheets and cuddled at his side. He held her while the breeze through
the open bedroom window dried love dampened skin.

After a few long
minutes, he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I could get used to going to bed
this way every night.”

Her eyelids lowered.
“Me, too.”

“Will you think about
moving in with me?”

She stiffened then
forced herself to relax. “As in pack up all my stuff or just a toothbrush and a
change of clothes?”

“Whatever you’re
comfortable with. I’m okay with slow steps, but I want you next to me when I
wake up in the morning.”

She pressed her cheek
against his chest and listened to the reassuring beat of his heart—steady,
dependable. Finally she nodded. “We can make this work. I’ll start with a
suitcase and go from there.”

“That’s fine, Sam.” His
eyes closed.

Pushing up on one elbow,
she nudged his side. “Did you come over for a reason other than this? Not that
this
wasn’t a perfectly wonderful idea.”

The contented smile on
his lips faded. “I wanted to let you know I’m over halfway through our list of
J.R.’s. Nothing’s popped yet.”

She scowled. “Damn, I’d
hoped we’d find him by now. I
hate
knowing he’s somewhere close by, just
watching and waiting.”

“We’ll find him.” Grim
determination gave strength to his words. “And when we do, he’s going to regret
every minute of fear and worry he’s put you through. I promise.”

Scarecrows made by local
school children lined the back wall of the booth, each with a bull’s eye
painted on its body. The remaining cakes and pies sat on a shelf, tempting
festival goers to try their skill and win a prize.

Sam took five dollars
from a man with curly blond hair and handed him five darts. “Your wife will
love you if you bring home dessert.”

“Don’t have a wife,” he
said with a grin. “But nothing beats homemade apple pie.”

A few minutes later, his
smile was slipping, and he was down ten more dollars, but he walked away with a
pie.

“Men!” Juliette rolled
her eyes. “He would have spent twice that much as a matter of pride if he
hadn’t gotten a lucky hit on the last throw. It would have been a whole lot
cheaper for him to buy dessert.”

“But not as tasty.
Lenore made the apple, and her pies are to die for.”

Juliette leaned back
against a scarecrow and flicked a long, dark braid over one shoulder. “Any news
yet from Ethan?”

“I’m expecting his call
within the hour.” Hands stuffed in the pockets of her jeans, Sam kicked a loose
pile of hay. “He only had a couple more J.R.’s to research. If we don’t find
this guy at the bottom of our list, I swear I’m going to scream.”

“We’ll all be raving
loons if this tension keeps up. At least he hasn’t targeted one of us
recently.”

“I don’t know if that’s
good or bad. It either means he’s confident we’ll keep quiet, or he’s planning
something.”

Juliette frowned. “Let’s
hope it’s not the latter.” She stared off across the dusty clearing full of
happy, chattering people, most of whom were wandering toward the gazebo. Lit up
by lanterns, the large white structure resembled a Grecian temple. A
country-western band tuned up nearby. “Looks like the dance is getting
underway.”

“I’m hoping Ethan will
get here in time to take me for a spin around the floor. Do you have a date
tonight?”

She shook her head. “Roy
McDonald asked me to the dance, but I don’t want to encourage him.”

“Why not? He’s a nice
guy, or at least he was back in high school.”

“He still is nice, but
honestly, I have a tendency to fall asleep when he’s talking.”

Sam let loose a snort of
laughter. “That doesn’t bode well for entertainment value in bed.”

“No, not that I was even
tempted on the two dates we had.” Straightening, she adjusted the shoulder
strap on her camisole top. “If you think you can handle the excitement around
here alone, I’m going to run to the restroom.”

“I’m pretty sure I can
manage. People have had about enough of games this evening. We can start
tearing down when you get back.”

“Sounds like a
plan.”  Juliette waved at Bob Harris as she passed him and headed through
the maze of booths.

The owner of the cross
country ski center stopped in front of the wooden plank serving as a counter
and smiled. “Still open for business?”

“You bet. We’ve some
great desserts left.” Sam pointed toward the row of edible prizes. “I’ve got my
eye on the carrot cake, but I can do without the calories if you want that one.
Five darts for five dollars.”

His smile faltered.
“That’s okay. I brought one of my own.”

He clamped his hand
around her arm. A sharp stab, like the sting of an angry wasp, pierced her
skin. Mouth open, the yelp of pain came out in a whisper of breath as the man’s
face wavered before her eyes. Behind him, the world darkened, and she crumpled
to the ground.