Midnight Lies: The Wildefire Series (31 page)

Cursing softly, she turned to see him jogging toward her, holding a small wrapped
box.

“I meant to give this to you earlier and then … well …” He shrugged.

Feeling even more uncomfortable, Samantha backed up, taking another step up to the
porch. “Blaine, no.”

“It’s a simple token of friendship … nothing more.”

“Friendship or not, I cannot accept it.”

Instead of taking no for an answer, he grabbed her hand and placed the box in it.
“Keep it. I can’t return it.”

Before she could say anything else, he turned on his heels and jogged back to his
car. Weary and disgusted at how the night had gone, Samantha let herself into the
house.

Even though it was only a little past nine, the house was silent. She trudged up to
her room and undressed. Just as she was about to settle into bed with what she hoped
was an uplifting romance, her eyes caught a glimpse of the beautifully wrapped box
she’d dropped on her dresser.

Determined to return the box unopened to Blaine the
next time she saw him, she opened her book, ready to put the disastrous night behind
her by immersing herself in a story in which it appeared that happily-ever-afters
really did exist. She already knew that unless something drastic changed with Quinn,
a happily-ever-after for her was definitely out of the question.

The sun rose like a hot, bright beacon on Thanksgiving morning. The weather for the
last few weeks had been decidedly chilly, but for some reason, Mother Nature chose
to return warm weather as a Thanksgiving gift.

Samantha stood in the garden at the back of the Wilde house. This had been a favorite
place of hers since she was a little kid. She’d often come here to breathe in the
fragrance of nature and find the serenity she needed.

Today was such a day. Quinn would be coming for dinner. She’d been so busy with the
preparations over the last couple of days, she hadn’t had time to think about that.
Now, with most of the preparations complete, she drew in the fresh, springlike air
and searched for that centeredness she counted on to get her through tough times.

It wasn’t like they were going to be alone. There would be almost a dozen people here
with them. She doubted they would have the chance to say hello to each other, much
less have any kind of conversation.

And what did she have to say to him anyway?
How was your date the other night?
Hearing him accept a date with Lindsay Milan had hurt. She couldn’t deny that. But
she knew it meant nothing. She’d heard the compassion in his voice when he had accepted
her invitation.

No, that wasn’t what bothered her. What had been on her mind for the past few days
was a bigger problem. How was she going to stay in Midnight with Quinn owning a house
here? Even if he came only a few times a year, what was going to happen when he arrived
one day with his new lover? She wasn’t naïve enough to believe he wouldn’t find someone
else. Quinn wasn’t the type of guy to play around with a lot of different women. He
would find another woman to share his bed and maybe his life. Just because he didn’t
want to marry again didn’t mean he wouldn’t have a long-term romantic relationship.

What would she do if she ran into them? She already knew she wouldn’t handle it well.
So what was she to do? Only go out when she knew he wasn’t in town? Leave town when
he arrived?

“Looks like everything’s under control. Why so glum-looking?”

Gasping, Samantha jumped from her chair and threw her arms around Bri. “I was so afraid
you weren’t going to be able to come.”

Bri returned her hug and then pulled away to give her rare, brilliant smile. “Miss
my favorite holiday with my favorite people? Never.”

Joyful tears threatened. She had been so worried about Bri these last few weeks. Being
in the midst of monsters could be rough on the toughest people. The toughness in Bri
was mostly a façade to cover the hurts life had thrown at her. Most people saw only
what she wanted them to see. Samantha and Savvy saw their sister for who she really
was, and they loved her just the way she was.

Drawing Bri down onto the bench with her, Samantha examined her sister’s face. She
looked a little tired but not overly so. There were no shadows lurking. No hint of
sorrow. This was a good day.

“What’s going on with Cruz? Have you made any progress?”

“The guy’s a creep of the first order, but I’ve made some progress. I mostly just
sit around, look clueless and beautiful, and try to stay out of his way. I’m finding
that’s one of the best ways to learn a lot. He tends to forget the women in the room.”

“Yeah, Lauren mentioned that.”

“Enough talking about that louse for today. Tell me about Savvy. She’s really okay?”

“She’s perfect. The doctor said both she and the baby are healthy as horses.”

“What a relief.” She grinned and added, “She texted me that it’s a girl. That’s wonderful.
We need another feminista in this house.”

“I agree. Though I think Zach is feeling a little overwhelmed. He and Savvy were arguing
the other night on what age it’s okay for her to start dating. His suggestion was
not until after she gets her second doctoral degree.”

“I can’t wait to meet her.” Her eyes went serious. “Now, tell me what’s going on with
you. When I came out here, you were looking like someone ate your last cookie.”

“Quinn’s back.”

“I didn’t know he’d left.”

“That’s because you didn’t need any additional things to think about.” Samantha shrugged.
“He left a couple of weeks ago.”

“And?”

Without going into too much detail, Samantha told her about how Quinn had taken her
to his new home and made love to her like she was as important to him as breathing
and then admitted he still wanted nothing permanent.

“So why is he back?”

“That’s exactly what I asked him. He just said he was
taking some time to get a few repairs done on the house before the holidays.”

“He came back because of you, Sammie.”

“No … maybe.” Samantha shook her head. “I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t matter, since
he won’t change his mind and neither will I. Seeing him here is killing me. What if
he brings a girlfriend back with him someday? I couldn’t handle that.”

“So this town’s not big enough for the both of you?”

“Yeah, something like that, I guess.”

“I still don’t think you’re seeing the big picture. You’re the only reason he has
to come back to Midnight.”

“He has a house here now.”

“Yes. A house he bought for the two of you.”

“There is no two of us any longer.”

“Of course there is. You’re just too stubborn to admit it. You still love him, and
from all accounts, he’s crazy about you.”

Samantha fought back a smile. This coming from the Queen of Denial. Ian had been in
love with Bri forever. And if Bri allowed herself to stop and think about it, she’d
admit she felt the same way. But her sister was right about one thing. She did love
Quinn and knew her feelings would never change.

“And a man doesn’t dole out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house on a whim.
He was looking for something permanent with you.”

“But that’s not the kind of permanency I want. I can’t live with him, Bri. Even as
modern as I tell myself I am, that just isn’t me. Especially in my hometown.”

“Then don’t live with him, for gosh sakes, if that’s the only thing holding you back.”

It wasn’t the only thing but it was a big factor. “But what if he never wants to make
it more permanent? I want more, Bri. Marriage, kids, the whole shebang. He’s told
me he doesn’t want that.”

“Then I guess the question is, is your need for those things more than your need for
Quinn?”

The truth shot through her like a precisely targeted arrow, penetrating her most cherished
beliefs. Did she want those things more than she wanted to be with Quinn?

“I’ll let you ponder that while I go freshen up. I spotted the dressing and turkey
you got from Faye’s on the counter. From the looks of everything, you guys have everything
under control. I’ll make a cake, a couple of pies, and maybe another casserole or
two. Dinner still at two o’clock?”

Samantha absentmindedly nodded. Thanksgiving dinner now a thousand miles from her
thoughts, she barely noticed that Bri dropped a kiss on top of her head and walked
back into the house.

She had some decisions to make. And she needed to make sure she could live with her
choices. Quinn had made it clear he wouldn’t change his mind. So that left them exactly
where?

Lindsay Milan glared down at the pitiful excuse for a turkey. She’d waited too late
to shop for a good one and had gone by old man Henson’s grocery on the way home last
night. There’d only been this scrawny-looking thing left. Hell, what did she care?
The only people to eat it would be her daddy and brother. They barely looked at the
food before they shoveled it into their mouths.

The unfairness of it all hit her hard. Both men went out deer hunting this morning.
They’d woken her just before dawn for one reason only—to tell her what time they’d
be back for dinner. They didn’t give a damn that she’d be spending the entire day
in the kitchen. All she was to
them was a cook and housekeeper. And she didn’t even get paid for it.

She shouldn’t have come back to Midnight but it was the only home she knew. A few
months ago, she’d left town with two thousand dollars in her purse and the promise
of a job in Charleston. Zach Tanner, the police chief, had provided her with both.
That hadn’t exactly been what she’d wanted from Zach, but when he encouraged her to
make something of herself, she had believed she could. But the job had been boring
and the money had run out sooner than she had expected. When she got fired for pilfering
a few lousy bucks from the kitty, she’d left town. She knew she was lucky her boss
hadn’t filed charges against her. She’d never been so sloppy before.

Maybe she had secretly wanted to come back home. Her daddy and Clark were the only
family she had left. Had she thought they would have missed her and might treat her
better? Of course, she hadn’t just fallen off the turnip truck. She’d figured they’d
want her to be their housekeeper again, but when she’d demanded they pay her, she
didn’t know who had laughed the hardest, her daddy or brother. Both of them were assholes,
and if she weren’t so scared of them, she’d put something in their Thanksgiving dinner
that’d give them the runs till springtime. But damned if she wanted any more bruises.

She had a funny feeling deep in her gut that things were about to change. Her ship
was about to come in. She just knew it. For so long, Zach Tanner was the only decent-looking
man in Midnight, but the other day she’d met someone who had literally blown her socks
off. Okay, not exactly her socks. More like her panties.

She’d never had a man take control of her like that. In fact, it was a wonder she
had been able to walk the next day. They’d only had one date so far and she had been
a little disappointed when he had taken her out of town
to eat. She had wanted all the tongue wagglers in Midnight to get an up-close-and-personal
view of her with him.

In the end, it hadn’t really mattered. After taking her to a nice restaurant in Foley,
he’d stopped halfway home and pulled over to the side of the road. She’d been a little
unsettled. After all, she didn’t know that much about him.

When she had asked him why they were stopping, he’d just smiled and said, “So I won’t
have to share you with all those busybodies in Midnight.” And then he had kissed her,
taking control of her mouth and then her body. Just the memory of all the delicious
things he’d done to her caused her to go wet with desire.

The car wasn’t her favorite place to get her rocks off, but he had made it worth her
while. She’d come home that night worn out and deliciously sore. The morning after,
she’d woken to find several bite marks on her breasts, stomach, and the inside of
her thighs. When and how they’d happened she had no clue. Considering she’d had two
husbands who’d beat up on her, plus a daddy and brother who thought nothing of backhanding
her on occasion, having a man bruise her like that shouldn’t be so sexy. But it was.
And she wanted him to do it to her again, as soon as possible.

She dumped a can of pumpkin pie mix into a pie shell, slapped it smooth with a spatula,
and shoved it into the oven, beside the turkey. She’d never been much of a cook. After
her mama left, she’d been put in charge of all the household chores. Cooking had been
forced on her and she’d had no real interest in learning how to do it right. Daddy
and Clark hadn’t cared. As long as it was edible and they could fill their gullets,
they were satisfied.

Her ex-husbands hadn’t been much better when she’d
been married to them. They hadn’t expected much out of her and she’d been glad to
give them what they expected. They’d both kicked her out of the house for screwing
around, not because she was a bad cook. There was some kind of irony in there somewhere.

She jerked at the sound of the doorbell. Hell, she wasn’t about to answer it. She
looked like something the hounds had dragged home—no makeup and wearing a ratty old
housecoat she’d had since she was a teenager. Whoever it was would go away. They didn’t
get pleasant visitors at their house anyway. Just salespeople and bill collectors.

She was in the middle of mixing up a green bean casserole when she felt a presence
behind her. Frowning, she turned and dropped the spoon she was holding.

“What are you doing here? How’d you get in?”

The charming smile was missing today. His eyes were serious and intense and the smile
he gave her was cold and slightly creepy. “I thought we could spend Thanksgiving together.”

Despite her unease, she couldn’t help but be flattered. A man as good-looking as him
probably had lots of places he could spend Thanksgiving. She glanced around at her
messy kitchen. “I’m afraid it’s not going to be ready for several hours. Daddy and
Clark are out hunting and I just now put the turkey in the oven.”