“Hey, did you check that little window in the back? The one over the....”
“Yep, I looked there first,” Scooter said. “I tell you, B.L., if I were you, I’d high-tail it home right away. Things might look innocent enough, but the whole town’s buzzin’ about the way you two took off right before Faith was supposed to get hitched to Royce. You ain’t exactly numero uno on the popularity list around here.”
“Hell, that’s nothing new.” He lowered his voice, just in case Faith was listening. The phone was an old-fashioned one, not cordless, so he had to stay close to the built-in desk. He was surprised modern technology hadn’t checked in at this fancy, la-de-da resort yet. He turned his back to the patio where she was having breakfast.
“Have you seen Royce around?” He kept his voice as low as he dared. His friend’s hearing was less than perfect, though Buddy Lee suspected it was more selective than defective.
Static over the phone lines made Scooter’s voice sound like gravel rattling around in a tin can. “Not since th’other night when he gassed up at the station. But Faith’s daddy showed up at the shop right after the sheriff got there. He was mad enough to chew nails.”
Buddy Lee could just imagine his new father-in-law’s rage at finding the shop security broken. That alarm system was one of the requirements for his low mortgage rate. Damn.
“Listen, Scooter, would you stick around the shop the rest of the day? Sort of keep an eye on things ‘til I get there?”
“...to work,” was all Buddy Lee could make out over the static-garbled connection. Then the buzz of a broken connection hummed in his ear.
He cradled the receiver, sat on the edge of the bed and dropped his head into his hands. If this wasn’t the biggest mess he’d ever landed in, he hoped he didn’t live to see a bigger one. Convincing Faith they needed to go home today instead of tomorrow was going to take some doing. And some cash to change the plane tickets—if they could even get a flight out on such short notice. Why did everything revolve around money? And why did he never seem to have enough? He could almost understand his father’s frustration and reason for the robberies that had landed him in prison.
Whoa, Walker, don’t go there. He pulled his thoughts away from that direction. Nothing justified that sort of action, not even living on the edge of poverty. Hadn’t he vowed a long time ago never to let himself sink that low in life? He may be Boyd’s boy, but he didn’t have to turn out like him. No way.
Thankfully, he was his mother’s boy, too, and Jewel Walker had given him a code of decency to live by. He wouldn’t shame her memory. Ever.
Before he could change his mind, he picked up the phone again and asked the front desk to connect him with the airport. Faith wasn’t the only one who could take charge of things. This time, he was making the decision, provided the airline would cooperate, of course.
“I can’t believe you told them it was a medical emergency,” she said as their rickety taxi pulled up in front of the unloading zone of a small local airport. “How did you find out about this airline? I’ve never heard of it.”
Buddy Lee helped her out of the vehicle, then grabbed the bags after the wizened driver unloaded them.
“When the concierge found out our regular airline didn’t have another flight out today, he suggested this one. I think his uncle owns it or something. And I told him about your...um, condition,” he said, avoiding her eyes.
He counted out the fare to the driver, then followed Faith up a winding gravel path to a quonset hut Hecho en Mexico was painted in blinding neon yellow over the entrance.
Faith hesitated at the door “Do you think it’s safe?”
Buddy Lee pointed to the sign. “Well, I don’t know if that means the building or the airplane was made in Mexico, but this is our only choice if we want to get home today. We’ll be fine.” He held the door open for her and hoped she didn’t hear the anxiety in his voice. He crossed his fingers, just in case.
He had glimpsed a diminutive single-engine aircraft on the runway when they’d bounced up the gravel drive. With bright yellow and purple flowers painted on its side, the plane looked like a huge hibiscus blossom poised for flight. Hoo-boy! He hoped this wouldn’t turn out to be a colossal mistake.
Once inside the small plane he held his breath, and Faith’s hand, as they taxied down a runway no wider than a sidewalk. Miraculously, the plane was airborne in a matter of minutes.
The pilot, who’d introduced himself earlier as Carlos, leveled off when he reached their cruising altitude and headed toward the Texas border. Relief washed over Buddy Lee with knee-weakening force.
They were half an hour into their trip when Faith asked about Customs. Carlos assured them the flight was legal and there would be no problem crossing into the States.
Oh, terrific. That possibility hadn’t even entered Buddy Lee’s mind. True to the pilot’s word, they proceeded to Granite City, passing through Customs without a hitch.
Faith only became queasy once during the flight, and he was thankful he’d grabbed the left-over crackers from their room and stuck them in his pocket. Between those and the bottled water Carlos provided, Buddy Lee managed to avoid total disaster until he got his wife home safe and sound.
Chapter Seven
They’d been home all of twenty minutes and Buddy Lee was already convinced that only in the loosest sense of the word could his humble living quarters be classified as home to someone like Faith Morgan. Faith Walker, he quickly amended in his mind. How weird did that sound?
He watched his brand-new wife as she sat at his kitchen table nibbling a piece of cheese and more crackers. Fatigue left dark purple shadows beneath her eyes. Eyes that no longer sparkled, but held the lost look of someone too tired to do more than barely acknowledge the surroundings. She was exhausted, and he knew he should make her lie down and rest. Some husband he was turning out to be. He wasn’t doing a very good job taking care of her.
They’d come straight to Liberty after retrieving his truck from the airport parking garage, not even stopping to pick up groceries. He was beginning to think that meals were going to present a helluva problem unless he could find some of those TV dinners in the freezer.
“Listen, um, Faith, why don’t you try to take a nap while I check with Scooter about things at the shop? I won’t be gone long. I’ll stop by the grocery store, too. I think Pac ‘n Sac is open on Sundays. When I get back we’ll eat and talk about finding a doctor for you. Okay?”
“That sounds wonderful, Buddy Lee. I didn’t realize I was so tired.” The smile she offered him turned into a yawn and she lifted her shoulders as if to apologize.
When she reached for his hand, the trusting look in those liquid green eyes nearly undid him. His body heat spiked like a hot-wired engine.
For a flash-fire second, all he could think about was falling into bed with her and lavishing her with plenty of TLC—enough to erase all that sadness in her eyes and more than enough to leave them both wildly satisfied. The effort to suppress that urge took the very last fragment of his self-restraint.
He checked to make sure she was resting quietly before he bolted out of the house, hell-bent on locating Scooter. With his life spinning out of control, he desperately needed to find the command switch.
What the heck could’ve triggered the shop’s security alarm? he wondered as he sped toward town. His own suspicions about that tied a knot in his gut. If his Mustang was damaged, by damn, somebody’s head was gonna roll.
Faith kept her eyes closed until she heard the door slam and the truck growl out of the driveway. If she hadn’t been so wiped out, she would’ve begged to go along, but for some silly reason, all she wanted to do was sleep. And being in Buddy Lee’s bed again created such a deliciously secure feeling, she opted for staying right where she was, in a snug cocoon.
She'd had some other unidentifiable feelings roaming around inside her since they’d returned home, and if her eyelids hadn’t been so heavy, she might’ve tried sorting them out
. Maybe later. Right now, the shelter of Buddy Lee’s bed was all she needed.
So why did the shelter of his arms suddenly seem so appealing? And why did the memory of that shared kiss cause such heat low in her belly?
Granted, she knew all about the unpredictable mood swings of expectant mothers, but that didn’t explain the way her heartbeat elevated when Buddy Lee was around. After all, she was barely pregnant.
The strange part was she’d begun to notice things about him that she’d never been aware of before. His brawny good-looks, for one thing. Okay, so he’d always had a bad-boy kind of appeal as a teen. She’d taken that for granted and ignored the jealous remarks of some of the girls in school. She’d never seen him in any role other than a reliable friend. Someone who liked her in spite of her daddy’s money and treated her as if she were ordinary. Their relationship had always been more like brother and sister. Until now.
She punched the pillow and flopped over onto her side. Even with her eyes closed tight, the image of her brand-new husband stayed with her.
She remembered his genuine concern during her first bout of morning sickness at the resort. How he’d slept on the sofa, insisting she needed the comfort of the entire bed. What she’d thought was lack of interest on his part was truly kindness and compassion. Buddy Lee was a good man.
And that was just the beginning of her problem.
Buddy Lee paced the perimeter of the tiny shop office. He’d completed his own examination of the work area and found no clues, but he still wasn’t convinced the wind had been the culprit that had set off the damned alarm. How weird was that? Especially after Scooter told him it hadn’t been particularly windy last night.
The fact that his friend had found his beloved Mustang uncovered freaked him out. He was absolutely certain he’d left it carefully covered. Absolutely.
“Buddy Lee, I swear nothin’ is missing.” Scooter waved his hand in the air to include the whole building. “We done checked ever’thing. We went over the whole place. There wasn’t no signs of B and E at all.”
“I believe you, Scoot, but something tripped the alarm and that makes me suspicious as hell.” Buddy Lee pulled out a dog-eared file folder from a battered metal cabinet, flipped it open and thumbed through several yellow invoices. Nothing missing there, either. He jammed it back in the drawer. Hell fire! This didn’t make a lick of sense.
Scooter shuffled behind him as he headed for the back of the repair shop where the Mustang was stored.
He examined the car again, inch by shiny inch. Nothing appeared wrong, yet his gut instinct told him someone had messed with it. That cover didn’t just fall off by itself. He aimed to get to the bottom of this whole dilemma or die trying. Well, maybe not die. He didn’t figure that would help matters. Not with Faith waiting for him to take care of her and her baby.
If worry could make a man feel the weight of the world on his shoulders, he definitely was carrying more than his share. He’d bet the farm on that—if he had a farm. All he needed right them was for Faith’s daddy to show up, blowing steam out of both ears. He wondered briefly about his own good sense.
The shop door banged shut, and he glanced up at the sound. Well, hell, why not just whack him right here and now?
Lionel Morgan stood there, at least two feet taller than Buddy Lee remembered and looking angrier than a bear with a sore paw. The deputy sheriff was with him, too.
Deputy Elroy Pike was a man of few words and even less patience. “Walker, Mr. Morgan here thought maybe you could shed some light on what happened last night. Something I might have missed. Anything you think I should know?”
By the scowl on his face, Elroy wasn’t too thrilled at having to perform a re-run on the investigation. He was also smart enough not to disagree with someone as influential as Lionel Morgan. He just happened to be married to Lionel’s niece. Buddy Lee shook his head. “Sorry, Pike, but I’m as puzzled as you are. Nothing’s missing, far as I can tell.” He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like a good idea not to mention the question about the car cover. At least just then. He’d decided earlier to keep quiet about Faith’s rough encounter with Royce. It would be up to her to bring those details to the lawman’s attention.
“Appreciate your checking it out, though,” he said, making sure to keep a safe distance between him and Faith’s irate daddy. The last thing he wanted was another bloody nose.
“If you hadn’t abducted my daughter, none of this would’ve happened.” Lionel shook his beefy fist at Buddy Lee. “The deputy has something to say about that, too.”
“Hold on, there, Mr. Morgan,” Buddy Lee’s hands shot out defensive-like, and he backed up a step. No way was he gonna be accused of kidnapping. “There was no abduction and you know that. Faith and I got married legal. By a minister and everything. We told you and Miz Morgan about it right after the ceremony.”
The deputy stepped between the two men, facing Buddy Lee. “Did you force Faith to marry you, Walker? Mr. Morgan says she was missing on Thursday night. Know anything about that?”
Buddy Lee’s mouth dropped open. “Do I look that stupid?” Probably not a smart question. He started over. “Look, Elroy, Faith’s an adult. She doesn’t even live with her parents, so how could she be missing from there?”
From the corner of his eye, Buddy Lee saw Scooter shuffling forward from the back of the room. Hs silence so far had been an unexpected blessing, but now it looked like that silence was fixin’ to be broken. Buddy Lee shot his friend a warning look, but Scooter obviously missed it.
“Aren’t you gonna tell ‘em about the car cover being moved and all, B.L.?”
Scooter’s question grabbed the deputy’s attention right quick. The banker’s eyes lit up like headlights on high beam.
For a second or two, Buddy Lee harbored a serious thought about permanently silencing his friend.
“What’re you talking about, Craddock?” Deputy Pike demanded. “Why didn’t this come up in last night’s search and investigation?”
Scooter ambled closer, loose-limbed and looking like he knew a secret. “Well,” he drawled, “I thought Walker here just forgot to cover the car in his hurry to start on his honeymoon.” He rolled his eyes in a ‘you-know-how-that-is’ look and grinned.
Buddy Lee wanted to punch his lights out. Seriously. There was just so much he was prepared to take from his friend. Hell, he didn’t need any more help to hang himself. He just hoped the noose didn’t get any tighter before he figured out this mess.
Faith woke up to a room filled with darkness. Disoriented, she sat up in bed, and blinked to adjust her eyes to the shadows. It only took a moment to assess her surroundings. Buddy Lee’s bed. A tiny thrill raced through her, accelerating her pulse rate.
She slid from the comfort it offered and smoothed the sheet she’d wrapped around her while she slept. Still warm from her own body heat, the bedding held Buddy Lee’s scent as well as her own, even though he hadn’t slept there since their wedding. The heady combination caused erotic sensations to blossom beneath the warm surface of her skin, and she placed her hand on her abdomen, reflecting on the tiny life beginning there. A life she was responsible for. She’d asked Buddy Lee to share that responsibility, too, but now she wondered if she’d made the wrong decision.
A sense of apprehension washed over her at the enormity of her action. Could the two of them honestly convince the community of Buddy Lee’s part in this scheme? What was going to happen as time passed and her pregnancy didn’t show as it should?
And most importantly, was it fair to expect Buddy Lee to keep up the pretense until the baby was born? What if he wanted her to leave before that blessed event occurred? After all, he’d already done his part by giving her and the baby his name. She wouldn’t blame him if he had second thoughts about staying.
They hadn’t actually discussed the future, either, even though she was aware he’d tried to bring it up. She’d dodged the issue on purpose, something she’d always been good at when she didn’t want
to face facts.
The frightening thought of facing Royce and his threat of revenge made her cringe. Maybe Buddy Lee thought he could handle those threats, but she didn’t like the odds. She’d never intended for him to get hurt. Couldn’t bear it if he decided to leave. Suddenly it was important to make certain neither of those events happened, and the reason she wanted him to stay took her by surprise. Could she really be in love? With Buddy Lee? She tucked the unexpected realization away in her mind to examine later.
Halfway to the door, she changed her mind and went to the closet instead. After a quick inventory of Buddy Lee’s meager wardrobe, she took a faded plaid cotton shirt from a hanger. In the dresser, she found a pair of knit shorts with a drawstring waist she could pull tight enough to keep from falling off. Garments in hand, she headed for the shower. She wanted to be ready for some serious conversation when Buddy Lee came back. If he came back.
He hadn’t meant to be gone so long, but after taking time to inspect his shop, plus all the backin’ and forthin’ with the sheriff and Faith’s daddy, he had given in and let Scooter talk him into sharing a beer back at his friend’s double-wide. Now it was after nine, and he was sure Faith was wondering if he’d skipped out on her. Not that he would, but tonight he’d just needed to put some space between them and try to get a grip on this dilemma he’d gotten into.
He hadn’t dared tell Scooter the whole crazy story. That would’ve been like buying a full-page ad in the newspaper. But he needed to bounce some ideas off his friend just the same. Scooter had first-hand access to most of the town’s gossip, and if Royce Webb was involved in anything crooked, sooner or later Scooter would know about it.
Buddy Lee desperately hoped Faith was still sleeping but when he opened the back door, he heard water running in the shower. Shit. His chances of avoiding her now were zip.