Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
They danced twice more, and then they had tacos together. She wanted to tell him there was no gold, that the treasure was something even better. A sister!
But she’d promised Juanita and she couldn’t break her word. She’d tell him tomorrow, after she’d spoken to Elena, just like she’d said she would.
After eating their fill, they danced again.
From behind the bar, Lily watched over her like a guardian angel, with the pale hair and blue eyes to prove it.
Ethan was downstairs in the basement recording studio, playing with some tracks, thank goodness.
Uncle Garrett had settled up and left the place, probably doing rounds about town like she usually did.
Jeremiah leaned down and whispered near her ear. “You want to get out of here?”
“I do,” she said. “And while I’d prefer you throw me over your shoulder and carry me out to your Jeep, I think the better part of discretion is to leave separately.”
He rasped his whiskers across her ear, and she melted and cussed under her breath. “Your place or mine?” he asked.
“Mine. My folks had to leave town, so it’ll be private.”
“I got a better idea.” He slid his phone from his pocket and texted her an address. “Wait for me, there, okay?”
She lowered her chin as she read the message. “I’m sheriff. I can’t be going on private property—”
“Now, Sheriff, you just told me I’m a good guy. Did you mean it?”
She blinked, and erased the doubt from her eyes, even though a tiny bit remained in her heart. “Okay, I’ll wait for you there.”
He smiled softly. Though her trust was real, she doubted that he believed that. She was still nervous as she punched the address into her GPS and drove back toward Quinn, and then through it. She took the opportunity to drop the SUV back at the sheriff’s department and pick up her truck.
Her GPS took her through town, out toward the ranch, and up Oak Ridge Road, then off a private dirt road that didn’t get much use, going by the grass growing up the middle.
Eventually the GPS told her she had reached her destination.
Willow looked around. It was dark outside, but her headlights picked out a driveway, and when she turned into it, the numbers on a log cabin lit up. Yes, this was the place.
She parked her truck, shut it off but left the headlights on and got out to the sound of rushing water. Hell, the creek ran right behind the house.
She lit up her phone and trudged around behind the modest cabin toward the creek.
It wasn’t far to its pebbly shore. The water bent inward, then out again, as if pointing toward the little cabin on its bank, and when she turned to look back, she saw tall windows, and deck facing her.
It had two rocking chairs on it and seemed to be a visual invitation. The place was like a Kincaid painting.
She hiked back up to the cabin, walked onto the porch, and cupping her hands around the windows, peeked inside. No furniture. No curtains in the windows. The place was vacant.
Still, somebody must own it.
She tried the sliding door and found it locked, as expected.
Around her, the woods were alive with the whir of bugs and the occasional cries of night birds.
Whatever they were, they would call three times, like a mewling cat, then three more, and three more still, each time from a different source. Then they’d go quiet for a while.
The air smelled like sage and creek water, fresh and spicy-sweet. It felt ten degrees cooler than anywhere else tonight.
The right side had four windows. Through them she could see a big open space, a kitchen and a loft with two rooms. At the front, she crossed another open porch to the front door, and found herself standing on a welcome mat.
“You don’t suppose…” She stepped off the mat, and crouched to lift it up.
A shiny key lay underneath.
She picked it up and slid it into the lock. Then she hesitated to turn it.
“Okay, Gringo. I’m trusting you. You cost me my badge, I swear to God…” She turned the key, then opened the door went inside, tried the light switch, but nothing happened beyond an ineffective click click.
The main room was wide, with a fireplace and large windows overlooking the creek in back and the woods on one side. The counter had stools, and the kitchen had white cabinets.
There was a vase on that counter with a white rose in it, and a card.
She went over to it, shamelessly opening it up, jumping to romantic conclusions.
Congratulations, Jeremiah. I think you and Beans will be very happy here.
Cat Shaw
He bought a freakin’ house.
Willow wrapped her mind around that bit of new information slowly. That meant Jeremiah was staying in Quinn.
She went to the kitchen, opened cabinets, and found a bottle of whiskey with a ribbon around it, and a pair of glasses. That Cat sure did know how to treat a client.
She took the bottle down and poured, then checked out the simple white stove and fridge. No dishwasher, old fashioned porcelain sink and faucets.
She went through the doors to find a cute little bathroom done in pale green and white, with a big shower stall despite the small space, and a dual sink. The other door led into the master bedroom, which also had a door between it and the bathroom.
The bedroom was cozy, with a walk-in closet, big windows all the way around and a set of sliding doors out onto the deck, overlooking the stream.
She returned to the living room, and was about to go up to check out the loft, when headlights came bounding over the drive. Then the front door opened, and Beans preceded Jeremiah through and galloped toward her.
“Do this,” Jeremiah called, holding his hands just so.
She did it, and the dog did not jump, but rather stopped in front of her and sat politely, thumping his tail like a jackrabbit’s hind leg. She pet him, and he wiggled from end to end.
“Jeremiah, this place is amazing. You bought it?”
“I can afford it, even without the inheritance or the gold,” he said. Then, under his breath, “Barely.” Then he pointed behind him. “I have some essentials in the Jeep, you want to—?”
“Sure, I’ll help out. So tell me when all this happened?”
“Today. It all happened today. Frankie told me about this place right near where he lives with his grandparents. Said he wanted to live in it someday, and said it was for sale. So I called Cat. She met me here tonight, and…it’s perfect.
In every way perfect. So…I told her I’d take it. We haven’t done paperwork, of course.”
“Of course.”
“I figured I needed a place, and I like it a lot.”
“I do, too.”
“And it’s so close to Frankie. I figured dog-sitting here would be almost as good as living here, you know? I dropped him off at his place on the way back here with Beans and the supplies.”
He opened the back of the Jeep. The light came on inside, and the thing was packed full, but atop it all were grocery bags, containing toothbrushes, toilet paper, coffee and paper cups. He even had a coffee pot, brand new in the box.
“I figure I’ll know what I need as I go along. I ordered and paid on line, and it was all ready to pick up. For tonight, just essentials.”
He pulled out a box of cookies from the local bakery.
“Essentials huh?”
“I’m trying to woo you. I figured sweets—”
“You figured right. Com ’ere.” She pulled him close by the collar of his shirt, cause she couldn’t wait any longer, and then she kissed him.
He kissed her back, and his lips were smiling through most of it. And then they unloaded the Jeep a little faster, including a cooler full of perishables, his clothes and shower supplies, and two bundles of bedding from the bunkhouse.
“I didn’t think Chelsea would mind,” he said.
“I don’t think she would either,” she replied, and they tumbled together into the bedroom without even unbundling the bedding, undressing on the way.
He rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him, though she thought he was probably harder than the floor. She ran her hands over his body, appreciating every bulge and ripple with her fingers, and then with her lips.
“You are one beautiful piece of manhood, you are,” she told him. “Inside and out, it seems.”
“Not good enough for a woman like you,” he replied, his eyes holding hers like he wanted to show her he meant it. Then he pulled her down against him, chest to chest, and kissed her again. They melded into each other, clung to each other.
It was different than it had been with him before—different from anything she’d ever felt before. It felt like more. In every dimension, more; wider, taller, deeper than it had been.
They climbed to the highest peaks together, and crashed again still wrapped in each other’s arms. He held her tight while her pieces melded themselves together once more, and being in his arms felt like the safest place in the universe.
It felt, Willow realized, like love.
An hour later, Willow’s phone buzzed. They were still basking in each other, tangled in blankets they’d finally unbundled, snuggling as if they’d never untangle. Beans was snuggled up beside them as close as he could get.
Willow looked at her phone screen. It was Juanita. Guilt stabbed at her for not having told Jeremiah yet about his half-sister.
She said, “I have to take this,” and got up, dragging a blanket with her, and going out the sliding doors onto the back porch. She saw the way he frowned at her as she closed those doors behind her.
“Juanita?” she asked, moving as far to the other end of the porch as possible.
“There’s been an accident,” Juanita cried.
Alarm trilled down Willow’s spine. “What? Where? Are you okay?”
“It’s Elena! She’s in the hospital.”
“Oh my God.”
“You should come. You should…her brothers…they should come, in case…”
“I understand.”
“Good.”
“Had you told her, Juanita? Did she know?”