Honey Hill was so quiet it might have been abandoned.
Kade rode down the main street and parked in the driveway of his aunt and uncle’s house.
His uncle met him at the door, his expression grim. “Who is he?”
“Who?”
“The guy who showed up at Reyna’s place late last night.”
Kade was startled and was sure it showed. “I don’t know.”
“New York plates. A rental. He drove through town then parked out of sight. He might have gone into Reyna’s place from the back.”
“I thought Reyna came home this morning.”
“About half an hour ago. I saw her truck.” His uncle frowned. “Then someone lowered the blinds on the windows at the front of the shop. I thought I heard something break.”
Kade went cold. “Three years ago, Reyna left a guy in Manhattan, a guy who used to beat her up.”
His uncle nodded. “She might need help.”
Their gazes met. “She did call me and ask me to come.”
“From here?”
“No, she must have been on her way home. It was hours ago. I don’t think she knew there was anyone here. I left Portland as soon as I got her message.”
His uncle’s gaze swept over him, lingering on the bulge of his gun. “I think it would be wise to make sure Reyna is okay.”
“So, do I,” Kade agreed. “Just neighborly.”
“And she did call you.”
Kade nodded agreement. The two men exchanged a look, then there was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.
Kade ran, his own gun in his hand.
Reyna heard the bike.
She knew whose bike it was and relief surged through her that Kade had arrived. Then she felt a stab of fear that he’d walk right into the middle of this mess, that Sean would hurt him, that everything would go wrong. Had she locked the back door after she came home? No. But she had to get Sean away from the doors, so he wouldn’t see Kade arrive.
“Who’s that?” Sean demanded, moving to the window. Unfortunately, only a deaf man would have missed the sound of Kade’s bike.
“Some old guy up the road,” Reyna lied. “He only rides on sunny Saturdays.”
Sean was peering around the blind. “It can’t be that far up the road. The engine stopped.”
“He runs out of gas sometimes.”
Sean turned to face her and pulled a gun out of his jacket. Reyna’s heart stopped. “I think you’re lying, bitch.”
He fired then, completely surprising Reyna, and pain shot through her left hand. She looked down to find that there was a hole in her hand and blood flowing onto the pristine floor. She blinked, sure her eyes were deceiving her.
Then the pain blossomed into her hand and up her arm.
“Tell me the truth,” Sean demanded.
“I did tell you the truth!”
He took a step closer and Reyna knew the only way to distract him. “All right!” she said, lifting her injured hand. “I’ll give you the money. Just don’t hurt me anymore.”
Sean smiled. He grabbed a cloth from the counter and flung it at her. “Don’t make such a mess,” he said with disdain and she wrapped up her hand tightly in the cloth. The wound was throbbing and she felt a bit dizzy at the realization that it was her blood all over the place.
But she had to keep Kade safe.
“And don’t give me some shit that it’s all in the bank and we have to wait until Monday,” Sean sneered. “You like cash as much as I do. Don’t think I’d forget that.”
“You were always so smart,” Reyna said, making sure she sounded defeated. “I keep it upstairs.”
“In the bedroom?” he swaggered to the stairs, indicating with the gun that she should do ahead of him. “Maybe we’ll find something else to do once you’ve paid up.”
Reyna hid her hatred of him as well as she could. She gripped her injured hand tightly, using the pain to help keep herself focused. When she climbed the stairs, Sean was right behind her, the gun in the small of her back and his other hand squeezing her butt.
“You’ve gained some weight,” he whispered. “I like it.”
Reyna struggled not to shudder.
“How many lovers since me?”
“None,” Reyna lied.
Sean chuckled. “Because no one else can compare. You’ll be like a virgin again.”
They passed her bedroom and she saw that the drawers had been dumped and the bedding tugged from the bed. Sean had already searched for her money. Her closet was in the same chaotic state but he must have run out of time before he got to the library. It was still pristine.
He shoved her over the threshold. “I should have known it would be in your fucking books.”
She went to the shelf and reached for a specific volume but Sean stopped her. “I’ll get it,” he growled, keeping the gun pressed against her as he took down the book. It wasn’t really a book, but a box. She felt his delight when he saw the cash she always kept there. “Take it out,” he ordered. “Count it for me.”
Reyna did as instructed, although she deliberately messed up the count twice and had to start over each time. She counted out loud, too, making as much noise as possible to cover the sound of Kade arriving.
Thank God she thought her cash was safe in her house in Honey Hill and hadn’t gone to the bank lately. It gave her a good way to distract Sean.
She heard a subtle creak as she counted out loud one more time. She knew that sound. It was the fourth stair. Sean didn’t seem to have noticed.
Funny how six hundred dollars in twenties could distract him. He really must have become desperate for cash.
She calculated the time required for Kade to reach her, knowing he would be moving slowly. She had to give him a clear shot somehow. At the moment, she was between Sean and the door, probably because Sean had planned it that way.
“That’s a start,” Sean said with satisfaction. He folded the money with one hand and shoved it into his pocket. “But a long way from all you owe me.”
“I have to go to the bank to get more.”
Sean shook his head. “That’s not how we’re going to do it, Reyna.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course not, bitch. You have a filing cabinet downstairs.”
She studied him, not understanding.
“It’s got your tax returns neatly filed away and your bank statements. I had plenty of time to read them all and find out exactly how much you owe me.”
Reyna couldn’t anticipate where he was going with this.
He smiled, enjoying her uncertainty. “I also had time to file your will in that drawer.”
“I don’t have a will.”
“Just fixing your oversight.” He cocked the gun and lifted it to her temple. “Seems you’re going to be the victim of a robbery gone wrong. I guess you came home early and surprised the thief. I guess that wasn’t a smart move on your part.” He smiled and she saw his finger begin to move.
She heard the wooden floor in the hall creak.
Then she didn’t really have to pretend to faint.
It was just like the domestic.
But a thousand times worse, because the intended victim was Reyna.
There was blood on the floor, a line of red drops leading up the stairs. Kade wondered where Reyna had been hit. She must have been mostly okay because she was moving and talking.
In a way, the blood made it easier. He knew she was injured. He knew this guy had fired the shot. The situation was as clear as crystal.
Kade was glad to feel a familiar calm resolve fill him, the conviction that let him calculate the best possible resolution without emotional engagement. He eased down the second floor hallway, listening to Sean’s threats all the way. He kept to the edge of the corridor, assuming the old floor would creak less there. The door to Reyna’s library was slightly closed, which gave him a bit of a hiding place.
The guy’s words removed any doubt about his intentions.
Kade heard the safety being removed. He stepped around the door, saw the guy’s surprise, then Reyna fainted. Whether her faint was real or not, didn’t matter at the moment.
She gave him a clear shot and he took it.
Without hesitation.
The bastard didn’t even have time to aim at him.
One shot was all it took.
Reyna didn’t want to let go of Kade. She came to when he was kneeling beside her and she knew from his expression what had happened to Sean.
She had to look, just to know for sure.
And then it all overwhelmed her. Reyna began to cry but Kade gathered her into his arms. “I knew you’d come. I knew you’d fix it,” she whispered against his shoulder. “You always keep your promises.”
He held her tightly as she heard sirens approaching.
He carried her down the stairs to meet the paramedics at the door and they gave her a shot for the shock. She was aware that he went with her in the ambulance and held her good hand all the way to the hospital. She felt change between them but was too sore and tired to think about it.
The drugs didn’t help her to focus.
Kade was with her and that was enough.
Reyna woke up in post-op to find a nurse checking her vitals. There was a bandage on her hand and it still hurt, but not as much. “Lucky lady,” the nurse said. “The bullet missed the bone.”
“What does that mean?” Reyna managed to say.
“The damage is in the tendons and nerves,” she replied. “You might get full functionality back with physiotherapy. The surgeon will tell you more.”
Reyna nodded and floated back to sleep again.
The next time she woke up, she was in a hospital room. The sky outside the windows looked like a morning sky, so she guessed a day had passed. One of Kade’s business cards was on the nightstand and she picked it up, turning it over to read the writing on the back. See you in the morning. Which morning? How long had he stayed with her?
Where did they go from here?
She felt full of all the things she hadn’t said to him, relieved, excited and still frightened. Her past was resolved and didn’t have to shape her future anymore. She lay, listening to the bustle of the ward around her, and considered her options.
They all included Kade.
He arrived after the nurse had helped her to the washroom and she’d managed to brush her teeth and comb her hair. Reyna was dragging her IV drip back toward the bed and holding her gown closed as best she could when she felt a prickle of awareness.
“Feeling better?” he asked, his voice familiar and more than welcome.
She turned to find him in uniform.
“Yes. Thank you.” There was a lump in her throat which didn’t help get those thousand unsaid things out. “Going to work?”
“There’s a review of my conduct this morning in Moose Lake.”
“You won’t lose your job?”
“I was off duty and out of my area of jurisdiction. I might be disciplined.”
“I can testify for you!”
Kade smiled. “You can get better. The surgeon’s on his way to talk to you about therapy and I’ve got to go.” He kissed her temple, a much less intimate kiss than she wanted, then escorted her back to her bed.
“Will you come back and tell me what happened?”
“If you want.” His gaze searched hers.
“Does this change your hopes for the future?” she asked and he shook his head.
“Not a bit.” He frowned a little. “I’m just not sure what I’m going to have to offer you.”
She touched his jaw. “You have yourself. That’s all I want. It’s everything I want.”
He smiled down at her. “Looks like we have something else in common,” he murmured.
Reyna smiled. “I want a kiss. Am I the only one?”
Kade grinned, then bent and captured her lips with his. It was a potent kiss even though it was short, one that filled Reyna with a new conviction that she was doing right. “Since you work in Portland, I could sell the studio and find a location for a shop. We could either sell the Honey Hill house or keep it for weekends.”
“You sure? That’s a big change.”
“I want to be with you,” Reyna said. “I want to give us the best chance possible, so I’m choosing all the variables I can to build success.”
Kade smiled, and she saw the relief in his eyes. “Just promise me you’ll never lose that conviction that you can change the world.”
“Never, not now that you’ve changed mine.”
He kissed her again then, a much slower kiss that left her impatient for his return even before he was gone. The surgeon cleared his throat from the doorway and she wished Kade luck, knowing he had to be uncertain about the review.
She watched him go, her chest tight but her heart thundering. This was the right choice. He was the right man for her. Her grandmother would have adored him.
She could hardly suppress her excitement. Despite the legacy of her bad choices and her past, Reyna had a new conviction that she and Kade were going to live happily ever after.
She couldn’t imagine anything better.
Chynna returned to the tattoo shop after taking a break for dinner on a beautiful May evening. She’d walked over to the street market on Fifth Avenue to try something new. She’d read the news while waiting for her dinner and recognized the name of the man who had been killed in Honey Hill, Maine.
Sean was dead and she couldn’t be sorry. But what had happened to Reyna? The news report was very sketchy and Chynna was worried.
Tristan was pecking at the silk bag that contained her favorite tarot deck.
“He’s been doing that for about twenty minutes,” one of her assistants said. “I wasn’t sure what to do.”
Tristan cawed at her, bobbed his head, then pecked at the drawstring on the bag again.
Chynna thought it was pretty obvious what he wanted, but she had forbidden the assistants to touch her cards. She crossed the shop, stroked the bird, then removed the cards from the bag as he watched with bright eyes. She spread them face down across the counter. “Pick a card?” she invited him.
He bobbed his head, then walked back and forth across the cards as if making a decision. The two assistants came closer to watch. He finally bent and tugged at the corner of one.
Chynna picked up that card and turned it over, one glimpse enough to dismiss all her fears. Tristan jumped to her shoulder while she looked at it. “The World?” she said, leaning back to look at him. “That’s an impressive choice.”
He bobbed his head and cawed agreement. She thought he could have been laughing with pleasure.
But then, Tristan had always liked Reyna.
Chynna smiled. “Is this for Reyna?”
The bird bobbed his head again, a knowing gleam in those dark eyes.
“Good,” Chynna said. “Good.”
“What does it mean?” one assistant asked.
“The World is about transformation or reincarnation. It’s about a rebirth or a fresh start.” Chynna smiled as she thought of the perfect analogy. “Kind of like a butterfly breaking free of its chrysalis and taking flight for the first time. It’s a very positive card.”
Tristan cawed and nodded. Chynna kissed the card, knowing exactly whose future it foretold and put the deck back in its silk bag. “You are so very clever,” she told the bird, then gave him one of his favorite treats.
Sooner or later, Reyna would call to share the details, but Chynna was so very glad to know that the girl who loved fairy tales had found her happy ending.
She hoped it included a handsome prince, too.