After Jacob helped Reve into her robe, he called Dallas to tell him what had happened; then he carried Reve into the living room and sat on the sofa with her in his lap until Lieutenant Glenn showed up. Then Jacob took her to the hospital, where she underwent a thorough exam by the ER doctor, who assured Jacob that other than a few bruises and mild shock, she was fine physically.
She wasn’t fine. Perhaps physically, but not emotionally. But she would be in time. The easiest thing to do right now would be to curl up into a ball and withdraw from the world. To let Jacob take care of her and handle everything.
Taking the easy route wasn’t her style. There were things she needed to do, other people involved in this nightmare. Veda MacKinnon had ordered Jazzy and her put to death as infants. Their father, Farlan MacKinnon, wasn’t entirely blameless. But the most important person in this entire scenario was her sister. Jazzy needed her right now, needed her more than anyone else did.
“I want to stay with Jazzy tonight,” Reve told Jacob in the ER waiting room. “I need to be the one to tell my sister about our mother and father. About Veda’s involvement . . . and about Brian MacKinnon.”
“All right, I understand, but I don’t want you to stay alone. The doctor gave Jazzy a sedative earlier tonight, and she probably won’t wake up until morning. If Genny’s up to it, I’ll get Dallas to drive her down here to stay with you.”
“Why did the doctor give Jazzy a sedative?”
When Jacob looked down at the floor instead of at her, she knew something was wrong. “It’s a long story.”
“Tell me.”
“Jazzy helped Dallas and me set a trap for her attacker,” Jacob admitted, then looked directly at Reve. “I swear to you that she was never in danger. Not for one minute. Dallas and I were across the hall, and the minute Veda MacKinnon—”
“So that’s why she was arrested,” Reve said. “I heard about her arrest on TV, just a few minutes before Brian—” She shook uncontrollably.
Jacob pulled her into his arms and stroked her back. “It’s all over, baby. He’s dead. He won’t ever hurt you or anyone else ever again.”
She shoved against Jacob’s chest, forcing him to loosen his protective embrace. “Veda knew Brian killed Dinah Collins. All these years, she’s known her son was a murderer and she’s protected him. He admitted to me that she’s the one who was responsible for getting rid of Jazzy and me when we were babies.”
“Mrs. MacKinnon is completely crazy,” Jacob said. “My guess is she’ll spend the rest of her life in a mental institution.”
“You know, as unbelievable as this may sound, I actually feel sorry for Farlan MacKinnon.”
“I can’t feel sorry for him. Not yet. Maybe not ever. He should have made sure you and Jazzy were taken care of. He should have seen to it that you two and your mother were protected.”
Reve caressed Jacob’s cheek. “Not all men are like you, Sheriff Butler. Brave and honorable and—”
He grabbed her by the shoulders. “If anything had happened to you tonight—”
“Stop worrying about me.” She kissed his cheek. “I’m going to be all right. Go with me up to Jazzy’s room. Then you should go to the police station and do whatever it is that you need to do.”
“I feel as if I should stay with you.”
“I told you, I’m fine. Or at least I will be. I’ve been taking care of myself for thirty years.” She forced a brave smile. “With one minor exception—I didn’t do such a good job tonight. But believe me, I wouldn’t have gone down without a fight. I had every intention of—” Tears poured from her eyes. Damn the tears! When Jacob tried to pull her back into his arms, she swatted at him. “No, I can’t lean on you. I have to find a way to deal with this on my own. It’s just how I am.”
She could tell by the expression on his face that she’d somehow wounded him. Had he misunderstood something she’d said? Did she need to explain that she wasn’t rejecting him?
“Jacob, I owe you my life. That’s a huge debt. I’ll always be grateful—”
“You don’t have to say any more. I understand.”
“Do you?” Did he truly understand how important self- reliance was to her? She had never needed a man—not ever—and here in the space of only days, she had not only fallen in love with him, surrendering a huge part of herself in the process, but now she owed him her life.
He raked the back of his hand down her cheek. “Come on, honey, I’ll go with you up to Jazzy’s room, and then I’ll drive on over to the police station and tend to a little business.”
As they headed for the elevators, an odd thought crossed Reve’s mind. Jacob had called her honey, not baby. On some instinctive feminine level, she suspected that somehow their entire relationship had just changed. And not for the better.
A week later, with Brian MacKinnon buried and Veda MacKinnon under police guard in the four-hundred unit at County General, no one in Cherokee County could talk of anything else except the great scandal. But Reve managed to ignore the stares and whispers, and the family had done their best to protect Jazzy from wagging tongues. Although Farlan had asked to see Jazzy, she had declined, telling Reve she wasn’t ready to meet their father. Not yet.
Today Reve joined Jazzy’s family and friends at the hospital for a going-away party. Dr. Cornelius had arranged for Jazzy to enter an extensive rehabilitation program at Vanderbilt, starting on Monday. Big Jim and Miss Reba were driving Jazzy and Caleb to Nashville this morning, and Caleb would be living in an apartment near the rehab center.
“With luck, Jazzy should complete the program in about a month, then she’ll begin out-patient therapy,” Dr. Cornelius had explained. “Her prognosis is good.”
Lacy Fallon uncorked a bottle of champagne and the bubbly overflowed, spewing high enough to splatter a few of the dozens of helium balloons floating in the air. After Lacy poured the champagne into plastic cups, Ludie distributed the drinks. Once everyone had a cup, Lacy made a toast.
“Here’s to Jazzy’s full recovery!”
A resounding rumble of voices echoed that sentiment. Reve glanced over at Jacob, who stood off to himself, as if trying to hide behind Genny and Dallas. Of course it was impossible for a man of his size to go unnoticed. Although he had come by the hospital to check on her and Jazzy every day, he’d acted as if they were only friends, as if they’d never been lovers. He’d been friendly and kind and concerned, but he’d kept an emotional distance between them. And for the entire week she’d been trying to figure out what had happened, why she’d gone from being his baby to only his honey.
When their gazes suddenly collided, she felt the power of his heated glare. But he glanced away quickly, as if he couldn’t bear to look at her.
“Miss all of you,” Jazzy said, then held out her hand to Reve. “You most.”
Reve hugged her sister. “Don’t you worry about Jazzy’s Joint or Jasmine’s. I’ll keep them going until I can put a full-time manager in place.”
“Talk. Alone,” Jazzy said to Reve.
“You heard the lady.” Caleb began ushering everyone out into the hall. “The sisters want a few minutes alone before Jazzy and I have to leave.”
After everyone had exited Jazzy’s room and Caleb had closed the door, Jazzy looked up from her wheelchair to where Reve stood at her side. “You and Jacob?”
“We’ve already had this discussion,” Reve said, recalling how she’d poured her heart and soul out to her sister several days ago.
Jazzy shook her head. “Stubborn.”
“Me?” Reve pointed to herself.
Jazzy smiled. “You. Jacob, too.”
“How am I being stubborn?”
“Tell him.”
“Tell him what?”
“Love him. Yes?”
“Yes, I love him, the big dope. But apparently he doesn’t love me. If he did, he wouldn’t be acting—”
“Tell him. Love him.” “You think I should tell him I love him?”
“Yes.”
“And what if I just wind up making a fool of myself?”
Jazzy laughed.
Reve leaned down and kissed her sister’s cheek. “Stop worrying about me and Jacob. You go to Nashville and get well. I’ll drive up often to visit. And in the meantime, if you’ll promise not to worry about me, I’ll take your advice and make sure Jacob Butler knows that I love him.”
“Good. Tell him. Soon.”
“I will. I promise.”
That night at Jazzy’s Joint, while she tried to get some paperwork done, all she could think about was Jacob and her promise to her sister. Why don’t you call him and ask him to come over? Or better yet, you know where he lives. Go to him. And don’t put it off. Do it tonight. If he rejects you, you’ll find a way to deal with it. But at least you’ll know where you stand.
“Reve, come on out to the bar right now.” Lacy Fallon stood in the open office doorway.
“What’s wrong?”
“Jacob just walked in and guess who jumped him the minute he came through the door—Mindy Harper.”
“Oh, she did, did she?” Reve jumped up and came flying around the desk. “Well, I guess I’m going to have to go out there and tell her to keep her hands off my man.”
“You are? Hot damn!” Lacy followed Reve out of the office and down the hall.
After they reached the bar, Reve stopped and surveyed the joint. When she saw Jacob on the dance floor with Mindy Harper, she growled.
“If I’d known you were going to forget you were a lady tonight, I’d have brought my video camera,” Lacy said. “After all, you and Jacob might like to have this on tape to show your kids someday.”
“That’s okay,” Reve said. “I’m sure every minute of this night will be recorded in my memory and in Jacob’s.”
Reve marched out onto the dance floor and straight up to Jacob and Mindy. She tapped on Mindy’s shoulder and said, “I’m cutting in.”
Jacob halted and stared at Reve. Mindy whirled around and said, “The hell you are.”
“Look, sister, I’m only going to say this once, so listen up.” Reve planted her hands on her hips. “Take your damn hands off my man and do it right now.”
“And if I don’t?” Mindy glared up at Reve, who was several inches taller and outweighed her by more pounds than Reve wanted to admit.
“Take a good look at me. I’m twice your size and I’m mad as hell. You want to tangle with me, then bring it on.” Reve motioned to Mindy.
Mindy stared at Reve for a couple of minutes, then turned back to Jacob. “Is she right—do you belong to her?”
Jacob shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
Huffing loudly, Mindy turned and pranced off toward the bar.
When Reve thought for sure Jacob would welcome her with open arms, he turned and walked away. She stood there on the dance floor, surrounded by couples as the song on the jukebox ended. Before she had a chance to feel like a total fool, she realized Jacob was punching in a number on the juke box. She waited, holding her breath and praying. Then the uniquely beautiful voice of Pasty Cline filled Jazzy’s Joint. Reve’s heart went wild. Butterflies fluttered maddeningly in her stomach. He came toward her, slowly, taking his time. And suddenly the whole world exploded in a frenzy of happiness as he took her in his arms. They moved languidly to the rhythm of the old country ballad, “He Called Me Baby.”
“You kind of staked your claim tonight, didn’t you?” Jacob whispered in her ear.
“I guess I did.”
“I guess I was wrong when I figured you wanted me to give you some space because you were having second thoughts about us.”
“You were wrong,” she told him. “And just so there’s no more misunderstandings—” She stopped, reached up and cupped his face between her hands. “I love you. Do you hear me? I love you like crazy, you big country hick, Apache chief wannabe, and I want to marry you and have your babies and spend the rest of my life in your arms.”
“Ah, baby, baby . . .”
“Let’s get out of here.” She took his hand in hers. “Take me upstairs and call me baby, baby, all night long.”
He tugged on her hand, yanked her back and into his arms, then leaned down until his lips touched hers. “I’m crazy in love with you, too, Miss High and Mighty.”
And then he kissed her. A loud, joyous roar nearly lifted the roof off Jazzy’s Joint when the other patrons cheered Jazzy’s sister and the man she’d laid claim to tonight.