Chapter 12
The day of the King Creek Small Business Festival dawned bright and clear. Colorful flags snapped in the breeze, smells of funnel cakes and corn dogs hung in the air, and sounds of laughter and happy chatter came from all around.
Marlee sat in the face painting booth, waiting for her next customer. She was good and tired of being in a cast and thrilled to be out actually doing something. But she had to admit she’d enjoyed the face painting she’d done. She’d so been looking forward to today and socializing again.
A week had passed since the incidents with gas in her home and with Colt’s truck losing brakes. An investigation revealed that the brakes had, in fact, been tampered with. However, no fingerprints had been found, and Sally claimed to have had an alibi. Whether or not that was the case was debatable. It depended on how quickly she had worked on the brakes and then had made it to Mickey’s, where she’d gone after the restaurant.
They had wondered how she had known how to disable the brakes and do it fast enough to get out of there without being seen. Colt had learned from Cal, however, that Sally and he were cousins with Hugh Johnson, a mechanic, and Sally had helped him rebuild a car in high school.
Nothing else had happened since then, and they hadn’t seen or heard from Sally Farmer. Marlee only prayed the woman was truly out of their lives. Could they be so lucky?
Colt didn’t think so, and truthfully, she didn’t either.
“Hi, Marlee.”
Marlee turned her attention to the voice to see Kit, Colt’s sister-in-law, and her adopted twins. “Wow, you girls are so big now.” She smiled at Kit. “They’re beautiful.”
The girls beamed. “We’re four years old.” Emily held up four fingers.
Olivia nodded. “Daddy says we’re tall for our age.”
Marlee smiled. “Would you like to get your faces painted?”
“They would love to.” Kit ushered the girls into the booth, both of whom were nodding vigorously.
Marlee pointed to two of the chairs in the booth. “Have a seat, girls.” She looked at Kit. “How about you?”
Olivia bounced in her seat. “That would be awesome.”
Emily clapped her hands. “Please, Mommy.”
“All right.” Kit smiled and eased into a chair. “But you won’t be twins anymore.”
The girls’ eyes widened. “We won’t?” they said in unison.
Kit shook her head, a mischievous look in her moss-green eyes. “We’ll be triplets.”
The twins squealed and Marlee laughed.
“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors to see who goes first,” Marlee said.
Olivia scrunched up her face. “What’s that?”
Marlee taught the girls the gist of the game, then she helped Olivia while Kit assisted Emily. Olivia won the game.
“Yay!” Oliva bounced in her seat. “I want to be a unicorn.”
“And a unicorn you shall be.” Marlee selected a clean Styrofoam plate and started squirting appropriate face paints onto it, then picked up a cotton swab and used one for each of the bright colors. She put a pair of white unicorn ears with pink over each of Olivia’s eyes, then painted a rainbow horn on the girl’s forehead, between the unicorn ears. She painted flowers peeking out between each unicorn ear and just below the horn.
While Marlee worked, she and Kit chatted about today’s event and things going on in the community.
When she finished, Marlee handed Olivia a large mirror. “Take a look, miss unicorn.”
Olivia grabbed the handle and stared at her reflection. She squealed in delight. “I’m a unicorn.”
“Ooooh, that is so cool.” Emily sat on her haunches in her seat. “Make me a fairy.”
“One fairy coming up.” Marlee grabbed a clean plate. “What are your favorite colors?”
“Pink and yellow,” Emily said.
Marlee squirted fresh paints onto the plate before picking up another cotton swab and getting started. She painted fairy wings to the sides of Emily’s eyes and used pink, yellow, and blue to shade her lids. She edged everything in white and put what looked like sparkles around the feathered wings.
Emily was equally delighted with her face painting. “I look amazing.”
Marlee laughed. “Your turn, Kit. What are your favorite colors?”
“Purple and green,” she said without hesitation.
“How very Maleficent.” Marlee grinned. “Shall I give you twin horns and a green face?”
Kit laughed. “I’ll leave it up to you.”
“Hmmm…” Marlee gave her a devious look. “Let’s see what I can come up with.”
Marlee squirted purple, green, black, royal blue, and gold on a clean plate.
“How long are you staying with Colt?” Kit asked as Marlee worked.
“I’m not sure.” Marlee’s skin tingled as it always did when someone asked her anything about her and Colt. She started making a peacock design on Kit’s face. “I’ve got another three to four weeks in the cast, depending on how it’s healing.”
“I think it’s great that you two are together,” Kit said. “We need to have you two over for dinner one of these days.”
Marlee’s cheeks heated. More skin tingles. “I’d like that, and I’m sure Colt would too.”
“Thanksgiving is coming up soon.” Kit shifted in her seat again, clearly having a hard time sitting still.
“The girls didn’t wiggle as much as you,” Marlee said with a laugh. “Stop moving or you don’t know what you’re going to get.”
Kit returned to Thanksgiving. “I hope you can join the family for turkey.”
“I’ll have to see if Mom is back from Aunt Linda’s.” Marlee paused to study her handiwork, then started making more strokes. She didn’t want to mention that Colt hadn’t asked her to go. She wondered if he would.
Marlee finished making a peacock feathered mask over Kit’s face, from her hairline to the top half of her nose and gave her gold lips.
When Marlee presented Kit with the mirror, the twins giggled and clapped.
“You look so pretty, Mommy,” Olivia said.
“We make good triplets,” Emily added.
“I love it,” Kit said with enthusiasm. She got to her feet and put a generous donation into the box decorated with colorful cutouts of children’s handprints. The donations would go to the children’s ward at King Creek General Hospital.
Marlee gestured to the box. “Thanks for the donation, Kit.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for the fantastic face painting.” Kit smiled and took each girl’s hand. “I’ll call you about dinner.”
The twins chimed their thanks and waved as they left the booth.
Marlee saw that she had a line of adults and children waiting to have their faces painted.
A chill rolled through her. Beyond the line she saw a woman whose figure and bearing reminded her of Sally Farmer. The woman wore a hat down low and Marlee couldn’t make out her features. She had a large purse hanging from her shoulder, which she gripped so tightly the knuckles of both hands were white.
Blood rushed in Marlee’s ears as heat replaced the chill. She hated being afraid of Sally Farmer. She refused to be afraid of her anymore.
A group of five teenage girls walked in Marlee’s line of sight. When they’d passed, the woman was gone.
Colt gave the play by play for the mutton busting contest of the small youth rodeo being held in the horse corral. Laughter and cheers rose from the audience as the five-year-old riding a large sheep bolted into the corral.
The kid, wearing a helmet, held on tight to the sheep that ran in an attempt to dislodge the child. The kid held on for seven seconds before falling into the dirt, a cloud of dust billowing around him. The boy got to his feet and dusted himself off like he’d probably seen professional bull riders do.
While the next child contestant readied, a girl of six, Colt’s thoughts turned to Marlee. He hated her being out of his sight. The fact that they hadn’t heard from or seen Sally Farmer this week should have made him feel more confident, but it didn’t by a long shot. He hadn’t mentioned it to Marlee, but he had a feeling that Sally was biding her time, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Damn, but he hoped he was wrong.
Colt hadn’t told Marlee yet, but early this morning he’d contacted her mother, who was still in Kansas. Ann had been horrified when he’d explained the situation to her, and they had both agreed that Marlee needed to go to Kansas to stay with Ann and Linda until Sally was stopped. How long that would be, he had no idea.
Now to get Marlee to agree. Every day that had passed, he’d wracked his brain to figure out how to protect her. He’d finally hit upon talking with Ann and seeing what they could come up with.
He had a feeling Marlee would be ticked that he had gone to Ann without talking to her about it first. He’d been sure Marlee wouldn’t agree, so he needed Ann in on it. Marlee hadn’t told Ann about the situation because she didn’t want her mom to worry. But Colt was ready to do anything to protect Marlee, even if it meant talking with her mom.
Colt continued his commentary on the mutton busting event as the six-year-old girl barreled out of the gate on the largest sheep of the day. The fifty-pound youth made it to eight seconds and the crowd burst out in cheers. She managed to dismount on her feet without landing on her backside, which elicited more cheers from the crowd.
The next event was goat tying. Colt looked at Brady, who rested his forearms on the corral fence while he talked with a diminutive blonde.
“Hate to interrupt,” Colt said as he butted into their conversation. “I need to check on Marlee.” He handed the cordless microphone to Brady. “Take over until I get back.”
“Sure thing.” Brady took the mic then smiled at the blonde before eyeing the chute where the goat would soon charge out and the twelve-year-old waiting at the gate to be released.
The ranch was packed with attendees and vendors. Colt walked past small business booths, like Heidi’s Coffee Shop, where she passed out Styrofoam cups of coffee. Bear had a booth for his veterinary practice, and he and Rae handed out dog-shaped stress balls with the clinic’s logo and phone number. Mickey’s Bar and Grill employees gave away travel mugs with the business’s info printed on them, and King Creek Treasures provided calendars with the consignment store’s location and phone number.
Normally Colt would have been pleased at the fifty-plus business turnout and the large gathering, but today it only made him concerned. It wouldn’t be hard for Sally to slip into the crowd and find a way to harm Marlee.
He pushed through clusters of families and friends. The air smelled of cotton candy and grilled hamburgers, and the day was warmer than normal for November, but still a pleasant temperature.
Someone slammed into his side, causing him to stumble. He steadied himself and looked in the location where he’d been hit, but all he saw were people holding conversations and others walking by.
He frowned and righted his Stetson before continuing toward Marlee’s booth. He glimpsed her in the booth, smiling as she painted a little boy’s face with a Spiderman mask. A little girl stood next to the boy, a Captain America mask on her petite features.
He smiled as he stopped to watch Marlee. She was so lovely, and he couldn’t get enough of her. Couldn’t get enough of the sound of her voice, the way she laughed, her mischievous side and her smile. Every part of her he loved more than life itself.
She meant everything to him.
But he would let her go if it meant getting her away from this place and the constant threat of Sally.
The thought of losing Marlee about drove him to his knees. How could he go day by day without her in his life?
But worse would be anything happening to her. He’d never forgive himself.
A scream rent the air, followed by more screams. Marlee tumbled back off her chair, down into the booth, where he couldn’t see her.
Colt’s heart slammed in his chest. He shoved his way through the crowd and heard a sound over the screams and shouts.
A sound that reminded him of a pressure cooker.
The sound of a rattler.
His pulse rate jackknifed as he made it to the booth. He came to a hard stop. Marlee was on the ground, frozen, her eyes wide and face paper-white, a coiled rattler between her splayed legs.
Colt didn’t stop to consider the situation. He acted.
He had to get the rattler away from her.
“Don’t move, Marlee,” Colt said in a low, calm voice. “You’re doing fine.”
The crowd had backed away from the booth, giving Colt enough room to move. He slid into the booth as the snake shook its rattle, flicked out its tongue, and hissed while it eyed Marlee.
Her eyes darted to Colt for a moment then back to the snake. She didn’t move a fraction.
Colt eased up behind the snake, his heart beating fast.
When he was close enough to the reptile, he snapped his hand out and caught the rattler at the base of its skull.
The five-foot snake writhed and jerked as Colt held it with both hands, the second hand a foot down from his other. The snake’s muscular body made it difficult to hold, but Colt managed to keep his grip.
“Get Bear,” Colt shouted to a nearby young man. “Tell him we need something to contain a rattler.”
Colt backed away from Marlee so that the snake was safely away from her.
Marlee visibly trembled as she levered herself up and into her chair. She slumped onto the table and buried her face in her arms.
“I know this is a dumb question, but are you all right, Marlee?” He gripped the still jerking rattler.
She raised her head and stared at the writhing creature. “Can we talk about it when you’re not holding that thing anymore?”
“I guess that would be a smart thing to do.” He held the snake higher and nodded in the direction of Bear’s booth. “Wait right there while I take care of this.”
Marlee swung her cast up onto a chair and gave him a flicker of a smile that vanished almost as soon as it appeared. “Clearly not going anywhere.”
Colt spoke to one of his brothers, Carter, who appeared from out of the crowd. “Make room for me to get this to Bear.”
“You’ve got it.” Carter cleared the crowd as Colt followed.
Bear met them halfway, carrying a five-gallon Igloo drink cooler. “I dumped out the water. This will work to transport the little bastard.”
Colt held up the rattler. “Ready?”
Bear gave a quick nod. “I’m going to raise the lid. As soon as you drop the snake in, I’ll cap it.”
Colt’s heart rate had slowed some but was still at a good pace.
Bear removed the lid, poised to replace it.
Colt dropped the rattler into the cooler.
Bear slammed the lid down and secured it.
Colt dragged his hand down his face and realized his hands shook. Not so much from handling the snake, but from the reptile nearly biting Marlee.
She had to go to Kansas. He was going to drive her butt to the airport first thing in the morning, kicking and screaming if he had to.
He returned to the booth, where people crowded her, asking her about the snake and how she felt. One look at her face told him that the last thing she wanted to do was talk about the experience.
“Excuse me.” He raised his voice and held up his hands. “I’m taking Marlee back to the house. Why don’t you all go enjoy the festival. There’s a youth rodeo going on in the corrals and a clown is by the barn making balloon animals for the kids. The fudge maker just got here about thirty minutes ago, so if you’re a chocolate lover, that’s the place to go.”
The crowd faded back, and Colt scooped Marlee into his arms. She didn’t resist, just grabbed him around the neck and rested her head against his chest.
He carried her to the house and straight for his bedroom. He laid her down on the bed, resting her head on a pillow. He pulled up a chair, took her by the hand, and studied her.
“I saw her.” Marlee’s throat worked. “At least I think I did.”
His skin prickled. “Sally?”
Marlee nodded. “I just caught a glimpse, and the woman wore a hat that she’d pulled down low. But I could swear it was her just from her build and the way she held herself, and her red hair. She had a big purse. She could have had the rattlesnake in there.”
Colt blew out his breath. “Marlee, I’ll take you to the airport in the morning. You’re going to Kansas.”
Marlee’s eyes widened, and she sat up in bed. “What?”
Colt blew out a long breath. “I planned to talk with you about it tonight, but we might as well get it over with.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Get what over with?”
“I called Ann this morning.”
“You called my mom?” Marlee cut in. “You told her about this crazy woman? You have her worried now?”
He gave a slow nod. “I need a way to keep you safe. Your mom agrees that you should go to Kansas to stay with her and Linda.”
“You’re not sending me away.” Marlee’s mouth was set in a firm line, refusing to acknowledge the gravity of the situation. “I’m not leaving you.”
Colt closed his eyes for a moment, firming his resolve. This had to be done. Her life depended on it.
He opened his eyes and met her gaze. “It’s over, Marlee.”
Her eyes widened, and she looked confused. “Was Sally caught?”
He shook his head. “We are over. You and me. We’re done.”
Marlee froze. She appeared stunned and like she was trying to process what he’d just told her. She looked like she wanted to ask him why, to understand why he had just ended things with her.
Her expression shuttered and anger flared in her eyes. “I told myself I’d never give you the chance to hurt me again. Well, fool that I am I trusted you.”
“I’m sorry?—”
“Save it.” She cut him off. “No wonder you want me to leave town. You can’t wait to get rid of me.”
He wanted to deny it, to tell her he didn’t mean it. He wanted to tell her he loved her.
God, how he loved her.
Instead, he said nothing.
“If you don’t mind, can you bring my crutches or scooter?” She bit off her words. “I’ll pack now.”
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said, trying to keep his words even and unemotional.
He left the room, knowing his heart would never recover. He had lost the woman he loved, and he would never get over her.
A flare of hope burned inside him. Maybe one day she would forgive him, and she would understand why he’d had to do it.
But then that hope faded. She had trusted him with her heart for a second time, and he had thrown that trust away. He wasn’t going to get a third chance.