Welcome to Harmony (38 page)

Noah “Preacher” McAllen was surrounded, and he loved every minute of it. She could almost see him famous, fighting off reporters and girls. Some people are born to ride fame. Whether he liked it or not, Noah would follow in his father’s footsteps. He’d be a legend one day. The only question in her mind was, would she still be his friend?

The only time all morning she thought he noticed her was once in history class when he looked over his shoulder and winked at her. Other than that, he was in a crowd, and Reagan hated crowds.

At lunch, she thought she’d have time to talk to him, but when he walked out without his usual sandwich in one hand and drink in the other, she knew he was just stopping by to say hello before joining his friends.

“Busy?” he asked, propping up one long leg on her bench.

“Not very,” she answered, telling herself she didn’t care one way or the other if he stayed.

“Have time to come along with me? I got a strange text message from my sister this morning. She wants me to pick up food she ordered at the grocery and drive it all the way out to her place.”

“She sick?”

“I don’t know. I think maybe so. No one’s seen or heard from her since Saturday night. She told me to leave the bags on the porch and don’t bother to knock.”

“She must be really sick.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. My folks took off for parts unknown yesterday. If Alex is dying, I’m all she’s got.”

Reagan stood. “I’ll help.”

Fifteen minutes later, they had picked up the groceries and were pulling up in front of Alex’s cabin. They eyed the huge black Dodge parked beside her little house.

“Good,” Noah said. “Hank’s here to help. He’ll drag her to the doctor if she’s bad off.”

Noah climbed out of the pickup. “You better wait here in case she’s got something contagious.”

Reagan nodded. The last thing she wanted was to get sick. She’d spent all day yesterday talking Uncle Jeremiah into making some improvements around the place. He’d even said he’d paint the house. She noticed the boxes of spring flowers on the sheriff’s porch and decided she’d talk her uncle into flowers as well.

Noah carried the bags of groceries to the door and walked into the cabin without bothering to knock. Two minutes later, he stormed back to the pickup and got in. Banged his head against the steering wheel several times, putting swear words together in such a mixed-up order they made no sense.

Reagan panicked. “What’s wrong? Is she dying? Oh, no, she’s not dead already. Oh, God.”

“No,” Noah looked up at her. “She’s fine. So is the fire chief. But me, I’m double scarred for life. First I see my parents in bed and now I walk in on my sister and Hank Matheson. I’ll probably be in therapy for years.” He hit his head one more time for good measure. “I swear, I’m living in a porno movie.”

Reagan laughed. “Did you give them the food?”

“Yeah, but they didn’t look too interested. Both of them yelled at me, then forgot I was there by the time I reached the door. My sister makes those funny little sounds my mother does, and that is way more information than I need to know.”

He started the truck and backed out to the road.

Reagan talked about everything she could think of except Alex and Hank, but Noah remained silent until he reached the parking lot. When she climbed out, he stayed in the pickup. “Tell everyone I’m too tired or that my side is hurting. I’m heading home.”

Reagan thought he looked pitiful, but she couldn’t tell if he was sick, tired, or hurt from banging his head. “Preacher, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I know, Rea. You’re the one person I know that I can trust with just about any secret that comes along.”

He drove off before she could respond. She felt sorry for him. They were within six months of the same age, but sometimes she swore she was a hundred years older than him. Reagan had a feeling she always would be.

That night after supper, she did her homework, then tried to call Noah on her cell. There was no answer. She thought of calling Alex and telling her to check up on him—after all, she was his sister—but Reagan figured Noah would get mad if she did anything like that. He’d probably gone home and gone to bed in a quiet house.

Uncle Jeremiah came in from working on the tractor they’d used to plow up his grassland before the fires. He claimed Noah must have poured dirt into the engine.

He stopped in the kitchen for a drink of water and watched as she picked up her books. “You ever consider all McAllens could be nuts?”

Reagan was tired of him complaining to her about Noah. “Nope. It never crossed my mind.” She thought of adding that she knew so few men who seemed sane that it was hard to gauge normal.

“Well, you should think about it some, since you got one hanging around here all the time.”

Reagan was tired. She’d spent all morning worrying about Noah not speaking to her and all afternoon thinking about how he trusted her with his secrets. Worrying about him could turn into a full-time job if she didn’t watch it. “All right, Uncle, I’ll consider whether all McAllens are nuts tomorrow.”

He frowned. “Might want to do it sooner than that. There’s one tied up out in the drive.”

“What?” The old man was making no sense.

“When I came in from the shed, he was sitting in the bed of his pickup. He asked me to tie him up tight, and since I owed him a favor, I did.”

“Thanks,” she said as her uncle poured out the rest of his water and put the glass back in the cabinet, a practice Reagan hated. “I’ll go see what he wants.”

She walked out the back door. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then she moved to Noah’s truck and leaned over to look in the bed. “You want to tell me what you think you’re doing?”

He tugged on the ropes. “The old man did a great job of tying me up.”

“Preacher, tell me.”

He stared up at the full moon and said, “I think I got us figured out.”

“There
is
no
us
.”

“I know, and I think I know why. You keep thinking I’m going to turn into a werewolf or something and attack you. Every time I get within a foot of you, you jump. Well, I’m tied up, I can’t hurt you, and I’m staying here all night to prove I won’t change.”

“Look”—Reagan climbed up and sat on the side—“maybe I just don’t like being touched. Not by anyone.”

“You didn’t seem to mind it after the fire when Alex hugged you, and Jeremiah, and even Hank. It was only when
I
tried that you stepped away. Rea, do you have any idea how that makes me feel?”

“Why don’t you go hug on one of the cheerleaders? They’re all rounded and soft and I don’t think they’d mind a bit.”

Noah pulled against his ropes. “I don’t want to go hug on anyone, Rea. I just don’t want you to be afraid of me. What do I have to do to convince you that I’m never going to hurt you?”

She smiled. “You know, Preacher, I think you’re doing it right now. You mind if I hang around and make sure no werewolf shows up?”

He didn’t move. She slipped into the bed of the truck and stretched out a few inches from him. Not touching, but closer than she usually got to him.

“This blanket smells like a horse,” she complained.

“That’s who I borrowed it from. Put your head on my shoulder and I’ll be your pillow.”

She hesitated, than rolled closer and lowered her head against his shoulder. “Doesn’t smell much better,” she whispered.

He ignored her comment.

They lay watching the stars for a while before he whispered, “Any chance you’d kiss me?”

“No,” she answered. “But, I might snuggle a little. It’s getting cold and I guess if you’re tied, you’ll be safe enough.”

“I hadn’t noticed the cold,” he answered as she moved against him. After a while, he added, “You know, Rea, we’re almost hugging.”

She didn’t answer.

“Rea?” He pushed at her head with his jaw.

She shifted, moving closer and turning her face up.

“Rea? Are you asleep?”

When she didn’t move, he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the mouth. Then he tugged one hand free of the rope and pulled his jacket over them both.

He put his hand back inside the loop and turned his face toward hers. “You know, I lied, I do want something. I want you next to me.” He kissed the top of her head. “I wish I could tell you how much I love your hair. I think it’s really something.”

She didn’t move as she felt his breathing slow, and then she spread her hand out lightly over his chest and felt his heart. He was proving he could be trusted, and in a few years she’d tell him how much that meant to her.

RAIN

REAGAN WAS ALMOST ASLEEP WHEN A PLOP OF WATER HIT her arm. Then another and another. All falling from hundreds of feet to land and splattering into tiny beads.

At first, she tried to ignore the drops, but Noah jerked awake beside her.

“Untie me, Rea, it’s raining.” He kicked at his bindings.

She laughed and shouted above the thunder. “What do you care if you get wet? You won’t shrink.”

“I might. Haven’t seen rain in so long, I don’t know what will happen.” He lay flat as she untied his arms. “We might both shrink. I’d end up your size and you’d be about leprechaun height.”

Scrambling, she pulled the ropes free, and they jumped from the truck, laughing. The downpour hit just as they reached the house. Sheets of rain blocked out everything beyond the porch.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they watched the heavens open as they breathed in the fresh smell of a spring rain.

When it slowed, he tugged her a bit closer and lowered until their noses almost touched. “You okay with this?”

She was shaking, but she nodded and he closed the distance between them with a light kiss. He let her go and stared down at her. “Still okay?”

“Yes.” His kiss hadn’t brought back the nightmares she thought it would.

“Friends?”

“Friends,” she answered.

He jumped off the porch and ran for his truck. “See you tomorrow, Truman.”

“See you tomorrow, McAllen.”

A FEW MILES DOWN THE ROAD, HANK LIFTED ALEX FROM the bed and walked out of the cabin and into the rain.

She came awake squealing, then laughing when she realized they were standing nude in a downpour.

“Want to dance?” he asked.

“In the rain?” She laughed.

“No, not just the rain, forever.” He offered his hand as if they were on the dance floor at Buffalo’s.

She accepted his hand and his proposal and they danced.

HOURS EAST OF HARMONY, THE RAIN POUNDED DOWN ON the roof of Quartz Mountain Lodge beside a lake in southwest Oklahoma. The bar was empty except for one man who’d been there for a long while, holding a glass of wine he hadn’t tasted.

Lightning flashed now and then across the lake, but Tyler Wright didn’t turn and watch nature’s show. He was busy tonight waiting.

In his imagination, he pictured Major Katherine Cummings walking up to his table and asking, “Is this seat taken?”

He’d move his wine aside and stand. “No,” he’d say. “I was saving it in case you came.” Then he’d stare into her hazel eyes and offer his hand just as he’d done the first rainy night they’d met. “I’m Tyler Wright. I’m a funeral director in a small town called Harmony. I’d be very happy if you could join me.”

He imagined her responding, “I’m Katherine Cummings, but you can call me Kate.”

“Kate,” he’d say, as if the word were a cherished gift. “Please, Kate, call me Ty, if you like.”

He’d pull out her chair and she’d smile, teasing him. “Thank you, Sir Knight.”

He’d act surprised. “I thought I’d scared you off forever that day after seeing me all muddy and bloody.”

He couldn’t think what would happen next. Maybe he’d kiss her? Maybe he’d suggest they step into the restaurant and have dinner. Then maybe they would walk along the covered paths outside and watch the rain sparkle across the water . . .

The waitress passed by his table again. She no longer asked if he wanted to order dinner. She just looked at him as if she felt sorry for him. She didn’t know how lucky he was.

He was waiting for someone. He was waiting for Kate.

The storm grew louder and the only other guest in the bar called it a night.

When the manager circled by to tell him they were closing, Tyler stood, leaving his wine untouched. He hardly noticed the rain as he walked across the parking lot to his Cadillac.

The first Monday of next month he’d be back, and he’d wait again.