Chapter 10

Holly wasn’t even aware that she had nodded off, but she was woken the next morning by the buzzing of her cellphone against the kitchen counter. She jerked to attention, pain immediately flaring through her lower back from where she’d leaned against the cabinets for so long. Slowly, she forced herself to her feet. Her injured hip still pained her somewhat, and so she had to pace herself as she reached for the island in the center of the kitchen to answer the call. “Hello?”

“Holly?” Kelly’s voice came through on the other line, immediately concerned. “Are you ok? You sound like you might have come down with something.”

Yeah…a serious case of mental instability if there ever was one.

“I’m fine.” She managed, rubbing at her hip absently with her opposite hand. “What’s going on?” She glanced at the clock above the stove to make sure that she wasn’t expected in the restaurant anytime soon and found the time to be around seven thirty – a good four plus hours until noon.

There was a pause from Kelly’s end of the line, as if she were considering her words carefully. She surprised Holly with the statement that ensued, her eyes widening.

“Holly…I’m calling because Shane came by this morning. Again.”

Holly winced, her eyes sliding closed before she could let anticipation take her.

It wouldn’t be the first time Kelly had delivered such information – or even the second. In the past two weeks – ever since she’d banned him from her sight, actually – Shane came to the restaurant looking for her. He was tactful enough not to do it when they were busy – or to surprise her when they were opening or closing. In fact, Shane’s entire tactic seemed to be that when he came, he knew full well that she was there.

And yet he let Kelly turn him away.

Holly, of course, told her best friend all that had transpired between her and Shane – though some of the information Kelly had been able to guess herself. While Kelly had been unexpectedly thrilled that Holly had chosen to blow off some steam with Shane, she had been less thrilled to find that just as soon as she’d found a source to relieve some of her stress, she’d promptly booted him from her life.

“And you sent him away, I’m assuming?”

Kelly sighed in a long suffering manner. “Not by choice. Why the hell are you driving him away, Holly? Wasn’t the sex, in your words ‘earth shattering’?”

Holly shuddered. As if she needed reminding.

“Everything’s not about sex, Kelly. Shane is Tommy’s brother for God’s sake. I shouldn’t have…I can’t go around…” She stuttered to a halt, taking a deep breath. “I just can’t.”

Kelly’s only answer was a long exhalation into the phone. “Alright then, fine. Rob yourself of all happiness. That always works wonders.”

Holly scowled. The last thing she needed right now was Kelly’s criticism – not when everything else in her life was going so damn swimmingly. “Kelly, please…not now. I’ll be in in a little while…and we can talk about it then, ok?”

“…Ok, Holly.”

If Kelly’s tone was any indication, she intended to do a far sight more than talk about anything – and when the blonde got into convincing mode, there was little Holly could do to stop her.

Even if she didn’t want to be convinced.

She set her phone back on the counter before glancing towards the staircase. If she was lucky, Madison would still be sleeping – too tired to remember her mother yelling at her a few hours earlier. That would mean enough time to get her up and dressed before calling a sitter for the afternoon. Hopefully, by the time Maddy was alert enough to pout, Holly would have thought up a suitable apology.

One her eight-year-old daughter could understand.

Christ, she was in for it.

Holly didn’t think she’d ever been so nervous about facing Madison – when Tommy died, God knew she’d been too consumed by her grief to feel very much of anything.

Taking a deep breath, Holly ran a hand through her mussed hair before starting for the stairs. She took them slowly, quietly, as not to wake her daughter, and when she reached Madison’s door, she forced herself to relax tense muscles. This was her daughter…Even if she had a momentary lapse, there was no human being on earth who she adored more.

With a small smile, Holly pushed the door open.

Before her, she found an empty bed with the sheets still mussed.

Immediately, inexplicably, her heart leapt into her throat. She had to swallow the cry of dismay that rose in her throat as she forced herself to pass through the room and into the bathroom beyond. “Maddy?”

The bathroom was empty as well, the bathtub strewn with the toys Madison had played with just the previous night. “Maddy?” Whipping from the bathroom, Holly hurried back down the hall, her cotton nightgown flapping behind her. She checked the spare bedroom, her own bedroom and bathroom, and both linen closets for any trace of the small girl before hurrying downstairs.

Her tone grew frantic. “Madison? Answer me right now!”

The kitchen, living room, dining room and garage all yielded similar results to her upstairs search, and by the time Holly had destroyed the downstairs closet and pantry, very real panic had enveloped her.

Her baby. Where was her baby?

After searching the front and back yard with her heart hammering against her chest, Holly lunged for her phone the moment she re-entered the house, redialing the restaurant number. When Kelly answered, Holly’s tone was close to hysterical.

“Madison’s gone! Kelly, my baby’s gone!”

Things happened in a blur after that. Kelly told her that she was leaving the restaurant that instant and Holly hung up the phone to call the police. It took every bit of wherewithal she had to explain the situation to them without having a complete and total meltdown, but, somehow, she managed. The police promised to send a squad car to her house right away, and Kelly made her way to the living room on shaking legs to wait.

Madison.

Her Maddy was gone, and immediately, Holly thought the worst.

When she’d heard nothing from Kirk about her visit to the hospital, she’d been silly enough to let herself breathe a sigh of relief. Had he taken Maddy now, in retaliation for her brazenness? If Kirk had Madison, then God knew what the perverted sonofabitch was doing to her…

And if he didn’t…Holly could tell absolutely no one. She was caught between a rock and a hard place. If she told anyone about the deal she’d made with Luckston, and he wasn’t the culprit, he’d come after her. If she didn’t tell anyone…she might never see her baby girl again.

Clenching her hands together so tightly she could feel the slender bones of her wrists beneath her skin, Holly struggled to take deep breaths. This was all her fault. If only she hadn’t exploded on Maddy hours ago…she’d probably driven her away to God knew where. She was eight years old. Eight. If she’d just run out the door, anyone could have picked her up. Anyone at all.

It seemed like an eternity before someone knocked on her door, and once they did, Holly bolted up, racing for the foyer at light speed. She yanked the door open.

And froze on the spot.

Shane Wilder stood on her doorway.

In that moment, Holly found herself torn between throwing herself into his arms and demanding that he leave her property. She stared at him – all six and a half tattooed feet of him, looking exceptionally mouthwatering in a black wife beater, blue jeans and a flannel shirt that framed the wide, muscled expanse of his chest. Despite the fear that seized her heart, when Shane’s green gaze met hers – his expression hesitant – her knees went weak and she could taste him on her lips.

“Holly,” He spoke lowly, his baritone thrumming through her, “I know you don’t want me here. I just came because Kelly told me about Madison. Let me help you find her.” The man’s eyes gleamed with emotion so poignant it made Holly’s chest tighten and she swallowed thickly, forcing words past her lips.

“Shane, you met her twice. You don’t have to play the hero.” It was a low blow she knew, but she didn’t know if she could handle him here now. She might do something stupid, like throw herself into his arms and beg him to make love to her until everything was better.

If he was hurt by her statement, Shane didn’t show it. Instead, he merely leaned against her doorway – where she knew she would have no chance of moving him. “Yeah, I do.”

Holly’s mouth fell open in incredulity. She had never known Shane to be a jerk and now was a hell of a time for him to start. “Why?” She demanded, trying and failing to tear her eyes from the strong lines of his broad shoulders.

“Because she’s my niece. And your daughter.” Straightening, Shane stepped forward to gaze down at her, his expression stern. “And regardless of whether or not you feel the same way about me, I like you, Holly. I like you a whole goddamn lot.”

His words sizzled down her spine, straight to her toes, and it was only then that Holly noticed that she was still wearing her cotton nightgown and that she must look like absolute shit.

In front of Shane.

She swiftly turned away, her face flaming as she tried to tame her messy hair into some semblance of neatness. “Fine.” She relented, unable to look him in the eye. “You can stay, but only to help look for Maddy.”

She heard rather than saw Shane step into her foyer and, as the clean, spicy scent of him enveloped her, the house suddenly seemed a whole lot smaller.