Jeannie Watt (22 page)

Tara’s beautiful eyes narrowed. But, when she spoke, it wasn’t what he’d expected to hear.

“Damn, you’re stubborn. Well, go ahead. Protect me all you want while you slowly kill yourself. If you ever come to your senses—which seems highly unlikely—and if you ever want to see me again, you’re going to have to work for it.”

And then she turned on her heel, wrenched the door open and left without looking back.

Matt hesitated for only a second before he started after her. He wasn’t going to let her drive off like this. Shit. If she had an accident or something because he’d upset her…

She was already at her car by the time he made the porch. He headed across the lawn and vaulted the fence as she peeled away from the curb, leaving him standing like the fool that he was at the curb.

He walked back in, scooped up the phone.

Nicky answered on the second ring. “Where’s Tara staying?” Matt asked without saying hello.

“I don’t know.”

Great.
“Could I have her cell number?” Nicky didn’t answer immediately. “I’m worried about her, Nick. She just left here. I want to talk to her.”

“I’ll talk to her.”

“Nick…please.”

“Sorry. I’ll call you if there’s anything you need to know.”

The kid hung up, leaving Matt staring at the receiver.

What now? What freaking now?

T
HIRTY-SIX VERY
long hours later, Matt pulled up to Tara’s house to find the gravel parking area surprisingly empty of vehicles. Even Tara’s truck was gone. She had gotten back to Night Sky safely according to a decidedly cool Luke. However, he hadn’t been able to get away from Reno himself until after the FFD exam.

Where was everyone? He glanced at the dashboard clock.

The luncheon. That dress thing. Matt turned his truck around and headed for town. The convention center was packed. He edged in the back door and watched as a teenaged girl strutted down the catwalk in an odd yellow flouncy dress. It looked like something his great-grandmother would have worn. It was followed by a missile-fronted frock straight out of a 1960s James Bond movie.

Matt searched the crowd until he found Tara. She was seated close to the stage, her hair tumbling down her back like an ebony waterfall.

Matt kept his eyes on her as though she would vanish if he looked away. She did anyway. She got to her feet along with several other women and disappeared behind the curtains as the last teenage girl paraded down the runway. A few seconds later the emcee explained why. The queens were coming. There was a swell of dramatic music. An elderly woman stepped out onto the stage, accepted a beribboned rose and then tottered the length of the catwalk while a grainy black-and-white photo of her wearing a tiara and gown, probably fifty years ago, was projected behind her. The crowd applauded. The woman beamed. A young man met her at the steps, offered his arm and helped her down the stairs before escorting her to her seat.

The slide changed, another woman appeared, a little younger than the first. Matt started edging through the crowd.

W
HEN
T
ARA’S TURN CAME
, she couldn’t help herself. She craned her neck to see if Principal Gates was waiting at the end of the catwalk. Nope…just some really skinny kid in a suit jacket and boutonniere. Dottie caught her eye and gave her a thumbs-up. Tara smiled back, even though she didn’t feel like it. She felt like crawling into her bedroom and spending about a week licking her wounds. But she was made of tougher stuff than that. She hoped.

She’d taken a huge risk, faced her worst fear. She hurt. A lot. It was going to take some time to recover, but she knew that given the opportunity, she’d take the risk again. She would have regretted it forever if she hadn’t at least tried to get that stubborn man back.

Back. What was she thinking? She’d never really had him. The part of him that cared for her wasn’t as strong as the part that was focused on proving himself. And there was nothing she could do about it. Just thinking about it filled her with frustration. And pain.

The theme from her prom came up and Tara forced her mouth into a smile so as not to ruin Dottie’s big finale. She only hoped she didn’t look like she was grimacing. The mini floodlights shining up from the edge of the plywood platform made it difficult to see the crowd as she walked, but she could hear the applause grow. She wondered what photo was being projected behind her and then decided it didn’t matter. Mug shots, handcuffs—all part of the Sullivan legacy. But it didn’t have to be her legacy. She had figured that out long ago. Too bad Matt couldn’t do the same.

She made it to the end of the runway and reached out for the extended hand, startled when a large, warm, masculine hand closed firmly around hers instead of the clammy teenaged one she’d been expecting.

Her lips parted as, bewildered, she stepped past the glare of the floodlights and saw it was Matt’s. And then she clamped her mouth shut.
What?
and
How?
were two reasonable thoughts that popped into her head, followed by
It’s not going to be that easy, buster.

Matt gave her fingers a gentle tug, and she allowed herself to be led down the short aisle so as not to cause a scene. There was a murmur in the crowd. She expected no less in Night Sky. Something new to talk about.

She wasn’t surprised when, instead of turning toward the seats, Matt pushed the door open and escorted her outside. She wondered if he was surprised that she went quietly. Somewhere along the way she’d lost the rose he’d handed her.

When the door shut, closing them off from the view of the gawking crowd, Tara pulled her hand out of his and took a step backward, putting herself out of reach.

And then she just looked at him—every delicious inch.

He was back. He’d knocked her for a loop two days ago, had all but broken her heart and now he was back…and she was ridiculously glad to see him. It ticked her off royally. She gave him a cool look.

“Well, I guess I should thank you for rescuing me from my second prom experience.”

“Was it any better than the first?”

“Marginally.” She glanced down at the shiny blue sheath she wore. “The dress isn’t as spectacular, but the ambiance is much improved.”

“I owe you an apology.”

Her chin angled up. “And you drove four and a half hours to deliver it?”

His reply was much better than hers had been.

“I’d have driven a hundred. More if I had to.”

Tara’s heart stuttered, but she caught herself. “Well said, Matt.”

“You’re a difficult woman, Tara.”

Her lips curved ironically. “And look what it’s gotten me.” She spread her hands, indicating a whole lot of nothing. “Besides, you’re not much easier to deal with yourself.”

“That is what I am here to talk about,” he said in a low voice. Tara heard the door creak open behind her and Matt verified her suspicion that they were being spied on by gesturing toward the street with his head. “Shall we walk, or do you want to go back to your prom?”

“I’d rather walk.”

They fell in step, walking slowly because of Tara’s heels, which clicked a gentle rhythm on the asphalt. She told herself she was going to keep her distance, at least until she’d heard him out, but her nerves were humming. He was here. That had to be good.

Didn’t it?

She still wanted him. That had to be good.

Regardless of what he thought, she wasn’t difficult. She was too damned easy.

“You know, Tara,” he said, “I thought I was a brave man until you came to see me Sunday night.”

She cast him a sidelong glance, but he focused straight ahead.

“I have some problems in my life, but I’m facing them. Bravely, I thought…and shoving everything else of importance off to the side in the process.” He shook his head, but still did not look at her. “I began to wonder how brave that was. It didn’t take all that long to figure it out. He pushed aside a long weeping willow branch as they passed under the tree.

“I realized after you’d left—okay, one sleepless night after you left—that perhaps the bravest thing I could do would be to follow your advice and let go of the need to rewrite my father’s legacy.” He fell silent as they continued to walk. Tara allowed herself to move a little closer. “To accept that I will be living with suspicion and I can’t do anything about it…. To accept that life is a gift and I shouldn’t waste mine on a personal crusade that has no end.” He looked over at her. “Especially when there are other things in life more fulfilling.”

She kept walking. She didn’t even stumble.

“I was a good cop before all of this happened with my dad. I can be a good cop again. I went to the lieutenant and I laid everything out for him. I actually talked to him, instead of being angry and defensive. I was honest. I think I might have gotten his attention.”

“What’d he say?”

“Nothing, really. But I think he listened.”

“What happened with the FFD?”

“That’s confidential, but between you and me, I passed. Nothing official yet, but the shrink gave me the nod. I think he thought I was amazingly normal.”

“You faked it?”

He smiled. “Like a champ.”

He turned and settled his hands lightly on her shoulders, and she was having a difficult time with her resolution to keep her distance.

“I tried to find you after you left my house. I wanted to make things better.”

“Nicky told me.”

“But I’m glad I didn’t know where you were. It forced me to figure out what I wanted, and what I was willing to give up. It became pretty obvious that the thing I was not willing to give up was you. I want a life with you and I’m willing to adjust the other aspects of my life to do that. And so now—” he swallowed “—it’s just a matter of seeing how you feel. Especially after the way we parted last time.”

He waited and then, a few seconds later, said gruffly, “I wouldn’t mind it if you said something here.”

She smiled.

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

Tara took a step closer, so that her body was almost, but not quite, touching his. “If things are easy, Matt, you don’t appreciate them, and, trust me, because of that, I appreciate everything in my life…including you. Especially you.”

Tara slid her hands around his waist and leaned into him, her head in the crook of his shoulder. She so loved this man. Alone, they were decent fighters. Together…they could handle anything.

“No more protecting me for my own good,” she murmured against his chest.

“No more,” he agreed. “And you’ll be patient with me while I deal with this thing with my dad. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to let go…cold turkey, you know. It’ll take some time. I might backslide.”

“I’ll be right by your side, beating you up until you stop.”

He held her for a moment and then he tipped her chin up to kiss her. First sweetly. Then hungrily.

On the third kiss, they almost drowned.

Fortunately, the obese cat came lumbering across the street to throw himself against Matt’s legs, bringing them both back to the surface before either of them lost consciousness.

Tara glanced around. Nothing like losing control in public, and it was indeed public. People were now spilling out of the convention center and heading for their cars, walking across the street, most of them craning their necks to see what was going on with Tara and her carpenter cop. Eddie Johnson was propped against the side of the convention center. He raised his longneck beer in their direction in a silent toast.

“I…uh…will need to get back to my place now. My guests.”

“I know.” Matt leaned down to scratch the cat’s ears. The animal threw himself against Matt again.

“And you?” she asked.

“I have to go back to work.” She tried not to show her disappointment. “I leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Yeah. And there don’t seem to be any rooms available in this town.”

“That could be a problem…unless of course, you’re willing to share a bed.”

Matt smiled. “Bed sharing happens to be one of the things I will not be giving up.”

“Then I think I might have something that will suit you.”

Ten months later

“B
EIGE MAY NOT BE
your best color, but I like this uniform better than your last one.”

Matt smiled as Tara reached out and adjusted his collar, and then he captured her hand. She raised her eyebrows and pulled it back.

“No. You are not going to be late on your first day.”

“I can be quick.”

“I like it better when you’re not.”

“Okay. Pencil me in for tonight. Slow.”

“Noted. Now get out of here.” Matt started for the door. Tara followed even though it was a windy day. She usually did, regardless of the weather, waiting on the porch that he rebuilt almost a year ago until he’d driven out of sight. But today he wasn’t heading back to Reno. He began his first day of duty as a sworn deputy of Night Sky County, Nevada. She gave a wave as he turned the truck around and then she disappeared back into the house. The slightly thinner fat cat waddled out from under the porch to take her place.

Matt’s first weeks back on the job in Reno had not been easy, but they’d been better than expected because he’d finally gotten his priorities straight. He knew the danger signs of stress and when they started to sneak up on him, he took the time to reassess. A couple of times he’d even talked to Luke.

He’d made a tenuous peace with the lieutenant, had begun to reestablish relationships with his colleagues and peers, and he simply learned to live with the suspicion some of his fellow officers had that he would eventually be retiring to a beach in the Caribbean. Little did they know that his heart was actually set on a piece of desert property that had finally been refinanced. He was hoping to help Tara pay it off soon.

He was eventually able to set the issues with his father aside for the most part. If Tara could do it, so could he. He had other things to focus on.

The future looked bright in Night Sky. Luke was making noises about becoming a great-uncle one of these days, but Matt and Tara planned to hold off on children for a while. They’d only been married for a month and wanted time together.

Matt smiled as he made the final turn into Night Sky and slowed to let a couple of quail run across the street.

Maybe, just maybe, there was something to this small-town cure….