Ladd Haven (25 page)

Casey’s pulse quickened.
What?
Police
?

Thankfully, Cal Foster walked up behind
his brother. “Jack,” he said in a very calm voice, “why don’t you
leave these kids alone?”

“
Why don’t you stay out of
my business.”

“
These kids
are
my
business.”

He scowled. “Not my
daughter.”

Cal glanced to Felicity. She stood
immobile, Travis silent. He exchanged a glance with Troy. It was as
if everyone was communicating via ESP, everyone except her. Casey’s
insides began to unravel. What did the police have to do with Troy?
Who had beaten Jack Foster? What did Cal have to do with any of
it?

Cal turned to Felicity. “Are you
interested in a visit with your father at the moment?”

Visibly trembling, her pink-toned skin
pale, she shook her head.

“
You have your answer,” Cal
said to his brother. “It’s time for you to leave.”

Like a cornered rat, Jack made a quick
assessment of the situation and decided the odds were against him.
Three men against one. And he was already injured. Looking as if he
were about to spit, Jack replied, “You’re gonna be sorry for
this.”

Casey shuddered. If words could kill,
her stepfather would be lying in a pool of blood right now. As Jack
walked away, Troy stood rigid by Cal’s side. Felicity reached for
Travis and he pulled her close, mouthing, “It’s okay.”

“
You okay?” Cal asked
Felicity.

“
Yes.”

Travis led her away from their table,
not bothering to say goodbye to anyone. Cal looked to Troy and then
offered a small smile for Casey. “You two enjoy your breakfast, you
hear?”

She swallowed hard. Not
hardly!

Troy sat down and Casey whirled on him.
“What was he talking about? Why are the police looking for
you?”

Clearly agitated, Troy replied, “It
ain’t nothin’ to worry about.”

“
Nothing to worry about?”
Was he insane? He just got back in town, just got a new job and the
police were looking for him? She didn’t call that nothing to worry
about—she called that a big problem! “Did you do that to him?” she
blurted, gripped by a sudden need to know. “Did you do that to
Felicity’s father? Does it have anything to do with why she was
thanking you?”

Troy didn’t answer. He clamped his
mouth closed as though forcing the words to remain unspoken. Casey
wanted to shake him, shake the words from his lips. Their waitress
arrived with their breakfast, sliding plates of steaming food
before them. Moist heat rose from the pancakes before her, mixed
with the scent of buttery yellow eggs and grits, half a dozen
strips of rusty-red bacon and two fat biscuits. A mountain of
food.

Food she couldn’t stomach the first
bite of. Casey clutched hold of her belly, reassured by the warm
round feel of her baby. She had no appetite—not for food. She
needed answers and lots of them.

“
Will there be anything
else?” the waitress asked.

Troy looked to Casey but all she could
think about were police, his job, a beating.

“
I think we’re good,” he
told the girl.

“
Okay. Holler if you need
anything!”

“
Troy.” Casey’s breathing
grew shallow, her chest tight. She didn’t want to know but she had
to know. “What happened?”

He unrolled his silverware. “It’s
nothin’ you should be worried about.”

“
I am. I am worried. Are you
in trouble?

“
No.”

“
No?” Casey didn’t believe
him. Not the first breath. “How can you say that?”

“’
Cause it’s true.” He
jabbed a fork into his eggs.

“
Then why would that man
bring up the police?” she demanded, the aroma of his eggs sending
tingles of hunger pains through her stomach. “Why would he come
here and say that?” she cried, quickly unraveling beneath his
calm.

“
He’s trying to make
trouble.”

“
Trouble for
whom?”

“
Everyone.”

Frustration wedged a lump in her
throat. Troy was being evasive, dodgy. He wasn’t telling her the
truth—a truth that could cost him. Without thinking, she sought her
mother across the diner. Her blue eyes were glued to Casey. Concern
and distress rippled through her features. Her mother knew
something. Something Casey didn’t know.

“
Eat your breakfast,
Casey.”

“
I’m not hungry,” she
replied. She wanted answers, not food. From the corner of her eye,
Casey caught sight of a uniformed policeman. Her heart stopped,
then thudded against her ribs. Mindless chatter ran on around her,
utensils clinked. Shiny buttons gleamed from his starched
uniform.
Was he here for
Troy
?

Removing his hat, the blond-haired
officer surveyed the restaurant. Vaguely familiar, Casey had a bad
feeling. A knot lodged in her chest. He was staring at them. Them!
Casey became frantic, flashing a look to her mother and Cal both
tuned in to what was happening. Everyone except Troy seemed to get
the severity of what was going on.

Casey wanted to jab him, alerting him
to the impending trouble. But she couldn’t move the first muscle.
Pinning her gaze to a rising Cal Foster, Casey silently implored
him to come, to fix this mess before it got out of
control.

Troy set his fork down as the police
officer arrived at their table. “Troy Parker?”

“
Yes.”

Skimming over Casey, the officer asked
Troy, “You have a minute?”

“
What for?” he asked
innocently.

“
I have some questions I’d
like to ask you.”

Casey released her breath in a rush as
Cal showed up politely inquiring, “Is everything okay
here?”

The officer addressed Cal. Man-to-man,
they were nearly the equal in height, equal in coloring. Although
Cal was a bit darker in looks with his medium brown hair, the
officer felt darker in his black uniform. “I have some questions
for the boy.”

“
Sure thing.” Cal nodded,
silently gesturing for Troy to get up and take this
outside.

Troy glanced sideways, a shaft of
regret stabbing his dark gaze. “It won’t be but a minute.” He
tossed his napkin to the table and walked outside with Cal and the
police officer.

As if on cue, the scene controlled by
an unseen director, Casey’s mother appeared at her table. She slid
into the booth beside her asking, “Sweetheart? Are you
okay?”

“
I don’t know what’s
happening,” Casey murmured, oddly comforted by the scent of her
mother’s perfume as she watched the men take her boyfriend
outdoors. “What’s going on?” She turned to her mom. “Do you
know?”

Annie nodded. “It’ll be okay,” she
assured, wrapping an arm around Casey’s body. “Everything will be
okay.”

Really? Folding arms over her stomach,
Casey continued to stare at the three men standing outside. Because
it felt like her world was toppling over.

Delaney led Sadie through the empty
stables, walking in sync with the gentle fall of her Palomino’s
hoof-step. Sunday afternoon was quiet, most guests retired to the
hotel or the outdoor Serenity Scape, a gathering beneath the trees
where guests were treated to the sights and sounds of nature
infused with a mellow taste of local music performed alongside an
open fire pit. In Tennessee that meant a medley of acoustic guitar,
violin, harmonica, banjo and the occasional rap from a drum.
Delaney and Nick sat in for the first evening, and she’d been
floored by the powerful combination. She never imagined the
combination would have such an effect, but then again, she wasn’t
Malcolm Ward. The man was a creative genius.

Nearing Sadie’s stall, Delaney
reflexively scanned the walls around it for signs of her bullet.
Where had it landed? For two days she’d searched high and low but
found nothing. She dropped her head back and searched the ceiling.
Could it have ricocheted into the rafters? Lodged itself into the
tin roof?

“
There you are.”

The deep masculine voice startled her.
Whirling, Delaney snapped, “What are you doing here?”

“
I live here?” Nick posed
nonchalantly, his playful tone betrayed by an intensity lining his
eyes. Her heart thudded at the sight of him.

Dropping Sadie’s lead, she hurried to
him. Nick swept her into his arms and hugged her tight, then pulled
away, dipping his head for a kiss. Deep, fierce, it was the kiss of
a man who’d been away too long. Succumbing, she dissolved into the
strength of his embrace, the stress of the past few days vanishing
from her heart. Solid, warm and strong, Delaney needed his comfort,
his touch. “I missed you,” she said breathlessly, consumed by his
presence, the muscular arms encircling her, the firm wall of his
chest. “But I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

“
Change of
plans.”

She detected an edgy undercurrent of
displeasure. Peering up at him, she asked, “Did you get everything
taken care of in St. Kitts?”

“
I did.”

“
Good.” She placed her cheek
to his chest. That meant there would be no reason for him to dash
off again anytime soon. Jack’s assault had unnerved her more than
she expected it to. It was taking a toll on Felicity as well. The
two of them could use Nick’s calm, staunch, even-handed support.
Knowing he was near eased her mind, calmed her spirit.

“
Is there something you want
to tell me?”

“
Tell you?” she squeaked,
hating the weakness in her voice.

“
Jack Foster?”

Delaney pulled back in alarm. “Did Cal
tell you?”

He shook his head.

“
He had to—he’s the only one
who knew!”

Nick held her, cords of discontent
running through his dark gaze. Muscles in his jaw jumped but he
didn’t respond.

Delaney glanced away. “I’ll tan his
hide...”

“
Why? Because he was willing
to keep your dirty little secret?”

Stunned by the razors cutting between
them, she stumbled, “Nick—”

Nick held her firm. “Don’t worry. Cal
had your back. Malcolm had mine.”

“
Malcolm?”

“
Yes. Jack came to the hotel
to cause trouble and Malcolm told me everything.”

Shame filed in, filling her with a
guilt she deserved. Malcolm had Nick’s back when she didn’t. She
was his wife, his life partner, yet it was his business partner who
came clean with him. Not that she wouldn’t have. But...

Nick’s hands tightened on her arms.
“You have to let me take care of you. You can’t continue to take
chances like this, don’t you understand that?”

“
I left him alone, I swear.”
Delaney dropped her head forward, shook it gently. “He came out of
nowhere. It was totally unexpected.”

“
So help me, Delaney, if he
laid a hand on you, I’ll kill him.”

She raised up to face him, torn by the
emotion clenched in his eyes. “I nearly did.”

The statement defused the ball of rage
in his gaze. “So I heard.”

Sliding her arms around his waist,
Delaney melted into him. She needed the strength of his body, the
shield of his love. She needed the intimidating rock of a hard man
with a soft center.

Nick held her for a minute, erasing the
pain, the fear, re-joining the bond between man and woman.
Releasing her, he brushed the hair from Delaney’s face, gingerly
touched her brow, her cheek. “If anything happened to
you...”

He didn’t finish. He didn’t need to.
Everything he felt was etched plainly in his eyes. Nick loved her.
From the bottom of his soul she felt his love pour into
her.

With a glance to her horse, the animal
content to linger in their presence, Nick asked, “You know he’s
making trouble for Troy, right?”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Cal told Malcolm that Jack
paid a visit to the diner this morning, followed by your police
officer friend, the one who showed up on your doorstep a year ago
with questions about Jeremiah.”

“
Gavin?”

“
Yes. Cal said it’s pretty
serious. Jack’s charging aggravated assault.” Nick cupped her chin
and forced her to face him. Dark eyes reached out and grabbed hold
of her. “Which I don’t understand—why would the man charge assault
as though Troy started the fight? Didn’t you set the record
straight?”

Delaney slumped, glanced to the horse
at their side. “Oh, no...”

Hard lines formed around Nick’s eyes,
his gaze devoid of cheer. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

The weight of Troy’s predicament landed
squarely on her shoulders. This was her fault. It was her fault
they didn’t know the truth. “I wanted to talk to you first,” she
said dully. “This will end up all over town, and the hotel will be
dragged into it...”

“
Forget the hotel—you need
to put the guy behind bars where he belongs.”