Darke Heat (10 page)

“I’m not,” he said and smiled at her. “There’s plenty of challenge right here, and almost no traffic, plus all this fresh air.” He took a deep breath.

“Great, just great. I thought you liked the big city and all the action...”

“Liked, past tense. These days I find I want a little less action, although now that Darke County is such a hub of crime, and your property in particular, I think it makes the perfect place to settle down and make some new roots.”

Paige stared at him. He wasn’t supposed to stay. He needed to leave before she did something to really embarrass herself, like let him know how she felt. But she couldn’t do that. Not with the way he treated that night and the secrets she knew about Sharon, his ex-wife. Let him keep his illusions of how sophisticated and modern and wonderful a person Sharon was. Sharon was dead now, but it was amazing how she still had the power to hurt her. But if she ever let Bryce know of Sharon’s betrayal, he would be the one hurting. There was a natural silence, and Paige let her thoughts focus on what she should do next.

“Paige, the time has come for us to have the long put off conversation about that night.”

She tensed in her seat. “We’ve put it off this long, Bryce, it hardly warrants talking at all.”

“Wrong,” he replied.

“Bryce, you no longer rate a conversation.”

“Too bad. I want to know why, in this day and time, a woman as lovely as you, was still a virgin at twenty-six?”

“Because I chose to be,” she replied with a belligerent attitude.

“Do you realize that your reputation is that of a wild, modern woman?”

“Bryce, I realized my character was maligned from the day I stepped into Aunt Libby’s house.”

“I’d say she lied about your sexual escapades,” he agreed

“You think?” Paige sneered.

“Was anything we were told about you true?” he asked.

“I don’t know what you were told, but at a guess, I’d say it was all lies.”

“She had police reports,” Bryce said in disbelief.

“Yeah, that’s when I left for good. Once she had a policeman corroborate her accusations, I knew it was going to be the Juvenile Detention Center for me, if I didn’t get out from under her guardianship.

“Paige, you were only what? Fifteen?”

“I was almost sixteen. I got a worker’s permit and the rest is history. I’m not answering any more questions, period.”

“Paige, we didn’t use birth control.”

“And I’m not, nor was I ever, pregnant. Unlike my dog,” she added for emphasis.

“Okay, but in the future...”

“Don’t even think about it, Bryce. I’ve satisfied my curiosity, and I’m not interested in a repeat.”

“Oh, but I am, Paige.
I
definitely am.”

“Too bad. Now either take me back, or I’ll walk.”

“You can have your way for now,” he conceded.

Bryce started the car after stuffing their wrappers back in the bag. He headed back to the Rose.

“Thanks for driving me back to the hotel and taking care of the dog. Let me know if you find out anything. And by the way, what happened to the other pit bulls? The one we dropped off tonight wasn’t from the ones over in the barn?” she asked.

“No, the ones in the barn were put down,” he answered.

“What? Why?”

“Most had festering wounds. All of them were in a killing rage fueled by pain. There wasn’t an animal shelter anywhere that could take on twenty something fighting pit bulls.”

“It’s not their fault,” she said, barely holding back tears.

“Paige, the poor beasts had basically been tortured into madness. They weren’t going to be rehabilitated into house pets,” he reasoned.

She didn’t want to hear his logic. She felt gutted at the idea of some creature being so tortured it had to be euthanized.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing my brothers and I weren’t dogs.”

She got out and closed the door, refusing to look behind her one last time. She knew he would be watching as she made her way into the Rose. She just needed a good night’s sleep, and then she’d be able to put it all in perspective. Or would she? All those dogs being put to sleep made her heart hurt. The idea that Bryce was not going to leave town represented all kinds of problems that could hurt even more.

The way he was acting was going to cause her all kinds of grief. If this had been ten years ago, before her world had come apart, she’d have been over the moon. Now it was a disaster. Her heart wouldn’t listen to sense, but her head had to.

She knew things, deep, dark, secrets that could tear the man apart. For now, she’d focus on making a home for her and her brothers. She’d deal with the Bryce bridge when she crossed it. By the way he was acting, she knew she’d be crossing it soon, even if they did dance around the talk about that night. They encompassed a minefield of dangerous topics.

She’d brought Sheba over before dinner when she came to town to get more paint. Mama and her pups were sleeping in the doggie bed. Sheba looked up at her, but then lay back down. She’d left plenty of food and water and called her now to take her for her walk. Sheba managed to get up without disturbing the pups too much. Paige had to smile at the puppies. They seemed to be a pile of fur balls all lying one on top of the other.

The walk outside did little to clear her head, but Sheba was pleased to be out. The dog wandered, sniffing and taking care of her business, and then sniffing some more. Paige let the dog have its freedom to explore. Sheba’s first full day of motherhood was coming to an end and the dog tired quickly. She came to stand beside her as if to say, “Okay let’s go back in.” Paige took the hint, headed inside, and got ready for bed.

Paige awoke feeling as if she’d been hit by the proverbial train. Sometime during the night, she’d fought a valiant fight with the covers and won. They were on the floor, while the air-conditioning was on frozen meat setting. Not letting it slow her down, she hurriedly got up, showered and dressed in worn out cutoffs and tee shirt, in preparation for a full day of fixing up Sanctuary. The clock was ticking, and her brothers would be here in less than a week. Maybe Emma from the hardware store could come over and help her hang the drapes throughout the house. It was something Emma did really well, and Paige thought she could use the company.

After breakfast, she got ready to head out to the house only to remember she didn’t have her car. She no sooner had the thought, when Bryce pulled into the driveway of the Rose.

“Are you set to go? And can I talk you out of it? Where is Sheba?” Bryce asked from the open car window.

“Now which question should I answer first? Hmm, yes and no in that order for the first two, but thanks for the ride,” she answered as she opened the door and slipped inside. “They said Sheba can stay here. The lady that runs the place already has a pup picked out and she doesn’t mind letting Sheba out for a run around noon.”

He nodded. “Good, but I want you to take all the precautions you can. I can’t stop you from going out there, but I still want you to call me when you are done for the day. I will lock your butt in a cell if you stay overnight on that property before I say so. And if you have a problem with that, I’ll just call your brothers and give them an earful of all the shenanigans going on around here. So don’t push me, Paige. Now who’ll be out at your place today?” he asked, in what she could only assume, was his command voice.

She knew it was not a good time to push him. He was at the end of his patience with her, she could tell. Normally she’d have pushed the issue, but he seemed to be so different now, as if he took her personal safety as
his
responsibility. And although she was touched by his concern, she needed him to see she wasn’t going to fall in with his plans.

“I’ve got Bill and his team, and I was going to start moving the dogs back to the kennels and begin more of their training. I’ll be packing my Smith and Wesson, and my twenty-two will be within easy reach.”

“Good God woman, you sound like you’re taking on the Wild West.” He sounded appalled, but not surprised.

“Hey, I believe in being prepared,” she said in her most flippant tone.

“Tap, tap, center of mass,” he quoted, referring to the double tap method, using two shots to the head and one to the chest.

“Every time, Bryce. Every time.”

The rest of their trip was completed in silence, each wrapped up in their thoughts. When Bryce pulled into the drive of the Slater place, Bill and his crew were already there and working over by the chicken coop. Paige got out with a word of thanks, and Bryce waved hello to Bill and his crew. Then he drove off.

Paige breathed a sigh of relief and headed into the house to continue cleaning. She kept busy, knowing the physical activity would help her get at least an exhausted sleep tonight, if not a restful one. Dreams and thoughts of Bryce had plagued her since before their night together. How could she maintain she wasn’t the girl Libby and Sharon said she was, and not have Bryce know he’d been used? Why did she always have to look like the bad guy?

But if it hadn’t been her, portrayed as such, then Bryce would be dealt a heartbreaking blow knowing his ex-wife was a drug addict, pawning off some other man’s child as Bryce’s. If he was really over Sharon, the truth wouldn’t hurt him as much, but if he still harbored deep feelings for her, he was going to feel betrayed.

Added to that was her part in the debacle of not speaking up at the time when she knew what Sharon was planning. In her childish heart, she’d always thought her hero would be able to withstand Sharon’s allure and obvious charms. How naive could you get? Bryce was a red-blooded male, and back then, he was a young man who had the whole world as his playground – until Sharon snared him in her web of deceit.

And Paige was forced to stand by and watch as her hero fell for the sexual ploy. No more was she going to live in the shadow of Sharon. Bryce needed to know the truth about what happened back then, and if it meant he hated her for her part in it, so what? At least she could let go of all the secrecy. He wasn’t hers, could never be hers, whether he knew it or not. He didn’t want anything permanent with her anyway. Would she want to keep that big a secret from the man in her life anyway?

It was time to put on the big girl panties and be done with the past, or at least her part in the deceptions. As she’d accused him of not talking about their night together, she was guilty of far worse, by not talking about how he’d been betrayed.

The cleaning was finished and sweat trickled down between her breasts, where she felt the ache of once again losing the man she had loved for what felt like forever. Time to come clean, but how it would hurt when he looked at her with disgust. It was bad enough when she felt ignored. This was going to be much worse.

She’d spent the morning in the kitchen, scrubbing every surface and the floors. When it was shiny, and smelled of strong disinfectant, she took a break to get some fresh air, and went out the side door to the kitchen garden. Sitting quietly, listening to the men working in the coop was restful. She needed to take the dogs through their paces, and keep them sharp. She’d need to arrange for her and Jamie to transport them back to the property.

A sharp, clipped bark was a discordant sound among the sounds of the men working, and Paige was immediately alert. None of the men could hear anything over their hammers and saws, but Paige heard the distinct sound of a wounded animal, and her heart seemed to seize in her chest.

What now?
But she knew it was another dog, and it was in pain. There was a distant mewling that was pitiful, and made her hurry her steps. Heading toward the sound, she was at the edge of the wooded area of her property when she heard the mewling again. It was coming from inside the wooded area that led down to the other side of the lake. She followed a deer path and the sounds until, twenty feet in, she found another pit bull. This one was caught in a beaver trap like the ones hunters use. She pulled out her phone.

“Shelby, I’ve got a pit bull in a beaver trap. Can you come and tranquilize him so I can get him free?”

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Don’t even think of getting close to it. I’ll bring Deeogee and Patches. They both seem to be having separation anxiety. Which tells me someone is spoiling them,” Shelby said.

“Okay. I’m on the edge of the property near the lake, just inside the woods.”

“I’m on my way,” Shelby replied.

“Great, I’ll send Jamie over later. Thanks for taking them.”

She was so concerned about the dog, she didn’t hear someone come up behind her, until she felt the hand of her assailant grab her from behind. She turned to kick and punch him, her brothers’ tutoring coming to mind, and yet she couldn’t get a good hold for a throw. Instead, she kicked back and connected with the calf of her attacker. She heard a grunt and then a white cloth came over her nose and mouth, smelling of chemicals. Knowing she would soon be unconscious, she popped a button off the bottom of her blouse hoping it would lead Shelby or someone to find her. Then all went black.

“Blake, can I ask you some questions?” Bryce asked.

“Sure,” the officer came over to his desk and sat down across from him.