Twenty-Nine
Bay
Hale had been right. I did like Noa. She had been intimidating at first, seeing as she was a stunning blonde who also happened to be wildly successful. But the moment she started to speak, I was set at ease. She was friendly, somewhat awkward about everything too. As if she was unsure of herself.
We had gone to the great room with our wine and gotten comfortable while we talked for a while.
I asked the right questions and found out that she’d known Ransom in high school, being his tutor.
They had kept in touch via texting over the years while she moved away and eventually settled in New York.
He didn’t know she was a writer or that her appearance had changed over the years, so when they ended up at the same business dinner, he hadn’t recognized her.
It was a rather fun love story, and I was sure there was much she had left out.
Especially since she didn’t mention the fact that her husband’s father was into illegal activity.
That knowledge had almost slipped out a few times, seeing as I was past tipsy at this point.
I’d glazed over my past, too, when she asked, but mine wasn’t that interesting. Well, until now. But she seemed to already know that part and wasn’t curious.
She lifted a hand to stifle a yawn. It was well after midnight. I’d been glancing at the clock, wondering if the man had kept his fingers.
“They will probably be gone most of the night,” she told me, stretching her arms over her head now. “I don’t know about you, but the wine has gotten to me. I’m ready for bed.”
I nodded, reaching to pick up my empty glass. “Yeah, it’s late,” I agreed, then stood up.
Slash, who had been sleeping at my feet, lifted his head to stare up at me.
Noa took her almost-empty bottle of wine and also stood up. I’d emptied mine earlier and taken it to the recycle bin when I went to the bathroom.
“I’ll take your glass,” she told me. “No need for both of us to go to the kitchen. I’ll most likely see you in the morning. I’m not real keen on getting up in the middle of the night and leaving, so Ransom will probably come in and crash here.”
I handed her my glass. “Okay, well, I enjoyed your company,” I said.
She smiled, and her gray eyes were warm and friendly. “Me too. Hopefully, they don’t bang around when they get back and wake you up.”
“Oh, I won’t hear them if they do. You can’t hear anything up there.”
She scrunched her nose. “Up where?”
I pointed to the ceiling. “Fourth floor.”
She looked up as if she could see it from here, still frowning. “I thought that was just an attic.”
I let out a small laugh. “There is one up there, but also a small bedroom and bathroom. I suppose it is meant for prisoners,” I quipped.
“I’m sorry he put you up there,” she said, sounding like she meant it. “Why don’t you get your things, and I’ll take you to another room?”
I shook my head. Nope. I was not dealing with that in the morning. Hale would be furious, and I just needed to keep my head down until he let me go home.
“That’s okay. It’s not uncomfortable, and like I said, it’s quiet up there. If they do come in loudly, I won’t wake up.”
She thought about that for a moment. “Maybe I should sleep with you then,” she replied with a grin. “All right, well, if you are sure. I’ll see you tomorrow, I think.”
I nodded and headed toward the door. Slash scrambled to his feet and began to follow me.
“Oh, and, Bay, I hope you get to go home soon.”
Turning around, I smiled back at her. I did, too, but I wasn’t as upset about being here as I had been.
Tonight had been different. Hale had been…
enjoyable company. Charming even. If I was here for a little longer, that would be fine.
This house was better than any luxury resort I’d ever visited. Not that I had been to many.
I’d clearly had too much to drink.
Bending down, I rubbed Slash’s head. “Good night, boy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He didn’t seem to like that, but he understood. When I straightened and headed out the door, he didn’t come with me. Such a smart boy.
I was there again. In the closet. My knees pulled up to my chest and arms wrapped around my legs tightly as I buried my face in them.
It was okay. Nothing was in here with me.
I was fine. I was fine. She would let me out soon.
I just had to stay in here a little longer.
Soon, I’d get out, and she’d feed me dinner. Then I could go to bed.
A loud knocking on the door startled me, and my head snapped up as I stared at it in the darkness. Why was Claudine knocking? She never did that. She just opened the door when I was allowed to come out.
I gasped as my eyes flew open, and the moonlight from the one window illuminated the room. I wasn’t in a closet. I was at Hale’s, and I sat up, staring at the door. There was someone knocking. That part hadn’t been a bad dream. Tossing back the covers, I climbed out of bed and hurried to the door.
Was something wrong with Noa? Why would she come up here?
Jerking the door open, I found her looking slightly disheveled and as if she, too, had just been woken up unexpectedly.
“Noa?” I asked, searching her face for any cause of alarm.
“I’m sorry to wake you up, but you’re, uh, needed downstairs.”
I was needed? I stood there, waiting for more, but she didn’t say anything. Was Hale back and taking me home? In the middle of the night?
“They’re here, and Hale requested I come get you,” she explained.
Was he mad about something?
“What time is it?” I asked, sounding raspy from sleep.
“Almost five,” she said. “I tried to get him to wait until six at least, but Ransom is tired and being difficult. So, here I am. If I hadn’t come up here, he would have, and I didn’t want that to scare you.”
I’d not met Ransom, but, yes, a strange man banging on my door in the middle of the night would have been terrifying. I appreciated the fact she’d come to get me instead.
“Okay, um…” I glanced down at the pink flannel pajamas I was wearing, then back up at her. “Do I need to get dressed?” I asked, seeing as she was dressed in the sundress she’d worn earlier tonight.
She shook her head. “No. Those are fine. Plus, you might go back to sleep. Might as well be comfortable.”
Oh, so I wasn’t going home. Why was I needed then?
“Is everything okay?” I asked, wishing she’d give me more information.
She nodded. “Yes. I mean, it is now.”
That wasn’t helpful at all.
When I stepped out of the room, Noa moved back, then started for the stairs. I followed her, somewhat thankful she was here. It was less scary, having her here. She was nice and didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would lead me to my death.
But what in the world did Hale want with me at five in the morning?
The house was quiet as we made our way to the third floor.
But instead of going down the next flight that led to the second, we turned right and headed to the two large double doors at the end of a wide hallway with nothing but dark woodwork and more antler chandeliers.
I always took the back stairs that were hidden and not the main staircase, so I’d not seen this hallway before.
I knew there was a lot of this house I hadn’t seen, and I had no idea what all it contained.
I didn’t want to know either. The idea was unsettling.
I wanted to ask where we were going, but decided to just follow her and trust this was safe. When she reached the doors, she knocked twice and then glanced back at me with a reassuring smile. It didn’t help much.
“He’s a bit grumpy, unless the pain meds the doctor gave him have kicked in,” she said in a whisper.
What? I started to ask when the right door began to open. A tall, very attractive man who had to be related to Hale stood there. Unlike the son I had met, this man had been cut straight from Hale’s DNA.
The man looked at Noa, then at me. “Come on in. He’s out for the moment,” he said, stepping back.
Noa leaned toward me slightly. “Bay, this is my husband, Ransom.”
I managed a smile. I’d just about figured that one out, but I didn’t say so.
“He’s normally more polite, but they’ve had a long night.”
My gaze flickered to the man, and I wasn’t so sure about the polite part. We stepped inside, and I scanned the room.
A stacked stone fireplace stood in the center like a tall pillar and went all the way through the vaulted ceiling.
Unlike the hallway, the walls in here were a mix of stone and wood.
Large brown leather sofas sat on each side of the freestanding fireplace.
On the far-left wall above a bar hung a portrait.
The first one I’d seen in this house. It was of teenage boys and a girl. All three of his kids.
Before I could take in more of the room, I realized that Noa and Ransom were walking away. I went to follow them past the fireplace and toward another door.
When this door opened, an older man who looked as if he had walked out of a Western—with his blue pearl-snap plaid shirt and worn jeans, cowboy boots, and gray beard—appeared in the entrance.
“He should be out for a couple of hours,” the older man said, then shifted his gaze to me. “You must be Miss Fox,” he said with a nod. “I’m Dr. Burl. I’ll be showing you what all needs to be done.”
I said nothing as I stared at the man. Or rather doctor. What was he talking about? Was I still asleep? Had I gone from my childhood trauma nightmare to this bizarre one?
He waved a hand for me to enter, and I walked past Noa and into another spacious room. The same walls, but this one was clearly a bedroom. One that my entire apartment could fit into.
“I’ve given him morphine, so he is sleeping. But the wound is going to hurt like a bitch when he wakes up. He’ll be ornery, but I have left some pills he can take that will ease the pain. If he wants more morphine, then my number is right there beside the bed for you to call me.”
“What happened to him?” I asked, staring down at Hale, who was indeed asleep in his king-size bed with a bandage covering his entire left shoulder and part of his chest.
Slash, who had been lying down on a large black velvet dog bed on Hale’s side of the bed, lifted his head to look up at me.
“He was shot, but it went through clear, which is a good thing. Just some cleaning and stitching up. He will need to get up and move when he wakes up. Not much though. Just enough to use the bathroom, and then he needs to lie back down. If—make that when—he gets difficult, text me. Ransom will be back later today to check on him too,” the doctor said, glancing at the other man. “Once he’s had some sleep.”
“Your…leaving me with him? Like this?” I asked in horror.
He had been shot! With a gun. And there was a doctor in his bedroom. One that was questionable because he looked like he was better suited herding cattle.
“I offered to get a nurse,” Dr. Burl said.
“But he was adamant that we get you. He may feel differently after the morphine wears off. Until then, yes, we are leaving you with him. Any questions, just call. This isn’t his first gunshot wound.
He’s had worse. Just stay here with him.
” He pointed at a plush black cowhide sofa that matched his bedding.
“There is a blanket and pillow there. Get some more rest. He won’t wake for a while. ”
“And we aren’t far if you need us. Ransom is going to bed, but I will be awake,” Noa told me.
“You’re going to bed with me,” Ransom said, his brows drawing together as he looked down at his wife.
She sighed. “I think I should stay here.”
“No.”
“Ransom—”
“I said no. You’re going with me.”
Her shoulders lifted and fell again, and she gave me an exasperated look. “I left my number by the bed too,” she told me. “When this one decides I can leave his side, I’ll be back.”
They were all serious. Hale had been shot, no one was panicking, and they were leaving me to take care of him?
There was no way I was awake. This was insane.
“Shouldn’t he be in a hospital?” I asked what one would think was the obvious question.
Noa cut her eyes at Ransom.
“He’s fine here. Burl is better than a hospital,” Ransom replied.
Yep. They were all freaking crazy.