Once Burned (Task Force Eagle) (25 page)

Chapter 27

After Nora left, the nurse came in to check on Lani.
She said the doctor would be in to see her later. Maybe he would release her.
But what if
later
was
too late
for her and Jake?

Outside the window in the courtyard, a hummingbird
hovered above a red geranium. She marveled at the blur of its wings, at the
quick movements as the tiny jewel hung in midair. It backed off, then dipped
again as if fearful, then made its decision and swooped down to sip nectar.
Quick as a blink, the creature darted away in a flash of iridescent green.

No more indecision for me.
She had to see Jake
before he left Dragon Harbor. He’d said he needed to be here for his mother but
Hank could handle things, and the house renovation was nearly ready for a
carpenter. Jake had no reason to stick around. He might head back to Boston.

If she waited, he would leave not knowing she loved
him. She’d spent so much of her life behind walls. Jake had broken through her
defenses and she had to take this chance. Yes, men left, but so did women. Look
at Jake’s brother’s marriage. His wife was away more than she was at home, on
her way out. Lani’s fear had wrapped everyone in the same package. Leave when
the going gets tough? It couldn’t have gotten much tougher than the last few
weeks, and Jake was there for her time and time again.

She swung her legs around and sat on the edge of the
bed. Could she remove the oxygen herself? Then she had to get dressed and hoof
it down the hall before someone caught her like a kid playing hooky.

When her door opened again, she tucked her bare legs
beneath the covers. Her pulse did a little happy dance.
Jake?

But the man entering her room with an armful of yellow
roses wasn’t Jake.

“I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me, but I
had to come see for myself if my baby was all right.”

When she saw her father’s face and heard the familiar
rolling cadence of his voice, her breath stalled. Brody Cameron looked almost
the same as the last time she’d seen him, when her mom had tried to reconcile
them five years before. A little grayer, a little sadder, a little heavier, but
dapper in crisp blue pants and a collared shirt.

She managed a shaky breath. “Come in, Dad.”

He approached her, but without his usual confident
stride. His hazel gaze, so like hers, searched her face, caught on the crumpled
tissues in her lap. “This is too reminiscent of...hell, you know.” His fingers
fretted the paper sleeve wrapping the roses.

“You’d better put those flowers in water before you
shred them.”

His gaze dropped to the golden blooms as if he didn’t
know where they’d come from. Then paper and all, he plunged them into the
pitcher.

They’d probably die in the ice water. But no matter.
Her father had come.
Dad.
“Thank you for the flowers.”

He squared his chin. “After your phone call, Serena
called me a jackass and a bad father. Not for the first time. This has gone on
way too long.”

She joined him in a small smile of agreement and
amazement at his usually meek wife’s assertiveness. “I’ve been partly to blame.”

“No.” He shook his head with vehemence. “No. I was
supposed to be the adult. But I let guilt drive me into a corner. So I left
your mother and you to handle everything. Serena is right. And I’m profoundly
sorry.”

She trembled, her heart tripping over itself. “Oh,
Dad, I’m sorry too.”

When she opened her arms, he gathered her in. “Lanibug,
I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”
Crap, more tears.
As she
sopped up the new flood, something he’d said penetrated her addled brain. “What
did you mean, guilt drove you into a corner?”

He propped a hip on the edge of her bed and gripped
her hand as if he were afraid to lose her again. “I’ll tell you about it later.
Long story.”

After her short chat with her mom, she knew there was
more to the divorce than she’d believed. Jake had suggested that, but she
ignored him. But she’d let it go until Dad was ready.

“I’m sorry about the farmhouse.” In spite of her sore
throat and chest, she couldn’t seem to stop. “I nearly had the repairs done
except for the plumbing. Jake repaired the banisters. They’re gone. The house
is gone. Everything’s gone. Granddad would—”

He shushed her and kissed her forehead. “It was just a
house. Granddad would be proud of you as much as I am. I phoned your mother.
She’s on her way home.”

She settled back against the pillows again and mopped
her eyes. Again. “How did you know to come?”

“Nora phoned my office and informed me what’s been
going on.” He eased onto the bed’s edge and affected a stern expression. “More
than you told me, I might add.”

She shrugged off the reprimand. “I didn’t want to
worry you.”

“It doesn’t matter now. I see you’re going to be all
right. And Gail’s murderer has at last been punished.” He rubbed his nape. “All
those years between you and me wasted.”

Her heart turned over at his genuine remorse and she
had to swallow past the hot lump in her raw throat. “If you want to help, I
have an idea. Can you get me out of here?”

“Honey, I’d like to, but don’t you think—”

“Just can’t stay out of trouble, can you, Ms. Cameron?”
A smiling Dr. Laurenz strode into the room, a stethoscope stuffed in his shirt
pocket. Baseball bats frolicked across his necktie.

Lani sank back on the pillows. “Why whatever do you
mean, Doctor?”

*****

“Didn’t know you had talent at carpentry, Wescott.”
Holt Donovan’s blue gaze perused the bungalow’s exposed studs and wiring, the
rolls of insulation. The smell of new maple boards mingled with the dusty scent
of sawdust.

“Some talent at demolition,” Jake said, “but none at
carpentry. My brother and some other guys helped out earlier today. The rest of
this job is waiting for somebody who knows how to swing a hammer. I got a few
calls in.” He trailed to the fridge and got both of them a beer.

“Thanks.” Donovan accepted the brew. He sank onto a
sawhorse and tipped back his Broncos cap. A brawny man taller than Jake, he
looked like he belonged on his Colorado ranch instead of wrangling smugglers in
New England.

He withdrew a spiral notepad from his shirt pocket. “Speaking
of calls, I got one just now. At dawn, agents took down a compound in
Massachusetts and a warehouse outside Portland. Arrested about twelve bad guys,
all illegals. Confiscated drugs, crates of weapons. The arrest of David Brandon
set us up to end El Águila’s entire northeast operation. You did good here.”

“Thanks. If Lani Cameron’s return to town hadn’t
threatened Meagher so he sicced Hector Vargas on her, we might still be chasing
our tails.”
And Lani wouldn’t have nearly been burned to death.

“Maybe. You sound like a foghorn, Wescott. Better take
it easy. Boss says you’re to take a couple more weeks off to heal.”

“I’ll get work squared away on this house and then I’ll
be back at work. I got no reason to stick around here anymore.” Except for Ma,
and he’d drive up on weekends to see her.

“We’ll need you. Boston’s short handed. Two task-force
guys already went to California to round up El Águila himself. I’m leaving
tomorrow. They need another agent who speaks Mexican Spanish.”

After the other man left, Jake wandered the empty room
with his half-finished beer. He touched an index finger to the age-darkened
studs. Modern wallboard would alter the character of the old bungalow, but a
guy had to move on. Out with the old, in with the new.

Or was he thinking of himself?

“You’re a damn fool, Wescott.” He downed the rest of
the beer. He ought to be happy, celebrating his success. Lani had survived all
J.T.’s plots and schemes. But it was no thanks to him. He’d led her right into
Vargas and J.T.’s trap. A hell of a Fed he was. He nearly got her killed.
She’ll
be better off without me.

He stared at the expanse of bare wall—colorless and
empty as he felt. He peeled off his shirt—one with buttons because a pullover
hurt his burned back like hell—and grabbed the broom. He couldn’t do much work,
but he could sweep up the sawdust the guys had left.

The doc had let him leave the hospital only if he
promised to return for the nurse to change the dressing on his burned shoulder
and to remove the stitches on his jaw. He was hoarse but hadn’t sucked down as
much smoke as Lani, who didn’t cover her nose and mouth. After visiting Ma in
the nursing home, he returned to his grandmother’s with some supplies—sleeping
bag, clothes, food—and found Hank and a crew of drop-ins hard at work finishing
the essentials so he could camp out in the house.

One drop-in was Steve Quimby, who confessed his alibi
the night of the fire had been his gay lover, who was now his life partner. He
was still in the closet. ABC was a conservative family company.

After announcing he and his wife were separated,
probably getting divorced, Hank left. Jake wanted to console his brother but
couldn’t find the words. Could only pound him on the back and say he’d be there
for him and Zack.

“Lani’s good for you,” Hank said. “What are you going
to do about that?”

Jake avoided the question. What he was going to do was
leave her alone. In the midst of the fire, she’d snapped out of her fog enough
to bean J.T. and escape with him. She’d saved him, for God’s sake.

Even Ma asked about her.
“Where’s the noisy girl?”
When he said she’d gone away, Ma shook her head vehemently.
No. She wouldn’t
leave you,”
Ma had insisted.

But I left her.
The words fissured his heart.
His hands grew clammy. He set down the bottle and wiped his palms on his jeans.
Rubbed his sternum. Shit, he shouldn’t have left the hospital without seeing
her. Her belief everyone deserted her had left her defensive and alone. And he’d
proved her right.

Coward. I’m a fucking coward.
The squeak of the
door yanked him from his funk.

When he recognized the footsteps on the new
floorboards, his heart revved to third gear. Her face was drawn and pale from
her ordeal. His chest grew too tight to breathe.

Chapter 28

Lani nearly turned and ran when she saw the shock on
Jake’s face. She’d argued with herself since learning he left the hospital. He’d
defended her and tried to stop Vargas and J.T. and paid with searing pain.

“I won’t leave you. You have to trust me.”

He meant what he said—to get her moving—but did he
mean more? Could he have meant more?

His jaw was purple and the gauze bandage gave him a
rakish air. Stripped to the waistband of new jeans, torso glistening with the
sweat of his labor, he looked so strong and handsome she could barely restrain
herself from rushing over to throw herself at his chest. But she had words to
get off hers first.
Don’t wimp out now. Offense, remember?

She cocked her head. “Wescott, I never knew you were a
coward. You slunk out of the hospital and came here to hide in your cave.”
Talking didn’t hurt as much now but the croak did detract from her snarky act.

His mouth twitched as if he might grin but then he
schooled his expression into that wary mask he’d discarded. It twisted her
insides to see his defenses up. Against her.

He propped his left foot on a sawhorse, leaned an
elbow on his knee and scratched his ear. “And I never knew you could do such a
good Kathleen Turner imitation.”

Hell, if he wanted to dance around the elephant in the
room, she could do that. For now. But he didn’t deny the cowardice accusation.
She’d get back to that. “You have a little Eastwood thing going for you. Or
else you’ve been secretly smoking a pack a day. How’re the burns?”

“Sting enough to remind me not to lean against the
wall. I’ll live. You okay?”

She nodded. She took another step closer and clasped
her hands behind her so he wouldn’t see them shaking. “I see your Cherokee
survived the fire.”

“Only some heat damage to the paint.” He ambled away
from the wallboard he’d been installing and toward her. At first she thought he
was going to get her off the hook and take her in his arms. But he planted his
feet more than a foot away and kept his hands at his sides.

Then she remembered the plastic grocery bag. She held
it up. “I have Greek pasta salad and pork chops to cook on the grill. One of
your granddad’s old buddies offered me four lobsters right off his boat for
free, but—”

“You remembered my aversion.” His bemused expression
at her babbling morphed into an unguarded smile. “Thank you.” He took the bag
of groceries from her and strode to the kitchen to stow them. He turned to her
with a determined look. Her pulse leaped into next week.

He handed her a beer and opened one for himself. “You
come here to drop off food or can you stay and eat with me? I can put these on
the grill now.”

She tore her gaze from him so he wouldn’t see how
desperately eager she was. “Definitely. I mean, I can stay. Thanks.” Grateful
for the distraction and the soothing coldness in her throat, she hovered in the
kitchen doorway.

New maple strips replaced the last of the holes in the
floor, which was cleared of the old lath and plaster. And he’d installed a new
sink and faucet in the kitchen. The house smelled of new wood and fresh air,
not moldy and dank.

“You’ve come a long way in a day. What happened here?
Elves?”

“Close.” He unwrapped the chops and collected a paper
plate, then led the way through the back porch and into the yard, where a gas
grill awaited. “My brother and some friends. And Kevin’s sister sent over a
work crew to finish the demolition and the floors.”

Lani chose one of the plastic deck chairs nearby while
Jake started the grill.

“I can’t imagine how bad J.T.’s family must feel,” she
said. “Now that Vargas is in the slammer, the town needs a new harbormaster.
Maybe you could apply for that job.” If he stayed, maybe she could. She set the
beer down and popped the knuckles on her right hand.

Using his thumbnail to pick at the beer label, he
shook his head. “Nailing bad guys is my calling, not haranguing spoiled
teenagers who speed in the harbor. Funny thing though. ABC delivered a bunch of
wood flooring. Steve said it was donated anonymously. You wouldn’t know
anything about that?”

Lani felt her cheeks heat. “I think my dad took care
of that. He wanted to atone for all his neglect. Since I don’t have a house to
fix up anymore, you were elected for his largesse.”

“The one who really needs to atone will have eons of
time for that where he went. But I appreciate your dad’s generosity.” He took
the next chair, scooted close enough to smell his honest sweat, masculine and
salty. When he reached over to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, she
wanted to jump into his lap. “So he’s really
Dad
again?”

“He came to the hospital to see me. He’s going to
handle the land trust deal, and he thinks I can get a better price for the
property without a drafty old house. Even if it had new locks.”

He grinned, tugged on that lock of hair. “Won’t there
be insurance money?”

“Eventually. We talked for the first time in a long
time. You were right about the divorce. He and Mom were having problems anyway,
and he couldn’t deal with Gail’s abortion and her emotional implosion. The fire
just exacerbated their differences.”

“I’m guessing he felt helpless.”

She nodded. “Then he blamed himself for the fire
killing her and burning me. He felt if he’d been able to help her, she wouldn’t
have gotten in too deep with—well, at the time, he thought it was you.”

“He’s human. I hope you straightened him out like you’ve
done your fix on me.”

Seeing his gaze soften and heat, she longed to lean
into his caress. But she had her apology to say first. “I want to atone too. I
accused you of being a coward.”

“You were right. I didn’t know what to say. How to say
it, but I’ll say it now.” His features seemed to darken with pain. “I failed
you. I let those bastards grab us. You almost died. I should’ve known they’d
sabotage the boat. I did a damned lousy job of—”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Just stop the
recriminations, Wescott. What happened wasn’t your fault. It was J.T. It was
the smuggling gang. I’m alive.
We’re
alive.” Tears slipped down her
cheeks and she let them come, ordering herself to be soft and not defensive.

“Yes, ma’am.” He touched a finger to her wet cheek. “I
didn’t know if you’d ever let yourself cry.”

She wanted to step into his arms, let it all go. She
managed a wobbly smile. “The dam burst. It was time.”

“Past time.”

Stiffening her shoulders, she launched into her
speech. “The fire. It made me remember. Everything. I saw J.T. that night but
only through the flames. He was the towering fire monster in my dreams, but I
couldn’t have identified him in a line-up. I called for help and he ran away.
But I heard
you
say you wouldn’t leave me, that I could trust you. Was
that just about the fire?”

His blue eyes seemed to laser into her soul. “I meant
that and more. Much more. I didn’t know the truth of it until the words were
out. I love you, Lani.”

Those words swept through her, dizzying her. She was a
mess, and that low voice vibrating with intensity nearly undid her. But she
forced herself to continue. “I never want to hear you say you can’t be trusted
to protect anyone. You saved me.”

“I know better than to argue with you, but we saved
each other.”

“The smoke, the flames, they paralyzed me. I couldn’t
move. Until I saw the flaming ceiling collapse. Until I saw the man I love on
fire.”

“You love me.” He breathed it like a prayer. “Enough
to trust me to stay?”

She eased closer, placed her hands on his chest. “You
and I have been tested by fire a second time.”

“All these years alone I’m not sure I know how to
love.” Then he grinned, deflating her incipient panic. “You’ll have to zing me
when I screw up.”

“That’s a given.” She swatted him on the biceps. “You
have to know I’m not easy. Not high maintenance, like diamonds or designer
shoes, but guys tell me I’m too much work.”

“Nothing I don’t already know. One of the things about
you that intrigue me. You challenge me, honey, and I do love that mouth,
whether you’re zinging me or turning me on. You like control but so do I. And I
know how to get around you.”

His arms came around her and she yielded happily as he
pulled her to her feet. She smiled, pressing her cheek against his chest. She
sighed as he gathered her in and tipped up her chin with a finger.

“Lani, what I felt for your sister was more lust than
love.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Shush, but I do. I want you to never wonder again if
I compare you two. Gail was flash and smoke, but there was nothing to hold
onto. You’re flame, warm and steady and enduring. A genuine woman with humor
and honesty. I want to keep you in my arms if you’ll let me.”

Tears flowed again. Tears of joy. “You’ve thought a
lot about this. Us.”

“Since I knew I had feelings for you. Wanted to know
what I felt was real. And I had some things to work through.”

“Oh, Jake, I accused you of cowardice, but you’re not.
I’m the emotional coward, have been for years. Not trusting anyone. Not letting
anyone in.”

“No, you’re the bravest person I know. The barn fire
was a defining moment for both of us, but neither of us let it be a dead end.
And now we can move ahead together.”

She touched a finger gingerly to the bandage on his
cheek. “You’ll have a new scar.”

“Makes us a matching pair.” He swiped a tear from the
corner of her eye with his index finger. “The ATF sends me into danger. I work
rotten hours and deal with slime.”

She grabbed his finger and kissed it. “After this,
piece of cake.”

He crushed her to him but when their lips met, it was
the sweetest kiss imaginable. If hadn’t been holding on so tight, she’d have
slithered into a puddle at his feet. The two of them had survived a past that
devastated her entire family and turned both their lives upside down. Coming
through the fire a second time annealed them into stronger fiber, made tougher
still because they would face the future together.

She smiled at him through her tears. “The
Amy Jo
is gone. The farmhouse is gone. I have no place to stay. Don’t suppose you have
room for me in this house?”

“If you don’t mind camping gear. The bedroom upstairs
has a couple of sleeping bags we can put together.” His expression turned
serious. “But not for long. I have to return to Boston as soon as I get a crew
started finishing the house. My place is north of Boston, but forty-five
minutes from Concord is still too far from you.”

“I’ve kinda gotten used to waking up with you in the
morning. I’ll bet some school district nearby can use a special ed teacher.”

“I can’t offer you much,” he said against her cheek. “Only
my love.”

“That’s all I want.”

Before their lips could meet again, wings flapped and
fluttered behind Jake. She peered around him to see a great black-backed
seagull perched beside the chops.

“Hey, you thief! Get away from there! Shoo!” Waving
her hands, she rushed at the big black-and-white scavenger.

Looking offended, the gull swooped into the air, its
beak empty.

“Of all the damn nerve!”

Laughing, Jake swung her around. He planted another
kiss on her mouth.

“What?”

*****