Heartsong Cottage (29 page)

“What did the cops do?”

Her lips twisted with bitterness. “Nothing. They didn't believe me. I got labeled a crackpot and that was that.”

“You're kidding me.”

“Nope. I'm still the little nobody from Kansas. He's still the senator's son.”

“Senator? United States senator? Who the hell is this guy?”

Shannon winced. She hadn't meant for that to slip out. Although she didn't know what difference it made because Daniel could probably learn on his own in less than ten minutes based on the little she'd given him so far. She took a sip of her tea, then spoke the name. “Wilbarger. Russell Wilbarger.”

“Holy crap, Shannon. They're not Kennedy fame and fortune, but they're not far behind.”

“It's a no-win situation for me.”

“So how did you choose Eternity Springs?”

“I was living in Denver waiting tables while I tried to figure out what to do with my life. I'd lost my parents the previous year within six weeks of each other, Mom from complications from diabetes and my stepdad of a heart attack, and they'd left me enough money to buy some time. Or so I thought. The day I came home from the gym one afternoon and found stuffing scattered all over my apartment and a teddy bear carcass pinned to my bed with a butcher knife, I knew I needed to do something drastic. My guardian angel must have been looking out for me because that night I overheard a particularly interesting conversation between one of my customers and her friend. She said that a distant relative had died and left her a pub in a middle-of-nowhere town, and she didn't know what she was going to do with it—especially with her upcoming wedding. She was flying to Japan to marry her fiancé who worked there with the Foreign Service.”

“Shannon O'Toole?” Daniel asked.

“Yes.”

“Handy.”

“I thought so at the time. Now I think it was meant to be.”

“You may be right. The one thing I can tell you is that Russell Wilbarger needs to be in jail.” With that, Daniel's questions became all business. “Did you have a security system?”

“By the third incident, yes. He always wore something that shielded him—hats and sunglasses. One winter he even wore a ski mask.”

Daniel reached into his pocket and removed the small spiral notebook and pen that he carried constantly. For the next ten minutes he quizzed her like a math professor, drawing out every detail she could recall about the stalking incidents and the day Ted died. “Tell me about the roommate, the one in his room. Was that the guy in Key West?”

“No. The Key West guy's name is Alden Ramer. Alden had already graduated at that point. The guy in his room was Larry Dennard. Larry was the nerdiest of the group. Smartest, too, I think. He founded a firm that does some sort of computer security thing. He's been wildly successful. You've probably used his equipment.”

“So this Larry didn't see what happened?”

“That's what he claimed at the time. He said he heard Ted cry out, and thuds and bumps as he fell. He said Ted's voice cut off abruptly about halfway through the fall.”

“You didn't believe him?”

“I did at first.”

“He said Wilbarger wasn't there?”

Shannon nodded slowly. “He told everyone he was alone in the house.”

“You don't believe him.”

“I did then. After the funeral, I wondered.”

“Why is that? If he was in his room, he wouldn't necessarily have seen anything.”

She pursed her lips and tried to put her feelings into words. “It was subtle and something I only noticed in reflection. Larry had all but worshipped at Russell's feet. He was like a puppy dog, always begging for the treat of attention. But at the funeral…”

Shannon pursed her lips and thought back to that horrible event. She'd been in shock. Her mom and stepdad had come, and her mother had held Shannon's hand throughout the service, her lifeline. Ted's mother sobbed quietly throughout. His father stood like a stone. “Larry and Russell were both pallbearers, as were two of their other roommates.”

“Names?”

She told him and he jotted them down. “They were both in class when it happened. They had a big exam. They were both obviously devastated at the funeral. Larry was … different. He was pale and withdrawn and uncomfortable around me. I don't think he ever met my eyes. The biggest deal was that he stood apart from Russell.”

“Did you ever ask him why?”

She shook her head. “I never saw him again. I left school.”

Daniel made more notes in his book, then fired off a few more questions about the funeral. He did not pursue further questions about the rape, thank goodness, because Shannon couldn't go there. Talking about Ted's death left her raw enough.

Finally, she said, “Stop. I cannot think about him anymore. He's my past and I've truly begun to believe”—superstitiously, she knocked on the kitchen table—“that he's going to stay there.”

“He needs to be stopped.”

“Maybe someday, someone will do it. It won't be us.”

“But—”

“You promised me you'd leave it alone,” she said. “You gave me your word.”

He shoved to his feet and paced the kitchen, raking his fingers through his hair. “We're going to have to figure a way to get through this, Shannon. I gave you my word as it pertained to a stalker. I did not, however, say I'd let a murderer go free. That's something different.”

“Exactly,” she protested. “It's even more reason for you to leave it alone.”

“Shannon.” He chastised her with both his tone and the chiding look in his eyes. “You know me better than that. Let's have some honesty here. You had to know what my reaction would be when you told me the entire truth.”

“But—”

“Shannon?”

“Oh, all right.” She sighed heavily. “I guess I knew you wouldn't be happy.”

“Not happy? Sunshine, the fact that all this happened to you—that the guy has gotten away with it until now—just pisses me off so bad that I … hell … it makes me feel … impotent.”

That startled a laugh from her. “You? Impotent? You're a walking erection, Daniel.”

He frowned at her. “I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. Look. Your safety and that of the baby's is my highest priority. I understand evil. I have a lot of up close and personal experience with evil. Put aside the fact that seeing Wilbarger pay for his sins is the right thing to do, we as a family can't live with this sword hanging above our necks. We have to deal with this. You need to trust my experience here. I won't let Russell Wilbarger be a threat to you any longer. You're not alone any longer, Shannon. You need to trust me.”

We as a family.
She took the words into her heart and hugged them.

“I need some time, Daniel. I need to think about it.”

“Fair enough.”

She knew the man well enough to be certain her reprieve wouldn't last for long. However, now free of the burden of her secrets, she experienced a wave of sudden giddiness. She rose from the table and went to him, her joy reflected in the lightness of her step and velocity of her smile. “Now, about that question?”

His expression went wary. “What question?”

“Compliment or insult? Why don't we take it into the bedroom and see if we can't come up with an answer?”

A slow smile spread across his lips. Shannon pulled his face down to hers and gave him her hottest of kisses. Later, as she lay snuggled against him, warm and naked and sated, she reflected on the day. All in all, it had turned out better than expected.

Daniel trailed his thumb slowly up and down her back, and they lay together accompanied by only the sound of Soupy's snore coming from her bed beside the fireplace.

Until his deep voice rumbled, “Chelsea Abbott. It's a pretty name. Sure you don't want to—”

“I'm sure,” she interrupted, sorry that her reprieve appeared to be over. She closed her eyes. “Chelsea Abbott no longer exists.”

“Sure she does.” Daniel kissed the top of her head. “She still has a Social Security number. Still pays taxes out of a trust account. Unless you've finagled a death certificate since we returned from Key West, that is.”

She went still. “You investigated me, didn't you?”

“I checked out the name.”

She rolled onto her back. “I really wish you wouldn't have done that, but I guess I always knew you would. It's why I haven't stopped looking over my shoulder or shaking at the sight of strange cars, and why every time I see a number I don't recognize on caller ID, I break out in a cold sweat. So much for peace and tranquility.”

“Now, Shannon.”

“He'll find out, Daniel. He always does. I think he must have hacked into the NSA network or something.”

He shifted onto his side and came up on his elbow. “I may not have a computer science degree, but when it comes to investigation, I'm no slouch myself. I'll find what we need to neutralize any threat to you and our child.”

“You don't understand Russell.”

“And you underestimate me. I will protect you, Shannon. You are my light and I won't let darkness win. Not again. Trust me.”

Yearning welled within her. “I'm scared. Aren't you scared?”

“Honestly, for the first time in a decade, no, I'm not. I'm determined. You are my beacon, Shannon. You've led me out of the darkness. Let me return the favor.” He leaned down and sweetly kissed her lips and repeated, “Trust me.”

Dare she? Of course. She already trusted him. She wouldn't have told him about her past otherwise. Conceding to that reality, she licked her lips and said, “Okay. I will. I do.”

“And, marry me.”

“Okay. I … wait—what?” Her heart leaped and she sat up abruptly.

He laughed and pulled her back down and rolled above her. His sapphire eyes glowed with love as he locked his gaze with hers. “Marry me. Not because of the baby—though she is a bonus—but because I'm desperately in love with you and I can't live without you. Say yes, my love.”

“Yes, my love.” Her smile bloomed like a Rocky Mountain meadow in springtime. “Yes, I'll marry you.”

The joy that filled Daniel's eyes was beautiful to behold.

*   *   *

“And to think the tourists believe summertime provides the best scenery around Eternity Springs,” Rose remarked one week later as she helped Shannon work the tap in Murphy's Pub, filling another round for the local men who'd joined Daniel for a strategizing session—Jack Davenport, Gabe Callahan, Zach Turner, and Lucca Romano. “So much beefcake here I don't know if my little old heart can handle it.”

Shannon grinned. “Better not let Cicero hear you say things like that. He'll get jealous.”

Rose's smile went sly. “Yeah. Then he'll do the branding-me-as-his-own thing again. He does this thing with his tongue that—”

“TMI, Mrs. Cicero. TMI.”

Both women laughed as the pub's front door opened and another man sauntered in. “Holy cow,” Shannon murmured. “Hard to imagine but the scenery just got even better. Who is
that
?”

The man was younger than the others, but no less tall, dark, and handsome. He had vivid eyes the color of the forest in springtime and shoulders that rivaled the span of Daniel's. Something about him looked familiar, but she couldn't place him. “That's Brick Callahan. Gabe's nephew.”

“Brick?”

“A nickname that stuck, I believe. He's Mark's son by his first wife.”

“Wow, those Callahan men are pretty, aren't they?”

“Genes are hard to beat.”

“So is the way they look in jeans.”

Shannon and Rose shared a look and a laugh, then delivered the drinks. After Gabe introduced his nephew to Shannon, Rose retreated upstairs for what Jack Davenport had termed the “hen party”—right before his wife, Cat, socked him on the shoulder.

Shannon had closed Murphy's tonight in order to accommodate the meeting that Daniel had finally talked her into convening. She'd been a bundle of nerves in the hours leading up to it, worried how her friends would react to her confession. She need not have worried. To a man—and woman—they supported her.

I am so blessed.
What was that Celeste-ism about friends? Something about friends being the air that put the lift beneath wings? After the gift of their support tonight, she seriously felt as if she could fly.

Daniel had told the story for her—just the basics, not the gory details—while standing behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. Out of everyone, only Rose, her best friend, threw her a less-than-sympathetic frown. Shannon read the message in her expression.
You could have told me. You should have told me.

I'm sorry,
Shannon had silently telegraphed back.
I was afraid.

Rose had nodded once, and that had been that.

Daniel had finished his summation of their situation, then asked Shannon, “Would you like to share our other bit of news?”

“I would. Daniel and I are getting married on December 28. We hope you'll join us.”

They'd chosen to keep an announcement about the baby for a later date, though not too much later since the fact would become apparent in another month and obvious by their wedding day.

Their friends' reaction to word of the pending nuptials was all that Shannon could have hoped for. Rose squealed and hugged her. Hope burst into tears and threw her arms around Daniel. The men started ribbing him in the way men did, until Celeste announced that she thought the women should reconvene upstairs where they could commence wedding planning in peace.

Celeste pulled a notebook from her tote bag. “We've much to do in a little over a month. How many guests do you expect, Shannon?”

“We're going to try to keep it small. I'm alone, but Daniel said his whole family will attend. He has three brothers—two of them unmarried—and his parents are still alive.”