Three Southern Beaches: A Summer Beach Read Box Set (20 page)

Chapter Ten

An hour later, they were almost ready to put the plan into action.  Turner was ready forty-five minutes earlier. The sooner they caught this asshole, the sooner he could go back to Reese.

His phone rang.  He checked the number.  Shit, it was Cox, his boss.  What now?  The temptation to let it go to voicemail hit, but damn it, he wasn’t a coward.  Not with his boss.  With Reese, that was another thing. 

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Hey.  How are things?”

What did Cox know? “What things?”

“Don’t play games with me.  I know you’re in Georgia.”

“If you know that then you know--”

“I know everything.  The sheriff called me.  And I’m big enough to admit I was wrong.”

Relief whispered through his gut.  “I appreciate that.”

“We’ve got Jonnie Harper in lockdown.  No visitors, no calls.  So if you catch the second guy, there shouldn’t be anyone else after you.  Not that you shouldn’t remain cautious.”

“Thanks,” Turner said. 

They spoke a few more minutes and hung up.  He thought of Reese again.

“Friggin’ hell!” Cary said walking up in a pirate costume.  “This is nuts.  I look like Johnny Depp in that movie.”

Turner, phone in hand, was still debating calling Reese, when he looked up at his friend and laughed.  Cary did look like Jack Sparrow.  Though why Turner was laughing was lost to him.  His costume and wig were waiting on the sofa, and he’d already threatened to kill anyone who took a picture of him.  Not that it would stop these guys.  He’d bet one of them would have it posted on a bulletin board at the Glencoe precinct before the week was out.

But if it would save Reese, he’d wear a muumuu for a month.

Frank’s plan, as crazy as it was, made sense.  Luke, Frank and Turner—Turner dressed in a blond wig and flowery tent—would show back up at Frank’s place.  They’d start the grill and play some outdoor music to make it look as if they had lowered their guard.  Hopefully, the piece of crap trying to kill Reese would be somewhere nearby watching and take a chance. 

Danny and Jason and Cary were dressing up as pirates to match the treasure hunters digging around the dunes, and were going to be their lookout, as well as backup if they needed it.

Chase had agreed to stay behind and watch over Reese and Casey.  And considering the older woman didn’t want Chase there, his life might be in more danger than theirs. 

Turner had already called Chase to check in.  The guy had taken Turner’s warning seriously about the older woman being a little whacky, and was still hanging out by the beach, keeping an eye on the house, instead of making his presence known.

“You know, women think Johnny Depp is hot,” Cary said, striking a pose in front of a hanging mirror.  “I might have to borrow the costume.”

“Right,” Turner said, and looked again at his phone and thought of Reese.

“Danny’s right, isn’t he?” Cary asked.

Turner looked up from his phone.  “Right about what?” he asked, even though he knew.

“You’re falling for her.”  He took off his hat.

Turner ran a hand over his face.  Cary wasn’t nearly as hard-nose about things as Danny.  Cary might cut Turner some slack.  Yet his gut said that Cary was the one who carried around the most baggage from his divorce.  Not because he said anything, but because he didn’t.  He’d never given him or Danny the details.

“You can’t deny it,” Cary said.  “I see it in your eyes.”

“Yeah,” Turner admitted.

Cary slapped his pirate hat against his thigh.  “We’re supposed to talk some sense into you.  Beat it into you if we have to.  And I think those were your rules, not ours.”

“You’d just be wasting your breath.  And I think I was drunk when I said ‘beat some sense into me.’”  He’d spent the first few months after his divorce seeking happiness from the bottom of a bottle.  Cary and Danny had helped him through it.  He owed them.  But not enough to give up Reese. 

Cary sighed.  “Just do yourself a favor and take it slow.  Know her before you do something stupid like let her move in.  Give her time to show her true colors.  You’ll change your mind.”

No, I won’t.
  Turner couldn’t help but wonder again what had happened with Cary’s marriage.  Not that Turner liked his ex-wife.  She’d always come across cold as ice.

“You know, just because the three of us all got a raw deal doesn’t mean it’s always like that.  Look at Chase, Jason, and Luke.  For that matter, my parents got along great.”

“Flukes,” Cary said.  “But don’t worry, I’m not going to badger you like Danny is, but I will tell you I told you so.”

“Maybe you can talk Danny into easing up?” Turner said.  Danny hadn’t said shit yet, but he knew it was coming.  He could see it in his friend’s eyes.  Shit was right around the corner.

“Ease up?  Danny?” Cary asked. “You’re joking?”  He tossed up the hat and caught it.  “I will say she’s a pretty thing.  So if you had to go lose your head over someone, at least she’s not dog ugly.”

“Who’s not dog ugly?” Luke asked as he walked in.  He looked from Cary to Turner.  “Oh, Reese Morris?”

Turner frowned.  He didn’t like knowing everyone thought Reese was hot.  He was the only one who wanted to notice. 
Mine
.  “You guys ready?” he said, ignoring Luke.

“Yeah.” Cary walked back into the kitchen where Frank and the others were. 

Luke looked at Turner.  “You know, you cost me a hundred bucks.”

“How?  Coming here?  I’ll pay you for gas or whatever.”

“No, not that!  We took bets on which of you would crater and get bit by love first.  I had bet Danny would get himself hitched.  Oh, he acts tough, but he’s a softy on the inside.  But after seeing you and Reese this morning, I’d bet a thousand we’ll be attending your wedding within six months.”

Turner felt another flutter of fear stir in his gut. “I wouldn’t say it’ll happen that fast.”

“Right,” Luke said and laughed.

* * *

It was almost five in the evening.  Reese moved over to the small kitchen area where her phone was to make sure she hadn’t missed a text or a call from Turner.  Nothing.  Casey, her ex-boss, sat on the small loveseat reading.

Every hour that passed, the more insecure she got.  Insecure about the possible relationship.  Had sleeping with Turner been a mistake?  What if he wasn’t the relationship type?  Then she started to worry about the fact that he was back at Frank’s place, hoping the would-be killer would come calling. 

Yes, she knew he wasn’t alone, but it only took one bullet to kill someone.  And it could happen so fast.  She knew, she’d witnessed it.

What if that guy showed up and Turner got hurt or worse?  She tried telling herself that no one was going to die tonight.  But it happened all the time.  She knew.  She’d loved and lost too many people in her life.

Casey stood up, put her book down and went to the window.  “That idiot is still out there,” Casey said.  Reese knew the idiot she meant was one of Turner’s friends.  She thought his name was Chase.

Casey made a makeshift gun with her finger.  “I could shoot him from here and not hurt him too bad.  Just kind of pepper his butt with the buckshot.”

Reese frowned and dropped down at the two-top table between the sofa and kitchenette.  “You’re not going to shoot him.  We should probably tell him to come in.  It’s hot out there.”

“Yeah, but I like to see a man sweat.”  Casey looked back at her and wiggled her eyebrows.  She dropped the curtain from the window and moved over to the table and joined Reese.  “So, you and Turner, you worked things out?”

Reese looked down at the table and traced the wood grain with her finger.  “I don’t know.  Maybe.  Or maybe I’m fooling myself.”

“Nah, I see the way he looks at you, Child.  He’s got it bad for you.  You’re just scared.  You get hurt, it’s hard to trust.  I know.”

“You’ve been hurt?” Reese asked.

“His name was Paul Chancelor.  Sexy, suave, and he had the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen.  Kind of reminds me of that fellow out there.  Hence my need to shoot him.”

Reese ignored the shooting comment.  “What happened?”

“We were married six months, then one day he up and disappeared and so did all my saving.  That no-good lowlife beach bum stole every penny I’d saved for the last ten years.  Nearly lost my diner ‘cause of him.  Took me ten years before I even gave another man a look-see.”

“You mean Frank?” Reese asked.

“Oh, hell no.  Allen.  I married him.  Dark brown hair and brown bedroom eyes.  That marriage lasted two years.”

“What did he do?” Reese asked.

“Son of a bitch up and died on me.  His heart stopped and that broke mine.”

Reese’s chest tightened.  “Hurts to lose people.”

“Yeah, that’s right.  You lost a few too, haven’t you?”

She nodded and the silence grew heavy. “Is it worth it?” Reese asked.

“Is what worth it?”

“Letting yourself love again, knowing that this person could either walk away or die.”

“I hope so.  Because living without love ain’t no fun.”

Neither is feeling as if you’ll die from losing it
.  Reese picked up her phone.  “Why hasn’t he called?”

All of a sudden, a knock sounded at the door.  Casey grabbed her gun.

* * *

Turner sat in the living room chair.  It was almost nine.  The sun was down.  They had the lights on, the door open.  So far, no one had shown up.  Cary, Jason, and Danny were still outside on the beach.  Frank and Luke were chatting in the kitchen about the FBI. 

Turner had spoken to Chase several times.  The man had finally gone into the beach house.  And according to him, Casey had come close to shooting his ass, too.

Four or five times, Turner almost called Reese, but he chickened out.  He wanted to see her, not talk on the phone.  Hell, maybe Frank was right.  Maybe the guy had taken off.

He had no more wanted to throw in the towel, when a flash of headlights moved across the front window.  He shot up and moved behind the bar.  He hit Danny’s number on his phone, let it ring once to signal them, then hung up.

He heard the chairs scraping across the tile floor in the kitchen. Luke and Frank, guns drawn, moved behind the living room wall, so if someone came in, they wouldn’t be spotted.

Silence bounced around the room.  Turner leaned closer to the bar to see if someone walked in.  The front door squeaked open. 

Before he could say ‘
Police, drop your weapon,’
the whooshing sound of a gun with silencer sounded and the sofa with a blanket resting on top of pillows took three bullets.

The man moved in as if to see his handwork, but kept his gun and focus on the hall as if waiting for someone to come running out.  Turner let the guy get a few feet in front of him before tackling him.  Luke hit a fraction of a second later.  Then came Frank.

The man hit the wood floor, rolled over. Turner caught the intruder’s arm with his gun raised, but not soon enough.  Another ominous whooshing sound went off.

* * *

Reese sat her phone on the table.  Chase had pulled up a chair and made the two-top table a three-top.  They chatted.  Well, he and Casey did most of the chatting.  Chase, like Turner, had charm, and soon Casey had accepted him. 

The man chatted about his wife and kids.  Even pulled out his phone to brag and show pictures.  Not that Reese minded.  If she hadn’t been caught between being furious and fearing the worst, she would’ve even enjoyed the conversation.

His phone rang in the middle of one of his kid stories, and he picked it up.  Reese could tell by the way he glanced at the phone then back up at her that it was Turner, or something to do with him.  And if it was Turner . . . calling him again, she was going to be pissed.  Heck, she’d passed that stage ten minutes ago.  He could call his friend, and had at least four times, but he couldn’t call the girl who he’d had sex with twice today?

Sure, it seemed Chase had been given the go-ahead to inform them of what was happening, but still . . .

“Yeah?” Chase answered and paused.  “Shit.  What happened?”

Chapter Eleven

Reese, Casey, and Chase rushed to the emergency clinic.  The only one in Hung.  A lady with a couple of babies sat in the waiting room with everyone . . . but Frank and Turner.  Casey looked at the group of men, back to the woman sitting behind the glass window, then plowed through the door.

The desk clerk yelled out that they couldn’t just walk in, but Casey ignored her and Reese decided she would, too.

Turner stood outside a curtained area.  His gaze met hers.  A hundred different emotions swarmed around her chest like angry bees. 

Relief.  Turner was okay.  He was alive. 

More relief.  They’d caught the man trying to kill her.

Fury.  Turner hadn’t called her. 

Fear.  She was scared shitless to let herself love him. 

More fear.  She already did love him.

Even more fear.  Frank had been shot.

“He’s fine,” Turner said.

“I’ll believe it when I see it!” Casey jerked back the curtain.

Reese saw Frank bent over the side of the stretcher, his pants down, his bare butt exposed, and a nurse holding up a needle.

“Who are you?” the nurse asked.

Frank jerked and looked over his shoulder.  “Damn it.  That’s my ass you guys are looking at.”

“And it’s a nice ass,” Casey said.  “Where were you shot?”

Reese turned around and felt Turner do the same.  She also felt his gaze on her.  She didn’t look at him, feeling as if she was on emotional overload.

“It just grazed my arm,” Frank said.  “Just getting a tetanus shot.  I’m fine.”

“That you are.  That you are,” Casey muttered then she turned around and smiled at Reese.  “Nice butt,” she whispered.

Reese forced herself to smile back.  Relief pushed away concern about Frank.  But her fury and fear about where all this was leading with Turner took the driver’s seat in her emotional roller coaster ride.

Staring down at her feet, she felt Turner’s arm come around her.  “You okay?” he asked, leaning closer.

She didn’t answer.  She couldn’t. Instead, she hotfooted it back into the waiting room and plopped her butt down next to the other guys.

Would it have killed him to have called her?

* * *

Turner stood by the door.  Reese hadn’t spoken to him.  An hour had passed, and they were all back at Frank’s, except Casey, who’d said she needed to get to the diner to make sure all the day’s deposits were made.

It was almost nine, and the guys were heading out.  For which he was grateful.  He needed to get Reese alone and have that talk.

She had personally thanked all his friends for coming to her rescue.  Not that she’d offered him any gratitude.

“Hey,” Danny said pulling Turner out of his head.   Everyone but Danny had walked out, and he motioned for Turner to come outside.

  Friggin’ hell, he didn’t need this now.  But he figured he’d better get it over with.

He walked out behind Danny and followed him in the opposite direction of the other guys. 

“Look—” Danny said.

“No,” Turner interrupted.  “You look.” He spoke with a tone that he hoped communicated to Danny that he was wasting his time.  “I know what you’re going to say.  And don’t.  Just don’t.  And don’t think it’s that I don’t appreciate you guys.  Both you and Cary got me through a tough time.  I didn’t plan on finding someone. It just happened.”

“It hasn’t happened yet.  It’s not too late to pull your head out of your ass.”

Turner frowned.  “It is too late.  She’s special, Danny.  I can’t explain how I know it, but I do.”

“You thought your ex was special, too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, a little.  But . . . Hell, call me weak if you want, but I want this.  I want someone in my life.  And she’s that someone.”

“You have us.”

Turner looked at Danny and then laughed.  “Sorry, you don’t do it for me.”

Danny grinned and his shoulders slumped as if he was cratering.  “I’ll end up telling you ‘I told you so.’”

“Not if I’m right.”  And not if Reese never gave him a shot.  Glancing back at the house, he saw her walk past the window.  He knew not kissing her had pissed her off, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad.  He refocused on Danny.  “Don’t give me any grief.  Okay?”

Danny just huffed.  “Fine.”  Then he smiled.  “I might not do it for you, but I thought you were pretty hot in your dress.” 

Turner laughed.  “Thanks for coming all this way.”

“Yeah,” Danny said.  “But you’re still in charge of not letting me get hitched.”

“Until you tell me you want to get hitched.” 

“That will be a cold day in hell.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.  Chase, Luke, and Jason took bets on which of us would fall first.  Luke had you down as the first to go under.”

“Luke’s an idiot.”

“I don’t know.  I think I see why he’d think so.”

“Bullshit,” Danny said and headed to the car.

Turner walked over and told everyone thanks again.  After he watched them drive off, he looked back at the house.  Time to face the music.

*
* *

Reese had thought Frank had gone to lie down, but she heard some noise coming from the back of the house.  When she went to check, she saw the master bedroom light was on and the door was partly open.

She moved to the door.  “Hey.  You feeling okay?”

“Yeah,” he said and he glanced down at the pink robe in his hands.  “It was Bessie’s.”

He walked over to the bed where a cardboard box sat in the middle of the mattress.  Lifting the robe to his face, he sniffed it, then carefully put it in the box.

“I haven’t been able to do this before.”  He paused.  “But today, when . . . when I felt that bullet, I realized if I’d been a few inches over, I wouldn’t be here.  It just hit me how fleeting life is and how much time I was wasting.  How pissed Bessie would be with me.  Life’s short, Reese.  Don’t waste it.”

Reese nodded.  “You want some help?”

“Actually, I think I need to do this myself.  It’s time I moved on.”

“With Casey?” Reese asked.

“I’d like to see where that leads.”  He grinned.  “I think she liked my butt.”

Reese giggled and when she turned to walk out, Turner was standing at the door.

Their eyes met. 
Life’s short.  Don’t waste it.
  Frank’s message played in her head, and right then, she realized most of her anger toward Turner was because she was afraid.  Afraid to really let go and live life because it could be taken from her. 

Then again, he hadn’t called her.  And that wasn’t right.  If he’d called her, she wouldn’t have been so afraid, and maybe with her logical fears lessened, her illogical fears wouldn’t have taken flight.

He motioned for her to follow him out of the hall.  When they were in the living room, he turned and faced her. “Can we please talk?”

She nodded.

“Outside on the patio, okay?” he asked.

“That’s fine,” she said and followed him.  He shut the French doors and the soft ocean-scented breeze lifted her hair off her shoulders. 

She sat on the swing.  He chose the wicker chair across from her. 

“You’re upset with me,” he said.

She nodded again.

“I didn’t kiss you, and I know you’re probably mad. . .”

“What?” she asked.

“When I left earlier today, I didn’t . . .”

She shook her head.  “I’m not upset about that.  I mean, I noticed and it did worry me, but . . .” She stopped and closed her eyes for a second and then opened them.  “You didn’t call me, and I was needing to hear from you, and yet you called Chase.”

He ran a hand over his face.  “I had my phone out to call you a dozen times.  I thought you were upset with me for not . . .” He paused as if reassessing what he had to say.

The pause lasted several long seconds, and with each flicker of time that passed, the more frightened she became. Was he regretting making love to her?  Was he going to tell her it was a mistake?

He exhaled.  “Okay, let me just be completely honest.  I’m scared, Reese.  I’m scared of screwing up.  I thought I was doing things right with my ex-wife, only to realize that nothing was right.  So, now I’m scared that I’m going to get hurt again.  Scared because I’m so damn in love with you and you might not love me back.” 

He loved her?
  “I’m scared, too.  Scared you could die.  Scared that I’ll lose someone else that I love.”

“You love me?” he asked.

“Afraid so.”  He stood from the chair and dropped down beside her on her swing.  “Do you think we could help each other not be so afraid?”

She slipped her hand in his.  “I think we could.”

“Me, too.”  He squeezed her hand and then leaned his face into her hair.  “You smell like strawberries.  Don’t ever change shampoos.”

She laughed.

He put his arm around her and she let herself lean against him, listening to the pull and push of the ocean, and feeling a sense of happiness.  She’d run away from home to find peace, and found it in his arms.

“In case I didn’t make myself clear, I love you, Reese Morris. And right here . . .” He pulled her just a little closer. “This is where you belong.”

Turning and lifting up on her knees, she straddled his lap.  Resting a hand on each of his shoulders, she looked into his blue eyes.  She smiled at him.  “It’s a nice place to belong.  I kind of like it here.”

She kissed him then, and n
othing had ever felt so right.

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