Chapter Eleven
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Several days later, Hunter handed Jo a drill. “Be my guest.”
Jo surveyed the wooden cladding they were applying to the outside of the house, set the screw in place and screwed it in expertly. She picked another screw from a nearby box and kept going. They’d framed in the house, gotten help with the plumbing and wiring, and were working on the exterior and the roof today. Max came and went on his explorations around the grounds. Tabitha had checked in earlier and gone her way, too.
Hunter watched Jo patiently. She’d made it clear from the beginning she didn’t intend to stand around and let him do all the work. She wanted to learn every aspect of building her house, and since he was learning it at the same time, he didn’t see any reason not to let her—even if sometimes he ached to take the tools out of her hands and do it himself.
During the days he’d lived at Two Willows he’d observed all the women carefully and noticed a pattern he was pretty sure had led to Jo’s current state of mind. On the one hand, all her sisters deferred to her on matters pertaining to the care of the critters on the ranch. Jo might not talk about her ability to read feelings and emotions, but her sisters intuitively grasped she had a special connection with them. On the other hand, everyone from Cass on down interfered in Jo’s life in all kinds of ways. Cass mothered her—constantly. Reminding her to eat breakfast, telling her to take a sweater, commenting if she looked tired and possibly sick. Alice didn’t comment actively, but she kept a watch on her younger sister he was sure stemmed from the early days when she would have acted as Cass’s deputy. Lena ran the cattle operation without ever consulting Jo. She merely ordered Jo around, and he thought Jo was so used to it she didn’t think to step up and demand to help make decisions. Sadie was still on her honeymoon, so he had to wait to learn more about her, but Jo had already told him several times about the way Sadie liked to dose her with herbal remedies and all the tricks Jo made use of to fool her sister into thinking she actually consumed them.
Four older sisters made for a harrowing existence, as far as Hunter could see. Jo needed a break. She needed space. She needed to be the master of her own destiny. This was her house. And even if he meant to share it with her, he knew he had to let her build it.
As she worked down the length of the house, he cut boards and handed them to her, passed her screws, put a hand on the cladding to hold it in place while she drilled guide holes. Whatever it took to get the job done.
“You’re quiet today,” she said finally.
“Thinking.”
“About what?”
“You.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not much to think about there.”
“You’d be surprised.” He hadn’t meant it to sound lascivious, but somehow it did and he could see her exasperation. Jo boxed up her experiences, the way some people did. Romance was for romantic times. Work was work.
“Cass seems to be talking to you again.” She returned to the job.
“Amazingly.” Cass had been furious at first when she learned what Hunter had done, but then she’d simmered down and thanked him for telling the General she was pregnant.
“I’ve been putting it off, and that’s ridiculous,” she’d said. “I want to heal this family. Having this baby is the first step.”
Hunter hoped she was right. As much as all the women held a grudge against the General, Hunter thought they missed him, too. Someday the man would have to come home to his ranch. He’d have learned about his grandchild one way or the other.
When his phone rang, he pulled it out absently but quickly accepted the call when he saw who it was.
“Hey—where’ve you been?”
“I don’t have time for that. I need money, Hunter.”
“Money? For what?” It didn’t take any kind of hunch to know Marlon was in trouble. His voice was rough. He didn’t sound together. “Where are you?”
“Look, you going to help or not? I can’t talk.”
“How much?”
Marlon named a sum that made Hunter whistle. “What do you need that for?”
“I don’t have time.” Marlon cut through his words. “Stop fucking around and answer the question.”
“What the hell are you on right now?” Marlon’s anger was palpable, and it had a reckless quality to it Hunter didn’t like. Had he been drinking? That wasn’t like Marlon. His friend prided himself on keeping his head on straight.
“I’m not on anything. I’ve got pictures, Hunter. Photographs. Her with him.”
“Him?” He knew Marlon was talking about May, and he could only guess where this was headed. He gripped the phone more tightly.
“Yeah—him. The guy May’s shacked up with. No wonder she doesn’t want me coming by. She’s not leaving me because we’ve grown apart. She’s leaving me because she’s fucking someone else!”
Hunter’s heart sank. Marlon was furious, and this wasn’t going to end well.
“The asshole detective I hired knows exactly where this dude lives, but he wants more money. He says there’s more to tell me, but he won’t say what until I pay him.”
“Jesus.” This wasn’t good. “Where are you?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Are you at Coronado?”
When Marlon hesitated, Hunter swore. If he wasn’t—he had to be in Alabama.
“Marlon, you need to get back to your team. This guy sounds like a total prick. He’s playing you.”
“He’s not playing me. These photos are real!”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But you’re AWOL again and you’re going to screw everything up—”
“I’m already screwed. I need money. At least… send me enough to buy a plane ticket home.”
Hunter stared at the phone. Marlon wasn’t making sense. “Use your credit card.”
“He won’t take credit!”
So this was about the investigator again, not about plane tickets.
“He’s got pictures, Hunter. I need to know who this guy is.”
Marlon’s voice cracked and Hunter winced again. He couldn’t let his friend get anywhere near May—or the man she was with. The investigator, whoever he was, sounded like a piece of work, and Hunter wondered if a guy like that was already working out how to extort money out of May and her boyfriend, too.
“You need to get back to California. Now, Marlon.”
“You’re supposed to be such a good friend. Isn’t that what you said when you were bossing me around? So give me the fucking cash!”
He was slurring his words. Drunk. High. Something. Screwing up big time after Hunter had put his whole future on the line to buy him another chance.
Hunter would do anything to shield Marlon. He would hop on a plane and go to sort things out. He’d get Marlon to a motel. Give him time to dry out. Fly with him back to Coronado. He knew how much Marlon valued his family. Knew how terrified he was of losing his kids. This wasn’t who his friend was.
But he was blowing it.
And there was no way Hunter would forward Marlon cash.
“Hunter? Come on, man. Make up your damn mind.”
Hunter heard the desperation in Marlon’s voice, but he held firm.
“I’ll come and get you. Tell me where you are.” He’d be putting his own future on the line—again. Risking the General’s anger—and Jo’s. He couldn’t afford the expense right now, either, not when he’d promised to build Jo a house come spring. Couldn’t afford to put off building her temporary home for a single week with winter bearing down on them.
“Just send the—”
“No money. I’m coming to take you back to San Diego.”
“Fuck you!”
Marlon cut the call. Hunter leaned against the porch railing, gripping it hard enough he thought the wood would splinter in his hands. There was no other way he could have played that, he told himself. Marlon was a SEAL. Trained to kill. Out of his mind with rage and anguish at his wife’s betrayal. The last thing he needed was her boyfriend’s address.
And he couldn’t keep Marlon’s secrets anymore, not when things had gone this far. It killed him to know how angry Marlon would be, but he didn’t think he had a choice. He made two more calls. One to Sue-Ann Frank. One to Marlon’s home phone number, just in case May was checking their messages. Someone had to stop Marlon.
He was searching for a flight when his phone rang again a half hour later. It wasn’t a familiar number.
“Powell here,” he said when he took the call.
“Hunter?”
“Yes.” The voice was familiar, but he didn’t place it at first.
“It’s Abel Frank.”
“Abel.” His gut tightened. Marlon’s oldest brother.
“Mom told me what’s going on.”
“Yeah?”
“Why the hell did you wait so long to fill us in? We had no idea about the divorce—or about May stepping out on Marlon. Didn’t you think we should know?”
“That was for him to decide.”
“Yeah, right. The guy whose life was falling apart.” Abel’s voice rose. “And now he’s AWOL. What’s with you guys?”
Hunter didn’t know how to answer that, either. It was bad enough he’d broken Marlon’s confidence. Abel swore.
“It was Marlon the last time, too, wasn’t it? He made a run for it, and what—you followed him? Brought him back? What’d you do? Take the fall for him?”
“Something like that,” Hunter admitted reluctantly.
“Christ, what a mess. Hunter, I think I know where he lives—May’s boyfriend. And I’m afraid if I was able to find out that fast, Marlon will, too, pretty soon.”
Hunter’s grip on the phone grew tighter. “How did you find him?”
“I asked around. No one was going to tell Marlon, but someone spilled the beans to me. Wasn’t that hard to track him down once I had a name.”
“What’s the plan?”
“That’s what I’m asking you. Marlon won’t listen to me, you know that.”
Hunter did know it. Marlon still resented the way Abel had lorded over him the whole time they’d grown up. He’d see any interference from his brother as a reason to dig in deeper.
“I don’t even know where he’s staying,” Abel went on. “You need to go get him. Take him back to base.”
“Hunter? What’s wrong?” He turned and found Jo right behind him. “Is everything all right?” she asked.
“It’s fine.” He raised a hand to warn her off. He needed a moment to figure this out. He had to get everything under control—
But that’s what he always did, wasn’t it? Tried to control things, just like Jo had said.
He was trying to control Marlon, and it wasn’t working for shit, was it? He’d handed Marlon a perfect way out of the mess he’d made for himself, but Marlon had gone and screwed up his second chance.
Even if he did manage to find the man and get him back on base—if he somehow miraculously saved Marlon’s ass again—who was to say Marlon wouldn’t screw it all up a third time?
Maybe he kept choosing this path because he needed to walk it.
“Are you going to say no, Hunter, after everything my family has done for you?” Abel asked.
Hunter closed his eyes, helpless against that line of attack. “Fine. I’ll go,” he growled.
“I’m texting you May’s boyfriend’s address. If Marlon’s trying to find him, he’s got to be around here somewhere close. You know all his old haunts. Hunt him down. Get him back to California safe and sound. We’re counting on you.”
Hunter cut the call and turned to face Jo.
“What was that all about?”
“Marlon. I need to go after him.” He was already figuring out the logistics.
“Go after him? How long will you be gone?” Jo glanced at the tiny house and he knew why; fall was progressing. The rains would come soon and make it difficult to get anything done. His leaving now meant they might not be able to finish the house in time.
“I really don’t know.”
“You realize you’re going AWOL, too,” Jo said when she pulled into a parking space at the Chance Creek Regional Airport early that afternoon. Hunter had found tickets to Alabama, and they’d rushed to get him packed and ready to travel. They’d told the others it was a family emergency, which her sisters had accepted without question. Brian had eyed Hunter thoughtfully, though, and Jo wished Hunter had simply told him the truth. She understood why he was trying to keep the details to himself: he was protecting his friend as best he could. Trying to contain a situation that didn’t seem to Jo to be containable. Still, it bothered her he couldn’t say when he’d be back.
In her experience, when someone left like that, they didn’t come back at all.
Jo touched him briefly and was only partly reassured. There was that loyalty again, blazing strong. She felt deep worry, some of it directed at her. But a far deeper worry aimed at Marlon.
She tried to pull herself together as she parked the truck. Hunter had a past. Friends. Family. She didn’t own him.
Hunter pulled his bag from the backseat and grabbed the door handle. “I’m sorry I’m asking you to cover for me if your father calls.”
“Of course I’ll cover for you.” Lying to the General was the thing she and her sisters did best. The General tried to control them from afar—what was the harm in thwarting him once in a while?
“I’ll be back just as soon as I can.”
Jo swallowed, hard. How many times had she heard that before? In the first months after her mother’s death, the General had pretended it was his job keeping him away. She remembered phone calls and video chats during which she’d begged him to come home before her sisters convinced her that showing weakness wasn’t the way to deal with their father. It had broken her heart that he’d never come home, but she’d learned over time not to show it.
She hoped she wasn’t showing her disappointment now.
“Jo, I don’t want to do this,” Hunter said.
Then don’t. She didn’t say the words out loud, but she didn’t have to. Hunter’s face pinched with concern.
“I’d much rather be with you.”
Jo knew she was being unfair, but what was it about men that their other concerns always outweighed their love for you?
Love.
Hunter had been the one to bandy the word about first. Far too early to really mean it.
“I’ve got to go; I can’t miss my flight.” He leaned in to kiss her, and Jo closed her eyes as his lips brushed her cheek. She couldn’t help the way she felt. This cut too close to the way men had treated her in the past. Hunter sighed. Glanced at his watch. “I’ll be back. Soon. I promise.”
She nodded. She wanted to believe him, but as he climbed out and closed the door behind him, she wondered if she’d ever see him again. Was she being dramatic?
Maybe.
But who could blame her in the circumstances?
Back at the ranch, she tried to lose herself in work, but later that afternoon, when Alice asked if she wanted to ride along to the fabric store in town, Jo jumped at the chance. Anything to stop brooding over Hunter. In the truck, Alice hummed as she drove, and it dawned on Jo she was excited about something.
“What’s going on?” Jo asked.
“Can you keep a secret?” Alice asked with a little bounce.
“Of course.”
“I got an email today. From a costumes manager working for a major movie producer. He’s got a project for me.”
“What kind of project?”
“A Civil War movie. A saga.” She took her eyes off the road briefly and met Jo’s gaze. “Hoopskirts!”
Jo laugh despite herself. Hoopskirts were Alice’s passion. She knew Alice enjoyed all kinds of period costumes, but the ones she loved the most were the ones with the most complicated undergarments. She was happy as a clam creating the Regency-era corsets for the ladies at Westfield who ran a Jane Austen–style bed and breakfast, but they were nothing compared to hoopskirts in Alice’s eyes.
“Too bad it isn’t a movie about the French Revolution,” Jo teased, knowing the extravagant dresses of that era would send Alice over the moon.
“Stop it! Civil War gowns are just as good.” Alice drove on. “Okay, not quite as good, but who knows? This is a big commission. If I get it and I do a good job, almost anyone might hire me. This could be the start of something huge!”
“You already get Hollywood commissions,” Jo said. Wasn’t that unbelievable enough? She didn’t know how her sister managed it without leaving the ranch. Alice was just as devoted as the rest of them to their mother’s property, and was as determined as they were to stay here. Only the quality of her costumes could force people to accept such a constrained arrangement.
“But not like this. He’ll want dozens of costumes. Think of it; one of the scenes is a ball!”
Jo could see why Alice was so excited. “Of course you’ll get it. What do you have to do?”
“Three introductory costumes. He sent the specs this morning. I’m looking to see what I can find in town before I place an online order.”
Jo realized she’d signed onto a longer trip into town than she’d expected. She’d planned a quick trip to the grocery store and maybe a coffee at Linda’s Diner while she waited for Alice to pick out her fabric. “I’ll stop and see Megan if she’s not too busy.”
“Why don’t I drop you off there? I’ll want to hit the grocery store on our way back if you don’t mind.”
“Perfect.”
A minute later, Alice pulled in and parked.
“There’s Megan now.” She pointed to the front door of the real estate office from which Megan had just emerged.
“Come say hi,” Jo said and quickly got out of the truck.
Alice joined her, and when Megan spotted them, she visibly brightened. “Hey, I’m off to get a cup of real coffee. Want to come?”
“Sure.” Jo’s spirits lifted. She could tell Megan what had happened with Hunter, and get her friend’s take on it all.
“I’ll join you for a minute, but not long. I need to keep moving,” Alice said.
Settled into a booth at Linda’s Diner fifteen minutes later, they had just been served their coffee when the door opened and Jo lifted her head to see a familiar man walk in.
“Don’t look now, but that jerk is here,” she interrupted Alice, who was telling Megan an anecdote from their childhood. She nudged Megan, who glanced up, took in Mr. Ramsey and sighed.
“I can’t find anything he likes, but that doesn’t stop him from coming around all the time. My boss probably told him where I was.”
“He’s spotted us,” Alice said with a smile. “Too late to hide.”
The man was making his way over to their table. Jo’s spirits sank again; now Megan would have to leave and they wouldn’t get a chance to talk.
But Mr. Ramsey slid into the bench seat by Alice without even saying hello. Alice, stuck, made a face, but gamely shoved over and made room for him.
“Paul, meet Alice and Jo. Paul Ramsey is a client of mine. Jo, you’ve met him before.”
Jo knew Megan well enough to understand her friend felt trapped into making pleasantries. Her job was on the line.
“I remember,” Jo said pointedly.
Ramsey leaned forward. “What about your ranch? Is it for sale?” he asked abruptly.
“No.” Jo didn’t offer any more of an explanation. She wasn’t going to play games with this man.
“Sometimes people change their minds about that. Decide there are greener pastures somewhere else.”
Jo couldn’t believe the guy, and she was about to tell him to go shove his observations where the sun didn’t shine when Megan said, “Alice? You all right?”
Alice had gone rigid. Her eyes were closed.
“Fire,” she said. “Horses. Your house.” She opened her eyes and stared at Jo. Turned to the man beside her. “Jail.”
Jo went cold. So she’d been right; this man did plan to do them harm.
“What about the horses?” she asked at the same time Ramsey twisted around to get a better look at Alice.
“What the hell do you mean, jail?”
“I’ve got to go,” Alice said, standing up. “I’ve got to go right now. So do you, Jo.”
Jo stood as well.
“Now, wait a minute. We just started talking—” Ramsey cut off as Alice hopped up on the bench seat without another word, stepped up onto the table and hopped down into the aisle that ran the length of the restaurant. Megan pushed out of her seat quickly so Jo could get by, and followed them toward the door without a backward glance at her client.
Jo took Megan’s arm. “Don’t go anywhere alone with him. You heard Alice. Not alone. Not anymore.”
Megan nodded, her face pinched with fear. She’d known the Reeds long enough to take Alice’s predictions seriously. Jo didn’t know how she’d manage to evade the man, though, considering her job. “I mean it, Megan.”
“I won’t.” Megan leaned in closer, despite the fact Ramsey still sat in the booth where they’d left him, staring after them like he couldn’t figure them out. “I know how to handle this. We’ve got a protocol if a guy gets forward when we’re showing him houses. We pass him on to Mike.”
Jo smiled despite the seriousness of the situation. She knew Mike. She doubted Ramsey would like him. “I’m sorry you’ll lose the commission.”
“I don’t think I was ever going to get one. I don’t know why Ramsey’s here, but it isn’t to buy a house.”
“We’ve got to find Cab,” Jo said on their way out of the diner, after settling the bill for the coffee they hadn’t even consumed. “We’ve got to tell him everything.”
The Alabama heat was the first thing that struck Hunter after his time in the much drier, much cooler Montana town. He rented a boxy sedan he normally wouldn’t be caught dead in, the better to be able to search for Marlon without drawing attention to himself.
Abel was probably right; maybe he should start looking for his friend in the usual places, but some instinct told him to drive straight to May’s boyfriend’s house. He had a feeling if anyone knew where Marlon was, it would be her.
She hadn’t returned his earlier call, not that he thought she would. He and May had a complicated history—one that extended as far back as her relationship with Marlon. He’d known Marlon too well to believe his marriage to May was going to work out, and she’d known he’d felt that way. And didn’t like him for it.
He pulled out the address Abel had given him, punched it into the sedan’s GPS and got on the road. Time to stop Marlon before he did something he’d really regret.
He waited nearly three hours parked outside May’s boyfriend’s house before a black GMC truck pulled into the driveway, and May got out, circling the car to pull out a bag of groceries. The home was nothing special, a 1950s-era bungalow with a yard devoid of landscaping except a few leggy begonias by the front stoop. Hunter wondered if May would want to spruce the place up. Was she serious about this guy?
He got out of the sedan and strode across the yard to intercept her before she reached the front door.
May yelped and put her hand to her chest when she recognized him. “Hunter? What are you doing here? Did Marlon send you? Is he here, too?”
“No, and he doesn’t know I am, but you should know he’s somewhere close. He found out about your boyfriend and he’s pissed. Where are the kids?”
“With my mom.”
Up close, May looked tired. Her hair, usually her pride and glory, was caught back in a sloppy bun, a large plastic clip holding it askew. Her makeup was minimal, her lipstick chewed off.
So she was suffering, too.
Then she shifted her groceries and put a hand to the small of her back in a way he recognized. His eyes dropped to her belly. She looked like she’d put on weight—
“Oh, God.” Hunter took another good, long look at her. “You’re pregnant.”
“That I am,” May said tiredly. “And no, it’s not Marlon’s.”
“You’re going to kill him.”
He thought she’d protest, but for once May seemed stripped of her usual snappy answers. “I know. I honestly didn’t mean for it to happen like this, Hunter.”
Hunter didn’t know what to do. “You realize he went off the deep end when you filed for divorce. You realize—” He cut off. He couldn’t spill Marlon’s secrets. “He loves you.”
“Does he? Really?” May challenged him. “Because I don’t think so. I think when this is all over he’ll be just as relieved as I am. We were never right for each other; everyone knew it. You said so from the start. We rushed into a marriage and it didn’t work. We’re not the first and we won’t be the last.”
“But you’ve got kids.”
“Yeah, we do. And it’s been rough on of all of us, but Marlon’s not making it better.”
“Couldn’t you have waited until he was out of the military to do all this? It’s just another month and a half. He wouldn’t be facing a court martial for deserting his team if you had.”
She looked down at her belly pointedly. “No. I can’t wait for another month and a half. My life has moved on. He needs to realize that. So do you. I brought up divorce months ago. He could have worked with me and made this a done deal. He’s the one dragging it out. I want to marry Arthur. Before I have this baby.” She shifted the bag of groceries again and frowned. “Did you say court martial?”
“As far as I can make out, he’s on his way here.”
May’s shoulders slumped. “So he’s AWOL again? He’s making it worse for everyone.”
“Then help me find him. Help me get him back to his team. Because I don’t know where he is.” Hunter held his breath. Would May know where to look? It would make all of this so much easier.
“The Douglas Point Motel,” she said immediately. “I’ll bet anything he’s there. We used to slip away…”
Hunter turned on his heel and walked back to the sedan.
“My problem is I can’t arrest anyone on the basis of a hunch,” Cab said.
“Alice’s visions are way more than hunches, Sheriff. You know that.” Jo leaned forward in her chair. She and Alice sat in front of Cab’s desk. They’d dropped Megan off at her real estate office with admonitions to keep far away from Ramsey.
Cab shrugged. “Doesn’t change anything. I still can’t arrest anyone. I’ll do my best to keep an eye on things, though. I’ll send a cruiser by your place several times a day, and we’ll keep an eye on Ramsey as best we can.
“You aren’t taking this seriously enough.” Jo sat back in defeat.
“I’m absolutely taking this seriously. Rest assured all my men will be on alert. I want all of you to be on alert, too. You tell Brian and Hunter everything you’ve told me. They’ll set up a watch on the ranch, too. When’s Conner getting home?”
“Not for another few days.”
“He shouldn’t have gone for so long.”
“India’s a long way off,” Alice pointed out. “It’s his honeymoon; he deserves a break, and so does Sadie. I just wish Hunter was here.”
Jo nudged her. Alice looked down. “I mean—”
Cab frowned. “Where’d he get to?”
“Alabama. Family business,” Jo rushed to say. No sense hiding his location now that Alice had spilled the beans.
Cab swore. “Does the General know that?”
“No. And you’re not going to tell him.”
“As far as I know, Hunter’s still in the Navy,” Cab said. “Which means he’s AWOL right now. He’s supposed to be guarding you.”
It was Jo’s turn to frown. “He’s not supposed to be guarding me; he’s supposed to build me a house.”
Cab turned to Alice. “What about those hunches of yours? Will you get one when the trouble starts?”
“It doesn’t work that way. I can’t predict my predictions.” Alice sighed and stood up. “But thank you for doing what you can, Sheriff.”
“This isn’t a large department,” Cab said apologetically as he ushered them to the door. “We’re thin on the ground, and we have to patrol the highway as well as all of Chance Creek County. I’ll do whatever I can, you can count on that. But all of you down at Two Willows need to do your part. Stay vigilant. And tell Hunter to get his ass back where he belongs.”
Jo didn’t know whether to feel better or worse after they’d left the building. “You shouldn’t have said anything about Hunter.”
“It slipped out. It didn’t occur to me he was still in the Navy. That he’s gone AWOL.” Alice was quiet a minute. “Do you think… are we… a mission?” Her pretty face was twisted in concentration.
“What do you mean?” But Jo thought she knew exactly what Alice meant, and it didn’t make her feel a bit better.
“Brian, Connor, Hunter… is the General ordering men to marry us?”
The Douglas Point Motel was about as inspiring as he’d predicted, Hunter thought sourly as he pulled in and parked in an empty spot. In fairness, there wasn’t anything wrong with it. The paint looked new. The planters were planted with cheerful annuals. It was cared for.
It also housed a man whose life he was about to turn on end.
Hunter was tired, and more to the point, he was discouraged. Seeing May had made it clear there was no hope for his friend’s marriage. He thought he’d already understood that, but some part of him must have been holding out for a happy ending, after all. If Marlon had been desperate when May had served him divorce papers, he’d be distraught when he learned she was pregnant with another man’s child.
He didn’t know how long it would take to get Marlon back on his feet, and he needed to return to Montana before Jo lost faith in him. He knew she felt he’d abandoned her—just when she needed him. Time was passing; winter was on its way. They didn’t have any days to spare where building the house was concerned.
Telling Marlon about May wasn’t going to get any easier, though. Might as well get it over with. He stopped in the main office, where a teenage clerk gave out Marlon’s room number without needing to be asked twice. Marlon popped his head out of room nine before Hunter even reached it.
“Get over here, Hunter.”
Hunter bit back a chuckle. Of course the SEAL had been keeping an eye out for trouble.
“Nice to see you, too, Marlon.”
“Did Mom send you?” He tugged Hunter into the room and shut the door. They faced each other over a worn green carpet. Hunter swept his gaze around the place. Tidy but tired, just as he’d expected.
“Abel did. And so did May.”
The bravado went out of Marlon just like that. He sat down on the orange-and-brown coverlet of the bed. “May sent you?”
“I paid her a visit. Had a little talk with her.”
“So people helped you but not me. I had to pay an investigator to find her, and he turned out to be a crook. He still hasn’t given me the address of that guy she’s with.”
“People were afraid to help you,” Hunter said bluntly. “You’re supposed to be one of the good guys, remember?”
Marlon opened his mouth to retort, then waved their talk away. “I can see you’ve got news. Spill it.”
Hunter took in the case of beer on the table and the empty cans piled around the trash can. He wished he could think of a way to sugar-coat what he had to say, but there was nothing for it but to tell him the unvarnished truth. “May’s pregnant. It’s not yours.” Pull the Band-Aid off quickly. Wasn’t that the usual advice?
Marlon surged to his feet. Covered his face with his hands, then threw them down. His fingers balled into fists. “Hunter—”
“Easy there. I know you want to hit something. Don’t hit me.”
Marlon paced, first one way, then the other. He kept pulling back to throw a punch—at the wall—at something—
But he held himself back. Hunter was gratified to see his friend could exercise self-control. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he thought.
“What did she say to you?” Marlon finally asked, anguish tightening his voice.
“She didn’t mean for it to happen this way. She loves the baby’s father. She wants to marry him.”
Marlon rocked on his feet, taking each sentence like a blow. He sat down abruptly on the bed again. “Then she’s really gone. May’s gone.”
“I know, buddy.” Hunter kept his place. Waited.
When his friend dropped his head into his hands and began to sob, Hunter crossed the room, sat beside him and braced himself for a long night.
“He’s coming back,” Jo said several days later to Cass, replying to Hunter’s text with alacrity. Relief made her giddy and she realized she’d half expected him to disappear from her life. She shouldn’t have been so worried—he’d been texting her daily. Giving her updates. Now that she knew he had plane tickets, she could relax.
“Of course he’s coming back,” Cass said. “Did you think he wouldn’t?” She stopped halfway to the cupboard, in the middle of preparing a chicken dinner. “Jo, did you think he’d left for good?”
Jo shrugged, not wanting her to know it had kept her awake every night since he’d gone. Paired with her anxiety about Alice’s vision, she’d struggled to rest for more than an hour at a time. Brian had tried to mount a one-man guard duty after calling Hunter and chewing him out. Lena had insisted on helping, and Jo had taken her turn, too. That meant broken nights of sleep had piled up until she was hardly sure if she was coming or going.
“Anyone could see that man’s head over heels for you,” Cass assured her. “When will he get in?”
“Tonight. Late. He said he’ll take a cab home.”
“Better take a nap so you’re ready for him.”
Jo didn’t think she’d sleep a wink tonight either. She was far too excited, which was almost as unnerving as anything else that had happened recently. Since when did she care so much?
She nearly rolled her eyes. She couldn’t pretend she didn’t care for Hunter anymore. She did. Even if the General had sent him to marry her. Even if she should refuse to even speak with him on principle, let alone make love to him. Life was weird. There was no getting around that.
She decided to go with it.
The rest of the day she did her chores with only half her mind on them, until that evening Lena thumped her on the arm and told her to go back to the house since she was useless in the barn.
Jo went willingly, wanting to shower and spruce up before Hunter got home, and Cass was right; maybe she should shut her eyes for a minute so she could be awake for their reunion. When she was ready, she grabbed the book of Hunter’s mother’s poetry she’d ordered off the internet and curled up on the living room couch under a throw blanket. She’d found the poems slow going so far, packed with dense imagery of nature juxtaposed against human angst. The word ‘choices’ popped up a lot.
“I’m heading up to bed,” Cass told her. “Brian’s keeping watch outside.”
“Hunter and I will take the second shift,” Jo said. It wouldn’t be any hardship to stay awake through the early morning hours with as much to catch up on as they’d have.
After reading a poem or two, she’d only closed her eyes—or so it seemed to her—when she woke up, hearing a thump on the back porch and Brian shouting.
“Someone’s stealing the house!”
Jo thrashed around until she got free of the blanket, staggered to her feet and lost precious time getting her bearings as Max, who’d appeared from nowhere, ran in circles and barked. The clock on the old VCR under their ridiculously outdated television set told her it was 1:30 in the morning.
Where was Hunter? He was supposed to be home.
Jo spotted her phone on the couch beside her, grabbed it up and raced toward the back porch, Max following. Somewhere outside a truck’s engine roared past. A door slammed. Another truck started up and roared after it.
There were two texts from Hunter.
Plane delayed. Leaving at 11 instead of 9.
Plane delayed again. Not sure when I’ll get there. Go to bed—see you in the morning.
She shoved the phone in her pocket and yanked open the back door, careful to shut Max in the house as she went outside. Brian was nowhere to be seen, but the porch told a story. The wicker seat he must have been sitting in—and possibly sleeping in—lay overturned. His truck was gone from the parking area. Jo clattered down the steps in her bare feet and paced a few yards out to try to see what might have happened.
Someone’s stealing the house. Brian’s nonsensical shout replayed through her mind. She’d been in the house. How could anyone steal—?
The tiny house.
Jo raced toward it but she already knew what she’d find. Brian was right; it was gone. Who would steal her house when it wasn’t even done?
Instantly, an image of Ramsey filled her mind.
It had to be him. And he had to be connected to the group in Tennessee who seemed determined to punish them for blowing up their drugs.
Jo paced, not knowing what to do, before grabbing her phone again to call Cab.
But as she turned, something caught her eye. A flash of orange in the distance.
Flames.
“Fire!” Jo screamed. “Lena, Cass, Alice! Fire!”
She sprinted down the dirt track that led to the outbuildings, the hard earth cold under her bare feet, but even before she reached them she heard the sound she’d dreaded all the way.
Horses whinnying. Screaming with fear and the need to escape.
She remembered Alice at the restaurant. Horses. Fire.
Jo reached the stables in record time, but already flames shot skyward, the building half-engulfed.
Jo heard the frantic whinnying of the horses, heard their hoof beats pounding on the wooden walls of their stalls. She didn’t think twice before she dashed into the building as a horse raced out and nearly ran her over.
That was Button, she realized as she leaped out of the way. He must have knocked down his stall door. That left four more, including Bright Star. She made another attempt and got into the stables this time, smoke instantly swirling around her in a thick soup that was impossible to see through and even harder to breathe in.
Remembering what she knew about fires, Jo dropped to her knees and crawled, keeping as low to the floor as she could. She knew this building like the back of her own hand. She didn’t need to see—just needed to get to the stalls. Which should be right—
Here.
Her hand hit the corner of the first stall and she felt the reverberation of Priscilla’s hoofs clattering against the door. She wouldn’t need to guide the mare out. All she needed to do was open the door.
Which meant she had to stand up. Jo held her breath and did so, her eyes watering in the acrid smoke. It took two tries to force the bolt open, but as soon as she did, Priscilla flung past Jo and raced for the stable door.
Jo didn’t hesitate. The next stall’s door was off its hinges, but the following one was bolted tight and she struggled to open it, her chest constricted in the heavy smoke, dizzy and light-headed from breathing it in. When she finally got it open, River hesitated, unhappy with the dark conditions. Jo had to feel her way in, keep from being stepped on and slap River’s rear several times to get him going. Luckily he bolted for the door when he got going.
Two more.
A creak above her head made Jo look up. The entire roof was on fire. Conditions were getting dangerous; she had to work fast. Flames crawled up three walls, and if she wasn’t quick, the thick beams supporting the building could give way. She moved as quickly as she could to the next stall, feeling her way, and got that bolt open, too.
“Come on, Bright Star,” she cried. “Time to go.”
Bright Star seemed to agree. She danced and sidestepped a moment before racing past in the right direction, snorting and whinnying in distress.
Only Atlas was left. Lena’s stallion. She could do this.
Jo dropped to her knees and rested a second, winded. Her chest burned. Eyes stung and watered so badly she could barely open them. She knew she had to push forward, but the heat and lack of oxygen were getting to her. She needed to rest.
When her head snapped forward and she nearly fell over, Jo realized she was about to make a deadly mistake. She couldn’t rest. Couldn’t slide into unconsciousness.
Another groan from the timbers above her gave her the impetus she needed to push to her knees, reach up, feel for the bolt on the last door and pull herself up. She tried to slide it open, but unlike the others, this one always caught. You had to push against the door before it moved correctly. Jo leaned into it, pushed against the door—
And screamed as a beam gave way above her, crashed down, glanced off her shoulder and knocked her to the ground.
Jo writhed around in an agony of pain. Her shoulder felt as if it had exploded. She realized it had been knocked out of its socket. Every movement hurt enough to nearly push her into unconsciousness.
Dislocated shoulder. Dislocated shoulder…
Jo tried to remember what she knew of such an injury. She had to shove it back in or she’d be useless; no way she could get the stall open without two hands.
Forcing herself to her knees, wavering there, then forcing herself to her feet, Jo tried to orient herself. She found the nearest solid post, stepped back, turned sideways, braced herself—
And slammed against it with all her might.
Her shoulder popped into place as Jo staggered around, her mouth open but no sound coming out. She sobbed, the pain nearly toppling her again.
Horse. Atlas. She had to get him out. She couldn’t let Lena down; her sister loved that stallion. It meant everything to her.
Where was everyone? Hadn’t they heard her?
As if on cue, a shout came from outside, and Jo blinked, coming to herself.
Looked around her.
Nearly slid to her knees in shock. She was inside an inferno—
Flames crawled over every surface, on all sides, above her, too—as if she inhabited a cinder, the glow and snap and heat everywhere she looked.
No one could help her in here.
Atlas threw himself against the door of his stall, rattling it, bringing Jo back to action. She reached for the bolt. Burned herself. Wrapped her hand in her shirt and tried again, bracing her good shoulder against the door and pushing hard.
It sprung free—just as Atlas slammed his weight against it again—and knocked Jo to the floor. Atlas crashed right over her as he raced toward the stable entrance.
Jo heard a man shout—fought against the darkness closing in on all sides.
Lost.
Hunter was in the back of a cab when his phone buzzed. Finally—it must be Jo, who hadn’t acknowledged his texts that his plane was delayed. Was she pissed? He worried she might be; he’d tried to keep her in the loop, but watching over Marlon had been a full-time job.
He’d finally turned his friend over to the Franks, who’d already started smoothing things over with the Navy. Hunter had no idea how that would play out. He could only hope there’d be leniency for a man with only weeks to go in his term of service.
It wasn’t Jo calling, though; it was Cab, and when he answered, the sheriff was gruff.
“You in town yet?”
“Almost home.”
“Glad to hear you remembered your mission.”
Hunter wondered what bug the man had up his ass. “I remember my mission.”
“Then get home. I just got a call from Two Willows—that ranch you’re supposed to be protecting? There’s a fire there. Thought you’d want to know.”
“Fire?” Hunter dropped the phone. Leaned forward to yell at the cab driver. “Hit the gas. Now! Two Willows is on fire!”
The cabbie hit the gas, throwing Hunter back against the seat, and all he could do was hold on for the last few miles before they reached the ranch.
Hadn’t anyone been keeping watch? What the hell was Brian thinking? He wanted to kick himself for ever leaving Jo, wanted to pound his fists together for having taken a chance and gone after Marlon. But he needed to save his strength. He needed to be ready for whatever came next.
It took forever to reach Two Willows, the country highway twice as long as it had ever been before, but at last they turned the corner into the lane that led to the house. All the lights were on, but he saw no signs of smoke, and he breathed a sigh of relief. The fire must’ve been small.
“Maybe they put it out already,” the cabbie said.
“Wait—”
A flash of orange caught his eye as the cabbie pulled around to the back of the house, slowed to park the truck, then gunned the gas again, swerving onto the track that led to the outbuildings. Was that the barn? No, the stables.
Engulfed in flames.
“Hurry!” But the cabbie already had the pedal to the floor.
There were figures moving around in front of the fire. Female figures. Cass, Alice, Lena—
Where was Jo?
The cabbie brought the car as close as he could to the stables, and Hunter jumped out of the truck before the engine died.
A stallion charged out of the door. Lena lunged to grab it, but it flew past her, nearly knocking her to the dirt.
As Hunter sprinted toward them, Cass shouted, “She’s in there! Jo’s in there!”
Hunter didn’t stop to think. He snatched the robe Alice had wrapped loosely around her shoulders, dashed to a horse trough, where he dunked it under the surface of the water and pulled it out again. He wrapped the soaking cloth around his neck, pulled it up over his nose—and ran straight into the burning stables.
He heard Lena’s shout as he ran by, thought she might’ve reached out to grab him to prevent him from entering, but Hunter moved past her so fast she didn’t stand a chance. Inside, the stables were an inferno, and Hunter knew his chances of finding Jo alive were slim.
That didn’t matter—he had to try. He had to find her; couldn’t leave her in here. As he battered his way through the flames, the rafters overhead groaned and he spared a glance upward, cursing when he took in the woven flames that made up the roof.
“Jo?” He coughed, the smoke choking him through the cloth he’d wrapped around his face, making his eyes water, making it impossible to see. “Jo!”
He couldn’t hear anything over the roar of the fire. He was risking immolating himself by staying here. It was too late—he’d arrived far too late. Everything was on fire. Soon he’d burn, too.
Something collapsed ahead of him; the wall of one of the horse stalls. He made his way toward it. Jo would’ve come to save the horses. If she was in here, she had to be somewhere nearby.
“Jo!” Where was she?
He stumbled forward a few more feet, knowing that soon the heat, smoke and lack of oxygen would bring him low. He was going to die in here if he didn’t get out soon.
He couldn’t leave without Jo.
He stumbled over something, crashed to his knees, felt around himself, his hands bumping into something lumpy, not quite solid—
Flesh and bone.
“Jo?”
A groan answered him. It had to be her. Hunter didn’t waste any time trying to figure out her condition. He scooped her up, her feminine curves reassuring him he’d found what he was looking for. He had to get her out of here, now. The building was going to come down on them any moment.
Disoriented, Hunter searched for the door in the dim light, through the thick smoke. He couldn’t see anything except flames. He staggered forward not knowing if he was heading in the right direction, trying to rely on instincts that had become confused by the circumstances and his fall.
“Hunter!”
Hunter didn’t answer Lena’s call, he simply followed the sound of her voice gratefully. He had to be close to the exit—nearly outside.
“Hunter, watch out!”
Lena’s warning was almost lost in the bone-grindingly loud sound of the stables collapsing. Hunter threw himself forward, trying to cradle Jo on the way down, but he landed heavily on her, the two of them tumbling from the impact. Behind them, the stables caved in with a crash that shook the ground. Someone screamed. Hunter tried to get up but found he couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. His wrists ached as if he’d broken them.
And Jo, on the ground next to him, lay perfectly still.