Chapter 13
Rowan woke up early, as usual. When you’re regularly at the hospital before seven in the morning, it’s hard to sleep in.
He got up, pulled on a pair of shorts, and headed to the kitchen.
He made coffee and was whipping up pancakes when he heard movement upstairs.
He had just filled three plates with pancakes and bacon when Olivia and Nell came downstairs.
“Good morning, ladies,” Rowan said, handing Nell a cup of coffee and his sister a glass of orange juice.
“I miss coffee,” Olivia sighed before leaning over and taking a deep smell of Rowan’s coffee and sighing again. “But pancakes make up for it.”
Rowan placed a kiss on Nell’s temple and handed her the syrup.
“This smells so good. Thank you,” Nell told him before they all dug into their breakfast.
“You’re not the only one up early this morning,” Liv said to him.
“I got a call from Miss Tibbie. Her friend’s granddaughter is a reporter in Charleston and she wants to do a story on Ingram.
She wants to investigate the corruption and the domestic abuse charges, plus all the other charges, once the FBI has made them official.
Do you think Sue Ellen will talk to her? ”
“I’ll ask her. At the very least, I imagine that some evidence can be sent to her anonymously.
” Nell looked as if she were thinking of what she could send and Rowan fully supported that.
It was hard to bring down men in power but they needed to be held accountable for the things they do with that power.
“Matthew is coming to my office today to meet with your sister. I’m assuming she would like you to be there. Have you talked to her about it?” Olivia asked Nell.
Nellie nodded. “She texted me this morning and asked if Rowan and I could meet her there with you and Granger.”
“Of course,” Rowan and Olivia answered at the same time.
“Well,” Olivia said, standing up from the kitchen table. “I'd better get home. Nell, it was great having a girls’ night upstairs last night.”
“It was a lot of fun. Thanks, Liv,” Nell said with a smile that made Rowan happy.
“I’ll walk you out,” Rowan told his sister as he moved to unlock the front door. As soon as they were outside, he turned to his sister. “Girls’ night?”
“Yeah, we had a little slumber party and talked for hours. I don’t know how you got so lucky, but Nellie is perfect for you. And don’t worry, you’ve paid your dues. I won’t taco-blocko you again.”
“I do feel as if I might have gotten off lightly.”
Olivia rubbed her hands together and smiled evilly. “I can’t wait to get back at Damon. You didn’t do much to me. But Damon . . . that’s another story entirely.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you can be rather scary?”
Olivia smiled at that, kissed his cheek, and opened her car door. “Thanks. That’s the best compliment I’ve gotten this week. I’ll see you at my office in a couple of hours.”
Rowan waved as his sister drove off before heading back inside. “Nell? Are you okay?” Rowan was striding to the kitchen as he saw the blood running down her hand as she washed a deep cut on her finger.
“I was stupid and wasn’t paying attention when I was cutting up this apple. The knife slipped on the skin and, well, took mine instead.”
“Let me see.” Rowan was already in doctor mode, but it felt differently when it was a woman he was falling in love with instead of a patient.
Nell grimaced as she held out her hand. Then she hissed when he examined the cut. “You really got yourself good. It needs stitches.”
This time Nell groaned. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
Rowan chuckled as he walked over to where he kept his medical bag by the door leading to the garage. “Good thing you know a doctor who can do it right here.”
Rowan set his bag on the kitchen table, opened it, and washed his hands. He put on his blue medical gloves and got everything ready. “Come here,” Rowan said to her as he pulled her onto his lap.
“Rowan! You aren’t going to stitch me up as I sit in your lap,” Nellie said with a laugh.
“Sure, I am. How else am I to hold you and comfort you while you undergo a medical procedure? I’m nothing if not a doting boyfriend.”
Nellie smiled as he waited to see what her response was. He should have discussed it with her first, but their relationship status seemed as natural as their relationship. “Well, I guess I'd better be the devoted girlfriend and let you dote away.”
Rowan kissed her as soon as she sat on his lap. “I like being your boyfriend.”
“You’ve been that for all of three seconds,” Nell teased.
“Best three seconds ever. Now, be a good girl and sit still while I numb your finger.” Rowan wiped her finger with an alcohol pad then injected the numbing medicine.
“Can you feel this?” he asked as he used the needle to press into her skin just enough that she should have been able to feel it, but not enough to break skin.
“Nope. I think I deserve a kiss for not moving.”
“I do too.” Rowan kissed her again, but this time Nellie was the one to deepen the kiss for just a moment.
“Okay, Doctor Boyfriend. Stitch me up.”
Rowan got to work closing the wound as carefully as he could. He didn’t want Nell to have a scar. “There you go.” Rowan clipped the thread and looked over it one more time. It looked good. It would heal nicely.
Rowan’s lips caressed her neck. Nell arched her head, giving him more room to kiss his way up her neck, across her jaw, then locked her in a heated kiss.
Nell shifted on his lap so that she was straddling him.
Finally, they had this entire morning to themselves and he was going to use every second exploring Nell’s body.
She ran her fingers through his short hair, pulling him closer.
His hands slipped under her shirt and ran slowly up her sides until they stopped right below her breasts.
His thumb brushed the underside of her full breast and she gasped in his kiss.
Her hips began to move, rubbing in just the right spot to make him see stars behind his closed lids.
“You feel so good,” Rowan told her between kisses as she took advantage of him not having a shirt on. Nell began to explore his chest with her delicate fingers as he removed one hand from her breast to delve under her pajama bottoms.
“Ro!” Nell gasped when he found her wet for him.
Rowan was breathing hard. Nell was breathing hard. And the knocking on the door was hard too.
“Go away, Olivia!” Rowan shouted.
“Not Olivia and this is important.”
Nell looked at Rowan as he pulled his hand from her pajamas. “It’s Granger.”
Nellie was instantly off his lap and running to get the door. “Is my sister safe?” she asked the second she threw open the door. Rowan turned in his seat and used the kitchen table to hide the evidence of what Granger had interrupted.
“Yes. I haven’t gone to see her yet. I didn’t want to upset her until I learned more.”
Rowan heard the seriousness and immediately headed to support Nellie. “What happened?” Rowan asked as Granger did something on his phone.
“This aired this morning on the news.” Granger turned his phone and Rowan and Nell saw the morning newscaster. She was in a bright pink dress with pearl earrings as she read the news.
“Last night, a judge from Holland Springs was assaulted,” the reporter said seriously. A picture of Ingram flashed onto the television. He was sporting a split lip and a black eye.
Nellie gasped in surprise but then smiled. “Well, good for whoever did that.”
“Reports are that the judge knew the attacker and that an arrest warrant will be issued soon. We’ll bring you more on this story tonight at five,” the reporter told them.
“What’s the big deal? Someone else got sick of Ingram’s shit,” Rowan said, wondering what the problem was.
“The big deal is I got this emailed to the office this morning.” Granger turned his phone back around. It was a flyer with Nellie’s picture and name and above her picture, the words Wanted for Questioning.
Rowan had to move to catch Nellie as her knees buckled. “I didn’t—”
“I know,” Granger told her. “Olivia already told me about your slumber party. You have the most solid of alibis. However, now Ingram is coming after you. Why?”
“He has to know that I know where Sue Ellen and the kids are. Take me away from my sister and there goes her support system, all one of me. He could convince her to come back to him. I’m the one who stood by her and supported her when she filed for divorce.
I’m sure he blames me.” Nellie was pale as she looked at Granger. “Are you going to arrest me?”
“Huh. Something happened to my email. It appears to be down. Sorry, I never got that email.” Granger put his phone away and shrugged. “As for you, you'd better be careful. Don’t leave Shadows Landing. He’s looking for you in order to find Sue Ellen.”
“He’s probably also banking that Sue Ellen will come home to convince him to drop the charges against you,” Rowan mentioned.
“Which she would. She can’t know. You can’t tell her!” Nell felt all the blood drain from her head as she realized the truth of what Rowan had said.
Granger nodded. “That might be a good idea. I’ll keep her in the dark as long as I can. Now, you need to get dressed. Don’t you have an appointment soon with Sue Ellen’s new attorney?” Before he left, Granger reached out and took Nell’s hand in his. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here.”
“Thank you, Granger. I don’t feel it, but at least I’m not alone. If Ingram comes for me, I’ll have people standing up for me.”
“I think you’ll have more than that. Skeeter told me the ghosts like having you and your sister here. This is where you belong. And we never go against the ghosts here.” Granger winked at her and then headed down the sidewalk back to his sheriff’s SUV.
“I can’t believe I’m being blamed for the assault when, honestly, I would have given anything to be the one to beat him up. Ingram even took that away from me. I’m going to go get dressed and fantasize about what it would feel like to give him another black eye.”
“There’s my bloodthirsty girlfriend. It’s kind of a turn on,” Rowan said, teasing her to lighten the mood.
“You’ll get the best sex of your life if I have a chance to actually punch that asshole right in the nose. Now, go put a shirt on so I can focus.”
Rowan chuckled as Nell headed upstairs and he went to his room to get dressed.