Ever After (Love to the Rescue Book 3) (16 page)

“No, I don’t know where the chickens came from,” Olivia was saying. “But ten bucks says they’re from Halverson Foods. We’re on our way to my house now.” Another pause. “Yes, he’s with me. I’ll call you when I know anything okay?”

She hung up the phone and stared out the window, silent as he turned into her driveway.

“All right then, let’s go have a look.”

She followed him inside with Bailey. “You’re staying inside,” she told the dog, then followed Pete into the backyard.

He walked toward the back fence. It wasn’t hard to tell where it had all gone down. The back corner of her yard was strewn with chicken carcasses, in various states of destruction. The birds could have come from the supermarket—they were already plucked, heads and feet removed. But he’d bet Olivia was right. They had probably come from the Halverson Foods chicken-processing plant.

She made a sound of disgust from behind him. “I can’t believe someone put these in my yard. Why would they do that?”

“To make a point, I guess. I’m off duty, so I’m going to have to call it in.”

And then he and Olivia were going to have a little talk. This had gone too far, and she wasn’t staying here alone again until the vandals had been caught.

O
livia felt like she’d been swept up in a tornado, and it was not a feeling she enjoyed. She closed her eyes and pictured the landscape at MacArthur Park until her pulse had slowed. When she opened them, the sheriff’s deputies were still there. Pete stood in the corner with them as they finished up their paperwork.

“We’ll be in touch,” the tall one—whose name she’d forgotten—said.

She stood. “Thank you.”

Pete walked them to the door. He still wore his uniform, his expression dark and brooding. Guilt pinched her stomach. Because of her, he’d almost lost his dog.

He closed the door behind them, then slid his arms around her. “You okay?”

She leaned into him. His body was hard and unyielding behind her, separated from hers by all of his law enforcement gear. She turned in his arms, placing a hand against his chest. Hard. She frowned.

“Kevlar,” he said.

“Really? You wear that every day?”

He nodded.

The knowledge sent an uncomfortably cold tingle down her spine. “Have you ever been shot?”

“No.”

“Ever shot anyone?” Now she was just being nosy, but to be perfectly honest, she’d never thought that much about the dangers of his job. Not until now, and it was freaking her out.

“No,” he answered.

“That’s good.” She pulled back and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Been shot at. Once. He missed.” Pete cracked a smile.

“If that’s meant to make me feel better, it doesn’t.” On the contrary, tears stung her eyes, and she didn’t even know why.

“Hey.” He took her hand. “I need to go home and change. Why don’t you come? Stay the night.”

She glanced at the clock, and her heart sank. “Crap. It’s Friday night. I’m supposed to be babysitting for Merry and T.J. right now.”

“I’m sure Merry, of all people, understands.”

“Of course she does but—” She shook her head. This was just one more screwup to add to the long list of her life screwups. “I better call her.” Olivia dialed Merry’s number.

“Any news?” her friend asked when she answered.

“Bailey’s home. Timber’s stable. And I’m standing you up right now, but why do you sound like you’re at the bar anyway?” A buzz of music and conversation carried over the line.

“Amy and Noah came over to watch Jayden for us. You didn’t stand me up. You were busy with the police and with Bailey.”

“Oh, I’m glad you guys still got to go out.” Olivia was grateful that T.J.’s sister and nephew had been able to fill in for her. “I’ll babysit for you next week. Just pick a day.”

“Don’t worry about it. Are you spending the night at Pete’s?”

She looked over at him, thumbing through emails on his phone. She didn’t want to be alone tonight. “Yes.”

Olivia followed Pete into his townhouse. They stopped for a moment in the foyer, absorbing the emptiness inside. Quiet. No howling, whining German shepherd waited for them in the kitchen.

Even Bailey was subdued, standing silently beside them, her tail tucked.

Olivia set her backpack on the floor and put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“Please stop apologizing. It wasn’t your fault. On the contrary, you saved Timber’s life. I should be thanking you.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, long and deep, then he picked her up and carried her up the stairs to his bedroom. He set her on the edge of the bed and unfastened the belt that held his gun, cuffs, and all his other law enforcement gadgets.

She forced herself to take a long look at it. As a practice, she hated guns. Anything that led to violence of any kind went against the fiber of her soul.

“You’re looking at me like I’m holding a snake,” he said, a touch of amusement in his voice.

She looked down at her hands. “I don’t really mind snakes.”

“But you don’t like guns.”

She shook her head. “No. Sorry.”

“Most women find it a turn-on.” He still sounded amused.

She raised her head and met his eyes. “I’m not most women.”

His dark eyes heated. “Isn’t that the damn truth.”

He hauled her off the bed and kissed her until every cell in her body was on fire for him. She worked her way down the buttons of his uniform shirt and tugged it open.

“And I hate that you have to wear
this
.” She ran her fingers over the unforgiving surface of his Kevlar vest.

“You’d rather I didn’t wear it?”

“I’d rather you didn’t put yourself in the way of bullets at all.”

He reached behind himself to unfasten the vest, then lifted it over his head. Now he stood before her in a sweat-dampened white undershirt and slacks, his hair rumpled from her fingers. He was the opposite of what she wanted in every way, and yet…he was the most perfect thing she’d ever seen.

“I have no idea what to do with you.” He bent his head to nibble at her neck, and she shivered from her heart to her toes.

“I can think of a few things.” She tugged at the waistband of his pants, pulling him closer against her.

He laid her on the bed, covering her body with his. “You’ll stay here until this mess with Halverson gets sorted out.”

She braced her hands against his chest. “Wait—what?”

“I’ll sleep a hell of a lot better if you’re here. Stay.” His eyes filled in the gaps between his words. He was worried about her, worried for her safety.

And she should probably be offended. She should argue that she could take care of herself—because she could—but right now she was too busy feeling all warm and fuzzy. “I’m staying tonight. After that we’ll see.”

Because she couldn’t let herself get too comfortable here in his house. This was only temporary, and she couldn’t let herself forget that.

“You’ll stay,” he said. Then he tugged down her pants, and she forgot what the hell they were talking about.

Thirty minutes later, and a whole lot more relaxed, she followed him downstairs. He went into the kitchen to order takeout, and she took Bailey outside to potty. Then she settled on the couch to work on a blog post.

Pete strolled in, looking dangerously sexy in relaxed jeans and a worn NCSU T-shirt. He sat next to her and turned on the TV. “You’re not stirring up more trouble for Halverson, are you?”

“Just blogging about what happened today, but I’m not backing off. They can’t bully me like this and get away with it.”

He changed the channel to football. “I just think you may need to adjust your expectations slightly.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That plant isn’t going to be shut down, Olivia. Even if it was, the chickens would still be slaughtered somewhere else. Halverson Foods is a lot bigger than you, and the town needs those jobs. Why don’t you push for changes to their worksite practices instead?”

She sighed as she closed her laptop. “Because Dogwood is my hometown. We’re better than to be known as a place where chickens are slaughtered.”

He smiled. Not patronizing, much as she wanted to be annoyed by him, but more like he understood, even appreciated her. “We’re not known as a town where chickens are slaughtered. We’re known as the charming little town that half of North Carolina wishes it could be. Dogwood is a wonderful place to live, and like it or not, Halverson Foods employs a lot of our citizens.”

“Agree to disagree?”

He nodded and turned his attention to the football game.

She sat, staring at the TV but not watching the game.
He was right.
The realization spilled over her like a bucket of ice water. She was fighting the wrong battle. Even if she got the plant shut down, those chickens would be slaughtered somewhere else. People would always eat chicken—hadn’t most of the people in town told her that at one time or another?

But if she focused all of Citizens Against Halverson Foods’ energy into a push for revamped workplace practices and elimination of the abuse shown in those undercover videos? That could actually work.

“You’re right,” she said.

Pete gave her a sideways glance. “I am?”

“About Halverson. I’m fighting the wrong battle.”

He smiled smugly. “I like the sound of those words.”

She punched him. “That I was fighting the wrong battle?”

“No, that I was right.”

“You’re a jerk.” She rested her head on his shoulder, exhausted by the day. Also…starving. “What did you order for supper?”

“Vegetarian pizza from Gino’s,” he answered.

“Thanks.” Her heart melted a tiny bit more. He’d ordered vegetarian. He hadn’t even complained about it, and she knew he would have ordered meat if not for her. She’d dated a lot of men who’d given her grief for her beliefs.

Pete never had. And when he disagreed with her, he did it with respect. The truth was, she felt right at home here on his couch.

“I’ll stay,” she whispered.

Pete tightened his arm around her shoulders. “Good.”

“Just until we get things sorted out,” she said.

“Right.” He hadn’t defined exactly what needed to be sorted out before she went home, and neither had she. He’d never lived with a woman other than Rina. No need to change that, certainly not with Olivia.

“I’ll have to bring Hallie.”

Shit. He’d forgotten about the kitten. “Can’t you just stop by the house and feed her?”

She tilted her head to give him a dirty look. “Not unless I want her to rip my house to shreds in the meantime.”

“I’d rather she not rip
my
house to shreds.”

“She’s pretty well behaved as long as she has people to play with.”

Clearly he’d lost his ever-loving mind because he heard himself saying, “Fine. You can go get her tomorrow.”

After they ate, he brought her out back and lit a fire in the fire-pit on his patio. Olivia brought out a blanket, and they sat in front of the flames.

“This is nice,” she said with a sigh, snuggling closer against him. “Like camping from the comfort of home.”

He’d hardly used the fire-pit since he bought it, but he could imagine sitting out here with Olivia every night. They sat and talked. They roasted marshmallows. And when they went upstairs, they slept together, in both meanings of the word. Because with Olivia, he actually slept. Deep and dreamless.

“Wake up.”

He heard her voice, filtering through the fog of sleep. He grunted. Her hair tickled his chest, and he reached out and yanked her closer against him.

Her fingers wrapped around his cock. “I woke you in time for this,” she whispered.

Sweet Jesus. If he’d still been half-asleep before, he was wide awake now and rock hard in her hand. He cracked open an eyelid to peer up at her. “Mornin’.”

“Good morning.” She slid over, straddling him. Behind her, the sky was still a deep purple.

“What the hell time is it? Did I happen to mention today is my day off?”

“It’s six o’clock. We’re going to MacArthur Park to watch the sunrise.”

“We are?” He slid his hands down to cup her ass. Olivia Bennett was officially like no other woman he’d ever known. She absolutely boggled his mind.

She nodded. “We are. We both need to find our center again after everything that happened yesterday.”

“I think I’ve found my center.” He rocked his pelvis against hers.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m being serious. Your dog almost died yesterday.”

Yeah, he knew that. The knowledge weighed heavy in his chest. He was more fond of Timber than he cared to admit. “You’re right.”

Her lips twitched. “I like the sound of those words.”

He bent his head and kissed her. She reached into the bedside table for a condom, and they made love in the predawn light.

After a quick shower, she hustled him to the car, and he drove them out to MacArthur Park. It was peaceful. He could see why she came here to watch the sunrise. To meditate. To find her center, whatever that meant.

But he didn’t need all that. The unsettling truth was that he felt centered whenever he was with her.

He was getting the hang of this meditation thing though. He sat beside her, relaxed and quiet as they watched the sun rise over the treetops. The last time they’d been here, Timber had been with them, frolicking in the field. Pete hoped he’d done well overnight, that he could come home today. He missed his dog.

When he and Olivia left the park, it was just past eight o’clock.

“I’m going to call the vet for an update,” he said.

“I’ll call. You drive,” she answered. He put the Forester in gear and drove, subconsciously pointing the car toward Dogwood Animal Hospital. He wanted to see Timber, wanted to bring him home.

She spoke to someone at the hospital, answering with too many “mm hmms” and “oh reallys” for his taste.

“Well?” he asked when she hung up.

“He’s doing well overall, but he’s not able to eat without the feeding tube yet so they want to keep him a few more days. They said we can stop by to see him though.” She smiled when he turned into the parking lot.

“So let’s go see him.” He swung out of the car and followed her inside.

A vet tech greeted them in the lobby and promised to be right back with Dr. Johnson. Pete slid an arm around her shoulders, because it was chilly and she wasn’t wearing a jacket, not because he needed to feel her close against him.

The vet came out a few minutes later. “The bone left behind quite a bit of irritation in his esophagus. He’s having difficulty swallowing. I expect he’ll be feeling much better in a day or two, but in the meantime, we’d like to keep him here so that we can keep the IV and feeding tube in.”

“Okay,” Pete said. “Thank you.”

The vet motioned them to follow him into the back. Timber lay on his side in his crate, his head up and alert. He whined when he saw Pete, his tail thumping loudly against the wall behind him.

Pete opened the crate and rubbed his head. “Hey, buddy. It’s awfully quiet at the house without you.”

Timber whined, thrusting his head into Pete’s lap. He sat with his dog for a while, petting him while he and Olivia talked. Timber was overjoyed that Olivia had come to visit him too. And while it tore Pete up to leave him there, he knew his dog was in good hands and would be home soon.