Authors: Jayne Rylon

Where There's Smoke (13 page)

BOOK: Where There's Smoke

7.54Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

“Uh-oh,” Kyana added.

“What,
uh-oh
?” Logan raised his brows.

“One day when I ran out to get Rose’s prescriptions filled, Myrtle stopped by. She said she’d watch my aunt while I was gone. When I got back…there was a small fire in the oven.” She covered her mouth with one hand. “I didn’t think anything of it. Myrtle said she’d tried to heat up something for Rose to eat but there was only a dishtowel in there when I looked. I thought she was getting senile and I didn’t want to embarrass her.”

Daryl nodded. “It’s okay, hon. It took me a long time to figure it out, and I was looking. I didn’t expect the little old lady to be a fucking pyromaniac.”

“So what do we do now?” Kyana’s eyes glistened in the light of her phone.

“Let’s wait for the police and let them handle it.” Logan now agreed with her.

“I wish we could.” Daryl eased along the edge of the bushes, speaking very softly. “But I’m afraid that glow is getting stronger. And it doesn’t look like any kind of lamp to me.”

“Son of a bitch!” Logan had assumed his eyes were adjusting to the night. No such luck. Daryl was right. The unsteady flickering was growing by the second.

“Ben,” Kyana cried out.

“Shh…” Logan reached for her, hugging her tight to his side. “Let’s not give away our advantage. We’ll get him out of there, don’t worry.”

“In all the time I’ve been watching, I’ve never seen her with a weapon. Just the silver lighter she carries. I’m willing to risk it.” Daryl marched over to the front door, which opened into the living room, where the light seemed strongest.

“No, don’t.” Logan tried to stop him. With Kyana under one arm, he didn’t make it in time.

“Wish me luck.” Daryl stepped back and kicked down the door with a smooth move that impressed Logan even as he cringed. “Stop! This is a citizen’s arrest.”

Logan shoved Kyana behind him, ignoring her protest, and dashed over to assist. When he reached the threshold, his stomach dropped to his feet. Ben stared at him with bugged-out eyes. He thrashed on the couch, trussed up like a calf at a rodeo.

Myrtle hovered above him, humming. She was dressed in a wedding gown that looked almost as old as she was. Had she had it all this time?

A shiver ran down Logan’s spine when he realized she was singing the wedding march as she poured gasoline on the floor. Candles of all shapes and sizes ringed the room. It was only a matter of time until the fumes ignited and the whole thing went up in smoke.

Ben grunted and gurgled, no doubt telling them to get the fuck out of there. Pronto.

Unfortunately, he drew Myrtle’s attention to them.

“Have you come for the ceremony? I didn’t think anyone had gotten the invitations.” The toothy grin—complete with several black gaps—she leveled at them froze Logan’s heart. “So glad you could join us. Come in, come in.”

“Oh, Myrtle.” Kyana’s sigh was laced with enough pity to tug at Logan’s chest.

“You!” Instead of welcoming her, Myrtle became enraged. Logan wouldn’t have been surprised if she started foaming at the mouth. “You’re not welcome here, Rose. You home wrecker. Trying to steal my man. You’ve always kept him from me. He’s never seen anyone but you. Now that you’re gone, he’s mine. All mine. Get out! Get
out!
”

As she screamed, she waved her hands, sloshing more gasoline. Logan cringed, hoping the heavy fumes stayed low to the ground long enough for them to escape. Otherwise this place was going to go up like a firework on the Fourth of July.

Lacy doilies, curtains and piles of junk to rival an episode of
Hoarders
made perfect fuel. They had to get Ben and go. Surely they could fend off one little old lady, even if she was totally loony.

Daryl looked over at him. “You grab Ben, I’ll get Myrtle.”

Logan nodded. “Three, two,
one
.”

They rushed forward in unison. Daryl leaped the couch in an impressive imitation of an Olympic hurdler. Logan snagged Ben and threw the bound man over his shoulder. When he turned, the horror in Kyana’s face caught his attention. Before her scream left her lungs, he felt himself being thrown forward toward the door.

The impact left him shaking his head, trying to put things to right.

Fortunately, it seemed like Kyana and Ben had made it out of the danger zone and onto the soft mulch of the perfectly tended flower beds. They were huddled together as Ky worked the knots free on Ben’s ropes then helped him up.

Logan struggled to his feet, spinning to look for Daryl. The man hovered outside a flaming heart, which encapsulated the sofa Ben had been held captive on. Inside the horrifying shape, Myrtle danced. The train of her yellowed dress dragged perilously close to the fire.

Daryl tried to reach her. She spun out of his grasp. A flare-up prevented him from jumping across the boundary between them. Instead, he retreated several steps.

“Get out of there!” Logan shouted at their resident hero.

Daryl looked as if he might object until Myrtle lifted the can of gas over her head, drenched herself and gave one final curtsey that turned her into a living fireball. She cackled as she charged Daryl, trying to take him with her to her own personal hell.

“Fuck this.” He sprinted for the door, and Logan didn’t hesitate to follow.

They left the thick oak standing open.

Myrtle never emerged.

Hours later, Ben huddled together with Kyana and Logan around the table in the bright, cheery kitchen of Rose’s house. “This is getting to be a habit. Not that I don’t love spending time with you kids, but…we’ve got to quit doing this.”

Kyana took his hand in hers and squeezed. Logan did the same for her.

She smiled up at him, hoping they were about to call it a night. Again.

As if he could sense their restlessness, Ben rose. He shuffled toward the stairs and said, “It’s a shame about that couch. Myrtle was right. It was pretty comfy.”

Kyana just stared at him with her jaw hanging open while Logan cracked up.

“If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.” Ben shook his finger at her. “And I’m not wasting any tears over that woman. Rose is the only lady who deserved those from us. Have a good night. And for the record, I’m taking my hearing aids out.”

Logan looked to Kyana. He wiggled his eyebrows.

She climbed into his lap right there at the table and kissed the shit out of him. When they were both breathless, she whispered, “I’d like to cash in my rain check for snuggles now.”

“Whatever you like, ma’am.” He carried her upstairs to their bed.

Epilogue

Six months later

Logan had never been so sure of something, and yet so nervous about it, in his entire life. He paced the sparkling kitchen of Ben’s house and snapped the box in his hand open then closed for about the gazillionth time. Inside, a simple antique band nestled among dark maroon velvet. It hadn’t broken the bank—which was shored up by the three jobs Nowak Construction had won after people had gotten sight of his craftsmanship—but something about the delicate scrollwork on the side had reminded him of Kyana.

He stood in the dark for a minute straight, breathing deep and slow. Then he took the flashlight from the countertop in front of him, flipped it on and covered it with his palm.

Dash dot dash.

“K.”

He only had to flash the sign three times before the high-powered beam reflecting off her bright-white ceiling roused her. Just like the old days.

Dash dot dash dash. Dot. Dot dot dot.

“Yes?”

A smile crossed his face despite the sweat making his thumb slick on the on/off switch. Now or never.

Dash dash. Dot Dash. Dot dash dot. Dot dash dot. Dash dot dash dash. Pause. Dash Dash. Dot.

“Marry me?”

No light answered his question. His heart tripped in his chest as seconds turned into a minute. He tried again.

Dash dot dash.

“K?”

Still nothing. Had he read her wrong this whole summer? Had he rushed her? It seemed like forever to him but maybe because he’d known what he really wanted from the time he was sixteen. If he screwed it up now, he’d never recover.

He set down the flashlight carefully on the freshly installed granite countertop, switched on the new pendant fixtures over the island, then sighed.

Right before the door burst open and Kyana raced in. She leapt into his arms from several feet away. The force of her advance didn’t matter. He caught her easily. Never would he drop her.

“Yes!” She took his face between her palms and kissed him over and over. Between each smack of her lips she said it again. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.”

“Mmm.” He nipped her lip then set her down. “Let me do this right.”

“What?”

“This.” He got to one knee on the new hardwood floors and popped open the ring box. “Kyana Brady, you are the only love of my life. Please stay with me. Let’s build something special. We’ve worked on this remodel together, just as we’ve revamped our relationship into something amazing. I thought it was only right that I ask you to be my wife, here in this house.”

“Yes. And yes again.” She practically jumped up and down, making him laugh as always.

It made it harder, though not impossible, for him to slide his ring onto her finger.

“It’s gorgeous, Logan.” She got misty-eyed as she inspected the band.

“I figured you could pick out a diamond. Or maybe something of Rose’s to wear with it.” It didn’t bother him anymore to think of her deep bank accounts. They shared everything. She’d made him see cash was just another example. Not the most important one by a stretch.

“I know just the piece.” She nodded. “I can’t believe this is real. It feels like a dream.”

“Stay awake a little bit longer.” He led her toward the counter, where an envelope rested.

“This is for you. Us. From Ben. An early wedding present,” he said. Logan waved at the paper, still unable to believe what was inside.

“What?” Kyana peered up at him as she unfolded the deed to Ben’s house. “Why?”

“He says we picked everything, it should be ours. And he wondered if you’d let him stay in Rose’s house. Well, he asked to rent it. I already rolled my eyes at him for you.”

“It’s where he truly belonged, all this time.” Kyana sniffled. “Of course, Logan. Rose would love that.”

“And so will I.” Ben spoke softly from the doorway. “I’m so happy for you both. I feel like this is what I worked all those years for. To have you here. Like this—together. It was worth it. Every minute, every sacrifice.”

Logan and Kyana opened their arms and drew him into their circle.

The documents shook in Ky’s hand. Something fell to the floor.

“What’s that?” Ben stooped to claim it. When he saw what it was he froze. “Where did this come from? I put those papers in there myself this morning. The deed was the only thing in the envelope.”

Kyana and Logan peered over his shoulder at the bright red rose petal he held clasped in his fingers. They looked to each other and shrugged.

Ben smiled.

About the Author

Jayne Rylon is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author. She received the 2011 Romantic Times Reviewer Choice Award for Best Indie Erotic Romance. Her stories usually begin as a daydream in an endless business meeting. Writing acts as a creative counterpoint to her straight-laced corporate existence. She lives in Ohio with two cats and her husband, who both inspires her fantasies and supports her careers. When she can escape her office, she loves to travel the world, avoid speeding tickets in her beloved Sky and, of course, read.

You can visit Jayne on the web at
www.jaynerylon.com
and she loves hearing from fans at
[email protected]
.

Look for these titles by Jayne Rylon

Now Available:

Nice and Naughty

Play Doctor

Dream Machine

Men In Blue

Night is Darkest

Razor’s Edge

Mistress’s Master

Powertools

Kate’s Crew